Bittersweet

The good news, my baby flipped around and is no longer in a breech position. The bad news, she is still inside of me and looking like she plans to stay put until the bitter end. Bummer.

To think, it could all be over. . . . .

I sat down last week and made a huge list of things that I wanted to get done before the baby comes. I haven't gotten much of it accomplished yet, so you can imagine my surprise when I found myself in the hospital in labor at 2:00 a.m. this morning. I had been having regular contractions for about six or seven hours but couldn't decide if it was real or not. Although my contractions were still only in the "uncomfortable" stage and not yet painful I decided to make a trip to the hospital, just to see. The last thing I wanted was to cut it too close. Well, they hooked me up to a monitor and as it turned out I was in labor. Because my baby was still breeched at my last check-up I had them do an ultra-sound, which confirmed that she still had not turned around. Had I continued laboring I would have ended up having a c-section so I asked if there was still time to stop the labor in order to give her a few more days to flip around. One tiny little shot later I found myself on my way home and feeling fine. However, when I woke up this morning and realized that I was still pregnant and didn't have to be I could have kicked myself. What was I thinking asking for that shot!! Oh well, if she does manage to turn around and I get to have a normal deliver I'm sure I will not regret my decision.

The big momma limp-waddle

How do I know it is time to have this baby? I think I may be waddling now instead of just simply walking. To make matters worse, I slipped on our tile floor the other day and had to pull off some pretty impressive acrobatics in order to remain upright. The result, I think I pulled every muscle in my left side. I've spent the past few days limp-waddling around. This means that the last remaining ten percent of people who had not yet begun to pity the big pregnant lady are now beginning to do so. I can see it in their eyes.

As if that were not enough, even Ollie has begun to point out my elephant-like size. He has been on this kick lately in which he has to always point out a mom, dad and baby; i.e. "mommy tree," "daddy tree," and "baby tree." He does the same thing with rocks, sticks, crackers, toys - you name it. Sadly, over the past few weeks I have observed a change in his selection habits. It has become more and more apparent that the "daddy" object is no longer the biggest of the three. That's right, "mommy" is always the largest stick, rock or puddle. There is nothing like having a two-year-old put it all in perspective for you! Good thing I only have three weeks to go.

Picker, picker carrot eater

I knew it would all be over the second he saw me do it. I was right. I picked a carrot from our garden earlier this week and Oliver has continued to pick dozens more. He thinks it is pretty much the coolest thing ever. We made a rule that he can't pick a new carrot until he eats his last one. He has been pretty good about it, the only trouble is that if I am not handy to wash it off, the carrot will go straight to his mouth dirt and all. I wonder how many carrots he can eat before his skin starts to turn orange? I guess I should just be grateful that the carrots seem to have temporarily distracted him from the tomatoes. We have a few that are beginning to turn red and he is absolutely obsessed with them. Every time we go into the backyard he has to point out the "orange" tomato.

So Spoiled

Yesterday was my birthday and Sam did such a great job of making it nice. On top of buying me the double jogging stroller that I have had my eye on ever since finding out I was pregnant with number two; he woke up early and before leaving for work he made me some delicious Belgian waffles and some freshly squeezed orange juice, yum! He also made sure the house was stocked with all my favorite things so that I spent the day munching on chocolate covered raisins and answering happy birthday calls from friends and family. I don't mind getting older if always means good days like that one.
Today Ollie and I decided to take our new stroller for a spin. I guess Oliver wasn't too impressed by the shocks and comfy padded seats because all he wanted to do was climb into the cargo area underneath, go figure! Hopefully Ruby will be slightly more appreciative or at least more apt to remain in her seat.

The Festivities

We decided to go ahead and celebrate Oliver's birthday while we were in Salt Lake for a short trip last week. We had all his favorite foods: pizza, watermelon and mandarin oranges.
His cake was in the shape of a train and he made us light the candle a couple of times because he thought it was so fun to blow out.
He also made sure his new toy train got a good taste of cake as well (don't worry there was other dessert, I made this cake simply to have a candle for him to blow out).
I had been talking to Oliver all week about his birthday - the concept wasn't really sinking in - but he did get very excited every time I mentioned balloons. So, Sam made sure we had plenty of balloons and Oliver let them go one and a time. I knew the birthday was a success after he woke up the next morning and rehearsed everything to me from the "choo choo cake" to the "flying balloons"

On his real birthday I went in to get him out of bed and when I wished him a happy birthday he immediately asked for cake, so I guess the whole birthday concept sank in eventually. Unfortunately there was no cake. Because we had celebrated a week early, we didn't plan to do much other than give him our present on his birthday. It wasn't a problem though, as soon as he got a look at his new train table (thank you craigslist) all else was forgotten. He played trains from the moment he woke up from his nap until it was time to go to bed again and this morning when I took him out of his crib, instead of the usual snuggles and kisses he wriggled right out of my arms and ran to the train table. We wanted to have something that would entertain him while I am taking care of the new baby, I just hope he doesn't get sick of it before then!

