Dear Bo, Weekday park fun...

It was so nice on Tuesday that we decided to grab Chick f La, eat at the park, and play.  You had a ball!

{Running towards the fun}

{On the play gym with Daddy}

{Loving the slide}

{Wee!}

{Loving the big boy swing}

Dear Baby Girl, t's officially your room now...

I worked and worked on ridding your room of tons of stuff and cleaning up the guest room.  It's starting to look more and more like your room now.  I just need to get the desk out of the room and rearrange the furniture.  We're having friends come this weekend, and I hope we get that done then.  Things are still uneventful with this pregnancy, and I'm so very grateful!

Here's what you're up to this week {21 weeks}:

You now weigh about three-quarters of a pound and are approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. Your fluttering movements are turning into full-fledged kicks and nudges. Your eyebrows and lids are present now.

These were my prayers for you:


That you are growing just as you should be and that we continue to enjoy an uneventful pregnancy.

Dear Bo, A weekend working around the house...\

On Friday you went to Parents' Night Out  at church.  You love it there!  They always tell us how much you run and giggle while you're there.  We're so grateful that you're so easy going in that regard.  While you played, we had friends over for dinner.  They were still at the house when we picked you up, and our friend kept playing with your play cowboy hat (that you got at Brooks' first birthday!).  So on Saturday, you decided that you would wear it most of the morning!

We're having house guests next weekend, and our guest room and Sister's room are a wreck so I worked on those.  It was lots of sorting through years worth of things.  Sister's room did go from this:

To this, however:

I'm going to redo the current guest room and make it a combo office/guest room so I wanted to get one last pic of that room.

This was my furniture from about junior high on, and used to be the bedding on our bed when we first married.  Now that almost 12 years have passed, I don't feel so bad about getting rid of the bedding and changing things up.  I found myself saying that a lot this weekend so I got rid of a lot of things.  I even found a candle that I got for a wedding gift that had never been burned!  One thing I finally got rid of was my wedding bouquet...one last pic:

While I was working on the rooms, you were hard at "work" outside.  You were obsessed with getting your truck to balance on the bird bath!

You also had a some fun in your tee pee...

Dear Bo, You enjoyed 3 of your favorite things this weekend...

Your grandparents, cows, and tractors...

Pop had a cow sale in Canyon so they stopped by for a visit.  Mimi helped me work on cleaning out Sissy's room and the guest room for company next weekend.  When we dropped her off with Pop, you got to see the cows, and Pop got you a hat that you refused to take off (you even insisted on wearing it at breakfast Sunday).

Then on Sunday some friends who own a dairy invited us out, and you could not get enough of the tractors.  You took a spin and were in heaven!

Weekends can't be all play though.  Sunday night you had to wash your ride and help me with some work on the computer...

It was a nice end to our Spring Break...

Dear Baby Girl, Still going through things...

We started the daunting task of clearing out the excess from your room and moving the crib into your room.  It's a doozy of a task!  We made a lot of progress, but there's still lots to do to have it cleaned out and ready to arrange for you.  Mimi came and helped and brought you this sweet little outfit:

The McPhersons are having a little boy (another chance for a love connection!) and are generously sharing their girl clothes so I spent an entire day sorting through your big brother's clothes and infant gear bins.  I sent a giant tub for Rebecca to go through for her son, 1 bag of clothes to the trash, 1 bin to resale, and 3 bags to donate.  I can't believe how much stuff we have accumulated!  I couldn't help but get teary eyed going through all of his things.  We're pretty confident you will be our last baby, and I got so emotional thinking I would never have another son to dress in those darling clothes, or wrap in those blankets.  I've loaned his clothes to two friends (Rebecca will make 3), and I'm so glad those other little boys have gotten to wear his things.  At least I know they were well used!  A look at the enormity of the task:

I had such a fun time going through Claire's hand me downs.  I just about squealed at the 3 pairs of mary janes!  I finally made my first purchases for you, and I cannot tell you how much fun I had!  I found some adorable Christmas clothes for this winter, a few smocked items, and these adorable boots:

I am going to have so much fun dressing you!  I am officially halfway now (over halfway if you come early like your brother), and I'm so thankful for how uneventful this pregnancy has been.  I am really feeling you kick and move and that's so reassuring to me.

You got the sweetest jewelry in the mail from your great grandmother, Mary.  One is a sweet engraved bracelet, and the other is a charm bracelet with a cross charm.  I can't wait to clip them to your chunky little wrists!

