Idahome

iFun

2012-01-21T15:59:00.002-07:00

Took some Christmas money and got a new phone that doesn't make me want to throw it through a window/drop it in boiling acid/run over it with my car 548 times/lose my mind. Specifically I got an iPhone and I've been having some fun with the Instagram app:

Good stuff.

Also, these are the only pictures I've taken, still, since New Year's. But there will be many to come next week, since a certain adorable two year old will be turning three.

Quick update on these two adorable children of mine: Liam is alllllmost potty trained. Amazing. I didn't think it would happen by 3, but apparently so, and he's kind of doing it by himself. Once he realized pooping in the potty wasn't scary after that first time (almost in the tub), he's done it pretty much ever since with only one accident. Also the kid can hold his pee a long, loooong time. But then when finally realizes he does have to go, it's too late. But, it's still only been 3 pee accidents, and mom and dad are being trained to know when he has to go - whether he thinks he does or not. He also got a short haircut this week (not a buzz like Todd wanted), short enough that he doesn't get the rats nest on the back of his head anymore - it's a good thing.

Carolina is being a good girl except for napping. She has not real napping schedule and when she does nap it's usually for only 20-45 minutes, with a very rare couple-hour nap. At least when she's awake she's not cranky, otherwise this would be a much bigger problem. The very good news is that she's still a great sleeper at night, ready for bed about 8pm and will sleep solid till about 5-6am, eat, and go back to sleep for another couple of hours - so basically she's weaning herself off the middle of the night feedings. So nice. She'll have her 4 month check-up in a couple of weeks and I'll be very interested to get her stats. She's still so long and skinny. Her pants size is still 0-3, but her 3 or 3-6 mo. tops are getting tight. I think she has the long torso/short legs that her Auntie Jen has from the Knights. But her feet are growing - because I can finally keep a pair of the cute newborn mary-janes on her (with socks)!

Love these two kids and can't wait for evenings and weekends when I can hang with them.

More Christmas

2012-01-14T22:46:00.005-07:00

Why does it feel like Christmas was waaayyyy more than 3 weeks ago? Hm, maybe because it feels like April outside? And because worked just draaaaggged on last week? And maybe because I'm exhausted? Maybe.

Anyway, I promised more Christmas pictures and so finally here they are. These are ones from Jeran's camera. They are mostly just really funny. You'll see.

More of the twins:

(holding hands, aw)

All the cousins (attempts 1-4 of 392):

Baby swap:

Picture progression:

(you can't say we didn't try)

Oh the humanity:

Family pics!

2012-01-08T16:19:00.004-07:00

Linda was adamant that we would take some good family pictures while everybody was together for Christmas. Since our last foray into family pictures didn't go well - at all - I was definitely wanting another shot (ha!) at it as well, and I think they turned out great!
Here's the whole fam - Lina's eyes are closed and I think Olivia is blowing bubbles, but with this many people/kids there's always something wrong, you just have to pic the lesser evil.

I'm SUPER pleased with our small family ones...

These really show how cute Liam is, especially considering how much he hates, and I do mean HATES, taking pictures.

And our beautiful baby girl... (with the craziest hair ever)

But the kicker was this one - LOVE!

Thanks Jeran and Patrick for doing such a great job!

3 Months!

2012-01-02T13:37:00.005-07:00

Carolina Coline turns 3 months old today! And I am SO in love with her. I was pretty resolved that we were stopping at 2 kids after a rough pregnancy and birth, but she's such a good, sweet baby that I'm not sure anymore... Good news - no more weight checks for her! She apparently was gaining sufficiently each week, although I don' t think her %iles are much different. Her tummy troubles have greatly settled down (after a really horrible day of screaming a couple of weeks ago - Dr. called it colic, hmm), so she is mostly just a really happy, content baby - as long as she's not hungry, sleepy, or poopy :) . Her schedule was kind of up in the air for a while, she wasn't eating or pooping well - but that's settled down; and her sleep schedule was good, but then changed for some reason. She was sleeping until I would wake her up at 6 sometimes, but now she wakes up as early as 2, no later than 4:30... and then again at 7-something. It's not ideal, I'm pretty tired all the time - that's only going to get worse though and still one more month before I am "allowed" to cut off her nighttime feedings. But we're back to work tomorrow, so this all might change once again. I am really going to miss her, she has more smiles and more chit chat for me than anyone else - and she's very talkative.
We had these photographs taken about a month and a half ago... the photoshoot was an overall fail, except for these two pics...

Which I turned into these birth announcements...

Now I wish I'd waited to send them out, these are too cute! What a precious baby girl!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T22:02:00.003-07:00

2011 is going to be pretty hard to beat, but we are sure looking forward to 2012!
~From the New Year Baby

McConnel Christmas

2012-01-01T16:10:00.008-07:00

Todd's brother & family drove up from California and arrived super early on Christmas eve - Liam had been looking forward to this since they left after their summer visit. He and Dylan got right down to business.
Denali spent time meeting her new cousin.
And then Dyl's turn.
And then the "twins" had to meet as well!
Carolina's first Christmas...

Grandma is in baby heaven.
This is pretty much what you do when there are not one, but two, babies around.

The girls with Papa.

Lina is very impressed with her presents.
Liam playing with his new toys.
I love the Christmas mess.

It was a very Merry Christmas - there will be more pictures straggling in, in the days to come.

Knight Christmas

2011-12-30T14:28:00.006-07:00

With Liam and Lina's GG and Great Aunt Tessa here the week before Christmas, and other family coming later, we celebrated Christmas together on the 22nd. Here are a few (read: a lot) of snapshots...

"Christmas morning"

Her first pair of Mickey ears, courtesy of Auntie Jen

playing with GG

Hexbugs were the favorite toy this year

talking to Tessa

We're so glad they came to Idaho so we could spend Christmas with them!

Merry Christmas from Liam and Lina!

2011-12-25T20:22:00.002-07:00

We hope your Christmas is merry, and that your blessings are many! We thank God for the amazing gift that we celebrate today, and for these little gifts that celebrate with us :)

Christmas Carolina

Little Liam (whose gift to me today was to finally go poop in the potty!)

Back to work...

2011-12-16T19:55:00.003-07:00

This was my first week back at work (since I had to go back a little earlier than planned, due to finances) - it was actually a really good week. I didn't cry at all while I was there... however the weekend before I went back there were some serious waterworks. Carolina and I did lots of snuggling - lots, which was good because I'm learning that there is very little time for that in the 5 hours I have with her before bedtime. I can't just sit and hold her the whole evening anymore, everything I did in a whole day of naptimes before, I now have to cram it all in after work whether she's napping or not - sad. Plus she was super cranky in the evenings every day this week - lots and lots of crying and bedtime suddenly became much more difficult even thought she did fine all week before. The thing that's saved this week, well things: Todd's understanding/support, my parents keeping Carolina, and the great class I have this year - they have made work a joy this week, really they're so fun; oh and probably the fact that vacation is next week. So glad it's the weekend though!
Here are some pics from last weekend...

What a sweetie! And here are some pics of Liam I found, that you can really see Lina in... especially this first one -

I think it's obvious they're siblings.

The Christmas Train

2011-12-12T18:03:00.005-07:00

The Monday after Thanksgiving (so it was a while ago, blogger was being a baby about uploading pictures) we got our tree and decorated it, but the big surprised was what came after that... Last year, after Christmas, we found this Geotrax Christmas train/village on clearance and bought it for what we hope will become a fun Christmas tradition for the kids. We decided that after the tree was set up we would get jammies on and get out the train and play! In our little living room it kind of dominates the space, but so what, it's the fun of it!

He knows there's a surprise coming, but he thinks it might be m&m's.

Surprise!

I think he likes it.... even though it's not m&m's.

Funnies...

2011-12-07T20:40:00.003-07:00

funny things Liam said today:
1. Looking at pictures of himself when he was born - "There's baby Jesus Liam!"
2. "I need to BOOM something!" - he is a boy after all.
3. I said "dadgum", he said - "Bad gum? Where's the gum?"
4. Playing with Nana's phone - "I'm going to text you mom." What is he, the Z generation?
5. "I want a cinraisgel." Yep, that's what he calls a cinnamon raisin bagel - clever, no?

Really?

2011-12-07T15:47:00.004-07:00

Carolina had her 2-month doctor visit today and the news was quite surprising. She let out one little squawk at her shot, her vitals and check her were all good - but both length and weight were a surprise. Her length grew by almost 4 inches - whoa!! That puts her in the 95%ile for her age. What's surprising is her length-for-weight puts her in the 1%ile.... FIRST PERCENTILE. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of that before. The thing is she's no lightweight, 12 lbs. - 43%ile for her age (although when I looked up the cdc charts online, they didn't match the print-outs the doc gave us?? mine said 65%ile... still about middle of the pack though). I knew she got super long really fast, because she started to look huge in her bassinet and all her 3 month size one-piece outfits and even some onesies were suddenly too short when she had been swimming in them. And we all know her cheeks aren't short on chub, but I guess the rest of her isn't very... baby-fat. So other than her face she's a long-skinny baby I guess - maybe she's going to be a super-model? At this age Liam was almost 11 lbs. and almost 23 inches, which was normal (he was born a week early though).

Well anyway, the little line on her growth charts aren't following the curve so the doctor wants me to bring her in for less-than-weekly (I don't know about that) weight checks - she thinks the weight thing may be due to the nursing issues we've been having for the last few days, which may be caused by some constipation. I certainly hope both of these things fix themselves for my sanity just as much as for her weight. I've never seen a baby scream like that - it's like she's hungry, but super mad about eating, and it happens at almost every meal (except in the middle of the night or a nap... she's too tired to think about it upsetting her I guess). I feel bad for her, but at the same time I feel irritated - like she's insulting me somehow. If tonight is as bad as the last few days I'm going to call the LLL tomorrow.

Other than when she eats, she's a really happy baby and giving TONS of smiles to mom and dad and brother! As sad as it was for me to move her to her crib, she hasn't been sad about it at all. She even slept in until 5 this morning before she needed to eat - that was a first. I'm exhausted from listening to the monitor all night and getting up to check on her just-in-case.

Christmas preview!

2011-12-03T22:21:00.004-07:00

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Two Months Old!

2011-12-02T15:13:00.002-07:00

I'm so serious when I say that 2 months have never gone by so fast, like lightspeed, really. But I mean quite literally that I love this tiny girl more every day, really really. She is so full of smiles, babbling, and the beginnings of laughter - Nana caught it on tape the other day, but Blogger won't upload it :( so I tried to get it on my phone, but whenever I put the phone near her she clams right up. Like Liam was, she's a little chameleon - sometimes she looks like him (but him when he was a few months older), sometimes I think she looks like a baby Jen - in her profile, sometimes she looks super chubby with those cheeks and chins, but sometimes she doesn't. As you can see she still has all that hair - I thinned a little on the top, so I was worried it was all going to go - but nope, I don't think it will. The back of her head has little dreadlocks, from her rubbing that long hair on her crib - but she's about to rub it all off, I see a bald spot coming. Lately I've been calling her "Baby Girl" and "Sister" which I realize are totally generic nick-names, but not in a personal light - I've never had a baby girl and Liam has never had a sister, so it's a big deal! Oh, and it's been almost 2 weeks now that she's slept for 5-6 hour stretches, and only gotten me up once, so nice. That means she's ready for her big-girl crib, even though I'm not ready for it we have to make the switch next week anyway, so she has a week to adjust before I go back to work. No. How am I going to leave this little face? It's not going to be easy.

She is our "song of happiness."

So much...

2011-11-26T15:42:00.006-07:00

My brain is constantly going in a thousand directions, a mish mash of go here, do this, check that - and that's what this post is going to be too, we're going to jump around a little.
To start off I'll go back to my 6 week check up (Carolina will be 8 weeks tomorrow) - I've lost about 21 lbs. since my last weigh-in before she was born, pretty good - about 9 more to go, and those guys are going to be stubborn. But everything else was great, just having lots of vascular headaches that I turned down meds for, so I need to keep drinking water like it's going out of style.

Let's see, next up would be Liam's first "real" hair cut... meaning, cut by a professional. His hair was just getting so long, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't seem to get it to a place I liked. Because of Liam's reluctance to try anything new I was nervous about taking him, but he had a good attitude about it and I brought along some m&m's just in case. It turned out to be a pretty good haircut, still a little shaggy like we like it.

A little wary of this...

No paparazzi!

One last m&m bribes a smile out of him.

Carolina keeps changing her routine on me - for two days she only ate once at night, meaning 5 or 6 hour stretches of sleep (from about 10pm to 3 am to 8am) for 2 days, then back to twice a night for a few days (3 1/2 hour stretches of sleep), then on for like 5 days, then off for 3 days, and now she's been back on 1-feeding for the last 4 nights... I really hope it sticks this time. I don't want to move her to her room until she's consistently doing it (of course, I don't really want to move her to her room at all). It makes such a huge difference in how I feel the next day, when I only have to wake up once. It's completely do-able. Other than that, which isn't so bad, she's an easy baby... had a couple of super fussy times this past week and that was it. We're starting to see a little of her personality come out, compared to Liam I'd says she's a little more relaxed, but also more serious - we will see.

Thanksgiving was at Todd's Aunt Izzy's, as usual, I think 35 of us were there, it was fun and tasty. Liam was opposed to watching the parade in the morning (he's hooked on A Bug's Life lately) but once we got through that set of tears and he started watching it, he liked it. Then it was a mad scramble to get all of us ready and pack for a day out of the house (we might as well have been going away for the weekend with all the stuff in our car). Carolina was excited to meet some of her relatives for the first time though.

Todd and Patrick go first in line... they say it's "tradition."

The more, the merrier...

Post-dinner naptime

Liam pays a visit to Oreo

The guys playing frisbee golf.

I wish I could say we were all decorated for Christmas, but that's not even begun (except the outside lights, we did that earlier this week) - and it's not likely to happen that soon. I feel like I have too many other chores/cleaning to do before I can even think about making that mess. Also on my mind is the fact that I only have 2 more weeks at home. Days/weeks/2 months! have gone by SO fast, I can't even explain it, it blows my mind how the time flies, and I know these next two weeks are going to feel like I just snapped my fingers. I have a lot to do...

