Build-A-Bear and family update

It's hard to believe that we're already more than halfway through March, and the birth of our baby is just around the corner! As I talked about in a previous post, I had the idea a while ago to take the kids to Build-A-Bear and let them make a bear for the baby. Because of Steve's current work schedule, we were able to take them in the middle of the week when the mall was relatively empty, and we had all sorts of fun! If you've ever been to Build-A-Bear, you know that it is quite easy to walk away with a $50+ bear, and our goal was to NOT do that! The staff there was great and the kids really enjoyed themselves, though Travis has told Jayna every day since that the bear is for the baby, and not for her. Anyway, here are a few pictures from our outing.

The bear we picked out...

Travis is standing on a pedal that fills up the bear with stuffing...

Each of them put a heart inside...

The bear received an air "fluff bath"...

And the finished product!

Speaking of baby...physically, I am feeling great! Usually by this point I'm so beyond ready to get the baby out, but I'm really feeling good right now. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll feel differently! I'm a bit anxious about the timing of it all, but I know the baby will come when he/she is ready, and we will never be 100% ready, so there's not much point in worrying about it. My dr.'s appointments have been great, the baby is in the right position, and is measuring right on track. I am so thankful for such a smooth pregnancy! I do have a few specific prayers for the labor/delivery....

1)that my doctor will be there - I LOVE my dr. and really want her at the delivery, but she's going to be gone Apr. 2-8, which is right around when I'm due. Hopefully it will happen before then, but that might be very wishful thinking.

2)that it will be a fast labor (and not so much pushing...I pushed 3 1/2 hours with Travis, 1 1/2 with Jayna)

3)that the baby will not be too big...and by that I mean less than 9 1/2 lbs. (because I know I can push a 9 1/2 lb. baby out!)...mainly so that there won't be a lot of tearing and the recovery won't be so difficult. I honestly don't feel as big as I did with the other two, and I've only gained 21 lbs. this pregnancy, so hopefully that will mean a smaller baby. But who knows.

So if you're thinking of it, we'd appreciate prayer for those things! In any case, we are so excited! Very little in this world compares to holding your newborn in your arms!

Travis...well, half the time (maybe a bit more than half the time:), he is so difficult. I guess the hardest thing we're dealing with now with him is that he's begun arguing with us and talking back A LOT. Only 3 1/2, and already, he thinks he knows better than we do! I take comfort in the fact that most other parents of 3 1/2 year olds are dealing with the same issues, so hopefully it is normal and just something to work on, not necessarily something we're doomed to having to deal with for the rest of our parenting days. It is quite frustrating for both Steve and myself, however. One kind of funny new line he has come up with...after he does something he shouldn't and we talk to him about the way he should have acted (not thrown a fit, not argued, not hit Jayna, etc.), he says very matter-of-factly, nodding his head, "When I'm 81 I will do that". It's always 81...no idea where he came up with that number!

On the other hand, what keeps us hopeful and (somewhat) patient with him is the many moments of humor (he really is such a funny kid!) and of pure sweetness. I was sitting on the couch with him the other day watching a "big boy show", and out of nowhere he scoots really close to me, lays his head on me, and says, "I love you, Mommy" and gives me a squeeze. Oh, Travis, you have no idea how much I love you, too. You are growing way too quickly.

I've been doing a bit of research lately on preschool for him for next year. There are a variety of options, but I haven't found one yet that I really like. We know that preschool is not a necessity and that he will be prepared for kindergarten regardless, but for a number of reasons, we'd REALLY like to put him in preschool. He is SO ready for it, he really thrives in a classroom setting, he could use the time away from the house and with a teacher and peers, and I could really use the break, too! I'm hoping for 3 days/week, in the morning. There seem to be 2 main options...either a private school that would way too expensive (I looked up several, and the cheapest I've found is $160/month...yikes! And most were at least $200!), or a co-op-style, which is considerably cheaper but would be such a pain for me, having two other kids at home (plus almost all of the co-ops are in the afternoon, which won't work for us). So, we'll continue to weigh our options. I'm sure there are still options out there that we haven't yet thought about.

