3.30.2011

Grayson: Two Weeks

Grayson had his two week checkup Monday. All is good! The nurse questioned me if he was only two weeks old...come on people, he's not THAT large :) (she was kidding, well, it was said in a nice way, we'll put it that way)

Stats:

9 lbs, 4 ounces, almost back up to his birth weight. Puts him at the 60th percentile (was actually surprised, thinking it would be so much higher considering his weight)

21.5", 85th percentile (hmm...shrunk an inch? I do think it's pretty hard to accurately measure these squirmy little babies, so who knows who is right)

14.5" head circumference, 50th percentile

I can't for the life of me find Connor's stats, but for sure was lighter since he was only 7 lbs 12 ounces at birth and I think lost a fair amount the first few weeks since we were at Children's and he was fed via IV.

two days

 two weeks

I'm not great at doing something consistent, car seat, toy, chair, etc. So it's not ideal to monitor growth...just be happy I got a picture :)

Things we're up to:
-eats about 1.5-3oz at a feeding
-nightly feedings happen around midnight, 3am and 7am. For the most part he goes right back down, but the 3 am feeding seems to be the hardest to get him back down
-burps like a champ
-knock on wood, but he's way less of a spit-up baby than Connor, however out of habit I always have a burp cloth prepared
-have been pretty 'busy', today is my first day home with him that I have nothing to do or anywhere to go, looking forward to a nap or two :)
-shockingly doesn't wake up Connor in the middle of the night, especially considering the changing table is directly on the other side of the wall where Connor sleeps, and Grayson is not a fan of diaper changes
-is not in love with the nuk like older brother, I actually did use it last night when he was wide awake at 3:30 and it did help him fall asleep, but typically he doesn't really like it (which we're okay with, obviously)
-Connor is certain he loves Mighty Machines (new favorite equipment show)
-more and more alert which is fun, can't wait for the smiles (well, the non-gas related smiles :))



3.27.2011

and then there was one

Totally forgot to mention that I attended my friend Aleta's baby shower this weekend. She looked stunning and it was a great shower. Also was of course great to see Angie and Sarah as well :)


 down to only one preggo in the group, excited to resume our monthly girls night in April after taking the month of march off to have babies

just before digging into the amazing cake pops 

Miles on the left, Grayson on the right

Grayson looked so much older than Miles, and he's only a week older. 
Probably didn't help that I had him in a collared shirt and jeans or the fact that he's like 1.5+ lbs larger :)

take a picture, mom!

Pretty laid back weekend around here, lots of basketball, church, relaxing, etc. Not complaining :) I have Grayson's 2 week appointment (it's actually kind of depressing that 2 weeks of my maternity leave are gone) tomorrow and we're officially switching to cable instead of dish for TV. Bryan is pretty excited to get channel 12.

So nothing too exciting. Every time Connor holds Grayson he wants a picture taken. And yes, Rachel, both of my kids are on the counter. Not the first time, and certainly not the last :)

Connor of course thinks he's hilarious sitting in Grayson's chair and really has been wanting to help more...unfortunately that means wanting to pick him up, feed him, etc. I only say unfortunately because he obviously isn't quite ready to be helping with those duties quite yet.


3.25.2011

connor three year pics

The same day my friend Michelle took Connor's Valentine's Day photos, she also took some to use for his birthday party invite. Figured he wouldn't change THAT much so am considering these his semi-official three year photos :)


Showing us how old he's going to be.

counting his toes for Michelle

 being a total goof.
we had the green blanket on the floor in Bryan and I's room, so he'd run into his room across the hall then come racing into our room, slide onto the blanket, let Michelle take one photo, get up and repeat.




3.24.2011

connor update

It seems like so long ago that we had Connor's procedure, but it's only been three days. He has yet to go into the bathroom on his own 'feeling' that he needs to go, but in our dedicated toilet time, he's successful about half of the time. He's having less accidents throughout the day which is great, we just need to be careful that it's because he's forming better stools, etc., versus getting backed up again. Today at daycare he apparently made a 'face' and although he had started going in his pull-up, he finished in the toilet, so that's great news. He's never made 'the face' for us before so hopefully he's starting to feel it.

