OUCH

Our little munchkin had a rough couple of days a few weekends ago.  That Saturday morning Alex, the dog & I went on a run.  We stopped at one of our neighborhood parks on the way back to the house.  After I cooled down & stretched, I turned to put my iPod in the stroller.  I heard a thump & a cry.  Alex was sprawled out on the pavement.  I picked him up & held him while trying to check for scrapes on his knees & hands.  I didn't notice anything until he pulled away & I saw he had skinned his nose.  It didn't bleed very much but was pretty raw.  I felt so badly for him but he was over it in about a minute & wanted to go down the slide.

Later that day, we headed to the ballpark.  Michael's company had their employee appreciation day there.  We walked around, let Alex play at the playground area & then sat down to watch some baseball.  Alex has become obsessed with sports on TV lately.  He always says "ball, ball" anytime he sees basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, etc.  In fact if the TV is on, he will say "ball, ball" until you change the channel to some kind of sports.  Basketball is his favorite but baseball is a close second.  He liked watching baseball in person for a few minutes & then wanted to climb on the seats, run up & down the aisles & wear out his parents - ha.  To be fair, it was getting close to his bedtime & he always gets a little riled up around that time.

"Ball, ball!"

Eating Cheerios.  Can you tell he was in an ornery mood??

His poor nose looked bad, but luckily it didn't seem to bother him at all.  On Sunday, he decided it would be fun to try to climb one of our bar stools from the back.  It was NOT fun.  It tipped over, the metal part under the seat slammed into his forehead & scraped his nose in the same place as his previous injury.  There were lots of tears this time, some blood & an immediate bump in between his eyebrows.  He scared us a little because he seemed pretty out of it for 5-10 minutes afterward.  But we called the nurse line & watched for all the concussion signs as instructed.  He was fine.  Once he was over the initial pain, he again acted like it didn't bother him at all.  It hurt me every time I looked at it, though.

Our little Star Trek character

He also got a bruise over his right eye.  Ouch.  I'm just glad he was ok.  It looked pretty bad for a few days, but he healed pretty quickly.  This was three days later.

Still scabbed up, but the swelling had gone down.  The scabs were off about a week after it happened.  As of today, he still has a red mark on his nose from the new skin but other than that, he's healed.  I'm sure it won't be his last injury unfortunately...  I guess these are the joys of having a rambunctious toddler that likes to run & climb!  But I wouldn't mind if we could make it a few years without another one - or maybe fifty years.  Ha!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day.  Alex was such a sweetie & got me this super cute bag for my camera.

He even used his dad's email to send me the confirmation page.  So thoughtful & good with electronics, too!  Well, Michael might have helped him a little...   J

Can't wait to get it in the mail & try it out! 

Throwback Thursday

Well, it's Thursday & I actually remembered to post another look back at my pregnancy days.  Maybe I'll finish the story by the time Alex graduates high school - ha.

December 1^st

Made it to December!  That means I can buy jewelry for the baby’s birthstone (blue topaz)!  I hate my birthstone (yellow topaz or citrine), so if he came in November, I had no plans to buy any jewelry with his stone.  I scheduled a massage for after work (I even scheduled one for Michael – how nice am I??)  The massage was fabulous.  She found several knots in my back.  I guess I’ve been a little anxious lately – weird…

December 2^nd

Had another doctor’s appointment & was hoping for good news (like you’re going to have this baby tomorrow!)  Still dilated about 2 cm & 50% effaced.  She asked if I wanted to schedule an induction but I said I was fine waiting.  I keep thinking any day could be the day, but no such luck yet…  Work was super crazy busy & I’ve had about enough.  I was exhausted by the end of the day.  I got a pedicure because my toe nail polish was looking ragged & I want pretty toes during labor – ha.

December 4^th

Michael & I were very productive.  We tackled the guest bedroom/office & made significant progress.  We hung up curtains (Michael’s been sleeping in the guest bed since I make weird noises when I sleep now & the sun would wake him up every morning), hung up a shelf, put a dust ruffle on the bed & are just waiting on the new laptop & computer desk.  A few more touches & that room should be done!  We also bought a white shelf for the baby’s room & hung it up with a picture I bought.  The room still needs a little more decoration but it’s getting there!  

