Yeah

Stowa and I were talking about Baby Brother today. Not that unusual. We talk about him a lot. I want her to feel prepared. So we talk about how he's in my tummy right now but when he comes out, she can hold him, give him hugs and kisses, etc. I think she sort of gets it. At the very least she repeats what I tell her. Today she told Itchy that he was going to come out of mommy, she was going to sit down and hold him (only for her it was more one word at a time "Baby out, sit down, hold).

Anyway, today when we were talking about Baby Brother, I told her that she'd get to hold him next week. And that's when it hit me. This little guy is going to be here NEXT WEEK. Cue the hyperventilating. Two kids. An almost 2 year old and a newborn. Next week people.

Genuis update

I posted a couple of weeks ago about Stowa being a genius. I have more proof.

The kid can count to 10.

Little Dude has a full name now as well. His first name was decided on like 2 weeks ago and last night Itchy came up with a middle name. Little Dude should feel free to come at any time. We don't HAVE to wait until the scheduled c-section if he feels like he's ready now.

I guess it's good practice

So tired. It's going to be a rough day.

Stowa was up just before 4 this morning. She told me she was hungry. She wouldn't lay back down and go back to sleep. I knew she didn't eat much at dinner so odds were that she was indeed hungry. So we got up. She ate. Then she didn't want to go back to bed. We stayed up and played quietly. Around 6 she wanted to snuggle. At 6:30 she fell asleep. I carried her to bed and like magic she was up again. I talked her into laying down with daddy. By 7 am we were back asleep!

Then at 8 am the neighbor guy was POUNDING on our door. Itchy was in the shower. I had to get up to get the door. I was pissed. It's not nice to wake up a pregnant person. Nothing was on fire but the neighbor had the roof guys there and they needed me to move the car. Seems really urgent. Or not. How about telling me yesterday that the roof guys were coming? Then I could have parked elsewhere. Jerk ass.

To top it off, all the pounding woke up Stowa. Nap time is not going to be here soon enough.

I guess it's good practice for when Little Dude gets here and I officially get no sleep.

Why?

Is anyone familiar with the book "Llama Llama Red Pajama"? It was written by Anna Dewdney. It's a story meant for the preschool aged crowd.

Anyway, Stowa and I saw a llama the last time we were at the zoo. She has a picture of it. When she sees the picture she wants me to read this book to her. The only problem is that the book makes her cry.

Not like tears rolling down her face crying, but the bottom lip comes out and you can see that she's just trying to hold it together.

The book has been put away for a while. She's just not ready for the llama.

ETA: It's been DAYS since we've read this book. Stowa is STILL talking about the llama. Llama sad. Where llama mama?

Manners? We're working on it

I'm trying to do some of those "good" mom things. Like teaching my kid manners. We started with thank you. She says "thanks". Close enough. Now we're working on please. Now if only I could get her to stop running through the grocery store...

36 weeks

Only 3 weeks left. I've been told to enjoy what little time we have left as a family of 3. Stowa seems to have some sort of sense that things are about to change. So do the cats. Everyone has been extra needy lately. Add in the fact that I am not sleeping much anymore and the results aren't so happy.

My plan this week is to get stuff made for the clinic and finish Little Dude's Halloween costume. Neither one is a complicated sewing project but Stowa is refusing naps (not fair!) and wants nothing to do with Itchy. Except when he's not here, then all she wants is dada. Not sure why the cup of water I get for her is any better than the water Itchy gets, but she wants me to act as her personal slave. I get the playing thing. I spend more time with her so I make a better play mate since Itchy just doesn't get the "game".

So yeah, I'm also trying to get some food frozen so we can all eat even after the baby is born. I think we're going to head to the store today to get some supplies.

Here's the belly shot. Yes I finally fixed the date. It seems to have worked this time. I didn't do anything different then the other 7348909 times I've tried to fix the date but for some reason, it stuck this time. Ignore the fact that I'm still in my pajamas. When you are 36 weeks pregnant you can get dressed right away in the morning, but I'll stay in my comfy pjs until noon thankyouverymuch. By next week I may not get dressed unless I have to leave the house.

11.5

You know how some women's feet grow during pregnancy? Yeah, it happened. Again. With Stowa I went from a 10.5 to 11. My feet didn't go back to their normal size after I had her. But it is only half a size. Finding a size 11 shoe isn't the easiest, but I can usually find something.

