39+ weeks!

39 weeks and counting!  I'm very excited that she has been so cooperative and stayed put!  I have refused to schedule a date to be induced for fear it might jinx her willingness to stay in.  Diego seems more excited than Charlie about the baby's arrival.  He often wants to feel her kick or give her kisses.  More than anything he seems to be enthusiastic about the baby girl sharing her toys with him.  The other day he opened a cute bunny blankie that my aunt Jane gave to the baby and hasn't put it down since.  He calls it his Easter Bunny and when I tell him it is for baby sister he says "it's okay - she can share with me..."  

Diego is happy to have people share with him, but not very excited about sharing himself.  We've been talking a lot about going to school next year and one expectation is that he has to share.  He repeats it but seems to have internalized raising his hand and sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce much more than sharing.  He seems more shy even than Charlie was or at least he doesn't like to take participate in chaotic group activities.  I can't blame him, but I also wonder why.  We had two birthday parties this past weekend and for the first one at Pump It Up he insisted on being carried the entire time while clinching onto Charlie's shoes and asking me constantly "how many more minutes until we go home?"  Poor kid.  The tumble place afterwards was only slightly more successful.  Even when we play soccer as a family he wanders off.  He does seem to have a natural arm which is slightly worrisome - baseball or football?!

The school gala was this weekend and so we asked my dad to come to town to do double duty - consult on electrical work upstairs and to babysit.  The gala was fun, but by the time we got everyone else had already taken advantage of the open bar....I did station myself next to the dessert table which made me happy and I even danced a bit.  I had been convinced that two birthday parties and the school gala were going to shake baby vazquez out.  Indeed I was very crampy by the time we got home and proceeded to wake up multiple times with what I thought were contractions.  My dad and Carlos made good progress on the electrical work - I was mostly happy Carlos didn't electrocute himself.  Here they are getting back to work after the brent gala!

Charlie's field trip to the capitol:

We saw the pachyderm parade after sitting outside in the cold for an hour.  It was well worth it though as the kids haven't stopped talking about seeing elephants.  Maybe next year I'll get the nerve up to actual go see the circus...

Easter Egg Dying

The Doctor says that at 38 weeks I am 3cm dilated, but I'm not sure I believe her because she over-estimated my status last time I saw her.  Some days I'm very excited to meet our new family addition and some days I wonder how we'll manage.    My concern must be evident as our school crossing guard, Ms. Jennifer, hired herself to help us prepare the house for the baby.  She came over Saturday and got to work cleaning and organizing.  She gave us a list of supplies she needed for the day and the #1 item was: "4 pack Starbucks frappucino."  I love this woman - she totally cracks me up and looks after Charlie and us.  When she arrived we spent 45 minutes hearing about school gossip - somehow she knows everything.  After that Charlie, Diego and I cleared out for the rest of the day given that Martin and Pedro were working on the third floor, Carlos was tiling the bathroom and she was cleaning.  We spent the day cruising around Baltimore, especially the train museum.  Despite being there various times the boys loved it and apparently forgot that they had ever gone before.

On Sunday Cici's family came over for easter egg dying.  I love that Charlie gets so excited about these types of projects.  For days he asked about it, took the work very seriously and carried his basket around all day afterwards.  I hardboiled about 45 eggs and they went through them in NO time.  Then again at least a quarter of them were broken before, during or after the dying.   Here Charlie and Diego are with some of Charlie's eggs - as you can see he was really only interested in the blue/green hue.  He has become very anti-pink & purple.  

Before I go to bed every night I check on the boys and spend a few minutes sitting and admiring how sweet they are when sleeping.   I tell them how much I love them and hope that some how it seeps into their dreams.  Diego always looks angelic and Charlie looks like he is contemplating the world in his sleep.  The other night he had a seemingly ferocious nightmare and when I went in to comfort him he said he was devastated because I didn't let him have chocolate frozen yogurt.  How can that possibly be a nightmare worth screaming about?

Things Haven't Really Changed Around Here....

