Project 857- April 12

It was a warm beautiful day!!

Sometimes, Oregon pulls through and reminds us that other weather patterns than rain and gloom can and do exist during the springtime!

This Saturday, Austy and I were on our own since Neal was working with his friend Cheyenne. I had made plans to go to the zoo with my friend Kristen (who I adore and don't see nearly enough!) and her little guy, Liam.

This was the first time I've gone somewhere big like the zoo "by myself..." and I say by myself because even though I was with Kristen, she had her own toddler to contend with, everything Austin and everywhere Austin decided to run off to, was up to me to handle.

*gulp*

One toddler, one stroller, one pregnant Mommy and a huge crowd of people.

Say a little prayer...

But, the day went great, Austin was in a fantastic mood (yeah!!!!) listened to me, and didn't throw a single fit the whole morning.

Yes, you read that right. NOT A SINGLE LITTLE TANTRUM.

Angels were singing, I tell ya...

"it da YIONS Mommy!"

"cheeeeeesssseeeee"

"I kime up here, Mommy?"

Driving into the safari

Showing Mommy the BIG SNAKE!!!

The crocodile was super fascinating! We stayed at this exhibit for quite awhile

Loves the penguins like his Mommy!!

Me and my cub... love that cute face to pieces!!!

No.. we will not keep trying for that girl...

So I’m going to be the Mom of two boys.

My life is going to be trucks, dirt, sports, worms, bugs, sports, consuming whole boxes of cereal in one sitting… and most likely sports.

And I couldn’t be happier, or feel more content in that this is what was meant to be for me, and that I’m going to be the Mom I always hoped and wanted to be.

Let me back up…

Most little girls talk or at least think about their future kids and family. I remember being in middle school and thinking how cool it would be to be a Mom to boys. I was curious to know what went on in houses full of boys.. and boy slumber parties… and as a Mom to boys, I’d be an insider to that knowledge!

That feeling stayed with me all of my adolescence and into adulthood… I never felt the desire to have a daughter.

Sure, baby girls are super cute, and sweet and don’t get me started on the clothes!!!

I love baby girls… I just didn’t really want one.

I was a moody teenager. I struggled (probably like most girls) with self-esteem, confidence, standing up for myself, not falling prey to charming boys who didn’t mean well. I struggled with relationships, and how to not lose myself in the hopes that someone would just fall in love with me.

Thankfully, I ended up with an awesome husband and I’m finally secure in my skin and I couldn’t be happier to be a woman. But when I reflect on all of this, and all the crap I dealt with to get to this point… It turned off my desire to ever raise a daughter.

Girls are hard.

Maybe I’m wrong, and given the chance I would have done a great job.. but I didn’t see myself connecting with a daughter well. As much as you may not believe it, I’m not a huge “girly girl” either. I don’t like the color pink or the phrase "princes," and I’m not a big shopper.. so all the things most women want to do with daughters (tea parties, manicures, shopping, etc) I didn’t really have the desire to do. I always just felt in my gut that I would relate better to boys, and enjoy raising boys more.

I will confess that I was CONVINCED I was pregnant with a girl.. based on my symptoms… and I so convinced myself that when we found out it was a boy, I had a slight feeling of disappointment. Mostly because I had to change the way I had been thinking for weeks. I had been focusing on girl names, and how I was going to handle and connect with a girl.

There was also the realization that a girl was something I will never have (no, we are NOT having a third kid), so there were some feelings of “well, now that I’ll never have one, maybe I want one” but they quickly disappeared.

Boys just fit me.

I love to cook and I express my love for people by making dinners, muffins, treats.. etc. Who appreciates that a lot? Hungry boys.

I’m an introvert who NEEDS alone time and quiet time to be happy. This is going to be possible with boys. They can go get muddy together, or head to a baseball game with Daddy and let me have my hour of re-energizing quietness.. and probably come home to warm chocolate chip cookies. J

I love to be a supporting role.. and not the lead. I want to sit in the bleachers and cheer on my boys, offer them kisses when they get hurt, snacks to share with their team, and be their unconditional love.

I think I was meant to be a boy Mom. I really do. And I feel very lucky and fortunate to be getting the kids I feel I was meant to have.

I’m beyond excited to welcome another bly into my life, and be his Mommy and make him cookies and kiss his owies.

So to all those who will comment in the future to "keep on trying for that girl!" or "third time is a charm! You'll get your girl!" I will say thanks but no thanks to. 

My heart belongs to the boys... 

