8 down 1 to go!

The end of pregnancy #3 is just around the corner.  I have a repeat c-section scheduled for June 11...just 4 weeks from today!  I had planned on doing some pregnancy update posts but due to laziness and not much to report I haven't done any.

Luckily I have been feeling pretty good.  I get the random ache and pain due to my growing size and by the end of the day my feet and ankles are generally a little swollen, but not too much to complain about.

We are slowly but surely getting ready for his arrival.  Henry has moved to a big boy bed and that is going ok.  Some nights are pretty rough because he just wants to climb out but he tends to stay in all night. The nursery is in complete disarray but I think it will come together pretty quickly.  We just need to get the bed that is currently in the room out of there and then we can finish up. 

How far along:  35 1/2 weeks

Size of baby:  Not sure of the fruit size, but he was 4 1/2 lbs at my u/s a few weeks ago.  Probably close to 6lbs now and ~17.5".
Weight gain:  Steady!  Feels like I gained pretty fast in the beginning but things have slowed down.  I think I will end up gaining just about as much as I did with the last 2...that is if I can keep the last few weeks in check!

Maternity clothes:  yes, definitely.  Even some of the maternity things are getting small.
Gender:  another boy

Movement:  He is a mover and a shaker.  I will often get huge whole belly movements.  Some movements are painful and almost stop me in my tracks. 

Sleep:  Doing pretty well.  I usually get up 1 time a night to go to the bathroom but other than that I sleep through the night.

What I miss:  I kind of miss going to the gym during lunch.  It gave me something to do.  I miss being able to bend over and other easy tasks.
Cravings:  nothing specific.  Spicy and sweet call my name though! 

Symptoms:  nothing right now really...possibly just hunger, I feel it is pretty constant.

Best moment of the week:  Just feeling him move around and knowing that the finish line is in site!

Here is a picture from the u/s I had a few weeks ago.  It is his face but you kind of have to turn your head to really see it.



Nolan turns 4!

Nolan turned four this past week!  The Sunday before his birthday we had a pirate birthday party for him.  He wanted a bouncy house again so we rented one and had an outdoor party where kids could play in the bounce house or on the new swing set.   I think we had about 18 kids ranging from 2 up until 9 in our backyard.  It was a little crazy and packed back there but I think he had fun.  He got some fun gifts and news got out quickly about his new found love of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so he now owns a figurine of each character plus a sword and turtle phone.

Pinata time

Trying to blow out the candle

Silly family picture

 On his actual birthday I sent him to school with a cookie cake and some goodie bags for his friends.  He had swim lessons that night so we just had pizza for dinner (his request) and let him have a candle on a cupcake.  I promise I didn’t buy a trick candle but he had a heck of a time blowing it out at both his party and on his actual birthday.

Two days after his birthday we went to the doctor for his 4-year checkup.  He did great and the doctor said he looks like he is growing well and doing well.  She did talk to him about eating fruits and vegetables so that he can grow big and tall though.  Overall she didn’t seem too concerned about the fact that he refuses to eat anything with color to it but did say to just keep trying.  They also performed a vision test.  She said at 4 they often can’t quite do the test yet but he did just fine.  I was told that his vision was 20/30 in both eyes.  He was quite chatty with both the doctor and the nurses so I do not think that there were any concerns over his verbal skills!  He had to get 3 shots but was pretty brave during those.  Dr. CS said that other than flu shots he won’t need any additional shots until age 11!

At this age they no longer give what percentiles they are in for height and weight.  I found a site on-line though that gave me a percentage.

Weight:  33lbs (23%)

Height:  3’ 3-1/2” (30%)  

He is skinny, but Dr. CS said that isn’t a bad thing! 

He just finished up his 2-week intensive swim lessons.  He wasn’t promoted to the next class because he still lacked 2 of the 10 skills you need, but he did do well.  We will now do once a week for the next 6-weeks and then I think he will be fine for us to just work with him this summer. 