He officially starts preschool on April 4th which is great, maybe even being around so many other children that have this figured out will help in itself.

So that's really all we know for now. We're waiting to hear back from the GI specialist to see if she has any other recommendations or if she wants a follow up appointment.

3.23.2011

Grayson's first friend

Well, aside from his big brother of course, but my friend Angie had her baby yesterday! It was a little boy, Miles Jay Nessler, you can read all about it on Angie's blog. I met the little man today and he's adorable, of course. Mom, Dad and Miles all seem to be doing great!

3.21.2011

surgery: in and out

Connor's surgery went great today, and was all over in probably less than 20 minutes. He needed another 20 or so to recover and wake up from the anesthesia, but we were home at about 2 pm (with a stop for lunch). The doctor said it went great and while in there, he also checked the site of his pull through he had at birth (the same doctor that performed today's procedure, performed the pull through) and assessed the amount of stool in Connor's bowel. He said the site of the original surgery looked great and Connor wasn't full of stool and didn't feel the need to do a wash or flush while Connor was under.

What now? Essentially, we wait and see what happens. We'll probably have a follow up with the GI specialist soon, Dr. Rustad isn't the expert so he didn't have anything concrete for us in terms of what to expect, when to expect results, what we should be watching for, etc. These injections should relax Connor's sphincter muscles and allow him to pass larger amounts of stool easier, so that combined with really pushing toilet time and training, we'll hopefully make this 'click' for Connor.

In his sweet hospital pj's. He hated the socks and were not on for very long.

Needing his Grayson fix prior to the surgery



Bryan gearing up to go with Connor to get the anesthesia. I volunteered Bryan for this, assuming that I would be a wreck in there. Bryan came back and patted me on the back saying, "you wouldn't have handled that well." Probably very true.


 The many faces of Grayson.
 
Connor's IV, just like mommy's from a few days ago :)

Waiting to be discharged, spoiled with a cookie, juice box, popsicle, stickers, etc.

Hopefully this was our last visit to Children's Hospital for a long, long time (preferably forever).

surgery

Connor's surgery is today, we'll be heading up to the cities within the hour. We expect to be home sometime mid to late afternoon, I actually don't know all of the details as to how long the surgery is (would assume fairly quick?), how long recovery is, etc. Just praying that this works!

3.18.2011

one night down

Our first night went really well, which we're of course very happy about. He seriously slept the day away, would wake up for barely long enough to get a few mls of milk in and was right back out. He was a little more awake during the night when he woke up, but very content, ate, fell back asleep. Was up twice, and has now been sleeping since about 330 or 4 this morning. I need to figure out a better process, right now I have him in a pack-n-play next to my side of the bed, which in theory should work very well, but I think I need a nightlight or something, as my desk lamp is too bright for all of us in the middle of the night. It's also not convenient that I feel our bed is 6' off the ground, so getting down to get him and hoisting myself back up with him isn't easy. Doesn't help that I'm still a little sore, so it'll get better, or I'll just put him in his room.


Now we just have to figure out how to get Connor to bed before 10 or later. I was reading up on sleep yesterday and on the 'is your toddler sleep deprived' checklist, I was 4 out of 4. Super.

3.17.2011

home

We're home, and it feels good :) We left the hospital around 11 and have just been getting settled and caught up here. Grayson has done amazing....or he's just feeling good from the tylenol after his circumcision, but he's essentially been sleeping the entire time, waking for 5-10 minutes a few times to eat. I'm certain this means a not so sleepy night is ahead of us :)

First trip in the car seat, didn't really phase him :)

SHOCKER...we have another nuk baby. Yes, yes, the 'plan' was for Connor to 'give' Grayson his nuk when he was born, clearly, we're not doing so well enforcing that. I feel like I should make up a good excuse, so right now I'll go with the fact that Connor has surgery on Monday and it'll be a really good soothing thing for him to have along. Work with me.
Oh, maybe you didn't recognize the older kid above? Probably lost 3 pounds at the salon after school today when Bryan took him to get his hair cut. Long overdue.

