Happy Halloween!!!

But before I get to Halloween, I want to thank Chris's mom, Mary, for coming to stay for a few days and helping us out! I can't believe it's already been a week. I didn't manage to get a single picture of Aidric and his grandma though- I am going to have to make up for that when she comes back after this little girl is born! Despite the lack of pictures, we really appreciated you being here!!







Aidric visited a pumpkin patch with his two little friends, Kyla and Lily. He also wore his costume for Gymboree yesterday morning. Is he not the CUTEST little cowboy you've ever seen???

The "Grandparent Hangover"

Have you heard of this? I hadn't, but I was talking to my friend Gretchen and telling her what a monster my child has been the last two days. She said, "Oh, sounds like the Grandparent Hangover". Apparently, this is a highly scientific term to describe the undesirable after-effects of an extended grandparent visit.

So, what we're dealing with is a child who no longer seems to have ANY idea what the word "no" means. We're dealing with a child who takes our hands, DRAGS us to the door and throws a huge temper tantrum when we tell him he can not go outside. Then, there's the food throwing and hitting. Now, I'm not saying my child was perfect pre-Grandma visit, but he has taken things to an entirely new level!

Before you think I am writing this as a complaint, let me be clear. It was all worth it!! We are all missing grandma now that she is gone. She and AJ had SO much fun! They talked to the "puppies" next door, went on numerous wagon rides, blew a lot of bubbles, played at Gymboree and did a little a shopping. Of course, Chris and I VERY much appreciated her taking care of Aidric all day for 7 days, preparing dinner, doing the laundry and all of the other little things she did for us. (as well as the not so little things- like ironing all of the curtains in the baby's nursery!)

It was good to talk to Gretchen though and find out that the condition is temporary. Maybe our good little boy will return tomorrow.......just in time for his OTHER grandma to show up and spoil him rotten!!

What happens when grandma visits....

Exhibit A:

new toys



Exhibit B:

this outfit! Grandma can't say no, so when Aidric grabs her her hand and drags her outside, there is no time to get dressed. Add our new chilly weather and that means pajamas, tennies and a sweatshirt combined with some fabulous colored socks.

Sneak Peek - Maternity Pictures

I had my maternity pictures done this morning. The photographer, Lyndsay Stratdner, has already posted a "sneak peek" on her blog. It's always hard to be objective when looking at pictures of yourself, but I think she did an amazing job- I can't wait to see more!


http://www.lifeinmotionphotography.com/photoblog/

Interesting....blog reader level

Thanks for the link Kate- I thought this was interesting. But you know, it's probably only in the college level b/c of all the medical terms from our NICU stay and recent hospitalization!

the sweetest little "thank you" EVER

Sounds more like "day-doo" but it melts my heart every time! The best is when he says it unprompted, but we'll take what we can get. He's getting really good at using his spoon too, but I only caught the end of the meal, so you don't see much of that.

Pregnancy Update!!

This update is long overdue! I have been in the hospital since Saturday afternoon due to preterm labor. I had been contracting since Friday and just keeping an eye on it, but Saturday the contractions became pretty consistent and a tiny bit painful. So, I called the doc, she had me come in and they put me on monitors. After about two hours of monitoring, the contractions were coming wtihin 2-3 minutes. My cervix hadn't changed since the last week's exam, but the doctor on-call decided that given my history and the contractions, we were better safe than sorry.

She started me on magnesium sulfate, which ran for 48 hours and effectively stopped the contractions. Now, they are monitoring me to make sure they stay away without the meds- so far so good! I've been off mag since last night at 8:00 and have had nothing but very scattered, minimal contractions. I also received two injections of steroids for the baby's lung development, in the case that the mag didn't stop labor.

I am waiting for my doctor now, but it's fairly safe to say I will be going home today. Unfortunately, I'll be going home to bed rest. My mom is flying out on Monday to stay for a week, help us out and spend some quality Grandma time with Aidric. We can't wait for her to get here!! In the meantime, our babysitter Rebekah, has been so flexible in helping us out as much as possible. Chris is working full-time and doubling as Mr. Mom in the evenings. It's been so hard to be away from Aidric the last few days, but I think the boys are enjoying their time together! I can't wait to get home today!!!!!!

Kiddie Acres

This is a fun little (tiny, tiny) "amusement park" in North Austin. It was so little that the ride attendants followed you from ride to ride to run it for you. Needless to say, there were no lines!

Aidric and Grace really seemed to enjoy it though- I would say Aidric's favorite was the pony ride. He started out really enjoying the airplanes, but then started screaming so they had to stop the ride for him.



Including this one so you can see the 30 week belly!


Enjoying the airplanes...


Done with the airplanes...

Gymboree!

Still catching up with posts from last week with Sarah and Grace. Here they are at Gymboree....