Christmas!

So this year's Christmas was especially cool for us. Ari was very excited for Santa to come this year so that we could open all the presents under the Christmas tree. Cara and I were just as excited to see him so excited. It was all I could do to keep the two of them from opening presents a couple of weeks before Christmas. Although I did give Cara her big Christmas present early so that she could use it. I got her a six month membership to Massage Envy so she could get some prenatal massages. So far I haven't heard any complaints. We decided to open all of our presents Christmas Eve morning because we go to Nana Mary's house Christmas morning with all the cousins. Plus it's not like Ari knows what day it is so two days of presents is better than one! We also spent Christmas Eve evening at the Laird extended family Christmas. Ari was the life of the party being that he was the last munchkin there as all the others went to other family gatherings. Then we spent this morning with Nana Alexis as she brought over her presents for us. All in all the weekend went pretty smoothly sans one nap for Ari which led to a not so smooth evening. But enough talking lets get to the good stuff.

Santa was listening this year. This has been the big hit of the Christmas presents! He hasn't wanted to leave it's side! I'm not sure about this Santa guy stealing the thunder of the best present.

Opening one of his presents from Uncle Jon and Aunt Laura. He loved the car transporter!

Rocket ship from Mom and Dad!

The Kitchen with additional appliances and pots and pans courtesy of Santa, Aunt Metri and Aunt Jamie!

The closest contender so far to the kitchen, Nana Alexis hooked him up with Legos galore!

We neglected to take our camera to Christmas morning with all of his cousins. We knew we were forgetting something. My sister Renee had her camera rolling so I know she'll send us some pictures to post. We'll see how long it takes her to read the blog and know that we need some.

Baby Boy #2 Update

I am a little over 30 weeks now and we had a prenatal appointment today. All is good and healthy with mama and baby! He is head down (he was at the last appointment too, so hopefully he just stays put). His heart rate was good. I am measuring a bit ahead belly wise at 32cm, but my midwife isn't concerned. I didn't do the traditional one hour glucose test but she did draw blood at the last appointment for a couple of tests and included a glucose screen, and all of my blood work is normal - normal sugar levels, iron levels, etc.

At 30 weeks in my first pregnancy, I had been swollen for weeks and my blood pressure started reading high and I was put on home bed rest. No swelling this time around, and my b/p today was 120/58. :) I have gained a lot more weight this pregnancy - about 30lbs so far - I only gained about 23-24 total with Ari (by 36 weeks when he was born). Again since I'm all around healthy in every other respect, it's not a concern (well, not a medical concern, but I hate the scale anyway :P). I attribute it to the fact that I actually have an appetite this time and have also been striving for the protein recommendation my midwife gave me of 70g a day - that's quite a bit of food.

We got some more info about preparing for the home birth and will get even more details in another month or so when she does a home visit. I hired a doula last week - she happens to be a ND (naturopath) who did homebirths in Tucson for 20 years. She doesn't deliver babies anymore but she does work as a doula in addition to working part time at a naturopathic clinic in town. What's cool is that unlike a typical doula, she can do cervical checks and listen to the baby's heart rate. She will be able to tell us when I am in active labor and making progress so that my midwife doesn't make an unnecessary trip for a false alarm. ;) So I will be trying to schedule a time next month when both the midwife and doula can visit on the same day so they can meet each other.

Anyway, we are excited and happy to that everything is still going swimmingly with the pregnancy. I know the next 10 weeks are going to fly by!

Rocket ships!

I have decided to redecorate Ari's room in a rocket ship theme (also keeping in mind it will be shared with his baby brother eventually). He likes rocket ships thanks to Curious George and Little Einsteins, and I think it's just a cute theme. I haven't bought much yet but I have found a good list of potential stuff in the right colors - blue, yellow, and orange, we're keeping the same paint colors we already have in there.

Awhile ago, a mama friend of mine in IL offered to make baby boy a quilt if I sent her fabric that I like. Couldn't refuse that offer! She sent it to me this week and it is *adorable*. The patterned fabric has rocket ships, planets, and robots, and she stitched a big rocket ship across the middle of the quilt and stars all around the edges. So cute and all the more special to have something for the baby handmade by a friend.

Then at our recent trip to the mall to see Santa, Ari wanted to go "in a store." So we walked into Ross and lo and behold, found him a rocket ship comforter/sham set! It was only $18 after tax, I was so thrilled. Target has a rocket ship theme bedroom set but it is much pricier. Ari still doesn't sleep with a blanket over him, but I figure he will eventually and last night he was thrilled to sleep on top of the comforter, haha. And it does the job to fill in the gaps between his mattress and his bed frame which were previously stuffed with random blankets. This is a phone pic but you get the idea... this rocket ship room is coming together!:

Santa!

We decided to take Ari to the mall this year to see Santa for the first time. We have been reading The Night Before Christmas, The Polar Express, etc. and he was very excited to see Santa. We even printed his Christmas list which included photos of what he wanted so he could have a reminder of what to tell Santa.

We went on a Thursday afternoon, because we are smart like that. No line at all. But once we got there, he had zero interest in talking to Santa. I think partly he got shy, but partly it was because Santa was hanging out next to the mall play area so Ari wanted to play. We let him play for a bit then I talked him into seeing Santa if mom would walk up there with him. So I sat right next to them and he did fabulously. He said hi, told Santa everything on his list, and even sat for a photo with him although we weren't quick enough to catch his smile. (We didn't pay the $10 for them to take the photo since they let us take two for free. Especially because you pay beforehand, and I didn't even know if he would sit with Santa or throw a fit or what!) He was very excited after it was all over and very proud of himself. :)

Afterward with his free reindeer hat: