Tuesday, November 30, 2010

29 weeks



Pregnancy Highlights:
How far along: 29 weeks (and a couple days since I'm a little late posting)
Size of baby: 2 1/2 pounds and a little over 15 inches
Total weight gain: 24 pounds
Maternity clothes: Both
Gender: I'm clueless....every time I think something is similar to when I was pregnant with Cru, something else happens that makes me think it's more like when I was pregnant with Reese.
Movement: Lots of movement especially in the evenings and at night.
Sleep: Sleeping good
Symptoms: Braxton hicks contractions and a little swelling.
What I miss: Nothing
Cravings: Sour candy!
Best moment of the week: Time spent with family
What I'm looking forward to: Holiday festivities!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving

I am tired, full, and most of all thankful! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week and weekend spending time with family, shopping black Friday, decorating for Christmas, and everything else in between.


The weather took a big turn Wednesday evening, but that didn't stop us from grillin' and getting geared up for turkey day! Bring it on!

Happy Turkey Day!







We started with lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Buchman's.


Cru watched Grandma get into her purse and put on her chap stick, and as soon as she walked out of the room, guess what he did?!









After a great afternoon at the Buchman's, we drove all the way across town to spend the evening with my mom's side of the family. Thankful for more eating and more family time!











Because my brother has such a hectic coaching schedule, sometimes we go weeks without seeing him, so needless to say, it was great to spend time with him and his family. Cru thinks Uncle Ty is great - they wrestle, they tackle, they play ball. And after 4 years, I think Reese has finally warmed up to him. Ty has been blessed with an amazing family of his own now. Besides being a great wife and mom, Audrey is such a wonderful aunt to Reese and Cru - always patient with them and always willing to play with them.







And now the two of them have a beautiful daughter, Miss Charlee Mae. At only two and a half months old, she feels like she's always been here. I know Reese really wants a baby sister, but if she doesn't get one, she'll survive because I know she already thinks of Charlee as a sister. I hope that bond grows as they do.









We've been ahead of the game this year with Christmas decorations - inside and out. However, one tradition we are sticking with is not putting up the tree until after Thanksgiving. Because my mom and I did the Black Friday thing this year, we put the tree up Saturday. It ended up being an all day process because of malfunctioning lights (which are still malfunctioning), but still fun none the less.






Little man can't keep his hands off the ornaments!

Also on Saturday, we were able to spend more time with Charlee.



















Reese got a special surprise that afternoon.....play time with her buddy Carter! She told me Carter was not her boyfriend, but she was going to marry him when she gets bigger.



Thank you to our families for filling our bellies with delicious food and filling our hearts with lots of love. And thank you to Chet for taking some extra time off this week to be with us. I am beyond thankful for you! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Little things

When you become a parent, you quickly learn that life is about the little things - a baby's big burp, the way he/she smiled at you, or the laughs and squeals you hear when you play a simple game of hide and seek.

As I mentioned in my 28 weeks post, Monday was my best moment of the week. Yes, a Monday of all days was the best; it was all about the little things.

I tend to find myself getting caught up in our same routine day after day and not taking time to just enjoy what's in front of me. So as I laid in bed Monday morning thinking about all we had to do that day, I quickly decided all that could wait because we needed some serious play time. I checked the weather report on my phone, and although, it was a chilly 35 degrees, it was supposed to hit 60. I had hoped by mid-morning we'd be able to hit up the park. Wrong! It was freezing! So we headed to an indoor park, also known as McDonald's. Cru enjoyed a rare special treat - chocolate milk.

And Reese devoured her pancakes like she was worried her pregnant mom was going to steal them from her or something.

Then the kids played and played.

No fighting, no hitting, no screaming, they actually enjoyed each other and best of all, they laughed A LOT. It was awesome! The little things.

Our day continued on with grocery shopping, a stop by Dirt Cheap, lunch, and then when Cru finally went down for his nap, I asked Reese if she wanted to build a fort. She was like, "What's a port?" Oh child, how I have failed you! I could not believe we hadn't built a fort before.



OK, so our fort totally sucked, but she thought it was the coolest thing ever. She gathered as many animals as possible and told them they were going "camping" with her. She spent Cru's whole nap time under there. The little things.

