These Final Weeks

I am certainly pregnant, that I am for sure of.

Not only do I have a belly that is bigger than a basketball, I am beyond exhausted constantly, and have a crazy amount of (what feels like) bi-polar emotions running through me.

...I cannot wait to meet William!
...But how can I love William as much as I love Jack?
....I cannot wait to be done being pregnant. Uggh I feel gross.
...But his sweet movement inside is so temporary and amazing.
...Jack is throwing a tantrum. Again. How can I possibly handle two?
...Today has been the most amazing day with Jackson, how can I share my love?

Okay, I know I'm not the only mom in the world who feels these similar thoughts so close to having their second child.

4 weeks (hopefully sooner) and counting.

We have been spending our days keeping as busy as possible. Half because my time with just having my first precious son alone is so fleeting. Half because I'm trying to make sure these days go by quickly and I will go into labor soon! (& I thought these last few weeks being pregnant with Jack were difficult! God is continuing to teach me patience)

We've had days that also look like this. 

Teething fevers & rashes have not been uncommon these days. Lots of molars & the canines coming in. We are almost done. During prayer time I secretly ask God to have all Jackson's teeth come before William comes. It's been a bit rough, poor guy. 

But we also have days like this. 

We play in our pool lots that I have placed on our upstairs deck. This helps cool us down due to no air conditioning in the house. Jackson could play in water for hours if I let him (& I do). 

We keep busy with multiple play dates with friends during the week. This includes beach days, trips to the park, to Fashion Island, & so far, a special trip to the Long Beach aquarium. I feel so blessed to call these gals friends. I wish I remembered to take more pics on these dates, but we start chatting away & I forget. 

Please excuse my giant belly. 

When gammie & ganpie are in town we go on walks around the neighborhood, and grammies spoils Jackson with lot of donuts from Roses. Typical. 

We also have a new found love for our local library. It's about 3 blocks walking distance from our home, and has been newly renovated & beautiful! They have sweet story/song time on Mondays as well, which has been so fun. I've met some other mammas & babies there that are local which has been very neat. 

We usually go there twice or three times a week. It's a great place for me to just sit & rest while he runs the place. There are books, blocks, cars, figurines, giant beautiful windows, and children to watch & play with. He loves to climb up and down the little chairs as well. Such a big boy!

Here's a short video of him playing with the cars.

Finally, MOPS hosted a photo shoot for families at a discount + fundraiser. So, we were able to have a small photo shoot taken of our family. Here's a peek at some of the photos. They're just snapshots for now, I should have the hi-resolution ones soon. Although I cannot stand myself pregnant, I know I'll look back on these fleeting moments in time and cherish these photos knowing how blessed we have been. 

William, we are so looking forward to meeting you! 

Some Small Happenings

I don't miss working. As much as I loved my job, I haven't once thought to myself that I made the wrong decision by quitting.

This last month has been what "normal life" will be now that I have quit working. Although, the definition of "normal" will be changing again next month once William enters the world!

The time has flown by so fast, and I'm sure it's because I feel like life is where it's supposed to be. God has been so good to me, and sometimes I have to just wonder why! I'm so beyond blessed to have a wonderful mother to run mundane errands with, a group of friends to enjoy  wonderful play dates with, and of course, a husband who couldn't love being with Jackson and myself more.

Although there are those challenging days (or moments) of teething or tantrums from the little guy, he's been a pleasure to spend every day with. I'm so grateful I get to see all of his tiny little changes take place.

Some new things Jack has been doing:

1. We say, "what does a dog/cat say?" and he will either bark or meow. He barks whenever we see/hear a dog.

2. He understands more of what we are saying all the time. "Let's go take a bath," "Let's put on your shoes," and "please hold my hand" are just a few that he reacts to with full knowledge.

3. We still only have three words down, although I try daily to get him to say more. He babbles constantly, it's so adorable. "Hot," "Mickey" and "No" is his current menu of words.

4. When he is wearing a shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, we ask "Who's on your shirt?" and he points down and says, "MICKEY!" Sometimes, Mickey is the only thing he'll let us put on him...(is he too young to have these types of opinions? Hey, at least those moments are still rare. #pickyourbattles)

5. He's on one nap a day for 2 to 3 hours. (12-3). I am LOVING this as it gives me time to rest. To have him back on a nap schedule is glorious. The last 3 or so months he's been all over the place. It also makes me really feel like I can take on a newborn! His bedtime is 8:30pm and he sleeps until about 7:00am most mornings. If we are super lucky, 7:45! Because of this transition we are now down to one bottle a day before his nap. Sometimes, I'll give him another if we are out and I'm pushing his bed time in the evening & he becomes really fussy. This really helped a lot and I have really come to peace with this habit, that it'll resolve itself in time.

I constantly pray to God that He provides me wisdom on how to raise this precious and impressionable human being. To encourage his wonderful gifts and personality traits, but also show him that life isn't always fair, and we have to cope with that. This balance is a tough one at this age when you can't overly reason with him yet.

Okay, less words, and more pictures!

We love to go to the parks that are by our house, either alone or with great friends. 

If the day is beautiful enough, a morning beach trip is always awesome. And this really tires us out and we take a great nap in the afternoon!

At the beach with friends. 

A Roses visit in the morning is necessary. He is in love with his little car, this is our mode of transportation around the neighborhood. He has his coffee in hand and is ready to start the day!

If he'd actually smile for a picture, you'd know how much he LOVES sprinkled donut holes from Roses :) 

We have done this already a couple of times this summer with friends and family. I actually got a smiling picture which I still can't believe! There is something sweet about his messy face. He is always so enthralled with the fire. It truly is so much fun to just get messy with him!

