27/28 weeks!

Hello 3rd trimester! 12 or less weeks left!

 

I'm actually just ready to be not pregnant and have Connor here :) It will be a tough few adjustment months and I'm just ready to do it. This pregnancy just hasn't been as enjoyable as Colin's. I'm so ready to sleep on my stomach, have a glass of wine, and be able to chase after wild boy without getting out of breath! haha. Thankfully Derek has been home more lately and has been carrying Colin and chasing him around! I'm ready to get into regular clothes and not have ligament pain :) Of course, mostly I'm excited to see what little Connor looks like and have our family of 4 complete!

 

 

Derek and I had massages Friday afternoon and it was so nice Prenatal massages should be prescribed by OBs! I've had more ligament and hip pain this time, probably from being on the floor with C and carrying him everywhere. We have a busy 12 weeks coming up and I'm sure it will fly by! Still working on nursery stuff and ordered his bumper finally! Now just for wall décor! His clothes (Colin's hand me downs) have been washed and put away. He even has a swim suit ready for summer!

Today we had our OB appointment. Had to do the glucose test today and hopefully passed. Also had to get the dreaded Rhogam shot since I'm B-. Now onto every 2 week appointments! Heartbeat sounded good and we got to talk about delivery stuff which was fun! We have our 4D ultrasound in 2 weeks too :)

CTP is 17 months!

Our boy will be 17 months tomorrow! Almost 1/2 way through year two with this cute thing. So much of Colin's personality was blogged about last post, so I'll just add a few cute new things with some pictures from our week! He's big guy these days, wearing mostly 18 month clothes and up to a size 5 diaper! He weighs almost 27lbs. We'll get stats next month at the doc. He has 8 front teeth and 2 top molars so far.

 

 

Oh food...totally toddler picky these days. He will just shake his head no at most food without touching it. Ha. Such a control thing at this age. He does love- yogurt, grapes, applesauce pouches, chicken nuggets with ketchup, shells and cheese, sweet potato fries/tater tots, any kind of cracker or cookie, smoothies, corn, anything sweet (of course certain days, all of those are a no). We have found that if he can take full control of the food, he's more likely to eat it. Whole waffles, muffins, pouches, and now apples is a new favorite. He'll carry it around forever and eat the skin too. Still won't touch milk unless it's room temp. He does love any kind of shake or smoothie, we have some now that have spinach and carrots in it and it's like a treat to him!

 

 

Kiddo loves outside (who doesn't!) and constantly runs to the garage door or back porch door trying to open the door (he almost has it). His favorite is to go on the porch while I'm cooking at night and run around. We got him a tool bench and a water table to put out there next week (after the freezing weekend we have coming up!). He loves the park and feeding the ducks too :)

 

He loves to babble, but says few words in English :) Occasionally he'll mimic us and surprise us. He is able to say many words, but usually says something for a while and then stops for months. We're working on animals/sounds, saying thank you (he repeats sometimes) types of food/milk, understanding places -school, park, store, etc. He loves saying uh-oh and uh huh. He's great at nodding his head no and yes, and has occasionally said no or yes with it correctly. He definitely understands a lot. He can follow most commands, knows where to go for meal time, bath, the car, etc. Kind of like training a dog, ha. He definitely understands no (throwing is our big issue lately) and doesn't take it well...still laying on his back or hitting his forehead against the floor. But he recovers fast, that's a positive, right?! ha.

 

We've had a fair share of tantrums in public, I wish I could say I handle it like a pro now, but I've got some work to do too :) He just loves his freedom. I definitely give him a lot of it, I don't like being a helicopter. He is always around older kids and has a hard time keeping up sometimes which causes most of his meltdowns. He wants to do everything they do! He also likes to lock kids out of things that have doors. He stands there and holds it closed...power trip thing :) He generally loves being out though and is getting more social with people and other kids. He loves waving at people in the parking lot and sharing toys (so far). If we could just work on him not constantly trying to out-run me!

