Beach Bum

Wednesday was my last official day off for working a Saturday...(tear).  I loved having a day off during the week but didn't like going in on Saturdays when I had to leave behind the sweetest little face as he waved bye bye-so instead of spending 8 hours reading and watching movies (easiest shift ever!) I am now promoted to no Saturdays!  We spent our last day off together in style and at the beach!  We finally checked out 'The Lakes' in Blaine and were taken in by the huge park, splash pad and nicely groomed beach.  Riley had a blast playing in the sand, running in the water and turning on the splash pad.  We went with other Mom's clubs members and a few of the kids we were with grabbed and took off with toys that weren't theirs.  I saw that one of the boys was leaving with his Dad so I asked Riley to return a few of his toys that ended up near our camp.   I proudly watched as he walked up to the Daddy and said "here" as he handed over the prized sand truck.  He has grown up so much and I love watching him problem solve, interact with others and learn to get along.  Our day at the beach was one of my favorites and I will love the pictures I took for a long time.

Couldn't love him anymore!  

16 weeks

16 weeks has come so quickly this go around and I am not looking so skinny anymore.  I am in that in-between stage where it looks like a few pounds have been added but if you didn't know I was pregnant you would have thought I visited the State Fair everyday and eaten everything in my path (which I fully intend to do next week!)  Although, my co-workers have been flattering me with comments like "you look like you have lost weight" and "Only 4 lbs, you could pee that out in one sitting!"  Thanks ladies but I look skinnier probably because of the dark circles under my eyes and the sunken cheeks from being so tired ; )

PREGNANCY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEKS: 16 weeks

BABY SIZE: 4-5 inches, 4 ozs, about the size of an avocado!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN: So far only 4 lbs...I am trying to watch what I eat and continue to power walk everyday for 45-60 minutes but Summer Sanders Pregnancy videos just don't sound appealing.  I guess I have only had to workout to lose weight so working out when pregnant isn't making alot of sense to me yet.  Plus I have the appetite of a vulture and very little self restraint! 

SLEEP: I became a back sleeper since Riley was born and am having a heck of a time not waking up on my back all night long without having nightmares about how I just cut off the baby's blood supply by laying comfortably, so 2 body pillows are being used and I am starting to sleep a little better minus the one sometimes two visits to the bathroom : )

MOVEMENT: Not yet, but I can't wait to feel that first kick in the next couple of weeks.

SYMPTOMS: Crazy dreams!!!

WHAT I MISS: Occasionally I get a whiff of coffee and I miss my weekly mocha's.  I imagine this will only get worse once the snow flies and I am freezing in the mornings again ; )

CRAVINGS: Anything with buffalo sauce, state fair food, green olives and lots and lots of chocolate covered raisins. 

MATERNITY CLOTHES: No!  Thank goodness not yet!  I will need to buy all new clothes anyways since I hardly bought anything last time around and this time around it will be winter that I am huge! 

WHAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: Finally hearing a fast little heartbeat! 

Pregnancy brain rears its ugly head

Because I enjoy laughing at myself I thought this would brighten your day a bit as looking back on it has made me giggle. 
For Riley's b-day I bought 50 balloons thinking this year I would save some money and blow them up myself.  So Saturday evening I sat down and started on #1.  I was confused and decided to see if #2 did the same thing-that same thing being falling right to the floor and not floating at all.  After #3 and #4 I yelled for Derrick to come to the living room and help me.  He assumed I had ran out of air (ha!) and I assumed my air was not good enough or that I was doing something wrong because the balloons weren't floating.  After I  explained to him that I wanted the balloons to float and that I had my matching string sitting out waiting for a balloon to float from it-he couldn't stop laughing.  Yes, I knew that you needed helium to make a balloon float for days but I totally thought my air would at least make the balloon float for a few hours before dropping.  Indeed that is not the case (something I would have surely remembered had I not been pregnant (ha!))  So instead of saving money, they charged me the same amount for the helium as they would have if I'd have bought the balloons there and I still have 40 balloons left.  I have been told by friends NOT to repeat this story.  I just couldn't help myself. 

