So the weather forecast for G's party day has changed, but only for the better! Now they are saying 70 degrees and sunny - wahoo! PLEASE stay that way! PLEASE!

Oh, and it is crazy warm here today. It was supposed to be 80, but now it is already 80 and they are saying 85 for a high!

Weekend So this has been a BUSY weekend! We have just been going like crazy - I am doing party stuff, Eric is getting the yard all in order (new mulch, planting a few things, etc) since the party will be outside, and we have still been trying to fit in some fun for Grady of course.

Yesterday Eric took Grady to the free workshop they do for kids at Lowes. He was the littlest one there apparently (by far) but he just loves working with tools and everything, so he had a great time. He even came home with a Lowes work apron and goggles - too cute! They get a patch every time they make a project too. Yesterday they made a wooden garage for matchbox cars. I totally flaked out about the birthday party - it is today, not yesterday. So we did end up going over to World Market instead anf getting the new kitchen set. Eric has to go back in his truck today and pick it up.

Today is very nice again. It is supposed to be about 80. The only problem is I have my air conditioning off but every afternoon the house gets so hot. I just feel like once it is November the air needs to be off. The boys are out doing some stuff now while I am working on party stuff. When they get back we'll have lunch and probably all work in the yard a bit.

Baby #2 So I am just feeling so great now - I'm taking a probiotic (totally safe - checked it with the OB) and it is helping with the gassiness and indigestion. Then my nausea is completely gone. I also have so much energy again, and it could not have come at a better time, considering all we have coming up with out of town guests, a party for 60 people, and a trip to Tennessee. Not to mention Christmas (with lots more guests staying), planning two more trips for the late winter/early spring, redoing our guest room/office, doing a nursery, and just generally getting ready for baby #2 - so crazy!

So I have to post my latest belly shot - here I am yesterday (11w2d). Almost to the end of the first trimester! I have gained 2 pounds as of now, and actually weigh a little LESS than I did at this point last time. But look at the comparison - so crazy!

Here I am yesterday




and at 13 weeks with Grady (so 2 weeks FARTHER along!)



I'm huge. But oh well - at least people can tell I am PG. I'm still not in maternity somehow. I'm surprised that even my early maternity jeans are falling off. But only about 3 pairs of my regular jeans look good. They are low-rise so they just hit below my belly. I am also up about one cup size in the chest, which is always nice. Unfortunately, I know they won't stay that way ;)

We just got back from World Market where we purchased this dining set:



For some reason we can't figure out it was even cheaper than we expected - all 6 pieces for $575 including tax! We can pick it up tomorrow since it was actually in stock. So we'll have it in time for all of our company coming on Friday! I'll take pictures of the kitchen once it is set up. I think it will look great with the new wall color too!

So the weather has been so amazing this whole fall. We have still been in the 70's most days with lots of sunshine (except when that hurricane rolled through a few days ago!). Anyway, average high temp this time of year is 65, so we have been a bit above average. I am SO happy to see that the prediction for Grady's party day is 64 and sunny! Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me that the forecast does not change! That would be perfect, especially since the party will be at the warmest time of day. Last year was only 50!!! WTH - 15 degrees below average!? We deserve some nice weather this year. It was OK last year, but I would really appreciate the warmth!

We have a birthday party to go to this evening for our neighbor who is turning one. I had to wrap the gift a few days ago so Grady would stop trying to play with it. It's a Little People airport. Seriously, my child is obsessed with any make-believe playset and especially LP! It's crazy. I think he'll still be playing with LP when he's 10.

I have been getting tons done for the party this weekend too - doing the centerpieces today. The adult tables (there are 4 banquet tables) will have bucket centerpieces (covered in blue star scrapbook paper) with fun stuff like train lolipops coming out of them. Then each table (including the 3 smaller kids tables) will have a wooden train engine anchoring a group of balloons. The wooden trains were $1 a piece at Target. I found these cute latex balloons that are blue with white trains all over them. Those will surround a red star mylar balloon. Our colors are red, white, and blue and I am also using stars in the decor, so it should be cute. Then on the screen porch there will be the blue train balloons and plain red balloons just floating up to the ceiling with the colorful strings hanging down. I loved how that looked last year. That's where all the food will be, so I want it to look really cute.

