32 weeks and 4 days

 

8 months pregnant.  Feels like a lot more. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I'm hoping it will go fast.  But I still don't want him to be early.  Josh won't be in Ohio with me until I'm a 37 weeks.  I also need to remember that I have less than two months of being a parent to one child and I should enjoy it and spend as much time as possible with Penelope (which I already do, since I'm a stay at home mom).  After Oliver gets here, it's going to be a while before I spend a lot of one-on-one time with her.  Kind of making me sad right now just thinking of it.  She has turned into such a snuggler lately, I love it. 

For Easter we went to Sunday service, which was strange to me because I double checked to make sure it started at 9:30 and we got there right at 9:30.  We saw 2 or 3 families walk in after us.  When we got there, the pastor was in the middle of his message and it lasted 45 minutes.  Then we sang a song or two and it was over.  All of the services I have been to, the message is near the end and between 20 and 30 minutes so I was really confused if we were late or not.  Plus, there is no nursery so Penelope was very bored and active.  After church, she got her Easter basket which was mainly toys and just a little chocolate.  I forgot to start my roast until about 2 or 3pm (and I don't like roast that much and Penelope doesn't at all) so Josh just took it to work with him that night and Penelope and I ate some sort of leftovers.  We were fine with it.  Since Josh and I have been married, we haven't done a lot for Easter. I usually just make a ham. Last year I had to work.  Once we are back home, I know we will be spending it with our families more.

We also tried out potty training last week.  But then I realized I had to put her in a diaper quite a lot because we had so many places to be.  I just had her in cotton training pants so she would realize when she went.  Sometimes she would whine after she did and other times she wouldn't.  She did use the potty once and Josh and I were both really excited, but she had no idea why.  After the third day, and she wasn't really tell me anything, I decided to take a break.  We have a two-day road trip coming up which I fully intend for her to wear a diaper the whole time so I was beginning to feel like it was a waste.  Plus, being very pregnant and having to run down the hallway to the bathroom with her, and bending down and cleaning up messes with bleach and chemicals didn't sound appeasing anymore. She's only 18 months old.  We've got lots of time.

 

Our 5 year anniversary is on Friday.  I still have no idea what to get him and time is really running out.  No time to order anything now without paying $20 for shipping.  Penelope is going to spend the evening at a friend's house while we stay home and have a Hobbit marathon.  Is it a marathon if there are only two movies?  The next day is our going away party.  Our friend is throwing it for us, but having it at our house so that way I can put Penelope to bed and don't have to leave early.  Should be a good time.  Then.... 5 days later, my mom is flying out here and staying for 2 days before her, Penelope and I drive back to Ohio. Josh will follow with the animals about 3 weeks later.  I hope that's all the longer it is.  I feel like I still have a millions things to do here before I leave then a million more after I get there.  But I'm still very excited. 

Bath time!

Watching The Lorax

 

How far along? 32 weeks and 4 day
Maternity clothes? That's all I wear besides dresses 
Best moment this week: Josh returning to day shift and being off of stupid nights.  I think all three of us are much much happier.
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  Not having my organs smooched and being short of breath
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi. Always. Oh and chocolate.
Sleep: Can't sleep on my back or stomach and sleeping on my hips hurt.  The couch is most comfortable right now, honestly.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Greasy bacon
Have you started to show yet: I would say so
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Bitter sweet feelings about moving back home.  But I'm still looking forward to it.  Our going away party is this weekend and anniversary.

30 weeks and 1 day

 

30 weeks yesterday!  I don't think I've gotten any bigger lately.  At least I hope not.  I've felt the same size for about a month.  But the scale begs to differ...  We are going to a 3D ultrasound soon to see Oliver!  I'm pretty excited because it's been 10 or 11 weeks since our last ultrasound.  I'm an online shopaholic so I'm always buying new things for Oliver.  Recently in the mail we go monthly tie stickers for pictures, a Boppy cover and Tommee Tippee bottles.  Next shipment is a silicone bib and an Aden swaddler.  I keep thinking the only things I still need for him are towels and burp clothes.  I keep forgetting things like combs, pacifiers, lotion... I'm pretty stocked up on wipes and have about one package of diapers size newborn, 1 and 2.  I really think I have everything but I just feel like he is going to get here and I'll be sending Josh to the store because I totally spaced on something essential.  

