the nursery

I don't think I've even officially told you all the name of our sweet baby boy to be...we shall call him Hudson Gregory and i'm pretty sure he will be fat. if not right away, fairly soon after. in fact, he is already measuring big which is why i will be getting induced on April 7th. that's only a week away...in case you were wondering. I finally got around to having Gregory John take pictures of the boy's now complete nursery and so here it is...

he even has his own bathroom...

all photos taken at the ocean by his dear ol dad.

i think we're as ready as we'll ever be... come on sweet Hudson Gregory! i really didn't mean for that to rhyme.

bear hugs

last week, sweet husband arrived home from work and told the little girl to get her shoes on, as he had a big surprise for her in his van...and so she excitedly followed him out.

please take note of what is sitting in the passenger seat of his van ...as if the van alone isn't creepy enough for small children

she was delighted to say the least...

bear hugs for the massive human-sized beast.

pose for momma...

hugs for daddy...

and now to get the massive beast inside...not to mention finding a place to keep it...

emmy's new bestfriend...and my worst nightmare. funny how that happens.

Almost there...

A teeny tiny crib sheet is the only thing holding me back from taking pictures of the wee dude's sleeping quarters. Aside from that one last detail, the nursery is complete and I cannot wait to reveal the results. It's not at all baby-ish when it comes to the prints/colors but it is exactly what I had in mind. I'm just glad that it's almost done! The tiny blue laundry is fresh and folded, I've started to set things aside for my hospital bag, my energy and comfort levels are at a bare minimum...i think I'm finally about ready to accept the crazy that will soon be my life with two littles. I've been considering the idea of only two kids lately. Sweet husband tells me that's just 37.5 weeks of pregnancy talking, but I really feel like it could be a nice option. Three is my max.

I'm still wondering why people say spacing your kids 2 years apart is ideal. Perhaps I need to look further ahead than the next couple of months to when the two can play together and be pals, but right now all I can focus on is my moody 2 year old, who just dipped her orange slice in ketchup and made me gag a little bit and how a newborn will only add to the chaos. I hope I'm cut out for this.

rain!

I've been overly warm recently, which is unlike me, but normal considering the circumstances. i can't remember the last time i needed socks on my feet. i like being cold every now and then...weird? maybe. well this weekend is supposed to be stormy rainy goodness and with all the sunshine i've had in my life lately, i will welcome the clouds and raindrops with open arms. literally. we as in gregory, emmerson and i plan to jump in puddles and get sopping wet...right after we eat green pancakes for st. patrick's day breakfast. tomorrow morning's festivities will then continue with a trip to babies r us to purchase all of the baby goods still needed, a shamrock shake from mcdonalds, and a bazillion loads of blue laundry so i can stock the boy's closet. at least him and emmy will always be well dressed. people have always told me you start to look like a hobo after you have kids because the littles tend to need a new wardrobe every couple of months at first, and then every season from then on. apparently growing out of your clothes takes priority over just plain wanting new clothes and so i find myself settling with what i already have. that's gonna get old real quick...i love me some new outfits. and pinterest doesn't exactly calm the shopping desires as i find myself drooling over lovely frocks on the daily. anyway. i'm looking forward to my cold stormy days ahead. i might even bust out the fireplace dvd and drink hot chocolate.

Laundry

People ask me what I crave during pregnancy. Last time around I consumed unhealthy amounts of soda and juice. Water was disgusting to my taste buds and I avoided it at all costs. I blame my chronic puker of a baby for nearly the first year of her life on my poor drinking habits. This time I've tried to up my water intake considerably in hopes that burp rags won't become a part of my wardrobe for the months to come. My new love make that addiction for crushed ice is making this task more enjoyable. Since i cant possibly blame my addiction to chocolate as a pregnancy related issue, i guess you could call crushed ice my only real out-of-the-ordinary craving this time. Unless of course you are interested in knowing about my whacked out brains need to smell anything laundry related like a crazed lunatic. I may make that definitely have been known to linger next to our laundry area taking in the fresh scent of detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets. I also may again, definitely have rubbed fabric softener on my wrists on several occasions to sneak a sniff while the delicious aroma remained fragrant on my skin. I've also been known to request sweet husband to bring me a dryer sheet to keep close to my nostrils as I watch my beloved tv shows, gossip girl and prison break. It's becoming a problem. More of a need than simple desire. I should probably seek professional help before I pass the point of no return and start eating the stuff. And now that you are all well aware of my extreme chemical imbalance, I plead temporary insanity. I promise I will get myself together as soon as the little nugget arrives, and I should probably avoid pregnancy for the remainder of life.

e is for emmerson.

with only weeks to go until i birth another nielsen child, i find myself struggling to keep my sanity with the 2.5 year old. we call her a sour patch kid because she is sweet as can be, but she has a serious sassy side to her that comes out every now and then. come to think of it...she's always been this way. maybe i'm just getting too tired and worn out as i near the end of this pregnancy to properly deal with it. instead of addressing her with love and patience, my brains explode and i feel like i want to burst into tears. yep, i suppose we will blame this on the mood swings that come with this magical journey that has me growing larger on the daily.

basically, i'm not a fan of being pregnant like some people claim to be. i want my sane mind back...not to mention my body.

