38 Weeks & Easter 2014

Finally at 38 weeks, I swear these last few drag on and on and you feel like there is no end in sight!  At this point we are pretty much playing the waiting game.  Nothing more i can do other than enjoy these last couple weeks with the family we are before it changes forever.  That and drive myself crazy thinking every day could be "it" therefore making sure every bit of laundry is done, every dish is cleaned, crumbs vacuumed, etc....  I just keep thinking that if nothing else I will have a clean house to come home from the hospital to.  That and I've come to the realization that I now and for a VERY long time will live in a world of crumbs!  Seriously they are everywhere.  Cleaning crumbs at my house is a full time job!  Doesn't matter how many times a day I sweep/swifter/vacuum, there are always more as soon as I turn around.  2 dogs and a toddler will do that I guess! 

Easter 2014 was really nice this year. We went to my parent's house where my mother went all out and had games, prizes, easter baskets for us kids (yep that would be me) and lots of good food. The weather was gorgeous and Jack took his first ride around the yard on the riding lawn mower.  More pics to come from Easter, I still need to upload from my camera.  

36 & 37 weeks combined

 37 weeks yesterday, hospital bag is packed despite a few necessities that I'm still using, and besides just praying that this baby plans her arrival around good timing for the business....I think we are ready to go!  Oh and if she could just hold off until at least Thursday so I can make my hair appointment that would be great :) Maybe next week would actually be better seeing as this weekend is Easter and I'd really like to spend it with the fam and have fun watching Jack go through his Easter basket.  

Today I had my final sonogram and it was a 3D one, which I never had with Jack for whatever reason.  The whole experience was weird and I almost wish I never had it done.  Her positioning was not good so they couldn't get a very good picture.  To make matters worse mshe had a ton if stuff blocking her face which made for a very scary looking pic of my baby girl's face.  The placenta was super close to her mouth and touching her lips so that ruined any chance of seeing her mouth and tiny lips.  The cord was lying right across her face, on her eyes to be exact so all we really saw was her nose!! I'm really hoping her little nose was being squished by all of the crap that was surrounding her because it looked HUGE!  My first thought was oh crap she got her fathers nose HAHA.  I'm sure she will be just as adorable and perfect as Jack, but seriously, for being my first 3D sonogram experience it really could have gone a lot better.  I found the whole thing to be a bit creepy!  

Good news is we seem to have a very healthy baby on our hands, she is weighing in at about 6.8lbs and everything looks great.  At this point I think they start to gain about a half of a pound a week so she's right on target as to where she should be. 

         Eating ribs like a champ!

36 weeks last week and a daily nap seemed to be a common occurrence.  I'm doing better this week so far and not running as low on energy as I was last week.  For some reason 36 weeks just sort of hit me like a ton of bricks.  I seemed super tired, I had absolutely NO patience for anything, super irritable, and really felt my weight that week.  Maybe it's because I started back to work 3 days a week which completely exhausts me these days.  We have an employee out on jury duty which is why I said earlier that this baby had better plan her arrival on a day that I have full coverage and don't need either Johnny or myself to be there.  Thankfully my mom has been super helpful in watching Jack, her spring break couldn't have fallen at a better time that's for sure.  Just one more example of how everything always seems to fall into place when you really need it to!  

          A little frozen yogurt for dessert

So Easter is just days away and I'm super excited for Jack to get his basket and just see how much fun he has with everything this year.  I've had so much fun picking things up here and there to put in his basket.  Not a ton of candy, in fact I only got him a little thing of malted eggs and the rest being books, bubbles, play dough, bunny ears I found in the Target $1 section.....things like that.  He's REALLY into bubbles lately and would literally play with them all day long if I let him.  Over the weekend we had 77 degree weather both days and it was glorious!!  We played outside as much as we could seeing as how today it was 36 and snowed all day!!!!  Mother Nature could you possibly mess with my sinuses  any more??!!  Anyway, there were definitely a few tantrums thrown when trying to pry the bubble machine out of his hands on more than one occasion.  I had to change the batteries in it twice in one day!  Hoping for some more of that glorious weather soon, it felt SO good to grill out and sleep with the windows open at night!  The only thing missing, and I definitely missed it....was a nice cold beer!  Can't wait to be able to enjoy that again :)

 

This Week's TOP 5:

1. Getting to see our little girl one last time despite it being a little strange and creepy, I was happy to hear she's healthy and can't wait to meet her.  

