Babies Everywhere

It's almost Memorial Day weekend which means we're in the middle of Birthday Season. There are at least four family birthdays this month (Sean turned 25! His fear of aging kicked in and he mourned the day, but we had cake so it wasn't all sad), plus Mother's Day and this year: a graduation! Sean's mom just graduated with her PhD in Information Sciences. We got to watch her graduate this past Saturday and it was very exciting to see her years of hard work pay off.

This Saturday was also NiskaDay which is our annual town pride festival. There's a parade, lots of overpriced food and carnival rides and fireworks to boot. We went to the parade in the morning and Aiden was in heaven. He loved watching the firetrucks, the marching bands, the firetrucks, and the giant cookie monster balloon. And the firetrucks. Sean enjoyed the free food.

                                           

FIRETRUCKS!!! YAY!!!!

                                                     

 Firetrucks....yay.

Other than those activities we have been busy with house projects. We have become those married people who are all "Oh, we're spending Saturday fixing up the yard. Gotta run to Target for some drapes. Maybe we'll swing through the grocery store for some ground beef. Probably have some burgers, it'll be real exciting". Sean's three days off were spent at...Lowe's. And Target. And the grocery store. Our basement is finally finished, we bought some new couches and are replacing some countertops. It's very exciting for us and yet woefully boring to tell other people. I would've taken some pictures of all the home improvement madness but the computer probably would've fallen asleep while I uploaded them. I blame all the domesticity on the fact that I think Sean is going through some male nesting symptoms. I obsess over onesies and diapers and cleaning and he maniacally clears the yard and trims hedges.

While we were out and about in the yard this weekend we (meaning Aiden) discovered a little baby bunny that had fallen into our basement window well. The window wells are uncovered for the moment and everyone freaks out about how Aiden is going fall into them and whatnot but let me tell you: Aiden isn't going to fall into them. He will probably jump into them on purpose. But anyway, we do plan on covering them, don't worry. I rescued the baby bunny and off he hopped but he came back the next day!!! We released him much farther away this time and he hasn't been back to visit but oh my heartstrings. I cannot handle the idea of lost little babies right now, no matter what species.

 Of course, later that day I came outside to see Aiden clutching a beige colored oval in his hand. He proudly said "I FOUND AN EGG!" Initially I thought it was a chicken egg someone had thrown or dropped that didn't break but it was slightly larger and a much deeper khaki color with a sort of greenish tinge. It definitely wasn't rotten so I took to Google for some answers. What we found: most likely a duck egg. During a week of heavy rain we had noticed that our neighbors lawn flooded and a pair of mallards were living on it like it was a pond. Even with people coming down to watch them (because hello, literal odd ducks in the middle of our neighborhood) they wouldn't leave. I'm assuming they had a nest nearby and maybe abandoned it once the flooded area had dried up. Some animal likely got into the nest and dropped an egg in our yard and now we have a poor abandoned egg that won't hatch but that Aiden is obsessed with watching. Please animals, stop leaving your babies on our doorstep! This is too much!

If you couldn't tell from my obsessive nesting and my attachment to other creature's offspring, this pregnancy is still chugging along. I've entered that unfortunate stage where it's gone from "Aww, cute little pregnant lady!" and is quickly morphing into "Dear God, should she be out in public?!". The belly has grown beyond rounded basketball proportions and now changes shape depending on how the baby is laying. It will morph from round to square as he rolls around, complete with little elbow and knee bumps. As I say to Sean all the time, the only way to describe it is National Geographic.
I'm moody, tired and hot all the time. Seriously, the weather says 75 and breezy but I have my own personal sauna going on all the time, day and night.

I've decided I could be the poster girl for a 1950's B-movie called "Attack of the Pregnant Lady". It would feature me stomping through town and scowling as the citizens shield their eyes in horror. "She's sweaty, she's hormonal, and she just keeps getting bigger!"

8 Weeks To Go

I keep meaning to post here but it always ends up getting added to my ever growing To-Do list. This list is now about eight pages long and gets longer everyday now that I've entered that lovely period of nesting. Suddenly it seems urgent that I vacuum out our cars or reorganize the bookshelf or rearrange furniture because I can't possibly bring a child into the world if the car is sandy, the books are in disarray and the furniture seems off. I just can't I tell you!

Anyway, I seem to be swinging between mad bouts of energy where I try and tackle a laundry list of projects and days where my achy back and exhaustion keep me from doing much of anything except sitting with Aiden and playing endless rounds of dominoes or reading and rereading his favorite books. I have no middle ground. Either I'm moving at warp speed and full of gusto or I'm barely awake.

Babywise, everything seems to be in order. They keep telling me I'm measuring a week small which doesn't surprise me in the least because I'm about 99% sure I'll deliver late again. I think that's just how I grow babies: extra sweet and a week slow.

Aiden is gearing up for the end of school. They are putting on an end of the year show and working on lots of songs. He will come home singing a whole variety of tunes and I always ask "Are you going to sing these in the big show?" and he scoffs and says "Uh no. They can sing and I'll just watch". He's not big on public performances I guess. I'm sure I'll get lots of nice pictures of him up on stage, mouth clamped shut, standing with his classmates while they sing their little hearts out. Oh well.

The basement remodel that has dragged on now for mooooonths will be done this week! Everything is painted and finished and all that is left is for the carpet to be rolled out. I have never been so overjoyed at the sight of boxes of carpet tacking in my life. The only danger in finishing this ever-so-long project is that now the basement will be just one more area of the house for my nesting to manifest itself.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Aiden at the park looking like he's about 14, and one of him dressed as a pirate fireman to remind myself that he's actually only 4.