32 Weeks

Okay, 32 weeks and counting! My doctor's appointment went well on Friday, but I have to see my cardiologist to have a look at my heart because of what happened at the end of my pregnancy with Mason. I was starting to feel my heart race for several seconds at random times. For a little while, it happened once about every other day, for no apparent reason (I wasn't in the middle of a strenuous activity, usually I was either sitting or lying down when it happened). But for the past week or so, I don't think I've felt my heart race at all. I don't know what the cardiologist will find.

I'm still playing volleyball once a week. I'm definitely slower, and I can't believe my team still wants me to play. I'm probably more of a hindrance than a help on the court! I think that next week will probably be my last week of playing.

This baby is SO active. He is moving all the time. I don't know if he ever sleeps! He moves while I'm walking, and on Sunday, I even felt him while I was running on the volleyball court! I have a feeling he's going to be a handful.

Wesley is still our top name pick, I'm starting to get more attached to it.

2 months

Dear Dad,

Today marks 2 months since you died. I'm sad to know that I'll never hear your voice again, or see you being silly with your grandchildren, or watch you hug Mom, or listen to you coax me to use less plastic/eat more coconut oil/throw away my microwave... I miss you. I wish that you didn't have to die in the hospital, that you could have come home one last time. Instead, you were whisked away from the nursing home to the hospital. I hated that place for you. I hated that you were there, and I'm so sorry I didn't push harder to have you transferred to a nicer place. I'm sorry if being in that place made you not want to live that way any more. I love you so much, and I hope you know that we would have helped Mom take care of you...but I know that you were too proud and that you didn't like relying on others (even if it was just your daughters and your wife) to help you.

I know you are with our Lord and Jesus Christ right now, happy and pain-free. I believe you are watching over me, Mom, Chark, and all your grandchildren every day. I believe you probably know more about your newest grandson than I do. You are probably rejoicing over being reunited with your parents, and your sisters. I know that my sadness and grief will fade, and the memories I have of your last weeks and days will be washed out by all of my other fonder memories of you. I know that even though you aren't physically here with us, you will still share our experiences...maybe even more so.

For now, though, I just wish you were still here.

Love always,

Kath

Tyler's Kindergarten Registration, Mason & the Potty, 30 Weeks

Wow…so, I’ve been completely slacking on the blog posts recently. I don’t think it will get any better for a while, but I am still going to try to update as much as I can.

We spent quite a bit of time and effort talking with Tyler about his feelings and controlling his emotions (both positive and negative), and discussing with his preschool teacher how to handle his outbursts at school. One major contributor to his mood was his hunger! Imagine that, just like Mommy and Daddy! J So, along with discussing Tyler’s feelings at appropriate times, his teacher allowed me to bring in an additional snack for him to eat during the day, when he felt his energy was low. All of that together seemed to work very well, because he has had great weekly behavioral reports for the past few months!

In April, we registered Tyler for Kindergarten!! We took a tour of his school, and he was also given a quick assessment of some basic knowledge. He is so excited about going to school! In May, his preschool held a graduation ceremony for his class. They were completely adorable in their graduation caps, singing all sorts of songs, like:

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

My oh my, summer’s coming our way!

Plenty of sunshine heading our way

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

There’s aNo sadness in the air

It’s over, it’s done, but wasn’t preschool fun?!

Zippity doo da

Zippity ay

Summer’s coming, coming our way!

Tyler has grown so much just in the past 4 months. It really is amazing how fast kids learn and grow. When Mike’s awesome sister & her kids moved down (to within 5 miles of our house!), his brother’s family, her family, and our family all joined the local pool. It’s been a lifesaver on hot summer days for this preggo momma, let me tell you! It has also helped Tyler and Mason build their swimming skills. Tyler is a much better swimmer (still not swim-team material, but definitely next summer) than he was while just taking once-a-week lessons at VCU. Tyler can now jump off a diving board and swim to the side of the pool. He did that over and over just a few days ago!

The latest development just happened on Sunday. Tyler announced his first loose tooth! Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones, but when he told us, I just gushed over him and gave him a big hug, calling him a big boy and trying to wiggle the tooth J He was so darn cute! And not at all worried, either.

Now, Mason’s big event happened just recently, too. He is consistently peeing in the potty!! It’s only been two weeks since he started wearing regular “big boy” underwear to school and during the day. He had a LOT of accidents the first day, and then 1 the second, and no accidents at school since then! We still wear pull-ups to bed, and some mornings he wakes up dry, but others he’s wet. He loves using the potty, but has yet to poop in the potty. So far, we’ve thrown out 2 or 3 pairs of underwear that were just too soiled for me to save & clean up (we weren’t at home when Mason decided he didn’t care he was wearing underwear, he would poop in them anyway!). I’m excited that Mason may be fully and completely potty-trained by the time the baby is born!

Mason is also very adventurous in the water. Something that has developed, I’m sure, because of the amount of time we’re able to spend at the pool, now that we’re members. He learned first to put his whole face in the water, and once we introduced him to using goggles, he wanted to put his face in the water all the time! When we were at the pool last week, Mason wanted to touch the bottom of the pool with his feet. He did that several times, completely immersing himself underwater! The last time, he got too excited and ended up taking a breath while he was still underwater, which resulted in him coughing up his dinner. Afterwards, he was done for the day.

As for the baby, we found out at the end of April that we’re having…drum-roll please…another boy! Yes, we’re just destined to be an all-boy family, because we are DONE! Three kids is a perfect amount for us. I’m 30 weeks along, and getting more uncomfortable every day, but only because of the recent stifling heat! I don’t have anything to really complain about, I’m probably rather lucky in that I just have some minor aches and pains, but nothing to keep me away from volleyball! I played on Sunday night, and did much better than I thought I would. I’m not sure that I’ll play any longer than July, but I’ll see how I feel each week.

Mike and I are considering naming the baby Wesley, but only because neither of us like the other’s name picks!