Six months later...

Oh how time changes

At the "fair" (aka amusement park) on Saturday, I stood in line for the coaster in kiddie land with my nine year old nephew K. (It was High Trill Ride as described by the Ride Rating System.) I nervously waited for 30 minutes, the whole time wondering if I was brave enough to ride it with him or if I would chicken out and duck through with a little wave and wish him fun when it came time to board. This conversation ran through a loop in my brain: "I'm an adult. Who cares if I ride this or not? What do I have to prove? (And would it actually prove anything if I just road a kiddie coaster?) Don't be silly. Just buck up and ride it. For goodness sake, that kid looks six years old and is talking about riding it for the third time today." K wanted to ride in the front care. I pointed out the longer wait. He saw the intelligence in this and smartly chose a row in the middle of the coaster. Our turn was next. I gathered up my resolve. I asked K if he wanted to sit on the inside or outside and he deferred to me because he was just too cool to care. I picked the inside...I had noticed there were trash cans on that side and I wasn't entirely sure if I would loose my breakfast when I exited the ride or not. The ride came back to the start and the previous riders exited. Now or never. I climbed on. About 30 seconds later I exited the coaster with a feeling of pride and my breakfast still safely in place. (Shhh...I did close my eyes for most of the ride though.)

Later I impulsively asked Nate if he wanted to ride the Danny Phantom ride where you lie on your tummy and "fly" like a ghost around and around and around and around and around and around. I gripped the handle bars and glanced at my first born next to me who on one hand seemed way to small to be riding this and on the other hand seemed way to big because he was riding this. In a moment of weakness and a selfless need to confess, I admitted to him (since he was the only person withing talking distance) that mommy was a little bit scared. He sincerely told me that didn't need to be scared because the ghosts really aren't real, they are just pretend. Besides Sonic (the invisible hedge hog) was with us and we wasn't scared either. Nate then pulled Sonic out of his pocket to show and gently put him back in. I couldn't have managed to reach in my pocket but it was pretty easy for him. Did I mention that I really wondered at that point if they had gotten the height wrong and 41 inches tall was in fact too short to be riding this ride? So I smiled at my son and agreed with him out loud that there was nothing to be scared about while in my head I kept thinking that I hoped my dinner wouldn't make an appearance again any time soon. The ride started and I watched in amazement as my three and half year old thrilled in flying like his favorite cartoon character. Then I closed my eyes and was extremely thankful a minute later be back on the ground.


It simply was a wonderful day. Not quite like I remember the "fair" being a lifetime ago, but just as magical.

Almost Christmas already!

Where is the time going? How can Christmas be two days away? How can Sam already be 2.5 weeks old?

We are all home and adjusting pretty well to being a family of four. Nate is proud big brother and is always asking "Where's Sam?" And then when he finds him (usually sleeping in his Papasan chair) he'll announce "It's Sam! It's Sam." over and over again. He likes to give Sam hugs too. We have to remind him to be gentle and not squish his little brother.

Nate has also decided he is not a big boy any more, he is just a big brother. Apparently, you can't be both.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to write a better blog update after Christmas while Ken is off work until the new year. Happy Holidays and enjoy a few new pictures.

Big brother holding his little brother.

Sam's mug shot for the Christmas cards. (It's hard to get a cute newborn picture, isn't it?)

Sam hanging out in mom and dad's room.

Sam relaxing after a hard day.

Baby is here!

My first Christmas gift is here! Samuel was born at 10:11pm on Friday, December 5, 2008. He was 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 in. long. Unfortunately, I did not get to the hospital in time for my second Christmas gift, and epidural. I was fully dilated when we arrived at the hospital but at least Sam was not born in the front seat of our car. Nate just came back in the room so I'll post a longer story later. We are all doing fine and looking forward to going home tomorrow.

A visit with St. Nick

Quick appointment update first. I saw my OB yesterday and despite this baby being even lower than last week, I'm still around 1.5 cm so no change. I have another appointment scheduled for Monday when I will be past my due date and if there there is no baby here by next Wednesday, I have a c-section scheduled for 11:00. One way or another, baby will be here by this time next week.

