Six Months

Happy 6 months to this guy!

Can't believe half a year has passed since he came into our lives. Here's what he's up to these days:

• Still just two bottom teeth, but working on two top ones.
• Finally figured out rolling over from back to front. Even though he can also roll tummy to back, he often gets too frustrated when he gets to his tummy.
• Sleeps a 2-3 hour stretch at the beginning of the night in his own crib, but then likes to be up every hour or so after that, so it's easier to be in bed with Mommy.
• Starting to nap in longer chunks during the day in his crib.
• Can sit on his own for short lengths of time.
• Just started making drooly raspberry sounds.
• Now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples, mangoes, and bananas.
• Laughs and smiles when he sees Maggie and Bode.
• Coos at Asia (dog) and Toby (cat).

Brooks Eats Cereal

Jewels

I've been in survival mode recently.  Yes, it's been busy since I've been back to work after my maternity leave, what with the never-ending to do list, the baby that insists on being held almost every hour of the day, and the many activities we tote our family to and from throughout the week.  These past few weeks, however, the challenges have intensified even further with the onset of some major sleep disturbances in our four-month-old.

Brooks' six-hour nighttime stretch that I had previously become accustomed to, recently shortened to four hours and then shortly after he turned three months old, his first evening with a babysitter somehow set off a pattern of waking every hour or two.  Every night.  Exhausting.  Utterly and completely.

I've seen this poem here and there a few times during the last several months.  And I'm pretty sure it has made me tear up every time.

I remember the deep sense of loneliness in the weeks following the birth of my first baby; the feeling that the sleepless nights and constant crying would never end.

But they do and it does.

And with each tiny newborn baby, I have become more and more aware of the fleeting moments I have while they're young.

And so this morning, both fresh from the second consecutive night of only one night-time feeding, Brooks and I made our way downstairs before the other two got up.  Shortly thereafter, my sweet three-year-old shuffled into the dimly lit living room.  As we plopped onto the couch with Elmo on TV, I closed my eyes and relished his warm hug and cuddles for a few minutes, remembering the early mornings from a couple years ago when the quiet house would be ours.

I then tiptoed to the children's room and softly peeked inside.  My spunky daughter was just starting to stir.  I swiftly climbed onto the top bunk and curled around my still-sleepy first born as she giggled conspiratorially about our girl time.

I feel like I don't, or even can't, cherish these moments as much as I want to.  Life gets in the way.  Chores need to get done; work needs to be completed; each child vies for my attention in demanding and draining ways.  But on days such as today, armed with a good night's sleep (and coffee, of course), I am trying to treasure each special jewel of time that will be gone all too soon.

Four Months

The Wait

It's on.  Now that my official due date has come and gone, the contentment I felt a week ago has been replaced by annoyance that I'm "still" pregnant and uncomfortable.

As we've been waiting, we've tried to fill our time with memory-making activities as a family of four.

Steve and I were able to go on our first date in two months thanks to Steve's parents being in town last weekend.  His love affair with sushi started last spring when we went out with some friends, and now that he has brought me on board, I was more than happy to accompany him to Ichi Tokyo in Rochester.  California rolls - yum!  We finished our date with Caribou Coffee.  I have treated myself to a mocha more often these past two weeks than I care to admit...

Steve took this super flattering photo of me using baby as a drink holder.

Later in the week we went to Applebee's on a family date, knowing that we might not be going out for a leisurely dinner for a while.

My girl.  We've had our share of confrontations recently, but she's still my sweet princess.

They wait so patiently at restaurants now.  Bode brought cars to play with on this occasion.

Cubbies  Bible character night.  We realized this was the dress up theme at the last minute, so quickly tried to put together an Egyptian princess costume, per Maggie's request.  That's Moses in the basket.  Oh, and Moses is her newest idea for a baby name.

 And then came Halloween.  Steve was helping to coach the Stewartville Tigers to a Section Championship victory, so I loaded Maggie and Bode in the minivan to go trick-or-treating at just a few friends' houses.  We came back home to watch It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.

