Update

So much for that post I intended to do several days ago! Things have been busy, but really I've just been neglecting it. Baby girl is still hanging in there. We've got less than 8 hours to get her here for that 2007 tax credit..not holding my breath for that. I did have several contractions last night, but they stopped after a few hours. We went to the park and walked today, so maybe that will help move things along. Who knows, I guess she'll come in her own sweet time. My doctor actually offered to induce this week and I declined. I go back on Weds., so we'll see what she says this time.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we have had a wonderful week or so with Christmas and everything else. We took Grant to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate his potty success and he really enjoyed it. The potty thing is going wonderfully! He is actually even sleeping in his underwear. That wasn't a transition I had planned to make yet, but he did not want to wear the "baby diapers" at night so we tried it out, and he's made it several nights in a row. Anyway, he loved all the games and the pizza. He was not so sure about ole Chuckster himself, but he's ready to go back so I'm guessing it didn't scare him too badly. Here's a pic of the only Chuck E. he would get near. There was one riding in a car (a plastic one) and he was terrified of it.
We spend Christmas Eve with Pook's family and do all of our presents, etc. then. This is a pic of our family in front of their tree, although you can barely see the tree 'cause we're blocking it out,

Christmas morning was so much fun this year! Grant actually slept until 9 am, which he never does, so that was a nice bonus too. He was sooo excited about all of his toys that Santa brought to him. He still doesn't want to put anything away, and everyday he asks if he can play with all of his toys that Santa "bring to him." I can't believe that on Christmas morning next year, we'll have another one that will be almost a year old. That's just crazy to think about right now! Here's Grant checking out some of his loot.

I just think this is the cutest pic. Grant is looking out the window because slowly both of our families were starting to arrive at our house for breakfast and to see what all Santa had left at our house.


We're headed out to have dinner at a friend's house before going over to Mammy's to spend time with some family from KY. Daddy is going to dinner with us, but then going to Uncle Kevin's house to hang out. I just don't think I can make it to midnight, so Grant and I aren't going. He's on standby in case I call and tell him to come get me...here's to hoping! Happy New Year!

Checking In

no, not to the hospital... just checking in to say we had a great Christmas and I am still pregnant. I have lots of pics and details of everything that we've done the last week, but honestly, right now I'm just too tired to think about typing it all up. Grant is over is illness except for his cough and runny nose, we made it to Chuck E. Cheese finally, Grant is wearing big boy underwear all day long now, I packed my bag yesterday, Christmas was a blast, and my house is having a hard time absorbing everything that Santa brought. I predict a move within the next 12 to 18 months. Anyway, I will try to update again tomorrow when, hopefully, my eyes will stay open without quite so much effort!

Frustrated!

Grant is sick again! I feel like we cannot get him well for more than a week at a time. This time it is not a stomach bug, but a horrible cough and very high fever. He is just pitiful. He has been sleeping since I picked him up yesterday, but not peacefully. He makes noises and shakes and keeps grabbing for my hair. He slept with us and was like sleeping next to a little oven. Needless to say, Andy and I got very very little sleep. I have to assume that he's getting all of these viruses from MDO. I wish people would keep their sick kids at home! We were supposed to go to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight to reward him for using the potty several days in a row, but I guess we'll have to put that off too. He's really looking forward to going (he's never been) so we won't be able to wait too long.

In other news, I went to the Dr. yesterday, but it seems things are still very secure in "hotel me." Baby girl seems content to stay put for at least a little while longer. My dr. did say that she is not the doc on call over the Christmas holiday so if I go into labor, the baby would be delivered by someone else. I guess I always knew that was a possibility, but hope it doesn't happen. I had also lost weight since last week which is always nice, even though I know it's just because I was still swollen when I went last week and it's all gone now.

Off to take care of my sick little one..

Finally...

I am done with my Christmas Shopping...still waiting on a couple of things to arrive, but everything (except batteries) has been purchased! I guess batteries are pretty major, and I probably should get that done too, huh! Andy and I finished it on Friday night and Grant spent the evening with his "mammy." They made a paper chain so he could count down the days until Christmas. This is something we used to do as kids, but I'd totally forgotten about it until she brought it up. I guess it's been a long time since I didn't comprehend how long 8 days is. It's really helped him understand when exactly this day we keep talking about is. They also made Christmas cookies without cookie cutters and did a pretty good job considering. Apparently, she thought the cutters were in with the dough but found out otherwise when they opened it. I love sugar cookies with icing so it's been all I can do not to eat all of their creations!

I have wrapped everyone's presents but Grant's. This didn't take too long considering how much we cut back on Christmas this year, but still...wrapping with a 2 year old's help can be challenging. Now, the chore will be keeping everything wrapped.

The swelling is gone! Not sure what that was all about.. I had a little all the way through last Thursday, but none since. I am sooo thankful that it is gone, and hope that it doesn't rear it's ugly head (or foot in my case) again!

Baby Girl's going home outfit has been washed, not ironed, but couldn't someone else handle that if it came right down to it?! That bag I was meaning to get to this weekend did make it out of the closet. Unfortunately, nothing made it into it. I can't remember when I did all this stuff with Grant, but I had alot more time back then so I'm pretty sure it was done by now. Even though I am not anticipating an early delivery, I'd hate to have one and take nothing with me for the joyous event. I don't even think the batteries to the Handycam are charged! Maybe next weekend!

Pictures of Grant's room.. I have mentioned his big boy room several times, and that I intended to post pictures of it. I've been putting it off because I think I still may add a few things, but I haven't seen anything that I like in forever so I finally took some pictures. His bed is part of a collection that can be bunk beds (his bed being the bottom bunk) so it has little holes in the headboard and footboard that these pegs go in when you're not using it as bunk beds. They call them finials, but I've always thought of finials as something that actually sticks up. Anyway, they come out very easily and my precious son has already lost one of them. I had a bad mommy breakdown when it happened, and honestly, I still feel horrible about the way I (over)reacted to the situation. He remembers it too...which I hate, but maybe he won't do it again. I've literally taken everything out of his room trying to find this stupid peg to no avail. I finally broke down and we've asked the furniture store to see if they can get us another one (or two or three). In the meantime, the remaining "finials" have been glued into their holes since we have no intention of ever having bunk beds. You can't see it in the missing piece in the pictures; it just bugs me!

The letters that we waited on forever... they were worth it. I love them! the "G, A, and T" match his sheets and the "R and N" are the same pattern as his quilt. You can't tell how much detail they have on them from these pics, but they really are cute. The lady had them tied with bows when she sent them, but daddy was not a fan so we just tied knots. They were easier to hang like that anyway!

I'm thinking we need something over the headboard, but I haven't seen anything, so it's just blank for now. Love this bed... it has 4 big drawers underneath and 2 shelves for storing all sorts of toys. You would not be able to see his floor for all the toys without this.

The pic on the right is something Grant made for me at Mother's Day Out last year for Mother's Day with his hand print. I just love it. It has a really sweet poem on it. Disregard the "pile o toys" at the bottom of the bed. It really is somewhat organized.

Grant's chest of drawers and more toys! Can't wait to get rid of that diaper thing on top or at least put it somewhere else.

We had a great weekend and now the countdown is on.. to Christmas AND the baby. I told Andy over the weekend that I think I'm in denial about this baby. In some ways, I'm ready not to be pregnant (mainly just because I'm sooo sick of my maternity clothes and the way they fit), but I'm not sure that I'm ready to take care of another baby. I have been sleeping really well the past several nights, so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. I just can't believe the time is already upon us. People keep reminding me that it could be any day now since 37 weeks is considered full term, but I don't feel any closer to delivery than I did a month ago so hopefully we've got at least another two weeks to enjoy Grant, Christmas, each other, AND sleep!! I guess she'll make her entry when she's ready though and there's nothing any of us can do to change that. I have a really hard time realizing that I seriously cannot control this. My doctor starting asking about induction last time about 2 weeks before my due date, but we really didn't consider it. I doubt she'll be offering that this time since it would be in the middle of her holidays too. I'm ok with that.. I think. I'd rather go into labor on my own. Although, I have no desire to feel any of the pain that I felt last time prior to my epidural. More power to anyone who wants to have a drug free birth, but that is not something I ever want to feel again! I didn't intend to feel so much last time.. it just kind of happened that way. I will get the epidural ASAP this time and try to enjoy the whole process a bit more without stadol which made me a loopy mess! I'm just rambling, so more later!