In Snow-time...

2011-11-22T14:27:00.010-07:00

Up to McCall we went this last weekend, and lucky for us the snow was already starting to fall - which was what I was hoping for of course! Christmas card photo op: Liam and Grandma went out to play in the snow, it was super cold...

They made snowballs...
Liam didn't quite get the hang of packing them, but he still liked the effect. Meanwhile Miss Carolina had a bath and then warmed up by the fire... We've called her CC and Lina a little bit, Liam calls her Cara, but mostly my nickname for her is "Beauty"...
Ha! Her cheeks outgrew her sweater faster than the rest of her body - I think she looks like a Cupie doll... There were lots of happy smiles over the weekend as well.

We also saw Swiper the fox - he swiped our bread...

And lots of deer - there were 6 at once in the back... and then we saw a couple of bucks by the road.

Here are a few of pictures from my phone... make shift bed in the suitcase - she was almost too big for it!

She experienced her first snow too - we all bundled up (her in the polar bear suit from Kristin) and went for a walk in it - I was still worried she'd be cold.. but she must not have minded since she fell asleep.

Thanks to the Wolfs for letting us have their cabin for the weekend - it's always fun and relaxing!

The Greats...

2011-11-16T14:18:00.005-07:00

Great Grandma finally got to come home from the hospital 8 days after she got here - praise the Lord that the doctors found the problem and were able to solve it easily - she recovered quickly, and it was high time for her to meet Miss Carolina. They were fast friends...

Carolina told great Grandma all her secrets...
And Great Grandma listened closely...

And then this is what happened...
Great Grandma has "the touch" - she calmed Carolina down immediately and kept her happy the whole time she was holding her. We wish we could keep her. But the Greats went back to Carolina's namesake this morning :(
Here are 4 generations of Mullinax (Knight, McConnel) women.
Let's not forget about Great Grandpa - he had the touch too, truth be told. Carolina loved him, but he just let Great Grandma have a little more time with her... making up for all the time she missed in the hospital.

I can tell you with confidence that this little girl got spoiled with all the holding and rocking - she did not want to nap on her own today. Liam was a little more shy around his Grandparents... but he had warmed up by the end of the week for sure. We love our Great Grandparents! Thanks for coming to see us - we miss you already!

Catching up...

2011-11-08T15:46:00.004-07:00

I didn't mean to go a week without blogging, but the weeks go by so quickly! And as usual my I can't remember a fraction of the things that I wanted to write about...

Carolina is 5 weeks old, and she's completely busted out of her 0-4 month size swaddle wraps. The girl is growing like a weed, but she's still kind of skinny so even though her newborn clothes are too short, her 0-3 month size clothes don't fit around her. She's heavy, but I'm pretty sure half her body weight is in her cheeks. She has been sleeping so well this week, after a couple of 5 hour stretches last week, she went back to 2-4 hours, but this week 3 days she slept 6 hours (once I even woke her up to eat) and then a 5 hour stretch last night. For some reason though, I feel more tired... maybe because I don't sleep the 6 hours, since I'm constantly checking her breath when she's been asleep past 3 hours. After some stomach/feeding trouble this week, which ended in me calling the lactation specialist, Carolina has been doing really really well. I'm about to make a batch of salsa though, we'll see how that goes over with her... She still doesn't really like her paci, but it does help with fussiness during the day. Thankfully she almost never needs it during the night, which makes me so happy. She is definitely smiling more - as you will see - and becoming interested in her surroundings. In sad news - I have to go back to work 3 weeks early, although that's only 1.5 weeks of work before Christmas break comes, not too bad - I'll be back in time for the holiday fun.

Liam is either being the cutest, funniest kid I've ever seen - or the biggest stinker. Oh, two-year-olds. He says and does funny things all the time, but rarely do I remember them. One thing I did put on facebook (so you may have already seen it) was that I had given him a toy ad to look at, and he pointed at a huge Nerf gun and said, "I want Santa make me dat! I will shoot you mommy! I will shoot everyfing, I will shoot the floor, I will shoot Ripley, I will shoot everyfing." He seems to understand the Santa thing; and besides being excited for the toy part of Christmas, he's SUPER excited for his cousins to come visit. Every -single- day he says, "Nali (pronounced Nowee) come to Liam's (pronounced Wee-ums) house for Christmastime." One recent prayer I remember was "Thank you for Grandma and Papa, and Nana and Poppa, and for Papa Steve and Poppa Bill, and for two Papa's. And for two... and for Nana and Grandma." With the very cold weather we've been having lately, and a little snow, we've been cooped up inside for the last week and Liam was starting to go stir-crazy (not to mention, his mother). He's finally been able to get out with the grandparents a bit though, which makes him so happy. What would Liam do without grandparents? Potty training is going nowhere, but at least he seems to have learned to sleep in his "cool, new" (yep, still) bed without bumpers and without falling!

We were supposed to be spending this week with the great-grandparents (my mom's parents), but Grandma got sick on the airplane coming here, went to the E.R. the next morning, and has been in the hospital ever since, 5 days now! They think they finally know what is wrong with her, and will starting treating it today - they think she will be able to come home tomorrow or the next day. Please pray that this is so!

Happy to begin with...

getting bored with this...
enough already.
(So frustrated with my picture taking! Not enough light in the house to get good ones - too cold to go outside!)

One Month Old!

2011-11-02T14:07:00.003-06:00

Carolina turned 4 weeks old on Sunday, but technically she's one month old today.
She's getting so big, so fast! According to my bathroom scale she weighs just over 11 lbs, and her newborn otufits are being packed away because she's so long now that she can't stretch her legs out in them. She still has on and off trouble pooping, at least it's not constant, and it never lasts more than 12 hours. Her baby acne is super mild, you almost can't tell she has any. Three nights she's slept 4-5 hours straight, but it's not consistent - it's still usually 2.5-3 between feedings.
These pictures are ones I took on my phone in the last month... Happy one-month birthday!

Trick-or-Treat!

2011-11-01T13:16:00.005-06:00

Here are my little dragon and princess. Liam wants to clarify that he was a nice dragon, not a mean one, so I guess he was guarding "Princess Carowina", not holding her captive. The only two costumes Liam would consent to wear were the ice cream cone girl costume, and a dragon - so Jeran gave me the idea for a princess... and how to make a tiny baby princess costume. Mom made the hat - and it all turned out super cute!

We had to go to Grandma and Papa's house, Auntie Jen's, and then Nana and Poppa's before we rushed home to get our party ready.

(you're right dad, this wasn't the best spot...)

Liam and Owen had a good time together, they both got hyped up on candy and ran wild the rest of the night. I am finding that there are repercussions today... he's a little grump, who's sneaking candy out of his pumpkin while I'm taking care of Carolina. Oh well, it's only once a year :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T15:05:00.006-06:00

Last weekend was our pumpkin carving party - Liam loved helping! This year I had Todd cut the bottom off instead of the top, so then I filled a mason jar with a string of orange lights and stuck it up inside, so it's always lit! I love how it turned out.

Liam got a Halloween package from the CA McConnel's - there were M&M's in it, therefore, he could not be happier.

Pictures of the little trick-or-treaters tomorrow!

Baby bath time!

2011-10-29T16:51:00.003-06:00

Hi, baby girl!
She does like her bath, but shrieks like a banshee when you pull her out. I also washed out her bow (or "elbow" as Liam calls it), she looked naked without it (more naked than she already was!) - so I promptly popped a headband on her... it's cute, but not as.

Baby Pictures! (photo-shoot #3)

2011-10-26T15:42:00.004-06:00

Well our true fall weather finally arrived, and Carolina is not a fan of being outside for photo shoots in 40+ degrees and wind... so I resigned to taking them indoors - again, not the best light... but I finally got a shot for the birth announcements!
This first pic is funny, it doesn't really look like her to me, but it's cute...

This might be my favorite picture, but because of the shadow I couldn't use it...

This one seems to me to be the best representation of what she really looks like...

This little "o" mouth is a common face she makes... Now that I've got the money shot I think I'll wash her little bow out at her next bath - but never fear, I have more!

Morning Fail

2011-10-24T14:53:00.003-06:00

Liam vs. Carolina

Remember how I said I make goals for myself, of what I want to get done each day, well today my big goal was to relax.. smaller goals included bathing both kids and finishing the laundry - not big stuff - you would think. It was too much apparently. Carolina had decided today that she wanted to be held constantly, Liam had decided he was NOT going to have a bath, Ripley decided she was going to irritate the crap out of me, and well, I decided to be a klutz and drop a big bowl of soup all over the inside of the fridge, the floor, and myself. Carolina screaming, Liam wailing (in time out), Ripley barking... soup everywhere. That was fun. Thankfully, now both kids are sleeping and I am finally sitting down to watch "You've Got Mail" - which I've been wanting to watch all month!
I know it's been too long since I last posted, I remember I had this problem when Liam was a baby - so many things would happen that I wanted to write about, but when I finally had the time to, I would forget everything I wanted to say. Speaking of that, I have found my old blog posts to be helpful in remembering things about taking care of a baby and when to expect certain milestones.
For the most Carolina continues to be an easy baby - I'm thinking today it's her tummy again, and possibly that we were so busy this weekend she just wants some snuggles. Her stomach gives her trouble on-and-off, not nearly as much as Liam's where I had to give him Mylicon after every single time he ate. She was super easy to take to the mall and run errands with this weekend, without Liam :) It also seems like she's a huge all of a sudden, like she's not even a newborn anymore! Everybody else says she's so small, but it sure doesn't seem like it to me. She's also definitely looking like Liam now, there are some times when she looks exactly like a baby pictures I have of Liam that it's uncanny. Although so far she's kept all her dark hair, and it might even turn out curly! The weather keeps not cooperating with me to get more pictures, but I will keep trying!
Liam was actually kind of sick this weekend, he had a fever Friday and puked while he was at Grandma and Papa's house - as is standard for him. Poor kiddo. But thankfully the fever was gone the next day and he didn't puke again. He's such a sweet funny boy, just being a naughty 2 year old with too much free time on his hands right now. His prayers are always funny... today it was "Thank you for mommy, daddy, and Ripley, for daddy coming home and playing cars, and thank you for time-outs" - yeh right.

Baby Pictures! (photo-shoot #3)

2011-10-18T19:48:00.007-06:00

Finally got some pictures of the siblings... they are kind of dark because we went out later in the day, so I'm not completely happy with the color, but they are cute pictures still.

(favorite 1)

(favorite 2)

And since Liam was in a good picture-taking mood, I just went ahead and got a few of him alone... so long portrait studios!

Now all we need are whole family pics!

Baby Pictures! (photo-shoot #2)

2011-10-14T15:06:00.003-06:00

These pictures came out pretty sweet. Better light for picture taking, but a bit too much for her, she was pretty squinty but at least she was awake! Later, when Liam was up from his nap, we ran him out to get some pictures of them both - and they were SO cute - or they would have been, had I put the SD card back in the camera. Dadgum, I'm mad about that one. So that's why we have to go back out today and try again... good-mood willing.

Baby Pictures! (photo-shoot #1)

2011-10-13T22:10:00.005-06:00

One thing I've done every day since I came home from the hospital is to set goals for myself for the day - so that I get things done and don't just stay in my pajamas all day on the couch. One goal I've had everyday is to take pictures, and this week I stepped it up to getting a really nice picture for birth announcements.

Here are the results from photo shoot #1, the light wasn't great, so I did an outdoor one today (which I'll post tomorow), but I didn't get pictures of Carolina with Liam or with Todd today so there will be another one tomorrow, and then another one when someone can come take whole family pics for us. One thing is for sure, I am SO thankful for my DSLR - wish I was better at this though...

and the best one...

Two hands - two kids...

2011-10-11T21:22:00.006-06:00

Todd went back to work yesterday, which means it was my first day "alone" with both kids... but that wasn't really the case. I did manage to get everybody dressed and fed on my own at least! I learned that I could be carrying the baby in one arm and do pretty much everything else for Liam with my free hand, it just took a little bit longer - but thank goodness for 2 hands! What would I do if I had 3 kids? I would need to grow a third arm.

It was such a nice sunny morning that mom called to see if we wanted to go for a walk, so we took the kids out in the new stroller - it was even warm!

Then Nana came over again to watch Liam while I took Carolina to her doctor's appointment. She's a healthy, growing girl! Her head circumference went from 13.5 to 14, her length from 19.5 to 20.5, and her weight from 8 lbs. 5 oz. at birth to 7 lbs. 11 oz. at discharge, to 8 lbs. 8 oz. today - absolutely right on for weight gain. Everything else looked good and we don't have to go back until she's 2 months old. Her umbilical cord even fell off yesterday, so that means real bath today. (She continues to be an easy calm baby - I have been giving her some Mylicon lately, because she's been getting kind of spitty and pulling her legs up and fussing sometimes.)

Lastly, Todd got off early and was home by 3... so basically I had very little alone time with the two kids. That was probably why Liam was a happier kid yesterday though - he prefers the attention of grandparents and staying busy.

Today will probably be similar, since I have a chiropractor appointment and both kids are going to Nana's while I'm at that.

Bless him, he tried, she just wasn't having it.

A sleepy smirk.

"Now I lay me down to sleep"...

I never showed you the final curtain - not either of the 2 choices I showed you before.

Ready for our walk.

I'd say she looks pretty cozy.

A stop at the playground makes Liam a happy boy.

