It's Time

I should be in bed right now but I can't sleep or even begin to settle my mind down to try to sleep. I'M HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!

Today Seth took the day off so we tried to spend some extra fun time with Taft. We took him to the children's museum which normally he loves but since kids are out of school for the holidays it was kind of a zoo. I'm feeling a little guilty about having another baby and that Taft has no idea what's coming. My brain knows I shouldn't feel guilty at all because siblings rock and it's much better to have sibling relationships than to have one-on-one attention from your parents your entire life. Still though, part of me just wishes Taft were a little older so I could explain the huge change that's coming.

My mom got in tonight which is a huge relief. She'll take care of the Taftman until I'm back from the hospital and will stay about a week to help out. Then Auntie Lanx comes to provide additional assistance for about another week. Seth's on-call tomorrow night which in a way sucks but in a way is good timing. We'll both be at the hospital and instead of sleeping in the on-call room he can sleep on the pull-out in my room in Post-Partum.

I'm kind of in denial about all the negative post-partum effects that are coming my way. I HATED the physical recovery with Taft and for some reason I just keep thinking it won't be nearly as bad this time. Let's hope I'm right. I just remember the day after feeling like I had literally been hit by a semi-truck. For some reason my back was so so sore I couldn't stand up right. I won't even mention all the other physical effects that seemed to last forever and I thought surely I would die from. My mom asked if I was worried about anything i.e. not getting much sleep. I've thought about this a little but at the same time I just keep thinking I'm a pro or something and it's going to be a piece of cake. I'm totally out of my mind.

I need to get myself sleepy because I have an early curtain time tomorrow morning. I think I'll take a hot bath, make some tea, and watch an episode or two of Friends.

Nighty night. I'll report back in a day or two. Be prepared for a seriously cute baby boy.

Our Christmas

Like I said in a previous post, we tried to take advantage of as much free holiday stuff as Seth's schedule permitted. Lucky for us, Seth was able to take two days in addition to Christmas Eve and Christmas off. Christmas Eve afternoon downtown was offering free carriage rides. I stood in line for about an hour while Seth kept Taft entertained walking around the mall and outside. Taft loved the 5 minute ride and flipped when we had to leave.

Carolers!

We came home to have a nice dinner with just our little family, opened our Christmas pjs, broke out the C. Kay Cummings chocolates, put Taft to bed, then read the Christmas story and started to watch The Nativity Story movie but got too sleepy about 20 minutes into it. It's a good thing we went to bed early because Taft woke up at 5!! He's been doing that for about two weeks now and it's really getting old. But since it was Christmas morning I was happy to be awake to get the present opening started!

What a haul! 

Christmas morning was really fun with Taft. He really liked his gifts although I think he was definitely overwhelmed. We were several hours into the morning and he still had presents he hadn't opened. I made my first ever cinnamon rolls FROM SCRATCH. Probably the most ambitious thing I've ever made. I used Pioneer Woman's recipe and they were pretty bomb if I do say so myself. I probably could have cooked them a tad longer to get the middles done a little more but they were still really good. We took some to a friend later in the day and he texted Seth the following: "Tell Heidi those cinnamon rolls blew my mind." Why thank you. (I share this information because usually I'm not a very good cook). We skyped with my family later in the morning, had a conference call with the Herways and Missionary Steve-O. In the evening we had a huge Christmas meal with a few of our friends who also stayed around for the holiday.

Christmas Sunday - I'm as big as a freaking house.

Handsome Bow Tie Little Boy

We had a great, great Christmas and although we missed family we really enjoyed having it just our tiny family this year. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Now here comes  a New Year and a New Baby!

Merry Christmas!

Oh Shut Up

Around 3:00 p.m. this afternoon after noticing a nearly empty package of Keebler Grasshopper cookies Seth started the following conversation:

Seth: "How come the box of cookies is practically gone?"
Me: "Because I ate them."
Seth: "When did you buy them?"
Me: "Last night."

I have a weakness and it's mint chocolate cookies...Grasshoppers, Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies, Trader Joe's Joe Joe's.  I consumed nearly an entire box of Keebler Grasshoppers by myself in less than 24 hours. What? I'm pregnant. And Taft had some (like 3) too.

If you ever make me mad and want to make it back into my good graces again all you really need to do is give me a package of the aforementioned cookies and you'll be golden.

Tis the Season to be Sick

Last Saturday we had our two only Christmas parties that Seth would be available for scheduled for the same night- our ward party and Seth's work party. As luck would have it, Taft came down with his worst bug ever the same day which lasted until about Wednesday. We missed our parties and were super duper bummed out about it. I felt really bad for Taft but also had a short pity party for myself as well. It's different being away from family during the holidays, it's the first Christmas since being married that we'll be spending it with just our little family. I'm actually really looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas morning just us. We have been trying to do as much holiday stuff as Seth's schedule allows though and it's been really fun.  Last Sunday we thought Taft was maybe feeling a little better so we took a evening drive to Coeur d'Alene to see the light display in the harbor. These were our favorites:

Wednesday night we went to a free Christmas concert that was advertised in the paper. We knew it was put on by middle and high schoolers but we laughed as we left when we felt like we were probably the only people there who didn't actually know one of the students. 