And let's not forget, this way I get to be the Queen of the House from now on!! J

Baby Yeah- 23 weeks

Size of baby: 

A bunch of grapes. Another odd comparison, in my opinion. This equals about 1 1/4 lbs. Yeah! We are over a pound!

My total weight gain: 

14lbs. So.... up 2lbs from last week. Maybe some water retention.. maybe not. It might have just been a growth spurt. Or the back-to-back Mexican dinners I went out to over the weekend. Or the cookies that have appeared in our pantry... 

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

Oh yeah. And I'm starting to have that "yikes I'm squishing him!!" fear because if I lay a certain way or sit a certain way he starts moving like crazy! Still a lot of rolls and weird moves as opposed to just kicks and such. As of our ultrasound a few weeks ago, he is sideways, with his arms and legs pointing down, so most of the movement I feel is still really low in my abdomen.  

Sleep: 

It's been pretty normal.

What I miss: 

Alcohol. I wasn't missing it much up to this point, but the weather is getting warmer (beer in the evening!!) and it's been a stressful few weeks with our house being ripped apart and repaired because of water damage (5 weeks since the incident and still waiting for it to be complete... sigh...) and my purse being stolen, and I haven't been in the happiest of places. A cocktail would have been nice. 

Food cravings: 

Not much still. Berries I guess.. but that is more because they are coming into season than the pregnancy I think. 

Symptoms: 

The heartburn is getting bad. I turned over in my sleep one night and acid shot up my throat and woke me up. That happened a lot with Austin and I have a feeling I'm in for that again with this one. Not a pleasant thing to wake up to at 1:30 am and try not to throw up from the massive heartburn attack. 

I'm Excited About:

Ummm... I don't think I have an answer this week. We have been too focused on insurance claims, trying to get my purse and cards and life back, and our house repaired that thinking about fun baby things didn't really happen in the last week. 

Austin is: 

Fully transitioned into a big boy bed! I thought he'd be hesitant about it, so I showed him his little bed last Tuesday... thinking it would take a few days for him to warm up to it and we could do our first night in it over the weekend... but he jumped right in and starting yelling "my big BOY bed!!!!" Needless to say, he loved it. I don't think he knows he can get out and leave his room... so we haven't had trouble with that yet. So far, so good and he gets excited to climb in it every night! **Knock on wood** that his good attitude about it continues!

Sh** My Toddler Says

After seeing a hay truck:

Austin-das hay mommy!

Me-what eats hay?

Austin-horses!

Me-that’s right!

Austin-causes gas

Me-the hay gives the horses gas?

Austin-yeah

Austin-donna take a shower

Me-the horses have gas and have to take a shower?

Austin-yeah

In response to us telling him it’s dinnertime:

-I don yike dinner!!!!

-I don YIKE eating!!!!

On the way driving home:

Me-we’re almost home! Guess who is at home Austin?

Austin<blank stare>

Me-Daddy is at home!

Austin-No! Daddy no at home. Daddy at Costco

Me-Daddy’s at Costco? What is he getting there?

Austin-ummm. fru snacks!!!

While driving on the freeway:

Austin-swow down!!!

Me-you think the cars should slow down?

Austin-go too fast! Yook out!!

When Henry is begging for food:

-No Henny! Walk away Henny.

Trying to tell a knock knock joke:

Austin-knock knock

Me-who’s there?

Austin-knock knock

Me-no, honey.. this is where you say the joke…

Austin-knock knock

Me-<sigh>ok….

Austin-Mommy coffee fall over!!!

**for the record, I did not spill coffee and I have no idea where he got this…

And my very favorite:

Austin- hole hands, Mommy!

**and I have to reach back and hold his hand in his car seat the whole way home.. and my arm goes numb but I don't care. He plays with my fingers. Melt my heart... 

Baby Yeah- 22 Weeks

Size of baby: 

A spaghetti squash. Finally a veggie I can picture in my head! So almost 1lb!

My total weight gain: 

12lbs. Definitely "a pound a week" at this point. Hopefully I remain that way and don't start swelling like I did with Austin. At the height of that, I gained 8lbs in a week one time. Yikes.. praying for no swelling!!

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

I am eating my words from a few weeks ago when I said "this baby moves around less than Austin did." Uh... no he doesn't. He moves just as much, and it's more so. This one thrashes a lot, or feels like he flips around a lot. Austin punched and kicked. This one rolls and loop-de-loops and who knows what else. 

Sleep: 

It's been pretty normal.

What I miss: 

I'm starting to miss my clothes. It's hard to put together outfits for work each day with a limited maternity wardrobe. 

