Looking Forward!

Well, seeing as I'm 39 weeks tomorrow, and since I have a hard time doing much of anything these days, I spent most of the day laying in bed. While doing so I started to think about all I have to look forward to in the next few weeks, months, and even years. First though, I thought about what I'll miss about being pregnant and that was a whole lot of nothing! Luckily at most I have three weeks left so there's no point dwelling on that.

In no particular order, here is what I am looking forward to:

*Getting to finally meet the newest member of the family. I still remember holding Carter for the first time and the overwhelming love I felt for him (and still do). I can't wait to experience that again. Oh, and to give JoJo his real name!

*Getting to see Carter with JoJo. I know it will be an adjustment for Carter but I have high hopes that it will go well. Ever since we gave him the nickname of JoJo, Carter changed from saying "don't want one" to happily talking about JoJo and what it will be like having him here. He has talked about teaching him things, he helped sort through his clothes, and he even says all the baby toys in the house are JoJo's. He's also really great around other babies. He use to get jealous when Dan or I held another baby but now he just smiles, softly touches their hands, and says things like "aww, cute!"

*Getting to play with Carter. It's been a rough 7 months of saying "sorry babe, mum can't do that right now." Although Carter's been a trooper about it (especially with sharing his lovey to make me feel better), and I feel it may have prepared him for the first few weeks with a baby here, I can't wait to be able to lift Carter without hesitation and to be able to get down on the floor and play with him.

*Being able to clean! Yup, it's true, I like to clean. I don't love it, and I know it will be a while before I'm up to it or even have the time, but it will be nice to be able to clean without getting sick or hurting afterwards.

*Being able to eat cereal for breakfast. In the last 7 months I've only attempted to eat cereal for breakfast two or three times and I paid for it each time!

*Working on losing weight. That ones self explanatory!

*At the top of the list, watching JoJo and Carter grow, learn, and play. Carter brings us more joy then we could ever imagine so we can only assume that joy will double shortly!

My Modern Man!

As I'm coming to the end of my pregnancy I'm having to rely on Dan even more then I previously did. It's getting harder to pick up toys off the floor, lift Carter, and do dishes. He brings the laundry up and down the stairs for me, does pretty much everything around here that requires lifting and bending over, and sleeps on the couch so I can get a better sleep. Everyday when he comes home for lunch he even spends half of it putting Carter down for his nap.  I can't imagine going through this without his help!

It does make me wonder though. If this was 50 years ago or I was with someone not nearly as helpful, how would I get through it. Would I just have to suck it up and do it. Would I have had to stop after one child (that I can pretty much guarantee would have happened!). Would I have ended up in the hospital more then once each pregnancy due to dehydration from not being able to take it easy and therefore keep some food/fluids down. Would I resent my husband for putting me through this while he went on with his normal daily life. It's too hard to know.

All I do know though, is that I love and appreciate my "modern" man so much. That isn't to say that all men in the past weren't helpful or even that the ones now are. It's just that things have changed a lot. It's a pretty well know fact that men now a days see their role as fathers differently then those of the past. Even just 30 years ago when I was baby things were way different. Though from what I can tell, Dan learned a lot from his own dad so it shows that not all men are the same, regardless of the times.

When Dan and I were first getting to know each other (10 years ago!), I asked him once what his biggest fear was. His response was that he wouldn't be able to provide for his family. I knew then that he was a stand up guy, but I couldn't possibly understand how much so until I saw it with my own two eyes over the last 10 years.

I'm not going to sugar coat it and say that he does all the things I listed above with a smile on his face, but he does do them without complaining and many times without me having to ask. Even last night I went to bed forgetting to put the laundry in the dryer. I later remembered but when I went to do it he had beaten me to it. That one small act put a smile on my face and reminded me how lucky I am. He's had to take on way more then his share during both pregnancies and he's never made me feel bad about it.

