15 months, 18 weeks, and 2 days!

Zachary turned 15 months last Monday and we are going for our check up tomorrow! (thanks to Amy since I didn't think we needed to go back until 18 months!)  I think we have to get some shots and just discuss how Z Man is doing these days.  I am sure the lack of words will come up but I honestly am not too worried about it yet.  He babbles a lot and follows some commands so I believe he comprehends, just may be a slow talker! (My fav is I ask him to help me make the bed and he brings me all the pillows, too cute!)  Other than that, hopefully it is just another appointment! :) 

And this is me....18 weeks!  My 1st "belly shot".  Poor little peanut, I was taking pics of my belly with Z before there was even anything to see!  And now the countdown is on...2 weeks until we find out what this baby is!  Any guesses?

My mom's Birthday was today and she and my dad came over to spend the day with us.  We had some yummy Macaroni Grille for lunch!  DELISH!  We had a good afternoon and I am so thankful to have such great parents!  Great parents who will be watching the Z Man this weekend for us!

And only 2 work days this week, WOOHOO!  I am looking forward to our annual Beach weekend.  We are headed to a different beach this year since Hurricane Ike wiped out Crystal Beach but I hope we may be back there again one day!  We are also doing a kiddo day this year!  Usually it is adults only but we have the house a day early so Thursday night/Friday afternoon is FAMILY FUN time!  So we will enjoy the time with Z and then head back to h-town Friday afternoon to drop Zach off at my parents.  Being preggo at the beach weekend will be a little different but others have done it before so I am sure I can handle it too.

Oh, and Operation Low Intercom is going well.  I am sleeping better and I guess Zach is sleeping okay too.  He is still waking up at 6:30-7am every day but I suppose we just have an early riser.  Now if only I could get comfortable at night....then we would really be set! 

Addicted to the monitor?

Had lunch today with some of the book club aunties and mentioned how the last two weeks since Zach's possessed teething episodes....I have not gotten much or very good sleep! He is just waking through the night and I wake up to every cry/whimper/rustle! Both of them asked if I still have the monitor next to the bed. And yes, I do. Suggestion? Back to good old Ferber! They both said to turn the monitor off or move it outside the bedroom so that I could hear him if he was REALLY crying, but not every noise he makes. He is not sick and obviously old enough to be sleeping though the night....but I think perhaps I spoiled him the week of the teething by going in every little whimper. So, I guess tonight will be Night #1. I will let you know how it goes!

Ferber in the Morning??

You know....Ferber, the Father of the CIO(cry it out) method.....I am about to start "ferberizing Zach" for wake-ups!

Zach goes to sleep great. Even if he is awake when you lay him down, he will play in his crib but most times just rolls onto his tummy, sticks hiney in the air and knows it is time for bed. He may make a peep or two when you leave but it rarely lasts any longer than that and has for awhile.

I have talked about Zach's night terrors which I know partially attribute to the sleep sacks....but lately it seems like we are sleeping less and less soundly at night and waking up earlier and earlier!

We hear of parent's who will keep their kids up a little later on the weekend night so they will sleep longer in the morning. I am mystified and slightly envious of this concept! No matter how late we are up at night, Zach is awake at the latest 7am the next morning. He definitely has an internal alarm clock in him that I need to break!

This morning, he was awake at 5am and frankly, that just isn't going to cut it. He needs more sleep than that! So...this morning as he was crying and Matt was going to get Zach's bottle, I said no. I can tell from the cry, nothing urgent is the matter. He is simply awake and wants us! So I just let him cry...It was a long 20 minutes but he eventually puttered out and whether or not he went back to sleep or not, he was laying down when I went in to get him 30 minutes later. So Ferberize I will if it will teach him NOT to be up before the rooster crows every morning! This momma needs some sleep!!!

My Stinker

Chromosal/Genetic testing

Since being pregnant with Zachary, I have switched OB/GYN practices in order to deliver somewhere closer to home! I liked my old practice and their office was somewhat convenient to work....but now that we live in the burbs, the thought of being 45 minutes away from the house just was not a good one. Especially with my parents and Zachary being the same 45 min away! So anyway, I moved practices and my new OB is from the Fertility doc's office that we used for Z! And only 10 min from home.

