reading and the potty

asher has been potty trained for quite some time now
he takes it all pretty serious
the other day i found him like this.

i know he will kill me many years from now, but he sure didnt mind cheesin for the photo at the time
i couldnt handle the cuteness of this photo.

philip put one of his books in the magazine rack and asher caught a glimpse of it, picked it up and went to town reading...no wonder why he never called for me when he was done or came out on his own. he was immersed in his book....

i could eat him alive...

Still hanging in there

tomorrow July 19th is baby #2's official due date.

as of three days ago i was 3 cm dilated, 70% and -1 station

pretty exciting seeing that i had 12 hours of natural labor with asher and wasnt even dilated a finger tip. 

im praying this labor and delivery is completely different. so far it already is!

ive dropped which still appears high to most

my belly button is an outtie this pregnancy

and thankfully still no stretch marks

the midwife believes this baby will come before the weekend. i like her thinking. i pick july 20th, friday. we shall see!

unfortunately i am still sick. as in not just sick but worse than i was two weeks ago.

i switched antibiotics from ceftin to zpak 8 days into the ceftin with no improvement.

i feel like i am a walking pharmacy.

the thought of not being able to even attempt at a natural delivery breaks my heart so i am doing everything possible to help my congestion and breathing situation. i can do this i keep telling myself.

i went to the gym yesterday which i believe to be my last visit pre baby and began having some pressure and contractions so i stopped after 30 minutes of cardio. thankfully that subsided.

asher is more than ready to be a baby brother. he told softa that his baby brother was almost done baking. he asks for him regularly, talks about him non stop to anyone that will listen.

kisses my belly, hugs it and rubs it multiple times a day but especially before bed each night.

if you ask him the baby's name he tells you "baby brother mommy"

i guess thats what happens when you wait till the baby arrives to decide the name.

if we list off a bunch of names he always resorts to the name rhodes... we have pretty much nixed at this point. funny how his opinion is so consistent. 

ive been pretty busy nesting. not really in the cleaning sense but in the crafting department

sewing. baking, wreath making etc.

i sewed these adorable brother shirts/onesies...

then i painted this fun sign to hang from a burlap wreath on the hospital door

then asher and i spent one morning before school baking cookies for the nurses. i got this idea from another friend who brought treats for those that helped in the delivery of their baby girl (thanks leah) and have always thought when I was ready to have my next child this is something i wanted to do. 

and of course i couldnt get out of crafting without a battle wound. after using a glue gun for years i finally got a horrible burn. ekkkkk. i felt it swipe the skin off my finger. it was slightly nauseating and i ran downstairs to get aloe from our aloe plant. hopefully that will help heal it quickly.

crafting must be a labor of love....

its preparing me for my upcoming real labor of love... delivering this baby!

39 weeks oh mi

Photos from Asher in 2009.

let me preface this with....Philip definitely did not have the same photo rules back in 2009 than he does now. he makes me square my shoulders and hips to the wall so that i am straight on. you can tell in 2009 i was totally twisted to my advantage to make me look smaller with my top on.

but OMG....

i am HUGEEEEEEEEEE

high and huge... you would think i have two babies in there i am that much bigger this time around.

 unfortunately i am still miserably sick. my blood pressure was up from being sick and the meds, im retaining water from the crazy amont of fluids im ingesting, the meds are making me constipated... all not a great combo in the last week of pregnancy. going on day 6 of sickness. after 2 sick OB appts with a ridiculous over the counter regime of meds i broke down and went to a regular doctor. the doctor couldnt believe all of the stuff they had put me on this far along in pregnancy.. uh yeah 38 1/2 weeks pregnant at the time.

they took me off everything except affrin and tylenol as needed for aches and put me on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. within 24 hours of taking the antibiotics im already feeling major improvements. i sound horrible, hoarse, congested and i felt even worse. my throat felt like sand paper and my ears were constantly popping. definetly not ideal this far long in pregnancy. hopefully the meds will do the trick just in time for the little man to arrive.

friday the 13th is my last day of work. i can not wait. i will be off until thanksgiving and could not be more excited about having this time off. im hoping that i can make it till my due date next week so that i can have some time to myself to relax and attend a few day time events planned for next week for asher, temple etc. clearly i have no say in any of this, but time will tell!

nursery art

i have found a ton of great ideas on pinterest and this was one of them.

i really wanted asher to be a part of a few art projects for the nursery. this one seemed pretty simple and fun...but i struggled to figure out what i wanted it to say.

