it's about time!

Okay. So I am a terrible blog-updater. I knew that when I started the blog, and I'm sorry! It's been so long that I'm sure no one even checks in anymore, but I'll post anyway :)

Here is Colin Andrew Durham! He was born 2/20/09 and so he is almost 3 months old now. I've been home with him while Gavin's been going to Kelly's house during the week, so Colin and I have had some fantastic bonding time. He's such a great baby. Seriously. How I have 2 great babies is beyond me, but I do!

In this picture he's blowing spit bubbles. It's a new trick.


In the next picture he's showing off that beautiful smile. He's recently started laughing, too - best sound ever!!!


Gavin didn't have a nap today, because he was so busy playing with his Grammy, Weema (not sure how to spell that, but there you go), and Aunt Peggy. He chowed down on his chicken at dinner, and started to get a little heavy-lidded at the end, and then he just curled up in his chair and went to sleep.


I took him to Colin's room to change his diaper and put on PJs and he didn't wake once. He just kept curling up on the changing table. So cute - and so much easier to change him when he's not awake to fight me or be silly!


I go back to work the day after Memorial Day, but only for 2 weeks since the last day of school is June 3. Then I'll be back home with the boys for the summer!! The timing could not be more perfect :)

another baby update

I had my weekly OB appointment today, complete with ultrasound to check the baby's movement and fluid levels and all that. The ultrasound was first. The technician said that my fluid was measuring around 3 as far as she could tell, which is definitely low, and then the doctor came in and said that everything still looked good and I would just need to come back again in another week (if I don't have the baby between now and then). He didn't share a number, he just said that he saw some good pockets of fluid. Then I went to my OB's office. My blood pressure was a little high today, but not too high, so that's good. My weight .... well, there's really no need to go there :) She did an internal exam (always so much fun!) and said that I'm about 1.5 cm dilated and 70-80% effaced. That's definitely progress from this weekend, when I was only 1cm dilated but not very effaced at all. She was able to touch the baby's head and even wiggled him around a bit (yeah, that was a little uncomfortable to feel!). When she checked the report from the ultrasound she saw that the doctor noted my measurement at a 6 for my fluid, so we're still watching and waiting. If, at my next appointment, fluid levels drop again, we may have to schedule a c-section (since I can't be induced after having a c-section already) but hopefully nature will take over before that becomes an issue. I've been having twinges here and there all day and evening, but nothing resembling real labor (or even false labor). We'll see what happens next.

Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, an oh-so-flattering picture of my 37 week 4 day self:

Scroll down to see the picture of me in this same outfit just past 28 weeks. What a difference.....

no baby yet

On Sunday morning I woke up having contractions, and they were pretty strong and regular. As the day went on, though, they got to be less so. The nurse I talked to on the phone told me to call her when they were consistently 5 minutes apart, and I did, but they weren't very strong by then. She told me to head over to the hospital since they are more concerned with frequency and less so with intensity.

We went to the hospital and they monitored me for a couple of hours. I was 1cm when we got there, and 1cm 2 hours later. No progress=go home and wait. As the night went on the contractions got to be less and less frequent until they were pretty much done and gone. Ahhh false labor. How fun you are.

We have an ultrasound this afternoon to recheck fluid levels and baby's activity, then an OB appointment right afterwards. We'll see then if we just continue to wait and see.......

singing

I was in the shower, and Gavin came in with his plastic screwdriver in 2 pieces. He put one on the floor and held the other one up like a microphone, and he just started singing. Hilarious! Then he took his show on the road and moved to our bedroom, where Scott had the good sense to grab the camera and capture the moment. At first we thought he might be singing the "hot dog" song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but figured out pretty fast that he was singing his own crazy version of "happy birthday" instead.



I know I've been absolutely terrible about posting - I never even put up holiday pictures! And it's now February! But we've been busy getting ready for kidlet #2 and I'm just exhausted. Plus my feet are the size of my head :) Pregnancy is so very attractive at the very end! We will have more news about the impending arrival of #2 after our next ultrasound and OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon, and hopefully I'll be better about getting that out to the masses. Maybe......

happy birthday!

Here he is, the 2-year-old Gavinator!


