Eight Months Pregnant and 15 Months Old

Tomorrow I will be 33 weeks pregnant, but I completely skipped over posting anything about hitting the 8-month mark at 32 weeks pregnant, so here's my 32 week belly pic:

32 weeks last Wednesday!

And here is 32 weeks from the first go around:

32 weeks with Delano.

If my pants were pulled up a little higher in the front in the second pic, I think the bellies would look pretty identical.

I've been SO EXHAUSTED lately.  As in I start breathing hard over Every. Little. Thing.  Walking up the stairs?  Let me catch my breath.  Toting around Delano?  Sorry Punkin', Mama's gotta put you down after a minute.  Changing clothes?  Good grief I need to sit down and rest.  Blow drying my hair?  If I have to flip my head over one more time I think my legs are going to give out.  The crazy exhaustion has been brutal.  So yesterday I started to wonder what my moans and groans were the first time around, and if I was really as physically exhausted then as I am now.  So I pulled up my journal, and here are the ailments I took note of at 31 weeks pregnant:

* Hot feet - my feet would get hot and I'd have to prop them up in order to get them to cool down
* Heartburn - had horrible heartburn, but pretty much all at night
* Heat rash - had a super itchy heat rash on my belly and thighs for about a week
* "Almost" leg cramps - calves tensing up when I'd stretch like they were about to get a major cramp
* Sleeping - couldn't sleep on my left side due to the baby being on the left and my ribcage being sore
* Leaky boobs - the ability to squeeze colostrum out of my boobs happened at some point
* Numb skin - top of my stomach was numb with no feeling at all

This time around I haven't dealt with hot feet, a heat rash or numb skin at all.  I've definitely dealt with heartburn more than the first time (though it tends to be hit or miss), I get the "almost" leg cramps (I had forgotten that those were a thing), I still can't sleep on my left side (Baby #2 apparently likes to be pocketed in the left side as well) and I can squeeze colostrum out of one boob for sure (because everybody needs to know that).  In a previous journal entry at 29 weeks pregnant, I also mentioned how much I DESPISED bras of every kind, even if they were supposed to be the softest, lightest bra in the world.  They drove me crazy and I only wore them if I left the house.  That's another issue I haven't dealt with this time around.  I'm completely comfortable in all of my maternity bras, and even wear an underwire bra (GASP!) when I bartend.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that my skin isn't numb?  I'm not sure. 

This is what I wear to work.  Just kidding.  P.S. That's a La Perla bra.  AKA extremely expensive, you know, for all the coverage and comfort you get.

My 29 week or 31 week journal entries didn't mention a single thing about extreme physical exhaustion, so I guess I hadn't hit that point yet back then.  Lucky me.

Delano had his 15-month doctor appointment yesterday.  Our big boy is 31 inches tall and tops the scale at 24 pounds, 10 ounces.  He's considered average in weight but a little short in height.  But he IS part Wallace, and we're all a little short in height.  ;)  Time will tell if he gets the Wallace height or the Simington height!  He also got 3 shots yesterday, poor guy.  It's always heartbreaking when he gets shots, because that is the HARDEST he ever cries.  But it's always the same.....get the shot, scream and cry, then sniffle and cuddle, and then pass out asleep.  He's been a little clingy today, but he's also been biting his lip all day long.....I think another top tooth is about to push through the gum.  So we may have another tooth by morning!

I bought him a harness because he TAKES OFF RUNNING the second you let him go!

Excitement Over Car Seats and Twin Beds

In my last post, I could not remember to save my life what kind of car Lucas drives......he drives a Monte Carlo.  It looks like this one:

Just FYI.  :)

So I bought a new convertible car seat Saturday!  I went with the Graco MySize 70, as it was in the right price range and highly recommended after all the research I did.  But even better?  I got it even cheaper than what I thought I would! 