"you are my friend" is a term of endearment for asher. its equivalent to "i love you".

only his inner circle gets "you are my friend" treatment.

so there we have it. sorry no sweet textual quotes etc. that was my plan but we just couldnt find something we had enough sticker letters for and that was the key to this project. next time (and there will definitely be a next time....)

first step was to stick the letter stickers on the canvas.

then i went over it with a gesso prep for the canvas. you have to be real careful when going over the letters because they dont stick well on canvas, but the goal is to eventually peel them off so you dont want them too sticky anyway.

next step was to take out all the paint colors we wanted and let asher go to town.

he used brushes, sponges, fingers, etc.

he had the best time painting away on the canvas and i love that it was made with all of his love for his brother. 

once complete i used the tip of a pin needle and lifted the sticky letters off to reveal our words.

voila. easy peasey. so purty!

we also did this, but in our nursery color scheme... however we are waiting on baby brother to complete it. the other three canvases are hanging on the wall above the changing table awaiting their debut in just a few days...weeks?  we have to add baby brother's hands before the big reveal. and for the record my hand is bigger than philip's. 

oh how thee love pinterest....

super snuggly

im not sure what this phase is...but whatever it is we are soaking it up.

either he is going through a super snuggly lovey mommy phase or he knows his life is about to be turned upside down with the arrival of baby brother.

i honestly think its just a snuggly lovey phase as he is constantly loving all over my stomach, hugging it, talking to it, kissing it and telling his baby brother he loves him and wants him to come out. he really wants him out already. (me too buddy!) 

BUT all he wants to do is be in my lap, lay on me, snuggle or be right next to me. 

it is quite possibly the best. the only challenge is i am running out of room for him to sit in my lap and that drives him crazy!

sometimes he snuggles with daddy, but mommy is the preferred snuggle parent at the moment...

asher giving daddy some snuggles on father's day at the jcc splash ground.

hoping this isnt a phase and we just have a sweet mommy loving boy.

dreams do come true :)

Not our typical 4th of July

unfortunately asher was too sick to participate in any 4th of july festivities this year so we he spent the majority of the day at softa and papu's relaxing and sleeping his fever off. 

we were fairly productive between philip's homework, catching up on work, the gym, running a few errands in preparation for #2, napping and a cook out at friends.

i found the cutest idea for "firecracker pops" on etsy and decided since we were going to a dairy free kosher cook out I needed to get creative in my food prep.

star rice krispie treats (which by the way i dislike greatly, but make since others like), blueberries and strawberries threaded on a stick. if you like this idea and want to try to make it yourself do not make it the night before unless you are using a metal stick. the paper sticks absorb the fruits moisture and get soggy and then teeter over or bend. not cute. this photo was from the night before when i was in super mommy pregnancy energy spurt at 11 pm....

i made stars and stripes as the rice krispie treats. i was able to snap this photo seconds before half of it fell apart at the party because the sticks were soggy. needless to say it still tasted good and looked cute. someone thought that we had bought it. me, buy something like this. not a chance. 

ps i only had star of david cookie cutters.... which is why they are not stars like on the flag. 

it was so sad without asher at the cookout. all our friends had their kids there, but it was nice to be able to sit back and not have to tend to little hands or needs for a couple of hours and just converse with friends. after the cookout we headed to softa's to get asher and bring him home for dinner.

we figured fireworks werent happening because he was so tired by the time we got home. we put him down around 8 and the fireworks started around 8:45 right outside the house. philip woke him up, took him outside and the two of them sat there enjoying the scene...including a cop rolling up right on the show. i on the other hand laid in bed and listening to hours on end of fireworks shooting off.

hopefully next year we will all be able to enjoy fireworks together as a family of 4!

happy 4th to all... let freedom ring!

Yard Humor

how would you like your yard to look like this...

le sigh.

that is exactly how we felt when we walked outside a few weeks ago to find this beauty of a line our neighbor created....hmmm. i wonder which side is ours and which is there's?

we also take extra special care to mow straight property lines... fertilize into their yard so that we dont have an over abundance of weeds flowing into our yard (even though its inevitable)... and he left us with THIS....

we were so disgusted. we even left him a note. he never corrected it. 

if you are going to scalp your grassless weed only lawn you can at least make a straight line mr neighbor. and for the record they have not fertilized, spread weed control, edged around their house or curb, laid pinestraw or cleaned out their beds in well over 2 years. 

if only we had control over our homeowners 100% we would be in much better shape....

Wrapping up 2 and moving to 3...

and then he was 3.....

i still cant believe we made it through an entire year of school.

granted we had more than our fair share of sickness getting used to everyone else's germies.

asher made huge strides in his development. his spring report compared to his fall report were night and day. he was behind on most of the competencies that they measure the kids on coming into the 2's class at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year he not only caught up but was excelling in so many areas. the biggest being his verbal communication and self control. he also clearly excelled in potty training completely out of the blue, which baffled his teachers. they still say they have never seen a boy potty train that quickly and that independently as asher did. 

this is alex, below. asher worships the ground alex walks on. when you ask him who he plays with at school its ALWAYS alex. you ask him who he loves its mommy, daddy, alex. he is that high on the pedestal of life. alex was asher's assistant teacher this year. unfortunately he wont be returning to school next year as he has chosen to go to college (which we are super excited for him!) but he will be missed by the kids greatly throughout the halls at school. we were so thankful for him and his love for the children each and everyday. this was one day waking up from nap time. the other teacher elise captured this photo of them snuggling and sent it to me while i was at work. what a way to make my day. to know he is loved just like we love him at home, but at school is the most comforting feeling ever.

asher is moving up to the 3s class and it will be an all new adventure for him with a few new friends and a lot of old faces.  he doesnt mind transition so i am sure he will run in as if not much changed.

