It's beginning to look a LITTLE like Christmas!

This weekend we went to the storage unit and pulled out some of our Christmas decorations.  I probably brought back about 1/4-1/3 of what I have.  I knew it wasn't going to be feasible to go all out this year since Robby is all over the place and into everything.  We have a little 4 ft tree sitting on top of an end table in the corner of the living room.  It has about 10 ornaments on it.

I also pulled out a few of my favorite decorations to put out where Robby can't reach.  This plate is one of my favorites!  I always put Jesus' birthday cake on it for Christmas morning.

 (Please forgive the dishes in the sink.  I never keep dishes in the sink but I had just finished making brownie muffins for Tim's pharmacy and the dishwasher was running and these wouldn't fit in there)

This is in our hall bath.  It's not much but I like to put a little bit all over.

Tim put up some ice cycle lights along a kind of overhang area between our living room and kitchen/dining room.  Robby LOVED them when he woke up this morning.  I walked out of his room with him on my hip and he saw them as soon as we rounded the corner.  He just looked at them and said "oooh"!  SO precious.  I can't wait to go look at Christmas lights, big Christmas trees, and other decorations everywhere with him!

(Again, forgive the mess!  The table and desk ledge is doubling as our dumping grounds right now!  That's on my to-do list today!)

The one thing I'm disappointed about is that I could only find ONE of our stockings.  We have 6 of them (2 for us, 2 for our kids, and 2 for our dogs - I had it planned out two years ago exactly how many we would need for our family!  Haha!).  We looked through all the plastic bins that had Christmas decorations in them, but I could only find the one.  I don't know what happened to the others.  I'm sure they are packed in a different box somewhere.  But I'm not too worried about it, Robby is the only one who is getting stocking gifts this year anyway so one stocking is just fine!

Are you planing to decorate for Christmas this week?  Or have you already decorated?  I used to wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving, but the last few years I've done it the weekend before.  I love Christmas decorations so much I want to experience them as long as I can!!

Forgetfulness, falling, and exhaustion - OH MY!

This pregnancy is kicking my hiney!  I had some great energy for about 2 weeks a little bit ago, but now I'm back to complete exhaustion.  It's the kind of exhaustion where I physically cannot pick up Robby at times.  My arms just don't have any strength left in them.  Usually, I can make it to the time when Tim gets home, but once he's here, I'm done for the day.  Thankfully, he looks forward to coming home to play with Robby all day so he doesn't mind.  I'm able to generally pick up the apartment, but haven't done any really deep cleaning in a while.  I have actually been trying to lay down or nap when Robby is napping.  I never did that when Robby was first born.  I just wasn't tired and I wanted to jump back into our routine and get things done.  But right now I just can't do it.  I told Tim last night that I feel bad because I'm shortchanging Robby right now.  We could be going to the park or getting out and doing things, but there are times I can't even climb up the stairs with him and the diaper bag so getting out just isn't feasible.  

Speaking of those pesky stairs, I've fallen twice now.  The first time, I had gone to Costco and we were back home.  I put Robby down for his nap in his crib and ran downstairs to get the cold things out of the car.  I had a few reusable shopping bags over my shoulders and was carrying a box with several other things.  I was on the last set of stairs when my foot caught one of the steps, my shoe separated from the sole and got kind of stuck under the step.  I tripped up the stairs, but thankfully didn't hurt myself or drop anything.  Then last Friday night while Tim was working, I went to return something and was coming back.  I was just carrying Robby and diaper bag but couldn't see where my feet were, I guess, and I tripped over the curb in front of our building.  This time I fell all the way to the ground, landing on my knees first then my left elbow.  The whole time all I could think about was keeping Robby up and making sure he didn't hit the ground.  Thankfully, he didn't.  I messed up my jeans, hurt my knees and elbow a little, messed up one of my fingers, and twisted my back.  None of those were serious at all.  My back was the most painful thing, but towards the end of the weekend it was feeling better.  I'm not one who is very graceful. I fell every single day of the 1st grade.  No joke.  Whether recess was inside or outside, I would fall and hurt myself.  It was about that same time range when I fell down the long row of steps at the Shepherd of the Hills outdoor theater.  I spilled my popcorn and that was what I was most upset about.  Also, when I was in the 7th grade, I took quite a major fall down a rocky hill at my school.  It was in front of a guy I had a crush on, so it was pretty humiliating.  In my adult life, I've had some close calls, but haven't actually had any real falls.  So it's frustrating to me to be falling so much now!  My clumsiness is much worse!

