Baby Brother's Nursery

We (especially Daddy) have been working very hard here lately on getting Baby Brother's room all ready for him!  Besides a few accessories and wall decor it is all ready for his October debut!  I love how it is turning out!  Poor little guy is getting the tiniest room in the house, but I don't think he'll mind one bit.....less space for him to have to clean up one day!

BEFORE

This has been one of our guest rooms.  The closet used to have mirrored doors.  Can you say Jefferson Commons apartment!  I've been begging to replace these since the moment we moved in!

WORK IN PROGRESS

A FAMILY AFFAIR

TO BROTHER WITH LOVE

We all wrote him a very special message behind his chair rail.

(Big Sister even put on makeup for the occasion!)

ALL COMING TOGETHER

AND FINALLY

(It might be a little hard to tell, but his colors are sage green and chocolate brown (not black)!)

Baby Brother gets the privilege of using Big Sister's furniture!

Isn't she so sweet to share!

This wall still needs a little love!

I had my heart set on getting a new glider, but the fabric I wanted for the chair I wanted was discontinued.  This was a sign I just needed to keep Leah's glider!

I have something very special planned for the white canvas on the armoire!

I hope Baby Brother enjoys his room as much as we do!

31 Weeks Plus 1 Day

I'm 31 weeks + 1 day today!

Yesterday was busy (and my photographer didn't get home until late)!

NOTE:  The bags under my eyes aren't lying!  It's been a LONG week, and I'm tired!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby:  Baby Brother measures over 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds (like four navel oranges).

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  +16 pounds

Maternity Clothes:  Pants, shorts and capris yes, most tops yes, all dresses no.  My swimsuit situation next week's gonna be interesting!

Gender:  It's a BOY.....Lane Louis Hendricks!

Movement:  He definitely lets me know he's in there!  I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but at times it feels as if my stomach is vibrating.  Freaky!  I don't know if he's pulling on the umbilical chord or what!  It almost feels as if he's having a seizure or something (best way I know how to descibe it).  I know this isn't the case, though, because I googled it and it's not uncommon at all.  I'll bring it up at my appointment on Tuesday just to let her know what's going on.  I don't remember anything like this with Leah at all!

Sleep:  Sleeping great!

What I Miss:  Just wish I could remember what it was like to not have heartburn!

Cravings:  Still pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies!

Symptoms:  Heartburn!  Leah is so used to me having it that she'll ask me all the time "do you have heartburn Mommy?"  Sometimes I'll just get a sour look on my face and she knows!  I keep one bottle of Tums on my nightstand and the other night when Luke had an overnight Leah slept with me.  I told her to take her yellow cozy blankie and put it in my bed and when she came back to the living room she asked me if I had heartburn and told me that she got my medicine all ready for me!  Sweet girl had laid two Tums out for me!  Luke has been gone alot this week (home late) so there have been a couple of times where I've had it so bad and I've had to ask Leah to go and get me four Tums and she does just that!  I love my sweet helper girl!  Don't worry.....she knows not to take one herself!  I have her scared to death of them!  Last week I had seemed to have lost my energy, but I've actually done pretty good this week!  Oh, and my hair is super duper beyond dry this week!

Best Moment This Week:  Finishing up his nursery!  I hope to post pics very very soon!

In Leah news.....yesterday we were able to make a trip to Big Kahuna for frozen yogurt because there were no tears at drop off!  She really, really, really wanted to but she didn't.  She was extra clingy as I was signing her in, but she was tough and didn't shed a tear.  I stood outside in the hall peeking in for a few minutes after I walked out of her classroom and she was such a big girl!  She looked very very sad but she didn't cry!  When I picked her up her teacher confirmed that she didn't shed a tear!  She also said that Leah had something very exciting to tell me.....she flushed the potty TWO TIMES by herself!  This is a big deal because she is usually scared to death of the loud flushing sound of the industrial potties!  I always have to warn her before I flush in public restrooms so that she can be prepared and cover her ears (same goes with opening and closing the garage door).  Way to go Leah!!!!!  :)

She doesn't look the least bit thrilled in this pic, but I can assure you I couldn't keep her still.  She was acting super silly trying to climb all around on the bench.  In fact, I had to threaten that we would leave if she didn't sit still!  She was very excited for her graham cracker frozen yogurt with gummy butterflies and marshmallows!

Leah's sweet friend Maddie is going to start coming over to play on Friday mornings!  Today was day 1 and they had the best time!  We rode bikes to the park, and bless Leah's little heart, she just has her teeny tiny tricycle that she got for her birthday last year and it is entirely too small!  She had trouble even biking her way to the park and back because it's so small!  I had to do lots of pushing and pulling!  She looked a little silly on it!  She tried out Maddie's big girl tricycle and did really good on it so I think she's in store for one very soon!  Maybe she can ask Santa for one!  (I so wish I had a picture, but I was too busy helping her along!)

Leah's friend Braydon joined us at the park and came over for a snack and to play a little bit before lunch!  Guess what the girls roped him into.....

3 Year Well Child Check

This afternoon Leah went for a quick visit to see Dr. Sherman for her three-year-old well child check up.  I think I was most curious to see how much extra weight I've been carrying around!

Height:  3' 1.75" (37 3/4") (65th %)
Weight:  32.2 pounds (65th %)  So much for the 25 pound weight limit!  Ha!

They also checked her blood pressure (she loves to play with her doctor kit so she knew exactly what this was), hearing and vision!  She has perfect 20/20 vision in both eyes (don't know how long this will last since both her Daddy and I started wearing glasses in elementary school) and perfect hearing in both ears (no more excuses for not "hearing" Mommy and Daddy when she is asked to do something over and over and over)!

