Fast Forward to Fall: My Current Faves

I am rapidly (and I MEAN IT) beginning to wish this pregnancy will end quickly... We are a mere 5 weeks from when Franklin made his arrival, and while I hope that I avoid the complications that led to his early debut (so far, so good - fingers crossed!) I am also remembering how terrible I am at being this pregnant. New this week: Terrible pain in my lower back and belly button. As in, whenever something brushes across my belly button it's a pain so sharp I feel like I am going to vomit. Not kidding. Not so easy to avoid when you are carrying a near 30 lb toddler (and just bending over to pick things up on the floor). I have also caught my poor child's cold he's been battling for nearly 3 weeks now, not as bad as him (I am not coughing every breath - yet) but apparently I am snoring like a trucker and my throat feels pretty bad.

In any event, I will spare you the ramblings of a pregnant woman in her third trimester (as long as those of you who insist on giving me pity looks and apologizing every time you see me - seriously, STOP IT. I HAVE 7 MORE WEEKS TO GO), and tell you how I'm currently surviving: By enjoying the fall fashion preview and thinking about how skinny I will be (in about 4 months - wishful thinking maybe?). My current faves:

**Images from JCrew, Ann Talor, and Zara.

Baby Update

Not much to report on our end, we made it through a busy weekend and today I had another appointment with my doc to check on Crosby's progress. Stats:

Weight Gain: lost a pound! This is clearly the first time this has ever happened to me. I'm hoping that I don't have much more weight gain in this pregnancy.

BP: 114/78. Up a little from 2 weeks ago, but still good.

Measuring: 32 weeks (2 weeks ahead of my actual date). Doc thinks baby is big. I think it's just the way I'm proportioned, but understand that it means that I'm carrying a lot out in front and my back is paying for it.

This week, Crosby is around the size of a head of cabbage (if he isn't measuring ahead), and weighs around 3 pounds.

If he is actually measuring 2 weeks ahead, we're closer to 4 pounds, and the size of a large jicama:

I'm guessing he's somewhere in between, at around 3 1/2 pounds. This weekend we transition Franklin into his new room/playroom. I'll post the before and afters... wish us luck!

Crosby Stats

For my husband, who has lamented that he no longer receives weekly updates comparing the size of our growing baby to a variety of fruits or vegetables:

Crosby now weighs approximately 2 1/2 pounds (although since I apparently "cook 'em early" he's probably closer to 3) and is 15 inches long, about the size of a butternut squash-

At my appointment this morning, we won't discuss weight gain. Let's just say it's better than last time but still not quite where I'd hoped. I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep the swelling under control for these last 8-10 weeks or so. My blood pressure, on the other hand, was the best it's been since I got pregnant -- 108/58, which is a great sign. I am measuring ahead (no surprise there) by about a week. I also have managed to avoid (somewhat) the preterm contractions that plagued the last pregnancy, although there's still time for those to kick in. I'm chalking the good BP numbers up to the awesome massage and pedicure I received on Saturday courtesy of Frank (for Mother's Day). I think another massage (at least) is definitely in order before Crosby makes his debut.

In other news, this is the final week that our house will be on the market before we take it off to prepare for our new arrival. I suppose things have a way of working out, given that there really aren't any houses that we love on the market right now that we'd be willing to move in to. So we'll re-start the whole "on the market" clock in January, when I return from maternity leave. So you buyers out there start saving your pennies now. Since the nursery will not be changing decor for Crosby, Franklin will be getting a new room (now our den). Which means decorating pictures!! I'm sure you're excited. We'll get to those towards the end of July.

Happy Monday!

Proud Mama

At our final well-baby visit before Franklin turns two in October, his stats checked in at:

Weight: 27.5 lbs (60.3%)
Height: 34 inches (74.2%)
Weight for length percentile: 61.1%

We added a few new words too this week, including book! He also has "night, night" down (with trademark hand wave) and was pretty funny with the doctor... As soon as our pediatrician walked in the room, Franklin looked at him and said "Bye bye!" with a little wave... and kept waving over and over again (like it's time for you to go)! Pretty funny.