One of the residents in Seth's group is having a party tomorrow night but Seth has to miss it because he's on call. Bummer. Taft and I are still planning to go. 

It was so sad to have Taft so sick all week. He slept a ton, hardly ate anything, and rarely smiled for two or three days straight. Although, he did have a spurt of energy and sillyness and had fun taking pictures in photobooth with this Russia hat on.

In Baby Number 2 news, I have an induction scheduled for Dec. 31st! My mom gets into town the night of the 30th and then the next day we should have a new baby. I am to the very, very, VERY uncomfortable stage of this pregnancy and I am so so glad we have an end date set. 

I Rest My Case

You want to know why I have never and will never snorkel or scuba dive as long as I live?

Red Sea Shark Attacks: Killing Spree Puzzles Scientists

Leavenworth

A few hours away from Spokane is a little Bavarian town called Leavenworth. Seth saw somewhere online that it's rated one of the best places to spend Christmas. This past weekend (in honor of my birthday) Leavenworth started their Christmas festival. We went Sunday for the street lighting ceremony and arrival of Saint Nikolaus. It was very Christmas-y and a great way to start off the holiday season.

Leavenworth definitely had a very German feel, complete with brats and kraut and even the Christmas spinny-pyramid things! Although it kinda bummed me out that we won't be spending Christmas in Belgium or anywhere in Europe for that matter for a very long time if ever. Bummer.

 We stayed the night in Leavenworth at a condo-type thing and Seth made a yummy birthday dinner complete with my favorite sugar cookie in place of a cake. Apparently Taft was very excited for the salad.

Life is Good

Basket of grapes, Mom's headband, Cars Couch, and watching Thomas the Train. Life is good.

Thanksgiving

My family came in to town for Thanksgiving and it was awesome. Despite terrible driving conditions, car problems, and pass closures everyone made it in safely by Wednesday evening. Taft was spoiled right away by getting to open two early Christmas presents from his grandparents- the Cars DVD so he no longer watches it in segments on YouTube and a Cars couch to become a couch potato on. He was in heaven.

We started off Thanksgiving morning with a Turkey Trot at our favorite park. I accidentally donated my camera in our bag of canned goods. Oops. My mom and I walked with Taft in the stroller while the rest of the crew ran the course. Taft was bundled up nice and warm in his new-to-him snowsuit from his cousin Brauer. At the end of the Trot Taft went sledding for the first time in his life. He was a fan.

My mom and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner together the rest of the day. I'd never made anything for Thanksgiving before and I was surprised and very happy with how things turned out. I was a bit worried because the night before I had messed up cookies and two pies. Everything else turned out just fine though. Everyone totally scarfed their food in like 15 minutes and we hardly talked about what we were grateful for, but I think it was clear that everyone was at least grateful for good food.

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around, shopping, more eating, BYU v. Utah game watching, Forgotten Carols, a visit to Santa, and an early birthday celebration for yours truly.

I can't believe how much Seth looks like a Redneck and MAN I am looking old these days

Give Taft candy and he will love you forever

It was so great to have our entire family together. We hadn't all be together since February which is a first for our family. Up until February we've all always lived within 30 minutes of each other and now it's just my parents and Lanx in Utah, then the rest of us are in different states. We probably won't all be together again until my brother's wedding next August. It's weird that we're all growing up and getting our own lives.

Taylor was the last family member to leave on Monday. Taft cried when she left and then I got teary too when I walked back into our apartment and the coat rack was empty and I realized everyone really was gone and I wouldn't see everyone together for quite a while. I think Taft and I have sunk into somewhat of a depression this week but we have LOTS to look forward to in the next month! One month from today is my due date! I bought some newborn diapers today and opened them up. I forgot how teeny-tiny they are. We can't wait for our new little baby to get here.

Movember

This mustached man is my husband Seth. Doesn't he look like he could be a cop? Or a truck driver? Or a Nascar fan?

Seth participated in Movember to show his support for men's cancer (testicular and prostate) awareness. He growed and flowed his mustache all month long. He shaved it all off today and I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the saddest day of my life. As handsome of a Mo Bro that he makes I'm glad to have my smooth-faced husband back.

Video Overload

Gloria Estefan was right. The rhythm is going to get you and it got Taft last night.




Seth and Taft have a great time together. Nobody can get Taft laughing like Seth.

This Just In...

