Not Much to Report

I have a feeling this post will be pretty quick, yet we all know how I tend to be a little long-winded so we'll see...

Dinner last night was fun at Red Robin. Easton behaved really well which was nice because he woke up SUPER cranky from his nap. I think he was just happy to see his daddy and eat more french fries. Here's a picture of him wearing Jason's sunglasses at the restaurant:

This morning we had Max and Susannah over to play. It was the first time the boys really ever played together. They played "chase" and it was too cute. I was tempted to get the camera for a video but knew they'd stop as soon as I made that move. So we just etched it in our memories instead. Even though they played with one another they also don't understand sharing yet so there was a bit of "fighting" too. Easton used to let people (kiddos) just grab stuff from him without protesting but not anymore! Just because he's a little guy doesn't mean he'll put up with being bullied. Susannah feels mortified when Max doesn't share--like he came and grabbed a slice of peach from E's hand and ate it. But, honestly, I don't expect anything else from boys this age. It doesn't bother me. They'll learn soon enough. On the other hand, Max was also nice and popped a Goldfish cracker directly into Easton's waiting mouth which was sweet. Easton gave Susannah a kiss when they left and was moving to give Max one too but Max hugged his mom instead. Then we said "bye bye" and E signed "thank you". It was a fun morning.

Right now Easton is supposed to be napping but I hear him banging into the sides of his crib with his feetsies and then he'll say "Uh oh". Hmmmmm...I should peek in there soon. He seemed SO tired this morning when Max was over but now that it's actually nap time he's a little more rearing to go. I'm hoping he'll fall asleep soon--and for awhile--so I can have a little rest myself.

Tonight we're going out for dinner with Baby John's parents but no Baby John...he's spending the weekend with his grandparents. Sunday is Jason's "company picnic" which should be fun. Actually, the weekends in August are looking pretty busy for us. Next weekend J has a friend coming into town and we'll/they'll be doing the Cubs/Rockies games. Then, the following weekend Max's parents are getting married and the last weekend of August is my 10 year high school reunion. Fun fun fun! I'm excited for that. Of course I have to be pregnant but not "too pregnant" so I'll just look fat. Great. That's just what everyone wants for their reunions, no?

Okay, I think E is quiet now so I should go. I wasn't too long-winded was I?

Happy Birthday Dear Lauren!!!

My "baby" sister turned Sweet 16 today. Lime Green is her favorite color, hence my title color. How nice of me. So she wouldn't have to be alone today (mom at work, gal pals on vacay) we invited her to spend the night last night. I made her some sloppy joes for dinner and then chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. Plus Easton and I snuck out of the house (E was in his cute jammies) while she was still asleep to get some Starbucks. Yay!

I made an "E" out of chocolate chips for you know who. I tried making a "1" and a "6" for Lauren but they didn't turn out very well. Oops.

Easton didn't seem to notice or care about the extra effort it took me to make the "E". He just ate it right up.

Then, I told Easton to tell Auntie Lauren "Happy Birthday" and I threw up my arms. He didn't say much but he threw up his arms with a smile for her.

This morning he even gave her a birthday hug. It was very sweet. He's a huge Lauren fan.

Last night while we were watching Supernova, Easton climbed up on the loveseat with Lauren and cuddled in to watch. Awwwww.... He really does adore his auntie.

Oh, and while we were watching Backyardigans last night and again this morning I got some videos and made a montage. Click here to enjoy.

Okay, so for her birthday Lauren wanted to bowl. So we went. Jason was quite bummed he couldn't come too. But, we brought Easton...it was his first time. He ONLY wanted Lauren. He'd do this fake-out thing where he'd reach for me but then as I'd reach back he'd go "Eeh" and pull his arms back. Stinker. Anyway, here's some bowling footage.

And finally a "naaah". That's how Easton says "snack". He enjoyed some french fries. Healthy, eh? He likes to dip them in ketchup and it's very cute. Check out his little foot on the table too. Silly.


