Babies Everywhere

It's almost Memorial Day weekend which means we're in the middle of Birthday Season. There are at least four family birthdays this month (Sean turned 25! His fear of aging kicked in and he mourned the day, but we had cake so it wasn't all sad), plus Mother's Day and this year: a graduation! Sean's mom just graduated with her PhD in Information Sciences. We got to watch her graduate this past Saturday and it was very exciting to see her years of hard work pay off.

This Saturday was also NiskaDay which is our annual town pride festival. There's a parade, lots of overpriced food and carnival rides and fireworks to boot. We went to the parade in the morning and Aiden was in heaven. He loved watching the firetrucks, the marching bands, the firetrucks, and the giant cookie monster balloon. And the firetrucks. Sean enjoyed the free food.

                                           

FIRETRUCKS!!! YAY!!!!

                                                     

 Firetrucks....yay.

Other than those activities we have been busy with house projects. We have become those married people who are all "Oh, we're spending Saturday fixing up the yard. Gotta run to Target for some drapes. Maybe we'll swing through the grocery store for some ground beef. Probably have some burgers, it'll be real exciting". Sean's three days off were spent at...Lowe's. And Target. And the grocery store. Our basement is finally finished, we bought some new couches and are replacing some countertops. It's very exciting for us and yet woefully boring to tell other people. I would've taken some pictures of all the home improvement madness but the computer probably would've fallen asleep while I uploaded them. I blame all the domesticity on the fact that I think Sean is going through some male nesting symptoms. I obsess over onesies and diapers and cleaning and he maniacally clears the yard and trims hedges.

While we were out and about in the yard this weekend we (meaning Aiden) discovered a little baby bunny that had fallen into our basement window well. The window wells are uncovered for the moment and everyone freaks out about how Aiden is going fall into them and whatnot but let me tell you: Aiden isn't going to fall into them. He will probably jump into them on purpose. But anyway, we do plan on covering them, don't worry. I rescued the baby bunny and off he hopped but he came back the next day!!! We released him much farther away this time and he hasn't been back to visit but oh my heartstrings. I cannot handle the idea of lost little babies right now, no matter what species.

 Of course, later that day I came outside to see Aiden clutching a beige colored oval in his hand. He proudly said "I FOUND AN EGG!" Initially I thought it was a chicken egg someone had thrown or dropped that didn't break but it was slightly larger and a much deeper khaki color with a sort of greenish tinge. It definitely wasn't rotten so I took to Google for some answers. What we found: most likely a duck egg. During a week of heavy rain we had noticed that our neighbors lawn flooded and a pair of mallards were living on it like it was a pond. Even with people coming down to watch them (because hello, literal odd ducks in the middle of our neighborhood) they wouldn't leave. I'm assuming they had a nest nearby and maybe abandoned it once the flooded area had dried up. Some animal likely got into the nest and dropped an egg in our yard and now we have a poor abandoned egg that won't hatch but that Aiden is obsessed with watching. Please animals, stop leaving your babies on our doorstep! This is too much!

If you couldn't tell from my obsessive nesting and my attachment to other creature's offspring, this pregnancy is still chugging along. I've entered that unfortunate stage where it's gone from "Aww, cute little pregnant lady!" and is quickly morphing into "Dear God, should she be out in public?!". The belly has grown beyond rounded basketball proportions and now changes shape depending on how the baby is laying. It will morph from round to square as he rolls around, complete with little elbow and knee bumps. As I say to Sean all the time, the only way to describe it is National Geographic.
I'm moody, tired and hot all the time. Seriously, the weather says 75 and breezy but I have my own personal sauna going on all the time, day and night.

I've decided I could be the poster girl for a 1950's B-movie called "Attack of the Pregnant Lady". It would feature me stomping through town and scowling as the citizens shield their eyes in horror. "She's sweaty, she's hormonal, and she just keeps getting bigger!"

8 Weeks To Go

I keep meaning to post here but it always ends up getting added to my ever growing To-Do list. This list is now about eight pages long and gets longer everyday now that I've entered that lovely period of nesting. Suddenly it seems urgent that I vacuum out our cars or reorganize the bookshelf or rearrange furniture because I can't possibly bring a child into the world if the car is sandy, the books are in disarray and the furniture seems off. I just can't I tell you!

Anyway, I seem to be swinging between mad bouts of energy where I try and tackle a laundry list of projects and days where my achy back and exhaustion keep me from doing much of anything except sitting with Aiden and playing endless rounds of dominoes or reading and rereading his favorite books. I have no middle ground. Either I'm moving at warp speed and full of gusto or I'm barely awake.

Babywise, everything seems to be in order. They keep telling me I'm measuring a week small which doesn't surprise me in the least because I'm about 99% sure I'll deliver late again. I think that's just how I grow babies: extra sweet and a week slow.

Aiden is gearing up for the end of school. They are putting on an end of the year show and working on lots of songs. He will come home singing a whole variety of tunes and I always ask "Are you going to sing these in the big show?" and he scoffs and says "Uh no. They can sing and I'll just watch". He's not big on public performances I guess. I'm sure I'll get lots of nice pictures of him up on stage, mouth clamped shut, standing with his classmates while they sing their little hearts out. Oh well.

The basement remodel that has dragged on now for mooooonths will be done this week! Everything is painted and finished and all that is left is for the carpet to be rolled out. I have never been so overjoyed at the sight of boxes of carpet tacking in my life. The only danger in finishing this ever-so-long project is that now the basement will be just one more area of the house for my nesting to manifest itself.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Aiden at the park looking like he's about 14, and one of him dressed as a pirate fireman to remind myself that he's actually only 4.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg Hunt!

