Hem-et

Parker loves his new helmet

Although he seldom wears it correctly.

23 Months

Parker loves a count-down, but he only knows one number.  So, before he jumps from or throws anything he counts down: "Two, Two, TWO!"

Parker loves "more".  Quite frequently, he'll stop in the middle of playing, turn to me and say "More?".  Yes, little guy, you can continue doing what you're doing.

Parker now knows TWO colors, almost everything is Yellow, but he's also starting to recognize Pink.

He is also finally learning his name, it currently sounds something like Po-po or paw-po, but it's certainly closer than what he used to say (which was "Kyla").

The other day, Parker & I were having cherries for lunch.  I pitted a pile for him, then started eating some myself (spitting the pits out onto my plate).  He watched me for a minute, then started leaning over & spitting little pieces of cherry out on his plate as well.  This boy is such a mimic!  We had to stop eating dinner about five times last night so Parker could grab our hands, bow his head & say "grace".  He's still learning that you really only have to bless the meal once.

 Parker is becoming quite the opinionated little guy.  Particularly in regards to his footwear.  Which is how he ended up wearing one blue and one brown sandal today:

And this was after a long discussion where I wouldn't let him wear the right shoe of each.  Last week, he wore shorts & rain boots almost every day.

We bought Parker a "new" tricycle for this birthday.  Seeing how his birthday is at the end of the summer, and he has no idea either way, we let him have it now so we can get the most use out of it.

This little guy is so much fun to have around.  One of his favorite games at the moment is to say that he's "sad" (with the word and the sign), then wait for Mama to tickle the sad away.  He'll say "I sad" over & over, even as he's giggling his head off with a huge smile on his face.  I'm glad he's learning a few emotions, but I think he might be abusing this knowledge.

This is not my child

You can't really tell from the above photo, but that is a giant hunk of raw onion Parker is eating.  He took several bites and announced that it was "yummy"

He was helping me make the vegetables for our grilled vegetable salad dinner.

He also stole one of the portobello mushrooms, and proceeded to eat the entire thing as though it were a cookie.  Not sure where he acquired those two particular preferences, but not from his Mama.

Afternoon at the spray park

Summer is finally here, so we decided to try out the new Northacres Spray Park.

You'll notice that Parker is still bone dry, and he remained that way the entirety of our visit.

He enjoyed watching the kids play in the water, and playing on the playground, but he was not at all interested in actually touching the water.

But, he had a good time, and we got out of the house for a little while.

Parker, get down from there!

...after I get a picture.

You leave the boy alone for two minutes, and he's pulled his step-stool over & climbed up onto the counter in search of Chapstick.  This is not a behavior we encourage in this house, but you have to appreciate his initiative.

37 Weeks ~ I think we're ready

Keith's folks took Parker for the weekend.  So, in addition to going to the milk carton derby, seeing a movie, and going out for dinner, we finished up the last little details we had to do before the baby comes.

My bag is packed...

Parker's bag is packed...

All the bottles, binkies, etc. are clean & sterilized...

The nursery is ready...

We now have room for two kiddos in the car (sorry, no more passengers)...

The spare bedroom is ready for whomever we bless with our 2-am phone call...

And I am ready to pop.

Guess there's not much left to do but wait.

I have my 37 week appointment tomorrow.  I'm curious to see what the Dr. has to say.  I'd give even odds that he'll say either:

1. Just kidding, you've still got weeks to go. or:

2. Looks like you'll be having this baby tonight.

Honestly, I'm not at all sure which one I'm hoping for.  As much as I'd love to not be pregnant any more (and sleep on my back), there are a lot of things making me happy to stay how I am right now.  Since this is the last time we'll be going through this process, I'm trying to savor these last few days or weeks of pregnancy.  As hard & uncomfortable as this is, it has it's good points, so I've been working on a list of what I enjoy about pregnancy right now:

1. I'm actually warm ~ we went to a movie on Saturday, and I didn't even need a coat, that never happens.

2. No one cares that I have a big, blobby, belly.  In fact, the more weight I gain, the more people tell me how cute I am.  When else in life does that happen?

3. I get to feel my little one wiggling around in my tummy.  It's an un-earthly experience that can't be repeated anywhere else.

4. People let me cut in line for the bathroom all the time.

5. Everyone is super nice to pregnant ladies.  There's something hope-giving about a pregnant lady that makes everyone want to be around her and talk to her.  Of course, that means that you get to hear about the pregnancies (30 years ago) of perfect strangers at the bus stop, but they're all super friendly.

6. I can hog as much of the bed as I can fill and Keith's not allowed to complain about it.  Believe me, between me, the baby, and my giant body pillow, it's a wonder he doesn't land on the floor most nights, but no complaining from him.

7. I can be as lazy as I want.  Last weekend we were up at the cabin, I pretty much just sat in the chair while Keith & Katie did all the cooking & cleaning up and no one batted an eyelash about it.

