Our Sweet Will

Will is 21 months now (almost 22!) and each day that passes brings Craig and I more amazement and infatuation with our little boy. The world is truly a better place with Will in it.

Each new phase of his life is more fun and exciting than the last, and we are desperately trying to relish them all. Will is such a sponge right now, learning new words and concepts all the time. Since turning 21 months, he is starting to put together 2 and 3 word "sentences" or phrases such as:
"I love you"
"Good morning"
"Mommy, jump!" (when he wants me to practice jumping with him)
"Come on, Eat!" (calling Craig to dinner or Brutus to his food bowls)
"Bless you" (after papa sneezed)
"Bye Bye doggy" (or anyone/anything)
"Read it" (when he brings me a book)
"Turn on" (when he wants a toy turned on)
"Go Bucks!" (daddy's so proud)
"Blow bubbles"
"All done"
"Take a walk"

Just about every word on the previous 18 month list is now pronounced correctly and he knows the names of all our family, family pets, and his friends at the sitters... and the sitters' 2 cats. :)

Here's a partial list off the top of my head of other new words:

"Bassa-ball game" - this one is HUGE right now, probably his most frequent with March Madness on TV all the time
"yo-guck" - hooray! Will has finally changed his mind and likes yogurt - mommy is so happy!
"dal-may-nun" - dalmation
"outside", "play", "walk", "running"
"upstairs"
"Bru-too" - Brutus
"pizza", "gape" (grape), "snack", "eat", "lunch", "dinner", "chicken", "carrot", "brocky" (broccoli), "orange", "apple", "can-lope" (canteloupe), "cracker", "cer-ul" (cereal), "milk", "water", "mac-cheese", etc. etc. ???
"circle", "oval", "square", "dy-mon" (diamond), "oc-gon" (octagon), "sar" (star)
"bubble bath", "towel", "toy boat", "wash-coth", "lotion", "diaper", "jammies"
"socks", "shit" (shirt :)), "pants", "shoes", "jacket", "coat", "hat", "sippers" (slippers)
"hair", "eyes", "ears", "mowf" (mouth), "lips", "nose", "tongue", "teeth", "belly", "feet", "hands", "toes"
"hot", "cold"
"Jeep"
"raining"
"bloon" (balloon)
"fishy", "birdy", "cat", "doggy", "monkey", "hippo", "gecko", "gazelle" :), "lamb", ALL FARM ANIMALS, "zebra", "panna" (panda), "pen-win" (penguin), "bear", "snake", "tiger", "lion", "donkey", something that sounds like gorilla, "moose", etc. etc. ???

Okay, I'm sure this is getting old for you and there's lots more that I'm forgetting.

Will's getting better at putting away toys when we ask. He's mastering his wooden puzzles. He's getting better at throwing a ball (left-handed still!). He immediately pulls up his sleeves and walks to the bathroom when we tell him it's time to wash our hands before we eat. He almost always reminds us to pray before we eat. He's still a bit of a picky eater but branching out a little and we can still always count on fruits and veggies. He's becoming so attentive and interactive with saying "bless you" without being prompted or chatting (briefly!) on the phone when someone calls. He's officially down to one nap per day (about 2-3 hours) around 1 pm and sleeps roughly 11-12 hours at night with bedtime at 7:30-ish. He practices making various emotional faces with one of our favorite books and sticks his lip out for "sad" or "pouting". Says "cheese" for the camera. Tries to play catch with a football with daddy. Gives kisses and hugs and loves to be tickled - says "tick-o, tick-o". Likes to help use my salad spinner in the kitchen. LOVES bubble baths and taking walks in the stroller or wagon. Points out different colored cars, "big doggies", and kids playing "bassa-ball" on our walks. Loves to read his "big brother" books. And, and, and...

I'll move on to pictures, since that's what everyone wants to see anyway :)

Here he is eating his "yo-guck"







Will is starting to understand the concept of "hide and seek" (he says "hine" or "hining"). He recently saw Brutus hiding between our bed pillows on the floor of our bedroom, in an effort to get away from Will's wrath. So Will decided to steal that hiding spot when he played with mommy and daddy.



