Baby Shower pics

Here we are playing the "Match the candy bar to the Pregnancy term" game. I couldn't think of a more creative name, so that is it. If you have a more original name by all means let me know.
Here I am, pulling a face that I seem to pull often in pictures. Even in my baptismal picture my mouth is wide open. I think Conrad has taken after me. Read this post to see how. I tend to pull that face when I'm really excited about something (I pulled it in a picture when Conrad was first born). Right here I opened my present from Kate G. She makes wipe clutches called Lovey Designs, and I got one!!! Now I am chic. I can die happy. I just need some shoes to go with them. Thanks Kate! Oh, in the picture is Amy on the left. She is tiny and she gave birth to a 10 pounder!!!! Holy cow, I think she deserves a shirt! And on the right is thee hostess, Heidi. I have some spectacular friends here!!!
This is just a funny picture demonstrating how cute little girls can be. Here is my friend Aubre's daughter BriAnn being silly. She is so full of life and in her own world! This is what I look forward to with my girl.
This is everything I got from the shower. 3 new blankets, including a homemade one from Favorite (it's the one with pink and white blocks made with the really yummy material). Jen, I posted 2 of the same picture so you could decide which to copy to send to your mom! I couldn't decide! I also got 2 cute little outfits/onesies-perfect for this summer, cute socks, cute headbands, the wipe clutch that I mentioned earlier, and a homemade hooded towel! A few of my friends went in on a super big gift and got me a double stroller!!!! Isn't that awesome?!? I have everything I need.
Now, all I need is someone to take baby girl's foot out of my back so I can sit up straight! Or, perhaps, carry her around for me for a while! Oh well, I only have to deal with it for about 3 more weeks. I've done it already this long, why not 3 more?

Thanks to my kind friends for pulling this together for me!!!

Sneak preview of our baby girl!

Ultrasound: 36 weeks 1 day gestation

Whoa, check out that picture! Does she have my nose or what? Hopefully it looks better on her than it does on me! ha ha, ANyWay... we had the ultrasound today and were surprised with some unexpected news. Before I tell you the news, according to babycenter.com babies at 36 weeks are approximately 5 1/2 lbs.

She is already 8 lbs.

:O Did your jaw drop, too?

Her head and belly circumferences both were measuring in at 39 weeks and 1 day. I am 36 weeks and 1 day. Is something wrong here?!??!?!?!? Holy cow. I was feeling a little shaken up with the news. I've been telling myself over and over that I have to carry her for 4 more weeks (give or take a day or 2). If she continues at the average growth rate of babies in the womb, she will be approximately 10 lbs in 4 weeks. I do not want to carry her for 4 more weeks. Conrad was 7 lbs 12 oz. when he was born, 6 days early. This girl is chubby. Did you notice her cheeks in the picture? Adorable.

By the way, that bump thing on her forehead is just an "ultrasound shadow," so I don't think we have to worry about an actual bump. (JUST FYI to my other pregnant friends going to the same place as me: the ultrasound tech must really like me because she said she normally doesn't do 4D shots like the one above at this visit, it's usually strictly measuring. Take her some candy and maybe she'll do it for you-that's what I did!!!)

All of the previous ultrasounds she measured right on. My weight gain is significantly less this time around than with Conrad's. (Almost 25 lbs. currently vs. 40 lbs with Conrad.). Way to go, self! :D Yet, how do you figure the weight difference in the 2 of them?

I felt very justified today for all the complaining I've done to Josh. These are the most common complaints:

"I already feel full term!"
"I can't get up!!!"
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!"
"I'm sorry, I can't- I'm growing a baby!"
And of course it's my excuse for getting out of simple tasks like answering the phone, getting Conrad out of his carseat, or carrying Conrad up the stairs.

Anyway, the Dr. did not check my progression today. She will wait until next week to start doing that. For that I am a little thankful. That means less anxiety and stress at 4 am in the morning when I wake up for the ritual water break, which results in me coming back to bed, tossing and turning until I get up an hour later to get a snack or something. Was that a run-on sentence? Sorry, but I'm a little lazy to fix it. I'm growing a baby. Me: tonight, in honor of being 9 months pregnant... Trying to hold her up.