 Shouldn't I be the one resting? :)
Connor held him for probably a good 20 minutes, crossing our fingers he continues to like him this much. We'll see how it is after tonight when I'm sure it won't be too quiet upstairs.

connor knows best

This video kept me entertained and gave me my Connor fix while in the hospital :)

3.16.2011

grayson's first photo shoot

My friend and co-worker Michelle of m.isebrand photography stopped at the hospital to take a few pictures this afternoon. He was pretty cooperative and let us manipulate him and uncover him, good boy. Lots more photo shoots to come :)

We definitely see similarities between him and Connor.

 
 

brothers

Connor so far has been a great big brother, wants to hold him, check on him, kiss him. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly times he could care less, playing with his loaders and trucks, pausing only to ask us if Grayson is awake so he can play with his loud toy, but so far he's doing great.

 

Things are going well here. Lots of pooping happening, which we're obviously very happy about. They're a little loose so they're going to monitor that, but not too concerned. He's still spitting up quite a bit, but again, they're not concerned. Was very pleased to have the pediatrician walk in and call him 'perfect'.

grayson: labor & delivery

*Note, I'm finishing this post the day Grayson turned 12 weeks, so if it seems like I can't remember or out of sequence....that's why. I had a draft going thankfully, otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't have remembered half of this.

To start where I left off in this post, I didn't wait too much longer to get the nubain. However much we liked our nurse, it was easy to tell she was a little anti-drugs and was all about trying different positions, etc. (at one time she said "I almost wanted to have a fourth child just to see what these epidurals were like", yes, I wanted to punch her).  I would not have been so willing to try a few of those things, had I known the end was only 6ish hours away as I was still thinking there was a possibility we could be in it for the long haul like Connor and I just was fearful the drugs would wear off for the worst of it. So, tried a few positional things truly just to appease the nurse but then got nubain, did absolutely nothing for the contraction pain. I think maybe around 11 as I was a crying, blubbering fool through the contractions, I told her to get the epidural process happening. Again, had I known the end wasn't that far away, I would have asked for the epidural earlier. (as always, kudos to the many women that do this drug free, I just think you're crazy, in the best way possible :))

So the anesthesiologist came and did his magic, went very smoothly. The pain subsided for about 10-15 minutes, then it came back, not as bad as it was, but back. This was probably around noon-ish? Wasn't awful, but I was hoping for total pain-free relaxation (ha), which I did have when I had one with Connor, before it wore off at least. I think I was about a 5 when they administered the epidural, 1.5 hours later, a 9. WHOOT was all I could say to that (since I progressed about 1 cm an hour MAX during Connor's labor) So, we knew it was soon going to be push time.

Like I said, we liked the nurse, but we started getting a little annoyed at this point. She was ALWAYS messing with the two monitors, baby's heartbeat and my contractions, and when we were ready to start pushing (2 pm) she seemed more concerned with the monitors and their position than catching my contraction at the right time to help me push. I get it, very important to keep monitoring the baby, but it was annoying. There were at least two contractions (after we had started pushing already) that I had to ask her if she wanted me to push through them, because she was just standing at the monitors, and she was responsible for holding my leg on that side. I will say, pushing was harder with the epidural. I remember with Connor I could just feel that I was at least doing something productive, versus I wasn't sure I was doing any good at all this time. We pushed until 3:20 or so, then they called Dr. Taylor to see if he wanted to come up and see if he could help. Baby was close, but they thought it was maybe looking towards the ceiling, instead of down, and apparently it's easier to come out face down.

