Thankful Thursday - 126

My current mood...

How I wish I felt...

This week I am thankful for...

1. I AM [almost] DONE WORK! Today was supposed to be my last day of work, but I offered to come in for a couple days next week, and maybe the week after as well. They took me up on my offer, so today is no longer my last day! Messes up my countdown, but I'm actually really okay with it. I was feeling nervous about going back to be mom full-time. It is 100x easier on my body to be at work than it is to be at home chasing Dom around at 35 weeks pregnant. I think any hope of keeping this baby in a little longer increases if I continue working longer. Who would have thunk it! Haha

{I wrote this a couple days ago, and now I wish it was my last day again! Week from Hell}

This was my work station this week. Definitely not ideal being 34 weeks pregnant, but it was fine. My legs kept falling asleep dangling off the tall chair. Is this a "short-person" problem on the regular?

2. The Meatball. Dominic is such a meatball. He makes me laugh every day, and brightens the mood of everyone he's around. 

Oh Sherlock... he is SO good with Dom lately. Dom can pet him, snuggle him, and even crawl over to sit with/on him. I don't like to let Dom sit/crawl on him because I don't want to make anything stressful for Sherlock, but he was being so good at this moment I snapped a quick pic before preventing the crushing that was soon to ensue. 

Breaking my heart. He was carrying a board-book and fell, and two of the pages caught him on the forehead. This was just after, but it looked way worse a couple hours later. Nice little cuts and bruises. That's not how you absorb knowledge, Dom!

Shadow came for a sleepover, which means her mat was here too! Yay!

He spent a very long time playing with the pots and pans and lids the other day. Simple ways to entertian your toddler!

This is what happens when Mom doesn't pay attention for a minute. He has a thing about sitting on/in things. He opened the computer to sit all 30lb of him on the keyboard, or he'll pull out a cookie sheet and sit on it, or open a book and sit on it... maybe he needs a special mat he can sit on or something. Weirdo. 

3. Pregnancy Cravings. I love pregnancy because you can blame all your terrible eating habits on pregnancy cravings. I don't indulge often, but this week there were 4 days straight where all I could think about were Blizzards/McFlurries. Finally David went out and got us some from McDonald's at 9pm, when we'd normally be getting ready for bed. Two days later we got the BOGO for $0.99 Blizzards from DQ! No regrets. 

Sherlock is done dog agility now for at least 12 weeks. I was able to go longer in the last pregnancy, but this one is kicking my butt a bit more, so I had to call it quits. I feel bad for him, so I let him beg for ice cream haha.

4. This.

Dominic - 15 Months

Gotta love that beer gut hanging over his diaper.

One day he'll have hair! He's sooo blonde. It's there, just basically translucent.

Maybe doing photos RIGHT before getting ready for bed is a good idea. He was posing and hamming it up so well! <3
CHEEEEESE!

I may or may not have photoshopped two nice cuts off his forehead in all these pictures. He was carrying a big board book, and then fell as it opened and the front and back cover knocked him right in the forehead leaving two cuts. Poor thing! 

Weight: 30lb (100+ percentile). He didn't gain in the last month! Maybe this is the beginning of his plateau!
Length: 31.5 inches (65th percentile)

Full disclosure. I totally forgot Dom was 15 months already. Someone asked how old he was and I looked at the calendar and said OH SHOOT! HE'S 15 MONTHS!

Likes:

