Jack Turned 2 and is Still an Only Child!

Jack turned 2 years old this past Wednesday, November 14th.  It was a pretty regular day overall, but we did have time in the evening for opening gifts from family and, of course, eating cake!  Thank you to pinterest for this cake decorating idea that was super easy.  I bought a cake from Costco, cut out a big chunk of it, and placed some of Jack's trucks on top to look like a construction site!  It was a 7 lb cake, so we have A LOT of left over cake in the freezer!

Jack is not a huge fan of the Happy Birthday song as displayed by his reaction to our singing haha.  As soon as we started singing he started crying.

He then turned around crying and would not look at us the whole song:

He would only try the cake if he got to eat it from the bulldozer portion of the truck, which you can see on his plate below.  He's an emotional little fella :).  He did have fun opening gifts, and he got some great things.

Thank you to everyone who got him something.  He really did love everything equally and has spent a lot of time these past few days playing with all of it.

We had a relaxing weekend, and we spent one morning over at the Great Park riding the carousel.  Here's Jack and Grammy having some fun.  

I even hopped on for a ride.  I will tell you it is much easier to dismount than mount a carousel zebra when you are this pregnant.  I got a few giggles from the family, and Jonathan told me how "delicate" I looked trying to get up on the zebra lol.

Today marks 41 weeks, 2 days pregnant.  I had my non-stress test and ultrasound this past Friday at 41 weeks to make sure the baby's movements, heart rate, and amniotic fluid was good, and everything looks great.  I'm 2.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced, so hopefully things will kick into high gear soon.  

I go to the doctor Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week unless I go into labor before the scheduled appointments or the non-stress tests show an issue.  Please pray that I go into labor on my own before Friday (42 weeks), because Friday is the day that I would be induced.  I'm hoping for a VBAC, and inductions are not ideal for VBACs.  There is a much greater chance of success if you go into labor on your own, and the risks of uterine rupture are lower as well.

My mother-in-law, Ann, has been staying with us since October 26th (a little over 3 weeks now) to be here to watch Jack while we are at the hospital.  She was supposed to leave today, but she has graciously offered her time to stay another 10 days since this whole baby thing hasn't happened yet!  She will now get to spend Thanksgiving with us, and even if we have the baby as late as Friday/Saturday, she will be here to watch Jack and spend a few additional days with us until I get out of the hospital and settled back at home.  We are so grateful that she has been willing and able to spend this time with us.  Jack is also having a great time with his Grammy!     

How far along: 41 weeks, 2 days
Sleep: I wake up every 30-60 minutes at night all night long feeling like I need to flip over from sore hips.  By around 6:30- 7 a.m. I just get up even though Jack usually isn't even close to awake.
Best moment this week: Spending time focused solely on Jack for his birthday.
Movement: It's mostly smaller movements now since he's squished in there!
Cravings: Hot Chocolate
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: I've been having some contractions, but nothing regularly or that goes anywhere.
What I miss: Same as last week...Nothing really.  I would say sleeping through the night, but it's not like that'll happen once he's born either haha.
What I'm looking forward to: It's bitter sweet coming to the end of this pregnancy.  I really like being pregnant, but I'm really ready to move on to the next phase.  The waiting game is making me antsy.
Weekly Wisdom: Be Patient!

I just wanted to end with this picture, because it makes me laugh.  Jack loves "family hugs," and we got one captured on camera :).

Fun last days as a family of 3!

40 Weeks, 2 Days and Still Counting

We have now officially passed the due date of November 9th, and we are just waiting now.  I'm getting a little bit impatient since I've had several days where I felt I might be going in the right direction, but then everything just stops and no labor.  I was induced three days after Jack's due date for medical reasons, so who knows how late I would have gone.  Jack's birthday is coming up this Wednesday, so that's about the only day I'm hoping I won't go into labor.  It would be a bit strange to have two kids, both with the same birthday!

