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Third Trimester

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It’s time to get BIG!

Seriously though. They say that everything happens quicker in subsequent pregnancies because your body remembers this time around, but whoa is it true. It’s like my body just said “oh remember what it felt like to be 9 months pregnant? Let’s jump there NOW!”

So I’m feeling very big, and slow, and out of breath. I can’t breathe very well and doing almost anything leaves me panting. Who would have thought sitting on the couch would be so hard? My clothes are already uncomfortable, and it’s already impossible for me to find a position to sleep or sit in that feels good.

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The Bike

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It’s not really about the bike. Sure the bike may have set it off, but in reality, it’s more about being a toddler. Being a toddler means learning crazy amounts of new things every day, discovering emotions that are overwhelming at the best of times, and having little control over anything in your life. Together it makes for a frustrating existence. Oh, and did I mention your mouth constantly hurts because teeth are literally ripping holes through your gums?

So that’s where we are.

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Busy Board!

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I have to say, this may be one of my favorite trends in parenting lately. Yes, it’s a way to entertain and keep your toddler busy (YAY!) but it’s also super cool, and I want to play with it probably as much as E does!

They’re also super easy, and completely customizable. Basically you take a piece of wood, and screw on whatever random stuff you have lying around the house, or want to incorporate, and voila! You have something fun and entertaining that is teaching your toddler valuable life skills in the process!

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RIP Flappy

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The other morning, Tom was holding E while he opened the trash can to throw something away. From across the room I heard Tom laughing and saying “Oh no, don’t worry about Flappy in the garbage. You saw nothing!”

Remember our singing elephant? The one that my whole family hates, but E love so much? Well it officially makes the list as the second toy we’ve played with so much that we’ve killed the batteries. A singing toy truck from our neighbors was the first, and I’m pretty sure a singing laptop from my parents will be next since it’s been struggling and making some interesting noises lately. Are you sensing a theme? Our Bubba likes things that sing to him!

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Fall Fun

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Fall has something the rest of the year doesn’t have - these crazy big pumpkin/apple farms that open up for picking. Well that’s the general premise anyway, but they’ve become so much more than that. They’re comparable to amusement parks in their size and activities, and they’re only open for two-ish months in the fall where everyone flocks to them.

They’re so overwhelming that Tom and I are a bit afraid of them. We’ve been to all the big ones and have had bad experiences dealing with lines and traffic and getting lost, so we usually stick to the smaller and less intimidating ones. Of course that means they offer less to do while you’re there.

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What We've Been Doing

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A lot! The fall is always my favorite time of year. It seems like it always gets filled up with fun trips and visits and activities that we never get around to at other times of the year. There are holidays to look forward to, the weather is perfect, life is good! However, it seems like I’ll never get around to making a separate blog post about everything we’ve been up to, so instead I’m going to try and play a bit of catch up. So here are a bunch of random but good things we’ve been up to.

Also in completely random updates, E has 4 teeth! We have no idea when #3 and #4 came in - we flipped him upside down the other day (the only way to really check) and he has a mouth full of teeth up there! But since he only has 1 on the bottom, we hadn’t noticed. I guess that’s a good thing though. (Although now that we know they’re here, we’re thinking back on a cranky week last week and wondering if that’s what was going on!)

Mamas' Night Out

When I bought these tickets, E was about 3 months old. I actually forgot that I had them for a while.

But it’s so necessary to get out once in a while with my best friend, to talk about non baby things (and a lot of baby things), and just have some fun. It was a super late night which meant not a lot of sleep for us, but it was totally worth it.

GOOD Pregnancy Update

This pregnancy is actually going.. okay? 

Which is funny to say because I was SO SICK for such a long time, and I'm sore and in pain a lot, and the heartburn has started to return... but I actually feel like time is passing quickly.  I'm not sure if it's because instead of sitting on the couch thinking about being pregnant I'm chasing around a 1 year old.. or if it's the time of year. 

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Feeling More Optimistic

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There's a reason I switched doctors this time around.  I just love this doctor so much.  She'll give me straight talk, odds and numbers, she'll tell me when to worry, and she'll also make me feel a lot better.  Maybe it's the first 5 minutes of every appointment when she spends time telling me how cute my belly is haha, but I always leave feeling better.  

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Anatomy Scan, Take II

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After my original anatomy scan, I got a call from the midwife on staff explaining some possible complications that they had seen, and she let me know that they were sending me to a specialist at Tufts to get another scan. Better machinery and more experienced/specialized doctors would get us some additional information that they needed. 

It got me a little nervous, and of course googling all the possible bad outcomes (some of which she'd already told me over the phone), but I was glad for the availability of the specialist. Unfortunately they wanted to see me in the middle of our annual vacation to Maine, and I was told that I really shouldn't wait, especially since if I skipped this one they might not be able to get me in until October. Womp womp. 

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Whatever You Do, Don't Google

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The anatomy scan!

Last time we were super excited to find out the gender and we counted down the days to the scan.  This time, I went alone and almost fell asleep in the room.  It's not my fault - it's a dark room, with white noise pumped in, and they lie you down on a bed while no one really talks for an hour.  Sure there's a screen showing you what's going on, but it's like watching an old black and white movie with no sound on a tv channel you don't really get a good signal on and it's full of static. 

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It Won't Start with an E

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I like looking at sibling names.  You can usually learn a lot about the parents by looking at sibling names.  There's usually a similar sound, or feel, and you can see what was important to the parents.  What their style is like. 

Maybe all of their kids have names from the bible.  Maybe they all start with the same letter.  Have the same number of syllables.  Have repeating double letters.  Are contemporary.  Are spelled uniquely.  

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A Night Away

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Sometime around Mother's Day, when I was feeling constant all day nausea and exhaustion, Tom mentioned that I should get a hotel room some weekend and have a night away.  A relaxing, kid free night, where I could catch up on sleep, and the boys would stay home and bond. 

As nice as it sounded, I kind of laughed it off.  "Maybe someday!" I said.  

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Toddlerhood

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Well, it's finally hit us.  We have a toddler.  And?  

I miss my baby!

One of my friends has a newborn right now.  I know she's not getting sleep and it's hard and she's recovering... but that cute little baby isn't throwing tantrums yet!  Well at least not about the things E is throwing tantrums about. Because if he was upset only because he was hungry or tired, that I could do!  I have a year's experience on that!

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I Keep Meaning to...

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I'm not doing a great job with this pregnancy.  I keep forgetting to do the things I'm supposed to do.  Like tell people that I'm pregnant.  In 15 and a half weeks, I've told maybe 3 people?  And that doesn't include my family haha.  First I was waiting for an ultrasound picture (which I still don't have), and then I was waiting to see them in person, which keeps getting cancelled or pushed back... and then I just keep forgetting. 

I'll be in the middle of a conversation with someone and realize, oh I should totally tell them I'm pregnant!  And then it seems weird in the conversation, and we were talking about their problems and how weird and selfish would it be to suddenly say, HEY want to talk about ME?? I know you're dealing with some heavy stuff and all, but let's ignore that for now and discuss ME!!!  

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Busy Busy Busy

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It's funny, when we have free time at home, I don't say that E plays.  Instead I say he's hard at work.  He never stops moving, and is always on a mission.  I'm not sure where the mission comes from, or why he's doing what he's doing, but he's very determined.  

First he may come down stairs and go to his table and chairs, where all of his books are displayed.  Very purposefully, one at a time, he must take every book off the table and put them on the floor.  Once they're on the floor he'll ignore them for the rest of the day, but if you try and put a book back on the table, it must immediately be taken off again.