christmasss.

Yes, purchasing Christmas presents every month up until December is going to make Christmas come so fast! That makes me happy, lol. Not that I want to wish away the entire year but you know... Christmas is fun! Can't help it.

So my plan is to buy each child one gift per month and today I found, much to my delight, a little gift for the newb. It's just a long-sleeve onesie that says "little lion cub" on it. I figured it could work for a boy or a girl and it was only $8.00. It will probably be more like a stocking stuffer. But I'm excited! January gifts are complete.

maternity pictures.

I found another photographer who has never done maternity pictures before (like with Heather Garland when I was pregnant with Noah) so I am really excited to work with him! I always love being the first type of session for a photographer so they can put new concepts to work. :) So, I found Will Greene (www.will-greene.com) and we're getting them done February 5! We haven't done a pro shoot with Noah since he was six days old so I'm a little nervous but it should work out fine as long as I bring plenty of snacks for back-up, lol.

and we're back.

So last night Noah fell asleep in my arms pretty quickly after I rocked him. That was just too sweet. I love watching him sleep in my arms. :) So that lifted my cranky mood a little bit, lol.

But it still sucks that Matt is leaving us on SUNDAY, no less! WTF? I'm going to be a single mom again for four days. >:( I hate it.

Well, I've been thinking more about Noah's new bedroom since it's getting close to March. I decided against doing all those tedious squares on the accent wall and am just going to paint that wall one of those colors so it will be solid (some shade of blue or green). Then I think I'm going to add some modern tree decals or something. I also want to get the hutch that goes with dresser we already have. That will free up some floor space of shelving. Then, I found these nifty little bins from Land of Nod

that are stackable and I can use them for toy storage. They will fit nicely in the corner by the doorway. I've also been looking at closet storage systems to install. And lastly, I found these cute little book ledges, also from Land of Nod

that I can hang up at Noah's height so he can still reach his books. There will be just enough space for another crib and still have room to play.

Well, I can hear Noah rustling around in his crib (he was napping) so I better prepare some lunch!

woe is me.

This is going to be me complaining a lot. Because I'm pregnant so I can.

You know what sucks? For one, being behind at work really gripes my ass. That's what I get for leaving for ten days! I wouldn't normally have a problem except for the fact that Noah is sick so I have to continue to let my work pile up while I stay at home taking care of him (and I'm never working long enough to actually accrue a decent amount of paid vacation days).

Matt is leaving me on Sunday to go out of town for work again which really blows. I am not going to be able to handle this when we have two kids. I don't know what I'm going to do. Seriously... sometimes I think it would just be easier to be a stay-at-home mom (I never thought I would say that). Then I wouldn't have to worry about trying to frantically get out of the house on time every morning or missing work a trillion days a year because my kids are sick and my husband's job is way more important than mine.

And my son is screaming his head off in his crib and I can't take it anymore (I'm sitting in his room). So I guess it's time to deal with that.

i'm still here.

Obviously, things have been a little crazy the past couple of weeks but now we are back into our normal routine.

Our trip to Michigan went great! The road trip was fabulous. Breaking it up into a two-day trip was a very smart idea (::pats self on back::). Noah handled it really well. Of course, there were a couple of minor meltdowns (to be expected from a toddler strapped in a carseat for hours on end) but we did our best to keep him entertained and happy. It was great to see family and friends while were were home for the holidays. Vacation is a lot of WORK though so we were ready to come back!

Noah got lots of fun stuff for Christmas. Now, I am realizing I need to find some storage solutions for his mountain of toys that will surely continue to grow over the months and years. It is becoming a serious issue.

So, while it is fabulous spending Christmas Eve and Day amongst family, we've decided that next year (and thereafter), we are going to leave on the 26th and just spend Christmas with the two little ones at home. I think that will be much more Santa-friendly and a little less chaotic for us. Speaking of changes, I also decided that (especially since we'll have two kids to buy for) I am going to buy the kids' Christmas presents throughout the year rather than spending loads in the the months of November and December. SO... I actually ordered Noah's first gift yesterday. :P Here it is...


So it's for 3+ but... that's okay. Two years and three months is close enough. I got a good deal.

I had a checkup yesterday and I passed my 1-hour glucose test with flying colors. Now I just need to test negative for GBS (Group B Strep) and send "non-breech vibes" to the little bebe and all will be just dandy. Oh, and I only gained like two pounds over the holidays. Now that's a shocker.

Two more days!

Then we are heading north. :) I picked up a few things at the grocery store for our trip, such as diapers, wipes and snacks, mostly.

We celebrated Christmas as a family this morning. Noah enjoys his new little armchair! He also loves this O-ball that we got for him:

Then he got some boring things: Shoes, pajamas and socks. He'll get more exciting stuff from Santa on Christmas Day. :P

I got Matt all clothes! Four new dress shirts, two new ties, two tees and a pair of jeans.

Matt got me Your Shape Fitness for Kinect, Avatar on Blu-ray, a sweater, a tee, a scarf, arm warmers, a yoga mat and a yoga block. :) All kinds of good stuff!

As for my glucola test, I am getting that done tomorrow. They actually gave me the drink to bring home on Friday so then I can just take it at work tomorrow morning and get my bloodwork done an hour after that.

25 week checkup.

All is well on the prenatal front. I actually was a little bit too early to take the glucola to test for gestational diabetes so I'm going to go in for that next week. Now, watch me get a call right before Christmas saying I failed and have to go in for the three-hour test. That would suck.

Baby's heart rate was in the 140's and my fundal height measured 28cm. That means that the size of my uterus was measuring a little ahead (on schedule would have been 26cm) but not so much as to worry about anything at this point. I think I'm just a fatty. My midwife said it could just be the way the baby is positioned or it could be indicative of too much amniotic fluid (rare, I think). But, like I said, it's not so much of a concern right now... it probably would be if my fundal height was like 30cm or something.

I can't believe it's going to be Christmas in two weeks, yay! We're being much smarter about our travel plans this year by breaking it up into a two-day trip. We'll stop in Columbus, OH on the way up and Blacksburg, VA on the way home. I'm pretty excited about the road trip, I just hope Noah does okay with it. The last road trip we took was to Charlotte and that's only about four hours but he did pretty good with that one. It will take about 10 hours to get to Columbus and then only another four-ish to get to Grand Rapids the next day.

Sooo speaking of Christmas and traveling, we also decided to lighten our load a little bit (on the way up, at least) and do our own little family Christmas on Sunday the 19th. But all of Noah's presents from Santa are being shipped directly to my grandma's house where he will open them on Christmas morning. :)

Well, I'm out of stuff to write about... how boring am I?