Baby Yeah- 32 weeks

I added this 2nd pic because this sums up life... laundry on the laundry room floor... a bag of cat food that hasn't been put away yet.. and a sweet little binky-face looking up and talking to me. :-) 

Size of baby: 

A Florida Polemo. A what????? I had to look it up. 18" long and 4lbs.

My total weight gain: 

I'll find out Wednesday at my appt... but probably 25-27lbs I'm guessing. It's nice to not care too much anymore.

Stretch marks: 

eh....maybe.... I can't tell. There is something on my left side. It could just be a scratch, I'm not sure yet. 

Movement: 

Insane. I was away last weekend on a girls trip... so of course everyone stays up late... and when I got to bed at about 12:30am (yikes!) it took me almost 2 more hours to fall asleep because he was losing his mind in there and thrashing about. I was sharing a bed with Kenzie and had to apologize for how restless I was because I was trying to find some position to get him to calm down. 

Sleep: 

Crappy as of late, see answer above for why. I also need to pee once or twice, and this week is supposed to be hot here in Oregon. In the high 90's, which is really hot for us. 

What I miss: 

Not having heartburn every day. It's been bad a few times and made me feel sick, but mostly just painful and annoying. Also being able to move normally.. that's still high on my list. Oh, and sleeping on my back. I love sleeping on my back, and my Dr. said it's fine until it turns uncomfortable.. and it's super uncomfortable now. So.. boo. 

Food cravings: 

Not much. I still love seltzer water. Watermelon has been awesome lately too. 

Symptoms: 

Sitting for too long in one position is starting to hurt, and it's getting harder to find positions either at home or at work that feel good for more than 10 mins. I also get out of breath quickly, and I'm not able to play with Austin in some of the ways he wants, which is a little heart-breaking. I can't pick him up easily anymore, and wrestling is definitely out. So nights when Neal is giving baseball lessons, we have quiet Mommy-and-me nights.. puzzles, books, some cartoons, he helps me cook and do things around the house. I feel bad when I tell him Mommy can't run up and down the hall and chase him easily. 

I'm Excited About:
I don't know if I'm excited per se... but we are edging closer to getting Owen's room done. We have plans to get the big desk out of his room this weekend and get the crib set up... but there is still quite a list of thing I need to do to prep for his arrival.. and looking ahead at my calendar is scary. Our first free weekend is August 9th. As in 2 weeks before I'm due. Ack!!!! What happened to summer?? It just started and it's pretty much over already!!

Austin is: 

Continuing his love affair with "Daddy's bay-ball' games. He spent the day out at the yard (baseball speak for the baseball field. Don't I sound like I actually know my sh**? Out at the yard. Going yard. Riding the pine. I could go all day on the baseball slang.. but anyways)...
He spent the day with Neal yesterday and got to be a catcher just like Daddy!

He takes the role very seriously, if you can't tell. :-)

Festival Festivities!!!

Ahhh... festivals.

The magical places where $100 can disappear from your hands in a manner of minutes... the land of $5 lemonades, $6 corndogs and $20 carnival rides...

Nothing says summer like a rip-off... I mean, a festival... right??

I'm kidding about the rip-off...

Kinda...

Either way, last weekend was the annual Festival of Balloons (as in the hot air variety) and Neal had to go on Sunday and help his friend Cheyenne with his National Cornhole League, which had a space at the festival.

So we figured we'd all go and make a day of it.

Unfortunately, the balloons launch early on Sunday morning in a "good-bye" ceremony so we totally missed seeing any and all hot air balloons... which is part of the whole point of the festival... darn.

Austin, naturally had the best time!!

He checked out the fire truck and got to climb up in it and pretend to drive..

He also enjoyed showing the fireman his scab on his knee and getting some sympathy.

*cough, attention whore, cough*

Apparently I was the same with "wounds" and had to show everyone and their mother and reveled in the sympathy. The apple doesn't fall far...

Austin also played a fishing game and won a blow up alien he named Gloopy (from an alien character on his Umi Zoomi show)

Gloopy now is a member of the family. He protects the house while we are gone during the day, he gets invited to dinner, offered bites of food and drinks of milk, and nonnies at bedtime.

Welcome, Gloopy.

Austin also made a toy sailboat that he got to paint!

Ok, honestly... I whipped out my mad carpentry skills and hammered that bad boy together while my kid played with the safety goggles in the booth. Those nails are in there good too, if I do say so myself. Daddy didn't raise no fool when it comes to hand tools!

