35 weeks in Alabama

I hate winter. I hate the cold, I hate the dreary light and I especially hate the germs.  The kids are sick again. The ironic part is that I was sure that I would be the one to infect them after a bizarre exposure during my work trip last week.  At 35 weeks I went for my last work trip and just hoped that I wouldn't pop before I got back.  The most worrisome (and interesting) part of the trip was our excursion to Alabama to see the paper-based packaging supply chain from forest to mill to final product.  Here I am in the woods with large and very expensive machinery...

We had gotten a ride from the mill to see tree 'thining' in process 45 minutes away.  45 minute ride in the confined space of a car with recycled air....and when we got back in the truck to head back our driver sounded like he had something in his throat and then....HE PUKED! yep puked, all over....I was so horrified. I thought for sure I would get the stomach bug, give it to my sons and, in the meantime, the vomiting would initiate labor.  I played this all out in my head before he even finished puking.  Luckily I didn't get sick, but I arrived home to a sick kid anyway.

The nice part of the kids being under the weather is that we had a restful weekend full of family naps.  The bad part is that they both end up in our bed at night....

Charlie has been my official pregnancy photographer.  It's a bit tough to read his writing but it does say 35 weeks with his crayola pens....The boys think that my protruding belly button is actually the baby's nose.  As of Friday I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  The doctor - upon seeing how horrified I was by the news - said that I likely had at least a couple of weeks to go.... A couple of weeks won't cut it!  I have a lot of work to finish and Carlos has his crazy house projects.  The other annoying thing is that the baby is measuring small again - like Diego - so I need to get a sonogram.  

Diego decided to wear Charlie's shoes to bed....

Carlos trying to fix Charlie's terrible haircut and only making it worse

Nemo

This weekend the boys and I were supposed to make it to New York but only made it as far as Philadelphia.  The failed attempt was partially due to blizzard Nemo and partially due to my lack of energy and mental fortitude.  The trip didn't have an auspicious beginning as we started out with a flat tire.  Then again the boys LOVED the extra stop.  After watching the guys at the gas station Charlie decided he wants to be a 'tire changer' when he grows up.

Despite only catching the tail end of the storm there was enough snow for sledding.  While Diego is my kindred spirit who hates the cold, Charlie seems to have much more of a stomach for the cold....and  steep sledding hills.  This hill seems to have been made for sledding. He, Mary and my mom went down on various sleds while I watched in horror.



The boys also got to work on some works of art.  Diego really took to painting - check it out - two hands and seated!  He even wanted to re-paint his painting when we got home.  Charlie worked hard on his 'jackson pollock' painting and his cityscape.

 

We've been working on Diego using the toilet by himself.  The tricky part is that without a stool he isn't quite tall enough to pee into the toilet.  At grandma's house he yelled "I have to go peeeeee" and I heard pitter-patter running.  By the time I arrived in the bathroom I found him propping himself up just high enough to lean  in.  I burst out laughing and yes, this is his naked butt, but it was just so cute to see him solve the issue himself.

I'm never really sure if all the activities I sign the kids up for are worth the effort and money.  The only one where I have seen marked improvement is swimming.  Last class Charlie actually swam a full length of the pool.  Granted it wasn't the most graceful performance and there is no telling how much water he drank, but it was still exciting to see.  His friend Cici joined and they were hysterical together - very competitive.  They kept saying "this is too easy!"  Little does Charlie know that her mom was a competitive swimmer and her father played on the brazilian national soccer team....I think he has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep up.  

Charlie also made it to the top of the climbing wall.  Diego took up climbing too!  Check out both of my boys on the wall!

Charlie has been torturing Diego more than usual recently.  Poor little Diego adores his brother - he calls for him in the morning, he wants to sleep in his bed with him, he says that cutest things like "charlie - you share with me?" - and Charlie torments him.  It seems to be a very recent switch and I wonder if it is something he is picking up at school.  The worst part is that he seems unphased when I tell him how mean he is being.

My good news is that despite feeling crampy, lethargic and generally crappy my cervix is intact.  no baby yet!

32 Weeks

I'm convinced this little girl is going to kick her way out early.  I've been feeling sick the last few weeks and almost every night I feel crampy so I decided I'm going to do anything I can think of to keep her in longer.  That really is just a euphemism for being nice to myself.  I scheduled a pre-natal massage, I keep my feet up almost all day, I ignore the dishes in the sink and we eat more left-overs.  Oh, and I've given up on worrying about Carlos finishing his house projects (I've moved to the acceptance stage...).  Not sure it'll work but I really don't want this baby coming out early!!  

Charlie is really enjoying his friends (jack and cici mainly) at school though he can't stand naptime.  He keeps insisting that we pick him up for naptime.  Fortunately I think the assistant teach fiasco has finally been resolved.  This week was museum night so we went to school to see the Jackson Pollock painting that Charlie's class did (to be sold at the school gala for gobs of money).  Each student also had their own work displayed so here is Charlie in front of his work.