ETA: It is 5:30 in the morning the next day, I've been up for an hour. With stress and anxiety about perhaps having a baby anyday. What's a woman to do?

p.s. I had a lovely baby shower tonight with a few of my friends from here. My awesome friend Heidi threw it for me and was so wonderful to organize everything. She is the bomb. We played a candy bar game (match the pregnancy/postpartum term to the candy bar. example: baby boy name: Mike & Ike, baby girl name: Baby Ruth, epideral: Lifesavers). Then she served us delicious strawberry shorcake and we gabbed away longer than our welcome deserved!

Of course, I have many other wonderful friends that came and happen to check my blog out so I need to mention that they were teRRIFIC to come and escape their busy lives as mothers. Sincerely speaking: I think the world of them!!!! (Shout out to Aubre and Favorite and Amy and Jenny and Kate and Emily~ refer to my sidebar for links to their blogs). I am not too worried about delivering earlier than planned because I have wonderful friends and neighbors that care about me!!!

I am worried that Josh won't be there because he might be in one of many test!!! (He says he can get out of it, so that's a bit reassuring.) He kept saying at the ultrasound visit, "This is ok, anytime the baby comes is a good time." That was just what I needed to hear!

Thanks to my loving friends and family for all their sweet gifts and support!!!

Here's a shout-out for my cousin and his wife!

My cousin Devin and his adorable wife Amanda are hoping to adopt. If any of you know of anyone... they are very hopeful to have a kid, maybe children, too. My heart goes out to them, here is a link to their blog.
Devin and Amanda's letter to birth mother.

Ethan is now famous

Happy Birthday, Ethan! Here are some pictures that I have on my computer and can use for blackmailing purposes... just so you know. I hope it's a great day, and that you get everything you want! You probably won't see this post because you're so busy with your Optometry rotation+finding a house+3 rambunctious little boys+your lovely wife Kim probably has a nice something or other for you! Hey, Kim-the-girl, if you happen to see your husband today wish him a Happy Birthday for me!



That is my big brother. He is one-of-a-kind. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but these pictures of Ethan are worth a lot more. He is my only brother that can burp like a rooster, play any song on the guitar (ok, some of my other brothers are good, too!), and chase me around the house threatening to wipe his booger on me. Maybe I shouldn't brag about that last one, I might have another brother try to change that. (blech!)

Happy 10th birthday!

Happy Tuesday

Here is a glimpse into the fun Conrad had while playing with his friend Luke at the park today. I grabbed my camera too late to capture cute Will hanging out with them, too. I am a bit afraid Conrad may have gotten a sunburn today, we'll see. This was the E.H Young Riverfront Park, right by Riverside's own Argosy Casino.

Enjoy the video grandma's and grandpa's!!

Anticipation!

This picture was taken when I first went into the hospital to be induced with Conrad. I took it, can you tell? I just wanted to document my feelings before the sweet boy was born. Here is a written document of how I'm feeling now with this pregnancy.Today is the 21st of April, I'm due May 21st with baby girl, so now I'm officially really counting down the days. As of this present moment I am ecstatic! Other times I am nervous, wondering if I can handle the stress of new baby+move+having guests visits+Conrad's reaction to baby. THANKFULLY, Josh will be a free man from med school for about 2 weeks right when the baby is due. Man am I thankful for that!!!!!!

I've taken a break from nesting for the past week, but it kicked right back in gear last night/this morning. I couldn't sleep last night, I finally did around 1:45 am, then I got up at 7 am and hurried and got going on the day. Last night I stayed up looking online at the social security's list of baby names and popularity in what year etc. etc. It's helpful if you don't want to choose a popular name. I made a big long list of names, but I kind of think we already know what it's going to be.

