Not much else is going on around here. We are getting close to our due date – just a shade over 3 weeks away!!! At my last doctors appointment, I found out that I’m starting to dilate, so that makes it seem really close!!! Now every time Rick leaves, I get the whole “if you start going into labor, call me right away” speech. First of all, DUH, of course I’m going to call you….how else am I going to get to the hospital!!! And does he really think I’ll just surprise him with, “oh, by the way, while you were out, I gave birth to our daughter”?

About 9:30, Noah and I were up in his room – he needed to play the drums for awhile – and then he must have been tired. He went to his crib and said “up, up”. I asked if he wanted to go night-night and he got all excited and said “yeah”. I didn’t think he was serious, but I put him in his crib and walked away. I started a load of laundry and came back to get him, but he was actually laying down and about sleeping. So I left and came downstairs.

He had his 18 month doctor visit at 10:45, so I needed to wake him up so we could get going. He didn’t really seem to mind that he was just woken up, so off we went to his doctor appointment. He weighs in at 25 pounds, 8.8 oz and is 33 1/2″ tall. He had to get two shots in his legs, but they said he is now done with shots until kindergarten, so that’s good!!! The doctor also said that there was swelling where his teeth are coming in, so we are using that as the excuse why he was up so early! The doctor also said it could be awhile before his teeth come in, so be prepared – not really what I wanted to hear!!!

After the doctor visit, we decided to go to Costco because we were almost out of milk. And then being that it was so close to lunch, we decided to grab lunch in the deli. Noah ate the whole hotdog…which they advertise as “at least 1/4 pound all beef hot dog”. I think he should weight more than the 25 pounds, but then again, he probably burns more calories when he’s running around the house!! On the way home, he fell asleep about 5 minutes from home and then when we got home, we thought he would continue to sleep. He laid in his crib and talked for about 45 minutes and then wanted out.

Then I needed to head to my doctor appointment, so I left hoping that Rick could get Noah to take a nap. When I got home, they were playing trains, so there was no nap. Not much to update on my pregnancy…everything seems to be going normal. I start going every week for a checkup now, so that just means we are getting close for this little girl to make her presence into this world!!

About 5:30, we had a friend and her little boy, Carter, come over. Noah and Carter played so good together. The cars, trucks, and trains were a big hit! They ended up staying until about 8:45 and then Noah was definitely ready for bed!!! Rick brought him upstairs and said that Noah went straight to the crib and said “up, up”.

He did end up waking up after about two hours and sounded like he was in pain, so not sure if it was because of the shots or teething, but I gave him some Motrin and he went back to sleep. He actually slept until 9:45 this morning! He does have a cough this morning and another running nose, but he’s still playing with his car, trucks and train, so he’s good to go!! I just hope that he takes his normal nap today!!!

• 8:10 – got him out of bed…he was looking at a book and talking to himself
• Came downstairs and he wanted to play with his Matchbox cars while I got breakfast ready
• Ate breakfast of blueberry pancakes, fruit and milk – he’s a dipper…he dips his strawberries in the pancake syrup
• Cleaned up messy face and hands and cleaned up his nose…again (he has a cold, so there is snot everywhere!)
• Played with bowls and plastic spoons that he got out of the drawer while I cleaned up after breakfast
• He noticed the basement door was open, so he headed downstairs and started playing on Daddy’s drumset.
• Done playing drums, found the paint and wanted to drag that out. I thought it was time to go upstairs now.
• Went up two flights of stairs (I’m tired now, but not Noah!)
• Noah ran to his room and started playing on his drumset
• Got some books and started looking thru books while sitting by the bed.
• This is when I thought I should run downstairs and get the camera…

• I got out his clothes and sat down on the floor, now he knows I want to change him, so he doesn’t come anywhere close to me. Sit there for about 5 minutes while he plays drums, looks at books and finally gets close enough that I can reach him.
• Change clothes…put on a dinosaur tshirt and he keeps saying “roar” now. Clean nose again.
• 9:15 – go downstairs
• Plays with his cars and a old toy that used to be Rick’s – a hotel. Noah uses it for his cars.
• Noah brings me a car at my desk and then looks out window. Sees a big crane outside that is working on a new house that is going up.
• Goes and gets some cars and tractors and brings them to the window so he can keep playing, but keep an eye on the crane.
• Back to living room to play with the hotel and cars
• 10:30 – snack time – give him some fruit snacks and yogurt bits. He’s very thoughtful…must have thought his dinosaur was hungry, so he fed his dinosaur. Which reminds me, I need to get those out before I forget!
• Head back to window to watch the crane
• Play with the “Chunk Trucks” on the lamp table
• Bring the bag of bowling pins to me so I can open them. Tries to set them up and gets frustrated. Show him how to do it and he’s good to go again.
• Seen my licorice stash and keeps signing “please” – how can I say no to that?
• Back to playing with cars and hotel
• Play with farm set
• Look at some books. Brings me the big truck book and keeps saying “up” – he wants me to pick him up.
• Play with tractors and combine
• Finds basketball and starts playing basketball. He can just dunk it – he tries to throw it to the hoop, but he lets go when it is behind his head, so he runs to get it and dunks it instead.
• Ball rolls down the stairs so he leaves it and starts coming back in the living room.
• Hears that Dad is home and runs to the garage door. As soon as Dad walks in, Noah runs in the living room and tries to hide. Dad finds him and tickles him.
• Sees his markers up on the mantel and wants to color. Tries to eat the marker, so I take it away. Gets mad, so I tell him no more eating the marker and give it back for one last try. He colors for awhile.