He painted his boat green and yellow. And for the record, he picked those Duck colors out all by HIM-SAY-ELF... quack!!

Then we saw some Storm Troopers and I..... uh... I mean, Austin... wanted to track them down!!! He wasn't too sure about them, and has never seen Star Wars, so I told him they were like policemen from outer space.

He did manage to give them a fist bump while I geeked out.

They were fabulous posers.

We had to ride a few carnival rides while we were there.. I mean, when in Rome, right??

Daddy was the lucky companion for Austin's first roller coaster ride!!

We think he had fun. Maybe. Not sure... but he didn't hate it, according to Neal.

But he did love the firetruck ride that went way high up in the air!!

We left the festival with a very tired little toddler, a new alien friend, and a lighter wallet. Hey, less weight to drag around, right??

And, I might add... the $6 corndog was delightful and worth every cent!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

I had to do a post on this, just because I want the pictures saved forever on our little family blog here..

On Father's Day we all went to Neal's baseball game.

He's been with his team the Outlaws ever since we started dating.. so about 6 summers now.

He's made great friends with all the guys, there is a semi-celebrity on the team (George- his son Chris won Desiree Hartstock's heart on her season of The Bachelorette... and yes, Chris has been to a few games! Don't worry, I try not to get all fan-girl on George and ask how Chris and Des are, and all that.. Neal does a good job of getting gossip from George for me. Bless you, Neal!) and I've made friends with the wives.

Neal of course couldn't wait until Austin was old enough to start taking him to games, and immersing him in the baseball culture he loves so much.

Well, the apple didn't fall far from the tree and Austin absolutely loves being at "Daddy's bay-ball games!!"

He gets to sit in the dugout with the boys, try on helmets and gloves, play catch with the other guy's kids, and runt the bases after a victory!

Watching this made me so happy.

I love seeing Neal with our son, and I love that we are adding another son to our family. I am 100% certain now and content with having all boys in my life.

There will be a lot of dirt, and baseball cleats and sweaty clothes in our house... but I wouldn't want it any other way.

And can we all appreciate for a minute the blessing that are baseball pants??? And catcher's gear.... hey there Mr. Catcher Man... looking fine there. :-) I'm pretty much not bummed out when they ask Neal to play catcher and I get to see him all geared up... just sayin'.....

Baby Yeah- 31 weeks

Size of baby: 

A bunch of Romaine lettuce- 3.5lbs and a bit over 17"

My total weight gain: 

I don't know. Crazy, right? I've decided I'm done weighing myself daily. I'm going to the Dr. every 2 weeks now, and that is often enough to keep my weigh-ins just there. Last week I was up 22lbs.

Our scale is not the most high tech, and I did weigh myself yesterday and my scale told me I gained 4lbs from Sunday morning. So 4lbs in 24 hours. Definitely not accurate, or humanly possible. My home scale was just freaking me out more than anything, so I'm done.

I feel fine, my clothes fit fine, I'm sticking to my healthy eating (albeit a treat once and awhile).. and I'm not stressing it these last 9 weeks.

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

He's a pusher. Push and stretch across the length of me all day long. I'm hoping that is a sign of another strong healthy baby since Austin was a strong mover in-utero too. 

Sleep: 

He still keeps me up at night for a bit. If I lay on my left side, he goes absolutely beserk in there!! If I lay on my right side, I get heartburn. So I'm a bit screwed either way at this point.

My strategy of late has been to lay on my left side to read a bit, let him get his wiggles out.. turn to my right side, take Tums for the heartburn my right side causes, wait for Owen to calm down, then back on my left side to fall asleep.

What I miss: 

Being able to move normally. Last night I did dishes, 2 loads of laundry, picked up the house, and scrubbed out the tub. My hips were killing me after just that. Plus bending down to pick things up is getting really difficult. I'm looking forward to full range of motion here in a few weeks! Other than I will probably have a newborn strapped to my chest. :-)

Food cravings: 

Fruit and seltzer water still. I wouldn't call it a strong craving, but I have been indulging in some ice cream lately. My lactose intolerance doesn't bother me when I'm pregnant, so I figure I better get it in now because once Owen is here, I'll be back to my dairy-free diet. I found these tiny single serve Dreyer's ice cream cartons at the store and bought a few. It's been years since I've eaten ice cream!!! Loving it. 

