Operation Fit Mila: Stage 3

I am FINALLY starting to feel like we're ready for this baby.  Try not to judge me too harshly, but I have started drinking coffee or a Coke around 3 pm so I have the energy to get through the afternoon and evening.  It's been working swimmingly.

Tuesday night I was able to start moving items into the ASPELUND wardrobe.  Wednesday night we tackled a few larger tasks:

1|   I started sorting through all the baby clothes I have accumulated.  I have received hand-me-downs from a few people, but they are mostly 6 months and up.  I also have new clothes from the baby shower and a few random gifts.  With Aiden, I had everything separated by size, so when he reached that size, all I had to do was dump the contents of a storage container in the wash and it would be ready.  That really simplified my life, so I thought I'd do it again for Mila.  Last night I pulled out 3 loads worth of newborn clothes/blankets/burp clothes/towels/rags/etc.  I still need to go through half of Aiden's old clothes to pull out the unisex stuff. 

2|   I reupholstered the dining room chairs.  The last time I did it was right before Aiden was born.  I thought it was time to try something new.  I was bored of the last pattern and I think Aiden has spilled enough milk on it for a lifetime.  I've decided to lay a towel down on the chair he's sitting in hopes of preserving this fabric for as long as possible. 

3|   Travis put together the new dresser, so that's the last of the IKEA furniture for this year.  YA HOO.  This photo shows our old dresser on the right and the new one on the left.

See how BIG it is?!  I am ecstatic.  I moved some of my things over this morning, but I still have a bunch more to go through.  We have a ton of reorganizing to do in our room to accomodate this monster.  There wasn't enough time last night, as Travis did not finish putting it together until around 10:30. 

We are giving Ariel and Robert our old dresser, computer chair and the entertainment center that sits in our bedroom.  The next step is to move all the old items out into the garage.  After that, we just have to set up Mila's crib.  There is no rush on that, since she will be sleeping in the travel crib in our room for a month or so.  I would like to get the crib set up BEFORE she arrives though, for a couple reasons.  One, I'm worried about Aiden being angry or jealous when Mila shows up.  I'm hoping if the crib is in there before she comes, then he won't fight it as badly.  At the moment, he's almost looking forward to sharing his space.  Two, I have a feeling we will have even less time on our hands after this little one shows her face.  It would be nice if we could finish as much as possible before then.

I am extremely relieved with how much progress we have made.  There is still a lot to do, including stitching up a tear in one of the crib sheets and finding the money to purchase a new car seat.  We still have Aiden's, but I've read they shouldn't be used for more than two years after the manufacture date due to updated codes and requirements for child safety.  I think Aiden's is going on five years at this point.  We do have it as a back up though!

I never wrote that list, but I feel like I have some breathing room now.  I only have ONE outing planned for this weekend, so we should have plenty of time to catch up with everything.  I have some errands to run tonight and tomorrow night, meaning I'm not sure we'll get to much at home for the remainder of the week.  At least we're making progress!

Operation Fit Mila: Stage 2

Well, the IKEA wardrobe did not go as well as planned.  Putting it together wasn't that bad.  I think Travis and I make a good team.  I sit with the instructions and pull out the little pieces in advance so it's ready for him.  There were a couple times when I had to help him maneuver a piece, but he did the bulk of the work. 

Most IKEA furniture comes with a wall anchor to prevent the furniture from tipping over on people.  Nice feature.  Since that is a semi-permanent state, we wanted to arrange the furniture in the room the way we want it to be to make sure it will all fit together.  Turns out, it didn't fit.  Somewhere in the mix, we did not measure something right, so our plan did not work.  Instead of putting the futon in the guest bedroom, we are going to put it in our bedroom.  To help make room for that, we moved the rocking chair out of our room and into the guest room.

We still don't have the room completely set up.  We piled a bunch of crap on the bed so we would have space to put the wardrobe together, but you get the general idea.  There is so much room in that thing - I can't wait to fill it!  But at the same time, I get exhausted thinking about rearranging everything in the house.  Pregnancy gives you the nesting instinct - the problem is lately I haven't had the energy for it.  I get stressed every time I walk through my house and see stuff I want to clean/organize/rearrange. 

I need to make a list so I can tackle it rationally.  I just might do that tonight.

Feeling Guilty

I am really not loving pregnancy this go around and I feel horribly guilty about it.  There is no time to sit and enjoy it.  With Aiden, I was able to come home after work, take a nap, then get up and make dinner.  We would sit on the couch in the living room and watch TV while we ate.  Afterward, I would watch the belly movement when dinner reached Aiden.

