Down to the Wire

39 weeks. Yes, yes, yes I know it is healthier for baby to stay put for as long as possible, but I was hoping that he would be here already. This pregnancy flew by, but now that we are this close it seems to be just creeping along at a snail's pace. I will admit that as far as mothering goes, or life for that matter, the area that I could use the most improvement in is patience. I am definitely feeling it right now, that lack of patience that sometimes gets the best of me. I keep having dreams of holding him, and introducing him to Aydin. I am so excited for that! I can't wait to see the look on her face when it becomes clear to her that "brother" is not just another name for my huge belly. I have been telling everyone every night (for the past week and 1/2) that "tonight is the night." I am coming to terms with the fact that all the wishful thinking in the world won't make it happen, but at this point it really can't be much longer. Oh the wait.

Our Last Hurrah

Jesse and I had talked about how nice it would be to take a family vacation during shut-down this summer, but in reality I'm not really supposed to travel 36 weeks pregnant. So, instead we decided that it would be fun to take Aydin to Denver for a couple of days to do some last only child stuff with her. I got a great deal on a nice hotel that was only a block away from the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, and only a few minutes away from the Zoo and Children's Museum. We stayed one night, and had so much fun together!

Our first stop on the way into Denver was the Zoo. Aydin has been before, but we thought she might have more fun this time since she is a little older.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel to check in and get some lunch. Aydin was very impressed with the bounciness of the bed, and the swimming pool ( : Since we were so close to the "mall" (and because we couldn't for the life of us get her down for a nap with the bouncy bed and all) we did a little afternoon shopping, went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and saw Despicable Me, such a cute movie. The shopping pretty much did her in, so after her nap she was in a good mood for the movie and seemed to really like it. Below is a picture of us in the theater before the movie started.
The hat she is in is definitely a boy's cap, but she found it at Gap, put it on, and decided it was hers. I actually really like it on her. She insisted on wearing it most of the trip.Monday morning we had breakfast at a bakery on the mall and headed out to the Children's Museum. The museum was for sure her favorite part of the trip. She still spent the most time in the painting area, the girl's an artist.
We didn't get a chance to build anything together last time we were at the museum because it was so packed, but this time Jesse sat down with her and built a car for her. She was so proud, showing the other kid's her car. One little kid was very impressed and trying to get his grandma to make him one.
We had such a good time. I told Jesse we need to try and do this sort of thing a few times a year from now on. Jesse is on his three week shut-down now, and although we have a pretty busy week ahead of us, I am excited to get some time with him home to relax a little, focus on Aydin a lot, and just have some time to prepare for a new family member.

Almost There

I have now hit 34 weeks. It went by so fast this time! In no time at all I'll be juggling life as a mom of two. I'm still feeling great, big, but great. I have finally met all 4 of the midwives at my office and I really like all of them. Now that I know that he and I will be in the care of someone that I am comfortable with, I feel a lot more at peace with the upcoming delivery.

Aydin is becoming such a toddler. She talks all the time now, and just gets funnier every day. She has been potty training for almost 2 months now and is doing great with it. We have finally gotten her into some real undies that she wears at home (as seen above). She is very proud of them too.

This is becoming a very busy summer, which is good because it helps to pass the time. We have a wedding shower, a bachelorette party, a three day vacation to Denver (a last hurrah for our only child), two birthday parties, a rehearsal, and a wedding all coming up in the next couple of weeks (how can I look graceful waddling down the isle?). And then, hopefully, he'll be here. We'll see. I have to say that when I think about it all at once my heart beats a little faster, but it is going to be such a great month!

A More Masculine Nursery

I finally finished everything for Rykin's half of the nursery. I have always wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" themed boys room. The movie was a bummer, but I still love the illustrations in the book, and so here it is! I am pretty excited about how it turned out, hopefully this is enough to balance out the femininity coursing through that room.

What are we going to do about this?

Aydin has finally really started climbing. Here are her most recent accomplishments. Both times we walked into her room and found her after she had already climbed up, so we made her show us how she did it in hopes that we could stop her from doing it again. We'll see how that goes.