Okay, well, poor Lauren is sitting behind me bored while Easton sleeps so I will wrap this up. We're off to Red Robin with my mom and Jason tonight to continue celebrating. Woo hoo!

Lil' Imitator

Okay, before I forget...I need to update about the whole Fifth's Disease "scandal". So, Baby John's doctor is fairly confident all he has is heat rash. However, he couldn't explain the "slapped cheek" appearance he had. So, to be safe they all recommended I call my doctor. My OB's office said, "Most women are immune to it from having it in childhood themselves. We can do a blood test to see if you're immune and if yes good, if no then we'll test you again in a few weeks to see if you've been infected." Relatively good news, right? If Baby John did/does have it he was contagious last week when I watched him. They'll know for sure in a few days if he had heat rash or something else depending on what his rash does over the next few days. So, even though he's not contagious his mom still feels really guilty (even though I tell her she shouldn't) and she's keeping him away from me till next week. Poor her.

Well, this morning I woke up feeling downright super. I was excited so I decided Easton and I would make the most of it and we went out to breakfast. I couldn't stop thinking about the DEEEE-lish ham and cheese croissant I'd had a few weeks ago so we went back for one. Easton was too cute and sat there and just behaved so well and people-watched. He really liked watching the ladies that were sweeping and cleaning the tables. He kept signing "hat" because they were wearing hats. Genius. We had a lovely breakfast and then went to the library to return some books since there's no Circle Time. Oh, and we went to Old Navy to find a shirt like his 2nd cousin Wren has. There's a guitar on it so we have to have one too. Well, this Old Navy didn't have squat so we left feeling a little downtrodden.

Oh well, we hopped back into George and took him on his first real excursion--to Boulder! I needed to get that lab test done, fill a prescription, and wanted to nose around on my old unit. I told them about the pregnancy and one nurse had the gall to say, "I can tell." Lovely. I'm 9 1/2 weeks, Rudy Ruderson. She's not known for her tact. I know I have a bit more of a belly than normal, but it's not baby yet either. Oh well. So much for the, "Really?!?! You look great!" that I was apparently secretly hoping for. They're happy for me but are already saying things like, "You'd better not do like you did last time." and "Well, I should imagine you're high risk...will you deliver here?" Geez, did I say I miss them? Hmph!

Anyway, after we finished up at the 'spital we went over to see Jason across the way. We got to check out his new office and meet his office mate. Then we went out for smoothies. Yummy. We wanted to hang out with J a little longer but it's hard to linger over smoothies. So Easton and I headed to the mall's Old Navy instead. I was on the guitar shirt mission. Luckily we found it!

Plus he got a pair of guitar jammies for when he's a bit bigger...that's all they had size-wise.

He's finally outgrowing his 6-9 month size sleepers so I've been on a p.j. prowl for him. He got a couple new sleeper-type jim jams and then he got some super cute "big boy" pajamas. He wore some last night:

Too cute, eh? He was a little confused as we put him in "clothes" for bed. And it took him forever to get comfortable while we were rocking. I guess he's a little too used to the snapping shut of his other p.j.'s. Who knows? Anyway, I just love the 2 pieces jammies on him. So mature. And dashing, no?

So, on to him being a "lil' imitator"...check out some of these pics, this first one is of Mr. Lazy getting comfy to watch TV on the floor like we sometimes do.

Here he is checking if Buh Jah (what he calls Baby John) has a fever:

Here he is "earning his keep" around the house (is he trying to tell me this pregnancy is making me a slacker in the house-keeping department?

Here is a video from that too.

And, finally here he is mocking me on the couch (where you can oft find me these days). Alright, maybe he's not mocking me, he really does like to "read".

Well, before we left the house this morning we had a little fun. Click here for a video montage. It's been awhile since I made you a montage and now you get two in one day. See, I told you I woke up feeling spectacular (considering...). Well, I guess that's all from me. I promised I'd update and I'd say I did more than that. Props to me! Easton is napping, he cried about half an hour in but luckily went back to sleep on his own. Phew. I needed to get this blog done. Priorties...anyway...ta ta!