The big news if that Josh is getting out of the Air Force and we are moving back to Ohio where both of our families are from!  Actually, most of our family is in the same town.  I will be leaving in 4 weeks!  My midwife told me the latest she wants me traveling (700 miles) is 34 weeks.  We are still going to make it a 2 day trip because Penelope hates long rides and I'm supposed to walk around every 2 hours to avoid clots.  My mom is flying into Kansas City and then us 3 girls will head back.  We are still unsure of Josh's final date here in Missouri but it might only be a few weeks before Oliver is born.  It will not be after thank goodness.  So I basically don't have a choice when to leave and neither does Josh.  He's going to close up everything here in Missouri while I get everything set up in Ohio.  We aren't going to buy a house until we both have jobs and know what our income will be.  We will be living with my parents for a while and thank goodness they have plenty of space for us to move in (I hope!) And I'll also have help learning how to parent two children.  After we get back from our family vacation to Carolina Beach in late July, Josh will be going to school for Engineering and find a job.  I'll look for a job too.  I will love that family is so close and able to babysit my kid-os.  I'm just not a big fan of daycare at a young age.  So, we still have a lot of unanswered questions and not 100% sure on some things, but we are both really excited!  I don't know who is more excited honestly.  Josh is excited to get out of the military.  I will feel like I'm on vacation being back in Ohio, since that is where we have spent our "vacations" for the last 5 years.  It will be great to be around our friends again and I am really excited to get a house in the country and have a chicken coop!

 

 

 

How far along? 30 weeks and 1 day
Maternity clothes? Yes! 
Best moment this week: I've just had a generally happy week.  
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  It's now hard to put on socks. And get out of bed.
Movement:  Yes, still kicking in there.
Food cravings: Wild Cherry Pepsi.  I would drink them all day if it didn't have caffeine.  I swear, I rarely drank pop before I was pregnant. 
Sleep: Still not great.  I've been able to sleep in a little on the weekends, thanks to Josh
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.
Have you started to show yet: I would say so
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing Josh's band
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Josh's sister is flying in tomorrow and will be here to visit for 5 days.  Also really looking forward to the ultrasound.

28 weeks and 3 days

 

This pregnancy has been going quickly for me and I can only hope the rest does too, because I'm not looking forward to 12 more weeks of pregnancy pains. Just hope it doesn't get worst the bigger he gets. 

My laptop crashed on me, so that's just great.  I need to take it somewhere to get it looked at.  I don't like using Josh's desktop.  I'm sure I would have had this post up a few days ago otherwise.  Plus, all those pictures, hopefully the hard drive is ok so I didn't lose them all.  That would just be awful.  I guess that's why people back things up.  Lesson learned.  

I feel like not much has happened since my last update.  My family is gone so it's just Penelope and me most of the day while Josh is sleeping.  My friend and I threw a baby shower for a fellow military wife.  The theme was jungle and the first shower I ever threw, so I had a lot of fun planning it.  The day of is always a little stressful though.  We used about 8 rolls of green crepe paper to make streamers/vines and hung them from the ceiling in my dining room.  We also filled 30 green balloons with helium and tied twine on them hoping it might look something like a tree.  It was fun and I think everyone had a good time. 

I've been staring at the baby monitor for about 10 minutes hoping Penelope will go back to sleep after her 30 minute nap, but it doesn't appear so.  Now she is starting to cry.  I was hoping to get more done during her nap than just this post.  Guess she gets two naps today. 

How far along? 28 weeks and 3 days
Maternity clothes? Yes.  I should have a shipment coming today =]  I got my belly button band in the mail, but man is it a two person job.  It was hard to figure out and I can't see under my belly, so Josh had to help me with getting it buttoned.  I don't think I'll wear it too often, but it is nice because it's long so it will cover my belly if a shirt won't
Best moment this week: My friend's baby shower
Miss Anything?  Not having a giant belly.  It's now hard to put on socks.
Movement:  Yep.  I think he is in the process of flipping, if he hasn't already. He will go crazy and move a lot for a few seconds, then be done for hours.
Food cravings: homemade cookies
Sleep:  Getting up in the morning is really painful. In the last few days, Penelope has been harder to get to sleep, but is sleeping longer. Last night she didn't get to bed until 10pm, but slept til 715 this morning and came to bed with me until 915.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really.
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? The rash is back!  I'm convinced now that it's pregnancy hormones so my ring is off and I've been wearing Josh's band for a few days now.  (He doesn't wear it because of work) I thought it was made out of the same material as mine, so I don't get it.  And I haven't used any hand sanitizer!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Eh
Looking forward to:Getting news on military stuff.  Can't say what it is, but it's very important and I have no idea when we will get the word on it.  I can't take much more waiting!

