Yes, we own a camera

How sad! I took a few pictures of the cousins this weekend, and decided to actually download the pictures. The first one was taken the first week of March...and it wasn't even a good one. The second one was taken May 1st. Oops. I guess one of the side effects of morning sickness is that we have no documentation of that time period. A ploy of Jeff's to make me forget about it so we can have a third child someday? Or is it just further proof that I am the only one who takes pictures in this family?

Enjoy!

What a weekend!

I don't know what the rest of you faced this weekend...but here in KY we had a picture perfect Memorial Day weekend. Sunny sunny sunny from Friday through Tuesday. And it was HOT HOT HOT. But we didn't mind, because our neighborhood pools opened this weekend as well!

Friday we had our friends over for steaks and conversation. Andrew was particularly well behaved, and he was in bed soon after they arrived anyway. It's funny how different it is to have friends over that don't have kids. If we were to invite a family of 3 or 4 for dinner, they would come over and start the party at about 4pm. Dinner and dessert would be over by 8-9, and voila, party is over. But when a family of 2 comes over (aka DINKS), they roll in about 7. Andrew goes to bed between 7:30 and 8. So he had just enough time to show off a bit (his latest is counting like The Count on Sesame Street...Ah, Ah, Ahhhh), and then he was off to drink milk and go to bed. Sad for our friends because they only got a small taste of the cuteness that is our firstborn, but great for us because we could relax the rest of the evening without a million interuptions. Oh, but another downside to childless couple friends...they stayed until well past 11pm. See, they get to sleep in as late as they want the next morning. We know we will hear knock knock knocking at 7 am, "Moooooommmmmm? Daaaaaddddddd? I'm awake!". It's all good...we had a great time!

Saturday was a LAZY day. Lovely. We visited the pool for the first time this summer. It is a heated pool, so the normal discomfort of early summer pools is alleviated. Andrew was really nervous at first, but by the end of the hour, he was jumping in off the side. Actually, he ran over to the diving boards because that looked like so much fun. He has know idea how traumatic it would be to actually get up there. ;) Time to teach this boy to swim.

My sister Kate and her son Colin came on Sunday. Andrew was so excited to have visitors...but then they didn't leave. He's used to kids visiting for about 2 hours...so his tolerance for sharing is about that long. Add in that Colin weighs about 1/3 of Andrew and you get some big bullying by Andrew. Colin didn't seem to mind too much, there were enough new toys that everytime Andrew would take something from him, he'd just kind of move on to something else...or stare wonderingly at Andrew. We went to the pool again with the boys and had a yummy cookout that night (actually, it ended up being a cook-in...we just couldn't handle the heat without being immersed in a pool).

Monday, Kate and Colin left after lunch. Andrew took a long power nap while Jeff and I cleaned up a bit and vegged. It was just the perfect mix between entertaining and relaxing. What a great weekend!

I should be cleaning

Andrew is doing his 30 minute veg-out in front of Dragon Tales, and I should be cleaning (go ahead, criticize. I was a really good mom about TV until winter hit, and now we both enjoy the down time...especially when he wakes up early and grumpy like today). My floor is desperately needing to be swept. Shadow's fur is getting too long, so she drags everything in with her from the outside. It stinks having a dog so low to the ground sometimes. But I hate sweeping. I have WAY too much hard wood to clean. That's my excuse. My house is too big(such problems I have). Strange, because in my condo that was half the size, the floor was still dirty most of the time. Maybe it's just time to fess up that I'm a terrible housekeeper. And cook. And decorator. I need professional help ;)

I went to a very nice dinner/banquet for my Mom's club last night. I was inducted in as the new President. Okay, so I'm a co-president. Can you say "sucker"? The real problem is that the out-going president moved a few weeks ago, so we don't have anyone to pass the torch. And apparently our regional contact is a b$!*h. She is really nit-picky about how many evening activities we have, how we get new members, what color our hair is...oh wait, not the last one. And I know the last president spent much of her time and energy trying to kiss this lady's butt. My attitude is going to be much worse. I mean, HELLO, this is a voluntary club for enjoyment only, not a money making, for charity, anything else club. Screw the petty rules that make no sense...what are they going to do, ban me from this club? I'm afraid it's all a little too sorority for me. I can already tell this lady is going to LOVE ME!

Andrew is grumpy. Again. Maybe grumpy just isn't the word. It's just one of his schizo down days. We have days that we are up up up! And then we have days like today, where we scream and have fits all day long. At least it's Friday. And we're having friends over for a cookout tonight...and we're grilling steaks! Sauteed mushrooms to top it! Baked potatoes! Fresh asparagus! Beer and wine (and ice water for me). Yummy! If I can only make it to dinner time.

