Number 8

This post is number 8 for April which means I've met my blogging goal every month so far like I resolved to do this year. Yay for me!

I went to the doctor last Wednesday for my now weekly check-up. If you are wondering where I am on a Wednesday afternoon, that is where I'll be for the next few weeks. Everything is continuing to go very well. Last time, my doctor was concerned about how large I was measuring at this point with Rex and I'm even a little bigger at 36 weeks this time around. I had to do an ultrasound to see how big Rex was and he was big, but he didn't get much bigger after this point. My doctor thinks this is probably going to be the same way- that there won't be much more growth between now and delivery- so we are holding off on an ultrasound for now. We talked about it and she offered to let me do one but there wasn't much to be gained or anything she would do differently so I decided to pass. My insurance company probably thanks me for saving them a few hundred dollars. As my doctor was leaving the exam room, I told her, "See you next Wednesday" and she told me, "See you then- or call us if you go into labor!" Yikes. I honestly have not even thought about that. I had to be induced last time and we've just been planning on doing it that way again and I forgot that I could actually go into labor. It seems a little weird to me to have a baby that way since my only experience was not like that. I just think you show up to the hospital at your scheduled time with your suitcase, get checked in and settled and then start your labor and have a baby. As long as this baby doesn't come before Rob's parents get here, I'm fine with whatever way he decides to make his entrance!

We have a lot to do this weekend. The biggest item on my agenda is to get someone to help us move furniture around so I can get the baby's room set up. Other than that, I'd like to get a few things planted in the back yard and some work done out there. But getting the house and the bedrooms in order and making this place ready for the baby is my main concern right now. I need to get stuff out of the basement too- the bassinet, carseat, suitcase and make sure all that is ready to go. There is still a lot to do and only 19 days left!!

35 Weeks, 1 Day

Here's a picture I took of myself last Thursday, when I was 35 weeks and 1 day along.



Things are going okay. I got a massage this weekend to help with the nonstop headaches and they are gone now. It helped a lot with my hips too but after picking up Rex for a day or two, they are screwed up again. I try not to pick him up so much but I have to get him on the changing table, in his highchair, in the car seat, etc, so it is impossible to just not pick him up. Just a few days left to go so I can make it. I think.

You can see my new haircut in the picture above. I am so glad I finally got it cut and I really like the style. I hadn't gotten my hair cut in almost a year- yikes. The girl that cut my hair got married and moved away last May and I just kept putting off finding anyone else. I couldn't take it anymore so I called the salon she used to work at to schedule with someone else and was so, so, so excited when they told me she was back. She still lives a few hours away but she works at the salon 1 day a week. I styled it horribly the first time but I have the hang of it now.

It hasn't been too exciting for us lately. We should probably be doing more baby preparation than we are but it will all work out fine. The weather has been cool and rainy so we have all been stuck inside a lot. Besides the good news with my hair and the massage, I know this post is kind of a bummer. I am just ready to be done with being pregnant, and if not that, at least be outside in some good weather.

Hardworkin' Man

As promised, this post is about my wonderful husband. I love you honey!

Rob was a busy guy this weekend. When he got home Friday night after work, he mowed the yard for the first time in 2010.



Then he watched Rex for a while and fed him dinner while I went to get my hair cut. (That's a story- and a picture- for another time though.) We all played in the backyard for a while when I got home and called it a night not too much after that. Saturday morning, we went to a big festival thing in the area. The idea was to get there during the parade, watch part of it and then find some yummy food to eat. Since we got there as the parade was going on, we didn't get a very good spot to watch it. Luckily, Rex has a very tall daddy and he could still see things pretty good from where we were.



The next item on the agenda was eating. The big thing to get, that special food that everyone just has to have, is a cherry pie. I don't ever have to have cherry pie (yuck) no matter where I am so Rob and Rex shared one.



