squeezing it all in

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love everything about it. Pumpkins, mums, candy corn, pumpkin spice lattes, scary looking trees, hayrides, costumes...I could go on and on. With Max's due date just around the corner, I feel like we need to squeeze it all in...NOW! Otherwise, Taylor won't be able to experience all the seasonal fun because it will be impossible after Max is born.

This weekend we went to Hunt Club Farm. We did our usual...the petting farm, pictures with pumpkins, pony ride. I even chose the ugliest/coolest looking pumpkin to take home! Amongst all of it, I did my best to be present..., but I was so uncomfortable and had to take several time outs and sit while all the fun was being had without me. At least Taylor got to experience some fun in her last few days as an only child ;)

Pictures to come!

my rock

I'm sure that Jason has felt like a single dad at times during this pregnancy...Okay, a lot of the time. To say that these past 9 months have been easy would be a lie. It definitley could have be harder, but its never easy when you have a toddler running around. Jason has been my rock, attending to my every need as well as Taylor's. Picking up my slack when I couldn't clean house or keep up with our lady. It must be said, I have the best husband and baby daddy in the world.

Here is the hubby and I back in 2003 when we first started dating =)

belly love

After Max is born, I'm going to miss Taylor giving my belly kisses and big 'ol belly hugs. She is so incredibly sweet and gentle when lovin' on Max. I'll even miss her fascination with my belly button and her wanting to kiss only my belly button.

heartbroken

Taylor: Mommy doesn't hold me anymore.
Jason: Yea, but you know why Mommy can't hold you anymore, right?
Taylor: Cuz Max is in her belly.
Jason: When Max comes out, Mommy can hold you again.
Taylor: Okay, Mommy can hold me when Max comes out.
Jason: You want Mommy to hold you?
Taylor: Yea.

Jason had this conversation with Taylor the other day when he took her to the park. Needless to say, when he told me, I cried. It breaks my heart that I can't do the things I normally would with Taylor and that she notices. Since then, I've had several conversations with Taylor and reminded her that I'll be able to hold/carry her again soon. I guess these are the sacrifices I have to make with a growing family. =(

37 weeks and READY!

The house is in shambles, the nursery is NOT ready, and I am not finished with tasks at work...but I swear, this baby wants OUT! Max is buried deep into my cervix and his head is pressing hard against my bladder, hips and pelvis...making every movement I make ridiculously uncomfortable and painful. I predict and have for a long time an early delivery. If I'm wrong and he waits until (near) my due date, I'll be eating my words. I was never this uncomfortable with Taylor, but with Max, I feel such a strong sense of urgency to get everything DONE asap! I can only guess its because #1, he is a boy and bigger and #2, I am all sorts of stretched out from carrying Taylor so he has descended further, faster.

Every night when Taylor goes to sleep, Jason and I clean the the house and try to repair all the damage that Taylor has done. And then the next day, it all gets destroyed again. LOL! Its a constant vicious cycle that is making my "nesting" period non-existent. Oh the joys of having a toddler! ;)

I've decided that this baby will have to be born in whatever condition the house is in, whether he is early or not. And if his nursery isn't finished, so be it. We have everything we need...his room just won't be exactly how I want it. And as for work...really? I've fully trained my backups. Work will carry on. This chic is super tired and becoming more and more immobile. By the time I get home, laying down is the only thing that gives my body relief. So as much as I can't stand to have the house in shambles, I'll just have to watch it all go down from the couch & bed.

date night

Jason and I went to a wedding on Saturday night for one of my coworkers. I was super excited because we hardly go on date nights, let alone get all dressed up for a formal affair. What made the night super special was the venue was held at the same place we had our wedding reception...so there was a lot or reminiscing.

Here are some fun pics of the hubby and I. We had lots of fun...I only craved a glass of wine a couple hundred times ;)

what were we thinking?...

Think Orlando. Think August. Think humidity & ninety plus degree weather. Now add a 7 month pregnant woman & a toddler and you have something close to miserable. Okay, not all of it was miserable, just when we were outside...which was all the time! I'm completely exaggerating. Although it got extremely uncomfortable at times, we left Orlando with amazing memories that I wouldn't trade for the world!

What is funny is that for our first Babymoon, we went to Niagara Falls in late October...when it was super cold up there. For our second Babymoon, we chose Orlando in August...when it was super freakin hot down there. We suck at this choosing a location thing. All of that aside, we were so happy to share our trip with Taylor. Not bringing her was an option, but how could we go to Disney without our little princess?

