9 months

Since we last checked in, not much has changed.  I'm slightly more miserable, as to be expected.  Gunnar is getting more and more excited for baby brother.  He likes to give him kisses, and says "I love you".  Although I think he is becoming more and more aware that there will eventually be an end to baby brother's existence in my belly.  When we talk about baby brother coming, he now gets very concerned, and responds with, "Mommy I don't want you to break".

Yeah, me neither kid!  But seriously, isn't that sweet?  I love that little man.

And here we are, in our latest (and hopefully last) photo shoot:

Also, you may notice our sign says 9 months, and no, today is not my due date.  I still have a long 4 weeks to go.  How does that work you ask?  Well, because it's a dirty rotten lie when they tell you you're pregnant for 9 months.  You're pregnant for 40 weeks, which works out to be 10 months.  It was probably a man that came up with the "9 month" gestational standard.

This past month was also exciting because Gunnar started swimming lessons!  He goes twice a week, and he absolutely loves it.  He's very good at floating on his back, and kicking with his kick board.  He also "duck dives" under the water to get toys that are on the bottom… very impressive!  We got him a pair of goggles, but he prefers to go "au naturel".    

Which brings me to the next fun thing… He also started French lessons!  His school offers them on a day of the week he doesn't usually go, but we are still invited to attend the lesson.  It's especially fun for me because I get to see him in "school mode" where he sits with his legs crossed, hands in his lap, and actually pays attention!  The teacher sings a song about the French flag at every class, and he's remembered it and sings it on our walk all the way to and from the lesson.  He knows some colors, and numbers, and the difference between petit and grand.  We are working on animals, and she talks about a new one in every lesson.  As a self-proclaimed francophile, who took French for 10 years, it makes my heart melt!

8 months

So this past weekend we hit the 8 month mark.  It was an exciting month, full of mini holidays to make Gunnar feel special.  We took him to the zoo, to see a new exhibit, with one of his new favorite animals, the alligator snapping turtle (thanks to his new favorite show - Turtle Man).  We also went down to Gold Coast for the very first time.  And although it was quite rainy, we still managed to get a little beach time.  And then it was on to Wet 'n Wild water park.  We spent two, soaking wet days there, and Gunnar loved every minute of it.  By the time we were finished, he had lost any fear of the water he may have previously had.  He was going down every slide, by himself, standing under high pressure showers, putting his head under water to swim under "obstacles", and running into the wave pool to get pulled around by the waves.  While I wasn't a fan of being in a bathing suit at my size, it was all worth it to see the joy on his face.  Our tickets are good until the end of February, so I think we may have to take another trip down there.

We also took Gunnar on his first camping trip, which included his first real lessons in fishing.  He even caught the first fish of the trip!  And he caught 2 in all, and if you ask him how big they were, he'll throw his arms out as wide as they can go.  Typical fisherman.  We also got to see lots of wild kangaroos.  And since we went over the 2 hottest days this summer, there were lots of them jumping into the lake to cool off!

This month also marked an achievement for Patrick.  When I was pregnant with Gunnar, he deployed when I was 30 weeks and 4 days.  And it's nice to have passed that mark and still have him around.  I honored the momentous occasion by making my one and only ridiculous pregnancy request when I hit 30 weeks and 5 days.  It was about 7:30 at night, Gunnar was asleep, and I suddenly needed a banana smoothie.  Where we live, things tend to shut down around 5, so the time in and of itself was a challenge.  But I remembered a cafe down the road that made smoothies, and they were also open late for dinner.  So I asked Pat if he would go get me, not 1, but 2.  When he got home, I asked if he told them it was for his crazy, pregnant wife.  He said he most definitely did.  Who cares, because they were delicious!  Thank you, honey.  But I'm pretty sure if you can get out of 2 pregnancies with only that 1 silly request, you're doing alright!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least… Gunnar start Junior Kindy.  And he started scooting to school.

7 months

Another month down, another round of belly photos.  Now that I'm huge, I'm getting quite picky about the pictures that Patrick takes.  He's not that fond of me getting him out of bed before he's ready to take several rounds of photos.  A hormonal, pregnant lady, and a crazy, rambunctious toddler… we don't exactly make for the best models.  Oh well.  I must say though, because of my picky-ness, this month's lot didn't turn out too bad.

As you can see, I tried to keep it limited to 3 every month, but there were too many cute ones this month.  In particular, the last 2.  I asked Gunnar for a hug, and then he took it upon himself to "kiss baby bwoddah", and Patrick caught it all on camera.

