Home improvements

We are getting some new neighbors in a couple of days, so we decided to get a fence and plant a tree and some tall bushes. Neighborly, huh?

No, really, we have just been in the mood for some home improvement projects (nesting, perhaps?).

This weekend Ben's parents came to town to bring the kids gifts (even the unborn one) and install a couple of kid room ceiling fans.

Here's the baby's-- pretty basic, but it matches the rest of our fixtures perfectly

Here's H and J's, which matches nothing in the house except their room:


Ben really did plant some tall bushes today-- or they will be tall someday

Mainly to stop the kids from killing themselves on the rock walls and to stop himself from having to mow the grass there

Also to block all of our windows because we are, as I mentioned, neighborly

Which is why we planted this tree that will hopefully block our yard someday

Seriously, how cute is this little fence

with its cute little gate? (it has 2 cute little gates, but I only took a picture of 1 because, I mean, a gate is a gate)


Home improvements aside, I feel like shit today. So big. SO unwieldy. So needing to pee all the time because there is a giant person on my bladder (he's actually probably less than 7 pounds, but still). My back hurts like you would not believe. And still. No contractions. No other labor signs. I think I might set a new length-of-gestation record. Harry was already like 4 days old by now.

I just want to see him and kiss him and never sleep again because of him.

I ordered some really cute stickers to put on his onesies every month so I don't have to make my monthly signs. Ben's mom bought him an awesome bouncy chair. I used our anniversary gift card from Bomma and Jack to buy a new Vera Bradley diaper bag (Happy anniversary, Ben. Also, mine is in Symphony in Hue, but I cannot get that color to link for some reason ). We are so, so ready for our little guy. (All I need is a ready-made Hallmark scrapbook baby book like I had for H and J and that's it, I swear. Then we'll really, really be ready. I am going to Hallmark first thing tomorrow morning.)

Pie

To continue talking about food, we were out for lunch today (I KNOW!), and I realized that if I gave birth tomorrow,I would regret not eating another piece of peanut butter silk pie in this world where calories don't mater and despite my best efforts, I did not gain any weight between doctors appointments. So I made a detour into my favorite pie shop and I am eating it right now after pretty much refusing to split it with Ben (I asked him if he wanted anything when I went into the bakery, and he said he didn't! So what the hell did he think he was doing with that extra fork?).

I have been doing some digital nesting, too, so I finally have pictures of, oh, EVERYTHING we've been doing.

Hanging around at the zoo

We have had fun eating lots of lunch


And cupcakes.

Oh, cupcakes


I took Harry for a super special big boy pre-kindergarten hair cut at my salon. When we walked in, he was impressed with the zen fountain and wanted to throw "tokens" in it. When the receptionist offered him a beverage (he chose a tiny bottle of water with the salon's name on it), he said, "This is awesome," then he sauntered over to the lounge area and grabbed an Entertainment Weekly with Harry Potter on the cover

He had never experienced a salon shampoo before because he usually goes to Sports Clips where they just mist him with a squirt bottle, and he was a little apprehensive about the whole thing once he was seated on a booster and a roll of towels. Once the warm water hit his head, though, he loved it.


He was really into the head and neck massage portion of his shampoo, and he liked the way his conditioner smelled like the beach.

He loved watching himself in the mirror

The end result-- the shortest, spikiest hair cut he has ever had- it is so darn cute!

Harry has been riding his bike so much his shins are covered with bruises from about a million falls.

Ben and the kids made some windmill peanut butter and seed bird feeders-- it was pretty cute.


Jack is kind of an aggressive reader

We are working on our playroom art installation. We only have 4 so far, but Ben bought a TON of frames, and we are hoping kindergarten means lots of materpieces.


