Massive Update

Lot's going on

I love being a stay at home mom- I really do- but every once in a while I feel suffocated and need to get away. I think it mostly comes about when Eric has to work weekends- which is not unsual. This weekend was really rough b/c I was not feeling well at all- and he has a huge thing due on Monday. He was great Saturday, and got up with B and hung with him through gymboree (so noon), but then he had to go in. Today he has been in since 10:30 and it is 7pm no and he just said on the phone he will be a while. I am not complaining about him- because really it sucks for both of us, not just me.

Speaking of getting away- I left B and Eric alone for an entire weekend. My boys were on their own from noon on a Friday until I returned around midnight on Sunday evening. They did great and I *think* Eric has a greater appreciation for how my days are now. Leaving was a big deal for me b/c I am a control freak- and no, all my 'instructions' were not followed- but they lived, slept, ate and had fun so in the end- who cares? It was really good for them- Eric has never taken B anywhere besides within 2 blocks of our house. This is not as bad as it sounds considering we live in a city and everything is right here- gymboree, market, park, etc- but still. He got to experience packing him up and they went down the shore.

Where did I go you ask? Over 2.5 years ago I joined a board called Getting Pregnant on The Bump. I became super close with a lot of girls who I refer to as my friends- they are not just internet strangers to me, but people who know everything about me and who I share all of the ups and downs of life with. We have been through so much together and I am so lucky to be part of such an amazing group of women. I went to Arizona for a GTG with them- we came from all over the country- WA, CA, MA, PA, OH, KS (is that Kansas LOL?) and more. It was such an amazing weekend- I love these girls so much!

Pregnancy wise- things are going well. Hard to believe I am in the double digits weeks wise this week- it is flying. I am feeling pretty well, although I do have my days where I heave and sometimes puke. It is unpredictable- if I didn't feel great the whole time with B this would worry me, but fortunately it doesn't. I go for my NT on 8/11- my bday. Fingers crossed everything loks good. I have tried to hear the HB on my home doppler- but no luck. That is no surprise at all since I am not even 10 weeks and have an extra fluff layer. I am supposed to see my parents next weekend so was hoping to pick it up by then- but who knows. With B I didn't get it until around 13 weeks- but I had an anterior placenta so don't know if that was part of it.
I will keep trying- it isn't freaking me out at this point :)

Life is busy- Brooks learned how to break out of baby jail and is into EVERYTHING he can get to. I am going to go to BRU or BBB this week to pick up a lot of childproofing stuff. I thought babyjail would help prevent the need to do everything, but the kid is too smart :)

A while ago, you may recall that we set up 'baby jail' in the living room. 2 sides were a gate and the other 2 sides the sectional.

In less than 10 minutes he managed to do all this:

First he used his stool to help him walk to the stairs

Then he abandoned the stool in order to climb the stairs.
This was quickly stopped and he was brought back down- so he went to the hutch to open all the cabinets. He started pulling stuff out, but that was stopped as well since there are a lot of breakables

Anything he can open and close is a lot of fun

He looked outside for a bit

Took his tray off his high chair to play with

Proceeded to head to the kitchen where I put a chair as a psuedo-gate to keep him away from the dog food.

Made quick work of my 'gate'

And got to the dogfood anyway


After a slight crying tantrum over being removed from the kitchen he headed to the bathroom. If the toilet seat is not down, he will splash in the water.

The trash can in the downstairs bathroom is lots of fun




2 other life lessons from this week-

While grocery shopping, a croissant may seem like an easy idea for occupying the baby- however, it is VERY messy. (if you could have seen his hair up close- yuk- people in the store thought it was hysterical)


And- don't mess with a boy and his Cheeze Its

WALKING update! Brooks is taking steps every day now. He doesn't go far and he is still wobbly and falls onto whatever he is stepping towards- but it is practice and I know that soon enough he will be zipping everywhere. I took a little video of some of his steps :)

And lastly- a picture story about Brooks' first haircut. Many of my readers have prob seen all of these pics on FB, but oh well- even though there are a bunch I am putting them here b/c I love it and to have it down :).

In case you didn't remember- I really needed a haircut- I was beginning to look a little shaggy, and people were calling me a lovely girl!

So we went to a real old fashioned Barbershop- Ralph's - where Daddy grew up getting his hair cut!


Daddy kept talking about Rosie- a famous carousel horse that kids get to sit on from the 1800's. Mommy and me were really excited- and then we saw her. Sorry Rosie, but you were pretty disappointing.

Chuck cut my hair- in case you can't tell by my face here, I had doubt as to how it would go from someone with a goatee like that!

First he spritzed me with water and I was unsure what to think




Then he had to comb my hair because it was a mess


It really tickled when he combed my hair



Finally he was ready to cut- and it really wasn't so bad!





And then... he whipped out the electric razor- I was not a fan... at all!





I definitely did not like this goatee man anymore!




The bakery next door gave me a free cookie to help me get over my razor trauma! And mommy took lots of pics to show what a big boy I look like! She thinks I look a lot like my Daddy in these pictures!