alex outdoors

alex loves being outside- i think this is a fact for most kids her age.
unfortunately- sometimes it's freaking freezing & momma doesn't want to be outside.

but alas. i suffer- for this:






"ooooh!!!" ha.



this kid loves to squat. it's hilarious.



"alex- wanna go see the chickens?"




"CHICKENS!!!!"





"...UH OH!!!" (this is one of her new fav things to say)



sweater: gift
dress: Target
tights: old navy
shoes: Target

dude- it's freezing. time to go inside.

so yeah- she's good with it until she realizes that she's actually headed indoors- then she pitches a fit. but the kid refuses to wear a hat & gloves 99% of the time so being outside for extended periods of time could possibly result in frostbite.

thankfully it's not quite winter yet- so outside time abounds- but this is a reminder that i need to order her snowsuit ASAP & find some gloves that i can strap onto her little hands.
and boots. and a hat that she can't yank off.

i've asked before, why dont' kids feel cold??? why?!

35 weeks stats

OB Appt today @ 35 weeks & 4 days

- 35 weeks 4 days
- belly measured @ 36 weeks
- 151 lbs
- excellent BP
- heartbeat: 130's bpm
- no swelling
- baby#2 is still head down
- GBS swab (good times)

all is well & appts are every week now (omg)

i feel huge (and everyone enjoys telling me that i am) but i can still get around with relative ease. i do feel bad for alex when she tries to sit in my lap- because there is no room. so she usually tries to shove her way in & push my belly away.

she also enjoys lifting my shirt & pointing out my "belly button!!!"
then she'll look at hers- then back at mine- and then at the husbands...outie, innie, hairy = confusion. poor kid.

let's see- still no maternity clothes & with only 4 weeks left, i have no intention on caving. i did purchase 2 pairs of yoga sweats (hot, i know) that i intend to get good use out of though:




sat @ 35 weeks 1 day

and for a real treat- bare belly anyone?
i'm warning you now- it's scary...

turn back now....

ok, i warned you:

somewhat terrifying, right? it could be worse i suppose- but bare belly pics just make everything look so much...BIGGER! and...MORE REAL! and all that jazz. we'll see what the next 4 weeks will bring.

for those that felt compelled to look- let me ease the stinging in your eyes by gifting you with this picture:

gary & maceo- lovin' on each other. kitties are always cute- so this should atone for the above. like a sweet salve for the eyeballs.

and as a little preview for tomorrow's post:



my child- literally quivering with excitement over being outside. it would have been 100% hilarious & adorbale- if it wasn't like 30 degrees & windy.

dear God- why don't kids feel cold?

a picture perfect weekend?

i've decided on a Christmas card. i'll "unveil" it once it comes in- but i thank ALL of you for your suggestions, votes, etc etc.

i narrowed it down to 2 & then it took me forever to click the "Order" button- in fact, i almost made 2 orders- 1 of each card. but i hardly need that many cards.

as for the "picture perfect" part- yeah. getting my kid to smile on Saturday was just short of torture. she would scream, cry, spit, and pout like it was her job, but smile? no siree.

after forever, and begging & swinging her around- we ended up with 1 picture that i deemed decent enough to grace our cards:


me:
shirt: Marshalls
pants: dELiA*s
boots: Rocket Dog

alex:
coat: Target
dress: babyGap
tights: Old Navy
shoes: Amimoc (via thrift)

husband:
sweater: theGap
jeans: Lee
shoes: Saucony Vegan

she's sort of smiling/pissed off. meh- it'll have to do.

i would show you the horrible ones we got- but they were quickly deleted because they were very anti-Christmas spirit. but we got a few other ok shots:




i swear these are 2 different pictures. notice how she's smiling in one & pouting in the other- see?




and these were the best smiles we got- but as you can see, she's in the air. moving. not sitting pretty for a picture. plus- i look like i have a broken back or something- so no go.

but we got 1- and that's what i was shooting for!

other weekend highlights:

my child's adorable pants & LOVE for books:






alex:
shirt: Cherokee (Target)
pants: Target
shoes: Target

also, when i got home Friday night, my box from Modcloth was waiting for me. i was literally giddy over the contents:



my new silverware! the husband says they look like kid silverware- but i guess that's just it. they totally remind me of the stuff we had growing up & i LOVED picking out my fork/spoon- etc. so these were a must for me.

fast forward to saturday morning (when i eagerly anticipated using my new spoons) - i came out of the kitchen to this:



"alex, what are you doing so close to the tv?"