Remember how at the beginning of this post I was talking about my doctor appointment? Well, yeah. I had one. Ben went with me because he hasn't heard the baby's heart beat yet, but we forgot I had to be swabbed for Group B Strep (NEGATIVE! Woo-hoo!), so that was awkward. Then the doctor freaked us out-- he said that since my labor with Jack was so short, when I am in labor with this guy, I should not waste any time getting to the hospital. The problem? I am AT LEAST an hour away. By the time I call my brother and his awesome girlfriend and they leave work to come get my fat ass and then we go to the hospital, that's an hour. And I have to call them if Ben is at work because he is an hour from our house, so that makes me like 90 minutes from the hospital. I hope the baby decides to come when my brother is off or Ben is not teaching. Yikes. Because the kids would think an ambulance ride was cool, but I would be freaking the freak out.

But still, I would wlecome labor at even the most inopportune moment. Back to my pie.

9-month buffet

I have had the best time eating my way through this pregnancy. In my real life, I tend to keep a pretty careful eye on what I eat, and I work out 5 days a week without fail (most of the time). These past 32 weeks (because I didn't find out I was pregnant, of course, until I was 4 weeks along), though, have been an endless buffet. I have gained the same 30 pounds I gained with the other 2 kids, but these 30 were absolutely guilt- free.

While lately the sight of organic grapes at the grocery store has made me drool, most of my pregnancy cravings have been shockingly unhealthy. Grape soda. Orange soda. Cherry limeades from Sonic. Hot dogs. Sausage pizza. Chocolate dipped cones from DQ.

Yesterday, I ate at 5 different restaurants (1.blueberry pancakes and sausage patties for breakfast, 2. 1/2 a grilled cheese and pesto sandwich and cole slaw for lunch 3. with a cupcake from a cupcakery for dessert, 4. shrimp pasta diablo, a mixed green salad, and an embarrassing amount of bread with butter for dinner, and 5. a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert). Lunch also featured not one but 2 Cherry Pepsis, ensuring that I stayed up way past my bedtime-- and seriously? I don't drink soda at all in real life, but I was strolling around the zoo yesterday and I HAD to have a cherry soda. I could barely wait to get to the restaurant.

Almost every night, Ben and I gorge on crackers, fruit, and a variety of sliced cheese. I have eaten more mini Twix ice cream bars than I can count. The other day at Whole Foods, I could barely wait until I got to the parking lot to open my Caribbean mix Popsicle. My breakfast has doubled in size-- I eat a whole bagel with peanut butter and a half a melon almost every morning. I can demolish a phalanx of Oreos or Joe-Joes all by myself with a heaping glass of milk.

I have been to all of my favorite restaurants, including the greasy diner with the world's best grilled cheese, fries, and milkshake, many times. I have eaten several kringles (google them and if you haven't tried one, try it), chowed on Kosher donuts, sucked down so much pie at our favorite pie place (I have a favorite pie place for goodness sake!) that my dad bought me a t-shirt from their gift shop.

If I diet for the rest of my life, I think I will still be satisfied from this fantastic food orgy of a pregnancy.

36.75 weeks pregnant. This is getting old.

Poor Sophie the bourgeois teether.

She got really dirty during a 3 year long sojourn in a cabinet in my office, and I gave her a bath last week in preparation for #3s teething and squeaking needs, and now she only makes a wet sucking noise when we squeeze her.

Harry to the rescue:


Do you like Ben's room improvement in the nursery?

Actually, it is an improvement because Ben's dad is going to put up ceiling fans for us this weekend, and Ben needed to paint the ceiling first. Ben also hung up the baby's name in cute white letters, but I can;t show you because WHERE WILL THE MYSTERY BE?

Harry and I assembled the Pack n Play

When we stocked it with blankets, I realized I have no idea how to use a Miracle Blanket, and the directions look complex:

So we practiced with Harry's Build a Bear Easter rabbit


The boys practiced holding it gently


And then Jack tried to kill it


We had a lovely day today-- went out for breakfast, ceiling fan shopping, to the zoo, out for lunch, and now the kids are riding bikes and Power Wheels, and I am sitting on the porch on my fat butt.

Did I tell you we had to buy a new travel system? We did. Third baby. Third car seat stroller combo. Not cool. Our Combi doesn't fit in ANY STROLLER ON THE MARKET, which sucks. And we broke the double stroller it used to fit in. And we need a travel system in the winter because there are times when the baby needs to be plunked directly in a stroller, covered in his car seat bunting because it is really freaking cold. So. Chicco Cortina it is.

