34 Week Update

I cannot believe that as of today, I only have 5 1/2 weeks left until the new arrival!! I was 34 weeks on Tuesday and I had a doctor appointment yesterday which went well.

Thankfully, my blood pressure is finally back to normal and I no longer feel like I am going to pass out at any moment. I've only gained 11 pounds which the doctor said is on the low side but because the baby is measuring exactly where he is supposed to, he wasn't concerned about it. I swear that the only reason I haven't gained any weight is because I am constantly chasing a two-year-old and it is exhausting! At his gymnastics class, I used to be able to keep up with him but these last few weeks, I find myself watching him run around like a mad man while I stand and wait for him to come back to me :)

Baby numero dos weighs about 5 pounds and everything looks perfect. The doctor couldn't tell if the baby was head down yet. I go back in two weeks for another appointment and then I go weekly after that. For a split second, I was worried that Trent wasn't allowed into the hospital since kids under 12 aren't allowed into labor and delivery, but I just called the hospital and the nurse said that because he Trent is my child, he is allowed, but no other kids are. I figured as much but I just wanted to make sure that my little monster could come visit me!

For a long time I felt like Mark and I were totally prepared for the baby but the closer it gets, I realize that I still have a lot left to do. I still have to sanitize all of the bottles and my pump. I have to take the bassinet apart and wash it all. We have to pack our bag. I have to sanitize all of Trent's toys and wash and install the car seat. I also have a sneaking suspicion that I am going to be early because I know exactly when I got pregnant despite the doctor's little chart that says otherwise! To top it off, I still have to do all of that and get ready for the party!

I am now waking up about 5 times a night to pee which is exhausting, but other than that, I feel pretty good. I am not having any bad symptoms at the moment. Although I did wake up really early yesterday morning with some horrible contractions which last for over an hour. I forgot how painful those things are! Yikes!

So far, so good! Nothing too interesting to report!

Hey, Old Lady, Really? My Aversion to Walmart

I wrote a post a few months back about how an old lady at Walmart felt the need to tell me that I needed to remove my child from the store when my husband was doing exactly that. I don't think that I've been back to Walmart since. Not because of one silly, old woman, but because that store is always so jam packed that it takes me twice as long to get my shopping done and with a restless soon-to-be two year old, that just cannot happen!

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of going yesterday. I wanted to get the dry goods for the party and my dinner stuff for the week, so I thought that I would kill two birds with one stone and go to Walmart rather than to Raley's and Target. Well, I probably should have just stayed home!

Trent was pretty well behaved for the first half of my shopping trip but he decided that he no longer wanted to stay seated in the cart for the grocery shopping portion of the trip. I had to constantly hold him down in the cart because he kept trying to finagle his way out of the strap. He then began to reach into the back of the cart, grab whatever his little fingers could reach, and then throw the item out of the cart. Long story short, he was driving me crazy. The dreaded Terrible Two are exactly that...terrible. He is trying to assert his independence more and more and he just does not like the word "no." He can be a sweet little cuddle monkey half of the time or a screaming monster the other half; his mood changes like the wind! And when a tantrum starts, it is bad. He typically grabs whatever is near him and chucks it as hard as he can. I am trying to stay consistent and not give in so that he knows I mean business. To top it off, he sometimes feels the need to scream at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason; he doesn't seem angry or frustrated--he just likes to see how loud he can be and then he laughs hysterically. Needless to say, I have my hands full like many mothers of two year olds.

Anyhow, my cute little man began to get fussy in the store. We were almost done when he decided to pick up the carton of milk and throw it back into the cart where it landed on the eggs and smushed them to you know what. I had to keep telling myself to breath...that we were on our way out of the store.

I paid for all of the goods, which took forever because my my cart was overflowing with crap...I had cases of water and beer for the party plus bags and bags of food. The cart was so heavy that I was even having a hard time pushing it. We began to make our way to my car which was about half way down the lot...it's not like I had a prime spot next to the entrance, when I noticed a car following slowly behind me. I glanced at the woman behind the wheel and wondered what in the world she was doing. I silently prayed that she wasn't following me to my spot because it was going to take me forever to unload the cart. Well, she was doing just that.

I got to my car, opened the trunk, and the woman stopped her own car and starred at me. I glanced around and noticed that there was a spot open directly across from me. Granted, it was on the other side of the aisle, but it was the exact same distance from the entrance to the store. I smiled at the woman, motioned to my overflowing cart and then to the open slot across from me but she did nothing in response. Confused and slightly annoyed, I began to unload my cart.