This time around, I rush home to get dinner ready as soon as possible.  We eat at the table.  I get up a minimum of three times per meal to get seconds, refill drinks, get paper towels for a spill, etc.  When I was growing up, my mom always put all the food on the table.  I have never done this as it would result in additional dirty dishes at the end of each meal.  I'm starting to see the perks in that.  I might have to start putting all the food on the table instead of leaving it on the stove.  Hmmm... 

Anyway, after dinner, it usually so close to bed time that we have to give Aiden a bath or start getting him ready for bed.  We try to get him down by 8:30 every night.  After that we clean up dinner, get ourselves ready for bed, and maybe do a few things around the house (laundry, dishes, tidying up, etc).  I would like to be in bed, lights out, at 9:45 every night.  But I generally don't get in bed until 10 and my mind is running a 100 mph, so the last thing I want to do is go straight to bed.  We usually lay in bed for 30-45 minutes watching TV before trying to close our eyes. 

Okay, so maybe I'm just being a little reminiscent about the last pregnancy.  I just read my post from 32 weeks with Aiden.  It appears I was just as uncomfortable then as I am now.  I feel huge.  I look huge.  I don't fit a lot of my maternity clothes already.  I have to make sure to get up when my alarm goes off the first time because I know I will go through at least two shirts before finding one that still covers my baby bump.  Baby mountain might be more accurate.  I have seriously considered purchasing a mumu or two for bedtime.  I cannot stand wearing elastic around my waist to bed and most of my t-shirts do not fit anymore.  Travis is not a big guy, so his shirts aren't much better.

Just like with Aiden, my fundal height is measuring a week ahead and I'm having frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions.  And just like with Aiden, the skin on my stomach is so sensitive that it is more than uncomfortable when Mila kicks.  Sometimes it's so strong that I find it helps relieve pressure if I press back.  Then the skin doesn't stretch as much.  Sounds awesome, right?  Last time I had gained 24 pounds so far.  This time I'm at +19.  There are still two months of growing time left.

I am so huge that I cannot roll over without waking up.  Thankfully I can usually fall back to sleep pretty quickly.  As long as my mind doesn't wandering in that moment, I'm fine. 

The one main difference between the two pregnancies at the moment is Mila is still breech.  The doctor said she's not concerned at this point.  Give it a few more weeks and we might start worrying.  I just REALLY hope we don't reach the point where she has to manually maneuver her into proper birthing position.  I've heard that's horribly painful.  I know I have to go through labor eventually, but I'd like to keep the pain frequency to a minimum.

Overbooked

I most definitely did more than my prego body can handle this weekend.  I think part of the problem is I went into the weekend already tired.  Travis didn't come home Wednesday or Thursday night because he was hanging out with Alex.  Friday night, our friend David came over for dinner.  I called it a night at 11 pm because I was exhausted from taking care of Aiden all by my lonesome for several days.  Plus, my normal bedtime is 10.  I can't handle much past that.  Travis flopped into bed at 4 am.  He may have fallen asleep for a bit on the couch before that, but not for too long. 

I think waking up frequently in the middle of the night (to use the restroom, to figure out where Travis is, when Travis flops into bed, etc) is one reason I'm so exhausted.  Plus, then I have to get up early for work.  I was so grateful when Aiden slept in until 8:15 on Saturday.  That is unheard of, but I'm not complaining!

I made pancakes for everyone Saturday morning.  Stephanie stopped by to pick up David, so we got to catch up for a bit over coffee.  As soon as Aiden woke up from his nap, we drove up to the Ramby's for Blair's birthday party.  Aiden LOVED the Transformers theme and had a great time running around with all the kids.  It was surprisingly hot out, so all the kiddos had rosy cheeks.  There were lots of juice boxes being passed around.  David, Stephanie and the Yeager's were there, plus all of Chris and Alexa's other friends.  We stayed for cake, but had to leave before the presents were opened and the pinata was set up.

Aiden was so upset.  He REALLY did not want to leave.  But we had made prior arrangments to go into Houston for the night, so we needed to get Aiden back to the babysitter.  Our friend Shannon's daughter watched him for the night.  This is the first time we've ever paid a sitter to come to our house.  I was really nervous about how Aiden would react, but he seemed to do fine.  I turned on Spiderman 2 before the sitter arrived and ordered a pizza.  The pizza came right when we were leaving, so there were plenty of distractions for him.  I think the only hiccup of the night was when Aiden refused to brush his teeth.  But if that's the worst of it, then I'll take it!

