Project 857- February 15

Oh Valentines weekend....

Valentines Day has never been my favorite holiday. When I was kid, it was fun... you made mailboxes at school, and got candy and treats and lots of little cards.... (OMG the cute boy sent me a card with HEARTS ON IT!!! Must be love.)

Then you get to the point where the holiday isn't as much fun.. there is pressure to be with someone, do something special, get the right gift.. blah blah.. I hated the 14th for years.

Then I had a kid.. and it turned fun again. I got to buy little cards for Austin's class, and they had berry shortcakes that day for a treat, and he came home with a little mailbox full of little goodies. :-)

And my hubby went and broke our "don't buy my flowers that are expensive rule"

So.. I'll just say I'm warming up to Valentines Day a bit... :-)

Anyways.. that was Friday... after work, we headed down to Springfield to see my parents because my Dad had total knee replacement surgery on the 13th. He's had a bad knee since high school and it finally caught up with him, and he finally gave in to the fact he needed it replaced.

On the way down, we stopped at Taco Bell because I NEEDED a bean burrito, and we were sitting in the drive-through and this sweet voice pipes up from the backseat- "chicky nuggets pease!!!!"

Ok.. so my kid really likes chicken nuggets, and yes (you can judge me if you want) he's had a few Happy Meals in his life... so he thought that was what we were ordering. It was super adorable despite the "oh god, he knows we are ordering fast food!" distaste I felt.

So we made it down to Springfield, and went straight to the hospital to see my Dad. We didn't stay long because he was sharing a room and Tornado Boy wouldn't stay on my Dad's side of the curtain.

The next day my Dad got to come home and Austin was all ready to make him feel better with truck books.

Despite being bandaged and sore, my Dad was a good sport and they had fun together. :-)

Austin also got to help Gamma decorate some Valentines cookies, and he just cut out the annoying cookie part and went right for the good stuff... straight off the knife, no less.

So.. it wasn't the healthiest weekend for the Glynn's... to say the least.

On Sunday we went and saw Adam and Val for awhile, and Austin took to their two boys like a duck takes to water. No hesitation, nothing.. just ran right in and started being BFF's with Colton and Bryson and taking over all their toys. They did stop for lunch though.

I can't help but sing that silly song from The Hangover... "we're the three best friends that anybody ever had... the three best friends... "

Then we were back on the road home... little man dozed a bit after such a busy weekend!

Bumpdate- Tri 1 is done!

I did weekly updates when I was pregnant with Austin, and I'm glad I did because I love looking back at them... so I am repeating that custom with this pregnancy. I know some of you who read this blog could care less, so feel free to skip these weekly Monday posts.

How far along: 
15 weeks- officially done with the 1st Trimester.. and onto the next.  

Size of baby: 
A beet.. about 3" long I think

My total weight gain: 
3.5lbs. Huge improvement over pregnancy #1. At this point with Austin I was up nearly 10 lbs. Almost constant nausea is a great "diet." Hardy har har. 

Stretch marks: 
Nope

Maternity clothes: 
Not yet. This bump is higher than Austin....hmm.. girl?? So my pants still fit fine.

Movement: 
Nothing yet, but my 11 week ultrasound confirmed s/he is a mover and a shaker in there like Austin was. 

Sleep: 
Not bad. Crazy fact- Unisom (yep the sleep aid) helps with nausea. My Dr. recommended it and I took it off and on to help with that. Those nights I don't think the world ending could have roused me. 

What I miss: 
Well, all through Tri 1, from about 6 weeks until 14 weeks... I missed: my energy, being able to stand longer than 5 minutes without being so exhausted I had to sit down, not falling asleep on the floor all the time, food (because I was super nauseous for 7 weeks and nothing sounded good) and basically just feeling well. I missed feeling well. 

Food cravings: 
On days I didn't feel sick, I wanted fruit and salty things- hashbrowns, popcorn, pickles. Asian food was also high on my list, as were hamburgers. Chicken and eggs and seafood have been on my "gross" list, along with creamy things.. commercials of stringy Olive Garden cheesy dinner things? Gag. 

Symptoms: 
Nausea. Nausea. Nausea. This one kicked my butt in that department. I'm getting my payback for having a sickness-free pregnancy with Austin. This one is an all-day, constant, shaky, dizzy, hot/cold sweats, run to the bathroom experience. And the fun part is.. it comes and goes. Some days I feel great! The very next day I'm knocked down and struggling to swallow a cracker. Hopefully it is now gone for good.

Austin is: 
Asking for a "seester" still and wants to name her either: Austy, Daddy, Digger, Seester or Miss Dee-nan-na (his teacher at school). He doesn't really get that there is a sibling coming though. 

Snow-fest 2014

Holy cow.

So this Saturday post really encompasses Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday... because the Portland area was hit with a big snowstorm! And basically 4 days all blurred together and felt like one really long day..

The snow started coming down at noon on Thursday 2/6. Being that this is NW Oregon, and we don't get snow very regularly.. this means the following:

1. People immediately freak out

2. Everyone leaves work immediately

3. Or if you don't leave work immediately, you will be stuck in an HOURS long commute because we are Portlanders, and we don't know how to drive in the snow.

So I packed up my stuff at noon, woke Austin up from his nap at school (hate doing that) and hightailed it home. The last time it snowed here (5 years ago) it took me 4 hours to drive my then 45-min commute home. That was NOT gonna happen with a toddler in the car.

Thankfully, we got home in the same amount of time it normally takes us, and we snuggled on the couch and watched cartoons and had quiet time instead of a nap. Neal got home shortly after we did and the snow started coming down pretty hard.

