Happy New Year's

Well, having a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 month old does not make for an exciting New Years! Today we went to Des Moines to do some shopping. We went to Jordan Creek which is kind of a treat, we don't go there very often since the stores aren't very practical. Chris had to go to Scheel's and after we were done there we walked the mall until Caleb was so starved he wouldn't stop whining about eating! Then we went to Fuddruckers for lunch. It was good, but I was expecting a sit down restaurant where the people served you, and that it was not. After we ate we stopped at Babies 'r' us and exchanged Caleb's jammies he got for Christmas for the next bigger size.

Tonight in Des Moines they had an event called ImaginEve. It was a free event that was catered to children. There were bounce houses galore, spin art painting, balloon animals, food, etc. We got to Hy-Vee Hall about 3:45. It started at 4pm. When we got to the room that it was taking place there was a line clear down the hall that was at least 100 yds long! We thankfully knew someone in line so we were able to "cut" in line so we wouldn't have to stand outside. The line eventually curved and even went up stairs! Thankfully when it was 4pm they opened the doors and we were inside within a couple minutes. Caleb had so much fun going through all the different air filled contraptions. Since we arrived so early (dispite the line) the place was actually pretty calm. Caleb was able to get into the toys quickly and we didn't have to stand in very long lines. We left around 5:30 and it was beginning to fill up fast! It was fun, and Caleb definitely needed to be able to run. As he would go from toy to toy he would literally skip there. His arms up in the air as if he was "raising the roof". He was so excited!

Right now I just got done ordering 254 pictures from Winkflash for my Scrapbooking. (Wish me luck!) I am trying to find a (cheap) birth announcement that I like so I can get those ordered as well. I most likely will be up to see the ball drop, but there won't be much "partying". Oh, well.

Saturday is the Outback Bowl- The Hawkeyes are playing the Gamecocks, so Chris is having a party. As of right now we have 1 person coming! Caleb's friend Emma is in town and she will be coming over tomorrow with her family as well.

Have a great New Year!

Scrapbooking

With all of the scrapbooking materials of received for Christmas I realized I better get back into the swing of things. i have not created a scrapbook page for Caleb since his april month in 2007. I haven't even made one for his 1st birthday. So my goal right now is to upload my pictures to get printed. That is a chore in itself. It is taking forever to upload them to winkfalsh. I thankfully received an email from them the other day advertising 6 cent prints. Otherwise it would be almost triple the price going through Wal-Mart! The last chunk of pictures I have printed is June/July 2007. So right now I am almost done with the year 2007! I will upload 2008 and hope my pictures come soon so I can get started before I am too overwhelmed by the process! Looking at Caleb's pictures when he was so young makes me sad at how quickly they grow up and you don't even realize it. The subtle changes everyday are barely noticable until you look back at pictures and realize that he is no longer a baby, but a toddler almost preschooler! *sniff* Well, I guess that is what scrapbooks are for, so I better get on it!

Christmas Pictures

Carter is so very tired after all the Christmases! He zonked out on his own on his new quilt from his Oba.
Bathing beauties- Alex and Caleb

Caleb "playing" Wii.

This picture cracks me up! You can see just how much fun he was having playing Wii.

Caleb and another Boom-Boom

Chris' mom and all the Grandkids.

All the cousins.

Would you like Fries with that?

Carter- content on his new blankie from Grandma Mac.

Michelle and Alex

Oji, Oba, Alex Caleb and Carter.

Pop, Grandma, Alex, Caleb and Carter

(Caleb was not being cooperative in pictures today!)

Our family

Caleb and Alex munching on goodies together.

Oji and Carter

Caleb eating Christmas breakfast at his new table on his new plate set.

Christmas

Christmas Eve didn't really feel different than any other day this week. Since Chris and I are both home from work and for so long, it felt like another usual day to us. We got to bed pretty late after setting out all of Caleb's gifts. When he gets older we will start letting him open 1 gift on Christmas Eve, like I did when I was little.

Christmas morning we were able to sleep in a little. I made a breakfast casserole and while that was baking we opened presents. Caleb was pretty funny. Some of the gifts he would suck in his breath as if he were so excited! He liked everything. Although, he wasn't too excited about the big boy undies. I asked him if he wanted to put them on and he backed up and told me, no.
Chris got me quite a few gifts even though we weren't supposed to exchange gifts this year! We bought a new digital camera and that was supposed to be it. He got me a scrapbooking kit, a meat thermometer, an Air freshener that self sprays, and Carter got me a barrel of cheese balls! Whenever we have visited Sam's when I was pregnant I so wanted the large barrel of cheese balls becuase I couldn't have them, so Carter got them for me! Caleb and I also got the DVD set of original Christmas movies like Frosty, Rudolph, etc.

