30.1 weeks with Carter v. 29 weeks with Ethan

Here is a picture from 29 weeks pregnant with Ethan. 

And since I didn't post a picture yesterday for 30 weeks with Carter, I decided to take one this morning. Here I am pregnant with baby Carter at 30.1 weeks.

 

30 Weeks

Baby Carter and I are 30 weeks along today!  Just 70 days to go until due date time!! 

Over the past weekend I washed all of Ethan's old baby clothes along with some new items and put them away in drawers for Carter.  I think he should be pretty set on clothes!  I am so glad that we saved all of Ethan's old stuff!  I also bought a new crib sheet for Carter and new bed sheets for Ethan.  Wanted to make sure the boys had the same theme going on. 

At my last doctors appointment I was told that everything was still looking good.  Blood pressure was 120/80, weight went up just a couple pounds, and now I will be visiting the doctor every TWO weeks!  That was the point where Cory and I looked at each other and said WOW, this is going fast! 

Just 70 more days!!!

A Big Step

Yesterday I took a really big step in life.  Now to some of you this may not seem like a big step, but to me it was huge.  I never in my life thought that I would own a minivan... much less get excited about a minivan... and really want to buy a minivan... brand new!  I have never owned a brand new vehicle before and for the vehicle to be a minivan.... is HUGE!  I am a 100% mom.  It is official.  I love that part.  No doubt about it.  And as a mom my top priority is my family which includes being able to fit them in a vehicle that is safe, reliable, comfortable, and convenient for the family.  I have been looking at sedans, SUVs, crossovers with third row seats, and finally minivans over the past couple weeks.  I have been driving myself and my friends and family crazy while trying to make this decision.  I had my heart set on a sporty looking crossover with a third row.  I was ready to go to the store and buy it.  I had put the world of minivans aside and wrote off the idea of ever owning one.  THEN... Cory and I spent a day test driving... and we quickly realized how non-realistic a crossover with third row seating truly was.  There would be seriously no way for Mariah and friends to get to the third row seating once we would put two car seats in the second row.  Actually... there was one way... they would have to climb through the back hatch/trunk area, fold forward one seat, sit on each other's laps until they get the second seat back in to position, and then take their seating space.  This may have been funny for a time or two, but it would have gotten old quickly. 

So, Cory and I started driving minivans.  I have to admit... I quickly realized how glorious these odd looking vehicles really are.  There are no blind spots.  The features are amazing.  The interior is spacious and comfortable.  The storage space is abundant.  The gas mileage is great.  AND the fact that I was buying one BRAND NEW meant that the warranty was fabulous.  I seriously couldn't go wrong with the decision to buy a minivan.  Why had I been in denial for so long?!  These things are like mini living rooms on wheels.  Now I didn't get the features of the leather seats, dvd player, or sunroof... but I got power sliding doors to easily let the kids in the vehicle!  As a mom my hands are always full and soon I'll be carrying an infant car seat along with everything else.  All I have to do is press a button as I am walking to my minivan and BAM the door slides open!  I also now have blue tooth which means no more searching for my phone.  I just press a button on the steering wheel and talk to whomever is calling me.  Talk about safety!  The other awesome new features are the back up camera that appears in my review mirror showing me exactly what is behind my vehicle as I am backing up.  It also has little sensors that beep and tell me if I am getting to close to something. 

While I may have given up some wonderful features in my SUV like power seats, heated leather, temperature gage for outside, sunroof, and a gage that tells me my average miles per gallon... I did acquire a lot of safety features on the minivan that in the long run will be much better features to have in a family vehicle. 

So, what did I get??  I got the 2011 KIA Sedona.  AND since I bought it brand new I got to pick the color!  I have never in my life owned a brand new vehicle until yesterday.  I always wanted a black vehicle with tan interior so that is exactly what I got and I LOVE IT!  Oh and did I mention the 7 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty along with never having to pay for getting my tires rotated, oil and filters changed, and 105 point inspections until the vehicle reaches 105,000 miles?!  All of this is included!  NOW I know why people buy new instead of used.  I am actually feeling a bit spoiled with my new minivan.  :-) 

Happy 33rd birthday to me! 

 Ethan's favorite spot - sorry the picture is a little blurry... he would not hold still.

 Good Bye Trailblazer.  You were a great vehicle and will be missed. 

By the way... in 7 years for my 40th birthday... I am buying a sports car. ;-)

Weeks 28 and 29 = Start of 3rd Trimester

I am combining my posts for weeks 28 and 29.  I never quite got around to posting last week and honestly I really was in no mood to take a picture of myself.  Just one of those weeks I guess. 