Jayna seems to have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few months...not physically, but in pretty much every other way. She talks SO much (at least at home)....way more than Travis did even at 2 1/2+. And she is incredibly observant, mimicking the rest of us in so much of what we do. I actually think that she could start potty-training soon, but we figure it's best to wait until after the baby is born to start trying.

I find myself especially attached to Jayna lately, likely because of the baby's impending arrival. I remember when I was 7 months or so pregnant with Jayna, and the night before we were going to switch Travis out of his crib into a big-boy bed, I sat by his crib as he slept and cried for a good 20-30 minutes. As excited as I was for Jayna to come, I really had a hard time letting go of Travis as "the baby" and the ease and wonder of being a parent of one. And of course, I felt guilty that we were forcing him out of the "baby" spot. I'm feeling a lot of those same things this time around. Maybe not as strongly, since I've already dealt with it once and divided myself once. But I'm constantly noticing how much older she seems, and yet how little she still is. She's been receiving extra kisses and hugs from me lately, that's for sure!

Steve is nearing the end of his 4-month police training. Actually, he is just beginning his final 2-week evaluation, after which he will hopefully be on his own (he's had a different training officer patrolling with him for each of the last 4 months). Fortunately, he will be able to take off a good chunk of time when the baby is born...we're still happily adjusting to the amount of time he spends at home! It will be nice, however, to have him on the same shift for awhile (in each of the four months he has had to switch shifts/days, and it's been a pain for all of us to have to keep adjusting). At this point, he will be on day shift through the end of the year once he's done with the training.

Like I said earlier, I am doing well. Just keeping up with housework and kids keeps me plenty busy, and I'm overwhelmed by all I want to accomplish before the baby comes. But I know I'll have to let some of that go. It will get done eventually. Our MOPS year is coming to a close (4 meetings left!), and the other coordinator is graciously doing everything she can to take the pressure off me. More of a concern to me is my high school 10-year reunion coming up in July, which I am doing much of the planning for. It is basically the last thing I want to deal with right now with this baby coming, but I will have to get going on it at some point. Eh...later:)

This video is actually pretty lame, but Bonnie says I should be posting more videos...so here you go, Bonnie! Also, the kids have been fighting like crazy lately, so I figure I should try to document any time they are actually getting along. This was just last week when it snowed, and they had been sitting watching it for a while before Steve got out the camera.

This will make you smile!

Travis is going through this thing where he runs when you're trying to take his picture. Stinker. So Steve pretended to be trying to take his picture but actually shot a video. The other one is of our very ticklish Jayna. We can actually get her laughing a lot harder, but this is still a pretty good example of how ticklish she is! There's nothing like a child's laughter to make you smile! Oh, and the pictures were taken right before his mood changed and he decided to run from the camera.

1st place

Travis has been attending Awana at our friends' church this year, and he absolutely loves it! It's amazing to me how the brain of a 3 year old is such a sponge...he is able to memorize verses much more easily than I would have thought. He is a "Cubbie", he adores his teachers, and he looks forward to it every week. What's also nice about it is that the church is only about 4 minutes from our house, and it creates a good weekly opportunity for Jayna to be alone with mom and dad. I remember us trying to decide at the beginning of the school year what our family would commit to/be involved in and what we would let go...I'm so glad we decided to have Travis do Awana!

A couple of weeks ago they held the "Awana Grand Prix", a pine derby-type race. We decided to make a car with Travis, but we didn't really care about making it fast. I just wanted him to be as involved as possible in making it. We chose to create a school bus for two reasons: 1)Travis loves school busses, and 2)it requires minimal cutting of the block of wood (Steve had to do that part, and we were in a time crunch). Then Travis painted it (he chose orange), and I bought/cut some felt for the windows as well as some little eyes for the front, all of which he glued on.