Symptoms: 

Overall tiredness. I get out of breath easily, and like I said above, I get sore easily. I'm still walking at work as much as possible, but that will make my lower back ache. I'm just nearing the end and starting to feel it. 

I'm Excited About:
This may sound silly, but I'm excited about that article I read and wrote about yesterday. Finally it makes sense to me, and I know now that I don't need to feel guilty for needing some alone time to re-charge from work and parenting demands. That is just how I operate as an Introvert. The fact that I finally found something published that made me go "hey, I'm not the only one, and I'm not a bad Mom because of this!" It's ok to need some alone time! It's healthy, it's what my body and mind needs to be at it's best!

Now when Owen is here, if I'm having a hard time or moment I'll know that maybe I just need to take a shower, or hand Owen over to Neal when he gets home and have 15 mins alone to feel better.

Austin is: 

Continuing to channel Mr. Charleston W. Beauregard of the deep South.

All that kid needs is seersucker suit, a glass of sweet tea and a rocking chair on a plantation porch.

"No! I wanna do it MAH SAY-ELF"

"Don't pud it in MAH HAY-ERRR!" (he doesn't like stuff in his hair)

So the nickname Mr. Beauregard was born.

It's only a matter of time until my inner Scarlett O'Hara starts coming out to join in on the Southern fun. :-)

I'm an Introvert Mom

As time is closing in and I’m a handful of weeks away from bringing another person into my life and doing the whole newborn thing again… I’ve been reflecting a lot on how things went in the newborn days with Austin. What went well, what was really hard, what I could do better this second time around.

I don’t think it’s any secret that I had a hard (very hard) time adjusting to having a baby.

I cried a lot. I was not happy. A lot of days I just wanted to put him down and walk away and have some SPACE to think and not have someone clinging to me.

A big part of me feels very guilty about this, and I wish I could go back and enjoy Austin’s first few weeks/months more, but the other part of me knows that it was hormone/circumstance driven (remember- Neal was coaching baseball right as Austin was born and was gone for long days and I was alone). I eventually adjusted and really love being a Mom now. I am trying to look back at this dark time as a learning experience.

An article that popped up on my Facebook feed this morning hit the nail on the head so directly and perfectly I felt the urge to write this post.

It was about being an introvert and how that is a challenge when you are a parent.

Huffington Post- Why Parenting Is So Hard For Introverts

YES. YES, YES YES…..  this article rang true for me, and I felt some kind of “aha!!!” moment of clarity for me.

In case you don’t know, here are some traits of an introvert:

You find small talk incredibly cumbersome.

Yes… when cashiers or someone in line somewhere tries to chat with me?? I cringe. One reason I don’t like being pregnant. It’s too much of a “come talk to me!!” beacon.

You go to parties -– but not to meet people

I only like parties where I know at least 90% of the people.

Networking makes you feel like a phony

Remember the hot minute I sold Stella and Dot jewelry? I could not handle trying to network. It made me almost physically ill

You're easily distracted

I start laundry, then wander off to clean a closet.. then start cleaning the bathroom, then decide to go thru my closet.. etc.

Downtime doesn’t feel unproductive to you

I could read all day and feel like it was the best day spent ever!

Giving a talk in front of 500 people is less stressful than having to mingle with those people afterwards.

Shudder. I can be in front of a crowd no problem.. but then I want to slip through the back door and go straight home.

You start to shut down after you’ve been active for too long

Yes. I become moody, I start having anxiety attacks, or panic attacks, I become bitchy… my mind pretty much becomes unhinged and I cannot deal with anything.

You're in a relationship with an extrovert.

Uh… duh. Have you met my husband???

You screen all your calls -- even from friends.

True. Sorry friends. Sometimes I just don’t have the energy to text or talk or email and I have to wait until that energy comes back to me. 

You have a constantly running inner monologue

Constantly. And I talk to myself. All. The. Time.

You alternate between phases of work and solitude, and periods of social activity.

Yes. Sometimes I avoid social things for weeks on end because I’m just not in a social frame of mind.

Now, being an introvert does not mean I’m anti-social or a loner. Not at all. I love my friends, I love parties, BBQ’s, get-togethers.. but there is only so much I can handle, and I have to be "in the mood" for social activities.

