It's a Good Thing Subtracting is Harder to Learn Than Counting

Make that 4 fishies in Joseph's tank.... blue guppy decided he wanted to check out the Kansas City sewer system yesterday. Luckily, Joseph doesn't seem to notice at all, since there are still plenty of fish to watch. :)

New Fishies and Inching Closer

Today was my weekly doctor's appointment, and I'm not thrilled to report there hasn't been any change since last week. We started to talk induction dates, as my doctor's headed out of town for the holiday this weekend, but Joe and I decided that it would be best to just wait until my due date passes to actually schedule an induction, and hopefully Joseph will be closer to healthy in a few more days.

 

Today's the first day he hasn't run a high fever, but because his lungs were starting to sound congested, she went ahead and prescribed some medicine that will hopefully help clear things up. He's been noticeably happier today, eating a bit more and even asking for ice cream when we stopped for some tonight to celebrate Joe's birthday. I'm hopeful that we've turned the corner on the horrible sickness, and that he really will be doing much better by the weekend.

 

This past weekend we ended up replacing the small fish bowl that Joe had set up for Joseph on Monday. The goldfish they bought together Monday night didn't last through the night, but with Joseph feeling so poorly, we hadn't made it out to replace the fish. And instead of just getting a betta or something, Joe decided that a 10 gallon tank, complete with a pump, heater and lights would be a better solution for keeping fish alive. Which it probably is, but not what we had initially decided on.

 

Joseph picked out 5 small fish on Sunday, and so far, they're all doing great! He's having lots of fun watching them and helping to feed them.

 

 Joe "helped" pick out the tank decorations; although Joseph was insistent that his fish tank needed a fire engine statue so that one was non-negotiable. Luckily, the tank runs really quietly and doesn't seem to disturb Joseph when he's sleeping.

I also spent the last few days finishing up my last pre-baby sewing project that has been on the list for months now. Having a toddler who coughs non-stop but wants to be around babies all the time made it seem much more important to make the car seat canopy I didn't have when Joseph was a baby. Back then, we would just drape a blanket over the car seat and it worked fine, except when it was windy. I opted to make one this time around, and while there are plenty of tutorials online about making a basic cover, I couldn't find one that explained how to install the zipper properly. So I winged it. And made a number of mistakes along the way, but I'm still happy with how it turned out and it definitely was a good project for learning more sewing skills.

Finally, we went ahead and bought a double stroller this weekend as well! Joseph, Molly and I have really been enjoying our daily walks (Molly most of all!) and I realized that I didn't want to rely on Joseph walking next to me the whole time, or having to wear a newborn while pushing Joseph and holding onto a leash. So we had planned on waiting a few months before getting a stroller, but found the one we wanted on sale at a local store and just went for it.  It's actually not a whole lot bigger than the BOB, and folds flatter. Hopefully we'll like it and it'll fit our needs, as I'm hopeful we won't need to buy another stroller for a long, long time!

So we're all ready to go for baby sister, whenever she decides to make her debut. I'm typing this at almost 9pm on Joe's birthday, so it looks like we don't have to worry about him sharing a birthday with this kiddo!

One Week Left...?

Today marks the 39th week of pregnancy! I have a hard time imagining that I'll actually need to be induced at 41 weeks again. Joseph and I are still taking longish morning walks with Molly almost every day, and when I'm up moving around I feel lots of pressure super low. I'm solidly in the "ready to be done" phase, but of course earlier this week we ran into a hiccup in the "please come early" plans - Joseph came down with a nasty cold Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.

He's been running a high fever, generally 100-103.7 degrees when he isn't on Tylenol, and a hard cough that errupts in fits and has made him thrown up a few times. We managed to see the doctor yesterday, and she confirmed that it isn't a serious cold, but rather something we'll just need to let run its course. He had to stay home from "school" today, and while it's rather difficult to manage a clingy toddler who's coughing all over me, there have been some definite bright spots in the last few days. It's times like these that I'm reminded just how sweet and wonderful of a little boy we have.

He's gotten really good about covering his mouth when coughing, and still manages to use "please" and "thank you mommy" without any prompting when I refill his juice cup or read him the same story for the 4th time. He's been fighting taking any medicine, but when we told him that if we was sick and coughing he wouldn't be able to play with baby sister or Mason when they come over, he started being much more agreeable to trying to get better. He's not sleeping well at nights or during naps, so when I went into his room this afternoon all he wanted to do was cuddle in his bed and listen to stories. For about an hour, we just layed together, and it was really bittersweet thinking how little time we have left, just the two of us. So hopefully baby sister stays put a few days longer so we can get Joseph feeling better before I have two kiddos who need my full attention!

38 Week Belly Pics

We've made it to single digits! 9 days till our due date, with a max of 16 before we meet baby sister (I'm just trying to count that extra week before we'd get induced, in case she's late like Joseph). I started having lots of regular contractions this weekend, but after a few hours, they stopped. Since then, I'm back to the irregular, occasional contractions, but nothing to indicate that I'm going into labor early.

 I wish there wasn't a shadow, but when you're this pregnant, posing for pictures multiple times over isn't high on the priority list! To date, I've gained about 35 pounds, which is so much better than last time! It's been fairly steady for the last few weeks, so it's nice knowing that I'm definitely not going to repeat the 55ish pounds I gained with Joseph!

And although they are different angles, this picture below (although terrible!) is me at two weeks before my due date with Joseph, just for comparison's sake.

While I'd love to be done being pregnant, we have a party on Saturday to go to for Kyle's parents' anniversary, and Joe's birthday in less than a week, so I'm kind of ok with sticking it out for a bit longer. And of course, yesterday Joseph woke up from his nap with a fever and became really lethargic as the day wore on. He's seems to be feeling better today, but still is running a fever and has a cough. So I'm hoping that we can get his cold cleared up and out of the house before we have to bring a newborn home!