After we opened presents, ate and packed we headed to my parents house. When we got there Caleb's Oba and Oji were already there and lunch was just starting to be prepared. Grandma made shrimp and Michelle made lumpia! Yum! Holidays are not the same without Grandma food! We opened presents again- Caleb got a car that drives itself that he was in total love with. Michelle bought him an instrument set with "boom-boom" included! We got Caleb a kitchen that we stored at my parents. Chris and I got a wireless router for our computer so we FINALLY have wireless internet! YAY! No more cords!

Friday was another Christmas, we went to Chris' brother's house for Christmas with his mom. The kids made out again. The bigger kids and adults had fun playing Wii most the afternoon, especially bowling. Caleb got a candy dispenser that looks like a Wii controller, so after awhile of watching everyone play he got his controller and "bowled". (I will try to upload a video later).

Saturday was yet another Christmas with Chris' family, this time with his dad. We always get lots of gifts at taht Christmas as well. Caleb and Carter got Hawkeye clothing and Caleb got some "Go, Go" sippy cups and cell phone. We left there around 1:30 and headed home. Chris ended up inviting a couple people over for a UFC party. So we took down the Christmas tree, (which was really easy since I never put on any ornaments this year!), put away presents and cleaned the house.

Yet another fun filled year of Christmases! Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

Chris, Kate, Caleb & Carter

Ramdom Shots

Caleb was runnig back and forth in the living room and Chris caught him turning around mid laugh!
Tired baby!

I like this picture. He looks so alert.

Sleepy tubby.

Love birds! :)

They were jumping on the bed- that is why they are both sitting in his bed.

What? I can stick stuff up his nose and not get in trouble? Sweet! Thanks Joanne for the Shrek head. Hopefully this will help with Caleb's nose issues! haha!

Caleb and Sylvia

Blogging

As I mentioned in my previous post my friend from New York visited on Monday. I haven't seen Joanne since June of '07. It doesn't seem that long though, becuase she is a regular blogger and it feels like I haven't missed out on anything in her life. I have watched Sylvia grow up through pictures and have read about her milestones. I have read about Joanne's job, her social life, and family moments. It is amazing how a simple thing like a blog can keep people in touch and close. It feels like we have never skipped a beat in our friendship as we both are so in touch with each other's lives through blogging. Which also makes me realize I should probably write more often! :)

Holiday Visitors

We had my friend Joanne and her daughter Sylvia come visit on Monday. Joanne currently lives in New York, but is originally from Missouri. She made a quick pit stop in Iowa while back for the holidays. We had a lot of fun catching up, finishing Christmas shopping, and watching the kids play together.

Sylvia is a year younger than Caleb and I think Caleb was enjoying having a "younger woman" in the house. He was quite the show off. Everything he would do he added a little extra flair for Sylvia's benefit. I believe she was quite smitten as well since she was laughing at everything Caleb would do!

I tried uploading pictures and video earlier and they wouldn't go, so I will try again later.

Get on the Bus!

So I got my new stroller on Monday! YAY! Chris had ot be his usual self proclaiming he doesn't know why we needed another new stroller and pointing out all the bad things about it. But, it's mine, it's pretty and it matches the car seat!

We went to the mall with it on Tuesday and besides the fact that there is not much storage (the basket is difficult to put things in and Caleb's feet hang down into it). I loved it! It was so nice having both Children contained in one place. I could see Carter really well and Caleb enjoyed being able to see Carter as well. Despite its' size it did drive really well. I was able to turn it and maneuver it in the stores easily.

I did feel like I needed the Doodlebop's "Get on the Bus" song playing as I pushed it around, though!

Pictures

Where's Caleb?

Boo!

The frosting is supposed to go on the cookie, Caleb! Caleb "frosted" one cookie and helped me sprinkle a few more. It wasn't the cookie decorating experience I was hoping for, but he sure loved eating frosting right from the container!

This is Caleb's friend Nolan, him and his family stopped by to visit and meet Carter.

Carter in his "bed". This is where Carter sleeps the majority of his day.

Caleb "made" this shirt for Carter (or a new sister).

Caleb looks like an old man in this hat! Just a few months ago he wouldn't even let us get close to him with this hat, now he won't leave it alone!

Sleeping as usual.

I love this picture. The book is so large on his lap! Caleb loves to read!

