Somebody Done Been to the Wal-Mart

Poor Wesley has come down with an icky summer cold. He doesn't want to eat, barely drinks and for the most part, just lays around the house. He does get bursts of energy, but they don't seem to last. So we opted out of church this morning and have spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing - other than watching the Dinosaur DVD several times. I'm starting to hate it.

Let me tell you how completely uneventful today has been. Duane wanted to go to Wal-Mart and I actually asked if we could make it a family trip. We go to Wal-Mart maybe twice a year, but I couldn't stand being home with the whiny sicky by myself today. So off we went to Wally World.

Now I have to confess, I have a bit of a paranoia about going to Wal-Mart when I'm pregnant. It all started when I read the book Where the Heart Is, since the main character gives birth in a Wal-Mart. Add to that the Jeff Foxworthy routine where he says "Whoo-ee! Somebody done been to the Wal-Mart!" Now factor in the weird sense on humor that Grandpa P. and I share. What that leaves me with is a fear of going into labor at Wal-Mart and every time I'd bring the baby to see Grandpa, he'd say "Whoo-ee! Somebody done been to the Wal-Mart!"

I had this paranoia in my third trimester with Wesley too. When I had about three weeks to go with him, Duane and I went to a Wal-Mart that had a David's Bridal next door. We joked about going into the bridal store and saying "We need a wedding dress RIGHT NOW!!!!"

Anyhow, the trip was Wally World was pretty much what you could expect and I did not go into labor. We did break down and buy Wesley his own copy of Elmo Dinosaurs. Even though we both hate it, Wesley loves it and pretty soon I'm going to have to return the copy from the library. Here's hoping the book I'm about to start in engaging enough to tune out Elmo, Abby-Cadabra and Telly.

Much Better Day

Today was a much better day than yesterday - at least for the most part. There was the part where Wesley woke up at 5:45 AM, right after Duane left. That wasn't too terrible I guess. We watched Elmo's Dinosaurs (twice) and Wesley cooked me the most unusual breakfast I've ever had. Let's see, there was chocolate kitty soup, puppy sandwiches, goldfish corn, and turtle egg salad as well as pancakes and juice. Um yummy??

After I pretended to eat my breakfast feast at least 7 times, we head up to see Grandma H. The three of us went to a farmer's market. I wasn't horribly impressed with it, but I did buy some strawberries that Wesley couldn't keep his little fingers out of. Wesley did a great job staying with Grandma and me, especially considering he refused to be in his stroller or hold our hands. Instead, he pushed Bear (and the black kitties) in the stroller. I was pretty darn impressed that he didn't ram the stroller into anyone, although I'm pretty sure people saw him coming and stayed out of his way.

After the farmer's market, we swung by the bookstore and then headed to a place Wesley has never been, but I knew he'd love. We took him to Cat Welfare (a cat rescue shelter near Grandma's). There are always a million cats roaming around the building and most of them are so starved for attention, that even pets and cuddles from an almost three year old are acceptable. Wesley was so sweet to them. He petted nicely and spoke to them so sweetly. He giggled when they rubbed up against him. It was so much fun.

The rest of the day was random shopping (and two more viewings of Elmo's Dinosaurs). Poor little guy is totally pooped even though he had a nap today. I'm hoping for an early bedtime and lots of sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Whining

Today is my day to whine. Actually it was yesterday, but I didn't feel up to blogging, so you get to read all about it today.

Someone asked me recently which was the worse part of pregnancy - the nausea of the first trimester (or in my case the first one and 3/4 trimesters) or the end when you're fairly close to delivering. As you know I was super sick with 2.0, but without a doubt the last bit of pregnancy is my least favorite part and yesterday just drove that home.

I come home from work most nights with my back aching badly and a low pain that my doctor said was ligament pain. I crash on the couch with my massaging back pillow and a heated rice bag and veg out. Well, yesterday I woke up feeling like I had already been at work all day. I managed to get to work, but was in pain. By12:30 I gave up. I'm trying really hard to conserve my sick time, but there was no way I could stay at work - especially once the Braxton Hicks and nausea started.

Grandma kept Wesley until Duane could go pick him up and I spent the whole afternoon on the couch with my pillow and heating pad. Didn't even feel the slightest bit guilty about it.