Update Time

Ugh...been awhile again...sorry I do that sometimes. Although, now that you all know I'm pregnant perhaps you might understand why a little more. This pregnancy is about the same as Easton's pregnancy: breaking out horribly, SOOOOO tired, aversion to raw chicken, bloating etc. that already makes me look 4 months along, you know...all that fun stuff. Although one thing is different with this pregnancy: the "morning" sickness is much worse. With Easton I was merely nauseaus all the time from about 6.5 weeks till about 14 weeks. I lost 10 pounds with him in the first trimester. Yet I never got sick. This time, the nausea started about a week before (5.5 weeks) and I even ended up in the E.R. from dehydration! I'm on prescription medication for the nausea/pukies now. It's better to where I'm no longer losing my cookies, however it's not perfect. I rarely make dinner anymore and usually it's hard to find something that sounds good. Interestingly, mornings are when I feel the best and then it all gets worse as the day goes on. I really hope it ends with the first trimester. Poor Easton has been stuck inside watching too much TV while I lay around lately. I think his behavior suffers from not getting out as much and I feel bad but can't make myself do much more.

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. Oh, and since some of you might have a few questions about things that you might be afraid to ask let me give you the answers to a few FAQs: Yes, this baby was planned. It happened the first cycle of trying (AGAIN!!). No, we will not be finding out the gender this time either. Yes, I will be having a repeat C-section. We're of course hoping to make it to term this time and I have a due date of March 3rd, however, with scheduled C-sections they usually aim for a couple of weeks early so you don't go into labor on your own before then. So, maybe around 38 weeks or so. Nothing is scheduled yet, of course.

Well, going back to last week, we had a lovely time visiting while my sister Jessica was in town. She babysat Easton while I went to a very long OB appointment. She was even able to put him down for his nap which is super.

Oh!!! We bought a new car! On Saturday. It's a Saturn Vue, white. It's named George. I always name my cars. First I had Jane Honda and then Peter "Petey" Honda. Now George. I was suprisingly sad to see Petey go. He was my very first new car and I got him all by myself fresh from my divorce. My ex always got the fancy new things for himself so since I was rid of him I got myself a new car. Anyway, hopefully it's just pregnancy hormones but I admit I found myself crying on the way to drop him off. It's been a special car--we brought Easton home in it. Oh well. He's gone now. I like the new car pretty well although it has some cheeseball wood paneling on the dash that I hate. But it's got a V6 Honda engine and other cool features. Anyway...that's our big news of recent.

Moving along...here's another cute picture of Easton in the bath.

And here he is in a "like father like son" moment reading a book during a diaper change.

He's been doing that a lot lately and then won't give me the book back when I'm done. Yesterday I started making up a Humpty Dumpty song to go along with the book and he said, "Mama!" and shook his head no. But then he decided to start singing something himself which was too cute even if he doesn't know the right words. Or many words at all. I just like the book distraction technique--keeps his hands busy and him laying still till I'm done. And it's just so funny that he holds it like he does and turns the pages and all.

Oh, and guess what the little stuntman did last night: fell off the arm of the couch (again) on to his train and cut/bit his lip. He grew a big ol' fat lip. See...

At first we couldn't tell why he was crying so hard--did he land funny? his arm was all bent, so was his leg? Then J saw the blood gushing from his mouth. So, then we couldn't see through the blood to what was actually hurt inside--did he bite his tongue?, did he knock out a tooth? He bit his lip or smashed it between his teeth and the train. Either way, it's cut. And it's not pretty. I'll post a link to a picture if you want to see but I won't put it up here just in case some of you get the heebie jeebies easily.