The seat currently retails for $179.99.  Babies R Us had the Odyssey (green & black color scheme) on sale for $149.99, which I was already thrilled about.  I knew that I might have tossed a 20% off store coupon into the recycle bin, and I was curious if I would also be able to use that if I found it.  So I called Babies R Us on Friday to find out how long the sale would last and if I'd also be able to use a coupon.  The manager who answered the phone told me that the sale on that seat would be going on for quite a while, but that the coupon did not apply to hot deal sale items.  BUT she said that if I opened an "R Us" credit card account, I'd save 15% on that day's purchase, AND on Saturdays between now and Christmas I'd save an extra 10% when using the card.  AND she said I could stack coupons on top of that if they applied.  I'm not real keen on opening store credit cards (high interest rates and credit baggage, for starters), but figured I could always pay the first bill in full to avoid any accrued interest and then call and close it out.

So Friday morning, after my phone call with the Babies R Us manager and while Delano was napping, I found myself unloading the recycle bin onto the driveway searching for Babies R Us fliers and coupons to see if I had anything I could use.  I found the 20% off coupon I originally inquired about (which did indeed say "20% off one FULL PRICE item" as well as the recent sale flier that had a coupon in it for baby gear (also applying only to full priced items).  I grabbed them anyway, and when Delano woke up, we headed to store.

When I arrived at the store, I automatically put the seat on sale (the Odyssey) into my cart.  But then I started to calculate my savings.  With the Odyssey, which was $149.99, I could get 15% off plus an extra 10% off, taking the seat down to about $115.  An awesome deal.  But with the Thunder Fashion (the blue/white/gray color style NOT on sale), which was $179.99, I could get 15% off plus an extra 10% off PLUS toss in the 20% coupon (which was actually deducted first), taking the seat down to $110.  Woohoo!!  So needless to say, I switched out the seats in my cart and went with the Thunder Fashion.

Thar she blows.  Still in my living room floor.

I also looked into a second car seat base for our Graco infant seat, since I traded in the second base we used to have for the car seat that Delano is currently using.  Babies R Us doesn't stock the base we need anymore, but I can order it from the Toys R Us/Babies R Us website and get it shipped to the store for free.  So that's on my to-do list.  And I wonder if I order it on a Saturday and use my card if I'll get 10% off? Hmm....I need to look into that!

This is the base I need.

So once I have that second base, Lucas and I will be set on car seats for about the next year!  Once the new baby outgrows the infant seat we'll need one more convertible seat for Lucas's car, but we'll worry about that when the time comes.

To change the subject, I now have three cereal box magazine holders in use!  I just need one more for my "house" magazines (HGTV and Better Homes & Garden).

Who's crafty?!  I know you're impressed.  I can tell.

And while I was bartending last weekend, Lucas got started on clearing the office out to start transforming it into the guest bedroom.  He started by pulling everything "baby" out of the office closet and putting it into the baby's closet, and vice versa.

Boxes and boxes of clothes!

Definitely a FULL closet of stuff for two kiddos, and it looks messy, but it's actually pretty organized.

Next up in the baby's room will be breaking down the full bed to make room for the twin bed going in.  It will give Delano (and the future kiddo) more floor room, plus the twin bed will become Delano's bed when he graduates from the crib.

The full bed in Delano's room now.  The twin bed will go against the wall between the windows.  The end tables will have to find a new home in the house.

The floor space as of now.  There's enough to play in, but about to be more!

The computer room/guest bedroom is slowly coming together!  It's not going to be anything fancy and pretty - at least not for now - but it will be functional for the in-laws, since Delano won't be able to give up his room for house guests once the new baby gets here.  Saturday Lucas moved and organized his desks and pretty soon we'll have the glass ordered for the China cabinet shelves, which means we'll be able to unpack the dishes taking up space in that room. 

I just realized that I really want to repaint the office.  I like the mango-ish color that's in there now, but with all the bulky dark furniture (the dark bed frame, 2 desks and a piano), I think the color just "accentuates" the darkness.  So it looks like I'll be picking out a lighter color for that room in the near future!  Hmmm......what color to go with??

My big 15-month-old.  :)

Beach Vacations and Convertible Car Seats

Quick question.....does anybody NOT like the new brown background?  I chose it because it seemed "fall festive", but I can't decide if the white lettering on the brown background is difficult to read or not.

Moving on.....I think I may have decided on the beach ceremony location AND afterparty location already!  I need to run it by Lucas (along with some other options), but if we go with "Option A" we won't have to drive anywhere.  We can walk from the house to the ceremony, the ceremony to the restaurant and the restaurant back to the house.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Ok so that's definitely not the potential location....I believe this is in another country altogether.  But how gorgeous is that??