"ELMO!"

like, duh mommy. so i had to drag her back a few feet (which prompted a glare from her) but probably saved her eyesight.

she soaked up ELMO for another 15 minutes or so & then started terrorizing the dogs.
the husband had to go help my father move some things so it was just alex & i until a bit later.

she played, ate, napped, etc etc. then we ran a few errands & came home to try & get pictures (as seen above)

all in all- a good day.
sunday was another fun filled day- but i'll save that for tomorrow.
i'll leave you with this picture i found of alex. 5 am- happy as can be:



dress: Puma
shirt: Cherokee (Target)
leggings: Baby Legs
shoes: Trumpette

p.s. those shoes never stay on- impossible to walk in!!!

35/35

35/35 today.

that means i'm 35 weeks pregnant with 35 days to go (technically)

i plan on announcing this to the husband tonight & watching his face pale while he does the math in his head.

i'm giving him about 2 weeks to finish up alex's big girl room. we're pushin' it here buddy.

Christmas Cards Part 2

ladies, many thanks for you opinions!

ok- so i think i'll go with Option#2 (photo of the 3 4 of us)
however, if i can't get a good shot then i'll go with Option#1 (photo of just alex)

i'd love to wait until #2 gets here, but i know i'll be exhausted & rushed & that'll = no Christmas cards at all. which would be sad.

so here are the 3 card options i've narrowed it down to (these are what Option#1 would look like, but keep in mind it'll hopefully be a family picture): (you may or may not know my name & the husband's name- but just in case...and i'm not "formally" announcing #2's name until after she gets here, even though some people know it already, so yeah :)


#1

front

back

#2

front

back

#3

front

back

ok! so which one?! i love them all- but i'm leaning towards #1 (what can i say, i like wood)
but i also really like #2...and #3 is simple & cute.

hmmm- alrighty ladies (and gents if there are any)- favs?
hate them all?
other suggestions?

and go!

Christmas cards?

so i have a few options:

1. order cards now & send out Thanksgiving week (as i usually do)- cards will have a picture of alex only
2. order cards now & send out Thanksgiving week (as i always do)- cards will have a picture of the 3 of us (well, the 4 of us technically)
3. wait until #2 arrives, snap a quick family photo & send out cards the 2nd week of Dec.

hmmm.

i'm leaning towards #1 simply because i've got tons of pictures of alex so it'll be easy.
#2 is a nice thought, but getting the 3 of us dressed, outside & all smiling at the camera- dear God. i'm annoyed just thinking about it. but it'd be nice...

and #3 is a swell idea, because it saves me from doing birth announcements (the Christmas cards would be a 2 for 1 deal like we did with alex) - but i hate to wait that long. and what if she's late? then i'm screwed.

i'm anal about my Christmas Cards. i like them in your home by Thanksgiving so they can be properly displayed for a good month or so. and yes, i assume everyone would display our Christmas cards because they're bound to be awesome.

so yeah. what to do?

perhaps i should shoot for #2 by this weekend. so- if i can't get a good picture of us by Sun then i go with #1? yeah?

*added option*

4. find an adorable card (with no pictures of us) and send that out instead.

hmmm- that sounds rather boring. but my my my, there really are some fab cards out there....

so far it seems that #2 is where i should be leaning...now to figure out if the husband has anything presentable to wear. i doubt it.

happy weekend

this past weekend was swell.

it started off with alex sleeping in until 8 am on sat. 8! this is a child who is usually up & ready to go by 5:30-6 am. so when i brought her to bed at 5 and then woke up and realized that it was light outside- i was in shock.

she woke up at 8 on the dot & gifted me with a huge smile & a big "puppies?!" what a perfect way to start the day.