Dr. Sherman was also very impressed with how well she speaks for her age.  Funny story.....he was asking her different questions and one was "what's your favorite food".  He looked at me and said that this question usually get parents in trouble!  Leah's answer.....as proud as could be she said "broccoli"!  What in the world?  I didn't know she liked broccoli!  This is not something we don't eat very much of unless I make a broccoli salad and I don't even really remember her loving it!  Silly girl!

She was such a big girl, even getting to wear a gown today, and actually seemed to enjoy getting to go to the doctor!  Thank goodness there were no shots today!  We absolutely LOVE Dr. Sherman and are so thankful to have such a wonderful pediatrician!  Fingers crossed that Leah stays healthy and we don't have to go back until time to take Baby Brother in for his two day check up at the end of October! 

Dr. Sherman and I had the dreaded Baby Brother circumcision talk, and I think I've got everything planned out!  I'm not excited about this at all, but we needed to make a  decision to have it done in the hospital before he's discharged (one of the males in my OB group would do it) or have Dr. Sherman do it at 2 weeks as he prefers.  I asked him why he does it at two weeks vs. at birth and he said he likes to give them time to get their feeding down.  It took us a little while to get Leah's feeding down (my milk was late coming in and it wasn't fun for anyone) so this makes complete sense!  So two weeks with Dr. Sherman it is!  Daddy will stay with him while Mommy cries in the waiting room!  All of my Texas peeps will be happy to know that I'm even saying YES to the whole thing!  I've lost the battle in this house!

Snow White had lots of fun "driving to her castle" before time to load up and grab a quick lunch (and play of course) at Chick-fil-A before her appointment!

This afternoon when we finally made it home after running a couple of errands, we had to get Leah's first homework assignment all ready to turn in tomorrow!  (The teacher in me is LOVING the little preschool projects!)  We had to fill a bag with 5-6 things that describe Leah!

Her bag includes:

• a Snow White dress because she loves to play dress up, especially princess dress up
• hot chocolate because she has a cup of hot chocolate EVERY SINGLE MORNING
• Peppa Pig, one of her very favorite shows
• pink Starburst, one of her favorite little treats when we're out shopping
• a movie stub because she LOVES going on movie dates with Mommy
• a cup from Chick-fil-A, one of her favorite places to eat

GREAT Morning at Puppy Preschool

NOTE:  I have absolutely no intention of taking her picture every single morning before school!  When she put her shoes and her backpack on this morning she said, "Okay Mommy, take my picture" so of course I obliged!  Sweet girl is used to her Mommy taking way too many pictures!

This morning Leah did FANTASTIC when I dropped her off at "puppy preschool"!  She more than exceeded my expectations!  All weekend long we talked about being a big girl when Mommy and Daddy take her to preschool, not to cry when we leave and we reminded her that we ALWAYS come back to pick her up!  We promised her frozen yogurt at Big Kahuna if she didn't cry and I was sticking to it!  I made this same deal on Thursday, but we weren't able to go because she did cry at drop off!  She wasn't happy about this, but I know that I have to stick to my guns!  Today was completely different!

I reminded her over and over and over that Mommy would be back to pick her up at 2:00 as we waited in the hall to go into her classroom!  One of her little friends was having a MAJOR melt down in the hall which made me super duper nervous that Leah was going to follow suit but she didn't!  She even noted that her little friend was very sad!  Drop off takes a minute as I have to sign her in and then on Tuesdays I have to write her a special little note that her teacher reads aloud during circle time.  Leah kept asking me if I was going to leave and I kept telling her not yet as I had to complete all of my "Mommy tasks" first. 

She put her backpack and her lunch box away like a big girl and then started playing at one of the many centers that are set up in the mornings.  I sat down and played with her for a  minute and then told her it was time for me to go but that I would be back at 2:00 to pick her up!  She gave me a huge hug and kiss and told me that she loved me.  She had a little bit of a sad look for just a minute but not a single tear and didn't even say that she was sad or try to get me to stay.  I then walked over to the door to leave and she YELLED out "I love you Mommy, have a great day!" and came running over to me to give me another huge hug and kiss.  She then ran right back over to continue playing with the little animals she had been playing with!  My heart just melted!

I am so very proud of her!  Now I don't know what hurts worse.....her crying every single morning or her being a big enough girl that she's okay without me!  It has taken us a long time to get to this step in the drop off process and I couldn't be more proud!  She's already looking forward to going back to "puppy preschool" on Thursday!  I think this is a HUGE sign of how much she loves her new school!  (Just to note.....she has been in daycare 2-3 days per week since she was 3 months old and has basically cried EVERY SINGLE MORNING when we would drop her off.  It was something that we got used to and knew how to handle but of course didn't like at all.  Not the best way to start either of our days!)

Of course, to celebrate we went to Big Kahuna for frozen yogurt when I picked her up!  She reminded me of this end of the deal the moment I walked in to pick her up at 1:45!  Thank goodness Big Kahuna has a punch card so every 10th one is free!  This could get expensive (but I'm totally willing to do it if this is what it takes)!

Leah brought home a very special birthday present from Mrs. Ibarra and Mrs. Charfauros that she got to open tonight!  What sweet teachers she has!

She also received a very special present from her friends Hudson and Luke in Texas!  It's a fairy book all about her.....Leah Hendricks!  Super cute!  Thank you boys!

And just for fun.....she was being extra silly in the bath tonight and made a "gold teeth" just like her Daddy!  (I was baking cookies while trying to give her a bath so the water got a little too high.  Whoops!  She didn't seem to mind one bit though!)