I hadn't worn my tennis shoes in a while. It's summer, I've been wearing sandals. Today Stowa and I went to the fabric store (because I'm nuts and have added more projects to my list!) and it was a little cooler out. Umm, they were tight. I suppose some of it could have been due to swelling. But the fact that my toes were feeling crowded, probably not swelling.

I'm not buying new shoes.

Directionally challenged

Little Dude is still breech. I know it doesn't matter. Position doesn't matter when you have a c-section. But he seems to be getting up higher in my ribs. It's uncomfortable. The heartburn is getting BAD.

Otherwise, things here are ok. Stowa has once again proven to be a genius. She can read! None of that stupid flash card crap either. She can read a book. Ok, not really. But she has this book about a dog. On one of the pages it says something about the dog being on a leash for his walk. Yesterday Stowa was "reading" the book and when she got to that page she said "dog, leash, walk". Which really just means she even smarter because she skipped regular reading and went straight to speed reading!

What can I say, I'm easily impressed by my kid! And we read a lot.

Also, I *think* Little Dude has a name. Itchy and I talked about names over the weekend and I think we have a winner. No middle name yet. We won't be sharing it until Little Dude is here though. Don't bother asking.

I really love Target

You all know I love Target. I don't agree with everything that they do, in fact some of it just pisses me off.

The reason why I love them today though is because I registered with them. Yep, it's my 2nd kid and I set up a baby registry. How tacky of me. Except I only did it to get the 10% coupon. It's not like I set the link out to everyone and their mother. I wanted the coupon and I knew that I'd get it just in time for their Labor Day weekend baby sale (they have a baby sale every year at the same time).

Well, I got my 10% coupon code. Today is the last day of the baby sale. All sounds pretty great right? It gets better.

Target has recently updated their website. They changed their checkout system. There were apparently a lot of problems with the registries because of the updates. I didn't really know there were problems since it wasn't like I was stalking my registry. No one knew it existed so no one was going to use it to buy us stuff. However, a lot of people complained. Target tried to fix the situation by sending out a 20% coupon code and an apology.

Yeah, they allowed people to use both the 10% and 20% codes at the same time. Not to mention that extra 5% discount for using a Target card.

I just scored some cheap diapers, wipes, and nursing tanks. All of which had free shipping.

Random stuff

When Stowa is held upside down, her hair is totally the hair of a troll doll. Remember troll dolls?

Stowa now has pants that fit. Well, she has pants that aren't too small.

I found a shirt for Little Dude that says Little Dude on it.

I added a couple more things to my to do list. Halloween costumes! If they aren't finished before Little Dude is born, they probably won't get done at all. Stowa is going to be a raccoon (or Ung-goon as she likes to call it). Little Dude is going to be a football. I was thinking he should be a frog, deer, or some other animal. But when I showed Itchy a baby football costume, Itchy declared that Little Dude WILL be a football. I bought the fabric today. No patterns around here folks, you know how I do things.

This made me laugh

I was checking a message board today and came across this. The message board is primarily used by pregnant ladies that are due Sept-Nov. So right now there are a lot of people bitching about the aches and pains that are part of being hugely pregnant.

One of the ladies made a comment that Eve (of the Adam and Eve fame) is to blame for the aches and pains. God is punishing women because Eve ate the damn apple.

Someone replied to that comment that if Eve was willing to bring doom to the entire human race for an apple, what would she have done for a Klondike bar?

That should totally be their next commercial.

Stealing

Stowa and I went shopping today. We needed a few things. Like food. It was exhausting. Stowa didn't want to walk or ride in the cart. I ended up carrying her. It's a good thing she's tiny.

One of the things I bought was a couple of headbands for Stowa. Her hair is getting long and it's constantly in her eyes. She keeps clippies in for about 2 seconds. People keep telling me to cut her hair but guess what folks, it isn't happening. I don't know how to deal with bangs. I had them when I was little and always felt like they didn't look right. I grew them out and haven't looked back. Anyway, I bought her some headbands. She can put them on all by herself. They make her look much older than 2. I know she's mine and I'm biased but she is freaking adorable.

So what did we steal? I mean, I titled this stealing so we must have stolen something right? Not exactly. I just look like I am trying to steal a basketball. Little Dude is sitting a little lower than usual today and he is trying out a head down position. Those two things have made my belly look like a basketball. It's weird.

35

Thirty five days. That's it. Just 35 days until we meet this Little Dude.

The to do list isn't long. The best part of having a second kid close in age to your first kid is that you're almost ready from the very beginning.