Straw Bale Gardening

So I recently read about straw bale gardening in another blog, and thought that it looked easy enough. I haven't had much luck with gardens in the past, but this way the garden can be closer to the house so maybe I'll remember to water it. We got our bales last weeks and have been watering and fertilizing every day. Today Jesse took Aydin and I to get some plants and seeds for our garden. We got watermelon, onion, and bean seeds, as well as tomato, cherry tomato, banana pepper, and hot pepper plants. I also love to have fresh herbs every year so we picked out some cilantro, mint, basil, and chives to go in the sides of the bales. I wish we had pictures from the nursery. Aydin was so cute pushing the wagon and adding whatever she thought we needed to the pile. We all planted the garden this morning. I am so excited to watch it take off (fingers crossed.)

Bonding

I rocked Aydin for a little while before bed tonight. While she was laying on my chest she put her hands on my belly and she felt her baby brother kick. She sat up as soon as it happened and gasped with a big grin on her face. After she climbed into bed she reached over and patted my belly before she rolled over to sleep. So sweet!

Our Mother's Day picture. When we ask her to smile she always squints her right eye.

I have been thinking of doing a post all week, and now that I'm writing I've forgotten what I was even going to write about. There really is nothing going on here right now. Aydin has been talking more and more all the time. I am feeling great. I had my first appointment with the midwife on Friday. I switched from my OB because I just wasn't happy with the way Aydin's delivery went. The visit was the same as all of the others with the OB, but I really am much less apprehensive about the delivery now. I have finished baby boy's crib blanket and am working on the bumper, so pictures of the boy half of our nursery to come soon I hope. Mother's day was wonderful. And everything else is good too. Not much of an update, but oh well.

She has discovered suckers recently. She did share with Abe, but I washed it off. These boots are her FAVORITE. I have a really hard time getting her to wear anything else. This has been going on for about a month and a half, and in that whole time I think she has worn different shoes maybe 3 or 4 times. If I try to put something else on she frowns and says " no, boooos."

Its a...

Ugh!!! Why is it 3am and I feel completely rested? I'm not, but I can't fall back asleep, so what else would I possibly be doing right now?

So we had the big halfway appointment/ultrasound yesterday. First and foremost this is one healthy baby, measuring right on 20 weeks (which is what I am). And if you can't tell from the picture he is perfect.

That's right folks, we're having a boy!!! Obviously I'm so excited. I could tell you I would have been just as excited and happy if this was a girl, but I'd be lying. And since this isn't a girl I do feel okay saying that. Oh, and daddy (who swore he could tell everything he was looking at and knew, way before we were told, that Aydin was a girl) did not have a guess as to what this one was. So when the determining shot came up on the screen and he couldn't say, the first thing that popped into my head to blurt out was "HONEY, ITS A _______" well my grandparents read this so I won't write it, but the most obvious thing on the screen isn't what you would think because Jesse didn't know (so fill in the blank yourself. But I didn't say that... instead I said "ITS A BOY!" And I had tears in the corners of my eyes as soon as I knew. I can't even tell you how happy I was, almost speechless, but not quite. And of course after the ultrasound tech pointed out the anatomy using the correct terminology the next thing that fell out of my mouth was "honey, look how tiny it is." I'm sure that's exactly what he wanted to hear, but I needed a laugh to clear the air before I started crying. She then continued to show us the rest of his perfect self saying "look at the pretty little heart," and "look at that pretty little face." I felt like saying "no lady, let's use words like good STRONG heart, and handsome face," that's my son we're talking about! Oh well, I just sat and took it all in with my mouth hanging open and a big stupid smile on my face.

Aydin didn't have a clue what was going on. When she looked up at the screen she wasn't seeing what we were, because she started making monkey sounds. Hahaha, at least she thought it was some kind of creature, that's pretty good for a not quite two year old. I pointed to my bigger yet belly the other day and said baby. She started poking at my belly button, and pinching my stomach, but we have got a ways to go before she gets it. What a surprise this is going to be.

