Joshua

Well, this delivery is a bit of a saga...

Friday:
12pm: VBS finishes
1:20: Isaac is picked up by Dad to spend the weekend up north.
1:35: I start having contractions. What great timing!
10:30: we go to the hospital because contractions are frequent, but neither of us think we'll be staying. I don't think they're painful enough and we both think I'm too happy.

Saturday:
1:30am: We leave the hospital. I'm having contractions, but they were farther apart than I thought. We might have been able to stay, but that idea was unattractive. The nurse thinks we'll be back later that day.
7:30: I wake up after having an excellent sleep; contractions start.
7:30pm: after continuing all day, contractions finally get close enough that we could go in again. Ben takes a shower first.
7:45: contractions stall out.
8:30: contractions completely go away. I guess it's nice that we're not at the hospital and I don't have to be embarrassed, but seriously?? They were happening all day.

Sunday:
6:00pm: contractions finally start again. It was a nice painless day...and it was nice not having to watch the clock. My contractions tend to not follow a nice pattern with respect to timing, and it always makes me frustrated.
8:30: I go for a walk around the lake after drinking some water. That was a mistake. Water has been going through me in about five minutes this whole weekend. Contractions are coming fast.
9:00: I sit down and contractions pretty much stop. I had actually been wondering if these were Braxton-Hicks as they were acting a bit differently.

Monday:
12:45am: I wake up with a contraction and the need to go to the bathroom. Which one woke me up?
1:30: the contraction. I get out of bed to try and not distub Ben so he can get some sleep. I do disturb Flurry.




4:45: I wake up Ben...we're going to the hospital! I expect to stay.
4:50: on our way to the hospital I only have one contraction...oh no, they're going to send me home. How embarrassing.
5:30: we get to stay! The contractions picked up enough to fool the nurses and I'm dilated to a stretchy four. We settle in.
7:00 shift change - we now have the nurse that helped deliver Isaac. I'm dilated to a five and the doctor breaks my water.
9:30: I'm dilated to a six and the contractions are slow (5-7 minutes apart) and painful. But phew, since my water was broken they can't send me home. It is one of my larger fears for some reason.
10:00: we decide to go forward with an epidural and petocin
11:00: I'm really starting to hurt and have been wondering where that epidural is. It finally show up, along with a friendly doctor.
11:15: ahh. We also have a nurse change and she start the petocin on the lowest setting. I'm dilated to a six.
11:30: I'm really glad that I have an epidural; some contractions are still mildly painful.
12:15: an alarm goes off on the petocin dispenser and a nurse comes in.
12:30: the baby's heartbeat goes out of the safe zone. The nurse tries a few things and then has me lie on my side. That helps, but she also checks on the baby's progress...baby is on his way! I'm fully dilated and at station +2 (I.e., the baby has started moving down the birth canal.
12:40: Ben goes to quickly grab some lunch while the doctor is called.
12:45: the doctor shows up faster than expected and gets everything ready.
12:48: Ben returns with lunch, surprised to see everything ready to go
12:53: I push through the last part of a contraction
12:58: I push through the first part of a second contraction...yeah, they're still rather far apart
1:02: I stop pushing so the doctor can cut the umbilical cord around baby's neck.
1:05: Joshua Alan is born!



Due to the speed and the umbilical cord, his breathing was a bit raspy...the fluid wasn't all out of his lungs. Nothing to be worried about, but the nurse monitored it and said that only Ben and I should hold him to keep the stress down. So we limited our visitors for the day, although an hour later he was doing fine. So we just had a nice, low-key evening.

Saturday: babies and puppies

Throughout the pregnancy I've had a problem where I'm super hungry and need to eat something and that means that Isaac wants to eat too.  Except that he doesn't need to eat because it's an hour after breakfast or something like that.  So I started saying that the food is for the baby, and he doesn't need any.  I stuck to that excuse, and he eventually learned that it meant he would get no food.

Of course, he thinks he has a puppy in his tummy.  So he's started to tell me that he needs to eat some goldfish crackers "for the puppy."

Friday: VBS

Well, I made it through the whole week of VBS.  Today's craft wasn't much of a craft, but did require a bit of set up time.

I also found one picture of Isaac from the week's pictures.  He's in the background, riding the tricycle.  Although I'm not sure his feet are on the pedals, so I have wondered how well it worked.  He seemed to love VBS...especially the slides and singing.  It was a very nice change of pace.