It is tempting to let you all think I was just being good and avoided the sweets but that would be a lie. I hit up the homemade ice cream stand and also bought a small bag of homemade fudge to bring home. We didn't stay as long as I thought we would- I have been having a lot of pain in my lower back and I didn't want to walk around any longer. Anyhow, we came back home and Rob had another first for 2010- he went out to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls. I wasn't really up for cooking dinner that night so we got some takeout and watched the ridiculously long (20 innings!) Mets-Cardinals game on tv. Yesterday we did a lot of work in the backyard while Rex ran around and had fun in the sunshine. We also cleaned up our bike shop (3 season room) since it tends to get thrashed during the winter. We spent a good amount of time fixing it up last summer and wanted it to look good again and be usable this summer as well. Finally, since Rob had worked on his swing over the weekend, it was time for him to help Rex with his putting. Rex did MUCH better than I was expecting- as in, he actually hit it. His technique could use a little help but not bad for his first time!



My one suggestion for next time though would be to work on the putting outside rather than inside the house. It was a busy weekend where we had a lot of fun and also got a lot accomplished.

Change of Scenery

Rex and I are back at our walks now everyday and sometimes the same old route gets a little boring. Last year I tried a path around a park and Rex hated it (I think because it all looked the same) and I have been nervous to try anything else ever since. When we did that path, it was a 3 mile loop and once you were on it, there was no shortcut to get back to your car. You could turn around but we were about halfway through when he started losing it. Yesterday I decided to take him to some botanical gardens and walk around there. We have a membership so it's free and we could leave whenever we needed to. There wasn't much in the gardens to look at yet except for some tulips and daffodils but it was still nice to just be outside in the sunshine. And I was checking out all their pruning to see what I needed to do at home- fun and educational.

We were just about the only people there so I let him get out and walk for a while, rather than ride in the stroller.


I think he was having a good time!


The 15-foot gnome is a new addition for this year.


The gardens.

Lookin' Like A Fool With Your Pants On The Ground

Rex is now at the wonderful stage where he has discovered he can remove his own pants. It was a few months ago that he first took his shirt off but now he has realized he can take the pants off too. The diaper has come off a time or two as well but he is usually caught before that happens. Yesterday, I beat him at his own game though. Here he is.





I am sure he will figure out a way to get the overalls off too but they work great for now! I told Rob he is wearing that outfit every day until he forgets about pulling down his pants.

Not that this is all that exciting, but I got a funny series of shots of Rex last night as he was sitting in one of the baskets his toys are stored in.

Climbing in...


Looking cute, sitting nicely in basket...


Oh, but guess what happens when you start rocking the basket back and forth too much!


Lots of Rex pictures this time- I'm sure the grandparents will all love this post! I'm going to the doctor for one of my many check-ups in just a few minutes so the next post will probably be all about me and the new baby. I should probably think of something to write about that wonderful husband of mine- I just realized a lot of the posts are about Rex, then me and the baby but not too many about Rob.

Twin Cities Trip

Last Friday, Rob, Rex and I headed up to the Twin Cities. Rob left work a few hours early so we got there right around dinner time. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn this time rather than the Radisson where we usually stay. All the room prices for the Radisson were really high- I guess they had something big going on that they could get away with gouging people. Anyhow, the Hilton was in a good location, the breakfast was really good but the room was smaller than the Radisson's rooms. Not too big of a deal except Rex had a lot of wiggles to get out after the long car ride and we all would have appreciated some more square footage. We ate at an Olive Garden restaurant that was close to the hotel. We don't have one close to us so it had been a long time since I ate at an Olive Garden and those breadsticks are still as good as I remember! We went to the Golf Galaxy store after that- oh yay!- and then headed back to our hotel. I didn't take too many pictures on the trip but here is Rex sleeping in another Eastern European orphanage-style crib at the hotel.



I decided to go with the hotel crib rather than bring our pack and play since he doesn't fit in the pack and play anymore. As it turned out, he barely fit in that crib! Yikes. We will have to remember not to stay in any hotels until he can sleep in a bed. Saturday morning, we had a great breakfast at the hotel. It had an extensive buffet with hot food made-to-order so it was way better than most places with their offerings of yogurt, a muffin and maybe a packet of instant oatmeal you can mix with hot water. Stuffed with our yummy breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and we headed to....