For our child-free night out, we went to dinner and the Improv (a comedy club) with David, Stephanie and another of their couple-friends.  We ate Japanese food for dinner right next to the club, then walked over for the show.  The main show of the night?  Pauly Shore!  We had seats on the main floor, only two tables away from the stage.  The two comedians up before him were both really funny, one of which was Sandy Danto.  He did a great Chris Farley impression.  I always forget how much I love seeing stand up.  I told Travis a few months back that if we can work it out, I'd like to go see someone for my birthday. 

Anyway, Pauly Shore was pretty awesome.  I was nervous about how funny he would actually be, but it wasn't bad.  Although, afterward I felt really bad for him.  He made fun of himself a lot and we all just laughed at it.  Kind of sad, right?  There was a section of his skit that was all political.  I really wasn't into it.

I was the DD and we rolled in right at 1:30 am.  I was about to PASS OUT.  The sitter gave us a quick recap of the night and then was off.  Of course, I couldn't just go flop into bed like Travis did.  I was starving by this point.  And since I wasn't drunk and able to ignore the hunger pangs, I reheated some of the leftover pizza.  Yummo.

Sunday morning I got up with Aiden at 7.  He was really tired, so he stayed inside and watched TV.  I went outside to alternate laundry and yard work.  Aiden was out of clean underwear and I had some seeds I wanted to plant ASAP.  Travis slept in until 11 and I left at noon for a baby shower in Houston (my friend from college is due three weeks after me).  I left a honey-do list for Travis and couldn't believe it when I got home and he had knocked everything off the list.  On top of that, my friend from work stopped by to pick up our old computer desk, which means we now have room to put together the wardrobe from IKEA. 

I'm hoping to muster up enough energy to help Travis set it up tonight.  I can't wait until that thing is ready to go because then I will be able to set up Mila in the house.  I feel SO under prepared for this child, it's ridiculous.  I have 8 weeks left until she is due and we haven't done a single thing to get ready for her.  It's a complete 180 from last time. 

I'm thinking I might splurge on a cup of coffee around 3 to give me the energy to keep going tonight.  I'm still trying to think of something easy for dinner so I spend less time cooking and more time putting together furniture...

A Missing Husband

You know what's disorienting?  Waking up to find your husband is not in bed, when you expect him to be.

2:33 am - I wake up to a strange noise.  I lay in bed for a moment trying to decipher if it's Aiden or a cat.  I think cat, but I'm not sure.  I'll just get up to check.  Wait a tic, I'm cold.  I change into warmer PJ's. 

2:38 am - I get out of bed to go check on Aiden and realize Travis is not in bed with me.  His side is not even messed up.  When I get to Aiden's door, it's slightly ajar.  Which is weird, because I shut it when I went to bed for the night.  I check out Aiden - he's fast asleep, but his covers are all bunched around his face leaving his tootsies chilled.  I tuck him in properly and go to turn on the heat.  This is when I realize Travis is not asleep on the couch like he does occasionally.  Sometimes when he works late (like he did last night - got home at 10:15), he eats dinner in front of the TV and falls asleep there.  But he's not there.  He's not in the guest bed either.  I check the back door.  The light is still on, which is weird because Travis always turns it off at bed time.

2:42 am - I walk back to the bedroom to look out my window at the driveway for his truck.  On my way there, I try to recall if he told me he would be gone.  Last I remember, he was getting in the shower.  No word on leaving the house again until morning.  Maybe he got called out on an emergency job?  Unlikely, since his he's not on call and I never heard his phone ring.  Nope, truck is not in the driveway.  I sit down on my bed, adrenaline pumping, and pick up my phone to call Travis.

2:43 am - There's a text from Travis at 2:02 that says he's just going to stay at Ariel's til the morning.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  He had mentioned the morning before that he might go hang out with Alex (who is in town for spring break this week) either Wednesday or Thursday night.  I guess he decided on Wednesday night.  I respond that I had no idea he was going down for sure and it thoroughly freaked me out.  His response, "I kissed you and said I am going to hang with Alex."

Ohhhh, well he did tell me I guess.  No matter that I was asleep when he said it.

I laid in bed waiting for the adrenaline to leave my system.

3:15 am - SO HUNGRRRYYYY.  I've been awake for so long that my body has decided it's time to eat again.  Mila handles hungry about as well as Mommy.  Which means she's repeatedly karate chopping the interior of my stomach.  FINE.  I get up and swallow a strawberry Pop Tart (no icing) whole.  Mmmm... back to bed!

I don't think it took me too much longer after that to fall back to sleep. 