Thursday: play sand

Isaac received some moon sand (or something similar) last week at Jamie's wedding.  It has been his favorite toy since.  He loves to play in the sand, and this is something that he can do inside without a lot of prep, so I like it too.

Wednesday: babies, fish, eyebrows

I had my weekly doctor's appointment today.  She pretty much said that not much had changed since last Friday, but she did strip the membranes.  That helped with Isaac, so I'm hoping my body will react the same way this time too.  (Contractions started about 36 hours after with Isaac, so we'll know tomorrow night.)

Isaac also got some goldfish today.  He was so excited.  And it helped me go to the grocery store as we were out of the basics and I really didn't want to go.  I also got him some goldfish crackers so he could eat goldfish while watching goldfish.

Then later this evening Ben asked Isaac if he could wiggle his eyebrows.  Isaac proceeded to move his whole head up and down...which did wiggle his eyebrows.

Tuesday: watering can

Isaac and I went to the pool this afternoon and he proceeded to sit on the side of the pool and played with a toy watering can for thirty minutes.  He also enjoyed swimming in the deep part and seeing his friend.

Monday: VBS

I'm volunteering this year again at Vacation Bible School.  I always tell the coordinators they can put me where ever, and this year I ended up as a craft helper.  (They knew I was pregnant and needed to be somewhere that I wasn't too critical.)

The time went a lot faster than I was expecting.  We pre-folded some boxes which ended up being a smart move - the craft took the whole time even with the boxes folded.  And the kindergartners and first graders wouldn't have been able to do it...once I had folded five it was easy, but if you only have one to fold it would be hard.  There were three groups of kids...it was interesting to see how much a year or two in age changed what they were able to do.  And in between the kids we had clean up and re-setting up and figuring out how to make it work better.  One change we made was increasing the space between the tables.  I was trying to help some kids during the first session and just felt like my belly kept getting in the way.

Isaac was in nursery during this time and I think they ran him hard...we both took very good naps.

Saturday: Sun's still up!

So after being so excited that Isaac was staying in his bed...he stopped.  The last few naps have been rough and then tonight he got up too.  He likes to tell us that the sun is still up and so it is wake up time.

It's possible that he's about done with naps, but I'm not ready for that quite yet.  So I'm trying to hold it off a little longer.  Next week is VBS, so hopefully he'll be rather tired after that.

Friday: today

I didn't get my nap today.  Someone stayed awake for the whole hour that I do give myself.  I got up to get him up at the end of the hour and he was by his door...I think I almost hit him.  But he was so excited and told me in his high squeaky voice that the sun was up so it was wake up time!   So much excitement.  It was almost worth missing my nap...but not quite.

I had my OB appointment today.  The baby has dropped (I was measuring 3cm less this week than last week), am 80% effaced and dilated to 2.  She told me I should schedule next week's appointment, but she wasn't really sure that I'd make it that long.  I'm trying hard not to get my hopes up too much.  I'm not sure it's working, but I'll survive if it does take a little longer.

A friend volunteered to watch Isaac while we went on a date tonight, so we took her up on that!!  We weren't out very long, but long enough that I didn't have to put Isaac to bed.  Bedtime is one of the worst times...I'm ready for him to be in bed and he stalls just a little more than normal and between the two it is annoying.  And we got to have fun by ourselves.  Although Isaac apparently got out of bed a few times...it's the first time he's done so at night.  I'm hoping it isn't a trend and that he was just rather tired.

Week recap: wedding

Jim and Jamie got married today!

The weather was beautiful...again, not too hot or too cold.  Isaac didn't manage to sit through the service, but we just wandered off a bit where he was hopefully not too loud but I could still sort of see what was going on.  It was a late night by the time the reception was done, but he did a great job.

And now we have a bigger family!

Week recap: visitors!

I've been a little behind in blogging...a lot of stuff has been going on!  First we had some friends from Minnesota stay with us for two nights.  It was a lot of fun.

We visited the Critter Barn.  Animals are always fun to watch.

Ben was a favorite with the cats.  There were a lot of cats - I'm not sure they were a favorite of his.

They got to hold ducklings.  The ducklings were surprisingly well behaved.

And they pet angora goats.  They look like sheep.

Later we visited the beach.  I thought it was going to be on the cold side.  (Apparently we were having a polar vortex visit us too).  But it was perfect!  The sand wasn't too hot or too cold.  The breeze was just right for full sun.