Once that was done, I glanced at the woman again and shrugged like "I'm sorry," when she motioned for me to hurry it along. I pointed at Trent and then at the open spot but she shook her head. I shrugged as I began to take Trent out of the cart. As I was loading him in the car, she continued to motion for me to hurry it along. I did my best to go as fast as I could but I couldn't believe this woman was being so rude. I still had to walk my cart over to the cart collection stand and as I did so, she began to hit her steering wheel. I wanted to scream, "Hey, Old Bag, I'm moving as fast as my big belly will allow." Instead, however, I waddled as quickly as I could back to my car and backed out. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw her tear into my spot like her behind was on fire.

Needless to say, not only does Trent appear to have an aversion to Walmart (he is always especially misbehaved when we are in that store) but I do now as well. I do not anticipate going back to that store no matter how cheap it is! I would rather make two stops instead of one just so that I can avoid the rude people who appear to frequent that place of business. I am beginning to think that those emails that I often am sent with the pictures of the unsavory Walmart patrons, are more and more true! You know the people I am talking about...people like these....





Now, if you'll excuse me. I am off to do an Amazon search for a miracle book that I was just told about on how to tame a two year old going through temper tantrums. I will get this child under control!

Apparently, a Jaguar Attacked Me

Mark...Mark...Mark...

I love my husband...dearly. He is so good to me, he is the best dad and he loves me soooo much. We laugh...a lot. We have so much fun together and I can honestly say, that we love to be around each other. I love him so very much. He does however, mess up occasionally, like he did on Sunday. On Sunday, he made a big slip-up that very well could have cost him that cute little face of his (I say sarcastically, of course)!

We were all in the backyard trying to finish the huge gate he decided to install in the fence before the party. He needed an extra pair of hands so I was forced to stand for hours, hold various boards, etc. and thankfully, I had it easy. Mark had to do all of the hard work. Anyhow, after standing outside for nearly all of Sunday, my back and feet were killing me. To top it off, my belly button literally felt like it was ripping in two.

I began to rub my belly button mindlessly when Mark asked me what I was doing. I told him that my tummy was tearing in two and I lifted my shirt a little bit to show him my belly button which he hates. He has always hated my belly button! Normally, I have the "inniest of all innies" and it drives Mark crazy. I don't know why but it's a thing he has. Anyhow, now that I'm large and in charge, it has popped out and is on full display. So, I was standing in front of him and pointing to my belly button when I jokingly asked if he could see it splitting in two. He got the perturbed look on his face that he always gets when he looks at my belly button, except this time, he looked much more disgusted than usual! I looked down to see what the fuss was all about and I pointed to the one stretch mark that I got when I had Trent. I reasoned that that was why he was looking more disgusted than usual. I said, "Oh, you don't like the one stretch mark that your son graced me with days before I had him?"And this was his response.....wait for it.....

"It looks like a jaguar attacked your belly button."

The first thing that popped into my mind was that his face was about to look like a jaguar attacked it but I kept that to myself. Rather, I started inspecting my belly furiously. I asked him what he was talking about and he again said that it looked like a jaguar got to me. I was shocked. Okay, so I have one stinking stretch mark from Trent's eight and a half pound body and no new stretch marks this pregnancy (fingers crossed). I consider myself pretty darn lucky!

I immediately became very self-conscious. If he thought that one stretch mark that can barely be seen when I'm not all stretched out to the max is so bad, then what does he think about the rest of my body?! I do have to admit, however, that the comment was kind of funny. After I got over my visualization of a jaguar attacking him, I laughed...a little.

As I was getting in the shower that night, I began to examine my belly in the mirror and I thought that I looked pretty good. I don't really have that pregnancy line (yet) that I got with Trent and it looks like I swallowed a basketball. I began to wonder what in the world my dear husband was talking about and then it hit me. That dork was referring to the holes above my belly button from the piercing I got when I was a teenager (and which NEVER go away completely)! Those little holes are now stretched out all weird and horizontally...that's what he was referring to! So, I have to give it to him. Those holes do kind of look like puncture marks made from teeth...not a jaguar's jaws but maybe more like a hamster.

In any event, to you dad's out there (if any men even read this blog), it's probably best to NEVER tell a woman that it looks like she was attacked by a jaguar or any wild creature for that matter. For if you do, be prepared to look like you were attacked by that same animal yourself!

Pregnancy Brain = Craziness

Pregnancy brain is in full effect, let me tell you! Not only is it making me mix up my words in the simplest of sentences, but I am fully blaming it for thinking that throwing this little crawfish boil a mere three weeks before my due date, was a good idea in the first place.