So, today Conrad and I did some shopping at Wally-world. I've been getting his summer clothes purchased. The only thing I haven't been able to find yet are a good pair of summer sneakers. We went to Payless this morning, only to see that they weren't open until 10am!!! We were there too early. So, we went across the street to Walmart. Isn't this entertaining?!? ANYWAY... I promise here comes a cute story. While I waddled around Walmart Conrad sat content in the seat blurting out random things that he could identify, "boon!" = balloon. "oofball"=football. "ruff ruff!"= doggy. "eetsa"= pizza. And I heard over and over from people that caught his eye, "You've done a good job of teaching him not to talk to strangers!" = man, that kid will not smile at me! Yeah, he's a pretty somber kid when it comes to new faces. I get tired of saying that. Oh well, I'm thankful that he really won't talk to strangers!

Here comes the really cute story. He did this about 3 times. He would look up at me, grin his big cheesy grin, wrap his arms around my bumpy belly and sigh. The first time he did it I think he said, "baby." I wished everyone in the world could see us right then because it was definitely a precious moment. I was brimming with joy. I think he knows it's getting closer. He sees babies around and he gets excited and says, "baby!" Or he'll see a carseat and say, "baby!" He says it quite often at random moments, and I wonder if he sees something I'm not seeing. Aww, this is a weepy mommy moment. I sincerely believe he can't wait for his baby sister, that he remembers her. He is more drawn to baby girls than baby boys. It is amazing to watch.

Anyway, I just wanted to document some of my feelings at this point in my pregnancy. Today has been an "up" day, in the midst of a few "down" days recently, so I needed to remember this. And share it! It's been so easy to share the rough moments, I need to make sure to remember the sweet ones, too!

After Conrad was born.

Happy Birthday to an old sister

My older sister Jeni's birthday is tomorrow, and I have all of these pictures of her on my computer. So, I thought I'd share with y'all my beautiful older sister. She is getting old.

I would call her my big sister, but, 1- I am pregnant and bigger than her, 2-Even when I'm not pregnant, I'm bigger than her.
Check her out:
at the 2007 easter egg hunt with her skinny legs.
holding Conrad before we moved last summer:
Can I sneak in a belated birthday to Brindy right here? She is my sis-in-law and a wonderful one, too. Here is Jeni and Brindy having a Kodak moment. In the meantime, Jeni's husband Jason tries not to be jealous.

That last picture was taken when Josh and I got married. Funny how after all these years you haven't changed a bit. Or maybe you have, but for the better. =)
You are a terrific older sister!!! I love ya, and I love that you have a blog now, too, so I can laugh out loud to how similar we think. Great minds think alike. ;) I hope you have a great birthday, and I hope you get everything you want!

Flashback Friday

This is Conrad when he was about 7 months old. Look closely, and you can see that he had his 2 front teeth. He was right in the middle of sprouting a ton of teeth. He had 8 teeth by the time he was 8 months old. Pretty crazy!

Crazy, indeed.

Not much...

I don't have much too post about, but Conrad is asleep, I am waiting for laundry to dry, so I thought I would post about not much.

Except that Conrad is better! He is happy again, eating again, and sleeping again. As of last night and this morning. All he needed was to eat well, get a good rest and that equals him being happy. He finally did it. So, life is back to normal here in Mo-town.

According to babycenter.com baby girl is 5 1/4 pounds now, all her organs are developed and basically from here on out she puts on weight. I can also tell you that she really likes to stretch her bum up into my rib cage and occassionally stick her foot in my back so I have a nice dull stabbing feeling there. It's great. ;P She's just kickin' back relaxin'. She doesn't move around so crazily anymore now that she's crowded in there, so falling asleep has been easier. Or maybe it's the Tylenol PM that's helping. (I take it for the restless leg syndrome). The doctor checked me at my last appointment and I am NOT DILATED! Yay! I was so worried because I've been having a ton of contractions, and worried that she might come early. More good news: I get another ultrasound! They do another one at 36 weeks to see how baby's measuring and what things are looking like in there. So, that is scheduled for next Thursday. It will be Josh's first Dr.'s appt with me! We are excited of course.

