26 Week Pregnancy Update (and other happenings)

I'm completely bored with the questionnaire I've been doing thus far! So my update for this last week of my 2nd trimester (woot!) is that it's getting more difficult to move around and I'm crazy out of breath. My stomach muscles are shot so there's a lot of rolling to sit up and get out of bed. :) 

Instead of the questions, I'll include the baby's growth progress courtesy of What To Expect. I actually miss reading these each week religiously! ;)

Your Baby in Week 26 of Pregnancy

He now weighs a full two pounds and measures nine-plus inches. And this week, his eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open. Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if your baby spots a bright light (or hears a loud noise) near your belly, you may notice an increase in fetal activity. What accounts for that response? His brain is more developed and sophisticated.

Feel like you're carrying the Karate Kid with all the kicking going on? Your baby is actually practicing all kinds of movements that will eventually be used in life on the outside — including pedaling against your belly, a sort of prewalking skill. As your baby's nervous system becomes more developed, the movements will become much more coordinated. 

My favorite moment: One morning, Grayson just "got it." He whispered, "Mommy...brothers?" as he put his hand on my belly. Melt my heart! There were definitely tears. I don't have the heart to tell him that "brothers" is only "brother." He probably thinks he's getting a litter ;)

This was when we got home last night from a night out. Still awake but still so sweet!

Maybe he really is paying attention to his new book?! Each page walks Grayson through what he can expect with the new baby. Complete with a picture of Grayson and some other personalized fun! I love having this for him!

At 26 weeks, Baby is the size of a head of lettuce!

Other updates:
I fell! I'm clumsy but not usually a faller. I missed a step, fell on my hip, my stuff went flyng and hurt my ankle. I was worried for the baby for a second but with his crazy-frequent and intense movements (no complaints here!), he has put my mind at ease ever since. :)

Grayson's being sick for a whole week and half completely threw me for a loop! I had no idea how much I had taken for granted having a healthy kid. We went through 3 tough, exhausting phases: cough/congestion, vomit and finally, diarrhea. The second phase resulted in a professional carpet cleaning, the housekeeper doing an extra-thorough job and me doing 10,000 loads of laundry and disinfesting everything a hundred times! All calm is restored in our house - I never want to go through that again! I know I will but I'm a total expert now. Until the next time. 

Grayson's teacher is simply amazing. Seriously. She texted me these 2 pictures of G's classmates to let us know that he was missed!

The board says "We miss you Grayson!"

First day back at school after being sick so we had to get a treat after! He could finally have ice cream again!

What else? Oh, this happened....

100% moved into his big boy room! The sleep transition was the final part and, like his other sleeping milestones, seems to be going just fine. Fingers crossed he keeps it up!

 This also happened....

Who takes a toddler to buy a tuxedo? We do. Thankfully they had basketball. This is the saddest game of 1-man basketball I've ever seen. ;) He's holding his own hoop. Ha. Don't worry, I moved in and held it for him!

Oh, and this happened.....

Yes, REALLY. We were enjoying a lovely dinner around my parents' table Friday night with Andrea and Rogan in town when we heard a loud bang. Sure enough, someone hit my car and didn't stop. I have lots of un-Christian thoughts about this and am still not in a good place with it. Mainly the $500 burden they put on us without any regard or common courtesy. It would just never occur to Beau or me to not stop. This inspires me to make sure our children are taught to do the right thing as well!

And finally....

I made STELLAR chili! I can say that b/c for years you've heard me talk about (seen me write about?) how terrible I am at cooking. I went with my mom's "Amazing Chili" recipe that has about 715 ingredients (including things like molasses and cocoa - whu??) but it was truly amazing. Which is good since I was financially invested in it after that shopping trip - ha! Love you Mama! And yo chili.

Grayson's Room - Final Answer & The Making of a Nursery

I had such a difficult time typing the word "Final" there. Is a room every completely finished? Not for me but I thought I'd show it as close (and not to mention, as clean) as it's ever going to get. Here we go...

I found that the fan we already had in there kind of, sort of, almost, if you squint really hard looks nautical. The blades look like oars. Yes they do, squint harder.

Did I say that this room is final? Because that lonely lamp shade disagrees. I found this textured oatmeal lamp shade in a fun shop in downtown McKinney for 50% off and had to have it. Got it home and Beau said, "Oh nice, it matches the walls." I sense your sarcasm, Mr. Reynolds. Noted, not appreciated. We just can not find a base for it that we like but still searching.

 

I mentioned before that I happened to have this console piece in our garage that Beau was using for tool storage or something. I love that it goes with this room so well! We're converting it into Gray's dresser. I use present tense "converting" loosely as in, it's on the To Do List but rarely spoken of. ;)

I still need to get Beau to pull it out away from that wall and frame. 

