Can't Avoid It Forever

This has been one hell of a week, and it's only Wednesday. For most of the winter, we have been able to avoid each and every sickness we've seen go through my extended family. A few weeks ago Dillan came down with something that lasted about week or so. We were hoping we were in the clear after that, but, naturally, we were not. Dillan started to feel sick Sunday night. He was complaining of a belly ache, or in his words "I can't feel all good." I gave him some tylenol before bed which usually helps to bring down any fever he gets and also gets him a better nights sleep than without it when sick. Welp, that lasted for about 10 minutes before he was throwing up all over his room. For the first time in months, he was feeling so sick that he came to bed with us. He loves to sleep with us, but the kid loves his own space. He's never been one to fight going into his own bed. 

Monday he woke up and was feeling better, still no fevers or anything. We had a school thing to go to and he was excited and peppy for it so I figured maybe it was just a fluke and he ate something that didn't agree with him. We got to the program and he started to play with the other kids, when all of a sudden, he started to feel sick again and was burning up. We left with a quickness and he spent all afternoon getting sick. 

Both yesterday and today,  he has been feeling good. Acting more like himself, an angry and defiant three year old with glimpses of my sweet little man. But, then today, while visiting my sister. It hit him again, not the fever, but the upset stomach. Goodness, I cannot figure this thing out and weeks like this make me question my abilities as a Momma! 

Monday Morning Marvels- Take 3

Another week down in this pregnancy! It seems like it will be forever and a day until I get to meet my Little Lady. It is amazing how slow time seems to be passing when I think about my pregnancy and how fast it seems to be passing when I look at Dillan growing, yet it is happening at the same time. Very surreal. 

On Saturday, I had my book club. My childhood girlfriends and I started a book club so that we would be on a more regular schedule of seeing each other. If we have something planned to see each other, it just makes it more of a commitment and gets more of us there. There are six of us and we change the location to someone else's house each time. But, it is still tough because we live anywhere from northern Massachusetts to Central Pennsylvania. I am really enjoying the book club aspect just as much as I am enjoying the company. Getting to read books that I NEVER would choose on my own has been really awesome. 

So, what are we marveling today??

1. My friends. Usually we spend the whole weekend together, talking about the book for maybe a night. This weekend, we could only meet for a Saturday. Getting out of the house and seeing the ladies that have supported me for the last 20 years always makes my heart smile. It makes me feel so, so blessed to have those friendships and even more blessed to know they will always be there. They even had a mini baby sprinkle for me! 

You'd think I could find one with all of us. 

2. Our health. We have been hit with the stomach bug, not once, not even twice, but three times in the last couple weeks. I am so looking forward to a point where this cold season is over and we can get outside and get some fresh air. Dillan is exhausting when he is healthy. He doesn't stop moving or talking for two seconds, but I would take that over this any day! 

I'm sure there is more, but I am exhausted from cleaning up after a sick little man!

Day out in the city

Today is Dillan's birthday! I can't believe how big my little man is getting. It seems like just yesterday he was born. It makes me realize how fast this time really is passing! 

Since Hubster was on vacation this past week we tried to do some fun things with Dillan before Little Lady arrives. One of our adventures was taking him into Boston. We have been wanting to do this for a while and it was always just bad timing. Dillan was so excited to ride the subway. We decided to drive closer into Boston and take a shorter train ride. At first, Dillan was really nervous about being on the train since it was loud and shaky. I was proud of us for making a good decision to drive part of the way. But, naturally, by the time we were headed back to the car, he could have been on that train for days and was sad it didn't take longer. My bad.

While in Boston, we visited the aquarium. Normally, the cost is pretty outrageous, about $25 a person  on average, and not something we would pay. We used the museum passes from the library and our tickets were only $10! Every parent should check out their local library. Not only are the passes a great resource, but they have so many activities for kids that are really awesome. Dillan loved the aquarium. He is little and doesn't care too much for a lot of the exhibits, but the ones that caught his attention were well worth it. He got to touch some really cool animals including sting rays, sharks, and crabs. It was really an awesome time! 

Some days I get nervous about doing things like this on my own while toting another little one around with me in a few months, but this outing went so smoothly that it makes me feel like I could do this with no problems at all. It's a good day when you get a small boost of confidence like that! 