He arrived about 3:30 and apparently has a gift for turning babies. I would have to agree, as after the fact, knowing that he completely flipped a 10 pounder inside of me and it wasn't an uncomfortable experience at all, seems pretty amazing. He flipped him, then next contraction he applied the vacuum, and out he came at 3:48. So, nearly two hours of pushing, fairly pain free, versus 45 minutes of pushing with Connor, full of pain, not sure which was less fun :)

Overall, not too bad, and thankfully far shorter than with Connor. I still envy these women (you know who you are) that go on their own, have these amazingly short, fast labors, I just don't think that's ever going to be in the cards for me. However if we DO have a third...I think I'm going to walk in and tell them to give me the epidural immediately. :)

Photo courtesy Anne Wolff :)

grayson timothy bode

We proudly welcome Grayson Timothy Bode to our family! I'm so sorry for the lack of updates to the blog, I have absolutely NO idea how I blogged that often during Connor's birth, other than that his took approximately 12 hours longer, ha.
 

Official Stats:
9 pounds, 6 ounces
22.5 inches long
3:48 p.m. on March 15th, 2011

Our new family of four. 
Obviously excuse my lack of put-togetherness, and the fact that Connor is in severe need of a hair cut. Connor was adorable with Grayson, a little tentative at first, but softly rubbing his head, gave him a kiss, wanting to see his feet and hands, telling me that he's noisy, ha, etc. Bryan took him home for the night and when they were leaving he asked me if I was coming home and I said I had to stay here with Grayson just two more nights and the bottom lip came out, quivering, and we both cried for a bit :( I miss my Schmo! But soon enough we'll all be together at home. We told him there was a big present at home for becoming a big brother and the tears were no more. He did call me later to see 'how's grayson doing, mommy?' and to tell me he loved his new lowboy trailer and loader :)

I need to ask Bryan exactly what I said after they announced it was a boy, but it may have been complaining about potentially having to do this all over again to try one more time for little Lola Ruth. :)
But we are obviously so in love with him and glad that he's so far looking healthy (waiting for him to poop, of course, he supposedly did a little at birth, but he's been spitting up a bit overnight and so hasn't yet had another BM). Crossing our fingers!

We are still in shock over Grayson's size, ha. With his length, a few nurses have commented that he at least looks proportionate, ha. Good thing he's a boy, I guess, not sure women would like to hear that they're 'proportionate'. :)

So, going to head back to bed. I'll post a super fun labor story tomorrow sometime and thank you, Mom, for the pictures. All of the ones I have are a little 'fresh' for a few people's liking, I'm sure. 

Thanks for all the texts, emails, comments to the blog, etc., we are so blessed with such great family and friends!

3.15.2011

we have progress, people

I am very pleased to report that there has been some progress. The cervidil did something this time (versus when we had it with Connor). Dr. Taylor checked me after they removed it and was happy to announce I was at a 3, 70% effaced and -1 station. Conveniently (ha), I blogged our entire labor with Connor so to compare, we weren't this 'far' along until 4:30 in the afternoon. Hopefully, that means we'll have a baby today, instead of tomorrow :)

Overnight last night, there was a fairly steady stream of mild contractions, I caved about 11 pm to get some Nubain to try and get some sleep, slept on an off, about an hour here, hour there, but overall feel fairly rested.

Doc broke my water about 8 this morning and they started the oxytocin (pitocin) shortly after. Contractions are about 4-6 minutes apart and I think they suck, ha. I feel it's too early to ask for drugs? Not going to lie, not sure how much longer I'll wait before asking for some nubain. Kudos to all you women that tough this out, I just don't see the point, ha.

We also were asked if we were okay if a student nurse tagging along today. We agreed, we had one with Connor's labor too. She's super sweet and we already warned her that our last student nurse doubled as our photographer, so she's getting prepared. Just hoping that it happens today, and not into the early morning again.

