A new year + 31 weeks

We have never really been ones to celebrate New Years. It seems like for as long as I can remember hubs and I have done nothing more exciting than go out to eat, come home and be lazy! I know for a fact that 2 years ago, when I was pregnant with Max, we were both asleep by 11:00.

This year we had a very low-key celebration...just us three, dinner, movies, couch snuggling, and pajamas. And it was perfect! I couldn't think of any other two that I'd rather bring in the new year with.

Even though we keep it simple for New Year's Eve, the idea of starting a new year has me pretty excited. I feel motivated, happy, and optimistic about this coming year! There is a lot that will change, and there is a whole lot to look forward to.

With just 9 weeks between us and Drew's due date, of course I can't stop thinking about what life will be like as a mommy of two boys (and I'm sure none of you are surprised to hear that...yet again). I think a lot needs to change around here to make all of our lives easier (maybe it's the new year, maybe it's nesting). I don't have resolutions, because resolutions don't get kept...but there are a few things I'm excited about doing in 2013!

Learning to cook- I know, I know. I say this all the time, and I say it every time a new year comes around. But seriously...I'm really motivated, and it is necessary at this point in our lives. I can't be a mother of two growing boys and a wife to a man with a large appetite and not be able to cook! We got new pot and pans for Christmas, along with some new bakeware...and I can't wait to use it all!

Getting organized- I've been on an organizing spree here lately, and I plan on keeping that up. I think it will really make things easier, especially after Drew gets here.

Take a ton of pictures, and learn to use my new camera- Hubby got me a DSLR camera for Christmas, and I have a lot to learn about it. I want to take way more pictures of our everyday life, not just when we do something special.

Take time for just Nick and I- we really need to go on more date nights this year. I think we have only been on three "dates" since Max arrived almost two years ago.

My favorite? Become a momma of two! I can't wait to teach Max to be a big brother, learn to have a little balance between my boys, snuggle with a sweet newborn, and love them every single minute of every day.

So...here's to 2013! I hope it is wonderful for us all :)

30 weeks

Christmas is over, our house is a disaster area, and there are only 10 weeks or less until Drew joins our family. I knew this would happen...I have been extremely calm and not at all worried about everything we need to do. Up until now.

I knew that Christmas would go by quickly, and that as soon as it was over I would have a sense of urgency about getting it all done. I'm still not freaking out, and hopefully I won't ever get to that point, but I do feel like there is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.

I think it's really important to stay as far away from stress as possible during pregnancy, especially towards the end. This is part of that whole "attachment patenting" philosophy that I definitely believe in. If my due date was tomorrow, I know everything would be fine. We have everything we NEED, and everything is ready in a way. So...I'm continuing to not stress out about it. The only list I have made is of things that HAVE to be done. I'm keeping the rest in my head, because I know writing it down will make it worse!

Drew is continuing to grow, and so am I, of course! My next appointment is in a week. I have to have my platelets re-checked because the last time they were checked they were abnormally low. If they don't come up on their own I will have to be on a steroid regimen for the remainder of this pregnancy, and I may even have to see a hematologist. The reason platelets can become a problem is that they have to be above a certain level in order to receive an epidural during labor/delivery. Please be praying that my platelets will have come up on their own by next week! I would rather not have to go through all the steroid treatments if it can be avoided. But of course I am thankful that treatment exists and that I really don't have much to worry about!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did...I will be posting about ours soon!

Dear Max

My sweet, sweet boy,

Oh how your momma is loving this season with you!  

Last year, Christmas was wonderful, but this year has been even better!  We love watching you learn to love Christmas and everything about it.  We took you to Tanglewood to see the lights a few weeks ago, and it was so much fun...you took it all in, and said "wow" the whole way through. The sense of wonderment you have had with this entire season is truly incredible, and it has made it more fun for your daddy and I, too!

I can't believe how big you have gotten.  I know I say it all the time, but lately I can't help but wonder where my baby went and how I ended up with this amazing little toddler in my life.  I keep telling Daddy, almost every day... "look how big he is! Look how big he looks!"  You are learning so fast and changing every single day, and I just hope that I am soaking it all in as much as possible.  It seems like you have a new word to say each day, and you are even starting to put words together occasionally.  You have started saying "please" every time you want something, and I love it.

  One of the funniest things we have realized lately is that you have one of your favorite books ("I Love You Through and Through") partially memorized!  As I am reading it to you, you get ahead of me and start saying words that are on the next page, and it really is quite hilarious.  

Speaking of reading...you love reading with me lately.  We read all of your favorites at least twice each every day, and your list of favorite books seems to be expanding like crazy.  You are also loving to play with cars and trucks even more lately, if that is possible.  

I hope you are starting to understand this whole "baby" thing...your little brother will be here so soon!  You fall asleep with your head on my belly each and every night, and you are completely obsessed with babies.  If we ask you where baby Drew is, you point to my belly and say "in there!" You give him kisses, and we talk about him every day.  I just know that you are going to be a great big brother.  I can't wait to see you two together, and I am so glad that God has blessed me with two sweet boys.  

Your Daddy and I love you so very much and we are so proud of you!

love,

Mommy

***ps...this is the first of many "Dear Max" letters I will write, and I wish I had started sooner!  Hopefully someday he will be able to look back and read them, and in the mean time I will love writing them (and looking back on them to see how he has changed).

Christmas

 Our family LOVES Christmas...my husband seriously had the icicle lights up on our house on NOVEMBER 3RD. In all honesty, I was slightly embarrassed, but he absolutely insisted.  We have some old family traditions that we love to participate in with our extended family, and we also love starting new traditions of our own.  Nick and I did these sorts of things and loved Christmas even before having Max, but this time of year is even more fun when we get to see it through his eyes.  Last year was amazing, even though he was only about 8 or 9 months old...but this year? Fantastic. In every single way.

Every time we go out at night he points out the lights, he loves dancing to Christmas music with me, and he just has this sense of awe and wonderment that is contagious to us all.  He points out decorations and wrapped gifts and calls them "pretty," and he has loved helping to pick out gifts for all the people on our list.  

One of the traditions we started this year is an advent calendar, and it's not exactly the typical way of counting down to Christmas.  We got a traditional advent calendar from Target (the reusable kind with a door for each day), BUT rather than having a piece of candy to eat each day or a little trinket being inside each door, we have a note in each door.  Each note has an activity for us to do as a family that day.  Some days we have watched holiday classic movies like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and others are things like Christmas shopping or "family Starbucks date."  It has been so much fun and Max has LOVED it.  I highly recommend doing this!

Just 10 days until Christmas, ya'll!

27 weeks

How is it possible that we are in the last week of the second trimester??? Monday marks the start of the third trimester, which is completely insane. AND there is a ton of stuff we have to get done before Drew's arrival...my to do list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter, and ranges from figuring out plans for Max once labor starts, to painting our bathroom, to Christmas shopping.

As far as the pregnancy goes, everything is fantastic! We had an ultrasound last week and all is well in Drew's world. I also had my glucose tolerance test and passed it! Such a relief.

I have started to feel some of those "third trimester symptoms" even though I'm technically not in my third trimester. Swollen feet/ankles, back pain, abdominal muscle pain, trouble sleeping? All normal to me at this point :) but there are so many things I love about this point in pregnancy. For example, feeling Drew moving pretty much all the time is amazing. That reminder that there is a little miracle growing in there that we get to meet in just 13 short weeks is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy, even if the jabs in my ribs don't feel so great.

Life is so good, y'all. I just love being a momma to my two sweet boys :)