• He hears a truck and runs to the window. The crane is leaving. He waves and says “bye bye”.
• 12:00 – Time for lunch. He has some chicken nuggets, green beans, grapes and some ranch dressing. He dips his grapes in the ranch and finishes those off first. Wants more grapes…tell him he needs to eat his chicken. He almost finishes everything and then throws his cup on the floor. Take everything away and tell him that we don’t throw things. Then Dad gives him a cookie. (Dad is such a push-over!)
• Dad wants to play Nintendo Wii – Noah gets excited and gets his rocking chair. Sits backwards in it…not sure what that is about, but whatever!
• Plays with farm and tractors.
• 12:50 – NAP TIME!!! Go upstairs and put him in his crib. He starts looking at a book and I leave. Now I can get some stuff done around here!!!

Well, Noah is officially a year and a half old already (okay so tomorrow is the official day – the 27th). Where did the time go??? It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital. But now we are preparing to bring home his baby sister in just a few short weeks!! Wow, how time flies!!!!

Over this past weekend, we got Noah moved to his new room and his new crib. Our neighbors are so kind that they are letting us use their crib while Noah needs it. That was a relief knowing that we didn’t have to get a new crib for him. I do want to keep him in the crib as long as we can, but I don’t think it will be too long before he’s trying to get out. Let’s just hope that he doesn’t figure out how to get out any time soon!!! We don’t have the dresser re-done yet, but otherwise I think his room is as done as it’s going to get!

Now I need to get the little girls room ready. I’m not going to do much…she gets the same farm theme Noah had, so I mainly just need to clean the room, move the mattress up in the crib, wash the clothes that we do have for her, get some of the “baby” stuff back out and I think that’s about it!

In the picture above, you can see all the matchbox cars are lined up in the window. He would bring a couple over, get up on the ottoman, sit them in the window, get down and start the process all over again until he had all these cars. There was a lot going on outside, a backhoe was working on one side, the neighbors dog was on the other side and the moon was up in the sky.

Well, maybe I should get baking. I think Noah needs some cupcakes for his 1 1/2 birthday…right?!?!?! Hey, they sound good to me!!! And you don’t want to deny a pregnant woman chocolate, do you??

Well, last night Rick had a meeting so he was gone. My back was hurting, so I was sitting on the couch watching Noah play. He started jumping into the chair and I thought I would record it for Rick to watch later on. I’m not sure if Noah wanted to show off or what, but this is not what I thought he was going to do!!! I thought he was going to jump into the chair, not dive onto the floor!!!! Doesn’t seem to bother him one bit!

And just to think, one year ago this is what Noah was doing!!!! Oh the days where you could put him in one spot and he’d be there 5 minutes later!!! These days, I can loose him in about 5 seconds!!

Here’s some pictures…

Of course, Rick had to get in on the fun too!!! I was perfectly content sitting on the bench not having to do a thing!!!

I start going to the doctor every two weeks now for a checkup. It’s always nice to hear that little heartbeat!!! I’m still having those lovely round ligament pains, mainly when I’m laying down or trying to roll over in bed. So bedtime is usually a painful process.

Rick must have gotten tired of listening to me complain about my back ache, so he got me a prenatal massage at the gym he goes to!!! Yeah, it was GREAT!!!!! I told him that he needs to start giving me daily massages now…so far, that hasn’t happened!!!

I’m pretty sure, Noah doesn’t have any idea what is going on. He is way more interested in his cars, trucks and farm than what I have in my belly! Every once in a while, we’ll ask him where his baby sister is and he’ll lift up my shirt and point at my belly button, but then he jumps off my lap and gets a toy. I guess she’ll be here soon enough and then we’ll be trying to keep him away from her!

Diary of a Demented Snow Shoveler

December 8 6:00 PM

It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!

December 9

We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in The whole world? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had!

Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life!

December 12

The sun has melted all our lovely snow. Such a disappointment! My neighbor tells me not to worry-we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful!

Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such A nice man, I’m glad he’s our neighbor.

December 14

Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The Temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed Up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is The life!

The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn’t huff and puff so.

December 15

20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4×4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife’s car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska , after all.

December 16

Ice storm this morning. Fell on my butt on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.

December 17

Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should’ve bought a wood stove, but won’t admit it to her. God, I hate it when she’s right. I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room.

December 20

Electricity is back on, but had another 14 inches of the white stuff last night. More shoveling! Took all day. The snowplow came by twice.

It was great having them here!! Rick and I even got to go over to the neighbors New Year’s Eve party for a little while and they made us go out on a date on Friday night too!!! Micah helped Rick with the attic closet project, Renae cleaned and they both helped take down our Christmas tree!!! It sure would be nice to live closer together!!!! We could maybe get some stuff off our to-do list a little quicker!!!!

On New Years Day, the neighbors came over with their little girl and I think all four of them were on a sugar high or something!!! There was lots of chasing each other, screaming and laughing! It was pretty funny to watch them all play with each other.

I didn’t take too many picture while Renae was here. Seems like the time always goes by so fast. They ended up leaving Saturday afternoon so they could have a day to get prepared before they start school again. It was probably a good thing they left when they did, because we got another couple of inches of snow last night. Which means that Rick was out scooping this morning again…I think he’s considering moving further south!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year!!!!!!