If we mention the sweet boy who will soon grace us with his presence, Emmerson conveniently changes the subject in most cases. that's right, doesn't like to talk about it.

okay fine, so we will focus on her during this time while she still has the spotlight to herself. maybe if i can muster up a few nice things to say about the sweet gal, my heart will still be smiling about her pleasant side when she lashes out at me like a monster child.

my emmy claire is definitely unique and i love that about her. she's not a follower, never has been. she has a girly side where you can find her in a fluffy dress having a tea party or playing my little ponies, and she has her tom boy side where you can find her getting dirty outside playing basketball. i find that her true colors shine when she has her guitar in one hand, and her microphone in the other singing taylor swift songs at the top of her lungs. a performer for sure. I love that she will choose mustard yellow polish for her nails, or an orange balloon over the typical little girl pink/purple shades a lot of the time. she hates vegetables of all colors and loves christmas with all of her heart. those two things obviously came directly from me. she talks in silly voices, could spend hours watching videos on youtube, and would live in the ocean if we would let her, all of which she clearly gets from Gregory. her biggest fears in life are fluffy lint that comes from cleaning the dryer vent thingy, and random pieces of hair floating in her bath water. she keeps me on my toes, uses up every ounce of my energy, and has me laughing on a regular basis. i love her more than any other little in tarnation and even though she tests my sanity, i wouldn't change things for the world.

sweet cousins

although Emmy & Landon have had their rough patches when it comes to getting along and when i say rough, i mean plenty of hitting, biting, scratching, hair pulling and tears these two littles really love each other deep down and i know they will always be best buds.

three

here we are still growing wee cousins...blue stripes for a wee lad, and pink stripes for a wee lass

gut to gut

our family for another 5 weeks...


and after sweet husbands injury we got to spend a lot of quality time together doing things such as...

walks on the pier...

and little afternoon trips to coronado...

i'm glad we've gotten some time to enjoy our last weeks of being three.

So long sweet surf

I blame my absence on my iPad. I don't love blogging without visuals and I tend to favor this trusty portable creation of technology over our iMac these days, which just so happens to be the keeper of our extensive photo library. I'll just have to buckle down and make that dreadful trek from the couch to the "office" (approx. 5.2 feet) and fulfill my duties of photo updates. Another day. We have been keeping busy with nothing in particular, funny how that happens. My sweet husband has been home from work for a good portion of the last two weeks due to an injury involving the ocean, his board, and his previously damaged shoulder. He has had surgery on said shoulder twice and was advised to avoid the waves. Perhaps Gregory John has learned his lesson this time? Falling wrong on his board recently landed him with a dislocated shoulder. He struggled slightly to make it in to shore one-armed, consumed by the pain of his dangling limb, but managed. Once on the sand, he tried maneuvering it back into place. You can probably imagine the difficulty of this action while sporting a wetsuit. He then spotted a fellow surfer walking the beach and called him over to (hopefully) help the situation. The ocean gods were on sweet husbands side that day when our random surfer friend just so happened to be an orthopedic surgeon - perhaps the only human of our species to be able to skillfully, not to mention legally return Gregory's shoulder back into its socket. Luck. And relief. And serious savings of potentially pricey medical bills. It worked out nicely, and my love is now on the mend.

give and take

you would think that by now i've learned that writing blog posts while feeling loopy due to lack of slumber doesn't usually deliver pleasing results. when i return to re-read the words i came up with at a later time, i'm usually baffled but i shall make an attempt. last night i tried my darndest to sleep at the respectable hour of 11:00. i tossed and turned for quite a time. sweet husband's alarm was set for 3am yup, three o'clock am, you read that right...as he had big plans to venture to mexico to play in the ocean against my will. the trek to mex scares me a tad and i don't love hanging out at home worried that he will be savagely ripped apart and eaten by a school of hammerhead sharks or a mexican for that matter. not being able to call his cell doesn't help the situation. I couldn't sleep after he left. worried for his life and for my own once i started hearing odd early morning noises around my house that had me shaking in my slippers. i nearly woke up Emmy to bring her in bed with me, and then i realized that a two year old probably wouldn't be able to save me from a vicious attack of an intruder, so i let her sleep. i finally dozed off around 6am. Emmerson decided to wake up at 6:30 for the day today. you can imagine the disorientation of my brains at this very moment. I felt that to make up for my tired worrisome heart, there was really only one thing aside from a safe return from the husband that would be able to make me feel at ease. shopping. that was the deal. gregory john goes surfing in mexico, i can indulge in some retail therapy. I bet poor husband didn't see it coming that his fairly cheap - once you have the gear, nearly free hobby would get so expensive one day. regardless, today, i give thanks for living 4 minutes from the mall...and for the credit cards sweet husband pulled out of his wallet and left on the computer desk to avoid getting stolen in mexico. happy saturday!