Fun with Friends

We had a wonderful weekend!  We kicked it off Thursday night with the "Performance in the Park" at the CR Dam after a healthy bike ride.  Riley got to 'drive' a firetruck again and started flirting with a very pretty blue-eyed blondie of about 5 years.  She showed him how to play tag and he was the all time tagger/pursuer because he didn't understand running away from her.  It was 2 cute and we just sat back and relaxed.  It was the perfect night to finally break outside and enjoy the summer!  
Friday was my day off and our first 'to do' was a make-up 2 year old shot...poor boy.  He only needed one and he was a trooper especially when he realized it was one and done.  We headed right to Aquatore park afterwards to host the "Performance in the Park" with some of our Mom's Club friends and although the entertainment was cute and funny Riley was a bit young to understand the "magic" involved.  Instead he sat and snacked on chick-a-dees laughing when the big kids laughed and wanting very badly to get up on stage and play with the mind reading racoon Rocky.  Of course half-way through the performance he had to go pee pee and I tried to get him to go in the shelter but it was dimly lit and huge toilets are a little intimidating for him so after some advice we are now going to be carrying around the potty chair seat that makes the normal size toilets toddler friendly.  Poor kid has been EXCELLENT at potty training and there have been many afternoons/evenings where we haven't changed one diaper so I hated telling him to go in his unders. 
I enjoyed another beautiful evening on Friday with book club at the Dam talking, walking and enjoying a candlelit snack. 
Saturday was a LAZY day with pj's staying on until nearly 2:30.  We LOVE our naps and lazy mornings!  We were so excited to see Rachel, Sorin and Baby Leah until she actually arrived.  Riley hid in the other room and was extrememly upset to see his Mommy holding another baby.  So we tried to get him interested in her by showing him her 'owies' from shots that she also had on Friday and from there on out she was his buddy.  He held her and wanted to carry her, when she rolled over he rolled over (continously for like 20 minutes), when she was in her seat ready for dinner Riley Man wanted to help carry it.  We ate at Red Lobster to celebrate Rachels B-day and because when we get together we really like to eat good!  Rachel brought all kinds of fun pregnancy books for us me to read and a doppler so I can start trying to find this little hidden heartbeat that we are dying to hear. 

Leah was such a sweetheart and a peanut!  She was all smiles and didn't make a peep once.  She dances when you talk to her and by the end of the evening Riley loved her too!  We can't wait to see more of her! 

Sunday afternoon found us up with an alarm clock at 6:30 (YUCK!) and out the door for a s-ball tourtement in Ham Lake.  We lost the 1st game and had a 75 minute break and then played 4 games in a row in 97 degree weather.  It was by far the most hot we have ever been and I don't know how no one got sick!  Our team did AWESOME and we pulled out a few amazing wins with some extra effort.  My performance was (by explanation of my teammates) superb due to the fielding fetus I am growing.  Apparently he/she gave me extra-ordinary powers and I played better than I ever have.  Don't worry-I wouldn't have played (D wouldn't have let me) if it wasn't completely safe.  I made sure to drink lots of water and I sat out when needed too.  Everyone took very good care of me and besides some extra muscle fatigue and restless legs afterwards we all managed to avoid some serious heat stroke.  My pregnancy powers didn't stop at the fielding though-I was able to smell things no one should have to, like the smell of grass on a very hot, humid day (smelled like it was burning, made me want to vomit!) and the overpoweringly strong smell of sweat-lots of it, head sweat, arm sweat, butt sweat, foot sweat, shirt sweat-way too much sweat-but not much one could do about it!  We ended up taking 4th place out of 16 teams and we enjoyed a pig roast and roasted sweet corn afterwards-DELISH!  How I love summertime, softball and swine!  Riley man was so super happy to see us after such a long day-he didn't mind the sweat one bit!  ; )  Til next years season-hopefully one more baby won't make me anymore slow or uncoordinated!