Another Dr. Appointment

I had another doctor appointment today. Colin weighs 1lb 6oz and looks great. They wanted to get a good picture of his face today to check for a cleft lip and there was no sign of anything abnormal, he has a perfect smile :-) They also measured his belly (which measures two weeks bigger than the rest of his body), head and legs and he's right on track for his growth and my amniotic fluid levels were also right where they were supposed to be. Today he was laying sideways in my belly with his head on my right side and his feet on my left side. My blood pressure was great and I'm scheduled for my next visit on May 26th at which point I will almost be 3/4 of the way through this pregnancy (CRAZY!)

I'm definitely starting to feel more pregnant. I have a little waddle some days and I feel sore from head to toe at the end of the day. Last night I was really pooped and Jason asked if I had forgotten about all of the discomfort and I guess I kind of did but it's just so different this time around. By this point in my pregnancy with Ashley I was bound to the couch or bed all day and night which is very different from my current situation. I have Ashley to run after and usually another 2 kids to care for and on Fridays I have 4 kids under four while being pregnant and at the end of the day I'm tired but it actually doesn't seem too hard while I'm doing it. It's funny because I find myself wondering how I'm going to take care of two of my own kids, especially when Colin is brand new, but then I remind myself about Fridays. I figure if I can take care of 3 toddlers, an infant and be pregnant I should find a way to master two kids of my own. I guess I'm just a little nervous about being so sleep deprived in the beginning, I feel lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep right now but the sleep deprivation that comes with a newborn is in a class of its own (I guess I'm just keeping my fingers crossed he'll be just like Ash and sleep through the night after 3 week).

Friday Recap

Yesterday was a fun day, I was watching Cody, Maddy and her 4 month old brother Brody. I think Brody is going to be great for Ashley to get used to babies again. He's good practice for me too, I forgot all about spit up and was quickly reminded yesterday :-) Ashley was really interested in everything I did with Brody from burping him, swaddling him and she really wanted me to sing to him A LOT! It was also fun having a little girl to play with Ashley, she has been in a boys world for so long now.

We are watching Pete and Sandy's dog, Maddy, this week too. When Ash and I were almost done making dinner she went to the bathroom and while she was going to shut the door Maddy pawed at the door making the door handle head straight for Ashley's mouth, luckily it just gave her a fat lip instead of breaking her teeth. As soon as those tears were wiped up Ash went to get into her high chair and went flying because she slipped on the floor from some water Maddy splashed out of her water bowl. This morning I learned Ashley holds no grudges. When she woke up I looked at her lip and when I was done she went straight to Maddy to tell her this, "It's ok Mads, sometimes little girls bonk their lips and their bums but it was just an accident and I'm a tough girl. GRRRR see my muscles, I'm strong!"

Last night we were watching TV and Ash saw a Ford car commercial, her face lit up. I was expecting a comment about the music and she blurted this out, "Mom, Dad I totally need that car. It is the most beautiful car, I've never seen anything like it! I totally need that car!" WOW! Where does she get this stuff from? How did she turn into a valley girl without me "totally" knowing it? It's entertaining but it makes me a little nervous for her teenage years.

About 20 minutes after our 3 year old sounded like a teenager she asked me to swaddle her LOL! I laughed and thought it was too funny not to try it. We found the biggest blanket we could and I wrapped her up nice and tight. Ashley thought it was fun and asked me to sing her a song so I picked up my taquito of a child, sat on the couch and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Has your swaddled child ever told you that you were singing the song wrong? Mine did last night, apparently I was singing the wrong verse and I wasn't emphasizing certain words enough. After my singing lesson with maestro Ashley I think the claustrophobia hit her and she wanted OUT of that blanket.

Thoughtful Questions

This morning Ashley woke up early and there was no hope of coaxing her back to sleep so we were up and ready for the day nice and early. (Hasn't she learned this is a sleeping in day because I don't babysit??) After cuddling with her for a few minutes I figured we might as well take advantage of being up early and go for a walk before it gets to hot. While we were getting ready I remembered we had a coupon for free drinks and bagels at our local coffee house which was even better because I didn't have to think about breakfast and it would be a treat for both of us.

Once we settled in to some cushy chairs and started enjoying our breakfast I could tell Ash had a serious question brewing or was doing some intense people watching. Then, mid milk sip, she looked up at the sky then looked at me and said, "Mom, where does Colin go potty?" I just started to laugh and told her babies in mommy's bellies don't really go potty like big girls. She shut me down with laughter and said, "Yes they do silly! So, (long pause) does Colin poop in his pants?" I almost choked on my drink with that question. I then explained to her that babies don't wear clothes and they go naked buns in their mommy's belly. That called for a really long pause (about 3 minutes) and then she was ready to respond, "Well, we better get that Colin some pants so he doesn't have to be naked buns all the time." From the look on her face I was surprised she didn't demand that we go to a store to get him pants right then, my modest girl was seriously concerned about everyone seeing her beloved brother's bum.

First Day at Old Man's 2009

After a yucky week filled with boogers, coughs and children's tylenol Ashley was feeling better and I some how escaped the germs. We had a relaxing Saturday and just ran a few errands and it was pretty warm but it was supposed to be even hotter on Sunday. Jas and I decided we'd make our first family trip to Old Man's Beach as long as Ash was feeling fine.

If you don't know already I'm addicted to lists. I make lists for anything and everything. Once I was pregnant with Ashley I felt like all of the juices my brain needed to remember things were sucked dry so lists were my only hope of having a productive day. So, as soon as we decided we were going I started my lists, we had a toy list, food list, clothing list, etc. After doing everything on those lists we were ready for bed and I was not looking forward to waking up at 5:15am so we could leave the house at 6. I think my sister was dreading it even more than I was because she had a 20 minute drive from Tustin to get to our house and we warned her if she wasn't there at 6 we were going to be gone. Amazingly enough, Erin showed up early- REALLY EARLY and we were only running 4 minutes behind.

