Extended Family Vacation

Last week my family (Mom, Dad, Sisters and of course Brett, Barker & Myself) had our first summer family vacation together in 5 years!

Me (And Little Brother), Mom, Dad, Starla, Sierra, Brett, Barker

I'll admit, vacationing while 33 Weeks pregnant and chasing a 21month old around is not always the most restful and relaxing, but having my family there to help and just hang out with was great.

Barker 21mo; Me 33.5wks Pregnant with Little Brother

My parents got a condo near the beach and only 40min (depending on traffic) from our house. Being this close to our due date, I didn't want to go too far. We all started out at the condo, but after one night of tossing and turning in a bed that wasn't mine (probably an old mattress) and suffering through a summer head cold right along with my toddler (don't you love when they share the random illnesses they pick up?) I knew we would need to commute from our house to the condo each day. Without proper rest at night this already fatigued preggo and restless toddler were not going to to make it. I also ended up taking Barker to the doctor and it turned out his cold had triggered a bronchitis flare up and ear infections. He's a trooper though!

Grandma snuggles

 We were able to get in some quality beach time. Barker of course loves the sand and water and was always sad when it was time to go.

An exceptionally windy day

Walking the Beach at Night

 

We also tried out some tasty restaurants.

On Thursday we took a trip to a very hot and humid Busch Gardens.

It was super fun, but after about 20min I knew this would be my last trip before baby. It was just tooo hot. Little Brother was constantly moving around, Braxton Hicks contractions were in full swing and my back and stomach were pretty sore by the end. (Who knew small benches on a train could be so uncomfortable? ;))

The giggles and smiles on Barker's face made it so worth it though, and I love that my family got to really bond with him this week. That's not easy with us all living in 3 different states. Until this trip we hadn't seen my younger sister, Starla, since Christmas!

I'll end this post with a few more picture perfect moments from the week.

And now I have 6 (or less) weeks to relax and prep for Little Brother's arrival! Can you believe it??

First Science Project

Last week we finished off a carton of orange juice and I remembered an elementary school science project from my ELED days at Ball State and decided it could be Barker's first science project: Growing a pumpkin. (Fingers crossed it works!)

Sure he is a bit young, but why not? The package says it'll take 100 days to fully grow (in the middle of fall!), and of course we'll have to transplant it, but here is what we did today. =)

First I cut an orange juice carton, it's about 4" tall. Then Barker got to decorate it with stickers!

Next, we moved to the garage to fill the carton with dirt. (It's was raining outside)

He only had to see me get the dirt a couple times before he was ready to try himself.

Then we planted the pumpkin seed.

To follow up I watered and put it on the counter. It will live on our back patio soon. =)
I think I will plant another one on my own just in case we got a dud of a seed. I don't know how it will turn out, but it's never too early to start teaching the kids to garden, and I think he had fun. ;)

Toddler Life Randomness

Every day Barker does something that catches me off guard or just makes me laugh. Today he did not disappoint, so here are just some of the silly/random things I caught him doing today...

He started by making another ball pit in an Amazon box I had left out for him.

He often likes to transport his balls from one place to another to create all kinds of ball pits. And apparently no ball can be left behind. I counted 6 balls for him to play with today but he was obsessing over the one under the tv stand. So I had to spend 5 minutes fishing it out with a duster wand. (Not an easy task when you are 30wks pregnant)

At the grocery store he picked a banana to be his choice item today.

I let him hold it on the way home too. But suddenly I noticed the banana smell had become quite strong. When we got home I had this. 

I'm pretty proud of him for figuring out how to open a banana. But his straps need some serious cleaning now. 

This afternoon Barker discovered new ways to play with his balls when he brought them to me in a dog bowl.

And then dumped them on me. I'm not sure why. Sometimes he likes to try and fit them all in my hands at the same time.

And finally, after dinner, I realized he had gotten rather quiet in the next room...

Apparently getting out all the diapers is not enough, he must also open them. Again, I'm not sure why.

So there you go. A little glimpse into our toddler adventures. Any guesses as to what is going on in his head? :)

Bye Bye Crib

These past couple weeks my time has been spent training Barker to sleep out of his crib.

Originally I had planned to make the big transition in July or so and then move him into his big brother room, or even make both switches at the same time. But when he discovered how to climb out of his crib...

we knew it was time.

It is a process we are still working on but he is progressing.

We ended up placing a twin mattress on the floor, right next to his crib. This works out pretty well when Brett or I have to go lie down with him some times. Being 25 weeks pregnant does not help, but at least I am not on the floor. ;)

During the day I leave him in his room at 1 and he typically falls asleep in about 5 minutes, but usually on the floor right next to his door. Then he wakes up about 30min later and I'll go in to help him fall back to sleep on his mattress. Sometimes I'm able to then sneak out, but I often just ended up snoozing a little and then reading while he finishes his nap.

