Mug Shots

Get excited.  Here are photos of my photos.

The left mug is Travis' (obviously) and the right one is mine.  I use it every time I have coffee now!  Love it.

A Day at the Zoo

This past weekend was a three-day weekend for me because of President's Day.  It worked out perfectly with my dad being in town and staying at our house for the week.  (He's staying the next two weeks at Ariel's.)

We had beautiful sunny skies on Sunday so we headed to the Houston Zoo.  It was so much fun with Aiden this year.  He loved it!

Daddy went for a swim with piranhas.

Green iguana

Gpa is so helpful

Aiden saw these guys and wanted to go pet them.  Travis said he did too, but that they weren't allowed to.  Aiden then said he wanted to ride them.  Travis said he did too, but again, they weren't allowed to.  They don't get to do anything fun.

Giraffes in the African section



Cheese!



Aiden passed out on the ride home.  It was 2 pm by this point, so we decided to stop at a nursery on the way back.  Travis stayed in the car with Aiden while my dad and I went in to pick the brains of a few plant buffs.  Unfortunately, Aiden proceeded to wake up with an intense need to go potty.  He ended up having diarrhea in his Pull-up because the line was too long for the public restroom.  Poor guy was pretty upset about his accident, not to mention feeling crappy because of the diarrhea.  I think we kept him up too long and he ate too much crap (hot dog and popcorn) at the zoo.  I think we've raised Aiden to have an uppity colon.  Anything less than organic yogurt or hummus is not good enough for The Uppity Colon.

Third Trimester

I am 28 weeks today - the first day of my third trimester.

Ahhhhhhh!  This pregnancy is flying by SO quickly.  We have done nothing to prepare for the new arrival.  I am super looking forward to my baby shower this weekend (courtesy of my friends Alexa and Linsey).  I think it will help soothe my qualms a bit.  Plus, after that we'll have a better idea of what we have left to buy.

Our baby shower for Aiden was co-ed.  It was fun because Travis got to be a part of the whole baby thing for our first child.  This time around, we're doing a ladies-only party.  That means we can ooh and ahh over all the baby girl stuff without a guy constantly rolling his eyes at us.  YAY!!! 

I've started to have some mild nausea again, which is really freaking me out.  It hasn't really been bad enough to require medicating.  It's totally not worth the side-effects of the Zofran (Constipation City).  I did take one on Sunday because we had a day planned at the zoo.  I didn't want it to get in my way.  I regretted making that choice on Tuesday.  I should have prepared by drinking a liter of prune juice.  Hindsight.

I had my OB appointment yesterday (I start going every two weeks from here on out) and my doctor said, "Gain more weight!" again.  I've gained 11 lbs thus far.  I'm supposed to gain 20-25 the entire pregnancy and I still have three months left.  I'm not too worried.  I feel like I eat constantly, otherwise I might worry more.  I'm always hungry.  Plus, I have a sweet tooth like no other.  I eat dessert after lunch AND dinner, which I rarely did before.  I don't go overboard with each meal, but a cookie and a bowl of ice cream added to my daily regimen seems like it should be having more of an effect on my weight. 

I'm convinced my lack of severe weight gain is due to the fact that I never sit down.  I am constantly moving.  I don't usually lay down until between 9 and 10 at night.  I am on my feet all day at work.  Then when I get home, I'm making dinner, doing dishes, or some other form of cleaning around the house.  It never ends.  Whereas when I was pregnant with Aiden, I came home from a job that was a little more sedentary than this one and I would take a nap.  After nap time, we would have a late dinner.  During which I would sit for the entire meal.  Meals these days require getting up from the table a minimum of three times.  There's always something.  My how things have changed.