Happenings

I have started to swell! I did not do this with Grant and have had zero swelling throughout this entire pregnancy. I wore my cute shoes all the way to the end with him and I am not a chunky mule kind of gal! Last night, when we got home from my mom's and I was getting ready for bed I looked down at my feet and my left one especially was HUGE! It totally freaked me out! It went down alot overnight, and has not returned to that ginormous state, but it is still larger than normal and I'm pretty sure none of my black shoes are going to fit at its current size. So what am I supposed to wear with all of my black pants... since those are the ones that still fit?! I think I was up half of the night because this swelling was bothering me soooo bad. I'm one of those that just goes over and over things in her head. I even dream about the stuff so I get no break from the worry. It's stupid, but I really like my semi-thin feet. Even when I gain weight other places, they usually stay pretty thin. I do not like their appearance right now, and I plan to take full advantage of the doctor's advice to keep my feet up!

Thankfully, the swelling is no indication of pre-eclampsia. My blood pressure was actually much lower today than it has been the past several weeks, so that's good. I had this horrible fear that it was going to be through the roof and they weren't going to let me leave the hospital. I still have so much to do before I will feel ready for this baby. I haven't packed my bag yet, but maybe I'll do that soon and I haven't washed her "coming home" outfit yet either.. ya know major stuff in the whole scheme of things! Today was the first of my weekly visits... fun stuff. These were the dr's words, "We'll call you a 1." Ok, that's it for the details. I wasn't even a 1 after my water had broken with Grant, so that's monumental for me. I kind of freaked Pookie out. He said so that means it's going to be soon. I told him that really it didn't mean much of anything, and that regardless of whether it's tomorrow or a month from now, it's all pretty soon! I guess we'll just wait and see what happens, and in the mean time maybe I'll do some of those "little" things I've been putting off until closer to time!

Misc.

I am officially tired. It seems that no matter how much sleep I get, I am still tired. I guess it's a feeling I might as well get used to again. I've really enjoyed the last few months of sleep that I've enjoyed since Grant finally started sleeping in his own bed, but I think it's over now. I am not as uncomfortable as I remember being when I was pregnant with him, but I cannot sleep. If I'm not getting up to go to the bathroom, Andy's coughing or snoring. If I roll over on my right side, the baby kicks the bed. If none of the above are happening, I'm having some crazy, crazy dream that keeps me up for 30 minutes thinking about it when it's over. Anyway!

After several days of very little food, I am feeling much more like myself and have some new pics from the last few days. Since I was pretty much totally down for two days, we had a busy next few days trying to catch back up. It's a hard time of year to be sick! I took Grant to paint a Christmas ornament and he did an amazingly good job. I haven't picked up the finished product yet, but I think he may be much more artistic than either his daddy or I. Don't get me wrong, this is not masterpiece, but he's 2 and the paint stayed mostly on the ornament. I think I had more on me than he did! I think we'll try to do this every year.

Sunday, we had a Christmas gathering with Andy's dad's side of the family and some of their extended family from Chattanooga. There are a ton of kids and there weren't even close to all of them being there. It's a little crazy, but I think they all have a blast. The only unfortunate thing for us is that right now, it's mostly all little girls. There are some boys, but there either quite a bit older than Grant, still babies, or they weren't there. He loves the girls right now, so it didn't matter this year, but pretty soon, he's going to need some boys to play ball with! The kids had sooo much fun riding in the trailer behind the 4 wheeler. I think they made Uncle JE take them for the better part of an hour. They got ride through the field where the llamas, donkey, and horse are, which they loved. I didn't get a great picture of them all, but here's one most of them in the trailer.

Here's a few more of my little guy. He's such a sneaky little thing. I found him hiding back in this shed.. I think contemplating what to drag out next.

Riding the tire horsey..

I Spoke Too Soon!

Well, I posted a little prematurely on Thursday it seems. Shortly after getting home Thurs. night, the bug hit me! I spent all night Thursday night throwing up and all day Friday in the bed. It was no fun at all. I'm feeling better today, although food and I still are not friends. Grant's still not eating normally either, so I'm thinking it may take a few days to get my tummy back to normal. Now, we're just hoping that daddy doesn't come down with it too. We all know what babies men are when they're just a little sick, and this was way worse than being just a little sick!

Little Boy Talk

Monday night our house was invaded by yet another stomach bug. It only affected Grant, but it was the sickest I think he's ever been, and I am soooo glad that it's gone! I had to sleep sitting up Monday night so that I could get to him before he got sick in my bed since I'm not too fast anymore from a laying down position. Anyway, he ran a fever all day Tuesday and we just vegged all day on the couch. Anyone who knows Grant knows that he is totally obsessed with my hair.. to the point that I think it's almost weird. I try to keep him out of it for the most part, but since he was sick I gave in. By Tuesday night, I felt like I had animals living in my hair and combing it was nearly impossible. I really hope he outgrows this obsession soon or we'll have to keep his sister's hair really short! It's nice that he doesn't have and never has had to have any "thing" or "lovie" to tote around with him, but what's awful is that his comfort thing is sooo my hair.

This morning, Grant is pretty much back to his old self. His appetite is still not what it normally is and he's got a bad cough, but as any good mom would, I sent him to school anyway:-) All joking aside, I don't think he's contagious or I wouldn't have sent him. Anyway, as I was getting him dressed this morning, he was talking about arms going in his shirt and legs going in his pants, etc. Then, he patted the chest part of his shirt and asked what went in there. I just said his body. He then said, "I got a little body, and Daddy got a big body." I kind of laughed, and just said, "yep." Then, he proceeded to say, "you got a big body too." I said, "yep, and a big belly." This is the best part... after that, he said, "you got a big one of these too." As he was doing this, he pointed to his bottom! Thanks, son.. just what the pregnant woman needed first thing in the morning! Not that I've ever been in denial about this fact, it's just funny that my 2 year old is already pointing it out to me. Usually, he just comments on the belly since it pretty much overshadows everything else right now. Sunday morning, he actually said, "Mom, you're belly is huge!" I'd never even heard him use the word huge. Ahhhhhh.. the expanding vocabulary is a blessing and a curse.

Favority Holiday Treat

These are my favorite holiday treat. I saw them in the store several weeks before Thanksgiving this year, and have found them on my grocery list several times since then.... yes, I actually write down Christmas Tree Cakes on my list! Today, when I went to Kroger, there were none over where the normal Little Debbies are. So, I thought maybe they were in the Christmas aisle, but no luck there either. I was getting a little upset since this was the 2nd time I'd been to the store without finding them. It seems I'm not the only one who loves those little sugar sprinkles! Then, after succumbing to the fact that I'd be going home without them, there they were...over by all of the soft drinks!? I don't know why they feel like an endcap over by the cokes is a good place for those, but I sure was happy to find them. I bought two boxes so I should be good for a few weeks. I took one back into work with me this afternoon and enjoyed my dessert, which I eat very oddly (kind of in layers). I'm not sure when or why I started eating these cakes like this, but I eat all around the edges, then the top, then the top layer of cake, then the frosting, and finally the bottom layer. Peculiar, but I love 'em!

34 Weeks!

Baby Girl is growing by leaps and bounds! I cannot believe that she is due in just less than 6 weeks. This entire pregnancy has flown by, but now that the holidays are upon us and my focus is elsewhere, it's really going fast. I went to the dr. today, but nothing new to report. Everything seems to be right on schedule. I told her I just want to make it through Christmas and get my tree down, and she said she was confident that I would. I go back in two weeks and then every week after that. I cannot believe we are to that point already. Despite battling a bit of a stomach bug and some sinus issues all in the last week and a half, I actually feel really good. I'm not planning on running a marathon or anything, but other than just being ready for bed around 7:30 or 8, all is good!

Last night, when I laid down with Grant the baby was moving a lot. I stopped reading his book and told him to watch my belly. It was going crazy. He's felt her move several times, but I'm not sure if he'd really grasped what he was feeling. I told him that's baby sister moving around. He said, "she's poppin out!" He was totally amazed by it. When he was saying his prayers a little later, he said, "Thank you God for baby sister poppin out." So cute....He also thanked Him for the car we saw when were eating out last night that was "dressed" like Rudolph (the car had antlers sticking out of both windows and a red foam nose on the front).