Most importantly, Carter (and JoJo) couldn't ask for a better father. I know the last thing Dan would want to do is take an arts and crafts class or swimming class with a bunch of two year old's, but he does it. He also goes to the park, follows Carter around in a giant jungle gym, goes to see disney movies, changes poopy diapers, gets thrown up on, reads children's books ad nauseam, and most importantly gives up his daily naps, all because he's a great dad!

I love you Dan! I can't wait to start this newest journey with you...we are finally in the home stretch!!

The Lorax!

Carter had his first movie theatre experience tonight! It didn't start out so well as we had to try to rush through dinner, and as anyone who has ever had a toddler knows, you can not rush them! Even as we were trying to get him in the car Dan opened Carter's door only to promptly have to close it so Carter could "do it myself!" Luckily once we got to the theatre he was mesmerized by all the lights and newness of it all.

First we stopped to get our tickets. It was cheap Tues and we were pleasantly surprised to find out kids under 3 are free, bonus!! Next we stopped for some popcorn. We smuggled in drinks (what can I say, it just pains me to pay $5 for a pop). So the whole night cost us $20. Definitely worth it for a night out at the movies!

When we got to our seats Carter started in on the popcorn, his new love! When Dan tried to grab some, Carter kept a watchful eye and grabbed each kernel out of Dan's fingers faster then he could get it to his mouth. Although it was humorous, we put a swift end to that with warning of losing the popcorn all together. We then just put some popcorn on a napkin in his lap which worked better for all involved!

Once the movie started Carter was mesmerized again and never took his eyes off the screen. He even swayed back and forth and shook his foot to the music! When the movie was over he said "don't want to go home!" We aren't positive but we're pretty sure the thought of leaving the popcorn was the most upsetting for him. Dan asked him if he wanted to live there and he shook his head yes. Luckily when everyone else started leaving he realized it's the right thing to do. As we walked out of the theatre the first thing he said was "we come back another day?!"

When we got home he was excited to call gramma to tell her about it and his usual "let's talk" at bedtime was changed to "let's talk 'bout Lorax!"

So I would say it was definitely a success!

"Speck" Inspector Kit!

Today I made Carter a "Speck" Inspector Kit. Thanks for the idea Kelly and the blog "Val's Crafty Corner" from the Melissa and Doug website!

For those of you that don't know, the term "speck" here is from the movie Horton Hears a Who. Carter's favourite movie! Horton finds a clover with a "speck" on it. The speck is actually a town called Whoville where all the Who's live. It's a great book and movie that emphasizes that just because you don't see, hear, or feel something doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

So off to the dollar store I went...

Every kit needs a case!

The supplies!

Let the inspecting begin!

Found a speck!

Sorting fun!

Like George!

Conversation from today...

Carter - "dad, I put this is my mouth"
Me - "then what happened"
Carter - "mum take it away"
Me - "that's right because mum asked you not to put it in your mouth. Then you got really upset, didn't you"
Carter - "yeah"
Me - "then mum gave it back to you later once you calmed down and promised not to put it in your mouth"
Carter - "that nice of you mum!"

Then our conversation while getting Carter ready for bed tonight....

Me - "Carter, tell Dad what you did with that cream after your nap yesterday"
Carter - "I just squirted it"
Me - "yeah, it was all over your hands and pj's when I came in, right?"
Carter - "sorry mum, I just lookin' at it. I squirted it."
Me - "that's ok babe, I know you were just curious."
Carter - "yeah, me like George!"

Two weeks from H. E. double hockey sticks!!

Well, the only good thing about the last two weeks is that it's over!! On Valentines day Carter woke up with what appeared to be a run of the mill cold, but by days end it turned in to a horrible horrible flu. Within 48 hours Dan and I had it too. What followed was two weeks of vomit, crying, no sleep, runny noses, coughing, dehydration, and other details that I'll spare you of! Then to top it all off, just as we were all starting to feel better, Carter ended up with pneumonia and then had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. After three trips to the doctor, chest x-rays, lots of tears (mostly from me), cancelled plans, even less sleep and lots and lots of cuddles, we are officially on our way out of this mess!