As we guessed, the school bus came in dead last in its heat. However, Travis did in fact win a trophy for 1st place in design! Oh yeah. (never mind that this very well could have been a decision made out of pity:) As you can imagine, Travis was thrilled!

Feed the birds

Last weekend, I took the kids and went with my sister Bonnie to visit another sister, Melanie, and her family, in Bellingham. I love Bellingham...I lived there until I was in the 4th grade, and there's still so much I remember about it. Every time I visit I think to myself, "I could live here again". Anyway, we went to one of the local parks to feed the seagulls. Travis loved it...Jayna just fed herself:) I tried scanning in a couple of pictures from when I was 4 and my mom had taken us to feed the birds, but it didn't work. Oh well. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Baby anticipation

I'm finally close enough now to the birth of this baby that it's starting to become real. We still have about 9 weeks left, but I know those will fly.

In some ways, this pregnancy has had a "been there, done that" kind of feeling...I know what to expect in terms of symptoms, emotions, etc. Because I've had Travis and Jayna to keep me busy, I sometimes even had to remind myself that I was pregnant! (this doesn't happen anymore...my physical body, along with a ton of baby movement, is a constant reminder:) Also, with the first there's obviously more anticipation and preparation, and with Jayna there was still a lot of that because we knew she was a girl and had that to look forward to and prepare for. On top of all that, I think other people have become kind of used to seeing me pregnant...it's just not as big a deal as the first or even the second one was (I'm TOTALLY not complaining or thinking anyone's reaction should be different...just observing that that's how it is).

My point is that I am now having fun trying to think of creative ways to celebrate the impending birth of this baby! I'm not buying any clothes at this point for baby - it makes more sense to wait until after baby is born and we know gender - but I did pick out a simple outfit for either gender for coming home from the hospital. Steve's been taking monthly pictures of my belly growth (which I'll post at some point toward the end), and I just finished crocheting a blanket (pics below).

In the next couple of months, we also plan to take the kids to Build-A-Bear so they can make a bear for the baby to bring to the hospital, and I just thought of the idea of having a little contest for all of you blog followers to guess baby's gender, arrival date, etc. (watch for it later!).

And sure enough, we are more excited all the time to meet this baby!

The family clothing closet

Can you tell which part of doing laundry I loathe? That's right...folding the clothes, and especially putting them away. Steve installed these shelves, which makes the folding part easier, but now the clothes just sit on the shelves until we need to wear them. But hey, they're clean!

I need to get past this mental block I have against putting clothes away...what is the chore that you dread the most?

Favorite Things Friday

My friend Tiffany started this "Favorite Things Friday" awhile ago on her blog, and now I'm joining the fun! A few of my favorite things...

1. Pregnancy. Aside from the first trimester, I love being pregnant!! I love watching my belly move, I love the excuse to nap, I love having our baby so close to me and dreaming about the little person this baby will grow to become, I love the anticipation of the baby's arrival and even giving birth, and I especially love feeling the gazillions of movements I feel every day. Sure, there are minor drawbacks (heartburn, and the fact that I already feel ENORMOUS), but the good far outweighs the bad. The hard part will be after the baby comes! In the meantime, I am really enjoying this pregnancy...and only 2 1/2 months left!

2. Steve's new work schedule. He is now (and through the end of 2009) on a 4-tens schedule, meaning we essentially have a 3-day weekend every single week (and even longer if he's on swing or graveyard). It seems like he's home so much more than he ever has been before, and I love having him around!

3. Cleaning kicks. Or is it nesting already? In any case, I have had the mad urge to declutter and clean this house up, which is a really good thing considering I have been on an anti-cleaning kick for a very long time. Like months. Cleaning is obviously not the most enjoyable task in the world, but it feels so good when it's done! There are several cleaning/organizing projects I'm actually looking forward to completing.