Last year around his 3^rd birthday I asked him 20-questions that I will make a scrapbook out of.  I asked the same questions this year.  Below are his responses:

1. What is your favorite color? Orange

2. What is your favorite toy? His 4 new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

3. What is your favorite fruit? Doesn’t like fruit (orange fruit snack)

4. What is your favorite tv show? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac & Cheese or pizza

6. What is your favorite outfit? Nice clothes for church

7. What is your favorite game? Cars

8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish, Nilla Wafers, Rocket Ship crackers, PB Ritz Bits, Cheeze Its

9. What is your favorite animal? Elephant

10. What is your favorite song? Foo Fighters

11. What is your favorite book? Fire Truck

12. Who is your best friend? Joseph

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios no milk

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play basketball, jump, and fort

15. What is your favorite drink? Ice water

16. What is your favorite holiday? A candy one

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? all toys that sleep in bed (Baa Baa, Gumbo, Gerald, Piggy, Buzz, Woody, Spiderman, and Brobee)

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Waffles

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a daddy  

Weekend Road Trips

Easter weekend we took the boys on a trip to San Antonio.  The main purpose of the trip was to go to Sea World but we also stopped to see the Alamo and go on a river boat cruise.  After the boat cruise we went to dinner at Mi Tierra.  Every time I have been here there has seemed to be a long wait but we lucked out and got seated right away.  Henry had been running a little bit of a fever before we left and I don’t think he was feeling well again so he fell asleep at the dinner table.  After dinner we headed to the hotel.  Checked Henry’s temperature and it was 102°.  Gave him some medicine and a bath and he was back to normal.  In fact Nolan and Henry ran around like crazy for a while after that.  Soon the room started to get really hot.  We called the front desk and they sent someone to look at it.  He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it and said he would have to send someone else.  We waited for a little bit but it was getting late (and hot!) so we called the front desk again and they said they could move us to the room next door.  It was 10:00 before we got the boys in bed!



On the River Boat



At the Alamo



Crazy in the room



The next morning we headed off to Sea World.  We were signed up for a Sesame Street character breakfast.  One of the reasons we decided to do Sea World again was due to the fact that Nolan had gone crazy over meeting them two years before.  Henry is a fan of Elmo and Cookie Monster so we thought he might enjoy doing the breakfast.  Henry was excited when they first walked in but this quickly turned to fear as they started making the rounds.  He was crying and trying to hide under the table.  Poor baby!  Nolan posed with all of the characters.  The breakfast was a little disappointing though.  They didn’t seem prepared for the group.  A lot of food wasn’t ready yet etc. 

 

Sea World!

 

See Henry hiding?!?!

  

After breakfast we headed out to the park.  Nolan rode a Shamu roller coaster several times at “Bay of Play” which is a huge play area for younger kids that is new since last time.  We also saw three shows:  a sea lion one, Azul (a little like a Cirque show), and the Shamu show.  We also stopped at all the other animal exhibits.  The boys had a good time.

After we left the park, in an attempt to see if the boys would nap, we drove to the shops at La Cantera.  They did not nap (actually Nolan fell asleep briefly) but we found a little play scape that they enjoyed playing on.  We capped off the day with dinner at Cracker Barrel!  The next morning everyone was up early so we decided to hit the road and stop at the outlets in San Marcos.  We all stopped at the brand new, huge Buccees where Nolan got a baseball cap and Henry picked out some Buccees Nuggees. They were kind of like a cheese puff but on the spicy side.  He loved them though and didn't want to share! We weren’t able to shop for long because we needed to make it back to town in time for Nolan’s best buds birthday party. 