Scott took pictures of G blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, and I'll share those once we've downloaded them from the other camera. I think he said he got one whole birthday cake picture. Stupid camera.

Luckily, I now have a new fancy camera that doesn't have those same issues, and I used it to take a little bit of video of the birthday boy playing with a new puzzle from Grandma Joy and Grandpa Mark. He's such a funny kid!

Gavin has been very excited about his birthday (for the past month or so) - I'm pretty sure it's going to be a rough road when he realizes that his birthday isn't every day. Luckily for him we still get to celebrate his birthday with Grandma Lora in Dallas this weekend and again in Tucson with his Durham grandparents, and then Christmas brings even more presents. January will be hard, but at some point I'm sure he'll figure out that the present train has left the station.

long overdue pictures and a new big boy room!

First, here are some long-overdue pictures taken when Grandma Lora was in town a while back, as well as some with Uncle Sam during his latest visit:

Here are Grandma Lora and Gavin in the backyard. Gavin was showing off his driving skills - check out the videos below!

Here is Gavin driving, part 1:

And Gavin driving, part 2:

Gavin and Uncle Sam enjoyed reading together.

Okay, hopefully that is sufficient coverage of the recent past that has up to now been sequestered on my camera. Sorry for the delay!

Moving on........

The news around here is that Mr. Gavin will be turning 2 on Friday, so it's about time for him to move out of his baby room and into his new birthday big boy room! He's been sleeping in his toddler bed for a while now in his original bedroom, and we've slowly been cleaning out the front room to make it Gavin's. I was initially hesitant to move Gavin - I didn't want him to feel displaced by the new baby - but I think it's turned out to be the best thing ever.

Reasons:

1) The new baby's room is ready without any fuss, because it's left just as it was when Gavin was in there.

2) Gavin gets to feel special moving into his own big-boy room, and he helped put together the furniture and get everything set up.

Here Gavin is helping Daddy hammer in the nails in the back of his new dresser.

Gavin really loves using his hammer. He had a blast "helping" put together all the furniture.

And here is the (not yet fully complete) bedroom!

The room is still very bare. We're looking into what we can put on the walls to liven things up a bit, and the round baskets hanging on the wall are going to move to a more appropriate area (right now they're just hanging on an existing nail where a picture used to hang). The cult of Ikea has taken over the room! I'm pleased with the furniture we chose - the white dresser and storage shelf are actually very nice, and the green, red, and blue things work well. Gavin seems to really love his new "big boy room" and he's now fallen asleep in it twice with no issues whatsoever. Yay! Once we accessorize the room a bit I'll post updated pictures.

I've had a harder time with the move than Gavin has, I think. Poor Scott - last night, we put Gavin to bed in his new room for the first time, we shut the door, and I burst into tears! Stupid hormones :) I laughed at myself while I cried, I admit it, and I know he's growing up and that's not a bad thing, it's just happening so much faster than I thought it would. He can't be a baby forever. Every day is better than the one before. Still...... I wish he's slow down just a bit.

as requested...

Here is a picture of the baby belly at 28 weeks 3 days:


You can't tell by looking, but man, my tailbone is killing me! According to the interwebs and all their wisdom, it's a fairly common pregnancy thing, so I'm not freaking out thinking something's wrong with me, but I'm still uncomfortable. Hooray 3rd trimester and all the joys, aches and pains you bring with you.....

Gavin is very excited about his upcoming birthday and will tell you with very little prompting that he will be two. He'll even hold up his fingers to show you how many - either one finger, like he's pointing, or all 5 like he's going to give you a high five. Very funny. "Dawa dirday? Two!"

Gavinese cracks me up. I know I should write down all the things he's saying (perkle = purple) so I remember it later on down the road, but I never seem to actually do it. "Gavin did it!" is cute, though frustrating when he insists that he do things himself - yay for independence, boo for stressing out the tired momma when time/patience levels require mommy to do it instead.

Grammy and Uncle Sam (umple sam, according to the bug) came to visit this past weekend. As soon as I find the camera hiding in the mess that is my house I will upload and post more pictures. Here's one from my phone to hold you over:

They are definitely buddies now! Gavin had a great time with all of his playmates over the weekend and he's excited to see his grandma again for his dirday :)