This "little" party that we had dreamed of planning, is turning out to be much bigger than we had expected! Although Mark invited everyone that he did because he wanted them to come, he was positive that certain people wouldn't be able to make it...well, I have received their RSVP's and they are coming! We are so excited but I am starting to get a little stressed out. I thought that I was really on top of it all because I had already ordered the bibs, cups, koozies, etc. I even have all of Mark and Trent's presents already. I initially thought that the only things left to do for the party was to clean the house and buy the good for the boil but I am realizing that I was mistaken! There is a lot that goes into a crawfish boil!

Because we won't be in town the weekend before the party, we have to get everything down these next two weekends. Unfortunately, however, many of the things that have to be done, cannot be completed until the week of the party which means that I am going to be running around like crazy. I showed Mark the list of things we have to do before the party and I believe he said something about most of the things on the list being my responsibility. I am assuming that he meant that I was in charge of most of the things because they have to do with cleaning but if I do all of the tasks on my list having to do with cleaning, I will go into full blown labor! My to do list consists of everything from cleaning the blinds to bleaching the grout in the kitchen because Trent's spilled chocolate milk stains are driving me nuts!!

Anyhow, thank goodness I am the organized person that I am and I have made a schedule laying out when everything will get done. Most importantly however, my parents are coming up early to help me out! Without them, I am sure I would be lost. And unlike last year when I chose to make the cake and cupcake myself, this year, I have opted to have all of that made!

To top it off, these last few days I have felt like I was going crazy because it has been sounding like Trent is saying two four letter words that he is not supposed to be saying at all. I was positive that he was saying "sit"and "frog"but it sounded like the "s" and "f" word. He also points at every single clock that he sees and screams "cock" at the top of his lungs. It is mortifying. He did it today at my old law office and at the rental company place. At least it is obvious what he is referring to when he says that word and it's even obvious when he is saying "shit" because he sits down every time he says it. I am, however, at a loss for the "f" word. I swear, I have never slipped and said that word in front of him...not even once. I am trying not to draw attention to it because I don't want him to say it even more, but it is so embarrassing. Being the boy that he is, he also feels the need to announce, at the top of his lungs, either when he has farted or when he has to fart. It typically sounds like this, "Mama, mama....I farrrrrteeeed!" Unfortunately, I know that this is just the beginning of the things he will say that will embarrass the living heck out of me!

On another note, like I put on Facebook, if you have received an invite to the party, please RSVP one week earlier than noted on the invite. I didn't realize that the rental company needed a final count so early. Thanks so much.

Here's to hoping that I don't lose my mind before the party :)

Now, if you will excuse me...I have to go pop some Tums like they're chocolate. This kid is going to be one hairy monster like his big brother!

You Know You're Getting Old When..., Part II

Last night, Mark and I were talking at the dinner table when I realized that our conversation sounded, well, old! After I pointed out the fact that our conversation was boring, we started laughing and we began to recite items to add to my blog, "You Know You're Old When...)



1. You don't know who Muse is.  I told Mark that his friends went to a Muse concert in Vegas last weekend and he asked me who in the world Muse was! I was shocked he had no idea. I actually had to pull them up on YouTube!

2. You keep hearing about something called the Harlem Shake and you still have no idea what it is!

3. You just don't get this Nicki Minaj (for the record, I had to look up how to spell her name) fad. In fact, you (meaning, me) have to turn the radio down every time she comes on the radio because her nasally rapping hurts your (my) ears.

4. You now listen to talk radio. I told Mark that this does't totally apply to him yet because his version of talk radio is the Howard Stern channel. When he actually starts to listen to AM, I'll be worried.

5. Your conversations with your friends now revolve around potty training, private mortgage insurance,  food, and body ailments instead of alcohol, which club you went out to and how long your hangover was.

6. You start getting "old lady" magazines in the mail! I now get clothing magazines from companies that I have never heard of before, the pages of which, consist of what can only be described as mu mu's!

7. You begin to find grey hairs. Okay, so this doesn't apply to everyone because I know people who began to go grey in their early twenties. I however, have began to find random grey hairs with increasing frequency. I fear that much money will be spent getting my hair dyed in the future! Although, I'm still holding out hope that the recent grey is a result from wacky pregnancy hormones rather than age :)

8. You watch Extreme Couponing and get really pumped up to cut coupons only to realize that it is too much work to both find the coupons and then figure out how the whole thing actually works.

9. You have to pee several times a night and you are NOT pregnant!

10. You begin to end each evening with a comment about wanting a "tasty treat" and again, you are NOT pregnant!


I think that's all for now! I'm sure the list will continue to grow :)

The Close Call of the Near B!tch Slap

I am not a violent person by any means but I nearly bitch slapped a woman. It happened like this...