Carter is back to his happy self, with the occasional bump in the road due to digestive issues caused by the antibiotics. With the help of some home made wipes, cortisone cream, and some pro-biotics, that seems to be improving as well. Five more days on the antibiotics and then we can try to forget that any of this ever happened.

Actually, there was one other thing that happened that was good. Carter started telling me on a daily, some times hourly, basis that he loves me and Dan. It never gets old. Melts my heart every time!

Our day...

Breakfast!

"Dump out the letter's mum!"

"Do big alphabet! Do little alphabet!

Practising using scissors 

  

Dad showing him how it's done!

Sticking to his own way!

Pillow pit!!

Lunch time! (I swear we don't drill him on his letters, he insists!)

Shovelling with the smallest shovel he could find!

Relaxing after shovelling!

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for the last event of the night. Dan was at Jiu Jitsu so it was just me, Carter, and Pancho for bed time. Carter and I started going up the stairs when I remembered I had laundry to bring up. I asked him to sit and wait for me. He agreed; however, he proceeded to take off up the stairs, run into my room, shut the door, and LOCK IT!! Ugh! I tried to get him to push on the door nob and turn it but he said "can't mum! Look at you under the door." Luckily I had insisted to Dan that we keep some old wire hangers incase this ever happened. After getting the hanger and unlocking the door I opened it to find Carter and Pancho sitting in the middle of the floor in my pitch black room just smiling at me. He's lucky he's so cute!!

Quickie Update

I know I've been slacking on the blog posts lately. Between the pain and discomfort I'm now in due to JoJo (33 weeks this Sunday!) and the fact that Carter's energy seems to have doubled in the last few weeks, by the time I get a moment to myself all I want to do is sleep!

Things are going good though. Everything with JoJo seems right on track. I'm pretty sure the pain and discomfort I'm in is probably the same as it was when I was pregnant with Carter but back then I could just relax whenever I wanted. That's a little harder to do with a two year old! At this point I'm counting down the days to when this little one is due and I'll feel normal again. I remember with Carter, even though I ended up with a c-section, I felt amazing after he was born. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with being madly in love with the little man, but it also had to do with it being the first time in about 7 months that I didn't feel like I was going to get sick at any moment. It's been a rough road but at least I get the best reward of all at the end of all this.

Now on to the important stuff, Carter! He's doing great. Still obsessed with his letters. Every time he sits down to eat it's still "let's learn letters mum!" And of course "what's that say mum?" to every sign he sees.

Today after his nap I told him we had to go downstairs so I could start dinner but he said he wanted to stay upstairs. So I shut all the doors except for his room and closed the gate at the top of the stairs. After a few minutes I went to check on him and this is what I found:

He immediately told me to go back down stairs. The two of them stayed there for about 20 minutes before he finally asked to come down. 

Thursday nights Dan and Carter are now going to an arts and crafts class for 4 weeks and then they start swimming. Here's a picture of the crafts from last week. He seems to really enjoy it!

Tonight on the way home from class Dan was playing with an alligator puppet I got for Carter. Pretending to be the alligator Dan said "hey Carter, let's go home and have some juice!" Carter's response, "no dad. He don't like juice, he eat cows!" Can't get anything past him!

Singing ABC's

Click here to see a video of Carter signing his ABC's!

Inquiring Mind of a Two Year Old!

Ever since Carter was born I've been amazed watching him take in everything around him. What an overwhelming prospect if you really think about. Babies have to learn to walk, talk, and understand the world around them. Ideally, we also want them to learn to have patience, manners, to share, to be kind, to be honest, and we can't forget - to fall asleep on their own and stay asleep until morning!

We as parents have the responsibility of behaving in a way we want our little ones to, to teach when an opportunity presents itself (please, thank you), to guide when they may try their own approach (no we don't hit Johnny on the head because he took your toy), and to learn the clues of when they have had enough and need a break! Luckily though, most of what they need to learn is done by just observing what we do. When in a loving environment they will learn so much all on their own! They are like little sponges that observe everything, process it to the best of their abilities, and use it to help them learn even more.