5:45 am - Stupid alarm.  Stupid work.  Stupid headache.  Why do I feel like I have a hangover??  It's not fair!  I don't even have the excuse of drinking to balance out the dull thud that is fogging up my brain.  Ugh.

6:07 am (one snooze later) - Coffee is brewing.  Aiden's eating Lucky Charms at the table.  Travis comes in the back door.  HUNGOVER for real.  He brushes his teeth, shaves and passes out in bed for a few minutes before jumping up and realizing he's going to be late for work.

I'm glad Travis got to see Alex while he is here.  He hasn't had a chance to get down to Galveston all week.  Alex is staying at Ariel's house near the beach with his 6 other friends.  However, I'm not too thrilled about being 7 months pregnant and being the sole caretaker of Aiden.  I am exhausted.  Even more so after waking up in the middle of the night for almost an hour.  I guess this is a glimpse of what's to come in two months.

Operation Fit Mila: Stage 1

We got the new office area set up.  It used to be in the guest bedroom, but now that will solely be a bedroom for guests.  Well, and for the cats to hide in.

We were a little irked to find that the drawer system we bought does not fit completely under the desk.  Oh well.  More table top space?  Aiden woke up yesterday morning and noticed the new furniture right away.  He immediately wanted to get out his colors (Crayons) and have some art time at the new space.

I'm really excited about rearranging the house and having new furniture, but I'm getting anxiety about how small our house is starting to feel.  This desk makes the walkway from the living room to the kitchen a little more snug.  We moved Aiden's toy chest from this location to another spot in the living room (you can actually see the end of it against the back wall in the photo above).  After it was there, I recalled that this was where Aiden's baby swing used to sit.  The same one we will have to pull out for Mila.  Ugh.  Aiden is going to have to give up some of his toy space.  I guess we can move his toy grill out to the patio?  Meh, I'll deal with that later!

Oh, I checked the other night - the desk name is BESTA.  Travis moved everything he could into the new desk.  There are still some things we will probably end up storing in the wardrobe once we get that set up.

Stage 2: HEMNES dresser, will probably have to wait until a few moments of free time this weekend.  The schedule is pretty jam packed, so I don't know if it will happen for sure.  We have a kid's birthday party, a night at the comedy club and a baby shower.  Ahhhhh!

Homemade Pies

One night while my dad was here we baked homemade pizzas.  Ariel and I used to do that all the time as a kid, so it brought back some fantastic memories.  Aiden and my dad shared a pizza.  I think it worked out good because Aiden wanted every topping my dad wanted, so they had lots of goodies on top. 

I think Aiden enjoyed himself.

I used dough that came in a pouch for the first time - I just had to add water.  It wasn't too bad!

He watched his pizza bake in the oven and then scarfed down his slices like we hadn't fed him days.  Gpa was impressed. 

A Couple Firsts

Several weeks ago we had a family crawfish boil at our house.  My dad has never been to a crawfish boil and we've never had one at our house.  Two first in one night!  I thought we did really well considering we didn't have any Cajuns around to show us how it's done.

My pops and I

Callaway the cowboy

Callaway used to have a horrible rash when he lived with  us.  We took him to the doctor a bunch of times to find that it was just allergies.  We treated with steroids and antibiotics until it went away.  Then of course, it would come back in a month.  Within a month of living with my dad in Illinois, his rash was gone.  Apparently Callaway is allergic to something, or several somethings, here in Texas because a couple weeks after being here it came back.  My dad has been back in Illinois for a week and the rash is already gone.  I think that just goes to show Callaway was meant to be with my dad!

The guys let Aiden help out by cleaning the crawfish.

Load 'em up!

Dinner is served

We kept the crawfish in the cooler after they were finished cooking.  It was a brilliant idea that kept the crawfish hot for hours.  

Gpa liked the crawfish.  Aiden thought it was too spicy.

Getting lessons on how to peel a crawfish.

Auntie Ariel helped Aiden get ready for bed.

Well fed and Aiden was heading to bed.

Making MORE Room

You know what's hard to do?  Pee while having a contraction.  Problem is, peeing frequently sets off a Braxton-Hicks contraction. Being pregnant is awesome. 

We had a full weekend.  Saturday morning I threw some corned beef in the crock pot and we left first thing for IKEA.  Sadly, we got on the road to Houston an hour and half later than I wanted because Travis had some errands to run.  We did stop for donuts and kolaches (which, down here, are basically pigs in a blanket) on the way up.  My new unfortunate craving is cake donuts and coffee.  Mmmm.  I now understand the purpose of decaf coffee.  I used to think it was a pointless invention.  I know better now.