The sun, the sun! The wind, the wind!

Okay, so it only rained for 2 weeks. Why does it feel like the first days of spring? The changing weather is great...for everyone but Andrew. He doesn't really mind the rain. In fact, he thinks it is great fun to splash in puddles and wear his rain coat. But when weather changes, it brings something terrible. Something that makes Andrew shudder just to think of it. Yes, people, it brings WIND!!! -gasp-

Isn't that weird? It was beautiful one day (I can't remember which) and I said "What a gorgeous day". Andrew's reply, "No, it's a yucky day. It's a windy day".

This kid HATES wind. Always has. When he was a baby, he used to hold his breath during gusts of wind and then when it stopped, he would cry.

Thunderstorms? Big fun. Snow? Who cares? But please, Mommy, don't take me into the wind.

Ahhh, spring is fun. ;)

Yesterday, Uncle Chad, Grandma, and Grandpa came to visit. Do you think I took a single picture? No. I am out of the habit of snapping pictures of Andrew. Gotta get better. We had a blast with them. Andrew was so excited to see them that as soon as Memere left on Saturday morning, he went and sat on the garage step. When asked what he was doing, he said "I'm waiting for Grandma, and Grandpa, and Uncle Chad". Don't worry, we managed to convince him they weren't coming until Sunday, and he left the step. He has a long attention span, but not that long.

We'll see how today goes. He woke me up with his loud moaning/crying in his sleep about 3 am. Then he woke up completely and sang at the top of his lungs for about 45 minutes. Then he woke up crying again at 5 am...I actually went in and comforted him that time. Who knows what is going on. It could be a long day.

Oh, one more cute Andrew story to finish off this disjointed post. On Friday morning, Andrew wanted to jump on me. He knows not to do this anymore. So I reminded him, "We don't jump on Mommy anymore because of the baby, right?". And my impish son innocently replies, "But the baby told me to, Mommy". So the blaming on the sister begins already...

Girl baby

Andrew knows he is having a sister. Well, he's never actually said that yet, but he does come up to my belly and pat it and rub it and says, "Mommy, you have a girl baby in your tummy". Cute, eh?

In order to prepare myself for having a girl, I decided to get a pedicure today. It's never too late to become female, right? And I brought along my good friend Sarah who is due a few weeks before me. And conveniently, she is in total and utter shock and denial that she is having a boy (she has a daughter a few months younger than Andrew). I have a feeling that hanging out with her will make me feel less guilty about feeling less than prepared to mother my 2nd child.

I have had one pedicure in my entire life. It was a relaxing, enjoyable experience. Expensive, but wonderful. I was looking forward to a repeat. I should have done a little research first.

We did manage to get 2 chairs next to each other. One of them was broken, so there was no massaging feature, but that didn't really matter to me.

The water for my feet was tepid. Not freezing cold...but not even close to warm. The lady apologized saying they were really busy that day and the hot water just couldn't keep up.

They did my feet first. There was no one to do Sarah's feet. So she got the joy of sitting with her feet in the oh-so-relaxing tepid water for 20 minutes while I was filed, lotioned, painted. They finally started on her feet, and then they needed my chair for someone else. So I got booted across the room to wait for Sarah to be done.

Good news...toes look all dressed up. Kind of makes the rest of me look shabby.
Good news...pedicure was really cheap. It should have been.
Good news...nail place is right next to a Graeter's. So Sarah and I were able to talk over ice cream after the pedicure.
Bad news...all my confidence how I'm really pretty little girl hidden in this rough exterior was shattered once I got home. The first thing Andrew said to me was..."Mommy, what happened to your toes!?!". Oh yes, that's right, Andrew has never seen Mommy wear nail polish. And so it hit me...I'm not really a girl...I'm just pretending for a day.

To my great shock and amazement...

I am having a daughter!!!

Let me start by saying we are thrilled. To get to experience raising both genders is truly a gift, and more importantly, she looks totally healthy. She has all her parts and was moving around a little while we probed briefly into her world. Honestly, could we be any luckier.

Let me finish by saying, "WHAT THE HECK AM I GOING TO DO WITH A GIRL?????"

For those of you who have met me, you know that I am not really a girl. Sure, I have boobs, but even they aren't that impressive. I still own the same hair dryer I had in high school...because I don't use it. Andrew is 30 months old and he has never watched me apply makeup. I don't do hair. I don't like to shop. I don't match things well, can't decorate, hate to cook, don't know how to sew, don't own any nail polish, (shall I go on, or are you convinced enough?).

