What a Weekend

OhmyWORD!  I am beat.  We have had an eventful weekend around here and I am seriously exhausted - so this will be a quick weekend recap.

Friday, we had a morning play date at the beach with some of our friends.  I seriously took ONE picture with my cell phone in the parking lot before we got to the playground.  I think Jacob's mom took a bunch of pictures, so maybe somewhere down the road I'll get a few more posted.

Bless her heart - the sun never made an appearance!

Good thing she was able to go back to the beach that afternoon with her Daddy.  While they were out enjoying the evening,  I cleaned the house and then relaxed a bit.

On Saturday, the three of us ran a bunch of errands and then took a family nap.  Olivia and David had another fun night together since I went on my first Girls Night Out in AGES.  I met up with five other moms and we had a yummy Mexican meal out.  {The only thing missing was a margarita.}  It was so nice to get out and have some adult conversation and a ton of laughs!

Today we worked outside in the yard and cleaned the car.  We even put Olivia to work!  {Actually, she put herself to work.}

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up inside, making stuffed pizza rolls, and doing laundry.  So, basically, not a ton of exciting stuff, but a very busy and productive day.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Tomorrow is AUGUST 1st.  Which means, I'll be able to say that we're having a baby THIS MONTH.  

Craziness.

Happy Sunday from the Central Coast!

Thirty-Six + Three

Today I am 36 weeks and 3 days along.  That means I have TWENTY-FIVE days left until this little babycakes makes her appearance...well, that is, if she arrives on her due date.

There were a few days last week {that I think I blogged about} where I was feeling really uncomfortable, but thankfully that has passed.  I definitely have some moments where I am tired, or my heartburn flares up, or my emotions take over, but for the most part I am hanging in there.

Not my most favorite picture, but it will have to do.

I didn't remember my belly sticking out this far when I was pregnant with Olivia, but I looked through some pictures of my pregnancy with her and it did.  This little baby is still moving around like crazy and since she is getting so big, those movements are like WOW.  But, the doctor says she is head down, so I am thankful for that.

I am still reading my HypnoBirthing book - it has some interesting ideas that I hope I am able to utilize.  It's hard to find the time to "practice" the relaxation techniques, so hopefully I can schedule in some ME time to make it happen.

I talked to Irma yesterday and she reminded me that this may be my last pregnancy and that I should cherish these last few days of being pregnant - and she's right.  Despite the small complaints that I have, I really do feel blessed that I've had another easy pregnancy and I really DO love feeling her move around inside me and I DO love being pregnant.  {But, I'm also excited to meet this sweetheart.}

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!

School's Out For Summer

Last Tuesday was our last Parent Participation class for the summer.  And, sadly, it will probably be the last class we do for awhile.  The next session doesn't start until September and by that time our newest little bundle of joy will be here.  As much as I would love to be like my friend Sarah who brings baby William to class with Jacob, I just know that the reality of that happening with us is a little less than likely.  

I snagged a couple pictures of Olivia during outdoor play.  Too bad I didn't get any of her friends.  But, yowsa, look at that crazy hair!

Fortunately, we had a play date with some of our friends on Friday and Sarah was lucky enough to get this picture of Jacob with his two ladies!

{Thanks for the cute outfit, Grandma!!}

Happy Wednesday {wow, is it Wednesday already?} from the Central Coast!

A Quick Weekend Wrap-Up

In case you didn't read my facebook status this weekend, it went a little something like this:  Dearest Amanda of Years Past, Why oh why did you not label the outside of your cds?  Your future self is going to be SO annoyed trying to figure out what's on them.

Because, YEAH, I was.  You know that whole nesting/organizing kick I've been on for the last few months?  Well, something made me go through my cds and, OHMYWORD, we are talking majorly disastrous mess.  Many, many moons ago, I organized all my cds into two large Case Logic books.  I even put them into alphabet order.  Then I learned how to burn cds and make my own mixes.  Sometimes I would just add like 4 new songs that I was obsessed with to a cd so I could listen to them in my car.  If I was lucky, I would label it something like October Randoms or What I've Been Listening to Lately.  Most of the times, the cds went unlabeled.  Well, this future self couldn't bear the thought of just throwing those cds away without knowing what was on them and uploading those to my iTunes if I didn't currently have that song.  {And, don't even get me started on the sound quality of some of the songs that were downloaded from Napster!}

I also found a ton of mix cds that other people have made for me.  My friend, Matt, is probably the MOST talented person I know when it comes to putting together a mix of new {and sometimes old} music and I currently have at least 30 of his mixes, dating back to 2001.  {And, I still have a few old mix tapes of his that I refuse to get rid of!}  He just recently sent out a little lullaby mix for this new baby.  My dear friend, Jill, has also made me quite a few and it was SO much fun to go back and listen to some of them from our days working at The Fort together.  {And, yes, I was kicking myself in the butt for not uploading those cds right when I got them.}  And, as an added bonus, I found a bunch of old mixes that I had made for David when we were dating...and those all had cute labeled inserts!

