Sibling Rivalry

I realize most of you will roll your eyes, and possibly comment on what a fool I am for this story, but I don't care.

My fist baby is and always will be Baylen, our amazing 3 yr old maltiranian (pomeranian/maltise mix). He is such a cuddler and a part of our family. He has ran this house and received 100% of our attention since he came into our home at 6 weeks old. I had off today, so took the opportunity to spend some one on one time with him. We went on a long hike at the lake. He LOVES the lake. He'll go in as deep as he can without having to swim and just stand there. When he's cooled off enough he'll run as fast as he can to dry off. He loves going in and getting wet, but he hates being wet.

When we got home, he was exhausted! It's hot out today. I gave him a bath and we did our usual after bath time routine; I wrap him up in a towel (again, he hates being wet) and cuddle with him either on our bed or on the couch under a blanket to warm up. My mom will laugh at this because this is what she did with me after bath time when I was really little. I loved it! We usually lay there for 15 minutes or so before he gets bored. Today was different. His usual cuddle spot is in front of my stomach. Well, the space for Baylen to get comfortable is getting smaller and smaller. I really wish I had had our video camera ready for this because it was HILARIOUS! Baylen started by nudging his head in my belly, as if he was trying to get his brother out of the way so he could get closer to me. He did this several times before he gave up and just laid in front of my belly. This is when our little man yet to be named started kicking Baylen. No joke, probably 10-15 solid hard kicks right to Baylen's back. Baylen was startled at first, and looked at my belly like, "What the heck?!" And then they played. Baylen would nudge his head, and the baby would kick...over and over and over. Baylen was in full play mood, with his weird playful groans and growls. This went on for a good 20 minutes. I was crying from laughter!

It makes me so excited for them to meet! I know Baylen will be amazing with him!

11 weeks to GO!

Last Tuesday we had our very last ultrasound! Next time we see him, he'll be out here with us! CRAZY! Its a good thing, though, as ultrasounds are the most expensive part of our appointments and the doc said everything was great! Everything has moved the way it should and the path is clear for him to make his way out! He's measuring about 2.5 lbs and 15 inches long! Long and skinny like his dad! The doc said he's not big at all! He's measuring exactly where he should be, if anything possibly a little small, but nothing to be concerned about! So that lady at work can shut her face! The reassurance feels so good! Last Friday I had the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. So we should here back about that later this week. This pregnancy has been so great (knocking on wood as I type). I was telling Neil I am really going to miss it. That's when we actually did the math and realized we only have 11 more weeks til he's here! We're so excited all over again. Some friends of ours down here recently had a baby boy, about 4 or 5 weeks ago. We went to visit and got all giddy all over again! Their baby boy is ADORABLE and sooo little! We absolutely CANNOT WAIT for our little guy to get here!

This weekend was one of the best we've had yet this year! Friday night after work we headed to Durham for the home opener Bulls weekend! If anyone is thinking about visiting when the little guy gets here, try to do it a weekend the Durham Bulls are home. what a blast! We were thinking about getting season tickets this year or at least a package but with the baby coming, it didn't make much sense. But next year FOR SURE! A little one year old would LOVE this!

We had amazing seats, front row behind third base line, next to the visitor's bull pen.

Saw a couple home runs for the home team. The bull smokes and lights up his angry eyes. The Bulls won and played really well!

And they shoot fireworks after every Friday night game...possibly Saturday night games too, but I'm not positive. The fireworks always blow mind. They are amazing! Bigger than the Bangor's 4th of July works for sure!

Saturday, I'm sure y'all heard on the world news, we had some terrible weather. There were numerous tornadoes that hit our area and quite a few people died. One of the really bad ones was just 5-10 minutes south of us in Holly Springs and Sanford. We had home insulation all over our neighborhood and lots of other debris, but we didn't really get much of anything besides wind, a little hail, lots of rain, and thunder. I actually was taking a nap during the worst of it. North Raleigh was hit pretty hard as well with a big tornado. My cousin in Fort Bragg (near Fayetteville, NC) said it got pretty scary there too.

All of this hit at around 3p. But as soon as it was over, it was over. At around 330p the three of us went for a nice long walk and enjoyed the smells of a storm and the fabulous sunny 75 degree weather. We really didn't even know how bad it was until both of our moms called us to ask if we were OK.

Saturday night we hung out and watched some movies and just relaxed. Sunday we went hiking through some trails in Cary. Another gorgeous day in the weather books. I'm getting tired a lot more quickly. A mile and a half is getting a lot harder the bigger I get. Neil laughs at me when I ask him to slow down. He laughs at me when he watches me get up too. I gotta kind of rock back and forth and use the momentum to pull myself up. I'm glad he's getting entertainment out of all of this. After the walk we sat out on the patio for hours and read our books and talked about what its going to be like with a little one. Such a great day! A great weekend!