At night it starts out the same way (asleep in 5-10min, usually on the floor) and then he'll wake up once or twice in the night and we'll help him fall back to sleep then sneak out. 

There have been a few "restless nights" though where he keeps waking up and struggles to fall back to sleep. Last night he woke up at at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm and finally at 11:30pm I just brought him to bed with me. My body can only take so much right now. He continued to struggle and toss and turn most of he night even with me there. I wondered if he didn't feel well, but he was acting normal this morning

He must be in a growth spurt or something. Even on the days he sleeps well he seems sleepier than usual. It is pretty cute though to see him fall asleep in the middle of lunch.

Hehe So that is the big thing we've been working on over here.

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Barker's Growing Vocabulary

Barker is learning and using new words all the time now, so I thought I would list some of his most popular words and what they mean to him. ;)

Ball! --(always with exclamation) "ball" has multiple meanings 1. I want to go outside and golf 2. My ball is stuck under the furniture and you need to get it. 3. He sees a ball 4. His golf club or something he is using as a club

No --no, occasionally yes ;)

Wah --water, kool-aid, basically any drink in his sippy

Dad, Daddy, Dadda --he uses all three terms to refer to his dad whether he hears him coming into the room (very exciting!), looking for him, or missing him. Sometimes he just says it because he is thinking of him

Gool --aka "girl" This is how he calls and refers to our dog ("good girl") Sahara. Other dogs are often called "girl" too.

Bwett -- aka Brett, he thinks this means "I want your attention" (Hmmm I wonder how came up with that...)

Yay yay --Yay! I'm excited! I like that! =)

Up --upstairs, climb-up

Go --go ;)

Sit --sit, chair, sit down

Out --outside

Mom, Momma --I don't hear this often, but he knows who I am 

Yah --yes

Other words I've heard him try but not often include color, open, snack, under, and where. He's more a fan of one syllable words.
We are also getting head nods now which is fun. And of course he understands A LOT and is constantly pointing. It is so exciting to watch him grow, learn and communicate! =)

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Little Brother!

Yup! It's another Boy! Just as I predicted from the beginning. I started to doubt a couple times, but in the end, Mother's intuition was right from the start

We are super excited to have two little boys. They will be about 22 months apart so I think it's nice that they are the same sex and more likely to be into the same things.  Either way Barker will be very happy to have a little buddy to play ball with everyday. =)

We are not bothered to not have a little girl yet. We never planned to stop at two so I'm not worried. There is always next time (and the time after that ;)). Brett and I both come from families of 3 kids close in age. He comes from all boys and I from all girls so we know how great it can be to have same sex siblings and we're very excited that our boys will have that. And of course our dog is a girl so I'm not completely on my own. ;) Although the ultrasound tech called me "Queen of the Castle" and I think I like the sound of that...



So here are some pics of our very healthy, growing boy!

Little Brother (side view)

The dark spot in the middle of his chest is his heart beating at 146bpm. We saw all four chambers beating together--one of my favorite things about the 20wk appointment. =)

Facing forward

Little foot to kick Mommy

Holding up his hands like he's eating a sandwich

Baby Boy's Brain!

"Check out my guns!"

The tech measured him and predicts he already weighs about 15oz or maybe even a little more because it looks like he has chubby thighs and cheeks like big brother. =) She also said he has nice shoulders, is still perfectly in place (no restrictions!) and everything measures within 2 days of his due date (September 19th).

We can't wait to meet our second little boy in person in just 4 months! Hopefully he won't make us wait an extra week like his big brother... ;) <3

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Mother's Day 2015!

After last Mother's Day was so special with Barker's baby dedication and Brett's super awesome gifts, I was worried this year might not seem as great. But I was wrong! =)

Once again I was blessed with being a part of the team leading worship at church, which is always awesome. =) Singing and worshiping brings me to my happy place and I love praising God for allowing me to be a Mom!

After second service I got to see my little boy looking like the cutest little man ever.

 And we got a cute photo.

After I was done serving I met Barker & Brett at our sister-in-law's house. She has a newborn so going out isn't the best option right now. ;) But Brett surprised us with a special mother's day lunch! He made chicken salad sandwiches on croissants and cut up some fresh fruit. It was rather tasty. (But he's a great cook, so that's no surprise.)

I was also presented with flowers that I was informed Barker picked out. They were apparently his second choice though because his first choice was super expensive. (Only the best for his Momma!)

Then they gave me a cake that Barker also picked out. =) Oh and now whenever I get a piece Barker giggles uncontrollably because apparently cake is yummy! (He gets that from my side of the family for sure. haha)

So overall, it was a special and sweet Mother's Day. And as a bonus, the next day (today), we got to see our next little baby via ultrasound and found out the sex!! But I'll save that for my next post...

Love to the awesome Mommies out there! I hope your day was as special as mine. =)

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