I'm not on the hunt for fancy - I'm on the hunt for good food and fun times.  I like casual.  With a beach view.

Ok so maybe not THAT casual.  I'm not an early 20s drunk college student anymore.  They can HAVE that.

So I had a realization the other night.....I realized that Lucas and I don't have enough car seats!  We have an infant car seat for the new baby and a convertible car seat for Delano in the van of course, but we aren't prepared for Lucas to have both kiddos in his car yet.  Though it's not often that Delano rides in Daddy's car, it is an occasional occurrence.  And now there are about to be TWO kiddos in need of protective gear in both vehicles. 

We need to trade in the infant seat in Lucas's car because we shouldn't really be using it to begin with.  What we need to do is buy a second base to put in his car for the other (better) infant seat we have.  So that would take care of that.  But we also need to invest in a second convertible seat.  I've been shopping around online and reading opinions about car seats on the Car Seats for the Littles Facebook page.  There are some really good options out there.....which often translates to REALLY expensive.  There are also some cheaper options out there in the $40 range.  But the cheaper seats don't last as long growth-wise (weight or height), so I'd likely have to buy another (larger) seat eventually, which makes no sense.  Especially since I want my kids to remain rear-facing as long as possible.  What I want is a seat that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, has a rear-facing weight capacity up to 40 pounds and a forward-facing weight capacity of at least 65 pounds.  And I think I've narrowed it down to a few Graco options.  Now I just need to look at them in person.

Graco MySize vs the Graco MyRide

I was thinking I wanted the Graco MyRide 70 (on the right), but now I'm thinking I should go with the Graco MySize 70 (on the left).  It's quite a bit slimmer and the headrest (which slides up and down to accommodate infants to youngsters) obviously has a higher height limit.  The overall consensus among moms out there is that the majority of the time, kids outgrow the height limit of a car seat way before they make it to the weight limit, so I like the adjustable height of the MySize.  I'm going to go look at seats in person this afternoon to get a better idea.  We don't need a second seat right this second, but we will need it here within the next few months.

My future.  Except there's a lot more pink in this car.  :)

Another thought I brought up with Lucas the other night, when I realized he'd soon have two rear-facing car seats in his car, was HIS CAR.  Lucas loves his car (I forget what it is....an Impala?  My preggo brain is drawing a blank.), and I like it fine - I just don't ever drive it because I feel like I'm driving a boat out of water.  It's very Lucas.  The thing is, it's a 2-door and Lucas is quite tall so his driver's seat is pushed pretty much all the way back for leg room.  I'm not sure how he's going to be able to put a rear-facing car seat behind his driver's seat without sacrificing his leg room.  But suggesting that he maybe look at other car options went over about as well as a turd in the punch bowl.  So I'm guessing that the infant seat base will go behind his driver's seat for now, and that he'll just have to move his seat up for the ride home on those rare occasions that there's a baby behind him!  And in about a year when Baby #2 graduates to a convertible seat, we'll just have to play it by ear.

This isn't Lucas's car, but this is the exact car my brother has!  Too bad it didn't come with Dean Winchester.

One of these, please.

This one's for Shanleigh.  :)

The Beach Wedding Plans Are Coming Together!

We've picked out a beach wedding package and are THIS close to making the reservation!!!  YAY!!!  WE'RE GETTIN' MARRIED!!!

Ok so just kidding, since we're already married.  But last time we did it alone at the courthouse and I just wore one of my summer dresses from my closet.  This time we'll be on a beautiful beach at sunset with family and friends, and I'll be in a wedding gown.  So even though it's still going to be low key, I'm pretty darn excited.  And I wouldn't change the fact that we eloped for anything in the world.  That weekend full of surprises was the BEST EVER and completely unforgettable.  I wish I had more surprises like that to toss around, because that was super fun!!

So back to the wedding package.....I Googled "Destin beach weddings" and clicked on every company website link for beach weddings.  I then wrote down each company one by one along with their different package prices and what they included.  Then I narrowed it down to my two favorites and asked Lucas which he liked better (or if he even liked either of them), and then went with the winner! 

The tropical aisle was the big selling point!