This morning I decided to take Nate to the mall to see Santa and play on the playground there. So we head out and in the car Nate and I practice what he'll say to Santa. (By the way, Nate has refused to talk with Santa or sit on his lap since his first Christmas when he was a month old.) I told Nate that Santa would ask him if had been a good boy that year and Nate could say "Yes" because he had been good lately and was doing a good job of listening to mommy and daddy. And then Santa would ask him what he wanted for Christmas. Nate replied that he wanted "Lights. Rudolph lights that would shine in the dark." Okay, not sure where that came from because he'd never mentioned it to me but I'll go with it. We get to the mall and trek over to Santa Land. As we approach, I can see Nate freezing up. So once again this year, I am saved the expense of a $20 5x7 of my boy with Santa. We ended up going to the second floor where Nate could look down on Santa talking with other kids. We probably watched him for at least 15 minutes but I couldn't convince Nate to go talk to him.

On the playground where I explained to Nate that he would have to take off his shoes if he wanted to get down and play. After watching the other kids play for about 20 minutes, we left the playground with his shoes still firmly on his feet. I guess we are just raising a cautious son who is not one to dive into new situations. (Especially ones that involve removing his shoes.) So we went back to spy on Santa for another few minutes before we left. Maybe next year will be the year Nate finally talks with the jolly old man.

Still a one child family

New baby has not made an appearance yet so Nate is still the only baby, er big boy, in the house. He had his three year check up last week and was 39" tall (75th percentile) and weighed 31.5 lbs (50th percentile). I was so pleased with how he behaved. He let the doctor listen to his heart and check his ears and eyes without a fuss. He also answered all the questions she asked him. He somehow knew the "right" answers like he does eat his vegetables and always brushes his teeth twice a day. (I corrected him behind his back.) The only thing he wouldn't do is hop like a bunny. He's been jumping since he was like 15 months old! I'll say it again, I really can't believe he is three years old already!

Quick cute story about Nate. For his birthday, he received a goldfish he named Pick. (He names everything Pick. We're not sure where he picked that name up.) After feeding him the other night, Nate told me that Pick was talking to him. I asked Nate was Pick was saying and Nate just opened and closed his mouth like his fish. He said that Pick was just a little fish now and can't talk but when Pick grows up and is a big fish he'll talk and say "Hi Nate".

I have my 39.5 week appointment tomorrow. One way or another, I think a baby will be here in a week!

Overdue update

Nate with his Jack-O-Lanterns.

Wow - I guess that busy weekend turned into a busy month. Halloween was alot of fun. Nate did really well trick or treating this year. (Last year he wasn't so crazy about his lion costume and needed to get that first sucker in his mouth before he would go to more than one house.) This year he was excited to put on his samurai costume and go out with his cousins to get candy. I didn't get many good pictures from that night because he just wanted to get out and start trick or treating. After the first few houses, he really seemed to get the hang of the whole thing. He would get so excited and run to the next house saying "Maybe this house will have candy too!". Nate lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes before he announced he was done. He ate a few pieces of candy that night and never asked about it again. Daddy and mommy took care of for him in the end.

My birthday was fine. Nothing much to write about. I'm 31. Who-hoo!

We celebrated Nate's third birthday on Sunday, the day before his actual birthday. It was a beautiful day and all of our family was able to make it to our house for his party. He went down for his nap and I decorated for his party. Nothing too fancy, just some streamers and Backyardigan table cloth on the table. My sister had brought over a few helium filled balloons for his too. He ran downstairs after I got him up and announced "My birthday is here!" (Apparently a birthday is a very physical thing fro Nate because we left the decorations up and when he got up the next morning, he was so excited because his birthday was still here.) We were able to grill out and then open presents and eat cake. When everybody left, Nate was so sad because all his "friends" were gone. (He considers family his friends too.) Ken and I took the day off work on the third to spend Nate's actual birthday with him. We went to the zoo and out to Red Robin for dinner. It was so nice for just the three of us to spend the day together. Everyone says it but I really cannot believe it was only three years ago that he was born. I had no idea what an amazing person he would grow up to be. And I can't wait to see who he still becomes.

Picture from the pumpkin patch in mid October.

The day we got Nate's pie samurai costume in the mail.

Trick or Treating.

Happy 3rd birthday Nate!