Weekend Recap: St. Nick & Santa!

Despite all of the germs that are floating around our house, we are still trying out hardest to enjoy this holiday season!  We couldn't let St. Nick miss our house!  Andy was gone at school last weekend, so we asked St. Nick to come early.  (He did!)  Ben wasn't totally getting the whole, "you have to be good because St. Nick is watching you" deal, but thankfully he was pretty good so we didn't have to take away his stocking before he got it.  He had a great time dumping out everything and checking out his goodies!

I took my eye off of him for a minute and he was far too quite for my liking.  Where did I find him?  Acting innocent with a nee nee in his mouth.  It turns out he had colored on the window sill with his new green marker, but he ran to get a baby wipe and actually did a great job cleaning it up while repeating, "only color on paper" to himself.  Hard to be mad at the sweet little guy.  :)

Ben and I were supposed to meet up with Maddie and Sarah on Friday night for an outdoor tree lighting, but his nose was running like a fountain and I still wasn't feeling too hot, so we decided to stay home.  Besides, he had to rest of up for his big breakfast with Santa on Saturday!  My mom and I took him to see Santa at a hotel downtown.  It was really fancy--probably a little too fancy (and pricey) for what it was, but we sure had fun!

Nothing but the finest utensils before seeing Santa!  (He had approximately 3 bites total.)

Getting to meet Santa after breakfast wasn't the greatest motivator to get him to eat…

After Santa arrived, the line was pretty long, so we decorated gingerbread cookies and wrote letters to Santa while we waiting for the line to die down.

I'm pretty sure Ben's letter said, "I want footballs."  (Pretty darn good footballs if I do say so myself.)

We talked up Santa the whole time we were in line, and I really thought he was going to be fine with him, but no such luck.  I attempted to put him on Santa's lap, but he arched his back and kicked his legs and at 18 months pregnant, I had no chance of winning this one.  

He was still brave though, and he told Santa he wants a baby brother for Christmas.  It was the cutest!  Santa wasn't sure if he would be able to provide that, but I assured him I would take care of it.  ;)

We did manage to get somewhat of a picture with Santa!

He wouldn't even give Santa a one-finger touch.

He was a happy camper again when he was back with Nana and Momma….and a candy cane. 

Oh, and fruit loops.

He had no interest in pictures by the gorgeous tree.  

Meeting Santa is exhausting.  He was out in no time at all!

Saturday night was probably our last night out as parents of an only child!  It was my work Christmas party, so Ben had a sleepover at my mom's while Andy and I were out on the town.  We didn't partake in the karaoke but my belly and I did manage to get in a little "Cupid Shuffle."

Sunday was a fairly lazy day.  I don't have a lot of pictures, but we went to Auntie Anna's for a chili party for lunch.  It was delicious.  I also attempted to be crafty and made some Christmas gifts for my co-workers.  My chocolate covered pretzels were a huge disaster, but Andy was able to sort of salvage them and he claims they were still tasty!  Look at these things!!  Hard to tell what they are...

The final product wasn't quite what I had envisioned, but it was still fairly cute.  

On Sunday night, we went to dinner with some friends we hadn't seen in forever before we called it a weekend.  I hope this coming weekend I will finally pack my hospital bag, detox the house, and get some of baby boy's clothes washed and ready to go!  I can't believe I haven't done this yet! 

38 Weeks

How far along? 38 weeks! 
Maternity clothes?  Of course!  
Movement:  He loves kicking me in the upper right side near my ribs.  I love feeling those little kicks!
Sleep: I'm sleeping better now that I'm finally feeling better!  Unfortunately Andy seems to have whatever Ben and I had.  Still hoping for a healthy house by the time baby arrives!
Food cravings:  Not really.  I haven't been extremely hungry lately.  
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.   
Labor signs: Just Braxton Hicks contractions.  I keep hoping for some though! 
Exercise: Something tells me I won't be seeing the inside of the gym for awhile now.   
Miss anything? Rolling in bed with ease would be nice. :)
Looking forward to:  Meeting baby boy!!  Likely in a week!  This week was a little stressful because the little guy is measuring quite a bit on small side, which has me freaking out a bit.  I was really hoping to try for a VBAC, which I could still do, but a bigger part of me now just wants him out safe and sound.  (And the sooner the better!)  I have a c/s scheduled for  next Thursday!
Best moment this week:  I'm so happy that I feel better!  I am also looking forward to a relaxing weekend---massage tomorrow night and a pedicure on Saturday.  I can't wait!  I'm also seeing the Nutcracker on Sunday and hanging out with my co-workers on Sunday.  Although, I wouldn't mind at all if baby boy decided he wants to make an appearance this weekend…

37 Weeks

(As usual, time was very limited this morning, thus the work clothes versus the workout clothes.)