Done with training at work and back to my old schedule which means days off to myself again! Things are going back to normal before they go to chaotic.

Have a great week everyone!

Pictures during Week 27!

Well...yup! I'm an ox! :) Loving it, though...most of the time. The 85 degree weather yesterday was just a preview of what June and July will be like with the 35 lb beach ball attached to me. It was rough. I would suggest...get pregnant in the summer and have the baby in the winter. If you can plan it that way... When I came home, I couldn't get my clothes off fast enough! I almost felt claustrophobic with this belly. I wanted to take it off just for a little bit...

Not an option I'm realizing. My belly button hasn't popped out yet, but I definitely have the "dark line". So weird.

A good tan always helps...

So, I talked to my doctor about this depression thing involving my lack of color and low self esteem. She immediately said, "Do spray tan!" So I was happy to go in last week and get that fake orange glow! Oh my goodness, did that help! It wasn't anything that anyone at work or Neil even noticed, but I noticed tremendously! It helped so much! Its absolutely crazy what a little pampering can do for a girl! Now to just talk Neil into getting me a massage!

So, I am starting to realize how crazy people are. Its very obvious I'm pregnant, and people now feel the need to comment away as they feel necessary. Who are these people? I do know that before I was pregnant and I would see a pregnant women, if I knew her, I would always say, "You look great!", immediately followed by, "How do you feel?". I feel that's appropriate. If I didn't know her, I wouldn't say a thing. What business is it of mine? I will tell you a couple stories that I've run into the past couple weeks. I was walking down the isle of the grocery store when a perfect stranger asked me how far long I was, and then commented on the food that's in my cart. I had meat substitute because, news to all, I am a vegetarian! She thought that was insane! She insisted I wasn't giving my baby enough protein. I tried to leave it alone (all who know me...this was very hard), walked away and continued my grocery shopping. When we got to the check out, low and behold, there she was again... making her voice heard AGAIN by asking me if I eat dairy. I said, "I'm from Wisconsin, I couldn't survive without it." Trying to make light of what could have been a blow up on my part. She followed that by, "well, that's good, I still wish you would eat meat, even if its just for your pregnancy." Thinking to myself, Alright lady, that's it! Lets take this outside! I calmly said, "I appreciate your concern... (paused and waited for her to say her name, which was Beth) Beth, but I take my pregnancy questions and concerns to doctors only, you know what I mean?" She shut up very quickly. I didn't want to have to be that pregnant bitch, but she forced me! The lady behind the check out laughed out loud and said, "That's awesome! You know how many times I wanted to pound on the people that would comment like that to me? Good work!" Which makes me realize that I'm not the only one, and what's worse, is that woman isn't the only one! Other people do this to other pregnant women!

It happened at work as well just this last week. A women I barely know came up to me to comment on my size. I'll quote her because I have broken this statement down so many times in my head; "I don't remember what you looked like before, but for only six months along, you look big!" First of all, you don't remember what I looked like before? Meaning you're not sure if I was fat or not?! Second of all, ONLY six months along? I only have 3 full months to go! What made me the most uncomfortable about the whole situation is that I found myself going into detail how my doctors appointments are going. Letting her know that the baby is measuring right on schedule, and my weight is right on target. Why am I discussing this with a coworker I NEVER talk to?! I posted this on facebook of course and got a lot of responses saying that they've been through this too. Again, this happens all the time! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

My point to all of this: Tell your friends! Tell them to shut up when they see a pregnant woman! Just let her be, or tell her she looks great! Just because you've had a child, makes you no expert! The only thing a pregnant woman can do to mother this child, is take care of herself. If you question that she's not doing that, you're questioning that she's not a good mother, she's not taking good enough care of her child! I really hope this stops at least when the baby is born. Because again, I couldn't imagine going up to a mom with a couple of kids and telling her that she's doing something wrong! So please spread the word, for all pregnant woman alike!

And I shouldn't say this about everyone. A lot, or more like most people have been so great and sweet to me. Picking things up for me when I drop them, and saying, "You look great". That goes a long ways for sure.

But I did have my doctor's appointment on Thursday. Everything is looking great says the doctor. Blood pressure, weight, and height of baby. 9 inches! I have a 9 inch baby inside of me! He's sooo big! We have another ultrasound on the 12th and I cannot wait! Love getting to see him! He's definitely getting stronger with the rolls, punches, and kicks he's giving me. Neil and I no longer try to feel him, but rather see him! You can see my stomach move as he does. So crazy! Its an immediate reaction from myself whenever I feel him to think or say, "Oh my goodness I love you." I cannot wait to meet him! I can say, I will miss being pregnant, though. Its just him and I, every day. I love that! I'm a selfish only child, can you tell?

I'll get some picks up later this weekend to see that belly!

God Bless!