oh, oh here s/he comes

we could not be more excited that baby T2 is coming in 2 days! since i know somewhat WHAT is required of us as parents of a new baby and i know somewhat of how i will feel about this new person, i am both more excited and more anxious than the first time through. unlike what most people say about their 2nd and beyond pregnancies, this one has seemed much longer than my first. i am absolutely DYING to know if it is a boy or girl and WHO s/he is! with maddox, i was excited, but didn’t know the magnitude of love that would occur. so, esp this last half has dragged on and on.

on saturday the 7th, i got to hold our friends katie and art’s ONE DAY OLD little girl harper. she is precious, we are very excited for them and it made us look all the more forward to ours. i have really appreciated everyone who has been encouraging and asking about us. the #1 questions are how are you feeling? and how do you think maddox will react/does he get it?

1) i am feeling very uncomfortable but good and healthy. i know the uncomfortable-ness is normal but ayayay. the pains and typical “issues” are upsetting to deal with when you are expected and want to play all day with a toddler! shout out here to dear friend courtney who annoys herself by updating her facebook status too much. ha. i know you feel me with this little answer. you have 2 more months and YOU CAN DO IT! the waiting will make it all the more sweet when larson comes to meet us all. “easy for you to say with 2 days to go” right?

2) no maddox has no idea what is about to hit him. we call the baby’s room the baby’s room, put a teddy bear in the cradle, we strapped a stuffed dog into the baby car seat, show him baby in mommy’s tummy, etc. all these little tricks! but now i just think that he thinks baby is another word for tummy. last night, however, we did get him to respond when we said “what’s the baby going to do? he might eat … he might sleep … and he might cry. what will we tell the baby when s/he cries? ‘it’s ok baby! shhh.’” so his response is now lifting up my shirt to say “hi baby” but he also pretends to cry. oh well, we gave it our best shot! i am glad though that they will be so close in age.

i was blessed to have a baby essentials shower given for me and baby T2 by my cousin melissa and sis-in-law jessica. every one of my closest friends was there and we took time to each pray God’s Word for this baby as well as for our family. it was such a special and unforgettable time.

aunt jess is always full of fun

don got baby noah to laugh for the first time! here they are with maddox.

thanks to our friends and family for your prayers for thursday at 1pm AND BEYOND. they are priceless to us and we love you!

make way

we kept putting off everything baby-ish til “after the holidays, after the holidays” and there has been precious little time to do these things as january raced by. we cleared out many closets and shelves, rearranged the whole basement, moved the guest room downstairs, put together bunk beds, refinished a bookshelf, moved maddox’s room into the guest room and basically kept the baby room the same except it is now filled with diapers. when i say “we” i mean “don” as he did everything but buy diapers.

maddox loves his new room and new beds. he loves his new beds to play and jump on but hasn’t slept there yet. we’ve crammed the crib in this room until the baby transistion is made. i don’t think i will want to deal with a feeding baby and a wandering-around-the-house toddler at just the same time. i think he can move to his bed in a couple months. don’t worry – the baby has a drawer all cleaned out for him to sleep in. ok – it’s a cradle. and it’s not necessarily a him.

other things maddox is very into at the moment is brushing his teeth, playing chase and still … playing with balls and vacuuming. he enjoys trying to dribble balls as don has taught him now. the vacuuming is basically turning it on and then running around screaming while i vacuum. hm. is this a plot? we did get a pic of him using his own little vacuum but it’s about a tenth as loud as the big one and he likes LOUD things!

it is done.

so thanks to a great commenter named karen on my post asking about the pink pig, i got all the info i needed. just wanted to share some pics from that day which was weeks ago now so i guess we’re due another trip soon. i really don’t get it, but it’s a cheap Christmasy activity that is close by so it’s good! there is a 2for1 deal here if you want to go even cheaper. i did note that the ride was surprisingly NOT designed with 6′ tall pregnant women as their target market. i don’t know about fitting into that car again. my legs were asleep in about 2 secs. madox enjoyed it in a “what was that?” kind of way, but the highlight for him was running around and away from me in the parking lot (which is roped off for the ride – don’t worry). he did fall and bust his lip but was back up in no time. surprised me.

anxiously awaiting

loving all 60 seconds of the ride

the treacherous ride zoomed along as evidenced by the hair flying. or does this child just need a haircut?

is it true?

if you’ve seen us lately, you may have wondered if we have a little secret we’re hiding. well, the secret MUST come out now because the tummy definitely has. there is no more hiding it, even if we wanted to! i guess this 2nd installment of babyT wants to make his/her presence known immediately even though we have almost 6 months to go. look quick before i get my head screwed on straight and delete this photo (“what am i thinking?! i always thought ‘those’ kinds of people were rather gross. oh well.”) meanwhile, anyone want to help me glitter my tummy for the fall?? i know you’re out there (katie-ahem!)

seriously, here’s the cliche sentiment but we must say it: we are so very thankful for this baby and for God’s plan and work in our lives. without Him, we really are nothing.

the TAQ does the trick

hey moms. what have you tried to make your labor start? working out? going to a certain restaurant for a certain dish? i tried both. but now i have a proven solution! It worked for me and it worked for my friend! go eat at the taqueria del sol on cheshire bridge!! on 3/8/07, we ate there with our awesome friends, the zilers, and the next day i had maddox! ok, fine. yes, it was a scheduled C/s but can’t i count it?? i think i can count it because… we then ate there again with the zilers on the night of 5/2/08 with no knowledge that this would be a night that would go down in history! 7 hours later, stuart ziler was born!! we are so excited to know this new little guy and be part of his life. and now for the best part! here are the pics! one of us 4 the night before maddox’s birth and us 5 the night before stuart’s birth!

and here is stuart!

info central

Congratulations! You have stumbled onto your source for all things THOMAS. Tune in here for fresh baby pics, videos and witty stories. BabyT will be revealed in T minus 21 days (from 2/14). whoa – just had a head rush.

pre-babyT highlights will include:
- was that an eclipse or did Joy just walk by
- a look back at the beginning (early ultrasound teasers)
- current Las Vegas odds on the sex of babyT

joy at 36 weeks

baby’s room is ready for occupancy!