We got Kiddo a haircut this weekend. He was sorely overdue. His hair was hanging into his eyes and flipping out in the back. We discovered the secret to getting him to hold still during haircuts is any electronic device we have (smart phone, iPad, Kindle) and Veggie Tales. He doesn’t fight the scissors and even lets the stylist use the electric clippers a little bit. I really liked the lady who did his hair this time too. She reminded me of my aunt, the one who passed away right before Kiddo was born. She was a hairstylist and would have been doing Kiddo’s haircuts if she were still with us. But anyway. Moving on. No tears!

We’re trying to accumulate as much long-lasting food as possible before the baby comes. I put together two huge lasagnas and froze them, we purchased a slew of spelt pasta when it was on sale, picked up some extra spaghetti sauce at Costco, and this week chicken sausages are on crazy sale at one of our favorite markets so we’ll be heading over there to purchase insane amounts of THAT.

I still need to have Husband haul out the bin with all the baby clothes in it so I can wash them and we can put them away. I mean seriously, I’m a week and a half from my due date. But it’s weird – I don’t feel an extreme urgency about it. I feel like it’ll get done when it gets done, and if the baby comes before it gets done, it’s not the end of the world. I spent so much time stressing out about everything being perfect for the arrival of our firstborn, and this time? I don’t have the time or energy to be stressed out. If it’s perfect, great. If it’s not, great. Whatever. Baby will still be here and healthy and won’t care if all the baby clothes are lined up and color-organized in the closet.

Kiddo is definitely about ready to get rid of his morning nap. Which is kind of awesome, but kind of panic-inducing too because when on God’s green earth am I going to have time to take a shower once that nap is gone???

I did not think it was possible for this baby to “drop” any lower than he’s been through the entire pregnancy. BUT IT’S POSSIBLE. He is soooooooo low! My tummy looks like a basketball, but feels like a bowling ball. Ugh.

I could not sleep worth beans last night. Heartburn flared up, then I had to pee, and I just overall could not get comfortable. I’m so tired today. I’m going to tough it out and try not to succumb to the urge to nap, because A) whenever I nap during the day I still have a hard time sleeping that night, and B) as much of a bear as I am when I wake up in the morning, it’s even worse when I wake up from naps. Don’t ask. It’s not pretty.

Whoever says to pregnant women “Sleep while you can!” never experienced Third Trimester Sleep Deprivation Training. Either that or they don’t remember.

I have all my post-partum supplies gathered. Those of you who have had babies know what I’m talking about. I will leave it at that.

Husband and I had our 5 year anniversary this weekend. Five years??? How did time go by so fast? We celebrated by going to one of our favorite special-occasion restaurants. We have a love affair with fine dining – it’s a huge treat for us! We can’t go to fancy restaurants very often, but when we can, we make no excuses and feel zero guilt. Husband surprised me with the location, and also surprised me by contacting the pastry chef well ahead of time and arranging for a special dessert that fit within my weird diet guidelines! Oh my heavens – it was a flourless chocolate cake made with nut flour (hazelnut and almond), with chocolate ganache, custard, and fresh berries. So. GOOD. Big time brownie points for Husband!

We keep my mom’s little dog for her when she’s out-of-state with my dad, and we kept the dog this weekend while my mom was crazy busy. Kiddo LOVES that dog. Her name is Katie, and she’s a Shih-Tzu/poodle mix. As long as we keep her bathed regularly she doesn’t bother Kiddo’s allergies very much. After Katie’s first stint at our house, when we gave her back to my mom for her time here, Kiddo was NOT happy. But he got over it within about 24 hours. Yesterday when we left Katie at my mom’s house, Kiddo barely blinked. I think he’s getting used to the idea that Katie just comes to visit, not to stay indefinitely.

Speaking of Kiddo, he’s hollering happily in his room so I’d better go get his cute little patootie up. He’s been very affectionate lately…I think he knows he’s about to be dethroned…LOL…

We wanted to do one last big special thing just for Kiddo before the baby comes. So on Daddy’s day off in the middle of the week, we piled into the car…

…and headed up to the aquarium!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Warm, with one of those breezes that’s just cool and gentle enough. There was a bubble machine going outside, so while Daddy stood in line, I followed Kiddo around.

He was in bubble heaven!

Watching him run around, it really hit me – my first baby…is not a baby any more. He’s such a big boy!!! You should see him run. And when he gets excited about something, he walks on his tippy-toes. So cute!

"Is that where the fishes are?"

"This way to the fishes!"

I had to get a picture here. While Husband and I were engaged, we took a day to get away just the two of us and ended up at the aquarium. There’s a picture of me by this same shark mouth somewhere…but it’s not on Husband’s shared drive so I can’t access it from my laptop. Oh well. I’ll go look it up another time!

Mama stealin' smooches!