The next day we went to Dutch Village.  They have a lot of animals too.  The goat walked us.

And Isaac really liked this baby goat.

And he tried on some wooden shoes.

Saturday: employee picnic

This evening we went to the employee picnic for Ben's work.  As always, it was huge.  It was also raining/sprinkling a bit, so that made it interesting.

Isaac enjoyed carrying his own umbrella.  The rain never got so bad that we considered leaving early, and had several spots were it stopped all together.

This was the first year we made it to the go-karts.  Most of the time Isaac seemed to be having a good time, although the crazy driver probably scared him a few times.  He did say he wanted to go again, so we took that as a good sign.

Ben and Isaac won an "EE hat" at the carnival games.  (It was nice to come home with something that has a good chance of being used that wasn't a stuffed animal.  Although to be fair, some of Isaac's favorite stuffed animals are currently from the carnival games.)  Isaac also really liked his wrist band.  Sunday morning he told me I could finally cut it off and once he realized what that meant and that he couldn't get it back on we had many tears.

There were also bumper boats!  Ben and Isaac went on these twice...and the second time Ben got soaked by a little waterfall.  It just meant that it was time to leave.

It was nice having a child that was old enough to do some of the more fun things and understand what was going on.  Now he just needs to grow a few more inches so that he can ride some of the rides.  Probably next year.

Friday: today

During breakfast:
Isaac: Eagles go up up?
Amanda: yup
Isaac: Mom go up up?
Amanda: No
Isaac: Mom no wings?  (With an arm motion)
Amanda: Yeah!

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We finally got some shelves built in the basement.  I'm excited...and here's a poor picture.  It's at one of those angles that is hard to photograph.

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We met Betsy, Ethan, and Leah at the park.  Isaac played really hard and crashed within a minute of getting in the car.

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I had my OB appointment.  I'm 50% effaced and only dilated to 1...but the doctor might have just been saying that to be nice.  The baby's head is down but not facing the right way.  I know I still have several (three) weeks left, but I was really, really hoping for different news.

Thursday: not sneaky

I packed some duplos in my hospital bag since I don't know if Isaac will need to be entertained. He found them, and was so excited...are these for me? I told him to put them back but I expect he'll remember.

We proceeded to play with Allen wrenches for about 45 minutes. Who knew they were so fascinating.

Wednesday: Curious George

The library had a Curious George event today.  Betsy and I brought our kids; thinking it might be busy but not too bad.  It was packed.  By the end, after we got our pictures, I could tell Isaac was rather overwhelmed and he wanted to be picked up and held on tightly.

We went to the playground for a little bit after that.  It was a beautiful day for it.

2.5 years old

I finally took Isaac's 2.5 year pictures.  Of course, it was raining so the lighting isn't great, but good enough.

Sleeping: Isaac's still an awesome sleeper.  The transition from the crib to the twin bed went so much better than I was even hoping for.  Basically, Isaac stays in his bed after nap and night time until we come get him.  It's almost as though he doesn't realize he can get out.  I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Potty training: still not super wonderful, but we're definitely seeing progress.  He had five days in a row without accidents, which was promptly followed by four days with several.  He's dry for naps and often dry at night.  I expect we'll have another relapse when the baby comes, but since we've dealt with several of those hopefully it will be short.

Talking: I think his vocabulary has grown quite a bit again in the last few weeks.  He is still hard for non-parents to understand, but it's getting better.

Other: Isaac still says he has a puppy in his tummy, but overall seems excited for the baby.  He's been a big help putting the furniture together.  He likes playing games on the Ipad, but is always willing to be done when we say so.  (He always asks, "Mom's turn now?"  But the fact that he turns it off so easily makes me more willing to let him use it.)  Duplos and playing in the sand are still some of his favorite activities, although he also likes reading.  He's recently started doing somersaults and finds them rather hilarious.

"I don't feel like being an adult today," I said as I cleaned out dirt (and toys) from under the refrigerator.  It was kind of a fun task, and one that's needed to be done for a while.  But I didn't feel like having other adult responsibilities today.

Saturday: nursery and pool

This morning we made some good progress on the baby's room; it is finally starting to look like a room and not just a place to dump stuff.  Isaac and I finished up the crib while Ben was sleeping, and then while I was getting my hair cut they got some shelves put together.

