Johnny is 4!

Today we celebrated Johnny's FOURTH birthday. Well, it was the first celebration of the weekend, anyway. Before I had Amy, I talked with Johnny a lot about what he wanted to do for his birthday. I wanted to make sure that I had his birthday party mostly planned before throwing a newborn into the mix.

He decided he wanted a small party with some friends and a bounce house. Oh, and construction trucks. At first, he wanted a train birthday party, but then the winds of obsession shifted and he decided that construction trucks were the way to go. Planning his party this year was way more fun than previous years because he's been to enough birthday parties to know what it's all about. We went on Pinterest and picked out some cakes he liked so I could get an idea of what he wanted, which was a lot of fun to do together. I also asked him a lot of questions about what kind of a bounce house he wanted, what flavor he wanted the cake to be, if we should get pizza or something else... and he usually had preferences on these things. It was fun to put together a party that he had ideas about. :)

Luckily, his desires are pretty simple because there are some limitations to what I can accomplish with two rambunctious boys and a newborn. Bounce house, pizza, construction trucks, and a cake. I can handle that.

I told Johnny his cake could be any color he wanted. He chose pink.

Unfortunately, taking pictures was something I didn't even think about until it was time for cake. Whoops. So that's what I have for Johnny's 4th birthday thus far! We still have a celebration with family this weekend. Maybe I'll remember to take more pictures.

We have a GIRL!!!

Look! Look! I actually birthed a female!

Amy Rose Durso was born on Friday, November 22, 2013, at 5:45AM. I gave birth to her in a tub, underwater, at Best Start Birth Center with John, our doula, Kelsey, and the midwife and nurse present. The labor itself was... difficult and long, but I'll save that for another post. For now, here are pictures and a quick introduction.

I am 40 weeks pregnant.

Here I am. 40 weeks. Though, by my own calculations, I'm actually 40.5 weeks pregnant, but I can't think about that too much because it pisses me off. I thought for sure I'd have a baby by now, so the fact that I haven't just makes me stabby.

I've finally made it to the point where I'm excited to go through labor so that I can be done with pregnancy. Even though I know what's waiting on the flip side (crying, no sleep, THREE children to care for), I'm just so ready to be done. I can't stand for too long because then my back hurts. I can't sit for too long because then my ribs hurt (which has been the most excruciating of all pregnancy aches for me). But I can't lie down for too long because then my back, my pubic bone and my ribs hurt. 

I can't eat much at a time since my stomach is compressed and whenever I feel like eating, nothing sounds good or I'm just too tired to get up and make something. My hormones are going crazy with the nesting instinct and all I feel like doing when I have the energy is clearing clutter, vacuuming and dusting. Which is EXHAUSTING. Kind of a cruel joke, there, Nature. Make the huge pregnant woman vacuum her heart out until she's too tired to give birth. Okay, it's not that bad. But still! Obnoxious. 

On the plus side, the boys have been pretty good to me recently. Suddenly, they're talking to each other like civilized humans ("Hank, may I use that train carriage?" "Okay, here you go.") and they play together unsupervised for over an hour so I can clean like a crazy woman in the mornings. They've been getting in and out of the car without a fuss (for the most part) and have finally been cutting me some slack because I'm pregnant. We went for a nice walk today and for the first time ever, I didn't have to chase one or both of them down the street. They kept saying, "I'm staying close to you because you're pregnant and you 
can't move fast." You speak truth, munchkin. 

My first successful silhouette! I think I did rather well.

This week, baby is the size of a/an: pumpkin

How far along: 40 weeks

Exercise: Rolling over in bed is quite the exercise. So is bending over to grab toys, going up stairs, carrying children through parks/museums, etc.

Sleep: The body aches have really ruined the small amount of quality sleep I used to get, but there's not much to do about that. Besides be so exhausted when I go to bed that I pass clean out before my head hits the pillow.

Food cravings/aversions: If I don't have to make it, I love it. :)

Movement: Less these days, but that's normal since there isn't much room to move around.

What I miss: Being able to call/text people without them thinking that I'm calling because I'm in labor. I understand it, but it just gets old calling people and having them answer all excited and hopeful and then after I say "I'm not in labor" the interest wanes.

What I'm loving: Not having to breastfeed yet.

What I'm looking forward to: Meeting the baby!! I can't wait to see that squishy little face.

Best moment this week: Going to see Thomas the Tank Engine in Perris, CA, with the boys this past weekend. It was a fun outing, possibly our last as a family of four (crosses fingers)

To accomplish before baby comes: We're actually... all prepared. Place to sleep. Clothes ready. I guess it'd be nice to finish up the Christmas shopping, but not absolutely necessary.

Thoughts and feelings from Significant Other and Siblings: Hank has decided that the baby should be named "Carl". Every time I ask him if the baby is a boy or a girl he says "Carl!" Both Johnny and Hank have taken to saying, "Baby! Come out now!" At my urging, of course.

MOAR VIDEOS!

I found a couple more that I just had to share.

The first one... I don't know. They're just brothers and they're just kidss. Being silly.


 This next one is a little long, so it may only be interesting to grandparents, but it's of Johnny singing, and it's pretty awesome. There isn't a lot of singing and dancing that goes on in our house because Johnny loses it every time I sing or dance. Thus, neither child does much singing or dancing either.



The actual song can be found here: We Are Busy Beavers: The Calendar Song

Documentation of the video variety

I think this blog is a testament to how awful I am at keeping things up to date. I'm not the best pen pal, it takes me forever to return phone calls, and I really only download photos and/or videos off my phone when I absolutely have to (i.e. the iOS needs an update and there isn't any space because I have 1200 photos saved on my phone).

I am just now posting videos from earlier this year because I finally downloaded them from my phone and they are too cute to keep to myself. I'll post a few of my favorites this week as I uncover and edit them.

This one was taken at my mom's house, where she will take the boys on "The Crazy G-ma Ride" and they loooooooove it. Can you tell? I just adore their faces when she's about to start the "ride". They're a little bit scared and a lot a bit excited.



Just too adorable. Hank's face makes me laugh every time.

This one is old, too, but I wanted to put it up because Hank's little voice is so sweet, isn't it? (Just in case you can't tell what he's doing, he's naming all of the "sauces" that are in his little kitchen cabinet.)
"This is one's orange sauce and this one is ketchup and this one is jam and this one is yellow mustard... And that's all the food we have." <---- synopsis; he repeats some a few times.