after breakfast, getting dressed & waiting for the husband to get ready- we headed off for the dreaded blood draw. we checked in & alex charmed the pants off of everyone in the waiting room. she was in the best mood (obviously unaware of what was to come)

we were actually the last people on the list- so as the room cleared out & it was down to just us i could hear the lab folks talking- "oh, we have a pedi. get the pedi room ready...."

then out came a smiling lab tech who led us back to a room filled with Disney overload.
alex was pretty ok- until the hubs sat down & held her arm out- then she started to whimper. oh, how the whimpering killed me. i can deal with screaming- but the trembling lip & big eyes made me tear up.
i hovered on the outside of the doorway while one lab tech danced a yellow smiley face doll in front of my kid's face & the other started bathing her arm in alcohol.

and then she stuck her (very quickly & quite well might i add) and the wailing started.
yellow smiley face doll be damned! she was having none of that.

thankfully it was over in about 30 seconds. i could've kissed the tech who got the vein on the first shot & quickly extracted all the blood that was needed.

needle out. blood wiped. band-aid on. daddy hugged. stickers given. done.

whew! i peeked in the doorway & she saw me & lifted her arms. i scooped her up, told her what a good girl she was, and wiped her snotty nose. she then (through her sniffles) showed me her stickers and stated, "elmo!!!" that's when i knew she was over it.

so, not all that bad! the tech wasn't very good at putting the band-aid on, so she got a bit of blood on her shirt- but nothing that some Oxi-Clean won't take care of.

afterwards we headed off to Babies-R-Us and she was rewarded with not 1, but 2 elmos (thankfully neither of them talk or make noise. amen.)
we ran a couple more errands & as we headed home she went down for a much neeed nap.

we had a friend's surprise b-day party to attend so we let her sleep in the car while we got ready. she woke up once we arrived, i changed her clothes & we headed in.
i spent the next 4 hours making sure that no bodily harm would come to her. this house (the husband's best friend's) is probably the most un-baby proof house in the world.

broken fish tank on the floor? check.
beer bottles? check.
glass & iron coffee table? check.
the list goes on. eventually we headed outside where it was a little bit safer- and where she could let out some pent up energy.

it's seriously impossible to get a good picture of her these days. all she does is MOVE!



on her:
white tee: Cherokee (Target)
pink cardigan: Cherokee (Target)
gray pants: Target
shoes: Target

on me:
sweater: Converse (Target)
leggings: The Limited
boots: Rocket Dog












does that make you tired? because it should. she was like a crazed beast. running about & screaching. good Lord.

plus- her pants were too big so i had to fashion a makeshift belt out of string from a balloon. and i still had to yank them up every 5 minutes- so that was just dandy.

but she had fun. eventually we got her home, bathed, dressed, fed & into bed.
unfortunately for the husband- 6 am came early. and she was up. HA!

sunday was obviously halloween- so a costume of some sort was needed.
well i'm cheap- spending even $10 on a costume that she'll wear 1x makes me cranky. so i decided to see what i could find in her drawers:





can you tell what she is yet? can you?





she's a rainbow. obviously, right? can you see it now?




for the record- the dogs are just playing. and my mother in law was right there- so no dogs or children were harmed in the making of these photos.

so yeah. i found a bunch of stuff with stripes & decided that she = rainbow. i even put on her fluffy white hat when we ran to Wal-Mart...cause it looks like a cloud. duh!!!

ah well. next year, when she actually has an idea about what's going on, i'll spring for a real costume. and we'll actually go trick-or-treating.

she still had fun. the in-laws came over (the husband & father in law had to work on alex's big girl room) and she made grandma read her 50 million books. we also ran to Wal-Mart where she got a small taste of people dressed up. she wasn't really sure what to make of it.

after the in-laws headed out, we settled in & spent the rest of the afternoon playing. and lounging. and eating apples.

case in point:



rough day, no?

amazingly, with only a 1 hour nap under her belt, she manged to stay awake until 7. and then she crashed. g'night kid.

i managed to get caught up on Sister Wives (yay) a then watched the 1 hour special (ooooooh!)
the husband couldn't take anymore & went to bed. g'night husband.

then my child decided to start waking up every 15 min or so until 12. awesome.
and then i went to bed. and got up at 3:45 am. and now i'm at work.

hello monday.