As they get older they start to take on more of the responsibility of learning themselves. This is when "what" and "why" become their favourite words! They start to consciously decide what they want to learn (while still subconsciously learning). This has become blatantly obvious with Carter lately! The most common phrases I hear from Carter are "why mum?" (and I better give a really good answer or another "why mum?" will follow), "where you going mum?", "what you doing mum?" (he just said that to me now), "what's that mum?", and one of my favourites "what you thinking 'bout mum?"

Carter has most recently started asking "what letter is that?" and "what's that say?" This started with Carter's new fascination with letters and numbers. He has always loved to read but any time we previously tried to teach him a letter he didn't seem interested. I put some stick-on letters on his wall a couple months ago that he loved to look at and sing about, "a-b-c-f-g" while pointing at any letter! Then he started to enjoy playing with a set of magnetic fridge letters. Although he still didn't care what they were, he loved dumping them out of their case on to his train table and tossing them over the studio wall into the front hall. It became a favourite pass time!

Then one day he decided to bring the letters to the table with him while he ate his lunch. They haven't left the table since. Now every time we eat Carter wants to play with the letters and learn what they are. He says "let's learn letters mum!" or "let's set up alphabet mum!" Because he's so interested in the letters we've started putting a new letter on his chalk board every day. We've also pulled out some alphabet flash cards that we used for sign language and he plays with those at the table as well. After 2-3 weeks Carter now knows 21 letters (capital and small).

It is just so amazing to watch him learn and be so interested in it! We went to the grocery store last night and he was asking what every sign said and even what the label on every item said. It opens us up to so many more learning opportunities!

Boring Day = Great Day!

This morning I woke up wondering what we could do today. For once we had 0 plans. What I first thought was going to be a very boring day turned out to be such a great one!

First we had fun having breakfast!

My hungry dinosaur (as he likes to call himself)!

Then we went to visit Gramma and Papa, where he got to wear the dinosaur costume Gramma made! He also dragged papa around the house for about two hours - "let's go some place else, papa!". Hopefully papa had as much fun as Carter did!

Cutest dinosaur I've ever seen!

Then we went home for lunch and a nap (for all three of us!) The rest of the day we got to just hang out and enjoy each others company.

Being silly!

Aww...my boys!

After dinner was my favourite moment of the day. I started singing "Happy Together" to Carter and he loved it! He was dancing up a storm in his seat. I thought I'd spare you all my singing so I took a video with the song playing from YouTube, though Carter wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as he was when I was singing it. The video is when he was trying to copy Dan's moves.

Time to watch Garfield - Pet Force!

Flash too bright mum!

Wow!

If Garfield will wear a cape, so will I!

 Then it was bedtime!

Brushing our teeth!

Being silly washing our hands!

Gotta practice our letters before bed!

Snuggle puppy of mine, everything about you is especially fine!

Night time chat!

Couldn't have asked for a better day!

Come Here You Little Turd!

This morning I went out for breakfast with some girlfriends. When I got home Carter was saying "come here you little turd!" Apparently Dan and him were wrestling and Carter ran off, so Dan said that to him. Of course Carter immediately started saying it. Dan tried to tell him he said "come here you little turkey!" but Carter wasn't having it!

Then a couple minutes after I got home Dan said "oh geeze" about something and Carter of course followed suit. He's a little sponge so we really have to watch what we say!

30 weeks down, 10 to go! Pregnancy Update

Hard to believe I'm 30 weeks along now. It's been rough, since about week 7, but I can finally see the light! Today I got to hold my friends perfect little boy who is only two days old and it really made me excited for what's to come. Well, I could skip the whole labour/delivery part, though I hope it goes as quickly as hers did, but what comes after is so worth it all!