Things went as well as can be expected at IKEA.  I always leave for this store hopeful and excited.  I leave really stoked about the new furniture we acquired, but I am tired from wondering aimlessly through the Largest Store On The Planet and the thought of putting together all that furniture is daunting.  Oh and this time we had Aiden with us.  I think this was his first time there.  I can't remember what we did last time we went.  Maybe he was there, but he was in a stroller?

Anyhoo, I had a game plan going in.  It is easy to spend the entire day at that store and I just wasn't up for that in my 7-months-pregnant state.  We had three pieces of furniture pre-chosen and then there were few items I wanted to keep my eye out for.  I was irritated to find they had discontinued the computer desk I chose online.  It was perfect for what we needed - small, with a hanging file drawer.  This was the first section we stopped in and the area we spent the longest in.  That was partly due to the fact that we had to figure out what we would get in place of the discontinued item and partly due to the fact that Aiden was dealing with some constipation that required two trips to the bathroom.  That place is a complete maze.  I can't believe I made it to the bathroom and back TWICE.

There were a few other minor hiccups.  They didn't have the fabric I originally picked out, and there were a few random items I was looking for and was unable to find anywhere.  Here is what we DID get:

• Wow.  Drawing a blank on the exact desk we chose, but I know we got the MICKE file drawer, a small lamp, a chair and a box to store bills out of sight.
• HEMNES dresser for our bedroom.
• ASPELUND wardrobe for the guest bedroom.
• Fabric for reupholstering the kitchen chairs.
• Two pots for plants on the patio.

I plan to take photos of everything as we complete it, but there's no telling when we'll get around to it.  I think I'm going to push Travis to help me put together the wardrobe this week.  It will probably take us several days, but as soon as that is together, I can start washing and bringing Mila's clothes in the house.  It's rough doing all this while I'm pregnant because I can't help with any of the heavy lifting.  In order to make room for the wardrobe, we need to move the computer desk out to the garage until a friend from work can come pick it up.  We may have to enlist a friend to stop by and help move that monster...

I am thrilled the ball is rolling!

+18 lbs

Just a quickie...  Our tax refund finally came through so we're going to IKEA this Saturday.  WAHOO!!!  Although, I don't know when we'll find the time to put together all the furniture (don't worry Alexa, I didn't forget about you) because I REALLY want to work on the yard Sunday.  I've got a BUNCH of stuff that needs to be planted ASAP.  I'd hate for all our seed planting work to go down the drain because I couldn't find time to complete the task.

Sometimes I wish I could just flip this belly around to my back so I could get work down easier.

31 Weeks: A bathroom mirror impromptu photo

That's not the same guy, right?

You know what website is extremely entertaining?

Absolutely Madness



Daddio

My dad likes to take us out to eat, but sometimes I dread what he might do.  Partly because he is sensitive about the server bothering us - occasionally when they come around he is short with them for interrupting our conversation.  But also because of his sick sense of humor.  He likes to mess with the server at times.  Unfortunately, where we live, a lot of servers do not speak English as a first language.  That means where an American might chuckle at the crazy old man, the immigrants stares back blankly trying to understand what he means.  I can just hear their internal dialog: 'Surely he didn't just ask that.  I must have heard him wrong.  But then, what else could he mean?'

A couple weeks ago we went to a Mexican restaurant.  They have a lot of strange stuff on the menu like fish with the head still on and quail.  When the Mexican server came up to see if we were ready to order, my dad asks, "What is quail?"  The man knows what quail is.  He just like to watch people squirm.  Problem is, I'm on the other side of the booth, squirming just as much as the server.  Good lord, man.  Leave her alone!  Her English was very sketchy, so she was unable to describe what it was at all.  She just said, "It's like chicken."

Then this past weekend we went to a local donut shop for kolaches and donuts.  As soon as we walk into the shop, in front of a very large glass display of donuts, my dad asks the Vietnamese woman behind the counter if they have any donuts here.  Her brows furrow and she frowns a bit at him.  Thankfully, she was a younger woman, so she was able to bounce back pretty quickly.  She laughs and says, "donuts?" as she peers down at the 100 baked pastries sitting in front of her.  I force out a stoccato laugh, hoping to let her know he was indeed joking.

My dad left for Illinois this morning.  He may be whacky, but I will miss him dearly.