See you next month!

6 months

Today marks 24 weeks on Little Roo's pregnancy calendar, and that means a new belly photo with my big boy.

I'm not a huge fan of this month's photo… But it's not really about me, is it?  :)

I feel like I'm as big as a house, and I recently got a hair cut that I'm not really liking either.  And if it looks like I'm tired, it's because I am.  Patrick was away all week, and being a single parent is beyond exhausting.  Especially being a single parent of a toddler, and simultaneously growing another human.  Anyone who has a 3 year old feel like they're stuck on a roller coaster?  The highest of sweet and loving highs, and the lowest, most stubborn and whiny lows.   

All that aside, I spent the week moving furniture in and out of Gunnar's room (twice), and organizing all his toys (twice), and giving everything in his room a very deep clean.  We're talking scrubbing walls, and furniture, and even washing the mattress!

Now I think it's time to join my little man in a nap.  Until next month… 

a new little roo

We are delighted to announce that we are expecting a new little family member to join us sometime at the end of March.

I knew that considering our current location, we had to do something very Aussie to announce this little bub, so this is what we came up with:

And shortly thereafter we found out…

It's not hard to see a common theme in our announcements:  Gunnar.  I'm so worried my little mama's boy is going to feel left out, I'm trying to include him in as much as we can.  Plus, he's pretty photogenic, so it works out.  It's the dog situation of 2011 all over again!  If you recall, I was quite hesitant to leave Jack and Win when my water broke … it took me an hour to say goodbye!  And I'm sure if they were here down under with us, they would have a prominent spot in all announcements as well.  

I'm trying so hard to get Gunnar to think this is a good thing, that I've even been taking monthly belly photos that I'm willing to share with the world.  That's pretty big (the sentiment, and the belly).  It's working I think, because Gunnar already says he loves the baby, and gives him kisses, and has had input with names (so far he's come up with Baby Cow).

So, every month, Gunnar and Mommy decorate a sign and take our special picture.  They were originally going to be weekly, but then morning sickness really kicked in (which turned out to be hyperemesis gravidarum) and I couldn't manage to take any photos for a few months.  So I decided to scrap the weekly thing, and go for monthly.  

3 1/2 months | 14 weeks

4 months | 16 weeks
(also the day the Orioles played game 1 of the ALCS)

5 months | 20 weeks

Stay tuned for more on our little roo!

celebrity mom

I have the same exact car seat as Jessica Alba.  How cool am I?

Thanks to US Weekly for the photo.  That's all.

hello due date

The day has finally come.  And I knew I should have gone with my instincts and kept telling myself the due date of the 17th (like I had been told after the first ultrasound).  But those darn doctors and check ups got my hopes up and I caved.  I decided to listen to them, and I mentally changed the date to the one they were telling me.  Today.  Now here I am, just waiting, waiting, waiting... For any sign that labor is near.  And let me tell you:  it does not look good for me.

I was actually hopeful that things would get moving last night, with the full moon and all.  So I did all of my last minute errands just in case.  And hey, did you know that having a baby is like having the plague?  Every place I went, someone asked when I was due, and when I responded with "tomorrow" they were incredibly quick to get me moving along and out of where they might be responsible for a laboring woman.  The guy at CVS even said "you need to get out of here" and turned me in the direction of the door!  Pretty funny...

As for today, I started off the day with a brisk mile walk with each of the dogs.  That's two miles, count 'em.  I am so paying for it now in the form of lower back pain.  But still no contractions!  Lucky me, right?  Wrong!   For the rest of the day I will be drinking pineapple juice and red raspberry tea.  No spicy food for me though, OW!  I get heartburn just thinking about it (seriously, I just did).

But, I have decided that even if little man decides not to come today, I will survive.  Simply because of the fact that I have the greatest husband in the world.  Please just take a look at what arrived for me today:

No, not the dog, or the books.  The beautiful flowers in the adorable basket!  Complete with a wonderful card that made me sob.  So, you see why if nothing happens on the baby front today, my day is complete because of this oh so very kind gesture.  I love you husband!

We'll see what the rest of the day holds...!

a post without dogs?

Just wanted to share two things... one:  despite my lack of blogging, I still have not had this baby.  And two:  this picture of Patrick and some of his guys after he was promoted!

