Happy Birthday Everett!

My tiny little baby is now a crazy, rambunctious, happy little two-year-old boy!

We have gone from this:

To this:

To this

all in what I swear must have only been a few minutes....


We had his birthday party on Saturday and he loved every second of it (except the three minutes that it took for Brian to hoist him upstairs for a diaper change).
 
Here's the Thomas cake that I should have done more work on the night before but oh well....:

And Everett pointing it out to me (with arms full of his favorite things):

Opening presents (tons of choo-choo things!):

New hat

And blowing out the candle

Happy birthday, Everett!  You are my favorite 2-year-old in the entire world.  I love you forever.

27 weeks

How far along?  27 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  Haven't weighed recently...probably 18-19 lbs.
How big is baby?  This week baby is at about 2 lbs!  A head of cauliflower....mmm....cauliflower....with butter and salt.... oh um.... length!  Length is about 14.5 inches with legs stretched out.
Maternity clothes?  Still just barely getting away with my beloved thermal tops and a tank underneath.  I went to a thrift store and bought some medium sweaters to stretch over the belly.
Stretchmarks?  No new ones that I've noticed.
Sleep?  Back to good.  Everett is generally staying in bed all night or going right back to bed if it's the middle of the night.  If it's sometime after 5:30-ish, I just let him come in and snuggle until the alarm goes off.  Dreams are vivid, but I'm sleeping like a rock (a rock on its left side with a body pillow between its legs).
Best moment this week?  Big crazy alien baby rolling movements and Everett's word explosion.  The boy can repeat anything you say!
Movement?  Yes, and getting very strong.  You really don't know weird until something is moving of its own volition in your abdomen.
Food cravings?  Really excited for thanksgiving feast!!  And Ev and I made some chocolate chip cookies last night.
Bellybutton?  No comment.
Boy/Girl?  Crazy active little boy #2
Labor signs?  Nada
What I miss? Having the ability/desire to pick things up off the floor.  Now I just stare at it and say, "Everett!  Come pick this up for mama!"  Carrying my boy easily.  I have to hoist his legs up over my belly to carry him home from daycare.
What I am looking forward to? Holidays with family!  Aunties are coming home for thanksgiving and Everett is beyond excited.  His birthday party is this weekend, my birthday is the weekend after, it's almost time to put up the lights and play christmas music until our ears fall off.....ahhh....I love this time of year!
Milestones: Depending on your calendar/calculations, this can mark the beginning of third trimester (there's a surprising amount of debate about this).  Baby has a 80-90% chance of survival now outside the belly, but we'll keep him in there for a while yet.

26 weeks

How far along?  26 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  Counting when I've had breakfast, I am guessing around 18 lbs.
How big is baby?  Head to heels, he should be about 14 inches long and weight about a pound and two-thirds.  The size comparison is an english cucumber this week (which are much bigger than our typical little garden cucumbers).
Maternity clothes?  Pants.  Still getting away with maternity tanks under regular shirts to get a fashionable little layered look and stretch my wardrobe.  I do think I might need another pair of yoga pants (I dreamed I ripped a hole in mine!) and a couple maternity sweaters.
Stretchmarks?  No new ones that I've seen since the last.
Sleep?  Decent.  I've been really tired again, but my iron looks ok, so it's just toddler and fetus wearing me down.  Everett has been doing better with not getting up in the middle of the night, but he was up at 2 am again this morning and threw a fit for about a half hour including slamming his door and screaming because Brian only let him snuggle with us for about five minutes.
Best moment this week?  Being done with the glucose tolerance test.  Gosh do I despise that thing.  At least this time the drink was carbonated.  Last time I had a small cup of thick goo.  This time it was a bottle full of orange-pop-like substance.
Movement?  Constant.  He has started kicking on my right side, so I'm hoping he's getting himself into a better position.  His moves are big and violent and he really dislikes it when I tuck my legs up close to my belly.  Then I lecture him for kicking me.  So he does it some more.  It's a vicious cycle.
Food cravings?  Nothing's sticking out to me at the moment.  Still enjoying cranberry everything.
Bellybutton?  Can I just ignore this question from now on?
Boy/Girl?  boy
Labor signs?  Nope.
What I miss? Energy and being able to carry Everett around with little effort.
What I am looking forward to? Getting some knitting done.  I'm done (except some finishing touches) on Everett's new longies and now I'm about halfway done with his new winter hat.  Then I have to do his mittens, a few gifts, and then I can start on baby stuff.
Milestones: Glucose done and good.   Iron done and good.  Next dr. appointment is in four weeks and then we're on to the every two weeks appointments - eek!  Down to the double digits for days left!