8. This belly is a lot easier to carry around than that baby car seat.  I love the infant carrier, but they also weigh about 400 pounds once you put your 8-lb baby in them.

9. I don't have to worry if I'm feeding the baby enough or not enough, if I should let her keep sleeping or wake her up for a feeding, if I have enough milk, if I'll ever have enough milk, if she'll ever stop crying, etc.  Babies in-utero are actually pretty darn easy to take care of.

10. I don't have a newborn.  As excited as we are to meet this little girl, my only memories of the first few weeks with Parker are of me crying my eyes out constantly.  The longer I can push that off, the better, I say.

So, now we wait & see when this little one chooses to make her appearance.

And, just for a comparison, here's how I looked with Parker at 37 weeks, four weeks before he was born:

Today's Project ~ Hospital Dress

I know that this will make me sound a little shallow (not that I've ever claimed to be otherwise), but I really do believe that your clothes can make a difference in the way you feel.  Cute, properly fitting, clothes can make a difficult day just a little easier (and vice versa).  So, in an effort to make our labor & delivery experience a little more enjoyable, I came up with an idea for a dress that I could wear through labor.

Like all my projects, I didn't have a pattern, and the idea was only half thought-out, and very poorly constructed, but by some miracle, I think it might actually be wearable.  Although it did end up a little on the gigantic side: I could gain about four inches on my ribcage and my height in the next four weeks and it would still fit.

It opens in the front and the back for nursing and the epidural and should be much more comfortable than the hospital gown I wore last time.  I don't know how the nursing staff will feel about my fashion-sense getting in the way of their working, but I (along with our insurance company, of course) am the one paying 20-something thousand dollars for the experience, so they can deal with it.

Last project for the nursery...I think.

Early on in this pregnancy (back when I thought that the 1st trimester would only be 12 weeks), I decided I wanted to do a floral mobile, if we were having a girl.  My original thought was to use silk flowers, but I quickly decided that would be way too expensive.  Then, I came across this tutorial for crepe paper flowers and thought it would be perfect.  But I was too cheap to buy the Styrofoam balls, so I ended up using paper lanterns.  And I couldn't figure out her method for folding the flowers, so I came up with my own idea:

Of course, like nearly every project for this room, it didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped, since my plan was to do the balls in light purple, medium purple, and light grey.  Unfortunately, the closest colors of crepe paper I could find were dark purple, pink, and white (and believe me, I looked everywhere).  Not to mention that the paper lanterns only came in pink as well, so it's really not the exact look I was going for.  But after the HOURS and HOURS I spent working on these things, I'm choosing to consider them perfect.

I'm pretty sure that this is my last project for the nursery before the baby comes.  I had a few more ideas, but I'm running out of time & energy, so we're going to call it good for now.

36 Weeks ~ Seems like a reasonable time to panic

Last week, I went in for my 35-week check-up, where Dr. Joki informed me that I was "softening, but let's try to hold-off another two weeks, okay?"

Now, I realized that he was probably exaggerating with the "two weeks" comment, but considering that when I was 39-weeks along with Parker I was informed that I "still have a ways to go", it caused a bit of a panic in me to hear his comment.  Plus, she's very clearly dropping/dropped, since I'm suddenly able to breathe again, and I'm spending more than half my free-time running for the bathroom.  So, for the entire weekend, I've been panicked that every little twinge is the start of labor and baby girl's arrival is possible any minute now.

I know that for most first-time-moms this would be rather exciting news, but I am fully aware that our baby girl will never be as easy to take care of as she is right now, and she's welcome to stay inside a long as she feels like.

I had my 36-week check-up today, and after a very normal, if un-eventful appointment, and a few days to regain my perspective, I think I can ease off on the panic about an imminent birth.  However, just to be on the safe side, I plan to spend tomorrow afternoon packing my hospital bag and putting the car seat in the car, which should tighten my cervix back up and guarantee the baby won't arrive any time before her due date.

Cabin Visit

Keith took Monday & Tuesday off this week and we went up to the cabin for a long weekend with Jeff & Katie, friends of Keith's from college.  Of course, you'll never know they were there from my photos, apparently I barely took a single photo of their family.  I'll try harder next time.

It was so nice to actually see the sunshine and be outside.  Parker has become a huge fan of his afternoon po'sicle.

Keith made us a DIY version of the golf ladder game.  It was a HUGE hit, the kids spent hours playing, and they very graciously let Parker tag along. 

Monday afternoon, my parents came up to chop down a few trees & stack the wood.

Parker had a great time helping Daddy out.

Parker had the most amazing time toddling after all the big kids, playing games with them, and generally feeling like he was a five- or six-year-old. (Fortunately for Parker, the Gerig kids were very patient with him and loved having him around)

I am not looking forward to tomorrow morning when Parker realizes that Daddy & all the big kids are gone & he's back to being stuck with just Mama all day long.