I've been emailing back and forth with the wedding company asking questions about the package details and specific beach locations (and forwarded the info to my mom), so we're pretty close to making the final decision.  :)

After this part of the day is booked, it will be time to look into where we want to have the afterparty!  So my next search will be for a restaurant with awesome food and a great space for our small crowd.  The wedding company has links on their page for a bunch of options, so I'm hoping the perfect location is just a click away. 

Since I'll have a 20-month-old and a 4-month-old next May, this will not be me.  But I know a few brides who spent their wedding night a lot like this!

And really, that's all that's involved in this wedding planning!  Of course I'll need to find my dress, but that shopping won't even begin until after Baby #2 gets here.  And even then, nothing is going to fit quite right for a couple of months.  So I'll very likely be looking at dresses knowing the one I pick will have to be altered (with fingers crossed!) as the date approaches.  The husband and the kiddos will need to be suited up for the occasion as well, but other than that, I think that's it.

Oh wait....I need to invest in Save the Date magnets for the extended family to serve as a constant visual reminder that if they're thinking about coming, they need to plan their trip.  Add that to the list.

Since it's supposed to be pretty darn cold tomorrow (49 degrees and windy compared to the sunny 70 degree weather we've been having lately), I may spend the day in some warm PJs researching restaurants and Save the Dates during Delano's naps.

It's supposed to be even colder on Wednesday.  Boo.  Though I guess I can't really complain.  It IS November after all, and we definitely don't typically have 70 degree weather in mid-November around here.  I've just been so spoiled by it that I don't want it to end!!  So I guess I'll be getting around to some of things on my to-do list this week to avoid the 40 degree temps, like vacuuming the bedrooms and mopping the rest of the floors and sorting through the stuff on the dust collector computer desk downstairs (which has been waiting on me for MONTHS).

I hear the kiddo waking up from his nap, and I need to go restart the dryer (since a full load of cloth diapers usually takes 2 cycles to dry).  Luckily I don't have to bother with cooking dinner tonight, since we'll be having the last of the soup that Lucas made last week along with sandwiches.  That's always an added bonus to my evenings.  And tomorrow's dinner is going in the crockpot for the day, so that's an added bonus to the anticipated day of coldness.  :)

Another added bonus for tonight?  Having last night's episode waiting for me on DVR!

TV Shows, Tattoos and Blue Hair

Lucas and I DVR a lot of shows.  And I mean A LOT.  Some of them are consistent throughout the year, some of them are in their current series and in the "must watch" category, and some of them are "filler" shows for when there's nothing else to watch.  Some of the shows we watch together (when they're on) include:

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
The Soup
Bones
Supernatural
The Walking Dead
New Girl
Last Man Standing
The Crazy Ones
Two and a Half MenReal Husbands of Hollywood
Dracula
Franklin & Bash

Some of the ones I watch when Lucas isn't around (because he has ZERO interest in my guilty pleasures) include:

Revolution
Grey's Anatomy
Drop Dead Diva
Top Chef
Fashion Police
Giuliana & Bill
Tia & Tamara
Million Dollar Listing
Say Yes to the Dress
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
19 Kids and Counting
The Bachelor/Bachelorette
So You Think You Can Dance

And some of the "filler" shows we both like but tend to get pushed to the bottom of the watch list include:

South Park
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Futurama

During the fall season, we get behind on Jimmy Fallon, since so many of our shows start up in the fall.  So the episodes of Jimmy Fallon tend to stack up throughout the fall and early spring, and then we end up having Jimmy Fallon marathons every night in the late spring and summer when everything else is out of season.

So the whole point of that TV conversation was to get to this......last night Lucas and I watched an episode of Jimmy Fallon (from early October - we're currently about 20 shows behind), and at the start of our recording we always catch the last couple of minutes of Jay Leno, typically partway through the musical performance.  On "last night's" show, those last few minutes were of Demi Lovato.  WITH BLUE HAIR.  And I must say, I totally dug it.

I like it A LOT.  I think it's pretty badass.  Especially because she's a brunette like me and bright colors are so much harder to pull off on dark hair.  I personally have always wanted pink hair.  I don't mean like super-fuchsia punk rock pink hair...I mean like a blend-in of pink hair, almost like my hair was "supposed" to be pink.