But, alas, after 2 solid days of sorting through the cds, I only have about 50 blank ones to continue to go through.  Did you see that?  Only 50 blank ones...after two days.  I swear, I have gone through at least 200 BLANK (labeled) ones.  That doesn't include the ones labeled something like Soft and Hard Rocks.  Huh?  {It had some soft jams to it and also some hard rock.  Made sense at the time.}  I have somewhat organized the Case Logic books and separated out all of my Dave Matthews cds/dvds into one binder, my Matt Mixes into another and all of our love mixes into yet another.  Oh, and those burned cds?  Once they were uploaded to my computer, they were tossed.  Best feeling EVER.  {Well, not ever, but you know what I mean.}  Olivia even has her own little Case Logic book for her cds and dvds.  Starting her off right!

Helping me out...

Funny side story:  Once Olivia got her brown boots with "fur" inside them, David would always sing, She's got the Apple Bottom jeans and the boots with the fur...  She pretty much knows the words to that whole chorus.  Well, I found the song on one of those cds, uploaded it, and let her hear the real version.  And, now, not only is that all she wants to hear, but she keeps asking to wear her "Apple Bottom jeans and her boots with the fur."  Oh, Lord Help Us!

And, while I don't have any pictures of the hot mess I created in our family room and kitchen with those cds, I DO have a picture of my school book tubs and Olivia's clothing tubs that I finally finished making labels for.

If I were a little more OCD, I would have precisely measured out where the black labels would go, but I'm not.  I'd also have David move a few of the tubs so that the two that are the same {Book Sets w/ tapes, for example} would be sitting right next to each other instead of on top of each other.  But, I'm not quite there yet!  ;)

David was great taking care of Olivia while I was working on my little project.  But, he was lucky to also have some time away at the Dunes riding on our neighbor's Polaris.

Last night, he gave Olivia a bath and after a few minutes in, she said, "I need to go poopy on the potty!"  She has NEVER initiated that before, so we immediately put her on her potty and sure enough, she went! Mom and Dad were lucky enough to get a cell picture of the prize, but I'll spare you those details!

Enjoying the "fruits of her labor."

I hope your weekend was as productive as ours was.  

Happy Monday from the Central Coast!

Finally...Fun at the Fair

I realized tonight as I was putting all the pictures on the computer and uploading them WHY I had been putting off doing this post.  I've been working on them for the last hour+ and that doesn't include the time it took me to upload the videos.  OY.   Prepare yourself for lots of pictures!

So, let's get right to it!  Last Saturday we took Olivia to the Santa Barbara County Fair down in Santa Maria.  I spent every morning at breakfast the week before showing Olivia the video of her riding the pony from last year because I was afraid she was going to be too scared to ride this year.  We talked all week long about the things that we would see and do at the fair and by the time we got there she was all kinds of excited!

This is by far our favorite fair out here.  {Granted, we've only been to two, but still...}  The biggest fair is the Mid-State Fair up in Paso Robles.  We took Ryan with us last year and just left feeling kind of disappointed because they didn't have as many kid-friendly activities as the SB County Fair.

To start the evening off, we stopped by the Swine Barn and I have to admit, I was pretty nervous that Olivia would freak out.  But, she LOVED them.  She got so excited and kept talking to them and was so giggly.  Last year, I think she was just kind of in awe of what she saw, but this year she was just plain giddy over them.

We spoke with one of the guys in the barn and he told us that one of the pigs in the next barn over had just had piglets a few days earlier, so we rounded up our little piglet and headed over.  Oh my goodness!  These little piggies were absolutely adorable!!

Do you see that little runt up there?  SO tiny.

Seriously, that runt had me!  He is like half the size of that piglet next to him.

I really wanted to just take him home with me, but I remembered the way the large pigs looked, smelled and felt and I was immediately convinced to leave him be!

And, while we were in the barn, I took a quick snapshot of the back of Olivia's hair!  Not my best french braid, but I thought I accessorized well.

After the Swine Barn, we headed over to see the cows.  Let's just say, Olivia wasn't really a big fan of them -- too big, too loud.  So, we basically just passed through and found our way to the goats.

I loved this little guy - the way he was laying down is exactly the way Magnum lays sometimes.

After the goats, we went into the Poultry Barn.  {Although, the bunnies were also kept in that same barn.}  Aside from the bunnies, this barn literally made me cringe.  Pigeons, chickens, turkeys - OH MY.

NASTY!

Mom in the shot!

I could hardly contain my excitement about the ponies, baby chicks and the animals in the petting zoo that were right around the corner.  Not to mention, I was ready to get away from all the birds!  Well, except for these...they were so cute!