December 5^th – 39 weeks

Another productive day!  Michael somehow lost the batteries we were going to buy at Lowes before we checked out & somehow didn’t put the curtain holder things on the conveyor belt at Target yesterday, so we got home & realized we didn’t have these things.  At least we didn’t get charged for them.  We made another trip to Target & then headed to Sam’s to load up on mostly food items to last us awhile.  I felt like we were preparing to go underground in a bomb shelter or something!  I guess that’s kind of how it will be for the first few months…  We’ll be spending a LOT of time in our house.  I really can’t imagine it.  I have anxiety about what our lives will be like but I’m getting pretty uncomfortable being pregnant & just want to get on with it.  Come on little guy!  Time to get out!

Clarification - the birthstone jewelry was for me to wear, not Alex.  Ha.  I wanted to get a simple necklace with his birthstone but not if he was born in November.  I really am not a fan of my birthstone.  It would have been fine if he was born in November - I would have gotten something else like an initial necklace.  But I was hoping for December...  I ended up getting this necklace from Blue Nile:

I love it.  It's simple, small & I can wear it with just about anything.  And I think of my little monkey every time I wear it.  J

Finally, here's a belly picture from that week:

I was getting to the point where I needed a beeping mechanism anytime I backed up.  Wide load!

Ok, people, we only have five more days of this journal before Alex's arrival!  Can you handle the suspense??

Happy Thursday!

Conversation

We had to make a quick stop at Kohl's on Saturday night to get Alex some khaki pants for Easter because I couldn't find the ones I was planning on him wearing.

Here's our conversation as we walked by the shoe section on the way to check out.

Stephanie: Do you like those shoes?
(Knowing he definitely would not - just thought it would be fun to see his reaction).

Michael: NO.

Stephanie: Yeah, me neither. 
(They were black instead of nude like the picture & they looked weird).

Michael: Do you like those?
(Knowing I would not).

Stephanie: Um, NO.
(They're just not my style - they'd be cute on someone else).

Michael: What about those?
(Thinking I would not like them).

Stephanie: Actually, I do.

Michael: What??

Stephanie: Color blocking is really big right now.

Michael: What the heck is color blocking?

Stephanie: Bright colors together.  A lot of people are doing it with their clothes, but I like the idea of doing it with my shoes instead.

Michael: ...
Just shakes his head & wonders about his wife's sense of style.

Michael is not really into trends if you can't tell.  There's something to be said about classic style but I can't always trust his opinion.  He came home the other day with these:

Apparently the soles are made of yoga mat material & are SO comfortable.  He wears them with shorts.  I'm not saying they're the ugliest things in the world, but don't they look like house shoes??

Aren't we quite the pair?  If you see a couple on the streets & he's wearing house shoes & she's wearing an explosion of color on her feet, come say hi.  J

Florida! (Part II)

Finally I'm getting around to finish posting about our Florida trip last month.  If you want to read about our oh so fun travel experience, click here.  But now on to bigger & better things - the fun part of our trip!

We stayed at my mom's cousin's rental beach house.  It was so nice & in a great location.  We loved it!  I would definitely recommend it if you're going to the Fort Walton Beach area.  It was only about a 10 minute walk to the beach (and the path to get there is scenic & pretty).  The weather was kind of blah the whole time we were there - cloudy & occasionally rainy.  We made the best of it, though.  We went to the beach several times, ate good food (my favorite was Louis Louis) & went to a nearby outlet mall (you know that made me happy - love me some outlet shopping!)

Alex did so well.  He slept in later than usual each day, tolerated all the restaurants well & was very easy going about having his normal routine changed a little.  We're so lucky!  Maybe he was trying to convince us to take him on more vacations - ha.  I even somehow managed to pawn my child off on my parents, my sister & Michael, so I got to sleep in every morning!  Not sure how I finagled that...

Alex didn't know quite what to think about the beach.  It was a little chilly & the sand was cold & wet.  It took him awhile to warm up to it but by the last day, he was content to play in the sand & run around.

Here are some of my favorite beach pictures.

"These dunes aren't made for walking" - these signs made me laugh (but I obeyed them)

 Not sure what to think

 White sand

 "What is this stuff?"

 Working hard

 Grandpa poured some sand on Alex's feet - he was not amused...

 He doesn't like to have his picture taken, can you tell?

 My dad, mom & sister with Alex

 Our little family

Going on a walk with Grammy

 Love those blue eyes

 He loves his Aunt Amanda - most of the time.  Ha!

 Worn out

 The walk from the beach to the house

A cute little beach community - Seaside

My mom liked the post office

 Last day  :(

 Learning how to shovel sand with Grandpa

 Of course, it was sunny & beautiful the day we had to leave!

 "Ok, I think I like this beach thing..."