Croton, Begonias and 4 o'clock

Last Wednesday I ended up being sick.  I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for that day.  I was going to drop Aiden off and go into work in the morning, then leave for my appointment before lunch.  Instead, I laid on the couch feeling like I was going to die while my dad took care of everything for me.  I am SO lucky he was around this past week.  He brought Aiden down to daycare for me.  Then he came back, picked me up and drove me to my appointment.  I was feeling really achy, so the thought of having to wield a steering wheel was highly unappealing. 

After my appointment (weight is good, nothing important to speak up), my dad bought me lunch and then I passed out on the couch for the afternoon.  I had set my alarm so I could wake up in time to get Aiden.  But a few minutes before it went off, my dad walked through the living room saying he was going to pick up Aiden.  He had spent the entire day working in my yard, taken care of Aiden and then came home to make me dinner.  The dinner part is even more fortunate because Travis ended up not getting home from work until 11:30.  I would have had to take care of everything by myself that evening had my dad not been around.  THANK YOU DAD.

I was super busy Thursday and Friday.  I actually can't even remember what we did.  I need to pull out the camera and see if it gives me any clues.  I do know that my dad built a new plant bed between the patio and the chain link fence next to the driveway.  He and Travis are looking for soil they can remove from around the yard to build up the area around the raised walkway that now leads to our front door. 

Having that plant bed already makes the area seem more finished.  I'm planning to move some bamboo out from under the awning of our house and planting it there.  I found out in the past few weeks that it is a full sun plant, which explains why it hasn't grown very much back in that dark corner of the house.  The bamboo will double as a barricade between our play area and the busy concrete driveway. 

My dad bought four croton plants to plant in front of the wall in that new plant bed.  I bought some red wax begonias to plant in there as well.  My dad planted a bunch of seeds for me a week or so ago.  They're all sprouting and we were able to plant the 4 o'clock seedlings already.  I still need to plant the poppies and hopefully we'll be able to afford purchasing a plant here and there so we can fill in the rest of the bed.  My dad sat down with me and we prepared a landscaping blueprint so I know exactly what I need and how much of each.  I'm so excited I can't stand it!

It's been raining a bunch here, which was a huge bummer because we had planned on working in the yard a lot this weekend.  There was a break in the rain Saturday morning, during which time my dad and Travis put together a new gate for the wall that we never got up.  I think they did a really good job!  It's not a heavy duty gate, but it will be better than the two chairs I had setting there to deter Aiden from leaving through there.

I took this photo while under protection of an umbrella. The lakes were forming.



Dad's Chili

Yes, it's dark and blurry, but it is a rare photo of the three of us together.  (Plus Toby - can you spot him?)

Saturday, Aiden and I went over to Ariel's so I could hang out with my dad while Aiden napped.  Travis had to work that morning, so we made plans for him to meet us down there for dinner.  Aiden refused to go to sleep on time, so he only got half a nap in before I had to rouse him.  The first day my dad got here he announced that he would be taking us to see The Lorax when it came out. (Side note: Did you hear Zac Efron dropped a condom on the red carpet premiere for The Lorax???  AWKWARD.)

It was the perfect movie to see in theaters with Aiden.  We took him to see Puss in Boots (his first movie in theaters) because we really wanted to take him to a movie and that was in theaters that weekend.  This movie was more his style.  He was held captive for the majority of the film.  Only a couple times did he unfreeze to laugh or point at the screen.  My dad loved it.  Auntie Ariel bought him popcorn, but he was more interested in her peanut M&M's.  Kid loves M&M's - all kinds. 

After the movie, we went back to Ariel's house for dinner.  My dad made chili.  I miss his chili.  I need to write down the recipe before he leaves.  Chili from the north is more soup-like than the thick beanless stuff they make down here (okay, there might be a bean or two, but it is mostly ground beef).  I like them both, but I miss the northern version.  My dad settled my sweet tooth with brownies for dessert (that's why I'm so smiley in the photo above).  Aiden was being horrific by this point.  An hour-nap was not sufficient for a late night, so we headed home.

It was an ideal weekend.  Aiden didn't come wake me up until after 7 each morning.  I've been trying to teach him not to come in until there is a 7 in the first spot on the clock.  It worked this weekend.  I'm hoping it continues to work.  At first I thought he just happened to sleep in until the appropriate time for me.  But Sunday morning, I got up to go get him some milk and a cup of cereal while he watched cartoons in our bed, I noticed he had turned on the lamp above the clock in his room.  There were a bunch of books spread out on the nightstand like he'd been reading there by the light of the lamp awaiting 7 o'clock.  Again, I'm not sure if this is blind luck or if he really is beginning to understand time. 