Anyway, here is a picture at the 40 weeks, 1 day mark (sorry a little blurry):

Jack continues to have a great time with Grammy while Jonathan and I have gotten a couple more chances to go out for date nights.  Jack had a great time taking the peas out of their pods and eating about a cup of them raw.

Jack and Grammy have also had a lot of fun maintaining our patio.  Jack does a great job sweeping, and he's pretty cute doing it!

Today we went to San Clemente and walked the pier.  Not my favorite picture ever, but I love family pictures since they are rare.

How far along: 40 weeks, 2 days

Sleep: Not as bad as I would have expected, but I can't sleep through the night.  On a bad night I wake up every 1-2 hours.  On a good night, I will make it a 5 hour stretch.

Best moment this week: We are 100% prepared for this baby with everything washed and in it's place.  The infant car seat is in the car, and I am packed for the hospital.  It feels good to have everything done.

Movement: He's pretty squirmy and I get sharp pains when he jams his foot/knee/elbow against the outside.  You can feel the point of his knee or whatever it is pressing out.

Cravings: I've gone a little crazy on the chocolate chip cookies Ann (MIL) has made with milk.

Gender: Boy!

Labor Signs: I'll keep the details between me and mother nature, but I always feel like I'm on the verge.  Nothing goes anywhere though :(

What I miss: Nothing really.  I would say sleeping through the night, but it's not like that'll happen once he's born either haha.

What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Jack to his little brother and starting the transition to a family of 4.

Weekly Wisdom: I guess our babies are comfy inside even though you would think their mother's short waistedness would be uncomfortable :)

Grammy's Here and Family Fun

We've had some good family quality time lately.   Two weekends ago we went to Laguna Beach, our usual weekend hang out, and just enjoyed the nice fall-ish weather and the beach.  Jack and I got a picture on a balcony overlooking the ocean.  I think I was about 37 weeks and a few days along at this point.

Jonathan's mom, AKA Grammy, arrived in town on October 26th so she will be available to watch Jack when it's time to go to the hospital to have this baby!  She and Jack have gotten some good bonding time, and they spent one day this week hunting for pine cones together.

It's been great having her here so far to help out with last minute things, spend some time with Jack, and Jonathan and I got a date night out last weekend!

We had a fun Halloween this year.  Last year we got Jack dressed up in his monkey costume and went out for Frozen Yogurt since he wasn't walking yet, and it would be hard to trick or treat.  This year was a different story.  We started off the night at Fun Fest here in Irvine, but the crowds were overwhelming making it hard to get food and ride any kiddie rides.  Here's Jack and Jonathan waiting in line for a balloon:

After our Fun Fest attempt, we got some pizza and decided just to trick or treat around our neighborhood.  Jack had sooo much fun, and he loved loading up his basket.  He could not care less that it was candy, he is just a collector.  We got the cutest video of him knocking on a door and taking his candy.  Here's our first stop on our trip around the block:

 

Grammy got Jack a super cool motorcycle that he drives along with his feet.  Since he can't quite reach the peddles yet on his trike, he loves being able to control this.  He rides it all through the house, and he and Jonathan took a trip around the block.  Jonathan said there were only 3 motorcycle accidents along the way, and Jack was quick to recover :).

He has more fun than it looks like in this picture!

Our last major (Craigslist) purchase for the newest addition of our family is a video baby monitor.  We have had the AngelCare Movement Sensor for Jack this whole time, and we want to be able to use it for the new addition so we wanted to get a monitor for Jack.  I've always wanted to see what he was up to in his room, so it's fun to be able to watch from the other room.  Also, Jack and this baby will be sharing a room as soon as the baby sleeps longer stretches, so I want to see what they're both up to, particularly Jack.  Tonight is our first night with it, and I used it to watch Jonathan read Jack books.

Thanks for catching up with us, and hopefully soon there will be a new baby blog!! 

Almost There...

I wanted to do a quick pregnancy catch-up post since it's been a few weeks.  I took this picture at 38 weeks, 6 days (3 days ago):

Right now it's just the waiting game.  I'm crossing my fingers for this week, but we'll see how it goes.  

