28-29-30 Weeks

Here's the bump at 29 and 30 weeks
(28 slipped through the cracks - oops!):

How far along? 30 weeks and 3 days

How big is the baby? About the size of a head of lettuce,
or 18 inches long and a little over 3 pounds.

Are you in maternity clothes? Yes, although I have a few pairs

of stretchy pre-preg pants I can still wear. Thank goodness for elastic!

How do you feel physically? Large and in charge - ha!

Sleep? It is getting more and more difficult to find

a comfortable position at night, but I'm making it work. :)

 

Miss anything? Being able to get up - from the floor, out of a chair, etc - easily!

I still can, it's just not pretty. :)

Feeling movement of the baby? Still lots of ninja kicks.

Sometimes if I sit really still, I can see my stomach move - it's pretty crazy.

Food cravings? Ice cream. :)

Gender of the baby? BOY! BOY! BOY!

After watching three little boys on Saturday, 

I have a better idea of all the fun times ahead.

 

Mood/ thoughts? I am feeling so blessed -
blessed to have had a healthy and uncomplicated pregnancy so far,
blessed to have friends who shower us unexpectedly with gifts for this little one,
blessed to have a supportive and loving family, specifically -
an amazing husband who works so hard to provide for our growing brood
and an adorable little boy who is going to make a great big brother. :)
God has truly showered me with peace these past few weeks
and replaced a lot of the anxiety I was previously feeling.
(Don't get me wrong - I still worry!)
I am praying that this peace will stick with me for the next 10 weeks!

22 Months

I know I say this every month,

but Max really is turning into a little man.

Seriously, when did he get so big?

Max weighs in these days about 33 pounds and measures 35.5 inches tall.

I am really struggling with what size clothes to dress this kiddo in

because, well, children's clothing manufacturers have conspired to confuse 

parents everywhere with their crazy inconsistent sizing.

He wears some 18-24 month, 24 month, 2T and even 3T items.

It's nuts, I know.

He is still eating really well and loves his milk.
Little man has pretty much mastered the fork and spoon -
and is equally adept with both hands,
though sometimes he chooses to use his fingers instead. :)

He sleeps from about 8:00pm to 6:45-7:00am
and takes a 1.5-2 hour nap.
Max has been taking longer to fall asleep and 
is not sleeping as soundly these days for whatever reason.
I am hoping this is a phase that passes before Baby Brother arrives!

Clay and I are seriously amazed that little man's
vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds!
He does not stop talking it seems. :)
Some things he often says:
When asked if he has a poopy diaper, "Workin' it." Ha!
At stoplights, "Go, car! Go!"
After climbing up onto Mommy & Daddy's bed, "Piddows on bed, pease."
Sometimes when he's done something he shouldn't, "Mommy did it."
(Don't know where that came from?!!)
When we get into the car to go somewhere, "Mommy buckle."
When one of us leaves, "Mommy/ Daddy back minute home."
When Mommy gets out the safety gate, "Max room time." :)
If someone mentions trains (or if he just thinks about one), "Man driving train all board!"
There are many more I'm sure I'm forgetting!

He has also recently started singing, which is pretty cute.
His rendition of "Hap Bir-Day to You" is quite charming,
as is his version of "Tinkle Tinkle Lil' Star."

Sometimes Daddy will sing while Max is in the bathtub
and Max will fill in the words that Daddy "forgets!"

 This past month, Max...
rode an airplane with Mini and Zu.
hunted Easter eggs for the first time.
fed some "baby doats."
climbed into his carseat all by himself!
started sleeping with his sock monkey, teddy bear AND giraffe.
(That toddler bed is getting crowded!)
 helped Mommy stir the "ba-bakes" she was making for breakfast.
has started dancing to songs - that boy has got some moves!
has developed a love for trains and talks about them all. the. time.
climbs all over everything - furniture, people, you name it!

We are still working on the concept of Baby Brother with Max.
I have been showing him pictures of himself when he was a baby
as well as pictures of "Baby Mommy."
He loves to look at the photos, but I'm still not sure he gets it.
It will be a shock to his system when this little one arrives. :)

It is bittersweet to watch Max grow,
and I think both Clay and I miss the baby snuggles
(though we will have more of those soon enough!).
He continues to amaze us and keep us on our toes!

San Antonio

Over Easter weekend we took a quick little family trip to San Antonio

since our previously planned vacation was cancelled due to Clay's work schedule.

We really wanted to do something as a family of three

to "get away" before we were housebound with a newborn this summer.

(Yeah...no crazy Wisconsin road trips for us!)

