Heiko says:

This evening, Heiko was riding his tricycle on the sidewalk in front of our neighbors' house, and the little girl next door, Maeve, was getting into their car to go somewhere.  Heiko asked her, "You going on a trip?"

It was the first time he has really ever asked somebody a question like that that involved his own inference and curiosity.  So cute.

39....

Friday we hit the 39 week mark, and still no baby!  My belly was visibly bigger this past week; lots of people who see me regularly commented that it was really sticking out.  I feel like he might be dropping a little now.  Jonas thinks it looks lower, and one of our neighbors shouted out the window at me this evening that I've dropped.  =)  I don't feel much different, so we'll see what transpires this week I suppose.

Good news- I finally have a long term sub!  She came to chat with me after school on Friday, I feel so much relief to have that nailed down.  She is finishing a long term subbing position in 2nd grade at another school on Tuesday, so she'll be overlapping with me on Wednesday and Thursday... if I'm still pregnant that is.  This week I cleaned off my desk and set out all of the sub stuff I've created every day before I left; I'm so ready.  I do think I may be jinxing myself by doing this though... maybe I need to leave everything a complete wreck, that'll be the night I go into labor.  ;)

Heiko is very excited about Baby Brother coming, who he has named "Baby Wigget".  Don't try to analyze it to determine Baby's real name, there is no connection.  We asked Heiko what Baby's middle name should be, and he completely made up the name "Wigget".  It was so hilarious I cried.  And now he is super proud of himself and the name has really stuck.  Anyway, he takes his baby doll, which he now calls Baby Wigget, and puts him in all the different baby holders (swing, chair, crib, etc.) and plays the music for him and gives him his blankie.  It is so sweet.  Heiko's blankies are sacred to him, so it is really adorable that he likes giving them to Baby Wigget.  Hopefully he will have the same loving instincts towards the real Baby Wigget.  =)

Baby has a nearly complete room!  We nested this week big time.  Took the bed out of there, built all the furniture, and got it all set up.  Just a couple finishing touches left... waiting for crib sheets in the mail, and trying to find stuff to put on the walls.  But it is mostly an actual nursery now!  We also finished checking everything off our shopping list for baby, we are ready.  As ready as you can be I guess!

Oh wait, there is that minor detail of packing a hospital bag.... which I haven't even started.  Tomorrow?

Here are a couple of 39 week pictures!  Will we make it to 40?  My guess is yes, and beyond....

 

37... 38... tick... tock...

Updates!

At my 38 week appointment a couple of days ago, it was confirmed that Baby Dos is indeed still head down.... soooo.... we officially cancelled the c-section.  It's VBAC time, y'all.  So now it is a waiting game; waiting for my body to go into spontaneous labor.  If I don't go into labor by October 4th (two weeks from yesterday), I will have my membranes stripped.  If that doesn't start my labor, then I get a c-section a few days later because they do not induce for VBACs.  Fingers crossed that my body remembers how to start labor like it did with Heiko!  But not for at least a week preferably, as I still do not have a long term substitute to take over my class while I am gone.  Yikes!  My principal is working really hard to figure something out, but it is proving to be a very difficult task... so send happy thoughts please!

We finally have everything we need for Dos' room, but we aren't sure if we are going to assemble everything now or wait awhile.  But at least we have it.  We have not packed a hospital bag yet, so I think that's the last big thing on the list!  So exciting!  Can't wait to meet this little man!

37 weeks

38 weeks

Heiko so excited to meet his baby brother!

Heiko says:

One of Heiko's teachers at daycare told me yesterday that they were talking about brothers and sisters at one point during their circle/group time, and when asked if he had brothers or sisters, Heiko said he had a baby brother!  =)

During another circle time they were talking about shopping, and when the teachers asked where everybody went shopping, nobody answered except Heiko, who talked about shopping at Target. 

This boy knows all about the important things in life.  =)

2 year stats

We had Heiko's 2 year appointment yesterday, and he was such a trooper, such a big boy... I was a very proud mama.

Heiko is holding steady in the 85th percentile for weight at 31lbs 6oz, and the 93rd percentile for both height (36.5in) and head circumference.  Still a solid little linebacker.  =)

He is right on track developmentally, and advanced in his verbal skills.

