Happy 2nd Birthday, FJ!!!

Our little man turned 2 on the 2nd!

His stats:
Height-33 1/4 inches-10-25th percentile
Weight-23.8 lbs. 5th percentile
His eye color varies between hazel and brown.

His words-
deat-seat
dit-sit
ight-light
dars-cars or stars
moon-moon
boon-balloon
nilk/noke-milk
dak ooh-thank you
ah-er-water
ahdjy-ouchy
Ah-dee-his sister's name
ear-ee-uhl-cereal
wah-wool-waffle
Pah-pate-pancake

2 word phrases-
No wubbie-no lovey
da-da go?-where did Daddy go or did Daddy go?
boo dars-more cars
moo/boo abbledaws-more applesauce

He enjoys coloring with his sister. He definitely favors his right hand over his left so I am guessing he will be right handed-

We started the day with a little birthday banner exploring. No, I didn't make that banner...I bought that at Target last year...but it would be super easy to make-

Then we made some muffins...Miss A helped-

We stuck a candle in and sang to FJ...he loved us singing to him and he was quite ready to blow out that candle too-

He wore the shirt I made for him and it made me quite happy to see him wearing something I made for him!

After church, we stopped by Wegman's so I could pick up balloons and some cupcakes. He LOVED the balloons especially Elmo-

 Two Cookie Monster cupcakes for the kids and 2 Peanut Butter cupcakes for Mommy and Daddy-

After naps, Grandmond came over and he opened some gifts...Miss A also wore her shirt that I made for her too. I didn't have any cute kid wrapping paper big enough to cover his gifts so I had to get creative and decorate the paper I had-

 

Miss A just had to help little brother open the presents-

 A very cool Green Toys fire truck from Grandmond-

He  loved this mower that we got him...I had to send E out the night before to do some birthday shopping for him! We were so last minute with everything this year!

 Opening the second gift from us...a Caterpillar digger-

 Opening books from Aunt Sharon-

 Checking out one of his new books-

 Wearing his birthday badge sticker from Aunt Sharon and Uncle Rob and checking out his Tonka card from Mamaw and Papaw Y in Louisiana-

 After he opened each gift, he was either into the bow or packaging or he really wanted to play with that one gift before moving on to the next one. I forgot that is how two year olds are and it made me feel much better about not having a party for him. I had been feeling a little guilty about it but then I saw how overwhelmed yet excited they are about each gift and just the packaging and I realized just opening those few gifts was definitely enough for him!

We did not do a cupcake that day as we went out to eat at Red Robin and figured we would get a dessert there. However, we didn't plan on FJ not wanting to leave his new toys at home and basically crying and whining the entire time we were at dinner. We told the waiter to not worry about dessert. I  knew we could just do the cupcake the next day.
Happy to have milk-

 Miss A and Grandmond-

 Me and my "fussy buns" boy-

 Turning up the fuss a notch-

 Trying to get a good pic in of all of us-

We did the cupcake Monday night...he had just blown out the candle when I took this shot-

I learned a lesson today about store-bought cupcakes with blue icing...they cause green diarrhea in children the next day! What an unpleasant surprise this morning! Miss A ended up wearing 3 different pairs of undies and jeans today. Throughout the day, their...um...bathroom "visits" were better but it was definitely from the icing and it caused me to feel quite overwhelmed this morning before we made it out to the door to FJ's 2 year check up.

Dear FJ-
You are our wild man...our crazy guy...our climber...our cuddlebug...our handsome little man. You love to be held by your mommy and daddy but you also just liked to be held. You warm up to new people pretty quickly. But you do have some separation anxiety right now. Lovey seems to make most things better though. You only suck your thumb when you are holding lovey but you have formed a little callous on your thumb already.
You are so easy to make smile and laugh. You like to make others laugh by being silly such as putting silly things on your head.
We pray over you each and every night. We pray for health and safety and a long life. We pray that you love Jesus and have His compassion. We pray that you are a good husband and father one day.
We feel SO blessed to be your parents! We know what a gift it is to be your mommy and daddy and we thank the Lord for that.
We love you unconditionally and hope you always know that.
-Mommy and Daddy

Not in a Hurry

I am sure people have the best intentions when they ask a 40 week pregnant woman if she is "done".
I know they have good intentions when they say that they hope not to see you again soon.
They probably think it's funny when they comment that you are still pregnant or that you should even hurry up and have that baby...because every pregnant woman knows she has complete control over when she goes into labor. (sarcasm)

I am sure some pregnant women reply with what the other person expects: "I know...I can't believe I am either..." followed by groans and complaints. Or "I wish I could hurry this up."

However, after a while, some women become so used to the discomforts and feel like they have always been pregnant that they actually don't get in such a hurry. They also may have dates that don't really work best for a birth such as their child's birthday (FJ's which is today) , their own birthday (mine on the 5th) and other events.

I am one of those women. Now that my due date (according to the midwives...more on that later) has passed, I am now not so stressed. Yes, I really wanted this baby to be born in September...preferably early September because I wanted his/her birthday to not be so close to FJ's and mine.

I also really wanted to do a homebirth but we were afraid that this baby would arrive to early and I would be transferred to the hospital and then we would have a midwife bill and a hospital bill.

Now, that some of those fears have not come to fruition and some are happening...I'm over all the fear and now I can relax. I can now see this will be an October birth and it will indeed be close to my birthday and FJ's and there's nothing I can do about it...and that's okay. That's how God wants me to live my life...without fear.

Without that fear present, I am now in no hurry for this baby to be born. I know I won't be pregnant forever even though at this point, it feels like I could keep going.
I have an induction date and would prefer my body goes into labor on its own.
But honestly, there has been so much stress with illness and other family factors that I've been wanting it to just be chill before baby #3 arrives.