Charlie with his Museum display

With Jack and Cici

My bag of sugar Diego continues to amaze me with his sweetness.  I say he must be my "dessert" which means #3 can only be trouble.  At Charlie's swim class he loves to hide in the lockers...here he is with his little fingers sticking out. ohhh he is so sweet.

During the arctic blast here we got a little bit of snow and Charlie was soooo excited to try the sled that Santa brought him.  Sadly the hill down the street wasn't even covered with snow, but it did the job...so well in fact that I had to catch him from shooting off into the road. Diego didn't seem too excited about the sled or the cold.  After watching a few runs he decided he was too cold and wanted to go home.  Clearly I'm not the only weather wimp in the family!

Inauguration Weekend!

We had a long and eventful MLK inauguration weekend!  The weekend included 8 house guests, a visit to the mall for inauguration and an inauguration party.  Not surprisingly, there was less excitement in the city this time around and fewer events. Unfortunately that was matched with more security measures which resulted in bad traffic, a feeling of being cattle herded, inexplicable barricades, bad detours and friends spending 1.5 hrs in the car to get to our house from adams morgan.  My mom, cousin, brother and aunt made it to the mall only to be told entrances had been closed so continued walking until the Washington monument where they proceeded to find a jumbotron that didn't work.  such a bummer.  On the other hand I had a great seat and view of the ceremony.  It was pretty special to be close-up and after the ceremony I wandered up as close as possible to the podium.  With all that no one ever checked my ticket - my ticket didn't even leave my coat pocket.  Exiting turned out to be more of a hassle than getting in so I snuck past security guards to cut through the Cannon congressional building to get to our street.  This would have been a great idea had I known where I was going.  Instead I got lost in the underground bowels of congress and spent forever wandering around tunnels.  Despite the 1 million people outside I found myself completely alone in the tunnels.  Pushing, shoving and standing for so long I was getting quite crampy and was beginning to think maybe this underground hell was going to induce the baby girl.  I did eventually make it home....

Obama speaking (the little speck on the bottom right!)

the mall by 8am....

our street corner by friday afternoon...

getting through security

To make up for the malfunctioning jumbotron we had Obama at 419 1st St!  Well at least a life size representation of him..  It was real enough to startle us every time we came downstairs.  Charlie and Diego loved to move him around the house which made him even more scary and surprising.  At the party he greeted guests as they entered, danced with guests and took group pictures...He was very accommodating....

Charlie, Diego and Grandma blew up about 100 helium balloons to cover the ceiling which was so fun for them. It backfired sort of because then charlie desperately wanted to stay up for "half the party."  The balloon carcasses littered the floor the next day, but that was just as much fun for Charlie who, with help from his visiting friend Milo, popped them all with toothpicks....

 

Other decorations included inauguration coins, luminaries, inauguration trivia and - what is party without inauguration cupcakes?!

 

 

The house was not only full of decorations, but also fun guests.  My aunt, mom, cousin and brother came down from Philly as did Janine and her son from NY and Neal, who I haven't seen in YEARS came from San Francisco.  Thanks to Kathleen my mom and aunt were able to escape the late night dance party and have a quiet place to stay....

29 Weeks....

29 weeks and feeling huge!  Last week I had to do an extended glucola test which was possibly worse than labor itself.  I had to drink an ultra-concentrated glucola liquid and then have blood taken 4 times over the course of 3 hours. I made it through ~1.5 hours and then puked it all back up.  The nurses shook their head at me as I walked out of the bathroom...I didn't care - I rather go on a restricted diet then do that test again....Luckily because I held it in for over an hour they accepted the results and everything is fine.

Charlie and Diego talk to their baby sister sometimes.  Usually they whisper things like "baby sister - go pee-pee in mommy's tummy" and then they fall down laughing.  Other than that they don't pay much attention to my bulging stomach nor do they give me much of a break.  I've been feeling more tired and a little more like I'm running on empty.  I'm also getting in "nesting" mode in anticipation that this baby is coming early.  Mostly this means purging stuff and getting anxious about Carlos' construction projects.

I had been worried that Diego's bad behavior during our trip marked the delayed beginning of terrible twos for him, but now that he is better he is back to being my sweet angel.  The other night when I checked on him before going to bed he sensed I was there and reached up for me and said hopefully "mommy, you are coming into my cuna (crib)?"  When I said 'maybe later' he responded "okay, but I need a kiss."

Diego making waffles

We had our first visit to the new Children's Museum.  I'm glad we went because I won't feel badly not going again...Overpriced and not worth it.


Last weekend Carlos and  I had our first ever karaoke outing - likely to be our last as well, but after a big korean BBQ meal it seemed like a nice way to round out the evening.  Here is Carlos singing some terrible song like Bohemian Rhapsody or something.

I've found a cooking activity messier than making pizza - making pasta!!!  The kids loved it, but the kitchen was a disaster afterwards....This was my attempt to get my carb-obsessed kids to eat kale- KALE PASTA!!  It was pretty good!