I have been debating about how I am going to handle my maternity leave.  Aiden's daycare is by my work, 15 miles south of our house.  Travis' work is 15 miles north of our house.  There is no way he could bring Aiden to daycare in the morning for me.  It seems like such a waste to drive to the island twice a day to bring Aiden to daycare, then go back home with Mila.  Not to mention the whole I-can't-drive-for-2-weeks-after-having-the-baby thing.  After a three-day weekend of being exhausted from this pregnancy and having Aiden at home with me, I came to this conclusion:

I am going to keep Aiden at home with me for the first two weeks while I can't drive.  We will get 50% off per week at the daycare, so that will help us out financially.  Plus, that's when I expect the most family to be in town to help with him.  Then starting that third week, I will bring him to daycare 3-4 days per week.  I don't plan to have him there as long as he is during a normal work week.  Unless that's how it works out with Mila's schedule, I suppose.  I also don't want Aiden to become unaccustomed to his daycare schedule.  It helps him to get there and play with his friends, run and play.  We'll see.  It's going to be rough, that's for sure. 

*************UPDATE**************

I just came across this post from 28 weeks with Aiden.

Brush With the Law

I know I've mentioned it before: Aiden has been waking up really early lately.  I'm going to make an effort to get him back in bed this weekend instead of letting him stay up the first time he comes into our room.  It's worth a try.  Saturday, he woke up at 5:30 and laid in bed with us for an hour before Travis made him go back to his room.  He was wide awake, so he did lots of tossing and turning and talking.  Then he came out of his room again a little after 7.  We let him lay in our bed and watch cartoons until 8.  I was wide awake by that point.  I just wasn't ready to get up and move yet.  My grumbling tummy and Aiden's antsiness forced me out. 

We ate breakfast and I got ready.  Travis got up later and went straight out to the garage to do some work.  Then he headed out to buy new boots for work.  He got back at lunch time and ate with us.  Then I hopped in the car to go grocery shopping while Aiden took his nap. 

I was exhausted.  I haven't been sleeping well lately and I've been getting up early every single day with Aiden.  The thought of trudging through a grocery store was highly unappealing.  I was on the verge of tears the whole time.  Pregnancy hormones.

When I was in the check out lane, I heard the bag boy ask the woman in front of me if she needed help out to her car.  I decided right there that I would be taking him up on his offer.  He was such a nice kid and I was so appreciative of his help.  It actually cheered me up a bit and gave me the energy to get home.  I'm sure the Snickers bar I downed helped a little.

When I was about half a mile from my exit, I noticed a cop had pulled someone over on the side of the Interstate.  There were tons of cops out for Mardi Gras weekend, so it wasn't an unusual sight.  I pulled into the middle lane to give them some space.  As I was passing, I realized there was another cop car sitting in front of the pulled over vehicle without its lights on.  I wondered what he was doing when he started to drive.  I sped up so I could get in front of him and pull back into the right lane to get off at my exit.  As I pulled into the exit lane, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw he had his lights on right behind me.  I wasn't sure if the lights were meant for me, or if he was taking off to get someone else so I just got off at my exit.  He followed me.

I pulled over on the feeder, but he used his loud speaker to tell me to pull into the gas station so we'd be off the road.  I was wondering what he had pulled me over for because he started pulling onto the road BEFORE I'd passed him and I know I wasn't speeding.  My car is new, but I started to wonder if I had a light out somewhere. 

The male cop walked up to my open window and I asked him what was wrong.  Turns out, he was angry at me for getting in his way when he was preparing to pull someone else over.  He said, "If you see an emergency vehicle with his lights on, you are supposed to get out of the way."

"I know!  I'm so sorry! I got over into the middle lane when I saw you guys there, but pulled back into the right lane after I passed you.  I didn't even see your lights until they were in my rear view mirror.  I'm so sorry!"

"Well, give me your license and insurance."

I handed everything over.  As I was leaning over to get my insurance out of the glove box I realized there was another cop standing at my window watching everything I did.  I'm sure it was to make sure I didn't whip a pistol out of that glove box.  Startled me, nonetheless.

"Do you have any warrants out for your arrest?"

"No!  Nothing that I know of!"

One time in college I got pulled over and found out my license was suspended.  I had no idea.  So even though there is no reason I can think of that I would have a warrant for, you never know.