As I've stated before, I enjoy being pregnant even with all the discomforts it brings. I now have nerve pain in both of my legs that strikes at night and forces me to bend forward just to walk. Thankfully, it happens late at night and it's right before bed so I can still walk around during the day.

I know to enjoy these kicks and movements. I know how badly I miss them and my big belly...because well...unlike some of my friends...my belly doesn't just spring right back to a nice tight state afterwards so I know to truly enjoy my belly right now.

Now, don't get me wrong...when I picture holding my new baby and cuddling him/her and nursing him/her...I smile and get very excited.

As for my due date...according to the midwives and any doctor you ask and any LMP wheel you spin, my due date was 9/30 according to my LMP. However, I chart my cycles and when I was charting my last cycle in January using Fertility Friend...it gave me a due date according to my ovulation and that due date is October 4th. However, the midwives kept my due date 9/30 because there was only a 3 day difference when they did my first ultrasound (meaning the baby was measuring 3 days "behind" what they would consider the right size for that date). So, really, I am not yet "overdue" or post-dates. I am actually due tomorrow. :-)

In summation...if you were wondering...no, I'm not in a hurry...I'm glad to still be able to go to church and playdates and shopping...I'm not "so done"...and I will miss this. It's good for me to remember that and for others to remember that too.

Due Date!

Yesterday, I was 40 weeks pregnant!
I never thought I would say I was 40 weeks pregnant. WOW!
I had a little bit of a rough morning...complete with crying (me) in the parking lot of Wegman's...story later...probably not the best idea to do a little grocery shopping on your due date.
So...my pics show me with some tired-looking eyes but that's okay b/c this is real stuff people-

 The kiddos had to get in the pic too... :-)

So what did I have planned for my due date? Glad you asked.
Being that I was so sure I wasn't going to be in labor or still pregnant on September 30th, I asked my husband to buy tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live with Miss A way back in August. Living Social had a deal on the tickets and Miss A likes the show and I knew E enjoyed parts of it too.
His response to my request was-Are you sure? What if you are in labor? What if we have a newborn?
My response-I won't be in labor. If we have a newborn, we will have your mom or a babysitter come over to be with me while you are gone for a few hours. But I haven't made it to 40 weeks yet, so I am sure the baby will be here by then and it will be good for Miss A to get out of the house and do something with just her daddy.

Bahahahaha! Oh how I laugh at my words then.

As the day quickly approached, I began hoping that the baby would arrive before or after 9/30 because I really wanted them to go to the concert.
Thankfully, those hopes came true and they were able to go. Here they are getting ready to head out-

Let's see (tapping my finger on my upper lip)...what else have I been up to in this past week...well, we were planning to go to a friend's daughter's first birthday party on Thursday but both kids had fevers this past week...again... runny noses so we were out for the party. But I bought a plain white shirt at Target and appliqued an elephant on the front as a gift and still dropped off the gift during the party. All the while, not telling Miss A there was a party going on inside.
Here's the shirt and handmade birthday card-

We also did a little...and by little, I mean this was the only thing we put up...but we did do a little Autumn decorating one morning with the $1 gel clings from Target. Because when your belly is the size of a watermelon, can you really get to the Fall decoration boxes in the closet?

During our sick week this past week, we made a couple of drive thru visits to Starbucks and got a cookie to share-

Now for the Wegman's story-I parked my cart next to a woman's car when I loaded my groceries and kids into the car when I was leaving.  I gently let the cart touch her SUV so it wouldn't roll away. The carts have rubber bumpers on them too so it made no mark on her car whatsoever.

While I am putting Miss A in the car, she doesn't see me but I hear her say, "Someone slammed their cart into my car!!!" (She looked to be in her 60's). 

Then I hear another mom in the lot come to my defense (Lord, bless her!) and say "No, I think she's just putting her groceries away...she's here."

 I come around and take my cart so she could put her groceries in her trunk and apologize to the lady and explain that I just parked it and that I didn't slam it and I was just putting my kids in the car. She never looks up at me but only nods and just says "okay". It really bothered me that she wouldn't look at me or apologize or back pedal or say anything else. (Do you think my pregnancy hormones were taking over at this point?) 

But I just took my cart to the cart barn and saw her  put her groceries in the car. Still she didn't look up. So, I walk back to my minivan and turn to see her putting her cart in the cart barn. 

At this point, pregnancy hormones take over and I say to her, "Please give me a break...I was just trying to put my kids in the car...I didn't slam your car...my due date is today..." Or something along those lines.

She responds in a neutral way,"People are always slamming my car and scratching it up with carts." So, I repeat what I said above and then the tears start!!What the heck?? The hormones now go into overdrive!!

I start crying. She walks up to me quickly and starts telling me not to cry and hugs me! She asks, "Are we due soon?" I respond..."yes, today!" She says, "Oh it's so hard in those last weeks." I say, "Yes it is and this is the most pregnant I've ever been." 

The tears keep coming because I'm one of those people who cry more if you comfort me (even though I want to be comforted). 

So, she starts saying, "Oh, don't cry" and wiping my tears!! 

This continues for a minute or two and then she walks to her car which is awkwardly right next to mine. We get in our cars at the same time and I back out first but I see her license plate and it is her name-NANSYE. 

She is right behind me as we leave the parking lot and even at the first light. Awkward.

She either went home feeling badly for how she made a 40 week pregnant woman cry in the parking lot or she went home thinking what a hormonal mess I was...either way...probably wasn't a good idea to go and do a little grocery shopping on my due date.