Under the Weather.......

B woke up yesterday & didn't quite seem himself but was in a good mood so I just thought that he just wasn't quite awake just yet BUT THEN I picked him up & he was a little ball of fire.  I took his temperature & it was 100.9 so I gave him Tylenol & we just took it easy all day; we ran a few errands (on the off chance Colton does decide to come) but mainly we relaxed & watch movies all afternoon.

The fact that B actually sat still & laid down for all of this really makes me understand that he wasn't feeling well since he NEVER sits & does anything nor does he ever want to stay inside.  He was also very clingy & wanted me right by his side all day yesterday & even though he is generally a very loving little guy this was different & I didn't mind it one bit.  I did however get worried because his fever spiked pretty high (103.1) right before I laid him down for the night but as I checked him throughout the night he was too warm.

Brayden always goes to the back or garage doors & asks to go out & play so I know that our little guy was not well yesterday & can only pray that he wakes up better today!!!

; 39 Weeks ;

Baby's now the size of a watermelon!
Baby's brain is still developing rapidly, and his skin has taken on a paler shade thanks to a thicker layer of fat around the blood vessels. (Don't worry; he'll change color again soon after birth.) He's now able to flex his limbs, and his nails might extend past his fingertips.  Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Pregnancy Highlights

Due Date: May 6, 2011 
Total weight gain: 30 lbs.
Cravings: still anything chocolaty or spicy
Sleep: not really getting anymore than I have been.........probably less than ever
I can't live without:  Lance & Brayden; they make each day amazing & make me smile just because :)
I miss: nothing really
I am looking forward to: meeting our beautiful little boy very soon
Milestones: I have started to dilate all on my own & that is more than I ever did with Brayden
Exercise: lots of walking & stair climbing are still going on
Diet:  not much of an appetite
Maternity Clothes:  pants yes - shirts a mixture
Movement: yep!!
Gender: Boy; Colton
Labor Signs: braxton hicks are coming often & when I was checked at the doctor this past Thursday I was 2 cm dilated
Belly Shots:

39 Weeks w/Brayden

Any suggestions that anyone has (that might have worked for them) on how to get things to progress more would be greatly appreciated!

New Bath Time Friend.......

Brayden has ALWAYS loved bath time & has actually been getting really curious about our shower; he wants to get in it every time Lance turns it on in the mornings & see what it is all about so we saw this little guy & had to get it for his bath.

He now has his own mini shower & although he doesn't want to get too close to it he seems to love it when I turn it on.  He is a bit apprehensive & won't stand up & put himself in it or anything yet but I can see that he wants too.

For now it is a lot of feet & hands just playing in the flowing water.

I thought bath time couldn't be any more fun for him but I was wrong; he would play in there for hours if I let him.  He already stays in there long enough to turn himself into a prune!!

Our Kitchen Remodeled.....

I hate that I didn't take any before pictures of our kitchen; I could have sworn that I took photos of the whole house when we moved in but I guess I was wrong.  Anyway; we recently (over a month maybe 2 months ago) had our counter tops redone & it changed the way the kitchen looked entirely.  We went with granite & they turned out better than we could have ever hoped.

It was a messy process but well worth it:

(we did the downstairs bathroom as well) 

New Kitchen Sink as well

 We then decided to do a stacked brick wall behind our stove & this just completed the look we were going for!!

Our Easter

We had such a wonderful Easter this past Sunday & the only thing missing was my side of the family & Lance's sister, her hubby & their kids.  We will have everyone here soon enough for Colton's birth though so we are really looking forward to that!!

We had family over & I cooked for everyone; can I just say that I LOVE to cook & have missed doing it.  I have been really into baking & with Lance's new work hours cooking hasn't really been a priority or needed really.  B & I eat well but who wants to cook a whole yummy meal each & every night when you can't enjoy it as a family?  Anyway, we had Lance's parents, & both brothers over for dinner & I made ham, turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, broccoli & cheese, corn, rolls & then I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing & we bought a chocolate cake too.  It was so much food & if I do say so myself it was delicious.

It really was nice to just enjoy a family day around our house & I really look forward to more of them.; we are always on the go; granted that is my doing because I can't sit still;  I really enjoyed having a day at our home.

