Disappointment - 38 weeks, 1 day

This will be the last series of the belly shots for all of you. I took this last one yesterday in hopes that the baby would arrive soon and to get the picture developed and in the scrapbook :) I thought that I could be getting closer because I have been having what I would only think of as VERY mild contractions for the past two days. I thought that I was on the road to meeting this baby sometime soon and I remained hopeful that my body would in fact go into labor on it's own just as I had dreamed, but as all of us that have had children know your dreams never really turn out to be reality when it comes to kids. For instance I thought that with a newborn I would be able to watch a little tv at night, boy was I wrong when my precious baby boy turned out to LOVE to cry from 7-11pm. I had a doctor's appointment this morning to find out that my body has not changed and as you can tell from this lovely picture, the baby is still high as high can be. He made an induction date of February 11. This is my actual due date so I shouldn't really be disappointed, but for some reason I am. Here are the main reasons, one because I was given a glimmer of hope when the doc talked about inducing me on the 4th or the 5th of February due to the size of the baby. Second I really wanted to go into labor on my own for once, but after today and the fact that the doctor said himself after I made that comment that going into labor on my own this time is probably not going to happen either. Third as I have mentioned before I am deathly scared of laboring and pushing just to need a c-section because for some reason my body thinks it's cool to produce large babies. Monk was 9 lbs. 5 oz. and I thought that maybe since I was going to have the baby a week before my due date this time that I would have another one about that size or a little smaller. As we all know it is VERY common for babies to get bigger with each pregnancy you have. Fourth I REALLY want to nurse and bigger babies make this harder especially when you have low milk supply. The bigger the baby the higher the risk of low blood sugar, which also makes it harder to get a good start to nursing. I am having a hard time with the fact that I LOVE to nurse and I am the person that has the biggest problem with it. I am sure that it is not fun to have lots of milk either because of the pain that it causes, but I dare say I would rather have that and be able to nurse than not at all. This post is to get my feelings out in the open, to talk thru and come to realization that I am probably going to have another 9 plus pound baby, that there is a good chance I will have to have a c-section, and nursing just may not work out. I know that having a healthy baby is the most important thing and so all these little minor things shouldn't matter, but then why has it been so hard for me to come to grips with? This is also a note to self for the next baby that our family may or may not have. I will never go into labor by myself and it will be another big baby. I need to think this from the moment that test strip says positive and then I only have room to be surprised instead of disappointed. I know that two weeks will be here soon and that in the grand scheme of things that is not very much longer to wait. I read in a magazine or something recently that carrying your baby is the closest you will ever be, so I really need to enjoy these last days that I have with this little thing inside of me. All of you can plan on coming to the hospital some time on Tuesday or Wednesday around Valentine's Day :).

Birthday Party Number Two

This weekend Monk had TWO birthday parties, one with Daddy's family and one with Mama's family. It was so much fun this year to see him enjoy opening his presents and loving blowing out the candles. At both parties he blew out the candle at least 4 times. He was so excited about his cake and presents. Days like these make it so worth being a Mom. I love to see that smile on his face and to see the people that love him gather to celebrate his birth. He is so lucky to have so many people that love him and we are so lucky to have had him for two whole years.
This year we had a dump/tonka truck birthday complete with "dirt cake." Monk thought it was so funny to have cake in his truck.
He got lots of great gifts and had a fantastic two nights. Thanks to all who came!

The Ninth Month

"If you've done your compulsive reading, you know that the ninth month is just a very cruel joke. By now your baby is fully developed and is able to live on it's own outside the womb; it just needs to pack on a few extra pounds before doing so. I never understood why it just couldn't pack on the pounds outside of the womb? We have Krispy Cremes out there.
You haven't slept in weeks. You can't stand another night of heartburn, and you're so big that you can't even fit under an exterminator tent. It's obvious that there isn't enough room for the both of you, and one of you has to go."

~ Joanne Kimes Author of Pregnancy Sucks

AMEN!!!

