Fess Up Friday

I have really been taking advantage of the pregnancy brain/mommy brain excuse this week.

I recently left groceries in the trunk of my car and forgot about them for three days.


I forgot about Cohen's 18 month well check appointment until about 10 minutes after he fell asleep for nap and we had to be there in half an hour.

I got Cohen new sippy cups that he refused to drink out of, or even look at. This morning I drank out of one to try and get him to use them.

My car is full of NICU Care Packages that I can't bring inside because I have nowhere to put them!

I am refusing to get out of my pajamas or go anywhere today.

I changed Cohen's diaper this morning and just realized that I never put another one on.

I am greatly missing this little boy. I worked all day yesterday, while Cohen stayed home with Daddy, and then had to pick up a few things for care packages. Today I am off running more errands and he is playing with his wonderful Auntie Karen (who took these pictures).

It sounds weird, but after seeing him for only a few minutes yesterday and this morning, I just miss him. There's no babbling, or pulling on my leg begging for my cereal. No mysterious noises that I have to run find out what he is into. He is my little love. Here's hoping this weekend we can have some nice, quiet time at home and maybe even decorate for Christmas!!

I Hope...

As I said in a previous post, I struggle with finding the balance with this pregnancy. I go back and forth between deciding to not plan anything or let myself "go there" and get excited and wanting to celebrate this pregnancy and all the little milestones that come with it. Hopefully, I can settle somewhere I am comfortable with. I decided to make a list of things that I am hoping for and looking forward to during this pregnancy.

I hope to see the elusive third trimester.

I want to wear maternity clothes instead of hospital gowns.

I hope to not be on bedrest, although of course I would do it in a heartbeat if needed.

I want to have a baby shower before I have a baby (although I know you don't usually have one with a second baby :)

I hope to have room to eat things past 23 weeks.

I hope to make it far enough to join the other pregnant moms and do things like take a birthing class or take a hospital tour, you know, just to say I did it.

I love my doctors, but I hope to not have weekly appointments with them.

I hope I don't have to hear the words "Let me go get the doctor" during an ultrasound, "your babies aren't viable", or "there's nothing more we can do"

I want to enjoy all the little kicks and movements.

I hope the only time I have to be hooked up to a monitor is to have the baby.

I hope to get weird cravings.

I hope to do some nesting.

I hope to have a baby that doesn't need life saving measures.

I hope to have a baby that I get to bring home.

Outside Adventure

The sun has been out the last few days so we have been bundling up and trying to get outside. Cohen loves to walk around with his little walker toy. He insists on walking straight to the other side of the street. Thankfully, we live on a pretty quiet road. Cohen doesn't seem to mind the cold and cries when I take him inside. Poor boy, he was meant for adventure and he just doesn't get it inside. I love this boy more and more every day.

In other news, I have been feeling a little better the last few days. I don't want to jinx it, but I think maybe I am on the upswing of the nausea front. It's pretty good timing as I don't think I can look at one more bottle of Sprite or eat any more candy. I still have my moments but nothing like the all day nausea I was having before.

We are still in full project mode, but I'm hoping maybe next week we will be able to do some decorating for Christmas. Although, yesterday Cohen and I were sitting at the table sharing a bowl of soup, listening to Christmas music and he started dancing and then looked at me with this huge smile. That little moment reminded me that it doesn't matter if our house isn't decorated or we don't have everything ready, I get to be with my boy and that's what matters. I'm not sure if we will have a tree or not because I can only imagine what the little Mister will do to it. Any tips or suggestions as to Christmas trees and toddlers are welcomed!

Care Package Update

We have a few very busy weeks ahead of us, as I'm sure you all do too. This week is the last week to help out with NICU Care Packages!! We are assembling the care packages this Thursday at our church. I also have a few birthdays coming up that I need to finish up gifts for. Cohen needs to go in for a few of his immunizations and next week I have an appointment with our OB (a different one, don't worry!). Oh and we will deliver the care packages to Seattle. Somewhere in there we should probably decorate for Christmas too.

We are also neck deep in diapers. We are currently working on diapers to send to New York, California, and Alaska! We will be attempting to send out nearly 700 diapers before Christmas so that the babies can have diapers for Christmas. Of course we would rather no one need them, but those little babies bums will be covered for Christmas. A HUGE thank you to my mom who has been sewing tirelessly to help me get these all done!! She has been sewing like a madwoman to make sure these babies will have diapers. In case you are wondering what this many diapers and care packages does to a house (although thankfully the majority of care package stuff is at my mom's house!)...

