Pool Day!

We spent yesterday morning at the pool inside the gym our family belongs to. They have family swim every weekend but we've been so busy with family as of late we haven't be able to take advantage of it. Lucky for us we had the whole pool to ourselves this weekend. So here we are salvaging the last few days as a family of three.

Quick! Someone get the self tanner so all your eyes don't burn out!

Try Them! Try Them!

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies. I know it's right in the middle of Lent but a pregnant girl's gotta have what she's gotta have.

Normally I just pick up a package of Nestle Toll House Morsels at the grocery store and follow the recipe on the back of the package. Why mess with perfection, right? But then I thought, well maybe...

I don't think cookies are ever meant to be good for you. That's the whole point. They're a treat. But what if they didn't have to be so bad? So I experimented with the recipe a bit and they turned out wonderful. Maybe even better than the original.

Ok, so here's the deal. Follow the recipe on the back of the package exactly EXCEPT...

1. Instead of 2 1/4 cups of flour use 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats and 1 1/4 cups flour.

and...

2. Instead of 1 cup of butter use 1/2 cup of your favorite peanut butter and 1/2 cup butter.

I did find that I had to bake them one or two minutes longer but other than that they rocked the house. Let me know what you think!

Some Final Pregnancy Notes

I know staying away from the blogosphere this late in the game can send some mixed messages. Apparently ignoring a couple of phone calls from your mother-in-law can also cause a bit of a frenzy which may or may not cause her to call the local hospital so see if someone with my name has checked into the maternity ward.

Ok, so she didn't go that far but I wouldn't put it past her.

My prenatal appointment last week revealed that the baby has already "dropped" so it truly could be any day now. Although my gut is telling me I've still got at least another week and probably more like two or three. We'll see how far progressed I am at my next appointment on Tuesday.

Just like with William, I feel a little bitter sweet as I near the end of this pregnancy. I know that may sound weird to some women who just can't wait for it to be over. And it's true, there's a lot I'm ready to be done with. The sausages for fingers. The cankles. The constant bathroom breaks. The uncomfortable sleeping positions. The two maternity shirts left in my closet that still fit. The inability to tie my shoes or even put on socks.

But...

I do have easy pregnancies and for the majority of the time I enjoy being pregnant. I never tire of those flutters, kicks and hiccups. After William was born I would sometimes think I just felt the baby move. Then I would remember, oh yeah, the baby is right next to me. He's not in my belly anymore.

And then there's the whole issue of going from one child to two. It's still relatively easy for me to pick up at a moment's notice and run to Target or the grocery store. My daily jaunts outside the home are going to be extremely limited for awhile, if not impossible.

And then there's William. He won't be my baby anymore and that's still a hard pill to swallow. I know there's so much more fun times ahead of us now that he'll have a sibling. But it also means the end of unlimited one-on-one time whenever he or I needs it.

He's such a big boy now. Sleeping in his own big boy bed. Not too far away from being potty trained. And the stuff that comes out of his mouth. Sometimes I swear he's two going on ten.

And while he's been a big boy for some time now, this new baby just confirms the fact that our late-night rocking chair dates are probably no more.

But William and I will always have a special bond that I won't have with any of my other children. I think that every mother finds, as she has more children, that her relationship with each child is a bit different and unique in its own way. And that gives me comfort that I'm ready to start this child-rearing process all over again with a brand new life.

After all, the world isn't made up entirely of "only childs." I think, if we're able, siblings are one of the best gifts we can give our children.

Sister Bellies

Me at 35 weeks, her at 32.

Practicing

Don't ask about the attire. It's been a long week.

In Lieu Of: Green Edition

William was much too crabby (still sickie) yesterday to get a snapshot of our festive green attire so instead you'll have to settle for an earlier picture of his spankin' new green sunnies.

Wasted Sunshine

I didn't blog yesterday. And you're probably thinking it's because we were too busy playing outside in the 67-degree weather, right?

Wrong.

Instead we were doing our best to earn the Frequent Patient Discount at our clinic.

William has croup. Have you ever had a child with croup? If you're not sure then that means no because boy oh boy do you know when a kid has croup. Barking like seal was he.

He started to get pretty bad on Sunday night. A sweating fever. Lethargic. And that horrible, horrible, dry, unproductive cough. We knew it was bad when he nearly fell asleep on the pew he was sprawled out on at mass. Some children do that weekly. But it is highly unusual for our child to go through an entire mass without at least one reprimandable act.

Monday morning posed a bit of a dilemma for me. I had a 10:30 prenatal appointment and I really didn't want to skip it but wasn't sure how I would manage with a nearly comatose child in tow. I had some things I needed to bring up to my midwife and waiting on that this far along in my pregnancy means just waiting until next week since my appointments are so close together now.

Brian agreed that it would be alright for him to take a sick day so that I could run to the clinic by myself. More on that appointment later.

When I returned home Brian was on a conference call in the kitchen. William was on the couch watching a movie, wheezing up a storm and asking to go to bed. A two-year-old asking to go to bed. I told you he was sick.

I carried him upstairs and he was asleep in .0001 of a second. I got on the phone with the pediatric triage nurse who agreed with me that it was indeed croup (a virus that just needs to run its course) and that I should probably bring him in because the wheezing in between coughing fits could mean something more. Miracle of miracles there was one appointment left that day. I snatched it up and said I would see them for the second time that day at 3:30.

After his three and half hour nap William woke up a brand new person. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now. As soon as you call the doctor and play the panic-stricken parent and beg and plead for an appointment your child will subsequently make a full 180-degree recovery.

Ok so maybe it wasn't a full recovery but even the most nervous parent would probably tell you his condition didn't necessitate a trip to the doctor.

We went anyway.

Yes, it's croup. No, he doesn't need the nebulizer. Maybe he needs this steroid prescription if you feel it's getting worse.

And that's how you take the warmest day since October and waste it indoors.