Meekow dark!

What does the title of this post mean?  You go ahead and guess.  I'll let you know at the end.

Ev and I spent our morning at the clinic today for my lovely glucose tolerance test.  Of course, it was fine, as was my hemoglobin (=no iron pills for me!).  Ev had a rough time sitting in the waiting room for so long but we survived with only a couple tantrums.  It's amazing how many we get per day now.  It's just a normal part of life to have your child suddenly throw himself on the floor and spin in circles while crying.  And I roll my eyes, grab him by the arm, and say, "we are not throwing a tantrum right now."  He can throw all the tantrums he wants at home, but they're still not going to get him what he wants.

Anyway.  Everything is still perfectly fine with the little nugget.  BP is good, weight is good (I think I measured an official 18. lbs up now, but I hadn't had any food before the weigh-in, so....).  Heartrate was good and strong.  Belly measured 25cm, which is just right.  Little guy is still moving around like crazy and has some violent rolls and kicks so the dr. is not concerned about baby being breech at the moment.  (Neither am I, but I'm still going to do my stretch every day - what's the harm?)

So back to the post title.  Everett has recently decided that he is afraid of the dark.  Not so much that he has trouble going to sleep at night, but enough that he refuses to go into a room without a light on.  Especially the basement, which really, can you blame him?  Dark basements are kind of creepy.  This evening, we were going down to the basement to add wood to the fire and he realized the light wasn't on and cried "meekow basement!"  Luckily, I know exactly what "meekow" means from our halloween trail walk at a friend's house.  Obviously, it means "spooky."  They sound exactly alike, right?  :)  It's when he says things like this that I just stop and laugh and laugh and he looks at me and smiles.

Bagels and Tantrums and Bellies, oh my!

New pictures for y'all!

Eating a bagel with bedhead - the norm around here:

The reaction I get when I tell Everett to move so he's not in my belly picture (also the norm around here).  Think we're ready to be 2?:

 The boy thinks he is so big:

 The nursery! 

25 week belly picture:

