Kelly in NC

Doctor’s Appointment: Nothing has changed. Everything continues to go well. My blood pressure was a little bit higher than normal- but still in the safe range. I haven’t gained weight in the past two weeks- so I am really happy about that. My Strep B test came back negative- so no worries there. Three more weeks to go… will I make it?

Baby Development: As of tomorrow, the baby will be considered full term! This means that his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though his due date is still three weeks away. By this week he likely weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. He is still in the head down position and will likely remain in this position until he decides to make his entrance into the world.

How I Feel: Ready! Man, am I ready! This is likely because my cousin-in-law, Anna, who was three weeks behind me in pregnancy, just delivered her little boy today- 6 weeks early. This is just my luck- as a similar situation occurred when I had Grayson. Just knowing that she can already see and hold her newborn increases my desire to go into labor. Unfortunately, no amount of wishing will cause my water to break. I have had to remind myself a few times today that what I really want is a healthy little boy- so if staying inside is what’s best for him- I really should feel happy. And on top of that, I must admit that I continue to feel pretty good- aside from occasional sciatica flare up and the carpal tunnel- and so I really can’t complain. I am sleeping soundly at night and luckily work is keeping me busy enough that the days are passing quickly. Only two more weeks of school for me. Finally, I have had a few comments asking about our naming dilemma. We have settled on two names and cannot choose between them- so we have decided to wait until we see him before making the final decision. Tim’s favorite is Colton. My favorite is Gauge. We both like both names, but we each have a favorite. Out hope is that when we look at him the first time, it will be obvious what the name choice should be.

From random

I have mentioned Grayson’s new bedroom in a few different posts and decided that it was time to finally let you see what it looks like. He has been in his new room for a couple of week now and as expected transitioned without a problem. We went with a construction truck theme. Anyone who knows my kid, knows that he LOVES trucks. I made the border and Grayson stickers myself- as I couldn’t find anything that matched and was at a reasonable rate. We purchased all the furniture courtesy of Craig’s list. $375 for the bed (with mattress), night stand, and a dresser with mirror (not pictured). I still need to purchase a reading chair for the dormer window area and I’m considering using the chalkboard paint on one of the walls too. Has anyone used the chalk board paint and have an opinion? So while the room is not completely finished, it is livable and Grayson loves his new “Blue Room” as he likes to call it!

For Grayson’s Birthday weekend (back in April), Tim and I took him to the local zoo. This is a smaller zoo than the one we visited last year- but the perfect size for taking a three year old. I mean let’s be honest- his attention span isn’t really that long. We were at the zoo for a total of 3.5 hours and were able to see all the animals- except for the gorillas. We tried to see the gorillas on three different occasions- but each time they were hiding. Just my luck (They are my favorite!) Grayson’s favorite animals were the grizzly bears (which we saw wrestling), the fish in the aquarium, and the sea lions. He enjoyed the elephants, giraffes, and lions too- but loved the first three the most. The other highlight of the trip was Grayson’s ride on the merry-go-round. He picked out a big baboon to ride and smiled the entire time he rode around and around. Check out the photos from the day by clicking here.

I just realized that I have really been slacking when it comes to sharing my photos lately. I know that you are all so sad…but to be honest, I usually post them on here and write down a few details so that when I finally get around to scrapbooking I have all the info I need. Deceptive, isn’t it? Well, now I am going to have to go backwards- load all my photos and give you all the details of the past few months. So here goes!
Last night, Tim and I were invited (although we may have invited ourselves??) by Renee and Kevin to take Grayson to NASCAR Pole Night. This was Grayson’s 1st experience sitting in the speedway and man did he love the race cars. He was able to identify his favorites- Kasey Kahn, Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards and was very excited when he saw them. He only went without the headphones for a couple of laps and the look on his face when he heard the loud cars was priceless. He would have sat there forever had we let him and when we did finally leave he kept saying funny things like:
“Doze Wace Cars were Smokin’ fast!”
“Why we haf to weave now?”
“Are the race cars going nighty-night too?”

Doctor’s Appointment: Well, I am now on the weekly appointment schedule. There were no changes since last time. They did the Strep B culture this time and checked my cervix. I have not started to dilate- so it looks like this booger is not planning to make a super early arrival. I did find out that they will not make me go past my due date (my last OBGYN wouldn’t talk about induction until you were at the two week over limit.), so that made me very happy. That means that I really do have only 4 weeks and a couple days to go.

Baby Development: At 36 weeks, our little boy is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He should now weigh around 6 pounds and measure more than 18 1/2 inches long. He’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Yucky but true- the baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, that will form the contents of his first bowel movement. At the end of this week, the baby will be considered full-term.