Josh is busy. He has a test today, a test on Tuesday, a quiz Tuesday night and a project presentation on Tuesday night, too. Let me make sure I got that right (Anatomy test today, renal test Tuesday, MBA quiz Tuesday night along with his project presentation), yep. Got it. Every night this past week he's been studying, but we managed to watch The Office together last night. We are learning how to spend quality time together rather than having X amount of quantity time together. So, anyway, life can be a little hard with him busy and gone all the time, but I make sure to ask him for help when he is around!

I am making Better than ______(insert with "anything" or "s...x") Cake today. Yummy german chocolate cake smothered with caramel, topped with whipped cream and Heath chocolate bits. It is very good! I haven't made it since Josh's birthday party last year (May 19).

I am thinking of celebrating his birthday a month early this year since his birthday will be a little bombarded by end of school tests and perhaps the birth of our daughter (due the 21st). He says to not worry about it, but of course I am worried that his birthday might get overlooked when it comes around in a month! Maybe I'll just make him a cheesecake in advance and freeze it so we can have it ready just in case.

Oh, and did you hear about the earthquake? We heard about it, but didn't feel it. It was at like 4 am, so we were asleep.

Sigh. There you have it, not much happenin' here. I've slowed down quite a bit now, so I won't be posting about any bungy jumping or horseback riding experiences. Thanks for checking in on us. To all my fellow bloggers: I look forward to new posts!

Penguin Park

We went to Penguin Park again, today. Remember this post last fall? It explains why it's called Penguin Park. It is thee perfect park for little people. The swings have short chains so they don't go too high (and so they don't knock over an oblivious toddler as easily, too), small slides, little things to climb up on, and other fun things too. I just thought of another reason why it might be called Penguin Park. Little people toddle/waddle around like penguins so maybe that's where the park creators got their inspiration.

Anyway, each Tuesday starting today our ward has designated Park Days (started up by my good awesome friend Heidi. She doesn't have a blog, or else I would totally link you to her because she is so cool). So, hopefully you will get to see some cool Kansas City Parks from now on. And some cute pictures of Conrad. ;)
In this picture are the 3 boys that are Conrad's age from our ward. There's more boys his same age, but he sees these ones probably the most often. Left to right: Will, Luke, and Conrad.



This was a great escape for a grouchy boy today. I am desperate to do anything to distract him from being grouchy. He has all of a sudden figured out he can get what he wants by throwing fits (like pepperoni and crackers for dinner [versus french toast covered with butter, powdered sugar and jam], cheese for lunch [versus a yummy pb and raspberry jam sandwich], apple juice all the time... what's a nutrition-freak-of-a-mother supposed to do?)

Article

Why Pregnant Women Don't Tip Over
(Click to be directed to babycenter.com for the article)

Never-ending sick

Well, at least he was healthy for spring break when we drove to and from Utah. Unfortunately, he's come down with something again. It started last Wednesday with a cold, on Friday his appetite started decreasing, Saturday he got a fever and the grouchiness and wouldn't eat anything, Sunday he stayed home from church, and today (Monday) the doctor said he has a virus. No ear infection, no sore throat. Just a plain old virus.

He won't eat anything. Oh, except for cheese nips and popsicles. He has an appetite about the size of a nickel.

It was real fun at the doctor's office with a screaming toddler looking desperately at me like, "THEY'RE TAKING ME AWAY," when I had to lay him down to check his weight. It took about 5 minutes before the nurse settled on his weight based off him jumping up and down, screaming like he was about to be admitted into the insane asylum. It was pretty close to his previous weight, and I had had enough, so I didn't protest!

Checking the ears and the throat was torture for him. He had to be pinnned down and the whole time he screamed like it was his last scream so he better make it worth it.

Everything is a battle. Does he want his jacket on or off? Does he want apple juice or milk? Who knows, but no matter what I do for him he gets mad and starts crying, flailing his arms at me. I'm a good mom so I just leave him on the ground to cry. Plus it hurts to carry my-pregnant-self, let alone a toddler.

Today he was exceptionally grouchy at the grocery store. (I had to buy him popsicles... and our cupboards were getting empty so the store trip was a must). I waddled in pain through the aisles with him going between on the verge of tears to crying loudly. I always vowed I would never be a mother that shopped while her child cried or threw tantrums. Hey, he got popsicles out of it at least, right?