Not only am I more clumsy, but I'm much more forgetful.  I had a few cases of "pregnancy brain" with Robby, but this time around it's crazy how bad it is.  I have forgotten my address (twice), the gate code to get into our complex (I actually had to look through my texts to see what I had texted someone it was last week in order to know what it was), Tim's social security number because I forgot my ID and couldn't get on base, the name of AND how to get to my doctor's office WHILE I was on my way to my appointment (I couldn't get in touch with Tim to find out the name so I had to call a friend who had just had a baby and used the same doctor.  I'm sure she thought I was quite crazy), and generally what I'm doing and where I'm going.  Tim just looks at me sometimes in disbelief that I actually can't remember whatever it is.  Last night I told Tim that I needed to take Robby this week to get his second dose of the flu vaccine.  He then reminded me that we had already done that on Friday.  Oh ya!  I'm so glad I didn't go to the clinic and wait in line to get that done only to find out I had just done it last week.    I've also had a few episodes of leaving without my car keys (which is very frustrating because I realize it when I get down to the car with Robby and all our stuff then have to go all the way back up to get them and then go back down again!) or debit card/cash.  Very frustrating, to say the least.  I'm beginning to worry about myself!

Physically, I feel like I'm about 35 weeks along, instead of 25 weeks.  I already can't bend over to paint my toenails or put lotion on my feet.  It's incredibly difficult to bend down to pick things up and I definitely have the waddle already going on!  This is hard for me because I felt so good and so beautiful when I was pregnant with Robby.  Now I just hurt all the time and feel like quite the blimp.  Sadly, I'm wishing it was over and Charlie was here already.  It is sad that there wasn't more time between these pregnancies so I could actually enjoy it again this time around.  I loved being pregnant with Robby and this time I feel like I have the typical pregnant woman's attitude that I didn't have the first time around.  Anyway, I know the next 12 or so weeks will fly by (or at least I'm praying they will) and Charlie will be here and we will begin the process of adjusting to the new "normal"!

No, I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth...

Y'all, I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in so long.  Whenever I would have a little bit of time to blog, I felt so overwhelmed by the fact that I would need to backtrack and update on all I missed.  So I'm just not going to do that.  I blog for fun and to keep our family and friends updated, not because I have to.  I'm not going to go back 3 weeks and talk about all that has happened in detail.  I will, however, give you a quick rundown of what we've been doing.  I kind of touched on this, but at the end of October, Mandy came for a visit.  She got here the last Friday of October and left the following Wednesday.  The last time we had seen here, Robby was about 4-5 months old, so he had definitely changed!  Mandy's trip here overlapped with a business trip for Tim.  He left for Dallas that Sunday.  After I dropped Mandy off at the airport on Wednesday, Robby and I headed up to Dallas to spend a few days with Tim.  Towards the end of his week, he wasn't as busy with meetings and dinners, so it was perfect.  We left on Friday morning and headed back home.  The next week, my parents came for a visit for a couple of days.  They got here Wednesday night and left Saturday morning.  Tim had Friday off for Veteran's Day, so it worked out perfectly the way their trip fell.  Right now, Tim is in the middle of a pharmacy remodel.  Yuck!  He got home about 9:30 on Friday night because they had to clear out the entire pharmacy after they closed at 5.  Thankfully, everyone worked hard and got it done as quickly as they could.  He was supposed to go in for a little bit this weekend, but it ended up getting taken care of without him having to go in.  It was wonderful because we had the whole weekend just to ourselves!  This week, they have merged the BX satellite pharmacy (where Tim works) with the clinic pharmacy.  It is going to be crazy to say the least!!  He gets Thanksgiving day off, which will be nice, but then has to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to get the pharmacy all put back together and make sure they are ready to be up and running on Monday.  After this week, things will hopefully start settling down a little for Tim.