My one and only brother, Michael Gordon Bluth, is officially a linguist for the U.S. Navy and drumroll please....IS ENGAGED!! We are ecstatic about Pete's engagement. We are not only getting a fabulous girl for a sister-in-law but a dang cute niece too. Congratulations to Pete!!

An Outing

My sisters asked for a blog update and I highly suspect they'll be disappointed by only seeing pictures of Seth and me. So, here is a post especially for the obsessive Bluth-side aunts.

This morning was supposed to be our music class but it was cancelled for the 800th time since we started going. I can't complain really because a lady does it for free at her house which totally rocks, but it just gets cancelled a lot. So, we headed to the children's museum instead. The children's museum here isn't especially impressive but the year pass is super duper cheap and Taft is thoroughly entertained by the place for a good solid hour. We'll be frequenting the children's museum a lot during these winter months.

We finished off our trip to the museum by getting pizza at the food court (the museum is at the mall) and because no outing is complete without a kicking and screaming meltdown, Taft was sure to include one.

Parenthood is amazing in the fact that if any other person acted the way your child sometimes acts, you'd never want to see that person again, but since they're your child you're still totally, obsessively-compulsively in love with them. I couldn't wait to get home from the mall and put Taft down for his nap, but now that he's down I'm looking forward to when he wakes up (as long as it is in at least an hour and half) so I can smooch him and tickle him and cuddle and watch Cars with him.

And here are two videos to enjoy:

11.17.06

Four years ago today Seth and I got married. It was such a fun and perfect day. I want to get married again just so we can have another great party where everyone dresses fancy, eats good food, and then dances their guts out. That's what we should do for our anniversary next year, have dance party. I'm glad Seth insisted on having dancing at our wedding because it was a blast. Well, I had a blast and I'm pretty sure Seth did too.

Is it too braggy to be proud of my marriage? Because I think we have a great one. It's a good thing because we have a lot of married life left to go.

I wish I had a scanner so I could include different, more favorite shots from our wedding. I already used these pictures long ago for another anniversary post. 

The Taftman

Taft and I babysat for a friend the other day. Her baby is just a couple of months old and I was excited to see how Taft would react to having a newborn around for a day. He did great! It gives me great hope that we'll have a smooth-ish transition when Baby Boy gets here. Taft was very gentle with the baby and would stroke the baby's head and say "soft, soft". He also tried to help give the baby his bottle and helped burp him. Things went very well until I tried to lay the baby in Taft's crib and that's when Taft just about died. He completely freaked out. I guess he's cool with having a baby around, just as long the baby doesn't take over his stuff. Completely understandable. Although, apparently he can take over the baby's stuff:

I've had a rough couple of days with Taft lately. I don't know what it has been necessarily but my patience and energy have decreased about 75% in the last week. Yesterday I was so frustrated with how I was handling things and felt terrible that I had been such a grumpy mom for too many days. I thought to myself "I'm almost 27 years old! Why am I having a hard time getting along with a nearly 2 year old?!" I talked to Seth about it and then ate my frustrations by way of chips and salsa from Chili's. I also talked to my mom about it and felt better. It hasn't helped things recently that Taft has had some very rough nights of sleep which has left all of us in the apartment very sleep deprived. Fortunately for everyone, Taft had a much better night last night and this morning I woke up with a better attitude and have increased patience today.

I thought I needed to write down some of the funny/unique stuff Taft has been doing lately.

1. He says "sorry" a lot but I'm not sure why or how he picked it up because he uses it in weird situations. Like: He has a trike in our apartment that he's been trying to push around. It's really big and he bumps it into everything. Each time he bumps the trike against something he says "sorry" and also other times when it seems he's getting frustrated with a toy.

2. When he wants something from the kitchen he takes one of our hands and says, "Come D Come D Come".

3. He is officially OBSESSED with the movie "Cars". As long as we are home he is asking to watch it.

4. He likes being sung to before bed.

5. He now picks his nose. Gross.

This video isn't really exciting, I just thought he looks funny with a hat and no pants. Also, on a completely unrelated note, the sun sets at 4:30 here. 4:30!!! Isn't that depressing?

Stuff

FYI: I hate, HATE, hate my hair this length. If I ever ask your advice on whether or not to cut my hair short again remind me that I HATE it. Especially when I'm pregnant because it is just a thick crazy mess of ugly hair!

Also, this is my current belly, which I don't hate. I mean I'm uncomfortable, but for a mighty fine good reason. Can't wait for this baby to get here! Only six more doctor's appointments!!

Happy Halloween...Ribbit, Ribbit

Halloween Party at Music Class

Froggy hanging out with a Witch (aka Taft's little buddy Kodi)

Backside view of the costume. He's a "speckled" frog.

Seth at the Trunk or Treat. (We need a new camera. Stat.)