I would go insane for this hair.  But this would never happen for me, as I am not a blonde.

Granted, I'm not 21 years old (or even close to my twenties anymore), I'm not a rock star and I don't have loads of money to shell out for a stylist to keep my locks looking luscious and colorful.  I'm in my mid-30s and a stay-at-home mom of soon-to-be two kids.  My personal spending income (for indulgences like pricey hair appointments) has dramatically decreased.

But I can still be funky and cool if I want to, can't I?

I've got quite a few tattoos, and one of my goals for the first part of next year is to finish the tattoo sleeve I started many years ago.  This is going to be a challenge, as tattoo appointments are not cheap, but I'm determined to make it happen.  HOPEFULLY by May.  Another goal is to get back into the running game and into the shape that I was in pre-Baby #1 (that's definitely no secret to anybody who reads my blog).  So I think if I get myself skinny again and have a gorgeous FINISHED tattoo sleeve, I should definitely top it off with some funky hair.  Don't you?  I just have to be careful that I don't end up looking like a pile of redneck white trash.

Ignoring the cheesy fact that these are cell phone selfies that I took after a tattoo appointment, here is a pic from early 2009 showing off the start of my sleeve.  I'm much farther along on it now, but still have a ways to go.

View of the back.  The sleeve (which is a tree with a "Mother Earth" type of symbolism on the top) and the unicorn will all tie in together once it's completed.

I just realized that "early 2009" was almost 4 years ago.  Holy cow.

We'll just have to see, I guess.  There ARE other things in life that are more of a priority than my tattoos and hair.  I just wish I could have it all!  I keep telling myself I should play the lottery.  Maybe now is a good time to start.  :)

31 Weeks, Maternity Jeans and Cheerios.

31 weeks pregnant today!

I even have different pants on (not my capris).  Shocking!!

And here's 31 weeks from last time:

It's really hard to tell if anything's all that different anymore.  The shape of my belly slightly different, but that may just be the baby's current position.  Speaking of......I went in for an ultrasound today and the baby was head down!!  Yay!!  So either the baby finally decided to turn on its own, or the nightly rounds of frozen peas and a heating pad worked to GET him/her to move.  HOWEVER, the baby was still not in the greatest position for the 4D photos (go figure).  He/She didn't have any limbs in his/her face like the last few times, but during the appointment his/her face was positioned towards my hip bone (which was blocking a good view) and the umbilical cord was floating around in front of the face as well.  This baby just DOES NOT want his/her picture taken!  During my next regular appointment in two weeks, the ultrasound tech is going to look again to see if we can see that sweet baby's face, but then that will probably be the last opportunity at the 4D pics since the baby's running out of room in there and everything will soon be all squished together in one big blurry lump.

That big thing overlapping the top of the baby's head is my hip bone, and the squiggly thing against the baby's right cheek is the umbilical cord.

On a change of subject, I don't like any of my maternity jeans.

The ones I bought during my first pregnancy were the low-waisted ones (no belly panel).  DESPISE THOSE.  Only wore them a couple of times.  Bought a few at some recent consignment sales.  They all fit size-wise, but I don't have enough of an ass to keep them up.  They stretch out and slide down and drive me absolutely insane.  So I bought a new pair at Old Navy a couple of weeks ago.  I got them in the same size as my Old Navy maternity capris, even though they fit a bit tight in the store.  I figured when they stretched they would fit perfectly and I wouldn't have to deal with saggy butt.  Problem is, they don't stretch!  So they look great from an outsiders point of view (nice and tight), but they're not all that comfortable since I could stand to go a size up.  But then (my luck) they'd probably sag.  Nothing like looking forward to two months of crappy jean-wearin'!

I finally finished off a large box of Cheerios and made my first magazine holder!  It's a little flimsy so it could use some reinforcement - I was thinking of using decorative duct tape to serve the purpose of both decoration AND reinforcement.  But I'm not worried about it right now.  It serves its purpose just fine.  Now I just need to eat more Cheerios because I need more magazine holders!