Here are some pics of our stay. What an awesome way to enjoy a final vacation before the arrival of Max.

31 weeks!

where is Taylor?!

oh, there she is!

pics taken last week while we were on our Babymoon in Orlando, Florida! say what? i'll post about it soon ;)

my baby boy

I went in for another 3D/4D ultrasound this week. This time at a different facility. My darn placenta was in the way of seeing all of Max's face. If it's not his hands, its something else! Go figure. The first picture shows Max during our first session. Thank God we came back for a second session (no charge to us), because the pictures came out amazing. My placenta was still blocking part of his face but you can definitely see his cute nose and chubby cheeks! What a cutie pie!

August 13th

August 17th

weak in the knees

Nothing gets me more weak in the knees than seeing creative ideas come to life. Thanks to my sister Cathy, who threw our baby shower, there were tons of just that. As a designer/crafty girl myself, I get giddy when I see hand made crafts. Better yet, when everything is themed and you can truly tell that someone put a lot of thought and TLC into every detail. Having thrown a few parties myself, I get carried away with wanting to design and create everything and making sure that every piece, from the invitation to the favors, all correlate together. So when I see someone else's hard work, I truly appreciate the thought and labor that went into every invitation, decoration, prop, favor, activity, etc. Long story short, my sister ROCKS!

Jason, Taylor and I had loads of fun at our baby shower. Thank you to all our friends and family who joined us and helped celebrate the upcoming arrival of Max =)

Check out the pictures. Notice the adorable ELEPHANT theme!

pictures to come

sneak peek...

This past weekend we had a 3D/4D ultrasound. We are happy to report that we're still having a boy! LOL! Unfortunatley, the images are blurry and Max was unwilling to show his face. We will be going in for another session in a few weeks. Hopefully, he will cooporate then!

27 weeks

this nesting thing...

This past weekend marked the beginning of that mysterious phenomenon called nesting. On Saturday, the hubby and I went crazy and started with what will be the nursery. It was the computer room a few months ago. We threw away numerous bags of trash, put a bunch of stuff in the shed and set aside a large contribution for the local thrift store. I must say, I am very proud of Jason! I've tried so hard in the past to get him to throw "junk" away and this time, he was more than willing.

Since then, I have been non stop every day. I've slowly put a dent in the nursery as well as Taylor's and our bedroom. This nesting thing has even affected my productivity at work! LOL! I spent almost 2 hours this week cleaning out my desk and throwing/recycling paperwork & random crap. My coworkers were confused by this peculiar behavior.

My goal is to declutter my life and eventually have the house organized and ready for baby! We'll have the nursery painted blue and fully decorated in no time!

Just Max

Max who? Max Nathaniel Perry.

It is what you think it is, the name of the baby! Jason and I wanted to wait until the birth to blab. But we simply can't wait that long!

And no, it's not short for Maximus, Maximilian, Maximo, Maxim or Maxwell. Just Max. Everyone is going to call him Max anyway, might as well make that the official name, right?

So where did this name come from? If you have been a loyal reader of my blog, you'd know that I dreamt of the name months ago! haha! At the time, it was just a dream, but as time moved on...I swear, it has become more of a premonition! Yes, some of you may think it's ridiculous, but I have fallen IN LOVE with the name and it is the only one I keep going back to. The only name that means something to me. And most importantly, it's a name both Jason and I can imagine calling our future baby boy.

Here is a little bit of research I did behind the name Max:
• The meaning of the name Max is Greatest.
• “Saint Maximus was a 7th century monk and theologian from Constantinople. Maximilian grew out of Maximus and has been born by saints, kings and emperors.” From there, various forms of the name Max evolved. It has stood the test of time.
• Celebrities who have named their son various forms of Max are: Christina Aguilera, Lance Armstrong, Jennifer Lopez, Dustin Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, Will Ferrell, Trista and Ryan Sutter and eek, Charlie Sheen.
• The name Max has been popularized by the movie (and games) Max Payne, Mad Max and Gladiator.
• Max is one of the main character's in one of Taylor's favorite Nick Jr. shows, Max and Ruby. Max plays the younger brother who always gets into trouble! LOL! How fitting!
• A personal favorite, Max is the name of a character in the show Roswell. Max is a teenage alien/human hybrid living in Roswell, New Mexico. He attempts to survive as a human and hide his alien side. In the process he falls in love and has a "forbidden" relationship with Liz, a human. Haha!
• Here is a quote from People Magazine that I love: "It’s hard to find a hotter name for boys than Max, and for good reason. Meaning ‘greatest’ in its traditional Latin form of Maximus, Max is “unpretentious and friendly but also sounds cool.”
• Another quote: "I named my son Max 12 years ago. I do hear that it’s a “dog” name a lot but so are Emily and Jack and every other person’s name. I liked Max because it sounds like it could be a cute happy toddler and the tough guy in a detective novel. Tough but fun. I didn’t want a name that would sound cute when he was little, but embarrass him when he was an adult."