Ariel and puppy.

And on Halloween, as I put this shirt on, I realized I looked like a snake that just ate a very large rodent.  So there - I dressed up, too. 

Today while I was at a baby shower, Steve took Maggie and Bode to a volleyball game.  Maggie was asked when she thought baby would arrive.  And apparently this is what she said, "Well, I was thinking Halloween, but now I'm thinking Valentine's Day."  Thankfully, I KNOW that will not be the case.  He'll be here soon.  :)

FAQ's

Being 37 weeks pregnant at this point, people are getting more and more curious all the time.  So I thought I would place all the Frequently Asked Questions in one place for everyone's convenience.  (***See notes below.) Enjoy!

• When are you due?
• October 30th.  
• Wow!  Really?
• Yes.
• You're huge!
• Thank you.
• So are you going to like go into labor today?
• No.  I still have 3 weeks left to go.  In fact, probably more since both my previous children have been stubbornly late.
• Are you having twins?  Or triplets?
• No.  Just one.  Yes, I am sure.
• Is it a really big baby?
• I'm not sure...maybe...but my other two were 7 lbs 14 oz and 8 lbs 7 oz.  So it's likely this one isn't abnormally large. (I would also like to add that this is how I carried my other two and I have gained the same amount of weight, within the recommended range, with this one as I did with my other two.)
• How far dilated are you?
• Um, I don't know yet.  But that's getting kinda personal.
• Well, you really are just carrying all out front, aren't you?
• I guess?  Good observation.

***This is written tongue-in-cheek, and I can, in fact, smile about it.  Yes, I do get these comments, though not all from the same person.  In fact, I have gotten these comments for all three pregnancies, and though not completely unfazed (I do often feel like a beached whale), I am generally less offended this time around.  Still amused, though.  Overall, I am just so grateful for a healthy pregnancy, thankful to feel him moving and growing, and am so excited to meet my new little guy.

It's funny - right as I sat down to write this post, I ran across this article:  http://www.themomcreative.com/2014/10/wow-and-other-unwanted-pregnancy-comments.html 

I would agree with the author that it's probably best not to comment on a woman's body or size at all.  Maybe also avoid the "glowing" comment...what does that even mean?  Tell her she looks beautiful, and leave it at that. :)

Gender Reveal

Today was the big day - the day of the 20 week ultrasound!  I couldn't sleep, so was up very early to walk to Kwik Trip for a special doughnut breakfast for the kids.  Steve stayed home from work this morning, so after dropping Maggie and Bode off at a friend's house and chugging my 32+ ounces of water, we drove to the Rochester clinic for my appointment.

We wanted to do something kinda fun and different than our first two, so decided to do a gender reveal with just our family.  Steve and I were planning to have the radiology tech put the gender in a sealed envelope, but she accidentally let it slip.  Oh, well.  It was fun to find out anyways.

After stopping by Party City to get a balloon filled with gender-specific confetti, we pick up our kiddos, and let them pop it to discover the surprise.


As you can see, Maggie was less than pleased.  We let her mourn for awhile, and then she was ready to "ooh and ahh" over the sonogram photos.  I counseled her, reminding her that she is still my special girl and that we'll continue to have girl time together.  I also told her the story of when MY new sibling turned out to be a boy when I was 5 years old, but that he was pretty cool after all.  She was still feisty for awhile, telling us it was a very bad day and calling all of us boys and wanting to get rid of Steve, Bode, and the cat (also male), but by bedtime she and Bode were back to hugging and kissing baby and telling him they love him.

Now on to a name!

A scary face photo.

A cute profile pic.

Right arm.

Adorable little feet.

Babyhood

Twinkling blue eyes full of personality. Auburn hair in wild disarray. Sweet heart-shaped face without a hint of a fine line. Little upturned nose. Rosebud lips. Round tummy. Perfectly chubby thighs complete with rolls. Bare feet pattering across the floor. This is my darling baby.