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend at home. I think I spent more time at my house these last 4 days than I have since I was on maternity leave with Grant. It was nice (though not really quiet and relaxing), but I'll have to say that cabin fever was starting to set in. Wednesday night, we started cooking and Grant and his mammy made Turkey cookies which he enjoyed eating all weekend long. His letters for his wall also finally came in and we hung those....pics to come later. We had family and friends at our house on Thursday for dinner for the 3rd year in a row. I love having people over and would like to entertain more, but our house just isn't built to have that many people in it. I wouldn't change the layout so much, but the size would just need to be increased in order to accommodate everyone. If any of my brothers ever decide to get married and procreate, we're going to have to move this shindig somewhere else. We are simply out of room! All of that being said, the meal was great and we enjoyed seeing everyone.

Friday was the most relaxing day of them all. I had seriously considered getting up and going shopping at 12 am but I was too tired to even consider it when it came around. I actually woke up at 5 on Friday morning and thought about it then too, but decided to lay on the couch and watch all of last week's Oprah's on the DVR instead....sad, huh?! That's really the only time to watch them is when the boys are asleep or gone. I LOVE my DVR!! We didn't do much the rest of the day. I sorted through bags and bags of baby girl hand me downs from by sweet niece and spent the rest of the night separating, washing, and organizing all of that so we were ready for our out of town guests on Saturday.

They got there just in time for the big UT/UK football game. My husband is the UT fan of all UT fans and our friends both went to UK, so that was interesting. Meredith and I actually left the kids with our husbands during the game and ventured out to the mall. Much to my surprise, we didn't hit any traffic and had no trouble getting into or out of the mall. We were gone for maybe 3 1/2 hours, but the marathon game was still going on when we returned. Apparently, our husbands forgot there were 3 kids at the house with them because the house was absolutely destroyed when we got home, and Grant met me at the door taking his clothes off.....never done this before! Order was quickly restored and then some of our other friends came over with their 2 sweet girls. Grant seemed to really love the babies (fingers crossed he likes ours too) AND got to take his first bath (and maybe one of the last) with 2 girls, and really enjoyed playing with all of them. He is such a little people person. He loves having people at our house and gets soooo upset when they have to leave.

Sunday morning after our friends headed to Gatlinburg, it was already too late for us to make it to church, so we decided to get our Christmas stuff down out of the attic instead. I didn't get everything out that I normally do since the baby is due so close to Christmas, but we got the tree up, and Grant loved decorating it. The hard part is going to be getting him to actually leave the ornaments on the tree. I can already tell Christmas is going to be a blast this year. He loves all the lights and anything Christmas and/or Santa related.

All in all a wonderful weekend...got lots of baby stuff separated, down from the attic, etc. and spent lots of time with family and friends. BUT check out that ticker....time it's a flyin' by!!

A Successful Weekend & Name Help

At least successful in my eyes.. I got quite a bit of little man's Christmas shopping done and the house is mostly clean. We, of course, will have to clean the floors again before Thursday because they look like they could be cleaned everyday. We spent all day Saturday shopping and Grant was a real trooper. He left the house at about 8:30 to get a haircut and besides a brief stop by the house to change clothes, we were gone until about 8:00 Saturday night. We went all over the place and made a stop at Phillip's Toy Mart to see what Grant might want Santa to bring him. That was our first trip there, but certainly not the last. He had sooo much fun, and didn't even cry to take any of the toys home with us. It was a little overwhelming for me, but they had lots of neat toys that I haven't seen elsewhere. We then headed to the mall and spent the rest of the night there.

Yesterday after church, we drove around until Grant went to sleep and then WE came home and did marathon cleaning. After all of the cleaning and dinner, I ventured out to the grocery store (which I never do on Sunday night) for my last task of the weekend. I think I should have most everything we need for Thanksgiving and for our company next weekend. Daddy had taken Grant to Maggie Moo's while I was gone, and he was on a serious sugar high when I got home. He was crazy like I've never seen before, but he finally calmed down enough to go to sleep around 10:00! I don't think I sat down for more than 10 minutes or so yesterday and that was to eat dinner. When I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, my feet were so stiff I could barely walk...lesson learned, but the sense of accomplishment is worth the pain!

So...everyone keeps asking what we're naming this baby, and I've been a little non-committal. I was very set on a particular name early on in the pregnancy, but I've since decided that I'm pretty much ok with whatever...not sure where this came from, it's totally not my personality. As I've said before, I'm still not totally convinced that this baby is a girl, so even if we decide on something I'm not writing it in stone anywhere. That being said, we've pretty much decided we're going to call the baby Claire, but aren't sure what the rest of the name should be. We've talked about Sarah Claire (Sarah was my grandmother) and Claire Morgan. Either way, she'd just be called Claire. This is all subject to change should I think of something I like better than Claire in the next month and a half. In the meantime, which one do you like better or do you have another suggestion???? Even though Sarah is a family name, I'm not really leaning toward either one. Can't believe I'm asking this, but otherwise, we may never decide. All comments are appreciated!!

A Not So Fun Day

Yesterday was not such a great day for Grant and I. It began at about 2 am when I heard what sounded like the hiccups coming from his room. I went in his bedroom to discover that he'd gotten sick in his sleep all in his bed. The rest of the day was more of the same. It was not fun! It's not easy to explain to a sick 2 year old why he can't have milk or whatever he wants to eat. That was the weird part... every time he ate or drank, he got sick, but he kept asking for food and/or drink. Anyway, he seemed pretty ok by bedtime and held down some chicken noodle soup. This morning when I dropped him off at his nanny's, she asked him if he wanted pancakes, and he was all too happy to go to her and see me leave. After a day at home with me withholding food from him, I guess he didn't care to spend another day like that. Every time he got sick, it made me just want to cry for him. It makes me so thankful that he has been such a healthy little boy because it just breaks my heart to see him uncomfortable or hurting.

So, we've had two Thursdays in a row with Grant sick and missing school. I hope this Thursday (Thanksgiving) doesn't fall into pattern with the last two because we'll have a house full of people. Our house is not big AT ALL, so it's always a fun (stressful) day for me! I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished this weekend, but I think I have that same optimistic outlook every Friday...only to come back to work on Monday without actually getting anything done. Oh well!

32 weeks

I'm on a roll this week, three posts in a row. Not much to say today, other than that I went to the dr. this morning for my 32 (yikes) week appt. Thankfully, my weight gain has stalled out and I hasn't brought on any more comments from the doctor. My bp seems to be holding steady at borderline and since I was having contractions over the weekend, they made sure everything still seemed "secure." Thankfully, it did. They did some other test, but I haven't heard the results on it yet. If it's positive, it means I'm having some signs of preterm labor, if it's negative, it means that it's not likely I'd deliver in the next two weeks. I'm not even considering that an option, so I'm certain it will be negative. So, things seem to be where they should, and hopefully we won't have a baby for say another 7 or 8 weeks. I really want Grant to get to enjoy his Christmas sans baby sister!

Oh yeah... and the truck is gone :-(! I'm not sure whether to cry or celebrate, but it doesn't matter much anyway. Apparently, they came and picked it up while we were at work yesterday. It's really odd with it not there! On to bigger and better things!

A Day Later....

And a day later, the truck is sold! I posted it on craigslist yesterday and was overwhelmed by the amount of interest we had. Pookie was in training all day yesterday so I was fielding all these emails about a truck I've barely driven. A guy came by last night, paid for it, and left with the keys. The truck is actually still sitting in our driveway, but they're supposed to come back and pick it up today. I feel sorry for the poor kid that he's buying it for, but maybe he'll fix it up a little for him. Pookie tried to get back in it last night. He was feeling a little sentimental about the whole thing. It's the only vehicle he's ever driven...his trademark, so it's a little hard to see it go. She's been a good ole girl. We've had to do very little maintenance on it, and by this I mean, he only gets the oil changed about every 8,000 miles (not because I don't tell him to do otherwise). He just doesn't think about routine maintenance. I'm glad he's not the same about shaving or cutting his hair. Anyway, the truck is officially gone! I never imagined we'd part ways so soon. Here's to hoping our current vehicles last as long as it did!