What's new with you?

Picutres! Nesting!

We finally hung some stuff on the wall in the baby's room! And plugged in his cute little night light. Above the crib, Ben is going to hang his name. Someday.





I am also done with his teeny closet. Clothes from 0-6 months are hanging up and are folded in his dresser. 6-9 months and 12-18 months is folded on the top of the closet. Lots of clothes for a little guy.


Speaking of. I am 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I have gained 28 pounds, and my belly button has popped out, so I'd say I am pretty much done.


Jack was looking at me like I was nuts while I took those pictures

I had so much fun today!

I saw Harry Potter 7.2 in 3-D by myself, and no one judged how fast I ate my candy or that I totally sobbed my way through the movie.

Then I went to the mall to buy some more back-to-school clothes for Harry, who has gone from a boys' size 4 to a size 6 (which is going to screw up our clothes system because you know Jack is going to need size 5). On my way to Gap Kids, I happened to walk through a department store and found these awesome, awesome shoes:

Which I plan to wear out for our anniversary this weekend. I know last year I was all, Oh, I am always going to wear my wedding shoes on our anniversary. But they are stilettos. And I am fat. And while my new shoes are very, very high, they are wedges and much more supportive.

I am glossing over the back-to-school thing, I know. Kindergarten. Oh Em Gee. Another post for another day.

Big kid bike!

It is totally our fault because of where we used to live and our lack of good outdoor play space, but Harry has been riding a big wheel all this time. Today, though, he got a big kid bike. The occasion? None. Just a trip to Toys R Us for bug catching supplies and a huge bike sale.


He's a little timid on it, but really, he's doing great.

The kids had the kind of day today that we moved out of our condo for them to have. They were outside from the minute they woke up until just a couple minutes ago when we came in from going to the park and riding bikes to take a bath. Harry is actually in the tub right now. It's a deep tub, and the water is hitting him at the shoulders right now because he requested a deep bath, and he's swimming a little. I am sitting in the hall outside the bathroom, one eye on him and the other on my screen. Jack and Ben are upstairs bathing Jack, and the laundry room is strewn with mud and tire pieces from the playground. They boys caught grasshoppers at the park (and reluctantly released them) and got filthy-- way dirtier than they ever did in our other house-- and we walked home the long way through restored prairie on a hilly path. Harry ran over his own legs once when he fell off his bike, but he didn't mind. A huge cloud blocked the sun our whole walk, and it turned purple around the edges and was so big that even the breeze couldn't blow it away. We saw a hot air balloon high above us and spent our walk talking about all the things the people inside could see.

Jack did not get a new bike because he claimed to only want Harry's big wheel and a bug catching kit on a belt.

Random update

Jack had a totally adorable soccer game the other day. All of his teammates were reluctant to play, and they were playing an older team and got CREAMED. Most of the parents on our team were on the field sort of holding their kids and playing human foosball.

I have pretty much lost my mind from hormones and the stress of being so damn fat in triple digit heat.

I have channeled my energy into packing my hospital bag. But first, I had to go buy a ton of yoga pants, stretchy cotton skirts, and t-shirts to wear after I have the baby. I also added in 4 pairs of new pajamas, some giant underwear, a couple of nursing bras and one of every nursing tank I could find at Target. Clearly I am not expecting to have to go many places, although I will have to drag my fat ass across the street to take Harry to kindergarten. Also toiletries.

It was kind of exhausting.

Here's my list of things that still need to go in the bag:


Kind of tech heavy.

I packed 3 outfits for the baby.

This tiny little ensemble:

This one

And then also this tiny little Gymbo sleeper that Jack wore in but not home from the hospital:

I felt all nostalgic and tossed in the Zutano hat that Harry wore home

And more hats and footwear options.

Luckily his stuff doesn't take up much room.

We took the boys to the hospital tonight for a sibling tour. They liked the fake babies they could diaper in a very Of Mice and Men sort of way.