35 Weeks Already?!

I am now 35 weeks and feeling pretty good. I would feel amazing if it were not for this nasty cold I have had for the last two weeks. The worst part has been the cough. Coughing with an almost full term baby in your belly is quite interesting.

I am also happy to report that there are still no kankles. At this point I would be surprised to see them (knock on wood). I have also had very little heart burn. At this stage with David I was eating Tums like they were M&M's. Probably the best part of all is my weight control this time around.

I have been told that I am bigger than last time but I think that is because people are seeing more belly instead of a belly, booty, bloated face and thunda thighs! It seems like my belly is bigger this time because that is all you really see!

My total weight gain to date is 22lbs. I slipped up a little while we in NH. I blame my MIL for the ice cream place she introduced to us that has a yummy pistachio flavored soft serve. Ice cream has always been my pregnancy weakness. Now that we're back home and cooking our meals I should be able to stick to the pound a week that is recommended by the doctors.

It's been funny to go back and compare my pictures from last time and see the difference. We noticed that it's most noticable in my feet and face. I was impressed by just how bad my kankles were.

Kankles with David - GROSS!


No Kankles with Shaun!


This is my 36 week picture with David. Look how bloated and gross I was...The Doc and I agreed it's not my best look!


Still hard to believe the end is near. Part of me wants this to be over but then I get my reality check and realize that Shaun is much easier to care for right were he is! I just can't help but feel that he is going to make an early arrival. Any guesses?

The Ball is Rolling....

So I know it's been a week since we were in NH but things have been up in the air and I wanted to wait until the ball was really rolling before posting about our trip. There are lots of good things to report!

First (and still keeping our fingers crossed on this one) we accepted an offer on our house. In the real estate world that means we are now "under agreement". They had their home inspection and termite inspection and we are now just waiting for the official report, but it sounds like it went pretty well. We got word on one of the items that our hot water heater was leaking. It was over 15 years old and so we just had it replaced. Hopefully the rest of the items are as easy (but cheaper) to take care of. Again this is all still up in the air, but things are moving forward which is nice.

Second is we found (in my opinion) the perfect place to live. It's in Revere right near the water. The doc says it would be even more perfect if it wasn't in Revere. We have a pretty decent view of Boston from our front window. We just sent the lease, first and last months rent and the security deposit via FedEx today. I am so excited about this place. I seriously fell in love the second I walked in and smelled the fresh paint, newly waxed floors and soaked in the beautiful sunlight that fills the house in the late afternoon.

It is a duplex with a one car garage and small driveway. Our side is the one on the right.



Inside on the second floor is the open kitchen/living room area. The kitchen is gorgeous. I even like the black appliances. I have always been partial to chrome but I may have to reconsider as I can't get over how nice the black looks in this space. On this floor there is also a half bath, closet space for coats and shoes, the doorway to the small patio (similar to the one we have here in Philly) and a sliding glass doors open up to the front where we could also put a couple chairs for relaxing after a long day. There is also one of those faux fireplaces that could be nice for some ambiance in the winter!





That brings us to the third floor where there is the 3 bedrooms, the full bath, stackable washer & dryer that is stored in a closet space so it's not seen when not in use. The master bedroom even has a bathroom that has a stall shower. Not that we needed 2.5 baths but hey...why not, right!


I can't believe that in less than two months we'll be home! We have already done the standard research of the area that will be our home for the next four years - you know, nearest Dunks, Chinese, and Target! I am happy to say that all three are within a mile of our new place!

All in all it was a very productive week for us. I have some pictures of David's week in NH that I promise to post later. But for now keep your fingers crossed for us as nothing is set in stone yet!

David's Obsession with...ELMO:

For the most part I never put on kids shows for David - mostly for my own sanity. About a couple months ago we started putting on Sesame Street for David while he was eating his breakfast. By the time we turn on the TV the Elmo's World segment begins. Now he recognizes Elmo everywhere - on billboards, in the store...he can't get enough!

The Easter Bunny brought David an Elmo's World DVD and I wish I were kidding when I say that I have seriously watched that DVD a hundred times. Anytime we're home and have the TV on he will hands the remote and say "Elmo". I even bought him a little stuffed Elmo doll which he can't go anywhere without including his spring pictures.

Here are David's latest pictures we had done two weeks ago at JC Penny:

Wanna See a Beached Whale?

OK so I am not really a beached whale but I sure feel like it sometimes! Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks. That means I have 8 weeks to go and I still can't wrap my head around it!

At this point my total weight gain has been 20lbs. With David my total weight gain was 50lbs. That would mean that I would need to put on 30lbs in 8 weeks and I won't let myself do that!!

Even though I have been better about my weight gain this time around I feel much more uncomfortable. It must be the way Shaun is positioned. I have been having episodes of shortness of breath and more back pain this time around - two things that never happened with David. Another difference (so far anyway) this time is that I don't have the massive kankles I had with David at this point. Although I think I would rather the kankles than the lower back pain...I don't know....

Anyway this is what a beached whale looks like at 31 weeks 6 days pregnant!

It's Official - Want to Buy a House!