Tribute to Conrad

Josh has been feeling rather sentimental lately, so he made a video tribute to our boy. With all his free time. Can you believe it? But, he loves a project like this, and he really loves our son, and I get to post it on my blog! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have (or at least close to it).

(We are soaking up these last few weeks with our only child before our daughter arrives, so maybe that's why Josh was feeling so sentimental. That, and Conrad has been sick so we're feeling extra affectionate towards him. He's had a fever since yesterday and a clear runny nose, so I'll be taking him in tomorrow to the Dr.)

Thank you Josh for doing this. Even though I complained about how long it was taking you, you are a sweetheart. Thanks for being a great dad and husband!

Flashback Friday

I remembered to flashback today! Yipee! We have this super collage here with pictures of a lot of different flashback times, so I hope you enjoy!

His first song

It's only the first 10 seconds, so stop it after that!!! Or else you hear me singing a solo, and we don't want that! I was trying to encourage him, but it ended up me just singing for y'all.

It's funny how he picked this song up, he has been such a sponge soaking up everything I say, repeating it the best he can, and most of the time it is just funny how he says stuff. So, he knows how to say hello! Not to anybody but me and Josh, though... he's a shy boy!

He will sing this song at random times ALL the time, too. When he's playing with his toys, hanging out in his crib, when we're driving in the car, or when he's dawdling at the end of his meals. He is way too much fun!!!

I want these

From Victoria's Secret, the Fit Flop. Tone and sculpt your legs while you walk around looking freakin' cute, too. Sounds good to me!

Book Tag (don't worry, it's short!)

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

Thanks Jeni, for tagging me. You're a peach. Now I have a good excuse to brag about the cool book I've been reading, "The Princess Bride," the abridged version. It's SO fun! Here it is:

"Or...or...dead?"

THAT'S the 5th SENTENCE!? Can you believe it?!? Here is the 7th sentence, I decided it would be alright to made an exception for me.

"Inigo, at the age of twenty-seven, began having a few extra glasses of wine at night, to help him get to sleep."

I tag Amy B., Aubre B., Favorite (do you even have time to read books? I know you have time to read my blog...), Cindy, and Kalynne!

Me vs. Josh

Is today Friday? Or, is it Thursday? Oh, it's Wednesday.

What is Josh's occupation title? VA guy? ...after calling and asking Josh he corrected me, no, it's the AV guy.

What was that one thing that I repeated over and over so I wouldn't forget it at the store? still can't remember.

Those are just a small sample of some questions I have asked myself lately. I swear, this pregnancy is REALLY sucking out my brain power. I even have a hard time holding a conversation. Wait, that's not new. It's just harder as of late! My brain has never been capable of abstract thought, so having a simple polite conversation lately has become a real mental task for me! Sorry to any of you that have noticed and wondered what-the-heck.

GOOD NEWS:
Josh got nominated and won to be on our Townhomes Board of Directors. This happened Monday night. I am amazed all the time by him, I think he will be perfect. I am biased, of course, but he is so level-headed and with it. Way to go, Josh!
At the same meeting they had door prizes, and we won the first place door prize! One month of rent free! We debated what to do with the money, and we've decided to go to Disneyland! Just kidding. Wouldn't that be nice if you could afford to go to Disneyland and back for under $500? Ha.

SO, we're hoping all of our townhome neighbors don't hate us for winning that! And we also hope that we keep all of our friends with Josh being one of the board members. We had one VERY lucky night!

Just another day

I have a tip for all you mom's of small kids out there:

Don't feed your kid spaghettio's.

Unless you want a real mess on your hands. No pictures, sorry. I was focused on saving my clean kitchen rather than take a few snapshots. Bummer.

I'm trying to E X P A N D Conrad's pallet to include meals other than cereal, bananas, PB sandwiches, peas, and cheese.