How far along: 39 weeks, 2 days
Sleep: I sleep pretty well overall...definitely better than I did when pregnant with Jack.  I just recently have started waking up every 2-3 hours to go to the bathroom ,which is annoying!
Best Moment this Week: Finishing up washing everything except for the swing covers, and getting everything in it's place.  Our house is pretty much ready to go and the infant car seat is in the car!
Movement: He moves side to side twisting on top of his head.  There are more jabs with knees and elbows than actual kicks.
Cravings: No specific cravings.  I've indulged in a little bit more of Jack's Halloween candy than I should have...oh well.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs:  Cramping most days throughout the day, and it feels like he's dropped a bit lower.
What I Miss: Not too much.  I do miss a more varied wardrobe a little bit.
What I'm Looking Forward To:  Meeting this little person, of course :)
  
I'm going to try to do an updated post with Halloween and some of the other things we've been up to lately in the next day or two.

Fun Weekend with My Little Guy

This past weekend Jonathan was at his National Guard training, so Jack and I got even more quality time together.  We had such a good weekend that I felt like I needed to document it :).  Saturday morning was a lazy pajama morning for us.  While I made muffins, I put Jack to work on his Helper Tower.  He had a great time washing his little dishes and playing with the soapy water.  There was water EVERYWHERE, but the clean-up was worth the good time.  A beach towel was pretty much saturated from the clean-up, and wet, tiny footprints lined our house from his soaked socks.

I moved on to cutting a watermelon, and Jack ate as I chopped.  He said the word "watermelon" for the first time when I cut it open :).  Jack's been having a bit of a new word surge lately.  Last Thursday he said avacado while we were doing pretend play at Gymboree, and watermelon was pretty surprising to me.  Food inspires him to speak I guess :).

Sunday morning we went to church.  Jack loves playing with all of the trucks and the kitchen set, doing crafts, watching Veggie Tales, etc. in the nursery.  I took a picture before church of me at 36 weeks, 2 days.

 That night Jack and I engaged in one of our favorite past times...frozen yogurt:

We shared mint chocolate frozen yogurt with mini m&m's on the side.  Nights like this make me realize how much I enjoy spending time with Jack.  I'm so excited for this new baby, but I'm nervous I won't get as much time with Jack as he's used to.  

Today we received some fun gifts from Jack's Grammy...my MIL, Ann.  Jack got a quilt for his bed that is reversible as well as two pillows and three pillow cases.  The newest addition got 3 baby blankets, one that matches this quilt.  We set it up on the floor like a pretend bed, and he was so excited.

He's getting so big...less than 30 days until he is 2!

Celebrating the Start of Fall

This weekend was so much fun, and it was the first weekend that even started to feel like fall.  It was still a little hot out, but we had a great time getting out of the house.  

Jonathan was also able to finish up a project he has been working on for Jack for the past couple of weeks.  A few months ago we found a product call the "Learning Tower" where kids can come up to the level of the counters to help with cooking and be more involved in the kitchen.    We thought it would be fun, especially since Jack is always bring chairs over to the counters which can easily tip.  Jonathan found plans on the Ana White DIY site for the similar "Helper Tower" so you can build it at home.  Jonathan basically went and bought pieces of wood from Home Depot and was able to build it from scratch and paint it to the color we wanted.  Once you finish a project you can post it on her site in the Brag Book section.  If you're interested, Jonathan wrote how he completed the project and included some pictures: http://ana-white.com/2012/10/helper-tower

This weekend he finished it up with a few coats of paint, and of course Jack had to be there to help.  As you can see it the picture below, I tried to give Jack his own painting project so Jonathan could finish, but he got tired of painting on paper and wanted to move on to bigger projects.

                                                
Such a good little helper :)

After painting, we went to a dog park in Laguna Beach to give Izzy some quality time.  Jack loves using the ball thrower, and he's surprisingly good at using it.  You have to help him press hard enough to get the ball in the holder and to throw it far enough so Izzy feels challenged, but he loves it.

