36 weeks, up coming artist, and golfing

I have less than four weeks to go (until my due date). I have officially gotten to the uncomfortable stage and unfortunately have also gotten back to the nauseous stage as well. As long as I remember to take my medicine I seem to be fine though. We are getting really excited to add our new addition. I think for the most part we are ready. I finally got the car seat that I have been waiting for for about 2 months. It was on back order and they kept changing the in stock date on me. I was a little worried that we might not get it on time but luckily it came in sooner than they thought. The only thing that I can think of that needs to get done before Blair comes is to pack stuff for the hospital and figure out for sure what we are going to do with Easton while I am in the hospital. It is a little hard to plan since I have no idea what Nathan’s schedule is going to be (if he will get time off and/or how much time he will get off). If Nathan can get three or so days off then we would only need someone to watch Easton the day I deliver and then Nathan can watch him the rest of the time. But if Nathan can only get the delivery day off then I will need to find someone (or several people) whose willing to watch Easton while I’m in the hospital. If only family were closer then things would seem a lot less stressful. Any family want to come out and help? My mom comes out the 14th of June so I guess if Blair wants to be stubborn like her brother and come late then my mom will be out here to help (that situation doesn’t sound too bad to me right now). Okay, enough about me.

The other day Easton decided that our walls needed some color. As much as I agree with him that white walls are boring, I didn’t agree with the choice of color or the approach he took to add color to the walls. Redish-orange wouldn’t have been my first choice. The funny thing is I didn’t even realize he was coloring on the walls until a couple of hours later. He often times plays with his cars on the walls (which I don’t like and generally tell him to stop and play with them on the floor) but because I was a little busy at the time I thought I would just let it slide just this one time. Of course it had to be crayon the one time I decided to just ignore it. Easton was lucky because he didn’t even get in trouble. I figured since it happened a couple of hours earlier, a consequence would mean nothing to him (he would have no idea why he was in trouble). I cleaned it all up and then realized that I forgot to take a picture of Easton’s talented artwork. I guess from now on I won’t regret taking a picture of something that was annoying to clean up because a couple of hours after that I realized that my picture opportunity had come true. Easton apparently found more than two walls to show off his artistic abilities. I still have no idea where he got this crayon nor do I know what he did with it. However, if I remember correctly I think I recall hearing him open the cabinet with the garbage can in it and throwing something away not too long after this incident. Apparently Easton is extremely smart to get rid of the evidence.

Nathan was watching golf the other day on TV (not sure why because I don’t think I have ever seen him watch golf but it was pretty funny to watch Easton). Easton got really excited anytime someone got the ball in the hole because the audience would clap. He of course had to clap along with everyone else. Along with clapping he now enjoys golfing in our living room. He figured out that he could golf with a toy mallet and a tennis ball. Here is a video of him golfing.

Good to have my baby boy back

Easton and I have been sick the last week with colds but Easton seemed to have it a lot worse than me. He wasn’t sleeping well, eating or drinking well and well to put it as nicely as I possibly can: He was a PAIN to have around. The first day was fine he just wanted to be held all day long which was fine with me since I wasn’t feeling too well myself. It was a nice and relaxing day. Then it went downhill from there. He just cried and whined all day long. He would tell me he was hungry so I would either make something or have him pick something out and then the next second he would tell me no (in his whiny voice), push the food away, and walk away. I can’t tell you how much food we either wasted or I ended up eating (I’m sure I gained unnecessary weight just because I didn’t want to waste the food). Then on Friday Easton started to not sleep through the night. He kept waking up with a fever so we would give him some Tylenol, comfort him a little, and put him back to bed. Then Monday night was horrible. He woke up again with a fever but there was no comforting him and definitely no putting him back to bed. After two hours of trying to calm him down and put him to sleep, Nathan got up twice to help out. The only thing that seemed to calm him down was to read him a story. So Nathan read the same story over and over again. Eventually Nathan gave Easton a blessing and then went back to bed. As long as Easton was distracted and awake he seemed fine so I gave up trying to put him back to bed and just watched a movie with him at 3:00 in the morning. Nathan (not to mention our neighbors) needed some sleep so a movie seemed like our only option. Luckily once the movie was over the Tylenol must have kicked in and Easton must have been extremely tired because he fell asleep almost the second his head hit the pillow. I thought with the rough night that we had that Easton would most certainly sleep in late. No such luck. He woke up crying and whining at 7:45 (yes this is sleeping in for us on most days but not the sleeping in I was hoping for). He did the whole hungry routine again and started to cry and complain. I figured I would call the doctor and see if they had any same day appointments. Luckily for my sanity they did. We only had less than an hour to get ready and be at the doctor’s office. It is about a 20 minute drive so we had to be fast. We were about 5 minutes late but we got in. Of course once we got to the doctor’s office Easton was the happiest I’ve seen him all week. He was full of smiles and excited about all the books, toys, and fish to look at. At this time I was thinking, “Great a wasted trip” but actually it turned out that Easton had two ear infections. Poor Easton. No wonder he was so unpleasant to be around. After some medicine, almost 14 hours of sleep, and some food in his tummy, he is almost back to his normal happy self. What a relief. I’m just glad that he is feeling better.