Where's Will??? We can't find him! Oh, there he is!



"If I can't see them, they can't see me!" :) LOL



Trying on mommy's Cavs jersey. It was purchased on a whim when I got all hyped up in the excitement of a game we attended... and I NEVER wear it. So Craig wants SOMEONE to get some use out of it! :)




P.S. He was carrying around a wooden spoon after we made a "drum" out of some Tupperware.

So there's a re-cap of Will at this age. I can't believe he'll be 2 in just a couple months!!!

A Twin Baby Shower

Are these ladies pregnant?



You betcha!



Someone joked that you couldn't tell from behind, so we took a picture for fun.

The shower was a huge success... literally! We set out 88 chairs based on our RSVP's (only those that said "no" for sure) and 87 were filled! What an awesome turn out! The shower was LAST weekend (March 21st) but I'm just now getting around to posting since then.

Casey finally got to announce the gender of the little babies in her belly... dun, da, da, da:

TWIN GIRLS!!!

Mya Alyse and Stella Grace will be welcomed into our family in just 2-2.5 months! At her last doctor visit, the girls weighed 3# and 2# 12oz respectively at just 28 weeks. So they are right on target, if not a little big for their gestational age, which is wonderful news. Casey is doing awesome. She looks so beautiful and already has maternal glow about her.

Family and friends were so very generous and Casey received nearly everything on their registry.


Now they just need a little more storage space at home! The nursery is soooo adorable - all sage green and brown with dark wood furniture and a classy, bunny theme.

Wes also celebrated with all the men at a diaper party given at my parents house, so they're loaded down with diapers now too.

Casey and I are so excited that our daughters will be so close in age. What an awesome gift from God. They will grow up together and go to school together. We couldn't be more excited.

34 Weeks & Updates

It's not as painful as it looks :) ... just heavy. My body feels so heavy! Just 5 1/2 weeks to go. I've gained almost 24# which is more than I gained with Will for the whole pregnancy.

Over the weekend, Craig & I did a tour of the hospital maternity floor with Casey and Wes. Most of labor day and my stay in the hospital with Will is a haze in my memory now and I just remember we couldn't figure out where to check in when we arrived in labor. So I wanted to go again just to get a mental image of what lies ahead and feel a little more confident. I'm really glad we did. We walked past the nursery and saw some brand new babies all swaddled in their bassinets and it just makes me so excited to meet our daughter. But being there also reinforces in mind that I want to labor at home as long as possible to avoid being put through "the system" of standard hospital labor & delivery. (More on that another time.)

Also this weekend, my nesting project was to thoroughly clean my refrigerator. I'm VERY particular about keeping an organized fridge - it is my pet peeve to see a sloppy fridge where things get "lost" and forgotten and there's no place to set anything. My fridge is only "overflowing" if I'm planning a party. Otherwise, everything has its place. But every so often I like to wash the shelves and drawers and wipe out the inside. So I got that done and reorganized too.

Craig & I also got out on Saturday night for a "date night" just the two of us, which was really nice. We went out to dinner and a movie. We're trying to squeeze in a couple more dates before Sophia's born, because I'm sure it will be a bit more difficult then.

I realized (a little late now) that I never posted pictures of our finished bathroom. Craig tiled around the tub and we added some storage and accessory pieces. Craig said it was "too much purple" and that it "looked like Easter threw up in there" so I added a distressed black shelf stand and some gray towels to mute the purple a bit and make it look more "masculine".









Also, here are the new Roman blinds I ordered for Will's room to darken it for sleeping.



And here's a few new pictures of our little buddy.

For the last few weeks, he's been eating with us at the table like a big boy! He's doing really well.



Craig took this one just before Will & I went out for a walk.




He has a new love for "bubble" baths.



And I'm so sad to confess that Will took ANOTHER tumble down some stairs on Sunday. I don't think he fell very far this time, but he got a nasty war wound to show for it and it just makes us feel awful. We're really working with him at getting more efficient at stair climbing and NOT trying to carry toys with him. But sometimes he gets sneaky on his own and this is his 2nd tumble now. :(



This Saturday is Casey's baby shower so we're focused on that right now and hoping for good weather!