As to names, yes we have one for him. Jesse, in the midst of a long string of terrible suggestions, came up with one early on in my pregnancy with Aydin. This will be the name! It's the only one that he suggested that I even remotely liked so this is it. However, if we don't have a name to argue over, of course there is going to be a hang-up about the way it is spelled. He apparently has known even since before we came up with the spelling or Aydin's name how he wants this spelled, and I don't like it. So, I won't be writing it out here just yet. Some of you know, but some of you don't and you'll just have to wait. Sorry. Oh yeah, and Jesse says I have to eat steak for the rest of the pregnancy. Gag.

And now it is time to try to fall back asleep!

1/2 way there

Well we have been very busy this past few weeks. They have flown by. Aydin and I made a trip to Olympia, WA to see some great friends. We decided to go almost last minute, but I am so glad that we did. While I wouldn't say that it was a relaxing trip, it was sooo much fun. I could totally see myself living there (no plans to move) There is so much to do, they have an amazing fabric shop and great coffee, and it is beautiful, not to mention the friends. This trip was planned by my brother and his fiance, so we went with them. Needless to say, Kailin and I got to spend some more time together, and I think became a lot closer (we were sharing a bed).

Aydin has been talking so much this past few weeks. She went from not seeming to care about talking, to now trying to repeat everything. She still doesn't talk much in public, but at home oh my. It is really fun to wait and see what she will say next. At 20 months old she finally has 8 teeth, and two more molars almost ready to be done popping though. We can FINALLY give her whole pieces of some things for her to take bites of. Can you tell this is a big deal for us? The video was included just because I think it's funny, and I didn't feel like posting a bunch of pictures.

Halfway through the pregnancy now, and feeling great. Will not be posting a belly picture quite yet (not that there isn't a belly yet). Halfway, ahhhh I need to start my "scrapbook" for this one. I already had at least 5 entries in Aydin's by now. This has gone by so much faster than my pregnancy with Aydin. I suppose it's because I am pretty distracted from thinking about it all the time. I have tried to think of what has been different with this pregnancy that would give me any indication of what this baby might be. All I can come up with are my cravings; hamburgers with Aydin, apples with this one. Oh, and this baby moves a lot more than I remember Aydin moving. All day long. That's not enough to go on. Only one more week until we find out. How in the world do people make it all the way to delivery without knowing. Even 20 weeks is killing me.

Moved

I think I felt baby move today. I have been thinking that for the past week every once and a while, but today I am almost 99% sure of it, although it is a very subtle movement that I guess could be other things. But no, I am almost 99% sure today that this movement that I am feeling is baby. Oh, I love that feeling... I can't wait until I can be 100% sure of it.

Random Update'

We have actually had some interesting things going on in the past couple of weeks.

Our pet thing: So we got a cat. We decided that our fifteen some scattered mouse traps weren't really doing the job, so we got an outdoor/sometimes indoor cat to help us out. So far so good. The picture is the cat after meeting Samson (Levi's Saint Bernard) for the first time.

Our fun thing: We were able to go to the Children's Museum in Denver on Monday with some great friends and cousins. We all had such a good time. We went on President's Day without really thinking about it, and it was pretty busy, but still a good time. I think we will go again when it is not a holiday. I think her absolute favorite thing was the painting exhibit. She painted two pictures and probably would have kept on painting if we didn't need to move on. When we got home I decided to see if I could find a good deal on an art easel for her. It should be here next week, and I think she will love it. I have been wanting to find some other constructive things to do with her, so this will be perfect!

Our exciting thing: We had a surprise visit from Levi and Danielle over the weekend. It is always so fun when they come. Aydin and Ethan get along so well (when she's not bossing him around) and she loves his company. They haven't come down quite as often this winter as we thought that they might (maybe because they have a brand new baby) so we are hoping for a few more visits before the summer rush.

Our thing to look forward to: The Mercantile is getting their first batch of chicks in tomorrow, so we are going to give it another try. This time with a hopefully impenetrable chicken yard. I think Aydin will love them. She seems to like any and every animal she sees.

Our sick thing: Aydin came down with a stomach something last night and was up getting sick all night. We have our little set-up on the couch this morning with a drop cloth for the couch, a puke bucket, a few bottles of water, and some rags. This is her first bout ever, so we'll see how we handle it. She seems to be feeling okay, but hasn't had anything to eat yet, and didn't keep her water down.