2. At my 36 week doctors appointment I was told that I'm ready and good to go, the doctor said it wouldn't surprise her if I went this week but it also wouldn't be a surprise if I didn't deliver for another 3 weeks!  I took this as good news, I really think she's going to come a little early.  

3.  Happy to have my hospital bag packed and ready to go, I've been putting it off and finally just made myself today.

4.  Our new nightstands came in today and just in time! They are more of a chest with lots of drawers so I can keep all baby stuff that I may need close by (like my breast pump) hidden and out of sight. Jack thinks they are great and I keep finding little presents in my drawers, like socks from the baskets of laundry I've yet to fold and toys.  

5.  As always, looking forward to meeting our little girl, and enjoying whatever amount of time I have left with it just being the three of is. 

35 Weeks and counting

More than half way through week 35 and I'm just now getting around to posting about it.  Our little girl is somewhere around the size of a honeydew melon, about 5.25lbs and could be 18 or more inches long by now.  I went to the doctor yesterday and was happy to hear I'm right on track with how I was with Jack at 35 weeks.  I'm 2cm dilated just like I was with him, but not expecting anything to really change as far as that goes for the next 3 weeks or so.  At this point my doctor is predicting another 39 week baby, but we shall see!  So needless to say this got me very excited and a little anxious.  Now I'm, even more so than I already was, thinking about what needs to happen before "this" actually happens. 

       First ice cream treat of the season 

I've been super focused on the business lately, trying to get us ready for Spring.  We always pick us as soon as the weather gets nice, and then Summer is even busier.  May 1st we can put the tables outside which will definitely bring people out of the office for lunch.  Besides making sure we have enough staff on board, we are revamping a bit, our website got a fresh new look......we are now mobile!....about time.  I just want to do as much as I can right now so that I can focus on the baby and life at home as much as needed in a few weeks. 

There is definitely something going around, so many people I know are getting sick lately.  We had colds last week, thankfully mine only lasted a few days.  Then Johnny caught a stomach bug which was pretty awful, and just as he seemed to be getting to the tail end of it, Jack then got it.  I escaped (THANK GOD!), I really can't imagine being out of commission at this point and being depleted of any more energy than I already am.

This Week's TOP 5:

1. Hearing that I'm already starting to dilate at this week's appointment.  This is definitely number one for sure!
2. Not getting sick - another high point of the week
3. Hearing that baby is head down and at this point that will most likely not change
4. Getting our new website finished, HUGE relief and one more thing to check off of my "to-do" list.
5. Ordered Jack's Easter basket today.  Yep, I broke down and bought the one I'd been looking at from Pottery Barn Kids.  It's adorable and I can't wait to fill it with Easter goodies!  Not to mention I was able to get free shipping and 20% off....SCORE!!

34 Weeks

Yes, I've skipped a week and am once again combining 2 into one post.  I can honestly say that I am finally feeling a sense of relief and am much more relaxed than I have been in weeks!  The nursery is DONE,  all clothes and bedding are washed and put away, all other major projects that were happening in the house are finished, and I can now really start to focus on other important aspects of my life like my business and ramping up for a busy summer!  I've got to revamp our website, add to the menu, do some more decorating with color in the dining room, and as always - try and stay ahead of the game :)  Not to mention I want to enjoy these last few weeks I have left as a family of three and squeeze in as much Jack and Mommy time as I can.  It still kills me to think that he will never actually remember all of the time we spend together, just hanging out and having fun all day just the two of us.  I guess as long as I do that's all that matters, probably another reason why I take so many pictures, I know one day we will look back at them together.  Anyway, other than that I'm feeling pretty great for being so pregnant.  I'm not nearly as tired as I thought I'd be, my energy level is still pretty high, and I'm not crashing in the afternoon as much as I used to. 

