Weekend Recap: Fall!

Although the weather was a wee bit warmer than I like for this time of year, it was still a fun fall weekend.  We kicked off our weekend by going to my grandma's to celebrate her birthday.  We don't usually celebrate family birthdays on Friday nights, but amazingly, everyone was able to make it.  Ben loves getting to see everyone, probably because they all play baseball, football, etc with him.  :)  (And I get to watch from a distance.)

Unfortunately I don't have a picture with the birthday girl herself, but I did force all of the cousins together for a picture!

When Ben wasn't busy playing sports, he was entertaining everyone by dancing to his favorite dance song, "We Will Rock You."  I know there is a video of it somewhere.  He put on quite the show and I am pretty sure my grandma was in heaven having everyone there with her.  Happy birthday, (great) grandma!  We love you!!

After music class on Saturday, my mom, Ben, and I headed to my friend's baby shower so Andy could work on stuff for school.  I'm actually the only one who went to the shower, Ben and my (super, awesome, generous) mom went to the park and then went shopping.  (Side note, it was horrible planning on my part.  I didn't realize the shower was 2 hours away and we left much later than we should have.  I was an hour late for the shower and I didn't get to spend much time with my mom and Ben, which was one of the goals of the day.  Sigh…I feel like I can't keep up with anything these days!)  The shower was beautiful and it was great to see my friends, as always.  The group picture was on someone else's phone, so this is the best I can do for shower pictures.  :)

I did get in a little shopping time with my turkey.   Ben is equally as excited about these fall holidays as I am.

Ben's new phrase is "want to…"  "Want to be silly."  "Want to eat candy."  "Want to lick momma."  (Because if Rosco licks, why can't he?)  Typically this is in response to being told to stop doing something.  In this case, the response was, "want to climb the ladder!"

I try to focus on fun and happy things in my blog, but I want to mention our crazy Saturday night activities.  It was about 10:00PM and Andy and I had just settled in to relax and watch our favorite show that we had DVRed…Dateline!  We had the windows opened, we had some honey crisp apples nicely cut, and obviously the fall scents were going strong.  All of a sudden, we smelled something horrific.  I know I have a sensitive pregnancy nose, but even Andy (and Rosco) were wondering what was going on.  We didn't know where it was coming from, and as we walked around the house, we could still smell it, but it was definitely strongest in our room.  Of course I was worried that there was a natural gas leak, so I called the electric company who told us to open all the windows and not turn anything in the house on/off.   I also googled what natural gas smells like and the description definitely matched what we were smelling.  About 10 minutes later, someone from the electric company showed up.  By this time, the smell was getting stronger and stronger and I was pretty sure our house was about to explode.  We had already scooped up Ben and were sitting outside, waiting for the electric company to arrive.  The first thing he said when he got out of his van was that it smells like a skunk when you turn on to our street.  A skunk?  What?  This was worse than any skunk I had ever smelled.  He goes into the house with his little gas meter tester and confirms that it smells rancid inside.  By now, my mom and John had shown up (yep, my mom coming to the rescue for the one millionth time this week) and we were all getting nauseous from the smell.  Amazingly, both the natural gas reader and the carbon monoxide reader were indicating ZERO levels of gas in the house.  Although I knew this was a good thing, it did not explain the stench that was invading our house.  The electrician ultimately said that it must have been a skunk who sprayed into our window!!  And so began the googling of how to get rid of the skunk odor.  I am not exaggerating when I say that you could see a fog like stench in the house.  Although we were going to go sleep elsewhere, since the upstairs was good, we decided to stay home and work on detoxing our house.  I read that it can take years, YEARS for the odor to go away.  It definitely seemed better the next, but I am not sure if that was because it was actually better or we were just used to it.  GROSS.  I know it isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is pretty darn bad when your house and everything in your house, including the people, smell like a SKUNK.

ANYWAY, we woke up Sunday morning determined to get out of the house and have some FUN.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to go to the apple orchard.  We expected that it would be busy, so we went right when it opened.  It was a mad house!  The orchard had such a busy weekend that they were almost out of apples.  They actually had giant bins of apples from another orchard that you could buy--talk about a popular place!  That didn't stop the fun though.  Our cousins and Auntie Anna came along, so Ben is always happy when they are around!

Ben was eating apples like it was his job.

He had fun telling people where the apples were.  There were so few apples that you really had to climb if you wanted some!

I stuck with Ben's routine of eating while others did the dirty work.

