seedlings

when are you due?

This is a question I get daily.  My response, "Mid September." 

You can see them doing the math in their head.  Yes, I'm only 5 months.  Yes, I still have a LONG 4 months to go.  Yes, I look pretty far along to only be 5 months.  No, there aren't multiples in there.  I then need to follow my response with, "But it's my third so I guess I'm just bigger.  Plus I have really weak stomach muscles :)"  That seems to placate them, although it's pretty clear they still think that I need to recalculate my due date, moving it up by about 3 months.

Let's see if I am in fact bigger...I've dug up a few pictures from roughly the same time.  Here is a picture of me earlier this week at 22 1/2 weeks:

Here I am at 23 weeks with Cade, my first baby:

And here at 23 weeks with my second, Deacon:

LOL, I think that it's pretty safe to say that I AM BIGGER.  Maybe it's because it's a girl (or is it??)...;)

mother's day week

This Mother's Day was really special because MY mother came out for a few days to spend time with me and the family.  Along with her was my Dad, brother, niece (Marley), and friends Denise and Luke.  We had a full house!

The weather was beautiful and we spend most of our days outdoors: a trip to the zoo, a picnic in the park, a t-ball game, hanging out at the beach.

The kids got along really well, in fact Deacon cried when Marley left.  The two of them were super cute together.  They'd chase eachother around the house, lay down together to "read," had bubble baths and shared *most* of the time.

 

some belly and other random pictures

I love this picture of Cade wearing my glasses.  He tried them on and stated, "Mom, everything looks funny in this room.  I can't see anything."  Hopefully he won't be cursed with my bad eyesight.

Here's Deacon screwing around in his crib.  To say that it's his crib is a bit of a joke.  He never slept in it a day in his life...it's simply been "on display" these past 2 years.  Maybe we'll get some use out of it with the next one.  Not holding my breath.

Finally, here are some pictures of my growing belly.  Some days I feel small then others I feel huge.  I do, however, feel pretty uncomfortable most days and I'm trying to figure out if it's because I lug around a 2 year old all day or if it's just because I'm older.  Whatever the cause I'm feeling definitely done after this one!  My body is over it.

Here's the belly, same day, but under wraps:

evolution of style

Cade takes school seriously, very seriously.

These days if you ask him what he's going to be when he grows up it's simply this, "a professor."  If you want specifics it's a "professor in demolition" but that's neither here nor there.  What he will tell you is that you have to study really hard, do well in school, and go to College.  In order to do all of this you must look the part.  This is how Cade dresses to go to school these days.  No joke.

The above version is what you wear to school on a rainy and cold day.  Since we've had a few nice days sprinkled into our spring he also has a "warm weather" version as seen below.  Please note that the hat and tie are absolute staples to the ensemble. 

And yes, I allow him to go out looking like this.

19 week belly

Here are some pictures from the beach yesterday.  One is a shot from my viewpoint :)

playing in boxes & pretending it's summer

Standing in a warm window, eating snowcones CAN feel a little like summer, right??!!  Cade even took his shirt off to make it realistic.

where is spring?

I always get a little down this time of year.  As most of the rest of the country enjoys sunnier and  warmer weather, we maintain our winter routine of rain, wind and 40 degree days.  There is just so much indoor activity time two boys can take before everyone goes a little batty.  I'm craving play days at the park, fresh air, gardening and sprinklers.  I just want to open a window and get a little air, is that too much to ask?  Instead this morning we turned on the fireplace.  Yep, over it.

Last week we DID enjoy a little indoor time at Jump Planet with some friends.  Here are some pictures from our excursion:

Cade and I love looking at this next series of pictures: READY...GO!!

belly: 16 1/2 weeks

Here is a picture from this morning.  I've started adding them to the "belly" photo album on the right :)

transitions

In January, when I found out I was pregnant, life was a little different.  This pregnancy happened a little quicker than we imagined and we were still living the, "Deacon is the baby of the house" lifestyle.  He still nursed on demand, slept in our bed, woke up all night long.  It had been working just fine for us (although Jared may disagree a bit on this topic :)), but with the new news we realized that things had to change.  Having a definitive deadline looming I lay awake at nights trying to figure out the best way to transition the little guy from baby to "independent" toddler.  I wavered back in forth on which huge transition to attack first: weaning or moving into his brother's room for sleeping.  Ultimately the sleep thing won as I was suddenly racked with first trimester exhaustion and sickness.  So, we moved Deacon, his "lovies" and books into the bottom bunk in his brother's room.  I wish I could say that this has been an easy transition but it certainly hasn't!  I've ultimately lost a LOT more sleep in the process but I CAN at least say the following statement: Deacon now shares a room with his brother and sleeps in the bottom bunk.  I still can't add to that statement that he sleeps through the night, nor can I add that he does so independently (imagine me wandering back and forth at night), but it's a step.  I'll take it.

Nursing on the other hand has gone well, better than expected.  My pregnancy resulted in a huge drop in supply so most of his nursing was simply for comfort (and getting to sleep).  I can now officially say out loud that he stopped nursing about 3 weeks ago.  He still asks for it constantly and getting him to sleep has been a nightly wrestling match, but it's been a success.  I'm pretty proud of both of us for getting through this transition!

So, with all of the changes happening around here I'm sure you can imagine that Deacon has not only become a *bit* more independent but he's also become a bit more unruly.  All of these changes have thrown him head first into the terrible 2's a bit early I'm afraid.  These next pictures describe it perfectly...sometimes he's still my sweet little baby, other times it's as if Darth Vader himself has possessed the boy.  With some extra love, hopefully we'll work through it :)

a new baby joins the group

Last Friday, my friend Jenni had her third baby, a little girl to add to the mix.  We had joked that we would both have boys, totaling 6 in all between the two of us.  She broke the streak and the big question is: will I too?  Guess we'll have to wait until September to see!

Here are some pictures of Cade and Ben (the biggest brother) playing around in the hospital and holding baby Leah.  Not sure why their shirts are off, total mystery.