Sleepy Wrap

An awesome giveaway is going on at DE Reviews if you are at all interested in wearing your baby. It is for a sleepy wrap. All you mamas who want to try wearing your baby what better way to try it than with a free wrap?
http://dereview.blogspot.com/2008/01/sleepy-wrap.html

Puppy

Monk just got this GIANT dog as a gift and he loves it. Almost every morning when I go to get him he says something in regards to the puppy sleeping ever so nicely next to his bed.Awe nice kiss!

2 Years

Last week I took Monk to get his 2 year pictures taken at Sears. I know that he is not really two just yet, but it was something that I wanted to get done before the baby came. I can't believe how big he is getting. I want him to stay little FOREVER! He had a cold and you can kind of tell in the pictures, but I think they turned out pretty well none the less.

Duke's been Wounded

If you have ever been pregnant you know that sometimes your brain doesn't work because of all the other billion things that you are thinking of. I have come to the conclusion that with each passing pregnancy/kid I become a little dumber each time. When I say dumb I mostly mean forgetting certain things. So I backed out of the driveway last week Saturday with about 10 things running through my head. I had been running the dryer and our dryer vent is in the garage so my windows were all steamy. I could see Fisherman's van as I backed up because of the dark shadow, but the white trailer hooked up to it didn't show up so good. This little problem wouldn't have been all that bad if it hadn't sliced my tire. Fisherman had to put the spare on, which is also is not that big of a deal since trucks have full size spare tires. The kicker was that the tire wouldn't go on correctly so I drove around with a wobbly tire until Monday. This was both unsafe and CRAZY! Anyway now Duke has two new rear tires and we are looking into getting the bumper fixed as well. What a sad day!

8 months I guess

This is the crazy thing about pregnancy because supposedly you are pregnant for 10 Lunar months, but according to normal calculations I am officially in my ninth month. I was a little reluctant to post this picture because I am a little self-conscious of the tummy size. This little person has grown a LOT in the last month that is for sure. I cannot believe that my pregnancy is almost over and that in three weeks from today, my body permitting, we will get to meet little baby T. I had a huge list of things that I wanted to get done before the baby came and I have been able to check them off my list with each passing day. My loving husband cleaned the carpets this weekend so now the baby can come anytime. I am ready and all crawling babies are welcome to come and play on my clean floors with no dog mess :). I cannot wait to meet you little person, come quickly!

Twenty-Three Months - 01/08/08 - Monk

So I guess that I am a little late on posting this since the 8th was this past Tuesday. With the new baby coming in the next little while I have been SUPER busy checking things off from my list and one of them includes spending lots of time with you. I have been trying to enjoy the time that I have with just the two of us right now and have not even been taking that many pictures because I want to soak everything that you have to offer in and not miss a second. You make me laugh everyday. This particular day (pictured above) your dad took all of the pots and pans out of the cupboard so that you could play drums. I was getting ready to leave and was looking for you. In a matter of seconds I saw the door to the cupboard open and out came a face with the biggest smile EVER on it. Every day you get into more things. I love watching you explore the world around you.
At the beginning of the winter I was a little worried at how you would take to the snow. You don't like to have a lot of clothes on and hate when things, "tickle" or when your pants are pulled up by your snow pants or the fact that you have to wear something over your hands. This day I was EXTRA careful when putting on your snowsuit making sure that everything was just so and you LOVED to play in the snow. Your sled was the best part of all. You even fell face first into it after I took you on a rough turn in the sled and you got up without a tear shed. I knew at that moment that you loved the snow. Your latest and greatest is sliding the chair around the kitchen so that you can play on the counter. Your favorite place to put the chair is right in front of the sink because this means that you can play with water. Some days I am ok with this and you end up soaked from head to toe, other days I don't want to mop up the floor and change your clothes. This is when we experience the toddler tantrum. I have to be honest and say that sometimes it is hard for me not to laugh. You little face is so cute all scrunched up and mad. Everyday that passes I can see your personality emerge a little more each day. Some days I think that you couldn't be cuter and I love that you cuddle with me. Other days I am questioning whether or not you have ADHD. You are a sweet gentle little boy with a side of crazy and I love that about you. I couldn't love you more for the little person that you are becoming. A lot of little things that you do remind me of myself. I love you kid and I look forward to learning so much more about all your likes and dislikes.
Love, Mama