The Toddler Years

My baby turned two today and so we have officially entered the toddler years. I can't believe he has been with us for two whole years and at the same time Sam and I can't seem to remember what life without Ollie was like. He is growing and learning in leaps and bounds these days. He knows his all his colors and can even count to five (though not always in order). We haven't quite hit what everyone calls the "terrible twos" - at least as far as the tantrums are concerned. He is still easy-going and sweet, but certainly finds his fair share of trouble. He likes to take things apart and seems to have an obsession with sticking things down holes. All of his sidewalk chalk disappeared the other day and I finally located it in one big pile right below a knothole in the deck. Oliver is a people watcher and he picks things out that I never see. Lots of times he will tell me he sees something like a train or a blue balloon which I usually don't see it at first and can only find if I really look hard. On top of everything Oliver is very loving, he like snuggles and hugs and kisses and he loves us all to be together in the same room. He also likes to call Sam and I "guys," as in "guys a park!" or "guys go walk." He never stops amazing us or making us laugh, so happy birthday to my precious two-year-old we sure do love you!!

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I sold my jogging stroller today, it was a bittersweet moment. Sweet because I managed to sell it for only ten dollars less than I paid for it a year and a half ago, but sad because it marked the end of an era. I think that Ollie and I both shed a tear as we watched it roll away. My tear wasn't so much for the stroller itself, although "Bob" has been a great friend, but for what it represented, my time with Oliver- just the two of us. Oliver and I are good buddies and we have so much fun hanging out all day long. I know that when Ruby comes she will only add to the joy and fun, but for right now I am missing the life that I have gotten so used to. I just keep wondering, can anything be as great as this?

So Sweet

It is so much fun to watch Oliver grow up and develop. His current stage has got to be one of my favorites thus far, he is learning to talk and takes such notice of everything around him. Today we we were at a nearby park, we were the only ones there and Oliver was enjoying just running around and climbing on the equipment. Then, a little bit before we left a teenage girl showed up with her six or seven year old brother who was clearly mentally handicapped. The boy was excited to be at the park but somewhat trepidatious as well. His sister took him to the top of the slide and was trying to coax him down but he was too nervous. Oliver, seeing what was going on immediately left what he was doing and ran to the bottom of the slide. As soon as he got there he looked up at the little boy, held his arms out and yelled "Catch! Catch!" He wanted to help the boy so that he wouldn't be scared.

That moment of sweetness pretty much made up for this morning when he came to me to tell me "brush down gogee hole" ('gogee' by the way is Oliver's word for water). I had no idea what he meant until I discovered that he had climbed onto the bathroom counter taken the stopper out of the drain and stuffed my toothbrush down far enough that I could not retrieve it.

Visitors

A couple of weeks ago we got a visit from Sam's Dad and step-mom. It was so fun to have them here. There was a time, not to long ago when Oliver would have nothing to do with Grandpa Peay (it is a long story involving a missed touchdown pass by BYU and a lot of yelling and banging on the wall by Grandpa). Fortunately, Ollie seems to have put that bad memory behind him becuase he warmed right up to Grandpa, and of course what little kid wouldn't love Leslie - she just has a way with them. We had so much fun showing them around Colorado Springs and just hanging out.


We walked around Garden of the Gods and Ollie showed of his rock climbing skills.


We also visited the Flying W Ranch, it is a working cattle ranch with an old west town for visitors to tour. At night they serve a huge chuckwagon dinner followed by a concert with the Flying W Wranglers. It was so much fun, Oliver was a dancing fool when the music started. I'm sure some of the dancing was a result of the sugar high caused by the ice cream cone Grandpa bought him right before dinner, but then, what are grandpa's for if not to spoil their grandkids appetites!!


If grandpa wanted to find his way straight into Oliver's heart he sure picked the right activity when we went to Palmer Lake to throw rocks into the water. There were even ducks to feed and in Oliver's world life can get no better. We were sure sad when it was time for them to go.

Summer Fun

As Ollie and I have been exploring our new town we have found a few different public splash parks. (By public I mean free, just my kind of price!) Anyway, these pictures are from a trip we took to Deerfield Splash Park with Ollie's friend Sydney and her mom Tracy.