So that's my whine. I'm ready to be done with being pregnant. I have no idea how I am going to handle two kids, but I'd rather have both my boys here than feel like this!

You Know You're in the Third Trimester When...

• You've become a frequent flier at the doctor (weekly visits)
• You complain enough about aches and kicks that your 2 year old son tells you that his tummy hurts because his (imaginary) black kitties are in his tummy and they are kicking him.
• You moan and groan every time you stand up or sit down.
• You wake up every 2 hours because you have to pee, and every 4 hours to take some TUMS.
• Your 2 year old tries to lay down on the couch with you and falls off because your tummy is too big.
• Your walk has turned into a waddle.
• You are starting to outgrow your maternity clothes (this is an AWFUL feeling)
• You have a sneaking suspicion that your work and your church have started pools about when you will really go into labor.

5 1/2 weeks and counting.

Kid, You Crack Me Up!

Last night, after I posted the picture of the two black kitties, I showed the post to Wesley.

Mommy: Look Wesley. It's a picture of Intz and Dintz.

Wesley: Mommy, that's not Intz and Dintz. That's Ott and Dott.

Guess I'd better be careful, or I'll have 4 imaginary black cats to deal with!

***************************************************************

The other night Wesley and I were sitting on one of the couches. I forget what he asked me, but I told him no. He looked at me, made his beautiful blue eyes as big as possible and actually batted his eyelashes as he said "Please."

I laughed and told him that he should know that doesn't work on me. His response? "It works on Daddy!" Daddy was assured me that it doesn't work on him (I knew it didn't) But it does leave us to wonder...does it work on Grandma?

I Think We're Being Followed

The W. family is being followed and has been for the last week. Who is following us? Well, according to Wesley there are two black kitties who almost always at our house. Let me use today as an example so you get the idea of how two imaginary black kitties have invaded our lives.

This morning Duane and I were in bed talking when Wesley came in for some cuddles and to chat. After about five minutes, Wesley informed me that he needed to go downstairs because the two black kitties were waiting to come in. Most days he really does open the door and pretend to let them in, but today Intz and Dintz (that's their names) were able to get in while Wesley was still in our bed. We had to pretend to pet them when they jumped up on the bed too.

Intz and Dintz told Wesley that they wanted juice with their breakfast. Sometimes Wesley will make meowing sounds to be their voices, but most of the time he just tells us what they are saying. Not only did these imaginary felines tell Wesley what he should have for breakfast, they helped him eat it too!

Of course, Intz and Dintz can't be left home alone. Wesley very graciously invited them to church with us too. They followed us out of the house and Wesley helped them into the car. They sat in the back seat and sang (Wesley meowing) almost the whole way to church - although they often help me or Duane drive. They even came in for the worship service. In fact, Wesley insisted on sitting on the stage at the side of the room and making them a picnic. And when we left, Wesley reminded them to stay next to Mommy in the parking lot.

The kitties went to COSI with us this afternoon too. Luckily we managed to get some pictures without them .

Can't you just see the headline now? "Toddler drives mom to hospital when she goes into labor."

Looking at things from a different point of view.

I've got my eye on you!

Wesley had such a good time playing, you'd think that he would've forgotten all about them. Not quite. Although he didn't mention them the whole time we were there, he made sure they were following when we made our way back to the car. As I'm typing this, Intz and Dintz are riding in the back of Wesley's ice cream truck, delivering ice cream to Mommy and Daddy. Oops! Apparently the kitties are on the move and have gone upstairs. Wesley wants me to go upstairs with him and play with them. I hope they go home soon.

Mommy's Happy Day

Today was one of the best days I have had recently.

Wesley and I went to a farmer's market and art show with Grandma H. while Daddy was at work. I have dying to go the farmer's market since it started back up in May, but we've either had plans or I'd have to work. It was absolutely packed because of the art festival, but I had a great time. I bought myself some lavender perfume from one stand. Lavender is my favorite scent and I have been wanting some perfume for a long time. Of course, all I've wanted to do all day is smell my wrists!

