Still Kickin’ … and Still Being Kicked!

Believe it or not, we are now 30+ weeks into this pregnancy. I *still* have moments every once in a while where I look at my belly, shake my head, and can’t believe it! I suppose I better get over that … soon!

As for physical baby preparations (apparently we’re not quite there yet, mentally! Ha!) we’re *just about* ready. We’ve dug out all of Goo’s little bitty clothes and bought a few new ones (of course) and have all of his gear out and ready to go. We still need to disassemble and wash the car seats (and the cars, for that matter) – but we’ve got plenty of time for that. I also don’t have a hospital bag packed or those bottles sterilized, but I’m sure I will, shortly. (Mostly because the bottles are sitting in a big tub on my kitchen counter, and the tub is driving me a little nutso).


The crib has been assembled:

See, T, that super expensive crib bedding was worth it, right? *ahem*

Our new, beautiful cradle from Great Grandpa Riley is ready to go …

And we even have a few packs of itty bitty diapers ready, because I’m imagining in January, we’re not going to want to run out every 5 minutes, like we did with Mr. July.

Speaking of Mr. July – he’s as brilliant and adorable as ever. His new thing is singing “Happy Birthday to You” to everyone he talks to, regardless of whether it’s actually their birthday or not. He’s also loving “Ring around the Rosie,” although he tends to get impatient and “all fall down” way before he’s actually supposed to. Goof!

He’s talking up a storm these days … he’ll say “I’ll be right back!” when he leaves a room, “Oh no! What happened?” whenever he hears a loud noise or sees a crash or disturbance of some sort, and says “Hey Mama, what’s that sound?” at least once a day.

Halloween this year was … interesting. We bought Goo a hilarious DJ Lance costume from Yo Gabba Gabba, but he insisted on being Batman. Aaah well, maybe Goo #2 will like DJ Lance, too … or we’ll just have another costume laying around for dress up. J I thought we’d have another year or two of having a say in the costume selection – little did we know …

Trick or Treating at mom’s work was super fun, Batman ran up and down the hallways of the building, even running across a room to give a woman who looks like Grandma ‘Tine a big hug. (Thankfully, said woman wasn’t freaked out by this at all and now claims that Goo is her “honorary grandson.”) Actual trick or treating, on the other hand, was a total disaster. We started at Goo’s daycare, and things were going really well until we suddenly had a major meltdown. We’re not sure if he caught a glimpse of something “scary” outside, or what exactly happened, but suddenly Goo really, really wanted to go home. We’d then planned on walking around our neighborhood with our neighbor kids and pulling the boys in the wagon. At the VERY FIRST HOUSE, a boy of about 10 opened the door in a skeleton costume and a scary mask. Queue meltdown #2. We made it to two more houses, neither with any “real” success before we completely gave up and went home.

We did have fun, though, seeing all the neighbor kids out and about. Last year, which was our first year in our new house, we’d gone to DL on Halloween weekend, so we weren’t home. And at our old place, we hardly EVER had trick or treaters. This year, we went through all of our candy, as well as all of the neighbors candy, and had to turn out lights and hide for a while! Next year, we’ll be better prepared!

Goo-Speak

This morning:

Goo: Ohhhhseeebe!

Me: Ummm …..

Goo: Ohhhhn seeve!

Me: I don’t know what you’re saying buddy, sorry!

Goo: Ohhnnn TV!

Me: Oh, you want me to turn on the TV?

Goo: Good job, Mama! (Actually it was more like “guh jaw, mama!” – but I got that one the first time) J


Happy to see he’s hearing that positive reinforcement. Ha!

Bell Pepper Babe

With all of the excitement surrounding Goo’s second birthday, I’ve been slacking in Goo #2 updates. Goo #2 is doing really well – he or she is about the length of a bell pepper these days ….

http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-18-weeks_1107.bc?intcmp=timeline

I am starting to feel the baby move now, which is really fun, and thankfully, the 24/7 nausea seems to have lightened up quite a bit. I’m down to one 4mg pill in the morning, down from 8mg every 6 hours (and still getting sick in between). All of our checkups have been perfect (*knocking very loudly on wood*), and we see the Dr again on Friday for another. Unfortunately, since we do want to know the gender, the Dr. has decided it’s best to wait to do our “big” ultrasound until 22 weeks, darn him. I guess it’s easier for the techs to see when the baby is that much bigger …. So – 5 more weeks, and we’ll be able to start buying pink or (more) blue! At this point, we still don’t really have a gut feeling or a preference about what we’re having. Another boy would be fun for Goo, but a girl would be fun, too – since this is most definitely (sorry, grandmas) our last bio baby. We’re not ruling out the idea of adoption in the future, though – so either way, we’re really just hoping for a healthy babe. :)

 

Mr. Casanova

This year, we tried a new photographer here in Fargo – Hadley Photography. Did we try her because had Goo been a girl, his Mama really, really, really wanted to name him Hadley? Perhaps. Was it a good move? Absolutely! We LOVED LOVED LOVED his pics, and had a super fun shoot.