Regardless of how awful it's been I feel so blessed to be expecting and to have such a wonderful support system. Dan's still doing most things around the house; though I've managed to make a few dinners over the last week or so. Dan's mom is still coming in the morning whenever I need her and Carter couldn't be a more supportive little guy! He asks a couple times a day if my belly hurts and if I say yes he brings his lovey to me and says "feel better!" He also just accepts it when I say I need to take a break or I can't lift him up. JoJo (that's what we are calling baby Craig for now - it's a character from Carter's favourite movie Horton Hears a Who) is one lucky boy to be getting such a caring big brother!

Now I just need to really start getting stuff ready! JoJo will be taking over Carter's nursery so that part is done, minus a few finishing touches. I've sorted through all of Carter's 0-12 months clothes so now I just need to wash them all. Though, with them being born during opposite seasons I'm not sure how much of Carter's clothes he'll get to wear. So now I'm waiting for the stores to come out with some spring/summer clothes so he won't have to wear fleece pajamas in the summer time! Luckily, another friend gave me a bin of clothes yesterday to borrow and her son was born in March so they will hopefully be more suited for the weather when JoJo is born.

Next on the to do list is to find a monitor that doesn't interfere with Carter's monitor or our WiFi. I'm really hoping to get a video monitor. I bought one at Babies R Us last weekend that was on sale and I LOVE it. The only problem is that it interferes with our internet connection. It wouldn't be a big deal except that once we have two kids, the only time Dan and I will get to check our email/go online is when the kids are sleeping. We also previously tried an Angel Care monitor but it appeared to interfere with Carter's monitor. Back to the drawing board!

Next thing is I have to go through all the baby stuff in the basement still to get out what we'll need (breastfeeding pillow, pump, receiving blankets, bath, car seat, etc). And then I have a bit of shopping to do for little things like newborn diapers, baby book, and a car seat base.

Last, but not least, is to pack our bags for the hospital and for Carter to stay at Gramma and Papa's. Those can wait though!

So all in all we don't have a whole lot to do before JoJo makes his appearance. Luckily I'm feeling pretty good lately in comparison to how I was feeling. I still get sick if I do to much before dinner time but if I take it easy I can get through most days without getting sick. Also, my sciatic pain has let up. I'm sure as JoJo gets bigger I'll start getting more aches and pains but I'm going to enjoy feeling half human while I can!

Decluttering!

Dan's dad came over on Saturday to help Dan build some shelves in the basement. I was thrilled as I was getting sick of looking at the piles on the floor down there. Over the last few weeks we have been selling stuff on Kijiji that we don't need/want any more but it wasn't doing enough to help us get organized. Plus, we have a large number of Rubbermaid bins that are great for storage, but kind of annoying to have stacked on top of each other. Not only do they not hold the weight of each other that great but it's really a pain to get something from the bottom bin. So, papa to the rescue!!

Getting started!

Cover your ears! Drill was too loud

Got nails!

Serious business!

Gotta get the measurements right

Finished product - Thanks papa!!

Took about 15 minutes to fill it

Well, it didn't take long to fill it but it beats having everything on the floor. Now I just have to go through all the baby stuff to figure out what I need for the baby when he first comes home. That should make some room on these shelves and the other ones we have, since almost all of it is baby stuff!

Busy Day!

I love my days with Carter. Sometimes I really wish I could just video tape him all the time so I could some day look back and remember how sweet and innocent he was. The problem is, the minute I start video taping him he usually turns into a goof ball!

Today we gave gramma the day off as our old baby group was going to come over. Although I was feeling rough in the morning getting us ready, Carter made me feel better by how excited he was for his friends to get here. He just kept saying "friend's coming over!" Of course, as soon as they started showing up he turned into a mute and wouldn't leave my side. There was also a few tears over his toys being played with. All in all though it was great to see everyone and Carter still said "that fun" after everyone left and was excited to tell daddy all about it. "Aiden's plate, Kayla slipped, where's Hailey?, etc"

Before playgroup!

Another before shot!

After playgroup!

Another after shot! Clearly someone has too many toys!

And that didn't include what the kitchen looked like! Luckily Dan came home for lunch shortly after and helped clean up! It was all worth it though to see the little ones as it had been a really long time since that many of them had been together.