We rode the zoo train to Kiddie Park

 

 

Watched Max ride in circles to his heart's content :)

 

 

Took the river taxi to downtown

Visited the Alamo

Played through naptime at the children's museum

 

Enjoyed a little ice cream and "pancakes"

Almost threw our dinner on the floor at La Fogata

 

(Don't let the smile fool you. Max had a full-fledged meltdown because Mommy cut his tortilla in half.
Or maybe because of that missed nap... )


 And still had time to play in the pillows :)

I had some lovely color-coordinated outfits for us to wear

to church on Easter Sunday, but Max's breakfast had other plans...

He spilled milk all over his shirt and pants, and the muffin crumbs didn't help either.
So he ended up with a more patriotic look that day, which meant
the cute family photo I had envisioned didn't exactly happen. Oh well!

And of course, we had to stop at Buc-ees on the way home!

Oh, the madness...

It was a quick trip, but a much-needed one!

We enjoyed that time together as a family of three,

but look forward to travelling as a party of four. :)

Picture Post!

I finally got around to uploading quite a few pics from both
my iPhone and the camera, and found so many that were just too cute not to share!

Several weeks ago, our playgroup met at the Watauga Library to pet the bunnies.
I took Max's cousin Jaxon with us, though he was not quite so excited about these furry friends. :) Max, however, was running wild - pulling ears and tails when he could grab them!
Eventually he settled down enough to get this sweet pic:

 

(You'd never know that moments before he had just kicked one across the pen.)
Afterwards we played for a bit on the adjoining playground,
then headed to our favorite place - Chickfila! - for lunch.

Several people commented on these sweet "brothers" - ha!
Maybe they just felt sorry for the pregnant lady trying to wrangle two toddler boys...

I have seen suggestions for busy bag swaps floating around Pinterest,
and suggested to my SIL Tara that we host one for our mommy friends.

 It was a super-fun evening to mostly just sit and chat,
and we all stocked up on activities to keep our kiddos busy - for 5 minutes, anyway. :)

Then I hosted our playgroup for an Easter egg hunt. 
I must say, it was a little chaotic with 12 kiddos (4 of them under 6 months),
but we did manage to get the older ones to stand still long enough for a picture.

I think the hunting thing is still a little advanced for our group
because they enjoyed dumping the eggs out of their buckets more than putting them in!

This was one lazy Saturday morning, enjoying some snuggle time!

 

A friend from church graciously offered to let Max come over and feed her baby goats
- so we took her up on the offer a few weeks ago!

 I think Max enjoyed playing with the goat food more than anything else. :)
(Thanks, Kylie, for not freaking out about all the spills!)

 Our little man sporting a curl 'hawk
before a long-overdue haircut!

Inspired by my friend Katie's post, I put together a rice bin for Max to play with.
He absolutely loved it!

 We're still learning how to keep the rice in the bin though...

Cute little baby buns :)

This little stinker loves to climb up into the desk chair
to push the keyboard buttons on our laptop.
One morning Clay caught him sitting there and asked what he was doing.
Max replied, "Workin' compooter. Push Mommy buttons."

Oh, that kiddo!

And a sweet little kiss for my sweet little man. :)

Next up, a post all to itself about our Easter weekend trip to San Antonio!

25-26-27 Weeks

I'm in the third trimester now, y'all!
Things are getting real.
Only 12 more weeks until we meet Baby Brother. :)

The bump at 25, 26, and 27 weeks:

How far along? 27 weeks and 5 days.

How big is the baby? About the size of a head of cauliflower,
or 16 inches long and about 2.5 pounds.

Are you in maternity clothes? Yes.

How do you feel physically? Some days I feel really good

and have enough energy, and others I feel like I've got cement shoes.

Fortunately the good days outnumber the less good ones. :)

Sleep? In an attempt to help my varicose vein issues,

I've been sleeping on my left side exclusively - which is a lot harder

than you might think. I often wake up on my back,

so it takes some effort to stay on my side throughout the night.

Miss anything? My non-maternity clothes. 

And sleeping however I want to!

Feeling movement of the baby? Oh my goodness, this kid never rests!

Well, he does rest - he just happens to wake up when I'm trying to sleep. :)

Baby Brother is getting a lot stronger because some of his

calisthenics are starting to hurt!

Food cravings? I think because BB is growing, there is not as much room

for my stomach to expand and I'm not as hungry these days.

But when I do have a craving, something salty almost always hits the spot.

Gender of the baby? BOY!

 

Mood/ thoughts? I am starting to freak out just a little.
I feel like there is so much to do before this little bundle of energy joins our family,
and that 12 weeks (or less) is simply not enough time to accomplish it all.
I'm starting to think about the delivery and what that might look like,
hopefully not involving a c-section! We (well, it's mostly me) are considering using a doula
this time around, but there are still so many unknowns and so many things
that could change - and change multiple times - before the birth
which may mean that a doula doesn't make sense.
Then there's the whole juggling the routines/ schedules of two kiddos,
which has totally got this brain boggled!
And don't even get me started on all the other little household projects I'd like to accomplish. :)