Thirty-two.

How far along?: 32 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: +4 over 2 weeks, +31 lbs overall. My OB is still not at all concerned, so I'm going to pretend that I'm not either. Baby Reeder is likely about 4.5 to 5 lbs now.
Sleep: No real complaints just yet. And yes, I realize how incredibly lucky I am in this.
Movement: Constant. This little one loves to roll around. Poor thing is running out of room quickly!
Labor Signs: I think I had a few contractions this week (jinxed myself last week.)
Food cravings: As usual, if it's made of sugar, I want it.
Gender: Baby's heartbeat was 140bpm on Friday & has been under 150 bpm every time. The Old Wive's Tales would indicate a boy from this.
New w/pregnancy #3: I don't remember this feeling of total discomfort starting so early in my other pregnancies. I'm really at a point where I'm never really comfortable; I can get more comfortable in some positions than others, but never totally comfortable. Plus I'm getting serious punches to the ribs and pelvic bone on the regular, so even if I get "comfortable", the baby makes things miserable. Womp womp.
What I miss: Normal dreams. Or just no dreams at all. I have weird, vivid dreams every night. Like last night's dream in which my mom had another baby (now, in 2014) & I was totally cool with it.
What I am looking forward to: It's finally time to start cleaning up the nursery, and I'm both dreading it and really excited about it!
Best moment this week: I had a check-up on Friday and found out that Baby Reeder is head down! There's really not a ton of time for baby to move around at this point (there just isn't enough room), so that means the babe should stay this way until delivery!
Weekly Wisdom: Nothing about the pregnant body makes sense. For example, I sleep on my left side at all times, only occasionally rolling partially onto my back (never fully - there's always a big pillow wedged under me. I hate that I can't move around, but I really can't breathe on my back or right side at all.) At 6:30 this morning, I got out of bed to cart my 2nd-born back to his bed. The moment I set my feet on the floor, I had the most intense, almost-numbing pain in my right hip. Yes, right. As in, the one that had zero pressure on it all night as I slept on my left side. WHICH MAKES PERFECT SENSE.
Milestones: Bi-weekly doctor appointments, y'all. This one's huge.

31 weeks.

How far along?: 31 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: Whatever.
Sleep: Still pretty good. I can't believe it.
Movement: I just learned that the seizure-like shaking movements are just the baby practicing inhaling and exhaling with his newly maturing lungs. This makes me think this little one is going to have some serious pipes on him because I feel the shaking all the time. I'm also starting to get some pretty killer kicks to my pelvic bone, often slightly painful.
Labor Signs: Nope. Haven't noticed any contractions in a few weeks.
Food cravings: Daily fruit smoothies. As has been the case with most things this pregnancy, it's not really a craving but rather something that sounds halfway decent when nothing else does. At least it's healthier than a Pop-tart.
Gender: I just don't know. This pregnancy seems to be pretty similar to my first, but I can't help but think this big baby is a boy.
New w/pregnancy #3: Sciatic nerve pain...at least, I think that's what it is. It's making it pretty unpleasant to stand up.
What I miss: Standing up without making noises that frighten my children. (Seriously, I can't help but make a ton of grunting/sighing noises every time I move. I feel like Serena Williams.)
What I am looking forward to: Taking the big kids shopping to get a few things for their little brother or sister. I think we're going to let them help us pick out some new pacifiers and coming-home outfits.
Best moment this week: Joe earned the final sticker on his napping sticker chart today (we had a rough week or two after giving up his pacifier...more on that to come this week), so I had to make good on our promise of an ice cream cone tonight. As I sat in a booth at DQ, watching my 2 big kids cherish every bite of their treats, I thought to myself, "This is it. This is what it's all about." I just can't wait for Baby Reeder to be in that booth with us.
Weekly Wisdom: An obsession with the Olympics isn't so great for an already-exhausted pregnant lady. My bed time has been after the prime time coverage ends each night this week.
Milestones: 63 days? What? When did that happen?

Christmas Day.

The anticipation for Christmas Day was at an all-time high this year, something I think I'll be saying every year from here on out. As Brooke has gotten older, she better understands each holiday & the traditions and meaning that come with it. And her excitement rubs off on all of the rest of us, especially her little brother (who doesn't totally get why he's excited but totally doesn't care.)

As I've mentioned in previous years, Santa brings 3 presents for each child in our house (like the 3 gifts the Wise Men brought Baby Jesus.) Brooke had her list for Santa ready in October. She knew exactly what she wanted quite early on. Joe didn't totally understand it; he'd look in a toy catalog and say "I want that and that and that and that..." to everything. Luckily, he's still of the persuadable age so we were able to offer up some ideas that we thought might make it down the chimney in Santa's sack.