On another note, Nathan has been doing Plastic Surgery last week and this week. He seems to be enjoying it for the most part, especially when the patients have good reason to get the surgery done. One patient had breast cancer and had to remove at least one of her breasts and wanted to get reconstructive breast surgery. I definitely think that is a good reason to get plastic surgery.

Besides trying to get myself and Easton better, I have also been trying to be creative with making baby headbands. Here’s a sample of the very first one I made. I’m actually impressed with myself. It’s not perfect but it still looks pretty good (if I do say so myself). I don’t have a baby to model them on yet and since I’m definitely not going to use Easton as my model, I had to settle for a teddy bear. I only have a month to go until my due date!

Easton and Blair's Room

Here's a few pictures of what I have been up to this last week.

The monkey hooks have mini chalkboards hanging from them that spell out BLAIR (its kind of hard to see).

A closer look at the monkey hooks (all the frames that have colored paper in them will be replaced once Blair decides to join our family).

Easton's side of the room.

I covered the wooden letters with scrapbook paper but again it is hard to see in the picture. I'm planning on doing Blair's hand and foot prints above her name like I did here with Easton.

Closer look at Easton's bed spread.

Wall hangings that came with bedroom set.

I painted all the green and brown frames and decorated the other frames with the same scrapbook papers I used for Easton's name. I also put the animals on the frames.

Closer look at the frames. The frame in the middle will have a picture of the two of them and the rest will have pics of Blair in them.

Shoe orgainizer behind the door. Easton loves this and won't stop playing with his shoes. He lines them all up next to his door (probably because we line up some of our shoes by the front door). Luckily he can only reach his shoes. The shoe organizer also came with toy hammack and a laundry basket.

Building Museum and Circus

On Wednesday I went with a few friends downtown DC to the building museum (building zone for kids). It wasn’t exactly as I thought it would be, but I think we all still had a really great time. Easton of course enjoyed it (which is all that matters) and started crying when it was time to leave. Easton had fun with puzzles, throwing balls, lining up chairs, building towers and of course destroying them, and playing with all the dump trucks. He was a busy little boy and it was definitely hard for me to keep up to take any descent pictures.

On Friday Nathan took us out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant. They serve almost everything family style so basically everyone has to agree on what you want or you pay a lot and bring home a lot. Luckily, they had fettuccini as a side dish because if anyone knows me I pretty much have to have fettuccini when I go to an Italian restaurant (I know I’m boring). We got that along with a small chicken dish (similar to chicken cordon bleu). It was really good. On the way home from the restaurant I was looking out my window and saw a huge tent that looked as though it could possibly be a circus tent. I was so excited and had to know what it was so I made Nathan drive around to find the tent. We eventually made it over to the fair grounds and it was in fact a circus tent. I have always wanted to go to the circus and I made it pretty clear to Nathan that I really wanted to go. We went home to check on line to see what times the shows were at and of course how much it would cost. During all this exciting research and showing Easton videos of the circus, Nathan fell asleep. I decided we could wait until the next day to purchase tickets.