I got home and Isaac showed me the location of every screw. :)

I also chopped off my hair.  Here's the before picture; you'll have to look at the swimming picture for an ok after picture.  It's a bit above shoulder length, which is rather nice.

Then we went to Jamie's pool for the afternoon...it was a lot of fun.

 Isaac also really enjoyed being lowered from the diving board, sort of like one of the boys.  However, he wasn't willing to swim all by himself yet.  One more thing to work on. :D

Thursday: party pictures

Here are the pictures from Isaac's party on Monday...

Balloons!

Isaac likes to take pictures too.  I'm 35 weeks pregnant here.  And there was a good reason I was sitting on the floor, but I don't remember what it was.

Eating

Cupcakes!  I forgot the ice cream...but then, I almost forgot the cupcakes too.  Although Isaac probably would have been happy to eat all of them later.

In other news, having fireworks at 1:45am is really not that acceptable.  Isaac and I both are at the light part of our sleep cycle then and I got up with him three times in 1.5 hours because he kept waking up.  To be fair, I was rather awake for the first two though.  (I'll be honest...the only reason I think it is ok earlier in the evening is because Isaac sleeps through them.  If he was waking up every half hour this would be a different rant.)

Wednesday: hmm

I had a lot of things I wanted to do today.

I didn't do most of them.  I just didn't feel like it.  Or I got sidetracked.  And then the day was done!

I did decide to start a puzzle.  My reasoning?  It's part of the nursery decor.  So I was being productive by doing it.

Tuesday: presents and babies

We tried out all of Isaac's presents today, including his bike.

Then tonight we went to the Big Brother, Big Sister class at the hospital.  I thought it was ok.  But...it's hard to tell what he's picking up.  It is also possible that just going to the hospital and holding a baby doll helps solidify what is going to happen.

We went over many times that we went to the hospital to learn about babies, not to pick up a baby.  I think he was a little sad that we weren't coming home with a baby yet.

Monday: too smart

Tonight was Isaac's birthday party (pictures to come).  Ben and I got him a balance bike.  So this morning we were at the store in the helmet section, and I was trying to be sneaky.

Amanda: Hey Isaac, let's get a hat.
Isaac: I like this one.
Amanda: ok, can you put it in the cart?
Isaac: Bike too?

How does he know they were bike helmets?  We don't bike lately.

Saturday: really

Isaac has recently discovered that really can be an adverb.  So lately we've been getting descriptions like "When I'm really, really, really, really bigger I can touch the ceiling."

Ben was also putting together his birthday present tonight and Isaac asked, "Is Dad drumming?"  I responded with, "It does sound like that, doesn't it?"  I felt sneaky in a good, parenty way.

Friday: this and that

I was so awake last night.  I usually try to go to bed around 11, and tried to do so again last night.  But after repeated attempts to fall asleep, I just got up.  I think it took me until at least 3am to fall asleep.  I'm wondering if the "late" night iced teas had unexpected caffeine in them.  The baby was also super wiggly, so that didn't help either.  Even Ben couldn't get him to calm down.

But the day went well despite the lack of sleep.  Isaac's been asking to play in the sand all week, so we did that first thing.  (Part of the reason we haven't done it is rain, but the other half is that I just get busy and don't want to stop whatever I'm doing.  And I don't enjoy going outside in the heat of the day.)  Anyway, we ended up spending about two hours out there and the weather was very nice.  Isaac wanted to go in the deep water so we walked out a bit.  But I made him walk himself (while holding his hand), even though he wanted me to carry him.  He got about up to his belly button before he was done.  I was curious as to how far he'd go out.

We also took the baby's crib apart and moved it out of Isaac's room.  Isaac removed about 1/3 of the bolts by himself...I was rather proud.  I would have set it up in the baby's room, but that room is currently a disaster.  I'm hoping it'll get more manageable within the next week or so as things move out.  I've been working on it, but I seem to put more stuff in it lately than I take out.

Wednesday: pictures

Here are some pictures from camping.  Better late than never.

The only rope we had was kind of short or super long.  So the Subaru provided the best distance for the shorter rope.

We got all our stuff in...barely.  I thought it would be a lot easier going home, but we didn't eat as much as I expected and we didn't pack everything as well, partly due to the rain.

Isaac and his friend.

Isaac and his trusty lawnmower.

Isaac and another friend.  Isaac pushed and pulled him on the car...and probably developed some strong muscles.