Last week, I had to take Trent to the doctor because his entire body was covered in this crazy rash! Turns out, it was Roseola which was a reaction to the 104 fever he had been having from his teething. It just so happens that the doctor's office is directly across the street from the hospital. I had been bugging Mark for the last few weeks to meet me at the hospital so that we could pre-register for the impending birth but we haven't gotten around to getting down to the end of Carson City. Since I was right there, I decided to do it myself.

I put Trent in the stroller and prayed that the registration process would go quickly. For those moms out there, you know how kids can get fussy when the stroller stops moving. As long as the wheels are turning, Trent is good to go! As soon as he stops feeling the breeze on his face, he gets restless. Anyhow, the woman at the registration desk quickly handed me the papers to fill out and as she did so, she made a comment about how she will make it quick because she knows how kids are. I smiled, grateful that she understood, and quickly began to fill in the blank spaces.

The whole thing took less than 10 minutes and Trent was a quiet little man up until the time when the woman handed me my insurance card. As she did so, he began to kick his legs and let out a tiny screech. I grabbed my belongings and whisked him away as quickly as I could, thankful he behaved. I could see the entrance to the hospital in my line of vision just as Trent let out a loud scream. He began to push against the restraints so I picked up my speed, all the while telling him we would be at the car in a second and that he needed to be quiet in hospitals.

The gap between us and the door was lessening by the second. Trent let out a third screech when we were about three feet from the door. I paused and reached over to press the handicap button so that the door would open for me when a hospital employee walked up to me. Mind you, there are no rooms on the level we were on and no one in sight other than us, the lady at registration and this employee who appeared out of thin air. She waved at Trent and leaned down to his level. I smiled politely, all the while wondering what she was doing. She steadied herself on the leg rest of the stroller and leaned in close to him. I was about to ask her if I could help her when she calmly put her finger up to her mouth, leaned forward so that she was a mere few inches from Trent's face (he HATES strangers getting in his face), and she shooshed him...loudly. Well, what did this make Trent do...loudly? Scream his bloody head off. She stood up and smiled at me. The first thing that came to my mind was that I was going to bitch slap this woman if she got in my child's face like that one more time. I was stunned speechless.

I continued to stare at this woman, semi-conscious of Trent's meltdown happening right below me when she smiled at me sweetly and walked away!

I booked it through the doors as quickly as I could because now I really needed to calm him down. If she thought that he was loud before when he screeched three times, she would have been disgusted at how loud he screamed once she got in his face. If he was not in the throws of a complete and total freak out (tears pouring down his cheeks...beet red face), I would have turned my pregnant behind around and said something to that woman like mind your own freaking business.

I know that I have probably made Trent sound like a horrible child in this blog because I usually only post the instances where he has done something bad or had some major tantrum, but I swear, he really is pretty good. Lately, we have been able to go out to dinner in relative peace with him and this is a huge step for us! Sure, the terrible two's are starting to roll around but I am trying my best to nip that crap right now before it gets worse and I really feel as if progress has been made lately. When I tell him 'no,' the accompanying tantrums haven't been quite as long because he is finally learning that I mean business. It wasn't as if he was screaming his head off the entire time I was at the preregistration desk. Once he did began to get restless, I was already on my way out the door. The woman saw me leaving, was it really necessary that she do what she did?!

Nothing will piss you off more than when someone messes with your child...I never understood the whole "mama bear" concept until I had Trent and let me tell you, it's true! I felt like I wanted to reach across and smack that woman for not only getting into Trent's face but then shooshing him so rudely and loudly. Thank goodness I didn't! I've never hit someone before, nor do I plan on it, but that woman is lucky!

For future reference, I know that Trent is cute and all (I say that because I am his mother and think that he is adorable-hehe), but here's a tip...most kids, Trent included, do not like strangers in their faces! It happens all the time! We will be in a store, Trent will be minding his own business in the shopping cart,  and the poor guy will turn around to some random (and usually wrinkly--the elderly love to get close to him) face staring at him. If I turned around and saw someone standing a few inches from my mug, I would be startled too! Kids don't like it, trust me! Strangers can say hi; I don't even mind when someone touches Trent's arm or something, but please don't get so close to my child that you freak him out and cause a huge meltdown! If this tip will stop someone from doing it to some poor, unsuspecting little kid, I have done my job for the day!

And here's another tip....parent's don't need complete and utter strangers telling their kid to be quiet. I was doing that on my own. I am not one of those parents who lets their kid run around unattended at stores or restaurants or who ignores their child's tantrum while out in public...others may do that but that is not me so I really don't need a stranger telling me how to do my job which I work really hard at. To top it off, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if a kid is indeed in the middle of a tantrum, the parent is already embarrassed enough and it doesn't make matters better when a total stranger throws their two cents in. Parents, in general, are doing their best to raise well mannered, respectable little people, I promise.