25 weeks

How far along?  25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  I think I may be up around 18-19 lbs now (dr. appointment is on Monday)
How big is baby?  Head to heels, he's around 13 1/2 inches long.  Weighing in around 1.5 lbs, or the size of a rutabaga.  Also gaining some fat!  The little muffin, not me.  Shush.
Maternity clothes?  Yep.  And my new pretend uggs.  I am in love with them and they rarely come off my feet at work or out and about (I always take off my shoes!).
Stretchmarks?  Yep.
Sleep?  Well.  Everett learned how to open his bedroom door.  You can guess what that means for our sleep.  The past two nights, he has woken up somewhere between 12 and 2 am and I hear a THUMP! (feet hitting floor), pad pad pad (23 month old feet shuffling), mama! (little face next to my face).  The first night I just let him hop in bed with us and he slept ok until around 6.  Last night was a wiggle fest and we then had about 45 minutes of screaming at the top of his lungs (the kind of screaming that makes my eyes go wide because I just KNOW he's going to make himself puke if he continues) as Brian put him into his new big boy bed and he tried to come back out and hop in our bed.  He eventually went to sleep, Brian and I slept until my alarm went off, and when I opened his door this morning, he was sitting in a cute little pile on his big bed and said "hi mama!"  As long as he stays in his room tonight, sleep should be ok.
Best moment this week?  We met our doula!  She is fantastic and really puts my best interests first.  I am so happy that she is going to be there to help me get the birth experience I want and advocate for me when I'm too exhausted to do so.
Finally got the nursery painting all done (still haven't taken a picture though...).
Movement?  Yep.  He's still kicking low, so my new friend, Erica the doula, has me doing an exercise where I lie on the floor and put my legs straight up against a wall for five minutes/day.  This encourages little dude to put his head downward and kick me in the ribs like his big brother always did.
Food cravings?  Does halloween chocolate count?
Bellybutton?  DADT
Boy/Girl?  boy
Labor signs?  Nada, just those pesky braxton hicks
What I miss? Lying on my belly.
What I am looking forward to? Being done with the glucose test (next Mon), buying a carseat, finishing Ev's new longies, so I can start on his new winter hat and then tiny baby things! 
Milestones: Meeting the doula was great.   By profession, she is a massage therapist and specializes in prenatal massage.  Awesome?  Yes.  After our one hour chat on Monday, she immediately assigned me to drink a whole lot more water than I have been (I'm really bad), walk every day, do my flip the baby exercise, and try eating more molasses and leafy greens to get that iron so I don't end up anemic again and on those stupid pills.  We are meeting again next month and she'll bring along her back-up in case I go into labor during her workday.  Both of them have little kiddos and might bring them along to play with Everett next month.  I am so excited that I get the opportunity to have a doula help me out this time!  Hooray!

24 weeks

How far along?  24 weeks
Total weight gain/loss:  around 16 lbs
How big is baby?  Baby gained around 4 oz since last week!  He's just over a pound and and almost a foot long - about the length of an ear of corn, but skinnier!
Maternity clothes?  Yessir!  Ordered two more maternity tanks so I can continue wearing my non-maternity sweaters and shirts layered over them.  Also got my pretend uggs from Old Navy and I am kind of in love with them.
Stretchmarks?  Surrounding the bellybutton.....grrr...
Sleep?  It's ok at the moment.  Fewer bathroom trips and I'm starting to figure out how to keep the body pillow ON the bed at night.
Best moment this week?  All the halloween parties were pretty great.  Ev enjoyed it and my and baby's costume was a hit.  Still seeing Ev give his baby brother huggers and kisses - he's such a sweetie!  He even picked out a pumpkin bucket from wal-mart for baby (10 cents my friends, 10 cents!)
Movement?  All the time!  He's still kicking me really low, leading to my assumption that he still thinks his head belongs upright.
Food cravings?  Cranberries!  We had a harvest potluck with cranberry sauce, and then I needed to make some cranberry sauce (SO easy!  Boil 1 c. water and 1 c. sugar, add 12 oz cranberries, boil for ten minutes!), and I adore drinking cranberry juice/seltzer - you're awesome Janelle!  You must suggest this to all pregnant women!
Bellybutton?  We're not on speaking terms.
Boy/Girl?  Triathlete in training little boy
Labor signs?  Nope
What I miss? Starting to have trouble bending and leaning while sitting on the floor.  Belly's starting to get in my way.
What I am looking forward to?  Still getting that nursery done...  Being done with glucose test (mid-month)
Milestones: Viability, baby!  That's right.  With technological advances, 24 weeks is now considered viability as long as you have a good NICU.  Craziness!  We'll keep this little guy cooking for quite a while yet though.  I don't need a newborn over Christmas again...February 1, I will allow.

Halloween pics

We're still all tired from our crazy week of Halloween party madness, so I'm just going to throw some pictures on and call it a day.

Also, it was brought to my attention that not only was last week our 22 months (Ev) and 22 weeks (baby2) special week, but this week qualifies too.  Wednesday baby2 hit 23 weeks and on Friday, Ev turned 23 months!  That means....almost 2!  This month!  Eek!