3rd trimester!

We're leaving tomorrow for the beach (Cape Cod with the Grims! We're so lucky to get to go on two vacations this summer, one with each family) so I'm posting now. Tomorrow I'll be 27 weeks =  in the 3rd trimester already.

The nursery is under way; Esch has been working hard to clear out the office, which is going to become the guest room. The current guest room will be the new nursery. We've got all the major pieces ready to go - of course we're using William's crib, changing table, etc. and I've got new curtrains, throw pillows, and a fun little project that's going to cover almost an entire big wall. It's almost done. I'll have to share some pictures when we get everything put together.

William is about 90% potty trained. I am thrilled. He doesn't have accidents any more, and is now (finally!) telling us when he has to go... and then really doing it. He also holds it through naps, which is great, and when we run errands, even though I still put Pull-Ups on him just in case, he is always still dry when we get home. Whew! It was definitely one of the hardest parenting phases yet, and took a solid 4 weeks to get to this point.

Our beautiful, very big boy playing with Daddy the other night on a family walk around Carlisle (click for larger versions or to download):

26 weeks

I'll have to go find a picture from William's pregnancy around this time - I took this today so I could compare. I feel like I am a LOT bigger now. People always seem surprised when they ask when I'm due and I say, "the end of September." Oh well!

We changed OB practices and I had my first appointment at the new one this week - really like it so far. It's right next to the hospital where we will meet Baby #2 - I hadn't seen it yet so that was kind of exciting. I remember driving by the hospital in Austin where William was going to be born every day on my way to work, and every single time I'd look over and wonder what it would be like... what he would be like. I can't wait to hold this new little one (and of course find out if it's a he or a she!).

We have been sweating through life the past week or so - it's been in the mid-to-high 90s (and humid)... but I guess if I survived a Summer while pregnant in Austin, TX, I can do it here! The year that I was pregnant with William, they set a record that was something like 60+ days in a ROW over 100. 

Gula, Pop Pop, and Erika are here visiting this weekend. It's so fun to have visitors. I am happy every single day that we moved back to Pennsylvania. It's priceless that William gets to see (and the new baby will get to see) his grandparents and aunts & uncles so often.

This past weekend for Father's Day, we had Grandpa, Nanna, Uncles Andrew and David, Gula, PopPop, Nain and Taid to our house for the day. We had a great time, had some yummy food, and William was in heaven being in the limelight. He entertained us all and impressed us with his potty training successes. (He also spent the last hour or so of the party in JUST his underwear)

A few pictures from a recent hiking trip with Daddy and Mommy, complete with his big boy hiking boots:

25 weeks down, 15 to go

Wow - 25 weeks!

I'm not surprised to read that baby is 13.6 - 14.8 inches - I can feel big kicks and movements all over the place, and sometimes on opposite sides of my stomach simultaneously.

Really can't believe how quickly the past 2 months or so have gone. The first trimester really seemed to drag, but now it seems like time is flying by. I love waking up on Fridays knowing we're one week closer to meeting our baby.

We are still potty training, and I almost hesitate to put this in writing for fear of jinxing it - but the past 3 days (and today so far) have been 100% accident free. He's also waking up dry after naps, which is GREAT. Today we went to the splash park and were gone for over 2 hours. While there, he stopped playing to tell me he had to go (!!!) and we did miraculously make it to a bathroom. Even stayed dry on the drive home. I am SO proud that something finally clicked and we're getting there.

A few fun ones from yesterday afternoon, spent in the backyard:

This weekend is Father's Day and we are having the Grims, McCombies, and Bunnells all to our house on Sunday. Can't wait! Weather looks nice, so hopefully we can all enjoy the sun, food, and company outside.

Potty training in 100 words or less

Step 1 - Spend lots of time at home. No going anywhere far from a potty!

Did I mention that said time spent at home is in big boy undies only?
(Special CARS ones, no less, chosen by trainee!)

Step 2: Use the potty! (you're going to kill me for this someday)

Step 3: REWARD!

Step 3.5: clean up after reward

Repeat (roughly every 20 minutes)

At the end of the day

We had a rough day (both potty training and behavior wise).  It seems like a really great day (which we had yesterday) often follows a bad one, and vice versa. I guess that's life, right?

In an effort to take a deep breath and remember that all things will pass - and in the grand scheme of things, are small and do not matter - wanted to take a minute to enjoy these pictures of William from last night.

He has recently become obsessed with being able to turn the water on and off by himself (got him a little stool for the bathroom so he can now reach), so "we" wash our hands about 20 times a day (no joke) and loooove brushing our teeth.

I am going to try to take more daily activity-type pictures to help remember how cute this age really is. Our little guy is really growing up. (But still throws epic temper tantrums just to keep a little "baby" factor in the equation!)

And one of my new favorites:

Happy "Moriow" Day!

We went to my parents' for Memorial Day weekend - their little town is (or claims to be!) the birthplace of Memorial Day, and there are lots of fun things happening, especially for little ones. A parade, a carnival, arts fair, Civil War reenactments (which William did not enjoy this year as much as last! He was asking us to "turn it off!" when the cannons boomed).

He even got to have his first "campfire" and roasted marshmallows. We all had a great time. I have lots of memories of this weekend as a little kid with MY grandparents, and now William gets to do it all with his grandparents and great-grandparents. It was so fun to watch him with everyone.

If we look at this in years to come (I keep meaning to have the blog printed in a book - someday William might like to read about his little life) - you'll note that Nanna has a boot on her foot - she broke a bone! Poor Nanna!

This weekend also resulted in one of my all-time favorite pictures of William, watching the parade:

Hilton Head - May 2012

I am so late in posting these - we had SO much fun with GuGu, PopPop, and Aunt Erika at the beach a few weeks ago.

William absolutely loved it, and we loved watching him explore and play.

THANK you, thank you, for such a nice family vacation!

(Can click to enlarge photos)

Really?!

We have had a whirlwind past few weeks.

Have so many photos to share: David's college graduation, Hilton Head for a week with Gula and Pop Pop, a fun Memorial Day weekend at Nanna and Grandpa's... but right now we're potty training. And I've had 4 sessions in a week, and 2 more this weekend.

Way more to come on the potty training front (today is day four of our cold-turkey NO DIAPERS plan), but I had to just take a minute to think about this fact: today I am 23 weeks pregnant. If this baby is about 2 weeks early like William was, that means that we could feasibly have a newborn in 15 weeks. WHAT?!

This pregnancy is flying by, and we've been so busy. I did a double take when I looked at the Calendar today and it was June. Baby in September. Wow!

Baby is now the size of a cantaloupe. At our last appointment, which was a week and a half ago, the ultrasound tech estimated baby's weight at exactly one pound, so who knows by now. I can feel him or her almost constantly now, which is so fun. One of the best things in life. Kicking and rolling around right now, as a matter of fact.

Will be back soon with lots of pictures and some "big boy" updates on William, who is doing a great job this week with his new challenge.