I was right!

A few weeks ago I posted that August was going to fly....and it has!  I have 5 days of work left until I am on leave.  I'm so happy about that.  We have had a heat wave in Colorado, and that combined with lifting my bag in and out of my car and standing has not had the most desirable effects.  BUT baby and I remain healthy and full term!  Yea!!  It is such a blessing to get to this point in pregnancy and it really did come so fast.  Last Saturday I felt awful and had some contractions and that was enough to push us through the rest of the baby prep.  Bags are packed and we feel ready whenever he is.

I am trying to summon as much energy as possible for Dylan being that he has TONS.  He goes to in-home daycare where apparently he is the funny man of the group.  He is this way at home so it doesn't surprise me.  What does surprise me is where this HUGE personality of his came from.  Jake and I are fun people and love to laugh but Dylan is in a league of his own.  He's such a ham and I love it.  I pray he never loses that.  I was so shy for a lot of my childhood and I love that he has so much personality to offer.  He is still hesitant with new people and situations but has come so far with moving through that quickly and being comfortable.  Tonight he ran across the house dozens of times into our arms, danced in circles, and proceeded to act like a monkey and get on my back while I crawled around with him.   Yes, my almost 2 year old was on my back while I'm hugely pregnant.  It was like I was wearing a kangaroo and a monkey!  Jake looked at me like I was insane.  I told him I am no longer in danger of going into preterm labor so I'm going to enjoy my son.  I am so uncomfortable just sitting that playing physically with Dylan is actually a distraction.  I love that kid so much.

I am looking forward to being home for a while and trying to compile a mental activity list of things I can do that are both educational and fun for Dylan and somewhat easy to tote a newborn along.  I know my initial "to do" is survive but once I'm past that stage I'll need activities.  I'm not one to be idle.  I will be enrolling Dylan in tumbling/gymnastics in the fall, I plan to do library days, museum days, art, reading, etc at home.  I am sure we will all stay very busy.  I'm really excited to be home with my boys.  I pray that Leo is like Dylan as a baby.  We were so lucky he was pretty easy.  Of course we didn't get a lot of sleep but he was never much of a fussy baby and we took him everywhere.

I am going to do my very best to keep up with this blog and share the adventures I'm sure to have!  I'm sure I will have a few more pre-birth posts but we shall see.  We are on labor watch, which is kinda like waiting for a pot of water to boil.....

35 weeks down, 35 DAYS to go!

Yeah probably not!  I went a week early with Dylan so with no medical basis I am kind of assuming I'll go early this time too.  As long as he's healthy and ready a week early is fine!  So...35 days or less.  We are pretty ready.  The nursery is done.  It is adorable.  It is Lion King theme but very tasteful with browns and sage.  I love it.  Just like with Dylan's room, Jake hand drew and painted a mural on the wall.  Pretty darn special that our kids can say their dad did that.  Littlest boy's clothes and linens are all washed and put away.  I have little things to do like sterilize bottles, bring the swing out from the basement, etc.  The major things I have left to do are pack for the hospital and put the car seat in the car.  I'm hoping I still have plenty of time for all that though.  I have 14 work days left and am SO ready to be on leave.  Being on my feet most of the day and carrying my heavy bag is taking its toll on me.  I have an ultrasound this coming Thursday to check the baby's size and see what position he is in!  I hope everything looks perfect, I have faith that it will!

I remember last fall when I was trying to get pregnant I had 5 friends either pregnant or trying to conceive.  Every night I would pray for their healthy pregnancies, deliveries, or to be blessed with a baby.  The sixth prayer was for conceiving our baby.  I am happy to say that as of yesterday ALL of those women have gone on to conceive and deliver healthy babies.  Sure, there has been fights with infertility, complicated pregnancies, and sleepless nights with newborns, but the prayers worked and what a blessing for all these women!  Now its just time for me to deliver my bundle soon and its come full circle!  Wow God....you done good!