Baby Carter and I are still doing really well.  He's growing, I am growing, and my ability to eat large meals or even medium sized meals is quickly leaving.  Carter is a stretcher... he likes to press on my bladder and sit on my lungs at the same time.  I quickly run out of breath and can't lean back much at all.  If I lean back I start to get light headed, have trouble breathing, and quickly need to sit forward.  He wants to make sure that I am always fully aware of his presence.  I am a bit afraid of these next 11 weeks.  There are days now where I am already very uncomfortable and I know that baby Carter and I still have much more growing to do.  I just pray that he is good to me and doesn't make me too uncomfortable.  The part that keeps me sane is knowing how worth it will be in the end when I get to hold the little munchkin in my arms.  Ahhh :-)

A new thing for me with this pregnancy is swelling.  I have never had any swelling issues in the past during my pregnancies... but I think this one is going to be different.  Last night I had a hard time getting my ring off before bed.  I also had stiff hands and feet and noticed a line on my ankles from my socks.  Oh boy.... getting a little nervous... 78 more days... just one day at a time...

Here is a picture from 28 weeks and 6 days. 

Ethan's 1st SALON haircut!

I took Ethan to a salon on Saturday for the VERY FIRST TIME.  Up until this point I have been cutting his hair myself.  He usually sits "ok" for me, but my clippers are getting old, my joy for doing hair left a long time ago, and I was ready to give someone else the responsibility of making my little man look handsome.  

I wasn't sure how Ethan would sit for someone at a salon, but to my surprise he did amazing!  He flirted with the stylist (and all the other stylists around him).  He had everyone smiling and giggling with him.  He was such a little ham and I think he enjoyed every minute of the haircut!  The stylist did a great job on his hair.  We will definitely be going back to see her again in a couple weeks.  

 Now if I could just talk Cory in to going to a salon...

SPRING!

We had an amazing weekend!  The weather was absolutely beautiful and we got to spend a lot of much needed time outdoors!  We celebrated Easter on Saturday and had a wonderful Easter egg hunt with the kids.  This is the first year in a long time that we could stand outside during the egg hunt and not freeze!  Amazing!  Then we had 80+ degree temps on Sunday!  We did some landscaping, put up the dog kennel, fixed the garage door opener, and opened up the house.  The fresh air and nice breeze through the house was long overdue. 

Ethan posing for his Easter picture.

Charlotte and Ethan

Charlotte and Ethan

 Alannah, Ethan, and Leah

Mariah, Alannah, and Leah 

The dogs in their KENNEL!  

 Ethan teasing Mongo

Ethan pretending to throw a rock at me... boys.  

We also spent some nice time with friends this weekend.  On Friday night we watched our friend's little guy, Liam, while his parents and older brother went to see the movie HOP.  Liam and Ethan had a great time together and managed to dump out every toy in the living room closet within about 5 minutes. 

Little drummer boys

On Saturday Ethan went to swim class where he and Lucas continue to do better week by week.  Miranda and I will be signing the boys up again for the next session.  It's great friend chat time and also a great experience for Ethan and Lucas. 

After swim class, Miranda and family came over and Miranda took some great pictures of Mariah.  She also snuck in a couple family pictures for us!  They turned out amazing!  Now I have to pick my favorite and have it printed to include in Mariah's confirmation invitations.  I have no idea how I will ever choose just one.

27 Weeks

Just 3 months left!  3 Calendar months from today!  Yippy!!!

I passed my glucose screening last week and my blood counts were perfect.  Everything is moving along really well.  My belly is growing like crazy and baby Carter's kicks are getting a lot stronger. 

I have gained about 18 pounds so far.  I have been in major nesting mode lately according to Cory.  I keep telling him that I am always like this, but he says its been worse lately.  I think he is praying for nicer weather so he can put me outside.  ;-) 

Here we are at 27 weeks.

Little Bit of This... Little Bit of That

This was another busy and fast weekend.  We took on a couple projects this weekend.  The main project was giving Mariah's closet a make-over.  A couple years ago we put shelves and some metal clothing poles in her closet to give her lots of storage room.  She had a lot of baskets and things to keep on shelves and wasn't in to clothes the way she is now.  Well for the past year or longer this set up has not been working for her.  So we went to Menards and bought all new shelving.  The nicest thing about this shelving is that it's adjustable and can change with her needs! 

Step 1: Cory and Mariah removing the old shelving.

 Step 2: The bare closet.

 Step 3: The new shelving system!

There is another shelf up higher but you cannot see it from this picture.

 Another project we tackled was clearing out the play room and making it a workout/playroom.  Cory bought an elliptical so now we have "his and hers" for working out together in the mornings.  These machines are huge and were no longer allowed in the downstairs family room.  So I had Cory move them to the playroom.  I think they look really nice in here.  We also bought some more bins for the kids toys and got rid of some old stuff. 

 Here is a little glimpse of Ethan at swim lessons.  He only has two more weeks left.  In this picture he is learning to float on his back.  Yes.. his eyes are closed. 

 Another one of Ethan's favorite times... story time!

 And finally... a nice way to end my weekend blog post... a picture of our furbabies. 

This is how they relax on the weekend.  LOL 

Do they look comfortable?!