But even the scent of lavender couldn't drown out the scent of fresh strawberries at one stand. Grandma bought a quart and we all nibbled on them. I have forgotten how wonderful farm fresh strawberries are - nothing like what you get in the store. It reminded me of when I was little and my brother and I would go strawberry picking with our mom every summer. Even Wesley could tell the difference in the berries - I think he ate at least 12 of them!

We bypassed a few items since we knew we'd be wandering around the festival for awhile. The one that broke my heart to skip was the guy who makes organic cheese. He makes the most incredible white colby cheese - it's so creamy and almost melts in your mouth. I let Wesley have a sample of it and as soon as he finished it he started call "I need more cheese! More cheese!" I'm glad he liked it so much! We'll probably go back and get some next weekend since I don't have to work and the cheese is pasteurized, so I can actually eat it.

We spent a couple hours wandering through the art festival too. Wesley was pretty good for the most part. He did have one big fit, but it passed relatively quickly. Grandma bought him the greatest "Old MacDonald" shirt. He LOVES it!! In fact, we couldn't get him out of the vendor's tent because he wanted to sit on the ground with his shirt and sing the song with all the animals pictured on the shirt. It was so cute!

By the time we were done looking around, I was absolutely beat! Seriously, I felt like I could barely move. Luckily, Daddy was home when we returned. He had mowed the lawn while we were gone and since Wesley fell asleep in the car, Duane offered to let me take a nap too and he'd do the grocery shopping. Wesley and I timed our naps perfectly and woke up about 10 minutes after Daddy returned. Then Daddy spoiled me some more by taking us out to dinner to satisfy a craving I've been having for the last few days. Wesley didn't eat much, but he was pretty well behaved. Now we can wrap up the day with a nice quiet evening at home.

Water Falling

We may have had a potty breakthrough this morning. I put Wesley in a fresh (cool alert- turns cold when wet) pull up this morning and he went into the nursery while I picked out an outfit for him in his room. A couple of minutes later, Wesley came waddling in like he was about to have a gun fight in the old west.

Wesley: Mommy, the water is falling down!

Mommy: The water is falling down?

Wesley: Yes, the water is falling down and it feels yucky!

Turns out that I hadn’t adjusted the elastic in the pull up quite right and he leaked a little bit in addition to feeling a little cool in the nether-regions. So I put him in a new pull-up. While I was changing him he asked if I wore diapers too.

Mommy: Nope, Mommy is a big girl. I go pee pee on the potty so I don’t need a diaper.

Wesley: Is Daddy a big girl too?

Mommy: No, but Daddy is a big boy. He goes on the potty and doesn’t wear a diaper either.

Wesley: (after a moment’s pause) I think maybe sometimes I’m big.

How Do You Spell Relief?

I spell it N..E..G..A..T..I..V..E!!!! Yep! I just got off the phone with my doctor's office and I do not have gestational diabetes!!!! HOORAY!!!!!

Houston, We Have a Problem

....or a couple of problems as the case may be.

Problem #1 is that Wesley is starting to try and reclaim the nursery. Duane put the crib back together last night and Wesley insisted that it was his bed and kept trying to climb in it. We explained that a crib is a bed for babies and that his baby brother was going to sleep in the crib, but it did no good. We tried reminding Wesley that he has his big boy bed in his dinosaur room, but it did no good. Wesley is also trying to reclaim the "baby" toys from that room and has permanently reclaimed the stuffed lion he NEVER played with that we were going to give to 2.0. And here I was hoping that all the territory issues were going to be related to the cats.

Problem #2 has already been solved, but I feel the need to post about it anyhow. I think I have talked before about how AWFUL Wesley is to get up in the mornings. We put him to bed between 9-9:30 every night, but he always stays up until around 11:00 - mostly just talking to himself and his stuffed animals. If he could just wake up on his own, he'd get up around 8:30 - 9:00 and life would be good. But since I have to be at work at 9:00, I have to wake him up. Some days I have to get him up at 6:30 and some days I can let him sleep until close to 7:30. Doesn't matter though, if I have to wake him up it is UGLY! He cries and hides and I almost always end up having to physically haul him out of bed and onto the potty - which is zero fun when your belly is as big as mine is right now. He fights me every step of the way as I try to get him dressed, his teeth brushed and hair combed. In fact, I usually end up getting kicked. Today was the straw that broke the camels back. It's just too hard for me to do this right now, so I called Duane at work and asked if there was any way he could work 8-5 instead of 7-4 so he could help me get the boy up and ready. Starting next week, I will have Daddy assisted mornings until 2.0 is born!!!!! I am so excited!!!! My life just got much easier.