I check in with Dylan to see if we have any concept of this whole "baby" thing but I don't think he does.  He will hug my belly and say baby but I don't think he comprehends what a gift we have coming for him.  Haha, that's probably because he will NOT see it that way for a little while.  He likes his mommy time so I hope he'll be somewhat open to sharing it.  I am enjoying every moment I have left with him as an only child.  He continues to become smarter, sweeter, and funnier everyday.  I hope I have the instantaneous bond with my new son as I had with Dylan.  He is the light of my life and silly as it may sounds...I think I'm his :)

IT'S AUGUST!!

I'm very happy that it is August because I go on maternity leave at the end of the month and I can now say....I'm having a baby NEXT month.  WOAH!  Can we all just take a second and ask where the heck 2011 has gone?  I've been pregnant this whole year so far, pretty funny to think of it that way.  I am obviously very excited to meet our new baby and be done with pregnancy.  These days I'm not feeling so well.  I have very bad acid reflux so I have to take medicine before bed so I don't wake up puking in the middle of the night and choking.  I know, gross.  Morning nausea has been bad but for the most part it passes.  My left hip well, that is a lost cause.  Exhaustion?  CHECK!  But you know what?  It's ok, because baby is healthy and moving, and we are so close.  I am so so grateful that despite my troubles getting pregnant and feeling crappy once pregnant....I have healthy pregnancies for my babies.  What more could you ask for?  I am also taking a moment each day to take a deep breath and feel the excitement and anticipation of my life at this time.  When I said to Jake last night that expecting a child is about the most exciting thing you can do in your life, he couldn't help but agree.  I am strangely relieved that I feel slightly unprepared and butterflies because this is my second baby.  I kinda thought maybe the fact that I had done it before would change that feeling, but it hasn't and I love that nervous excitement!  I also hope some of that knowledge from having done this once before will help though ;)

I am trying to work through any feelings I have about this most likely being my last baby.  I know we won't do fertility again, but more than that, I don't know if we know for sure if we feel "done" after our second or not.  I really am hoping that I know after this baby is here that our family feels complete in our hearts or not.  I feel like I know I can be happy with 2 without question.  I would be ok not having that miracle 3rd conceiving on our own.  We are so blessed to be having this second child.  I know only God knows if another is in our future, but deep down I think I know if we will have another or not and I think Jake knows the answer to that too.

One thing that amuses me about pregnancy is the outsider commentary....in the last week I have gotten..."you don't look like you have put on much weight, but you could still blow up".  Hmmm thanks, I'm gonna assume that won't happen.  "You don't even look pregnant from the back".  Hey thanks be sure to update me if that status changes!  "Your baby looks anxious".  Oh I know readers this is a good one.  "Anxious?" I asked....cause what does that mean right??  He said the baby looked low and ready to come out and play.  Uh eww and such a strange way of putting it.  For the record baby boy hasn't dropped which is good we still have a few weeks.

In all the Frese family is doing well...Jake works his butt off and D gives him a hard time but he loves his daddy.  D is doing great despite typical toddler moments from time to time.  Nothing I can't handle.....yet!  And me....I'm sitting back at this moment feeling my littlest love move amidst the butterflies in my tummy.  August is gonna fly.

Is that a Prius?

Hi loyal readers.....however few of you there may be!  Wednesday is my usual blog night but its 10pm and I am just sitting down because I was at a business dinner all evening.  I decided I would have my first guest blogger fill the spot tonight.  That honor went to my one and only husband, Jake!  So enjoy the post from my beloved!  Thanks for filling in babe!

Being the parent of a toddler is like that feeling you get when you are driving down the freeway and you suddenly realize you are being tailgated by someone driving a Prius. The first thought that comes to your mind is probably " What the Heck?". You get feelings of confusion, anxiety, you maybe even start to sweat a little, all while wondering if its your fault. I recommend that everyone experience being the parent of a toddler at least once in their lives. If not, thats ok too, but its an experience unlike no other, at least that I have had. In just 21 months I have been peed on, pooped on, puked on, and drooled on. I have pulled all nighters, stayed in the hospital for three days, been to the pediatrician at least what I swear is a thousand times, and I even now have the luxury of having to wake up at 6:45 on a weekend. Yeah, thats what a toddler is capable of. 