Another one of Caleb and Carter.

Caleb loves to cuddle and try to hold Carter. We couldn't pass up this photo opp.

Caleb Dressed himself!

Weight Check

Yesterday was a very busy day! We got up bright and early, bathed everyone and headed to Ames. I dropped Caleb off at Wal-Mart with my mom and sister while I took Carter to the doctor really quick for a weight check. Since he was 7lb 4oz last time we weighed him the doctor wanted to recheck him this week to make sure he was over his birth weight. Well, he was weighed and he had gained almost an entire pound! He weighs 8lb 2oz! Wow!

We left the doctor's office and headed straight to Wal-Mart to get the boys' pictures taken. We had Caleb and Carter get pictures together, then Alex joined in as well. There were some pretty cute pictures. When I get them I will scan them and put them on here.

After the pictures were taken and ordered we all went out for lunch. Then off to Target, my office, and the mall.

I had tried to prep Caleb for a Santa visit. I told him we would see him and he would sit on his lap. He seemed all for it, until he saw the man. Caleb would barely look at Santa- and definitely not sit on his lap! Maybe next year. I finished up my Christmas shopping and headed off for home. I was exhausted! I always kenw Caleb would wear me out whatever we did, but having a baby to tote around too, really kicked my butt. Thankfullly I had both my mom and my sister there to help out. I have a feeling I will not be going out in public on my own for awhile, at least not until I get my double stroller. (Which is on the way!)

Shopping

We went to Des Moines this weekend to finish up some Christmas shopping. We needed to go to the mall and to the "r" us's. We went to Toys 'r' us first to let Caleb look at the toys- plus we had a gift certificate I wanted to use (Thanks, Joanne!) We looked at items for Carter, but we actually ended up getting Caleb a "Go, Diego, Go" table and chair set. We got a little stressed with the crowds there so we skipped Babies 'r' us and went straight to the mall.

We brought along the big stroller to put Carter's car seat in and I brought Caleb's backpack leash (so we wouldn't have to push 2 strollers). Well, Caleb saw his stroller and wanted in, but couldn't because Carter was in it already. So all the way into the mall we heard "mine, mine, mine...." He did not want to walk, nor did he want the baby in his stroller. I put his monkey on his back, but the first thing he did was get tangled in the leash because he wanted to help hold it. It was like trying to keep a very energetic puppy by your side. The mall was crazy busy and having to yank on Caleb to keep him beside us, and hear him whine because it was his stroller we quickly became cranky. We went to JCPenney's first since I have $10 coupons, that was quickly a bust- Everything I looked at was either way to expensive to make my coupon worthwhile or slightly too cheap and the coupon wouldn't work. Ugh! I ended up exchanging what I had to and getting the heck out of there. Chris by then had already abandoned me to take the very 2 year old Caleb to watch the train. I went to a couple other stores and the second I had what I needed to do, done we left.

We ended up going to CiCi's for lunch! So good and so cheap! When we got home Caleb and I played outside in the "snow/slush". I pulled him on his sled to the park and he had a blast breaking through the icy puddles at the end of the slides. By the time we got home he was soaked through his snow pants. But he had fun, and that is all that matters.

Moral to this story- I need to buy the double stroller!

2 week check up

Carter had his 2 week check up on Friday. When he was born his stats were: 7lb 6oz. 19 1/2 inches. He had lost a considerable amount of weight while I was attempting to breastfeed the first few days- he got down to 6lb 7oz. At his 2 week appt he weighed 7lb 4oz. and was 19 inches. So, I know that losing some weight is normal, but losing 1/2 an inch? haha, too funny. I think they are so quick to weigh and measure that tey didn't measure his length very well in the hospital. He has to go back to the doctor on Wednesday so we can double check his weight again. He will need to be checked often until he is over his original birth weight. I am hoping that he will have gained the 3 ounces over th weekend. He was a very hungry booger this weekend eating almost 6 ounces at a couple feedings!

Carter Eat?

Caleb wanted to hold Carter yesterday so I had him sit on the couch and as I was going to set Carter on his lap he pulls up his shirt and says "Carter eat?". The boy cracks me up! He won't bring dirty diapers to the garbage, but he is willing to breastfeed! HAHAHA! Love it!

What About 3 and 4?

Caleb loves to count! We count Carter's snaps, books, toys, everything. But the only thing that stays the same is when he counts he always skips 3 and 4. He counts 1, 2, 5, 6, etc. Even when we sing "Buckle My Shoe" there is no "Shut the Door" for him. Hopefully he will catch on by the time he goes to Kindergarten!

