Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A - bit - sporadic update!

Since my last post, we've had a lot happen in addition to the usual nesting, cleaning, cooking/freezing meals to feed us after Gabe is here, taking care of two little toddlers, etc. - oh, and trying to get some rest. ;-)

Tuesday the 5th - I loaded up Jacob, Caleb, and 40+ stuffed animals and headed to Tarrant County Sheriff's Department, where we met my dad and delivered the stuffed animals from Baby Gabe's Celebration! They were very grateful to receive the animals, and assured me that they would go to children who definitely need them.



Wednesday the 6th - We headed out to Azle to see "Dr. Jessi," our chiropractor, where the boys and I got our last adjustment before Gabe arrives - and for probably sometime after. My mom - "Nan" - met us there and we all headed over to Dairy Queen after getting loosened up. The boys loved it, as always (nothing like taking a break from Mom's healthy cooking, right bro?!)!

Gotta throw in a couple of DQ pics since the boys are always so cute there!


Jacob oblivious to the bit of mayo on his face after sneaking a bite of Nan's Dude.


Nan taught the boys how to dip their fries, chicken, or whatever in ketchup, and created a monster with Caleb in the process!


Thursday the 7th - I had my 38 week appointment for little Gabriel. All was still going GREAT! Gained about 25 - 30 pounds total, blood pressure 102/50, Gabe still head down (locked in place at this point) with his little booty up in the air (like it matters with a scheduled c-section any way), and really nothing more to report! After the appointment, I got my last HUGE Wal-Mart trip out of the way. (OK, "my last trip" sounds so dramatically permanent! How about, my last big trip for the unforeseeable future.) Pushing that incredibly heavy basket around the store flat wore me out, so I just had to stop at Sonic on the way home to get Gabe a Lemon-Berry slush. ;-)

Friday the 8th - It's 08/08/08, and Jon finally had a day off! ECI came out at 9:30 and worked with the boys (mostly Caleb at this point) until almost 11:00. Afterward, we loaded up the boys and headed to Grapevine Mills Mall - with specific intentions of heading to the Stride Rite outlet for some REAL big boy shoes since Jacob and Caleb are walking like big boys now. (We made a big deal about going to get BIG BOY SHOES - and they were SO PROUD!) We got some cool shoes, grabbed some Dickey's barbeque in the food court for lunch (we were going to go to Rainforest Cafe, but figured that, since it was already 12:45, we already pushing our luck with the boys and the wait would be too much), and then walked around the mall for a while. In the car, Jon and I tried to keep the boys awake until we got home, but we were barely out of the parking lot when Jacob crashed. We figured while we were out and in the Grapevine area, Jon stayed in the van with the sleepy boys and let me run into a scary place to send me unsupervised - The Nesting Place! I was on a mission, however, and really wanted to maximize the boys' nap time in their own beds, so just ran in and out. I only got one $5 item that I've been wanting to get before Gabe arrives - a Mother's Minder Bracelet. I figure it will be a good way to track nursing times with a singleton baby rather than my crazy "Double Time" notebook I used to keep track of what was up and down those first few months with the boys!

Here's a few pics of the proud boys trying on their new shoes after they got up from nap. Ignore the redneck attire (ie: camo onesies with no shorts and red, white, and blue socks with tennis shoes!), as we just put the boys in a little onesie for nap since it is so hot and we didn't want to get them dressed to just run around the house in their shoes!


The boys actually remembered the shoes when we pulled out the boxes after nap, and were eager to dig inside!


Caleb doesn't want to wait for Mommy or Daddy to help him - since he's a big boy, HE can get his own shoes on!


Caleb kept looking down at his feet, and then breaking into a big grin!


And Jacob just walked through the house staring at his feet!

Saturday the 9th - I finished the LAST batch of Strawberry-Banana muffins to have for the boys on hand in the freezer. We also cleaned to van and rearranged the car seats to fit one more! We now have one "big boy" in the far back, one "big boy" in the driver side middle row, and Gabe's infant carrier in the passenger middle row. After dinner we decided to load the boys up in their wagon so that they were well contained, and I could give them a good hair cut outside. Yes, it's easy to brush the cut locks away while in the wagon and outdoors, but also it works well so that we can immediately do one of the favorite things in both of their little worlds after the "torture" - go for a walk. Well, Caleb's allergies strike again!! On the walk, I noticed he was wheezing a little. We kept going, and I thought I'd just watch him.

Long story as short as possible, Jon and I were up until 2:00 am giving Caleb hot apple juice, and going between the hot steamy bathroom to the front of the freezer, trying to get rid of his nasty, wheezy, raspy, croupy cough. By the morning, he was a little better - although still not 100%. (Yes, our son does come first, so the little toot made us miss much of the Cowboys' first preseason game! hehehe From looking at "highlights" the next day, us missing the game may have been a blessing in disguise.)

Sunday the 10th - Needless to say, the boys (nor Mommy and Daddy) weren't up and at it in time for church! Which, I have to admit, was a little nice to have a day HOME.

This week things have been going right along, but I'll update more later. I think my body's finally giving out though. My hips hurt, my back hurts, my groin area hurts - and today even my right shoulder has begun to really hurt! BUT, I am still really active with the boys and going for family walks in the evening, so I can't complain too much.

Up next is my very last OB/GYN appointment (Sure, I'll be going back for my post-op and then yearly exams, but this will be my last one ever to check on a baby. Makes me a little sad...) and also Jacob and Caleb's 18 month appointment.

Hopefully I'll have the next update out tomorrow night, but, well, you know how that goes!

2 comments:

Brad and Kristi said...

Amber - It's getting close now isn't it. Good luck!! You'll be in our thoughts!!

Deanna said...

Amber the are getting so big! That is great about taking the bears to the Sheriffs department. Funny thing. I have been trying for months to figure out who I knew that had a dad that worked at the Sheriffs department. The pic on my blog with me in handcuffs was brought to the attention by my friend and I was like I don't know who was showing that around the sherriffs office. Now I know!!LOL!! Good luck on Monday. He almost is sharing a birthday with Brent and Bradley!!

Deanna