Father’s Day wishes & Ben’s 2nd video post

Ben wanted me to blog about his Happy Father’s Day wishes to his dad today!!! :)  He thought daddy would enjoy a few pics as well as his favorite Ben & daddy moments caught on video last week.  We love you!

I also want to say… a BIG Happy Father’s Day to my dad!  And, my dad-in-law!  You guys have a great day today!  Hugs & lots of love to you both!

Now… sit back and enjoy Ben’s cutest & funniest moments filmed last week…

Ben’s first video!

Here is our little Ben starring in his very first video!!!  I’ve done a little editing and put together our favorite moments of hubby & I trying to get him to laugh & do his cute little baby talk thing.  This is guaranteed to put a smile on your face!  Enjoy!

some bragging is in order!

And, no, it’s not about our little Ben:)  Although, y’all know I can talk for days about him!

This is actually about my little sis!  Wanted to give her a BIG MEANDERING SHOUT OUT of praise to her for completing Nursing School last month!  I know, I’m a tiny bit late with the announcement.  But, better late than never, right?

Congratulations Janet!!!  Team meandering mind is very proud of you!  Can you feel the love?  That’s the happy dance we’re doing for you!  And baby Ben gives his Auntie a million baby high fives!  And, to top it all off, we’re very happy that you already have gainful employment all lined up.  Awesome!

A HUGE Congrats again, to our favorite grad!  The three of us are giving you a big devil horn wave from 2500 miles away!  Wish we could be there to drink some pretty pink champagne with you!  Big hugs and lots of love!!!

First shots- ouch!

Yesterday, hubby and I took Ben to his 2-month check up appointment.  This was his 3rd visit to his doc, and on this visit he was going to receive his first shots.  Of course, he received shots while in the hospital, but these were the first shots I was going to be present at. I have to admit, I was a tiny bit nervous about this whole ordeal.  I’m really not sure why I was nervous, as I know what it’s like to receive shots; I get them on a weekly basis due to my battle with mother nature and allergies.  I guess I was feeling what many mommies feel when faced with things they know that are going to be painful for their children.

Below is my mommy version of this story (mine is a tiny more dramatic )…  If you’d like to read the daddy version, pop over to my hubby’s blog! :)

So the first part of the check up went just fine.  Doc asked us a bunch of questions about:  feeding, pooping, sleeping, & development stuff; we had a very nice chat, he said Ben is doing just great and we’ll see you in 2 months for the 4-month check up.  Then, on his way out, he said the nurse will be back to give the shots.  All of a sudden, I started to feel sweaty.  I kept thinking… you’re the mom, put on a brave face!  I bet baby’s can smell fear the same way bees do! It wasn’t long before the nurse came in with the shots.  I sat in the corner of the room while hubby held Ben’s hands.  Now, it was shot time.  The good thing was the nurse moved fast in administering the shots.  Awesome.  The bad thing was that it didn’t take Ben long to figure out something felt very painful in his legs.  I’ve never heard him cry like that; it was sooooo high pitched & loud.  Before I knew it, I shed a few tears with Ben.  I don’t think any mommy wants to hear their baby cry like that!  Ugh.  After the shots, hubby calmed Ben down (man, I was so glad he could come with me to this appointment!) and we were on our way home.

Overall, Ben really did great during his first shot appointment.  He was only really upset for a minute or two.  I think I definitely spent more time nervous about it than he did.  And, he really only cried that crazy cry for about a minute.  But it felt like so much longer!!!  So… in 2 months, we get to do this all over again.  I better start practicing my ‘mommy brave face’.

oh the cuteness

I can’t believe Ben is 8 weeks old this week.  Amazing!  So much has happened and he’s changed so much in such a short amount of time.  It’s been quite an awesome ride the last 8 weeks getting to know him.  I’m not sure if it’s possible, but every day my heart fills even more fuller with love for him.  Yes, he already has me wrapped around his cute little fingers ;)

I know it’s been awhile since my last post… thought I’d share some pics of the cuteness since I last wrote.  Enjoy!  Stay tuned for more pics, stories, and even more cuteness of our little wonder.

Week 7- Tummy Time!

Week 7- Asleep in my green bassinet

Week 7- Hey Bruiser!

Week 6- Happy Baby!

Week 6- Asleep in my car seat

Week 6- Chillin’ on my hand-knitted, big bad baby blanket from mommy :)

Week 5- Oh the cuteness!

Week 5- Future MVP asleep :)

Week 4- In my crib

Week 4- Bath Time!

Week 3- Family Photo in our backyard

Week 3- SoCal Grandpa feeding Ben

Week 2- SoCal Grandma and sleepy Ben

Week 1- In my car seat

6 days old- Auntie Janet & Ben

He’s here!!!

I am very happy to announce the birth of our son!!!  Here’s his stats-

Benjamin Wyatt arrived on Monday, March 30th

time: 6:04 a.m.

weight: 7 pounds, 3 ounces

length:  19 1/2 inches

Ben’s story–

Ben decided on Sunday, March 29, to get things rolling a little earlier than expected.  Remember, I was supposed to have a scheduled C-Section the next day at 8 a.m. I started to experience the signs of labor late Sunday evening and by early Monday morning my contractions were getting to be very close together.  Hubby & I decided it was time to grab our bags and head to the hospital.

I kept thinking, I can’t believe I’m experiencing contractions!  Is this for real?!  We have a scheduled C-Section at 8 and I just thought we would drive to the hospital, check in, change into my gown, head to the OR, and have our baby.  Well, Ben had other plans.

Things progressed so rapidly that we knew by 5 a.m. that it was baby time. Contractions were now coming fast and ferocious.  And since we were ahead of schedule, we didn’t even have our regular doc, we had the OB from our practice that was on call.  Funny thing is she also happened to be the one two weeks ago to discover he was breech.  So we went WAY back with her, like old friends we were. She came in, made sure he was still breech and agreed it was time to have the baby.

The next thing that happened was me being prepped for the C-Section and then being wheeled into a very, very, very, cold operating room.  Let me emphasize the cold!  Then, the next bit happened super fast!  In a matter of a few minutes Ben made his grand entrance into the world!  It was so amazing!!!  Lots & lots of happy tears and once he was all cleaned up, hubby, Ben, & I posed for our first family photo.

Ben is a beautiful, happy & healthy little boy and hubby and I are very proud parents!  Here are some photos from the first 2 weeks of this new, amazing chapter in our lives.  Enjoy!

first family photo

our little bundle

daddy, mommy, and Ben

sleepy baby

check out my foot!

hello!

big yawn!

what’s so funny? :)

39 weeks!!!

Wow!  Here I am at 39 weeks preggers.  What a journey it’s been & check out that belly!!!  It’s freakin’ huge!  This will be the last belly pic you’ll see of me & the nut because bright & early Monday morning we’ve got a big date at the hospital to have a C-Section.  You heard me right, Monday is the BIG DAY!

So, there’s been a small change in the labor & delivery plans… you know how sometimes the best laid out plans can change?  Well… our little nut has thrown us a curve ball.  Last week, we found out that our little boy is not pointed correctly on the launch pad for exit.  He’s in a breech position.  That little stinker!  On the ultrasound, it looks like he’s sitting in my belly like he’s in a hammock just chillin’.  Maybe thinking about having a baby mojito :)  After a TON of discussion, we have decided to opt for a C-Section.  At least with the new L&D plan, I’m glad I don’t need to worry about my water breaking on aisle 3 at the grocery store or deliver the baby in the back of our car :)

Team meandering mind is sooooo very excited to finally be able to meet our little miracle in 2 days!!!  I’m so ready to hold our little boy! Stay tuned for the official baby announcement complete with pics & I’m sure an awesome story!

And… since this is the last belly pic of me & the nut, in honor of that, I put together a little slideshow of my ever expanding preggers belly.  I’m amazed at how much it grew between 16 weeks and 39.  Enjoy the show!

tour of the nursery

Thought you might enjoy a peek inside little man’s nursery.  Enjoy!

where he’ll be sleeping soundly and dreaming sweet little baby dreams…

view from his door…

who wants to change a diaper???

happy corner…

close up of the ABC quilt- isn’t this the cutest?!

sleeping corner

the beginning of little man’s library…

his closet

another view of the crib- check out that wacky mobile!

and finally, check out the first time parent paranoia baby monitor attached to the crib… ;)

37 weeks!

Here I am at 37 weeks!  I’ve reached the full term mark according to all of the books I’ve read and most importantly, what my OB says.  It doesn’t seem right calling our little man ‘the nut’ anymore; as he weighs in at a little over 6 pounds and is approximately 19 inches long according to BabyCenter.  Our little baby is already growing up!  Other exciting preggers events going on… when you look at my belly, you can see that our little wonder has dropped much lower in my pelvis.  And random people on the street love to point this out and say things like… oh my, looks like you can have that baby at any minute! Sometimes I want to reply by saying… what?  I’m not pregnant :) Hee. Hee.