 Flying his new kite with dad.

He got new bubble blowers in his basket but his old on is still his favorite.  

Daddy helping him look at all the goodies in his basket. 

 

PaPa was a good Easter bunny.

Red faced & tired from running around outside.

Wrestling with his new Easter Mickey that JuJu & PaPa got him.

It was such an amazing day............even though I was praying to go into labor & that didn't happen it...hahaha

Wordless Wednesday..........

All the smiles you can get from playing with an empty  toliet paper roll!!

Toddler Bed Transition - Bye Bye Week 2 & Hello Week 3

We are beginning week 3 of the "big boy bed" transition & B is doing amazingly well.  He is going to bed between 8 & 9 (we are kind of letting him tell us when he is ready) & once he is in there he will get up 1-3 times.  Usually he will just walk over to the door & try to open it (child proofed of course) & then once he is done trying he will walk back over & get back into bed.  He does play for a while in there but then eventually falls asleep.  In the beginning I thought that we were going to have some issues because his video monitor only focused on his bed & I was worried about what he was doing out of the sight of it but then we upgraded his monitior to one that can scan the whole room with the touch of a button I felt better & was able to relax a bit more.

We have always had a video monitor set up in B's room but we upgraded to the Summer Baby Touch  after the 1st week so that I could follow him around his room when he was getting out of his bed.  When we 1st made the switch to the toddler bed I was sitting in his room with him (beside his bed) until he would fall asleep but saw that that wasn't going to be a good thing once Colton was here & needed attention as well.  Since Lance works such long hours I was wondering how I was going to get B down if the baby was awake & getting quite nervous about it so we talked about a few options & decided to move the monitor that B had to Colton's room, return the one we had already purchased for Colton's room & get the one that had the mobile camera so that I could keep an eye on Brayden until he was asleep each nap & bedtime.

B has always done well at bed time & has always been able to sooth himself to sleep; he has never been much of a crier at nap or bedtime & we actually found that he liked to play around in his crib a while before bed & slept better when he did.  One of the main concerns that we had was his safety (even though a room is child proofed I still see all of the what if's) & we of course didn't want him out of his bed playing with his toys in his room once he was able to get in & out anytime he wanted to so switching up the monitor seemed like the best solution.  I will go into his room when/if he gets out of bed & starts playing & tell him "it's night-night time" & he will dart back into bed & close his eyes like he is sleeping.  It is really cute when he does it because it's like he knows to pretend to be asleep so I'll leave his room & sometimes he will get out again & sometimes he will just sit up or roll around playing.

I will admit that there have been some not so good days/nights & yesterday's nap was the worst so far; he just wouldn't go down or stay in his bed AT ALL!!  He was up so I was in there every other minute getting him back in bed.  Finally Lance came home for lunch & tried to help but we ended up just letting him get up.  I don't know if it was the right thing to do but after an hour & a half I figured he wasn't going to nap right then & there & just had to make myself OK with that fact.  Lance went back to work & B & I ran to Target to get a few things & he of course fell asleep in the car on the way home & ended up napping in bed for about an hour so that wasn't too bad.  I thought that it would throw his whole night time schedule off but he was ready for bed & out by 8:30 with no issues at all.  Actually, I didn't have to go in his room once last night so that was nice.  I pray that naps like yesterday are few & far between but then again it has only been a few weeks so I say he is doing really well & rocking the big boy bed!!

Happy Easter......

Daddy's Little Helper

Brayden loves to help when ever he sees daddy pulling out his tools & it is so cute to watch his little face light up when Lance lets him be a part of whatever project he is working on at that moment.  The other day it was putting together a swing & rocker thingy for Colton & B was ready & willing to help with anything daddy needed!

He made sure daddy got all of the pieces out of the box.

He helped tighten the screws.

He cheered his daddy on when he finished a portion of it with success. 

He laughed. 

He cheered some more.

He tested it to make sure that daddy put it together right & made sure Colton wouldn't get hurt.

But mainly Lance enjoyed the time spent with his son doing a project together!!

These moments are priceless, special & we will cherish each & every one of them as they happen.