One Week

2011-10-09T18:44:00.005-06:00

Carolina is one week old already - and as time does, it manages to feel like a lot longer and a lot shorter than one week at the same time. Everyday I've wanted to blog, but it always seems like there's something more pressing to do - like taking a nap. And I'm very sorry to say I haven't taken many pictures either. I'll share what I have, but it's not much... mostly I take pictures with my phone to put on Facebook, but I can put those here too.
Carolina (btw - pronounced with a long /i/ - as in North and South) is such an easy baby, especially compared to Liam (newborn and toddler) - she sleeps pretty much wherever without needing a swaddle or paci, when she's awake she's happy to just look around, she eats well (although we do have a little problem with falling asleep), so far we have had no diaper blow-outs (knock on wood for me), and (PTL) I actually get some sleep at night - she'll typically go 3 1/2 or 4 hours in between feedings at night and will sleep flat on her back in her bassinet.
Bringing home baby #2 is SO different from what it was like to bring home #1 - there aren't as many emotions and anxieties, it's so much more relaxed and dare I say normal - crazy, right? We've had friends over a few times, gone to dinner at my parents, even gone out for yogurt, and I've had a shower every day - I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have dreamed of any of that happening with days-old Liam. Of course I have had Todd home with me for the last week, Tuesday will be my first day alone with 2 kiddos. I'm going to need a plan.
Between the two of them, Liam has been the handful. We saw it coming a few weeks ago and things have not changed, they may even be slightly worse. BUT thankfully he shows no aggression or jealousy toward "Carowina", he's really very sweet with her patting her head, giving her little hugs, trying to soothe her. He has been wanting more individual attention - asking to be fed or to sit in my lap or to take my hand and guide me somewhere. Thank goodness for lots of grandparents!
In case you're curious about me - I'm doing well, if there is anything good about having a natural birth, I guess it's the recovery. I feel practically normal already, just need a visit or two to the chiropractor I think. At this point with Liam I was still heavily relying on the "doughnut" to be comfortable, and I think I used it for 2 days this time. My brain is not running at capacity, but that's normal.

Auntie Jen meets Carolina...

So peaceful...

How daddy babysits...

Relaxing with the family...

Her first bath - she didn't hate it!

Her first day, in pictures...

2011-10-03T22:45:00.007-06:00

and the next morning...

Her first day, in words...

2011-10-02T18:21:00.005-06:00

Miss Carolina Coline McConnel has made her entrance!
Born October 2, 2011 at 5:55 am
Weighing 8 lbs, 5 oz & 19.5 inches long
Chubby cheeks and thighs, lots of black curly hair!

Well she makes us wait and wait, with no hints of making a move anytime soon, but then when she's ready to go she means business! This labor was so different from that with Liam, I almost don't know where to begin with Carolina's story - it was so SO unexpected, and definitely unplanned.
Here comes the birth story - are you ready? It's pretty long, because you just can't leave details out of a birth story!
Yesterday, I certainly was not thinking she was on her way or I would've gone through with my typical evening routine of cleaning the house, so that things were all "ready to go" in case - but, nope, I was lazy yesterday because I thought I could be! Ripley was actually the one that woke me up this morning about 1, barking at who-knows-what, and then I couldn't fall back asleep because my brain just started going - you know how that is. From 1-2am I had maybe four contractions, although at the time I didn't know that's what they were because they weren't at all painful, and quite far apart. Once 2am hit however, I noticed that it was happening about every 5 minutes, still not painful, but annoying, and if I already couldn't sleep, then I certainly couldn't at that point. I eventually decided to get up and look up labor signs and contraction timing on the internet - which I did for about an hour. By 3:30 I had finally decided that they were contractions (yes, it took me that long to figure out), and so I started to pack up the hospital bag, tidy the kitchen, take off my finger nail polish, pick out some clothes... and finally woke Todd up at 4 to tell him I thought I was in labor and was going to take a shower. The contractions began to truly hurt about now, so Todd got up to take a shower and shave, and I texted my mom to come over. I still felt unsure about whether or not we were going to be admitted, even though my contractions were about 2 minutes apart. I think if it had been the middle of the day when this happened, we would've gone to the hospital a lot sooner, but as it was in the middle of the night I didn't want to unnecessarily wake up people - this turned out to be a bad idea.
When we were finally on the way to the hospital (about 4:40am now) the contractions started to really take my breath away and went to a minute apart. Walking all around the hospital building to find an unlocked entrance did not help this. By the time we were at Labor and Delivery, I was in pretty severe pain and feeling very sick. So much for the shower - I puked in my hair and all over the place while they were checking my progress during a contraction. I was dilated to 8cm. I knew that was not good, and the point was hit home when they hastily slapped an I.V. (ouch!) on me and took me on the bed to the delivery room, skipping all the questions and formalities. They checked me again immediately and I was at a 9. They were pumping I.V. fluid in me as fast as possible so I could have a spinal tap (a regular epidural was not necessary since things were moving so fast). But when my next contraction hit, and I couldn't help but scream, they checked me again and I was at a 10 - it was time to push, but the doctor wasn't there and I had had no drugs. Todd and I both were in shock that I was going to have to do this naturally. Too late, of course. When Dr. Julie walked through the door she immediately told me to push - to which I refused and screamed and said I couldn't do it. My water broke and her head was right there. It was awful, TERRIBLE, more painful than I could've imagined - I do NOT recommend it. But, praise the Lord, it took only 3 pushes and about 10 minutes before she came out - about a half hour after we walked through front door. Cutting it close much? I told you, when she's ready, she's ready NOW. Todd nearly passed out about three times from just watching my trauma - but he did great, and told me I did to0 - but I know the truth, I'm a wimp. It's ok, I can accept it.
Carolina checked out great, passed all her tests, took all her shots, and is eating like a champ. Liam was super sweet when he visited us here, he loves Carolina and wants to put his hands all over her face and unwrap her from her blankets. We are looking forward to getting home tomorrow! I will be able to post pictures then too - she's a sweetie!

The Score

2011-09-29T22:03:00.002-06:00

Jeran: 1
Jessica: 0
... babies that is.
Yes, our niece Olivia was born this afternoon quite soon after her doc stripped her membranes and and her water broke this morning. We are very excited, and I am happy for Jeran - she was more "done" than I am, I think. Too bad there won't be any "twins" though. Olivia's cousin apparently doesn't care to be rushed. Or it could be that I refused to be "stripped" again at my doctor's appointment yesterday - and so here I sit with no baby, no contractions, and no hope that labor will start on it's own. I cannot tell you how much spicy food I have eaten - I am now convinced that all of those "tricks" for starting labor are complete malarkey.
The doc said I'm still dilated to a 3, although a 3+ now - she said all conditions were still very "favorable" and she's "shocked" that I haven't had the baby yet. That makes a hundred of us. I scheduled an appointment to be induced on Oct. 4, at noon - the day after my due date - if the need should present itself... which I have to say, I think it will. But I would be more than happy if she decided to come on her own a little earlier - hint, hint, nudge, nudge!
Although I am sad about leaving my fabulous fourth graders until January (what a great class I have this year! they may change my mind about 4th), today was the first day that I truly felt "done" myself. Just didn't want to be there at all - although it was a good day, it didn't matter. Mayyybe I was feeling a little jealous of Carolina's aunt.
No pictures today - although I'll make that a priority this weekend, along with cleaning, shopping, sewing, baking, Yogurtcourt, swimming (yep, still 90 deg.) - because this will actually be my last weekend without an infant. Since Monday is my due date, I already have my long-term sub scheduled to start that day... so Hello 3 day weekend! Well, I guess it's really a 3-month weekend. And here is what I'm looking forward to in the next 3 months:
1. Laying on my stomach
2. Eggs Benedict
3. Non-stretchy clothes
4. Bending over
5. Laying on my back
6. A heart free of burn
7. Brushing my teeth without gagging
8. Oh, and, cuddling a little baby

One more week...

2011-09-26T16:08:00.002-06:00

I'm 39 weeks today - at this point in my last pregnancy, I was not pregnant. I had Liam on the first morning of my 39th week, my water had broken the day before. Liam was 7 lbs. 14 oz. - good thing they say girls are usually smaller since this little girl is apparently staying in a little longer. Babycenter.com says average babies weigh just over 7 lbs. at this point, and since she's been measuring right on track, maybe she is still at that point. I'd really like to not have an 8+ pounder. I'd also really like to have this baby before Wednesday, so I don't have to have another fun doctor's appointment... but if wishes were fishes the sea would be full.

Of course now that the school week has started back up I never seem to have enough time to get everything ready for the next day - I basically have to leave everything ready for a sub every time I leave. If you are a teacher - you know what a giant pain this is. I stayed after school for 2 extra hours trying to be all ready for this week, but there's always something else that can be done. So of course now I'm saying to myself, "just one more day, then I can have the baby." At least my house is ready. I was convinced I'd be going to the hospital before the weekend was over - I was having back aches and lots of pressure - and so I threatened to Todd that if my water broke and the house wasn't vacuumed, I would not be going to the hospital until it was. So we got a lot done yesterday, but I am very tired today - and it was obvious.

BUT, the good news is, unless I go over my due date (in which case I will schedule myself to be induced the next day), I WILL have a baby in a week... or a week and a day.

The New Addition...

2011-09-24T13:16:00.003-06:00

Well, as you may know, we needed a new car. Yes, the Subaru still ran - but not well, or reliably, and not to mention that air conditioning did not work (kind of important in Idaho). Todd suffered through 100+ degree drives home all summer like a saint, but when it started sputtering and shuddering ominously he had basically had enough of it. We thought we'd be getting one just before next summer, but he was worried that a breakdown was coming soon, and did not want to be stranded somewhere during the winter, understandably - plus with me being home with two kids, we felt like it was important that I have a reliable car with me at all times as well. We knew we wanted something that was small and gas efficient (just because of the state the Subaru was in, it got terrible gas mileage, about the same as our SUV). At any rate - here it is a 2010 Nissan Versa hatchback:

It's super cute - little, but certainly roomy enough inside, and in great condition! Todd is one happy guy; and as it is a car after all - Liam is too!

Cranky

2011-09-21T18:51:00.002-06:00

Nope, not Liam anymore, it's me this time. I'm going to try super hard to not just whine through this whole post, but it will be a challenge. I will attempt to stick to the facts only...
- 38 weeks and 2 days along, contractions all day yesterday, but no further progressed says the doc.
- Very tired and uncomfortable, getting nothing done once home.
- Membranes stripped today; very sore (sorry to anyone who is grossed out by that phrase... read: everyone).
- Very high chance labor will begin in the next 48 hours.
- Would like to make it to Friday, regardless of... everything.
- Tired of being asked when the baby is coming.

Ok, moving on...
Liam has definitely snapped out of his cranky phase and is being a sweet boy again. He also must be going through a growth spurt because he is eating us out of house and home - Kathy said he ate two lunches yesterday and essentially asked for two dinners last night. Tonight he's been eating dinner for the last 2 hours, just keeps wanting something more - and I know he's hungry because he's not being picky about what I give him. I tried to get some pictures of him, but he wasn't having it, so sorry - probably the next time you'll get some of him, he'll be holding his sister. Hopefully he cooperates for that.
Todd has been out car hunting pretty solidly for the last 4 days - yes we need a new one, but this is just NOT the best timing. I'm an exhausted emotional wreck as it is, and car shopping is. the. worst. Does anyone remember how we were car-shopping the last time I was 9 months pregnant too? Yeh, what's up with that? My theory is that it's like a guy's version of nesting, but still did he have to wait until what feels like (and may be) the last minute?
The nursery curtain is done, but we actually went with a different fabric than what I had showed you - the bird fabric from the quilt, that's the one I finally picked. I'll take a picture eventually.
If anything of note happens I will post or Facebook about it, but until then I'm done talking about it.

Room #3: Nursery Edition!

2011-09-17T17:53:00.009-06:00

[I'm ashamed of myself - these pictures are terrible - but I guess I'm not so ashamed that I'm going to go upstairs and retake them, you still get the idea. Probably the pictures are all crooked because I was trying to get pictures quickly in between Liam running in and out of the room, and then I had the light off for half the time and on for half the time, so the room looks like two different colors (it's really a nice cream). Oh well.]

To see what the room looked like as Liam's nursery, click here http://themcconnelsinidaho.blogspot.com/2009/01/duh-duh-duh-done.html.

Without further ado:

Hello Girly!

That is the fabric I bought for the curtain draped over the rod to see how it looks - there is a second option down below...
See how perfectly my parent's old recliner matches?! Kismet. Looking forward to some long nights in that recliner/rocker.
The crib skirt is finished - thanks Mom for doing all the work for me! Even with the "ugly" breathable bumper, I think it's a darn cute bed.
Stocked and ready.
That mirror isn't exactly what I want there, but it was the best option out of what I already had.
The art we have was just not the right scale for that spot.

But the "small world" print looks perfect here.

And the "Children of the World" print is a perfect fit here (so crooked - sorry). This bookshelf is full! She's already out of space for much of anything else!

Here is curtain option #2 - they are curtains I've had forever from Ikea. I think I'm kind of leaning in this direction. I can make a pillow or...??? out of that other fabric. If I could do anything else to it I'd find another mirror, and some more personalized art, and maybe a little sheepskin rug. A couple of shelves might be in order too, since she's already running out of room for "show off" items.

But at any rate, the way it is, I love, love, love it!

Baby Update Bummer

2011-09-15T17:04:00.002-06:00

My 37 week appointment was yesterday - and I did not get the promising report that I did last time (although, what good did it do me?). As far as stats go everything is still on track - baby is likely just over 6 lbs. and almost 20 inches long - and full term, heart beat is perfect, and she is moving constantly. I have had a few contractions lately, probably Braxton Hicks, because they went away rather quickly and weren't very consistent, but I am dilated to a 3 now, and the baby was about 3 or 4 cm lower than before. She was also perfectly lined up to deliver, which is good to hear after last week. However, for some reason, the doc said she guessed I'd be pregnant another ten days. Um, TEN days?! What happened to "any day now"?? I know that this doesn't necessarily mean anything, she could come tomorrow or wait 3 more weeks and we have to induce... but still hearing TEN MORE DAYS is very disappointing and frustrating and unmotivating (as in - "Oh, I have ten more days to get _____ done, I don't need to do it today."). Blehhh - I could be a total Whiney-Whinerson right now and give you a long laundry list of why "10 days" is so inconveneient for me, but I'll just stick to one: not only do I run my stomach into things/people constantly, but my students run into it too! No matter what doc says, I'm still really pulling for this weekend - going to eat some spicy Mexican food and get a foot massage, maybe walk if I can stand it, and see if that does anything.
In Liam news, he seems to be in a better mood these last couple of days - in fact today I told him "no" twice today and there wasn't even a single whimper out of him. Maybe the cycle is being broken? I was also all prepared to tell you that he's adjusted to his new bed, but then he fell out again last night. It had been a good week and a half or 2 weeks without that though - and thankfully he didn't hit his head like last time. He does go right to sleep now, no playing around with his (non-wax) Scentsy and monitor anymore. His current favorite thing (well this is his favorite thing anyways) is working in the garden with Papa, but it's especially fun now because there are so many things to pick and eat - apples, grapes, tomatoes, etc. - he could do it all day. We are looking forward to some cooler weather, in the 70's this weekend and next week - I may be able to actually stand taking Liam outside to play!