We ended up hanging out in the underwater tunnel for a looooong time. The last time we were at the aquarium, Kiddo didn’t like this part at all. He tried to turn and go back the other direction and I had to carry him through it. But this time, he didn’t want to leave. He was just fascinated!

But eventually we had to move on!

We just kind of moseyed through the rest of the exhibits, letting Kiddo lead the way. It was his day, after all!

"Whoa, big fish!"

"Where's the tiger? Sleeping again?"

Mama nabbed him for more smooches!

Eventually we reached the end. Back outside, Kiddo ran around in the bubbles a little more, and then we walked around the little garden area.

Eventually, we convinced him to head back to the car so we could get some lunch.

And then we had to stop so he could touch the big yellow school bus in the parking lot.

We enjoyed lunch at Chick-fil-A again. We so rarely go there, because it’s impossible to get anywhere near it at mealtimes! But we really enjoy the food and the service. Because it was Kiddo’s special day, we got him ice cream too.

The spoiling continued at home later! We confess, we let him watch movies all evening and made pancakes for dinner. When he didn’t want pancakes, we let him eat cereal. He was so tired he looked like he was about fit to fall asleep in his high chair. But it was a good, good day. We’re so glad we took the time to make special memories with Kiddo!

We shot my maternity portraits last weekend! It takes me so long to get them up – both here and on Facebook – because Husband heavily Photoshops them for me. Seriously, my belly does NOT look that perfect in real life! LOL But I like to pretend it does.

So without further ado…

This one is the unanimous favorite on Facebook among my friends and family! Husband got the idea on Pinterest. It was harder to shoot than it looks – it took probably dozens of takes to get the perfect bubble combined with the perfect facial expression combined with the perfect body pose. But it was so worth it. I love it!

Those are some of my favorites.

I’m also thinking I need to change the color theme of my blog. Being as I’m about to be the mom of two boys here! I’m outnumbered! Eek! Maybe something in the blue family. I like blue. And maybe it’s just time for a makeover anyway!

I’ve been joking for a while now “Mommy’s outnumbered – pray for me!” which always gets a laugh, but I recently changed it to “I’m going to have at least two massive teenage boys someday – pray for my grocery bill!!!”

Up next: Pics from our special day with Kiddo! You may be wondering why he’s not in any of these photos. Well, he doesn’t have a history of cooperating well with portraits. But we got some really cool impromptu shots of me and him on our outing, so we decided to just go with those and not try to force a portrait session on him.

So. Goodnight. I’m going to go watch “Man vs. Food” on Netflix. Because there is nothing else on TV. And this show makes me laugh.

I’m waiting for the chocolate muffins (made with oats, no wheat involved!) I’m making to finish baking, so I thought I’d tell ya’ll I finally caught up with the rest of civilization and read “The Hunger Games”.

Oh dear.

It was addicting.

See, we got a Kindle Fire through some freebie deal my husband did somewhere (don’t ask, I can’t keep track of all his wheeling and dealing, but it gets us free stuff) and with his Amazon Prime membership we can “borrow” books for free on the Kindle. But only one per month. Which is a problem. Because now I want to read the next book.

I read the first book in a day. I’m a fast reader. Always have been. When I tested for placement in public school going into 6^th grade, my reading skills and comprehension were on the level of a high school senior. So I zip through books quickly. One of my greatest pleasures in life is to read an entire book cover to cover in one day. I don’t often have time to do that. I wouldn’t have been able to do it this time if it weren’t a weekend with not much planned.

Plus the fact that I couldn’t put the stupid book down.

I wasn’t sure I’d like “The Hunger Games”. The premise sounds kind of gross and depressing. But the author tells the story in such a way that you know what’s happening, but it isn’t graphic or disturbing like I expected it to be. It won’t give me bad dreams, y’know? I also liked that it was written in the first person, in the present tense. Made the action very heart-pounding. You’re right there in the main character’s mind as she’s making split-second decisions. I do want to see the movie that just came out, but I’m at a point in my pregnancy where sitting through an entire movie in a theater isn’t the most physically comfortable thing in the world – even church is a stretch right now. So I’ll wait for it to come out on video.

Why do I still say that? “On video.” VHS tapes don’t really exist anymore. It’s Blu-Ray or DVD. And Blu-Ray is going to take over the world soon. But still, the phrase “on video” persists.

Just took my muffins out of the oven. They look like muffins, to be sure. Hopefully they taste like muffins too!

Okay so. We went to the allergist for Kiddo this morning, which is really not as scary as it sounds, I promise! I always do my best to treat these things as I would a regular checkup – lighthearted and easygoing, sets a positive tone for Kiddo. And I believe it really makes a difference in his attitude towards doctors’ offices. When Mommy is confident and relaxed, Kiddo is way easier to handle. He still has his 2-year-old moments, for sure (such as laying down on the floor of the waiting room and throwing a fit once he realized we weren’t leaving after I signed us in…) but overall he generally does really well in those situations.