Our baby thing: Everything is going well so far. I have my first check-up with the doctor on Monday. I will be 14 weeks then. After that only 4 more weeks until my next appointment, and I am hoping that they will go ahead and schedule an ultrasound then so we can find out what we are having. We'll see.

Well thats it, my random update.

Aydin's Show

Just a couple of videos of Aydin that I thought were particularly cute. The second one is mostly for her Grandpa because she loves to say grandpa, but never in front of him ( : Her new favorite word to say is giggle though, and for now the rest of her words are on the back-burner until she gets through this phase. These are the few words that I could get her to say on video.

Expecting

Expecting:

~another miracle and blessing arriving at the end of the summer

~an uneventful pregnancy

~one big sister to be very happy, helpful, and amazing

~to be pretty huge before this is all over (am I already showing or is that all of the eggs benedict I've been eating?)

~my heart to somehow double in size to accommodate

~to be very busy knitting and sewing all spring/summer

~(hoping for) a little boy, I can say that right? but I won't be disappointed either way

~to change Jesse's mind about a name I have picked out

~a hot summer full of anticipation, preparation, and celebration

~a new aunt for my kiddos (and a new sister for me!)

~the happiest July/August of my life

~our house to be a little cramped, but full of more fun and memory making than ever

~to be visiting Suehiro for Buddha rolls quite often this pregnancy

~a visit from the most wonderful family who maybe, just maybe can somehow stay long enough to be here for the arrival of this little one too

~to be yet again as blissfully amazed, by how God can manage to put together someone as wonderful, individual, and perfect for our family, as I was when Aydin was born

Until then....ahhhh the waiting. Pregnancy is the hardest nine months of anticipation to get through ever!

Knitting...

This is for me just so I don't forget (and so I can feel more successful with what I have already accomplished instead of just swamped with what I still have left). My "this" winter knitting list...

Done:

Gobs of hats for Aydin

1 Pair of mittens each for Aydin, Jesse, and myself

2 Pairs of hand warmers (1 needing to be re-made)

1 Successful hat for Michelle, and 1 unsuccessful hat for David

1 Scarf for Aydin

1 Hat for Jesse

1 Pair of mittens for Aydin to wear next winter (in progress)

Left to do:

4 More pairs of hand warmers (2 by request from David and Aydin)

3 Sort-of sweater dresses (so excited to start these)

1 Sweater for myself

1 More little pair of mittens

1 More pair of big mittens for a friend in Alaska

Phew... actually this makes me feel much better. Seeing it in list form makes me feel like maybe I will get all of this done this winter!

A Wonderful Holiday

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas! Aydin is finally old enough to really get into it now. She helped us decorate (and re-re-re decorate) the tree. She got to pick out her own ornament this year too. She picked an ornament with three dogs sitting next to a fire hydrant barking "Jingle Bells." I am surprised the battery in that thing has any juice left. She even unwrapped her own presents.She climbed up into her own chair and unwrapped them in her lap one-at-a-time, handing us each piece of paper as she tore it off. She is pooped from all of the holiday action, we all are, but it has been wonderful. Levi and Danielle came down for an extra long time this time. We loved having them over. Ethan and Aydin play so well together, and we had a new baby to cuddle and enjoy too!Jesse has been off of work for one week, and has one more week off. I wish he could be home like this more often, but we'll take what we can get. I also started a project for this holiday season that has turned out to be quite a lot of fun. This is one of two pairs of hand warmers that I have made, and I have requests for many more. I don't know how many I'll make, but they are pretty fun!

P.S. Mexico pictures are on Facebook. I would do a blog for them but, call me lazy, posting that many pictures on here is just too much work.