Well that's about it right now. I also really need to work on plans for our trip to TN. We leave in about 10 days. We need to figure out what we are doing and where we want to eat!

Today was parent-teacher conference day at Grady's school, and I just have to say how proud I am of my little student!  The teacher had nothing but good things to say about him.  She started by laughing and saying "well I guess Grady has certainly adjusted to school well!"  Then she added how he shares great, never grabs things from other kids, takes turns well, listens to all the rules, and is very polite.  She commented on how funny it is that Grady will always say "excuse me" if he is interrupting or asking a question.  And apparently he always uses "please" and "thank you" at school.  Finally, she mentioned that he has a great attention span and will sit in circle time for as long as she is talking.  I am just so pleased with how well Grady has taken to school and hope that this indicates that he will have many happy school years ahead of him!

Things are going well around here. I am pretty sure we are getting the new kitchen table, BTW. Thanks for all of the input!

baby #2: Well I am feeling tons better! I am 10.5 weeks today, and starting at 10 weeks exactly I really just stopped feeling nauseous. I have also had more energy. I do think that I am past the peak, so it is very likely that I will continue to feel this good. Let's hope so because I feel like a new person! I am starting to look at nursery stuff and make a list of what we will need for this baby. We will be finding out the gender at the very beginning of the new year, so I would like to really be able to start on everything right after that. We have a lot to do since we are redoing the office/guest room AND doing the nursery. We will also be travelling a lot, so we need to start early.

Grady's Birthday: Things are coming along very well. This weekend I finished finding fun kid's train songs and burning them onto CDs for every child to take home as a favor. I also made custom inserts for the CD cases. They came out cute. In addition to that, each child will get a wooden train whistle and an engineer hat. I already have all of that, so that's done. This week my focus is doing the table linens. I am renting plain white tablecloths for the tables, but I am making runners out of this red and white striped fabric. It's actually seersucker, so it looks a little more vintagey.

As far as G's gifts, we ordered the things we are getting for him. Here it is - I think he is going to love it!

play store:



and register - I love this because it comes with stickers that have barcodes. You can put them on your play food so that it will scan. There is also a microphone for "price checks".



I also got him a box of wooden play vegetables from Melissa and Doug. He has some other food, but that will be a good addition for his store.

My mom got him a bike. She's crazy so she had to get some fancy one from a bike shop. She just didn't feel like the regular ones that every single other kid has was good enough quality. She is seriously just obsessed with reading reviews and all that. I'm just like "whatever you decide". Then he is getting a doctor kit from my grandpa and his wife who are flying in for the party. And my ILs got him this:



It's the Little People Zoo.  He LOVES LP, and he loves animals, so this should be great.  It is geared a little older than the other LP stuff because it is all about learning the alphabet and stuff.  While he can name all the letters, he could certainly use the practice hearing the sounds and seeing the letters.  I think he will love it.

Weekend It was great - super nice weather (almost 80 and sunny) all weekend.  We went hiking at this lake near us, went out to dinner at Mimi's Cafe (where Grady's "girlfriend" works), and participated in our neighborhood chili cookoff.  Eric's chili didn't win, but I think he was robbed ;)  But seriously, the one that won was NOT good.  The guy was just going around telling everyone to vote for him.  Whatever - Eric was just happy that the chili came out so well and got so many compliments because he will be making it for the birthday party as the main dish.

Oh, in other good news, I was finally able to get my flu shot today!  Many doctors are out right now, but CVS saved me.  Our local CVS will also be getting the H1N1 next week, so both G and I can get it there.  Thank goodness!  PG women are #1 on the list of who should get the H1N1 shot, so I am so relieved it will be coming in so soon.