AAAARGH!

What the hell?!?

Last night about 9pm I went to nurse Carter and he just screamed constantly while I was trying to get him to latch on. I relaxed, gave him to Chris and thought to myself, what is the point? This obviously isn't what they say is great bonding. I am forcing my child to be on my breast when he really does not want to be there, so I pumped and fed him a bottle. I decided that I would do this for awhile until he gets bigger and we will try latching on again. I just want things calm. Which calmness has set in... Even Chris mentioned that the house feels more relaxed. I also feel more comfortable with feeding him and taking care of Caleb. The only time I am "tied" down is when I am pumping.

Well, to go along with this story, I pumped for Carter last night and got almost 2 ounces from righty. Then pumped just a little from lefty to make a total 2 ounces. We fed Carter, went to be and exactly 2 hours later he was up again. Then I pumped about an ounce from each breast at 2am. At 4am I was barely pumping 2 ounces, and as the day has progressed I have been pumping less and less. I called the lactation nurse and she told me to keep pumping 10-15 minutes every 2 hours and to take an herb called Fenugreek. I am really hoping that my milk supply returns. I think it is really weird that it has gone down so much. I figured that I would produce more by pumping... I wonder if this would have happened if he was nursing from the breast. I don't know... Carter has slept the best ever this morning/afternoon. I think it is part getting enough to eat and that he has his days and night mixed a little.

Well, enough of my problems...

Tales from the Boob

So along with breastfeeding I have come across a couple cute tales. Note: Mature audiences only!

Whenever I go to feed Carter, Caleb always says "Carter eat?". Yes Caleb, Carter is going to eat. One time as I was getting ready to feed Carter Caleb came up and asked "Caleb eat?" He started walking up to me like he wanted to latch on. I let him come up until he was about a foot away and I died laughing- I couldn't do it- too weird.

Another time I was manually expressing milk so Carter would latch on easier and Caleb was watching- he was pretty amazed. I put some on my finger and held it out to him- he just backed up and said "yucky".

Tonight I was starting to feed Carter and he "bit" me so I kind of yelled out "ouch!" Caleb came over and looked me over and asked what happened when I told him Carter bit he sucked in his breath and said "No, No." Then to make everything better he lifted up his shirt and said "Carter eat". He held out his arms to take Carter from me so he could feed him! Too Funny!

Nursing is still pretty hit and miss with Carter. I have read some articles on La Leche League website and have found that I am most likely over-producing milk. Carter seems to sputter and cough right away when he latches on, etc. So I have taken a couple tips from them such as feeding from only one breast at a feeding so that the individual breast will produce less eventually... he still cries like crazy at the beginning of some feedings, which I don't understand at all. I was just about ready to give in on Saturday night. I even bought bottle liners and cleaned up a couple bottles. Along with the hormones, the frustration of him crying and then to top it off him pulling the nipple shield off for the thousandth time I was crying myself that night. Some feedings are great others are pure hell. I am hoping the learning curve/difficult hump will be over soon and we will live in bliss... Does anyone know how long it lasts?

Caleb has been fairly decent with his new brother. He is not jealous by any means. When Chris or I are holding Carter Caleb is just fine, but there is definitely a noticable change in his attention needing. Normally he would play pretty much on his own accasionally asking for us to read to him, etc. But, lately it is Mommy- sit, Daddy- sit, wanting us to sit on the floor with him to play. He really wants to be with the baby, but with him being sick (he now has pink eye!!!), and not aware of his own body movements (feet and arms moving every direction) it is hard to let him just look or sit by him.

Pictures

Adore Me!

I think we need to go shopping for some smaller clothes!

Emma and Caleb chillin'!

Brothers!

Going home from the hospital.

Carter Roy

Things have been going really well so far. Breastfeeding is gradually getting easier. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll be pros! That is about the most difficult part right now, besides the pain from surgery- which is also getting better each day.

Caleb is pretty cute when it comes to Carter. He'll ask "where'd go?" When I tell him where the baby is he'll go stand by the bassinet and say "hi". It is pretty cute. I have a short video I will upload later. Other than that Caleb doesn't pay much attention to Carter. Carter sleeps a lot right now, so the only time Caleb really sees him is when I am nursing. Which makes for a lot of questions as well!

I will upload pictures and videos at a later date!

It's A BOY!