As we drove towards the beach I was so happy, I had my family and it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and we didn't even have any fog. Once we got there we found a great spot to set up everything and before I knew it Jason was out surfing. I went down to the water to take pictures of Jas and Erin and Ashley came down to greet me with a "surprise". Ashley had caught a lady bug (lovingly named Mr. Ladybug) and was so excited to show it to me. While we played with the lady bug and collected rocks we could feel the sun come over the ridge and start to warm our backs, it was more than welcome since we were all in shorts and it was about 60 degrees. Once Jason got out of the water we all hung out, Erin took a nap face first into her towel, Jason slept in the back of his truck and Ashley built sand castles for me.

Once the naps were over Jason was ready to surf again and this time Ashley wanted to go with me to watch. We didn't really do much watching but had fun collecting shells, Ash is not a fan of shells that still have creatures dwelling in them, she was quite startled when a snail popped out of one. When Jason came back in Ashley begged to go out with him on her surfboard. Jason was so excited and I was too but I have to admit there was a little tiny bit in my stomach that was a little nervous. As I watched my husband walk in the sand with a surfboard in one arm and our girl in the other my heart just melted- how could it not? I was expecting serious hesitation from Ashley since the water was only 57 degrees but she didn't think twice about it. At this point it was low tide so they had to go out quite a bit to even get knee deep in the water but I think that made Ashley feel even more grown up because I was quickly getting further and further away when she looked back at me. I stood with my camera with the huge lens and tried my best to balance on rocks (very difficult when you're pregnant, probably a lovely site for those on shore too). I was determined to get some pictures for both of them to enjoy and luckily Ashley's face was full of giggles and smiles and Jason just looked at her with so much joy and love- I know he was so incredibly happy to share that time with her, he's waited 4 long years to do this and it finally was happening! I have to admit my eyes were a little misty while I snapped away because I was just so happy for both of them.

After about 30 minutes in the water Jason started to paddle back towards me and when they got close Ashley realized what was going on and almost started to cry saying, "Daddy I don't want to go to the beach, I want to surf" (I think those words made Jason's year). So they quickly made a U-turn and didn't come back in for another 15 or 20 minutes and this time Ashley helped Jason paddle in- too cute! The three of us walked back to our stuff, Ash and Jas were exhausted and my finger was tired from taking 530 pictures of their first surfing session (I'm a little embarrassed about that but it had to be properly documented, right?)

After all the surfing Ash and Jas took a nap in the back of his truck while I roasted in the sun with Erin. When Jason woke up it was around 2:30 and it was SO hot. We were all kind of silent and eventually we all looked at each other with these eyes that said, "Please take me home and get me out of the heat!" We read each other's minds and started packing up everything in record time. Ashley of course slept through it all and continued to nap at home until 5pm. I'd have to say this was one of the most memorable days at the beach for me and I'm sure it will be something Jason and Ashley will always remember. (Sorry there are a ton pictures but I've really edited them down from the 654 I took that day).

Our Easter Day

The Easter Bunny made a stop at our house and left a trail of eggs and prizes for Ashley. The morning started early (around 6:30) so she wasn't very excited. She hung out in our bed for a few minutes watching a cartoon while Jas and I started getting ready. As soon as I told her the Easter Bunny paid her a visit she had a huge smile.

Not so happy to be awake


Mentioning easter eggs brought out a smile


A big Easter hug for daddy


She searched high and low for eggs in the house and found some fun prizes to enjoy this summer.




Ash is not a huge fan of Daddy's abilities to play the recorder



Who would have thought twisty straws would bring so much joy to a little girl



After we were all ready we headed to Easter church, it was a great service and Ashley loved Sunday School as usual.

On a side note, Easter happens to bring out the OCD in our little girl. When I told her about the easter eggs she started climbing out of our bed and noticed that the jewelry box on my night stand was slightly ajar and had to fix it for me and move it to just the right spot on the night stand. Later that moring, when we were waiting to drop her off at sunday school she commented that the classroom windows and doors had lots of fingerprints and her face expressed great concern and a little disgust with the situation. I'm not sure if it was the random placement of Easter Eggs around the house that brought this out or if she's really starting to cherish order, cleanliness and neatness (she'll be in for a surprise once Colin arrives!).


Ashley thought she was wearing "a beautiful princess dress" so it was only fitting that she danced like a princess.









Back to the Easter events...
We had easter brunch at Mimi's with Jason's family which was fun and the kids loved their Easter baskets and balloons so much that pancakes didn't seem too exciting.




After brunch we headed home for naps. Mommy and Ash both desperately needed a nap. Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Brick's house for yet another easter egg hunt.



Finally, we ended the day with my family for Easter dinner. All in all it was a nice day but very busy, how come I don't remember having 3 easter baskets and 2 egg hunts when I was a kid? Needless to say we have jelly beans, treats and eggs EVERYWHERE! I have a really hard time throwing out those plastic Easter eggs for some reason, I always think I'll save them and reuse them next year but after two months or so they find their way to the trash. I'm hoping to have them land in the trash by the end of this week because there's no reason to postpone their trip to the dump.

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY EASTER!
We hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your family and friends. We'll be running around town, it's an eventful day for us, starting with church, brunch, naps, an Easter Egg hunt at Great Grandma Brick's and dinner with my family. I probably wont get a chance to post pictures until Monday morning but I promise to get it done by then.

Have a special day with the people you love and don't steal too much candy from your kids!