This article was interesting to me because the author talked about how she had the same struggles adjusting to motherhood as I did because being a Mom means you are never alone. Ever. Someone always needs you physically or emotionally, and that is draining on an introvert. We aren’t being selfish when we need alone time, we really truly need it in order to not get totally unhinged and become a monster. Our temperament just can’t handle the “go go go go go” nature of parenting a small child.

Even though I work outside the home and get 8 hours away from Austin, it is far from “down” time for me. My phone rings constantly, people are constantly in my cube asking me questions, emails are rapid firing into my Inbox, I’ve got deadlines and budgets to meet, presentations to make… I’m “on” for 8 hours. Then I pick up Austin and I’m “on” until he goes to bed.. then I’m “on” being a wife and friend to Neal until we fall asleep.

Reading this article is making me want to research this more before Owen arrives. Find ways to help parent better as an Introvert. I know newborns are needy and I’m hoping that just being aware I’m an introvert will make things easier.

It also made me feel a lot better about myself.

I’m not a bad Mom because I need time away from my kid (soon to be kids). It’s necessary, and makes me a better Mom because I can re-charge and come back to “mommy-mode” refreshed and energized.

I love my alone time but would always feel guilty about it. Sometimes I wouldn’t tell my friends that Austin was at my Mom’s for the weekend because I didn’t want to be labeled as someone who always dumped her kid off on someone else, because that wasn’t the motivation behind it. Or I’d feel guilty leaving Austin with Neal to go do something and I wouldn’t enjoy what I was out doing because I felt like I should’ve been at home.

I thought to be a “good” Mom I had to be the type that NEVER wanted to leave her kid. Ever. And the fact that I did make sure I got alone time made me less of a Mom than other women. Silly, I know.. but I still battled with those thoughts a lot.

I think now I have a new sense of peace about the type of Mom I am. And that is so refreshing. 

Now with Owen coming in 8 1/2 weeks or less... I am hopeful the adjustment will be a bit easier. 

Project 857- June 14

It was a "berry" eventful Saturday...

Like that pun?? Aren't I clever?? haha.

Yes, there were some berries procured, and processed and turned into jam... but before that happened, we had a little family date in the morning.

I really want to spend these last few weeks as a family of 3 (wow, that is a weird thought) getting the most out of our time together. I want to make memories with Austin and make sure he knows he's special to us and we like to spend time with him.

Day dates and little outings will be high on my priority list as we wind down my pregnancy (another weird thought.. wow).

So we headed to this little coffee shop in downtown Oregon City that I'm absolutely in love with. They have great food, amazing coffee, and a play area with toys for kids that Austin was just thrilled with!

Fire trucks, dump trucks, school buses... it was like heaven for a little boy!

Breakfast was fantastic too.. we got Austin his own waffle and he scarfed almost all of it down! I don't blame him.. Singer Hill Cafe. Oregon City. Go. Get the waffles. Trust me.

Since we had some carbs and sugar to burn off, we walked across the street to a little park area. It's so crazy... I swear just yesterday Austin had to be followed closely at a playground and helped up things and down things and really monitored.

Now, he is like.. well a kid... he climbs, he navigates, he jumps.. all on his own. I am just really the spectator and cheerleader now. Kinda sad...

You go little monkey! Do your thing. :-)

Neal and I joined in on the fun of the swings (who doesn't love to swing still???) and Austin loved his first time on the actual "big kid" swing!

I was swinging beside him here... swing buddies!

After our fun morning, Neal had to leave for the rest of the day to run a National Cornhole tournament for his friend Cheyenne.

So Austin and I went to the store to get pectin and jars and things to make my very first batch of strawberry jam! He liked going to the "farm" to get the berries, and liked even better getting to eat several bowlfuls of our bounty..

Getting the berries was quite the adventure...

Went to the store for pectin and jars.

Went to the farm and found out they only took cash. I had no cash.

Farm also seemed to be charging a lot of their pre-picked berries and I was indecisive.

We drove around in the country for awhile trying to see if we could find a different farm.

Didn't find another farm.

Drove home.

Ran inside to grab the cash Neal left me.

Back to the farm.

Got our berries.

Austin didn't want to leave the farm

Wrestled him into the car, getting red mud EVERYWHERE

Got home.

Austin sacked out for a nap.

I read my recipe.

I GOT THE WRONG PECTIN, DAMMIT!!!

Couldn't go back to the store because of the sleeping kid.

Waited 2 hours... do dee doo....

Hauled the kid back to the store, exchanged the pectin for the kind I needed.