{Literally hundreds of diapers in various stages and donated mommy "scent" blankets for care packages}

{Nearly 400 diapers ready for their journey to California}

First, though, we will finish up care packages. This is the last week if you want to donate!!

As with last year, I am continually amazed at the generosity of others. We have nearly everything we need. There is still a need for small notebooks/journals, new baby blankets, Vitamin C drops, and $5 Starbucks gift cards!

We are also still in need of some preemie or newborn baby girl clothes, or baby basics like shampoo, diapers etc. to put in the gift bags for families in need. I am really excited about these as well, I think we will have enough things for about 5-6 bags.

We are very excited to be putting these care packages together soon and delivering them shortly after that.

There are a few items remaining on our Wish List, or if you are local you can let me know if you want to arrange a pick up/drop off. Some of you have also asked about donating monetarily or in gift cards so that we can get whatever is left on our list and this is wonderful as well!

This project has been so wonderful for me both last year and this year. I challenge you all to find some way to give back. You won't regret it, I promise. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the holiday season and spending and buying things we don't really need for people who probably don't need them. There are SO many great causes out there that I'm sure you could find something to fit your interests. Find something you are passionate about and maybe consider giving up one or two gifts to help out someone else.

NILMDTS
Project Sweet Peas (there are lots of chapters around the US)
Teeny Tears

Thanksgiving 2012

We were having some minor technical difficulties on the blog, but I think we've figured them out for now. 

We made it through Turkey day. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my parents and two of my brothers, the smallest Thanksgiving table we've had in a long time! I wasn't feeling that great in the morning so Danny took Cohen over to my parents to watch football with the boys and I took a nap. When I woke up I wandered over to their house to have some appetizers. Since my mom and I were the only girls, we left the men to watching football and we worked on diapers. We top stitched, pinned, and tied together over 85 sets of diapers.

{Cutest little turkey handprints}

{Sprite & Diapers, what else!?}

{Such sweet brothers}

Cohen was worn out and took a very long nap that I finally had to wake him up from. He was up just in time for dinner! He wasn't terribly interested in any of the food besides the stuffing and the pie, but he loved his leftovers the next day.

{Mmm, Mmm}

Friday, we skipped Black Friday shopping and went down to Seattle to see the Danny's parents. His brother, sister in law and nephew were also there and they got to meet Cohen for the first time so that was fun. Cohen had a good time playing with his cousin and getting into everything. We had another delicious dinner, this time Cohen devoured everything, and then got to visit for a little while. Cohen started to fall apart so we decided to head home. Cohen gets an award for best little traveler, he slept all the way there and back.

We had a busy but relaxing few days. I'm thankful that this years the holidays seem to be a little bit easier so far. We came home from Danny's parents and I just went straight to the couch. I informed Danny I was going to bed and he said I couldn't because Cohen wasn't even in bed yet. After Cohen went to bed and it was acceptable for me to go to, I did, at 7:30 pm. Eating turkey and growing a baby is hard work!

The Balance

Although this is my second pregnancy, in some ways, it feels like my first. My first pregnancy was unusual from the start, with it being a twin pregnancy and all. I'm sure there were things that happened during it that were normal, but I don't remember them. And the twins were my first pregnancy so I dont have anything to compare to other than that. In a way, I feel clueless. Like I don't know what is normal for a pregnancy. I was so used to being not normal that I'm not sure how to be a semi-normal pregnant person.

I'm trying to embrace this pregnancy as much as I can. I'm trying to let myself enjoy the little things. Although, sometimes I see things like a pregnancy journal that says "Your guide to a happy, healthy pregnancy" and I scoff. As if having the secrets to the perfect pregnancy were in a book. I've already learned that those kind of books and I don't get along. My pregnancy didn't come out of any sort of book, except maybe a textbook about all the kinds of things that could go wrong.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to my old naive self, before I knew so much about...life. But, if I traded our experiences in, I wouldn't have had my boys and I wouldn't trade them for anything. These experiences will go with me and they will affect the way I feel and think. I know it's going to be a balance between what is our reality and also allowing ourselves to hope again.