Robby is doing great!  He is standing on his own for long periods of time and there have been a few times he has started to take steps on his own but then grabbed for something to hold onto.  If he is distracted, I know he can do it, but when he focuses on it, he decides he needs help!  He is eating table foods.  He likes chicken in little bites, as well as potatoes, pinto beans, black beans, corn, and avocado.  He is not a fan of feeding himself peas, carrots, or bananas.  He doesn't like anything with a slimy texture.  I'm just going to keep giving them to him and hope he eventually takes them.  I've started giving him whole milk, as well as yogurt with whole milk.  He's been taking a bottle with half formula and half milk.  He is loving it so far.  And I'm loving the fact that we won't be spending $100 a month on formula, only about $15ish on milk!  This morning he had some waffle.  At first I tore it up for him in small pieces but he wouldn't eat them.  He just tossed them on the floor for Annie.  Then I just decided to hand him the bigger piece that I was using to tear off pieces.  He took it and nibbled on it for a while.  He was so excited about it!  Speaking of excited, I posted the video a few weeks ago of him clapping.  Well, while my parents were here, he started associating "Yay" and "Good job" with clapping.  So anytime we say those words, he drops what he's doing and claps.  Talk about precious!!  He has also started saying "r" and "y" words (sounds).  And his jabbering is now a combination of a lot of different "words" instead of repeating the same sound over and over.  He sounds like he's really having a conversation, we just don't know what he's saying!  :-)  He's so fun right now and we are extremely excited about the upcoming holidays with him.

I have several topics and ideas I want to blog about, let's hope I actually do them!!  :-)

Wordless Wednesday: What's going on out there?

New Developments

I'm sorry that I've been away from the blog so much the last week and a half or so.  We've been busy.  I'll post about everything in the next couple of days.  But instead of waiting to post this until I backtracked, I thought I would just go ahead and post it tonight.

I expressed my concern to Mandy while she was here last week that I hadn't taught Robby to clap because (this is sad) it never occurred to me that I needed to do that!  I don't really clap a lot for him, so I never even thought to teach him this important skill!  It took Mandy one time of straightening his hands and clapping his hands together for him to get it!  Now, he's doing it all the time.  I will just look over at him while he's playing and he'll be clapping.  I can't help but smile at him when I see it!  Here is a video I got of him today clapping.

Also, over the last several days, he has started walking just holding on to one of my fingers with him leading and setting his pace.  He's also standing for longer periods of time on his own.  I know walking on his own is right around the corner, I'm just not ready for him to grow up that much yet!  Crawling is one thing.  That's a baby thing.  Walking is a toddler thing.  I don't want to think of him as a toddler yet!  Enjoy this video of him walking, too!

What to do for dinner?

Yesterday I was really craving something Italian.  We make homemade pizza usually once a week or so, but that's not what I was wanting.  I make lasagna frequently, but again, that's not what I was wanting.  I texted Tim and told him I was wanting something creamy and garlicy, but wasn't quite sure.  I looked at what I had in the fridge and the pantry: spaghetti noodles, garlic, cream, and ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I started with making a basic alfredo sauce.  Then I mixed the ricotta cheese with some parsley, salt, pepper, shredded mozzarella and an egg.  I cooked the spaghetti noodles.  Then I just mixed everything together in a big bowl, dumped it in a casserole dish, topped it with sliced mozzarella cheese and baked it for a bit.  I didn't know how it was going to turn out, but all the things I put into it sounded good at the time!  The result was what Tim called the best Italian dish I have ever made.  I think I will need to come up with a name for it because I think it will be a regular in our meal rotation!

This week has been nice for us.  Tim has been home before 6pm every day, which has been absolutely wonderful.  Monday night I started having some major contractions.  I drank extra water, walked around, changed positions and nothing helped them go away.  Finally about 3am the next day they went away.  I was pretty uncomfortable for a while, but I eventually got a bit of rest.  Robby has been sleeping and napping so well.  The past two days I've had so much energy.  I don't know where it's coming from, but I'm taking advantage of it while I have it.  I organized Robby's closet and got clothes ready for Charlie to be able to use.  I also organized my desk and our pantry.  I'm on top of all the laundry and cleaning, which is really nice.  I guess the nesting has just started early this time!  When Robby is awake, he is moving.  He isn't satisfied sitting and playing with any toys now.  He's either crawling around following me, or walking around every piece of furniture.  Usually he does this but is happy taking a break to play with things.  Not this week!  He's definitely keeping me on my toes much more than usual!

Mandy gets in tomorrow morning.  I'm so excited for her to be here!  We always have a blast when we're together and it's always nice to have her help with Robby.  We have some Groupon movie tickets that expire next week so she and I are going to the movies tomorrow night and Tim and I are going Saturday night.  We haven't had a date night in well over a month and a half.  It will be fun to have some "us" time!  Tim is leaving Sunday for a meeting in Dallas and will be gone until Friday.  Mandy will be here until Wednesday, so I only have to be by myself for three days and two nights.  I'm so thankful for that!

I didn't get a 21 week picture taken but I will get a picture-less 21 week pregnancy highlight post up soon!  I hope everyone's week is going well!

Wordless Wednesday: Little Poser