Here's what you're up to this week {20 weeks}:

You weigh about 10 1/2 ounces now. You're around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

You're swallowing more these days, which is good practice for your digestive system. You're also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. 

These were my prayers for you:

That we have a special relationship and enjoy being together.  I know there will be times (years?) where you will see me as the enemy, but I hope there are many more times (years) of enjoying one another.  That you go as close to full term as possible.

Dear Bo, More play dates with Claire-bear...

Last week was Spring Break, and Claire was able to come play a few mornings.  You loved playing together.  I am told your favorite was chasing each other around, but you also enjoyed...

{Playing house...}

 {Playing the piano}

 {Playing trains}

 {Playing with Play-doh}

 {And reading really funny books}

Fun times indeed!

Dear Bo, Weekday fun...

We were without a nanny one day this week so Daddy and I covered the day.  We started out with a donut date with Momma.  You love donut holes!  Then we played until you went to the gym and Discovery Center with Daddy, and I went to a meeting at work.  We all met up for lunch then it was nap time for you.  After nap time, you and I went to the mall and shopped a bit, and you played at the indoor playground.  We packed a lot of fun into our unexpected day together!

Dear Bo, Your big boy bed...

We moved you into a big boy bed this weekend.  You first napped in it on Saturday, and you did so great.  I could not imagine how we'd keep you in bed for nap time without you getting up to play with the toys in your room (we just put a twin box spring and mattress on the floor with no bed rail), but it wasn't an issue.  We decided to let you sleep in it that night, too, and you went down without issue and stayed in bed all night.  We were amazed...and a little cocky.  But don't worry, you humbled us.

Since that first night, you've been all over the board.  The second night, you went down easily, but you got up several times in the middle of the night, and we had to walk you back to your room.  The third night, you stayed in your bed all night, but you decided you'd challenge us with getting up at bedtime.  And every morning since the first, you've decided to get up at 4:30am or 4:45 and not go back to sleep (or at least not go back until 6:45 or so).  Instead of letting you get in bed with us, we've taken you back to your room and laid with you on those early mornings.  You will stay in bed and mostly even be still, but you will not go back to sleep.  This morning I went to wake Daddy so he could go to work, and he was snoozing, but you were just laying by him quietly.  I surely hope this will work itself out, and you'll get back to a wake time that's after 6am sooner rather than later.

All in all, to be five nights into it, you are doing really great.  Your naps have shortened some, but we don't have an issue with you staying in your bed until you fall asleep.  And bedtime is going so much more smoothly than I thought it would.  If we could get your wake time back on track, we could call it a success.

I can't believe you no longer have a crib in your room.  I can't bear to take your bedding out of the crib yet; I love it so and am in denial that you're turning into such a big boy.

So proud of you and this new milestone!

Dear Baby Girl, Working on your room...

Well, we disassembled the bed in "your room" and started clearing it out to make space for the nursery furniture and your things.  Going through closets and drawers in the two guest rooms is a big job.

I continue to look at bedding for you.  I love this one, too.  And major bonus points:  it's about 1/3 of the price of the other two I like.

(source)

I can't believe I'm just about halfway to meeting you (over that if you come early like your brother, but I'm going to think positive).  I'm feeling you move which is really reassuring.  

Here's what you were up to this week (19 weeks):

You weigh about 8 1/2 ounces and measure 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato.  Your arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of your  body now. Your kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on your skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Your sensory development is exploding! Your brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that you may be able to hear our voices now.

These were my prayers for you:

That you'll keep growing well and miraculously, not have MSPI like your brother.  That you and your brother will be protective of each other and be friends growing up, and especially when you're adults.

Dear Bo, You are really into driving these days...

When we get home, you immediately make a mad dash for our cars.  You get in the car, make sure the keys are around ("key"! you yell), say bye-bye so we'll leave, find some sunglasses, make some car noises (vroom-vroom), then start turning the steering wheel and mashing any button you can.  You will stay in there as long as we'll let you. And no matter how long we let you, you have a meltdown each and every time we make you get out.

It makes for an interesting morning when we start the car the next day--music can be blaring, the hazards can be on, as well as the windshield wipers.  The one thing that is always there is your sweet little fingerprints on everything!

Dear Bo, Like father, like son...

Remember this?

I know where it comes from...