They walked back to the cruiser to run my license.  In the meantime, I started crying.  Couldn't stop.  I was trying to get it to stop when the passenger cop got out of the vehicle to come up to my window.  I don't know why I was crying.  If I got a ticket, it's not the end of the world.  Problem with me being pregnant, is that once I start crying, I can't stop.  It's rather annoying.

This other cop walks up to my window and explains they are just giving me a warning.  Then he notices I'm crying.  His speech picks up speed a little and he says again that it's just a warning, there will be no fines, it won't go on my record, etc, etc.  I still couldn't stop.  And I can't talk without sounding like a blubbering fool, but I had to speak.  All I could spit out was that "I'm pregnant".  Ha. 

Poor guy.  I'm sure I thoroughly freaked him out.  I only felt bad for him because he wasn't the a-hole that angrily pulled me over for something that wasn't obvious to me. 

I couldn't stop crying before I got home.  By this point I was only a few blocks from my house.  I was annoyed to see my dad and Travis sitting out on the patio.  If I hadn't been balling my eyes out, I would have appreciated their quick help.  But seeing as I was red-eyed and embarassed, I wasn't in the mood to talk just yet.  I sat in the car trying to calm down.  Travis came up and freaked out, wondering what was wrong with me.  (Recall my inability to speak while crying?)  He thought I'd been in an accident or something.  Then when I said I got pulled over, he assumed I got a ticket.  He told me it was okay, we'd be fine.  I told him I just got a warning.  He and my dad chuckled with each other at that point. 

Travis knows how I am about crying during pregnancy, so he left me to recoop in the driver's seat while they brought the groceries in the house.  I finally stopped the steady flow and walked inside.  I started tearing up frequently while explaining to them exactly what happened.  It's all so silly.  I can't wait for these hormones to leave me alone.  It's so inconvenient.

Thursday Dry Day

Aiden went pretty much an entire day without any accidents yesterday!  We haven't begun working on diaperless nap and bed times.  Frankly, I don't even know where to begin with that.  But!  For the rest of the day, he did great!  I was particularly impressed because he had the added distraction of Gpa to overcome.  Sometimes when he gets distracted by life, he forgets to use the potty.  Apparently he's getting better at that!

He went pee right before bed last night, but I guess he didn't finish.  He came out of his room about 5 minutes after we turned out the lights saying he was pee-pee.  Meaning he'd gone in his diaper.  We had to explain to him that if he needed to go potty during bedtime, he could get up to go.  We'll have to work on that one.

I am ECSTATIC that we have about three months to go without purchasing lots of diapers.  That ALSO means when Mila comes, we won't be buying diapers for two.  PHEW.  Now if only I could get a raise, we might actually be able to afford this baby!

Mid-Night Arrival

Gpa is here!  He got in at 1:15 this morning.  Travis went out to greet him and Callaway and to help him carry in bags.  We sat and talked until 2 so he could take it down a few notches before heading to bed.  As tired as I always am after a long drive like that, it's amazing how difficult it is to immediately fall asleep.  I usually feel buzzed and a little like a zombie.  I have to relearn how to talk and walk.  Plus I'm usually visiting family so I get excited to see them. 

While we were chatting, I ate a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie.  I woke up hungry.  Insanity.  I guess I was so excited to see my dad that I had trouble falling asleep at 2.  Needless to say, I'm a little tired today.  I would have liked to meet him for lunch, but I was too busy around lunch time today.  Instead, he is going to meet us at Aiden's daycare so we can pick him up together.  Then we'll go home for dinner.  I bought the ingredients to make grouper, rice and corn on the cob.  I think that might be a strange combination, but I can't really tell.  I was just excited about the corn on the cob.  I'm also interested to see if Aiden likes it.

Seeing Callaway was so funny.  He has lost a lot of weight since we had him last.  I think it's because he gets way more exercise with my dad.  When we had Callaway, he sat at home alone for the majority of the day, then laid at our feet for the evening.  With that lack of exercise, he was still at normal weight.  Once my dad got him, he started bringing him to job sites every day AND taking him for a walk every night.  Callaway has lots of energy, so he has easily kept up.  We are making an appointment for him to see our vet here again.  Hopefully the vet is not concerned.