26 weeks and 4 days

 

At 26 weeks, Oliver can open his eyes and look around!  Not that there is much to see... He is also growing hair.  I didn't have any clever ideas for this week's chalkboard so I let Penelope do it and I was surprised how much fun she had with it.  I'll need to make her a chalkboard for her room.  I bought more chalk and can't wait to test out the new colors in a few weeks.  I think my board may need a fresh coat of paint, too.

What a busy last couple of weeks.  My sister came to visit and just on Saturday and my parents arrived two days ago.  My sister had such problems with her flight out of here that she ended up staying and extra 3 days.  We did do some fun things though, like going to an indoor inflatable play area place and a swimming pool.

We have spent the last week moving and will have our final inspection either tomorrow or the day after at our old house.  Moving three houses down was really a blessing.  We still loaded up the car, so we didn't have to carry everything box by box, but it made it so much easier.  We didn't need to rent a moving truck and actually didn't need our friends for help either.  I packed a lot of boxes and Josh and my sister did the heavy lifting.  Josh did rent a dolly for the washer and dryer though, then he just walked them down the street.  I really like our new house despite the fact that there is nowhere to put our trashcan in the kitchen and I lost 4-5 large cabinets and 2 small ones. Oliver's room is tiny, about half the size of Penelope's. I decided to use my old dresser for him and double it as a changing table. It's very large but will be easier than trying to get a crib, changing table and dresser in the room.  Any sort of rocking chair or glider is out of the question.  We most likely aren't going to paint at this house.  At our first house on this base, we lived there for two years and painted the living room/dining room, the front hallway and Penelope's room.  At the house we just left, we were there for one year and only painted Penelope's room.  (We have to paint everything back when we leave)  We want to get orders to another base so we don't know how long we will be in this house.  If I knew we'd be here for 3 more years, I'd cry, then I'd paint.  The military leaves a lot of unknowns. 

The house is wheelchair assessable so the hallways and bathrooms are bigger which is wonderful except that we are having a real probably with baby gates.  There are also no door knobs.  All the handles are the kind that you just have to push down to open.  And Penelope can open every door in the house.  We had to put a baby gate at the top of the basement stairs.  The only door she can't open is the front door.  I don't know if they make any sort of baby proofing for those kind of door handles.  Once in a while I'll hear her yelling and she's "trapped" in our closet with the lights off.  Luckily, she's not scared.  She's just asking for help because as soon as I open the door, she laughs and closes it again.  So we are almost done unpacking.  Just have curtains and picture frames to hang up along with a few diaper boxes of random things that I think we need but have nowhere to put. 

My parents will be here for about a week and we are planning a trip to Hobby Lobby since I have a gift card and want picture frames and fabric for Oliver's room.  We also plan to go to the zoo.  Josh doesn't like the zoo.  I think last time spoiled it for him because it was raining almost the whole time, was super crowded and Penelope was a little too young to enjoy it.  So Josh is happy that we are going with my parents and I think Penelope will enjoy it a lot more because last time she was about 9 months old and will be 17 this time around. 



How far along? 26 weeks and 4 days
Maternity clothes? Yes.  I ordered one of those "belly button bands" last week so I could still wear my regular jeans even though I can't button them anymore but it's not here yet.  Last night we decided to go out to dinner last minute but all of my maternity jeans were in the dryer.  Josh told me to try on some of my regular jeans and see how far off the button was.  I decided to put on my size 5 skinny, jegging jeans.  Probably not the best choice.  Couldn't button them, obviously.  Josh then cut up a pair of his old jeans to make me an extender.  Now this wouldn't have worked if my shirt wasn't as long as it was.  But it was sweet and it worked.
Best moment this week: Visits from my sister and parents
Miss Anything?  Being able to walk and sleep without pain
Movement: He is still moving.  Mostly in the morning and at night.  
Food cravings: homemade cookies
Sleep: Sleeping on my side hurts my hips.  But I can't sleep on my back or stomach.  Getting up in the morning is really painful.
Anything making you queasy or sick: I was very sick twice last week, but I have no idea what brought it on.
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: I'll be in my third trimester next week!  Getting very excited to meet him and have a newborn again.  I guess I have Penelope to thank for keeping me on an infant sleep schedule.  I also can't wait to be back to a normal size.   