Food cravings: 

Nothing in particular still. Breakfast foods sounded good, so we did breakfast for dinner on Saturday night. Still no strong "I must have this NOW!!!" craving though. 

Symptoms: 

I had some tightness and soreness in my abdomen last week, one day was intense enough to make me take a Tylenol. Other than that, I've had heartburn everyday at some point in the day. 

I'm Excited About:

Several things really! His room.. I got the first little detail decor items for his room and I think it will turn out cute. I'm excited because we decided on a name... after going through my baby book at least 5 times, cover-to-cover, making a dozen lists and crossing options off, and searching websites for name meanings and all that. I know we still decided early on, since a lot of people don't decide until after the baby is here, but I am just someone who likes to name my bump. :-)

Everyone want to know his name??? 

Baby Yeah's name is.... 

Owen Kyle Glynn

Owen we just liked, and I loved the meaning.. it's a medieval Welsh form of the name "Eugene." Everyone knows I'm a history nerd, so the medieval aspect appealed to me, I'm part Welsh, and my family's traditional name is Eugene. So it fit perfectly. 

Kyle is for Neal's Dad. 

It feels right, and we love it!!! 

Austin is: 

Doing better. Less clingy and more easy-going.. basically back to his normal self (mostly). He got a scooter from the Easter bunny and is thrilled and ripping up and down our hall already!  

Project 857- April 5

Austin and I went down to Gama and Gampa's for the weekend. Neal stayed home to work on our car's brakes... I think he might have had a better than I did.

This weekend was ROUGH.

Austin was in the middle of a really hard period... clingy to me, irrational, short temper, defiant, loud, misbehaving... just really difficult to handle.

Usually he's an angel around my Mom, but not this time. He was just as challenging and I ended the weekend being more strung out than I am after a week of work.

Things started out ok, and my Mom got Austin busy sorting cards.. which he loved! We should take the kid to Vegas!

Then I had the bright idea of "let's go to the mall." I needed some maternity pants and I figured with my Mom and Grandma in tow, the three of us could easily handle one toddler.

Ha.

Ha.Ha.

Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha........

Here is a picture of the empty car toy in the middle of the mall. The car toy Austin INSISTED on riding, then as soon as money was put in and started moving, he FREAKED OUT and started screaming.

Here is a picture of the other moving toy that Austin INSISTED on riding (after the car incident, mind you) that my Grandma is shelling out change for.

And... you guessed it. It started, and he SCREAMED. So we wasted almost $2, and had two empty toys just riding along while he threw a fit because he was determined to go on ANOTHER ride and we told him no.

We made it to some stores and my Grandma tried to rein him in and reason with him.

After very quickly finding some maternity pants (and my Grandma having to stay out in the middle of the mall to entertain Austin and I had to listen to him throw hissy fits while I was in the store) we decided to leave.

Well, we passed those damn ride on toys again and he wanted in them again and I told him "no" and I got my first experience of half-carrying, half-dragging a KICKING, SCREAMING toddler out of a public place.

Oh... the judgmental looks you get! Wow.

Yes, yes people.. I'm a piece of sh** Mom because my toddler who has a mind of his own is throwing a tantrum.

Look, I'm doing you a favor and removing him from the premises, ok??? Sheesh.

I actually HEARD a lady "tsk tsk" me as I walked by.

That made my day.

So I shoved him back in the car (still screaming) and we headed home. He passed out. Thank goodness.

After that refreshing 20-min nap (his only of the day) he was in somewhat better spirits and loved the bowling set my Mom got him.

That night was a challenge again though.... don't be fooled by the sweet naked boy who wanted to cuddle after his bath..

He insisted on me putting him to bed (he usually likes my Mom when we are down there) and he panicked and cried and clung to me like a monkey when I tried to put him in his Pack-n-Play.

So I tried putting him down in my old daybed instead and I had to lay with him until he fell asleep because he was coming down off his freak out.

That, never happens with my child. He doesn't need someone to stay with him while he falls asleep, so all of this all very new and odd to me...

I carefully left the bed and miraculously, he slept the whole night in the big bed with no issues.

By this time it was almost 9pm and I crashed soon after.

Toddlers are exhausting.

Project 857- March 29

Pretty uneventful day for us..

We did some "house building"

aka- banging on the toy chest with a toy hammer

We did some grocery shopping

Umi Zoomi on the Kindle while grocery shopping?? Yes, I am a genius.. thanks for asking! Ha.

