Ocho!

The lighting was poor to poorer when we took this picture so you don't get the full effect of my very large belly. I know you can tell it's there....but it's much more there than you can see from this picture. I had a (male) checker at Target ask me the other week if my baby was coming in a few weeks. At that point, I'm pretty sure I had 10 weeks to go...do double digits still qualify as "a few"? I think I just laughed and told him October. I also had another (male) at work say, "Not much longer, right?" Oh, if only this was as big as I was going to get.....

I don't feel like I've jotted that many notes about this baby, with my quick updates so here are a few:
-This baby doesn't move anything like Aiden did. I felt baby move early...at 14 weeks...but it's not the consistent kicks I'd feel with Aiden. It's either the sharpest of jabs (seriously, a few times I've almost fallen over because it was so hard and sudden), or it's this slow, rolling movement. This baby also doesn't move near as much as I was used to, unless....
-I am holding Aiden. Baby loves it when I hold Aiden (that's how I am interpreting it anyway...you could say that baby doesn't like it when I hold Aiden and is trying to get him away, but I'm pretty sure that's not it at all...it's sibling love). Nearly every time I hold Aiden, baby moves. Before baby was moving every day, I would just snuggle with Aiden if I needed some reassurance that baby was doing well. And it provided that reassurance, every time!
-I am 98% certain we have a boy name....and equally certain that we do not have a girl name. Suggestions? :)
-Baby feels to be sitting much lower than Aiden ever did. Like ready to come any day sort of low...and has felt that way for awhile. I'm not sure if it's actually different positioning with this kid...or if my body is just in a different position (i.e. out of shape) so I'm not holding the babe as high.

Today starts 33 weeks so I've got anywhere from 4-8 weeks to go. I feel like this kid won't be near as late as Aiden and may even come "early," as in 38-39 weeks. Could there be some personal hopes in behind that feeling? Perhaps......

Seven Months and Some Family Vacay

I figured you needed a little time to digest the six month pictures since I posted them a bit late so I'm posting the seven month picture a few weeks behind as well. The only thing is, I really should take a 7.5 month pic and post it along with the one from the start of seven months, which is from two weeks ago. We were on Schweizer family vacation last week, and I'm pretty sure my belly grew so.many.inches. last week. So many. I feel huge...and tired. I know I got huge with Aiden, but I don't remember feeling this tired, especially this early. I mean, it's not really early. I looked at a calendar the other day and couldn't believe how soon baby could be here. Like, I am full term in seven short weeks. Not sure how this point is already here....but it is. The plan is to spend next month really getting ready for baby cause, you know, that thought apparently didn't cross my mind enough in the last 7.5 months.

I chose orange as Aiden's "color" so I feel like I should choose a color for this baby too. I used it to decorate the room and just in little things that I pick up for Aiden. Since the kiddos are going to share a room, I need a color that compliments orange (and teal, cause I used teal in the room too). I am thinking lime green if it's a boy....and I'm debating the color for a little lady - purple, fuschia/magenta (having trouble figuring out the difference....different places have different answers), or, the other day, I thought about glitter. Glitter counts as a color, right?

While I debate colors, you can check out my growing belly.....

In non-belly related news, vacation was wonderful! Lots of fun with family and some good relaxing. A much needed break from the chaos that work has been. We spent the week at Cedar Creek Lake, soaking up sun, riding wave runners, jet skiing (not me...but lots of others), eating yummy food, playing games, and having a good time. The gals in the family surprised me with a real day of relaxation on Thursday....we went to the local winery (Tara Vineyards) for a beautiful lunch, followed by a massage and pedicure at a spa. Completely unexpected and completely wonderful.

They also gave us a few awesome gifts - a double stroller with a rain cover and a radio flyer wagon! Aiden and Gianna tried out the wagon this weekend, and, it appears that it is going to work out just fine. It was really fun to see Aiden with his cousins because, for the first time, he really played with them. When we saw them at Thanksgiving last year he was still doing the independent play thing, but this time he ran around with Tyler and Gianna like crazy. So sweet and so fun to watch! Makes me look forward to the next time we are together even more.


Maybe a little mean of me to post this pic...but it cracks me up just looking at it. Aiden is at the stage where he cries over funny/strange things. This is the day we left for vacay. My mom sent him this adorable pair of overalls, and Aiden wanted me to take off the "buttons."



He got over his "buttons..." Sweet faces at cousin Gianna.

 

Wakey, wakey Tyler!



Cousin-ly love!

 

Enjoying some time in the new wagon 

Better Late Than Skipping Altogether....

Right?