On the big day, they both woke up wired! After the traditional shot on the steps, they bounded into the family room to see what treasures Santa had left for them. And they were not disappointed by the display! They quickly ripped through their stockings before taking turns to open their presents. Santa brought Joe a bicycle w/a helmet, a Daniel Tiger tree house, & a train set. Brooke received a bicycle/helmet as well, along with a baby doll & a box of Princess goodies (which included all of the things on her list - Barbies, The Little Mermaid DVD, and a Play-Doh set.)

After a very festive breakfast of snowman donuts & cinnamon rolls, we opened our family gifts from under the tree. The kids were super excited to give each other their gifts. (Each kid took $2 out of their piggy banks and bought 2 presents for their sibling at the dollar store. They got to pick out whatever they thought their sibling would like. It was precious.) And they were just as enthusiastic to pass out their presents for Mom & Dad. I loved seeing the spirit of generosity in such tiny little bodies.

(This picture right here of my two boys? Absolutely adore it.)

 

Though it was a crazy, jam-packed day, we all had such a great Christmas, full of reminders of how blessed we are. I spent much of the day thinking ahead to next year & how different our day will be with 3 little ones to celebrate with. As amazing and magical as this holiday season was, I imagine next year's will trump it. And I can't wait :)

75% down!

I am an incredibly spoiled pregnant woman. Throughout this entire pregnancy, my family and our friends have been spoiling me rotten. Maternity clothes, baked goods, free babysitting, snacks, diapers...so many incredible gifts keep coming my way. Some of my very favorite ladies have been showering me with weekly surprises each Sunday. Though HIGHLY unnecessary (you hear me, girls?), it's been such a sweet way to count down the weeks to baby's arrival. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how supportive my parents have been these past 6 months, in spite of this being the absolute busiest year of their lives. I truly appreciate all of the love that has been coming my way from everyone. This baby is so blessed to have such a powerful support network, and he or she isn't even here yet! Thanks to all of you!!

Baby Reeder at 30w0d

How far along?: 30 weeks, 0 days
Total weight gain/loss: +4.5 over 2 weeks, +27 total. Most babies gain about half a pound a week from here on out; in order to get up to 10 lbs, this little one will have to gain closer to 3/4 of a pound each week (baby is likely just under 4 lbs right now).
Maternity clothes?: Prepare to see me in the same outfits over & over again. I can only mix it up so much.
Sleep: It's pretty decent. It's quite a production getting in and out of bed, positioning myself just perfectly within my nest of 5 pillows. The husband jokes about how noisy it is & how much the bed shakes while I get comfortable. He needs to watch his back...
Movement: Constant. They ask that you do kick counts each day, sitting down multiple times a day to count how many times the baby moves over a period of time. I definitely don't have to worry about this; this baby moves ALL the time.
Labor Signs: None.
Food cravings: Food. Just all of it.
Gender: Had my first baby dream and it was a girl. And I was as shocked in the dream as I think I'll be if this really is a girl in 10ish weeks.
New w/pregnancy #3: The back pain that crippled me much earlier in both of my previous pregnancies is just slowly beginning with this one. Though it's daunting to think about dealing with it for another 2.5 months, it's nice to not have been already dealing with it for a couple months.
What I miss: Excedrin Migraine. Started my day with a Pepsi & Tylenol at 9am to combat a headache, the only defense I have these days.
What I am looking forward to: Introducing Rocket to Big Brother and Big Sister!
Best moment this week: My 3.5 year old niece kisses my belly every time she sees me. It's pretty darn adorable.
Weekly Wisdom: Ladies, get pregnant at the end of summer. Being pregnant for the 4 biggest food holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl, & Valentine's Day - does not suck. Add to that the fact that no one expects you to give up sweets (or anything, really) for Lent & I'd say the timing is pretty perfect! (Not having to bundle up your teeny tiny newborn in 43 layers every time you leave the house is an extra Spring-baby perk!)
Milestones: Three quarters of the way there, folks! I can see the finish line :)

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve 2013 was one of my top 5 favorite days of the year. We took a day with absolutely zero plans and turned it into such a fun family day. With our Christmas Day schedule being so jam-packed, I really wanted to make sure our little family of 4 could just soak in some holiday magic on Christmas Eve. And magical it was!

We started the day with a trip to the holiday train display at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The kids' eyes were huge as they soaked in all there was to see. Their favorite part was riding on the kiddie train. At the end of the exhibit, we were all surprised to see Santa! Brooke was so enthused to talk to him one last time before Christmas; Joe - not so much. After some serious coercion (and a promise I wouldn't let go of him,) we managed to talk him into sitting down with Santa for a chat. During this quick conversation, Santa told the kids that they were, in fact, on his Nice List. I'll never forget how surprised and proud Brooke's face was upon hearing this. (I think she was nervous before this...haha.) It was a great way to start our day!

