Valentine's Day

Ayden decorated a Valentine for both sets of grandparents for Valentine's Day. I cut out 2 big hearts on construction paper and let him paint, color, and pick out Thomas the Train stickers to put on them. Ayden has a short attention span when it comes to crafty stuff so it didn't last too long, but the grandparents liked them. Ayden and I also made cupcakes and took some to my parents when we went out to eat at the Brown Bottle with them the day before V-Day. Joel ended up eating almost all the rest of them. Don't blame it on the pregnant lady! It wasn't me this time :)
Grandpa and Grandma Wendling gave Ayden a Thomas the Train book that makes sounds, a cute Valentine's Day themed stuffed puppy, and some cars from the movie Cars. The cars kept him entertained while we were eating at the Brown Bottle. Aunt Angie gave him a Valentine's Day Little Critter book (he LOVES the Little Critter books). I ended up making him a Taggie blanket and we gave him some books. Joel slaved over the grill most of Sunday and made me BBQ ribs. My favorite! The funny thing is I had never really had ribs until about a year ago and now it's one of my favorites. Basically anything that Joel grills and is spicy is my favorite. Can't wait until it's nice out so we can grill out more! I also can't wait to celebrate Valentine's Day next year with all THREE of my boys!

Cuddling with the Taggie blanket I made him...

Reading his new Thomas book from Grandpa and Grandma Wendling.

34 Weeks!

I was 34 weeks on Friday and went in for my doctor's appointment. She said everything looks good. The baby is head down, but hasn't dropped yet. Although, I seem to be able to breathe a little easier lately so maybe he is deciding to slowly drop or maybe the horrible cold I had last week is finally completely gone. At my next appointment at 36 weeks I will be going every week! She will also start doing internal exams to see if I am dilating or not. Yikes! I remember when I went in for my 37 week appointment with Ayden I was already 3 cm dilated and the doctor said he would be born within a week! That's probably a good possibility again and I still have lots to do. Wow, this pregnancy has flown by. I also asked her about taking something stronger than Tums for the heartburn that I have all the time and have started taking Zantac every day. It's a miracle worker. I wish I had asked about it sooner, or that I had taken it when pregnant with Ayden too. Maybe that means I'm going to have another very hairy baby :) I have become a lot more tired than usual through. I can get 9 hours of sleep a night and still feel exhausted most of the day and need a nap even when I sleep in. I'm sure the next month will fly by and he will be here before we know it! I also asked her if it was normal that he isn't nearly as active as Ayden was, and she said not to compare pregnancies since every one is different. As long as he has his schedule of being active and I have no problem counting enough movements that it's normal. Hopefully that just means he's going to be a content baby :) I can always hope!

I came across one of the few pictures I took while I was pregnant with Ayden at 33 weeks and compared it to one I took a few weeks ago around 33 weeks. I think I look about the same except Ayden seems lower than the little guy is this time...

More Sewing Projects...

Here are some of the latest sewing projects I have made. My friend Amy gave me some fabric to make a nursing cover for her. It's really cute! I actually made one for myself a few weeks ago in almost the same fabric except it was brown and blue with circles.


I also made a fleece Sesame Street baby blanket by sewing it (the other side is red fleece) and then cutting fringe all around the edge.

Ayden loves Thomas the Train so I did the same thing as I did with the baby blanket only it's huge! I hope he still likes Thomas when he's a teenage :)

I found this material and it was so cute I had to get it. I just did the no-sew fleece tie blanket pattern for this one, I actually think sewing it and cutting fringe is faster and looks better, but I made this one before I figured that out :)

I only have enough fabric to make a few more small blankets, which I plan on trying to make as taggie blankets. Well, I did stop at Jo-Ann's in Des Moines last Saturday and meant to get one bottle of Fray-Check, but was on my way to the checkout and saw a bunch of cute John Deere fabric so I did pick up a really cute fabric to make one more flannel blanket... I have made so many blankets and nursing covers that I think it is time to move onto something new. What can I make now? Any ideas?

Ayden's Dance Moves

Ayden loves watching and dancing to the Thomas the Train song sing-a-long.



I'm not sure where he came up with this, but it always makes me laugh...

Ayden Reading with Bailey

Ayden reading a Tag Jr. book with Bailey...

Ayden thought Bailey needed some company so he put his stuffed Bailey dog in her kennel.


Bailey trying to cuddle with Ayden.




Buddies...

Playing with the Cousins

A few weekends ago we headed to Minneapolis for my niece Madison's 10th birthday party. We stayed at a hotel near the Mall of America for a few nights and walked around the mall Saturday morning before heading over to my brother's house for lunch. The kids (and Joel, my sister-in-law, and one of my brothers) went sledding Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, Ayden didn't get much sleep the night before so he needed to take a nap and didn't go. That night we had pizza and birthday cake, and then Madison opened up her presents.

Ayden loved the cake, and it must have had a lot of sugar in it because he was wired after that. He loved playing with his older cousins. They were tossing a ball around and Ayden was trying to get it from them if it wasn't his turn. He also loved running around and wrestling with them. After checking out of our hotel and stopping by for breakfast the next morning, we made our way back home.

32 Weeks!

(Last week at 31 weeks)

I'm 32 weeks today! Only 8 more until I am due! Yikes! I feel like last time I was much more organized and ready for a baby to arrive than I am this time around. I also have no idea how I am going to keep the house picked up and clean all the time with a toddler and a newborn since we have it on the market for sale. I have been making many of lists of things that I need to get done in the next month or so. I love lists!

I had my 32 week doctors appointment today, and it went well. I still have not gained any weight in the past month and only 2 pounds since Thanksgiving, which she seemed a little concerned about until she measured my stomach and the baby is measuring at 35 weeks along. Overall, I have only gained 15-20 pounds total which is much less than what I gained with Ayden. She really didn't have an explanation, but said that he will probably be a bigger baby at full-term (8-8.5 pounds), and Ayden was 2 weeks early and weighed 7 pounds 11 oz. She said that's good for me since I won't have much baby weight to lose. YEAH! She said it's great that I am still walking 2 miles on the treadmill most days and that I can keep it up as long as I am still feeling good. She also said it would be possible to induce me around 39 weeks if I am dilated and if it looks like the baby will be coming soon anyway, since I live 40 minutes away from the hospital, just to put my mind at ease.

I'm feeling pretty good. More tired than usual and more heartburn than before, and I feel like I constantly have to pee, but other than that just the normal pregnancy complaints. Ayden came with me to my appointment for the first time since we had a playdate to go to afterwards and he was such a good boy! I'm so proud of him. He sat quietly and looked at some books. He's going to be such a great big brother!