Isaac "tickling" Ben.

Eating campfire donuts.

Tuesday: outtings

This morning we went to the church for playgroup.  It was raining, so we were in the nursery.  Im pretty sure that almost every toy was taken out.  At the end Isaac ended up running up and down the front of the church with two of the kids that we camped with.  They ran so hard for about 20 minutes.  But running is good exercise and Isaac was interacting with them, so I was happy to stay around.

Then in the afternoon I had a doctor's appointment to hear the "heartbeep."  Isaac told the doctor that he has a puppy in his tummy and she got a good laugh out of that.  (He also told her that she forgot to use soap when washing her hands, but she had just used a different dispenser than he was expecting.  I was a bit surprised that he noticed and that he said something.)

Monday: bed

Good news!  Isaac stayed in his bed all night through to the morning.  And during his nap.

He was super excited to get his actual twin bed tonight.  He surprisingly went right to sleep but we'll see what happens the rest of the night.

So sleeping seems to be going well, but toilet training went terribly today.

Sunday: coming home

We had more (unexpected) rain last night.  It made packing up a bit annoying, but not too bad.  Ben and I were rather exhausted during the afternoon, but we survived.

Isaac is sleeping out of his crib tonight.  We thought that since he got used to not sleeping in a crib while camping it might be a good time to transition.  I think he went to sleep without getting off his mattress, but it's a little hard to see.

Saturday: for real

So the last post was really Friday's. Saturday started out a bit cloudy, but nice weather. We ate and were relaxing when Ben and I decided to play bean bags with friends. Isaac wanted to play and when we told him no he crashed. Then he said he was sleepy and wanted a nap. So I put him down, figuring that the worst thing that would happen is he'd be up again soon. But he fell asleep!

So everyone else went to the beach before us, but that was fine. I took a nap and Ben got some alone time. We did catch up with everyone a bit later...it was a long walk to the beach but Isaac had been asking to play in the sand all weekend. So we did that and then took a short walk to a dune. Isaac wanted to climb it, so Ben took him up. We were expecting to only go up half way, but Isaac wanted to keep going so they did...because let's face it, going up is the hard part.

We had some more rain at night which was rather annoying, but we played some games and talked under awnings.

Interlude: food

Yesterday night we had hobo pies. Isaac was so tired that he wasn't eating the quarter that I gave him. So I ate the other three quarters. Then Isaac handed me his plate, with one bite out of his quarter, so I ate the rest.

He turned as I was finishing and cried, "don't eat mine!" The next five minutes there were serious tears. Finally we sort of calmed him down by promising more watermelon and a bite of the one Ben was eating.

Fast forward to tonight when Isaac wasn't eating his sausage. I asked if I could eat half of it. He immediately said no! And took a bite I the side he hadn't eaten and rubbed it on his cheek, giving it a hug. Needless to say, I didn't eat that part of the sausage.

Saturday: fun in the rain

Today really wasn't that rainy, although it threAtened all day so the humidity was rather high. Isaac woke up bright and early at 6. He did a lot of running and then we played on an empty playground. (It was nice because once the playground is full he gets slow and it feels dangerous.)

We had several breakfasts due to our early wake up time- they were all delicious. We played some Catan. It was raining a bit then, so Isaac ha the choice between "playing" the game and watching a movie. He smartly chose the game and actually did a really good job helping for about half the game. Once he told everyone what was in my hand,"baas", but the next time he was asked he just said "cards"

Isaac also had a ton of fun with a lawn mower that some of the people brought. He probably mowed grass for at least two hours today. And he played with the other kids too, which was nice to watch.

It rained hard at 3pm, but we were taking our naps.

Hobo pies and a fire finished out a damp but very nice day.

Thursday: a rough day

Today was rough. I was grumpy. Isaac was a little off. However, it seemed like a pretty common problem today. (We got out of the car at meijer and two kids were crying.)

We did make it camping though. And we got the tent set up, even with several problems. Isaac is starting his transition to a "big boy bed" and was so excited to sleep in a tent and in his sleeping bag that he went down very easily. I suppose it was after his bed time, but I was expecting more movement after I left


(Morning donut time)

Wednesday: Farmer's market

Today, in between thunderstorms, we went to the farmer's market.  I loaded up on fruit.  No veggies, but 1) we have meals planned for the next several days and don't need anymore and 2) I really wanted fruit.  Isaac's favorite part of the market was the puddle that I let him splash in.  There was another little boy splashing in it and Isaac asked first, so I was at least able to take off his shoes and socks.  He also got to hold a duckling.