How I Feel: Just more of the same. I found out that the Carpal Tunnel is likely to stay with my for the rest of my pregnancy. It has changed from the annoying tingling, pins & needles feeling from last week and has now settled into my two middle fingers causing them to feel numb (imagine the feeling of a tight rubber band cutting off blood circulation.). Believe it or not, this is an improvement. Also this weekend, my sciatica resurfaced. It didn’t last for long and I am now crossing my fingers (the ones that work properly) that it doesn’t return again. Other than those two issues, I continue to feel great. I still have plenty of energy and plan to keep myself as busy as possible until this little one decides to make his entrance. I have (for the most part) finished Grayson’s new room and he has officially moved out of the nursery. I spent the last few days organizing all the baby clothes and reminiscing about how tiny Grayson used to be. It hard to believe that my first baby is now so independent and that in only a few weeks I will have another tiny person who will capture my heart… and require a ton of love and attention. I am trying very hard to appreciate the “simplicity” of my life as it is right now as I know that it is on the verge of changing drastically. I have also spent an incredible amount of time trying to prepare Grayson for his little brother. I know this will be hardest on him. Anyone have any tips on how you helped siblings adjust to a newborn? Pass along all the tips you have!

Grayson cracks me up constantly and I just realized that I have not been documenting these funny quips. So here’s his latest:
A few evenings ago Tim and I took Grayson and Ozzy for a walk. Since Ozzy is not able to walk far distances, we actually load him into a wagon and Tim pulls him around the neighborhood. (Yes, I can imagine what my neighbors think.) Anyhow, about 1/2 way through the walk, Grayson also gets tired and decides to ride on the wagon. About this time, we reach the turn around point for our walk and Tim realizes that he now has to pull both the dog and Grayson back up a hill that we just descended. Tim starts to complain saying, “Great, now I have to pull both of them up that hill!” Before I could open my mouth, Grayson quips in, “Oh Daddy! Just use you’re big muscles!” Ha! So shut it Daddy and get movin’ - that’s what I would have added- but I was already laughing too hard!

I am sure that this has been linked to at least a million times by now- but I can’t help but post it too! Hilarious! My favorite line: ‘We are so cool and thoughtful.” So here ya go- if you haven’t seen it already or if you just wanted to see it again- the follow up to SNLs “Dick in a box”…

Dr. Appointment: Today I met with one of the other doctors in the practice. There are a total of three doctors and they usually deliver their own patients- unless you go into labor on a weekend. For this reason, they like for you to have met all three of them at some point. So today I met with the only female doctor in the practice. She was nice and other than meeting her, the appointment was rather unremarkable. I am measuring right at 35 weeks and besides a bit of water retention (which would also be considered normal at this point) everything continues to run right on track. At my next appointment they will check to see if I am dilated and will do the Strep B culture.

Baby Development: The baby doesn’t have much room to maneuver now that he’s over 18 inches long and tips the scales at around 5 1/4 pounds. Because it’s so snug in the womb, he isn’t likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but he is still kicking just as strong and often! His central nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature. The kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he’ll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. His fat layers — which will help regulate his body temperature once he’s born — are filling him out, making him rounder. His skin is also smoother than ever.

How I feel: Bigger and bigger as the weeks march by! I have started to have a little bit of swelling in my hands and feet. My toes have just begun the process of turning into Little Smokies! I know that they will look like little sausages by the end of this. Yesterday I was afflicted with carpal tunnel in my right hand/arm- I guess that’s another sign of water retention and swelling. Tim has indicated that my snoring has officially kicked in. Last week, he woke me up to tell me I was snoring. I wanted to kill him because it now takes me a while to fall asleep. My little bun in the oven is now very sensitive to my movements. If I roll over in the middle of the night, he will then take a good 2-3 minutes to reposition himself in the womb. That’s 3 minutes of me waiting for him to stop tossing and turning, kicking and jabbing before I can even attempt to fall back asleep. Tim suggested I roll over to stop snoring. I suggested he move his butt upstairs to the guest bedroom. I mean, hey- I’ve been inconvenienced for over 8 months with this baby invading my stomach. Too bad if he is inconvenienced for the next 5 weeks by sleeping upstairs. He readily agreed and when my snoring is annoying enough, he moves upstairs without waking me up. Now that is what I call an amazing husband and father!

I declared the entire weekend for myself! And luckily Tim agreed! On Saturday, Tim let me sleep in late and then made us all breakfast. Afterwards, Grayson and I ran errands. After Grayson’s nap we then went to my in-laws house to celebrate all the moms! GB made the most delicious Bourbon Cajun Beef Tenderloin. It was the best, most tender meat I have ever eaten. Tim’s contribution to the meal was a yummy fruit salad. He was so proud of cutting all the kiwi by himself- and no one believed (at first) that he made the salad. Delicious! On Sunday, Grayson decided to treat us both by sleeping in late and I actually woke him up at 8:30. We spent the morning working in the yard and the garden. (FYI- Gardening has become one of my favorite past times.) When Grayson went down for a nap, I rested for a bit and also started reading John Grisham’s “The Appeal”. (It hasn’t completely caught me yet- so I’ll let you know how that turns out.) After Grayson’s nap, we again went outside and Gray played on his slip-n-slide. That alone was enough to make my mother’s day. It was a hoot watching him laugh and giggle, pretending to be anything from a turtle to a snowboarder. Don’t ask! I just love watching him use his imagination. For dinner, on Sunday, we went over to our neighbor’s the Waddell’s for a scrumptious dinner of beef kabobs and shrimp. Tim contributed his delicious skillet potatoes. And by the time dinner was over- I was exhausted. Thank you Tim and Grayson for a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend. I am lucky to have you both!