Our house is officially on the market. We have already had two showings and gotten some good feedback from our Realtor. He was really happy we decided to install the pergo floors in the rest of the bedrooms. I have to say that I am too impressed by the amazing difference it made especially in the third bedroom!

The "before" pictures were taken during our walk through before we closed on the house June 3rd 2005. The after pictures we took a couple weeks ago for the Real Estate Listing.

LIVING ROOM:

The Living Room from the front door view:



The Living Room from the Kitchen view:



In the Living Room we painted, added a chair rail and stained the woodwork a dark walnut color. Our Realtor told us that while a lot of people may change the colors - he likes it because it gives the room "texture" and a "homey feel".

KITCHEN:

The Kitchen from the living room:

This kitchen is the reason that I wanted to buy this house. I love our cabinet space the layout and counter space! On the other side of the dishwasher there are bar stools - so the counter also serves as a breakfast bar! The curtains came with the house and we liked the look so we kept them and added the curtain on the back door.

BATHROOM:

The full bath:



The full bath has a jacuzzi style tub - which at first I thought was cool but I only used it a handful of times. We didn't change much in this room either - just a new coat of paint.

BEDROOMS:

The Master Bedroom:



In this room we added the really nice vertical shades - mostly because the cats broke the horizontal ones. The vertical blinds not only look nicer, in my opinion, but they give the cats easier access to sit in the windows. We also painted and installed the pergo. The carpet color wasn't bad in this room - but it's amazing how much bigger it looks now that it's pergo.

The Second Bedroom (David's Room):

We painted and added the pergo floors to this room as well. We decided to keep David's room simple since we knew we would be selling eventually. This room would make a nice bedroom for any age or an office depending on what the next buyer sees fit.

The Third Bedroom (our guest room/computer room):



In my opinion this room changed the most just by adding the pergo and the nice blue paint color. This room is nice because the sunlight really shines in the late afternoon and it's just so warm and inviting because of that. The carpet was hideous in this room - makes me sad we didn't do the pergo sooner so we could have enjoyed it more!

There you have it our house! While I am excited to be moving back home to Boston - I am truly going to miss this house. In the short time we lived here we have made it a home!

Fun in the Tub:

Thanks to a visit from his cousin Cohen - David loves to play in the tub!

Happy Easter!

Look at what the Easter Bunny left for David! He was so excited to see his new Elmo's World DVD and Elmo Bath Toys:

New PJ's

Today David and I hung out while Daddy was on call in the CCU. We headed over to the mall to walk around and do some shopping. Since it was early and not very crowded I decided to let David walk around. He wandered over to the Easter Bunny area and saw the Easter Bunny sitting on a bench. I had no intentions of taking David to get pictures done especially after the Santa debacle but he started to wave.

I thought maybe he would sit for a picture. David keeps waving from the aisle and the Easter Bunny waves back. I asked him if he would like to sit with the Bunny for a picture. He looked at me and said "No, No NOOOOOOO!" and kept shaking his head. I guess he only liked the Bunny from far away! He even said bye to the Bunny as we walked away. Weird.

Before heading home we stopped at my favorite store for PJ's (the Carter's Outlet) to see what the spring sales were and I found these really cute PJ's. They say "crabby" on the front! I couldn't resist. Here are some pictures of David being silly and having some fun tonight with Mommy! The last picture is David showing me where his "button" is!

28 Weeks: Need I say More:

I am going to turn into a beached whale again...I am so hungry all the time. I won't tell you that when I confided my concerns to the Doc he proceeded to MOO at me. I suppose he is lucky my sense of humor is still in place with all these prego hormones!!

I guess if I am that worried I will take the advice of the doctor from the last pregnancy who told me to replace my M&M's (although this time it's Snickers bars) with carrot sticks!

No More Sippy Cup

I picked up David from daycare on Monday and was told by his teacher that I no longer needed to bring his sippy cup every day. He now drinks from a plastic cup provided by the school. Since we want to be consistent with what he does at school I got him some new cups. We had a few spills but amazingly he is very coordinated. Check out our big boy drinking from a big boy cup.

New Floors:

My brother David, Krystal and Cohen came to visit with us this weekend to help us install some pergo floors in our guest bedroom and master bedroom. Our realtor said it would make a huge difference when putting the house on the market if we could do pergo in the rest of the rooms as we did for David's room.

With my brother's help we were able to do both rooms for less than we paid for David's room. Let me tell you - they look AWESOME! It's amazing how much bigger the rooms look. Check out some before and after pictures (since I forgot to take before pictures these will have to do)

Guest Room Before: (well way before - look how little David is - but it's the only picture I could find!)


Guest Room After: (if you look really close at the corner you can see the old carpet)


Master Bedroom Before:


Master Bedroom After:


David had so much fun with his cousin Cohen this weekend. He was a little selfish sometimes with his toys but it's the first time he's been the "big" kid in his own house. For the most part they had fun. David even got in the tubby when he saw how much fun Cohen was having.





Thanks guys for all the help! The floors are awesome and I really do think it will make all the difference in helping us sell this place!