 I do love watching it snow, so I really enjoyed it.. but knew already that going to work on Friday wasn't going to happen. The Portland area pretty much shuts down when there is snow.

We woke up on Friday to about 6" that had fallen overnight.

Neal's school had a snowday, and my friend Sarah (who lives right by our work) texted me that the parking lot was empty... so I tried to not feel guilty about staying home. My parents instilled such a work ethic in me though, I always feel like I should at least 'attempt' to get into work no matter what.. come hell or high water, fever, sickness, whatever... so just plain staying home always makes me feel like I'm going to get in trouble. Sigh. Stupid guilty conscious.

Anyways... as I was grappling with that, we did risk the 5-min drive over to Kenzie's house to play in the snow, since they have an awesome and big backyard to enjoy.

Austin and Barrett had fun tromping through the snow and going down the slide.. they lasted longer out there than I expected two 2-year-olds to last.

Henry had a ball and pretty much got swallowed by the snow but still ran around like a mad dog, and we all had hot cocoa when we were back inside to warm up!

The next day, Saturday... we had several more inches on the ground. So about 8" total at this point. It started snowing heavily again Saturday morning, and we went to the store to get some food items to get us through the next few days. Thankfully no blood was spilled in getting a loaf of bread... but several shelves were wiped out!

Neal took Austin back out in the snow for awhile and he had fun watching it fall, and learning how to throw snowballs at me through the patio door.

Of course, we had to have hot cocoa again... I didn't have any mix so I made it from cocoa powder on the stovetop. I've never done that before, but I don't think I'll ever go back to a mix. This was like a melted chocolate bar! So rich and good.

So that was our Snow-fest 2014. We watched a lot of Olympic coverage, tried to keep a toddler from going stir-crazy, and had lots of hot cocoa.

By Sunday the snow was starting to melt a bit and it was raining again... and by Monday it was pretty much gone. Back to normal life, but it was fun while it lasted!

Project 857- February 1

Apparently one weekend of celebrating wasn't enough to ring in Austin's 2nd year... we turned around and did it all over again the next weekend!

Neal claims this was just an excuse to get our friends together and see one another... which I guess is true...

Anyways, this Saturday we invited all our friends and their kids to a sports bar near us that Neal's brother manages. There was a kid's play area, lots of room to run, a huge arcade area the kids loved... so it was a fantastic spot for a big group with toddlers in tow.

Austin personally tested out the long benches to make sure they were going to meet the high standards of a crawling, exploring toddler. I believe they passed with flying colors.

There were more presents!!!

I made cupcakes and I wish I could have gotten a picture of all the kids eating theirs.... major frosting mustaches/beards/facials going on... it was pretty cute.

I am so bad at getting pictures of our family. I just never remember. I made it a purpose to get one at this party because I didn't at Austin's family party the week prior. I'd say we are pretty cute. :-)

Actually, I'm just bad at getting pictures period. Pics of everyday life? No problem. But when it comes to events.. I get really shy about taking pictures. I feel weird making people group together for a picture, or I'm not sure how they would feel about showing up on my blog... so when we are around our group of friends, I rarely take pictures. That is something I wish I were better about, since I feel like these are memories I'd like to capture. Is anyone else like that? Picture-taking shy when it comes to friends and family?

Well, off that tangent... the birthday celebrations were complete! And a success! And we don't have to do them until next year! Yeah!

Austin's Bday!!

So I am really late in posting.. I've been distracted lately with life, and keeping up on my posts has really fell on the wayside.

Instead of a Project 857 post to recap Austin's family bday on 1/25 (because frankly, I didn't really get any pictures... I was just enjoying the day with my family) I'm just going to recap his real birthday which was Friday, 1/24.

What's better than waking up as a 2-year-old??? How about waking up as a 2-year-old who gets a donut for breakfast!!!

He was pretty delighted with the candle, the singing of Happy Birthday and did good blowing out his candle! And oh darn.. he didn't finish the whole donut and we had to help him out a bit. :-)

I took him in to school and his little friends decorated a card for him, and made him a Birthday crown that he wanted to wear all night long after I picked him up.

And he wanted to vacuum when we got home. Ok.... whatever floats your boat, there birthday boy.

Neal and I had him open presents from us that night, and he knew exactly what to do with them!

Thomas the Train stuff!!!!! All right!!!!!! He wanted it all set up immediately of course. Poor Neal.. Dads always get stuck setting up complicated toys. After about an hour, and a few head scratches we had a large (oh crap where are we going to store this thing???) Thomas set all rarin' to go.

If you can't tell, Austin thought it was worth the wait though!!!

He also got a smaller Thomas set... and got tired of posing for pictures.

I really can't believe my son is 2. I really can't. I don't think I can get into the sentimental feelings I have about him growing up or I would just ramble and blubber all over the place. But I will say this (in case he ever reads my blog posts)... I was a little scared and unsure when I was pregnant with him, but he is by far, the best, my amazing thing that has ever happened in my life. No words sometimes... and for someone who has no trouble being expressive.. to be speechless is a very big deal!

He is my heart and my soul and he always will be. My first baby, my Bambino, my little tornado. I'm so thrilled and honored I get to be his Mommy.

Ok.. I got through that in one piece!

The next day we had our whole family up to our house for brunch and to celebrate Austin! My parents, Neal's parents, Lori and Richard, my brother, sis-in-law and niece, my grandmothers, my Aunt from San Diego, my Uncle... we had a house full! It was awesome!

And left us like this:

Birthdays can be a lot of work!

Here's to the coming year and all the life adventures raising a 2-year-old will bring!