A Big Weekend

Well, Friday marked the end of an era at our house.....that of the little red truck. We actually purchased another vehicle, and we are ready to retire the truck. We didn't get anything fancy, but a nice used SUV that will have a lot more room for all 4 of us. The other big bonus is that we now have 2 vehiclees that can transport children, rather than just 1. That has been a huge pain sometimes, but we've just dealt with it for the past 2 1/2 years. We still have to get carseats, but that's a small hurdle we hope to have resolved this week. Grant loves the new "big tar." I think he likes sitting higher up because he can see so much more than he's used to. Here's a pic of the truck...it's not pretty, but it still runs 186,000 miles strong. My husband has had this truck since he was 16, so it's going to be like cutting off a limb to get rid of it, but I think he's ready. If anyone is interested in buying it, please let us know!

Saturday night, Grant spent the night with his Mammy. We didn't have any big plans while he was gone, but decided to take advantage of it and go see a movie. We were pushed for time so dinner was nice and romantic at Taco Bell, but who cares... I got to eat without worrying what anyone else at the table was doing. We went to see Dan in Real Life with Steve Carell. My husband is a huge fan of The Office, so I didn't have to talk him into this one. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was much more of a romantic comedy than I had anticipated. I actually shed a few tears toward the end of the movie. It was a really good movie, and I would definitely recommend it!

Grant was still battling a cold when he spent the night with mammy on Saturday night, so I sent his night time cough medicine to her house so he wouldn't cough all night long. I forgot to send the daytime stuff, so mammy gave him the night time medicine before church on Sunday morning too. He was exhausted and actually slept for the entire church service. It was the most of a sermon I've heard in a very long time! Then, after church he went home and slept two more hours. I'll have to remember this trick or maybe I'll just try it again next Sunday, haha!!

In other Grant news, our son is officially obsessed with The Wizard of Oz. We've watched it 4 times this weekend, and the requests for me to sing "the wizard song" seem to be never ending. The witch always kind of freaked me out (along with the flying monkeys) so I hope I'm not fueling future nightmares by allowing him to watch it. He just really loves all of the singing.

On the potty front, we've had a wonderful weekend! I haven't mentioned this lately because after several brief stints of doing great, we keep regressing. I'm hoping this weekend was a real turning point in our pt, and maybe the end of Pull-Ups is in our near future. We haven't had much trouble getting him to go pee on the toilet, but the pooping has been a different animal all together. The weekend has been great with regards to that, so keep your fingers crossed for me... I promise I'll stop writing about it as soon as it's no longer an issue. I'm sure no one cares about this as much as I do.

All in all, a wonderful weekend for us........too bad my house didn't get cleaned (again), and I still haven't made it into the attic to get baby stuff down. I'm really going to have to get around to that soon while I can still climb the ladder! I've had a few contractions over the weekend that I hope were just Braxton-Hicks, but who knows! They were more painful than normal, so say a little prayer that our girl stays put for awhile. I'm not physically or mentally ready for this baby just yet!

Recent Grant Sayings

About the frame in baby sister's room..The frame says "Twice Blessed" and was a gift from Nicole', eventually it will hold a picture of both kiddos, but right now is a pic of two unknown little boys: "Mommy, what name are these boys?"

Conversation about getting another car:
Me: Grant, do you want mommy to get a new car?
Grant: Yes, I ready to go get one right now!
Me: Well, we're not going to get one tonight!
Grant: Are you gonna get a blue one?
Me: Well, I don't know what color it will be.
Grant: I want a blue one. Let's go get it right now!

Tuesday night after dinner I was exhausted and decided to do nothing but lay on the couch until bedtime. I never do this, so Grant is really not accustomed to it at all. He wanted me to get up for something, but daddy told him I had a fever (I didn't) so he'd understand that I didn't feel like getting up. He looked at daddy and said, "It alright daddy, she's feelin better." The look on his face while he said this was the best part though.

Grant is a little under the weather right now so I let him lay in bed with me and watch the CMAs last night. I sang along with alot of the songs, but there were some that I didn't know at all. Whenever I'd stop singing, he'd say, "mommy, sing!" This is funny because when we ride in the car and I sing he yells at the top of his lungs, "mommy, you stop singing, just drive."

Another CMA moment, when Kid Rock came out with Gretchen Wilson to present an award Grant put his head under the covers. I didn't really think anything about it since it was getting late, I thought maybe he was just going to sleep. A minute or two later he said, "mommy, I not like that man with the crazy hair. It is over?" Apparently, Kid Rock was the guy with the crazy hair and he did not want to see him.

Last week we had dinner at Chili's. Our server had a tattoo that encircled her wrist and lower forearm. I was trying to get Grant to tell me what he wanted to eat, but he just kept saying, "What's on your arm? Somebody color on you? It's a flower?" I wanted to crawl under the table!

I was cooking dinner one night last week and having an emotional breakdown. At the time, I was really upset, but now I have no idea what it was about. I'm allowed to have these moments because I'm pregnant remember? Grant came over and said, "mommy, what's wrong?" I picked him up and he wiped my face and kept saying, "no more tears, mommy." It was very sweet.

I really cherish all of the little conversations that I have with my little guy. He absolutely cracks me up, and I find myself laughing at things I probably shouldn't be laughing at. He is all boy and a million miles a minute, but he is also my little cuddle bug and still loves hugs and kisses. He has started saying I love you at all the right times, and it just melts my heart. I miss him alot now during the day and call him sometimes just to hear his little voice. He is definitely momma's boy, but he wants me for the cuddling and basic needs. Daddy is the one he wants to play with him, probably because he's a lot rougher and does stuff that I would never do. We are so lucky to blessed with this sweet child!

Baby Stuff

As I mentioned last week, some of my friends from church gave me a baby shower on Saturday. It went great, and I got lots of clothes and other stuff to get us ready to welcome our new baby girl. Surprisingly, I have not bought a lot for this baby. I am trying to be frugal, so I just stay out of the good stores. It helps that I don't work in the "big city" anymore because lunch break trips to the mall(s) are now a thing of the past. We just don't have quite the selection of stores out here that I was used to. I will admit that it's probably what I miss the most about my old job (except maybe a friend or two...haha!). Anyway, everyone gave us lots of great stuff, now we just need a baby. Although, I'm in no hurry! Here is a pic of me and the girls that helped put the shower together.

A couple of months ago, we painted both Grant's room and the baby's new room. I haven't posted any pictures of either because they're not totally done. However, the baby's room is as done as it's going to get until after she gets here. I want to get letters to spell out her name or get it painted on canvases, but I'm waiting until she gets here to do that (gotta make sure it's really a girl). I got a little basket for diapers and stuff to put on the dresser, but it needs her name embroidered on it. Once again, I'm waiting until she gets here. So the pictures are below, but the walls are a little bare. If you've ever seen the rest of my house, you know this is not like me. I think we had pictures hanging in our house the day after we moved in. I'm not a fan of empty walls, so I'm sure they won't stay that way long after "baby sister" moves in. After the huge amount of trouble we had hanging the three pictures over the dresser, I figured I'd just wait on everything else.

As far as Grant's room goes, there is stuff on some of the walls, but I've ordered some more, and I'm waiting for it to come in. If they ever get here and then his room is actually clean and the bed made, I'll post pictures of that too. He is really proud of his room these days. He shows it to everyone that comes to our house, even if they've already seen his "big boy" bed. I'm just thankful that he actually likes sleeping there.

My Little Dragon

We had a full day of fun on Halloween. It started with a morning at the doctor for me where Grant got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. He was more interested in the tape measure and the gel they were putting on my belly. He asked what it was and I told him it was like jelly. He then asked if you eat it with pancakes. I have issues with the smell maple syrup, so Grant eats his pancakes with jelly instead. They had to draw my blood again, and he didn't like it at all that they were giving me a "boo boo." He covered his face through the entire thing.

After the doctor, we went to my old office to see some folks and we were supposed to have lunch, but Grant was really scared of the Wicked Witch so the lunch plans got called off. We went to one of the photo studios in town after that for their Halloween special and got his picture taken. He did great with that, but I don't have it yet to post. We went and visited Mammy at the hospital, where he got totally loaded up with candy and then we dropped by his Nanny's. By this time, both Grant and I were exhausted. I had to drive around town for what seemed like forever to get him to go to sleep though. In the mean time, I was having a horrible time staying awake.