Then we went to a friend's son's 1st birthday party and explored a toddler jungle, kitchen and river

Baby Yeah- 21 weeks

Size of baby: 

Seriously, the person who came up with these for my phone app should be given a talking to. A Baby Bok Choy??? Ummmm. Ok. This translates to 10" and almost a pound, apparently.

My total weight gain: 

11lbs this week. So I gained 2lbs from last week. Oh well. I still got a "keep up the good work!" compliment from my Dr. yesterday!

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

Yep, mostly after I eat and in the late morning/early afternoon. Then he calms down a bit after that for the rest of the day. We saw him get the hiccups on the ultrasound yesterday, that was pretty adorable!

Sleep: 

Pretty good... just super weird dreams. Really weird dreams. I couldn't even explain... 

What I miss: 

Full body movement. It's getting a bit harder to get up from a sitting position, and to put on socks, shave my legs... those kinds of things. 

Food cravings: 

Probably because last week we had some beautiful warm weather.. I wanted salads and bubbly drinks. I drank a ton of carbonated flavored water, and bought some blueberry lemonade I'm excited to horde all to myself in the evenings! Sorry Neal.. the baby needs it. 

Symptoms: 

Mild heartburn after every meal or snack, and some back soreness. I'm still doing pretty good but I know I'm in the "golden" period of the 2nd trimester and things won't stay this way!

I'm Excited About:

We had a fantastic ultrasound yesterday! Baby boy is healthy, everything measured perfectly and my Dr. said there is basically no chance he won't be born "perfect." I fretted over so many things when I was pregnant with Austin.. I'm glad we did the genetic testing this time, and now I can relax and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy... feeling confident that I have a very healthy baby in there! Now if we could only decide on a name...

Austin is: 

Still pretty clingy, and we have had to trick him lately at night. I have to basically hide in the house while Neal takes him up to go to bed. We know we need to get Austin used to Neal putting him to bed since that is going to be what happens the most when the baby is here since I'll be nursing and all that.. and if I'm around, Austin insists that "mommy do it." Sweet, and I love putting him to bed, but we don't want it to be a shock when the baby is here that I can't be available. So we are trying to get him used to Daddy doing bedtime more often than Mommy.

Austin is also getting a big boy bed this week! I'm excited to see how he likes it, and wanted to transition him since he's showing some signs he is ready (tried to climb out of his crib this weekend, and last weekend insisted on sleeping in a real bed down at my Mom's). Wish us luck with that! 

Baby Yeah- 20 weeks

Halfway there! 

Size of baby: 

A Belgian Endive. WTF??? Who is in charge of coming up with this veggie comparisons? Yeah, I know exactly how big that is... thanks for that, phone app.

My total weight gain: 
9lbs. I somehow held steady last week... despite buying Oreos at the store

Stretch marks: 
Nope

Movement: 
Yes, but still not nearly as constant as Austin was. It's feeling more like real punches and rolls in there. I forgot how kinda creepy it is! 

Sleep: 
Harder last week. Our bed, which I adore, is feeling hard to me. And my pillows are feeling too flat. Might be time to buy some new pillows (we need them anyways) and I slept in the guest bed last night because it is a softer bed. 

What I miss: 
Wine. It's been a very challenging few weeks with Austin. Like, super challenging. Like, I'm about to lose my mind (and have a few times, yelling and crying) because he is being so impossible. I badly need some wine!!!

Food cravings: 
Black pepper still sounds good. I caved and got a huge awesome hot dog in our office cafeteria last week and I ran (not kidding) back to my desk to scarf it. It was AMAZING. Also citrus fruits are starting to sound really good.. I have two grapefruits, 3 oranges and a cup of pineapple with me today and I know I'll eat it all.

Symptoms: 
Heartburn, some back soreness/pain (this I think is from my clingy barnacle Austin and always having to pick him up or hold him), some tightness in my tummy. Nothing too bad yet.

I'm Excited About:
One week until the ultrasound! And I'm excited about hitting 20 weeks and being half-way... that is always a fun milestone.

Austin is: 
How do I even begin? He's now so clingy to me it's just plain... I don't even know. Out of character for him, and I'm at my wit's end on how to help him. You know how kids cling to an adult's leg on sitcoms and get drug along as they walk? That literally happened to me 3 times last weekend. I tried to go to the bathroom and he ran screaming down the hall and threw himself at the door. I tried to put him to bed and he clung to me so bad I had to put him to bed in my old twin bed (I was at my Mom's) and lay with him until he fell asleep. He's clutching at my clothes desperately and breathing hard... huge tears, gagging on his tears.. just absolutely losing his little mind if I'm even out of his sight. Ummm help anyone who has multiple kids??? What do I do???