This past week, Delano started teething again, and this time we're going big or going home.  He popped an upper tooth out last Tuesday, his second upper tooth started popping out a couple of days later, and now we're working on two more top teeth.  So needless to say, he's been a bit crabby the past couple of days as his mouth has been (I assume) pretty sore.  We've been giving him Anbesol throughout the day and adding a dose of Tylenol at night to help while he sleeps.  I've also got a bottle of those teething tablets that I keep forgetting about, but I was warned by one parent about Belladonna (an ingredient in those tablets) so I wanted to Google it and see what that was all about.  I think the percentage of Belladonna in those tablets is REALLY low, though, like 0.000001%.  But I'll just have to do a little research.

He's a "big shot" now because he's big enough to get in and out of his desk chair by himself.

It's November!

Thursday night was Halloween, and we (me, Lucas, Amanda, Josh and our kiddos) dressed up as "Sharknado".  The adults wore sweatsuits spray-painted to resemble tornadoes with shark cut-outs glued all over them, while the kiddos were dressed up as sharks themselves.  And let me tell you - the babies dressed as sharks were UH DORBS.

We worried all day that the impending storms would cancel our Halloween plans (and we didn't really have a Plan B since we couldn't get rolling until later in the evening),  but besides a little sprinkling beforehand, the rain held off and we were able to hit up the block party on the North Shore as planned! 

Amanda and I played around with some tulle ideas on the adult costumes to attempt to make them look more tornado-like, but we both just ended up with burnt extremities from some hot glue gun mishaps and the conclusion that the tulle didn't do much for the costumes if we weren't going to wrap our whole bodies up in it.  So we nixed it at the last minute and it worked out alright.

We would have needed to get really serious about it, like this kid.

So now Halloween's over and we are officially into November!  Am I excited?  Yes I am.  I'm 30 weeks pregnant now, so I'm only 10ish weeks away from popping this baby out.  Lucas's birthday is Monday, and I like birthdays.  Thanksgiving is this month, and I really like Thanksgiving.  And I love that the Christmas season flares up in full force the day after Thanksgiving (I try to ignore all the Christmas stuff prior to Thanksgiving).  So I'm excited about November!

Me and Lucas around the time of his birthday 5 years ago.

30 weeks preggers!

30 weeks the first time around.  The top in this pic definitely stopped fitting a WHILE ago this time!

Now there are a few things I'm NOT so excited about.  I'm not excited about the fact that I already know that I have to really pull in the reigns on my budget this month because my personal money stash is low and needs to be carefully managed.  Vet bills and other expenses have wiped me out for awhile, especially since I haven't had any incoming money in several weeks.  So that's no fun.


I'm also not excited about the bartending shifts I'm working this month.  Granted, I enjoy my museum job and I DID just complain about money woes, so that part of being scheduled for four shifts this month is a plus (hooray paycheck!!).  What I'm not looking forward to is being 30+ weeks pregnant and on my feet for 8 hours while bending up-down-up-down to retrieve beer and wine out of bins.....as well as not getting home until midnight or later.  I just anticipate being very tired and very sore after each shift....so I guess that's really the part I'm not looking forward to (and not the actual shifts themselves)!  But after these November shifts I've got 2 more in December and then I'm done for a few months while on "maternity leave".  

I'm also not excited about our annual neighborhood dinner.  Not that I don't enjoy the dinner, because I do.  We've been going since we moved into the neighborhood in 2011.  It's that I've been asked to SING at the dinner this year, and I'm a nervous wreck!!  I haven't performed for anyone (with the exception of some alcohol-infused karaoke) in probably 12 years.  I met with the pianist the other day for our first practice, thinking it would calm my nerves, but it only made it worse.  I couldn't seem to find my groove.  I'm aware that it doesn't have to be perfect (my neighborhood is full of people above and beyond the age of 70 so the dinner always consists of a sea of people with stark white hair who can barely hear the person sitting beside them), but I don't want it to be a train wreck, either.  I should have just politely turned it down......I WANTED to politely turn it down......but I just couldn't do it.  The book club members (whom I love and adore) were just too excited to say no to.  What was funny was that I was told I could sing whatever I wanted, just no "twerking".  I mentioned that a good "twerk" might really liven up the annual dinner.  They said they really wanted to try to keep everybody alive through dinner.  :)

So none of this, I guess!  Plan B......