It's Easter. I know this is the classic refrain of adulthood but: I can't believe how fast time is going! Now that Aiden is in school 3 days a week the weeks sort of zip by and before I know it a month is gone and oh my God I'm in my third trimester. With my second baby. What planet are we on?

Being this pregnant in the Spring makes me feel oddly in tune with nature. I am, along with everything else, bringing forth new life. It sounds like some kind of earth momma, hippy thing but it's hard not to feel that way everything budding and blooming. The only not hippyish thing I've been feeling lately is a new anxiety to get everything ready for the baby. The basement is still about a week away from being done but I'm itching to get everything rearranged and settled. I guess it's the nesting. I keep reminding myself that there is quite a ways to go but the girl scout in me just wants to be prepared and launder onesies and unpack boxes of diapers instead.

Aiden has been busy with school and all this month they are looking for signs of spring and talking about babies and baby animals. He went on an egg hunt at school and just this morning we went on another with some of Sean's coworkers and their children. Aiden was the oldest and got the hang of it very quickly. I kept having to handicap him by making him come over and show me each egg he found so that the other little guys would have a chance. Aiden ended up with two giant baskets full but luckily all the goodies were split equally. It was funny because the other kids would rather sit and eat the chocolate than actually look for eggs but Aiden was zooming around finding all the hiding spots and didn't have any interest in the treats.

One of the children was a little 11 month old named Milo. After Aiden had found all his eggs he just started following Milo around, completely fascinated with him. I keep trying to explain that babies are different from big kids and can't do the same things but every time we've seen one lately he has a million questions and seems either enthralled or repulsed by their behavior. Other than Milo, Aiden had a lot of fun playing with the other two girls. Sometimes he can freeze up in a large group but having just a few kids there seemed to keep him totally occupied and entertained. On the way home he was half asleep in his carseat, giant paper bag full of candy on the floor, just saying "That was so. much. fun."

Spring!

My prince

Aiden: "I'm going to draw an A because my name is Aiden"

Me: "Okay, I'll draw an M because I'm Mommy"

Aiden: "No, you draw a Q"

Me: "Why is that?"

Aiden: "Because you're the queen"

Expansion

I keep meaning to update the blog but everything has been so calm lately. Sean just had a four day weekend and Aiden has had the whole week off for winter break and we've done nothing. Life has been blissfully uneventful.

Our big project to finish the basement is nearly complete. We had to spend last weekend picking out tile and cabinets and other boring this-is-only-exciting-for-us kinds of things. I'm so beyond excited to have a space where Aiden can run free without having to worry about furniture getting wrecked or having toys spilling out from everywhichway. There will be more space for his toys (and his brother's eventual toys!) and lots of soundproofing so it can be a kid sanctuary.

We also went out and bought a new crib since the one Aiden had used was handed down a few times and pretty wobbly. Aiden the Acrobat certainly did a number on it. In addition to a new crib we bought a bassinet and a new infant car seat, all of which are now piled up in the hallway until old things can be stored in the storage area of the nearly finished basement or assembled in the baby's room. When the basement is finished we'll be moving a few things down there and rearranging, so right now we're in limbo. This is not normally I state I deal well with but for now it's just fine.

Everything's a little messy but it's because big things are happening. We've spent this week all piled on the couch together as a family, listening to the constant whir and smack of hammers and drills in the basement and I keep grabbing hands to let them feel the swishes and kicks inside my belly. We're certainly under construction.

We're Having A...

Boy! Yeah. Another boy, oh boy. Sean and I are excited, it will be nice to have two little boys and hey, we'll save a ton of money on clothes. We both had a hunch from the beginning it would be a boy but now we've got hard proof in the form of ultrasound pictures.

My doctors have been doing a whole battery of tests the past couple of months, all of which came back normal. We did have a little bit of panic however, when she mentioned that the baby had a tiny calcified spot on it's heart. Both Sean and I were immediately wondering if this was dangerous, in need of surgery or otherwise cause for alarm. The doctor assured us that it's not dangerous, it doesn't need any treatment and doesn't affect the heart in any way. It can be a marker for Down's Syndrome but our age combined with the fact that every one of the other multiple (more reliable) markers for Down's was negative means it's most likely nothing and will fade with time. Which then made me wonder, WHY DID YOU TELL US? Do they enjoy watching us panic? At home I sat down and did some research and not only does it sound like we have absolutely nothing to worry about, but apparently it's much more common in children of Asian or mixed Asian descent. So, we're not worried, and after talking about it, we decided that even if we had a child with Down's we wouldn't do a thing differently.

Aiden was thoroughly underwhelmed by the baby news. He had been hoping for girl, but mostly, he just really doesn't care much about this baby that he can't see or touch or play with. Some days he likes to hold my belly and sing to it and other days he asks us to please stop talking about it and help him find his crayons. I'm sure he'll form some strong opinions once the baby's born but for now I can understand his disinterest.

Aiden has been very busy at school and next week they are having a big Valentine's Day party. He and I are going to make some heart cookies that he can decorate over the weekend and he's got a whole bunch of glitter and stamps to make Valentine's for his classmates. I'm not very crafty but I figure it only needs to look like a 4 year old made them, so I'm safe. Hopefully Sean and I will get out one evening for a dinner date but that may not be until after V Day.

All of this baby excitement, combined with the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, are making the winter seem to fly by. Normally February seems like a long slog but this year it can't help feeling like spring is just around the corner.