24 weeks and 4 days

(I feel like I can never get a good picture anymore, ugh) In the last few weeks, my varicose veins have been giving me the most problems.  I'm wearing a compression sock on my right leg and luckily, no varicose veins on my left leg.  I have a family history of varicose veins.  My dad and his mom both had surgery on their legs so I'm sure I will have to get treatment at some point.  Luckily, it's just laser treatment now, and not full out surgery.  I still have a lot of pelvic pain.  I talked to a nurse and bought a special support belt that helps.  If I'm not wearing it, I'm hobbling around the house.  I have a check-up in a week where I will bring up both issues because it wasn't really a big deal a month ago, but have certainly increased since then.  I think I've reached the point where I'm like, ok, this whole pregnancy thing isn't cute anymore, I'm ready for it to be over. Three to four months left!

Penelope has been doing great with her naps in the last few weeks.  She now sleeps about 2 hours, when she was taking 30 minute naps for months and months before.  It's so great.  She goes down between 11 and 12 and it depends how long she sleeps if she gets another nap.  I will try again at 3 to get her to sleep and if she isn't down by 4, then she is up for the rest of the day until bedtime at 8.  She's still waking up at night.  Usually around 12 or 1 am.  I have turned into a zombie at this time of night and either take her to bed with me or pass out on the couch with her and wake up at 7 or 8 am.  Then I get mad at myself for sleeping with her all night.  I don't mean to, but it seems like it just happens.  I know when my family comes to visit, her sleeping schedule will change and hopefully for the better.

I feel like I have just about everything I need for Oliver now.  I could always use more diapers though.  I know my family has been buying and collecting things for him, but I don't have those yet.  The thing with Penelope was, I got almost everything used and thought, I'll just buy this new for the next baby.  I guess that kind of made sense since there was a lot of things I needed to start off with a new baby.  Oliver has a new swing that has a removable bouncer.  He just got a new pack n play/bassinet.  This is our 3rd pack n play.  The first one was used and eventually the arms wouldn't lock anymore so I bought another used one for $10.  It didn't have a bassinet attachment and I still have it but wanted a brand new one.  He has a new infant car seat.  I'm wondering how much of this I mentioned in previous posts.  My brain is kind of mush now-a-days. 

Most recent purchases

Diaper Bag- Not going to use this until he's here, even though Penelope's is ripping.  This bag is awesome and has so many magnetic pockets!  Zippers can be annoying. I feel like I'm going to have trouble filling it.

Edgar gets ready for bed-  This book is larger than I thought.  It has paper pages.  I thought it was a board book.  The story is cute.

Soft chew toy- Penelope wants to play with this so bad.

Pack n Play - Still in the box.  But I like the picture on the box =]

The great thing about living on a military base is that there are lots of young couples and lots of parents selling baby things because they don't have a place to store it all.  Most things are in pretty good condition.  I bought a grocery bag of newborn clothes.  Most were brand new.  The woman who was selling them, her son was too big for newborn clothes at birth so he didn't even wear them.  Some of them were wintery clothes, so I was able to resell them.  I'm buying another lot of clothes today, 3-6 months.  When I go shopping, I get him 0-3 or 6-9 month things.  All he really needs is probably socks and swaddling blankets.  I would like him to have boy bath towels because I gave all my neutral ones away so all I have are princess towels.  Same with burp clothes.  He will survive with his sister's pink hand-me-downs if need be.  I'd feel the same way with bottles. All of Penelope's are girly.  Since I already have most of what he needs, and he won't be here until the end of June, I will probably continue shopping and he will get his monster bath towels and football burp cloths. 

My favorite baby stores right now are Baby Gap and SlyFox Threads.  Not the cheapest though.  I've only bought 2 things from Baby Gap when they have sales, and still dreaming about Sly Fox Threads.  I don't have a registry, but have a searchable Wish List on Amazon that's full of baby stuff.  Hint Hint. =] Just kidding.  I don't need anything on that list. It's mostly just cool things I find and I can easily "add to cart" when I'm in the shopping mood.  I do almost all of my shopping on Amazon. 

Whew, maybe I should update more than twice a month so my posts aren't so long =]

How far along? 24 weeks and 4 days
Maternity clothes? Yep.  Jeans for sure.  I need more shirts. I have been wearing a lot of regular shirts with a tank top under it to cover my belly.
Best moment this week: It's been a pretty good week.  Nothing really major happened. Probably most excited about getting his pack n play in the mail along with my new phone (it's still in the box though).
Miss Anything?  Sleeping on my back 
Movement: I can see him move from the outside now, but he won't kick my hand.  He stops when I try to feel him.
Food cravings: chocolate

Sleep: Not great
 Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: We move in six days!  My sister flies in in 3 days!  My mom and dad will be here in 10 or 11 days.  Really excited to be moved in already.  I forgot how much prep it takes.  Calling everyone to change address, along with internet and cable company and carpet cleaners.  Thankfully, our address is only changing by the last house number, switching from a 3 to 8.  Moving a few houses down will be nice.