So I'm really glad that I found out about her now, because I'm going to need a few months to get my brain around the idea of her. I am very excited and am going to spend A LOT of money buying cute girl things. I already love her more than I ever thought I could a second child...and she's not even close to being born yet. So have no fear...my girl is going to be loved and cherished. I'm just not sure how to mother a girl yet :) I hope she's a patient soul. (She kicking me like mad right now, as if to reassure me that we'll get along just fine...what a good girl)

Oh, and I guess we can't call her Pa'avo anymore. Anyone have any cute girl nicknames we could use? And kudos to you psychics out there that predicted this! You are more accurate than that Chinese gender chart (which said boy without any doubt), and the heartbeat myth (that girls have higher heartbeats).

Music class

Tuesday mornings are special for Andrew. He gets to go to music class! We are currently enrolled in our 2nd 11 week course, and Andrew LOVES it. Well, he loves it in his own special 2 year old way.

Before the class begins, you are mailed a CD with all the music on it. This is so that you will kind of know the songs before you show up. Slacker here doesn't usually listen to it until after we've been to class. I mean, COME ON. I know that once he learns the songs, it will be all we listen to. Can't I at least get one extra week without jingles running through my head.

Sure enough, every time we get in the car Andrew says "I want to listen to my NEW songs". "How about Elmo, Andrew?" "No, my NEW songs" And so we start the CD again. And he knows these songs...really well. You can catch him singing them throughout the day, even without the CD (just another way to get them stuck in Mommy's head).

Now, once we show up at the actual music class it is anyone's guess how Andrew will participate. Sometimes he dances with full on hip shaking and chases his girlfriend Lindsey around trying to hug her and hold her hand (seriously, he's only 2 and he's already left me for a cute blond). Other times, he literally lays on the floor in a pout and won't do a thing.

He's been asking Jeff to come to music class for a few weeks now. Very cute. Other kids' daddies have come, and he has noticed. So Jeff rearranged his schedule to be able to do this. Jeff does not work close to our home, so this means taking about 2 hours out of his work day for a music class. He showed up this Tuesday, and Andrew was ECSTATIC. It was so cute...kind of melted my heart (and all the other gushy moms in the class too).

When music class started, Andrew got pouty and lay down on the floor. Jeff looked at me with amusement, and I am thinking in my head "Dear God, child, don't you know your dad woke up really early this morning so he could come to music class like you asked him? Don't make this a pouty day."

I swear to you, Andrew didn't do anything the whole class. I felt so bad for Jeff. To his credit, he just laughed about it and never complained. Ah, those "terrific twos".

We said goodbye at the car and as I drove away, Andrew started saying, "That was a great music class. Daddy came to music class. That was a great music class". I promptly called Jeff and told him that despite Andrew's lackluster performance, he really did appreciate his daddy coming to class.

I guess this is a little preview of junior high, right? When your kid is HORRIFIED with embarrassment if you show up to any of their events, but forever crushed if you don't. Ahhhh, parenthood.

(BTW...it's all I can do to not talk about my ultrasound tomorrow...how can I be this excited about the 2nd baby??? And I think you are all crazy to think I'm having a girl. Have you noticed that this pregnancy is almost identical to my boy pregnancy? We'll find out tomorrow!!!)

And Daddy gets some play time

I don't know what exactly that title means. Just grasping at creativity here :) Last night as we settled down to bed, Pa'avo started dancing around. Typical. And wonderful. I've really been feeling some good old kicks lately...he's really getting bigger (and, no, I don't know that Pa'avo is a boy, but since we've been using a male name, it's just more natural to use male pronouns). Anyway, last night I was feeling some good rousing kicks, so I rolled onto my back and woke Jeff up. After just a minute of touching my belly, Pa'avo gave his dad a good kick in the hand. So Jeff can officially believe that I'm pregnant now. Just in time for the ultrasound Friday. ;)

So I've been MIA for the last week (thank you to all my concerned readers...Joey, I can't figure out how to PM you back, so consider this a thank you for your e-mail). Let's see what has been going on this last week???

Andrew woke up last Monday with bright pink eyes. I took him to the doctor and he did not have pink eye, but had an ear infection and strep throat. Okay... We didn't have many plans last week, and it rained every day, so we did nothing exciting to fuel my blog. Oh, except I started throwing up almost every morning again. Joy.

Last weekend we went to my mom's house for Mother's Day. Andrew just ADORES his grandparents...both sets. Mom and Dad got to see Andrew in rare form Saturday...I think he fell down in a crying fit every 15 minutes or so. He was just a crazy 2 year old. Mom was convinced he was sick or something. I understand her feeling. If you didn't live with a 2 year old every day, you would think this type of mental anguish had to be the result of something, anything. (I know, Linda, they are the "terrific twos!")

