New Outside Toys / Reflections

While I think Nate built this for his own enjoyment as much as Max's, the sand box is pretty much done and ready to be played in. Max does love it so its fun for him to have something to do in the back yard. Nate also had a good Craigslist find with the little slide. Max understood it right away except that he goes down head first (sometimes with his arms in front of him). At least its not very big that he doesn't really get hurt. Its just nice to have something that he is atually allowed to climb on!


Last Saturday evening we babysat for his friend so they got to play together and had a blast of course. One of Max's favorite parts is that we basically have to strip him down to come in the house in the evening now because he's so sandy and dirty and he loves being without pants and shoes/socks!






Otherwise we're still doing well. I'm starting to get sentimental about these being the last few weeks with just Max. Like Nate says, he truly is our best friend and I know everything is about to change a LOT in the coming months. I'm happy to be having kids so close in age so they can enjoy a close friendship but there are parts me that will really miss just having Max, and part of me that is a little sad knowing I'll never get that year with just baby girl. I know it will be a lot of adjustment for all of us (Max is a mama's boy and although he likes other babies, he doesn't necessarily like them on my lap...) but I know it will just make things that much more wonderful to have our family complete. I used to think I'd want more kids but besides financial/practical reasons I really just don't know that emotionally I could handle more than 2. I just don't know if my heart is big enough; not that mothers of multiple children don't love them all, I just mean for me I really feel like my time and emotions are better spent on fewer rather than more. In fact, the biggest thing I dread during labor is having to leave Max for 2 or more nights (which has never been done, only one night one time so far). The 3 days I spend at work each week are way more than enough time apart from him! (Although he is usually fine with his other family and friends when he has to be, I do want him to be well rounded!)

On the other hand, I am anxious to get things over with. I'm tired of being sore and easily exhausted and flat shoes! I'm looking forward to maternity leave being in the summer. I'm thrilled about all the pink that is about to come.
I do have some nerves about labor.... I would prefer to have some slow contractions instead of my water just breaking randomly and needing pitocin to induce contractions. I'd also rather not to have to push for 2 1/2 hours, and not have baby girl rearrange my bladder position on her way out~ but otherwise, with the wonderfulness of an epidural, I think I'm ready for this again....


So for now we just continue on, enjoying the blessings we have, with great anticipation of what is to come....

Max's New Room and Third Trimester

A few weekends ago we made the trip to Ikea to get Max his new crib. I'm not nearly ready for a toddler bed (plus Max really does love his crib!) but the one we got changes into a toddler bed and then an actual twin bed with a new mattress so he's set for a long time now! It sat in his "play" room for a few days, we waited to have him sleep in there until my work week was over Wednesday and after about 4 days he was finally good to go in there. At first he'd need me to lay in there, and we had a few naps on my lap in that room (luckily we have a recliner in there) but now I can lay him in the crib and leave the room and he's just fine. I did have to bring big George over though because the first morning he woke up in there he was asking for George. I guess he really did get used to having a room full of Curious George but he's quite fond of the new car room with all his toys too.

Nate also found him a cool train set at Ikea. I wish we lived closer to one, they have the best toys there!

We've had a few days of some really nice weather (relatively speaking) so Max has really enjoyed being outside. He takes lots of walks (both stroller and walking) and has his old play room back (the front porch) which also now has his sand/water table (minus the water yet, its not that warm!), some riding toys, trucks and of course his all time favorite, bubbles! The gated front porch is such an asset, though with him walking/running these days, we are starting to think the back yard may prove a little difficult and take some discipline.

Besides his teething (which we hate to always use that excuse but I've never seen anyone teeth like this poor child- his entire bottom gums have been swollen for weeks and still only the same old 6 teeth. I give him credit for being as content as he is some days after seeing how awful his poor mouth looks) but besides that he's been pretty good. He goes through hungry weeks where I swear he eats more than me (which is saying a lot these days!) and then other weeks where he hardly eats anything. He also continues to get more picky which wouldn't bother me so much if he actually had picky taste but he just refuses to eat things that we both know he likes sometimes. Luckily he still likes his milk, V8 Fusion and his vitamins so I guess he's getting enough nutrients. He has learned "please" very well. We not only use it for food but for when he wants help (not that he inherited my quick German stubborn temper or anything) but we try to divert a "flip out" into asking for help or working it out himself with some patience. He's getting better.... he's also been very content playing by himself lately too which we figured was a good thing to enforce now before baby comes! (From the previous post, we did stop standing/running on the furniture too, ha!)

This picture just cracked me up! We had some babies come that are in our small group so I made Nate get down a few of the baby things, like the bouncie seat. Of course Max thought it was the greatest thing ever. The weight limit is like 20-25lbs so he's technically ok in there since he's only about 22lbs but I do think he may be a little long for it.... apparently the monkey wanted to pose too...

Otherwise we're doing well. We entered the THIRD trimester this week. There is a bit of pink creeping into the nursery already. I've been blessed with TONS of hand me down clothes, this child has more stuff than I do and she's not born yet. She's becoming more and more active which is mostly good I think (except the bladder dancing). Except for my back getting sore very quickly from doing just about anything (especially being on my feet without sneakers) I'm still feeling good.