The next weekend we drove out to Chappell Hill in hopes of finding some good bluebonnet fields.  We saw very few on the drive so I wasn’t sure what we would find.  Eventually we found the same place we went to last year.  I guess a lot of people had the same idea because the field was packed!  The boys looked cute and the field was plentiful but unfortunately they weren’t interested in taking pictures together.  I guess it was too sunny so Nolan wouldn’t open his eyes and kept covering his eyes with his arm.  We got some cute individual shots though.  Nolan even practiced taking a few pictures and he did well.  Maybe he is a budding photographer!  I can't imagine what it will be like next year trying to get three little boys to smile!  After the pictures we went to the place that claims to have the best kolaches to pick one up.  Kevin really wanted a sausage one but they were sold out.  I happily ate my cream cheese one though.  The boys shared a very large cinnamon roll. 



Family picture!



Baby #3 at 30 weeks!



2-year stats

Henry had his 2-year check up last week.  It was his first time to stand on the scale and be measured standing up.  He did pretty well during the check up but got tired of waiting on the doctor and kept leaving the room.  Whose idea was it to put handles on the doors that are easy for 2-year olds to operate?!?! 

He seems to be doing well.  His speech is really starting to pick up.  His favorite sayings are "where (mommy/daddy/NoNo) go?" or "(mommy/daddy/NoNo) where are you?"  When it is dinner time he starts saying "eat eat yumm yumm".  Nap time and bed time has been a bit of a challenge over the past few weeks.  Dr. CS did say that we really need to try to get him to nap because he is too young to drop that.  I think he sleeps at school but just doesn't want to miss anything when he is at home.  He has been waking up during the night but luckily you just have to go in there, give him a hug, say everyone is still sleeping and that he needs to sleep more and he says ok and lays down. 

Below are Nolan and Henry's 2-year stats. They are pretty close!  They are the same height, but Henry's percentage was quite a bit lower.  Not sure which is correct.  I think Nolan's probably is though because they have always been in the ~50% range.

Nolan @2:
Weight:  27lbs (50%)
Height:  33 3/4" (45%)
Head 49.5cm (80%)

Henry @2:
Weight:  27.5lbs (58%)
Height:  33.75" (24% see note above)
Head: 50cm (90%)

Coming soon...Nolan's 4-year check up!

Mixed Bag

March has already been a busy month.  The month started off with me taking Nolan to a tour of the local fire station with the moms club I am part of.  He had a great time.  He got to climb on the truck and see all of the equipment that they use.

Kevin and I both took off work last week in the middle of the week to go to the livestock show and carnival at the rodeo with the boys.  We thought mid-week might be a nice quiet time to go and they have "Wacky Wednesday's" where admission and rides are discounted.  I never thought there would be so many school groups there though!  It made the livestock show a little crazy to get through.  We moved outside to the carnival for a while and these crowds were pretty light.  Nolan was excited to go on some rides.  He rode a flying elephant ride with Kevin and then did a motorcycle ride by himself.  We took a lunch break and then went back into the livestock show for a while and the crowds had died down quite a bit.  Henry loved looking at the rabbits and baby chickens.  He is our animal lover.  Nolan started begging to do more rides so we headed back out for a little while before heading home.  Nolan went down a big slide two times with Kevin and then finished with one last ride by himself.  He has no fear when it comes to these rides. He also got a new cowboy hat that is like Woody's.

Two days later Henry turned 2!  We went to dinner at La Ha in celebration.  That night he threw up all of his dinner but we think it was just due to eating so much junk that day.  Luckily that was all and it didn't ruin his party the next day.  The next morning we had a family get together for his birthday.  He was in a great mood and was running wild giving everyone hugs etc.  He wasn't super interested in opening his gifts but he did get some fun new things. 

That afternoon the boys new play set arrived!  We decided to bite the bullet and buy a play set.  Hopefully it will get many years of use.  Nolan is at an age where he can play on it with only a little supervision but Henry needs constant watching.  He loves climbing up and down the ladder.  The going up doesn't bother me, but it is a little nerve wracking when he wants to come down!  Maybe one day he will decide to climb up all the way and take the slide down!