The thunderstorms were also a highlight of both of our days.  In the early morning I kept saying "shh" as we listened to quiet thunder, and Isaac did it to me around lunch time as another storm was moving in.  I also forgot to thank God for lightning at lunch, although we did remember thunder.

Tuesday: back to reality

Today was the first day back to reality.  It was fun being with Isaac again, but a bit annoying being in charge of a toddler again.  I had to remember bathroom breaks and deal with tears about not wanting to go to bed.  But to be fair, there were several fun and funny times too.  I also felt especially pregnant today so I don't think that helped.  It might have been due to moving more and realizing how hard it is to do some movements.  Luckily, Isaac decided he was willing to help me with the laundry and got a lot of things off the floor.

In other news, here are some pictures from our kayaking trip that Jenny took.

Monday: home

We made it home.

We spent some nice time in the morning playing games and in the pool.  Then we packed everything up and ate a nice lunch, being sad that our vacation was about to end.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  The spot Ben sat in was really hot, so I made him move.  The whole trip home was rather hot; I think I was cool for only part of one airplane ride.  Anyway, I slept a bunch on the first airplane ride.  Ben decided to just check and see if there was an earlier flight out of Detroit and there was!  It had two seats open and the flight we were booked for was overbooked by two, so they didn't make us pay either.  On top of that, our luggage managed to make it to the correct plane so I don't need to go pick it up tomorrow!

Ben woke Isaac up (although I'm not sure how asleep he was) when we got back and he hopefully said, "Dad's back?" and gave Ben a big hug.  Then he wanted to sit with me in the chair for a bit and after a few minutes said, "Miss Mama."  Aww.  My heart melted a bit.

Sunday: 10 years (and one month)

Happy 10 year anniversary to us! I was gone on a different trip on our actual anniversary, but this trip had been planned as our gift to ourselves. It's been a lovely ten years, mostly with ups but with several downs too. But we were together for the downs, so that made them more bearable. (Random side note: we've lived in six places in the last ten years. Hopefully that number stays the same for the next ten!)

Today was a pretty lazy day-we swam, played games, ate ice cream, and relaxed. It's sad that it was our last full day down here (although I do miss Isaac) (as in i'll be happy to see him, not as in I've wished he was here.). It seemed a bit hotter than the last several days, so it was nice to have several ways to cool down.

Saturday: mangrove

This morning we went on our kayak tour through the mangrove. Our guide may have talked a little bit too much about himself! but he also had a lot of interesting information about the mangrove. The different types of mangrove, how the ecosystem works as a whole, and the fish that we keep seeing jumping. We also saw lots of crabs, a Florida whelk, and lots of trees.

It was very awkward getting in and out of the kayak at seven months pregnant, but doable. It also was a lovely overcast day, so that made kayaking nicer too.

The afternoon was marked by relaxing, playing games, and being in the pool. By the time we were done with that it was almost six and we were worried that the ice cream shop would close if we ate dinner first. So we went out for ice cream.

We came back and grilled. Maybe I should say we came back and everyone else grilled. I didn't know how to make any of the food (well, except for the green beans and Ben claimed those). So I got to read while food was prepared and I felt rather spoiled. Zach made salmon and it was pretty good...I might have to try it sometime myself.

The very end of the night was marked by a ridiculously active baby. So much so that I felt a little sick actually. In other child news, Isaac seems to be having a fun vacation of his own. The first day he talked to us he kept asking if we were going "home next?" But since then he seems to be having too much fun to care when we're coming back.

Friday: skulls

Today we were going to go on a kayak tour but when we were just about to go a big thunderstorm came through. (I was a little sad Isaac wasn't around...he seems to love thunder even though I think he's only been in one thunderstorm that he remembers. We thank God for thunder a lot.). Anyway, kayaking was canceled.

So we played a game. There was one die with zero to two skulls on it. Ben rolled two skulls for me and one for everyone else, which was fun since I currently have two skulls. The problem is that I, and only I, kept rolling two skulls throughout the game. Two skulls was not a good thing, so I kept blaming baby for my bad luck.

We went to see the latest tom cruise movie in the afternoon. (Tomorrow never dies?). It was pretty good. As with most flicks there were plot points that were pretty dumb, but over all it was fun.

