Almost Here

After my doctor's visit yesterday, I have an induction scheduled for Wednesday the 29th. That is if the baby doesn't come on his own before then. The dr. thinks he will but I think that is high hopes.
She thinks he is already 7 pounds which means he is measuring just a bit bigger than Liam was.
Crazy to think that in just a week our life is going to be turned upside again. I am so excited to meet him and have Liam meet him!

I am obviously not one for taking "selfies" as the following evidence will easily suggest. But I wanted to document how I look these days. I feel so much bigger than I ever did with Liam so 7 pounds might be a light estimate. :)

A Perfect Weekend

It's amazing what a weekend of beautiful weather and a good night's sleep can do for you. Some might say it was a little chilly this weekend but I thought it was perfect! Liam had an absolute blast spending so much time outside and I just loved watching him have fun.

Friday night we meet the newest addition to the Haarmann family, baby Owen! No pictures unfortunately but so fun to see a Haarmann BOY! Liam, Olivia and Evelyn entertained us for the evening dancing and running around the living room.

Saturday morning started with an early trip to Lowes. We got some new flowers for the yard. Got home and actually got about 2 hours of yard work done. With a 2 year old and me being 37 weeks pregnant, I would say that is quite an accomplishment. Still some stuff to get done but the yard is looking pretty good this spring!
We had to entertain Liam while Daddy was cutting the lawn and he suggested he wash my car. What a great idea. That kept him busy for awhile...

 But then the wheel fell off the lawnmower and Daddy had tools and that is so much more fun.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Jack's 1st birthday party. Liam had a hard time understanding that all the new toys were not for him but luckily Jack was kind enough to share. He had an so much fun running around the backyard playing with all the other kids. He is still saying "Jack's party!".



Saturday night, Liam slept the whole night in his bed and did not wake us up once. I know it was a fluke, but I am going to take it as a great Mother's Day gift!

Sunday we started the day with brunch with my family at Uncle Bill's. Liam again couldn't contain himself running around the giant backyard. He even slipped into the garage to "drive" the jeep for a bit.

After all the fresh air, Liam passed out on the couch at home and I got a tiny nap in.

He woke up and Pappa and Granny came over for a brief visit and more outside time.

Keith then cooked dinner in a hurry and we ate quickly (seafood stuffed salmon, roasted veggies and cheesy orzo) because we had to meet this family for frozen yogurt at Yo My Goodness.

Liam and his cousins squeezed in the last of moments of the weekend and the weather running around outside after ice cream and waiting for choo choos.

Then it was back home for a quick bath (Liam's legs were itchy :)) and Liam was down by 8:00. I had felt so good from my full night's sleep that I was able to sit down and watch the whole Survivor finale. The perfect end to the perfect weekend.

Oh but one weekend fail... NO family pictures! I am so bad at that. I really want to get one before the baby comes.

On a final note... Liam is so goofy these days. He speaks/sings a lot of made up words... at least they sound made up to me. I caught this on camera in between all of our outside time. Enjoy!

The Big Boy Bed

I haven't posted in a while. Maybe it's because I feel like life is moving at 100 miles an hour lately and I do not have the energy to keep up with it. The past couple of months Keith and I have had foreshadowing to what life will be like with an infant again in the form of no sleep! Okay that might be a small exaggeration, but we are exhausted...
We have been making the transition with Liam from crib to big boy bed and it has been a struggle.

Let me back up a bit. Liam has always been a wonderful sleeper. Nap time... not so much. But bed time has always been relatively easy. When he was an infant, he would wake up during the night but 9 times out of 10 it was just to eat and then right back to sleep. When he was about 4 months old we moved him out of the rock n play sleep in our room and into his crib. No sleep was lost. As he grew older we could put him down in his crib around 7 and expect him to sleep through the night, most times having to wake him up around 6:30 the next morning to get to the sitters. When we took the bottle away from him, still did not seem to phase him. Every transition has been easy. And maybe that's why we were naive with this one.

A few months back, we bought the big boy bed. We set it up in Liam's new room and he seemed to like it. He always wanted to go down there and play. Slowly over the next month, we got a new comforter and rug and fun decals (cars and choo choos) to go on his wall. His clothes were transitioned to his new room as well as some of his toys. It was now just time to move him.

The first three nights really didn't work at all so it was back to the crib for a few days. We then decided we were just going to have the bite the bullet. After all the baby would be here in a few short months and we would need the crib for him.

To say the last couple of months have tested my patience would be an understatement. Anxiety creeps in as the clock nears 7:00 each night. How will tonight go? Will it be easy? Will I lose my patience and react in a way I regret? Will tomorrow be better? What can I be doing differently?

We try to stay in a routine. 7:00 hits and we both go downstairs with him. We read 2 or so books in bed and then say it is night night time and that he needs to lay down. Hugs and kisses from both of us and then whoever's lucky turn it is, gets to stay downstairs until he falls asleep. This can be an hour process. Yes an hour! How ridiculous is that? We have a chair right outside his room so he can still see us. The next 45 minutes are spent with Liam trying to get out of bed every two seconds, or jumping up and down or shaking his guard rail violently with us just repeating "Please lay down Liam... Close your eyes Liam..." If we leave him down there awake, he just comes right up the stairs. If we "lock" him in his room, he cries hysterically and throws his body against the door until you open it again.

Usually after an 45 minutes of him pushing every button possible, he has settled down and falls asleep. But it doesn't end there...
Anywhere from once to five or so times a night, he is up again and opening our bedroom door. Because of this it is nearly impossible to get a good night's sleep, always sleeping "on guard", waiting for him to make his next move. And then more often than not, come 5:00 or 5:30 just when you want a couple extra minutes of sleep, he is up for the day, ready to go.

So where do we go from here? Lock him in his room, put up a baby gate, back to the crib?? All suggestions we have received but we have our reasons on holding back from each one of those. I think as of now we continue what we are doing and hope that it can't get any worse. :) Once the baby is here, we won't be sleeping anyway and maybe we can all transition again together.
So we drudge on... It can't be this bad forever right? Right??

In the mean time, his room did turn out pretty cute (as did the nursery!). I will have to post picture of both soon.