Carter Roy Sparks

7 lbs. 6 oz. 19 1/2 inches

November 28, 2008

7:36am

It was a true surprise that we have another boy. I thought in the back of my head that we would have a girl, so when they pulled Carter out I was overwhelmed with emotion that I was the mother of 2 boys! The c-section went well. Once I had the spinal I felt great. Chris ended up "passing out" in the operating room. I laughed the entire time! They allowed me to watch the baby being born, which was awesome. Yesterday we spent the entire day sleeping off and on; I was really groggy. I was allowed to eat solid foods today and loved every second of not having to worry about insulin and blood checks! (yay bagels!) I am hoping ot get out early and leave tomorrow instead of Monday, but we will see how today goes. I have already gotten up and went for a walk, I feel pretty good. Carter looks identical to Caleb and was even the same weight! He is doing great. We are both working hard at trying to breast feed; it is coming along well. More updates later!

D-Day!

Well, tomorrow is the day! I can't believe that we will have 2 kids tomorrow morning. It just seems surreal that it is even possible. I keep prepping Caleb telling him that Grandma and Grandpa are going to take him to see mommy and daddy and that he will get to see a new baby. We got him a cute shirt that says only child crossed out with Big Brother below it, along with a new Blue's Clues DVD and some other trinkets to help entertain and make him feel special. I hope that he adjusts well and quickly. When I picked up my year old nephew over the weekend Caleb was instantly there wanting picked up, too. So I have a feeling that there will be some attention seeking and jealousy issues. We'll see. I will update my blog as soon as I can over the weekend. Everyone will be receiving an email as soon as we can! Sorry, I am not super chatty while in the hospital, so I will call later in the week, unless anyone wants to call me!

Randomness

Caleb has been doing pretty well at going potty on his potty chair lately. When we tell him to sit on the potty he actually knows how to make himself pee. Which, in my mind, is a pretty good feat. Now we just have to get him to tell us when he has to go and when he has gone poo. We'll see, I am not pushing it by any means, it will come eventually.

We have been making sure we are talking about the baby a lot with Caleb. I have been telling him that we will be bringing home a baby next week and that Grandma and Grandpa will be sleeping at our house for a couple days. He seems to be okay with it, at least understanding the Grandparents part, not necessarily the baby part.

Chris and I went on a "date" last night. It wasn't much, we left my parents house around 6pm for a 7:30 movie. We went to Wal-Mart before the movie and bought some random items. When we left Caleb at my parents he did a really good job. Said bye-bye to us and gave hugs and kisses we felt really good about leaving. He wouldn't have cried except when he turned to leave he started running up the stairs to watch t.v. and he nailed his shin on the step. Doh! My parents had a pretty eventful night though! hehe! Caleb ended up coughing and, being my child, started gagging and threw up. So they had to give him a tubby (when he didn't want one), change his clothes, settle him down, etc. Then while they were watching a video with him Caleb got up and started to walk around and his diaper started falling out of his pants! With a present inside. It was a pretty funny story and I definitely enjoyed my evening more than my parents! BTW, Chris and I watched "Role Models" it was good, I really wanted to see Four Christmases, but it doesn't come out until Wednesday and because of certain circumstances, I will not be able to watch it. :(

When we got home today Chris got to work putting in our new front door. Our backdoor neighbor, Joe, painted them for us and was able to match them to our previous door (he was the one who painted our old door). Chris installed our front door, side window and door to the garage. Hopefully that will keep our entry way much more toasty.

Caleb is not feeling well tonight. While Chris was working on the door, hammering nails, sawing boards and being very loud Caleb was able to sleep on his little couch in the living room. When he woke up he was pretty warm. He just sat on his couch until I peeked him off to eat supper. Since he wasn't feeling well I allowed him to eat cereal and a banana for supper. I gave him a tubby and dressed him in his jammies and he just crashed out on my lap watching Blue's Clues. Poor baby. We are pretty sure he has an ear infection, so to make a busy tomorrow even busier we have to try to get someone to look at his ears. ugh! and right before the baby, too. Double ugh! I just hope I don't get sick...

Doctor/Shopping

We had an ultrasound this morning. The doctor basically wanted to see how big the baby was, etc. As of right now the baby is measuring about 6 lbs 10 oz. Which surprised me, I really exprected a big baby for some reason. But figuring baby gains an ounce a day s/he will still only weigh about 7-4. So, since I had time to kill before I had to go to work and the clothes I had would be all too big for this little baby, I went to Target to shop. :) I found a couple "take home" outfits for the baby.