The whole point of this post is about the testing. After talking with the OB, we decided to forgo all the genetic/chromosomal testing. Being as if something is wrong with little peanut, it would not change my decision to carry this child to term, nor would I want to do an amnio or CVS (read too many horror stories). And the hospital I am delivering at has a Level 3 NICU in case something was wrong at delivery, they would be able to handle initially at least.

What have other people done? Last time I just did the nuchal ultrasound and blood work at 12 weeks, nothing past that. Should I do more or rest in my decision and go from there?

raising a nudist??

Well I think a lot of babies/kiddos just love to be naked....but do they DESPISE putting on clothes and diapers like mine does? It is a constant horrible battle most mornings. You would think he was in some sort of HORRIBLE pain by the amount of shrieking that can go on sometimes just to change a diaper and put on clothes. And like Monica from Friends, he is freakishly strong! How a 25lb, 3 foot tall child can exercise so much force in his legs and body I have NO idea! He locks his legs and I can barely move them. Craziness!

Is this just a phase or do we really have a child who has an aversion to clothing? ;-)

HOT, Darn Hot!!

It's only the middle of May and the humidity is already close to unbearable. This is going to make for a very long summer. I don't like wearing shorts, and even more so being pregnant....this should be interesting....

The End of the Sleep Sack

It all started with Julia Joy's 1st birthday party...we stayed over late and since Z crashed in the car, I decided not to try to wriggle him into the sack when we got home. Oddly enough, no peeps through the night. I attributed it to the late pajama party he had. The next night, I decided to try again....no peeps until almost time to wake up. Curious! Could it be the sack or coincidence?

So the next night I continued my experiment with him BACK in the sleep sack....and lo and behold, heard him several times in through the night! I did a couple more nights of on and off....and surely enough.......the nights off he slept better and the nights in the sack....the night wakings!! Apparently Zach does NOT share my love of the sleep sack anymore!

I guess I have 2 Large cotton sleep sacks if anyone wants them! ;-)

On Brooooadway

Not sure why but I have been totally diggin the Broadway channel on XM lately. I cannot sing very well but somehow I think I missed my calling ;-) And there are so many more shows out there I have yet to see!

This year mom and I decided not to renew our Season Tickets to the Broadway Series. While I am very bummed about losing our fabulous seats (front row center mezzainine).....their season just was not that great this year and the only show I REALLY wanted to see is Mary Poppins which I probably wouldn't even be able to because I will have a newborn baby at home! TUTS season is much better, but again, the whole newborn at home thing kinda makes it out the question this year. A lot of money to pay for something that I am not sure I would be able to use all of. There are some shows I really want to see though so I hope I can make a few of them at least!!!

And speaking of Broadway...I heard today on the channel that they are making a sequel to The Phantom! Wow, I cannot imagine!

Anyway, think I will download a bunch of tunes onto my iPod so I can continue to enjoy the music any time I want!!

Monday! At the zoo!

Today was a good one!  Finally Zach and I both felt better which is much more than I can say for the previous week we have had.  Yesterday I felt like C.R.A.P. all day and ended up calling my mom over.  She came over and took care of me and Zach so Matt could get things done around the house.  It was SO very much appreciated cause there was no way I could have handled running after wild man.  I had constant nausea and headache all day along with achiness...but no fever, so I am sure it wasn't the swine flu!  ;-)  

Anyway, woke up today and feeling MUCH better and Zach's teeth are almost through so he is in a better mood too.  Roxanne had texted us about the zoo and we needed to get out of the house so away we went!  It was a beautiful day outside too.  The kids had fun running around and checking out the animals.  We got to see the sea lion show, which Zach loved!  I thought he was going to dive over the fence when they threw a ball into the water!!  So fun to watch him taking interest and amazement of things!  We also got to see a the Tiger getting fed his lunch which was pretty cool too.  The children's section wasn't too packed either which allowed the kids to run freely.  All and all a good afternoon.  Z took a snooze in the car on the way home and as soon as we got into the house we was wide awake.  We decided to eat lunch and play and he finally crashed from 3:30-5:30 which allowed mommy to take a much needed snooze too!