Problem #3 may or may not be an actual problem, but in situations like this I tend to assume the worst. My doctor's office left a message for me today about my glucose test results. I'm supposed to call the office "at my earliest convenience." Now I don't know about your doctor's office, but mine tends to only call with test results when there is a problem. So of course, I am assuming that means that I flunked my test and have gestational diabetes. But in true foodie fashion, I sent Duane out to get me an Oreo Blizzard before I get the actual results and possibly discover I have to really watch my diet for the rest of the pregnancy. Denial is a beautiful place, isn't it? And don't worry, I'll let you know what the doctor actually says tomorrow.

Happy (Late) Father's Day

The W. family celebrated Father's Day yesterday, but I was too tired to post about it. So you get all the Father's Day news a day late.

I guess the most important thing to tell you is that I got to spend time with all the special dads in my life - my husband, my dad, and my step-dad. Each of these men has made such a huge impact in my life. I love them all dearly and can't imagine my life without any one of them.

We had a celebratory lunch with my step-dad after church. Kei and Wesley were just not able to play together (again) if a toy was involved. I know they like each other, so why does Wesley insist on not sharing with Kei and trying to tackle him? After lunch, Pops turned the sprinklers on in the yard and Wesley, Sho and Kei had a great time running through them - until the power went out and the sprinklers shut off. Oh well, we took that as our cue to put Wesley in some dry clothes and head to Grandma and Grandpa P's.

We spent the afternoon and evening at Grandma and Grandpa P.'s - eating, talking and generally having a nice time. Wesley wanted to water the flowers (and Grandpa) but was content to play with the hose with the water off - lucky for all of us! As an extra treat, Grandma and Grandpa P. kept Wesley overnight at their house. That meant that I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn this morning to go to work. I actually got to sleep in until almost 7:00!!!! It was wonderful!

Watch out Grandpa! Wesley's coming for you!

Wesley made Grandpa's wrapping paper (almost) all by himself. Here he is showing Grandpa the red kitties he drew on the side.

Of course I think the biggest compliment of the day was Duane telling me it had been a really nice weekend. He spoils me and takes care of me so much. I'm just glad he had a good Father's Day.

Can You Say Ouch?

I had my three hour glucose test today. Of course, I won't know anything for a couple of days yet. If I'm lucky, my doctor will have my results when I go in for my regular appointment late Monday morning. Here's hoping!

Duane was an angel and took the day off to go with me. He even refused to eat or drink anything before we left, saying that if I wasn't allowed to, it wasn't fair for him to. The whole thing wasn't too bad, but the room we were in was really cold. At least I got a blanket! But Duane didn't complain one bit. He held my hand each time they drew blood (4 times total) and sat in an uncomfortable chair without complaint and read the rest of the time. When the test was over and I felt nauseous and dizzy, he took my arm, walked slowly and guided me back to the car. I'm telling you, I have the best husband on the planet!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I didn't see Wesley for nearly 12.5 hours yesterday, so I was thrilled when he got home. He was cracking me up last night! Check out some of what the little chatterbox was saying.

"I have a poopy diaper right in my pants!" Which Mommy thinks is so much better than having a poopy diaper anyplace else.

"There are flowers at Aunt Belissa's but I didn't brought you any." Little fibber, turns out he did bring me some.

While in bed with his play tools. "I'm building a cuckoo clock for the baby. It's his birthday present."

Anyone remember this 80's hit? Wesley likes to sing it and have a dinosaur party. "Open the door. Get on the floor. Everyone walk the dinosaur."

"Mommy! There's a little bug in here and it's crawling right at me! You need to come get it!"

Ready to Roll

Duane put my Mother's Day gift together last night. I wanted one of those tandem/sit and stand strollers so that 2.0 will have a place to ride and Wesley will still have a spot when he gets tired of walking. We had to assemble it to see if our infant car seat would work with it. IT DOES!!!!