Got home.

Started the jam.

Holy crap, there are more berries in this flat than I thought! Maybe the price wasn't bad after all..

Hours of washing, stemming, mashing berries ensued...

Austin was real thrilled with the jam making process.

Then I ran out of containers not even half way through and ran out of pectin... so I had to take pics of both and have Neal get me more on his way home from the tournament.

Sheesh.

So I finished up at around... 8pm I think?

Making jam is exhausting.

But...behold!!! 17 containers of fresh, no-sugar (yes, I went all crunchy granola Mom and made a no-sugar version) strawberry jam!!!

I hope it turns out.

The only sweet is from natural apple juice. It's all in the freezer, waiting to be tried and my fingers are crossed I didn't waste all that time for crappy jam.

Now who wants a PB& J??? :-)

Project 857- June 7

Well, it was a lovely little Saturday.

Neal and I woke up alone... no kid... where was he, you ask?

Camp Grandma!!

We had a wedding to go to, and were told that the venue was right on a body of water and not very kid-friendly so my Mom took Austin for the weekend.

I didn't get a lot of pictures of the actual wedding, but holy cow the venue was to die for!!! It was at the bride's family's vacation home right on the Columbia River Gorge.

The lawn went right down to the river, hence the "right on the water, not super kid-friendly" warning we received. If we had taken Austin it would have been interesting trying to keep him away from the icy cold river the whole night.

It was a bit windy, as the Gorge tends to be, but what a view!

I'm so glad I took the time to carefully curl and do my hair. Within 5 mins of getting out of the car, it looked like I had just woken up and had bed-head. Dumb wind.

The groom is a friend of Neal's he's played baseball with on their team the Outlaws for the last 5 summers, so the wedding was full of all Neal's baseball buddies. Since I was a built-in designated driver, I told him to have at it, have fun and I'd get us home that night. I think he loves me being pregnant for that very reason sometimes. :-)

All the Outlaw boys just love each other!

There they are...

Kruppy, Bone, Thorne, Wes (the groom!), Darco (no relation to Donnie, ha!), Craiger, Schmeal and... Matt.

Poor Matt, he's relatively new to the team and doesn't have a baseball nickname yet.

I had to list them by their baseball nicknames, right?? I mean, it's only proper.

It was a great night of love for Kelsey and Wes, and for all the Outlaws!!!

Meanwhile at Camp Grandma, Austin had the time of his life being a little fish out in the sunshine!

Looks like we will need to buy someone a pool for our house this summer!!! Splash, splash, splash!!!!

Baby Yeah- 30 Weeks

Size of baby: 

A cantaloupe- 3.5lbs!! 

My total weight gain: 

22.5lbs. Up a pound from last week. I missed a few days of walking at work because of the rain and some crazy projects that were due. I am hoping to get back on track this week with my walking. I go to the Dr. on Wednesday... so I'm dreading that scale. It always weighs so heavy. If my scale says I gained a pound, his will say 4lbs. I should just take a picture of my scale and make him use that as the official record. :-)

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

Ok. It's getting to me a bit. He's wild. No other way to put it. Which scares me because Austin was wild, and look at him now. Still super active and non-stop. And Owen is actually worse than Austin. Oh lord help me...
He is still doing the back and forth see-saw thing, and stretching a lot, the length of me sideways, which feels weird. I can feel limbs on the very outermost side of my right side. Like an inch more to the "side" and I'd be touching my back. That is how sideways this kid is in me. 

Sleep: 

Not great. He keeps me awake since bedtime for me means party time in the womb. Austin was more scheduled.. he slept when I did, or at least didn't move around enough to wake me during the night.
Saturday night was horrible.
see-saw
see-saw
see-saw
STRETCH  (ow, that was an organ)
STRETCH (ouch! stop kid!!!)
see-saw
flip flip flip flip
hiccup
hiccup
hiccup
hiccup
Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
I didn't sleep Saturday night at all. I finally went down to the couch at almost midnight to watch TV.. fell asleep for a bit, woke up to more party in my tummy, then was up at 6am for the day.
It sucked.  

What I miss: 

Sleep. I don't see this getting any better in the next ten weeks, and then I'll be up with a newborn all through the night.

Food cravings: 

Seltzer water still, and fruit. The pesto I craved for about 3 days a week ago totally passed me by and the thought of it kinda grosses me out now. 