Back to Reality

This past week was amazing and, in turn, the blog has been slow. Ooops.

Hubster had the week off from work so we got to indulge in some much needed family time. We got to do some fun things with Dillan that we had been hoping to do before the Little Lady gets here. I will get back to that in another post though :) 

It just so happens that both Valentine's Day and our anniversary fell on his vacation. Our anniversary is the day before Cupid's day so it made for a love filled week. We have never really been the type of people to go over the top for Valentine's day. We always get each other a card and maybe a cute valentine candy item. This year, I got flowers and he got a M&M dressed as Boba Fett. (He is a Star Wars crazy! ) I really enjoyed the day this year because it was the first time that Dillan is really getting the whole holiday craze. We made valentines for his Gramma and Nana and he loved it. We got him some new books and a little bit of chocolate and he was over the moon. It was too cute! 

As for our anniversary, this is year one. We decided that, instead of getting gifts for each other, we would pay to get a 3D/ 4D ultrasound done. I know that a lot of people would disagree with our decision and say that our lives revolve around the kids so we should take our anniversary for ourselves. I would agree with that view most of the time, but we got free 3D pictures with Dillan and I don't want to miss out on that memory with Little Lady. Also, the gifts we would have bought would have been things we didn't need and probably wouldn't use so this is route we decided to go. And next year, we'll just have to go extra big on ourselves. 

Our Wedding Day

As for the rest of the vacation, we got a ton of stuff done. We got the shelving that I wanted for the kids room and changed Dillan's crib to a toddler bed. (I will get back to this too!) Getting things moving in the direction of being ready for baby is making me feel so much more at peace. It's great.

Now, its back to the normal schedule of cleaning, cooking and entertaining a toddler. Monday Marvels will be back next week once I get back in my groove! 

Our Crafty Blizzard

The Blizzard of 2013.  In Massachusetts, we are so used to the forecasts that predict we will be snowed in for days that when another comes, it usually goes by dropping a relatively small amount of snow and our schedule goes on without a hiccup. This was different. We really did get a ton of snow, 2.5 feet to be exact. Some towns around us got almost 3 feet.

Both Hubster and myself are the type of people that as soon as we can get out of the house, especially after a storm, we get out, even if for a quick ride to the store. But, this time, there was a driving ban in place, punishable with up to a year in prison or a $500 fine. Needless to say, we were not venturing out. It's not that we don't like spending time at home together as a family, its just that we don't like the idea of being told we can't leave and HAVING to stay somewhere. Stubborn asses, I know.

We went out to shovel and Dillan came with us, but he is entirely not a fan of the snow and cold so he spent majority of the time sheltered in the garage. Playing in the snow is never an option in this house, maybe with the next one. 

So, what did we do with our time.... ? Crafts. Lots of crafts. The first one we did was painting. I drew on white paper with white crayon, also known as the "magic" crayon. Then, Dillan painted over the drawings with water colors to revel what was magically hidden. Our sub-par results...

The next craft was Valentine's Day gifts for Grandma. We made Dillan Hugs. We traced Dillan's hands on construction paper and cut them out. Then, we measured finger tip to finger tip with ribbon. We glued the hands on each side of the ribbon and added some hearts. We included a little note so Grandma understands she is holding a homemade hug from Dillan :) Of course, we practiced on Daddy's Valentine. 

Baby Names

Naming kids is probably one of the most unrealized stresses of pregnancy. Growing up, little girls are always naming their dolls and thinking of names for their own kids. But, when push comes to shove, naming is really difficult. Not only is it a big decision, that is only made more confusing with the increased indecisiveness of pregnancy, you also have to take into consideration your spouse's opinions. Luckily, for us, Hubster and I agree on most of our names.

Dillan wasn't named until we were basically walking out of the hospital to bring him home. We went in to the delivery with a short list of names, but none of them seemed to fit and we weren't leaning toward any one over the others. After spending the first few hours with him, we started to really fall in love with the name Dillan, but we couldn't figure out if we really liked any of the spellings. Let me tell you, deciding anything directly after pushing a child out of you is a joke. I was so indecisive, crying at any suggestion and any non-suggestions. We spent our second day in the hospital researching what the most masculine spelling of Dillan was and as we were packing up to go home, they came by to MAKE us fill out the birth certificate paperwork. I wish it wasn't something that we had to spend time stressing over the first few days and I am trying my hardest to be more prepared this time around. Keeping in mind that my efforts are probably pretty futile.