That's all for now :)

3.14.2011

the time has come

Well, where to begin. I think it's actually a good thing that I haven't been able to post until now, my emotions were running a little high :)

So, back up to this afternoon. Went in for the ultrasound, everything looked okay except I got docked one point for having a low amount of amniotic fluid and docked another point for lack of movement. We tried a few things to get baby to move, poking, juice, position, nothing really. So I left with a score of 6 out of 8, a guess of a 9 lb, 7 oz baby. Let me stop there. NINE pounds? Dear God. However it was like give or take 1.5 lbs. So, I guess could be around 8 lbs, or heaven forbid, 11. Ha. Comical to me. I've only gained 12 lbs this entire pregnancy so I'm hoping for closer to the 8 pound marker. Connor was 7 lbs 12 oz, just FYI.

Then we went to my doctor's appointment and had a stress test. My blood pressure was high and the nurse jokes 'if it stays that high, you won't be leaving'. I kind of laughed it off, saying that'd be fine with me, blah blah. Stress test went fine, doctor came in, checked me, no change. Still at a 1 and 25% effaced. He told us he was going to go check the schedules and come back. Really at this point I was thinking at the earliest it'd be tomorrow night that we'd come in so when he came in and asked what I was doing tomorrow I was like, having a baby I hope! He replied yep, and we'll send you over there tonight, right now actually. I think I started freaking out a little at that moment. He did let us go home and grab our stuff, but wanted us to come right back and get the cervadil going. He just stated that with the score on the ultrasound, combined with me having a little high blood pressure, the fact baby could be pretty big, it was time.

My mom was along, so she picked up Connor and Bryan and I headed straight home to gather our things. We didn't talk a whole lot (Bryan knew I was freaking out a bit, ha) and at one point I just started missing Connor :( Bryan agreed. I have no idea what I all packed, I completely was thinking I'd have time to think this through, google the official 'what to pack' list and make sure I had everything checked off. So that stressed me out a bit and also just the realization of what was about to come, I got super nervous. We gave Connor a ton of hugs and kisses and were on our way.

Fast forward a few hours, we're now settled in our room, they've placed the cervadil and I can't move until 10 pm. Then we're just hoping to get as much rest as possible tonight and hopefully things progress smoothly tomorrow. With Connor, the cervadil did "diddly squat", quoted from my doctor, so hopefully it's goes better this time. I have always said that the nurse that placed the cervadil with Connor didn't do it right...and this time it was much more uncomfortable of an experience so I'm going to take that as a good sign, don't burst my bubble :) She also said I was a 1-2, which was positive news as well.

I will say right now, I'm actually kind of uncomfortable. I don't know if it's the position I'm in, I feel like I shouldn't move until the 10pm hour, so I'm looking forward to then so I can either get up or move around or something. The nurse did mention I could get some nubain to sleep, bring on the pain meds, ha.

So, to keep this from getting any longer...we're at the hospital, getting induced, hoping and praying for baby tomorrow sometime!

3.13.2011

Basement Phase I: Complete

Well, we are nearly complete with phase one of our basement project. All that is left is for the plumber to come put the toilet back in after the tile/grout is dry, ready to go, cleaned, etc. We 'officially' finished the bedroom (meaning the carpet is officially installed and base trim is in), the steps going upstairs officially have carpet, but other than that, no trim/doors, and just carpet remnants everywhere else. We are loving it, even in it's half finished state, and look forward to using it. I might just be fine with this for a year or five or ten :)

 The 'kitchen/bar' area. Right off to the right side of the photo is where the bar will go someday. Would be nice to get some official chairs, or maybe an official table. There's a 9-piece high top table at Sam's calling my name that I think would be perfect and pretty reasonably priced....

 Living area. Bryan has had this furniture since I met him so I'm glad we're finally putting it to use. It's just been collecting dust in our storage room off of the garage.