As evening approached, Reese went to play at Grammi and Papa's (just like she did last Friday evening). Cru cried big tears as he watched them leave (just as he did Friday). I quickly bundled him up and we headed outside (just like we did Friday). As soon as we were out the door, he put out his hand and said, "Walk." No toys were needed or wanted. I grabbed his hand and off we went. It wasn't long before he said, "Mommy, run!" So we ran (you guessed it, just as we did on Friday). We watched the geese fly south, we barked at the dogs that barked at us, and we chatted with neighbors. And then, he did something he didn't do last Friday, he grabbed his hat and flipped it around backwards (something he started doing when he saw his Daddy do it).



And the way he laughed at himself and then continued on taking in everything around him, got me. Got my heart and melted it to mush right there in the middle of the street. I wanted to cry, to freeze that moment, and to freeze him. But his little legs quickly took off again and we were soon back home, and all I could think about was how a little thing like a walk with my son could make my day.

I am so thankful God brought my little loves into my life and opened my eyes to what life is about - the little things.

Monday, November 22, 2010

28 weeks and Happy Birthday Papa!



Pregnancy Highlights:
How far along: 28 weeks! I think I'm officially starting the third trimester, which is CRAZY! That also means we are really only 10 weeks away from meeting this new little one since we'll have our c-section around 38-39 weeks.
Size of baby: Baby is the size of a Chinese cabbage - 2 1/4 pounds and nearly 15 inches long.
Total weight gain: 24 pounds
Maternity clothes: Both maternity and regular
Gender: ??? I'm really starting to worry how Reese is going to react if it's a boy. Whenever she refers to the baby, she calls it a she and she says her name is going to be Jami Brooke Brooke Casyn Brooke. Tonight, I reminded her yet again it could be a boy, and she said if it is, we have to have another baby because she doesn't have a sister yet.
Movement: Yes, and I love watching my whole stomach move.
Sleep: Sleeping good.
Symptoms: BAD muscle cramps all throughout the night and lots of hot flashes. And I think all my crazy dreams are literally making me crazy. I keep waking up thinking I see things/people. The other night, I thought Reese was crawling on the floor beside our bed, and I kept calling out to her for like 5 minutes until my voice finally woke me up and no one was there.
What I miss: Nothing
Cravings: Lots of sugary sour candy, but I've been doing really good not indulging.
Best moment of the week: Today! It was a typical Monday, and we really did nothing special, but that's what made it great- the little things. I'm just trying to cherish every moment with Reese and Cru.
What I'm looking forward to: Thanksgiving! What else?

Sunday was Papa Dell's birthday.



Before spending the evening celebrating with him, Reese and I made a quick run to Wal Mart in search of a present; she always has great ideas! She had decided on these fleece pj pants with fish on them, but then we found the greatest gift ever......



Jayhawk snuggie! Doesn't get much better.



We love you, Papa! Hope you had a great day!



The Buchman partying didn't stop there though. We totally rocked it to the AMA's when we got home!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Chet and I agreed that this weekend's unseasonably warm weather was the perfect opportunity to get our Christmas lights up. Lets begin by saying that Chet is not a fan of Christmas lights. Actually, I think it's more the roof that he's not a fan of, so we made a deal, he didn't have to outline the roof this year just put garland and lights around our windows. Easy enough, however, our windows are surrounded by brick and metal......let the brainstorming begin. (On a side note, these pictures were all taken in one day despite Reese's many wardrobe changes.)



He had lots of good help unraveling all the lights.





Although I was disappointed there wouldn't be lights around the windows, I still let him off the hook when it came to the roof because quite frankly, it was a little embarrassing when last year's lights didn't come down until late May. And the only reason they came down was because it was a very windy day and when we got home half of them had blown off. So, our new thing this year is lights in one of our trees.



Even with good "helpers" it really wasn't the easiest task.



Honestly, it was probably the longest, tedious hour of the afternoon.



Mission accomplished, and we both really like what it added.

The "hard work" continued.





We were able to put lights and garland around the door.....



but it felt like it was lacking, so I jazzed it up with the best Wal Mart had to offer.



I think the little elves are all I really needed to jazz it up.





Since we had lots of lights left to use, we decided to outline the driveway, walkway, and landscaping.



Another task that was a little more tedious than we bargained for, but we are very happy with the outcome.



After I took this picture, Chet added the last strand in front of the landscaping, and we also plan to add a couple more spotlights around the yard, but all in all, we are very happy - our lights are up and there was no roof climbing! We love you, Daddy! Thanks for your hard work!

The weather may not feel like Christmas, but it sure is beginning to look like it around the Buchman household!