During your experience as the parent of a toddler, you may even start pondering any of the great philosophies of life. One being the theory of Intelligent Design! 

According to Wikipedia(the most trusted resource on the planet), Intelligent Design is the theory that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."  Then how is it that my toddler just screamed bloody murder when I put baked 5 cheese-homemade macaroni and cheese in front of him, but 45 minutes later proceeded to happily eat a two day old cheerio he found in his playroom. And to top it off, 30 minutes after that, he refused his nice fresh cup of milk only to take a couple gulps of bath water. Maybe he needed to wash down the cheerio? 

On the intelligence scale, I believe most people fall somewhere in between Lindsay Lohan, and Albert Einstein. And some people just fake it better than others. But if we were intelligently designed, why were we designed so,.......Toddler-ish? This applies to adults too, as confirmed by a recent episode of Cops that I saw. Grown men and women throwing tantrums, fighting with one another, he said, she said, all to have someone else come in and set them straight again. Kind of makes me think the QA department of the heavens needs to do a little review on procedure eh?

Tonight I was assigned with taking the reigns of "the beast"(one of his many nicknames), since Kim is at a company function, and I have to admit I did learn some things. I now know the words to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog song, and I also figured out how to discreetly wipe gigantoid boogers out of my kids nose in a Target parking lot all while not making him cry. I can also now guarantee that a week in my house would be more entertaining than 5 years of watching the Kardashians. I even have a nicer butt than Kim Kardashian. Or, if you want to think even bigger, how about James Cameron leaves the Titanic alone and creates, "The Toddler Experience, in 3D!". Where is James Cameron when you need him anyway?  Dylan is asleep now, his bedtime is somewhere around 7:30. But, even after all the toddler-isms he can throw at me, I always miss him when he's not around. If there is one thing he definitely is, it's that he is always happy, even when he's washing down a two day old cheerio with bath water. At least that is one aspect of the design they got right. I wonder if James Cameron owns a Prius?

I'm 32 weeks pregnant

I remember thinking that being this far along seemed so far away just a short time ago.  This pregnancy really has flown by.  That being said, I feel every week of my pregnancy today.  The baby is lying head down on my left hip and won't budge and I'm in a ton of pain.  I'm nauseous first thing in the morning and during every shower, and I'm exhausted.  I'm whining but it's just how I feel today.  I'm so close, but not close enough to say the end.  I also have no desire for an early baby so I just have to get through 8 weeks.  I know most days I'm pretty positive but sometimes everyone hits a wall....today is that day for me.

In other news, Dylan is doing great, eating well and making me proud.  He is saying a lot of new words and is so good to me.  He is seriously so sweet to me, it melts my heart and instantly made my day better when I picked him up.  He is also very demanding of me though, he won't let dad help...mom has to do it all and be present at all times at home.  I know its a stage and I both love and am exhausted by it.  I told Jake not to worry they will be best buds in September when our new addition is here. (Did I mention I can LITERALLY feel the baby's head on my hip bone right this second OMG)

Overall I'm extremely excited about having a newborn soon.  I don't pretend to be naive to the work involved with one and how those challenges will be amplified by having a toddler to care for, but I am just so blessed to experience this again.  I absolutely loved the newborn stage and hope I can manage it so well the second time.  On that note, a big congratulations to my friend Ashley on her precious baby boy Bennett.  I met Ashley on the first day of high school in 1997 on the school bus and now she is a beautiful mommy.  Ashley and David are going to be amazing parents!  Thank you Ashley for letting me share in your journey thus far and I cannot wait to see you and Bennett grow as mother and son.

This post is so random....what else?  Oh last weekend Jake and I made a big trip to Babies R' Us and I have most everything checked off my list so that's a relief.  I am by no means ready but closer!  Well I think that is all for tonight as I am tired and entirely unwitty this evening!

-Kim

I totally forgot I was a mom....

.....until today!  I'm kidding of course.  Most days motherhood is just my way of life.  I am a mom, I love being one and it is just my "normal".  However, every once in a while there are moments in parenting that stand out like, "holy cow, I'm such a mom".  Now you may be thinking this is one of those sappy moments I divulge into about my son......but it is SO NOT.  It is however funny....at least now.  

So I have a little boy who has a new habit of playing with his diaper....as in he basically can pull it off during the night and wake up with a useless diaper.  So we started putting him in onesies while he slept forgoing the super cute pj sets, because, really, nothing soaked in pee is cute.  We moved up one size in diapers to account for what seemed to be wetter diapers and figured we were on the road to dry mornings.  Last night D went to sleep in a onesie, with cute pj shirt and shorts over it.  Double protection!  Yeah...NO!  At 545am, my usually sleeps till I wake him up baby started crying....not like a whine which usually is shortlived and he falls back asleep, but full on cry.  So of course I dragged my overtired pregnant self to his room to make sure all was well.  It wasn't....soggy baby, diaper half off.  Who are you kid, houdini??  So I change the baby wipe him down to smell baby fresh and prepare to put him back down because...ya know....its 6am and I still have to get ready for work.  He usually sleeps while I'm getting ready.  It's a pretty sweet deal for all involved.  Well before I lay him back down I check his bed....sheet cover, sheet, mattress all drenched.  Awesome.  I lay groggy baby on floor and he watches as preggo mom changes the pee sheet in the dark.  I tell Dylan its too early for him so back to bed he goes.  Surprisingly he is agreeable and quiet.  I go lay back down for 15 minutes because....its 6am and I'm pregnant.  Yes I'm whining....then and now.  I finally decide to get ready for work, quiet dry baby taken care of, when he starts whining off and on seriously the minute I get up.  Mind you we are in different rooms....does he know I'm up?  What's with this kid?  I hurry to get ready etc and when I do go to get Dylan ready for daycare....of course....he's fallen asleep again.  I wake obviously tired baby and dress him for the day, he cracks a smile because he's just that cool until the shoe he is playing with as I snap some buttons on his romper drops on his face and he's not happy about it.  Kid....its that kind of morning, I feel your pain.  Onward, we give the dogs their "cookies" (dog bones), D gets his sippy with carnation instant breakfast....cause sidestory he's a lean machine and needs extra calories per the pediatrician...and off to start our respective days we go.  Tired but ok.  We get to daycare where as I get Dylan out of the car he turns said sippy upside down and all over my shirt it goes.  I go inside when I drop him off to try and redeem myself and bid farewell to my son for the day with a soaked shirt and a prompt "I'm in a very bad mood" call to Jake.  This is of course useless but its what I did.

At this point its about 830am and the rest of the day was fairly uneventful...but as it went on I found humor in my morning and also that astonishing "I'm a mom" moment that in some weird way I was proud to have.  This is not always easy, but gosh darn it, I'm doing it, and I think I'm doing it pretty well.  I never lost my cool, my D was still happy and life just goes on, but I found humor and pride in being a mom today.  I'll leverage slightly into sappy mode because my day ended at Chick-fil-a where D actually ate, full on ankle pjs for D were bought at Target, dogs chased bubbles in the backyard, dancing was done inside, and according to Jake, I performed perhaps the most comical rendition of "old macdonald" during Dylan's bath.  Like every night I sang to Dylan before putting him down for bed to his gracious smile... and here I live to tell the tale.

Ah Motherhood....ain't it grand?  :)

I'm older!

Not much to say this week! I've enjoyed a shorter work week due to the holiday and yesterday was my birthday! 28! A little too close to 30 for my comfort but I am so happy with where I am at in life and I am only here because of the years that have passed! I'm thankful to my wonderful husband who always tries so hard to make me feel special on my birthday! He does that everyday but makes an extra effort for my birthday that doesn't go unnoticed. I'm very blessed to have him! The best part of my birthday was blowing out candles on my cake with my Dylan on my lap while he scooped icing into his mouth!

Meanwhile we are 30 weeks with #2 and morning sickness and heartburn visit me regularly along with sciatic pain so I am looking forward to September! This is hard work but again another blessing! I guess that's all for now!!