A Novel...

Wow – I guess I didn’t realize how long it had been since I’ve blogged. With all the colds and the pregnancy exhaustion – I’ve been living in a bone-weary-tired-haze for the last few weeks. Thankfully – it looks like we’re on the mend. I know I said that in my last blog – but unfortunately we weren’t so lucky. We were both feeling horrible again by the end of the day…and the day after that…and the day after that…and so on. But this time – I pray we are actually over the worst…and that we aren’t susceptible to the next virus that is lurking around post.

In Pregnancy news: I am a day away from being into my 31st week of pregnancy…only 9 more to go. In some ways this pregnancy has seemed to go pretty fast – in many other ways – it feel like I’ve been pregnant for an eternity. I have a feeling that this is going to be a pretty big baby. I know I’m going to surpass how big I was with Luke by the end of it all. I have a doctor’s appointment next week. I’m anxious to see how I’m measuring. I’m NOT so anxious to see how much weight I’ve gained since the last appointment. I guess I could get on our bathroom scales, but I can’t really see over the belly to see the numbers. Another question I have – what do my feet look like again? =)

The Braxton Hicks come and go. They usually come when I’ve been up and working hard. It really is a bizarre feeling. I didn’t really experience them in my last pregnancy. They don’t really feel like contractions – at least mine don’t. It feels like this really weird tingly tightening feeling in my whole stomach. It’s not painful – but can get pretty uncomfortable. If they get bad, I make myself sit down for awhile until they subside.

I have thankfully been able to take my Pre-Natal vitamins again. I know it’s late in the game, but hopefully it’ll help get some extra nutrition to the big guy. He’s growing so fast – I’m sure he needs anything I can give him at this point.

Today it’s been snowing off and on all day. We had our first snow a few days ago – and it looks like winter is here to stay. Right now it’s beautiful to look out the window and see the big puffy white snowflakes. I’ll hold Luke up to the window and he thinks it’s pretty funny to watch it lazily fall to the ground. So far it’s not really sticking – but I think it will in a few days.

Luke is growing up so fast. I am always amazed to see his development. He’s starting to say more and more words. One of his favorites is “uh-oh!” He wants to help me do everything. Just the other day, I had to run to the Commissary for a few items. I was hoping to only make one trip from the car to the house (usually an impossible feat when you have to take the bags, the diaper bag and the kid) but I only had like 3 bags. So I handed him a bag that just had paper towels in it to see if he would carry it to the apartment (and not run off in the opposite direction.) He was SO proud of himself to be helping by carrying a bag. He wasn’t the least bit distracted to run in the opposite direction of the apartment – he was focused on getting that bag into the house. I even tried to take the bag from him so he could get up the stairs, but he insisted on carrying it all the way to the door.

When Chris was home, Luke LOVED to take him a can of soda pop. I would call him (Luke) into the kitchen and give him a can of Coke Zero and say, “take this to daddy!” He would grab it and run to find daddy. Of course – opening the can after a toddler has run through the house with it is always risky, but it’s worth the risk when you see how happy he is to deliver the can.

He has also really taken to coloring lately. Sometimes he likes to throw the crayons around the room more then color a picture, but everyday he points to the crayon box and will scribble a picture. I’ll have to post a few.

He has a shoe fetish. He LOVES to wear his shoes. He’ll bring them to me constantly and want them on. Sometimes he can only find one, but that don’t detour him – he’ll still clomp around with one shoe on.

Just this evening – he somehow managed to get a hold of one of my oven mitts. He put it on and was running around the kitchen saying “ot! ot!” I realized that he sees me put them on and get things out of the stove – which is always accompanied by me saying, “Hot! Hot!” I’m not sure he knows what “hot” actually means – but he knows it has something to do with the oven mitt! =)

Luke and I have been trying to get out of the house as much as possible. It’s been a bit tough with all the colds. But we’ve managed to get to playgroup, church and an FRG event. We’ve been meeting lots of great people along the way. This week I have a Coffee, so it’ll be the first time in a long time that Luke will have a babysitter that actually comes to our house. Monica, a friend of mine, who has twin girls (who are incredibly adorable by the way) and I are going in together on a babysitter – so the three kids will be together – which should work out perfectly. Luke is familiar with the girls, so hopefully he won’t scream the whole time I’m gone.

Last week, I took Luke into Daycare for a few hours. I’m trying really hard to take him in for a few hours each week because he’s having a really really hard time with separation anxiety right now. The only way he’ll adjust is if he’s actually put in a situation where he has to get along with other people and other kids. The Daycare facility is great and the workers are fantastic – so I feel like it’s the perfect opportunity for him to learn. So – anyway, back to what I was saying – I talked with one of the workers after I picked him up last week, and she said he was slowly getting better about being there. This was music to my ears! I think we’re making progress! Two Sunday’s ago, he stayed in the nursery the whole time – which was super exciting. Last Sunday, however, I had to go down and sit with him for the last part of the service. He’ll get there – I think it’ll just take some time and persistence. He does great in playgroup – once he knows I’m staying. I do think going to playgroup is helping him a lot though. He’s interacting with other kids and people – not to mention, it’s a great change of scenery (and way more toys!)

Wow – this is the longest blog ever! =) I guess I’ll stop for now and get some pictures uploaded. Sorry for writing a novel!

I hope all is well with each and every one of you!




Luke has started trying to "blow" his own nose!

Here he is sticking foam stickers from a craft project on his face...





Just chillin' in the house...

He's trying to dress himself now. Here he is trying to put on his socks.




Luke thinks it's quite hilarious to put a bucket on his head. Silly boy!


Here we are at the playground a few weeks ago. I caught him mid-cough.




Funny face!

Luke LOVES to color and climb. Here he's combining his two passions and climbing and coloring an empty box...

I finally had to pull the extra crib mattress out to the living room. It's getting harder and harder for me to get down on the floor to play with Luke. One of these day's I'm gonna get stuck! =) Anyway, it's a bit more comfortable for me to sit on something soft. Luke loves having it out there too. It's nice to sit on - and he loves to run and jump or fall on it. It provides him with much entertainment. Anyway here he is just relaxing - coloring a picture.


Here are some of the pictures he's colored!

These pictures were actually taken 1 1/2 weeks ago. And - I've just gotten bigger and bigger since then. I actually really like this shirt - it doesn’t make me feel quite so big. It's nice and flowy - not to mention comfy.

I'll try to post a more recent pregnancy pic soon.

Well - I'll stop writing my novel for now. =) Until next time!