I also bought Caleb some markers and a coloring book for the hospital and a Blue's Clues DVD. All of the BC movies we have are VHS and that just won't work in the hopsital to keep him occupied. :) I also got some other nursing accessories that I will need once the baby is born. We are getting there prepared wise which is good since I have only 10 days left! oh my~ Now all I really want to accomplish before the baby comes is to scrub the entire bathroom and the kitchen floor. Any takers?

Rudeness!!!

I went to Hy-Vee this weekend to buy hamburger. (We usually get groceries at Wal-Mart, but meat is much too expensive there, and not packed by hand.) Anyway, I usually get my meat packed in 1/2 lb packages so when we make pizza or pasta, etc. we can mix half beef, half turkey, or use just 1/2 lb of meat when we don't need a full pound. Anyway, we usually do not get to Hy-Vee very often, so I wanted to stock up on meat, especially since I am interested in actually cooking meals again. When I went up to the meat counter the guy asked what I would like and I told him, "You are going to hate me, but I need 10- 1/2 lb packages of hamburger". The guy mumbles under his breath- Jesus! WHAT?!?!?!?! I said, "I know it is a pain, but you do not need to verbalize it like that!" I don't think he meant to say that out loud, but I very clearly heard him and he is lucky I laughed it off (in my head) instead of getting his boss! Well, to make matters worse, when he was done getting the hamburger I had Chris tell him we need 10-1/2 lb packs of turkey! HAHAHAHA! I don't mean to be a pain, but they pack to order, if that is a problem, get a different job! So that was my latest pregnant bitchfest! Hopefully they slow down once the baby is born. :)

11 days

This weekend went by way too fast yet again! Sunday we went to Ames and returned the Rug Doctor. Then did all of our errands. We bought Caleb a couple new pairs of jeans since all of his look like high waters, but still fall down when he walks! Then we got home and just hung out. My assistant came over and we went over some paperwork and other things she will be responsible for while I am gone. I have been looking though cookbooks lately, becuase we are in a major supper rut. Since I don't get home until 6 every night it is hard to make a supper that actually take preparation, and cooking. So, last night I made a chicken pot pie. It came out pretty well. Caleb is not a huge fan of "real" chicken, so I kept dipping it into his applesauce to get him to eat it. That was about it for our Sunday. Today I have a meeting with our Human Resources lady about my maternity leave. Then Tuesday I have an ultrasound. The rest of the week is pretty normal.

More about my week.

Well, the rest of my week went okay. I thought it would drag by because we had 2 early out days and a no school day. Which means instead of going to work at 2:30 on a normal day I had to be at work at noon. Which makes for a short morning and a long day with kids. I also don't get to see Caleb becuase it isn't worth picking him up for only a couple hours. Friday was crazy. Since it was a no school day I was supposed to be at work all day. I made one of my staff come in early so that I could leave to go to my meeting that I usually have on Friday's, then I took my time getting paperwork done at the office and going shopping for supplies. I would have gotten back to site around 3:30, but Chris had called and said he was going to be at work really late and I would have to be the one to pick up Caleb. When I called the daycare to let her know, I swear she graoned! So I thought I would pick him up early and bring him back to work with me. When I got there just about all the kids were gone and the last one's were picked up around 5:30! Which is really nice.

Caleb is getting a cold so all night last night he was coughing. So, of course that disrupted my sleep, along with having to pee more often than ever! Caleb came into our room about 7:45 this morning. We piddled around the house this morning then went to Ames to get a Rug Doctor. Which turned out to be more expensive than we thought, but it needed to be done. So all morning was spent vacuuming, moving furtniture and scrubbing floors. I was a little disappointed when I found out the steam cleaner didn't actually take out stains, but oh well, we have nice "sanitary" carpets now to lay the new baby on. All afternoon was spent napping (Caleb and I) and cleaning out the garage while we waited for the carpets to dry.

Tonight Caleb and I are "banished" to the basement while Chris and a couple friends watch UFC. Chris hooked up the internet downstairs for me, so I am good! And Caleb loves playing down here since his toys are here. So we are good!

Tomorrow we will be going to Ames and doing our normal running, groceries, possibly haircuts for the boys, and returning the Rug Doctor. Then my assistant that will be taking over for my maternity leave is going to stop by and we are going to go through all the paperwork and other tid bits that she will need to do while I am gone.

2 weeks!

Two weeks left! I can't believe it. Everyone keeps asking me if I am ready and I honestly don't know how to answer them. I really don't mind being pregnant. I feel pretty good, love feeling the baby move, and just the overall feeling of being pregnant. So in the sense of being ready as being ready to be done, no I am not ready. If the question refers to if my house is ready, just about. I still would like to do some more cleaning, I don't "feel" ready, but I am sure no matter what I get done before the baby is born we will be ready at home. Work wise, getting there... I have the lessons done for December and January, but I still need to do so much more. I won't bore you with the details of all I need to do, but I should quit typing so I can make a to do list while my brain is in the mood. Wish me luck!