On Saturday Nathan thought that it would be a good idea to purchase the tickets on line to make sure that we had tickets for the show. What do you know; when we got online to buy the tickets they were all sold out. I was so sad and devastated. I seriously thought I was going to cry. I wanted to go so bad. Luckily Nathan had a great idea to go to the fairgrounds and see if they might still have tickets there. They did which was good news for me but for some reason the tickets were more expensive there than they were on line. Some nice people waiting in line with Nathan actually had some extra $5 off coupons and gave Nathan two of them. Apparently they don’t sell general admission (cheapest) tickets until an hour before the show so Nathan bought the most expensive tickets (VIP). I’m guessing Nathan wanted to make sure that we for sure had tickets so that I wasn’t disappointed again if the show sold out before we got tickets. I know my Handsome loves me! We were in the third row. It was awesome. We had a great time despite the fact that it was really hot and we were all sweating (great picture I’m sure). Easton was having the time of his life. He was super excited and clapping almost the entire time. I swear he didn’t blink the entire time we were there. He loved all the animals and of course had to point to all of them out and tell us exactly what they were. This morning Nathan informed me that Easton was following his elephant (Horton) around the house by the tail and that he was also putting Horton on top of a box and making Nathan pet him. I wish I would have seen it. It is so funny and cute the things kids remember and copy.

The elephants were my favorite.

The bottom lady is hanging from the top lady's hair (ouch and crazy).

Tight rope walkers (7 men pyramid).

Quick Update

Nathan seems to be enjoying surgery minus the long hours. On Friday he had to work 26 hours. He worked his normal hours at Walter Reed but then had to go over to another hospital for the rest of his shift. There he got two knife wounds, a head injury from a bar fight, and a car accident. Nathan helped put staples in the guys head that got into a bar fight. Nathan did get a little break on Friday when he got to go and hear Elder Nelson speak to the medical students and their families.

I had my 32 week doctor’s appointment on Friday. Everything is going well. My doctor said that if I went late like I did with Easton, he wouldn’t let me go longer than a week. So we should have our baby girl sometime on or before June 13th. Right now it feels like it is going by way too fast probably because I’m not completely ready for this little girl to make her appearance. I’m still waiting for the car seat to get here. It has been on back order since I ordered it on March 1st. They say that it should be in stock by this Saturday so hopefully it will get here on time. Saturday I went to women’s conference at our stake center. I was really glad that I went but I felt a little bad because Nathan had to watch Easton with only two hours of sleep that day.

Nathan and I took Easton to the really cool park that I finally found. It was really neat but really busy. I didn’t even bother to take pictures because it was too crazy. I will have to take Easton back when it isn’t a weekend. Hopefully then it won’t be too busy. We also grabbed some ice cream on the way back home. Note to self: don’t tell toddler about ice cream until you get to the ice cream place. Easton was having a melt down in the back seat, whining “I ceam, I ceam, I ceam” over and over again. To make matters worse I swear we hit every red light imaginable. Easton definitely needs to learn some patience. He sure did enjoy his ice cream though. I think it is crazy how kids learn some of the things they do. Today I found Easton drinking from his cereal bowl the left over milk. Where did he learn this? I don’t do it (I admit I did it every once in a while as a kid) and if Nathan does do this, Easton and him hardly if ever eat breakfast together. I honestly can’t remember the last time they had breakfast together. So where did he learn this?

I don't have any pictures or videos from this week but I remembered that I never posted the pictures/videos from our Easter dinner with friends. I like how Easton finds an egg, opens it up, grabs the candy, and leaves the egg behind.

32 weeks, Easter stuff, and other random things

32 weeks down. 8 more to go! Happy Easter everyone! We just got back from having Easter dinner with some friends/ward members. We had a great time.

Easton and I went to our wards playgroup Easter party on Friday. I decided to make and bring Easter egg sugar cookies. I thought it would be fun for Easton to help me make them but this is about as much helping as he did. I guess I do have to give him credit for frosting about half a cookie and putting sprinkles on it but he ended up eating two cookies. He is a sneaky one.

Easton didn’t seem to have as much fun with this Easter egg hunt as he did at Nathan’s school but he did enjoy the candy that came inside. Like I said before, he is a sneaky one. He kept unwrapping the candy and sticking it in his mouth. Before I knew it he had eaten almost all the candy. He did save a little to share with Daddy though. When we got home from the party it was time for Easton’s nap. He was playing in his room for a little bit with the bouncer but eventually things got quiet. I went into his room to check on him and I found him asleep in the bouncer. We might have a harder time giving this toy to Blair then we thought.

When Easton got up from his nap I thought it would be fun for him to go outside and ride his bike since it was a nice day and the sun was actually shinning. We weren’t out there for more than a minute when a bee buzzed right by Easton and he freaked out. He started crying, screaming, and shaking. He eventually ran to me to pick him up. Apparently I can save him from the bees. Easton has been terrified of bees ever since he saw some kids at the park in Florida freak out about the bees there. Before then he would just ignore them or point to them and say “buzz”. It looks like we won’t be going outside much this spring unless Easton can overcome his fear of bees.