Jumping for Fun!

We had a fun weekend. On Saturday morning, we turned my car back in to the dealership now that the lease is up and afterward took Will to a play 'n bounce indoor playground to get more practice "jumping"! He LOVED it! I've been wanting to plan some special activities for Will before Sophie's born and this place was by suggestion of one of my patients. It was pretty inexpensive and we only stayed about 30-45 minutes because he was missing his morning nap for the outing and it got to be overwhelming for him. But I'm really glad we went and it was lots of fun.

Will continues to impress me with how quickly he's picking up new words and concepts. He learned what a "gecko" is from the shirt you'll see him wearing in the pictures below. And he's getting better with shapes and colors. He knows "orange" now and we're working on red. And believe it or not, he recognizes and says "ock-gon" (octagon) and "pen-gon" (pentagon) from his shapes puzzle. He also loves to watch sports with daddy. He says "game" and "Go Bucks!" and "hut, hut, hike!" Sunday, they watched the Buckeyes play basketball:







The Buckeyes won! This calls for a celebration! Fishy cracker anyone?



And here's Will sitting on his perch :)

Predictions, predictions.

I went to the doctor this morning. Baby girl is still head down and that's good, good! Usually they keep their position from now on as they fatten up and there's less wiggle room. And head down sets us up for a natural delivery, which is my hope and goal. Everything is looking good so far.

Now with less than 2 months till my due date, family and friends are making predictions as to the birthday and weight. And I have my own as well!

With Will, my due date was June 16th, which I feel was inaccurate and should've been more like 11-13th. I guessed June 11-12th for him to be born and he was born on the 8th. Will's birth weight was 8#3oz and that was exactly my guess.

This time, I feel the dates are accurate and my due date is April 24th. My guess for birthday is give or take 2 days, so April 22-26. I don't think I'll go much earlier than that. And my weight guess is 8#6oz.

32 weeks

If you think that looks big, get this: the baby is only approximately half it's birth weight at this point. They typically double in size in these final weeks! So get ready for a growth spurt. My weight, however, actually plateaued again the last 2 weeks, increasing only about 3/4# since 30 weeks and totalling just under 22#. I know I mentioned before that this seems to be my pattern - fluctuating 1/2 - 3# each week. Whatever. I feel like a bottomless pit with eating right now. I can't get enough. That will probably change soon as Sophia completely fills up any available space for large meals in my belly.

I'm feeling pretty good. More tired recently. Still trying to keep up with Will. Craig's off skiing this weekend and I can't believe how much harder it is to handle a day alone with Will now this far in my pregnancy. He's a little machine that never stops going and never stops making messes! But we're managing just fine. Today, stupid me, decided to wash and iron all of our bedding that doesn't get done regularly like the bed skirt, duvet cover and big pillow shams. So that required me to lift and move our king size mattress in order to get the bed skirt off and on. Ouch. But at least it's done. I also did all the rest of the laundry and Will and I ran a bunch of errands early this morning. So we've had a productive day.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a new vehicle! My lease is up on my car next weekend and so last weekend I purchased a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. I love it! Much more space, lots of features, very affordable since it's used, and a really comfortable ride. I'll try to post pictures soon - haven't taken any yet.

Poop?

Here's Will trying out his new potty chair.



Don't get excited (clearly, by the look on his face, Will's not - LOL)... We definitely aren't pushing the potty training yet. I just decided it would be good for him to get comfortable with the idea of a potty and also to ATTEMPT to start recognizing when he's going. He knows the word "poop" and has started announcing it to us here and there. He presents it as a question: "poop?" And we say "do you have to go poop?" or "did you go poop?" and his answer is always yes whether or not it's true. But sometimes he really does seem to recognize it and tell us... in which case I encourage him to go sit on the potty. He's fully clothed, but I think it's good practice. I'm not in a hurry to push him into this process, especially with all the upcoming life changes. I'll probably push it a little more this summer.