Upon realizing that we didn't have any cookies to leave for Santa (besides the $1-per-box Kroger sugar cookies that our entire family is obsessed with and didn't want to share with Santa...if you don't know what I'm talking about, I feel bad for you), we decided to bake up a sweet treat for him after lunch. Baking with the kids can be tough for me - the mess, the fights over who gets to put in what, the finger-licking/germ-spreading. But these were for Santa only, so we let them go crazy! They had so much fun and very happily took turns with each other.

After naps, we headed to church. This was the one part of the day that was a challenge for me. Allow me to explain. Christmas Eve mass is something my kids have never experienced. I grew up attending Midnight Mass. This is a tradition I would LOVE to continue with my kids...when they're older. Before we were old enough (around 6yo), we went to bed as usual and my grandma or another family member stayed with us. The past few years, the husband has just stayed home with our sleeping babies and I've gone to mass with my parents and siblings. But this year I felt this overwhelming guilt that my kids hadn't been to a Christmas mass, one of the most important masses of the year. So we decided to go to 4:30 Mass at our church to experience it as a family.

 

Big mistake. Here's the thing: I have never been to a regular Christmas Eve mass. Since I was 6 years old, I've been to Midnight Mass at St. Rita's all but one year (the year my mom had to take me to the ER with an unexplainable heart rate of 230 bpm.) So I completely underestimated how early we needed to be there to actually sit down. 15 minutes was clearly not enough :( We ended up standing with the kids at the back of church, trying to explain to them why we didn't get to sit down. A very kind old lady in the back row made enough room for me to sit with a kid on my lap, which ended up being pretty difficult considering my lap is significantly smaller these days and we had very large coats on. Mass was long, the kids were antsy, and I was exhausted by the time it was over. When we got in the van to leave, it was very quickly decided that the husband needed a drink & I needed lots & lots of sugar the moment we got home. Considering the circumstances, the kids were quite good so we were all in pretty good spirits about the whole thing. Never again, I tell you. (They had zero interest in taking pictures when we got home, and I didn't blame them. One quick picture in their fancy clothes and then into Christmas jammies they went!)

After dinner, we decorated Santa's cookies with the same sense of wild abandon with which we made the cookies. Messes, finger-licking, and ohhhhh-so-many sprinkles. Just take a look at all the sprinkles on her cookie; crunchiest cookie of all time. Joe, on the other hand, placed each sprinkle individually and quite strategically. (Apologies for the terrible-quality photos. Have I ever mentioned how much I despise the lighting in my kitchen? Ugh.)

While I cleaned up alllll the sprinkles, the kids cozied up on the couch with Daddy to watch Frosty the Snowman. Then we had a very special snack of hot chocolate and cookies. (Hot chocolate is a HUGE crowd favorite for these little guys.) After a snack, the 4 of us snuggled up to read a few Christmas stories before bed. Last but not least, the kids excitedly picked out 2 of their favorite cookies to leave on the fireplace with some milk for Santa.

After tucking the kids into bed (and before the craziness of Santa-prep began), I took a very brief minute to really reflect on the day. It really was as magical as I had hoped it would be. And I'm hopeful that we can create these magical Christmas Eves every year.

February.

How far along?: 29 weeks, 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: Nope, not doin' it.
Maternity clothes?: Packed away the first few shirts that I've officially outgrown this week. Sigh.
Sleep: Not terrible.
Movement: Strong enough to be felt all the time; sitting, standing, lying down, doesn't matter. Upon feeling a kick this week, the husband let out this scared sound & then said "Doesn't that creep you out?" Let's just say he's never found the joys of pregnancy to be as endearing as other fathers-to-be.  
Labor Signs: Nope.
Food cravings: I eat somewhere between 1 & 3 bowls of cereal every day. It's not exactly a craving, but rather my attempt to eat something slightly healthier that still satisfies my sweet tooth. I eat plain Cheerios every morning, so I go for something with a bit of sugar in it at snack time (I ate an entire box of Special K Cinnamon Pecan for snacks this week.)
Gender: We've started the name conversation, which is like pulling teeth with the man I married. As we've done with both of the other kids, I've made 2 short lists and then the husband helps narrow it down (he prefers it this way.) He has the lists so now it's just a matter of convincing him it's time to make a decision!
New w/pregnancy #3: ...
What I miss: Being able to get down on the floor to play with the kids with ease.
What I am looking forward to: Spring! (Enough already with the cold and the snow, Mother Nature.)
Best moment this week: We had another ultrasound on Friday to check on a few things with the little one. I'm thrilled to report that Rocket is doing great! He or she is certainly running out of room already; it was funny to see how big the profile was compared to what you see at 20 weeks. And, as I anticipated, Rocket is weighing in at 3 lbs 5 oz already, a full 13 oz bigger than average.
Milestones: We made it February! I wasn't sure we were going to make it through January; it was rough, y'all. Between the weather and the husband's insane work schedule and the fact that January is the looooongest month ever, it was really touch-&-go there for a while. But we made it, and we're now that much closer to meeting our new little buddy!