Heiko had his 2 year ultrasound to check on the hydronephrosis of his left kidney (dilation of the kidney/fluid in the kidney) which he was diagnosed with in utero when I was 20 weeks pregnant with him.  The level of dilation had gone down as of his 1 year appointment, but unfortunately it has not gone down since then.  So we have a referral to a pediatric urologist that we will go see in the next couple of months.  The doctor thinks it is promising that the level hasn't worsened and that the results of his VCUG exam way back when (6 months maybe?) were negative for reflux, but because it doesn't seem to be on it's way out, she wanted us to see a specialist.  So we are trying to think happy kidney thoughts!  Really, I don't think it's anything to worry about, I think they are just being cautious and crossing their t's and dotting their i's (by the way, it really bothers me to write "t's" and "i's" with apostrophes like that, because an apostrophe+s is supposed to indicate a possessive noun, not plural... but I can't figure out any other way to type out that expression).

A few cell phone pics of our only child (not for long!)-

Our little smarty pants lining up some puzzle pieces in a "train".

Mowing the lawn with daddy.

You have probably heard about the rain and flooding issues here in our general area of the state... luckily we are not near any of the rivers or in a low-lying area, and our basement did not flood.  We did have school released early on Thursday and cancelled altogether on Friday because we had I think around 10 inches of rain in 3 days time, and many roads in our area weren't passable for a couple of days.  We feel very lucky with the devastation that occurred in some of the surrounding areas.  An expert on the news called this a 1,000 year flood, and if this storm had happened in the winter we could have had 15 feet of snow.  So- thanking our lucky stars that all we had to deal with was getting pretty wet going to and from the car for a few days.

 Heiko trying out our new double stroller!  This is one of many configurations of our super fancy stroller that I am beyond excited about, and Heiko had a blast for about 30-45 minutes testing it out with "baby brother" doll... putting baby in and out, trading places with baby, sharing toys with baby.... it was a grand ole time!

Scooter

Heiko got a three-wheeled scooter from Nana and Pop for his birthday, and he has become a little scooting machine!

36 weeks

36 1/2 weeks with little Baby Dos, and I'm feeling it.  In the last week or so my size has really hit me, and just today I am feeling so exhausted I actually had our school nurse take my blood pressure today to make sure I wasn't going to pass out!  It was fine, but boy is my body tired from making this baby. 

Two funny quotes from kids about my pregnant belly- 
1)  We were in Winter Park the weekend before last and a little girl walked by us and asked her mom, "Is she making a baby?"  Yes, yes I am making a baby, right at this very moment! 
2)  A very adorable kiddo in the class next to mine was staring at my belly this morning and said, "There's a human being in there."

So, it turns out, after assuming for the last 36 weeks that Baby Dos would be breech like his brother because of my uterine anomaly, he actually figured things out in there and is head down.  I have no idea what to do about birth now that I actually have choices.  And I have a very short time to figure it out.  There are a lot of options now; the two main scenarios being- wait for natural labor, try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean), or stick with the scheduled c-section.  So there are all kinds of things I am trying to weigh in my head- risks, predictability, control, recovery, experience, fear, etc.  And each day that passes does not bring me any closer to a decision.  Can't someone just tell me what I have to do?

If we stick with the c-section, we have 2.5 weeks left... and we are so far from being ready.  Poor little Dos doesn't really have a room.  He has a dresser, that's it.  Ikea doesn't have cribs anymore bc they are coming out with new models soon, and we can't find a chair.  Technically all he will really need in the beginning are clothes and mother's milk, so I guess we will be fine, but it feels weird to still have so much we haven't nailed down yet.

On the bright side- I am so excited to meet this little man!  I can't wait to see what he looks like and to learn his little personality and spend hours upon hours with him for the next few months.  I might be singing a different tune here in a month or so, but right now I am so ready and so thrilled.

Time to switch to some online shopping now.  Here's the 36 week belly!

Heiko Turns 2!

Our little Schnitzel baby is two years old today!  Hard to believe that it was two years ago when the doctors first handed us our perfect little baby, and harder to believe that we are about to do it all over again! 

In his two years, Heiko has become a smart, crazy, and loving toddler, and he makes us laugh every day.  He can jump and he can run faster than his daddy.  He loves trains, construction vehicles, and tools.  He has an amazing memory, and even remembers who gave him particular pieces of clothing.  He eats everything, but his favorite foods are cranberries and tomatoes.  He loves music, especially his favorite song; I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons.  He recognizes a song within the first couple of seconds, and loves to sing and dance (he got a microphone for his birthday!).  He is very social, and loves being around other kids.  He talks a lot, and amazes us every day with the things he says.  He tests us by pinching, and he thinks time out is hilarious.  He tells us "I love you" unprompted; he even told Jonas the other day, "I love you all night, Daddy."

He is a precious precious gift, and we love him to pieces.  Happy Birthday sweet Heiko!

BALLOOOOOONSSSS!!!!!