Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday.

POD was delivered yesterday and unloaded. Still need to go some serious organization. Samuel is very curious about the baby toys. We are telling him he is a little too big to sit in the bouncy seat, but he has tried twice and flipped it over on the side. He needs to get that out of his system before the baby comes.

The baby furniture looks beautiful. I won't post pictures until I get the bedding and everything in the room. That will probably be soon, since I am getting our new washer and dryer today. I am soooo excited for that.

I am so happy that my parents were in town yesterday with all the stuff being delivered and to deal with Samuel. He was a royal pain in the ass. We have been stuck in this house way to much with the cold weather and he is going crazy. To make things worse, I was feeling terrible. My belly was killing me yesterday. I think the baby must be growing because it pushed so much on my stomach and I was in pain most of the day. Today I feel so much better, but I think I grew a ton more. I can't believe only 6 weeks left. The time is really flying.

Hopefully today we will get out of the house. I think everyone is going stir crazy.

Exciting Day

Today we are going to be pretty busy. We get our POD back, so we have to unload that, it comes in about an hour in a half. We are going to have so much junk back in our house.

Then we get the baby furniture. I am so excited.

Then tomorrow we are getting a new washer and dryer. I started to notice that we was taking two cycles for the dryer to dry all the clothes and it was wasting time and energy. We went and looked at different dryers at Home Depot and Sears. If anyone is in the market for a new washer and dryer, Sears will match any lower price and then give you 10% of the difference between their price and the better price you found. Home Depot just matches the lower price. Anyway, American had the lower price by about $150.00 on both the washer and dryer, so we got a great discount.

I will post pictures of everything once I get it situated.

Busy Busy.

Snow Snow

It finally started snowing today. I think we are going to get a inch. At least we can go play with Samuel outside in the snow today. That should be fun. The weather has been cold and rainy.

My parents came in town on Wednesday night. They were worried about the weather getting really terrible and Tulsa. Thank goodness they came when they did because it snowed a ton in Tulsa and the roads were not good.

I haven't posted in a while so here is a little update on everything.

On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Dave was having some serious side pains and was really worried about having an appendicitis attack. He went from work to the emergency room and then Samuel and I met him there. They checked for everything and made sure it wasn't his appendix or his gall bladder. He had lots of tests done and they couldn't figure out if anything was really wrong, so they gave him some pain pills and sent him home. He has been feeling much better since Wednesday.

My parents got in Wednesday night and then we have just been relaxing and barely leaving the house since Thursday. I think today we are going to head to the mall just to get out of the house.

We had a very nice and relaxing Christmas. Samuel gets so excited to open gifts. Here are some pictures from the last few days.

I was in the kitchen doing something and I walked out and saw him watching TV and eating on our ottoman:

Here he is after opening one of his Thomas the Train videos (which by the way still completely suck. I hate those videos, but he is completely obsessed.):

He got a golf set from Savta and Papa and Dave loved it just as much as Samuel. Dave was teaching Samuel how to hit the golf ball and he loved it:

Savta and Samuel:

Christmas Eve dinner:

I hate this picture of me but it shows how obsessed Samuel is with my belly:

Spicy Food

I know I have said it before, but this baby loves spicy food. Last night Dave and I worked out at the gym and then ate at the restaurant. I got chicken and sausage gumbo. I didn't expect it to be so spicy, but it had some serious heat. Samuel ate some and he liked it, but could only handle a few bites. I ate about half of it and Dave ate the rest, but it was super good and spicy. I expected that I would be up a lot in the middle of the night because it might have upset the baby, but I only got up once to go pee. The baby barely kicked and moved. I think I need to start eating more spicy foods, so I can get some rest at night.

It is cold and wet here and we may get some snow on Christmas. That would be nice to see. Dave works a half day on Thursday, so we are just going to relax and hang out. My parents are coming in town sometime on Friday.

I am off to start my day.

Early Christmas

We had a very busy weekend. Oma, Opa, Aunt Melissa and Jacob came in town for the weekend from Michigan. We were celebrating Christmas early so we could all be together.

The beginning of last week was super busy with Samuel being sick and then I baked up a storm. I made pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, vanilla and chocolate gooey butter cookies, pumpkin bread and fudge. That was all just for the weekend. We ate so much food and had our Christmas dinner on Friday night.

It was really amazing to see how excited Samuel got to open his gifts. We mostly took videos of him opening gifts, however I did get a few pictures. He almost couldn't contain himself he was so excited. It was like he couldn't open the gifts fast enough. He is just now rediscovering all the toys he actually got.

It was a very wonderful family weekend and although we didn't really leave the house much, it sure felt like we were super busy. The house is so quiet today with Samuel in Mother's Day Out and everyone gone. Kind of strange.

We finally got a really good picture of the three of us for our holiday cards, so I will be sending those out today (hopefully).

Also, on Saturday we decided to hit the mall and to see if we could get a picture of Samuel and Jacob with Santa. Based on Samuel's first reaction to Santa I wasn't really expecting him to cooperate. The line was pretty long at the mall, so Samuel was able to walk around and get a lot of looks at Santa before we actually went up to him. Once it was our turn to go up, Dave was holding onto Samuel and he started to freak out, but luckily Dave was patient and eased him from the stool, to the arm on the chair to Santa's lap. Once Samuel was on his lap I think he thought he was sitting on a big huge warm pillow, because he just leaned back and snuggled in. It was really cute. I got a few pictures from the side view, but the picture that they actually took with Santa was great. Maybe I will try to scan it and post it later. (Not really sure how to do that on my printer downstairs, so we will see).

The weekend ended nicely and now a whole new week has started. I can't believe it is the end of December already. I don't really have that much longer to go before this next baby comes. Today we are getting Samuel and the baby room painted. So far it looks great. On the 28th we get the baby furniture delivered. Once the room is set up I will post pictures. I can't wait.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Samuel opening up one of his gifts:

Dave being ridiculous:

I love this picture because it just makes me laugh:

Family photo time:

Last night of Hanukkah. I look like a fat cow in the picture, but whatever:

This is a cute picture of the three of us, but not the one we are using for our holiday card:

Another family picture:

Oma, Opa and the boys:

Side view of Samuel, Jacob and Santa:

Busy Sleepless Weekend

This past weekend we were really busy. Friday night we had Dave's work Christmas party. It was at Kemoll's downtown. The room had a great view of downtown St. Louis, but the actual room was super small for the amount of people. The food wasn't very tasty and overall I wasn't very impressed. However, they served Tiramisu for dessert. I normally hate Tiramisu because it is normally mushy and the texture is gross, but they served the best Tiramisu I have ever had. The lady fingers were still normal texture (spongy and firm) and the chocolate and whip cream toppings were light and delicious. That was the best part of the evening.

Then Saturday, we went shopping most of the day and got tons of baby stuff. We still have a few more bigger things to get, but we got the most important things, like the crib mattress and changing table mattress. I ended up finding bedding that wasn't at Restoration Hardware, even though I LOVE their stuff. I got a plush cream bedding set by American Baby. I think it will look great and it is very neutral.

Saturday evening Samuel started to really cough a lot. He was cranky all day and just never snapped out of his bad mood. He didn't sleep at all on Saturday night and then Sunday the coughing continued. My Dad was in town visiting with my brother and Laura, so we met them for brunch on Sunday. Samuel did fine then and it just went downhill. He coughed the entire time he was trying to take a nap and he really didn't sleep at all and then Sunday night he also didn't sleep.

I was to get a babysitter yesterday morning because I had a doctor's appointment and I didn't want to drag Samuel along. My OB appointment was in the morning. I have gained 28 pounds so far, which is great considering at this point in my pregnancy with Samuel I had gained 40 pounds (12 pound difference at this point). I asked the nurse practitioner for all my numbers because I am just curious. The baby was active and head down already. The heartbeat was in the 140s. The nurse practitioner thinks I am having a girl. She doesn't have any information about my ultrasound, but she is guessing girl. I am still completely unsure. I think we have settled on names for the baby. The boy name is still libel to change, if we hear something that changes our mind from what we picked.