Sadly it appears that Henry might be ending his naps soon.  Last weekend he didn't nap at all and manged to even climb out of his crib.  He has been doing a bit more crying lately too.  We think his molars are just coming in and causing him some pain.  I seem to remember Nolan going through a phase like this around the same age.  Hopefully it will pass soon.

The next two weeks should be relatively quiet.  Henry will have his 2-year check up and both boys will be going to the dentist (Henry for the first time).  At the end of the month we will be busy again with a trip to San Antonio and Sea World!

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Our "big ultrasound" on January 31 confirmed what the guess at 12 weeks was.  Baby Brock #3 is a boy!  We are very excited about a third boy.  Yes, a girl would have been fun and a nice book end to the string of boys on my side of the family, but a boy will be extra fun with both Katherine and Kasey expecting boys so close to ours.

Baby boy was fairly stubborn during the u/s.  It appeared he was laying on his stomach so the tech could see the back and spine very well but was having a hard time seeing other things.  I did a lot of moving to my side and then back to my back.  In the end she said she was able to measure everything and we were told that all looks great!  We didn't come away with the best pictures but he did flash a peace sign (or a "V" for Villanova!) and we saw a few yawns. 

Like I did with Henry I will do an occassional pregnancy update.

How far along:  22 weeks

Size of baby:  I am pretty sure it is about the size of a Papaya right now.  On 1/31 we were told approx 14 oz.

Weight gain:  not positive, but I wouldn't share anyway!  My guess would be that I will gain similarly to my first two.  Not working out this time around do to minor early complications so hopefully it won't be more!

Maternity clothes:  yes, definitely.  I wear non-maternity work out clothes and PJ's but everything else is maternity

Gender:  another boy

Movement:  starting to pick up.  Usually after eating I will feel something but it isn't constant yet.

Sleep:  Doing pretty well. 

What I miss:  I kind of miss going to the gym during lunch.  It gave me something to do.  Now I spend obscene amounts of time at Target.  I could go back to working out again, but I canceled my gym membership when my office moved.  I will join a new one after he arrives.

Cravings:  nothing specific.  Spicy and sweet call my name though! 

Symptoms:  nothing right now really...possibly just hunger, I feel it is pretty constant.

Best moment of the week:  feeling more movement and knowing that all is going well.

 

Peace!

Poor Blog

Poor blog has been so neglected!  Here we are almost finished with the month of January and I haven't even updated how our Christmas went.

A few days before Christmas we did our annual cookie making for Santa.  Nolan was a big help and did really well.  He measured out the flour and was a great dough roller.  Henry also helped cut out a few cookies.  He tried to eat some flour so we made a bit of a mess.   

Christmas was a great day.  Nolan was excited about Santa coming and had his list of what he was hoping for.  Santa brought him everything he asked for, Buzz Lightyear, a cape, and chocolate.  He also got a Leapster computer which he has mastered using so quickly.  Henry also got some fun things.  He got a backpack with his name on it, an Elmo shirt, a few books, and some candy.  I am sure they both got more but since it was already a month ago I can't remember.

The rest of the day was spent with family.  First the entire Brock clan came over to our house for brunch and more gifts and that night it was over to the Neville side for dinner and more gifts!

New Years Eve we went to our neighbors house for a little party.  There were quite a few older kids there so the boys had fun chasing them around.  We didn't stay all that late because Henry was going up and down the stairs and we couldn't really trust him to leave him alone.

Since the new year we have just been doing the daily grind.  We had a pretty good cold snap so that meant a lot of time indoors with probably too much TV.  The past week has been warmer though so we have been back outside in the evening. 

Nolan has been able to attend 2 gymnastics parties.  The first was for Julia and then for Sophie.  Sophie also had a Spiderman come to her party so Nolan was pretty excited to meet him.

Henry is still super smiley guy and is talking up a storm.  He has more and more words everyday.  He still speaks a lot of gibberish but you can tell he is trying so hard.  He still loves his Elmo too.