How we spend our days lately

As some of you mama's know out there, when you are pregnant there is a need to clean. My husband has a hard time understanding this because in his mind he is thinking that this tiny baby will care less about how clean the house is. I did the same thing when I had Monk and I think that this is a really neat thing related to pregnancy because even though I never knew what having a baby would be like I still cleaned the house really well so that I wouldn't have to do it after and then when Monk did arrive I was grateful to have all those things accomplished so that I was able to sit and enjoy the new baby. Anyway my point in this post was to let you know what we have been up to. I spend most of my days off cleaning and Monk is in the same room as me often helping with his own cloff cloff (wash cloth). I worried that spending too much time cleaning would take away from time with him, but I have found that we bond even better. He loves to help and dink around in the different rooms. We talk, listen to music, and take breaks for dancing every now and then. So despite all the yucky work, it has been a lot of fun for the two of us.

A Year in Review

New Year's Resolutions for 2008:
1. Since I am ready to have another baby soon at the beginning of 2008 I have been thinking a lot about parenting for my New Year's resolution. I want to be a better parent! Slower to anger, more patient, and able to love my kids more with each passing day. I want to be the kind of mom that gets down on the floor to play with her kids because really there is no better way to spend my time.
2. Along with being a good parent is loving my spouse. I want to love you more honey and be the best wife that anyone could be. Being able to have my kids see a loving marriage relationship is far more important to me than anything else. As with parenting I want to be slower to anger, more patient, and able to love you more with each passing day.
3. To find a passion in my life. I love to scrapbook, but I need something else that can get me out and make me feel refreshed and renewed. Any ideas?

Top Addictions from 2007: (in no particular order)
1. Blogging has to be close to the top of my addictions
2. Along with blogging is reading blogs, which sometimes I feel like I am wasting my time, but I have also gained a lot of knowledge from other people. For instance I would have never known about baby wearing had it not been for the blog world.
3. Television
4. Taking pictures of Monk
5. Scrap booking
6. Shopping online, I was never much into this, but I found that you can find stuff so much cheaper.
7. I know I have not had this addiction for very long as I just got it for Christmas and I know my husband is probably rolling his eyes right now, but my new coach purse is a huge addiction for me. I am in love with it, not secretly because I want the whole world to know it :)
8. Spending time with my family
9. Watching movies
10. Researching and finding out more about baby wearing

Word I used entirely too Much in 2007:
Since Monk has grown into a human echo I have realized too many words that I use too much. The worst for me had to be Gosh though.

Thing that came out in 2007 I couldn't wait for and wasn't let down by:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Best Television shows of 2007:
Because I have been addicted to TV in the last year there may be a lot of these, again in no particular order.
1. American Idol, the new season starts soon, Hurray!
2. Biggest Loser
3. The Office
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Private Practice
6. Desperate Housewives

Favorite Blogs from 2007: (in no praticular order)
1. http://www.dooce.com/
2. http://www.bleeuw.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.lifenut.com/blog/
4. http://www.briankristi.blogspot.com/
5. http://thefregofamily.blogspot.com/
6. http://dreawd.blogspot.com/
7. http://dykstrafamilyblog.blogspot.com/
8. http://chaseandlogansblog.blogspot.com/
9. http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/
10. http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/
11. http://www.childsplayx2.com/
12. http://flipflopmamma.blogspot.com/
13. http://ellinghouse.blogspot.com/

I hate to admit that this is in fact a shorter version of all the blogs that I read, but none the less my favorites.

Things I am most looking forward to for 2008:
1. My brand new baby whatever it might be! I can't wait to meet you little Baby T!
2. Being healthy after the baby comes for more than a week at a time.
3. Getting to know the joys of having a toddler even more. The funny little things that they do and say.

Happy New Year everyone! Here is to another Great year at the Tripp Tent!