After a nap and dinner, it was off to church. We had classes first and then Trunk or Treat. It always amazes me how much some people decorate their trunks. I don't know where they find the time! Once again, Grant was petrified of all of the scary costumes that the bigger kids were wearing. I had to look ahead in the direction we were walking to see if there were any costumes that I thought would freak him out. I hope next year he's not as scared of some of them because I kind of felt like I was torturing him, rather than showing him a good time. After way too much candy, Grant holed up in the back of his friend Rebecca's car and hung out. It was a VERY long day, but I think, for the most part, he had fun. He said last night after dinner, "Now it's time to go trick or treat." I explained that Trick or Treating was over for the year, and he looked at me and said, "It's Christmas time?" Soon enough, soon enough!! I'm hoping to start my shopping this weekend. Really, I'm just glad it's time to retire the Dragon costume. That thing takes up way too much room in his closet! I think he's pretty much forgotten about all of the candy that we now have....I wish I could do the same.

Halloween Preview, etc..

Yesterday, Grant's MDO program had all of their Halloween festivities. All of the kids wore their costumes first thing in the morning and then they were changed into their regular clothes for the remainder of the day. I cannot imagine being the teacher of a bunch of preschoolers and having this task assigned to me, hence the reason I will never be a preschool teacher! Anyway, Grant was very excited to show off his dragon costume to his teacher, Mrs. Mary Anne, whom he adores. The picture below is of he and his cousin Ella, aka Minnie Mouse. They were too cute together. I mentioned before that they got put into different classes this year even though they're the same age school-wise. It really upset me at first, but I guess they've adjusted. He just misses getting to spend time with her two days a week. Can you believe she's only 4 months older than him??! Look at how tall she is!



On a totally separate note, I cannot believe that 3/4ths of this pregnancy has passed. As I have mentioned before, it's gone soooo fast this time. I can't help but be a little sad that it seems to be slipping away. More than likely, it will be my last one, and every little kick, etc. is one that I'll never feel again. Never say never though! My wonderful friends from church are giving me a baby shower on Saturday, and I'm sure that will make it all that much more real! I told them I didn't need a shower, and they insisted that I need girl stuff, soo.... I guess I should just be thankful to have them! We finally hung the pictures that I've had for months in her room on Saturday night. We actually tried earlier last week, and it was a bit of a disaster that led to giant holes in the wall, patching, and painting. They're up now, and they look great. Pics to come later!

Tommorow is Dr. day and Grant is looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat. We will also be making our rounds to friends and family's places of business to show off my little man. Last year, that was a disaster of sorts that resulted in lots of crying. He's changed alot since then, and is quite the showboat, so I doubt it will be a problem. I'm sure I'll have many more pictures to post on Thursday....that is if I get my memory card burned onto a CD and cleared in time!

29 1/2 weeks

We've been taking pics of the belly's progress on the 25th of each month, so last night was the monthly pic. Last month, I mentioned that I think my rear had grown as much, if not more, than my stomach. This month, I think the front side is definitely starting to outshine the back side! I did decide though to ditch the skinny tank top and workout pants like I mentioned I wore for every picture when I was pregnant with Grant. At that time, I didn't post any of them on the internet, so who really cared what I wore? Last night, I decided to just do the pic in what I had on, which I tell you must have made my stomach look HUGE! When I walked in to drop Grant off at MDO yesterday, several people were like Whoa! look at you. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Someone else said they didn't even know I was pregnant a couple of weeks ago, and now there's no denying that is there?! I just kind of smile and go on with my life, there are really more important things to worry about. Anyway, here is the picture. I go back to the dr. next week, and I'm going to take Grant with me so he can hear the baby's heartbeat. It oughta be fun!

Leg Cramps

I keep getting these stinkin' leg cramps in my right calf in the middle of the night. I never had one with Grant and I'd only had one in my life before this pregnancy. They hurt sooo bad! It's like a contraction in my leg. What is up with these things? Any advice on how to prevent them? The only thing that seems to get rid of them is getting up and trying to walk/limp around for a little while. That's after it awakens me out of a dead sleep and I sit up screaming. I am still sleeping pretty well, but when I wake up, I have a hard time going back to sleep. These leg things are no exception. It takes FOREVER for my body to settle back down and go to sleep after one of these episodes! I love being pregnant for the most part, but these are just torture!

Weekend Fun

We had a pretty relaxing weekend, which is a rare at our house. Friday night, I played Bunco for the first time with the girls from our our Sunday School class. We did it to raise money for the family we're helping this year for Christmas. It was so much fun! Now, I know why all these women do it all of the time. I think I enjoyed the gummy bears, Skittles, and rum cake about as much as the dice, but what can I say.

Daddy actually got Grant to sleep all on his own before I got home that night. I'm not sure if he's ever done this before, so it was a nice treat. Although, I was secretly hoping he'd be awake so I could snuggle with him when I got home. Sometimes, I complain about having to lay in bed with him until he goes to sleep, but it's really one of my favorite times with him. He has his nights that are so much fun, but mostly it's a really sweet time together.

Saturday, Nana and Papa spent the day at our house watching football, eating, and then watching a movie. Mid-afternoon, someone made mention of Maggie Moo's and Grant just couldn't forget it. Nana and Papa offered to take Grant to get ice cream, and they took him in their Mustang convertible. I'm not sure that Grant knew what was happening as the top of the car rolled back. He'll want to ride with them from now on. They also let him get the blue ice cream (cotton candy flavor) that I never let him get because it sounds sooo horrible to me, so I'm sure he loved that.

Saturday night, Grant and I carved his pumpkins. He's been telling me that he was ready to put a face on his pumpkins, but I've been putting it off. All of the goop inside kind of grosses me out, and I'm no artist when it comes to this. If I'm doing something that I'm putting outside my house, I like it to look good, but this, well let's just say good isn't the word I'd use to describe them. We actually cut teeth in the larger pumpkin, but when I went to push out the mouth, all of the teeth broke off too. Oh well! Grant still loves them, only now he has to pick them up every time we go outside. Smashed pumpkin on our driveway is probably in the near future.

Yesterday, mom, Grant and I took a trip to Babies R Us to buy some things for baby girl.. actually to buy some things for other people to give me at a shower.. funny, huh?! I have to admit that I'd rather do it that way though, so I'm certainly not complaining. I didn't register there since the stores in our area are quite a hike, but there were a couple of items that I really wanted from there, so it all worked out. I'm so overwhelmed with the amount of baby stuff that there is, and how much of it is different from just 2 1/2 years ago. I'm also really in want/need of a double stroller, but dang those things are expensive. I know that Grant will be close to 3 when this baby is born, and lots of people keep saying let him walk, but you see he doesn't know that is an option. Ever since he was born, I've taken him walking at the park, to the mall, and anywhere else in his stroller. Because of this, he rides really, really well, and I actually enjoy shopping with him. Do I really want to ruin that over a couple hundred dollars?! I should think not!

Funny Stuff

I've said many times how hilarious our little guy is, but I don't know if you can fully appreciate him if you haven't experienced it first hand. Church is a struggle for us every week, not church really, but the worship service. They have children's church for Grant's age group, but he doesn't like it. The girls that are in there are as sweet as they can be, but they're young, and I'm not sure that they know what to do with my 2 year old that does not want to sit still (that's why we take them in there.. remember). I watched for awhile a couple of weeks ago as they tried to coerce him into sitting in a seat while they read a book, but that's not what he was looking for. Playing was the name of the game. Anyway, so most Sunday mornings, we really try our best to make it through service with Grant. I bring lots of activities and our Quiet Bags at church are filled with all sorts of things to keep him busy. Don't forget the snacks, we have a whole bag of those too. Usually, he's been through the whole bag in a matter of 20 minutes and then we've still got an hour left to try to keep him quiet. The funny thing is that he's really starting to be aware of everything that is going on around him. He hears the things that the men are saying and repeats alot of it. Yesterday, he made one very loud statement about Jesus' blood. He is also very into names right now. He wants to know what everyone's name is, and would ask whenever someone new would go up to the podium. Then, he would yell that's Mr. whoever. He does the same for all those around us that he might know. He sees them, waves, then says what's Mrs. so and so doin? This is usually in the middle of a prayer. I'm sure the people that sit around us stay entertained, and I feel like I've been working out by the time the service is over. So when do they actually start sitting quietly??