I'm officially full-term - meaning 37 weeks - which makes me very happy.  The amazing weather this weekend also made me very happy.  The boys and I spent the whole weekend out and about.  We played soccer, frisbee, rode bikes and started up the BBQ.  The only questionable activity was doing a flight simulation.at the air and space museum.   They close you up in a little capsule that shakes while playing a movie at sickeningly close range.  Besides being claustrophobic I thought the jerking movements were going to induce contractions.  I wanted to hit the panic button 30 seconds into the simulation, but Charlie was loving it and Diego tolerated it.   After that we ventured to the mall where Charlie beat Diego and me 22-2 in soccer.  He has a slight advantage as I can't run much these days and Diego is a total pacifist.  I'd pass the ball to Diego and he'd want to pass it to Charlie and was devastated if Charlie took it away from him.

We rode bikes a lot this weekend but both Charlie and Diego have weird bike issues.  Diego does that bizarre shuffle and refuses to try the balance bike I got for him.  Charlie refuses to try to ride without training wheels but was super frustrated that he was slower than his friend Liam (who does not have training wheels).   I'm overly cautious with the kids which probably makes them less tough and more prone to accidents.  In the span of 45 minutes of bike riding Charlie fell twice (with training wheels!!) while Liam didn't fall at all.  At one point I was tending to Charlie who had just fallen when I saw Liam take off pushing the tricycle at a full sprint while Diego held on for dear life.  I had flashes of Diego going over the handlebars so 9 months pregnant and carrying Charlie I started running after them screaming for him to stop.  how crazy did I look??!

With 1.5 billion youtube hits I suppose it should be no surprise that Charlie likes the song Gangnum Style, but I do think it's weird that he heard it once and kept asking me to play the song so he could dance.  What is it with this song??  Here he is dancing to it....

My dad was reminding me of old blog entries and it made me realize that things haven't really changed around our household.  Carlos is still playing construction games, buying questionable vehicles at auction and spending time in small claims court!  I guess sometime around when Charlie was born Carlos went to small claims court and he just recently went again!  and won!  Seriously - who goes to small claims court multiple times by choice??  We had an atrocious experience with Spirit Air last summer (NEVER fly spirit!!) in which, despite standing in line for 2 hours to check-in, the plane left without us and took our bags with them.  They lost our bags in Guatemala which resulted in Carlos going on a crazy search through the entire Guatemala City airport while I tried to entertain the kids and keep them E. coli free!  I have never seen Carlos so pissed off in the 12+ years I've known him - - he was very vociferous in his distaste for Spirit and the entire country of Guatemala.  Carlos is not one to give up on grudges easily and was happy to pick a fight with Spirit Air 8 months after the fact....

Due to the construction the boys have resorted to taking showers although Diego loves to bathe in the kitchen sink.  Charlie decided to get in too this week...

I have no idea how correct the following counting is....

Full-Term! (well almost....)

 

I've almost made it full-term (tomorrow)!  The dr. says I'm 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced.  Still - I'm hoping to keep her in for a few more weeks so I can get some work done, Carlos can make more progress on our bathroom and we can come up with a name!  That said, I did finally get out and wash some clothes for her, ordered newborn diapers and packed a hospital bag...

While we wait for her arrival, Charlie and Diego are doing well.  Life feels almost manageable which I know #3 will shortly destroy.  My bag of sugar is becoming a little boy.  It's cute and somewhat sad to me that he isn't my little baby anymore.  He is talking more and tells me random things like the fact that his birthday is in August.  Charlie is also growing up too fast and, unfortunately, starting to pick up some annoying behavior from the playground.  At our parent-teacher conference the teacher confirmed that these days Charlie is more willing to stand up to the rougher boys in the class and be aggressive back.  I want him to be tough, but I kindof preferred it when he just hung out with the girls....

Last weekend we went to the family day at the Corcoran where they enjoyed doing some graffiti, DJing and 'tagging' t-shirts.  Since then Charlie wants to decorate all his clothes and onesies for the baby....

Here is Carlos hard at work on the bathroom.  He worries me when he says he is going to do the plumbing and electrical himself....The last plumbing I remember him doing resulted in a toilet exploding....didn't think that was possible? well it is!



Here is from the sonogram last week.  tough to see, but it is her profile and full frontal facial view.  The dr. thought she was about 5 lbs 11oz which could mean she'll be about the same size as Diego.