Christmas traditions.

It's been over a month since Christmas, and I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. Considering it's been over 13 months since Christmas 2012 & I still haven't blogged about that one, I'd say just a month overdue this year isn't too bad! This is gonna come in a few parts to make this more manageable for me. First up: the holiday season!

It's no surprise to anyone that I love Christmas. Every single thing about it. But I especially love the magic of the days leading up to Christmas. And I'm doing my very best to spread the magic and the love of Christmas to my kids. (By the way, when asked what his favorite holiday is recently, the husband chose Christmas. So don't let his Bah Humbug demeanor about decorations and traditions and all that jazz fool you. My love of the holiday has rubbed off on him.) It was important to me to start traditions when the kids were little and to make a huge effort to find "experiences" for them.

Nothing kicks off the season quite like decorating the tree. We are a strictly fake-tree household, which allows for pre-Thanksgiving tree trimming. The weekend before Turkey Day, the very enthusiastic kiddos and I put up the tree (pre-lit trees for the win!) and then they got to put up their ornaments. All of their ornaments were clustered along the bottom half of the tree, so a little ornament shuffling by mom happened once they were finished. A few days later, after telling Joe not to touch the tree for the 394th time, we bought the kids their own 4-foot tree to keep in their playroom. They were allowed to decorate it however they wanted and with whatever they wanted. Throughout the month, it was covered in dollar store ornaments (that they picked out), tiaras, Mardi Gras beads, a cowboy hat, etc. Joe rarely touched our big tree after that!

St. Nick's Night was one of my most anticipated nights as a kid; it felt like the official kick-off to Christmas. And the way I remember it is exactly the way I want my kids to remember it. We talked about what it meant the day before so they'd be excited about it (I may have had to google it to get my St. Nick facts straight...worst Catholic ever...), and they enthusiastically left their shoe on the fireplace before bed. Brooke was excited enough for both of the kids the next morning. She couldn't wait to come downstairs. St. Nick filled their shoes with candy (no nuts thanks to nut allergies) and left them oranges, a couple of books, and a few movies.

We met my sister's family at the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights on a chilly December night. The kids had a blast checking out all of the lights and animals with their cousins. Though we didn't see Santa, we did get to meet Frosty, a gingerbread man, and Mrs. Claus (who was perfectly adorable, by the way.) A very fun night for all of us!

Decorating a gingerbread house has quickly become one of my favorite holiday traditions! Let me be clear: I said decorating a house, not building. The wonderful people at Wilton have developed kits of pre-made houses that you just decorate, providing all the supplies right in the box. Best. Invention. Ever. While I enjoy the idea of doing the house, it ends up being pretty stressful for me. The OCD in me creeps on out and I have a very hard time just letting them do whatever they want. After all, I know we're going to be staring at this thing on our kitchen table for a full month, so I feel compelled to make it look somewhat orderly. I let the kids help my place the candies on the top and front, them gave them free reign of the back and sides. Using a piping bag is clearly an acquired skill...no Cake Decorating Awards will be won by my kids anytime soon. In the end, we had a fairly cute little house and they had a ton of fun making it, so it was a win-win for all of us!

We had breakfast with Santa down at the Rec Center on a Saturday morning. The kids were pretty pumped to finally get to see & talk to Santa. They brought their letters to Santa as a reminder for him. As you can see in the first picture below, Joe was jazzed to meet the Big Guy. And then, as you can see in the 2nd picture below, he changed his mind. I was really optimistic that the meeting would go well, but I was clearly mistaken. We're now 0 for 4 in our annual Santa visits; somebody always cries. After making him suffer for an agonizing 12 seconds while we took a picture, Santa gave Joe a present which at least lessened the tears. He still wasn't flipped to be on his knee, but he wasn't screaming either.

 

A tradition we started last year was the 24 Days of Christmas books. I wrapped up 24 of our Christmas books (we had more than enough) and put them in a wooden sleigh on the fireplace. Each night, the kids took turns choosing and opening a Christmas book to read before bed. They ADORE doing this and were always very quick to remind us whose turn it was to choose. It actually became a conditional thing for good behavior after we realized how thrilling it was for them; "If you don't improve your attitude, you won't get to open a book tonight." Worked like a charm (although we did have to follow through one night...1 night in over 3 weeks isn't bad, if you ask me.)

We wrapped Daddy's gifts in white paper this year and the kids spent some serious time decorating them with crayons and stickers. Joe was especially serious about his masterpiece. He wanted to cover every square inch of space with pictures of "dinosaurs". Daddy loved his special presents on Christmas morning!

That's all for now. More Christmas magic to come soon!