IF I were to register ...

Being that this is Baby #3 for us, we aren't planning on a baby shower.  And that's ok.  Really.  We have everything we need .... diapers, a few clothes, a bed and food (I've got that one covered).  Babies don't need much.  But IF I were to create a baby registry for this kiddo, of the things that I want, this is what I would include....

(And I would like to note: I don't expect anyone to buy us anything.  I really don't.  This is more just a list for my own sake, so I can start gathering these things.  But if you feel so inclined to bless our family, we would truly be grateful!)

Swaddle blankets.  This seems odd that we would need these.  Before Brooks was born we had more baby blankets than I thought we could ever use.  Ever.  But over the last four years they've been used for both boys as actual swaddle blankets, with Carter as spit-up ponchos and now as diaper changing pads .... so yeah, we could use some new ones.

Carseat cover.  In the past, we've always just thrown a blanket over the car seat to keep the wind out.  But with this being our first "winter baby" and with the wicked way the wind blows here, I figure it would be good to have something that secures to the car seat itself to keep Poppy warm and out of the wind.



Wet bag.  We cloth diaper.  And we only have one wet bag.  And while it's big enough to hold all the diapers we use, it's nice to have a second for when the first is in the wash.  I'm not picky about color or whether it's store bought or home made.  It's going to hold poopy diapers.  But it would just be nice to have one more.

(It's for this kind of thing - and the car seat cover - that I wish I knew how to sew.)

Amber Necklace.  10.5 - 11.5".  We bought an amber necklace when Carter started teething, and holy "no more screaming" batman does that thing work!  I would LOVE to have one for when this baby starts teething too!  And oooh, and let me check.  Yep!  I even have a discount code (SAVE).  Sweet.

NB & Size 1 Disposable Diapers.  Yes, I know I said we cloth diaper.  And we do.  But I usually don't start with the fluff until baby is a few months old.  I don't feel like it's a worthwhile investment to buy XS cloth diapers for the few months that they would wear them.  Plus, newborn babies poop all.the.time. and I would be doing waaaaay more laundry than I would care to do postpartum.  So we'll need disposables.

NB - 18 month clothes.  Considering we already have two kids (and boxes upon boxes of clothes in the garage), it feels odd knowing I'm going to need new clothes for this baby.  I mean, if it's a girl we'll obviously need clothes.  She may not be too keen about wearing firetruck and dinosaur jammies.  I know I won't be.  But even if it's a boy, we'll need new clothes.  My first two kids were summer babies and with this kiddo coming in January, all the clothes we have are totally opposite season.  Grrr.  So I'm sure I'll be keeping my eye out for good sales and certainly be hitting up the consignment stores after baby comes.

30 weeks. Still cooking.

Here we are, three fourths of the way through this pregnancy, and I'm gonna be honest.  I'm pretty sure I'm in denial about ever having this baby.  To me, January still seems a reeeeally longs ways away.  But with it being November now, it's a whole lot closer than I realize.  I guess it's good that I'm not too anxious and I do have a lot to keep me busy until baby comes.  You know, with Christmas and stuff.  I'm just really content with life right now.  And the fact that I currently sleep through the night.

Hmmm, what else is new ....

• Baby moves and wiggles like crazy!  Sometimes quick jabs, other times little flutters and yet other times just some nice slow stretches.  It's super duper fun.
• Baby gets hiccups.  And I'm pretty sure he doesn't like them.  At all.  I'll feel a few rhythmic hiccups, then quick flailing and kicks.  A few more hiccups.  More kicks and jabs.  Something tells me this will be the baby that cries when he gets the hiccups.
• No, we still don't know the gender and no, I don't have even a good guess.  My mother intuition kind of sucks.  But for simplicity sake, and the fact that I hate calling the baby "it", I usually just refer to the kiddo as "he".  
• Baby is sitting low and breech. (because you all wanted to know his position, didn't you?)  The sitting low part isn't so bad except for the occasional groin pains and the "constantly having to pee" thing.  And baby has been breech for a few weeks now.  I know I shouldn't be nervous.  But yet, I kind of am.  I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow where we'll hopefully get this kiddo moving in the right direction.
• Overall, I still feel pretty good.  Some lower back aches, some groin pains when I squat too much, but otherwise I'm good.  I thought for sure I would be a sobbing wreck after teaching 12+ hours this weekend, but I feel good.  Well, at least no worse than I did before my weekend class.
• As I'm coming into the last few weeks of pregnancy, I'm realizing I don't really like shoes.  My two boys were summer babies and I could wear flip flops when I hit the "I can't reach my feet" stage.  Winter?  Not gonna work.  (although it did give me a good excuse to go shoe shopping :)  And not only do I have to worry about my shoes, I also have 4 little feet in my family that, for some reason, need shoes before we leave the house.  They're so needy.  Brooks is good about putting on his own shoes, but Carter... not so much.  And if he doesn't want to put on shoes, he makes it very very difficult for me to put shoes on him.  He's so.stubborn.  Oh well.  At least now I own tennis shoes that don't need to be tied and boots that slide on Carter's feet in about 30 seconds, so that helps.

September

I'm not entirely sure where the month of September went.  I know it started with a birthday, and now here we are, 20 some days later with October just around the corner.  This little life of ours better slow down or my kids will be all "hey I'm leaving for college now" and I'm still "do you want to wear dinosaur or puppy jammies tonight??"

Anyway, we've done stuff.  Fun stuff.  Fall is coming.  I love the cooler air.  Although I feel like the weather is a bit drunk right now.  Seriously.   It's 85* one day and 60* the next.  One load of laundry will contain both shorts & sweaters.  But it's what happens in the Midwest.  It's a blending of seasons if you will.

Anyway, here's some highlights of the month.

Touch a Truck

Every year the Sioux Falls Parks n' Rec department hosts "Touch a Truck".  Bascially it's a parking lot full of every kind of different truck and vehicle you can imagine.  Kids are allowed to climb, touch, honk the horn and dream that someday they, too, can drive a garbage truck.  (I'm gonna go ahead and assume - and hope - they'll grow out of that dream.  If not, it'll save a ton on college bills!)

Anyway, for my two year old little motor head, this was a dream come true.  Seriously.  He squealed with sheer happiness and his jaw nearly hit the ground when he walked into the parking lot.  Brooks hated it.  It was loud.  And he could care less about trucks.  But Carter literally dragged me from truck to truck, demanding I help him into the cab so he could "drive a cuck".

I couldn't even tell you what truck this was in.  To me, they all looked the same.  But he needed to sit in every.single.one. 

Preschool Started

For Brooks this year, we're doing preschool at home.  I didn't feel like I needed to pay someone hundreds of dollars to teach my child the ABC's.  That, and I really like teaching him.  He's a fun kid to learn with.  And this year, he's a part of a preschool homeschool group called "Backpack Buddies".  Cute, huh?  It actually started mid-way through last year, but we've revamped it some, added some structure and even have field trips scheduled.  There's five of us moms, 5 preschoolers and a whole bunch more "littles" added in.  We really look forward to our Tuesday morning group time!  We have a structured lesson for an hour and then play time for an hour (aka, the moms get to have actual adult interaction time.  yay.)

The first day of "school".  Carter received a new backpack for his birthday and he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the schooly fun.

And because one of the moms is a rockin' photographer, she did school pics for all the kids.

 Handsome little fellas, aren't they??

The Apple Orchard

Our latest preschool field trip was to the apple orchard.  It was a chilly morning, but that made it even more perfect for apple picking.  Our group participated in story time, sampled apples and juice, took a wagon ride  out to the orchard, picked a few apples, and then visited the animals and played in the hay.  Super fun morning!

most of the crew!

Look Who's Two!

It's true.  Our Carter James is two years old.  It's gone fast and very slow at the same time.  But we are so so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  He makes me laugh every day.  He helps me see a new perspective on life and he gives the sweetest kisses that melt this mama's heart.

For his birthday this year, we kept it really low key.  I mean, really.  Monday night we had Grandma and Papa Gale over for Carter's favorite dinner (spaghetti!) and cake and a few presents.

Singing "Happy Birthday".  He blew out the candles like a champ!

Mmmmm, frosting.

Papa & Grandma Gale

Then on Tuesday morning, we woke the birthday boy up by filling his whole crib with balloons!  Poor kid was still half asleep and slightly shocked, but eventually he realized a whole bed full of balloon is pretty awesome!

We ate Carter's favorite breakfast, oatmeal, then we packed up and headed out for a fun adventure.  We traveled to the Children's Museum in Brookings for the day to celebrate our birthday boy!  Chris took the day off of work so he could join us.

This was our first trip there in the summer time, so we were able to play with all the outdoor activities too.  And I'm so glad someone told us to pack extra clothes, because both the boys were soaking wet after playing outside! 

Where the "soaking wet" began

Playing in the river bed.  More wet fun!

The coolest giant lite brite EVER!

My motor head "fixing" the car.  He was totally in his element!

Painting windows

We finished the day with an ice-cream treat and headed home so our two tired boys could nap and rest.  I think Carter really enjoyed celebrating his birthday!  I know we did!!  

We came home to find a package on our front porch from Grandma Marty & Papa Dave.  Carter is definitely at the age where he understands and enjoys opening presents.  Thanks for the super fun presents!!

Both the boys sporting their Nicaragua shirts from Grandma Marty!

And now we begin the adventure of TWO!  Woohoo!

20 weeks. Shouldn't this be a little more "ho hum"?

We look-ee here.  20 weeks!  (Well, I'm actually 21 weeks.  But let's just pretend I posted this on time) Half way done with this pregnancy.  Well, half-ish.  My first two babies came after their due dates and I'm expecting the same with this one.  So I suppose I'm close  to half way.  To be honest, I really don't care or keep track.

Anyway, I'm 20 weeks and here's some thoughts ....

• Time during the beginning of this pregnancy was very definitive.  Not long days, not short.  Time just trekked along at a normal speed.  (Profound, right?)  I think it was a combination of anxiousness to meet our new family member and wanting it to slow down a bit so I could remember and enjoy it.  I also love this stage of our life.  Brooks is 4 and a super fun kid to hang out with.  Carter is just a few days shy of turning 2 and is becoming much more verbal and independent.  And they both sleep through the night (hallelujah!)  Not that I'm not excited for baby to come, I'm just super enjoying being a family of four right now!  Plus .....
• I like being pregnant.  I really do.  I know some mamas have awful pregnancies and for many reasons, they have every right to totally hate being pregnant.  But I love it.  I love knowing there is a small human being growing inside me.  I love my expanding baby bump.  I love taking on the extra responsibility of eating really well, exercising, and praying more.  That, and I feel great!  People don't believe me, but I do.  Now, keep in mind that I'm in the 2nd trimester "sweet spot" of pregnancy, but I'm pretty sure when all the "oh, my aching lower back" and "I think I just peed my pants" comments start coming .... I'll still love being pregnant.  Maybe.  But how often in life does one get to do this?  I better enjoy it while I can.
• I felt the baby move right around 17 weeks.  It took a while to distinguish the gas bubbles from baby flutters, but now they are definite little kicks.  And kiddo is getting stronger.  Chris even felt him/her move around!
• This is baby #3.  We've done this twice before.  I feel like this should be old news.  Ya know, the "been there, done that" kind of stuff.  It's totally not!  I still nearly cried the first time I heard the heart beat.  Chris still runs to my side to put my hand on my tummy when I tell him the baby is moving.  I'm super excited (and a little bit nervous) to meet this new person.  I bought my first new gift for the baby last week - a hand knit newborn hat.  It's adorable.  Seriously, adorable.  And I get all misty eyed looking at it, thinking that a real baby will be wearing it.  But not just any baby ... my baby.  Weird.  And totally awesome!
• I've gained a lot more weight with this baby than I have with my other pregnancies up to this point.  It may have something to do that I was also my smallest weight when I became pregnant with this baby. I mean, I'm still not huge, but some days that extra 25lb really makes me feel like it.  Normally I can wear my pre-pregnancy pants unbuttoned at this point but now I can't even get them over my rear end.  (sigh)  Oh well.  I know I'm eating healthy, getting enough protein and fruits & veggies and exercising regularly.  I just eat when I'm hungry to make sure baby is receiving the nutrients it needs.  It will all come off (at least that's what I'm telling myself ;)

Poop

This morning while getting dressed, I can hear Carter downstairs hollering about something.  I go to check it out.  He meets me at the bottom of the stairs and says,

"Poop."

Ok buddy, let's go change your diaper.  He grabs my hand, says "poop" a few more times and starts walking with me.  Then we walk past the diapers.  And I become increasingly more concerned.

"Carter.  Where is the poop??"

To which he replies in the most adorable sing-song voice you can imagine ......

"Floor!"

And sure enough.  We end our journey in the kitchen.  And there is, indeed, poop on the floor.

Fortunately, Carter saw the situation as a problem that required my attention and not an opportunity to finger paint.  And I'm thankful it was on the kitchen floor and not the carpet.  But still....

So I removed the leaky diaper, threw him in the shower, hosed him down, dressed the child and cleaned & sanitized the floor.

Just another day.

I miss Mama

Mom.  That's my name.  Sounds obvious, right?  Except it's not always been my name.  From the time Brooks was born I've been Mama.  I like Mama.  I've embraced Mama.  It sounds loving and sweet, yet can grow with a child.  Or so I thought.

A few weekends ago, Chris and I got away.  Not too far away.  Just to a Bed &Breakfast in Lennox.  But it was the first time ever (yes, ever) we left our kids overnight.  We had a great time and I don't think they even noticed we were gone.  But something changed in that 24 hours we were away.  During that time my four year old grew up.  And I became "Mom".  Not Mama.

I thought it would just be a phase.  Carter still calls me Mama.  Chris still refers to me as Mama.  But no.  I'm Mom.  And it seems the more I try to encourage Brooks to call me Mama, the more he calls me Mom.  Perhaps he feels more grown up saying it.  Or perhaps he likes pushing my buttons.  Because when he's not thinking about it, a "mama" will slip out.  And he seems to weave it into every sentence he speaks to me.  "Hey mom.  Mom, what can I do now, mom?  Let's do a puzzle mom.  I have to go potty mom.  Mom, what are you doing mom?"

But perhaps it's just a sign that he's growing up.  That happens I hear. (sigh)  But I miss Mama.  I miss hearing it.  I miss my little boy's first word.  And now when Brooks says it, Carter will repeat it.  It won't be long until Mama is phased out all together.  But at least I'm not alone.  Chris has morphed into Dad too instead of Daddy.  I guess we're growing up into our "big kid" names.