Symptoms: 

Heartburn still, and my face is starting to break out again on my chin. My skin cleared up wonderfully for the 1st and 2nd trimesters and now the huge, way-under-the-skin zits that never pop are coming back on my chin.
I also have been a bit nauseous the last few days. I opened the garbage on Saturday and dry heaved. I also haven't had much of an appetite the last few days.. probably because I'd eat and then feel slightly ill afterwards. 

I'm Excited About:

Hitting 30 weeks! Gestationally speaking, 30 weeks means nothing. It's not a milestone. But in my head, it sounds like I'm near the end. Plus now when people ask how far I am, saying I'm in a 30-week makes my belly look good in comparison. Yes, I know that is a vain reason to be excited about being in the 30-weeks.
But since my belly button sticks out a mile, it sounds better to say I'm really near the end rather than somewhere in the middle of the pregnancy still. 

Austin is: 

Somehow the owner of a Southern accent.
His new thing is that he insists (demands, throws a fit about.. etc) buckling and unbuckling himself from his car seat.
"No! I wanna do it MAH SAY-ELF"
and that's exactly how he pronounces it. "mah say-elf" twang twang twiddly-twang.
Neal and I are like "where the heck did that come from?"
Remember that 80's or 90's commercial of the little girl who is having dinner and it was "Shake n Bake and Ah Hay-elpped!!" remember that? That is how my kid is talking.

This is Austin on the drive home yesterday. He didn't nap all day and had a busy day. Kid was OUT. So when we got home, Neal got him out of his carseat, Austin woke up and proceeded to throw himself on the ground kicking and screaming (literally) because he wanted to get out of his seat "MAH SAY-ELF!!!"
He didn't get the concept of he was fast asleep and so Daddy had to get him out.

Project 857- May 31

I was the worst photographer ever this Saturday and got one picture the whole day.

So please enjoy this picture of my child eating pancakes for breakfast... because its the only picture you're going to see!

Sigh.. remember when life was all about Saturday morning cartoons and special breakfasts?? Can we go back to that please? I want to be a kid again...

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.

Grocery shopping.

Working around the house.

That evening I went to my friend Chrystal's Bachelorette Bash! Her Maid of Honor rented out an entire lounge in Southeast for us... they catered an awesome dinner and we played games and chatted.

I didn't manage a single pic of the event, but it was fun to celebrate her and get excited about the big day.. her wedding is now less than a month away!!!

Baby Yeah- 29 Weeks

Size of baby: 

A pineapple- 16" long still, and about 3lbs!

My total weight gain: 

21.5lbs... held pretty steady the whole week! I'm really trying to cut out sugar and unnecessary stuff like that as much as possible. I'm walking 2 miles at work everyday and trying to move around more at home in the evenings too.
The thighs are still big though... ain't nothing going to change that at this point!!! :-)

Stretch marks: 

no

Movement: 

Definitely still sideways. He does this movement that is like he's bucking his body... it will be a see-saw feeling, starting on the left side of me and ending with the right side of me. So his head then his butt doing some kind of adjustment/bucking type thing. It's weird feeling! 

Sleep: 

Eh. Wasn't awesome last week. The weather was warm. And we have this neighbor... nice enough guy... but he LIVES outside on his back porch. From our upstairs window I can see into his backyard (heck yes, I totally spy!) and he's outside pretty much all day. He watches TV out there on an Ipad, eats all his meals, chain smokes like crazy, coughs like he's about to keel over... and he's a night owl. So this goes on until 2am sometimes.
I hate to say it, but it's one reason I don't love summer. I want my window open at night, but if it is... we have to deal with Hacky McSmokerton out there (who also has very loud speaker phone conversations at 10:30pm on the nose every single night).

Sigh. CANNOT WAIT TO MOVE OUT OF OUR TOWNHOUSE!!!

Long story short (and rant over) I haven't slept well very lately. 

What I miss: 

I'm starting to feel the 3rd Trimester tiredness creep in. We were at a wedding last Saturday and it was hard to stand for the hour long cocktail hour. Things start aching. So I miss being able to stand normally and not reach a point of "I gotta sit down.. my feet/ankles/hips/back are aching"

Food cravings: 

Seltzer water still, and fruit and pesto! I made a roasted tomato pesto quinoa salad for lunches this week, and we had pesto pasta for dinner last week too... pesto has just been sounding good and fresh lately.