Now, I am off to get my little man from his nap. Here's to praying that I don't get close to bitch-slapping  anyone else in the near future ;)

Saggy Boobs

As I was bustling about the kitchen this morning making Trent breakfast, I caught Mark staring at my boobs. If you know Mark, you know that this is nothing terribly new for him. I told him to stop it and shook my head. He calmly responded with, "Your boobs are getting really big." Again, I shook my head and turned my back on him.

He proceeded to walk up behind me and grab a big handful for myself (again, nothing new. People always make comments to me about how he is not affectionate and I have to laugh because the second we are alone, he is like a leach)! I pushed him away and said, "That's what pregnancy will do to you and they are getting saggy. I can't wait to get them pinned up to their rightful place after I'm done having kids."

It was at this point when a very serious look washed over Mark's face. He said, "Well, if you ever wore a bra, they would stop sagging. You are contributing to the problem yourself."

And it was at this point when I almost bitch-slapped him. I said, "The only time I don't wear a bra is after I get out of the shower at night and in the morning before I get dressed. I hardly think that that is contributing to the problem." Dumbfounded, he looked at me and said, "You never wear a bra." Even more dumbfounded, I stared back at him and asked him what he was talking about. I explained how I take Trent to gymnastics every morning and usually have at least one errand to run during the day and I don't do either of these things while letting the girls roam free but he continued to stare at me, wide-eyed.

I think that he could tell that I was beyond annoyed (my hormones have been crazy these last few days and I find myself getting moody) so his only response was, "I bet bras aren't that comfortable, huh?"

Nice change of topic, buddy-boy! I swear...guys are so clueless sometimes. I may be totally uninformed myself, but I always thought that that was an old wives-tale...kind of like how when I was like twelve and was afraid that if I slept on my stomach, my boobs wouldn't grow because they would be smushed all night long. I think that a friend told me that at school and every time I would wake up in the morning on my stomach, I would break out in a cold sweat, convinced that my boobs looked smaller than they already were. It wasn't until my mother told me that my fear was crazy (as was my friend) that I began to sleep soundly once more.

Anyhow, after I flashed Mark my best "you have no idea what you are talking about" look and he left for work, I jumped on the internet for some quick research, afraid that I was going to have to apologize to him for being right about his theory that lack of a bra for a few hours a day causes sagging. Thankfully, my quick research revealed that there is no evidence to support this crazy theory; therefore, my tail will not be between my legs when he walks in the door tonight! Thank goodness!!

32 Week Update

I had my 32 week appointment this morning and everything is right on schedule! I was scared to go without Mark (he had to drive three hours to a new office this morning so he missed the appointment) because normally, Trent sits on Mark's lap while I lay on the table and the doctor does his thing. We have found a babysitter who Trent really likes and I love but she is out of town for the next two weeks so I had to bring him all by myself! This time, I was splayed out and Trent was trying to investigate the cabinets while the doctor was talking to me. Every time the doctor would look at him however, Trent would hide behind the table I was lying on and then peek his head over to give the doctor the evil eye. The doctor even made a comment today about how Trent always stares him down and it's true. Trent does not like the doctor which is weird because he is normally such a happy little guy...shy, but happy. He want's nothing to do with Dr. A!

I am measuring correctly and the baby is about 4 pounds. I still have low blood pressure which explains why I am light headed a lot of the time but other than that, everything looks great! The heartbeat was at 155 and baby is kicking up a storm, mostly at night when I am trying to sleep. I am also dehydrated which is odd because I drink an obscene amount of water. After the doctor told me that I look tired, he said that I needed a lot more sleep and rest, even if it's just putting my feet up. I had to laugh at this because it is nearly impossible to get any type of rest with a two year old, especially this last week!

I feel like I am getting bigger by the day! My belly button literally feels like it is going to split open and I cannot fathom getting any bigger than I already am but I know that I will. Like I said above, the baby kicks a lot while I'm sleeping but I think that it's because I often wake up lying partially on my tummy and he is trying to tell me to roll over and give him some room! I am sleeping less and less because I have to pee more and more. My back is also aching a bit. So far, I haven't had any swelling in my hands or feet but I am sure that will come as well.