See last year's interactions with the chicks here.

Yeah, next year, we need to get a chick at Easter for her to raise.

The pony rides were right next to the chicks and she was all about getting over to the ponies!  There was a line there, so we went to the petting zoo first.  You can see last year's petting zoo video here.  

We bought some feed for the animals and before I could even hand it out,  a deer and a goat went to town on my sweater and tried to get my purse too.  There are so many animals in this little cage - I am just now noticing that there was a donkey in there!  You can see the video of Olivia running around the cage here.  By far, the most intimidating animal in the petting zoo was the llama.  I ended up giving him a whole handful of food to make sure he liked me.  Olivia was CLEARLY not a fan.

One of my favorite pictures of the night!

Finally, it was time for the pony ride!!  Olivia was super excited and hopped right on!  David walked around with her a couple of times and then she did some all by herself.  Check out the video here.  

No joke, I wanted her to go on this ride at least 5 more times.  

After the pony ride, we went into the Discovery Pavilion where there was a huge butterfly garden ala Fancy Nancy.  Honestly, this exhibit freaked me out just as much as the Poultry Barn.  I do not like things with wings that can easily fly around.  Olivia got into it for awhile, but then became as freaked out as me.

Belly SHOT!

We walked around the fair a bit more and had some dinner.  Seriously, throughout my meal I kept trying to decide if I was going to have a funnel cake {like last year} or get a cinnamon roll.   We stumbled upon a hypnotist putting volunteers under and since the cinnamon roll booth was closer, I opted for that.  It was, as Olivia would say, delectable!  

Olivia was cracking us UP during the show.  The hypnotist was putting the people under hypnosis and kept talking about breathing slowly and relaxing.  Olivia was totally getting into it and started laying her head down around her neck and then laid down on the ground.

Of course, that tranquility only lasted about a minute.

Honestly, that night was one of the most entertaining nights we have had in a long time.  I know David and I had a fancy date night for our anniversary a week before, but this is honestly my kind of date!  Yep, I'm a midwest girl at heart and I'm pretty sure Olivia is too.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!

I Just Hope I Don't Quack Like a Duck During Each Contraction

When David and I took Olivia to the fair on Saturday night, there was a hypnotist putting on a show on one of the side stages.  She was hilarious and watching the people she hypnotized was even more hysterical.  On the way home, David and I talked a bit about hypnotherapy and I told him about the book HypnoBirthing that I had heard about from a couple people on Facebook & blogs.  Wanting to do a natural birth again, I decided that reading the book might give me a few more tools for my, ummm, hospital gown.  So, whatever spare time I manage to squeeze in is being devoted to reading this:

I had my doctor's appointment today and all is well.  She is fairly certain that Baby Girl is head down {WooHoo} and I am measuring at about 34 weeks {even though I am 35 weeks and 2 days}.  And, somehow, in the last month, I have managed to only gain 1 pound.  {Thank You, JESUS!}  Small blessings, people.

If anyone has any birthing tips for me with regards to HypnoBirthing or other forms of natural childbirth, send them my way!!

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!

Thirty-Five Weeks and Counting

Yeah, thirty-five weeks today and it feels more like forty-two!  I am really feeling it these days.  I have seriously been so blessed to have had two fairly easy pregnancies {knocking on wood now}.  But, this one feels so much different.  I know that it has to do with the fact that I'm chasing around Olivia, picking her up about 30 times a day, and bending over to clean up all the messes in the house.  Whereas before, my biggest concern was making sure David had his 4 square meals a day {and that at least one of them was egg-based}.  Sorry, babe.  I'm at least pretty good about feeding you one meal.  AND, I make sure there is food in the house.


Anyway, I remember with Olivia that I was totally fine with being pregnant, even five days overdue.  But, at this point, the thought of being overdue makes me sweat.  Are you listening, Baby Girl?  Let's be on time.  But, not too early since we still can't agree on a name.*


I know I promised a blog post about the fair, but the only thing I want to do now is lay on the couch and watch television.  Maybe in the next couple of days...

In the meantime, here's one picture from the fair of me, Olivia and my big ol' belly!

Happy Monday from the Central Coast!

*Your dad suggested Isis, Europa and Estrella the other day.  I vetoed those immediately.  You can thank me later. 

Two and a Quarter

Happy 27 Month Birthday, Olivia!

We celebrated your birthday today with a trip to the Farmers Market where you indulged in a handful of raspberries, five strawberries, two pluots, a peach and a nectarine -- all courtesy of your friends Willy and Maria!  I'm glad we went with a couple of pretty pictures colored especially for them.

You are growing and changing so quickly these days.  You remember EVERYTHING we say and you hold us to it.  You are making your mama so happy by sleeping late every morning.  Keep that up when your baby sister comes, okay?!  Speaking of baby sister...on Friday, you were able to feel her moving around and hiccuping.  Since then, whenever you touch my belly, you ask if she is moving and if she has the hiccups.  You are getting so excited to meet her!