All in all, it was a great trip.  My brother who lives in Pittsburgh was even able to come for a few days, but I didn't get any pictures of him - oops!  It was fun to celebrate my mom's birthday away from home.  I didn't post any pictures of her birthday celebration in case she doesn't want the whole internet to know how old she is.  It was a special one, though.  J

I'm ready to plan another trip down there - any takers??

Randomness

We've been busy working on new house stuff*, on selling our current house** & normal daily activities*** but I thought I'd post a few random pictures while I have a few minutes to spare.

Remember the orange flats I purchased recently?  I got them in the mail & Alex found the box the next morning.  Before I knew it, he was shuffling around the room proudly showing off one of my new shoes.

I apologize for the picture quality, but these were taken with my phone.  Other people seem to get good pictures with their iPhones, but mine are never that great...

Anyway, since then Alex has tried to put on any pair of shoes Michael or I have around.  It's hilarious!  The boy loves shoes (like his Mama!)

I posted this picture on Facebook, but it's just too cute not to post here as well.  My sister was watching Alex & he found Michael's iPod.  My sister turned on the music & he thought it was too cool.

Hopefully I'll get around to posting more often.  I still need to post about the rest of our Florida trip - it's on my to-do list (which has been very long lately).  Oh well, at least I'm never bored!  Happy Hump Day!

*Haven't broken ground but hopefully it will happen in the next few weeks.  Been picking out colors & whatnot.  Fun but also stressful!  Lots of options & it's hard to visualize it all put together.
**Have had several showings but no bites yet, which is fine with us since we still have awhile to go before the new house is ready!
***Nothing too exciting, trying to enjoy the warmer weather we've had lately.  Alex still loves to be outside. 

Throwback Thursday

It's been a few weeks but here's another excerpt from my pregnancy e-journal.  Getting close to the end!

November 26^th

I got free tickets to the hockey game from work, so we went with Brandon & Christine (somehow I usually get the free tickets around Thanksgiving, so it’s becoming a tradition with us).  Last year Christine was pregnant – this year it was me.  Crazy!  It was fun.  Christine & I didn’t watch much of the game – we just talked.  Pretty much what we usually do!  J

November 27^th

BEDLAM.  Bryan & Glenn came over around 1:30 to ride with us.  We got there & started setting up our tailgate when we realized Michael forgot to put the table in the car.  Then we realized Michael forgot the chips for the salsa.  It was not our best effort.  I should have helped him & made sure we had everything.  Oh well.  I was in a crappy mood for the first part of the tailgate, though.  Stupid pregnancy hormones.  We had fun but not the best tailgate ever.  Oh well.  I was really worried about going into labor.  I felt weird all day but I think it was nerves.  We went to the game & it got cold.  It was a stressful game & I’m not even going to talk about the end result.  I’ve blocked it from my memory.  I didn’t go into labor, so we’ll call that a small victory.  We got home late – sometime after 1:00 am.  It was a long day & no one was very happy in the end.  Oh well.

November 28^th – 38 weeks

We’ve decided we’re ready for this baby whenever he wants to come since we made it through the OSU vs. OU game.  Michael & I ran errands all day – bought a new office chair, filled in some missing items off our registry at Babies R Us & Target, shopped for receivers.  Michael bought a laptop & we ordered a desk online.  We’re spending money like crazy but just doing our part to help the economy – ha.  We both felt like we got a lot done, though.  I didn’t make it to yoga since we were still out & about.  I was sad because it was the last class but oh well.  Amanda came over to watch Dexter.  I think there are only 2 episodes left!

November 29^th

Michael started his new job today.  I was relieved I didn’t go into labor before he actually got on the payroll – ha.  His manager told him he could take a week off when the baby came but I didn’t want the baby to delay his start date.  Sigh of relief.  Michael & I went to Amanda’s basketball game (she’s coaching the 8^th grade girls this year).  It was fun to see her in action but those benches were uncomfortable – especially for an eight & a half month prego girl!  Michael & I went to eat after the game.  I had Guinness envy – his beer looked so yummy!  Oh well, not too much longer, right?  I had the mac ‘n cheese – it was delicious!  Not quite as delicious as a Guinness but close…  J

Here's my picture from that week.  I think I look really tired.  And big.

I had to laugh when I read the recount of the Bedlam game.  Did you notice how many times I said "Oh well"?  It was a very blah day if you couldn't tell.  This year was a MUCH better Bedlam game.  I wasn't uncomfortably pregnant, we had fun before the game AND we beat OU!!

I think I'll go have a Guinness tonight - just because I can!  J

Happy Thursday!