Babble

While at work yesterday I went through the next couple weeks with the kids telling them what to expect, the themes, etc. This week we have 2 early out days because of conferences and then no school on Friday (which means a long day for me). Then next week is a fairly normal week school speaking, I have meetings, an ultrasound, and other things going on. Then the week after that is Thanksgiving week already! Wow is time flying! I can't believe basically I have 12 days of work left before I have 2 months off! Aaaaah. I hope that my maternity leave goes nice and slow. I think I really need the time off so I don't get burnt out from work. I love my job and the kids, but sometimes its just like, I want a break! Hopefully my maternity leave will leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. (yeah, right). I so very badly want to take a nap right now! I sneak a nap in every once in awhile when Caleb naps, but I have so much to do before Friday and I don't have the time on Wednesday or Thursday to do it. (I know what you are thinking! Get off the computer and do your work!) I am thinking the same thing, but we have library in 1/2 hour and I can't get started on a project in that short of a time. Well, enough of my tired mindless babbling. :)

Where did the weekend go? I don't think I even had a minute to relax! Saturday we were able to sleep in a little, Caleb didn't wake up until 8:30! We got up and got ready so we could bring a "new" dryer to Chris' sister's house in Marshalltown. We ended up getting home around 2pm. Chris wanted to watch the Iowa game- which turned out to be a really good game. Caleb had his nap, while I made some lasagnas to put in the freezer. When Caleb woke up we went downstairs to play. Then we had supper, played some more, Caleb watched Garfield the Movie, and then we called it an early night.
Sunday Caleb was up nice and early at 7am. He comes in to our room when he gets up to watch tv so on those mornings I normally wake up to Caleb turning on the tv. he sat in bed watching Disney Playhouse until 7:30. Then we got up and ate breakfast, cleaned the house since we were going to have complany and left for Des Moines about 10:30. The mall and other stores I needed to go to weren't open until 11. We went straight to the mall and I hit MOtherhood right away. I found 2 nursing bras very similar to the one's I bought with Caleb, then I also purchased a sleep bra and a nursing tank. $73 later we went to a store to buy my dad's Christmas present, which I will not go into details about just in case! :) We hit the food court after that for 99 cent chalupas at Taco Bell then left for Babies R Us. I wanted to go there to look at diaper bags, but not having any money in my checking account and having reasonable, but tight Chris with me I didn't buy a new bag. There was one I saw when shopping with my mom that I really liked, it opened up very wide nad was quite spacious, but I didn't really fall in love with any of them. Chris just kept asking what was wrong with the one's we had... I like new things! :) Well, it was a zoo there and I wasn't in the mood to just look at stuff, so we left. On the way home Caleb fell asleep so when we stopped in Ankeny for groceries I went in on my own so I could let Caleb sleep. It was horribly busy in there, I will leave it at that. An hour later we were on our way home. Jason, Mindy, Emma and Carter were due at our house at 2pm, but they were running late so when we got home I had time to put together lasagna (yes another one) for supper and make some cookies.
Emma and Caleb ended up having a lot of fun together. They were playing in his room, downstairs, running up and down the hall, jumping on the bed... it was fun to see them play. They didn't need a whole lot of supervision either, which was really nice! It was good to see Carter, too. We haven't seen them for awhile so I was expecting Carter to still be an infant type baby, but he is HUGE! He is already almost 20 lbs. He was born on July 30th which makes him 3 months old and he is wearing 12 month clothes! I am not saying this is bad, just getting you to know how big he is! It was hard to think that in a few months I could have such a baby. I hope that I get to spend time with a tenny tiny one longer than that. Well that was pretty much our weekend. We didn't get much done in way of baby, but next weekend we will definitely be steaming some carpets!

Emma and Caleb

Here is Emma and Caleb. I couldn't get a good picture of them giving each other a hug. They kept moving! Imagine that! The two of them had such a blast playing together! I will post more about that later. Caleb wants to look at more pictures right now.

This week.