Some of the Transitional Residents

Trick or Treating!

We had a very fun Halloween weekend around here. Friday night was our ward's Trunk or Treat, Saturday was a Halloween party thrown by one of Seth's fellow residents, and tonight was Taft's first official night of Trick or Treating. Last year we were in Belgium and he was only 6 months old so we didn't do anything Halloween-y. Kids definitely make holidays more exciting, even if they don't know what's going on. We did get Taft to say "Trick or Treat" or at least something like it, but he got stage fright at each house. I tried to get it on film when we got home.

Taft was a frog this year. The costume was inspired by the boots my mom gave him last month. This was my first homemade costume. It definitely looks homemade, but it worked out. I figure by the time my last kid goes Trick or Treating for the last time I'll be pretty good at making costumes. Seth and I were flies to go with our little froggy. Easiest costume ever: Black clothes, wings made from fishnet tights and wire hangers, big glasses/goggles.

Things You Prolly Shouldn't Do Whilst Pregnant:

1. Eat Sushi.
2. Eat Albacore tuna everyday.
3. Drink Alcohol.
4. Smoke anything.
5. Take up professional weightlifting.
6. Operate heavy machinery.
7. Take a graduate entrance exam.
8. Anything where it's important to present the smartest and most put together version of yourself.

I like to ask Seth's different questions about what "science has proven" cuz you know, he knows stuff. I've thought that phrase was funny for a while now because one time one of my kid clients told me that "science has proven" that if you sleep on your stomach you have nightmares so he always sleeps on his back. The same kid knew a lot of UFO/Alien "facts". I always think of him when I ask Seth something about what "science has proven". Last night I asked him if science had proven that women are dumber when pregnant. He said. "Yeah. Pregnancy fog." Then I said, "It probably wasn't that smart to take the GRE or apply to graduate school right now then huh?" Prolly not.

 I stole these pictures from my SIL Lara, but here are some more from last weekend. 

Bridge at Bowl and Pitcher

Taft & Seth - Brauer & Dan

The Herways, Pumpkins, and Baby Boy #2

My sister Taylor requested a blog update. For you, Fwizobiz.

The Dan and Lara Herways came to town last weekend. They stayed in Coeur d'Alene, just a skip, hop, and a jump from Spokane. I only took one picture, but not really by choice, our camera is acting up. We had lots of fun seeing their family, went on a nature walk, bike rides (not me), swam at their hotel, and had a few meals together. Taft and Brauer get along super well and it was so fun to have them play together. Taft really likes kids older than him and I think Brauer was excited to be older than somebody! Their kids had fall break and we were so happy that they chose to spend their break with us!

Earlier last week we headed to an area of Spokane called Greenbluffs. It's a community of like 20 or something farms that sell their produce, crafts, etc. to the public. We went during the week and it was a little disappointing so we're probably going to go this weekend when they have more going on.

Yesterday Taft and I went to a toy store to pick out the new baby's special stuffed animal, an equivalent to Taft's monkey who he now calls "Mumpt". We ended up choosing a TY brand puppy, which is the same brand as Mumpt. Mumpt has turned into a super lovable, cuddly stuffed animal and Seth wanted to make sure we got something just like that for the new baby. We kind of forced the monkey onto Taft and we'll force the puppy onto the new baby too. :)

I've been feeling a little guilty that I should be doing more to prep for the new baby. With Taft we had so much to buy, showers to attend, a nursery to decorate, but this time around, especially since we're having another boy there's just not as much planning to do and I feel guilty about it for some reason. I've also been feeling bad that he's going to wear so many hand-me-downs. Seth tells me he liked that part of being a second child. He said when school shopping came around he got his share of new clothes but then got all of his older brother's old clothes too, so it was double awesome. Anyway, the new baby does have a new special stuffed animal, I'm making him a blanket this week, and I've been on the prowl for a perfect "coming home" outfit. If this sounds like I'm requesting baby gifts and showers, I AM NOT AT ALL. All I'm saying is since we have pretty much everything and are not shopping for things left and right then it means we're not as excited for this baby, but WE ARE BABY! We can't wait for you to get here!

Also, regarding baby boy, I've had more ultrasounds this time around to monitor his growth and some other stuff that I won't bore you with. He's looking fantastic and at the last ultrasound he weighed 2 lbs. 11 oz. Just a little peanut. We got some great shots of his face and it looks like we're going to have another studmuffin on our hands. I think we have a name for him too. We got a baby doll for Taft today to help him to learn to be soft. So far he's been very gentle with the baby, gives him kisses, and hasn't thrown him yet. It came with girl clothes on, but for keeping our manliness in check I'll be making some boy baby clothes for him.

And finally, my mom found this video of Taylor from a few years ago. She posted it on facebook, but I think more of the world needs to see it: