Challenges

So as you can see on the ticker to the right I have about 62 days left until our baby girl makes her arrival. We are no closer to getting Evan into his big boy bed and his new room. The last two nights I set the pack and play up in his current room to just get him to adapt to sleeping in the pack and play as opposed to his crib. That way when we put the p & p in his new room he would be ok with sleeping in there. Well the first night was ok, some crying but nothing too bad. He slept well until the next morning. But last night he refused to settle down and he learned how to climb out of it. So that idea went right out the window. I put him back in his crib and decided that is exactly where he will stay until he is ready to move to his new bed.
I just ordered a new crib online. I should get it in a couple of weeks. Not the end of the world to have both kids in cribs but also not how I envisioned it. I've just got to learn to let this one go for now. I'm stressing myself out way too much over it and in the end it's not that big of a deal.
Evan will get the new crib and he will sleep in his new room. And baby girl will still be moving into Evan's old room. So as soon as the new crib comes in we can start painting her room and getting things ready for her. More delays.
I'm happy I have a plan in place and at least it's one less thing I have to worry about right now. I'm also pretty sure that once Evan moves out the crib his naps will be a thing of the past. So all the more reason to keep him in the crib.
It's frustrating but I think it is the right decision for now.

29 Weeks, Third Trimester. And Happy Mothers Day!

I'm in my third trimester now and feeling pretty good physically. Mentally I'm ok but feel I have 1,485 things to do before our baby girl is here. I know it will all happen in time (hopefully) but feeling overwhelmed has been hard for me to avoid.
Our first hurdle in getting things ready for her is to move Evan to his new room and get him sleeping in his big boy bed. A couple weeks ago we attempted this and were met with strong resistance. My plan was to sit with him no matter how long it took and assure him it was ok to sleep in his new bed. The first night it took about 2 hours to settle him down. He just didn't get that he should stay in his bed and go to sleep. So patiently I tried to explain it to him and eventually, I'm sure after just plain exhaustion, he drifted off to sleep. He woke up the next morning at 5am and he seemed scared and was calling for us. He was pretty upset so we put him in his crib so he could sleep the rest of the morning and he did. The next night it took about an hour and a half to get him to fall asleep in his new bed. Most of this time was spent by me sitting on an uncomfortable ottoman, not too pleasant at 7 months pregnant. But eventually he fell asleep only to wake up a few hours later very upset and scared. So again, to calm him down and get him to go back to sleep we put him in his crib.
At this point I decided we should wait a little while longer to move him to his new bed. I thought that would be the end of our ordeal but I was wrong. After having me by his side to soothe him to sleep for two nights Evan had that quickly adapted this routine. So on night 3 when I put him in his crib and told him goodnight he no longer would just quietly drift off to sleep as in the past. It was an unprecendented screaming session of over an hour. Torture. Pure torture. And I admit I most likely made it worse by going in every so often to assure him everything was ok and that I loved him. Nothing I did mattered and he just cried and cried for me to stay with him until he fell asleep. I had to do the tough thing and just let him cry it out. He did drift off finally but not without a fight.
The next night I stood strong and let him cry again, this time he cried for about half the time as the first night. Still such torture for a mother to listen to. I had to stay vigilant, I knew he was ok and safe and could NOT have him needing me to soothe him to sleep every night when I also have a newborn to take care of.
By the third night he only cried for about 5 minutes and went right to sleep. The fourth night, no crying at all - back to my normal sweet sleeping boy.
So now that that drama is over I feel like I am in the same place that I was a month ago. No closer to getting baby girl's room ready for her arrival, which could be less than 11 weeks away (75 days but who's counting).
And I'm no closer to taking Evan's pacifier away which we intend to do once he is sleeping consistently in his new room.
I realize that if neither of these things happen before she is here everything will be fine and we will make due. But that doesn't stop me from wanting them done and it's basically all I think about. That along with the other 1,483 things on my to do list.

Today is Mothers Day and it's been great so far. We had a nice family breakfast and then we did some shopping. I got the mobile for baby girl's room (and it's adorable!). We went to lunch at Chuy's and ate our weight in chips and salsa. So yummy! Now the house is quiet and everyone is napping. Except me of course. Sleeping...ugh sleeping, we are not getting along right now. How is it I can be so tired yet not be able to sleep? I don't get it. It really is some twisted joke.
Well that's about all I have time to share for now, a certain toddler needs some assistance getting out of his crib right now. And since I don't like posts without pictures here is one of Evan being Evan.

The Zoo

Today had a chance of rain and overcast skies forecast all day. So I thought this would be perfect opportunity for a trip to the zoo. It turned out to be absolutely perfect. There were no crowds at any exhibit giving us prime viewing on all the animals. And the weather cooperated with no rain and cool breezes - so nice!

Evan seemed to enjoy the animals. Although he was way more into the ducks, geese and any other bird that was flying around than the actual exotic animals.
I have to say I was really impressed with the new polar bear habitat. Although I was disappointed there was only one polar bear and she was 26 years old.

She wasn't very exciting, she just meandered a lot and took a brief swim. Still a neat habitat though.

The seals were also very fun to watch.

All in all we had an excellent time and I am very glad we went, especially before it gets too hot or I get too pregnant. Here are a few more photos. 

Easter Fun

We had a lot of fun dying Easter eggs last night. This is the first year Evan has been old enough to participate. 

He didn't like using the egg holder, so most of the time he would just throw them in the cup.

Steady hands.

Gotta style them up with stickers!

The finished products.

This morning Evan was very excited to see we had him some monster trucks in his Easter basket. Not to mention all the candy.

He also got a massive Easter basket from his Grandma. So cute!

We are going out to my moms in a little bit for an Easter egg hunt and I'm sure more candy madness.
I have my glucose test in the morning so I am trying hard to stay away from it all!

A great Easter so far and there's more to come. I'm hoping the severe storms headed are way hold off until the kids can all hunt for the Easter eggs.

Spring!

Thank goodness we can finally go outside and enjoy some nice weather. I was so over the winter. Evan is a lot more active this year compared to last so we can really get out and explore. Everything is new and exciting to him and I love seeing that through his eyes.
He really loves to slide at the park.

And ride daddy's tractor.

He also loves to enjoy a nice cold one after all the hard work. (sippy of milk that is)

I am loving the amount of talking he is doing. He has a new favorite word or new sentence every day. He is so grown up. I can't believe he will be 2 in 7 weeks.

Such a big man.
Since his big boy room has been all set up I had every intention of having him sleep there. Turns out I have realized it will probably be a harder transition for me than it will be him. I'm really afraid naps will go out the window and I'm really not ready for that just yet. I want to try next weekend to get him to sleep in his new bed, we'll see if it actually happens. I've been saying "next weekend" for about a year about his silly pacifier that he still wants.

I'm 25 weeks pregnant now and feeling great. Having a few Braxton Hicks every day. I think my temperature tolerance has leveled out to be like a normal person. I am always always cold at work. But now it seems when people are complaining about the heat I agree with them so must mean I am feeling warmer. Today it's about 85 degrees outside and it feels like 105 to me. I am really dreading the next few months if I already think it's too hot in April.
That's about it for now, I know I'll be posting a lot more pictures now that we can get outside.

Evan's Big Boy Room

We spent yesterday painting and setting up Evan's new big boy room. I say we but seriously, Todd did 100% of the work.

Unless you count Evan helping a little.

When it was all done I think it turned out really cute. The paint is drying on the letters of his name that will go one one of the walls, other than that this is it. Pretty simple.

Pretty much all Evan wants to do is jump on the bed.
He has no problem climbing in.

I think he likes it.

Now we will see how it goes when we ask him to sleep in it!
And just because I think she is cute - here is Lilly after her spa day at the groomers while we painted.

And also - a sneak peak of baby girl's room, we got her bedding on Monday. I love it!

Spring Sale

I was one week away from finding out the gender when my favorite semi-annual consignment sale opened it's doors. I was a little disappointed when my doctor said it was best to wait until 19 weeks to get the ultrasound. It's probably for the best because I most likely would've bought way more clothes than we needed for baby girl.
So I concentrated my efforts on Evan's clothes. And I got some good stuff. But in my opinion the clothes just aren't as good at his age because an active toddler will wear stuff out!
The shirts. As always, far too many but as I see it for less than $3 each and as messy as little boys are I'm sure I'll get my money's worth.

And the shorts.

And today I visited another consignment sale that I usually don't find much at. But surprisingly I was able to get baby girl some pretty adorable stuff. Actually it's pretty hard to make something for a newborn that isn't adorable.

 
My favorites.

And I even got her some stuff for next summer.

All in all I think I did very well again this year.