My First- "Kids Say the Cutest Things" Moment

This last Tuesday night we were all in the car driving to Target. Elliot was in the backseat watching a movie as usual, I was riding and Mark was driving. We were on a divided highway, so there was a car in the right lane passing us. I looked over and saw an old beater truck with a really rough looking guy driving. He was probably in his early 50's with stringy, unkept salt and pepper hair, and a long straggley beard to match. As he was passing, he was puffing away on a cigarette. I thought to myself he looked rough, but didn't think any more about it.

About 30 seconds later, I hear out of the backseat, "He's got a crayon in his mouth!"
Of course, Mark and I started laughing, and so I asked him what color the crayon was and he said, "Orange!" (The color of the filter)

We told Elliot that it was in fact a crayon, now we just have to make sure that he doesn't try to do it!!! He was so proud of himself that he figured it out, and you could tell that he put some thought into it because it was well after the guy passed us. It just amazes me how those little brains work!

Torpedo tummy

I had Mark take a couple of pictures of me and my ever-increasing stomach. I am now 32 weeks along- only 8 more weeks to go. I can't tell you how much paranoia I have that I am going to have this baby any day. I keep telling myself that more people are overdue than premature, but my wonderful imagination doesn't seem to listen to common sense.

I am starting to have all of those old feelings that I felt the first time around which made me question if I would ever go through this whole pregnancy thing again. My feet and toes swell up like little sausages- that will be my next post- you can see my super hot sock lines. I am finding it harder to move and do anything, and if I ever drop something on the floor, I always hope that someone else is standing close by so that they will take sympathy on me and pick up whatever I dropped.

My body is also preparing for the joys of newborn night-waking too- I wake up almost every hour to get up and go to the bathroom. Add Elliot to the mix of waking up and I might as well kiss a good night's sleep goodbye!

I must continue to remember- "This too shall pass" and before you know it I am going to be putting posts on here of how #2 moved to a big boy bed and is sleeping in the hallway with his older brother!!

Oh yeah, and please don't mind the deodorant marks on the shirt I am wearing. I guess it could be worse, at least I am wearing deodorant.

It won't be long...

I am now 8 1/2 weeks away from my due date and everyday something gets harder and harder to do. Now just going to bed and rolling from one side to the other is like running a 5K. I have to say that this pregnancy is easier to handle because I know that I will instantly feel better after I have this little guy. For those of you that haven't had the opportunity to feel what it is like to have a baby in the middle of your body, it basically feels like you have some big rods going through your stomach that don't allow you to bend over or move very easily. It just feels like this huge "thing" is in the way of everything you do.

I am really looking forward to being able to get back to the routine of running (even though I don't go very fast). I was in Madison on Friday, so I went into Endurance House (a running store) and just looked around. It made me really want to be able to get out there and just go for a run. I just keep telling myself, it will be soon enough! Until then I will have to live vicariously through Erin and Jen and cheer them on at their triathalon! Go girls!!

Hallway Sleeper Update

It has now been two weeks since we took the front off the crib. Elliot is still sleeping in the hallway. As my BFF Erin pointed out, he did learn it from me, which is true because my parents have numerous pictues of me sleeping in random places when I was a little kid. Please understand, I am in no way complaining about the fact that Elliot sleeps in the hallway! I am actually very pleasantly suprised with how well the transition has gone.

We are still using the light on a timer to signal when Elliot can get up in the morning and he is really following it! He gets it! It amazes me that a 2.5 year old can grasp concepts like that, but I suppose I shouldn't be amazed.

Onto another funny story about Elliot, Mark lifted him up onto his shoulders one day and Elliot looked down at the top of Marks head. He looked for a while and then said, "Daddy, where'd your hair go?"

Mark told him that it fell out once he had him! Where do kids get this stuff?!?!?

No Story Needed

When I walked to Elliot's room to perform the nightly routine of putting him in bed after he falls asleep in the hall, this is what I found.

Nice.

The Neverending Saga of the Hallway Sleeper

It has only been a week. I have to keep telling myself, it has only been a week. This whole big bed thing is new and exciting and all I can hope is that someday the novelty will wear off and Elliot will sleep in his bed like a normal child.



Mark was home yesterday, so he had the joy of dealing with Elliot at naptime. I made sure to warn him that it took a lot of patience during naptime, because he is a whole different beast during the day. Mark did have his work cut out for him, he laid down right outside Elliot's room to make sure that he stayed in his room. After a few attempts at a breakout- Elliot got quiet. Mark assumed maybe he was relaxing, so he waited a while before he peeked in the room. Once he finally peeked, he found Elliot wearing his Lightning McQueen "crocs" with big chew marks in them sitting next to a plastic bag for putting dirty diapers in that was also chewed up. After a stern talking to, Elliot cried for a little bit and finally fell asleep.

Nighttime was another adventure- getting Elliot to go to bed isn't too bad, everytime we put him to bed, he immediately gets out and lays in the hallway. We decided that we would just ignore him when he does this, and let him fall asleep where he wants too. After a while when we know he is asleep, we put him back into bed and turn ourselves in for the night. Last night I got up at 2:00 to go to the bathroom and tiptoed to Elliot's room to see if he was still in bed where I left him. Nope. In the hallway. I put him back into bed. I woke up again at 4:30, you guessed it, in the hallway.

I had to get ready for work at 5:00 am, so I did my normal routine, and periodically checked down the hall to make sure that Elliot was staying in place. Around 5:30 we wasn't in his normal spot, so I looked a little further and found him in the living room playing with his trains. I told him he had to go back to his room to wait for the turtle light to come on, and I would be in the kitchen. After some protest, I walked into the kitchen to get my lunch ready. Elliot was going in and out of his room, and at a glance, I noticed that he had taken his pants off. Oh well, he was still going to wait for the light. Then he flashed in the hallway again and I realized that he had not only taken his pants off, he had gotten his diaper off too.

Needless to say, Elliot didn't make it in his room until the turtle light came on. We will try again tomorrow...

My View from the Bedroom

This is a picture of my view from the bedroom. We have a split ranch, so the two kids rooms are on the other end of the house. This is what I see when I get up at 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 am to relieve my continuously shrinking bladder. I am always looking to see if there is a little head poking out from the left side of the doorway, because that is what seems to be Elliot's thing.

I have to say, I had an Easter blessing on Sunday morning- Elliot was great, waited for the light to turn on and made it through the whole night. Last night wasn't so great. At 2:00 am I hear the pitter patter of little feet coming down the hallway. Then he just stands right outside our bedroom door and doesn't say anything. It is actually a little creepy! So I walked him back to his room, and ended up having to sit outside the room for about 40 minutes before he fell back to sleep.

I woke up this morning and hear Elliot starting to stir over the intercom, but I crossed my fingers and hoped that he would remember to "wait for the light." I got into the shower at 5:00 and periodically hear Elliot chattering over the intercom, I couldn't really tell if he was in his room or in the hallway, but I knew he had to be close because the intercom was picking him up. Well, when I walked out to the rest of the house at 5:40 I walked towards his room and was suprised when I didn't see him in the hallway, and then I heard a noise behind me.... I looked and there was my little wanderer, under the kitchen table!! I have to admit, I was quite suprised to see him there and we had a nice long talk. I hoped that the talk did some good.

I dont' think the talk really worked. We put Elliot to bed tonight, and after about an hour, I finally when and picked him up out of the hallway where he had fallen asleep and put him to bed. I just keep wondering when this kid is going to decide to use his bed!! I have to look at the bright side though, he isn't coming into the room asking to climb into bed with me! We will see how tonight goes...