Hurry up and wait...

2011-09-11T19:30:00.003-06:00

After that doctor appointment I felt like we'd be headed to the hospital at any minute - I was pumped, and energetic, and motivated!... And now, after 4 days of frantically running around and getting things done (and taking care of a sick toddler) - there's absolutely no change. I was almost sure I wouldn't be back at work this week. It's a bit disappointing. I ate super spicy food, I walked stairs, I weeded, and swam, aaaand nothing. Except that now I'm exhausted and headed back to work in 12 hours. At least I know I have another doctor's appointment on Wednesday so I can know if we're really at a standstill or if there has been progress I wasn't aware of. I'm also quite happy with the nursery - it's as finished and organized as it's going to be until we sew the crib skirt and curtain. I did promise you pictures, but I'm too tired to walk upstairs with the camera and do it.
Back to the sick toddler. Some kind of a stomach bug is going around - and everybody at daycare including Kathy, caught it. Liam was home one day with Todd while she was sick, and then he was home the next day with Todd because he had puked all over his "cool new bed." That was a first for Todd - cleaning up a mess like that. It was character building for sure. Liam had a low fever that day and a bit of the next - and he slept more and ate less, but that was the extent of it thankfully. We are just hoping that neither Todd, nor I get it - that would be the worst possible thing to happen to us right now. Liam seems fully recovered today though - still extra grouchy - but that's just the "new & unimproved" Liam apparently. Any parenting advice on this constant fake crying/tears when he doesn't get what he wants right away? I can't tell if I'm supposed to punish him for it, make him to cry by himself till he's done, hug him until he's done, or (the last thing I want to do) give him what he wants...??? This phase is foreign to me. I need to spend more quality time with him, since his days as an only child are numbered, but he makes it hard for me to want to :(
Well that's it for now, my brain is zombified mush. Cross your fingers for some baby action, or else some realllly good sleep tonight, and definitely cross them for some pictures!

Baby Update!

2011-09-07T20:57:00.004-06:00

Very exciting day at the baby-doctor! I was definitely not disappointed... 2, almost 3, centimeters dilated - 50% effaced! Woohoo! I love my doctor - she came in saying she was so excited to see how dilated I was - she could tell by how low the baby was, and the way I was waddling. She could feel the baby right there, but she's (the baby is) kind of in front of/above my cervix, which explains why the circulation is being cut off in my hip - and it hurts! She said that labor could happen anytime, but also asked if I wanted to be induced - tempting, but no thanks. She said she'd give me another week... or two... to which I took to mean that that's how much longer I can expect to be pregnant - but then I don't know why she's asked if I wanted to be induced?? I always think of questions after the fact. I did remember that when my water broke with Liam, I was 2 cm dilated... interesting. At any rate - I left a very happy and excited lady. You'd think I'd start rushing around to finish up the chores I didn't get to this weekend, but instead I just wanted a swimming pool and some yogurt. I got half my wish - will save yogurt for another day I guess. Now that we're home I did pack Liam's overnight back, and at least got mine out - I still have a ways to go, but I'm remarkably unfazed by it... for the moment.
Bonus picture - Liam attempts to earn some M&M's - and doesn't have to miss any of his movie at the same time!

3:3b

2011-09-06T20:50:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was another super busy, but fun, day. I finally got around to making those pumpkin cream cheese muffins that I had all of the ingredients set out for - all weekend. Liam helped me of course, and since it was a little chilly in the house, and since I was putting off feeding him anything until our family breakfast, I gave him his first taste of hot chocolate.

So glad he took this last picture of himself, it's a great view of the chocolate-stache. He liked it, but didn't drink too much - I bet you if there were marshmallows in it that cup would've been drained.

Anywho - the muffins turned out darn-near amazing if you ask me. Then we were off to a family pancake breakfast at the other other Nampa McConnel's - which was delicious and caused me to feel way too full for the rest of the day. Then it was just chores chores chores for me - I'm a ticking time bomb, and everything must get done NOW before I go off. I worked up a good sweat and wore myself out. Dinner and games were later at the Curtis' - more stuffing myself (I seem to forget that my stomach is literally out of room to expand for food - at all). I think I fell asleep on their couch - oops. Liam had a great time playing with the kids and watching a movie.

I would've had a good nights sleep if only I didn't have to pee every hour - for reals. I was exhausted today and just felt generally yuck. Liam must not have been feeling that great either because he cried through 80% of our evening together. We put him to bed early, and I think I'm going to go do the same for myself. It's 9:02 - and I'm saying Goodnight.

Doctor's appointment tomorrow!

3:3

2011-09-05T20:29:00.003-06:00

(Why does it look like I'm exhausted? Because I look like this constantly now. And why am I wearing no make-up? Because I'd already sweated it off by this point)
Last day of the holiday weekend - guess I won't be having any labor this Labor Day - BUT I am only one week away from being full term! 36 weeks today - and getting bigger every second. Babycenter.com says little C.C. is about 6 lbs. and 19 inches long - at my last appointment everything was measuring on schedule so I have no reason to think it won't be when I see the doc this week - but she will be checking to see if I am at all dilated. I have to say, if I'm not I will be pretty disappointed. This past week several people have asked if I have dropped - that is to say, they think I've dropped. I'll probably take they're word since they see me from the side more than I do. I will tell you that my belly is currently resting uncomfortably on my lap and making me hot - like someone is constantly hugging me. Poor Todd is freezing in this house and I'm still sweating. It even was so cool this morning that the heater kicked on! I promptly turned it off.
I'm certain the baby is in head-down position because her feet always kick at my right side (or sometimes up my ribs, ouch!) and then my whole belly shifts awkwardly to the left when her back/butt stick out on the other side. Also, I've been having quite a few extremely uncomfortable pains - not contractions I think - but I'll just leave it at that. I makes me feel like this event could take place at any moment, and at least right now, that's a very stressful thought - I'm just not ready! Clothes to wash, bags to pack, nursery to organize, house to clean, lesson plans to write - plus I'd really like to swim some this week since it's supposed to be back in the 90's till next weekend.
At least the nursery is a good deal put together - I was going to wait until it was totally finished to show you, but since I just ordered the fabric for the curtains today, and haven't even picked the fabric for the crib skirt yet, it could be a while and I'm just too excited about it to make you wait that long.

I'll fill you in on today, tomorrow...

2:3

2011-09-04T22:02:00.002-06:00

Today was so busy! Errands this morning, church, out to lunch, while Liam went to G&P's to nap Todd did a little car shopping and I got more chores done, then finally some relaxing in the pool with friends and family, and Liam's favorite - roasted marshmallows!
Our friends the Michaelson's joined us this time, and Liam's buddy since birth kept him good company, they even played really well together, only a little fighting over pool toys.
Here they are showing how patient they can be - sugar is at stake after all...
They chit-chatted to pass the time while marshmallows were cooking...

The moment arrives and they obediently spread out their napkins...

Liam ate 5 or 6 and was still asking for more (I think I only ate 3 or 4!). Luke had one, then asked for chips :) he must have more of a savory-tooth...

Then they ran off their sugar-highs and had a great time playing with the trucks and tractors.

I wonder if between Todd's bursitis and my enormous belly (which prevents us from picking Liam up or holding him much), if Liam is feeling as though he's not getting enough attention - he's been so cranky and naughty and whiney this week. On Thursday, after walking in the door from school, he cried so hard to "see mom" (when I just really had to leave for a minute to go to the bathroom and change into comfy clothes) that he made himself throw-up. Every time you tell him "no" or even "later", it elicits immediate whines, fake crying, or even crocodile tears. Every. Time. It doesn't get him what he wants either, by the way.Wish I knew how to help him or what to do. I think it was good for him today to have some undivided attention from the g-parents and a buddy.

1:3

2011-09-03T20:23:00.002-06:00

I've been awful about taking pictures the last few weeks - so I put it on my To Do list to take pictures everyday of this long weekend. Here's Day #1:
We had big plans for today, more-so Todd than myself, but my plans were exceeded in the end! After sleeping in a little we were lazy this morning and then Liam and I made pumpkin choc chip cookies that were quite good... I tell you, the weather cools off a few degrees and I am automatically in Fall mode. Then the boys had their big season opener for Notre Dame (which didn't turn out so well, sorry guys) and I headed off to do some baby errands - searching some fabric shops and getting some not-thrilling-but-must-have things for baby/nursery. I walked myself sore and came home to rest, but that didn't quite happen...
Oh, Todd had got us some doughnuts for this morning, but Liam didn't earn his until after nap - classic nap-time hair...

And doughnuts are his new favorite snack - super.

When I got back Todd headed off to his Fantasy Football draft/BSU game/Poker night - very big night for him. I had asked Mom and Dad to bring over their rocker (that they're giving me while I have need of it) so they came right over - long story short - we ended up pretty much putting the whole nursery together. None of us were really planning on that happening, but it looks great and I'm very excited to be nearly done with this final room project (the garage is off the table for now). I'm finally sitting down and getting some dinner at 8 o'clock, and wishing I had lots more energy to keep going... pumpkin cream cheese muffins were in the works for tonight, but they may have to wait until tomorrow. Fun first day of the weekend!

Kathy

2011-08-25T16:31:00.003-06:00

This was Liam's first full week back in daycare, and he has been loving it - Kathy's house must never be boring.
Kathy emailed me some funny things he said this week..

Liam: "Kathy."
Kathy: "What Liam?"
Liam: "You need to take tiny bites"
Kathy: "Why Liam?"
Liam: "Big bites are for if you're big and your not big any more."
Kathy: "I'm not big?"
Liam: "You're tiny now, not big any more."
-and-
Liam: "What's that?"
Kathy: "I think Katelyn got nail polish on the table."
Liam: "No."
Kathy: "Who did it then?"
Liam: "Carolina!" (and I think that's the first time I'd said the baby's name on the blog)

Kathy has also been working on potty training with Liam - I think her secret is that she's not lazy, like me. She runs him to the toilet to poop, and she doesn't put a diaper on him and has him to pee every so often - so he's had no accidents, and lots of treats! Way to go Liam (and Kathy)!

Also - our transition to the big bed has gone very smoothly. He hasn't fussed about it at all, or asked for the crib. The first night he stayed up playing till after 10. The second night he slept fairly quickly but rolled out of bed twice. The third night he didn't fall out, but it took him a while to sleep again and we found him backwards in his bed in the morning. Then last night he was asleep right away and had no issues all night - perfection! This, I'm sure, has to do with Kathy because she's been having him nap on a nap-mat or sometimes a bed for a while.
Thanks Kathy!!

**Meanwhile my week back at work has been going much better than I thought - this class is going to be a good one I think, plus I've actually been having fun back at work. The downside is that my feet (well really just the one foot) is swollen beyond recovery and painful, plus the "work" clothes I have really do not fit and I refuse to go buy more with 5 weeks to go! I'm energized in the morning and exhausted in the evening - not to mention it's been nearing 100 degrees everyday. I want to make it as long as possible for my students, but wish the baby would come now for my own comfort. **

Room #2 - for my #1!

2011-08-20T12:52:00.004-06:00

FINALLY - another room/project is done (well not entirely, but for all intents and purposes it is) - and I am exhausted... but, I must push on to room #3, the deadline is approaching!
Here is the BEFORE:
And AFTER:

I think we are going to give the new room the "green light" tomorrow night - nervous about Liam rolling out of bed - but he's got to learn the boundaries somehow. If you want to know where I got/how I did something, just let me know. Also - if you have an old license plate from a state we don't have (everything but Idaho, Washington, Alaska) - we'd love to have it!

The last day and the first day...

2011-08-18T20:48:00.005-06:00

I had quite a long list of things I wanted to on my last day of summer break (and all of it I got done - imagine!) but a priority was letting Liam paint these little wooden cars I had found at Target this summer. I made sure that the counter and Liam's clothes were protected from the paint, since I wasn't sure if it was washable... of course, being the uber-neat kid he is, he didn't get a speck of paint on anything but the cars, except a little on his fingers, which we had to wipe off right away :)
Oh man, he loved it - he plays with these cars now just as much as his die-cast ones - the red one is of course Lightning and the blue is Dinoco.
Except for the ceiling fan, Liam's room is totally done and just needs the rest of our furniture which should arrive tomorrow - I can't wait to show you pictures!
Liam also got a few more pictures when he was clicking away like a mad-man:

I was feeling pretty darn good until just a few days ago - all of a sudden I feel enormous. I'm uncomfortable sitting, standing, laying, walking - pretty much all the time except when I'm swimming. I'll be 34 weeks on Monday - only 6 weeks left! That means if the baby were to come 3 weeks early, the earliest "safe" time for her to come, then I only have 3 weeks left - what! That makes me stress about the nursery not being at all ready - I mean not. at. all. The walls need painting, the crib needs to be raised, the furniture needs to be rearranged, a curtain and crib skirt need to be made, the night stand needs to be painted, pictures need to be hung, quite a few things still need to be purchased (but a double stroller is on the way!), and all the baby clothes need to be washed. Also, Todd was diagnosed with bursitis, which explains why is shoulder has been in such pain. It's good because it means he doesn't need surgery, but bad because he's not supposed to use that arm, and I need him to "do work" for me! I got 3 or 4 comments from people today about how I looked low, I'll be curious at my next Dr.'s appointment to see if she thinks I've dropped or anything.

