Happy Halloween! In honor of Halloween, Don and I both visited the dentist within the last 24 hours. I guess we want to make sure all of the gunk is off our teeth before we eat the yummy candy. Ian is going to be Mickey Mouse tonight and can't wait.

So I'm undecided if I'll give out candy or take him around the neighborhood. We get a ton of trick or treaters so it is a lot of walking up and down the steps to answer the door. I hope that everyone has a spooky night!

Monday, Monday...la la, la la la la.

Here I am again, on a boring Monday, 33 weeks along (7 to go). This is the time at work where everyone gets paranoid I could pop at any second and I start to not have anything to do. I'm meeting with someone who is taking over some of my responsibilities while on maternity leave tomorrow, so it is the beginning of the end. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'd rather have too much to do than not enough.

This weekend Don really got cracking on the baby's room. It is actually inhabitable right now. My mom finished painting last week. Don installed the closet organizers in record time. He got the old rug out, and new rug in and the curtains & shades are hung. I got through 3 out of the 5 bins of clothes we were lent. I still have the 2 big ones to go through (thanks to Erin, Suz, & Hope).

There is still so much more to do. We need to clean up the yard for winter (leaves, ugh!), clean out the coat closet (which is a "open the door and stuff falls out at you" closet right now). Bring the old rug and treadmill to my parents, finish Christmas shopping, hang the last curtain in the playroom, hang the curtains in the basement, and whatever else comes up. I'm usually either too tired or sore to do anything, but I know I better do it now, because it isn't going to get easier by the time I'm 38 weeks pregnant or have a newborn!

Ian went bowling for the first time Saturday night thanks to Kelly-Fradet. He loved it and it tired him out so much that he fell asleep on the ride home. It was a night off for Don and I. Off to the dentist this afternoon. Yipee..

Well, in terms of me, everything is fine. I haven't had the cramping I had this past weekend all week, so that is good. I told my doctor about it and she could care less. She said that as long as it stops when I lie or sit down, it is OK. Easy for her to say.....

We've had a rough week with Ian. Since we came home from vacation, he has been going to sleep on his own in his own bed. Don and I say goodnight and then go into the playroom. He was coming out between 5 and 10 times after that to get "tucked in" or "do covers" or "one more hug" etc. However, he was never really upset, just delaying the inevitable.

So this weekend we started offering him stickers if he stayed in bed. It worked great........for 3 days. Now, he cries hysterically when we put him to bed. He doesn't care about the bribe anymore. He cries before nap for 35-45 minutes and before bed for at least an hour. Don and I are trying to be firm by not going in, but things just aren't getting better. Will there be a day when bedtime isn't such a struggle?

This was a rough weekend. I was so fortunate when I was pregnant with Ian. I felt very good up until the last week or so. Not so lucky this time. On Saturday, I had really bad cramps anytime I was on my feet. I tried to rest as much as possible, but it isn't always possible. I felt equally bad Sunday morning, but better by Sunday evening. I do have a doctor's appointment today. She will probably tell me that it comes with the territory, but with a little less than 2 months to go, that is depressing.

On a good note, we went to the Wiggles concert on Saturday evening. Ian LOVED it! I cannot believe how excited he was to see the Wiggles in person and up close. We had fantastic seats and Captain Feathersword passed right by us in the aisle. Unfortunatly, Greg was sick, so Sam filled in. Ian didn't care, but I think there were alot of disappointed parents around.

Yesterday was my parents 32nd wedding anniversery. They had a non-celebration by both working different shifts and leaving each other cards on the kitchen table. Romantic, huh? I still think that it is pretty cool that they've made it so long. It was also my aunt's anniversery and my sister's (but that one doesn't really count anymore). Don and I were crazy and didn't get married on 10/19. We are such rebels!

We have the Wiggles tomorrow and the LaChance's are coming over first. It will be crazy, but fun. My next prenatal appointment is Monday. Work has been so, so busy, so I barely have time to blog.

Today is Friday the 13th. I would have never realized it was unless I turned on the news this morning. I really don't keep track of the date too closely. We had Greg, Nathan and Dan over the other night for dinner as Mary was away on a business trip. Poor Don was off his game and the food was so-so, but the company was fun. I cannot imagine having 3 little boys under the age of 3 in the house for too long. It was crazy! It was fun watching Ian play with them because I don't get to see him interact with other kids too much.

We are off to NJ to Suzanne & Joe's wedding this weekend, sans Ian. It will be nice to get away a little bit. I'm also VERY excited to meet my new nephew, Shane. I'll update on Monday.

Happy Birthday Gabe! Happy Birthday Tommy!

Yesterday was my latest doctor's appointment. Everything is good, I passed my glucose test (for gestational diabetes). Weight good (up 11 pounds), blood pressure good, urine good. I told the doctor about my pelvic pain and she didn't have many solutions for me. She did check the position of the baby. She is head down and very low. The doctor said that her head is probably bruising my pelvic bone over and over. Fun stuff.

Preggo brain is in full effect. I wore my pants to work backwards today. Lovely!