This morning I was getting ready and Pookie was in the shower, and I heard Grant scream out over the monitor, so I went into his room. He was crying so hard. I kept asking what's wrong and he said, "I need my Tennessee hat!" So we went and found his UT hat put it on and he laid down in my bed and watched Disney. I asked him if he was dreaming about his hat, and he said my daddy take it! Don't know what all of that was about! Just another day in the life.. lovin it!

Little Boosts

In my last post I wrote about how my doctor was very surprised at my weight gain in the 4 weeks between visits. Ever since then, I have been feeling very self conscious and pretty down in the dumps about this body of mine. I didn't have so much of that problem with my first pregnancy. Granted, we had only been married a month and I was probably the smallest I'd ever been when I got pregnant, so when I delivered Grant I still didn't weigh as much as I had before I lost all of the weight before my wedding. Anyway, having been pretty heavy and never wanting to be back there, the comment my doc made has really really been bothering me. Apparently, God knew I needed a boost. Today at Target, while looking at maternity clothes (you know when you're feeling bad about yourself, buy new clothes!) a lady that was not pregnant said is it just me or are all of the maternity clothes out there kind of blah right now? I told her I couldn't agree more. She then asked me when I was due, and when I told her January 8th, she said wow. Then she told me I was so small and that her daughter, who is not due until March was alot bigger than me. Her daughter could weigh 400 lbs for all I know, but it sure did make me feel better. I'm not small, and I'm not ashamed of my belly (more like my rear), but regardless, it's funny how you find just what you need in unsuspecting places.

Time is Flying By!

This seems to be a common phrase said in our house lately. It seems that the days/weeks are just flying by. We have been pretty busy lately, with nothing in particular, just life. We have so much left to do to get ready for the baby.. not that she'll realize if I've hung her pictures or not, but still. I am a little anal when it comes to matters "house-related," but I've really been slacking in the arena of cleaning out the extra bedroom. On Sunday, I took the liberty of cleaning out my husband's closet and then moved all of his clothes, shoes, etc. into my closet. I had to remove the majority of my summer wardrobe in order to fit them in. We have never shared a closet before.. hopefully I'll be able to deal with it. I'm really weird about the way things are hanging in the closet, and he's really not so weird about it, so it might be interesting!


I went to the Dr. this morning and let me just say that it's absolutely amazing how much weight you can gain in 4 weeks! Never before have I been so shocked to step on the scale. My doctor even said, "Did you really gain - lbs?!" How do you answer a question like that? She then said, "Are you sure they didn't make a mistake?" I've told y'all about my sugar cravings, but I cannot imagine how much sugar made up all of these lbs. Anyway, I'm committing anew to eating better, walking more now that the weather is bearable, and not gaining much more weight. I also had to do my glucose tolerance test, get a rhogam shot, and a flu shot. I had two moles removed on Monday, so it has really been a week full of shots and sticks. I am soo not fond of needles and/or blood, but I've handled it all like a champ this week. I felt pretty yuck when I left the Dr., but I think that was because it was after 10 am and I hadn't eaten a bite yet.



On another note.. with all that we've had going on I feel like I'm missing out on precious moments with Grant every morning when I drop him off. I've always felt that to an extent, but realizing that there will be another baby that will require lots of attention soon is really making me think about it. My little guy is at such a fun age right now. Don't get me wrong, he is a handful, and he can also be a bit of pain, but for the most part he's a blast to be around. You never know what he is going to say and/or do. I just wish there were more hours in the day to spend with him. I have said many times that I don't know if I'm cut out to be a SAHM. I'm not sure that I have the patience to do it, but other days I really wish I had time to just hang out with Grant. On the weekends, it's rare that we're at home, and even if we are, there's so much to do around the house that I don't feel like I get much, if any, downtime. I feel like I would not be fully satisfied staying at home full time, nor am I fully satisfied working full time. Maybe a part time job would be my best bet emotionally, however, part time childcare that is affordable is much more difficult to come by. It almost negates the part time paycheck usually. I'll just have to wait and see where God leads me once baby girl gets here. I hope it will be pretty clear cut. Sorry for rambling!!

Fishing!

This was the 1st fish of the night. Grant couldn't take his eyes off of it to look at me. It was really really small!

Last night we took Grant fishing for the first time. He and his daddy went and bought a fishing pole several weeks ago, and Grant has been practicing his casting every night in the backyard. He comes home, hops out of the car, and says I need my fishing pole. They stay outside just casting and reeling it in usually until dinner is ready or it's dark, whichever comes first. For the past few days, he's been saying that he wants to go fishing "in the water". Daddy decided that last night was the night.

Grant was so excited. We stopped and got some red jigglers (wigglers?) or something.... I just know they were worms to use for bait. We went to a boat dock not too far from home that has lots of flat bank where he could walk around. It was pretty deserted, which was perfect for us. There were lots of ducks and geese, and I think Grant was just as interested in those as he was the fish. He also really liked the worms. We all had a good time, and caught several fish. Actually daddy caught several little fish and momma caught the big one. That's right, I only caught one, but it was a bass and it was by far the biggest of the day. I got Andy to take a picture, but I think he was nervous or something and he was shaking, and the picture is just one big blur. I really need to teach this man how to hold a camera steady before our next child is born. It never fails that when I ask him to take a picture, it ends up being a blur : (!! I did get a picture of the first fish of the day and several of Grant casting and reeling his line in/out. I'm sure it will become one of daddy and his favorite things to do together. I'll just go every now and then to show them who the real pro is. The funny thing is the first thing Grant said to me this morning is, "mommy, you catch a big fish?" He knows who's the best!!

This is my favorite pic from the night... love those profiles!

I will say that fishing will probably not last more than an hour, at least for a little while. The little guy's interest in the fish turned to rocks, water, hooks in the tackle box, etc. shortly after the one hour mark, and it was more of a keep Grant away from everything job for me. (Daddy was still trying to get a bigger fish... to no avail!) Today, daddy is home sick with some sort of bug.. hopefully not from the fishing.

Grant fishing after dark!

A Little Freaked Out

Ok, so I'm a little freaked out that my little counter up there at the top said 98 days left! When it was over 100, I was pretty ok with it, but that number just keeps getting smaller yet I still have way too much to do. I was saying over the weekend how much faster this pregnancy seems to be going by because we're so much busier with Grant and everything else in our lives. Last time, even though we had just gotten married, bought a house, etc. it seemed like our whole focus was getting ready for baby Grant. So, this time, I've painted the bedroom, but nothing else. I might need to get my husband's clothes out of her closet and possibly get some of my baby stuff out of the attic. It would probably be better to do that sooner rather than later while I can still maneuver myself up and down the attic staircase, since hubby has NO IDEA what we'll need. Sometimes I think he just says that kind of stuff to get out of doing it, can anyone relate? Like, oh I didn't put the dishes in the dishwasher because I thought maybe the ones in it were clean. Hello... they have food all over them. A quick glance could've confirmed whether they were clean or dirty! Anyway

The holidays are also coming, and I'm thinking that Christmas shopping needs to begin soon so I'm not an elephant trying to get through a crowded mall! I absolutely love Christmas shopping, so I'm a little bummed about all of that. I think it's so much fun to get out in all of the crowds, as long as you're not one of those crazed lunatics that is dead set on getting some stupid toy for your kid. Really.. they'll have it the week after Christmas, just wait. I fell victim to one of those toys last year.. I was not the crazed lunatic at the store, but I paid way too much for a TMX Elmo on ebay, and Grant almost never plays with it. Never again, at least not until he's begging for something. He was 19 months old last Christmas, and could've cared less what I got for him.
I just want to get done with everything as early as possible this year just in case our little girl decides to arrive early. I've already said that given that I'm still good to go on Christmas, all of the holiday decorations are coming down December 26th this year. They'll be no leaving the tree up until New Year's. I do not want to come home from the hospital to Christmas decorations!

Anyway, not a lot going on in our world this week that's worth rambling about, these are just the thoughts that are filling my head as I sit here doing nothing.. too bad I can't be home doing something to my house.