Is the name growing on you yet?! If not, then tough! LOL! We love the name, and hope you do too! With a name that means "Greatest," how can you top that?! =)

bigger and bigger!

Here I am at 24 weeks.

Inspired!

This past weekend the hubby, lady and I attended a birthday party for Miss Charlotte at The Children's Museum. We haven't been there since it has been renovated. I was really impressed! Taylor had such a blast; she was really upset when it was time to leave. I'm thinking of having one of my baby's birthday parties there. How exciting!!! Taylor's 3rd birthday is coming up but I think we're going to do something low key since Baby Boy will only be 3 months old and I will be too exhausted to plan anything big. So, maybe Baby Boy's first birthday!? They have an awesome toddler station where 1 year olds can do their wobbly walk. And Taylor will be old enough to be more hands on.

I've also been thinking about how great it will be to celebrate Baby Boy's future birthdays in September/October. We might actually be able to pull off something outside. October would be the perfect month to have a party at the Hunt Club Farm. Halloween festivities will be in full swing by then. Whoo Hoo!

But before then, a Christening reception for Baby Boy is a must. Taylor's wedding reception, oops, I mean Christening reception was over the top. I look back and think, did we really have more guests at her reception than our own wedding!?! So for Baby Boy, we are scaling back big time. We're thinking no more than 50 guests. A friend of ours did their baby's reception at Forbidden City. It was perfect.

So in nut shell, that is what has been going on in my head. I realize I am getting WAY too ahead of myself. Yes, I know Baby Boy hasn't even been born yet. But good times are ahead and there is so much to plan for and celebrate! And this crafty/designer girl wants to play.

Here are some pictures of Taylor at the Children's Museum. The first one is of Lady posing with the birthday girl. =)

Beware of the belly button

HELLO BELLY BUTTON! My belly button will be making its debut (again) soon. It is currently seeking a new location and wants out! To pop out, that is! Can I tell you how weird that is? Belly buttons freak me out. And pregnant belly buttons are even worse! LOL! It is so bizarre to see skin that you have never seen before, expose itself. Sounds creepy doesn't it? For those of you who have never experienced pregnancy, the belly button gets SUPER sensitive. And when things brush up against it, you get a weird sensation that gives you nothing but the heebie jeebies.

Here are some random pregnant bellies for you to enjoy. Hope you find them as freaky as I do. =)

Random pictures...

of what else?! Elephants and all things blue!

Random picture #1: I made my first purchase for baby boy! No surprise here, I got a blue plush elephant with matching blanket and an elephant album. I have already started to fill it with baby boy's ultrasound pictures :)

Random picture #2: Hydrangeas I picked from our front yard! When we first planted our bush, it bloomed pink flowers. Over the years, it has turned to purple. And this year...BLUE! Ironic, don't ya think?!

Random picture #3: Here I am wearing this cute blue dress my sister gave me. Love how it hugs my baby bump.

I'm clearly diggin on some blue! Can you tell I'm excited about having a baby boy?! :P

Halfway there, again!

Here I am at 20 weeks. Picture taken last week.

Big Girl Room!

With a baby on the way, it was only a matter of time before Taylor had to say goodbye to her crib. We had to explain to her that she would be getting a big girl bed and that her younger sibling would need her crib to sleep in. Fortunately for us, the transition went pretty smoothly and Taylor was extremely excited to see her new digs. It has been almost 2 months now and we THANK GOD that she continues to sleep soundly in her bed every night!

Check out these pictures of her bed set (pics taken from the store room floor). We got the full size bed, dresser, chest & night stand. I am so in love with the ivory color and the Victorian style. It's perfect for my little lady!

What a ham!

We took lady to get pictures taken yesterday. They came out perfectly! We promised her a cupcake if she did a good job. Needless to say, she worked for it! =)