 My doors. Little cheaper than the $400 quoted at the lumber yard :)

 Spare bedroom. Connor calls this Mary's room :)

Someday there will be an entertainment center, but again, we're living with it like this for at least a good year and again, we're okay with that :) You can see the grid is installed for the ceiling tile. I have a love/hate relationship with ceiling tile. I definitely prefer the look of sheet rock of course and actually sheet rock is far cheaper, but the benefits of having the tile ceiling out voted the rock. Now of course that we have it in, we'll NEVER need to access anything, but, we didn't want to take that chance. We're waiting on the actual tiles (holy spendy!), I kind of think it looks trendy, very industrial and Chipotle of us. Ha.

There are also I believe 4-5 varieties of carpet remnants, but again, we think it's perfect :) Leftovers from when we built and than my parents donated their remnants when they did some remodeling. So thanks to them we have carpet everywhere, which is great!
And sorry, no baby yet :)

3.11.2011

preschool

I got a call yesterday from Connor's school that they will start sending him to preschool immediately, and the amount of time spent there will depend on how often he needs to be changed. On a good day, he might spend lots of time, bad day (like yesterday, sent home with 6+ bags of dirty underwear), might be very little or none. He'll be sent back to the toddler rooms for changing, as they're more equipped and staffed for that.

This has been a big topic for us, as he should have moved more than a month ago probably, had he been able to be trained for #2. Obviously, it's not his fault that he can't, so we're really happy with the staff at his school that they're willing to make this adjustment for him so he can be with his friends and continue learning and developing along with other children his age. Crossing our fingers that he can spend decent amounts of time there each day!

I know this is a few posts in a row without any pictures, but have no fear, BASEMENT pics coming soon. Ha.

3.10.2011

smidgen.

That about sums up my doctor appointment this afternoon. He walked in, I told him I might cry if he tells me there isn't any progress, he checks me, and hands me a box of kleenexes. Such a card, he is.

But, he did say that there was what he called, and I quote, 'a smidgen of progress'. We didn't really talk numbers exactly but he said around 25% effaced, not sure what the official dilation is. So then we talked next steps, options, etc.

Next steps:
-Biophysical ultrasound on the baby Monday afternoon. They will check four things to determine if the baby is getting sick or not doing well. Amount of amniotic fluid, muscle tone of the baby (if it seems strong or is limp), movement and breathing patterns, as well as the baby's size. Each thing gets a score of 2 points, if I leave an 8, there's no medical need to get things going. If I score a 5-6 or lower, he'd probably push things along.
-Following the ultrasound I'll go right to an appointment with him where he'll review the ultrasound data
-We left feeling pretty certain he'll induce us by mid to late next week. One, I threw out the Connor surgery card, since that's scheduled for the 21st, would be nice to be able to attend. Two, he talked about women and their cervixes....on one end of the spectrum, there are women that can't keep babies in, then a giant bell curve where normal women fall, and then women like me who's cervix never dilates much or at all. Super (and totally something you needed to know, right? :)). He did say, with the little amount of progress I did have, he felt pretty good that if he had to induce today (blood pressure issues, something else, etc.), he'd be able to get the baby out (without needing a c-section), versus last week he would not have felt that way. So I guess, progress is progress.

Bryan determined that next Thursday would be a good day to go in because the NCAA basketball tourney will be on and he could handle being in the hospital for a few days watching that. I guess it would only be fitting, since we were in the hospital with Connor during the Master's. Must take a major sporting event for me to have babies. Dumb.

He also gave me the go ahead to feel free to go naturally over the weekend. Gee. Thanks. Funny guy he is.

So nothing too exciting, but I would say it's more than likely going to happen later next week. I'm hoping we go in Wednesday night for the cervadil treatment and hopefully have the baby sometime on Thursday the 17th. St. Patrick's day baby would be kind of fun :)

3.09.2011

toilet time

We're supposed to be encouraging and enforcing toilet time for Connor, which some nights is easier than others. Some nights, he's willing to go sit in there, as long as he has the ipad, nuk and blankie. Then, he'll literally sit in there for an hour. I don't really think it's helping him, since it's not like he's actively trying to accomplish anything, probably just enjoys the peace and quiet, ha. However tonight, when I went to try and get him to come out, he had pooped in the toilet :) I hope he continues to prove me wrong!