Easton woke up this morning (Easter) to a chocolate bunny and an Easter egg hunt in our living room/dining room. He was super excited. He just thought it was the greatest thing when he spotted an Easter egg. I tried to video him but it is hard to see his excited facial expressions.

Yesterday Easton came and sat in my lap holding his favorite teddy bear “baby” and was rocking it back and forth in his arms. I commented to him how nice he was being to his baby and then asked him if he was going to be just as nice to his baby sister. He looked at me and then threw his bear on the floor. I hope he is not planning on doing that to his sister.

Nathan just finished up his first two weeks of surgery (ENT) and will start anesthesiology tomorrow for two weeks. Two weeks of surgery down only ten more to go. So far it hasn’t been too horrible but I’m sure it is just the beginning. General surgery will probably be the hardest. On Friday Nathan went in to the hospital at 5:30am to play dodge ball with his co-workers. I think he had a really good time even though he came home later that day sore all over. His team won every game except one.

I’m so excited. I finally got my cookbook in the mail the other day. It is called the sneaky chef. I’m looking for ways to hide veggies and other good stuff in some of the foods that Easton eats. He eats some veggies (if they are raw) and does pretty good with fruits but I know he doesn’t get nearly as much as he should. Yesterday I did my first experiment with brownies. I know this is going to sound disgusting but they ended up tasting pretty good. Basically you puree the healthy ingredients and put them in the recipe. This recipe called for spinach, blueberries, wheat germ, and wheat flour (we didn’t have any wheat flour so I just stuck with the regular white). This recipe has about ¼ of the amount of sugar I generally put in my regular brownies and about half the butter I generally use. These brownies are much healthier and Easton ate his piece all up. I have to admit that they don’t taste as good as my usual brownies but they do still taste pretty good. I’m excited to see what else I can sneakily make.

Baseball, Cherry Blossoms, and other happenings

Easton loves his daddy. He will follow Nathan around like his little shadow. It is really cute to watch him copy and mimic things that Nathan does. Easton especially loves it when daddy comes home. He will run right up to Nathan with a huge smile on his face and give him the biggest hug ever. Easton of course loves it when he gets to spend time and play with daddy. Here are two videos of Easton and Nathan playing baseball together.

Easton playing catch with Daddy.

Easton hitting the ball after catching it.

I have started to bring out all of Easton’s old baby stuff (swing, bouncer, toys, etc) hoping that he could get used to all the “new” things before Blair get here. I’m crossing my fingers that he will get all the playing out of his system and get bored of all these things before she gets here. So far it has been almost a week and he loves his bouncer chair. He could sit in it for hours rocking and playing with the toys that make music. Who would have thought that he would have more fun with it at this age then he did when he was littler? I guess it is a good thing that he doesn’t weigh very much so I don’t have to worry about him breaking it. He can be a little rough with the swing at times but also very cute. He will bring his stuffed bear “baby” and put it in the swing with his favorite blanket and push him back and forth. I hope he will be just as cute with his sister.

I got called to do jury duty on Monday. Luckily I didn’t get picked because it would have been a four day trial! Easton got to go over to his friends Savannah’s house. I was glad that I didn’t get picked because I would have missed my little Easton. I was only away from him for half a day and already missed him and was so happy to go and pick him up. Unfortunately the feelings weren’t mutual. The second he saw me come through the door he started crying and didn’t want to leave. That makes you feel great as a parent. At least I know he had fun.

Easton in the tulip garden downtown DC. He had to smell all the flowers.

Easton and I went downtown DC with some friends to enjoy the cherry blossoms. The trees weren’t as nice looking as they were when I went two years ago. I think we went too late this year. It is absolutely gorgeous if you time it just right. Apparently it is tradition for me to go and see the cherry blossoms when I’m huge and pregnant.

Some of my new favorite things that Easton says are:

“mmmmm…good!” He says this almost anytime he eats something (especially if he really likes it).

“Ummmm….okay!” This is definitely my favorite. I can’t tell you how nice it is to hear him say this after a few months of mean NOs!

“dane q” as he hands you something. Translation: Thank you. I’m not exactly sure why he says thank you when he gives you something. It’s a little backwards. Maybe he is reminding us to say thank you because we tend to remind him to say thank you when someone gives something to him.