IKEA! I was checking on their store hours Friday morning before we left and I discovered that they were having a grand reopening celebration that weekend as they had just completed 6 months of remodeling their showroom. Rob's response? "Oh good. At least it won't be busy this weekend!" Uh, oops. So, yes, it was quite busy there so we just went around and grabbed our stuff quickly (that means it took 2 hours instead of the usual 4!). We got some things for when we redo Rex's room this summer and I picked out some shelves (we got the black-brown color) for the living room and a new planter for the front porch. The most exciting purchase was this chair cover that we got for $5!! Our chair desperately needed a cover but I could never bring myself to pay $50 for one. Yay for sales and 90% off! We were on the road out of town around 12:30 pm. There is an outlet mall right around the Iowa-Minnesota border that I always want to stop at but it seems we never have the time. Since we were quicker than usual at IKEA, we finally had a chance to stop. We looked for golf shoes for Rob at the Nike outlet (no luck) and got some shoes for Rex at Old Navy. We left there and drove a short while before stopping for a late lunch. It was a nice, but quick, trip before the baby gets here and we are stuck at home for a while. And it was nice to be home Saturday evening and still have Sunday to relax and do some work around the house before Rob had to go back to work today.

Rex's Twin

Here is my child. Unfortunately he has a weird look on his face but I chose this photo mainly because of what he has on.



Here is another little boy who is not my child but he looks a LOT like him! Rob and I both had to look at the picture twice to make sure that it wasn't our kid.



My mom saw the photo of the other little boy in their newspaper and she sent it to me. Sorry it is a scanned newspaper photo and the quality is terrible. Nanette mentioned to me about a month or so ago that the little boy on the front of her Parents magazine looked just like Rex and I am now wondering if it is the same kid. That kid is getting a lot of work- maybe he could use some help from another kid who looks just like him? Or maybe they could play twins or share a job on a tv show? Or not. But it is pretty crazy to come across another little boy who looks so much like Rex!

Easter Weekend Recap

Our weekend absolutely flew by! I had a huge list of things I wanted to get done and I think the only thing that was accomplished was some of the landscaping work. We were busy all the time so I don't know what happened or where all the time went. Now that spring is here, there is so much to do both inside and outside the house- taking down storm windows, tons of yard work and many other things I either didn't have to deal with in California or it was a lot less work. And then we have some preparation still to do before the new kid's arrival so there is a lot going on here at our house.

I went out Saturday morning to get stuff for Rex's Easter basket. Not smart waiting so late but I couldn't take him with me so it was hard to find a good time to go. I got the favorite Easter candies for Rob (the original Cadbury creme eggs and Whoppers Robin Eggs) and me (Cadbury mini eggs and Starburst jelly beans) and picked up some good presents for Rex so it was a successful trip as it turned out. Sunday morning I put the basket together and gave it to him with our yummy breakfast- waffles with whipped cream and strawberries!



I put all the candy in the basket but Rob and I will be eating that, not Rex. He did just fine so don't feel too bad for the guy. He got a new book with Elmo in it, a bottle of bubbles (which he loved!) and a See & Say. I still have my See & Say from when I was a kid but I don't really want him to play with it. It may have made it through my childhood and 30+ years on this planet, but I don't know that it could handle Rex. He had a good time playing with the See & Say, empty Easter bucket and plastic eggs for the rest of the day.



I had an interesting development recently- it seems I may have some pregnancy-induced restless leg syndrome. So weird! I always thought it sounded like a pretty silly condition but it is not silly or funny. It's really irritating. I feel like I have to move my legs or they will just explode or something. Like I said, it is really weird. I did a little internet checking (not always the most reliable source, I know) and read on some pregnant mommy forums that a lot of other pregnant women experience the same thing and found that iron supplements or calcium and magnesium supplements made it go away. I started taking my prenatal vitamins a little before bedtime (when I was having so much trouble) and it seems to have fixed the problem for now. I will still talk to my doctor next week about it but at least I can get some relief until then.