So for now the cookie baking marathon has come to an end, at least in mass quantities....THANK GOD!  Great for business but not for my poor thumbs!  I swear my right thumb was numb for two days post decorating.  I guess it could be worse right?!!!!  Definitely looking forward to the next show, the theater already has us on board to bake for the show Peter Pan in July!  Can't wait, especially since there wasn't a single cookie left over from this one, they SOLD OUT!!! 

In baby news, I actually go to the doctor tomorrow morning but apparently she is about the size of a cantaloup and around 17 or 18 inches long!  It's really hard to believe that I have a little over a month to go before I meet this little bugger that is constantly doing gymnastics in my belly.  It will be interesting to see how Jack reacts to her, he is well aware that there is a baby in my belly (not sure he actually understands what that means), he's always wanting to touch it and give it hugs and kisses and says "baby" constantly.  I think he will be very confused but love his little sister none the less. 

    Suddenly loving (to jump in) the crib again knowing he doesn't have to sleep in it!

This week's TOP 5:

1. Very happy to be done with the nursery and ready to fill it with an actual baby!  Just have to get some stuff like newborn diapers and lotions/baby wash....things like that.
2. We took jack to his first show, Shrek the musical and he LOVED it.  We only made it through the first half but he wouldn't take his eyes off of the stage.  After intermission all he wanted to do was run around and dance in the isles so we left so he wouldn't bother anyone else watching the show.  I was so proud of him though, he did great! 
   
        Watching the performance while   wearing his Shrek ears and eating popcorn
   

   
   
3. Super excited to have packed the high chair away until the next kid needs it!  Jack is now in a booster seat at the table with us.  It got to the point where he hated the high chair and only wanted to stand up and get out of it.  I'm happy to say the booster seat is working out WAY better and he is actually OK with us buckling him in it.
4. Going to schedule my 3D sonogram tomorrow, I never had one with Jack and am excited to get a glimpse of this baby in 3D.  I've seen others and it's amazing how accurate they can be!
5. We are all a little under the weather this week in our house, it seems there is a cold going around and for the first time we've all gotten it!  So looking forward to everyone being healthy again so we can enjoy this 60 degree weather we are supposed to get in a few days!!     
   
                  Play date 
   

        Learned how to use the drinking fountain all by himself
   

   

   
   

   
   

32 weeks and 600 cookies!

I'm a few days late on this week's post but it's been a super busy week here with the business. I never even took a bump pic.  We are mainly a soup/salad/sandwich cafe and we serve a variety of beverages and home made desserts.  I rarely get large (I mean super large) orders for baked goods.  We are located right next door to a theater that does musicals/plays/movies...etc... and this weekend and next they are doing Shrek the musical.  With that said they decided to collaborate with us and asked us if we would make Gingy cookies (a gingerbread man character from Shrek) for them to sell during all performances.  Their first order was 600 decorated gingerbread men for this weekend!  This is A LOT of cookies for a small mom and pop place like us, but I happily took on the challenge.  So needless to say I've been a baking machine all week with little time to do anything else.  Yesterday we delivered all of the cookies and crossed our fingers that people would like them.  I was pretty impressed and super proud of the outcome, they are really cute!  Hopefully they sell out and they order more for next weekend :)

I had a routine doctor's visit yesterday, everything was fine.  Baby is measuring right at 32 weeks as she should be.  Nothing new really in baby world this week.  My hormones are flying high, as I just flipped out on my husband for being gone all morning, coming home, and turning around to leave and go help our neighbor build a bar in his basement.  All while knowing that I have a bunch of running around to do and I was really looking forward to doing it alone and not having to lug a kid around with me.  I guess even if I weren't pregnant I'd still get pretty annoyed (I have been known to have quite a temper) however the fact that I am pregnant takes things to another level.  I get so fired up so much quicker these days.  Anyway, so I grabbed all of my crap, put Jack in the car only for him to fall asleep 60 seconds later.  So I turned around and came back home, put him to bed and am now taking this time to blog about my frustrations  HA HA!! 

I started going through baby clothes that have been given to me.  I have a TON.....both my sister-n-law and my neighbor gave me a butt load of baby girl clothes that are in great shape, they've just been in bags and boxes and I really had no idea what was actually in there.  So I sorted through everything and started washing everything.  I have to say we're pretty set and it feels good not to have to really worry about that.  So super thankful to both of you girls!!

