35 Weeks

Tomorrow we will reach the 35 week mark of this pregnancy. I'd like to offer you some sort of dialog to demonstrate how gracefully I am taking this late stage in the pregnancy, but I don't really have anything to say. I'm feeling huge. I caught a full length view of the belly while exiting the shower earlier in the week and was completely startled by the....the massiveness that is my stomach region. I'm up several times a night to go to the bathroom. I cannot roll over without assistance. My feet are unreachable (as well as a few other body parts I'll leave to your imagination). Bathing William, changing William, and finding room on my lap for William are all becoming very difficult.

However, I don't have time to dwell on all these things because I have a list as big as my belly that needs to be accomplished. I am unable to complete simple tasks anymore. Emptying two garbage cans today took over 45 minutes to complete because once emptied required bleaching, then scrubbing. The oven and refrigerator are clean. Under the oven is clean and our pantry is now sparkling and organized. The decorative items on top of the kitchen cabinets are calling to be cleaned. The tubs and showers have been scoured. The car seat cover is washed as is the bouncy seat cover and swing. The basement windows are clean (inside anyways). The baby quilt is finished as are almost all of my baby related projects. Several still loom, but will be tackled this weekend. Today alone I made 12 different lists of things that need to be accomplished. Soon.

It is safe to say that I am nesting, and full force.

One of the items on the list was to post here with a few details that need to be tied up.

1. Big Boy Bed: Sleeping is going well. We have been successfully sleeping in the big boy bed for all naps and overnights with very few problems for almost a month now. I confess I feared we would not ever reach this point, but after a very rough first few nights, we have had smooth sailing ever since.

2. Baby Arrival: Nothing is happening that would make me think this baby is going to arrive anytime soon. Although I'm uncomfortable, I'm more than happy to keep this one inside for awhile longer to enjoy sleeping, showering, and eating. I'm also working very hard to try and enjoy these last few weeks of this pregnancy. The kicks, the wiggles, the hiccups. Soon, enough those will be gone along with my ability to sleep through the night.

3. Announcing baby Arrival: We plan (please note plans sometimes do not work out) to take our laptop with us to the hospital with us again. There is a list of family members that will receive a phone call when the baby arrives. After those family members have been reached, we will post here on the website all the important information from the hospital.

I will keep you updated as things progress up to the due date, but probably will not be able to tell you when we leave for the hospital. My OB has made it clear that when labor starts I am to get myself to the hospital as quickly as possible. From start to finish, labor with William was 4 hours. Seeing as we prefer to deliver at the hospital, not enroute, I probably will not take the time to update you once things start.

4. Medical Updates: John sees the hand doctor again next Tuesday. He continues to progress with with physical therapy and we are seeing huge improvements. Over the weekend, the fingernail fell off, which has left some question about whether or not he will be able to regrow a fingernail again. Good thing I wasn't in our relationship for the fingernails. I see my OB tomorrow. William had a recheck for ear infection on Tuesday and the ear infection has cleared up. However, we found he now has a virus - which of course needs to just work itself out.


The end

Made for you with love!

We had a pretty low key day here (as usual for us). I thought I would just share some of the Valentine's craftiness William has made for us (and you!) this year!

William made Mama this heart while he was hanging out with our friends on Friday.
What a cute bear!
It has a hug for you!
And as tradition calls for, John created a wonderful fondue for our dinner! Yummy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

More from the old Video Files

William loves to dance. Especially with his Daddy!

Daddy's shoes are hard to fill...

And learning to jump!

Old Videos...

Here are two videos from a few months ago. William is loving letters; especially his letter puzzle. We do this puzzle together at least 2-3 times a day. Of course, that doesn't especially apply when the camera is on. Enjoy!

Caught on Video

Updated: I forgot to put this in the origional post. Grandma is the only one caught on tape, but I know that both daddy and Grandpa were both guilty of the same just before Grandma came up the steps.....





Here is Grandma caught on tape....giving away cookies right before lunch!

Night Swimming

I've been sitting on these pictures and video for awhile now. They've been hard for me to look at and deal with - although there is nothing outwardly upsetting about them (although they are terrible quality). Less than 24 hours from when these pictures were taken, we would be in a car accident that would turn us upside down in many ways. These pictures are one of the last times John would hold William for more than a month and are the last picture of his hands fully intact without injury. And that bothers me. We had no idea what was to come (although, in all fairness, who does know exactly what is coming?).

But, I had been planning on blogging these pictures and our evening swimming when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house that evening. So, I'm still going to do that.

In December it felt like we were a whirlwind of activity with getting ready for the holidays, attending holiday parties and getting ready to move William to his Big Boy Room soon after we returned from the holidays. During our whirlwind, wrangling William was a full time job. He required a great deal of energy and creativity to keep busy during our frequent errands and tasks. Every night we had something going on and we were tired by December 19th. Tired of dragging William (and ourselves) around. So, we decided to take William to the pool at the community center for some swimming time with daddy. Mama doesn't have a swimming suit that fits, so she went with to take video/pictures and work on a Christmas gift she was sewing. We thought the pool area would be pretty quiet on a weekend so close to the holiday. We couldn't have been more wrong! The parking lot was PACKED and there were kids all over in the pool area.

Turns out the community center had set up their video projector in the pool area and was getting ready to show the movie, Elf! What a fun idea! They also had out all the floaty toys and inner tubes so kids could float around with their friends and watch the movie!

Here is the video screen set up on the left side of the picture. The lights were low so most of my photo quality is poor.
William kicking with Daddy
Hugs for Daddy in the pool.

A Helper

William loves to be a "helper" whenever the need arises. Here he is being a big helper to Grandpa!

Also, we're not sure where the "door shut"/"door open" comes from, but in the middle of a temper tantrum it tends to be the primary complaint. Even when there are not doors to open/shut around us and clearly not involved in the set off of the tantrum.