I thought Spaghettio's were a hit with kids (I loved them), but he just wasn't all that interested in the eating part of lunch time today. He rather wanted to tip the bowl upside down onto his tray and drop them one by one onto the floor, saying "uh oh" each time he did it. Is that where "Uh-oh.... spaghettio" came from?

Em did a good job of explaining what I'm going through in this post.

And then she posted about something else I might like to try.



Because sometimes Too Much Information is just TMI. For example:

I've been rather grouchy and short lately with my loved ones. I think it has something to do with having TONS of contractions and pain everytime I stand up to do anything. Seriously, yesterday I finally started counting how many contractions I was having and how often. At one point, they were every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for 20 minutes, and at another point I had 16 contractions in 1 hour (they ranged from 2-3 minutes apart, then slowed down to every 7 or 8 minutes). So, it's not real labor, because they're random and inconsistent. Though they can be very uncomfortable, they're not as painful as real labor contractions. A solution "they" say works: drinking water. I drink about 4 glasses of 32 oz. size cups a day. I don't think that works for me. I think my contractions are from carrying Conrad around and being busy. They strike up right about the time Conrad wakes up from his nap, and coincidentally when Josh gets home from school and I'm busy making dinner. So, Josh has to deal with me waddling around through contractions. They don't ease off until I've rested and relaxed for a good while. (Add to that: and after I've had more water to drink).

I may or may not participate. My blog is my therapy. Stay tuned for more!

Still nesting...

I have been keeping myself busier than normal lately with a to-do list filled with things that have been on my list for a year and a half. That's the age of Conrad... must have something to do with having a baby. -Even more motivation to go to work!
I've scrubbed base boards and organized my craft supplies. (Yes, mom, I have craft supplies! It's a monumental occassion! For those of you that don't know me very well, I am not a crafter. That's why I have a blog. This has been my craft. Lately I have acquired some items to entertain a toddler that require being organized into a bin, though.) I've even started working on my advent calendar again. I know for a fact that it will not ever get done if I don't finish it NOW! I've also been working on getting Conrad's scrapbook all updated. YEAH, a SCRAPBOOK! The sound of that word makes me quiver. Wish me luck.
Today I am so excited because I purchased 2 new nursing bras. I won't go into much detail for those of you that really don't care/don't want to know, but I am so happy about that purchase. Let's just say engorgement was awful last time around, and now I am prepared for it. At least, as much as I can be (how can you ever be ready for that? it's quite a miserable experience).
Gotta go, but I have plans for a cute post of Conrad's latest "trick."

Nesting

The picture below is the project I worked on yesterday. I sorted all of the baby boy clothes in age groups, and the baby girl clothes in age groups as well. I already have more baby girl clothes total than Conrad has up to date!!! (slight exaggeration) Thank you for the hand-me-downs Jamie (my sis-in-law) and Jena (from my ward)!!!! I am set on girl clothes for newborns up to 6 months old!

In the above picture I want you to notice how full the big bag of girl clothes (on the floor) is (that's for the newborn age group), compared to the boy bag to the left (also newborn age group). This girl is already spoiled!

We are so spoiled we have even been blessed to borrow a bassinet from Favorite. What a beautiful reminder of what's coming!

Today I was shopping at Sam's Club and saw a mother with a BRAMMY newborn baby girl. The mom was holding her on her shoulder and had a cart full of diapers for newborn and diapers for older toddler sibling, wipes, frozen pizza, dino-nuggets (chicken nuggets), basically easy dinner-fixins for a house full of business. All of a sudden the baby started crying, and it wasn't a gentle cry like Conrad had, it was a mean ticked-off cry. I mean, you couldn't ignore it. It was mean. I looked to see why the mother had dropped her. Uh, no, she just set the baby in it's car seat. I almost started crying myself! I will not complain about the pain I'm in anymore! I'm happy to keep her in for as long as it takes.
Me at 32 weeks (8 months pregnant).
p.s. if you work at Sam's Club and you see a pregnant lady walking her cart to her car, HELP HER OUT!!! Especially if she has a big bucket of laundry detergent in her cart. She will appreciate it tremendously. Especially if she has the kind of pain that I have. Ouch!