And, in a rather proud parent moment, this morning, while reading "Good Night Moon" (yes, I said this morning) I noted the Cow Jumped Over the Moon, and Franklin said "Mooo!" So I asked him, Franklin, what does the cow say? And he replied, "Moo!" My kid is a genius. I'm looking for his Harvard/Yale/MIT early acceptance letter in the mail any day now.

TGIF!

Happy (belated) 4th of July!

We spent a quiet 4th of July at home playing in the kiddie pool with the water slide. It was awesome! Franklin seemed to enjoy himself:

Water Slide from Frank Long on Vimeo.

I have a feeling we will re-visit this set up for the rest of the summer. What a great way to wear a rather active little boy out! I also made a yummy Lemonade Pie, courtesy of a recipe printed in Southern Living. And then proceeded to eat at least half the pie, by myself. Whatever, I'm pregnant. And it's hot. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk
2 (3.4-oz.) packages lemon instant pudding mix
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (12-oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate, partially thawed
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1 (9-oz.) ready-made prepared graham cracker crust
Zest of One Lemon

Garnishes: whipped cream, lemon slices, crushed lemon candies

Preparation

1. Whisk together evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl 2 minutes or until thickened.
2. Beat cream cheeses at medium speed with an electric mixer, using whisk attachment, until fluffy. Add lemonade concentrate, vanilla, and lemon zest, beating until blended; add pudding mixture, and beat until blended.
3. Pour into crust; refrigerate 8 hours or until firm. Garnish, if desired.

A helpful hint from Southern Living advised that you can freeze a prepared pie crust for 5 minutes and remove it from the pie plate, and put it in your own pie plate for a "homemade" look. Well, the 9" pie crust I used was much smaller than my pie plate. So that didn't quite work. Next time, I'll just make my own crust, it's not that difficult -- graham crackers and melted butter. I also went ahead and spread the cool whip on top of the pie to finish it, which I think helped lighten the tartness of the lemon filling. Fair warning: If you are pregnant, hungry, and like tart things, this pie is irresistible.

Playing Catch Up....

This blog is in a sad state. Add busy work weeks and a little vacation to the fact that I failed to address the issue with posting pictures until about two seconds ago and things around here have been pretty boring.

Since I've corrected the photo issue, we should get back on track... Where are we now and where have we been?

We spent Memorial Day in Orange Beach with our families and it was glorious. Nice to get away for awhile, and lucky for us (both me AND Frank) there were no "big" birthdays to celebrate this year (31 is not that exciting). On a funny note (not so funny to me), one of Franklin's teachers at school was discussing the fact that Frank and I have birthdays that are close together and commented about how neat it was that we were the "same age" and celebrated our birthdays together each year. Since there is an 8 YEAR AGE DIFFERENCE between us, I was not amused by the fact that she had no trouble believing that I would be turning the big 4-0 next year. Not quite so fast, sister, I've got 9 more years before I reach that milestone. I think Frank found it rather hilarious though.

We returned from our mini-vacay to lots of billable hours at the office so that we could take off for a real, week-long vacation at the beach last week. (After we crowned a new Miss Alabama, congrats Courtney Porter!) We spent the majority of the week with good friends from Bozeman, Montana, who have 2 adorable children of their own (who managed to keep Franklin entertained, bless them) and who are expecting a third baby within a week or so of us. I took naps every day, ate quite a bit, and enjoyed floating my growing pregnant belly in some body of water daily. That's the life. I have missed the pool and/or ocean since we returned home, that's for sure. Franklin l-o-v-e-d the beach AND the pool, and seemed like he had the time of his life. We managed to avoid sunburns (for the most part, sorry Frank) and came home rested and refreshed.

This week marked the first comments on my growing belly (other than those from my husband, who apparently finds it amusing to tell me exactly how large and round it is quite often). Within a few days time, three people commented about how they didn't think I'd make it to the end of September, and two asked me if I was sure there was "just one in there." I'm convinced that since I have gained less weight this time, everything else is smaller - which makes the belly look bigger. As of 24 weeks, I was measuring 24 weeks, so I suppose I just carry babies differently from others.