Wesley was very helpful (the way only a two year old can be helpful) while Daddy was working. He played with the wheels and informed Daddy that they were going to need a "nut turner" to put the wheels on the base. Wesley stopped just shy of getting his own tool box out, but if assembly had taken more than just a few minutes, I'm sure he would have been more than happy to do it.

Once the stroller was together, Wesley couldn't wait to try it out. First he tried the front where his baby brother will ride. After he deemed that acceptable, he moved to his part of the stroller - the platform in back. Wesley isn't quite ready for the "stand" part of the sit and stand, but he LOVES to ride while sitting on the platform. In fact, he insisted we push him around the house - it was the first thing he wanted to do this morning too. I think this was a very wise purchase indeed!

You Can't Teach an Old Bear New Tricks

Wesley has been busy trying to teach his Stinky Bear how to do tricks. The newest trick he's working on is teaching Bear to roll over. I wish I could catch it on video! Wesley will prop Bear up and make sure he is "watching." Wesley then lays down and rolls over, then stands up and says "Now it's your turn Bear!" How cute!

Work Week Update

Sorry I haven't been blogging much this week. It's much easier (and much more interesting) to blog when I'm not working and we're actually doing stuff. But I'll give you a recap of the week anyhow.

Monday: Not too bad at work, plenty to keep me busy, but got a phone call from my doctor's office about the glucose test I took the Friday before. Of course, the nurse called while I was away from my desk, so I got a voice mail saying that she needed to talk to me about the results of my glucose test. Naturally, I freaked out and didn't hear back from her until almost 4:00! Turns out that I have a slight iron deficiency and need to take an iron supplement. I can deal with that.

Tuesday: A day of meetings. Wesley spent the prior night with Grandma and Grandpa H. because I had a 7:45 staff meeting (yuck). I also had a meeting with a sales rep and a meeting at the other library. Went home beat.

Wednesday: Received another call from my doctor's office about my glucose test. I guess a normal reading is between 65-99 and mine was 147. That means I have to go through the three hour glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes. I scheduled the appointment for Friday the 13th (just seemed appropriate somehow) and proceeded to freak out for most of the morning.

We spent the evening at Sho's kindergarten celebration. The class sang songs, showed a movie the teacher made and all received certificates celebrating the end of their kindergarten year. It was very nice. We continued the celebration at Graeter's - hey, I'm going to enjoy it while I can. However I don't think I enjoyed it half as much as Kei.










Today: Finally, a perfectly boring day this week! And only one more day until the weekend.

Help from Big Brother

Last night I was stretched out on the couch when Wesley came up and started blowing raspberries/zerberts on my belly.

Mommy: What are you doing?

Wesley: I'm blowing so the baby will come out soon!

Kiddie Concert

We just had the best afternoon! A church near Grandma and Grandpa H.'s was hosting a free children's concert this afternoon. We made arrangements to meet Kate and Colin there and we had a blast!

An hour before the concert started, the church had some events for kids: face painting, hair painting, temporary tattoos, games. They had a violin shop there with violins of all different sizes so the kids could try them. They had free pizza and free cookies from one of my favorite bakeries.And that was just in front!

In the backyard they had the Turtle Lady! I am very familiar with the Turtle Lady from various library programs - we have her in almost every year! She didn't do a program, but had lots of turtles and snakes around for the kids to see and touch. Wesley first encountered a rather large turtle that kind of freaked him out. He refused to go near it until Daddy did and even then it took some coaxing for Wesley to touch it. Wesley did much better with the little box turtles and baby turtles in tubs. He was still very worried that one was going to climb out and get him, but he spent a long time looking at them and touching their shells. In fact, when he was done,he told us he wanted a turtle.

After playing with the turtles, we headed inside to see the model trains that were set up. Wesley and Colin were fascinated by them! I thought for sure Wesley would head for the Christmas train since he still talks about Santa Claus quite often, but he never even made it past the first train in the room. He stood with his nose practically on the table and would watch it go by. It was so funny to watch his little eyes flit back and forth as each car passed.

We headed out to the lawn a little early, which was a good thing because the place was packed! Justin Roberts is a fairly popular kids recording artist and lots of people wanted the chance to see him. We passed the time by eating some ice cream (darn!) When the concert did start, the boys had a great time! They danced, ran around, climbed on Duane and clapped their hands. Too cute!