• Bathtime and bedtime. If I ask if it's bedtime/naptime, for example, he will stop whatever he is doing and run to the gate by the stairs and shake at it to be let through to run upstairs. I LOVE how much he loves bed and sleep. We plan to move him to his new toddler room this month, so hopefully it carries over!
• Daddy. Dad-deeeeee is is favorite person. Oh and Sherlock (Buppa). When I pick him up from Daycare, it's no "Hi Mama!", it's, "Dad-deeeeeeee! BUPPA!" Haha like yes... we will go home and see Dad & Puppy... I only gave birth to you and dedicate my waking hours to providing for you... haha! Oh Motherhood... Thankless! ;)
• Books. He LOVES to read books. All day long he will go grab a book (or tell us which one he wants with whatever noise he's associated with that book - car noise for his cars book, woof for his dog book, bunny sign for his peekaboo book with the bunnt on the front, etc). He will excitedly bring it up to me and ask to come up on the couch for a cuddle and a read. DON'T MIND IF I DO! That is my kind of activity right now! 
• I find we've been watching less and less TV because of how much he loves to read books. He never watched much Paw Patrol to begin with, but if I needed a physical break it was my go-to. Now he gives me all the breaks I need! (Most of the time...)
• Looking out the window or standing on the balcony pointing out the cars, "OOOOOooooo!!!!"
• When we do a fishy kissy face (really suck your cheeks in). It is the only way he'll let me kiss him haha!
• Cuddling Sherlock. He will go up to Sherlock and make this noise like, "Da da da da da da da" or something, and nuzzle his head into Sherlock's face/neck. Sherlock doesn't seem to mind either. I can always tell Dom's intentions here by the sound he makes. 
• Music and dancing. He especially seems fond of music that sounds like a rave in Amsterdam (house music). He will dance like nobody's watching, except he insists that people be watching. He has about as much coordination as I do with dancing, so it's not always pretty. It's mostly just extremely awkward haha!

Dislikes:

• I'm sure he has dislikes, but I can't think of anything right now! He is a typical toddler. He will throw himself to the floor if you take something away from him, but his tantrums usually only last a couple seconds. He might fight getting into the car seat, but again is happy once he settles. He may try to run away during a diaper change and dislikes being held down, but who wouldn't?! He's such an easy-going boy 99% of the time. We're incredibly lucky.
• Being left in church nursery. He is okay in there if there is someone he's really familiar with, but most of the time David or I will have to hang out in the nursery.  

Notes:

• D now has 7.5 teeth. He has 4 top front teeth, one top left molar, two bottom front teeth, and ALMOST his bottom left molar as well. Molars are not fun. I actually thought he was getting sick because of how runny his nose was and how grumpy he was, and then he was crying during a diaper change and I saw a little molar poking through! Oops... sorry bud!
• He consistently signs for help (which is the same as "more" and "please"...) if he needs help with something or can't reach something. If he starts getting frustrated he will often step back, make eye contact, and sign for help. Super handy in avoiding those annoying tantrums!
• If he sees a water bottle or a glass, or takes a sip of water, he'll sigh, "ahhhhhhhh." Pretty cute!
• He's not overly verbal, but he does have 20-25 words. He communicates more through signing, pointing, and other noises we've decoded. 
• Words (there are probably more I'm forgetting...): Puppy (buppa), Daddy, Mama, Mama (for phone... it's a different mama though), banana (nana), Bye, Up, Boom, Boo, Blue, Uhoh, Opa, Oma, Ball, Yay, Tractor, Baby, Toes, Po, No no no no no, Shoes (Deeeees), Cheese (also Deeees!), Tickle (Tik tik tik). He does lots of other yammering and gibberish, but these are the ones we've figured out so far. 
• If he sees the nail clippers he will grab them and pretend to clip his toenails (tktktktk). Super adorable. 
• When he hears the garage door open he looks at me with excitement and says, DADDY!!! 
• For animals he uses more actions and sounds combined. Examples: Walrus is clapping while I go, "Arf Arf!", skunk is waving his hand in front of his face and trying to say, "Stinky stinky!", and Bunny is putting hands up and making little buck-teeth kissy noises. He puts his hands up like antlers, I do two fingers behind my head like bunny ears. We now have to say goodnight to all the animals around his room before bed, so we have lots of practice with his bunny piggy bank. 
• Lifts my shirt (or pulls it down, which is awkward in public) to see the "ba ba" 
• He has suddenly become a picky eater. His usual go-to quick and easy lunches are now being turned down. It will be easier when I'm home and can just make him whatever, but it makes it tough when packing daycare lunches! The picky eating may be his tastes developing, but it could also be due to the teething. 
• He signs "Thank you" now! for real! Not just another version of "more"! It's really adorable because it looks like he's blowing a kiss. 
• Dom is wearing 2T clothing now. Even things that are 18-24 months, or 24 months don't fit him. I find 2T a bit longer than 24 months. He could still fit into slightly smaller pants, but tops can't be smaller than 2T anymore. Such a big boy!
• We cannot go anywhere without people commenting on his cheeks. They are pretty amazing, I suppose. 
• He is more and more independent when we're out and about. If I put him down outside, he is GONE! Takes off like the wind! It's awkward though because he has no understanding yet of cars/streets/boundaries, and he doesn't want to hold hands. It's a lot of watching him go, chasing him, and re-directing him. 