Jason remarked how calm I seemed during the whole incident. I take that as a compliment most of the time but I was a little sad I didn't get more worked up about my own child's injuries. I used to take pride in my level headedness during traumas or during L&D emergencies. Co-workers would always say how they liked having me around in those times, but my own kid? I probably should've been more instinctive. I just didn't know what was wrong with him yet and until I did, no reason to freak. That's funny because that's so unlike me in day to day life: I'm a big worrier. But, only once I know what I'm worrying about I guess. Anyhoo...

Baby John didn't come yesterday. His mom couldn't find the keys. But he came today and I discovered a rash. He had a red cheek when he got here that neither his mom or I really thought anything of, but once I saw the rash on his trunk I called her. So far we don't know what it is, he's heading to the doctor this afternoon. I'm really hoping it's something simple and non-contagious like eczema, but I'm fearing the worst (see I'm a worrier). My prediction is Fifth Disease...a common childhood illness and I don't really worry about E getting it (suprisingly). However, it is NOT GOOD for pregnant women, especially in the first trimester. Great! I'm anxious to hear what Baby John's doc says. Eek! I'll keep you all posted. Promise.

Family Portraits

Happy Birthday, July!

Just wanted to wish a happy birthday to July in my blog today. Hope it's a good one!

Well, we made it to the swimming pool yesterday. We didn't get to stay for too long because Easton got shivery like he does. Oh well. Having no body fat will do that to you when you get wet. The thing is, he never wants to leave or get out, I have to make him. He had a blast while he was there, though. He was in the kiddie pool the whole time and was very adventurous, much to Auntie Jesh's dismay. He would fall underwater a lot but didn't care...we'd get him right back out and he'd be smiling the whole time, even if he was choking on water. That boy drank more than his share of pool water yesterday. Eew. I don't want him to be afraid of the water so I try to be calm and let him explore and not overreact when he goes under. I want him to enjoy it and he SO does. The pool only got to 1 1/2 feet deep but he'd lose his balance easily, probably because he tries to take such gigantic steps. It was so funny, each step he took it was like he was trying to lift his foot out of the water. Then he'd fall. Or intentionally sit down even if it was too deep. He's crazy. I wish we had our own neighborhood pool up here.

Here's Easton and Auntie Lauren in the pool:

And here's E exploring the bidet-esque fountains in the kiddie pool:

And here he is dreaming of the day when he's older and fatter and can stay longer and go in the big pool:

After the pool we headed to hang out at my mom's house, having snacks and such. We didn't leave until 7...poor Jason didn't get much time with us at all yesterday. It was pretty much time to start Easton's bedtime routine once we got home. This is Easton on the way home, he broke his sunglasses by pulling off an "arm" right after I took this picture. Good thing they were only, like, $1.99 at Old Navy.

Last night at about 4:30 a.m. we woke to one heck of a thunderstorm. Our room was lit up with lightening and then the crash of the thunder soon followed. It was crazy and very unexpected. I was awake until about 5 when it moved on. I kept fearing Easton would wake up from it but he didn't. He's been a good nighttime sleeper still, staying asleep until after 8 every morning and then waking up happy calling for me. I love it. He is feeling extra snuggly today which I'm also enjoying. He's rarely like that so I have to take full advantage when he is. After his "lunch" of three and a half grapes and an eighth of a piece of string cheese, he's napping.

We don't really have plans this afternoon although my sister Jessica is spending the night tonight. I have no idea when she's coming or how she's getting here. She is very spontaneous and I am not. I guess I will have to try to be more spontaneous regarding today as I have no other choice. :)

I guess that's all for today from my end. To quote today's episode of Backyardigans, "Pip pip Cheerio!"

Birthday Re-Cap

So, yesterday was my 28th birthday...happy birthday to me, right? It started off with a special surprise from Jason: while I was showering he snuck back into the house with doughnuts for me and Easton's breakfast. Yum! I was so happy to see that since I was kinda bummed about having to "work" (Baby John) that day. Oh well.

The day passed with Easton only napping for half an hour again but once Jason got home (early--YAY!) things got better. My mom and sisters came up to E-sit while Jason and I went to my very favorite restaurant: The Melting Pot. Mmmmmm. Love that place. It was delicious as usual.