My sweet, sweet sister had this bolster pillow custom made just for her nephew! Of course, I made her empty promises of other throw pillows being behind it. An important factor for a interior designer like her. And I still want to do those, Andrea! But a throw pillow in a boy room is just that. I mean, right?

The red matches his sheets!

I think I've already mentioned that Beau turned this anchor into a night light. I love it! I also love that the hull of the boat bed is a toy chest. We need all the storage we can get!

So that's about it! In all it's glory. Minus a lamp base, a couple of throw pillows and the one thing I want in there really, really badly but there is no more wall space: A nautical map of the Corpus Christi Bay. Le Sigh.

Want a sneak peak of the nursery plans? I am so, so happy with the way the paint turned out! Coincidentally, our friends Deran and Sarah gave Grayson a Brooks Brother teddy bear whose bow tie and trousers match this room perfectly! Yeaaaah so, Grayson gifted this bear to Walker and doesn't know it. 

OH! Should I mention here that Baby #2 will be named Walker Beau?! That makes the wall art above make a bit more sense, I guess. :) 

On my mind:

Black-out drapes! I didn't do black-out for Grayson but I won't make that mistake again.

Let's not pretend that his initials won't be everywhere! :) I want to do something like this over the dresser...

A pillow for the glider - with a "w" of course!

I have more up my sleeve. I'll update as it comes along! 

24 Week Pregnancy Update

Kisses for the ear of corn! Which at 24 weeks, is the size of Baby.

How far along? 24 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I've lost some with the recent virus that swept through this house. So +15; it was 20ish!
Maternity clothes? Ready to whip out my fall stuff! But we're back in the 80s. 
Stretch marks? No, still good. Thanks for asking. ALL THE TIME.

Sleep: We might as well have this baby here now b/c no one is sleeping anyway! With Grayson not feeling well, Brinkley's fear of thunderstorms, my frequent bathroom trips + the virus hitting me, not much sleep at all.

Best moment this week: Having Beau home early to take care of Grayson and me. It was a rough several days. Also, trying on my matron of honor dress for Andrea's wedding and it's to die for. Yes, for a maternity dress and it will fit perfectly. I just wish I could stay this size and not be a massive blimp on New Years Eve!
Movement: More movement recently than I think ever had with my first pregnancy. I can't believe it actually. 

Cravings: Nothing new; still sugary candy. My mouth watered when I saw a child pull out a piece of candy today. So lame.
Symptoms: Shortness of breath! I'm getting winded so quickly. I'm kind of tired these days too but that's due to lack of sleep I'm sure.
What I miss: Belts. I love all the Fall looks with belts. I'd be wearing mine if I didn't have a belly protruding from my rib cage!

What I am looking forward to: Getting more of the nursery put together! I have drapes in mind. And one of the walls is kind of complicated so I'm a little nervous about it.

Weekly Wisdom: I keep trying to cherish each day knowing that these are the easiest days of my life going forward! I really want to take advantage, especially before my the 3rd trimester when my energy will slow. I still have lots to do before the baby comes and things won't get any easier so I'm just trying to embrace that! :)

Milestones: I guess I'd say strong enough movement where my belly shifts and jolts! I always loved that the first time - happy to see it now!

And now, fun corn outtakes. This kid is such a ham! :)

My little charmer.

Anyone else think this face is a little freaky?

"Grayson, give me the corn please. Hand me the corn, Grayson. GIVE. ME. THE CORN."

Ooooover it!

Texas State Fair 2012

Well, this was our third consecutive year to head to the State Fair with Grayson - all the years of his life. :) This year was quite a treat as Andrea and Rogan were in town and we chose a day that Beau was home. The only downside was that my Mom was home sick :( We really missed her. My Dad is awesome and always picks up the valet charge, well and everything else. The Fair is expensive, dude! Especially if you play the games that Rogan and Beau are apparently weak to resist. As Rogan put it, "I have a thing for a shit talking carnie." Haha! And he proved that to be true. As far as food, we were pretty low key this year: Fletcher's corny dogs, funnel cake, cotton candy, fried frito pie (my favorite!), cinnamon roll, fried ribs and hamburgers all around. That's pretty innocent for 6 people in 6 hours!

The rest in pictures:

The Fair has wrist tags for your kids in case they get lost. Also a good idea: take a picture of your child exactly how they look that day in their outfit in case you have to get to that God-awful moment of searching. This was our picture and fortunately, it never came to that.

Grayson enamored by Pop with a machine gun

Ahhh, speaking of weakness. Beau can not pass  up a strength game. Of course he hit the thing hard enough to sound the bell and win a prize on his first try (you get 3). Even the guy running it was surprised and gave us 2 prizes instead of 1. I had to hear about this the rest of the day ;) 

Awww, they're so cute.

So serious

Aunt Andrea showing Gray all the games 

Strategizing at Speed Pitch

Chillin' with his new buddies ;)

Grayson beat Uncle Rogan! With his Dad's help.