My first day back today went as well as it possibly could - Liam was psyched to go to Kathy's and didn't want to leave - but was exhausted when he came home and very weepy all evening. My meetings all went well and I just feel so fortunate to be at the school I'm at, with the people I'm with. I was still wishing I could work part-time though...

(Oh! And when out celebrating our 8th anniversary at the BoneFish Grill in Boise this week - we ended up dining with Peter Frampton - random!)

Sir, may I please have s'more?

2011-08-17T09:49:00.005-06:00

We decided to do an end-of-summer bash with a movie in the pool night... it's not like we couldn't do this again, it just feels like we won't. We picked a day that was supposed to be hot, but for some odd reason the pool was cold - it's never cold in the summer! So there weren't many of us actually in the pool during the movie, but it was still really fun! The highlight for Liam (well, since he was in bed during the movie), was roasting marshmallows and making s'mores! In this, he takes after his Papa (and his mom)...

Mmm...

Chomp!

S'mores are sticky and messy, which he's not a fan of, but he'll put up with it for the sake of sugar and chocolate.

Boys & fire - a natural combination...
Except for Liam, he wasn't going to get too close (he doesn't take after his Uncle Pat), so he didn't do any of his own marshmallow roasting, but you wouldn't think that from the way he talks about it.

We are definitely doing this again!

The farm

2011-08-15T10:29:00.004-06:00

Last week Grandma and Papa took Liam up to the farm in Montour - he loves tractors and talks about "Frank the Combine" (from Cars) a lot, so they thought he would enjoy it. The farm is about an hour and a half away so it took until naptime to go and come back - and worked out perfectly for me to get to my dr's appointment and school meeting. Grandma got some great pictures up there...

What a gorgeous Idaho day!

Learning about wheat.

The infamous combine!

Uncle Lon (not to be confused with Uncle Lonnie), the farmer, and Steve's oldest brother.

If you know Cars, then you know that Frank the Combine isn't the friendliest character, and Liam was not really willing to turn his back on it for a picture. Smiles again from a safe distance. Ice cream on the way home!

last week/last week

2011-08-13T10:23:00.004-06:00

These are all pictures I took this last week, but also during my last week of summer vacation - big frowny face. I had to go in to school for a meeting on Wednesday, which totally depressed me, gave me a stomach ache, and I came home and cried then fell asleep for an hour. I'm not ready for this. Look at the fun we have:
eating outside (in the sliver of shade we have)...

painting pictures for Grandma...

hiding under our new blanket...

and pretending... "I sweeping mom, cwose the door."

I was busy this week trying to get things done before I go back to work - so I finished Liam's duvet, put together our picture wall (which I will of course have to change out in a few short months), and allllmost finished Liam's room with the new bed and mattress - pretty much just have to wait for a few furniture pieces to come from Bremerton next week.
Oh, also - Liam's favorite new hobby is photography...

A haircut...

2011-08-10T09:26:00.000-06:00

You probably know or have noticed that we kind of like [read: love] Liam's hair long and shaggy. He has had several haircuts from yours truly, and he needed one again this week, well he probably needed it a couple of weeks ago - it was as long as it's ever been - it looked pretty, um, feminine.

Before:

During:

After:

He looks so big in this last picture...

I hate cutting his hair - it makes me sad for some reason, probably because the shorter hair makes him look older to me. And also because sometimes I don't do the best work :)

Sprinkles

2011-08-09T17:02:00.004-06:00

We are headed to YogurtCourt, and this is the conversation I heard over the monitor while Liam was getting his diaper changed.

"Are we going to get yogurt Liam?"

"I going to get white yogurt with sprinkles. Not wike the sprinkles in the garden, not wike doze ones."

I'm so glad he clarified.

Two Funny

2011-08-07T21:07:00.001-06:00

I have been doing my best to remember or write down right away some of funny/cute things our little Liam says - here are a few...

Great Quotes: [Note, all L's make the /w/ sound... so sometimes I wrote it that way.]
"No touch bees. No touch bird poop." If he learned nothing else this summer, he certainly learned this...

"Ooh - wook at doze, doze are wook good." Referring to garden plants - he will eat anything out of the garden.

"Mom got a bewwy." Yes, yes I do have a belly.

"I got game mommy, I got game." Oh the hilarity a missing article can bring.

"How was your nap Liam?"
"Good, I had a dream."
"What did you dream about?"
"I dream about Jesus." Awww.

"Daddy, I have oatmeal on my face, can I have a napkin... or my favorite toy?" Nice bargaining skills.

"Do work, Uncle Pat." When putting together the desk - Patrick thought it was awesome.

"I can't see it, I'm too tiny." When told to look out the window at something...or
"I can see it - I'm not too tiny!"

"I writing my letters. A B C dot com." No idea where he got this from, but we laughed forever.

Translations:
"grapefruit snacks" = fruit snacks
"popsizzles" = popsicles
"piggies" = toes
"muffles" = waffles
"a-meal" = oatmeal
"Nike Queen" = Lightning McQueen
"candy store" = yogurt shop
"Fred Market" = Fred Meyer

There are a bunch more, if only I could remember...

Done and almost done...

2011-08-06T19:36:00.002-06:00

The new bedding for the kiddos is almost/done...
Liam's is the almost done one - the top of the duvet is done, and I have the brown sheet for the back - I just have to sew it on. And here is the quilt for baby girl that Linda (Grandma) made, so cute - it's done!

One Room Done!

2011-08-05T14:21:00.006-06:00

... only three to go...

It's about time at least one of my room projects got finished! We've got the garage (which just needs a major cleaning out and some reorganizing), the nursery (pretty much nothing finished there yet), Liam's room (which is already getting a make-over of the make-over I had planned), and the office - which was probably the worst looking room. See... literally just packed with stuff, it was basically a storage room, and a huge embarrassment...

Here are the half-way pics... getting things cleared out/thrown out/given away/stored away/ re-purposed...

And TA-DAAA! The new room is (mostly) finished as of today! Here is the play-room half...

As you can see, it's already full - what are we going to do when we get more toys?? At least this really is alll his toys (except for stuffed animals which are in the chest in his room) - that means there are no longer bags of baby toys in the garage, or bins of toys in the family room or my bedroom. I figure since we're about to be having swings/bouncers/playmats taking up space, it would be good to clear out Liam's stuff and consolidate it. I still kind of want some kid-ish art on this wall, but not sure what to put... I like these prints...

And here is the office half of the room - I still need Todd's degree certificate for the frame, and I'm on the lookout for a cute lamp which would go where the picture is on the desk.

Ahhh - it feels so-so-so-so-so-so-SO good to have a room that is organized, functional, neat, pretty cute I think, and most importantly FINISHED!

Last vacation...

2011-08-01T09:27:00.018-06:00

With only 3 weeks left of summer (pause for a moment of silence)... we took our last little vacation - another road trip, to Washington this time - maybe the last one now that my parents have their house in Nampa and have sold their Bremerton house - to close in less than 3 weeks! It seems we brought the sunshine with us, and it was quite warm too. We got in some of our favorite places: Trader Joe's, Panera Bread, Poulsbo, church, and of course home.
The first day we went miniature golfing, Liam's first time - he did pretty well, just got a little grumpy half-way through, probably since he had no nap the day before. Nana tries to help - but he's 2 and he's pretty much just going to do it his own way... you know the drill - "by. my. SELF."
He does like to help in the "garden" - any yard is a garden, by the way. The second picture is bigger because I loooooove it.
The Skype attempt with GG and Tessa was an epic fail, but he talked Great-Grandpa & Gramma's ears off on the phone... note the awesome bedhead (the grilled cheese wasn't for breakfast, it was just there because he didn't eat it the night before). And another large picture, because it's just so adorable - did I mention that I love my new camera? Not all the pictures are from the new one- and you can probably tell which ones weren't.
The guys did lots of competitive sports - Wii baseball, bowling, and frisbee golf...
On our last day there we had the absolute privilege of going over to my parents' friend's house on the water - specifically at low tide so we could play! It was gorgeous and we had so much fun playing with the Spragues, who met us there. It did take Liam a while to warm up to walking on the rocky beach and getting his hands dirty... but when doesn't it take Liam a while to warm up to something new?
He did squeeze a few piggy back rides out of Nana.
Initially, Liam and Lucas were only interested in playing with the buckets and shovels.
But then the boys discovered crabs - you could find at least 10 of them if you turned over a big rock.
Moon snails are gross, but Liam was brave enough to touch it... once.
And this is moon snail excrement - neither boy looks overly thrilled.
Ethan found a clam!
Auntie Katie was the first one to make Liam bust a gut, and looks like she's still got the touch.
This is the Jen & Grant portion of the blog - they took the kayaks out and enjoyed the water... from the water. It was certainly warm out - I even sunburned myself a little, so we went up into the yard and rested under a nice shade tree. Lots of snacks and wrestling.
Liam picks up where daddy left off.
This is as close as you'll get to seeing me in a picture... only 9 weeks to go!!! (Baby's about 3 1/2 lbs. and getting ready to go through a growth spurt, I'm measuring right on schedule.. *sigh*)
Overall it was a great trip, bittersweet, because we all know it will be our last time in that house, and maybe our last time in Bremerton - or at least we know we won't be back for quite a while and it won't be the same. Thankfully we had this trip planned, because if we had put it off we may have not been able to go at all! Wish my parents luck and a visit from the packing fairies!

Up to...

2011-07-22T10:08:00.006-06:00

I tell you, the weeks go by so quickly when you are not working - I guess time really does fly when you are having fun. So here's what we've been up to lately...
#1. Playdates - mostly with Claire (and Kristin and baby Kate), they have so much fun together and Liam is never happy when it's time to go. I don't have good luck getting pictures of Liam with Claire either obviously - Liam just shook his head back and forth the whole time I was trying. We also had a playdate at Kathy's house with all the daycare kids, plus a bunch of other Desert Springs kids/babies - that was a huge hit.

#2. Projects - last weekend's was the sprinklers, apparently after 7 years they kind of just gave up on us and we had big ugly patches of dead grass. You can see that Liam was a big help. (This weekend's project, putting together the new desk - I hope.)

#3. Parties - Todd turned THIRTY this week - I can hardly believe it... that means it's my turn next :-( We had nachos and fruit pizza at Todd's request by the pool. I didn't take very many pictures, and what I did take isn't good - I'll just warn you.
#4. Practicing - I don't remember where we were or who it was that asked if Liam was left-handed, I think I assured them he wasn't and just used both hands. However, I started watching him more carefully and I think he might be a south-paw! It would be different, since no-one in our immediate families is a leftie. But I tried to help him write in Todd's birthday card and I made him use his right hand, he squawked at me about it and could not seem to get a grip on the pen. But the last couple of days if I give him a pen to write "letters" he puts it in perfect writing position in his left hand and goes to town (there are 2nd graders who can't hold a pen the right way!). Although, if you have him give you a high-5 he'll only do that with his right hand... we'll see. #5. Preparing - The baby is 29 weeks now, and my babycenter.com updates have advised me to stock up on diapers, wipes, and thank you notes for whenever the baby may arrive. That makes it a little too real for what I'm ready for. I have wipes, I did find some cute Thank you notes (that's not scary, they're just cards), but I've been avoiding the diapers like the plague. However when I absolutely had to walk down that aisle to buy Liam some, I went ahead, took the plunge and bought the smallest possible package of N size diapers. Another scary thing I read is that women can expect to gain 11 lbs. on the average during the last trimester. Please. No. OH, also my torturous 4 hour, 5 blood -draw glucose test is over - it could've been worse actually, and I did pass it PTL!

Clothes, glorious girly clothes...

2011-07-20T22:18:00.006-06:00

And so it begins.

I always said if I had a little girl I'd be in trouble because the clothes are just so much more cute and fun to buy... I was right.

I decided it was time I had something to dress this baby in when she's born. I've been given a few things, but 98% of it is for bigger babies, like stuff she can wear next summer (which makes sense, since that's what for sale now). I LOVE BabyGap this season - their clothing lines are hit-or-miss for me, but thank goodness this season they are a hit because it just so happens that Gap was having a sale ;)

body-suits, my favorite thing to dress a newborn in... also note that these are all 0-3 size, but they look like they are all different sizes

a couple of little fall/winter outfits, these are two different sizes - not necessarily girly colors but there are ruffles, lace, bows, on everything

and a girl can't live without shoes - they aren't Robeez, but I figure they'll stay on because of the little strap; and how could I pass on this adorable jacket?!

And just because, here is a lovely little outfit I'd buy if money were no object... maybe when it all goes on sale :)

-or-

Things I Want/Need/Think I Need: Baby Edition

2011-07-20T22:08:00.004-06:00

Partially because it helps me to see things laid in a nicely compiled list, and partially just because it's fun...
Things I Need: diaper changing cover
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2636171

I know it's ugly, but if it really is more safe...
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3491558

the best bottles ever
http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Pack-9oz-Eco-Friendly-Bottles/dp/B000MRK5MO

Things I Think I Need:

hands-free, oh yeh

http://www.amazon.com/Medela-67060-Freestyle-Breast-Pump/dp/B0013O9RX8

car seat option 1

http://www.gracobaby.com/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=1759227

car seat option 2

(even though I'm 99% certain I'm not having more kids, I'm still set on buying gender neutral)

http://www.gracobaby.com/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=1781045

bouncer option 1 - more frills, more $$
http://www.barebabies.com/maclaren-rocker-bouncer-black-champagne.html bouncer option 2 - more minimalist (less $$)

http://www.amazon.com/Maclaren-RTR03023-Bouncer-Charcoal/dp/B004A8ZJOK/ref=wl_it_dp_o ie=UTF8&coliid=I3142YECCWUYL4&colid=178H5E8G0G9LX

stroller option 1 - long and skinny (and better for small babies)

www.amazon.com/Contours-Options-Tandem-Stroller-Ruby/dp/B002R26LZM/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I16P4LFOE0D0P0&colid=178H5E8G0G9LX

stroller option 2 - short and wide (better for big kids)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NIZSGE/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d5_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=069DGVJMS7S7H1EBRKNS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Things I Want:
I'll let you figure this one out for yourself

http://www.amazon.com/Nude-Original-Belly-Bandit-Medium/dp/B001LFP0EO/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3UQK90SW8FF7O&colid=178H5E8G0G9LXz
cute lamp
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?color=010&navAction=jump&id=063169
I know I already have one, but this one has a zipper!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75037700/annamoa-large-diaper-bag

by the way - blogger does not care how I tell it to space out things, it does what it wants - the blogging format is not cool, not cool

The Last of the Trimesters...