To update you all on Trent...we believe that the cause of the 104 fever is that his last two molars are coming in. I spied them the other night and got a really good look this morning. Unfortunately, they are barely poking through so it seems that we still have a long way to go before they are totally in. Trent's fever is off and on and he is in so much pain! He barely fussed when all of his other teeth came in, but these two seem to be especially bad. Normally, when a kid is sick, they just want to cuddle with mom and that is what Trent did the first few days that he didn't feel good. Yesterday, however, he just wanted to hit and kick me and scream at the top of his lungs all the while rubbing his thumbs against his gums. It was a nightmare!! We had to go to Target and he literally screamed from the second we got into the car until we got home from our trip and hours after that. People were giving me the evil eye but I needed diapers! He didn't want to cuddle or be held...he just wanted to beat me apparently. It's like he's pissed at me for not being able to make him feel better! Nothing has helped...not Orajel, not Motrin, not even ice cream! I felt so bad for him but I had finally had enough of the abuse! He went into a good, long time out and came out a bit better. Needless to say, I hope these teeth pop through quickly. I am over this teething business! 

To top it off, Trent just took his clothes off and he now appears to have a rash from the waist up. It is isn't raised or anything. There are just red marks/splotches just under the surface of the skin. Lately, it seems to always be something with our little monster! Good thing he is so darn cute! 

Never Tell a 2 year old a Secret

The new baby's name has finally been decided!

A few weeks ago, I asked my brother what he was going to name his son who is going to be born at the end of July and I was shocked when he revealed the name because it was the exact (first and middle) name that Mark and I had chosen for the new baby. So, low and behold, we had to change our name.

It takes us forever to agree on a name so the fact that we both loved the first name we picked was a miracle in itself and then we had to come up with another one! I love different names (like Brayden, Slade, etc.), while Mark likes plain names like, well, Mark, except not Mark because he never wanted a "Junior." We literally waited until the last minute to come up with Trent's name. Mark was adamant that the name start with a "T" because he wanted to nickname the baby TC after his late father. Surprisingly, it was much harder than we thought it would be to come up with a "T" name. The funny this is, up until recently, I think that Trent had only been called TC two or three times but lately, friends have referring to him as that, so maybe Mark's dream will come true and the nickname will catch on.

Needless to say, these last few weeks have been kind of stressful because we have been sooooo far apart on our name choices...not even in the same realm, apart. Every time I would throw a name out there, Mark would simply say, "No." There is no discussion or second thought on his part. He either likes a name or he doesn't. Our friends Chris and Kristen have been texting us names for the last few days in an effort to help us out, but we haven't agreed on any of their suggestions either. My favorite name that they suggested was "Stone" like the reporter "Stone Phillips," but Mark axed that idea quickly. I didn't think it would ever happen but it has!

Last Friday, Trent was down for the night and Mark and I were watching T.V. A character in the show was wearing a name tag with a name on it that I liked so I blurted it out. Mark turned to me and said, "I like that name. It's settled." He then began to watch the show like nothing had happened. I was shocked. I kept asking him if he was serious and he said that he was. I was a little worried because it isn't the strong, masculine name that we have been searching for but it is cute and we like it. So, I added it to the dwindling list and told him that we would sit on it.

Yesterday after my parents left, I pulled out the Ipad which had the names that I liked stored in it. Trent was rubbing my belly and watching T.V. with Mark. I began to read the list of names out loud and when I got to the name that Mark and I had semi-agreed on, Trent turned to me, smiled brightly and began to scream the name out over and over and over. Mark and I started laughing and said it must be the right name then. I turned to Trent and asked if he wanted his baby brother to be named _____ and he started doing a little jig. Mark was right...it was settled. We had a name!

Mark and I agreed that we wouldn't tell anyone the name because everyone has their opinion and I have a feeling that people might not love our choice, but we do so that's all that matters! As if Trent understands what a secret is, I told him that baby brother's name is a secret. His response was to point at my belly and scream the name out at the top of his lungs. Apparently, a two year old cannot keep a secret (which is something I should have know, right?)! Hopefully, he will forget the name and not announce it to all at his birthday party or something!

Now, I need to go attend to that very sick two year old who has a 101.6 fever. Other than wanting to lay on the couch and cuddle, he is acting pretty normal so I think that he might be getting his last two molars, rather than coming down with the flu or something again, but we'll see. I had when my little man is sick!!

As a follow-up...my parents did come down on Saturday so that Mark and I were able to go out to dinner with some friends and it was a lot of fun! They are just the nicest people and it was fun to laugh about old college stories and just get out for a while. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

To Potty Train or Not?

A family member of mine has told me on numerous occasions to not waste my time even attempting to potty-train Trent until he was closer to three or older. If I'm not mistaken, I think that she didn't potty train her kid until well past three, but I could be wrong. Based on this advice, I never seriously thought about potty training Trent until recently.

