Only Child Status: the Final Countdown

It's just a matter of days--maybe hours--before Clark's "only child" status will roll over to "big brother." It's a tiny bit bittersweet for me as a mother. 99% sweet, but 1% sad to think that I'll have to split my attention as a mother and won't get to savor every tiny thing that Clark or his baby sister does. 

In other news, Clark felt so accomplished today at lunch when he held his applesauce bowl while eating out of it that he asked me to take a picture of him. Of course I obliged! Just like his dad, he gave me a candid look to convey a very natural feel in the photo. ha ha. I love this boy! 

Tricks for Mama

Last night after dinner Steve and Clark put on quite a show for me. It reminded me of getting a new toy in a box,

and trying out all its tricks.

It brought a smile to my face to see them having so much fun. This show was better than any circus--I give it two thumbs up!

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week. We started our Thursday morning doing the traditional Turkey Trot race in downtown Houston. I didn't race this year for obvious reasons, but Steve and his brother swerved through the 13,000 runners with jogging strollers while Steve's Dad and I cheered for them and Amy from the sidelines. 

We had a traditional Thanksgiving feast with some of Steve's family, including Clark's great grandma Nancy. Since I've been so tired lately I didn't get around to making Clark a special turkey or pie. He dined, instead, on chicken, sweet potatoes with cinnamon and marshmallows, broccoli, special bread and jam, apple slices, jell-o, and a pumpkin muffin. He must have gotten into the Thanksgiving spirit since he ate every crumb of his meal. 

The day after Thanksgiving, Clark and I were up quite early. I hadn't planned on making it out to any early Black Friday sales, but since we were up anyway...I loaded Clark into the car and off we went. We made it to the fabric store but Clark decided early shopping isn't for him and requested to go home where he helped his daddy get the Christmas tree out of the box.

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.