By the time he is 16 months he could be a big brother! Or he'll be very close to it! Are you ready, D? Am I ready? NOPE! I suppose I'm as ready as I could be. Nothing can really prepare you for what's coming other than the knowledge and experience you've gained having one newborn. Now you just get to do it with the added work of a Toddler! Toddlers are WAY more work. Well a different kind of work, I suppose. More/better sleep, but also more work. 

I leave you with this hilariously cute picture of Opa and Dom in their matching Hawaii shirts from Maui.

33 Weeks (FERRET/JUNIOR TENNIS RACKET) - 2.0: March 20-26

• I am almost done work. I am almost done work... I actually offered to come in 2 days next week, and possibly another 1-2 days the week after... Throws off my countdown, but I am feeling good about it! I'm not QUITE ready to be full-time mom again ;).
• I feel like I could literally copy and paste my posts from my first pregnancy and it would be accurate, just changing "he" to "she". So many symptoms are aligning. I find myself saying something to Dave, like, "I feel like there's less amniotic fluid or something!" and then I read my post from last time and it says that there is officially more baby than amniotic fluid now, and movements may start to feel different. Oh! Good! Or I got my first ever nose bleed at 32 weeks with Dom, and now at 33 weeks I've started getting minor ones again randomly. 
• I had another midwife appointment this week! Not a lot to report.
• I told them about my nosebleeds, but they're not concerned. They recommended I start taking Magnesium Citrate 200mg tablets for constipation since I'm taking so much iron to get my levels up. I'm now taking Palafer for Iron instead of the Ferrous Gluconate I was taking before. Let's see if that helps! 
• We had Dominic with us this week, which is always so much fun. Our midwife adores him, and he's such a nugget! He puts on his best smiles and behaviour while we're in there. They often comment on how he brightens up the room with his happy, easy-going demeanor. And he was even grumpy (for him) today!
• There was some question about baby's position this week, because I mentioned that things were feeling a little bit different and she moves around a lot. When I was sick and puking all day at the end of 32 weeks, I felt like she flipped over and was head up for a while, so I couldn't say for sure. Her heartbeat was easiest to hear below my belly-button, which is a pretty good indication of head down positioning, but they have offered to get me another ultrasound at 36 weeks. Any reason to see my babe again, I'll take! I have another midwife appointment at 35 weeks, and if we're certain she's head-down at that appointment I don't need to do the ultrasound. 
• My weight: 137lb (+18.5lb from my first appointment)
• BP: 101/64
• Baby Heart Rate: 130BPM
• Fundus: Depends which midwife you ask! The average of their measurements was 33cm, so we'll say 33!
• There is so much movement. My muscles are relaxed compared to my first pregnancy, and my placenta is in the back, so I feel everything. The crazy kicks/stretches catch me off guard sometimes and take my breath away. Keep being strong little one!
• 33 Weeks Pregnant with Dominic
• 33 Weeks Huggies Graphic
  

Thankful Thursday - 125

Sorry about all the Dominic spam... (except not really). My heart is just feeling full today and I want to share this little ray of sunshine with everyone!

This week I'm thankful for...

1. Sunshiny Days. Oh I am so excited to have a Spring baby! Hopefully it will get me out a bit more, and not make me feel like I'm cooped up on these nice days. Even getting out to throw the ball for the dog and let Dom run around feels so good with the sun on my face! 

I love this. So much.

This is his sign for bunny. He puts his hands up like antlers and makes little kissy sounds. I do two fingers behind my head and buck teeth, but he's getting there!

When did you get so big?!

He definitely has a mind of his own...

33 weeks pregnant and waddling after the little waddler himself!

A boy and his dog <3

2. Dominic playing independently. Poor Dom has been working on his molars the past week or so. He has taken it like a champ though! I didn't even notice until his top left was poking through already. He also has a rash of some sort on his neck and head mostly. It's not bad, and I'm not concerned about it; hopefully it just goes away on its own! David and I were both completely out for the count this past Monday with a stomach bug or something, and Dom was an absolute perfect child. He played quietly by himself, snuggled on the couch with us and watched Paw Patrol and "read" lots of books. Reading the same three books OVER AND OVER again is his favorite pastime right now. On Tuesday, Dave was home with him and still not feeling well, and Dom even passed out on the floor at one point while Dave got some emails answered. This has never happened... spontaneous floor naps. Who is this child?! Can he stay around please while I have a newborn?!?!?! :)

We love snuggling with our blankies!

Hiding behind the backpack with his blankie reading his "WOOF" book. He crawled in there all on his own with his book. 

Passed right out at Dad's feet. I think my heart is full. If it is this full with our little family now, how full is it going to be when Baby #2 comes around? I am apprehensively getting excited!

You can tell this was not taken on a sick day because David looks human ;)

 Here, Mom. You look like you could use some water!

Ahhhhhhhhh!

He seeks out more cuddles with Dad lately because I'm just not as comfortable as I used to be, but sometimes he'll lay right on my belly and baby girl will kick his little noggin so it's bouncing around while he tries to read his book. 

3. Online Surveys. I've been using my breaks at work to do online surveys for the past little while. The time it takes is hardly worth it, but since I'm sitting at a computer anyway it has been a good way to earn some extra spending money! I have already cashed in to receive a $10 amazon gift card and a $5 Starbucks Gift card, and I have enough points saved up for another $10 card too! I just can't decide which one I want to do :)
If anyone has any questions let me know! If you sign up for the surveys with my code I get bonus points. Yay! :)

4. Getting things scratched off the to-do list! I have quite a lengthy list of big things I want to get done before this baby comes. We're making a slow crack at it, but it's starting to shrink! This week's big accomplishment was FINALLY (as in for the first time ever) getting Sherlock professionally groomed. Oh he is SO soft, and smells SO good, and apparently he was amazing at the groomer. He didn't even want to leave! It was WAY overdue, so it feels really good to have that done! 
We also booked an appointment to have all our carpets cleaned! Thinking about getting a house cleaner to do a deep clean of our house before this baby comes, but we will see if I feel like spending more money on something I could do myself. 

I haven't tried to get a really nice photo of Sherly's grooming job yet, but doesn't he look handsome? His paws and ears are all neat!

5. A TAX RETURN!! With Dave running his own business, we haven't had a tax return in 5 years. We always owe money. This past year, we had to pay installments throughout the year and David ended up over-paying for his 2017 taxes. I, on the other hand, did not get any taxes deducted from my EI (oops)... so I owe money. Lesson learned. Even with my owing money, we're still getting a return, and it could not come at a better time :)

32 Weeks (SCOOTER BOARD/HEAD OF LETTUCE) - 2.0: March 13-19

We finally painted Dom's new room this week (which is where we've always taken the photos). I no longer have to try to remove the ugly coloring of the old wall! It was an ugly brownish colour... Whatever the developers used when this place was built in 2008. 