Enjoying Abnormally Cool August

After a July full of 100+ degree temps, August has been surprisingly cool! Lately the average highs are in the 70s and 80s, with only a few days in the 90s. So strange, but I'm not going to complain!

On Monday we hosted a playdate at our house, so I'd have a good reason to clean the whole house and have an incentive to try and keep things clean. Joseph had a blast playing with everyone - he asks daily to play with friends, regardless of what our plans are.

At my doctor's appointment, we learned that there'd been no change or progress over the past week. Boo. I'm really trying to not get too excited about counting down the days, especially knowing how likely it is that she'll go overdue, but it's hard!

Thursday was supposed to be really nice, so Joseph and I headed down to the Deanna Rose Children's Farm. By the time we made it there, it was already getting close to lunchtime, so we weren't able to explore too much. Usually Joseph wants to see the cows and chickens first, so that's where we spent the bulk of our time.

He saw everyone feeding the baby goats, and asked to feed them too. He's never enjoyed it before, but I figured it had been awhile, so I went ahead and bought a bottle.

He was a really good sport for the first minute or two, until he got swarmed by the baby goats. I think the ones that came up from behind and started chewing on his shirt really tipped him over the edge, and he quickly dropped the bottle, started crying all done and attempted to climb up me to get away from the goats! He eventually calmed down and watched me finish feeding the goats, but really wanted no part in touching them.

The farm has this little train made out of barrels right at the entrance, and Joseph always loves playing on it. His imagination is growing like crazy, so he spent a lot of time telling me all about driving the train, where he was going, where I needed to sit and go for a ride, etc. It's so fun seeing what things this little guy will dream up!

Finally, we spent a solid 15 minutes just watching the chickens in the coop! Ever since the run, when we talk about chickens, he starts to do the chicken dance. On Thursday, the chickens were rather vocal, and I think Joseph was just mesmerized watching them cluck, eat, walk around and hop up into their roosting boxes.

And this was just too cute not to post -

Joseph is really getting good at remembering to not take his shorts and undies all the way off when he goes to the bathroom, but it does happen every once in a while. Usually he'll just run around bottomless, till I catch him and dress him, but as he's becoming more independent, he's started to try to dress himself. Thursday night was one such occasion - he came proudly into the kitchen while I was making dinner to show me he'd gotten both his undies and shorts on, all by himself! I think he realized that something wasn't quite right, but he was too excited to let me help him fix the fact that his undies were on backwards and he was only through one leg hole. Joe and I just spent the night chuckling at him as he ran around the house, tugging at his shorts but insisting we not help him!

The forecast for the next week gets closer to normal, with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s, but I'm hopeful we'll be able to get our morning walks and some outside playtime in. My next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday; I've had a lot more contractions this weekend and more pressure, so I'm hoping to hear that something has changed. We'll see!

Visiting Baby Mason

Joseph and I decided to head to St. Louis during the last week of July/first of August, so that we could visit baby Mason again before I wouldn't be allowed to travel. I'm still fine driving, but it gets rather uncomfortable to sit for very long, so I figured we'd have fun taking the Amtrak train instead. The trip definitely took longer because of all the stops, but Joseph had a blast! He still talks about taking the big big train to Mimi and Papas. I think when we have time to plan, as long as gas prices remain high, it'll be one of our preferred ways to travel.

We last saw Mason the day after he was born, at the end of June, and he's definitely changed a lot in 5 weeks! Joseph couldn't get enough of his new cousin, although I think he was disappointed in how much the baby was sleeping.

We alternated between spending time at my parents' house and Ashley and Mikael's house, in between naps and other errands.

 The weather was still quite hot while we were there, so one night Joseph opted to go swimming with Aunt Toots, Uncle Mikael and Elliot. Mikael had a hose running the whole evening, trying to add water to the pool. Joseph discovered the hose and realized it was a lot more fun to hang out on the perimeter of the pool, spraying Aunt Toots, who took it quite well. Not sure she would have been as happy to have anyone else spraying her with the hose!

We also spent some time with my grandfather. He's getting ready to downsize apartments, so mom, Joseph and I went over one day to pack up some of his more fragile items. Joseph brought his bag full of puzzles, books and trains/cars, and he and Papa spent the morning hanging out playing together. I'm not sure who had more fun, Joseph or Papa! I know Joseph probably won't remember much of these visits, but it's so wonderful for him to spend the time with his great-grandpa, who is so excited to be adding great-grandkids to his family ranks.

On Friday, mom, Joseph and I spent the morning babysitting so Ashley could get her hair done. Joseph opted to help give Mason a bottle, and tried to show him all of his toys. Once again, he was a little miffed when Mason didn't respond, but it didn't stop him from trying!

 By the end of the week, Joseph felt totally comfortable holding baby Mason, and whenever he saw someone else holding the baby, he'd confidently walk up to him/her, spread his arms wide, and say "come here, baby Mason!" I think he's going to have lots of fun being a big brother!

It's crazy to think how fast Mason is growing up, and sad too that we won't get to see him again until baby sister is born, which could be tomorrow or 3 weeks from now. I'm 38 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and at my doctor's appointment this week, I'm still just 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. So although I'm feeling good, apparently so is baby sister and we're not expecting her to arrive early. Joseph and I still take Molly for good walks almost every morning, especially since the highs lately have been in the 70s/80s, which is crazy for August!

Little Picasso

Joseph was having too much fun coloring this morning. I told him he needed to take a potty break, and I guess he thought it would take too long to pull his shorts and undies back on, so I found him like this, intently coloring away. I don't think he even noticed that he was missing half his clothes!