This Week's TOP 5:

1. The nursery is finally coming together and is no longer being used as a storage room 
2. Baking gingerbread men - I can honestly say I never want to eat another gingerbread cookie for a very long time, and I'm pretty sure I may have carpal tunnel in my thumbs from all of the decorating :)
3. The weather - we had 50 degrees one day then got dumped on with 12-18 inches of snow, then had almost 60 degree weather the next day!!!  My sinuses are all over the place which means a lot of headaches for this girl!
4. Scripts Cafe made the Buffalo News again!  It was overall a great article and I'm very thankful to get the exposure.  Also thankful for such a great staff who help us to keep doing what we do best!
   
5. We finally started to talk baby names!  I think we may have it narrowed down but we're not telling because I don't think we will know for sure until we see her for ourselves :)

31 Weeks.....Single digit countdown has begun!!

That's right, we are officially counting down in the single digits with 9 more weeks to go, possibly 8 if she follows in her big brother's footsteps and comes a week early.  

Jack is doing a bit better in the sleeping department.  He is still waking up during the night but has been (knock on wood!) going longer stretches.  I've been putting him to bed earlier than normal which I think is helping.  He has started taking naps again, but more so than not it's been in the morning for some reason.  I know it's most common for kids to drop the morning nap first but my kid seems to like to do things a bit backwards.  I don't really care I'll take it,  I have more energy in the morning anyway.

Having said this I think back to my last post which now seems like more of a rant than anything else.  I think that a weeks worth of sleepless nights and no naps during the day all while 7.5 months pregnant will take its toll for sure!  Pregnant or not, i think that would put anyone over the edge!! Now that things have gotten back to being somewhat normal around here I can't help but think back to last week and see the good despite all of my stressing.  I mean, if my biggest problem with my one year old is that he wants to snuggle and fall asleep with his mama all the time then I consider myself pretty damn lucky.  I know one day he isn't going to want this from me, he's not going to be so innocent and loving towards me (which will totally break my heart!!!) so why not soak every last second of it up now and enjoy it for what it is.  Bedtime is our time to snuggle and my time to soak up that sweet freshly bathed baby smell while he drifts off to sleep, I'm not going to lie, I look forward to this time :) and I guess if he ends up in our bed by morning then it is what it is.  As a parent sometimes you've just  got to do what you need to in order to get some sleep yourself.  Luckily this week he hasn't come in earlier than 3AM.  The other day he even made it to 5AM!! So we're making progress!

    Gotta love looking at my phone and finding a plethora of selfies that all look like this!

                   Selfie kinda day

This Week's TOP 5:

1.  Can finally say i can see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as projects around the house go.....hallelujah! 

2.  The whole sleeping a bit better thing is def a highlight of my week!  

3.  Looking forward to getting things put back in the rooms they belong and not feeling like we're living out of suitcases in our own home!

4.  Looking forward to the fun part, the decorating of the nursery!! 

5.  Glad to welcome March and eager to change the clocks agead this weekend!  A sure sign of Spring, hoping nicer weather isn't too far off!  Not sure how much more of this constant snow and absurdly cold temps I can take!

         Thanks Aunt Betty for the super cool monkey plates (which Jack calls bowls)! Always fun to get packages in the mail :)

30 weeks and feeling stressed!!