Dillan, minutes after arriving 

Few days later 

Hubster and I have agreed on a couple names for Little Lady, but our plan is still to wait until she makes her debut to finalize any decisions. Hubster, especially, needs to see her before really deciding. Well, we've been throwing them around to get a feel for them and asking Dillan which name he likes best. Within the last few weeks, Dillan has gotten stuck on one of them. He refuses to call the baby by anything else and when we offer up any other names, he adamantly tells us we are calling her by the wrong name. So, if Dillan is stuck on a name, are we? Do we now have to use that name? It's not as though it's a name we weren't considering anyway, but if we feel like we would like to use the other name, I want to be able to do so.

Monday Morning Marvels- Take 2

Happy Monday! It's back! 

Thankfully, next Monday Daddy will be home with us because it is his vacation week. I CANNOT wait. His last vacation was back in October and these last three months have been late work nights and crazy pregnancy hormones. It is going to be a very welcomed change of pace. 

This is going to be a quick post because we are going to a free-play at the local elementary school this morning. I don't know why, but I get a little nervous when introducing Dillan to new things like this. He is home with me all day, everyday and I worry that I am not giving him enough opportunity to hone his social skills. 

So, what are we marveling over here???

1. My marriage. We got out yet again this weekend all by our lonesome. I love when the Hubster is genuinely grateful to get some alone time. He doesn't get to see Dillan that often and the fact that he still enjoys and values the time he gets alone with me, not waiting to get back to our son, makes me happy for what we have. 

2. My son and his growing independence. I know that probably every waking moment I am marveling at my son, but sometimes he surprises me with his self-assurance. My mom took him Saturday night to see my brother and his girlfriend out in Boston. When we leave him, there is always a little bit of guilt that he will miss us or want for us, and we won't be there. But, sure enough, nothing of that sort ever happens. He says goodbye repeatedly and pushes us out the door so he can start his own night out. He is growing up too, too fast! 

3. My beautiful new niece, Lucy Lee. I am so in love with this little gal. She is so sweet. We spent yesterday visiting with my brother, sister-in-law and sister. Watching my nephew and niece so smitten with their new sister just warms my heart. Lucy slept so soundly through all the loudness of having all 5 of the older cousins together. It makes me so much more excited for Little Lady to get here and meet her family. 

The Big Change

I want to say that I try to accept change and adapt, but, in all honesty, that's just not who I am. Change doesn't sit well with me, not that its necessarily easy for anyone. The big change that is going to hit my family come May is completely screwing with my head.  On top of the normal pregnancy emotions and crazy pregnancy brain, I am driving myself crazy with the worry that maybe I made the wrong decision in having another. Not that I won't absolutely love her, but I just love the dynamic our family has right now. Before we got pregnant, I only had feelings of excitement and anxiousness. I don't know why, all of a sudden, I am feeling so uneasy. It doesn't help that Hubster is keeping his excitement to himself, if there's any in him at all. He only expresses his fears about sharing time and love with another child and how he just doesn't see how he can love someone else as much as Dillan. Maybe a little positively from him would brighten the horizon, but we all work these things out our own way and I can't force him to be happy go lucky. If I could, I would force myself to be that way first.  Obviously, there is no going back now and things will be work out, because what other choice do we have. 

It is affecting my everyday life and, some days, I feel like I am completely unraveling. I am usually an extremely organized person. Lately though, holy hell I can't keep track of a thing. I lose everything and it is making me even less comfortable. Within the next couple weeks, we are going to start doing over Dillan's room and making space for all things baby. Hopefully, making moves and getting ready will help settle some nerves. I am sure these are normal fears, at least that's what I am telling myself. 

Also, I feel selfish because my fears have very little to do with my son. Not that I am not thinking about him, I totally am, I just think he will adjust beautifully. He is so sweet with babies and he has all of his cousins get new babies in the past. A good friend just had a new baby and he is only intrigued more. I know there will be the normal issue of sharing his things and his space, but I grew up with 6 siblings we made it through just fine. Oh worries, why must you haunt me??