Connor & Daddy's Weekend Away

I stayed home over the holiday weekend to rest, but Connor and Dada drove out to Indianapolis to see the family.  They left Thursday night after dinner and sent me a pic of Connor wearing my sunglasses and his dino jammies in the car.

They impressed me when they sent me photos and a video of Connor riding a bike all by himself!

Connor and cousin Grady took a couple boat rides and caught some fish!

I heard he was scared of the boat at first, but he quickly warmed up and loved driving the boat with Grandpa!

Connor-isms

After our first night of playing outside after dinner:
Connor: We had fun!


Help me blow my dinner


What dis is?


When we told him he was going to Grandma & Grandpa's tomorrow after school:
Connor: I wanna stay home with Mama!
[heart melted]


I eat it all!


I share my pirate puzzle with baby.


Kitty, look at my car!


Me: What do you like to play with Mama?
Connor: I need to fix my pants.


[brakes on a car squealing]
Connor: That's a birdie!

[pointing to a case of Bud Light at Walmart]
Connor: Mama, I need this.

Me: Mama has an owie (contraction)
Connor: You go to the doctor?

Our Week

Dada had basketball practice on Tuesday, so I bravely decided to take a walk to the park since it was so nice out.  Connor loved watching the older boys play baseball through the fence.  That's going to be him playing before we know it!

He took his first real ride on a "big kid" swing and he loved it!

On Wednesday, I took him to tumbling.  All the pics turned out blurry because he was a ball of energy, but I got one as we put our shoes on to leave.  He did awesome and got 2 stickers from the teacher!

The photo isn't very good, but I had to snap a pic when he ran over to the Bud Light box at Walmart and said, "Mama, I need this."  Where does he get this stuff?

35 weeks

Another week done! 35 & 35 has passed and I'm almost at 36 weeks now!  It really is starting to feel like it could happen any time too.  I'm trying to finish up a lot of things at work and get everything at home ready.  I started working on a hospital bag and have a list put together now.

I'm guessing it won't be for a few more weeks, but I'm starting to get little urges that it could happen.
Last night at dinner, I started getting more regular contractions and they hurt a little.  I didn't record them, but luckily, they stopped after a bit and things calmed down.  I've been resting all weekend in bed to keep my feet from swelling and to keep the contractions down.  The swelling is RIDICULOUS now.  It shocks me how each day is worse than the one before and it's starting to get painful to even walk or drive by the end of a long day because the skin is so stretched.  I'm starting to see it a little in my fingers, so I'm guessing I don't have much longer with my rings.  I really would love to keep them on the whole time, but it's not looking good at this point.

I'm trying to make an effort to start eating a little better if I can.  I'm already heavier than I was when Connor was born :( I know my health issues contributed to this and it's not all my fault, but it kinda sucks.  I'm getting a little more into fruit and salads like I was at the beginning, so that's a good start.  I'm kind of prepping my brain for the fact that I have 1 month left before I really will need to start eating better and I'm actually excited to be able to get outside and take walks.  On a beautiful day like today, it kills me that I have to sit inside in bed!

There are now those bad days when I'm starting to feel so sick and tired like I remember at the end from last time.  I know it's coming where I can't even keep my eyes open, but I hope that holds off for a bit!  I'm really, really pushing to slow down at work and I worked super hard during the last week to get things done in case it does happen soon.


I think I'm starting to be mentally ready for this to happen soon.  It still feels surreal, but I think I can handle it at this point without being completely in shock.  It's still crazy that I'm going to be the mom of TWO kids.  When did I turn into a real adult? I love being Connor's mom and this is going to be a whole new journey with a baby girl to add to the family. 

Saturday night with Aunt Julie

On Saturday night, Dada and I went out for a special date night and grocery shopping and Connor spent some time with Aunt Julie.  He was very excited to use his new Lego mat and he somehow figured out how to zip himself inside it while we were gone!

I heard they also did some puzzles and played with play-doh.

He ate his spaghetti and watermelon for dinner (with a side of Cocoa Krispies).

When Connor woke up on Sunday morning, the first thing he said to me when I walked into his room was, "Where Aunt Julie?"

Our Week

Some play time with the boys after dinner

Talking on the phone and driving can be dangerous

Hanging out with Dada while watching basketball and snacking on pretzels

Reading his new favorite book about construction equipment!

I picked him up from daycare on Friday and spied on him from behind a cabinet.  His teacher said he was playing independently for a really long time that afternoon.

When he saw me, he showed me what he was working on!

We got a new Lego mat that folds into a box! He loves it!