Mexico

We're back! Wow...that was a great vacation, but I'm glad to be home. We had so much fun! Aydin loved the beach, and even the sand, the fish, the freedom of being able to run around outside all day long...everything. She LOVED swiming, mostly in the ocean. We would take hunks of bread out into the water and dozens of fish would cluster around us to eat it. She thought it was great, as long as someone was holding her, and she would throw the bread to them. Any time she wanted to swim she would get her little raft and push it to the door. We spent most of our time swimming. There were a couple bouts of rain while we were there, but for the most part the weather was great. While on vacation Aydin learned to say "fish," "turtle," "moon," and "David (deah)." She can tell you what a fish says, and what a pig says. And she now knows where her "pink toes" are. She had her first pedicure by mom before we left, and she has completely enjoyed showing off her "pink toes." My favorite part of the trip was getting to watch Aydin bond with my family. She hasn't gotten to spend this much time with any of them before, and it was just what she needed to feel completely comfortable and close to them. She pretty much clung to my dad the whole time. No matter what she was doing with him she thought it was the greatest. And she had so much fun teasing uncle David the whole time. She would tap his shoulder and grin when he looked, and she thought it was histerical to wke him up on the airplane. She just found something with each of them that made her smile. I loved it! And I don't know if I can speak for Jesse, but I'll try. This was only his second vacation ever so I am betting the experience alone was fantastic in and of itself. But the thing I think he enjoyed the most was getting to spend so much time just playing with Aydin. Ayway, great vacation, glad to be home! Now if only Aydin's body would not wake her up at 6 AM thinking it's 7 AM. We didn't take our good camera, so we only got a couple of pictures, but David and Michelle were the photogrraphers for the vacation, so when I get pictures from them I will do a picture post.

Growing Up

Aydin dancing in her diaper and beanie.

Well, it has been a while since I last posted on the incredible developmental leaps that our little girl is making lately and I have nothing else to blog about so here you go...

She is still a very tall girl... 95% for height and 60something% for weight, but she has slowed down a little. Her hair literally gets thicker everyday, althoug it still has a ways to go before we'll be able to "style" it. And she FINALLY is getting some more teeth. She had two teeth come in when she was ten months old, but we saw no sign of a tooth until just a few weeks ago. Two have already popped through making the grand total four, and we can see four more getting ready to pop out. Maybe she can really start eating real food now.

She is running now and climbing, dancing, and talking more and more everyday. She can say "mama, daddy, Abel, Aydin, up, down, ball, wow, bottle, woof", and most recently "no." I was hoping she wouldn't learn that last one for a while, but what can I do? Every time a dog comes near her now she says "down," I guess I tell Abel to lay down more than I realized. She knows where her nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and hair are, and she'll point to Abel's eyes, nose, and mouth too.

Best of all...she is going to bed peacefully now. She has always been good about staying asleep, but she has ALWAYS fought going to bed. I have never been able to just lay her down and have her fall asleep, she just plays in her crib. I rock her to sleep every night, and I do love rocking her, but she would always fight so hard to stay awake. She would kick me, and cry, and arch her back. Now she just relaxes and falls asleep in my arms. We got her on a pretty good schedule, bought an i-pod docking station for her room, and got a few longer books to read, and that is all it took. Wish we would have tried the schedule thing earlier but, call me dumb, I just didn't think of it. Oh well, things are going good now ( :

Playing at the Park

Had a request for some video footage and we took this while we were at the park a week or so ago. She is fearless. She loves slides, the bigger the better! Just see for yourself...

First Snow

The first snow of the season came October 10th! So early, but I LOVE it. This weather puts me in the mood to light a fire, make some hot cocoa, and get out the electric heat blanket. It also reminds me that I have precious little time to come up with a Halloween costume for Aydin. Jesse told me that since I picked last years costume for her, he gets to pick this years. He wants her to be a zombie... with a big gash on her head. No way! I settled for a mummy, no blood and gore that way. Now I have to figure out how to make mummy look cute. Hmmmm.

Anyway, first thing after breakfast Saturday morning, we got all bundled up to go play in the snow with Aydin for the first time. She was so excited about her snowsuit and snow boots. Not so excited about the snow. She took a few steps in it, bent down to brush it off of her boots, and then decided it was not for her. We threw a few snowballs, and helped her (forced her) to make a snow angel, and then we headed back inside. Not what I was expecting, but we have some time to get used to the stuff. Hopefully she will start liking it more as the season progresses.

Don't know if you can tell, but the snow angel is right below our feet in the bottom picture.