And now we're into this week. I'm feeling crappy (I threw up my dinner last night for the first time in weeks), Andrew has been an ANGEL so far this week (have I just cursed myself?), and he hasn't been napping, which has also been cause for the decline of my blog. And now he is awake, so I must go retrieve him (I know he's awake because he turns off his sound machine and knocks on his door).

I'll try and post more this week!

Little hick

My son is being corrupted by living south of the Ohio River.

He no longer says potty...it is toilet. Okay, it is actually pronounced "Tour-let".
When asked, "Did you...?" Andrew answers, "I sure did".

Now imagine this conversation...

"Andrew, did you help Mommy in the bathroom?"

"I sure did! I put paper in the tour-let".

Beverly Hillibillies...here we come!

Gardening...toddler style

It has been BEAUTIFUL here for the last several days. So I decided it was time to get some flowers. I had bought Andrew 2 cute little flower pots for $1 each at Target, because he's such a BIG BOY, surely gardening will be fun, Right? Kind of right.

We went to a nursery in the morning and Andrew was terrific. He had slept 12 hours the night before and was in a chipper happy mood. He picked out some flowers (that the employee assured me could handle a lot of watering). He talked to anyone within earshot. He was just cute as can be. Oh, except that he insisted on wearing his "I'm a Big Brother" T-shirt. I forgot it was in his dresser, but he found it and threatened a fit when I tried to get him to wear something else. So everyone he talked to asked where his little sibling was. Uh, boy did I feel dumb. I don't even look pregnant yet. Lovely.

We brought the flowers home, but had to jet off to the park with some friends that I made a playdate with. By the time we got home, Andrew was ready for a nap. Voila! Morning finished.

When he woke up, I got him all jazzed to plant his flowers. Here's where it got not-so-fun. He wanted to do EVERYTHING by himself. Big boy complex, you know. Which is fine. Except he is a bit unwilling to not be perfect at what he is doing (hmmmm, no one to blame but myself for that trait). So it was fit after fit after screaming crying fit. He wanted to shovel the dirt into the pot ALL BY HIMSELF. But when his shovel missed the pot, he got frustrated and kicked the pot over. Which made him even more mad and caused the crying full on fit. While he wasn't looking, I put some dirt in, and we continued. After the plant was safely in the pot, Andrew got to water. He got 2 watering cans for Easter (thank you Grandma and Memere), so he was a bit distressed as to which he should use. He finally decided on the bigger one, because the plants were so thirsty. But then it was too heavy for him to carry easily. So he threw it across the deck and ran off crying. -sigh- I filled the smaller, coaxed him back over, and he watered his pots.

Then the payoff...he got a big grin on his face, patted the flower, and said, "My flowers said thank you for the water. They are so happy now". Okay, let's hear it, "Awwwwww".

Let's recap...

2 flowers that will hopefully not die from rough treatment and lots of water...$3.00

Super dirt filled with fertilizer and other stuff...$12.00

Supplies lost to throwing, kicking, and pushing...$5.00

Watching your 2 year old loving a plant and being proud of himself...PRICELESS!

Big Boy Complex

Well, I may have overdone it trying to prepare Andrew for the big boy bed. All this talk about what a big boy he is and how he has gotten too big for his crib has rolled into other aspects of his life. Here's a list of other things he now insists on doing as a "Big Boy".

1) Getting in and out of his car seat alone. I'm really happy about this one. I've been encouraging him to try and do this because I realize that once my belly is sticking out it will be really hard to haul a 35 pounder in and out of my Escape. But all of a sudden this week he INSISTS on doing it by himself. As he says, "I'm a BIG BOY." The cutest was one time last week he climbed in and as I was buckling him in he said, "I need a bigger seat. I growed and growed and am such a BIG BOY".

2) Sitting at tables without a booster. Now that he's too big for a crib, apparently he is too big for booster seats. At home and in restaurants. Luckily, he really is big enough to manage at the big tables...so it's no big deal.

3) At playgrounds he is doing AMAZING physical feats...at least for Andrew. And every time he tries something, he says, "I'm such a BIG BOY". He would never even try things before, and now he is getting so brave. But not fearless. Thank God.

4) He wants to do everything alone. He gets his own juice box out of the cabinet, his own utensils (and frequently ours as well), etc etc. He also wants to sit alone when reading and watching TV. It's like he just grew up before our eyes.

Does he want to dress himself like a BIG BOY? No way.
Does he want to go potty in the toilet like a BIG BOY? No way.

So that's my big boy. I guess it really is time to get a new baby in the house. My first baby has left the building.