Ya'll, this poor child has my head! You see that kid and his average size head next to C above? We'll he's 2!! Sorry Colin! Also, he may have my thick ankles...

 

He's getting more adventurous and it's fun watching him with other kids. He's very careful most of the time and likes to watch others. Everything is so exciting to him, it's cute. He loves putting things together and still loves books. He's picky about which ones he picks out at night. He still loves Mickey, Curious George, Toy Story, and Despicable Me. I think it will take some time to adjust, of course, but I think he'll be a good big brother and probably get them both into a lot of fun and trouble! 

 

He's still a momma's boy and that's ok by me. I want my boys to be boys and be tough and strong, but also want them to be caring and loving too. I get a lot of night time love and I'm soaking it up until he's over it! He still loves to carry Ellie around and hug her. He likes to hug pretty much every stuffed animal. He gives kisses on occasion and they are juicy :) We love him more and more each day and can't believe he's so big! This will be his 2nd Easter/Mothers/Fthers Day/summer, etc. (3rd Halloween!). No more 1st this year and that's seems crazy!

Cuddle time with brother last night. He is all about crawling all over my lap and laying on Connor these days. Hope he feels the same way when Connor is here and crying in his face! hehe.

Our C-Rex

Oh this boy of ours :)  He has definitely been testing the limits lately and wearing us down pretty fast some days. I'm sure he can sense Connor's future arrival and that momma can't just crawl around after him as much these days, but I refuse to throw in the towel and be defeated by a 17 month old! haha. Some days you just know will be 'off days', but I'm trying my best to change my own attitude and thought I'd share how some (mostly negative) exchanges with people (mostly strangers) lately have helped shape a new mindset. Most importantly how when C is having his 15th floor fit of the day (because he threw the ball correctly?), he will see me waiting on him patiently with a smile, not rolling my eyes laughing... mom fail on that one in the past, eek.

 

 

You see, little C-Rex is just a clone of his daddy and me. I'm sure our parents had a time raising us ;) We all have type A personalities with very big plans and are determined to master life on our own :) I joke Colin is an adult trapped in a baby body. He gets so frustrated if he takes my hand, leading me to the garage door, and I won't open it for him to go sit on his push car. Despite the torrential downpour outside...

 

He doesn't say much that makes sense, but he know how things work. He wants his own fork/spoon/cup. He wants to hold his own pouches and sip cups. He wants to hand feed the cat and when they leave him, he gets mad at them and starts putting food in their water bowl...

 

He doesn't watch too much TV, but if the TV is on he will absolutely protest whatever game/show is on until you change it to Mickey or George. He also owns the spice drawer. Period. Soon after this the whole bottle of white pepper covered the floor; a step up from dumping parsley last week. He knows how to open everything!

 

Toys are love/hate right now. He can build blocks and take apart with the best. If one doesn't fit right, it gets chunked across the room. But his sweet side likes to put them back in the bag :) BONUS for me!

 

He doesn't care to follow other kids yet and will take off when we're in public to anywhere I'm not going :) Good thing he's not too fast yet. He has never liked dirt/gravel/etc on his hands, but is learning to use his hands/shirt to wipe it off on his own.

 

C is surprisingly interested in art work and stays pretty focused. Until I tell him not to eat the marker. Then everything on the table gets thrown to the window and he bangs his head on the table :) Don't you feel like doing that once in a while?!

 

 

He gets super bored at home and we've had to change out some toys to big boy toys this week. He got his own set of fruits/veggies, we're putting the train track together, and he's getting a nice tool set coming in the mail. Let's just call C 'advanced' haha.

 

He is now wanting to get down and do his own thing everywhere. Eating out can be quite tiresome when he just wants to throw your ice everywhere and maybe your knife too. Thanks for meeting for lunch today Aunt Jessie!!

 

Once out of the car, he immediately wants to take off to the woods. He loves navigating all the hills on his own, Mr. Independent! It is so true having a head-strong child can be exhausting and trying, but watching him learn how to do new things and seeing how excited he gets is priceless. He's fiercely independent and motivated; the reward in a few years will be so worth it :) It's funny for Derek and I to see our qualities in Colin. Some of our friends (and even strangers) speak negative sometimes on having a head-strong child and it's hard not to 1.agree and 2. to defend him. No one pushed Derek or I when we were young to get jobs in high school so we had our own money. No one pushed us to go pursue graduate degrees. No one pushes me to teach C colors or take him to library story time to learn new things despite screaming and throwing hard plastic toys at my head the whole drive there. Definitely no one pushes Derek to see the most patients in the ER, while helping out colleagues. We are just wired that way; stubborn and self-motivated, often to a exhausting fault due to our lack of flexibility sometimes :) Add being pregnant and I'm pooped everyday by 6! It's nice to see those qualities (even if it's tough on him and us sometimes) in Colin and know that we don't have to worry about him and the decisions he makes when he's grown. He'll be a proud, successful, and awfully stubborn ;) amazing person (or so I pray!). We'll also have to make sure we foster that sweet, sensitive, silly, artistic side too, even if that's a bit foreign for us type A parents. Sometimes we just need a different perspective to see the beauty in things! Thankfully with some extra love and attention, C had an overall wonderful today that made up for some recent tough days!

 

 

Now I wouldn't complain if Connor starts off a little more relaxed at the beginning...haha, just kidding (kind of). Sweet Emory Claire will be here in 2 months! So excited for friends having babies! They really are life changing and the best thing ever.

Fun in the sun!

It's so nice out! So glad it's feeling like spring! We've been out and about enjoying this weather everyday. Back up to last Thursday, Cass came to stay the night and we took Colin to his art show at school. Too funny...he is an intense artist Ms. Nancy said. He gets serious about it and has to taste test everything. Derek and I both hope and pray he's more artsy than us!

 

Some of his displayed works of art :)

Cass with her backwards sweater for dinner. We had a great time catching up and talking wedding plans!!

 

Saturday, Doozie and Nana came in town for the day. The men worked on sawing/hanging doors and such while Jess met Donna and me out shopping. We grilled out dinner and had dessert to celebrate my birthday before they headed home. We all enjoy grandparent visits! They got me a cookbook stand, a sewing kit, and a target gift card for new plates (which we went and got yesterday!). Thanks for working so hard men!

 

Yummy brownies! We've almost finished them off ;) Thanks Donna for making them!

Yummy ice cream! Colin was super helpful to the men, of course!

Nana's dream came true and Colin cuddled for a few minutes ;) He's a mover these days and only gives out good cuddles before bedtime.

 

Sunday, church was a big ole fail. C is funny and has certain churches that he just doesn't do good at. This one has a super small 1 yr old classroom that is super loud, so we weren't surprised to get called out to come get him :) He demands a quiet, peaceful environment, ha. 

 

Poor bud looked cute :) He ran pulling Derek's hand to the car...couldn't get there fast enough!

After some house work and a nap, we headed to the park with Cait's crew for a while. Everyone in Hoover was there too! Then we took pizza to Jacob and Marjorie's new house in Vestavia! Pizza picnic outside in this awesome weather!

 

Feeding the ducks!

 



Monday was gorgeous so we went to the zoo. Colin was so interactive this time and was funny to watch. He's at the age where we are starting to get to live through his new experiences and be kids again :)

Loved the Elephants and giraffes best. He really liked the petting zoo part too!

 

Leading the way! Love random hugs from my boy :)

Bubble time while we grilled out dinner was necessary too!

 

Showing off fork skills with his fish and ketchup :)

After school yesterday was the perfect time to introduce Colin to Sno Biz! We went almost daily with our summer babysitter growing up and there is one pretty close to us! He loved it! Yay for spring days!

 



We've been walking/wagon riding every night after dinner...finally getting to meet a lot of our neighbors since everyone is out again!