We were totally overdressed for the 60's that were predicted and it was more like 80's, which is too hot for apple picking, in my opinion.  We got our apples and an apple pie though, so I wasn't going to complain.  Oh, and we had great company!  ;)

For the record, I thought we were all clean and fresh smelling before leaving for the orchard, but Auntie Anna informed us otherwise. "Oh, yeah, I thought that Ben had a dirty diaper.  I guess you guys are kind of skunky smelling."  And thus I went home and continued cleaning and de-skunking the house.  My closet still smelled toxic this morning, so I hung everything outside in the sun for the day, because apparently the fresh air and sun get the smell out better than the washer/dryer.  Fear not, their next stop is a nice hot wash and dry!

I am still confused as to how and why a skunk decided to spray its stink right outside our window, but I suppose I will never know what exactly happened.  Or if it was even a skunk, for that matter.  Maybe I just needed a little more motivation to clean the house!  Happy Monday!!

27 Weeks

(Post written 9/24, picture taken 9/28)

How far along? 27 weeks
Maternity clothes? In my closet purge over the weekend, I came across a maternity skirt from my last pregnancy that is dress enough for work and SO comfortable.  I've worn it every day this week…  I'm all about being comfy!
Best moment this week:  I had another great doctor appointment.  These appointments are so uneventful it feels strange even going, but I am definitely not complaining.  I passed my glucose tolerance test which I am happy about, especially since I have been eating candy corn and carmel apples like it's my job lately!  Ben came with me and he was such a little angel.  I love hanging out with him!  He was so brave when I got my blood drawn and when I got my flu shot.  
Miss anything? Not really.  
Movement:  He continues to be an active little guy.  I love when I can see the kicks.  
Sleep: I am still sleeping like a dream.  I sleep through the night!  I can still almost/sorta sleep on my stomach, which is my favorite sleep position.  I haven't been mentioning it, but I have crazy vivid dreams every night. 
Food cravings:  I have a bit of a sweet tooth lately.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.
Labor signs: No way.
Exercise: I'm going to the gym about 3 times/week.  I love it.  
Looking forward to:  My friend's baby shower is this weekend, so I'm excited to see her!  Ben and my mom are going to drive down with me and then we're all going to do some shopping.  It will be a fun Saturday while Andy studies!  I think the apple orchard may be in our weekend plans as well.  

Weekend Recap: Barn & Zoo

Andy had classes this past weekend, so it was quality time for Ben and me!  Can't get enough of that boy!  We went out to dinner with Nana and Papa John on Friday night, because let's face it, I don't cook when Andy is here, so I have even less motivation to cook when he is gone!  Even if I did love to cook, I'm so tired by Friday evenings that going out to eat is the way to go.  :)

After music class on Saturday morning, we went to the barn to see Auntie Anna.  "Her" barn was having an open house, so we had to go check it out.  We had been talking about seeing Auntie Anna and the horses all week, but unfortunately it was a bit anticlimactic.  Ben was terrified of the horses.

This is as close as he wanted to get to the horses, and even here he was giving us a forced smile.  

He did find one animal he liked---the kitty!!

We were definitely in the car longer than we were at the barn, and as I could have predicted, the whole way home he was saying "want to ride the horse!" and "want to paint the horse!"  (You could put your handprint on a horse…)  Maybe next year, buddy!  I wish I could say that he took a nice long nap when we got home, but he most definitely did not.  Instead, he cried and whined for grandpa to come over for the essentially entire 2 hours he should have been napping.  (Oh, and when he wasn't asking for grandpa, he was asking where daddy went--over and over and over.)  Thankfully, grandpa came to the rescue and I was able to go out to a night of painting for my mom's birthday.  She wanted a night out with her kids so that is what she got. :)

We all made hearts for her to add to her painting collection at home.  Ta-da!

Although the first time I did one of these painting things, it totally stressed me out, it is actually quite fun!  Happy birthday (again) to my super mom/nana!  We love you SO much!!  Andy came home on Saturday evening, so all was right again in Ben's world.  We went to brunch on Sunday morning with some friends and we finally met their (not so) little guy after almost a year!  Ben loved meeting a new friend, as he always does.

Even though it was a rainy morning, we decided to stick to our plan of going to the zoo.  Ben had been talking about the zoo all weekend, so we thought we better follow through.  It ended up being the perfect day for a trip to the zoo.  Perfectly crisp fall air and minimal crowds---just the way I like it!  Since there wasn't even a line, we hit up the train first.  