22 weeks, Valentine's Day

 

 

Oliver is about a pound now and roughly 8 inches long. 

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Today we started by celebrating with a heart-shaped breakfast.  Then we all went swimming. Penelope was shivering the whole time, but didn't want to get out.  After we came home, She fell asleep right away and took a 2 hour and 20 minute nap. I bought Josh a home brewing IPA kit and he got me a dozen roses.  I haven't gotten a dozen roses since my 16th birthday from my dad. I also got Josh some heart-shaped Snickers but turns out, he can't eat them with his braces, so they are mine now =]  Penelope got some chocolate too.

He was in Guam last year on Valentine's Day while we were in Ohio.

 

 

Today has kind of been crazy for me.  I feel like I've been busy since I woke up.  After breakfast, we threw the dishes in the sink and ran to the pool before her nap.  Once she was sleeping, I worked on the chalkboard, lunch and the blog.  She got up and had lunch, then immediately we did the photo shoot and bath.  After she was dressed, I took more pictures of her in her Valentine's Day outfit and now it's almost 4 pm. The house is a disaster and I just want a nap.  To top it all off, I absolutely hate my camera and have been battling it all day and messing with the settings.  I so want a new one, but until it breaks, not gonna happen. 

Since Penelope has too many cute red/pink/heart outfits to just wear on one day for Valentine's Day, I decided to give her a Valentine's Day outfit everyday this week.  Plus, I just got her 4 pairs of adorable legwarmers from Screaming Owl so we had to take advantage of that. People wear Christmas gear for a whole month, so Valentine's Day can have it's own week, right?  Works out perfect since it's on a Friday this year. 

Onesie by Carters and legwarmers from Screaming Owl

Onesie by Carter's and tights from Healthtex

Onesie by Carter's and headband from Etsy

 

Top is from Etsy shop Saseadecor, skirt is Jumping Bean and legwarmers are Screaming Owl

 



I love Mom onesie by Carter's, cardigan by French Toast

Enough with the pictures, Mom!



Onesie by Faded Glory and legwarmers by Screaming Owl.
She insisted on wearing her new socks from Grandma. 
Headband from a small shop in my hometown.



Onesie by Carter's and legwarmers from Screaming Owl

(I know in most of these pictures, she is zoned out and watching TV but that is the only way she will sit still long enough for me to get a decent picture of her from the front.  She is not always watching TV, I promise.)

Even her swimsuit is pink with hearts on it!  We got it on sale last summer for $3!

Penelope last year on Valentine's Day

Screaming Owl- New item each week!

How far along? 22 weeks
Maternity clothes? I think there is about one pair of jeans I can comfortably wear now.  I can still squeeze into my "transition jeans" but they are so tight at the waist.  The problem with my maternity jeans is that they are a size small and about 3 inches too long so I cuff them.  I just bought a new pair of skinny maternity jeans, size small to keep my weight in check.
Sleep: It's hard to get to bed.  I wish I was in bed at 10 but the last few nights I have been up until 1 am.  Then I sleep on the couch from 7-9 am when Josh is home to watch and feed Penelope.
Best moment this week: Probably getting to feel Oliver moving around more.  His movements are so different than when I was pregnant with Penelope.  Oh, and we got offered a house!  We move in a month, I'll talk more about that in a later post I'm sure.
Miss Anything?  Sleeping on my back 
Movement: He is still moving really low.  It almost feels like he is below my belly.  Not sure if it can be felt from the outside yet.  Certainly can't see it yet.  It feels like he rolls around more than he kicks.
Food cravings: peanut butter toast and cake
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yes
Gender: A little mister!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Far out! Seriously thinking I'll have a permanent outie after all this.  
Wedding rings on or off? On.  I got my ring cleaned and for now, no more rashes.  Since this is the second time it's happened in a few months, the jeweler thinks it's my hormones from being pregnant.
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.  I feel like I have so much to look forward to lately!  Moving into a new and bigger house, sister coming to visit in 3 weeks and my parents in 4, planning a fellow Air Force wife's baby shower, starting on the nursery, MEETING OLIVER and beach vacation in July! (plus, tax returns =] )
Looking forward to: Oops.  See above.  Plus, warm weather!