We played a few more games and sadly were too late for ice cream...hopefully we'll make it tomorrow!

Thursday: relaxing

Today I slept in until 9:30. 9:30!!! I haven't slept in that long since Isaac was born. I was expecting to sleep until 7:30 or 8, since that's usually when I wake up if I happen to wake up first.

We started the day by having a relaxing breakfast. Then we did our one chore of the day and went to the grocery store. Entermann's donuts we're buy one get one free!

We came back, had a leisurely lunch while playing a game, and hopped in the pool.

We went out for dinner and they sat us down and forgot about us. We laughed about it quite a bit because this is the third time we've gone out and the third time we've had drink problems. But once they remembered us we had a very nice dinner and then we had some good ice cream.

Wednesday: escape

Today Ben and I escaped down to Florida. Without Isaac. I'm not sure Isaac understands what is going on, but I also have no doubt that he'll have a great time with the grandparents. We escaped!

Flights went fine. It was really nice not traveling with a toddler, because then we could both be kind of blah as needed. Our luggage did get soaked somehow...my underwear was very wet and our game instructions will never be the same. But most of the water sensitive stuff was either in bags or didn't get wet. (PSA: delta doesn't do anything for water damage, no matter what.)

Zach and Jenny picked us up and we made it to the place we're staying. We went to dinner and didn't realize that pizzas were half off...our bills were so surprisingly cheap! So we got ice cream too. :)

Tuesday: OB appt, things I never expected to say

I had another OB appointment today.  The heart rate was good at 140 and I'm still measuring about a week ahead at 33 weeks.  Isaac loved listening to the baby's heartbeat, although he calls it a heart beep.  I also gave him the option of sitting in the stroller or the big chair and he chose the big chair.  We talked about how he had to stay sitting in the big chair and couldn't go touching everything and he did a very nice job staying in the chair.

And changing the subject, here is another thing I never expected to say:

"I don't drink things made from people."

Isaac has been "scraping" pieces off our knees and making them into cocktails which he then expects Ben and I to drink.  However, these are a bit better than the food he made a few days ago that involved taking pieces of Ben or me, making them into a food, measuring the heartbeat, and then expecting us to eat them.  I don't eat things with a heartbeat either.

Monday: hi

Hi.

Nothing all that noteworthy happened today.  Isaac and I went to the pool.  It was ok...a little cool and he kept wanting to sit on the chairs instead of play in the warm water.  We had a nice dinner with family.

Oh, I guess the biggest news is that Isaac has slowly been figuring out when he needs to pee and actually makes it to the toilet first.  We've been accident-free five of the last seven days.  I know there's still room for improvement, but even on the days he's had an accident it isn't as big of a deal.  And he's been waking up dry from most of his naps.

Sunday: today

Today...yeah, I survived today.

I threw up last night...the first time in quite some time.  It came out of no where!  I didn't feel very good the rest of the night.  At one point I really needed to go to the bathroom but when I started to sit up I started to feel sick so decided to try and go back to sleep instead.  This morning was a bit better, but I think I was tired.  I ended up taking two naps.  At the end of the first I was doing better, but the second one was still nice.

We (mostly Ben but I helped a bit) managed to fix one of the sprinklers.  It was harder than it should have been, but I think we (as in Ben) learned a lot so the next ones should be better.

Isaac thankfully did well all day.  It's sometimes hard to remember that just because I'm not feeling good doesn't mean that it affects him all that much...especially on weekends when Ben is around too.

Here is a picture from the pool from a while ago...I got it after the blog post but think it's super cute.

Saturday: conversations

Isaac: is mom going to have another baby?
Amanda: no, this is my last baby.
Isaac: the next baby dad will do?
Amanda: yeah, dad can have the next baby.

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Isaac: Is mom putting on sunscreen?
Amanda: Yes.
Isaac: me too?
Amanda: Yes, but later.  You have a spray sunscreen and we need to do it outside.  I have a cream.
Isaac: Cream cheese?
Amanda: No, silly.  You don't want to eat sunscreen.

Friday: sand

This morning we went to play on the neighbor's beach.  I was expecting it to last about thirty minutes.  Two hours later it was time for lunch.  I suggested a boat ride as a transition, and during our short trip he fell asleep.  He wanted to go back to the beach for the rest of the day.

Luckily, we were going to the beach for a birthday party tonight.  He got to enjoy more sand. :)