So after my doctor's appointment yesterday, I took Samuel to the doctor. He has just a virus. He gets a lot of chest colds (which is what I got a lot of when I was a kid too). When he gets his chest colds he develops asthma. The doctor gave him a breathing treatment in his office, but it didn't work well at all. I had to fight Samuel for 10 minutes to keep the stupid mask on his face. He probably got a total of 3 minutes of stuff. It helped a little bit, but not enough for the doctor to feel convinced that he needed to prescribe him the medication and the breathing treatments. Since Samuel hasn't had a fever or anything, the doctor said to just let the virus run its course. Luckily Samuel slept all night last night and is still sleeping. He coughed a bit, but slept right through it. We all got a good night sleep last night.

We will probably be staying in today because the high is only 30 degrees. Burr.

Here are some pictures from the past few weekends (I have been bad at posting):

Samuel and Uncle Jonathan playing peek-a-boo and reading:

Samuel getting ready to go to the Woman's Place Christmas Party:

Trying to wear his dad's shoes:

His new thing is to put his hands in his pocket:

First night of Hanukkah, he was pretty excited about the candles and still gets really excited when we light them:

First Hanukkah gift, a vacuum cleaner. He LOVED it:

He vacuumed the upstairs and downstairs as soon as he got this:

Right Side of the Bed and Happy Hanukkah

I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. I feel so much better then I have the last few days. I got much better sleep and I just feel 100 times better. It is still freezing around here, but I made our house nice and warm, so I am feeling so much better.

I have been doing phone CLEs (Continuing Legal Education) for the past couple of weeks in the afternoons and I had my last one that I signed up for yesterday. I still need to do a few more to get all my credits, but I have until July of 2010. I wanted to get as much done as possible before the baby comes. It is a relief to get them done. I need 7 more hours.

Yesterday we went to the Magic House for story time and the kids had a great time running around and playing. Samuel didn't really listen to the book. He enjoyed running around the room and Taylor enjoyed entertaining the baby that was sitting next to her. They read a really short book that only took about 10 minutes and then they sang Jingle Bells and then Santa showed up. Samuel freaked out. He hasn't been that close to a Santa and he was not interested. He stayed attached to me and screamed if I tried to get him to go sit by Santa. He wouldn't even really look at the guy. When Santa was leaving Samuel waved bye and was instantly in a better mood when Santa left. When I was a kid, my parents said that I was frightened of Santa too. He must get that from me. Andrea posted some pictures on her blog, so take a look.

I thought it was nice that Magic House had Santa come, but a part of me was pissed off too. I mean the Magic House is not religiously associated with anything and then they have Santa show up at an open story time. That annoyed me, especially because Hanukkah starts today! Of course I want Samuel to experience everything, including seeing Santa and maybe sitting on his lap, but to assume that every kid in the room celebrates Christmas really annoys me. That is my little bitching for the day.

On a happy note, Happy Hanukkah to everyone. We are lighting our first candles tonight and Samuel is going to get his first gift.

I have been meaning to post about how time out is working for us and I just keep forgetting, so here it is. Right after Samuel bit that girl in Mother's Day out we started being really strict with him about following the rules and listening to us. He was starting to get a little wild. For about two or three weeks (until right before Thanksgiving), we were telling him no and putting him in time out for a minute and a half if he didn't listen to us. It has worked wonders. I don't think we have put him in time out at all since right before Thanksgiving. Now all we have to say is that if he does something one more time he is going in time out and he completely stops. It is amazing. I am a big fan of time outs now. He screams and cries when we do put him in time out, but doesn't continue the bad behavior. Pretty cool. We are continuing to be really strict with rules and listening to us and Samuel is behaving better and better.

Okay, I am off. Have a wonderful weekend!

The need to Nest

My phone is up and working now. I have input all the phone numbers that people have sent me and I think I am good. I just need to add all of our doctors information.