After posting on Facebook about how Trent likes to poo in the pantry, all the while pushing me out and telling me to go away, several friends said that it sounds like he is ready to potty train. He usually tells me when he has to go to the bathroom and he has even gone on the big toilet twice now. A friend recommended that I get him some big boy underwear and start the process because all four of her kids were potty trained by two.

So, I went to Target the other day and bought a big pack of Elmo and Mickey Mouse underwear. When we got home, I put a pair on Trent to make sure that they fit before I washed them. Thankfully, they did fit perfectly. When I went to take them off of him, he threw a complete and utter temper tantrum. He loved them! He kept staring at them and saying "Daddy," obviously making the connection that he was wearing underwear like his dad does. Not wanting to fight him on it and it being so close to bath time anyway, I let him run around in his new underwear and he was a happy little camper. Fearing that he would poo in his new underwear, I put him on the toilet every 10-15 minutes and try to get him to go to the bathroom. He would push and push very dramatically but he never went...not even a tiny dribble.

I began to cook dinner and became distracted by Mark walking in the door after work. As I was greeting him and trying to feed the dogs, Trent disappeared! Mark walked inside and asked where Trent was. I ran around the house and we found him in his room, standing in front of the world's largest puddle. His underwear were damp but not soaked through, so he obviously knew that he had to pull them down to pee and then pull them up when he was finished with his business.

Now, I am trying to decide if I really am going to try to potty train him soon. I can't help but think that it would be so nice to not have to change two dirty diapers at the same time but I just don't know if he's ready. To top it off, I don't even know where to begin. I have no clue how to go about potty training! I suppose I should Google it or something!

Decisions...decisions!

Visions of a Baby Moon Dance in my Head

When Mark and I first found out we were pregnant, we immediately began talking about a dream baby-moon. We wanted to leave the Trent Monster with my parents and go to Hawaii and relax. Well, the pregnancy began to fly by quicker than we had anticipated, and there was just no time to plan and book a big vacation. We also wanted to take Trent somewhere fun for a weekend before the new baby makes his arrival and that hasn't happened either!

Yesterday, my dad called and said that he hadn't seen Trent in 5 weeks and couldn't stand it anymore, so he and my mom were planning on coming to visit us on Saturday. They wanted Mark and I to take a night off to go do something fun. I immediately hopped on the internet and looked at hotel rates in Reno. It sure isn't Hawaii, but it is a hotel, with a soft bed and room service! I envisioned going to a nice dinner, possibly even getting a couple's massage, and sleeping in late Sunday morning. I couldn't wait to tell Mark all about my plans!

Excitedly, I described my findings for Mark late last night and he began to look at me like I was crazy. Apparently, he already made plans for us to go out with a friend of his, thereby dashing my dreams of a night off. Now, I get to sit there, at a restaurant in our tiny town, and watch him and his fraternity brother get drunk. Doesn't that sound so much better than what I had planned?! Good thing I love this friend of his and I have no doubt that we will have fun tomorrow night but man, I wanted to get away for just a little bit!

Mark did agree however, that we could take Trent to the Monterey Bay aquarium in the next few weeks so maybe, just maybe, we can talk my parents (said with sarcasm because it takes no convincing on my part to get them to agree to watch Trent) into going with us so that they can take Trent back to their house for the night and we can stay in Monterey for the evening :)

There are only 4 weeks left that I can travel, so my fingers are crossed that this will actually happen!

Trent's New Room

Since I took the two seconds it required to figure out how to post pictures to the blog, I thought that I would add some pictures of Trent's new pirate themed room! There are a few decorations not up like his pirate map and his growth chart. I need to figure out how to attach each to the wall because as you can see from tape above the shelf above the crib, the tape wasn't sufficient (as I suspected). Enjoy!

On a side-note, Trent finally ate meat! Last night, he grubbed down on some ribs! 

Kissing Causes Death?! Huh?

I was in Target yesterday when I was looking for a box that I could use to send a package to my friend Molly and this is what I heard from the next aisle over:

Girl says, "Mom, tell Sara to stop kissing the Justin Bieber notebook."
Mom sighs, "Sara, stop kissing the notebook."
Sara whines, "But whyyyyyy?"
Mom answers, "Because you will get herpes and die."

Huh? It was at this point that I had to laugh out loud. I stood there, confused, wondering if the mother meant that her daughter could contract a disease from kissing a notebook that presumably, many hands have touched or if she really meant that kissing could give her daughter herpes and that kissing could result in death! In any event, it was a very funny conversation to eavesdrop on.