But, don't get too excited, 10 minutes later he went running to the toilet saying he had to poop, but it was already too late. However, he's back sitting in there again, watching Care Bears.


It's fairly comical, actually. He creeps his toilet closer and closer to the ipad the longer he sits in there. 

(clearly no baby news yet, but, I do have a doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon and so hopefully I'll have something worth reporting)

3.08.2011

d-day.

Well, today is my official due date. This time with Connor's pregnancy, I knew I'd be going in tonight to be induced....however some would say that wasn't exactly 'smart' :) As mentioned in previous posts, we're getting pretty anxious around here.

So anxious that I'm pretty sure I'm making up my own signs of labor.

For example, two nights ago, I was timing contractions for nearly two hours, they started around 8 minutes apart, got to 7 and then I fell asleep, with nothing happening in the morning. These 'contractions' were nothing how they are probably supposed to feel (I had plenty of time to google such things while waiting for the next one, ha) and it's probably debatable if I was dreaming the entire time...

Yesterday, I think I had one, long contraction at work. But, just one.

See what I mean? I'm crazy, ha. (yes, I realize these could be the so called Braxton Hicks contractions, I just don't think it's fair that they'd happen so close to your due date :))

But, I think we're as ready as we need to be. I actually started packing a bag so if it came down to it, it could be ready, cameras are charged, getting most things tied up at work, etc.

Next doctor appointment is Thursday afternoon, as always...wishing for even the tiniest bit of progress :)

Happy Tuesday to you all.

3.07.2011

squirrel feeder

We have a nice little bird feeder on our deck, which of course feeds more squirrels than birds.

3.06.2011

Happy Birthday Bryan!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband!


And to an amazing father!


Looking forward to many more birthdays, we love you :)

3.05.2011

2nd Annual Golden Heart 5K Fun Run/Walk


We've set the date for the 2nd Annual Golden Heart Fun Run/Walk and 1/2 Mile Kids Run. It's going to be Saturday, May 14th at Benson Park in North Mankato (same place as last year).

You can download a form here or let me know if you want one and I can get you one.

Same fun as last year including balloon animals and face painting for the kids, t-shirts and grab bags guaranteed for anyone that pre-registers by April 29th.

Check out our facebook page, too :)

Hope to see you there!

3.04.2011

patience.

Going to bed last night I will somewhat admit that I'm thankful the baby hasn't arrived quite yet. The house was a bit of a mess, I still have things I want to do in the nursery, get the basement to where we want it, need to go pick up some baby necessities and really, from a physical comfort standpoint I can't complain all that much. Obviously every woman gets to the end of her pregnancy and is ready to be done, but it's bearable for me. And geesh, I'm not even overdue yet.

That said, there are a few things that are making it very hard to be patient.

-I don't sleep. So if I'm not sleeping already, there might as well be a baby to go feed and change.
-It's somewhat hard to dig into anything big at work, because I COULD go anytime (highly unlikely), but yet I could be around for two weeks yet. Little frustrating.
-Connor's surgery is scheduled for the 21st and I obviously want/need to be there. I think the latest my doctor would induce me is the 22nd so I guess that would work out, I've already told work if there isn't a baby by the 21st that my leave will just start then.
-I hate surprises. I guess not to the point of finding out the baby's gender (Bryan wouldn't allow it even if I wanted to I don't think), but it drives me nuts to not know when this is going to happen. Again, most pregnant women are in this camp, too, I get it, but I can still be annoyed :)
-My lack of 'progress' also drives me nuts. Just makes it all the worse that my body seems to not do this whole 'labor' thing.
-Two people I know are due after me, one a week, and one 2.5 weeks, and they'll both more than likely have their babies before me. You know who you are.

I took today off to do some errands, finish some things up so I'm excited about that. Maybe the baby will decide I'm 'nesting' and take a hint that it's time to come out...