New

The past few weeks, we've found a new routine.  C's surprised me with no tears & no complaints each morning before school.  We've actually adjusted quite well to the earlier bedtimes and earlier risings in the morning.  With C in school every day, we try to make our afternoons fresh & exciting.

C can be found having water balloon splash-fests with Nana on any given Tuesday or Thursday afternoon!

I enjoy my lunch dates, just me & Peewee.  This was an afternoon last week where Connor was extra happy after getting to pull play-doh out of the treasure box at school.  I deeply cherish our conversations before/after school.  I love to hear about what he's learning and how he interprets everything.

For example, the other day on the way to school C asked me if when he's old and sick, if God would let him bring toys to Heaven.  Or last week, C told me he has Jesus in his heart.  Talk about triggers to make a pregnant mama cry.  I am so grateful he's at such a wonderful school.

With time quickly flying by (as I'm already 34 weeks), I've been trying to get everything together in case little Noah decides to come early.  The nursery is almost complete (just need to hang curtains this weekend and hook up the video monitor), the baby's hospital bag is packed, and we are ready & waiting.

I had my 1st baby model in the baby's room for me.  He loves to climb in & out of the crib playing with finger puppets.  It's so hard to believe he used to appear tiny in this crib.

After researching navy gliders, recovering cushions, and getting completely discouraged, I got super lucky & found red cushions at Pier 1 that turned C's old, dingy baby blue glider into a fresh, red gilder.  Although I was hoping for navy, red still does the trick. Tahhh dahhh!

My next Dr's appointment is the start of my weekly appointments until the baby comes.  Its hard to believe its time to check my cervix & just wait to see when our little guy wants to make his debut.  It is slowly starting to become a reality.  Eeek!

Baby Shower!!

If you put my sisters & my Mom in charge of any event, you will not find anything more beautiful!

These girls should seriously take on event planning as a profession!

Every detail was flawless & needless to say, my baby shower for Noah was amazing!

All things nautical make my heart happy :)

The food was wonderful!  The dessert was sooooooo good!

Baby Noah is beyond blessed already!

The details were so beautiful!

I was excited to tell Matt we have the entire top layer of the Baby Shower cake to freeze (since we didn't have anything saved to eat for our 1 year anniversary...and pretty sure Baby Noah will be our big anniversary celebration this year...).

Thank you to all who came to celebrate & a giant thank you to my Mom, Nicole & Katie for all that they did to put on such a beautiful Shower!

Big, big day!!

Connor's been hesitant about this whole 'new class' thing for a while.  When we went to Orientation, he kept making sure I wasn't dropping him off & that I would stay with him.  I had so much anxiety built up inside on how his 1st day would go.

Well...Connor woke last night around 1:30am & came into my room saying "I don't want to go to my new school, Mom."  I reassured him it was still dark out & he didn't need to worry about it right now.  My stomach dropped inside though, as I knew the morning would only bring more anxiety.  I woke C around 7:10am (which is super early for him).  I started to dress him while he was still half asleep in bed.  We sang our "Good Morning" song to help him smile & wake up.  I suggested we see what exciting cartoons were on TV since we were up earlier than usual.  We headed out to the playroom & "Octonauts" held Peewee's attention while I prepared breakfast & loaded the car.  To my surprise, C never once noted that he didn't want to go to school.  When "Octonauts" was over, we headed downstairs & hopped in the car.  I kept the 'distractions' coming & turned on Disney Pandora Radio for the ride to school.  We jammed to "Heffalumps" and "I am a Pizza"...among other fun songs.  We got to school, unloaded, and walked on in.  I was still nervously waiting for C to express his anxiety.  We got to his classroom, the "Frog Room," and were greeted by his teachers among other parents snapping photos & settling their kids in.  I helped C pull his folder out, hang up his backpack & find his seat.  I kissed him & told him I'd be back real soon, so we could have our lunch picnic in the car & then go bowling.  He became quiet, but still no tears or comments about not wanting to be there.  I felt like my feet were glued to the floor, because I had to force myself to leave.  I stood outside his classroom door & waved before heading out to my car to cry alllllll the way home.  Oh and here come the tears again now.  Being a Mom plus hormones is a dangerous combination!

My phone alarm is set to 11:15am, so I can head out to pick up my favorite 4 year old!  So anxious to hear about his day & how he liked it.

Here's the start to our 1st day of school photos.  If you can't tell, he chose his "Chillin like Chewbacca" shirt for today! Whatever makes him happy :).

Friday is Show & Tell day, so can't wait to see what Connor decides to take in.

My baby won't stop growing!! Ughhh...

Papa's Boat!

A bait well full of shiners...

Hooking into fish every few minutes...

This child could stay out on Papa's boat forever...

No matter how big or small the fish...

He couldn't get enough...

He did tell Papa he would prefer to not do the "hard work" of reeling in the fish all the time!

Funny little kid...

Papa parked us at a great spot where the boys caught a variety of fish~

Jack, Snapper, Blowfish, Ballyhoo

Out of all the fish they brought into the boat, Connor got the most joy out of Papa bringing in a net full of shiners to play with in the bait well!

If we weren't fishing, Connor couldn't wait to "go super fast."

I love to see Connor growing up on the boat & fishing. :)

Exciting happenings...

While Matt's been away in Ohio, we've been pretty busy!

Monday was the Bachelorette Finale.  It wasn't a huge deal to me, but it was my motivation to practice putting C to bed a little earlier in preparation for VPK early mornings next week.  I got C settled & asleep by 8:45pm.  I hopped in bed to watch some ridiculously mushy reality tv, all to be surprised with Connor in my room by 10:15pm.  His early bedtime seemed to appear as a power nap to him.  This early bedtime prep isn't going to be as easy as I imagined!