Before we left for dinner, though, I got to open some presents. Fun! My mom gave me this book:

which I'm excited to get into. Plus, she's arranging a pre-paid interior decorator consult to help me with our bedroom decor now that all the furniture is done. Yay! One sister gave me a massage gift certificate (aaahhh!) and the other gave me these:

I love them because they're purple and because they'll come in handy the next time she stays over and I make pancakes. What fun! Easton loves them too.

After dinner I got to open some more presents. Gimme gimme gimme :) I was thrilled to find a new DVD player for the bedroom!

Yippee skippy! What a lovely mother-in-law I have (thank you!). I also dug into a couple of new shirts from Jason which I'll model in a month or two and then...a NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!! Woo hoo!

So far I love it. I'm really excited to see what it can do. Plus, it came with photography lessons and I could sure use those. I'll have to get back into my digi-scrapping again.

The night before last J brought me home an ice cream cake (my favorite) to kick off my "birthday week".

He knew we'd be too full after the Melting Pot plus he wanted our babysitters to be able to eat some too so we dug into it on "Kristin Eve" (the day before my b-day). On Sunday my mom took us all out to a fancy brunch to celebrate my birthday too. It seems to be a tradition now. We've been at least the last 2 birthdays too. Anyway...here's a couple of pictures:


I like the scrunchy face Easton is making.

Oh, and yesterday as E appropriately wore his "I do my own stunts" shirt he stood (repeatedly) on the arm of the couch and jumped to land on the cushions. One time he over shot and got a little abrasion from the fabric on his forehead. This was on top of a previously existing bruise from either a.) the time he dove head first from the back of the couch to the floor, b.) the time he hit his head on the doorjamb after brushing his teeth, or c.) when he bonked into the coffee table leg while being a goofball. Who knows? Anyway, his forehead is lovely now. It's a wonder he doesn't have brain damage.

Well, we're supposed to go swimming with my mom and sissies at her neighborhood pool after nap time but it's starting to look a little cloudy. Don't want E to shiver but we'll see...

Pedicures All Around

That is all of our lovely toes from this morning. My mom treated all of us to pedicures which were delish and then Starbucks which was also delish. Then just for fun we headed over for free Migun massages. Fancy, eh? I headed home after that but they're all coming over later for a fiesta...not really...we're just having some Mexican appetizers: J's famous chicken quesadillas, pico de gallo, guac, and my mom's seven layer dip. Yummy.

So far (at 3 o'clock) I haven't even seen Easton today. :( He was still asleep when I left the house (at 9:30!!!) and he was down for his nap when I got home. I miss him but I'm glad he's getting his rest. I guess he's making up for the 40 minute "nap" yesterday. J did say he was in a good mood today. Whew. And that he missed me and was asking for me. Awwwww...J showed him some pictures of Mama to help him not miss me as much.

Funny story for today: Easton was sitting on the floor signing "cracker" so J went to get him some and then E would shake his head "no" but sign it again. Finally E got Jason to understand what he was talking about: he had put crackers through the slits in the floor vent! He could look in the register and see 3 crackers sitting there. Crazy boy.

I changed my book today...I've actually never read Slaughterhouse-Five. So now I am. I finished my re-read of Harry Potter. It was still good and I forget all the little details. I love my Harry Pottifer (that's what J calls it). I'm also changing the "Same Time Last Year" picture, but there's no good video this time. Sorry. Anyway, I guess that's all for today, catch you another time!

What a Day...

Ugh, what a day this is turing out to be. Easton slept until 9--woo hoo, right?!?! However, he woke up on the wrong side of the crib again today. Cranky a lot of the morning and I ended up putting him down for his nap after being up just 3 hours instead of 4. He went to sleep just fine but woke up 5 minutes later crying hard. He put himself back to sleep fairly quickly after that but then woke up after a mere 40 minute nap. I've tried getting him back down but he wasn't having any of it. He just wanted to read books in his room. So we did. Then we went downstairs and he turned into a handful and a half. So, I'm trying the nap thing again. Who knows...