This week went by pretty fast. I didn't get a whole lot done. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I got there at 10am, at 10:30 I went to be put on the monitor. The baby was pretty active the first half of my non-stress test, but fell asleep about 15 minutes into it. Thankfully s/he was active becuase they left me in there for 45 minutes without checking on me. I would have been so mad if I would have had to lay there longer because they didn't help stimulate the baby. They sent me back out to the waiting room where I watched everyone and new comers get called back. Finally at 11:36 I was sent back to see the doctor. (Keep in mind I needed to be at work at 12:00, and I needed to get lunch!) While I was sitting in the room waiting for the doctor my patience was wearing thinner and thinner. By the time the doctor came in at 11:53 I was crying becuase I was so stressed out. Every minute that had gone by I was tempted to get up and reschedule. She gave me my group B step test (fun) and 3 minutes later I was out the door. I got to work 15 minutes late with no lunch. 15 minutes later I had 40 kids to entertain while I was in such a fantastic mood! (please note sarcasm). I am getting so frustrated with doctors and diabetic education ladies not realizing that I cannot waste hours in their clinics. I have cancelled the rest of my diabetic appoinments because I can't stand to have to leave Caleb at day care, pay the fuel, waste my time to see them for a whopping 5 minutes and hear them say looks good, see you next week. Argh!

Anyway, sorry about the rant, I believe it is the hormones! Chris came home Wednesday night. Caleb was pretty naughty that night too which kind of surprised me, but I think it was he wanted all of daddy's attention and he wasn't able to get it. I've been trying to spend time downstairs every night playing with Caleb. I brought a lot of his small toys down last night and put them in tubs. One for cars, one for people and animals and one for his phones. We gave him all of our old cell phones and he now has 7. Plus 2 cordless "house" phones and a corded house phone. I think he is set with phones!

We don't have a whole lot planned this weekend. It is pretty rainy and actually snowy here so I don't think Chris will have to be in the field tomorrow. So most likely we will be going to Marshalltown to install a power cord for Chris' sister's dryer. Then Sunday I want to go to Des Moines to get some Christmas shopping done and buy a diaper bag and some bras. Hopefully the weather is nice.

Couple Steps Closer

The car seat has arrived! Caleb had fun putting his "babies" in it and carrying them around- or attempting to. I also finished all the laundry and washed up the bassinet and seat. We're getting there!

Car Seat

I get my new car seat today! I just checked the tracking and it should be here this morning. I am so excited. My mom came on Friday and dropped off the bassinet from my sister and a baby seat. I put a couple loads of baby laundry in yesterday and I will load the dresser soon. The majority of clothes are boys, but who says if its a girl she can't wear blue (in the house!) haha!

Yesterday morning Caleb watched "Imagination Movers" on Disney and they were cleaning their warehouse. We were teasing Caleb telling him he needs to clean his room. Later I walked into his room and he had thrown all his toys that were on the floor into the crib. It was completely full of books, barns, car tracks, etc. It was funny! I just hope he doesn't decide to clean like that when the baby is napping! We ended up bringing a lot of his toys down stairs yesterday. My biggest dilemma now is how to arrange the furniture downstairs. We still need to move our old computer down there and sort through the toys. Ideally I want to put alike toys together in tubs on shelves. That would hopefully keep things organized and easier to clean.

My days to clean and organize are becoming more and more limited. I have made a list of everything that needs to be done within the next 3 1/2 weeks. I just hope we are able to get it done. With Chris working Saturdays (hopefully only one more) it limits when we can shampoo carpets and other things I can't do by myself. Every weekend before the baby arrives is pretty busy with little jobs like that. Next weekend if Chris doesn't have to work he has to go to his sister's and install a power cord for a dryer. Then on Sunday we will be going to Des Moines to run some errands and get Christmas presents. The following weekend I have planned on shampooing the carpets- which I have been saying since before Caleb was born! It will get done this time! Then the weekend before "B" day is Thanksgiving with my family and the Living History Farms run that Chris may or may not run in. So busy, busy. It is going to go by so fast!

First Shiner

We tried to take a picture of Caleb's "black eye". His eye is slightly bruised from the fall on Tuesday and we wanted to document his first shiner. He was very cooperative taking the pictures, he even closed his eyes, but the bruise didn't show up the greatest. The pictures were pretty funny, though. P.S. We do brush his teeth. He was eating a bite of chocolate when we took these pictures.

Halloween 2008

Caleb and his buddies- Isaac and Nolan. Caleb had a lot of fun last night giving candy to the kids. He would put a piece of candy in their bags and after the kids would leave if we had a lull in kids he would say "knock, knock". He really liked sseeing most of the kids, but whenever any of them would have a mask he wasn't too sure. Even a kids in an Iron Man costume (not scary) made him take a couple steps back.