I am a very proud wife :)

And today is officially 9 weeks into this deployment (and 4 days from Jr's due date).  The first would go by a lot faster if the second would hurry up and get here!

oh september

Well I can finally say I am due this month!  Hooray!  Another finally is that Patrick has officially been promoted to Captain!  It has only been a year and a half of waiting after he was selected.  And I did have to miss it again (the last time he was promoted was back in 2009 - his year in Iraq) but he promised that there are pictures.  And today marks 10 days before I can officially be mad at this kid for not being here yet.  This week also capped a full 8 weeks of kicking this deployment's butt.

I apologize for the lack of energy put into this post, but it seriously took all I had to even form sentences for you to read.  I just don't feel like trying to be cute, or witty, or anything other then blunt.  Basically just trying to get the latest news out there, keep you updated.  And, so you don't think my absence is because of something fantastic like being in the hospital or anything.  Oh no, that would be just TOO lucky.  If you're curious about how things are going... I won't go into details but let's just say that most women are already in the hospital and getting epidurals when they are at the point where I am now (if not earlier).  

In the meantime, look at how cute my dogs are:

They just love laying in the nursery.  I know they can't possibly know what's coming to fill this room, and I hope they aren't too devastated by having to share my attention.  I just love them so much!  While I am excited and ready to meet this little one, I am kind of sad that our little world is coming to an end.  The world where it was just Patrick, me and the pups.  A lot of the time it was just me and the boys.  There was Patrick's first deployment (10 months) and every day he was hard at work on base and I had no one but the boys to talk to.  They have been with me through a lot.  They really are my first babies, and we will continue to share moments in the years to come.

Hopefully they will learn to love little man as much as they love us, and vice versa.  I do know one thing... they certainly won't be losing their spots next to me in bed!  They are the best snugglers, and right now they are calling my name to do just that.

Again, my apologies again for the boring blah post.  I don't even know if any of it makes sense.  I feel like I've got a stream of consciousness type of thing going on here...

thank you

I would just like to say thank you to the overly cautious Dr. I saw today.  He was concerned that I was measuring small, so guess what... he ordered an ultrasound!  The only other ones I have had were at 8 weeks (tiny spec) and well you know how the 18 week one went...  Anyways, I was more excited then concerned.

I got to see little man, and I am finally reassured that he is in fact human.  Got lots of good profile shots, and this new Dr's office even gave me a sneak peek of the 3D view.  Although, honestly, I could've done without that.  It kinda creeps me out.  Regardless, it was fun watching him!  He kept opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out.  So funny!  We also definitely confirmed that he is in fact all boy.

Turns out little man is just perfect!  All his measurements were right on track with his due date of Sept. 13.  The tech also informed me that he is currently weighing in at 7 lbs (apparently only the 50th percentile - sounds more like 90th to me).  It makes me feel better about my weight gain (the more he weighs the less I have to lose later right?), but it makes me really nervous for him to go the full 40 weeks.  I am currently taking any and all advice on how to induce labor...  Let the spicy food eating and daily dog walking commence.  This kid needs to come early!  We both need to be done being huge.

For now I will leave you with this photo of Winston trying out the little guy's newest (adorable) hat:

See, Jack isn't the only one who gets to have all the fun!

nursery rhymes

As baby's arrival draws nearer, I can't believe how prepared I am.  There isn't much left for me to do except wait.  The crib is all set up, and it's pretty adorable if I do say so myself.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the bedding (a la Pottery Barn Kids - a mixture of collections).   

 Stars & Stripes

And my Aunt Pegi made this beautiful blanket!

The dogs love play time in the nursery, the crib skirt provides a nice hiding spot for Jack...

Especially when Winston comes looking for him :)

And his little bookcase is all set and ready for play time too.  He's got loads of books and totes (also thanks to PBK) full of toys, blankets and stuffies.

This half of the room still needs a little work, but Winston is thankfully blocking most of the mess!

Not nursery related, but my stroller arrived the other day!  I spent so much time researching, because I only wanted one stroller, and I am determined to continue my half marathon training on the other side of pregnancy, so an all-terrain jogger was my go to.  This one is a Bumbleride, and I love it already.  It came with all the accessories we would need to purchase separately with other strollers (like a car seat adapter bar) and it has ample basket storage that is accessible even when the seat is laying flat.  So much other fun stuff too.  A special shout out to my husband for letting him talk me into this one :)

Of course, Jack had to test it out and give it the 'okay' before his little brother gets here.