Check out the sweet photo I got of the Bo-chelar.

I'd pick him anyday!!

Tuesday was Auntie Katie's birthday!!

Although we didn't get to see her, we will get to celebrate with her next week when she's in town for my Baby Shower.

This is my Mr. Cool Guy when Nana picked him up from school on Tuesday.  He looks forward to his 2 afternoons a week with his Nana.

Wednesday night we got a farewell gift for C's teacher at school, since his last day was Thursday.

Thursday morning was a big day!  It marked C's last day at Noah's Nursery (Mom's Day Out program).  C started last May with his best bud, Ryder, by his side.  C's last day was spent playing with his best bud, Coen.  I was very grateful to have both boys there at different times to serve as a 'crutch' for Connor at school.  Anxious to see who C's new best bud will be in his VPK class.

We dropped our last coins in the "Frog's Mouth" before he went to class.

Sidenote: C & I made this our daily school morning routine to bring a few pennies & watch them whirl around the frog's face.

Then this morning, we went to explore C's new classroom for VPK at orientation.  Connor's new teacher is Mrs. Earp, who seems to be very very sweet & a great fit for C.  Connor is in the "Frog" room & although we don't know any kids in his classroom yet, I'm sure it won't be long before he mingles with his new friends.

It was fun to see Connor's name randomly throughout the classroom.  It kinda made it all seem 'real'.

I did my best to make his class seem amazing, to help relieve Peewee's anxiety.  He settled in quickly when he found the Potato Head bucket.

 C's teacher did a great job setting up the classroom & I look forward to volunteering in his class for future b'day/holidays to see how his days will be.

It's a countdown until his first day of school next Wednesday.  I'm already carrying that Mom anxiety, wondering how he'll do the first day (or first week).  Praying for no tears and a happy, happy experience!

Up & Running!

I've had some success selling my badge holders at the Hospital, so I finally set aside time today to set up a shop on Etsy.com.

--Hoot As A Button--

I figured I'd give it a shot to see if I had any success online.  Wish me luck!! :)

Days flying by

I don't know where the time has gone lately.  Talking about Connor going to Pre-K is starting to become a reality.  We've received letters from his school, Orientation & Open House dates, and school clothes have been purchased.  Speaking of school clothes, I had big plans to take Connor to Carter's Outlet to find some cute preppy outfits.  On our way there, Connor was so precious and asked me if we could find him some "cool clothes...really cool clothes."  I promised him we would find some cool clothes & I asked him what he had in mind.  He went on to tell me that he wanted character clothes.  I knew my idea of what he would wear was kind of out the window at this point.  We swung by Target instead & we tried very hard to pick out the least tackiest character clothing.  Boys don't get excited over clothes, unless they're decked out in a Super Hero or Villian of some kind!  We ended up with a Darth Vader shirt, Batman shirt, and Lego Batman underwear.  I was able to pick out shoes I liked, only because C's giant feet don't allow him to fit into the character/light up sneakers for little boys.  I tried to sell Connor on the idea that his sneakers might not have characters on them, but they were bright green like Slimer.  I promised him we could get character socks too.  I was also able to find him a Chewbacca (aka "Chewy") shirt too!  Now I have a little guy that is looking forward to going to school!  Now we just have to pray that Connor's best buddy, Coen, ends up in his class.

On the topic of days flying by, how did my little boy get to be so big?!?!  He was helping bake at Nana's this past week & I just couldn't get over how he all of a sudden looks like a big kid.  Whether its pregnancy hormones or just Mama denial, I tear up just talking up him being so grown up.  Oh how I love this little guy.

I've reached the final stretch kinda-sorta!  I have no idea what day will be the finish line, but I keep the thought that C came at 37 weeks & I begin to think I need to be ready anytime!  While the calendar still has a few months left if I go the full 40 weeks, my belly is screaming "I surrender!"  My back aches at random times & I have to roll over from side to side about every 1/2 hour at night to avoid my hips from aching.  The baby's kicks have turned more into alien-like morphing of my stomach since he's running out of room in there.  My maternity shorts are getting tight, so I may be living in dresses for a bit. 

Matt just flew out this morning to Ohio for the week for work.  We made a promise that he will make no more airplane trips in my 3rd trimester!  With both of my boys out of the house today, I'm not used to it being so quiet!

Captiva Getaway!

C & I got a surprise call from Papa Thursday evening asking us what our plans were for Friday.  When he noted he was taking a half day at work & wanted to take us to Captiva for fishing & beach fun, we suddenly had exciting plans for the day!

We hopped in to the slightly murky water (Eek!).

It didn't phase Papa & C, but Mama isn't found of water where I can't see whats in it!  I earned big Mom points by hanging with the boys in the brownish water, had a slight freak out when a fish and sand crab touched me, but still...Mom points were earned.

We took a stroll down the beach to find

1. A perfect shadey spot under the bridge

and...

2. Three boys with a fun net scooping up critters

It wasn't long before Connor made some new friends & Papa relocated our beach chairs in the shade!

The boys were interested in catching bigger fish in their net, so they were kind enough to plop any little fish or crabs into C's bucket to keep him entertained.

"Hey! We have 8 sea creatures in my bucket now!"

Sitting in the shade was Heaven!

Before we headed out for ice cream on the way home, C reminded Papa he hadn't taught him how to "launch his bait" (aka cast).  My tiny fisherman had a little lesson from a pro.

I love watching them together.  C adores his Papa.

So now we're home, cleaned up & jammied up---

I can guarantee Papa is snoozing in his chair at home & I'm ready to hit the pillow at 7:45pm...but C is still going strong.  This child is never tired.  Hoping we all get a good night's sleep :)