Andy and Ben were so excited to show each other things that they saw along the way. :)

It is essentially a zoo trip requirement to feed the goats at some point, especially since they probably won't be out that much longer.  Ben is a little more afraid of the goats than he used to be, but he loved it nonetheless. 

I love how annoyed this goat looks that I am taking its picture.  

I'm not quite sure why I look the size of an elephant in this picture, but it must be the angle.  Haha!  I was a little concerned that I was actually carrying an elephant, but I went to the doctor today who confirmed that I am measuring right on track.  Phew!

All of our zoo pictures are essentially of the same thing, just a different day, but it is fun to see how Ben has grown!  He loves the zoo more and more every time we go.  He wanted to give the baby monkey an unsolicited hug and kiss this time around.  He loves babies, regardless of species.  Hoping he likes his human baby in a few months!

He had to hold hands with the monkey as well.

We powered through our trip to the zoo because Andy had to get home to study and I wanted to clean.  I feel like I just tackled my closet not that long ago, but I purged my closet and again got rid of over 125 items!  It felt so good!  I'm really trying to de-clutter my life before baby boy #2 arrives!  We have so much stuff in our cozy little casa!  We are definitely keeping that red-headed football lover though!

Yet another weekend gone too quickly.  Looking forward to the next one!  Happy Tuesday, friends!

26 Weeks

How far along? 26 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yes!  I am struggling to find things to wear!  I was so uncomfortable in my pants on Monday that I stopped at Target on my way home from work and fortunately had some good luck in their maternity section.  Since my pregnancy seasons are totally off, I've had to invest in some non-summer pieces.   Gaps current line is not that impressive, but I did find some cute stuff online at H&M and ASOS earlier this week.  I'm trying to find a cute maternity coat without spending hundreds of dollars.  At 26 weeks I can barely zip my current jackets.  I feel like I'm bigger this time around and I'm already up 15 pounds!  
Best moment this week:  We had the best time celebrating Ben turning TWO on Saturday.  He was having the time of his life with all of his favorite people spoiling him like crazy.  ;)   I can't wait for the boys to play together!  Side note: I am still thankful each and every week that things have been going so smoothly with this pregnancy, so I guess that is technically the best part of every week.  (He just gave me a big kick when I wrote that…love him so much already!!)
Miss anything? No.  A glass of wine would be nice on occasion, but I really haven't had time to miss that anyway.  ;)  
Movement:  He's an active one like his big brother!  Ben hasn't gotten to feel him kick just yet, but we try!
Sleep: There has maybe been a night or two here and there where I've gotten up to go to the bathroom at night, but that's it!  I did have one night where I woke up and could not fall back to sleep, but that is not the norm.  I'm sure my wake up several times a night will be coming soon, so I am enjoying this while I can!
Food cravings:  No.
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.
Labor signs: No way.
Exercise: Still going strong with my works outs!  I'm hoping to run or at least run/walk a 5k towards the end of October.  
Looking forward to:  I have another doctor appointment next week.  It is so weird not having an appointment at least every other week.  I feel like I got to know my OB and the office staff so much better last time, but again, I'm not complaining!  (It's still the same OB, I just see him as often as a "normal" pregnant person would instead of all the time.)  The big excitement for this week is the gestational diabetes screen.  Oooo!


***Even though Ben is wearing the same jammies in the pictures from the last 2 weeks, they were actually taken on different days.  I was on time this week! ***

Weekend Recap: Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

I still can't believe our sweet little boy is TWO!!  He definitely acts and talks like a two (or four) year old, but these past two years have truly flown by.  We had the best time celebrating him this weekend!   We wanted to kick things off right when he woke up in the morning, so we filled his room with one of his favorite things---balloons!  Just as we suspected, he loved it!  (No, we didn't put them in his bed while he was sleeping, but he sure had fun throwing them on/off the bed.)

Although Ben and Andy make pancakes together on a regular basis, they were extra special birthday pancakes on Saturday, mostly because he got to eat them on a football plate.  It's rare to see him in his highchair these days.  Actually, he was probably only in it because that's where he sits for pancake making.  Apparently two year olds prefer tall stools.  

He had to have a good breakfast because we had a big morning ahead of us!  How fitting that the hospital who took such good care of Ben when he was born was having its annual run/walk on his birthday.  We have formed a team since before Ben was even born, so we wanted to keep up the tradition.  (Plus continue to raise awareness, money, etc.)  Ben was pretty excited that we switched his carseat to be forward facing for the ride down!

