34 weeks (almost)

How far along?: Almost 34 Weeks
How big is baby?: 17.75 Inches, 4.75 lbs
Food cravings?: Still peanut butter a lot. But it's giving me heartburn a lot too, so not as much as I used to want it. Right now I'm having a weird craving for the smell of wet dirt, kind of like the smell right after it rains. I never had weird cravings with Sam. No, I don't want to eat dirt or anything like that so don't think I'm super weird, just when the sprinklers come on in the garden or when I'm watering the flowers outside, that smell is just wonderful to me. I've always loved the smell, but I find myself going out and watering the flowers more often just so I can smell that. Apparently it's common in pregnancy (especially the dirt thing) and more common in those with an iron deficiency, which I have. Could be worse, at least I'm not like those other pregnant people that like the smell of white-out or markers, smelling wet dirt isn't going to harm me or Ella. 
What I'm looking forward to: Baby shower is this Sunday!! I'm so excited, getting things ready for that right now, I'm starting to think about pulling up stuff from the basement and getting things set up for her... Only sixish more weeks till my due date. 
Milestone: Not much going on still. She's maturing her lungs and just getting fat for delivery day. (Though we're going to hope not too fat and that she doesn't have her Daddy or Brother's fat head, that was hard enough on me with Sam, ha ha.) 
Best moment this week?: Playing outside with Sam. He is my little outdoors man! He's already getting a tan.  
Feelings this week?: This week has been better than last in terms of work. It is overwhelming sometimes when you have a billion things to focus on and your next shift depends on the way you manage those things. I am trying to focus on one thing at a time right now and hoping that everything else falls into place along the way. I really only have this month and next month to get things straightened out before I go on leave so it is hard not to stress about that since these last months are going to count as more than one month. The center is hopefully going to start opening even earlier than it was so as much as I don't want to have to wake up and work at 3am, if that's what's available, that's what I'll do. Same thing about working nights, as much as I don't want to have to do it, if I have to do it, I will. I'm not giving up on the hope that I can get a decent shift when bid times come around, I am just mentally preparing myself for the possibility of not getting the shift I want, and hoping my daycare situation isn't affected too much by it. 


As much as work stresses me out, I am happy that I have a job and a well paying one at that. I'm happy that I get to spend as much time with my family as I do. It could be much worse, which is why going back to days isn't something that I want to do, either nights or early mornings is better for all of us in the long run. (Though I really wish I could work like 8am to 2pm, that'd be pretty sweet.) 


Other than work stresses, things are going great at home. Sam is just wonderful, he's so smart and picks up on things so quickly. I can't believe how much he knows now. He's also a monkey and can climb up the big slide in the backyard, so we have to watch him like a hawk when he's out there. He loves spending time outside and can sit in the sandbox for at least an hour playing in the dirt.... all in all home life is pretty amazing! 

32 Weeks

How far along?: 32 Weeks
How big is baby?: 16.7 Inches, 3.75 lbs!!
Food cravings?: Peanut butter, we have literally gone through a double jar of peanut butter in 3 weeks. That's how much of it I am eating!
What I'm looking forward to: My baby shower is coming up soon, only a few more weeks!
Milestone: Pretty much from now till she's born it's mostly fattening up! She's starting to lose the fur that's covering her whole body. 
Sleep?: Well in between bathroom trips I'm sleeping pretty good. I've almost been late to work a few days this week cause I'm so knocked out. 
Best moment this week?: This has been a rough week to say the least. My Facebook post reflect how stressful it was. The best part of this last week was putting up Sam's swing set and watching him play on it for the first time... He's getting so big now, I can't believe that he's going to be two soon!! It's crazy. 
Feelings this week?: My son is so smart. He is at this wonderful stage right now where he is my little parrot. (Which mean's I really have to watch what I say, lol.) If I ask him to say a word, he will try pretty much any word I give him. He is starting to say a lot of animal sounds, and we have a lot of first word books, he can recognize about 90% of the pictures in those books. He's also a little smarty pants too and his favorite phrase right now is: "I don't want to," he likes to say this pretty much to anything we ask of him. 


I am also feeling very pregnant lately too. Kind of apprehensive about the fact that we are only a few weeks out from delivery. (I'll technically be full term in only a month.) I'm also a lot more emotional with her than when I was pregnant with Sam. She's got me crying at the drop of a hat. I don't remember being weepy with Sam... I know I was quick to get mad, but I was never weepy. 


Other than that, just a stressful week all around. Mostly with work, but it's going to be my weekend soon so I'll get to breathe a sigh of relief when that day comes around, lol. 

31 Weeks

How far along?: 31Weeks
How big is baby?: 16.25 Inches, 3.3 lbs!!
Food cravings?: Ice Cream Sandwhiches
What I'm looking forward to: Putting the finishing touches on Ella's Room, my baby shower is coming up soon!
Milestone: Pretty much from now till she's born it's mostly fattening up!
Sleep?: Well in between bathroom trips I'm sleeping pretty good. Though I am still extremely tired all the time.
Best moment this week?: Yesterday was a pretty good day, watching my boys play outside the kitchen window while I cooked, love them so much. That and sitting in AJ's lap last night while we watched TV that was nice too... basically just being together with my beautiful family makes me really happy!
Feelings this week?: A few things I've realized this week:

#1 I am more scared of the delivery this time than I was with Sam. I think this is partly due to the fact that I was in SO MUCH pain, and it really hasn't been long enough since Sam was born for me to forget what that pain felt like. But mainly it is because I had to experience the terror of something being wrong with my baby and not being able to do anything about it, not being able to see him or hear about how he was doing for hours after he was born. I had a dream the other night that Ella was born and they kept me from her and it brought back all those terrible emotions, and the anxiety of it all. I am terrified of that happening again, the more I think about Sam's birth the more thankful I am that AJ was there with him the whole time, I honestly don't think I realized how scared I was about Sam until we had come home from the hospital. It's like I couldn't let myself feel it or it would've been too much for me to handle after giving birth. (I was also drugged up so that could have been part of it.) I'm just praying that everything goes right this time, but I am definitly more scared and nervous about it this time.

#2 I am anxious about having a second baby when my first is so young. I am confident that it will be fine and we will all get used to one another, but I am nervous about how Sam is going to do. I remember when I was pregnant with sam how anxious I was to have him and with this one, I am not even close to ready to have her yet!