So we just finished painting the kitchen (well Eric did). I love the color and need to post pictures. But anyway, it is really making us want to get a new kitchen table. We have been wanting one for a while, and the one we have is starting to get beat up. It is about 5 years old and sees tons of use. Also, it really does not go with this house. So we keep looking at the ones at World Market. Now that place just seems too good to be true. The prices are so good. The set we like is supposed to be about $1300, is on sale for about $800, and I have a 25% off coupon (even on sale stuff). So we could get the entire set for about $600! It is solid wood, seats more than our current table, matches our house and kitchen so well, and the reviews are ALL good (70 reviews - every one gave it 5 stars). We have to assemble it, but that's no big deal for Eric. Should we just get it?!

Here it is:



We would get 4 chairs and a bench.  The bench could be great when the kids are a bit older.  It can seat up to 4 people too, so really this set can accommodate 8 people if we need the space when we have guests.

Here is the best ultrasound picture I got. You know how these things are - always looks clearer on the screen than the pictures come out. Oh, and baby is upside down. That's the head at the bottom :) See the little arms and legs too?

So my first OB appointment went really well today!  Eric came too, which was nice.  Grady was at school, so I was able to just relax and enjoy everything.  I had the bloodwork and exam stuff, but I also had the first ultrasound, which was just amazing, of course!  It was about 2 weeks later than it was with Grady, so it was amazing to see the difference.  I could really see the arms and legs and everything.  And baby was wiggling around, which was cute.  I was measuring ahead (even ahead of what I had, which took into account my short cycles) so they changed my due date to June 3rd.  I'm glad they changed it.  With G I was measuring exactly 6 days ahead, and for some reason they did not change it.  Well guess what? He was 6 days early :)  We heard the heartbeat, which was 169 beats/minute.  That was the most incredible part, for some reason.  This just makes me really excited.  Finally it is real!  Oh, and I am 10 weeks today (with the new EDD) so hopefully the nausea will let up soon.  The doctor did say it was common that you have worse nausea with #2 than #1, so I guess that's it.  I got some pictures, so I'll scan and post the best one later.

OK, so we REALLY need to get this trip planned.  I am excited to book it, but I just need to decide who is coming!  So here are our three options, please let me know what you all think as far as what would be the most fun...

1. Just me and Eric - Grady would stay back home with my mom and we could have just couple time the whole vacation

2. Me, Eric, and Grady - we would get to bring G on a fun trip before baby #2 comes.  Grady is capable of doing so many fun things (rain forest, eating out at nice places) that will be harder when we first travel with #2 that I would like to treat him too

3. Me, Eric, Grady, and my mom - she offered to come as basically a built-in babysitter.  She is so very helpful with Grady and just does things before being asked.  She would take him so we could have dinners out and things, but then we could all go on some excursions together.  She also has a great friend in PR and knows a lot about the island.  We would probably get adjoining rooms or a large suite so it would be easy to come and go when G is asleep.

So what would be the best?  Input?  Keep in mind that Grady is a great traveller and basically sleeps very well while on vacation.  He is not scared of new things and just LOVES new experiences.  That's part of why I want to take him.  But be honest about what you think.

So hokiegirlie just posted something about David Yurman and reminded me that since I got a piece of DY jewelry when G was born (his birthstone), I am really wanting a piece when this baby is born too. I went to look a little, and found this ring that is just gorgeous. Pearl is the June birthstone, so it will probably be that. But if they are early like G it will be an emerald (which I don't like as much).

It wouldn't let me copy a bigger picture, but isn't this pretty? It's not really all that $$ either.



Love it!  Of course I have a while to go...

We had a really nice Halloween this year, though we didn't go over the top with the activities. There are so many fun parties and festivals in the evenings around here, but they are all too late for G. He really needs to be in bed by 7ish. Even the little kid stuff often doesn't even start until 6. But we did do the school party, the neighborhood party/parade, carved pumpkins, and went trick-or-treating. We were lucky because yesterday morning it was pounring rain. It stopped for the party in the morning, poured some more, and then was actually nice for TOTing. Although it was pretty warm and steamy. G may have been hot in his puffy costume! I was also very happy because we let Grady stay up until 8 last night, which is a HUGE deal around here. Well he actually slept in until 8 (7 new time), so it all worked out. Now he is just on the new time schedule. I was afraid he would get up even earlier as he sometimes does when he goes to bed late.