A trip to South Coast Plaza requires a carousel ride. He is obsessed. This and Fashion Island to the fountain and Pinkberry are frequent stops as well. 

He loves putting on Aaron's flip flop and walk around the house with it on. It melts my heart every time. 

Showing me his Mickey Mouse Book that he was reading before I came to get him in the morning. 

Enjoying time in our bed in the morning watching "Timmy Time" 

Carousel ride at Disneyland. My pass is no longer good for the summer. So, the next time I make the trek, it'll be with William too!

Every time we go to Disneyland, it just gets more and more fun with him as he can interact more with the rides.

Always going to Disneyland in our best outfit :)

My sweet baby is no longer. He's a full blown toddler. With desires, opinions and love that I just can't get enough of. Jackson's love for life, exploration and wonder continues to amaze me. Every day I get more and more excited to see him and William interact as we get closer to his arrival. 

Being a mother, I have come to find out, it the most wonderful and difficult job in the whole world.

Snow, Desert, and ALOHA!

After a week long stint in Colorado (Congrats to Morgen & Scott with Baby Nolan! I'm officially an auntie!), four day stint in Scottsdale, AZ, and ten days in Maui, I can officially say three things:

1. I'm pooped.

2. Jackson is an amazing traveler

3. I have the best family & in-law family ever.

I have very few pictures of our trip to Colorado. Mostly because Jack was a bit high maintenance. (Okay, VERY high maintenance. I had a breakdown about having two children multiple times.) The combination of the dryness, cold weather, sinus infection, medication & molars was not good. Thankfully, we made it through with lots of patience, and some great times in between. We spent the first half down in the Springs with Aaron's mom. It was so fun to spend time with her and see Jackson laugh with her. We mostly just hung around, ate amazing food (as always) and laughed. The anticipation of Nolan was upon all of us!

After that, we headed up to the mountains for Easter Sunday, and then Aaron went back down to the Springs for work and the birth of Nolan. I stayed up in the mountains with Jack. Mostly to let Aaron have his time with his brother, and just to keep Jack out of the way, as he tends to bring some attention to himself.

Following are some pictures of our small adventures up in the mountains.

We took Jackson sledding outside for the first time. He had a ball!

Photo-op during sledding time. My dad and Jessica really let him take off down the hill (safely, of course) He laughed the whole way down. 

On our way out of town, we stopped to see my Nana, Jackson's great-grandma. I just love seeing so many generations together, as bittersweet as it may be. We also had lunch with my amazing cousins before departing. It is always such a pleasure to see them. 

Four days after we got home from this week long stint, it was off to Arizona to "celebrate my retirement" from work (official last day was April 5th!). No pictures to really speak of while there (I know, I'm horrible.) It was such a short visit that we really just enjoyed every second we could spending time together. Jackson was a peach the entire time even for sleeping in a closet. He slept in most days, ate amazingly well, laughed & played awesomely. 

Then, ten days home, and off to MAUI! Yay!  I felt like an expert baby traveler by this point. The 5 hour plane ride, 4:30am wake up call, and 3 hour time difference was like NOTHIN'. Haha. Ya right. Thankfully, all went smoothly. It was such an amazing trip with family filled with laughs, plenty of beach and pool time, and great dinners out and in the condo. 

Aaron got to scuba dive twice with Jessica & Erik. I was so jealous that I couldn't go. They saw a shark, played in caves and saw a plethora of sea turtles and different types of fish. I mainly hung out with Jackson and the family, snorkeled, and ate an absurd amount of chicken fingers from the Four Seasons. (Seriously, they're the best chicken fingers I have EVER had.) We also played dominos out on our amazing patio with an incredible view.

Aaron and I heading out to date night while my parents so sweetly watched Jackson. 28 weeks pregnant with Will. 

Fun at the beach!

He was very intense on his play time. Also, he refuses to wear sunglasses. He screams bloody murder any time I put them on. Such is the life of having a toddler. 

Jack is SO fearless. He would run into the water with waves at any time. We had to stop him multiple times! When Aaron took him in, he would squeal with delight any time a wave would come. 

The sand in Maui beats California sand any day. No seaweed or nasty flies!

Family photo op at the Four Seasons. 

Pool time!!! Yarrr!!! So excited.

Daddy freaking mamma out in the pool. 

Very intense. 

Napping poolside with mamma and snuggin' Will. Anyone who knows Jack well knows this is a rarity! He loves his crib and has a difficult time falling asleep anywhere else. So, I was grateful for the one nap we got to snug. Thankfully, our condo was a mere two minute walk from the beach, so this made it so convenient to leave the family and go back to the house & hang out on the deck while he got a good nap in his crib. 

Island baby. 

Four Seasons crazy antics. 

I can't get him to smile for the camera. So this will have to do. 

Smelling flowers with Auntie. 

Daddy about ready to throw Jack into the air!

As I've said before, Jack is OBSESSED with fire. He has now learned to not only say hot, but to try and "blow" the fire or hot item out. Any restaurant with a candle had to be taken away immediately or else Jackson would do just about anything to try and grab it. 

Anyone who has been to Maui may know they light torches around the properties every evening in Wailea. So, needless to say we had to get a picture with the "Tiki Torch Guy" who runs around the Four Seasons property lighting them. 

Jack's face the first moment he saw the Tiki Torch guy with his huge flame. 

 He couldn't look away....

Thank you grammies and grampi for for hosting us on this fabulous trip! It was full of so many wonderful memories that pictures can't even capture! 

Blessed beyond words.