25 weeks! but you don't get to see it

Well, last night was the night for the good ole monthly belly picture, however I'm not publishing it, nor do I think I'll be showing it to anyone. You can definitely tell I'm pregnant now even in my regular clothes, which was not the case about 2-3 weeks ago. However, in this picture that my lovely husband took, it looks more like the baby is developing in my behind! Hopefully, it was just a bad choice of pants. We may repeat the photos tonight with a different pair of pants if I can talk him into taking another picture. I know it's a chore to stand up off of the couch for all of 3 seconds, but sometimes he seriously will not do it.

If the behind looks as horrible in the next pictures, then I'm going to start doing squats or something. I'm reminded of a line in the movie Steel Magnolias when the mayor's wife is dancing and Clairee says, "Looks like two pigs fightin under a blanket." I believe that Truvy says it's due to the lack of a girdle. Not that I'm signing up to wear any girdles for the next 3-4 months, but if I were seen dancing, I think the same could be said about me right now. Hopefully, the forward growth will overshadow the growth in the rear soon.

Anyway, instead of a belly pic, I'm leaving you with this one. I had to use an old, really small memory card to take those pictures last night because my other one is full, and I haven't saved them yet. When I went to upload the pics to the computer this morning, these little pics came up of Grant. I took them the day of his first birthday party. My how time flies. I still get teary eyed over all of the curls he had!

At the End of a Rainbow

Yesterday on my way home from work, I saw several rainbows. It was clear when I left work, and in the 11.5 miles between my office and my babysitter's house, the weather was dramatically different. I could see one partial rainbow before I ever got to any rain, but it started raining really hard a few miles before I got to "nanny's" house. As I got closer, it looked like I was going to drive right into this rainbow. It was the craziest thing, kind of like a dream. I think it ended on the street right in front of me, but as I was driving, it was kind of like I couldn't get through it. It just appeared to keep going. It was making driving difficult because it was pouring down rain, but the reflection from the rainbow was so bright in my eyes. Apparently, no one was anywhere around me because I probably would've hit them because it was a very unique experience and my attention was not focused on driving. The only disappointment was that I didn't find a pot of gold. I could really use one right now!! Better luck next time, I guess. After I picked Grant up, it had pretty much stopped raining, but there was a huge rainbow that appeared to go right over the main street in town. I think it was the first one that Grant had ever seen. He was so excited and very disappointed when we could no longer see it. He kept saying he needed the different colors back. If I'd had my camera, I would've taken a picture. It was beautiful!

Did you say Dessert?

Can you say heaven??? I had a coupon for buy one sundae get one free, so we indulged in one of these! I gave the free one to my husband, but I swear I could've eaten them both. Awesome!

Food

It's official...... my mind has been taken over by thoughts of food. I feel like I am a bottomless pit, and that pit really wants to be filled with all things sugar! I don't think I have ever been so hungry in my life. I really don't want to be a total blimp at the end of this pregnancy, but if my appetite doesn't take a break soon, it will be inevitable. We go to the park alot after work and walk and then let Grant play on the playground. This week, I've really struggled through the walking part, partly because I am about to die to go to the bathroom before we're done, and also because I'm about to starve. Poor Grant only gets to play for a few minutes because mommy has to go home and eat.

Dora to the Rescue!

So after a rather lengthy post on Friday about my lack of sleep, I resorted to desperate measures. My plan was to find a doll with hair to replace my ratty mane! After picking up Grant from his sitter's, we went to Kmart with a mission. We settled on Buenas Noches Dora. Grant has just recently started getting into Dora, so I thought it would be perfect.. plus she had hair. It's short and black, rather than long and blond, but hey, it's hair! Only problem with the thing is that she never shuts up, so we had to turn her off for him to actually go to sleep. Three nights later, and we are batting 1000! He has slept in his bed solo three nights in a row, only waking 1 time on Friday night and zero times the other two. I think everyone in the family is having a much better day today than we had on Friday, all courtesy of Dora!

We Have A Problem!!!

Help me please! I have not had any sleep, and I feel like I'm dying. Grant did so well in his big boy bed for a few nights, and this week has just gotten progressively worse. I thought it would get better, but after last night I'm ready to throw the big boy bed out the window, make his room into a toy room, and just let him sleep with us. Seriously, I've had maybe a total of 4 hours of sleep, and I just don't know what to do. I'm pregnant, and this is not making this any easier! I know this problem is all my fault because I didn't let him cry it out when he was 10 months old and started waking up screaming every night, right?! Well, easier said than done. When he was 10 months old, I was (and still am) working full time, and my job required that I be coherent 8 hours per day, and I couldn't do that if I had to listen to my baby cry for 2-3 hours per night. Now, I don't have to be quite as coherent, but I do have to shower and come sit in a chair all day, so sleep really helps.

Last night was a disaster...
I laid down with Grant around 9:00. I don't know what time he feel asleep because I probably fell asleep first. I woke up around 10:30 and wondered to my own bed. Around 1:30ish, Grant woke up yelling for me. Pookie tried to go lay with him because I didn't even hear him yelling (even with a monitor, does this tell you how tired I am??!). Anyway, Daddy just doesn't do the trick. Could it be because his hair is very short? He kept yelling, "mommy, where are you?" At that point, I went into his room and laid back down with him. He said, "I need your hair." I think he has an obsession. It all started a long long time ago, but now, he needs to touch my hair to go to sleep, ughh! Anyway, I waited till he went back to sleep, crept back to bed, and laid down. I, of course, have to the bathroom every time I wake up now, and after all of that it took me awhile to start dozing off. No need to doze, as soon as I did, Grant's at it again. This continued for most of the night. Then, I finally gave in and brought him to our bed, but guess what... this isn't what he wanted! He started crying to go to his bed!! When we got there, he patted the pillow next to him and said, "mommy, you lay right here." Over and over. Finally, I laid him down crying, and went back to my bed. He continued to cry so I went back in his room after awhile and told him he could come to bed with me or lay in his room alone. He chose going to my room where he began to cry for milk! What's up with this? I haven't ever given him milk in the middle of the night, not since he was like 10 weeks old and still nursing! He finally went back to sleep even though I pulled my hair back and refused to let him touch it. He reaches for it in his sleep! So, even though he was asleep, I was trying to avoid his little hands for the remainder of the night and he even woke up crying 3 more times for who knows what. By then, the alarm clock was going off!

I hope that he's not getting sick or anything, but I really hope last night will never happen again. I don't think I can handle it. I need advice, PLEASE!! What do I do? He has nothing that he feels like he needs to go to sleep, no blanket, pacifier, animal, etc... all he wants is my hair, and I'm withholding that! I've tried to give him something for security, but he tosses them all aside. So, if you have suggestions, please leave a comment! I don't care if I know you or not. I'm willing to try just about anything!

Let the Countdown Begin

Nothing blogworthy going on in my life this week really, at least nothing anyone would care to read about, so I thought I'd write about something totally irrelevant... Grey's Anatomy starts in 2 weeks!! I know it's horrible that I'm counting down to this, but it's the only show that I absolutely have to see. If Meredith and Derrick break up because of Christina and Burke, I'm going to get really mad!

I will probably try to watch Private Practice this season too because I really like Kate Walsh (aka Addison), but we'll see how long that holds up. It stinks that both shows come on at 8 because that's usually around the time we start getting a bath and getting ready for bed. I, seriously, don't know what we did before we had a DVR! So, I'll probably just end up recording Private Practice and watching it if time permits, but Grey's night is my night, so daddy will have to handle the bath on Thursdays, and Grant can just stay up a little later waiting for me to put him to bed. We don't have a rigorous night time routine, and who am I kidding??? He's never in bed by nine. I'm doing good if we're laying down at 9:30!! I know this probably makes me a horrible mother, but there just isn't enough time in the evening for everything that we have to accomplish. Maybe when he starts school in a few years, we'll work on getting him to go to bed at a more reasonable hour. I think he's wired like his mommy and daddy... we'd both much rather stay up late and sleep late too! Too bad that Grant's the only one getting to sleep late for now!

Thomas & MDO

On Saturday, we took Grant to A Day Out with Thomas. After what feels like months of no rain, of course it decided to start shortly after we arrived! However, I'm not sure that he even noticed, and he had a good time. He also got his very first temporary tatoo. He was pretty proud of it at first, but then wanted to make sure it would come off later. It was so crowded that we didn't really get any great pics of him next to the actual Thomas the Train, but here are a few from the day:

After Thomas, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for my mom's and Drew's birthday dinner. Grant took my cheesecake when they set it down and assumed it was his own. I think he liked it!