Oh, and I have to mention how cute he was while TOTing. After a few houses he said (to everyone around him) "this is SO MUCH FUN!" He was also telling people at all the houses to "have a nice day" and "Happy Halloween"

( Halloween Pictures )

Grady had his "Pumpkin Party" at school yesterday, and I went.  They couldn't wear costumes because his school is church affiliated, but they had all sorts of fall fun.  They even got to scoop seeds out of a real pumpkin and make art with them.  That was in the morning before the party, so I wasn't there.  But they told me that Grady was more excited about it than any other kid, and he carried around the pumpkin, declaring that it was his.  It was crazy because most of the kids gave out goodie bags just filled with stuff.  I wasn't expecting that and didn't have any to give out.  It was crazy though - Grady got a ton of little toys and treats.  He loved opening all the bags when we got home.  I'll definitely be prepared next year!

This morning Grady got to officially wear his pumpkin costume for the first time at Kindermusik.  He loved it, though it was quite distracting!  When he gets up from his non-nap we are going to make pumpkin pie playdough - it smells like pumpkin pie because you scent it with spices.  It should be cool.

Tomorrow morning we have the neighborhood costume parade and party.  Then we will carve pumpkins.  I like doing them right on Halloween.  In the evening we will, of course be TOTing.  I love TOTing in our neighborhood because police park at the entrance to our development.  No one can drive in at all during the hours of 6 and 8PM.  They have to park, which keeps out the random people just coming through in cars to get candy.  It also keeps it a lot safer on the roads.  Eric and I will probably watch a scary movie tomorrow night for fun.  Now I just need to figure out a fun Halloween dinner to make that Grady will actually eat and enjoy!  Any ideas!?  I want something theme-y.

Well I will be 9 weeks this weekend, and I am feeling better than I was. I blame most of how I was feeling on this cold/cough/bronchitis I had. I have been feeling pretty good since that has been going away. I am also so impatiently awaiting my first ultrasound next week! I can't wait to see the little bean :)

( nursery ideas under here... )

Yesterday Grady and I had a really fun morning with our best friends at the zoo. We hadn't been in quite a while and since we are members, we were able to bring our friends for free too. The boys had so much fun together, and everyone behaved. It was also nice that Grady was worn out and went right to sleep for a nap that afternoon.

Some pictures...

( Read more... )

Though I am STILL sick (I am not even sure I have mentioned it here, but I have had a cough for about 10 days - doctor thought it was bronchitis but the antibiotics aren't working) we had a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful, Grady was a peach and slept great (even taking great naps, which isn't too common anymore), and we had lots of fun activities planned. Also, Eric made dinner (exactly what I requested) every night, which is always appreciated :)

Saturday morning we went to "Day of Grace" which was a fall festival at his school (his school is at Grace Covenant Church). Grady was in the BEST mood and had so many fans. He got so many comments about "does he ever stop smiling?" to which my response is "pretty much no". Anyway, he got to sit in a firetruck (always fun), bounce on some inflatables, get his face painted (for the first time!), play BINGO, and watch a puppet show. That afternoon, after a nice family nap, Eric took Grady to his work to play on the trucks (Grady's favorite activity). This morning we went shopping a bit - just Home Depot and World Market. Then we ate at Atlanta Bread Company for lunch because Grady reuqested that we "eat at a restaurant for lunch". He's funny - he loves to dine out :) This afternoon, after another family nap, we went to Grady's friend's birthday party. She had an awesome bounce house (it had slides and basketball hoops and everything) which he loved. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera to the party, but I have some other fun weekend pictures to share...

 

( pictures! )

 

Check out Grady singing and playing the piano at the Children's Museum. First he does a little ABCs, then he switches to "Elmo's Song".



My little ham and cheese sandwich, as I sometimes call him :)  He now puts on "concerts" and will say "thank you for coming" at the beginning.  It's so funny.