right after asher's birthday we headed over to visit dr. matt our pediatrician for our 3 year well check.

we got a great repot. for the first time ever he got his blood pressure checked witht he cuff. as you can see this was kind of a big deal and he was super excited. although the first read was totally off the second was perfect. 

he weights 36.6 lbs - 90th percentile

and is 37.5 inches tall - 70th percentile

this was the first time they didnt measure his head. that is fine. we know its big.

asher loves going to the dr. even when he is sick. he also makes sure dr. matt checks every single body part on him and if he forgets he makes sure to remind him. he even got to do an eye test on a little eye chart. if this test was any indiciation of his future eye sight im praying that he gets that from his daddy. he could see things on the eye chart i couldnt even see.

as part of the vision test they put up these photos and one of them was a duck. the first time he said duck, the second time he said egg (i guess because they lay eggs!?!?) and the third time a duck. it was pretty funny, but they said it was counted as correct because of the correlation. 

i can not believe my little man is 3. we are so proud of the kid he has grown to be.

his manners are impressive, his personality is infectious, he is so loving and so laid back. 

we are extremely lucky parents to have a child like him....

if our next is this easy someone was really watching over us.....

Summer Camp Update

over the summer we opted to put asher in 1/2 day camp. its a 6 week interm period between when school closes and reopens and camp is the replacement. its long hot days and baby brother is scheduled to arrive somewhere in there. nana and softa offered to help out so 4 days a week nana picks up asher at 12:45 and brings him to her house for nap and softa does it on the other day, thursdays to be exact. its quite a treat for asher because he gets totally spoiled by his grandparents. 

perfect prior to the arrival of another sibling! i wasnt sure how he would take it since its new teachers and all new kids (most of these kids do 1/2 days during the regular school year), but he doesnt seem to mind. at camp they do swimming lessons which he LOVES. the only transition we had issues with was eating lunch at school, getting picked up and then driving home for nap. he had issues going down for his nap because of all of the excitement between lunch and nap. once we finally got a groove he got sick. like REALLY sick week 3. i am sure its because we are now exposed to all new germies AGAIN with new kids. first it was viral, then they thought possible pneumonia and it was officially diagnosed as croup. after three days of steriods he is on the up and up....but mommy and daddy caught the crud and at 38 1/2 weeks pregnant this has been somewhat of a nightmare. without our parents help this week wouldve been disastrous. 

more on that in another post....lets just pray i can make it another week so that we are all healthier prior to having this baby....

Philip's Work Shower

philip emailed me one day to tell me that the women he works with wanted to throw us a shower.

he is the only male in his entire team and had only been working there less than a year so we were both shocked and so honored.

they requested that both asher and i attend so i left work early and swung by my moms to pick up asher ( it happened to be the first day of camp in which asher is doing 1/2 days this summer).

it was rushed, but so worth it.

philip of course kept prepping me that he didn't think they were party planners blah, blah. i was still shocked they even wanted to throw us anything that i laughed it off.

when asher and i arrived he said, "i was wrong... they went all out!" 

it was so lovely and so thoughtful. we truly had a great time and i really enjoyed getting to know all the women he talks about from the office....

asher did fantastic meeting lots of new faces. they even got him a few items that he got to open for himself which was so thoughtful.

helping him open his new gifts...

despite his resistance i made philip open all of the presents... when does a male ever get his own baby shower!?!? the smile on his face says it all... i was so happy for his happiness...

the ladies made the most adorable diaper cake for us... and you would never know but this was her first time making one. she did an amazing job!

they provided lots of snacks and treats to celebrate...

and asher loved helping daddy open all the presents and showing them off.

philip is so blessed to work with such wonderful co-workers. he has never worked in an environment like this before and you can truly tell each and every day how much he loves his job...

we could not be more thankful for their generosity and excitement for our family during this exciting time in our lives....

FULL TERM

37 1/2 weeks ad still cooking

 it really is funny to me to compare photos to my last pregnancy. 

the past week has been ROUGH. i wont lie. the pain and pressure i am experiencing is nothing i experienced in my last pregnancy. then again i worked from home and could, sit, stand or lay down and work...so being stuck sitting in an office all day feels like torture. friday i had to leave work early to go home to work laying down. my boss has been out all week and returns on july 3rd. we are going to have to discuss the next two weeks before i go on leave....and my schedule. im hoping i dont have to go out on leave now (as i am not ready and still have a ton of work left to do...) but sitting 8 hours a day at my desk to work wont cut it. say a prayer i can work from home as needed...

i went to a physical therapy session on monday to get "stretched" thinking it would help. omg. it was brutal. i felt like a bus had hit me for almost 2 days after....note to self. bad idea. stick to chiropractor only.

we "think" the baby has flipped back to the correct position.

at my last appointment at 36 weeks 4 days i was closed up tight....no dilating what so ever.

i lost a lb this week...which brings me to 19 lbs gained total. 

i think my stomach is super pointy...and high?!?!

2012 with baby no name (seriously... still no name)

 

2009 with Mr Asher

 and there we have it....until the next appointment...at 38 weeks.

ps. im totally cool with this baby coming early. 

name or no name. bring it on.