Today was Grant's first day back at Mother's Day Out. I was a little concerned that he'd be upset because his cousin Ella isn't in his class this year. He seemed really excited this morning, and loved wearing his backpack and his school shirt. The shirt swallowed him whole, but they had told everyone to wear them, so we complied. I haven't really heard how he did today, but I know that he seemed to be fine when I left him. Hopefully, it was a tear free day!

On Being Thankful

I feel like I take so many things for granted sometimes. While I can't even begin to compile a list of all the things I'm thankful for, here's just a few for today:

My family and their health

My home, hot water, and air conditioning in the summer, heat when we need it

Good books and the time to enjoy reading them

That the heat wave is finally over. 90 Degrees feels like a nice spring day, and I am lovin' that breeze today. Now bring on the rain!

My clicker for my car that died a few months ago all of the sudden works again!

Good friends in many places from different times in my life, all whom are very different from one another.

Feeling kicks in my belly... I think I'm semi-obsessed with them, but I sure do love it!!

Good food and to be fortunate enough to enjoy some almost everyday, especially anything with sugar

And finally, last but no least:

That Grant slept in his new bed by himself ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!

Seriously, this last one is a huge deal, and my eyeballs are so thankful today (along with my back)! His furniture was delivered yesterday as promised, and daddy went and picked up his mattress. We made his bed all up, and Grant was so pumped. He kept wanting up on the bed, only problem is it's too high for him to get on alone. I'm sure that he will soon figure out a way to climb up, but he hasn't yet. He even asked me if he could sleep in there. When bedtime came, he was not very happy about going in his room. I laid in bed with him and we read a book and turned out the lights. Then the crying started. I negotiated a little and we agreed to one more book and then lights out. So we read Thomas the Train, turned out the lights, and he actually went right to sleep. I almost did the same, but got up just before 10:00, and went to my own room. I was afraid our little munchkin would wake up and make his way to our bed at some point in the middle of the night, but he didn't. I heard him moving around about 4 am, and I had a hard time going back to sleep, but he never woke up. This is a picture I took of him this morning asleep in his new bed right before I picked him up and put him in the car to go to nanny's.

I know this is already a long post, but just one more funny story. I'm trying to write down my funny Grant stories so I don't forget them. Ever since we painted the baby's room last weekend, there has been lots of talk about where baby sister is and when she's coming. We've tried to explain that she's in my belly and that she's coming after Santa Claus does, but that's a little far off for a 2 year old to comprehend. So, on Weds. night after Grant's bath, I was getting him all dressed and he asked me, "Where's my baby sister?" I replied, "She's still in my belly." Grant then said, "Where's her mommy?" I said, "Well, I'm going to be her mommy and your mommy." I got a really quizzical face from Grant. He then looked at me, pointed his finger, and shook it and said, "No mommy, don't do that!" It was too cute. My mom tried to explain to him that she was my mommy and all of brothers' mommy too. All I can say is this may be very interesting! :0)

Belly Pic

I just realized that I haven't posted any pictures of my blossoming belly. We're trying to take at least one a month. I don't feel like putting on a skimpy tank top much more than that. I'm not sure why I think that's what I have to wear for these, but you can't really tell much in normal clothes I don't think until closer to the end. Plus, I wore them for all of the pics we took while I was pregnant with Grant, so I think I need to again. Anyway... right now, I'm a little over 22 weeks and I feel like I've grown since this pic was taken at 21 weeks, but I'm not volunteering for any more pics until later in the month. Not much to see yet, but I'm sure that will be changing very very soon! With my last pregnancy, I couldn't believe the difference between the 21 week and 25 week pics, so it will be interesting.

In other news, Grant's furniture is coming today, and we're all super excited. He thinks he's excited, but I'm not sure if he realizes he actually has to sleep on it. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get everything set up tonight so we may save the fun for this weekend. I may need Saturday morning to recover anyway.

Grant goes back to Mother's Day Out on Monday. It's not really Mother's Day Out for me since I work every day, but it's just a chance for him to get some interaction with other kids. We had some attachment issues toward the end of the year in the spring, but I'm hoping we're past all of that now. His cousin, Ella, is not going to be in his class this year though, and that may be difficult for him to handle. He is really attached to her. He spent the day with her yesterday so his nanny could go to the dr., and he had a blast. He loves going there and eating "pizza in a box." That's what he told Ella's mommy that he wanted for lunch because that's what he had last time he was there. That was back in May. I couldn't believe that he remembered that. This child forgets nothing. I have to remember that whenever I tell him things because he always remembers sooner or later!

The Painting is Done!

Well, Friday was a long day, but the painting in both Grant's and new baby girl's room is officially finished. We got some of the furniture shifting done, and now it's just a waiting game for Grant's new big boy stuff to be delivered so we can get both rooms set up. No one died during the painting or furniture moving process, and it was fairly pain free. Pook did run over one of my big toes with one of the dresser causing it to bleed from under my toenail, which I'd never experienced. It's feeling better now, and it was worth that little sacrifice for everything we accomplished. Saturday, I was a bit of a zombie due to all of the work on Friday. I never knew that I could be soooo tired after getting a decent night of sleep, but I think I over did it slightly on Friday. Thankfully, besides a little cleaning, grocery getting, and some shopping, the rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful so there was plenty of time to recover. UT lost Sat night for anyone that lives in a cave, but I didn't stay around to witness the 2nd half so I was spared most of the moaning and groaning that I'm sure took place on Saturday night. Last night, we enjoyed a cookout with our Sunday school class that absolutely wore Grant out. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and look forward to doing it again soon!

Wish Me Luck!!

Tomorrow will be the beginning of a very busy weekend for us! I'm asking that you wish me luck and say a prayer that my husband and I don't kill each other before Monday is over :)! We are both taking off from work tomorrow to start painting what will be the new baby girl's room (name ytbd) and then we have to get Grant's furniture into that room and paint his room. We also have to move furniture from our house to mom's, then some to storage, then some back from mom's, and some from the guest bedroom into our bedroom, that is after we rearrange the furniture in our bedroom... doesn't sound like much right?! All of this to do, and in case anyone didn't know, college football starts tonight. That's right, tonight! Who ever thought up Thursday night games seriously should be shot or at least tortured. Didn't they know that football already consumes my husband's Saturdays, and soon to be Sundays, Monday nights, and then they go and start Thursday night games. Pretty soon there will be football on every night of the week, and I'm not talking about old reruns on CSS. Which if you didn't know shows like 5 year old games regularly. You'd think there wouldn't be much of a viewing audience for these, but my husband tunes in regularly. He really is that into football!

Nothing involved in all of this work is too difficult, but my husband and I are sometimes way too much alike. Basically, we're both pretty stubborn, and of course, we both know the best way to get things done, or at least he thinks he does. Of course, I'm always right! I remember when we got Grant's crib and attempted to put it together. I was starting to wonder if we would both make it through that night alive. It was a little taxing. I think we'll probably have to take the crib apart, at least partially, in order to get it out of his room and into the other one. Hopefully, we will not have a repeat of that night. We are in sort of a hurry to get all of this done over this nice weekend because Grant's big boy bed and other furniture are supposed to be in next week. We thought it was going to take a little bit longer, but are glad it's going to be early rather than late. I can't wait to begin the process of getting him to sleep somewhere other than underneath me. I'm sure it will be an adventure!

I bought his new bedding yesterday, and he seemed really excited. He liked the basketball pillow most that sounds like it's breaking glass when it hits the ground. Most of all, he liked that the quilt is blue. When I told him we were going to paint his room, he was really excited, but he kept telling me mom, I want blue. Problem here is that his room is already blue! My grand idea is to paint it sort of a khaki color so that at least it will be somewhat neutral when we move out, hopefully in the not so far off future. It also matches his bedding really well. Anyway, I felt really horrible to be painting his blue walls khaki, but I found this blue quilt so hopefully that will suffice. I'll try to remember to take a before and after picture of his room. We've already taken the bed apart from the other room, so there's not much to photograph other than some yellow walls in there. They ought to be fun to paint over.

Anyway, between all of this house redecorating and moving of furniture and of course FOOTBALL, especially UT FOOTBALL, the weekend will be crazy and likely a bit stressful, so wish me luck!