One of my favorite things you are doing these days is HELPING!  I love when you help me clean up or "cook" and you will ask me, Am I being a big helper, Mommy?  Yes, sugar, you are.  And, I love you SO much.

We took you to the fair yesterday and you had a BLAST.  You started crying this afternoon when I told you that the fair had moved on to another town.  You loved seeing all of the animals and you were so excited to ride the pony again.  {Don't worry, I'll post about that tomorrow!}  I'm glad we were able to do that together one more time as our little family of three.  Love you, love you, LOVE YOU so much.

Happy Sunday from the Central Coast!

My brother took this picture on his iphone while we Skyped with him this evening. 

Not a bad shot...

Arms Up

I got a few shots of Olivia before her daddy/daughter date night tonight.  Oh my word - is she her father's daughter or what?  I promise you I did not prompt her to throw her arms up in the air the way David always does in pictures!

Maybe she learned it in utero?

Happy Friday from the Central Coast!

Let's Put That Wrench Back in the Toolbox

I really never thought I would be able to say this, but Olivia has turned into a really good sleeper.  {This is me shouting from the rooftops - I AM SO BLESSED!}  Honestly though, I put my hours in for the first year and a half of her life, but she is totally paying me back these days with sleeping until almost 9:00 every morning. {!!!} That being said, every once in a while, something happens that throws a wrench in her sleeping pattern.

We got one of those wrenches last night.  {Full moon, perhaps?} At around 3:30,  I woke up to Olivia crying.  Sometimes she fusses for just a few seconds when she rolls over, but this was different.  My guess is that she had a nightmare.  I rolled over to check the video monitor and in the {short} time it took me to do that, she was already up and out of her crib!  I jumped out of bed as quickly as my round belly would allow me and met her as she was trying to open her bedroom door.

I brought her into the bed with us and gave her some snuggles and hoped that she would quickly fall back asleep.  That didn't happen.  In fact, that never happens.  She was wide awake.  I took her back into her room and rocked her for awhile and put her back into her crib awake around 4:40.  By the time I got back to the room, she had rolled over and was asleep.  She slept until 9 this morning, but was crabby all day.

I put her down for her nap this afternoon and, you guessed it, she was up and out of her crib before I even got to the kitchen.  I put her back in her crib and promised her a special treat if she stayed in her crib the whole time.  After about 10 minutes of laying there, she started sobbing.  I went in and ended up rocking her until she fell asleep.  I put her back down only for her to wake up an hour later.  I had a list of at least 8 things I wanted to get done during her nap time, but once I went back in and saw that she was still so sleepy, I thought, forget about it.  Because, you know what?  She is growing up TOO. DARN. FAST.  I picked her up and cradled her in my arms for another 45 minutes or so.  As uncomfortable as it might have been on my belly, my heart {and hers} were comforted.

These days I have huge waves of overwhelming guilt.  She has no idea how much her world is about to be turned upside down with her new baby sister.  WE have no idea how much OUR world is about to be turned upside down with her new baby sister.  I know she is going to love her so much, but I still feel guilty.  Will I be able to give BOTH of them the love and attention they deserve?  Will she resent me for bringing another baby into our lives?  Will she act out in an attempt to get attention?


So, I am cherishing these little moments that I have with her now.  Because, like I said, she is just growing up too quickly.

Need proof?  She tinkled in the potty today for the first time.  {Well, she's done a few little drops before, but this one was for real!}  She doesn't quite have the concept down of what it feels like before she has to go, but she does understand the concept of getting a lollipop when she's done!

Hooray for my big girl!

Now, please sleep through the night tonight.

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!

Dreams + A Party

Almost every morning when I go into Olivia's room, I ask her what she dreamed about the night before.  Nine times out of ten, she will tell me that she dreamed about {her friend} Tessa.  On Monday morning, the morning after we celebrated Tessa's birthday, Olivia immediately started talking about a doggy getting into a car.  {I hadn't even had a chance to ask her what she dreamed about.}  She told me about the little dog and the mommy dog getting into the car and wanted to know where he was.  She then said that she saw the doggy when her eyes were closed when she was sleeping.

Seriously, how cool is that?!  She doesn't know what it means to "dream" something, but she described exactly what it is to dream - to see something when your eyes are closed and you are sleeping.

And, speaking of Tessa, here are a few pictures from her birthday party on Sunday.

Before Jacob left the party, we tried to get Olivia to give him a kiss.  She was all for it, but Jacob got a little nervous.  I can't imagine why - it's not like she's aggressive or anything!  ;)

I'm not kidding, she said, Jacob, GIVE ME A KISS!  

{And that was round two of the french braids!}

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!