Here’s the low-down of the past week!
~On Monday, since it was Grayson’s birthday I brought the afternoon snack for his class. He requested spiderman popsicles and the kids loved them. I mean what kid wouldn’t love a popsicle with the warm weather that is upon us? For dinner, Grayson asked for pizza and Nagy and Pop-Pop met us out to eat. Afterwards, we went back to Nagy and Pop-Pop’s to sing Happy Birthday while Grayson blew out his three candles on top of a Little Debbie brownie.
~On Tuesday, when I picked Grayson up from school his teacher declared that there must be something wrong with him. He had hit, pinched, and bitten (3 times) his friends at school. I was completely surprised. This is not the way Grayson usually treats his classmates. I mean hitting or pinching- that is his M.O. when he is extremely frustrated. But he has NEVER been a bitter. So three times in one day was unbelievable! So after I made Grayson apologize to his teacher for having such a terrible day, we left the classroom and walked out to my car. As we got to my car, he grabbed his left ear and proclaimed, “Mama, my ear huwts! There’s a wood chip inside it!” So I take a look and sure enough there was something inside his ear. I assumed it was earwax and attempted to scoop it out with my fingernail. Before I could barely get my finger nail inside his ear, he began howling. I then decided to take him back into school to see if I could get someone else’s opinion. Luckily they had a pair of tweezers and with the help of the preschool director, I extracted yes, a wood chip. His teacher was as surprised as I was. She had asked him all day what was wrong and had even taken his temperature because he was so unlike himself. She had questioned him all day if he felt ok, but not once did he mention the fact that he had stuck a wood chip in his ear while on the playground- 1st thing that morning. Why he waited all day to tell someone is beyond me. No wonder the kid was biting people- a wood chip stuck in my ear would have made me pretty irritable too!
~Now unfortunately, that is not the end of the biting story. The next day when I picked Grayson up from school I again asked his teacher if he had a better day than they day before. “Yes,” she answered, “although he did bite someone.” I was again in shock- since I had totally blamed the day before’s incidents on the wood chip. Then his teacher told me the rest of the story. After he bit his friend, she put Grayson in time out and was explaining to him that it is not nice to bite your friends. According to her, Grayson looked up at her with his blue innocent eyes and said “But Miss Wendy- I wasn’t biting. I was nibblin’.” NIbbling? Miss Wendy said that at that response she had to walk away since she was on the edge of laughter. I was perplexed as to where the word nibbling came from. It is not a word that I ever use and Miss Wendy said that she doesn’t use it- but obviously he picked it up from somewhere. Later that evening I told Tim the story of Grayson “Nibbling” and when I get to Grayson’s excuse for biting someone, Tim turns bright red and begin laughing. “It’s form you. Isn’t it? YOU use the word nibbling?” Tim had to admit that yes, he was the source of Grayson’s newest vocabulary word and he also to blame for Grayson thinking that it was ok.. to “nibble” on someone. Apparently, we the two of the them are wrestling, Tim will press his teeth to Grayson’s ribs (which tickles him) and Grayson will say (while laughing) “No Daddy. No biting.” Tim’s response? You guessed it- “I’m not biting! I’m just nibbling!”
~On Saturday, Carri and Dave visited our house. I asked Dave if he would be willing to take a few maternity photos of me before I got way too fat to be photographed. He was kind and brought over all of his equipment to do the photos. I cannot wait to see the final product. I saw some the shots and they are great! I’ll be sure to post them when I get them back!
~This afternoon after working around the house all day, Tim and I went inside to eat lunch. When we came back out about 30 minutes later, we could not find Ozzy. We walked all the way around our house, into the woods, looked in the garage and in the shop, and could not find him anywhere. Now Ozzy has gotten much better at walking- but not so good that he could leave our yard. (We live on over an acre.) Or at least we thought. I finally decided that I would go ask our neighbors. They love our dog and sometimes come by to visit with him. As I started walking down our drive way and across the street to their house., I saw him- sitting submerged like an alligator in the pond next door. Somehow, Ozzy managed to get all the way out of our yard, into our neighbors yard, and down into the pond (a total of about 200 ft). Man, that dog is motivated. Now I should probably tell you that Ozzy pretty much lived in the pond before his accident. So it should be no surprise that he wanted to go for a swim. We were just surprised that he could walk that far. I guess we won’t leave him outside unsupervised anymore!
~Finally, here are the photos I took of Grayson at age three.