Symptoms: 

Still relatively smooth sailing (knock on wood)... the heartburn is coming back and waking me up at night (along with all the joys of living in a townhouse), and my tummy feels tight and is starting to itch. 

I'm Excited About:

Being in the home stretch and not worrying too much about certain foods anymore. I had lunch meat last week, and I'm having sushi this week, and it's nice to feel more relaxed about things. Owen's pretty much done developing and there isn't that constant "oh god, I hope this is ok and not messing anything up!!!" fear that I felt in the 1st and 2nd Trimesters. A little lunch meat or raw fish isn't going to hurt him at this point!

Austin is: 

Kinda killing me lately... he's in a sweet mood. And don't worry, he is not like this 100% of the time, trust me!!! We've been talking a lot about Baby Owen while we drive to and from work everyday and I'm trying to prepare him the best I can.
"When Baby Owen is here, he is going to cry a lot, and sleep a lot and that is when we need to hold him and take care of him..."
I don't want to build up that this is a new playmate for him too much because Owen won't be a playmate for a long time. We've talked about crying, and dirty diapers and nursing and taking care of him.
Austin's responses? Baby Owen is his "best friend" and he wants to hold him on his lap in the car and kiss him when he cries.
I DIE... SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just hope and pray that when Owen is really here, Austin will adjust ok and this isn't just all hype right now. I know there will be jealousy and tears and frustration, and that it will be a big adjustment, but Austin reacting to the subject of Owen with such sweetness, gives me some hope.

He's also quite into death-defying acts of Daddy-climbing lately:

The Glynn's Go Bend!!!

Ok, so the title.. it's an inside family joke involving a nice old man once who didn't speak English well and gave driving directions to my Grandma to "go long... go Bend... go Albany."

So I had to incorporate that. :-)

Sometimes I get a bug up my ass and tell Neal we need to be better about doing this-or-that... whether that may be spending more quality time as a couple, or more quality time as a family, or whatever.

My newest thing is... we need to get out of the house and explore more. Go on more day trips. We live in this gorgeous state that has an ocean, a desert, mountains, trails, waterfalls and more... and our day trips had consisted of one (yes, ONE) trip a year to the coast. And that's about it.

Sad, in my book.

Time to make memories. Get out of the house. Show Austin (and soon, Owen) the great state of Oregon. Burn some gas. The toddler can nap in the car... so let's go!!!!!

So we went to Bend on Memorial Day and it was the best day!

The drive out there went smooth, we had some breakfast on the run, Austin played some games on his Kindle and just chatted our ears off.

Our first stop was the High Desert Museum. If you've never been, GO!!! One of the best places for kids I've ever been! Super interactive, interesting and with outdoor space to run!

Statues to play on, caves to explore, fish galore.. and trails to race Daddy on!

There was even a quiet spot to sit and watch the chipmunks run around...

The outdoor area of the museum had a homestead area and Austin loved it! There was replica of a high desert house from 1900 (totally decked out inside, and a guy dressed in period garb playing the part of a homesteader!!) where kids could scrub the porch, pump water, do laundry, and dig up potatoes.

Austin was quite a good little homesteader and worked real hard!!

There was also a replica 1900's sawmill, barn, outhouse, pantry..... It was very cool!

There was also modern equipment on display and we had to get a picture by the "big digger!!"

Inside there were exhibits about the Native Americans who used to populate the high desert, replicas of their camps and homes... a little "main street" of a founding town back in the turn of the century (complete with store fronts and all that!) and native animals.

Again, super impressed with this museum and how much there was for kids to do and interact with. Austin got to pet a real tortoise too!

At the snake exhibit all he kept saying was "I don YIKE SNAKES. I don YIKE snakes."

I taught him well. :-)

After the museum we grabbed lunch at a local burger joint. This was BEFORE I knew I had gained a bit too much weight... so call it my "last supper" if you will...  because it was GLORIOUS. And I probably won't eat anything like this again for the rest of my pregnancy...

We ate lunch in Drake Park and brought along some of Austin's toys.

He and Neal played baseball, golf, had a water gun fight (which I was the target of!) and monkeyed around in the sunshine.

We will definitely be doing more day trips like this... it was one of the best days we've spent together as a family!

After the park we were going to make one more stop, up on a look-out point.... but little man passed out in the car immediately and started snoring. So Neal and I just drove up, snapped a pic from the car, and then headed home.

Thanks for the gorgeous day Bend! We heart you!!