I wouldn't trade being a mom to Jack for absolutely anything in the world, I love that little guy more than anything....BUT at the same time I'm not afraid to admit that sometimes I just need a break!  I'm not sure whether it's my hormones from being pregnant or the stress of all of the home renovations we've decided to do within the last few weeks, or what but I'm finding myself more irritable lately than ever before.  A big part of it, I know, is that I'm becoming more and more frustrated with the fact that Jack is STILL NOT sleeping through the night in his own bed.  I don't know how other parents do it!  I swear, I could get up 5 times a night and put him back down in his own bed, and he still doesn't seem to catch on.  Almost all of my friends with babies/toddlers have no problem putting their kids down and being done for the night.  The other day I found myself at my wits end because he tests me on every little thing now,  he knows the word "no' but does NOT listen to it, and after the 3rd time of getting a hold of the scissors (which I moved and hid from him several times....kid is sneaky!) I kind of lost it and put him in his room and shut the door.  I've never done anything like that before and immediately felt like the worst mother on earth, I made my bed which took all of 2 minutes and then went to let my hysterically screaming toddler out of his room.  Oh I forgot to mention that on top of not sleeping through the night he has also chosen to refuse going down for a nap for the past 3 days straight!!!  I NEED him to take a nap still, I'm not ready for the no nap thing to happen yet, and from everything I read he is still pretty young for that to happen anyway.  Almost every day this week I find myself looking at the clock at 2, 3, 4:00pm and think to myself "is this kid ever going to nap??"  It's not like I don't try to get him to go down, I try several times throughout the afternoon, he just doesn't want to sleep and would rather play peek-a-boo with the bed pillows.  Today I finally put him in the car at 3:40 and went to Starbucks for a coffee in hopes that he would fall asleep.  We didn't even get to the stop sign at the end of our street before he was out!  Seriously, why can't he just pass out like that at home?!  He's usually a pretty good napper.  I was able to transfer him still sleeping to his bed, he woke up 3 times and i had to go in and soothe him back to sleep, then finally bringing him in my bed where he continued to sleep for 3 hours!!!  So at 6:30pm he finally wakes up and I'm thinking "great, so much for trying to get him down earlier tonight!!"  My conclusion at this point is that for starters he is going through some major separation anxiety issues (again) with me right now.  He's even resisting Johnny's help on things like taking a bath, for whatever reason he screams bloody murder if his own father tries to give him a bath!!  All I know is that I need to figure something out before this baby comes or else both Johnny and I are in trouble! 
I bought a couple books, one being all about how to get your kid to sleep through both naps and the night.  All great advice but most of the "real life" stories told throughout involve letting your kid scream it out and get hysterical for as long as it takes for them to realize you mean business.  I've tried this to an extent and it just seems too cruel....to both myself and to Jack.  I feel as though no baby being described in the stories I read can possibly get as upset and panicked as my child does!  Tonight I seriously HAD IT!  I started to get him to go down at 7:30 and after about 45 minutes he FINALLY fell asleep so I asked Johnny to move him into his own bed.  As soon as he picked him up Jack woke right up and cried for me who was trying my hardest to roll off of the bed as comfortably as possible at that point.  I took him to his room, we laid down, and he just laid their with his eyes wide open staring at me for another 30 minutes!  I was done at that point, my evening was shot, I had no energy left for anything else, no patience, and Jack was STILL awake.  So I kissed him goodnight and left the room.  He became hysterical and immediately crawled out of bed after me.  He followed me into my room where I picked him up and put him right back in his bed.  This continued 14 more times after that with him only getting more and more upset and then afraid of me even picking him up in fear that I'll take him back to his room.  So I laid down in his bed with him and by 9:08pm I was finally able to leave the room.  I don't know what to do.  I keep thinking things will "work themselves out" and maybe they will, but I'm growing more and more fearful of how this will play out when the new baby arrives. 

     Playing with Knuckles which he     pronounces "nung nung" 

The bottom line.......having a Toddler is HARD work!  But like I said I wouldn't trade having the privilege of being a mom for anything, and one look at that little guy makes it all worth it :) even when I'm running on no sleep and my last nerve!

Baby Girl update:
30 Weeks and apparently the baby is about 15 inches long, the size of a cabbage, and is now giving me some serious jabs.  And some serious heartburn!   I'm definitely looking forward to next week and being able to start counting down in single digits!

This Week's Top 5:

1. Grateful that I'm able to see the good in a bad situation (more times than not I guess).....this week has definitely tested my patience on so many levels. 
2.  I'm super grateful for my momma friends who are there to offer up advice and share their experiences with me.  It's crazy how just talking to a friend can put your mind at ease a bit once you hear you're not the only one out there having toddler issues. 
3. The floors are done in our bedroom....THANK GOD.....what a mess and definitely didn't help an already stressed out Momma. Now just finishing up the molding this weekend and then we can start putting things back to normal. 
4. I ordered my new dressers for our bedroom.....yes this is super exciting for me considering we are giving the two we currently use to the kids.  I painted one already and it's been moved into Jack's room.  So now I've got a week to paint the other and get that in the nursery before the new ones come :)
5. I don't really ever talk about the business on here but we did a little makeover of our dining room which is pretty dining as far as cafe seating areas go.  I'm super excited for that to be well on it's way to being done,  it was a LONG time coming and looks so much better!

