more conversations

It seems Dane has really started talking in almost sentences, though I still need to translate, even for Andy. I just love hearing him talk even if it is so repetitive, he is quite the little chatter box. Last night cracked me up. We made a quick trip to the mall. You know you have been there quite a bit when the little voice in the backseat pipes up and announces:

Dane: Mall
Me: Yup we are at the mall
Dane: Long drawn out "Uhhh Ohhh"

Of course Andy happened to be in the car too and thought that was pretty much hilarious. What can I say I like to shop!

39 weeks

Finally we made it! No more occasionally worrying that baby will come too early. We are near the end. I am in the induction zone and I think I am ready. I have gotten most of the baby preparation things done I wanted to, or at least needed too. Now we have to wait. Last week I was already dilated to a 3, it will be interesting to see if I am any further along at my appointment tomorrow. We are ready to meet this little guy, though I will miss my ledge to set things on :o)

New Nursery

I guess I won't have a big reveal or before and after pictures because I didn't get a before one. The nursery is almost done. I am still looking for a few things, like a few more cute teddy bears and a changing table caddy/basket. But for now it will work, it feels comfortable, though I am still organizing the closet and bookshelves. Basically this room was all the lighter brown color and I painted the darker brown horizontal stripes(with paint found in the basement), hung some curtains and a few wall decoration and that's about it. I did make the little teddy bear pictures out of scrapbook paper. The biggest stress was waiting until I was third trimester and too tired to start working on it. My wonderful sister was living in this room until about three weeks ago, (we miss her but are glad to get the nursery finished). I did sneak in and paint this summer while she was away being a camp counselor. I think I had the hardest time arranging the furniture in this room. It really bothered me how off center the window is, not only that, I could deal with off centered, but why is it only 6 inches from the exterior wall? It just makes things a little awkward or unbalanced.

Smitten

There is no doubt in my mind that Dane will be in love with his little brother. As soon as he saw my cousin's little girl he kept saying "oh tiny little baby". I only wish we would have caught that part on video. He was completely oblivious to the 10-15 adults standing around watching him. He could have held her forever. When I asked him if someone else could have a turn he just held on to her a little tighter.

The reason for this little sweetie's visit was a cousin get together. We used to love the family gatherings usually at Christmas and Summer where we would just play on Grandma's farm. Now a majority of us are all grown up and for some reason settled or temporarily settled in Iowa rather than Colorado or Kansas. And since so many of us live here and hardly ever see each other I had my event planner (Tessha) plan up an informal get together. I hardly had to do a thing, just provided the place and cleaned it up a bit, and she did a wonderful job putting it all together. I can't wait to be a part of her wedding this spring!

Updates

On a pregnancy note; I am still tired, big surprise. It's about every other day I feel like I can hardly drag myself around, then the next day I will be a little more energetic. I keep hoping I will get that last big nesting burst of energy and get some things finished up. Though I think that ugly dark holed bathroom is going to have to wait, even though I said it would be the first room I painted. Still need to finish up the nursery.

Here is a before and after of one of the rooms I have been working on all summer. There are still things that need tweaked here and there. Like one more chair, but it's always a work in progress. At least right now it is at a place where I can enjoy sitting in there and relax without running through my mind all that needs to be changed.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I am not really a fan of oak trim. I really like a crisp white trim so I really wasn't a fan of the oak built in shelves, or what to put on them for that matter. I finally decided to make it into a library of sorts and put a ton of books on them to in a sense hide or tone down all the oakishness that was happening. The one side is still a little cluttered looking but for now it will do. I think I need to stash the DVD's but the thing is the shelf they are resting on only has 3 out of 4 supports, so DVD's are about all it will hold right now.

Lipstick pizaz

There are definitely other things I should be doing. Like washing more baby clothes or actually organizing the baby's room and getting things put away. Or better yet painting the one room in the house that I swore would be the first to get a make over. Four painted rooms later I have yet to touch that dark gloomy bathroom. So the most logical thing to do is paint the coat closet right? Well winter and jacket weather will be here soon, so the closet did need organizing. And winter is rather drab so why not give the closet a little punch of color to brighten the mood when the door is opened? Besides having a fun closet is like having a fun lining in your coat. I am totally a sucker for cute linings. I know no one else will see if my jeans pockets have flowers on them, but I care, I think it's fun, it makes me happy. So here is the 'lining' in my house. It still didn't help the ugly bathroom get any cuter but there is still a chance it could get done before baby gets here right? I just need that last nesting burst of energy and it may happen.

36 weeks and counting down

I finally got my first 4D ultrasound! Found out the reason was that the more thorough ultrasound they sent me to get, the lady that does them is old school and like all older folks doesn't want the new computer gadgets. Look at all the intra-utero cuteness I have been missing out on. He didn't want to move his hand/ wrist so we could see his entire face. But we did see several little smiles.

The picture below despite it being labeled profile is a head on shot of his face and you can see his little smirk, like ha ha I won't let you see my whole face :o)

Well according to the Dr he is measuring normal and on track to be smaller than his big brother. That's good news for labor. They didn't seem concerned about this but his head is in the 98th percentile. Ok, so he did show his face for a minute it was either the angle or he has inherited the Hall nose that neither me or my siblings got. Maybe that is why he was keeping his hand over his sweet little face :o)

Can't wait for his arrival but boy is there still a ton to get done around here, and I am too tired to do most of it. Only a few more weeks and we get to meet him face to face!

The first sign

that fall is around the corner, I found our first red leaf this afternoon. I am glad to say that I am still happy it feels like summer. Fall is great, I like fall but I have a hard time letting myself fall in love with fall because I know what lies ahead. The next 6 months will be brutal with cold, snow and staying indoors. Well enough of that.

Since we have moved to our new house we have been taking walks around the block. Walks at a toddler's pace can be quite time consuming but he loves to go. Recently we have been collecting things, and pointing out all the 'bots' (spots) on the sidewalk. Do you know how many spots are on the sidewalk of a neighborhood block? Let me tell you, there are many, make sure to have allotted plenty of time for the walk.


Here is our red leaf, yellow leaf, rocks and d corns (acorns)