Anyway.

We chatted with the nurse and the doctor for a bit, and then they did the “prick test” on his back. It went surprisingly easy – four rows of four pricks, done with a thing that makes four pricks at once. Then it had to sit for 12 minutes so I had to keep Kiddo from scratching his back as the reactions developed. He ran around the room playing with a tongue depressor and I sang the Veggie Tales theme song periodically to distract him if he reached to itch. Then they came back and measured the red spots that showed up.

The verdict is: He has a definite dog and cat allergy, which we knew based on what we’ve observed over the past year. He also showed positive for peanuts, which we’ve suspected based on the fact that the few times he’s tasted peanut butter he immediately and violently vomited. We’ve avoided giving him peanuts because of that. But the doctor said kids diagnosed with peanut allergies this young sometimes outgrow them – the number is around 30%. And given that Kiddo never had a rash or breathing reaction to peanuts, his prognosis for outgrowing it is positive. They’ll re-test him in about a year and we’ll go from there.

As far as asthma, we really can’t test him definitively until he’s older, because of the nature of an asthma test. But it is an extremely strong possibility that allergies are what triggered his labored breathing episodes, so the plan for now is to continue with our preventative measures, which have been working well. That means Zyrtec, which totally eliminated the runny nose we’ve been dealing with since who knows how long, keeping our home environment under control, and avoiding known triggers as much as we reasonably can. We should be able to let him be around dogs within reason as long as he’s had his Zyrtec. We’ll have a couple of things for emergencies – like a nebulizer and an epi-pen – but the idea is to manage things day to day in such a way that we won’t have to use any emergency measures. That sounds good to me!

It was honestly pretty much what I expected. No surprises, nothing I’m intimidated by or afraid of. In the grand scheme of things it could be so much worse. If a little Zyrtec every day ends up being all it takes to keep my baby feeling well and away from the hospital, that’s good enough for me!

We will also continue using the essential oil diffuser in his room. When we added that into his regimen after we started Zyrtec, his nighttime breathing improved even more. There was absolutely no sound when he breathed, and he was breathing nice and deep, which means no drainage! The essential oil helps clear and open up his airways. We use a blend called “Breathe” and a little lavender too, which is a natural antihistamine. Kiddo even reminds us to turn the diffuser on when we put him down for naps and at bedtime – he points at it from his crib and says “On! On!”

So, that’s that for now. I feel very positive about everything. And the doctor we went to was really great – the nurses were absolute sweethearts, and the doctor was very personable and really listened to me when I described everything we’ve been dealing with up to this point. I look forward to going back for our follow-up in a couple of months!

For which they promised to send me a reminder postcard. Because I will have a newborn by then. And I will forget if left to my own devices! LOL

…I’m doing penance for the sugar binge I went on over the weekend by forcing myself to go get a drink of water every time I even think about raiding my son’s Easter eggs for jelly beans or eating ice cream straight out of the carton.

…I put a drop of peppermint essential oil in my shampoo and conditioner when I washed my hair, and not only did it smell divine, but I’m having one of the best hair days in recent memory.

…did that have anything to do with the peppermint oil or is it just my imagination?

…what do you think?

…I don’t think the picture really does what a good hair day I’m having justice. But it’ll work.

…I’m also continuously running the essential oil diffuser we got for Kiddo’s room during his naps, because I can’t give him any antihistamines for several days before his appointment with the allergist and I really just want to take every precaution I can.

…Have I mentioned I’m starting to really like essential oils? I don’t think I’ll ever be, like, a total essential oils nut, but we’re having fun experimenting with the samples we have. Definitely going to order one blend for Kiddo to run in his room at night in the diffuser. It’s improved his nighttime breathing A LOT.

…My kitchen sorely needs a good cleaning. We got behind over the weekend. And I don’t wanna do it. But it needs to be done.

…I also need to do my part in cleaning my bedroom. We cleaned out Husband’s wardrobe on Saturday. There are now three big garbage bags of clothes waiting to go to Goodwill by the front door. Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to purge his wardrobe? Too long.

…Is it wrong that I get some kind of sick pleasure from purging his wardrobe?

…I think I’ll make spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. Out of several ingredients I’d need to do meatballs. So I’ll just brown up some ground beef, dump in a jar of sauce, and call it good. It’s a childhood comfort food.

…Today marks one week until my mommy comes home!!! My parents have temporarily relocated to another state for my dad’s job. My mom will be splitting time between here and there, and my dad will visit when he has vacation time. Mom arrives in one week for her first stint here. She’ll be staying with us when the baby is born. So excited! I miss my parents. I’ve never lived in a different place from them. So this is all very weird to me.

…Okay, I have to stop putting off cleaning the kitchen now. I have to at least get THAT done so I have room to cook dinner, right?