Anyway, thought I should post something today so there ya go. Oh and for fun, here's a movie from the other day.

My sister comes into town today and even though she's staying at my mom's I think we'll be busy with her over the next week. Pedicure party tomorrow to kick it all off! Yay!

About Last Night...

Wow, did we have a wacky evening or what?!? Here's the scoop: last night after dinner Jason was heading out to the backyard to empty the baby pool before it killed all the grass underneath. Easton was still in his high chair from dinner and saw J heading out. The look on his face was heartbreaking as he realized Daddy was going to have fun outside and "forgot" E. But then, Easton called out, "Da da! DAAAAA DAAAA!!" and the desperation in his voice was enough for me to swoop in and remove him from the chair to bring him outside too. I mean, the poor child just crumpled when he thought he couldn't go out too. It was so sad. So, we're all outside watching J empty the pool and put away the Mt. Tiki Soki sprinkler. Then we head back inside. Well, we tried to head back inside. The stupid security bar fell into place with the door shut and we were locked out of our own house!!!! We had no phone or wallet or a hidden key anywhere. J contemplated breaking a window but that would take time and money to fix. All our windows were locked with security bars in place. EEEEEK! Before long we decided to simply suck it up and head to a neighbors house to use the phone to call a locksmith. I mean, replacing a window would probably cost just as much if not more than a locksmith. We had little choice left. So, we headed over to our poor unsuspecting neighbors in the middle of grilling their own dinner. We had not "officially" met them anyway so what a lovely excuse to stand there on the phone while she graciously let us interrupt their evening. What a pain! Jason had to spend forever on the phone to find someone. Then we headed back to sit on our lawn for half an hour while we waited for the lock smith.

Eventually the lock dude showed up and J and I have dubbed him "François". He was definitely from another land based on his accent. Anyway, making small talk Jason asked him, "How long does it take to get good at this job?" to which François hilariously answered, "It depends on where you grow up." Ha ha ha! That's me cackling madly. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but I did find him to be a hoot and a half. Especially when he opened up his fancy tool box and we see an old credit card and a bent hanger--tools of the trade, I guess, but a little disconcerting all the same. I would've been quite upset if he was able to get us in with his extra long hanger and a screwdriver. But, that didn't work and he had to use his fancy locksmith tools. Ninety bucks and fifteen minutes past bedtime later we were in. Phew.

This isn't the first time the danged security bar has fallen into place but the last time it happened J's friend was in the basement for band practice. J just had to wait for the pal to stop banging on the drums in order for him to hear J ringing the bell trying to get back in. My goodness!

Okay, so now that I've covered last night's drama, we can move on to today. Easton and I went out to breakfast and I had the most delicious ham and cheese (hold the egg EEW!) on a croissant (in honor of our new friend François--not). And coffee. E had water since he isn't a fan of coffee yet :) He had raisins of course and some bites of croissant. He was so good and I loved having breakfast with my boy. After breakfast we headed to Circle Time. He still doesn't love sitting still for the stories but he can't wait to get up when they dance and stuff. Today he even got a sticker. He doesn't like stickers. Oh well. At Circle Time there was a sign saying there will be no Circle Times for the month of August. What the hey?!?! We'll need to find another branch or something else to do. We love our Circle Time at the 'brary.

Oh yeah, and back to the weekend, here's a cute pic of Easton and Auntie Lauren and Daddy going down the stairs. Jason was trying to hold E's hand to go down the stairs and usually E holds the wall with his other hand but Sunday morning he reached for Auntie Lauren's hand instead. It was the sweetest thing and Lauren was thrilled. E just loves her. So, to get this picture I set the camera on timer and then threw it up in the air. Okay, that's a big fat lie. We simply have a half wall over the stairs...kind of a fun shot though.

And then here is a cute super smiley picture and fun movie montage from yesterday.

Au revoir! (that's François rubbing off again...tee hee!)