• The pregnancy hormones are manifesting as frustrations at work this week. It's hard! I find something overwhelming, so I want to address it, but then I'm scared I'll just start crying and won't be taken seriously. I am not a crier in a professional atmosphere , and typically things don't phase me much, but we're getting to the point where I'm just done and don't want to deal with people's crap anymore. This is very familiar from last pregnancy at this time! Haha
• I keep having dreams about going into labour. Please no! Not yet! One time I ended up giving birth to a surprise baby boy instead of a girl though. haha! Have to keep that option open in my mind.
• So remember how I was saying I was feeling so much better on the iron supplements? I don't know how that's possible anymore. I had my bloodwork done again, and I expected my levels to go from 11 to at least 40 considering the high dose of iron I'm on. However, they went DOWN to 10! WHAT?! How is that possible?! I have a midwife appointment next week to go over my results. I'm curious what they'll say...
  *Update* they called me and recommended I switch brands. I've never gotten a call to discuss bloodwork results before! I guess it really couldn't wait until my appointment this coming week.
• Well... finished off 32 weeks of pregnancy with an awful case of the stomach flu or food poisoning. I did not get out of bed at all on Monday. I have never had anything like that. Just horrible. David got it too, and we didn't have any childcare available to watch Dom, so we had to tough it out and hope that he doesn't also get sick. I tried so hard to stay hydrated for baby all day, but nothing would stay down. I figured if I couldn't keep water down for 18 hours I would go to the hospital to get checked out/hooked up, but after 12 hours I finally stopped vomiting and was able to keep little sips down. GROSS! Baby kept up with her movements throughout the day, so I wasn't really concerned about her, mostly just concerned about dehydration and the contractions that can cause.
• Once the nausea went away, I was left with extreme aches and pains. Pretty sure I pulled every muscle in my body from throwing up. Let's hope that never happens again!!
• I've called the midwife pager more times this week than I did in my entire pregnancy with Dom. I always feel like I'm going to be bothering them, but they're so nice!
• So many baby hiccups! It always makes me chuckle and fondly rub my belly :)
• 32 Weeks Pregnant with Dominic
• 32 Weeks Huggies Graphic
  

Lately

I have not been posting much more than my pregnancy posts and Thankful Thursdays lately. I have not been setting aside the time to actually blog about other things going on. 

I have a dislike when people say, "I don't have time for that," which is why I prefer to say, "I don't MAKE time for that." David gets up at 5am every day to make time for meditation, reading, exercise and journaling. I could say I don't have time for any of those things, but really I just don't want to get up at 5am to do them. 

While I rag on myself for "not having time", I really have been very busy lately. Every weekday I'm up at 545 for work, and on weekends I'm up at 630 to have some me-time before Dom gets up. (Hello hot coffee!). 

Photo Credit: Deb De Jong

And this is the reason I get up every day. 

Lately my life has pretty much been: Wake up, get ready for work, go to work, come home, make dinner, play with Dom a little bit, put Dom to bed, do housework, go to bed (repeat).

I had been dealing with pretty severe hip/lower back pain, but the SI belt I got from the midwives has drastically improved my quality of life. Yay!

Here are some little sprinkles of joy and happy moments from the last couple weeks. 

Dom is totally obsessed with reading books lately, and he will bring a book to me, ask to come up, and sit nicely beside me for a good while going over the book again and again. 

I have started journaling. David inspired me to do this, and it's been a really nice way for me to get the "real" things off my chest that I don't necessarily feel comfortable sharing on a public forum like the blog. It's been totally therapeutic for me so far. Maybe this is why I haven't been blogging so much lately!

My super sexy painting clothes. (And super messy bedroom...)

Dom in his "fort". He signs "help" (which is also his sign for more, please, yes...) to ask us to pull the sliding boxes out of this organizer and then crawls into his fort.

 

David thoroughly enjoying our "Happy Birthday" song for him. 

He forgot to leave a candle for me!

Dad slicing up the birthday roast NICE AND THIN! Oh how I love red meat... Why is it so costly?

My sleeping beauty <3

More super happy book reading on the couch. This is the perfect activity for me right now because it doesn't require me to sit on the floor or chase him around or lift him.

We need to properly baby-proof and clean our patio so Dom can have free in&out access for the Spring/Summer! I'm thinking of putting a water table or something out there, but don't want to spend money on it. Anyone have any leads?

Excitedly pointing out all the cars, "OHHHHHH!!!"

Sherlock & Dom are best friends when Dom has food.

Looking forward to more warm weather and being outside!

Playing with (destroying) the Duplo Farm. I love quiet play time. I also love crazy dance and run around play time, but this is just so peaceful and sweet.

Baby boy isn't feeling great this week, which means I got the best snuggles ever while he napped in my arms. Sometimes at night he wakes up crying for a few seconds and I secretly hope he won't settle back down and I'll have get to go in to comfort him. Something magical about being such a source of comfort to your little one. 

He honestly is a really happy child. He makes us feel very loved and special. But BOY does he have tantrums, too! Just try to not let him have his way and you'll see! Whew!

Someone who lives in our neighborhood got a drone and took these beautiful shots of our neighborhood. I love our area.