2011-07-16T10:44:00.004-06:00

Week 28 means that I (and Jeran) are entering the home stretch, the 3rd trimester (and I think I can safely say the last trimester I'll have) - baby/babies/"twins" as we sometimes call them, are headed for 3 lbs and 15 in. long and can even see light filtering through the tummy. Doctor appointments are every other week now. My last one was good except for my glucose screening came back elevated and now I have to go in for the torturous 3 hour test - the worst part being that I have to fast since the night before and drink that sick drink again, only on an empty stomach - that's a recipe for p.u.k.e. if I ever heard one. It's unlikely that I have gestational diabetes, as 85% of women who fail the first test pass the second one... but still, fingers-crossed I don't.

Here are a few more pictures from our last day with the CA McConnels...

...catching bugs...

...lots of swimming...

...and some non-sense...

The Fourth: in pictures

2011-07-13T21:50:00.007-06:00

(this is how he gets ready to jump in)

(being wolves)

(genuinely concerned for his popcorn ball)

(taking a break from the sun)

(waiting for fireworks)

Liam's new room: a W.I.P.

2011-07-07T08:44:00.015-06:00

WOW, this is my 300th post!!! Anyways, moving on...

Here is the room as it served as a guest bedroom...Just in case - a W.I.P. is a work in progress :) Here is how I rearranged the furniture, including all the furniture that's getting moved over from his old room, plus the "new" toy chest that used to be mine, there will also be a little white magnetic board hanging over the table, a cute little Cars poster framed, the brown bedside table will go, a new ceiling fan, and new black-out shades - which means that I'll probably want to bring his curtains over to this room.

I have a couple of options at this point:

Option A: I keep this bed, but have to buy it a bed frame (or he'll be scooting all up into the window), here's the one I picked out at Ikea - $159 or $179, depending on if it's a full or queen (I can't remember, will have to measure).

If I have this bed then I need some kind of skinny book case on the left side, goodness knows this kid has enough of them! I can't save pics of Target's website for some reason, so you'll have to click on the links - here is one I like, here is two. Then I would need some kind of small shelf on the other side of the bed to balance the wall.
Option B: Use the old metal twin bed frame, pay to have it sandblasted and painted (waiting for an estimate on this, guessing$35-60). I would trade my full/queen mattress for my sisters twin (on a non-permanent basis) and buy a box spring for it if necessary (more $$, not sure how much, should be cheap, right?). I don't know how I would arrange the furniture with this bed, but I would still be wanting a tall bookcase (wouldn't have to be skinny) for more storage though.
Option B seems like it would come out slightly cheaper and give Liam lots more room. Eventually though, when baby grows out of her crib we'll still have to trade back for the big bed and purchase a frame for it then; also on the downside if we ever had company (although I have no idea who will stay with us after my parents move here!) they would be stuck on the air mattress. Things to think about...
Here are a couple of cute finds for Liam's room, from the flea market this weekend: He's already pretty satisfied with the whole thing, I'd say.
Thoughts?

3 more months...

2011-07-03T13:44:00.006-06:00

July 3rd means I have exactly 3 more months until my due date - where did the last 6 months go? It's been a while since my last baby update - so here are the stats: tomorrow I'll be 27 weeks along, the baby is about 2 pounds, and over a foot long, my uterus is roughly the size of a soccer ball (and it looks like it), she kicks and moves a lot when I am sitting still or laying down and sleeps when I am on the go, and sometimes she gets the hiccups. I don't feel like I'm getting rapidly bigger at this point, like I did a few weeks/months ago, I should be gaining a centimeter a week is what I'm told... I can handle that. I had an appointment with my new obgyn and I REALLY liked her - I'm sooo glad I switched, I feel very at ease now. Everything sounded/looked good, she was able to answer all my questions, and I was in an out in under an hour - how it should be, even for being a new patient.

I think it's weird that my stomach is so flat in the very front...

I was a little bored this week (I hate to say that, because I'm really not complaining about summer), so I got started on the kiddo-room-change project and it intensified rapidly - suddenly I felt like I had to get it all done and I had to get it done now. Of course I didn't get very far - I've got big piles of stuff to throw away (waiting for the ARC), piles of stuff that need to find a new home (waiting for room in the garage, waiting for Todd to help clean it out), don't know how to arrange the bedroom furniture (waiting to see how much space I'll have in the play room, waiting for a new desk/storage furniture) - it's frustrating how to get one thing done I have to wait for another thing to happen, but I have to wait for something else to happen so that thing can happen... it's like a puzzle game. And poor Todd gets the brunt of my frustration/ambition when he gets home from a long day at work - when he would really just like to relax. But now that company's here, I'm not doing too much work on anything at home.

California McConnel's are visiting - obligatory family shot at church... (Jeran and I will have to get a bump-to-bump pictures soon)

And more cute cousin pictures - Liam doesn't seem to mind taking a picture when he's with these two. Actually, I think he likes everything more when he's doing it with Denali and Dylan - they are by far his favorite two people, even more than Uncle Pat. He's been all too happy to jump in the pool if these guys are already in it.

How cute is this?!

He's getting better at floating on his back (or taking a nap, as he calls it).

"Hi Mom!"

P.S. Baby name is picked out.... ;)

Swim time!

2011-06-29T13:14:00.005-06:00

Liam is much more comfortable in the pool this year, and he is actually able to swim around - he kicks his legs really well, but it's hard to use his arms because of the floaties. I don't know what we would do without the floaties though - he's so independent with them! The only funny thing with the pool is that it can be a challenge to get him in it, he fusses and refuses, but if you just put him in anyways he's happy as a little clam and then you can't get him out!

His favorite thing is to play with the other "boys" in the pool - jumping and splashing.

His favorite new person is definitely Uncle Pat, who's moved back to Idaho.

He likes to jump in - you have to count to 3...

Then you jump, but Liam will wait until you jump first, just to make sure you do it...

Big smiles all around - WE LOVE THE POOL!

Summer days...

2011-06-23T11:03:00.010-06:00

We've finally been given some glorious summer weather - it's been in the 80's or 90's and blue, sunny skies. The forecast has the temp jumping all over the place between 75 and 95 - but at least even the cooler days are forecasted sunny. In the summer it usually works out for Todd to leave early a few days a week and so we've gone swimming several times, usually without Liam - it works out nicely to put him down for his nap at Steve & Linda's while we enjoy the hot afternoon sun. Liam was pretty sick this week though - fevers and pukes. Of course the day after I take him to the doctor (and I pay $20 so they can they tell me they don't know what it is), he starts to get better. He's almost completely recovered now, and we had a great past few days with him - eating at YogurtCourt, swimming, playing with cousins (not Denali and Dylan - Pat & Izzy McConnel's grandkids, sooo Liam's third cousins?). Today Liam was not well enough entertained however and drove me insane. He's being very Two - arguing with me, telling me "no" constantly, changing his mind and then being mad when I make him stick to it, wanting to be fed and carried and played with all the time. It's a good thing that Nana and Poppa are coming to visit so he can get some time away from mom - or vice versa. Some days he plays happily on his own and lets me get my own stuff done, and some days he just makes everything harder to accomplish - on days like this I should just give up on my own agenda, but when company's coming you don't have a choice :)
Here are some random pictures I've taken over the last week or so...

A hurt bird was hanging out in our backyard, so we had to get a closer look.

"Hi bird!"

I got me one of these from Oleander and Palm.

Just being silly.

"No touch bees." But apparently I didn't tell him about wasps nest - oops, close call!

This is where you can find him, when he's a sickie.

Lemon-blueberry pancakes with powdered sugar, his new fave.

SoCal Adventures - Pt. 5

2011-06-16T15:03:00.004-06:00

My last pictures from our trip are from a week ago, when we spent the morning at the Getty Museum. It was quite overcast and chilly early on, but warmed up to be pretty pleasant before we headed back to Bakersfield. The Museum is an amazing building with beautiful gardens, and it afforded me my first chance (at least that I can remember) to see some famous art in person.

3 of the cutest kids I've ever seen!

It's the real deal.

Denali and I

The City of Angels

Bougainvillea "trees"

Liam was tired and getting crankers being in his stroller and having to be quiet (shocking), so he quite enjoyed being out on their large lawn.

Todd and Dylan

We made the mistake of not bringing a paci in with us (why he wouldn't sleep in his stroller), so he fell asleep on Grandma - it's been well over a year since he's done that I'm sure.

He stayed asleep through the transfer to Dad and to the car, and most of the way home.

The last 2 days in California we were busy relaxing from our adventures, eating, and doing more baby projects. The weather in Bako was sooo nice, sunny, and warm - I tried to soak up as much of it as I could since I knew the weather here wouldn't be nearly as nice. I could've stayed a few more days, but Todd had to get back to work and Liam was starting to get homesick, asking to "go home" about every hour.

We did the drive home on Tuesday in one day instead of breaking for the night and Liam did just as great coming as he did going - he did watch a few more movies though. I was certainly more of a wreck than he was, I felt sooo carsick for about 80% of the drive, it's a miracle I didn't puke on the side of the interstate.

We've been home nearly a week now, Liam is happy to be back and playing with all of his toys. He seems to be the only one of us that's recovered from vacation :)

SoCal Adventures - Pt. 4

2011-06-16T10:54:00.005-06:00

After Disneyland, we spent the night in Anaheim and went to The Grove the next morning (a fancy L.A. mall) to do some shopping and hopefully see some celebrities. We did spot Dr. Drew, but that was about the only check on my list, I felt terrible and just found a chair in the Barnes & Noble and curled up with a giant bottle of water, no shopping for me :(
Our next stop was Santa Monica to do some sight seeing, since Todd and I had never been there. I was feeling a little better in the afternoon, and we walked around a bit. It was still a little chilly, but more because of the ocean breezes. Liam was not in a great mood that day, having not taken a very long nap in the car, and next to none in the stroller. He didn't want to go down to the sand or the water, so we just looked. After a great dinner at Buca di Beppo's for Jeran's birthday, we checked into our L.A. hotel, and the guys went to get some Randy's doughnuts. That night I got totally sick and puked my guts out, then had a very hard time sleeping. Who knows if it was being pregnant, or eating lots of rich food and not drinking enough water, or what... it didn't last long and I was able to enjoy our last outing in L.A. the next day.

SoCal Adventures - Pt. 3

2011-06-16T10:22:00.005-06:00

Disneyland Day!
We woke up super early again so we could get through the L.A. traffic and down to Anaheim at about opening time... we somehow miscalculated opening time and were there half an hour early - it worked out alright though, I had time to get my coconut latte and pastry from the Main Street Bakery before we had to rush off anywhere.
As soon as they dropped the rope Todd, Steve, Denali and Dylan were off and running towards the new Star Tours (and into the long line that was just for a Fast Pass), and then they hopped on Space Mountain. Meanwhile the two pregnant girls, the toddler, and the grandma who doesn't like rides did a lot of hanging out. We gave up waiting for the rest of the group and took Liam on some dark rides in Fantasyland. He was already tired and a little crankers from being up early, and he didn't much enjoy the rides until he got to ride It's a small world with his cousins. He also rode Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Astroblasters - he really slept a lot and when he was awake there were a few rides he didn't want to go one. He took a couple of good naps in his stroller thankfully, he LOVED cotton candy (although I felt a little cheated out of my favorite treat since he ate so much of it), and he also loved the parade. After his second nap, and the cotton candy, he was pretty much done being in the stroller - he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to pick out a toy, he didn't want to hold hands - it got kind of hairy. As we were in Downtown Disney doing some shopping, I just took him out in the walk way area where it was less crowded and let him run circles around me. As it began to get late, and Liam obviously began to get sleepy, Todd went back to use some more Fast Passes, and I took Liam back to the hotel and left him with Lonnie - who drove down after work and wasn't going in the park. I felt sad that Liam missed the fireworks, but there's always next time :) I went back into
I didn't take many pictures this day either, although Jeran got some good ones, and I'll post them when I get them...

He wanted to meet Peter, and then he didn't - at least it was entertaining for the people in line behind us.

Watching the pirate ship with Dyl.

Eating chicken nuggets with a great view.

In line for Buzz - you can tell he likes this one.

Nap one - it was a little chilly in Anaheim - good thing for a blankie. (this time I was the one who had to buy a jacket)

Freedom from the stroller in DtD - he's certainly happy now!

What a cute kid!

Baby Girl Nursery...

2011-06-15T20:43:00.009-06:00

(I'm interrupting the SoCal Adventures, because this is too cute to wait...)
I've thought to some extent (read: not very much) about how to decorate this baby's nursery, what colors or patterns to pick. I've browsed Target and Babies R Us to see what's out there, and wasn't drawn to or inspired by anything. So when we went to an amazing little fabric shop in Bakersfield so that Linda could finish picking/buying fabrics for Jeran's baby quilt, I got the big question - what are your colors? I had no idea, but I knew I liked a LOT of fabrics at this store - it was honestly quite overwhelming to choose (this is why I don't shop at department stores - too many options). But after what must've been an hour at least, this is what I/we (I needed a lot of help) came up with and I am STOKED about it!

Meet persimmon & teal (NOT blue and red):

Not too girly, but definitely not boyish - more ladylike I think. Even though I've wanted a girl so much, I didn't really want pink. But then Liam never had any blue. I love these colors and fabrics so much - my mind began to run amok with ideas and plans for the nursery.