As you’ve probably imagined, Hadley Photography is named after the photographers little girl, Hadley. Hadley is 2.5 and the exact same size as Goo. When we arrived to the photoshoot, we were surprised and delighted to see that Hadley came with. Hadley’s mama apologized profusely, citing last minute babysitter issues, which we completely understood. When Hadley’s mom got her out of the car and set her down, Goo walked right up to her with outstretched arms, going in for a hug. Hadley gave Goo a funny look, but they ran off to play together anyway. They had such a fun time during the shoot, we credit lots of the giggling, happy pics to Goo’s new friend.

Goo and Hadley got along so well, we even got a shot of the two of them holding hands.

Say it with me, people … Awwwwwwwww …..

When we went to leave, Goo surprised all of us by walking right up to Hadley and planting a big wet one right on her lips. Apparently, Goo has moves. T and I laughed all the way home, and then got a little nervous, thinking about a teenaged Goo having that much confidence … yikes. Wish us luck – looks like we may need it!

Overboard? Naaah …

To celebrate Goo turning 2, we had two parties, one at home, and one in Devils Lake over the 4th. As expected, Mr. Magoo was spoiled silly with new toys and gadgets, and many wonderful memories. Unfortunately, Goo’s mama was having a lost-camera-charger-issue during this time, so I wasn’t able to get many snaps at the first party. I did swipe a few from “amma,” though – enjoy!

Goo and C, and "Amma" M, trying to avoid being in the picture...

Cars cake, of course. :)

By the time party #2 rolled around, the lost-camera-charger-issue still hadn’t resolved itself, so I made a point to ask my awesome neighbor to be our official party photographer. She got some great shots!

Goo and Miss T in the bouncy house

Goo and his BFF daycare buds - so glad they could come!

During gift opening, Mr. C couldn't see, and thought any old lap would do. Those are my grandparents he's hanging with. :)  

Goo and Mama, and the beginning of a baby bump :)

Go ahead and admit that you're jealous of my crafty grandma (and my super cute son and little sis)!

My *favorite* pic of the day - "Amma" D trying to cool Goo off by dumping water on his head, which he obviously LOVED. haha ... poor Goo.

Side Note/Parting Thoughts: Yes, that’s a 20 foot bouncy house. Yes, great-grandma J made every little person who attended the party their very own Batman cape. Yes, we were accused of going overboard, and no, we don’t care. Really, how many times do you turn 2? And why do we have this big backyard if we can’t invite 50 people over? 

The Big 0-2!

I cannot believe that Goo will be 2 in 10 days. Where did the time go? He is SO MUCH FUN right now – this is such a goofy age. Here are some of Goo’s latest “stats:”

• Goo repeats constantly. He’s got a great start on his vocabulary, but we’ve got a ways to go. In the meantime, he tries to tell us what he wants, and if we don’t get it, he’ll physically pull on our shirt/arm/legs to show us what he wants. He certainly knows how to get his point across!
• He’s still in 2T/3T clothes, and has been now for almost a year. I didn’t think he’d ever slow down, but as he’s stretched out and become more and more (and more!) active, he’s stayed pretty steady, waist-wise. :)
• Goo’s fascinated with Batman, Yo Gabba Gabba!, trains, and horses. He loves this video, and could watch it for hours. The cute thing about Batman is he’s picked it up solely from the “big boys” at daycare, he’s never seen a cartoon or movie. He has 4 Batman shirts and wants to wear them every day. We do let him watch Gabba and “toons” periodically, particularly at night, when we’re trying to get him to wind down (always easier said than done)!
• He loves horsy rides, any and all forms of chasing or being chased, and wrestling daddy and Henry whenever possible. He’s a busy, busy boy and we honestly can’t take our eyes off of him for 10 seconds. If we do, we find sippy cups in the garbage, lipstick in the toilet, and toys in the fridge.
• Goo loves to talk on the phone. His Grandmas (or “Ammas,” as he says) are very good at entertaining Goo via phone, and have both figured out how to get a “Laaa You, Amma” out of him, on command. He also likes to talk to Cammi, which is super cute.
• He has gone on the potty a couple of times, but doesn’t show any real interest in learning at this point. We’re not pushing it, we just bring it up periodically, and humor him if he wants to try. Slowly but surely, we’ll ease him into it …
• Goo’s gotten 2 haircuts, the first of which was in Devils Lake in February, and just recently, by Grandma D.

We went tonight to take Goo’s 2 year pics, and are hoping to have lots of cute photos to post, soon. I will admit that the picture taking has seriously slowed since Poppy has come into the picture and has kept Mama on the couch for much of the time. I’m hoping that the morning sickness will let up a bit and I can get back to my normal mamma-ratzi self soon. :)

Last week, my work sent me to Phoenix, AZ for a 3 day leadership conference. The conference itself was an amazing experience, and as usual – they put me up in fantastic digs:

http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/PHXFVDT-Doubletree-Guest-Suites-Phoenix-Arizona/index.do

I’d never been to Phoenix before, and quickly learned that Phoenix in June is similar to Fargo in February – you’re outside as little as humanly possible.
I look forward to visiting again on a family vacation, in the dead of winter.