28 Weeks and then some!

28 weeks pregnant today and exactly 12 more weeks (or so) left to go!!  WOOHOO!  I guess this is actually the start of my third trimester, not sure why I read somewhere that 25 weeks is the beginning of the last trimester....SO anyway, 7 months and the countdown is ON!
All I can think about are all of the things we need to still get done before our little munchkin arrives.  While laying in bed this morning and after realizing that there is only 12 weeks left to go, I immediately went into panic mode and text my husband that we have WAY more than 12 items on our "to-do" list so that is more than one project a week!!  YIKES!  I start running through the list in my head and realized I'd better get my shit together whether I've got the energy or not!

Then I calmed down and managed to relax and sip coffee while my 18 month old slept his fever away.  YES the last three days have been pretty rough in our house.  Sunday Jack started to feel warm and I knew something was up.  No matter how my husband insisted that it was because he was running around (because he wasn't!) I knew deep down that he was coming down with something.  Then it hit me....maybe THIS is why he hasn't been sleeping very well and waking up so many times throughout the night lately.  So I took his temp and sure enough he had a mild fever.  Then that mild fever quickly turned into a high fever.....when it hit 104 I freaked out because it had never gotten that high before, called the Ped. only to have them tell me just to keep an eye on it.  The next day it hit 105 and 106 degrees!  Again the pediatrician didn't seem concerned and quite frankly had no respect or sympathy for the panic in my voice.  In fact she chuckled at me when I told her it had read 106 on the thermometer and actually said to me "well, I highly doubt it's reached 106"!!!!!!!!   I was so annoyed and hurt that someone in her position would make me feel like I'm the idiot and obviously don't know what I'm doing.  NO KIDDING lady!  This was a first for me....that's why I was calling you!  That phone call sealed the deal for me and we are definitely switching pediatricians once the new baby arrives.  We'd already planned to do so after a couple other instances that happened but this really confirmed my decision.  So last night needless to say I didn't sleep much and spent a good hour or two laying wide awake thinking "what am I going to do if this damn fever doesn't break?!" and looking up info/advice regarding his symptoms and such.  Woke up this morning relieved to find him feeling much cooler THANK GOD, he woke up and after taking his temp it was thankfully down to a mild fever.....however it's always much lower in the morning so I wasn't jumping for joy yet.  Johnny left for work and Jack passed right out again while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and slept for another four hours!  I think this fever just exhausted him and he was getting the rest of it out of his system.  When he finally woke up my happy baby seemed to be back as he smiled and called for momma.  His temp was fever free and back to normal and so far has stayed that way.  Although he's not 100% back to his normal self just yet, I can still tell by his clingyness and grumpy moods that he's just not there yet.  

This Week's TOP 5:

1. Glad to have his the beginning of the end but not so glad to now be facing all that needs to be done before baby arrives.
2. Thankful that we survived Jack's first serious bout of sickness and fever.  Hoping we don't have to deal with anything like that ever again.....or at least for a very long time!
3. I've expanded into my husband's wardrobe....wearing his t-shirts ALL of the time.  Let's face it, I don't really leave the house unless to run down to the restaurant or make a trip to Target or Wegmans.  None of which require me to look fashionable :)
4. Have made fruit smoothies part of our daily diets lately.  Jack's been pretty picky especially when not feeling well so I've been making smoothies with nothing but healthy fruit and yogurt in them.  Not to mention they are super easy to whip up and any leftovers get frozen into popsicles for later :)  He loves them, I love them.....which means happy Momma!
5. Apparently baby is now about the size of an eggplant and weighing just over 2lbs.  She's definitely a mover and shaker, I swear she never sleeps!!!

             My sick baby💙