The plan: I will probably paint the room a dark cream, bordering on tan (the fabric looks white in the pictures, but it's really cream). Keeping all the same furniture, the new things I'll need are: cream sheets, cream crib skirt, cream diaper changing pad, some wide teal rickrack (seen on the bib below) along the bottom of the crib skirt, a valance in either the damask or bird print, change pad covers in all the quilt fabrics. Jeran showed me how to put together a diaper change pad/burp rag and a bib... (good thing I've got that brand-new-never-opened sewing machine I can use at my house - just as soon as I learn how to use it).On order:
They had these Mary Blair (the artist who worked on it's a small world and several old animated Disney movies) prints for sale at the Disneyland Gallery - Todd and I loved them, but they were $80... I kept thinking about them after we left, however and looked them up online. They sold $35 versions too, on paper instead of canvas, and a little smaller! So I ordered the bottom right one because I think the colors are best for the rom - I can't wait for it to come, I have a frame ready and waiting!

On order soon:

I'll need one of these - just one, not the whole name I think...

And wouldn't these look cute with the bird fabric (which will be the entire back of the quilt), Jeran also gave me a leftover ceramic bird she had found at the dollar store and been doing cute projects with... so we might have a theme going with the birds. But, then she found a yard of fabric that had kids on it that looked just like small world dolls - it's really REALLY cute... I don't know what we'll do with it, but I can't wait to see how it comes together.

Options:

My Aunt Tessa gave me money for a rocker 2 Christmases ago, and I've still never found one that would fit in that small room, and was comfortable/affordable. Here are 3 options (well really 2, the bottom rocker is $900 and in my dream world) that would look nice in there.

Not to be outdone:

Since Liam will be moving out of the nursery shortly (*sniff* how can it be?), and into the current guest room, he'll be needing some bigger bedding. The room is a bright, beachy, teal (the color of the darkest stripe in the stripe fabric), but all of Liam's current things are brown and white with some green. So we found these cute fabrics (at the same amazing fabric store) to make him a coverlet, or quilt, or duvet - or whatever fits best on that full size bed. He loves it already - he says, "Dis is mine, it's so coool." As sad as it is to move him out of his first room, I'm very excited to give him a room he loves and has more space to play in.

I'll post more on the nursery, as ideas come up!

SoCal Adventures - Pt. 2

2011-06-15T20:06:00.006-06:00

After another 5 hours in the car we made it to Bakersfield (that was the first time I felt truly car sick). The the weather was sunny and warm and perfectly California. Denali, Dylan, and Liam got along so well. Liam immediately got out his cars to share and Dylan got out his too - they had a grand time, even Denali kind of got into the car craze.

We had to go to all the places that we don't have in Idaho: Dewar's, Chick-fil-a, In-N-Out, Trader Joe's, Fresh & Easy, SuperTarget, Strawberry Patches (more on that later), Sweet Surrender (a bakery that Giada has deemed makes the best chocolate cake called the Matterhorn cake), Chipotle, Panera - I'm pretty sure we all gained weight from how much we ate on this trip - and that's not even counting Jeran's delicious cooking. The kids took a couple of trips to the park, and took a couple of baths together (which was probably Liam's favorite thing), us girls did some baby shopping and project planning, Todd got to read a couple of books he'd been wanting too, and best of all Liam slept (in a room with the kids, what!)... I'd say it was a good visit for everyone.

We were so busy while we were here (and really only for 3 days), I didn't take very many pictures though... Having a snack.

What do you think they're watching - Cars, of course.

Liam looooooved Pumpkin. He was far nicer to him than to Ripley.

Look how good this cat is! I would get a cat if I knew it would be like Pumpkin.

He'd had his fill of being held by a 2-year-old, but he was very polite about it. The one picture we didn't get was of Liam sticking his face out the cat door to watch Pumpkin go.

SoCal Adventures - Pt. 1

2011-06-15T11:16:00.004-06:00

Our first stop had nothing to do with southern California, but it was on the way there...
We were nervous about Liam driving 14 straight hours (and it before the first time he's been in the car for more than 5 hours at a time), and Todd was really wanting to stop in Vegas for a kind-of early birthday celebration. As it was, due to 3 construction stops and lots of potty-breaks it still took us 12 hours to get there - but am-I-ever counting my blessings, one of them being a child who is a good car traveler. Liam did amazing! We left at 4am, Liam did not go back to sleep when we moved him to the car but he did eventually take 2 short naps, watched one movie, and looked at lots of books. He was so happy, even when we would get out for gas or whatever, and then have to put him back in his seat a short time later - he didn't fuss. I was nervous for me too - I get carsick just driving around Nampa sometimes, so I rode in the passenger seat everywhere we went, and I felt pretty good that whole day.
We got to the MGM Grand at about 3 that afternoon (time change) - Liam was very excited to see get there - he looked out the window, with an arm-sweeping motion said "Las Begas, lots of buildings and cars," yup.
We were hungry so Todd and Steve and Liam ran off to the Bellagio buffet, and Linda and I wandered until we found something that sounded good. Apparently Liam had had enough of sitting at that point (and was probably tired too), and kind of fitted about being at a restaurant. When we met up with them he was still pretty fussy, and that pretty much only got worse throughout the day. It was also decently warm - between my belly and my feet I was very uncomfortable. Linda, Steve and I took Liam back to the hotel were in bed by 9 - we were probably the only ones in Vegas asleep that early. The next morning we wandered a little bit, got some breakfast, hit up an outlet mall and were off again.
We didn't take many pictures since Liam was not the happiest kid... but here's what I've got:

The view from our window.

Lions in the lobby.

At this point, he was done.

The one thing he was pumped about... "candies." He picked orange and black.

A long time ago...

2011-06-13T16:22:00.002-06:00

Goodness, it's been so long since I last posted - 2+ weeks! Although I'd probably say it feels longer because so much has happened. The last week of school went by quickly and painlessly - sometimes the kids are so wound up it's a nightmare. We had a field trip for one whole day, then did lots of cleaning, partying, and a kickball tournament (which was one by team McConnel's Monsters). It was a good week, but I was not sorry to wave those big yellow busses goodbye for the summer. It makes me feel ill to even think of a new school year starting up; good thing I've got two whole months to not think about it. That weekend after school ended we had gorgeous, warm weather and I gave myself my first sunburn of the year which I am currently peeling off. Other than some pool relaxing I was busy with cleaning and packing - thought about blogging, but just no time. Monday I had to go in to school and work for just a few hours to finish up some time I owed, then we packed and relaxed before our early wake-up call the next morning and the long drive ahead.

...and that's all I'll say until we get back home and I can upload pictures to go along with stories. We will be up dark and early again tomorrow to head home, prayers for safe travel! It's been a fun trip and I have lots of cute stories and pictures to share, hope I can remember everything, it's going to be a 4-parter at least!

A weekend...

2011-05-30T20:17:00.007-06:00

Hope you has as nice a long weekend as we did... I definitely don't want it to end, even though I know I've only got 4 days and then I'M DONE!
I pulled out my camera twice, once when we were making one of daddy's favorites - snickerdoodles.

He liked rolling the balls in the cinnamon-sugar.

He's going to be a good cookie-baker when he grows up.

Can you tell which cookie is daddy's?

After a wardrobe change we had to sample... mmm.
Same shirt, 'cause it's the next morning - my camera must've still been out on the counter because I don't remember if I had any other reason to take pictures. But they turned pretty cute, he's such a happy guy in the morning.
I am in LOVE with this picture, he is just SO cute!
"I need help, mommy"... he really doesn't though, he just likes it.

"Pwease?" He's been saying such funny things lately; I'm so glad he's as verbal as he is, I can literally hear him learning and growing. There is something new he says everyday that surprises me. He's taken to calling his milk, "milker" - I don't know why, but it's funny. He wakes up in the morning, and tells us "I'm poopy, yeh real poopy." or "I'm poopy, check it out there's poop in there." He's never been one to "read" books to us, although we've asked, but the other day I heard him telling the dumptruck story to himself word for word. He's just so smart! He's said a ton of stuff lately that has just cracked me up, or surprised me that he knew that, and I tried to make mental notes but this was the best I could do. I'm going to try harder - it kills me that I forget so quickly!

Not much...

2011-05-23T20:24:00.002-06:00

I don't know that I could tell you just what I've been doing, but I feel as though I've been very busy, and haven't taken a single picture this week... of my family, that is, did take some of my class for their memory books... I found a couple of forgotten pictures on my SD card though.
This is how Liam eats cereal, he drinks the milk out of the bowl first and then eats the soggy cereal.
Here is Liam watching Cars... I sat and took about 5 pictures of him while he was watching - absolutely no change.

See.

Funny boy. He was sick over the weekend, puke and diarrhea while spending the night at Grandma's (boy did she earn her money - ha!). So he was pretty wiped out, but I think he's recovered now.

Celebrated my birthday on Friday with Todd, Jen, Grant, and Patrick (who's in town for a little while). We went out for wings and walked next door to the theatre to see the new Pirates. It was fun and relaxing. I think I know I'm grown up when I want my birthdays to be not very birthday-ish. Nobody making me blow out candles, or singing me a song, or making a fuss - just people I like being together and having a fun evening - I enjoyed it. However, presents are always welcome :)

TWO WEEKS LEFT OF SCHOOL - 0r 8 days, either way it sounds good.

I think we finally have summer plans nailed down, and the first road trip is coming right after my last day of work, so we've been frantically been nailing down hotels and such.

The baby is 21 weeks and supposedly weighs almost a pound and is the length of a carrot - and that's all I've got for you. She's a very active baby, moves and kicks a lot, that'll get interesting as she gets bigger.

That's all I've got for you... can't promise I'll take more pictures anytime soon since the weather is bleah and we'll be busy this week still... but I'll try and think of it!

Mish-mash...

2011-05-15T19:24:00.009-06:00

20 week belly - it's popped out since the last picture, huh?! It feels enormous, let me tell you...
What's left of my toes...
Dad got the u/s pics scanned in - yay!... So here's the baby-girl profile...
Two little feet, together...
Sucking her thumb...
Change in topic - last week we had a gorgeous - GORGEOUS - week, weather in the 80's, sunny, sooo nice that we got out the pool :)
Liam loved it more than last year even, drank a ton of pool water (and threw it up later). He played so hard he scratched up his belly, knees, and feet pretty badly - we didn't have a rash guard or pool shoes at that point.
Another topic-change, and giving my first-born a little more face time - I found some pictures from Easter on my SLR that I hadn't uploaded. Sunday morning "muffles"...
Opening his (overflowing) Easter basket...

Maybe the Easter Bunny went a little overboard :)

Back to gross weather this week - it was barely 50 deg. for most of the day and rained a ton. The rest of the week doesn't look much better, but I know summer will be here soon.

It's a GIRL!

2011-05-14T08:26:00.003-06:00

We all thought it would be a boy - really, even Liam! I even kept having dreams that it was a boy. And, as Todd and I watched through the first half hour of the ultrasound we became even more convinced... something that looked like boy-parts kept showing up on the screen. So needless to say we were VERY surprised when the tech announced "a girl!" - even though that's what we were both hoping for. Of course now, everything that I thought I'd think, or feel, or expect when I found out I'd be having a girl - is not at all true. For instance, I thought I'd be out shopping for a girl bright and early the next morning... but I don't think I'm ready for that quite yet. We feel like we're going into the unknown a little bit - we know what to do with a boy, but what to do with a girl?! Oh, I know we'll figure it out like we did the first time, it's just going to take a few days to wrap our heads around this new development! (not to mention getting accustomed to using female pronouns). But, a mom, dad, son, daughter, and dog sounds like the perfect family though - don't you think? :) (Aunt Lynda agrees, except she would say 'cat')
But since I skipped baby update for week 19 (blogger was down a bit this week), and week 20 is on Monday I'll go ahead and fill you in for that... week 20 means we're HALF WAY! Crazy, huh? Babycenter.com said 10 1/2 oz, but the u/s tech said 12 oz yesterday (the size of a tall latte - ha!) and the length of a banana. But when she said things like "feet are a half inch long," that just shocked me, those are some pretty small feet to be kicking me so hard. At this point the baby... I mean she is pretty much all put together, just working on developing internally and getting bigger now, which means I can expect to gain a pound a week - but I reeeeally hope not, 20 more pounds seems like an awful lot, and I already feel like I'm going to bust sometimes.
Everything looked good, except the placenta was really low - I had placenta previa with Liam though, and it moved out of the way before it became a problem. We do have some pictures (not the cool 3D kind though), but I'll have to see if Dad can get my scanner to work, otherwise I don't guess you'll get to see.

Looking for fun...

2011-05-07T09:18:00.003-06:00

We had some really lovely and warm days this week - finally! It's supposed to rain this weekend and cool down, but all of next week is in the sunny and 70's - it's about time! Unfortunately Todd is still really sick. I don't remember if I've posted about this... I don't think so... well, just ignore if I have. Over a month ago Todd got a really sore throat which continued to get worse for the next few weeks. So after finally giving in to a Dr's appointment, a nose scope, and a barium swallow, and only one fainting spell, it was discovered he had a very bad sinus infection and a hole in his esophagus. (I don't really know how one or the other happened, or how they're related, so don't ask.) Anyway the doc finally put him one a strong antibiotic, and then a little later a nasal spray. He seemed to finally be feeling better, until this week when hives broke out over his whole body, fever, aches, and nausea. The doctor is being an idiot in my opinion - he doesn't think it's the meds and didn't offer Todd any help with the hives... and we shouldn't be concerned about any of this?? Todd stopped taking the spray and started taking Benadryl of course, but that's not necessarily helping... He is so sick of being sick - and I am too! Between Liam and Todd and the weather, I feel like we've been cooped up inside forever.

So back to the pictures, I've been extra tired after school lately (the closer we get to the end of the year, the more out of control the kids get). If Todd were well we'd probably go to the park or for a walk or something, but I just haven't felt like I have the energy to do that by myself - so we are finding things to do closer to home. We got out his bubbles and chalk and sat in the sun.

He did enjoy the chalk, but felt that he needed to break all the pieces at least in half before he could use them...

Here's the "say cheese" smile... *sigh*

We discovered that there were bubbles in the bottom, but candies in the top - so I got some real smiles out of that...

"Pwease mom, candies?"