The other reason the weekend was so great is I did not plan anything in the mornings.  That meant I didn't have to rush to get us ready immediately after waking up.  It was GREAT.  I need to make more of an effort to do this.  I'm just too tired to be running around all the time.  It was also nice to be around the house in the so I could catch up on simple things like dishes and laundry.  Note to self.

A Shower for Mila

A week ago on Sunday, I got to attend my baby shower for Mila, courtesy of Alexa and Linsey.  (Thank you, ladies!)  They decided I needed some pink in my life since I will be reusing a lot of the unisex stuff from Aiden.  What better way to accumulate baby gear than a shower?! 

Baby sock roses (Linsey took a floral arrangement class not so long ago)

The whole thing was so cute. First, it was just girls. We were able to flaunt our girlyness without getting shot down by a guy. Second, instead of shower games we did crafts!  Everyone was able to create a onesie, hair clips or head band for little Mila.  I was really excited to get my hands on some of Alexa's craft supplies.  I went straight to the hair clips.  I have to admit, I stole my idea from my friend Chrissie who makes and sells hair accessories.  It really was a lot of fun.

After craft time, we ate some of this beautiful cake.  It was a little sad to cut into it!

Then we opened the pink gifts!  I think I'm finally starting to accept that I'm really having a girl.  Sort of.  I've got the baby stuff now.  I still can't imagine dressing a baby in it just yet.



Alexa's giant living room was the perfect fit for my girls.




Zhenya, Nadya and Kate - Kate was so disappointed that Aiden wasn't there and that she couldn't see the baby in my belly.



My fashionably late sister wielded my camera for a bit.  I'm glad she remembered to pull it out because I certainly didn't.



Sara crocheted a black sheep for me.  She thought it was horrible, but we all thought it was cute.  And hilarious.



Baby bumps



My friend from college, Clarissa, is pregnant with her first child.  She is having a girl as well and is three weeks behind me.  I felt like a monster compared to her.  Reminded me of Nadya and I when we were incubating Kate and Aiden.  Ha.

I did not get a good photo of my hostesses and I, so I'm going to direct you to Alexa's website.  She has a great camera.  You can also see all the onesies we made.  Check it out!

Now that I've had the baby shower, I feel like I can really start organizing.  But first!  First, I need something to organize with.  We just finished our taxes and are awaiting the direct deposit.  As soon as that puppy clears, we're heading to Ikea for storage furniture galore.  I'm really excited about having the new furniture, but what I'm really looking forward to is organizing Mila's stuff.  At the moment, I have nowhere to put her things in the house.  It is currently sitting in bags in the garage.  I'm itching to get out there, wash everything and see what we've got. 

We should also have some cash leftover to get a few baby items that we didn't receive.  Nothing is imperative to bringing an infant into our home.  It will just be stuff to make our life easier.  The two things I'm looking forward to most?  A new baby monitor and a bottle drying rack.  We have a hand-me-down monitor that crackles at anything (when you turn on a light, when you walk by, etc).  The drying rack I have from Aiden (and still use for his sippy cups) is a nightmare.  It was the cheapest one we could find and it tips over with the slightest agitation.  It's very frustrating to come home to find all the cups I had neatly stacked scattered all across the kitchen floor.

Like I said, not imperative to having a child, just nice.

Oh wait, there is one slightly imperative item.  We would like to get a new car seat.  It is recommended to retire a car seat after two years.  They are constantly making more and more strict regulations, so it's a good thing to keep up-to-date.  I think we can swing it.

Museum and a Nursery

SO BEHIND.  Last weekend we went to the Houston Children's Museum with my dad.  I had a Groupon that was about to expire, so we needed to get that out of the way.  My dad was only availabe in the morning since he had plans with Ariel that afternoon.  We got up Saturday morning and got on the road right away. 

Aiden really seemed to enjoy the museum.  We've been there with him three times before.  Twice while he when he was younger and we went to the Tot Spot, a section geared more towards babies and toddling toddlers.  Aiden has quickly outgrown this section.  Last time we went, we hung out outside in the water play area.  This time, we hit up the make-believe section.  They have all these different rooms that are set up as some sort of a business and your child can go through and act like an employee. 

First, we hit up the bike repair shop:

Soooo, should I keep posting these sideways photos? Or are they not worth it?

Second, we went through the emergency area - ambulance (complete with an injured dummy for shocking with paddles), police car and police station.

Oh look.  This one is normal.  WTF.

Third, was the grocery store.

Aiden really got into each place.  At the grocery store, they had baskets for the kids and a grocery list so they could walk through and pick out the items from their list.  Aiden pulled a 'Travis' and picked up a few extra items.  Travis is known for randomly needing Oreos on his rare trips to the store.