 We took a quick picture it front of these pretty flowers outside the park:

On Saturday, we went to Tanaka Farms pumpkin patch where we did a corn maze, picked out some pumpkins, saw goats at the petting zoo, and did a wagon ride.  It was actually a pretty fun day, and Jack had a blast.  On the wagon ride, they stopped at a canon where they shot a pumpkin across the field.  Jack also hugged almost every goat at the petting zoo...too cute!

Jonathan's friend, Chris, had joined us at the pumpkin patch and helped pick out 2 yellowish/white pumpkins and 1 orange pumpkin.  Here they are with the stash using the Helper Tower.

The Helping Tower is all dry and in use in our house.  I can't say that I'm a fan of it, but Jack loves it haha.  He pretty much pushes it all over the kitchen to gain access to whatever he wants.  It keeps me accountable to keeping dishes, particularly knives, off of the counters consistently.  In this picture, Jack is on the prowl for a banana (he's obsessed with them):

Last night, Jonathan carved the first pumpkin.  We are leaving the others until closer to Halloween since they go bad so fast, but we wanted to do at least one.  Jack didn't really get involved in the carving, but he enjoyed the finished product.

 We also went to the park, and I just had to include this picture.  Jack loves swinging on these saying "Wheeeee!"

We're loving the start of fall, and we're just waiting for the weather to catch up with what month it is!

Quick Catch Up

I'm hoping I can get back on track with blogging, particularly in these last few weeks of pregnancy.  I really want to print this out at some point as a memory book, so I need to get on it :).  My last blog was almost 6 weeks ago, so I'm going to try to remember some of the major bullet points of these past few weeks.  

My mom came to visit for a week in the beginning of September, but I don't have any pictures of her and Jack.  She spent most of her time taking just pictures of him.  We loved having her here...Jack got some major play time, and I got to take walks by myself every day for a little "me" time!  This was probably one of the cutest pictures that she took of Jack while she was here.  He loved her headphones and suitcase.

Prior to her visit, we had an ultrasound at the 29 weeks, 5 days mark on August 29, 2012 to see if the placenta previa had fixed itself.  Luckily, everything looked good so no more restrictions!  We never had an ultrasound so late in the pregnancy with Jack, so it was a fun experience.  They even turned on the 3D for us for a quick look.  The baby did not want to move his arm away from his face no matter how hard they tried to shake him and poke him.

 And here's a cute picture of him sticking his tongue out:

At this point he measured approximately 3 lbs., 2 oz., which is in the 43rd percentile, so no gigantic baby here.

In the past few weeks, Jack and I have been filling our time with play dates, Gymboree, Bible Study, and just trying to stay cool.  The weather has been unseasonably hot here, and it's still hitting the 90s in the first week of October.

One play group that we go to on Mondays set up a firehouse tour.  Sadly, it was cut short when they had to go out for a call, but we got a little bit of time to look around the fire truck.
                                                

                                                
This past weekend we went to Laguna Beach in the morning before it got too hot.  I finally took an updated belly picture.  In this picture I am 34 weeks, 2 days along.

Here's Jonathan and Jack enjoying the sand:

After the beach we went over to one of the outdoor malls, and we rode the ferris wheel.  Jack pointed it out from the car, so we couldn't disappoint him.  He's been sick with a pretty bad cold the past several days, so it was a fun activity to get some fresh air.
                                                
 
                                               
Last night I went to a hospital tour so I make sure I know the route to the hospital and my way around the Labor and Delivery area.  Jonathan was supposed to go, but he ended up babysitting since Jack is sick.  I won a free infant photo session and 8"x10" photo in a raffle, so that was neat.  That decreases the cost of newborn photos by about half :).

So, not my most thorough blog, but I think that gets all of the major stuff.  If I come upon any great pictures or think of something I'm forgetting I'll do another update.