Naturally, I had to meander down that aisle so I could see what these girls looks like. I spotted a girl who was probably thirteen or fourteen years of age, holding a notebook about three inches from her face and staring at it dreamily.

I instantly thought about what the dreaded "sex talk" would sound like in their household.

Girl tattles, "Mom, Sara wants to have sex."
Mom, "Sara, don't have sex."
Sara whines, "But whyyyy?"
Mom, "Because you will die."

Ah, man...I am so not ready for the sex conversation! Thank goodness Trent is so little and because we will have two boys, I guess Mark will be in charge of that conversation which I presume will take place in the nature on some hunting or fishing trip, where Mark will let the boys take a sip of his beer and make them promise not to tell me about it.

By the way, in case any of you who I am not friends with on Facebook, wonders what the men in my life look like, here they are:

And this is me:

The Most Annoying Thing in the World

All Mark and I wanted to do this rainy day is relax at home. Before we could do this however, we first had to go to the storage unit and get the infant carrier and swing and put some stuff in there that we cleared out of Trent's new room. On our way to the unit, Mark received a call from a friend of his whom we haven't seen in ages. This friend said that he was going to be in our area and he wanted to come by and see the house and Trent. I was a little worried because we also had to go to the grocery store and get food for dinner and we needed to get home before this friend came over so that I could pick up the huge mess that Trent made this morning.

So, we rushed in the rain to the storage unit and unpacked and repacked it in record time. I literally ran through the grocery store while Trent took Mark next store to pick up sandwiches. We raced home, ran around like crazy people, picking up the mess Trent made this morning and ate lunch quickly. On a side-note, I was throwing clothes in the hamper, trying to put Trent's toys away and what does Mark do? He grabs a broom and begins to sweep off the front porch. I couldn't help but shake my head at him. Confused, he asked why I looked annoyed and I explained that there were fifty things that could be done inside the house and he chooses to sweep the porch and in the rain no less! Well, he ignored me and continued to sweep away while I actually cleaned the parts of the house that would be seen.

Mark texts his friend with our address and makes sure that he and his wife are coming. The friend says that they will be at our house shortly. Nervous, I glanced at the clock and became worried because it was already past Trent's nap time but we wanted to not only keep him up to see Mark's friends but because the dogs would likely wake him up anyway when the guests arrived. An hour passes and Trent is getting fussy...no friends. Mark texts him again and he says he is on his way. Another hour passes and still, no friends. Mark texts again but this time there is no response. Thinking that the friend is probably just down the street, we decide to keep Trent up a little longer. If I had known that they would be so late, I could have put Trent down at his regular time and there wouldn't have been a problem.

Nearly three hours after the friend was supposed to arrive, I told Mark that we couldn't wait any longer, Trent needed to go down and now I was annoyed because Trent's whole night is going to be messed up. You mom's out there know, a schedule is important! Thank goodness we are not those military parents who won't ever leave the house at specific times because their kid has to go down at the exact same time every single day, no exceptions. In general, Trent generally goes down at the same time every single day but if we have to go somewhere or if people are visiting, we let Trent stay up later, etc.

So, as I pick up a more than fussy Trent, Mark's phone rings. It is the friend telling us that his wife no longer feels well so they are not coming over. Really?! Really?! That is the classic lie! The joke in Mark's family is that when someone doesn't want to go to the annual Christmas party, they "have the flu." Anyhow, if the wife really is sick, then I feel bad for her, but that doesn't stop the incident from being utterly annoying.

I have since decided that one of the most annoying things in the world is to scramble like your ass is on fire to prepare for last minute guests who call you and invite themselves over, only to wait for 3 hours and have them not show up. I'm not upset that they decided that they didn't want to come over but this very pregnant woman, is annoyed at all of the work we did when all we really wanted to do was lay on the couch! A friend once said to me that a person never moves as fast as they do in the ten minutes before unexpected guests tell you last minute that they are going to come over and man, it is so true! I told Mark that it really is our fault because this is probably the tenth time that these particular people have done this do us so we should have known better. Now, Trent will get less than an hour nap because I will actually have to wake him up. If I let him sleep his standard 2 1/2 hours, he won't go to bed until really late and I can't let that happen. This means that Mark and I will have to deal with a very fussy and grumpy child the rest of the evening who is pissed that he didn't get a good nap and that is just no fun!

Mark and I learned two lessons from this incident: the first is that we will never invite ourselves over to someones house at the last minute and then not show up. It is just rude and annoying. Lesson two: if you ever cancel at the last minute on friends, don't use the excuse that you don't feel good because it does sound like a really bad lie which is also annoying!

I am no going to change into my sweats and finally relax with Mark on the couch!