So I thought I'd try bribing some more smiles out of him with the rest of the candy, but it didn't work the way I was hoping. He looks like a piranha when he smiles like this, you can see every tooth in his head. Got word that the pool is up to 84 degrees now, so hoping that with the nice weather next week, and hopefully some improvement from Todd we can go enjoy it soon!

Phone-photos...

2011-05-02T21:08:00.007-06:00

Thank goodness ISATs are over (my class did pretty well, 4th overall did great) - boy did those make for a busy, long, stressful week - plus I started planning for the last 5 weeks of school (5 - woo!). I was just exhausted everyday after work and Liam's still been a handful lately, a cute handful, but still. He's decided to test every rule that we've ever had in place, and to test my commitment to follow-through of promised consequences - that's not fun... at least 7 time-outs before church yesterday morning. There are days when I can't wait for summer, and then days when I have no idea how I'm going to survive it :) The kid really isn't a fan of playing alone, good thing he's getting a brother or sister, just not soon enough. When Liam's not being naughty he's being super cute and I know I've told other people funny stories lately, but at the moment my brain is dead from having stared at the computer screen for far too long. Nothing serious, I've just been doing my research to try to find the perfect double stroller and baby diaper backpack - because it should go without saying Todd's not to touch the cute birdie diaper bag I won, with a 10-foot pole.
Baby update: 18 weeks today (almost halfway!!), baby is 5.5 inches, the size of a bell pepper. I've been feeling the baby move a lot the last few days, a couple of times he/she kicked so hard I jumped! The next few months will be interesting if that keeps up! In bummer-land, the varicose veins in my right leg that showed up about the 3rd trimester last time, are back in full force already, and expanding their territory. They suck. If you've never had them, count yourself very lucky.
Since I didn't take any pics with my cameras this week I had the brilliant idea to upload some cute ones from my phone - so the Grandma's might find them a little familiar :) Some are from the last week even, when we had a couple of sunny days.

What do you think he's eating? A happy meal of course.

A couple of pictures from that sunny and warm day, of course it snowed a few days later...

I don't remember when I took these two, but they're sweet.
This was taken about a month ago, believe me the bump is much bigger now... I'll try to get a picture before too long.

Easter Videos!

2011-04-25T19:18:00.004-06:00

Well I had another video from our Easter egg hunt, but after 3 days of trying, I officially give up on blogger to upload it for me... probably because one minute and one second long. These are cute too..

More Easter & Spring...

2011-04-25T18:07:00.006-06:00

We had a couple of really nice days this last week (snow is in the forecast for tonight, but that's beside the point)... Todd went out and mowed our grass for the first time, so Liam and I went out too to pick some daffodils for our vase.

Liam was not quite as helpful with the mowing as he kept standing in front of it or trying to poke it with a stick. It was good that Todd was almost done when we went out.

Kathy had given Liam a little Easter basket so we opened those eggs and played with the treats... I have a couple of cute videos of this I'm going to try and post later.

And here is our Easter Sunday pic - it's the worst picture of Todd and I, but the best one of Liam (who is still scowling in his best picture). Liam was cranky and tired, Todd was sick, and I was uncomfortable. Oh well, at least we have one for posterity. Next Easter there will be 2 kids in the picture :) And since it's Monday, that means the baby is 17 weeks - 5 inches, the size of a turnip (which doesn't help me visualize the size, who ever uses turnips anyways?). 3 more weeks until we should get to find out the sex. Also I'm pretty sure I felt the baby move now; hard to say since there's always twinges and nudges happening in that general area - but I think this one was the real deal!

Happy (day before) Easter!

2011-04-24T09:24:00.006-06:00

Happy Easter morning! While I'm type this, Liam is happily chasing around Ripley and she's chasing him back, he's still in his pajamas with his hair a crazy mess, we made waffles together this morning and half of his second one is still on his plate - pretty good compared to last week! This weekend it's Todd who's sick in bed, well he just appeared but he says it's to eat so he can take medicine :( I guess it's a good thing all the festivities took place yesterday. I guess it's our new tradition to have our big Easter dinner and egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter, so today we basically have no plans except to give Liam his basket and then head to church. Here are a few pictures of the fun yesterday...

McConnel cousins (except Liam is the only McConnel in name :)

Todd is explaining the rules, while Liam is taking advantage of Lincoln being distracted :)

And they're off!

He doesn't understand that he needs to keep looking and not stop to open them as he finds them

He just cares about the CANDY! (Ugh, too much candy) Off on his own.

Grandma came to join him, and to let him eat his candy...

Egg race!

He didn't win, but had fun doing it with all the big kids.

It was a beautiful day, even warm in sun, just in time! We had a delicious meal and lots of fun afterward with everybody hanging around outside - what a great way to celebrate this holiday!

Cupcakes & Birthdays...

2011-04-23T11:07:00.004-06:00

Auntie Jen had a birthday on Thursday - so we celebrated with presents, party hats, and cupcakes!

... well some of us celebrated with party hats. Liam, who is still not feeling great, is being quite pill and refused to wear a hat, or smile for a picture, or sing Happy Birthday. Oh well, we tried.
Filled Lemon Cupcake tower!
White cake, lemon curd filling, tart lemon frosting, princess wrappers, lemonheads on top. YUM! (Thanks Aunt Izzy for the recipe!)

Liam changed his tune after he saw the cupcakes, at least he would say "Happy Birthday", and we definitely got some smiles out of him then...

Yep, he liked it too. Then we got quite a sugar-rush out of him and he was more pleasant for the rest of the evening.
Sorry I don't have more pictures, I really just wanted to sit down and eat my own cupcake.

Weekend sickies...

2011-04-18T11:03:00.003-06:00

When Linda went to pick up Liam on Friday she could tell right away he was coming down with something. His eyes just get a look in them, when he's sick - plus the runny nose and the fact that he would hardly eat anything. When he she brought him home, this is what he wanted to do...

Here's what he wanted to do on Saturday...

And here was Sunday...

He's never this lethargic, and loves to eat - especially breakfast, but notice how uninterested he was in even a banana - his favorite fruit! Poor guy sneezed and snotted his way through the whole weekend, he had fevers on and off, his eyes were bloodshot and goopy, developed a cough, and just wanted "banks" (blankets) and "pacis" and to lay down. He slept an unheard of amount yesterday, I'm sure it was just what he needed. I took off a half day this morning so he could see the doctor, who said it was nothing but a cold (worst version of a cold I've ever seen) and the start of an ear infection. So as much as I'd like to finish out the day with him at home, he can just as easily lay on Kathy's couch, and I can get some work done. Thankfully I didn't need a sub today since it's a teacher work day anyways. Hoping he's all better by Auntie Jen's birthday on Thursday.

Baby update: 16 weeks and the size of an avocado (4.5 inches), should be able to feel movement any day now!

Helper...

2011-04-11T18:10:00.002-06:00

Liam chooses when we wants to be helpful and when he wants to be the opposite... but putting away dishes is one of his favorite chores to help with. Most of the time he hands me the dishes out of the racks, which will be quite nice as I feel like bending over less and less. But if he can reach where they go, he'll put away some on his own. Honestly, he probably knows where certain things go better than Todd does :) Although occasionally his help...

...isn't so helpful.

In news that doesn't revolve around Liam...

Todd is practically black-and-blue from his last soccer game, lots of moans and groans out of that man, not that I wouldn't be doing the same thing if I were him. He's also feeling happier in his job lately. Since he got a new supervisor he feels a lot more support from management, instead of feeling like they're just out to get him all the time.

I continue to feel stressed about ISATs, just ready for it to be over with. 8 weeks of school left - which is still quite a bit of time, but we've already had lots of talk about the next school year. Feels crazy to be preparing for August already, but also very exciting to think that summer is getting so close!

The baby is 15 weeks today and the size of an apple. I have officially outgrown even my fat jeans. And unfortunately although last time I loved the maternity pants with the foot of stretchy material at the top, that you pull all the way up over your belly, this time I hate them. I just feel claustrophobic having my stomach so tightly covered all the way up, and I can't imagine that it will get better as time goes on and the weather warms up. Of course those are pretty much the only type of pants I bought last time; although as soon as the weather does get warm I won't have anything to wear - this pregnancy is during the exact opposite time of year as the last one.

Jen's House...

2011-04-06T18:19:00.007-06:00

Jen is mostly settled in her new house now, just a few minutes walk from our house! Once you're inside there's a short hallway... Imagine you're walking through the front door... first opening you see on the left is this room - an office/dining/we'll-just-have-to-see room... Look to your right and you see the opening to the guest bathroom and 2 identical bedrooms on either side of it (which I took one picture of, but it really just looks like an empty corner of a room, and of course the other room has her roommate's stuff in it)... Once you move out of the little hallway on the left you see the super-nice kitchen. She's all moved in, set-up, and ready-to-go in here... If I give you a wider view you can see the counter and the dining area... and an auntie and nephew playing cars... And on the right is the huge living room + fireplace! She just needs a few items of furniture... (*upcoming birthday on April 21 - hint, hint*) A look into the backyard from the sliding door in the kitchen... Go through the passageway next to the kitchen and left is the laundry room through which you can head out to the garage...

Bear right, and you're in DUH-DA-DA-DUHHHH! the Master Bedroom - furnished and finished!

Cute, huh? And the bathroom is also complete!

Lucky girl, no?

14 weeks in one and 9 in the other...

2011-04-04T22:51:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, puts me (well, us) at 14 weeks along, which means the baby is the size of a lemon now, and that I have definitely crossed into my second trimester. And with that cross-over I think I'm finally (and thankfully) losing my pregnancy sickness - it's been almost a week since I've thrown up or strongly felt like it. It might also help that I have been eating Zotz as prescribed by my doctor for nausea... when I get a hint of a tummy ache I eat one, and it miraculously disappears! I actually have a legitimate reason to eat candy, how great is that?! Although I haven't been needing to eat bunches of them or anything. My doc says it's a combination of the citrus and fizz that has that effect. So there's a handy tip for any of you gals with child-bearing plans! Things I'm less-than-happy about are 1) that my skin has just erupted, way worse than I remember with Liam, just hoping every day that it will show signs of clearing up... and 2) that my stomach seems huge! I know, I know - it's what happens after the first kid, but this seems a bit extreme, I feel uncomfortable already. It also doesn't help that there are 2 gals at my school due in the month before me and not showing at all. At school we are preparing to take the ISATs (state tests) just a few days, and counting down what's left of our 9 weeks until summer vacation... Kids and teachers are getting stressed and antsy and so ready for some nice weather! (snow predicted for Thursday morning... for the love!) I just keep reminding myself that there will come a day when I WILL get to swim in the pool... it will happen, it will...

Spring Break Blast! pt. 2

2011-04-02T14:27:00.008-06:00

For exactly 2 days this spring break we had gorgeous weather. Sunny, clear, 70's warm - they were perfect days. Thursday, which was the second day Todd had off, we decided to take advantage of the weather and the discount admission and head for ZooBoise - of course everyone else had the same idea, and although we were there about 15 minutes after opening, there was a line a block long.

Umm, Mom, why are we just standing around out here?

It didn't take too long however, but we were happy to get inside... Liam was starting to get antsy. And although it looked like all of the Treasure Valley was there, it really wasn't crowded inside.

We saw lots of animals, almost all of them were out of hiding on this warmish morning - just missed the bears and the leopard I think.

Liam was a bit nervous to sit on this lizard, he wasn't convinced it was pretend.

We finally got to see the lions, the animals we missed last time we were here. I'm sure the lions were entertained by Liam's roaring at them.

He quite liked the meercats.

And was adamant on going down the slide, he just decided to do it a different way.

Then we met Katie and the boys about a mile down the road, at an itty-bitty restaurant called Big Jud's - featured on Man v. Food. It was delicious, our burgers were awesome, but the tater-tots were the best I've ever had, and probably will ever will have. Even Liam scarfed his grilled cheese. Of course we had to round out our Boise adventure with some dessert from Powell's Sweet Shoppe - we all picked out a candy and shared some gelato. It was way past Liam's naptime at this point, but he did so well, was just a really happy guy, well once he got some lunch in him. I was feeling so good that day I went home and did some work in the flower beds. It just felt soooo good to be outside and not be cold!

Friday was equally beautiful, but definitely not as well enjoyed as the day before. I had my OB appointment with my new doctor, which I really liked, but the appointment was for 10:30, and I did not see her until 11:20... the whole thing took 2 hours total, and should've taken 1. That was not my favorite. Then Liam went down for his nap, so I was stuck inside most of the day it felt like. Todd had work and then a soccer game, so when Liam woke up we went and ran errands, but I put him in his stroller so we just parked in one place and walked to all the stores we were visiting, trying to eek out a little more sunshine. We got some sandwiches and ate them outside together - I have never seen Liam be so good at the table.

Today it's freezing, and we saw snow earlier - it definitely feels like spring break is over :(

Spring Break Blast!

2011-03-31T19:34:00.003-06:00

We've been a family of leisure this spring break, haven't done much except just have a good time, even Todd took 2 days off. One of the days that Katie and the boys were staying with us, we all went to try a new play place called Jabbers. We'd heard lots of good things and it was all true! They have a huge... umm whatever these things are called... it had a really big slide which was Liam's favorite of the whole day, he must have climbed up and gone down 20+ times. His second favorite were, of course, the trains.

For a while Liam just carried a bunch of trains around with him, but finally realized it was safe to share... and he enjoyed making new friends too.

There was also this amazing, very realistic play house, I wish I was a kid so I could play in it... It was decked out with a kitchen nicer than much, plus lazy boys and little leather couches, there was even a fenced backyard with a tree house.

There was a whole grocery store section (Lucas' favorite), but Liam mainly used the buggies to cart his trains around in.

There was also a construction area with tools, a huge road/race way with the coolest old fashioned looking cars the kids could sit in and push with their feet, a mini fooseball table, a puppet show stage complete with movie theatre chairs, and an art room! Wow, was it cool - not to mention it has bistro tables and couches, a cafe, and free WiFi for the adults! I am planning on purchasing a summer pass to this place for when we need a place to run around out of the heat!

All the boys played nonstop for 2 hours and slept really well that night :)