Big Boy Bed = DONE

There's been a lot leading up to this momentous occasion!  On Sunday, we moved the crib into the baby's room and Connor helped set up his bed.  When it came time to nap, we tried to have him lay down in the big boy bed and he asked for the baby bed.  It took a little convincing from Dada, but he finally laid down.  I watched in the monitor for about 45 minutes while he moved around, played with some stuffed animals, and threw his pillow on the floor.  Finally, he passed out!

I love this new perspective with the monitor because I can really see what he's doing.  The angle with the crib was really hard to see, so we could mostly only see the top of his head.

Again, at bed time, we put him back in his big boy bed and he played a little until he fell asleep.  We put the baby gate up in his doorway, but he never even got out of bed!  Another milestone is done and I'm so happy it went better than I expected!

34 weeks

Feeling pretty big now...

My feet are disgusting and swelling, but I'm coping.  I got my nails done on Saturday and they actually didn't swell as much that day.  The doctor checked the protein in my urine and my BP because of the swelling, but everything is normal.  Good, but now I just have to deal with it for 5 more weeks.

The doctor also said I have the option of inducing at 39 weeks if I'm miserable because of all the issues I've been having.  I'm really not that big on inducing as of right now, but I might consider it if I feel horrible or go past 40 weeks.

Speaking of being miserable, my hip pain is horrible!  Since the baby moved down, my pain has moved to my upper thighs and lower hips, so we have to start all over again with PT.  I went on Tuesday, but it was hurting pretty bad by Thursday.  I've been taking Tylenol to help with the pain and so I can try to play with Connor and keep up with life.

A handful of people have all told me they think I'm going to go into labor early.  I'm not sure what to think about that and maybe I just look horrible and tired?  I'm going to go about another 2 weeks and then I'll start to get the hospital bag and things like that ready.  I don't have any feeling that it would happen earlier than that.

We worked a lot on the baby's room today, so we're almost done now.  We just need to hang up wall art and shelves and get the rest of the bedding on the crib once it's ironed.  I'm good on baby clothes at this point and the outfits for the hospital are washed and ready to go.

Cannot believe tomorrow is 35 & 35!

Mother's Day - Part 2

As usual, Connor got dressed up in an extra special outfit for a family celebration.

The hat completes the outfit!

Since it was such a nice day out, we took some family photos in the backyard.  Of course, everyone looks great except me who didn't shower or put makeup on.

Connor & his Nana and Papa

We played and ate appetizers outside before it started to rain.

When we opened gifts, Connor thought everything was for him (as usual) and he did get an awesome gift from Aunt Julie & Uncle Sam.  His gardening at daycare has paid off because he got super excited when he opened his new watering can and gardening tools!  We're not really into gardening, but he's been having fun filling the can with water and pouring it into the bathtub!

Mother's Day - Part 1

On Sunday morning, I woke up to a lovely bouquet of tulips and Connor coloring a card for me.  It was so cute how he knew exactly what to do! I was in bed and he started calling for me to come downstairs for flowers.  He grabbed a pen and started coloring the card before handing it to me.

He's getting very good at coloring!

I love my flowers and Dada did a good job picking them out.

He also made me cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

On Friday, when I opened the car door, I found this cute assortment of gifts from Connor that he brought home from daycare!

This is hilarious because we haven't played with play-doh since the winter!  At least it's art-related?

I love this so much!  You can see his famous eyelashes and it looks perfect on the shelf in the family room.

I finished up the flower pots for both Grandmas and Nana so we could bring them later in the day when we got together with family.

The saga of the big boy bed

We've been talking about the "big boy bed" for weeks.  Connor seemed to be excited when we talked about it, so on Saturday, we took him shopping to pick it out.  We also reminded him how he gets to ride the escalator, so he was even more excited!  No shame in the Elmo leash either...that's how we roll in our family.

After looking at a few different ones, Dada really pushed to get the one that converted to a twin bed and I gave in.  It's nice because it can be adjusted to 3 different lengths depending on how tall he is and how ready he is for the bed.  We packed up all our boxes and brought them home that night. (However, we did forget a piece, so I had to go back the next day to buy it.)

Since Connor loves helping Dada with his tools, they put the bed together on Sunday morning.  He helped me wash his new sheets and blanket too.  We kept asking him about his big boy bed and he would get a big smile and jump up and down. 

Nap time came quickly and we didn't get a chance to move the crib out of his room, so he had both in there.  He chose to sleep in his crib for his nap and bedtime on Sunday.  I'm sure it's probably more comforting for him to be in the crib at this point since he gets to pick.  I think we're going to move the crib out next weekend, so he can try out the bed when we have a little more time.

Another big milestone that came along with this was that his rocker got moved into the baby's room.  Connor loves to "rocky rocky" before he goes to sleep.  He went for almost a year with no rocking and then he somehow got back into it in the fall/winter.  He was a little upset that he didn't get to "rocky rocky," but we explained how he's a big boy and he will be sleeping like the big boys do.