Work has been on the cray-cray side of life with the acquisition we are bringing in. I really did take these pics at the beginning of my six months....which was a solid 3 weeks ago. I mean, I should be posting a pic of my 7 month belly in just a few days. But it's better to post late than skip altogether, right? Good, I'm glad you agree. Thanks for the confidence booster.

I felt like my belly was pretty large when I took these pictures. But now that I am looking back at them, I am laughing at myself because....well, you will see next week (if I can post my 7 month pics in a timely manner). :)

A Few Days in the Life of Aiden

When I fall behind on posts, I like to catch up by posting lots of pictures with captions. This post will be no different. I really should post multiple times a week because Aiden gives me enough stories....but life gets crazy and I fall behind. So these are the kinds of posts you get instead. Happy picture reviewing and caption reading.

Aiden found a new summer favorite - corn on the cob....straight off the cob. 

We often eat pancakes on Saturday mornings. Aiden likes to pretend he's making them as well so he gets his own mixing bowl. This particular morning he also wanted to eat his pancakes from that same, large mixing bowl. 

More Saturday morning pancakes, but with a smiley face. Love that Aiden was surprised and excited by them!

Mickey Mouse has to do a lot of the same things Aiden does these days. This night he had to put on jammies for bedtime. 

For Easter Aiden got some bunny masks. Aiden and Ryan will put these masks on and hop around the house like bunnies. Sometimes they take breaks to munch on some lettuce...and then resume hopping. 

Love this. Seriously, currently my most favorite game.

Aiden got this shirt for his birthday. In case you can't read it, it says "big hair, don't hair."

Could a more perfect shirt exist?

Soooo, this is what we found tonight on Aiden's bookshelves. When you ask him to clean up, he is often pretty helpful. Today during naptime he decided to take lots of things out....his books, diapers, hats, pjs....but he also decided to clean up on his own, without even being asked. These are the results of his efforts. 

The End of the End of the World?

A few months ago Last month I mentioned some sleeping troubles we were having with Aiden. I played it as nicely as I could in my post, but it was tough stuff...probably one of the most difficult behavior issues we encountered  with Aiden so far. Looking back, I can't believe that was only six weeks ago. It seemed to go on for months. After the first two miserable weeks, we started rewarding Aiden with stickers for every night he stayed in his bed.....and his sticker chart is looking pretty good these days! He is proud of it, and every morning he is excited to get his sticker.

He gets the sticker for sleeping in bed, but it's not an indicator of how Aiden went down. Ryan perfectly described the bedtime bawling one night when he said, "I wish the world wasn't ending every night." Even though Aiden was ending up in his bed, we had to endure at least 10-15 minutes of crocodile tears and heart wrenching cries. I usually couldn't listen....just made me too sad.

But last week we made some strides and tears lasted less than a minute, multiple nights in a row. (This was a huge blessing because Ryan was out of town all week, and I didn't know how I was going to get through the bedtime crying by myself.) I can't believe I'm writing this because I'm sure I'm going to jinx myself, but, Sunday night, for the first time in what feels like forever, there were no tears. Not a single one. Silence never sounded so beautiful as we walked out of Aiden's room. We had less than a minute of crying Monday and Tuesday and today we had the same peaceful evening that we had on Sunday.

So, maybe the world has quit ending every night? I would really love that. Here's to hoping this lasts....and here's your chance to admire Aiden's sticker chart.

Oh Baby, Baby!

I guess Aiden will have to scooch over a bit on the blog and make room for the upcoming arrival. It's crazy to think I will have two little ones to blog about in just a few short months! Today is 20 weeks...which marks the halfway point of the pregnancy (though I could be more than halfway there, if baby decides to come early....ummm, what?!?).

We have our anatomy scan this week....but I'm doing the crazy person thing and not finding out the gender. I say 'I' and not 'we' because Ryan isn't actually on board with this plan, but he's participating because well, what choice does he really have? If I had to make a guess, I think this kiddo is made of sugar and spice (not to say Aiden isn't a sweetie...). Just some differences between this pregnancy and the last that make me feel like we've got a little gal on the way. But, we'll be super happy with whoever shows up in a few months.

I am going to do the monthly bump pictures like I did with Aiden. I actually had to go back and see if I took them on the monthly "due date" (which would be the 5th of every month for this kiddo), or if I took them every four weeks. Turned out I did the four week approach so here's this baby popping out at the start of months 4 and 5. (I should mentioned that I got bigger much faster this time....as in, I busted out the maternity pants during my first trimester. Here's to it not being the first kid - and to not being in any sort of shape this pregnancy!)

Motherhood

Motherhood is the one job I was never sure I wanted.....and now it's my favorite job that I've ever had. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it.

So grateful for this little man (and for his daycare making adorable gifts - anything "personalized" by Aiden with handprints or footprints is at the top of my gift list....seriously. I'm sappy like that these days.)