I am freezing cold. It is like zero degrees outside and I am so cold. I think the cold has contributed to my extreme irritableness (I guess that is a word). Last night I just got super cranky. I thought I was hungry, but it stayed with me all night and now that I am up this morning, I am feeling cranky again. I was cooking dinner last night and Samuel wanted an apple, so I was cutting it up for him and I don't know what he did, but it made me mad and I snapped at him. I don't usually yell at him or really even raise my voice, so he completely lost it crying. I felt really terrible and Dave gave me a look like I was out of line snapping at him, but I have to say I am having a hard time controlling my angry tendencies. I just want to be mean. My goal is to try to be calmer and relaxed.

So right now I am drinking a cup of really yummy hot chocolate and trying to relax before Samuel gets up. I already showered and I am dressed and I turned the heat way up in the house, so I could get warm.

Today Samuel and I (with Taylor and Andrea) are going to story time at the Magic House. We have to get out of our house and do something in this cold weather. Yesterday we stayed in most of the day because it was so windy and freezing.

Now that we are not moving, I am making lists of things we need to do around the house. This weekend is going to be super busy with organizing and cleaning out things. We are probably going to do a lot of shopping also. We need to head to Babies R Us for lots of stuff. I found some great crib sheets at Restoration Hardware Baby, but we are going to check a few more places before I just order those. I am getting so excited to start preparing for the baby. Lots to do.

Not only am I staying up awake at night because I am thinking about everything that needs to be done, but the baby is just so active at night. The last two nights have been okay, but it moves and kicks really hard at least three times in the middle of the night waking me up and causing me to run to the bathroom because it is sitting directly on my bladder. Overall this pregnancy has been pretty easy and I really hate to say this, but I have enjoyed being pregnant (okay, kill me now). Now I am just getting uncomfortable. I am trying to limit the amount of times that I pick up and hold Samuel. He is just really heavy and it puts pressure on my stomach and back.

Okay, this post is getting too long and boring, so I am going to go for now.

I got my new phone in the mail today. Tomorrow I have an appointment at Sprint to activate it and then I have to plug in all the phone numbers and I am set. Two days without a cell phone just sucks.

The weather here is disgusting. It is cold and wet. I wish it were snowing, at least it would look much prettier. It is just nasty out.

We took our house off the market. It is kind of depressing. We really wanted to be in a new house when this second baby came, but our house is fine. This weekend we are going to be doing some serious reorganization in the closet and basement before we get our storage POD back and have to empty it out. I am really excited about getting things ready for the baby though. I am not going to go all out with decorating the nursery and putting up wall decals because I don't anticipate staying in this house really that long. We will put it back on the market in the spring and I want to keep things really simple. We are going to paint the room and have Samuel's room repainted. I can't wait to do the little things.

I am feeling so tired lately. At night, the baby just doesn't stop moving. I was up from 12:30 to 3:30. Then I finally got in a comfortable position and fell back asleep until around 7:15 or so. This baby is just preparing for its arrival.

I have an issue and I need advice. Samuel has been peeing so much at night that he leaks through his diaper every single night. This morning his entire pj's were soaked and I had to throw him in the bath right away. We tired a bigger sized diaper, then we bought the overnight diapers, but he still leaks. Last night he was a peeing machine. He spent a good 15 to 20 minutes peeing on the potty and he wasn't just going a little. He barely drank anything before he went to bed and he was soaked this morning. Then right before I threw him in the bathtub, he peed a ton in his potty again. That was after sleeping for about 12 hours and not having any liquid. We don't really know what to do. He doesn't really drink much at night after dinner, it is like he stores his pee all day in order to let loose at night. Any suggestions?

I am off to try to finish Dave's stocking. It is the never ending stocking.

Trouble

So my phone is completely dead. It eroded on the inside. Have no idea how that happened. Anyway if you read my blog and I call you, then send me your phone numbers because I have nothing. They weren't able to retrieve anything because the phone will not turn on at all. I am screwed. I know no ones number. I am getting a new phone in about 3 days and I am going to be lost without mine.