In baby news: Crosby gets bigger by the day, just like his brother did. I passed my gestational diabetes test, but am apparently anemic (that explains why I have been so overwhelmingly exhausted all the time, and all of the cheeseburger cravings). I have a prescription for iron, and am taking it, and do feel better. Except for the fact that it wakes me up every single night with a horrible stomach ache (they warned about side effects) which I just suffer through for about an hour or so, and feel better when it's time to get up. Thinking I need to dry a different brand.

Last time: Lots of weight gain. Horrible rib cage pain. Fear of the unknown. Stress about finishing nursery. Terrible heartburn and tums by the case.

This time: Up 21 lbs at week 27. Not too bad. Very little pain, no fear of the unknown, heartburn is under control thanks to Prevacid. A little concerned with the fact that all baby items remain packed in storage in the basement and that other items are in storage across town. But confident that we can throw everything we need together fairly quickly if necessary. A little anxious that the time where everything started going downhill rapidly (PIH, preterm labor, etc.) is approaching quickly (week 31).

Franklin: Is one non-stop jabbering talking little monkey. He's now said everything from "Ketchup" to "Golf Ball" and in between. He's even said "Bebe" and "Lola." Repeated words include: Mama, Dada, mememe (with the sign for "more"), iss (with nodding head for "yes"), ssss (with the sign for "Please"), daw (doggie), side (outside), hot (as in temperature and for hot dog), up. You can ask him questions and he'll tell you by nodding yes or no what he wants. For example, "Franklin, would you like a gummy?" (His vitamins are gummy) and he immediately nods "Yes" and walks to the cabinet where the gummies are kept. At which point he begins to run in place yelling at the top of his lungs while intermittently signing and saying "SSS! SSS!" (please) until you hand him a gummy, then signing "Thank you" and running into the other room to watch Caillou on Sprout. Every. Single. Night. Clearly we have reached a milestone and I think our worries about a speech delay have ended.

I also received a phone call from another mom in his class a few weeks ago bragging on him... Apparently when she dropped off her child at school, she watched Franklin go to the bin where they keep all 8 children's sippy cups (they are all different colors), and then proceed to hand each child the appropriately colored cup that was theirs -- leaving the child who was absent that day's cup in the bin without hesitation. She was impressed. I was too, although I'm not surprised that he notices and remembers everything. Just because he can't speak doesn't mean he can't understand.

I'll unload the photos from our vacation and will take a few of the small number of baby-related purchases I've picked up in the past few weeks. More posts from here!

A lil' update on Crosby...

Picasa has informed me that I have used all of my "free" space, which prevents me from posting pictures here. I'll work on getting that fixed when I come up for air.

I am 20 weeks pregnant. As in, over halfway. Crosby weighs 13 oz., almost a pound, and is measuring 20w4d. Franklin always measured ahead too. All of his other measurements are in the 70th percentile, except for his femur length, which was around 50%. Suppose he's going to come out with Frank and Franklin's short stubby little legs too. My hopes of having a child who might look like me were dashed. He is head down, facing my spine. He apparently likes bananas, and was smacking his lips during the entire ultrasound yesterday (I had a banana for breakfast). He looks like Franklin, I think they have the same nose.

I am on track with weight gain this time, and my BP was 120/82. We started at 100/70, so I was a little concerned, but my doc says we'll see where I'm at during the next appointment in 4 weeks.

Our house is still on the market. We have had 4 showings in the past three days and have another today, and one Thursday. Last time, at 26 weeks pregnant, I had an entire nursery put together -- down to the artwork. My bag was packed, Franklin had new, washed and ironed clothing hanging in the closet for him, a monogrammed baby book, and diapers on the shelf. This time, every single item of baby clothing is packed in boxes stacked on top of one another in our basement, and the rest of the baby items are across town in storage. Where they will stay until mid-August, unless our house sells before then. Meaning, I will be approximately 35 weeks pregnant and just STARTING to unpack and prepare for the baby. Franklin arrived at 36+6. Stressed much, maybe? P.S. Franklin and I are both sick. Again. I could use a little easy right now....