I want to share with you some of the amazing things that you should know about our little wonder boy… (Yes, I will be one of those mommies that will be happy to share with you pictures, stories, and whatever else is on my meandering mind about our son… you have been warned!)

• he loves a good kung fu kick workout.  Especially in the early morning & right after dinner time.

• he loves music– favorite artists & groups he’s currently listening to:  U2, Coldplay, & Dave Matthews Band.  Favorite quiet time music– Dreamland.

• he loves car rides– especially the rev-rev of the A3 engine.

• he loves it when daddy sings funny made up songs to him.

• and… he loves it when mommy does her funny made up Clipo, Clipo Clipo preggers belly dance (followed by singing Clipo, Clipo, Hippo really loud!) when that toy commercial airs… anyone else tired of seeing this commercial?

Amazing, huh??!!

Hubby and I are soooo ready to meet and hold our little boy!  Hopefully, it won’t be much longer!  We are beyond excited!!!

36 weeks!

Meandering preggers has made it to 36 weeks!  Wow.  Not too much longer and our little boy will be here!!!  Now that we’re in the home stretch of this amazing journey, I thought you might be interested in the preggers happenings…

to answer the how are you feeling at 36 weeks…

Oh, my back is aching!  Just trying to find one comfortable place in the house to sit is a bit of a challenge these days.  And forget about car rides over 30 minutes.  I can’t take it; our car sits pretty low to the ground so I feel every bump in the road.  I think I’m beginning to regret a tiny bit that I didn’t do more of that ‘core strength training’ during the early stages of being preggers.  Damn hindsight! I do remind myself that this little boy is about 6 pounds and all of the weight is pretty much centered in my belly.

I know I’ve chatted about this before…You’ll hear this phrase around my house often… Hubby, can you please get me a few TUMs? I can’t even explain the amount of heartburn & indigestion I have right now.  I’m seriously thinking about strapping the container around my neck–like a feed bag of TUMs.

Overall, (minus the aching back & indigestion), I’m feeling just fine.

things that are becoming increasingly harder to do…

–Tying my shoes. I’m wondering if I need to switch to slip on shoes?  I wonder if they still make those ‘old school’ Vans I had wayyyyyy back in the 80s:)?  hmmmm…

–Finding my feet to put shoes on. If I’m looking directly at my BIG belly bump, I can’t see my feet!  I think they’ve been M.I.A. for about 4 weeks!  I’d love to paint my toes a pretty pink color but I can’t see my toes to put the nail polish on :(

–Getting in and out of our car. (See achy, whiny back note above…) Our sporty little car is not very preggers friendly right now.  I’m sure people are laughing at me while watching me maneuver this task.  I see y’all looking at me in the Target parking lot!

–Getting up after being in a lying down position on the bed or couch. Hubby has taken to calling me ‘the turtle’.  I’m sure this is pretty hilarious to watch :)

a few food craving stories…

#1- Junk food cravings are very strong! I know I’ve talked about this before– but… seriously, this is sooo out of control right now!  I am happy to report that while hubby & I were out and about last Saturday, we found my oh-so-desired Samoa Cookies!  You should have seen the smile (and I think I let out a scream of joy) when we found them!  I did use some control and only bought 3 boxes.  That’s ok, right?

#2- Last night I had a HUGE craving for a root beer float.  Luckily, we had all of the fixings to make this delicious drink.  Thank goodness!   And– I’m really looking forward to dessert tonight–homemade strawberry shortcake!  I can’t wait!!!

#3- And… I want to give a special thank you to Chuck & Amy for the box of dark chocolates that showed up in the mail last week.  What a yummy surprise!  They were delicious!  Thank you.

I also want to mention what a super star, rock star, hubby I have!  He is the best!!!  He is my biggest cheerleader of preggers support and always ready to help me out whether it be rubbing my aching back, making homemade delicious desserts I’m craving, helping me tie my shoes, helping me up if I’ve sunk too far into the couch and can’t get my turtley-self up, AND doing all of those chore type things around the house that I’m having a hard time doing.  I am so grateful and thankful for hubby!  Love him :)

Oh and… Here are some 36 week pics of my belly bump!  Enjoy!

me in little man’s nursery

36 week belly bump!