Just One More Month

I'm due 1 month from today! We're all very excited to meet baby sister. Clark "helped" me take some maternity shots this week by throwing dirt all over my tripod in between getting bitten by ants. I convinced him to be in some of the frames with me by letting him operate the clicker. 

At 35 weeks I'm well past that "cute belly" look--where maternity clothes still actually fit--and well into the "wow! that's a big belly!" phase. Since about 26 weeks I've been making grocery clerks bug-eyed and store employees nervous that I'm going to have a baby right in front of them. They always comment about how I look like I'm going to pop any second.  Thanks...???

This pregnancy has gone very well, though I've made sure to complain plenty to Steve about being sick (until about 25 weeks!) and the regular aches and pains. This third trimester has been very tiring and week 32/33 was especially exhausting, but I've discovered the power of power naps. I haven't had any particular cravings (unless you count fruity candies and chocolate-covered pretzels), but I was getting a weird taste in my mouth frequently. ew. I feel like I haven't been as dumb, emotional, or clumsy as I was during my last pregnancy, and I have been a lot more active. I usually don't have a problem sleeping at night but lately have been waking up at 4 am unable to go back to sleep for at least an hour. This baby seems to kick less than my little powerboxer Clark, but she sure likes to stretch out which can be a bit uncomfortable at times. I've enjoyed being pregnant this time but in a few weeks will definitely be ready to enjoy my baby outside my belly.

Homemade Toy

This morning I had good intentions to make a new toy with Clark. I saw a cute idea for a train/car tunnel on Pinterest last night and had the perfect box sitting in my living room, begging to be made into something similar for this cute little car/train/tunnel obsessed boy:

I cut out some tunnels in the box with Clark's supervision and showed him how his cars could go through it. Our creative activity took a surprising twist when he lost interest in the tunnel features after 2 seconds and decided instead it would be more fun to break the box by falling down on it repeatedly.

The toy didn't turn out as I had planned, but I had begun with the intention of creating something fun with Clark. Judging by the look on his face: mission accomplished.

Cunkins

Some of Clark's Utah "cunkins" (cousins) were in town this weekend so we met them in Spring for playtime at the park today. We're not traveling for the holidays this year so we were glad for an opportunity to get together!

Smart. Good boy. Helper.

The other night as I was reading Clark a book before bed he said to me: "Smart. Good boy. Helper." I suppose he was reminding me of all the things I often tell him he is. It was very cute. Here's my little helper bringing me some clean laundry the other day. It's nice to have such an enthusiastic delivery service while being 7 months pregnant!

Happy How-ween!

Clark was a little "sayer" (sailor) for Halloween this year.  I opted out of making a costume this year since I already had this sweet little vintage suit. 

I thought we needed a hat so I did make that, sans pattern, which was no small feat. I ended up with 2 hats in the end: one too small and one that fit.

The week before Halloween I had Clark help me do a Halloween craft. He didn't enjoy getting his hands and feet dirty so we made just a few prints before he requested to be cleaned up. I made his artwork into a garland that I hung inside so he could admire his handiwork. He loved pointing out the black cats and ghosts all week.

We took Clark trick-or-treating in our friends' neighborhood on Halloween night. He was all practiced up with his "kuh kuh tweet"s (trick or treat) and "Pup-pup How-ween"s (Happy Halloween).

Just like last year, he seemed to enjoy passing out candy more than getting his own. When there weren't any customers he'd stand anxiously and say he was "wait" for "more kids".

We went to just a few houses since it takes a 2 year-old quite a long time to walk from door to door. He was much younger than most trick-or-treaters and got a lot of "awwww"s, and "so cute!"s.  

We enjoyed all the festive yard decorations on our walk

and made some new friends.

Clark enjoyed collecting candy in his bucket, but isn't old enough yet to realize or care what is in those bright little packages. So far, Halloween is a fun time to wear a "cah-coom" (costume), see "puh-pins" (pumpkins), and be with other kids outside at night. Sounds good to me!