How far along? 37 weeks! (and 1 day, to be exact…the age that I had Ben at!)
Maternity clothes?  Absolutely.  I'm wearing skirts and dresses for comfort reasons.  
Movement:  He is still moving a ton.  Ben actually got to feel some real kicks tonight too!
Sleep: My sleep has not been great this week, but this is primarily from coughing and blowing my nose all night long.  I am STILL under the weather and I actually got worse over the last few days.  I have never had a cough/cold this long.  It's miserable!  Ben has the same thing but he seems to be handling it better than me.  He is constantly asking, "Momma ok?  Momma ok?" And then saying, "feel better momma" in the sweetest little voice.  LOVE that boy.  
Food cravings:  Not really.  Still loving my pomegranates and I'm afraid they are already going out of season.  
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.   
Labor signs: Not unless being 1cm dilated is a labor sign.  ;)  
Exercise: I like to think what used to be my abs/obliques are getting a work out from coughing so much!  Poor baby boy is probably wondering what is going on!
Miss anything? Feeling healthy…not having a cough/cold
Looking forward to:  Feeling better!  I'm also looking forward to Breakfast With Santa this weekend with Benji!  I really just want to feel better before Baby Boy arrives though!
Best moment this week:  Despite feeling like garbage, it has been a good week.  I can't believe tomorrow is FRIDAY!  My sweet coworkers had a surprise baby shower for me today.  We also had St. Nick come last night so Andy could be there since he has school this weekend.  And then he will be done for a whole month.  I CANNOT WAIT!!!  So baby brother, we are ready for you any time after daddy is done on Saturday.   

Weekend Recap: Thankful!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend.  We truly have so much to be thankful for.  I am so thankful for my little family.  My little turkey woke up ready for some fun, so we decided to make Thanksgiving art.  He LOVES painting.

But he doesn't like to be dirty for long, so arts and crafts time was short-lived.

We watched some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and read the newspaper.  Ben's new phrase is "want to get snuggly" and it was pretty much the cutest thing ever when he told Andy he wanted to get snuggly to "read the book" about toys.  He was sure to find the deals on each and every ball and hoop.  

Our first stop of the day was my cousin's house for a fabulous Thanksgiving meal.  I don't have many pictures from the day, but I did manage to get one of the main chef, looking cute in her apron!

It was a delicious meal with all the trimmings, including Ben's meal of choice…

He was seriously too busy playing to eat more than a few bites, but I suppose that I should just be thankful he is so healthy despite his eating habits! 

Our next stop was Andy's parents' house.  Ben was clearly excited about seeing his cousin, Jacob.

We had an Italian meal, since Andy's mom knew that we were already having a big turkey feast.  Believe it or not, Ben had round 2 of his fruit feast.

We did manage to get a family picture in though.  Counting down the days as a family of 3!

It was a nice and relaxing day.  Andy wanted to host this year, but I am quite glad that we didn't!  Once we have more room to entertain, we hope to host more holidays at our house!

Andy had a lot of school work to do last weekend in preparation for his finals this weekend, so he studied while Ben and I had fun.  My mom and Auntie Anna watched Ben and my cousin's kids while I did some shopping.  He was in heaven.  He loves, loves, loves Theo, Simmy, and Lydia. 

He even got to decorate his own Christmas tree at Nana's after the other kids left.  This boy is SO loved.

I'm mostly done with my shopping, but it was nice to have some free time to run errands.  It was also nice that the crazy black Friday crowds had dwindled by the time I was out.   The crowds were in full force at our favorite restaurant on Friday night!  Definitely worth the wait, as always!

On Saturday morning, it was Simone's baptism.  This is the best picture I have.  She was so content and smiley the whole time.  Love her!!

It was a small but nice little service and then we had a lunch for her.  Ben was again in heaven getting to play with his buddies!  He and Theo had matching green pants---unplanned!

I have to sneak in our family photo too.  They are getting harder and harder to take!

It was one party after another on Saturday.  I was exhausted, but Ben was a raring to go!  We decided to make a quick trip to the tree farm on Saturday to pick out our tree.  This was one of my favorite holiday memories from last year and we had a blast this year as well.  

Ben did a great job helping find the perfect tree.  I love his face in this picture. 

He forgot to bring his own saw (because we couldn't find it) so he just helped by watching daddy cut the tree.

Ta-da!  The perfect little tree!

And just to prove that I was there too…

We rushed home from the tree farm to go to my cousin Brian's 40th birthday party.  I, for one, was exhausted, but Ben and Andy were ready to celebrate.  Ben loves all of his cousins so much, so of course he was excited to play with them again!

He thought he was pretty darn cool playing shuffle board.  Well, until his hands got sandy, which he did not like.  

He was otherwise all smiles!

Cheers, Brian!  And congrats on your ENGAGEMENT as well!

Saturday was a fairly late night for Ben (9:00PM), and he slept until 8:00 the next morning!  It was amazing!  He woke up and "got snuggly" with Andy doing some work.  

Then we went to brunch with Maddie.  We've had to cancel plans with them for various reasons, so it was nice that we were all healthy and able to get together!  Ben got to see so many of his favorite people this weekend!  (They are our favorite people, too!)

Andy studied on and off the rest of the day.  We also did a little holiday decorating.   Baby's personalized stocking arrived!  Oops, we had it facing the wrong way.  ;)

Last, but not least, we decorated our tree!  Honestly, tree decorating was not the highlight of my weekend, but all's well that ends well!  Ben was less than gentle with all of the ornaments, even though we tried to give him only the plastic ones.  We had just put up the very last ornament and DOWN went the entire tree--breaking ornaments and dumping the entire bucket of water on the carpet.  Long story short, our tree was too skinny for the stand that it was in, but after a quick run to Target, we were back in business.  Most importantly, no one got hurt!  (And our tree is now secured with rope, just to be on the safe side.)

Our Advent calendars are up and my heart is so full and ready for Baby Fish #2 to arrive!  November flew by and I'm anticipating that December will go even faster!  We are teaching Ben about Santa but we also want him to know the real reason for the season.  Our other Advent calendar is a nativity scene and he gets to add a piece every day.  

I can't believe this Thursday will mark the point I was in my pregnancy when we got to meet Ben!  I cannot wait to meet his baby brother!  Hoping and praying for a smooth and uneventful remainder of my pregnancy.

Weekend Recap: A Week Late

I don't have any notes to write for work tonight, so I'm going to try and crank through 2 (busy!) weekend posts tonight.  The weekend before Thanksgiving, Andy had class, so it was Ben and me on Friday night.  We had both been feeling a little under the weather with colds, and it just wasn't like Ben to nap for 3 hours and then wake up wanting to snuggle and go to bed a half hour later.  I'm used to seeing an active little boy asking to play catch or basketball the second I get home from work.

Before I knew it, he was throwing up.  :(  It was so sad.  He was crying, confused about what was going on.  I was THIS close to begging Andy to come home for the night.  It was a whole lot of snuggling on Friday night.  There is nothing worse than a sick Benji!!

Luckily my mom stopped by to check in, but by that point he seemed to be on the mend.  Thankfully, he slept through the night without issues and woke up ready to eat.  He has only vomited one other time in his short little life, and of course it was one of the few nights that Andy was away.  We are still not 100% over here and I think Andy is getting sick too, but hopefully we will all be healthy again before Baby Brother arrives!  We had been planning on going to a Marquette basketball game with my dad on Saturday morning for several weeks, so I was really hoping he would feel better.  He was MUCH better when he woke up, though still a little tired.  Thankfully he took a nice morning nap so we decided to go to the game.  (With barf bag in tow, just in case.)  Our tickets were so amazing (thanks Kim & Chris!!) and we were so close that I think Ben was initially a little overwhelmed.

Once he got used to things, he was in heaven!  He watched most of the game and he is still talking about it.  "Tip off!  Throw the basketball so high!"  As if the game wasn't fun enough, Ben and grandpa went on a walk and came back with a basketball, which was pretty much the icing on the cake!  This kid LOVES his basketballs!

Meanwhile, I was looking like I had eaten a basketball myself.

We didn't last the whole game, but it was fun nonetheless!  Thanks for coming with us, Grandpa!

Although the weekend turned out to be much better and easier than I was thinking it would be after Ben got sick, I was still doing cartwheels  cheering and jumping up and down when Andy got home.  While a glass of wine would have been nice, I settled for some sparkling grape juice and a pomegranate.

Ben woke up on Sunday feeling even better than he did the day before.  Everyone feels better when Daddy is home!  He and Andy were up to their usual Sunday morning activities.

I tried to get a little more prepared for baby cleaning and bringing up all of the baby stuff from the basement.  I forgot how much stuff little babies have!!  Ben was testing everything to make sure it will be acceptable for his little brother…  I can't wait to see what he thinks of him!  I anticipate that there just might be a wee bit of jealousy…

On Sunday afternoon, we were invited to a birthday party for the son of one of Andy's new friends from school.  It was at one of those places with indoor inflatable bouncy houses.  Ben was more interested in the balls.  (Shocker!)

He loved it though!

I spent most of my time parked here…

But I did manage to get a few jumps in!

Though not as high as Andy!

It's hard to tell from this picture, but Ben had a blast and he cried when we left.  "Want to go to that party again."  This picture cracks me up.  ;)

So even though our weekend started a little rocky, everything turned out to be pretty darn good.  After all, at least it was a WEEKEND!

36 Weeks

How far along? 36 weeks!
Maternity clothes?  All the time!  Good thing I only have a few weeks to go because I'm definitely outgrowing my maternity attire.  
Movement:  I love that he is moving ALL THE TIME!  I though Ben moved a lot but this little guy always makes sure that I know he is there, especially in my right ribs.  :)
Sleep: It is a bit of a process to roll over at night, but I am still sleeping well at night!  
Food cravings:  Not really.  Pretty excited for Thanksgiving though!
Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  Feeling good! 
Labor signs: I think I'm getting those Braxton Hicks contractions, but not that often.  .  
Exercise: Everything I do feels like exercise these days!  No gym trips this week though. :/ 
Miss anything? I'm starting to miss bending with ease!
Looking forward to:  Another 4 day weekend!  I can't believe it is almost December aka Birthday month for baby boy!
Best moment this week:  Ben and I are still a little under the weather, but thankfully he seems to be on the mend.  Nothing beats extra Benji snuggles, just wish he was feeling better!  So, a healthy Ben will be the best moment this week.  Seeing him get excited about the snow is pretty fun too though.