Although I managed to get a nap in this afternoon I'm pretty sure Carter didn't. When I fell asleep at 1 he was talking away in his bed and he was still talking when I woke up at 2:30. Now I usually can't sleep through the sounds of him talking over the monitor so I don't know if he did actually sleep or if I was just that tired. Either way he was happy and didn't want to get out of bed when I went to go get him.

After nap time I had to go give a urine sample at the doctors office. Carter and I got ready and got into the van. As we started driving Carter said "be careful mum! Snow on road. Don't slide in to other cars."  I swear he remembers every conversation he has! This wasn't one of ours so it was obviously something him and Dan or him and gramma had talked about. On our way home from the doctors I thanked Carter for being so good and listening to me (there were lots of "don't touch anything"'s in the dr's office bathroom that he thankfully listened to). He replied by saying "thank you mum....for taking me there." What a sweet child I have!

Unfortunately some of the sweetness left when we got home. He started doing everything we tell him not to do (which makes me pretty sure there was no nap). At one point he took his little shopping cart and drove it right in to my foot. When I said "Carter! That wasn't very nice. That hurt!" he replied with "Sorry mum, me go round you." Now how could I possibly stay mad!

After dinner we finished the day off with a visit to Kidscape with Carter's cousins. Any energy he had left was completely drained and he was out like a light within 5 minutes of bed time (skipping his now usual chatting for 30-60 minutes before falling asleep). Unfortunately it also tired out Dan who has now gone to 2-3 hours of strength training for jiu jitsu! Lucky guy!

Carter's Football Pick

A few weeks ago Dan was doing his football picks and asked Carter if he thought the Broncos or some other team were going to win. Carter said the Broncos, Dan didn't believe him, Dan was wrong!

Sunday night Dan was watching football and Carter jumped up on the couch to watch it with him. Dan told him it was The Broncos vs. the Steelers and that they were rooting for The Steelers. Carter instantly replied, "no dad! Me like the Broncos!" They continued to argue over it for a few minutes (see video).

Dan and I found it quite amusing, and shocking, since these were the only two conversations Carter has about football, yet he was so adament about it. Now if you talk football with Carter he'll let you know he likes the Broncos!

Click here to watch video!

The Daddy's on the Bus!

During our nightly ritual we try to get Carter to sit on the potty while we entertain him with songs. Some of his favourites for potty time are Itsy Bitsy Spider, the signing Alphabet Song, and the Wheels on the Bus.

My personal favourite is the signing alphabet song. It goes "A is for apple, B is for brown, C is for candy, and D is for down" and so on. We do the signs for each letter and each word that goes with it. Although Carter use to do a lot of sign language (we counted over 100 words at one point) he dropped each sign as he was able to speak the word clear enough for people to understand it. That is, except for please, which he still does the sign while saying the word. We had dropped any sign language until I started singing/signing this song for him again at potty time and he just loves it. I just love watching him study each sign and try to do it along with me. When he was younger it was only words he would sign for and for a lot of them it was whole hand positioning or gestures that we could recognise. Now that he is older he really tries to get each finger in the exact position it's suppose to be in. I'm looking forward to him helping to teach his little brother how to sign!

Tonight after singing Itsy Bitsy Spider and the Alphabet Song we moved on to the Wheels on the Bus. After I got through the wheels, the wipers, the driver, the kids, the babies, the mommy's, and said "all done," Carter said "no, the daddy's!" I said "what do the daddy's on the bus say?" He replied with "let's go home, let's go home!" I see Dan's been teaching Carter his own version again!

Christmas in a flash (or 25 of them)!

There were...

Sillies

Baking

Kisses

Homemade gifts

Christmas Trees

Presents

Christmas bone for pancho

Stockings - well, just one this year!

Smiles

More smiles

Jiu Jitsu

Cleaning

New friends

Cousins

Old favourite toys

Breakfast

New toys

Topless fun (children only!)

Train fun

Close ups!

Dinner

Dessert

More sillies

Dinosaurs, and lots of them!

And most importantly....

Family!

That about sums it up!!