I had a small reminder of what life with Callaway was like.  The moment my alarm went off this morning, he was in the bedroom pacing next to the bed.  I suppose that's a good thing, because then I don't fall back asleep after I hit snooze.  Then he followed me everywhere.  I almost forgot he would need to be let out first thing, but he sat by the door and made me remember.  I had to stand outside with him because we still have not put the gate up we bought last September and I don't know what Callaway would do now that he has become accustomed to spending a good portion of the day on a leash.  He did fine.  The only reason Callaway ever ran away in the past was because he was being harassed by a pellet gun two doors down.  Of course we haven't seen from the Creeper with a Pellet Gun since Callaway left, which leads me to wonder if he was purposely harassing our dog.

Anyhoo, I can't wait to get home and hang out!  Longest Day Ever.

Belated Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a good day of love.  Or as the radio DJ called it, Singles Awareness Day.  Mine was a little more stressful than I would have liked, but there's nothing I can complain about.  I had enough time at work to take a coffee break (I actually got decaf).  When I picked Aiden up from daycare, he had a Valentine's goodie bag.  We sat in the car and went through all his fun stuff.  His favorite "candy" was the Valentine's fruit snacks, shaped like hearts, and his favorite card was from his best friend with Captain America on the front.

When we got home, I spoiled Aiden and let him watch TV until dinner was ready. I knew it would be later than normal and I didn't want him to badger me constantly. He watched an hour and a half of Kung Fu Panda, which has quickly become his new favorite show. The last couple minutes are usually the beginning of Spongebob Squarepants and he has started to show interest in that series. I set it to record a few shows last night, so it looks like Spongebob may be in my near future. I'm so not looking forward to that. I feel like that character has the most grating laugh EVER. Yaaaayyyy.

Travis came home with a dozen white roses mixed with lilies and chocolate covered strawberries for me and a Transformer for Aiden. I got Travis a heart-shaped box of Reese's chocolates and two cards - one from Aiden and one from me. We cooked dinner together while Aiden sat glued to the TV. I made a baked potato casserole that I just found the recipe for. Potatoes have been simply amazing since I've been pregnant, so I thought it was delicious. Travis cooked fillet Mignon under the broiler since he didn't feel like messing with the grill. We also had a side of asparagus and Caesar salad. Aiden only ate steak and salad. He flat out refused to try the potatoes. Such a weird kid. What kid doesn't like potatoes?! Well, unless it's the fried kind, of course.

I seriously despise this computer - can't get the photo upright.

I was stuffed by the time we got done eating. For dessert, even though it was really late, we gave Aiden a cupcake. Actually, I only gave him half because I was concerned he would have trouble falling asleep. We didn't get him to bed until 9 pm. Needless to say, this morning was a little rough. But we had a good time gorging ourselves on delicious food.

Teasing Daddy with his icing.

 

Half a cupcake, strawberries and his Valentine's cup from daycare.



After Aiden was in bed (we let him go to sleep with his new Transformer), Travis and I ate a little dessert.  I bought turtle brownies with ice cream.  I had a serving and a strawberry, but Travis didn't have room for all that.  He found room for a strawberry and a Reese's. 

My sweet tooth this pregnancy is OUT OF CONTROL.  All I want is sugar.  I can't get enough cookies.  I go through an insane amount of Monster Trail Mix from Target.  It comes with chocolate in it, but I add MORE dark chocolate chips because it's not enough for me.  I constantly crave sweet coffee, so I've started drinking some decaf so I can have more than one cup a day.  The coffee is not so good for my constant Braxton-Hicks contractions.  It's a diuretic, plus drinking coffee means I'm not drinking water in it's place. 

I can't wait for a contraction-less day.  Travis asked if I thought that was possible.  I said, "Yes, when I'm done being pregnant."  Even then it will be a while because there's that week after you have the baby where the uterus contracts back to normal size.  Plus, I'm thinking about getting Mirena after I have Mila which is known to cause serious cramping.  Sorry if that's too much information for some of you.

If there were uterus strength contests, I bet I'd win.