Good morning! It's Monday and a really nice day outside (at least it looks like one from my desk). I need to send out CONGRATULATIONS to Don and Kara for completing the Boston 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. Don has been training for 5 or 6 months and was hoping to finish in less than 2:25. He kicked some serious butt and finished in 2:14:40 (or something really close to that).

While Don was running, Ian and I attended a great birthday party for my favorite Godson who turns 1 tomorrow. Happy Birthday Gabe! It was a spectaular event with pony rides and a bouncy house. Ian (who is usually scared of both) was fearless and ran right up to the bouncy house as soon as we arrived. It helps that Sophie was already in there and there was a SLIDE inside! Thanks to the Frains Pop-pop, Ian now proudly explains that he "drops a bomb". Great.

On Saturday, we went with my mom to Elm Knoll Farm in Somers. There was a petting zoo and hayrides and pumpkins and all sorts of fall stuff. Ian was of course only interested in the stage with a guy playing songs on his keyboard.

I haven't been blogging lately for two reasons. First, I've been pretty busy at work (yey!) and secondly, there hasn't been much to write about. Things at home have been quiet and routine. Ian has been attending quite a few birthday parties lately. Who knew that a 2-year-old could have a more active social life than me? He has one today and on on Sunday. Last weekend, we met up with Heather & Sienna and Becca & Emma for some apple picking. Ian would rather spend his time tackling Emma. She took it well though and dished it right back. If she was up to Ian in weight and height, he would have been in trouble.

I've been thinking alot about #2 as we have about 10 weeks or so to go. I think how different it will be for her. Ian got both mine and Don's full attention for 14 weeks and #2 won't get our full attention until Ian moves out! So different, but good in a way. It is hard to explain. If my memory serves (and it often doesn't), #2 moves around less than Ian did. She hasn't gotten the hiccups yet and I remember he was plauged with them. My mom is painting her room this week (thanks Mom!) and soon it will be filled with baby things.

This was written by my wonderful husband Don. Enjoy!


Face to face with the Devil himself.
Current mood: amused

The Devil's name? Chuck E Cheese.

That is right. Ian literally shat himself upon going into Chuck E Cheese's for a birthday party. Well, I don't know if that's when he dropped the deuce, but it wasn't there when we walked in but it was about 15min later.

We walk in, and in direct eyesight is the stage with all those big animatronic goofy animals playing instruments. Ian started backpedaling and just kept shaking his head saying "No, No, No". I picked him up and he just buried his head in my shoulder.

We literally JUST walked in and he started freaking out. We had to go to the party table up by the stage to at least put the gift down, and he just kept saying "No no no!". I told him it was okay and he didn't have to look, so he put his head in his hands and faced the other way.

After we put the bag down we went into one of the 2 play/game areas (there is one play area on either side of the entrance with some tables and then there is the big party room straight ahead with lots of long tables to accomodate several parties) and got him distracted from the big furry diablos on stage.

We saw some friends so I got to talk a little bit, but after about 15min it was pizza time. Where was the pizza? Right in the 7th innermost circle of hell...right down in front of the stage. I tried taking a few steps into the party room but of course Ian flipped out. One of the moms saw that Ian was having none of it, so she was nice enough to bring us a piece of pizza and a drink. We sat in the furthest possible booth with our backs to the stage and Ian still kept turning around to check.

I tried to reassure him that chucky wasn't coming, but of course he didn't believe me. He wolfed down the slice and wanted another, but how were we to get it. Ian wouldn't come with me, so he just sat in the corner of the booth and stared straight ahead while I went and got it. I mean this is a kid who can't sit still for ANYTHING. He's usually walking around on the bench, grabbing the salt & pepper shakers and napkins, etc. I didn't know it until later, but there were salt & pepper shakers right in front of him...did he touch them while I was gone? Nope, just stared right ahead...wouldn't even have any of his drink.

So what comes after lunch? CAKE! Not for us though! I actually was able to get Ian near the table so we could at least sing Happy Birthday and watch the birthday girl blow out the candles. I told Ian I would hold him and that he didn't have to look if he was scared and that he was safe.
He watched curiously for a little bit, but things took a dramatic turn for the worse. He was scared enough of the animatronic doohickies on the stage, but once the person in the Chucky costume came out he just totally lost his marbles.

So we left that area and played more games. Even after chucky was gone (I told Ian he left to take a nap) Ian didn't want cake. So we just played games and rode on little rides the rest of the time. He was kind of into what he was doing, but he kept looking for that big scary mammajamma.

One of the funniest things was that when Ian wanted to go from one game area to the other he ran by party area with his hands in front of his face. I actually laughed at that.
Believe it or not we were the last ones there, except for the birthday girl of course. It was tougher than I thought to get him to leave, but it didn't take all THAT much coaxing!

Of course for the majority of the ride home Ian just kept yammering on about Chucky and how the monsters were scary and moved their heads and that ian was "very very scared". He'll talk about them playing instruments but he couldn't care less at the time, he just wanted away from the situation.

So, Ian's babysitters take note. If you're watching him and he starts acting up, you can always say that unless he behaves Chuck E Cheese is coming to get him. That'll do the trick.

But I'm telling you now: If you even so much as mutter that name around Ian in my presence, you're on diaper duty!