I am feeling very stressed and annoyed. I guess it is a good thing I don't have anyones numbers and no one can get a hold of me because I am bitchy and mean right now.

I am going to take a hot shower and try to relieve some stress.

Great Monday

Here is a run down of what Monday is like so far:

1. Someone is coming to see our house at 10 (Keep your fingers crossed). If we don't sell it this week we are taking it off the market.

2. My cell phone completely broke last night. It won't even turn on, so I have to spend my afternoon at Sprint.

3. I am so tired. I was up a lot of the night being kicked and uncomfortable.

I have a long list of things to do and complaints that I could make, but I am just going to start my day and hopefully things will start looking up.

Holiday Time

It is really beginning to feel like the holiday season to me. I really just want to shop and bake. When December 1st hit, I really started to freak out. We only have a little over 2 months before the next baby comes. This pregnancy has really flown by and I am starting to freak out. We have nothing ready.

If we don't sell our house in the next week or so we are taking it off the market. That will make me feel much less stressed. I want to feel settled and ready when this baby comes and right now I don't. We have a lot to do in this house and especially if we end up moving. We will see how the next week goes.

On the baby front, this baby has become extremely active and mostly at night. It starts moving right after dinner and then doesn't stop until around 2 or 3 in the morning. It isn't really kicking super hard (yet), but it just doesn't stop moving. The foot is sitting on my right side and it moves up and down the side of my belly. I am pretty sure the head is either down or stuck on my left side. I don't get that much activity on my left side. I think it is in a strange position right now. I wish it would adjust just a little bit. Starting Monday I think I began having some Braxton-Hicks contractions. I have just a few a day, but when I have these contractions my back also hurts at the same time. My next doctors appointment is on the 14th, so I am sure a lot will change by that time.

The Spaghetti with Homemade Meatballs turned out great. I made wheat rigatoni pasta and surprisingly Samuel ate a ton of it. He doesn't like to eat bread, pasta, potatoes all the most yummy things. But he inhaled the wheat pasta. It was a pretty easy recipe, but for some reason it took me about an hour to prep and then another hour to cook it all.

Speaking of food, I am starving now. I am going to eat some breakfast before Samuel wakes up.

Potty Time and Food Time

I know the caption above doesn't really go together, but Potty Time and Food Time are the two things that have consumed my life for the past 48 hours.

Since were out of town last week, I didn't really do much cooking. Even though we didn't eat out much, I have been wanting some home cooking.

I have been making some pretty yummy stuff.

Sunday: Stir Fry Veggies with Brown Rice

Monday: Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Brown Rice and Fresh Green Beans

Tonight: Homemade Meatballs and Whole Wheat Pasta, Spinach Salad and Bread with Goat Cheese, Fresh Thyme and Honey (you put the goat cheese and thyme on the bread and drizzle with honey and then broil it in the oven. It is delicious).

I have never made homemade meat balls before. If they taste good tonight I will post the recipe.

I haven't decided what I am going to make the rest of the week, but when I do I will post it.

On the potty front, Samuel has been going pee pee in the potty (and doing his dance) almost everyday. I never ask him if he wants to go, he just pats his pants and says Mom and then runs to the bathroom. He has a potty seat in the downstairs bathroom that sits on top of the regular toilet and then a little potty in his upstairs bathroom. He gets so excited to go. I am letting him take the lead. I don't want to put any pressure on him to go. Today he was going so much and he threw a fit when I tried to put a diaper on him. So I asked him if he wanted his Big Boy underwear (they are just cotton training underwear). He got so excited and went straight to the dresser where I keep them. I took some pictures because he was super happy with himself:

I told him to try to tell me when he needed to go potty and he did, but only after he had gone potty in the underwear. No big deal except I only have two pairs. So when he peed in both of them I wanted to throw them in the washer. He wasn't happy at all, until I told him that they would be clean by the time he woke up from his nap. He put them in the washing machine and was satisfied.

I was in a picture taking mood today, so here are a few more of Samuel: