A quick vent session....

I know a lot of pregnant women probably feel a lot worse than I do during pregnancy, but I deserve to whine a little too! I AM MISERABLE!!! I don't know what has happened this week, but I am SO uncomfortable. My back is in horrible pain all the time, and Allie is growing MUCH faster than my belly is accomodating her!!! I can't breathe....I swear the neighbors can probably hear me breathing, that's how loud I breathe all the time!!! It takes me several minutes to lie down or sit back up..... And don't even get me started on how hard it is to get up off the floor after Cam's diaper changes or cleaning up his toys!!

I KNOW I wasn't this uncomfortable during the last 2 months with Cam....maybe the last 2 weeks, but not the last 8 weeks!!! All I can say is THANK HEAVENS that starting December 19, Nate is DONE with school for 3 full weeks, and I will be DONE with babysitting!! We keep joking about how we should go celebrate that evening, it will be a happy day!! Nate has been a HUGE help, and I cannot say enough about how grateful for him I am! He has taken over a lot of the dishwashing (when he's home) and does most of the laundry. I physically can't carry the wet loads down the stairs to the dryers anymore, so he does that too. He vacuums and takes out the garbage....and he always tells me to go lie down. What a man!!! (now the real test is if he'll keep these things up AFTER she's born, haha!! Oh well, I'm gonna take what I get and love him for it!!)

Well, even as I sit here, pains are shooting down my back and sides.....hence my severe lack in blogging lately!! There is my vent session for you all to enjoy!! Can't wait to meet my sweet baby girl at the end of this!! I already love her more than anything, and she's worth it!!

PS....Yesterday Cameron kept setting goldfish crackers on my belly "for the baby". Cute!

33 Week Update

So I've been in a LOT of pain this week. My abdomen and back just hurt, and it was starting to make me nervous!! It didn't feel like typical ligament pain either. So I had a non-stress test done, and everything is fine, thank goodness! I really don't want a premature baby!! The pain has gone way down, so I'm grateful for that as well. My belly is measuring at 34, and I've gained 23 pounds so far. I think I gained 30 total with Cam, if I remember right. I have another appt in 2 weeks. Down home stretch!!

So I discovered last night that Cam can now climb out of a pack n play! NOT cool..... I woke up at midnight last night to find him standing next to me....SO weird! So he climbed in bed with me and slept the rest of the night! He did fine, but now I'm worried that we can't travel anywhere with him! (we're at my parents this weekend). Good thing we hardly EVER travel, haha!!

My Usual Babbling....

I finally remembered to buy baby hangers at Walmart last night. So I have been able to start getting the kids' closet organized. We found out that we are for SURE moving to a 3-bed in May. It still seems really far away (and it is), but we know what apartment we are getting, and it's our first choice as far as location in the complex. It's on the top floor, which will be a pain, but great at the same time. It has a WHITE backsplash instead of our nasty brown flowers, so that right there is worth it, haha! And I like knowing that we will for sure be here for the first 4 months of Allison so now I can plan better. I have been looking around for a changing table, but I think we're gonna just use the one that came with her pack n play for now, and then when we move, I'll put Cam's dresser in Allie's room to use as a changing table and open his room up for all of his toys and hopefully a train table!!! I think when we move, we will try to get Cam moved to a big bed (MAYBE...) and then Allie can start using the crib since she'll be old enough to start sleeping through the night and on a nap schedule. We technically don't need 3 bedrooms until then anyway, so we're happy to save our money and be crammed in here a little longer!! I'm sure you all care sooo much about all of this, haha!

So random question: Cam feels a tad warm to me, and the only thermometer I have is his bum one from when he was a baby. I've seen the ear ones in the store, but I'm not sure if they are worth buying? I know he's old enough for an ear one, but at the same time, I don't want to waste my money. What do you all use to take your toddler's temps with??

Another question: Any specific brand or kind of baby monitor you recommend? I never had one with Cam, but I am getting one for this baby so Cam and I can go play outside while she's napping. The problem is that SO many people live around here and have babies and monitors, so the frequencies get all jumbled easily.

Wow, I'll be 32 weeks tomorrow! I'm starting to get uncomfortable at night. Luckily Cam is sleeping all night again, so it's not as bad, but I'm still awake a lot. I've been having really painful BH contractions still, so I'm hoping everything is still going okay! I've been trying to rest as much as possible. Cameron and Abby have suddenly become best buddies and entertain each other SOO well when they are both awake. It's been such a relief because usually I was breaking up their fighting, and disciplining Cam for bullying her, and it was wearing me out! Now I just lie on the sofa while they play! Thanks kids!! :)

Bed & Night time update

I bought Allie this bed yesterday. I got a sweet deal off craigslist, of course!! It's in perfect condition, and ironically, it matches our infant carseat and stroller pattern!! (Not that it matters, but it's still weird!) I love how it has the bassinet and changing table attachments. Anyway, this should work for her for atleast the first 6 months, so we can move Cam into his big bed without feeling rushed. Speaking of Cam....the night time waking is seriously out of control. For the past several weeks, he's been waking up crying for binkies, a drink, his blanket, to get down and play, basically anything he can think of to get us in his room! We've had enough of it! So between 7 pm and 7 am, we do NOT go in his room, no matter what. I feel like he's 5 months again and we're doing the cry it out thing! But I'm just sick of it. He does NOT need milk at 2 am, and he needs to learn to stop throwing his blankie and binkies out of his bed. So 2 nights ago, Cam woke up at 2:30 and screamed for over an hour. It was awful, but we were strong! He fell asleep at 4 and slept until 7. Last night, Nate went to bed with ear plugs (haha!) and Cam only woke up maybe twice, and only whimpered for a few minutes. Progress! I'm sure it's going to take a full week or two for Cam to totally stop trying to get his way, but I am tired of him being in control of our nights!!! WE are the parents.....right?!? Yes we are!! :)

Missing you all....

Today Cam and I went up to Woods Cross to hang out with Merilee and her girls. Merilee is throwing me a baby shower in a few weeks, and I'm SO touched by how sweet she is to host it and put so much work into it! The invitations are CUTE! Still can't believe I'm really having a girl sometimes!
Anyway, but as I went to make my invite list, I realized how many of my dear friends and family don't live in Utah. It made me sad! I miss you all, and I really wish we could hang out MUCH more often than we get to!!

31 Weeks

Time is ticking away....!!!

So I think that whoever this Mr. Braxton-Hicks MAN was didn't know what he was talking about when he said "mild" contractions! To quote Rachel from friends: "No uterus? No opinion!!" I didn't start having BH contractions with Cam's pregnancy until I was about 36-37 weeks, and turns out I was dilating!! But THIS pregnancy has been completely different. I have had them the entire time, and they don't feel very good!! One minute I can push on my belly and it's all squishy, and the next it's like a rock! So weird (and painful!).

Other than that, I'm physically feeling about as good as I could hope to be feeling. Other than Cameron STILL waking us up several times a night (seriously, it's getting OLD), I'm sleeping well. I feel like I'm WAY tiny for only have 2 months left. If I tuck a pillow under me, I can still sleep on my stomach!!! And I still have a few non-maternity tops that fit me fine. She is still super active, so I don't worry that she's not growing, it's just weird how different your body can be with 2 pregnancies. I don't have any stretch marks yet either. BUT I know that she will more than double in size in the next 2 months, so I'm not expecting to stay this way!!!

Emotionally I have been sort of a wreck the past few weeks! I think part of it was coming from my being really nervous about teaching my Finance class, because I felt a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders when that was done! BUT I can tell that the overall exhaustion of pregnancy and my nervousness about handling 2 kids is starting to take over!! Not good!! :) Poor Cameron gets the brunt of most of my moodiness, and I'm working on that daily! The past 2 days have been really great though, so I have hopes that it's just the normal pregnancy emotion swings and not me having SERIOUS issues, haha!

I'm still on a baking frenzy...I think I am single-handedly supporting the companies that supply butter, sugar, flour and chocolate chips!! Tonight I'm making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Come get some!!

Wanted: Activity Ideas for 2 yr old!!

Okay, so I thought we moms could share ideas for keeping our toddlers entertained indoors this Winter!!
Today is Wednesday, so it's No TV Day for us. Cam is SO sick of his toys, and if he gets bored, he just whines and hangs on me.
So here are some of my ideas:
1. Bubbles (unfortunately we are out today)
2. Water fun at the sink (still a huge hit)
3. Coloring (Cam is getting pretty good at staying in the lines, for a 2 yr old anyway!)
4. Baking (Cam loves to help with this)
5. Playing with stickers (amazing how long this will ocupy him as well, but be prepared for sticker to be stuck EVERYWHERE!!)

Anyway, I just wanted to hear any more ideas you guys might have. Happy Winter!!