Fourth, was the diner.

Oh this one is completely upside-down. Awesome.

Travis sat at the bar while Aiden made him lasagna and got him a milk.

Soon after that was the meltdown.  It was lunch time, but he through a fit when I said we had to leave the play area for a bit to get something to eat.  I knew he was hungry and we were approaching nap time.  I hoped that we could just get him to the snack bar and then he'd get better after he ate.  Sadly, this did not happen.  He kept crying so we never got into the food area.  We decided it was probably best to just leave.

Aiden passed out in the car, THANK GOD.  After we'd been on the road for a bit, I asked my dad if he wanted to stop at a nursery on the way home.  He'd mentioned he wanted to ask for advice and ideas on filling in the new plant beds that we created next to the sidewalk.  I was hoping Aiden would stay asleep, so Travis could nap as well. 

Unfortunately, Aiden woke up with an intense need to poo a few minutes after my dad and I got out of the car.  Of course he didn't actually poop during the first visit to the bathroom.  He started complaining about his tummy hurting so we rushed back to the bathroom.  Of course, by this point a line had started.  Thankfully Aiden was wearing a Pull up because he had diarrhea before we were able to get on the toilet.  He was so distraught about not making it to the potty.  Plus, he was uncomfortable from his tummy ache.  Poor guy.

My dad and I tried to get some advice while Aiden played in the car with Travis.  We got stuck talking to a woman who was all too ready to talk plants.  After 45 minutes I had to just cut her off and say thanks.  She kept talking for a few more minutes, which made my neck itch with irritation.  Aiden slept for the ride home, but it was not nearly a long enough nap for him.  I felt good about the good parts of the day.  I guess it was all worth it.  Ha.

Phone Photo Catch Up

We've been busy with my dad here.  Lots to do!  One of the things he surprised us with is a new sidewalk to lead from our driveway to the front door.  When we put in the new wall this past summer, it blocked the view of the front door.  So people who have never been to my house before may have trouble deciding which way to walk.  This sidewalk solves that.  It also created a flower bed for me to add some landscaping.  I can't wait to spruce up the wall.  I've got some plans in my head.  Hopefully they turn out as good in reality.  Some of the plants I'd like to use are not availabe yet.  I'll purchase those when it gets warmer.

The sidewalk is not quite finished.  The project was supposed to be two-day deal, but turned into a week.  We still need more pavers, pea gravel and soil to level the ground around the new raised portion of the sidewalk.  No walking in puddles to get to my house dangit! 

I love how a project starts as laying a few pavers and turns into leveling the land in my front yard.

Stupid sideways photos.  I don't know how to fix them at all now.  This happened on my home computer as well.  AHHHHH.

The first weekend my dad was here, he made us pancakes for breakfast.  He made his infamous Mickey Mouse pancake with raisins for the eyes, nose and mouth.  Aiden got to watch him make the cake.  He LOVED it.  He ate the entire thing.  He refused to let me cut it though, so it was quite a mess. 

We had a mini-Valentine's Day party after my dad got here.  He bought us lots of candy and cards.  Ariel came over with alcohol gear from the bar.  Not the most ideal thing for a child to be wearing, but Aiden really enjoyed the wrist bands from Jagermeister.  They turned into arm bands when he got a hold of them. 

Showing off his muscles.  He had to concentrate to "flex".

Aiden has also found a friend in Phage recently . He's our male cat that has always been really easy going.  I think we're going to have to get male cats from here on out.  The females are all too spastic for me.  Anyway, Aiden loves to give the cats each a treat in the morning when he wakes up.  It's so cute.  I told him they only get one each, so he gives them each one and then the cats beg for more.  Aiden throws his hands up in the air, gets this high-pitched voice and says, "There's no more.  That's all." and he puts the bottle back in the cabinet.  Love him.

He also likes covering Phage up for nap time.  He finds every one of his blankets he can get his hands on and tucks the cat in.  Phage just lays there and takes it.  Even if Aiden accidentally lays on him too hard.  He just yelps and waits for Aiden to get off. 

On Saturday and Sunday mornings Aiden lays in bed with us and watches cartoons.  Phage has started plopping down right in Aiden's lap and basking in the attention.  Such a needy cat.  Thank goodness Aiden is here to help.

PS - We're trying to grow Aiden's hair out (in case you didn't notice the shag).  We haven't quite decided how to cut it since his hair is still baby fine.  His hair IS a little wavy, but I was sort of thinking something like this or this.  It's a work-in-progress, I guess.