We left nice and early to go meet our team.  It was a little colder this year than it has been the past several years, but that didn't stop the fun!  We had 36 people on our team this year supporting the hospital in honor of BEN!

It was hard to keep track of our team during the walk, so thankfully we were able to chat with some friends for a bit before the walk.  

It took awhile to get to the actual starting line, and no more than 10 minutes into our walk, Ben was fast asleep. :)

He woke up just as we crossed the finish line and met up with Andy, who had run the 8k.  (In his fastest time yet, I might add!)

Luckily, I had my wonderful friend Maggie with me to keep me company on the walk!  Ben loved having here there too.  

I didn't want to have a huge birthday party like we had last year, but Ben has so many loving fans that we decided to have a family party at our house after the run/walk.  We took the easy way out and ordered some pizzas, but I didn't hear any complaining.  Even from Ben, and he doesn't even like pizza.  ;)  

Ben isn't a huge fan of fire, so he kept his distance from the candles while we sang to him and he let Andy and I blow them out.  He was a huge fan of watching Andy cut the cake though!  Every time someone asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said cake, and this one did not disappoint!

He had a blast opening his presents and giving hugs to each and every (EXTREMELY generous) gift giver.  For someone who is a little young to understand the whole gift thing, I think he did a pretty good job of being gracious.  (Even though he wanted to open every toy right after he opened it, especially the 15+ containers of play dough from Auntie Anna...)  It is hard to say what his favorite thing was, because he truly loved (and still loves) everything.  

There were definitely tears when we had to go inside for the night!  There isn't much this boy loves more than playing outside with his soccer ball, football, basketball, or baseballs!

We all crashed for a bit after everyone left.  And by all, I mean it was Andy, Ben, and me in Ben's bed fast asleep.  :)

After a little more playing outside, it was an early-ish bedtime for this two year old.  He was such a good boy the whole day!  I'm pretty sure the only time he cried is when he had to stop playing with his new toys.  He slept like a rock all night and the next morning we woke up to his precious little voice on the monitor saying, "Happy birthday, Ben!  Hold baby Lydia in the chair."  He has been talking away when he wakes up in the morning and Andy and I just lay in bed and listen to him for awhile.  Such a great way to start the day.  He certainly loved holding baby Lydia twice on his birthday!

Saturday was such action packed day that we had to take it easy on Sunday.  Super Nana and Papa John watched Ben so Andy and I could get some work done.  (Thank you, Mom!!  You're the best!!)  Andy had a paper to write for school and I worked on thank-you notes.  I'm not a coffee drinker, but I couldn't pass up some hot apple cider from Starbucks.  Ahh, I love fall.  

And since the weather was absolutely beautiful and fall-like (and because Ben adores being outside) we ended our weekend we some outdoor fun.  This kid has a crazy strong arm, so I keep my distance when he is playing catch with Andy!  Unless, of course, I'm getting some Benji love.  :)

All in all, it was a perfect weekend.  I could not possible love this big boy more than I do!  I am so proud to be his momma!  He had his 2 year check up today and the doctor was singing his praises as well.  Of course I think Ben is smarter than smart, but it was nice to hear his doctor (and teachers) say how advanced he is.  He just brings so much happiness wherever he goes.  It's hard not to smile when he says some of his favorite lines like "baby in daddy's tummy too!" because he knows he will get a laugh or when he remembers things that happened months ago.  Auntie Anna thinks it is getting old, but I still love playing along when he "hides" every time someone enters the room and then he giggles when that person is trying to find him.  He still usually talks in third person which makes me laugh and I'm sure it won't be long before he stops answering "BEN!" when I ask questions like, "who is my snuggle baby, love bug, sweetie pie, etc?" So although I love watching him grow up, I am trying to cherish each and every moment just in case there comes a day where he doesn't want to give me hugs and kisses on command!  Happy birthday to my loving Benjamin!

25 Weeks

How far along? 25 weeks
Maternity clothes? Yes!  I've realized that the timing of my pregnancies is actually quite off, and I have minimal fall/winter options.  I was not planning on buying a ton of maternity clothes, but when I try and where my regular clothes, my belly is peeking out of the bottom.  Maternity clothes are more expensive and less cute than I remembered too.  
Best moment this week: Getting ready for Ben's SECOND birthday!  I was getting a little emotional about it this week, but I'm excited to celebrate my baby big boy!
Miss anything? Not really.  
Movement:  He kicks a lot, especially when I lay down.  Love it so much.  Oddly enough, I don't freak out if I don't feel him for awhile.  I worry much less than I did when I was pregnant with Ben, but I suppose I had more reasons to worry last time.  
Food cravings:  No.  I've just been eating the usual lately.  
Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm pretty sure strong scents will bother me throughout (and potentially after) this pregnancy.  
Labor signs: No way.
Exercise: I'm running at least every other day!  It is actually running for a quarter to a half mile and then walking a quarter of a mile, but it feels so good.
Looking forward to: Celebrating my soon to be 2 year old!!  Love that boy SO much!  

Weekend Recap: Friends, Dogs, & Family

Andy is studying and I just finished packing Ben's lunch for day #3 of school tomorrow, so it's time to blog!  We had such a fun weekend, even though Andy was at school until Saturday evening.  I picked up my mom and Ben on Friday night and we headed to a local street fest.  Ben loves any sort of party, so I knew he would be up for a fun night.  Our first stop was possibly his most favorite spot: the dunk tank!  He spent the whole night trying to find it again.

He also loved watching the kids in the bounce houses and on the bungee lines.  I am SO glad he is not old enough to do this stuff yet!

To be totally honest, we definitely missed Andy, but we still had fun!

Ben probably would have stayed all night listening to the band.  It was mighty loud, but he didn't mind one bit.  "Drums! Guitar! Kids dancing!"

We were out later than we probably should have been, but amazingly, he was a perfect angel the entire day on Saturday.  It was our first music class this session and he was SO excited to go back.  He was singing songs on the car ride there, but he was a little shy getting back in to the swing of things.  He loved it nonetheless!  After music class, we had to pick up our team shirts for the race this weekend!  I can't believe Ben is going to be TWO in a few days!  Next stop was Wag Fest to meet up with Auntie Anna.  I wasn't planning on bringing Rosco because she isn't the greatest on the leash (which she proved to be true), but I felt bad leaving her at home at a DOG festival. 

Ben definitely had fun and he is such a good helper.  He always wanted to make sure that Rosco had plenty to drink. 

He protected her from the cats. 

He also gave her an obscene number of treats.

He was such a good boy that he earned himself a treat as well.

Little does he know, we would give him ice cream everyday if he would eat ice cream everyday.  :)

He ate his ice cream so he could play on the playground.  

He was exhausted after the dog fest, and fell asleep nearly instantly after we got home.  He slept for over 2.5 hours!  As soon as he woke up, Maddie and Sarah had arrived!  There are few things he loves more than when Maddie is at his house!  I hope they are always such good buddies. :)

As if our day wasn't busy enough, we then went to the grocery store and to see our friends' new house after Andy got home.  It was a perfect nearly-fall night and Ben had so much fun playing with the big kids.  They were so good to him, which makes me a happy momma.  He thought it was pretty darn cool to play catch with someone besides daddy.  ;)  The only thing Ben didn't like was making s'mores.  "No like fire! No like fire!"  Firework flashbacks maybe??  It was bedtime anyway!

On Sunday, we got to spend some more time with Andy, and we went on a nice long 5+ mile long walk.  We took the scenic route and there were the beginnings of leaves falling and changing colors!  It made our perfect little morning that much better.  We are working on making Ben a fall-loving boy as well.  

He is already a momma-loving boy!!

We stopped at a park to get some swinging and sliding in.

Next, we stopped at Starbucks.  There was a drive-thru, so Ben got to wave to each and every car that passed by.  There were even a few cars with dogs in them, which Ben thought was the funniest thing.  "Doggy's head out the window!!"

We stopped at Target for some essentials before heading back home.  It was a long walk, but we all loved it.  Andy had to get back to studying, so Ben and I went to visit great-grandma with Auntie Anna.  She always loves a visit from Ben, although without a nap, he wasn't on his best behavior.  It was the first time she had ever seen him do anything naughty.  (He colored on her couch with crayon and wouldn't apologize---ugh!)  He was in bed by 6:30 that night so he could be well rested for school!

Well, Andy is done studying and I'm done for tonight too.  I hope to update my bump posts tomorrow, though I'm not sure when I will be able to take my pictures.  I'm not keeping up to date with them like I was hoping but I'll keep trying!