We had an advantage with Rogan's height

Jeff was in on the action!

Sad face b/c we wouldn't put water in his gun

Down time

We always forget to pictures together!

A portion of our winnings. I don't want to know how much this $2 worth of prizes actually cost us in game play!

I was late to get this all on video b/c I never dreamed that Grayson would hit the 4 out of 4 balloons that you're supposed to for a prize. In fact, the carnie man let him play for free and only after he hit all 4, we felt obligated to pay for it. Ha! We were pretty excited ;) He didn't care about toys; he was just wanting to hit more balloons!

Winnings!

And lastly, we had to stop and get Grayson's portrait made for Year #3! The other 2 are here and here. :)

Recap for this week...

The weather is getting cooler here and that means Fall is upon us! We've had highs in the 50s this weekend, which has us dreaming of chili, hot chocolate and hot tea! Beau is probably Teavana's #1 customer (I kid) so lots of options for the new Keurig. Why didn't we get one of these a long time ago?!

Other happenings....

23 Week belly shot
I haven't done one of these in a while so here you have it. Oh! And these are the red jeans I mentioned last time! Red maternity jeans from Old Navy for $28. Not bad! And they're actually long enough. :)

Pairings for the Park
I mentioned that I'm on the Sponsorship Committee for Hope Park. Here's our next event on Oct. 18th. I'm getting excited for this wine pairing and hope to have a great turnout! I encourage all my Frisco friends to attend! :) I'm feeling the pressure of making this happen as well as the Christmas campaign for Pickets and Bricks. Here's the info for the wine event - it'll be fun!:

Tiff's 30th Birthday
Tiff may just be the very last of all of Beau's side of our friends to turn 30 - finally! Actually that's not true. There are 2 other couples but anyway it was fun being with the Phillips and Seemans and others at Benihana Friday night for her big milestone. Whit and Tiff also announced that they are expecting Baby #3 in May - woo hoo! Drinks all around! Except for Tiff and me :) 

We managed one picture after dinner when we went to pick up Gray from my parents' house. Shameful. 

Caldwell Oktoberfest
We went to Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Gayle's house last night for their first annual Oktoberfest in the Caldwell Biergarten. What a great party! We usually do family things over there so it was nice to see such a great turn out of all their friends and Aunt Gayle had quite the spread! I wish I had pictures of the beautiful set up. It was quite a party. But it's kinda weird to take pictures of someone else's set up just for my blog :)  Beau and I are really happy that Grayson didn't accompany us b/c it gave us a chance to talk with everyone. And for Beau to help deplete the keg of German beer ;) But 2 nights out without a child is quite the luxury. I openly admit that this is the easiest time of our lives going forward! 2013 will prove that to be true :)

 Halloween Arts & Crafts
Grayson and I had a fun Monday morning shopping the Target $1 shelf for some new crafts. They had so much stuff so we packed this jack-olantern pail full and it kept him occupied for the better part of Monday. He also got his first pair of scissors and was in heaven! Those go up immediately after craft time since he has other motives with them that involve my throw pillows!

We then found out that Grayson's buddy Emmie broke her femur over the weekend. :( She's in a cast and needs to stay in for quite some time so we headed back to Target to put together another Halloween arts & crafts pack! I can't imagine having a  2 1/2 y.o. that can't move for weeks. While Gray was in school, I took this along with some movies and snacks to Emmie and Kristi. Our friend Whitney was over too so we had some good girl time. Not to mention, Emmie was in the best of spirits - hope she keeps that up for her parents! :)

Hopefully Miss Emmie had as much fun with this as Grayson did.

The scissors were a big hit

 Halloween costume Fail - Part 1
We can go ahead and title this Part 1 of 3 since there will be more pathetic pictures to follow with our other costume efforts. ;) I bought Grayson 2 costumes at the consignment sale a while back (one for cold weather; one for hot since TX is so unpredictable.) BUT, a trip to Old Navy the other day produced this cute fish costume! It even has a tail - I love(d) it. Loved b/c I had to return it after Grayson hated it. I can use that word b/c he HATED it.

Other things Grayson was up to this week:

It was his first week of going to school all 3 days so we had more down time than usual around the house (and Mimi's house):

Relaxing

So cute how he sits like this :)

Making Jello with Mimi

Surprise trip to Dimples and eating the WHOLE thing.

Flirting with the girl next door.

Being a serious painter

He's wearing one of those lights that you wear around your head all while working
with his construction equipment. It was too funny!

There is so much I didn't get to but this post is already so long! Coming up this week - The State Fair as a family of 7 and TEXAS/OU! My sister and Rogan are coming in for the game and I'm on a desperate hunt for a babysitter in the DFW area who doesn't care about this game. Do they exist?! ;)