37 weeks!

I'm 37 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 37 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby K is around 6.3 lbs - about the size of a watermelon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 34lbs (lost a couple from last week, yay!)

Maternity Clothes: Definitely maternity pants and then Jordan's shirts, haha! Or Dean's . . . but not mine unless it is maternity or was purchased specifically for pregnancy, aka LARGE :)

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: His movement has slowed down, but I think he is running out of room; I feel him pushing me now more than anything.

Sleep: A little uncomfortable, but not awful.

What I miss: Nothing really - maybe sleeping on my stomach? Or bending over? ha!

Cravings: I'm not craving much but ice!

Symptoms: Lately I've been having a lot of pressure - the itching returned this weekend - I'm still addicted to ice - my belly is big - my hands are swelling - what can I say, I'm 9 months pregnant :)

Best Moment this week: This was a good week; I ordered some final items (most have already arrived) for baby, I have everything lined up with insurance and we toured the hospital (I am delivering at a different hospital) and pre-registered so everything is falling into place! I started packing my bag for the hospital too; just starting to get things accomplished! I also hired a new intern and have started wrapping some things up at work! Beyond that, it was a pretty quiet week and I just loved spending some time with my first baby, Eoin Dean!

Potty Training

I have been incredibly wary of posting anything regarding Eoin's potty training. I thought it would jinx us because I really only thought to post anything regarding it while he was doing well. He really became interested in going 'pee pee' on the potty before he turned two. I was extremely wary of this and had heard not to get too excited or push too hard with early interest as it can be a phase and taper off. Sure enough, although regularly taking off his diaper to go to the potty, when we tried underwear, it usually wouldn't last very long.

Several weeks ago (wow, over a month now!), Eoin took it upon himself on a Saturday to wear underwear. We hopped in the car to run some errands and it wasn't until we were at our first destination that we realized Eoin was in underwear and we had forgot to bring back up. No diapers, pull ups, extra underwear or a change of clothes! Basically we were incredibly unprepared, but our little man surprised us and had no accidents the entire time we were out; in fact, he lasted until almost bedtime before he had an accident! This has continued since! He has had a handful of accidents in this time and most were of the #2 variety in the beginning, but he seems to have that under control now! He is still wearing a pull up at naptime and to bed, but he has woke up dry all but a few times.

We are so proud of our little man and it is just another way that he has grown up! You can tell that he has got taller and he is so skinny now without a little diaper butt!

St. Patrick's Day 2011

You can't get much more Irish than a name like Eoin Dean . . . and he celebrated like the true Irishman that he is on St. Patrick's Day. Yes, it was a week ago, I realize, but I'm getting caught up!

He had a great day at Little Jewels with green snacks and St. Patrick's Day themed crafts and then joined mommy, daddy, grandma and papa for some corned beef and cabbage (yes, I realize this isn't truly an Irish dish, but when in Rome . . . ) or some hotdogs and macaroni!

Anyway, his Irish soccer jersey is now his favorite shirt and he has worn it no less than 3 times this week!

Building a Bird Feeder 101:

1. Go to Lowe's for some oil with Papa and come home with new tools, a tool box and the materials for a bird feeder. Apparently even a trip to Lowe's is now an opportunity to spoil this little man!

2. Lay everything out with Papa Dean and Daddy and get ready to get started! Was this 'toy' really for Eoin? Papa Dean and Daddy really seem to be enjoying themselves!

3. Use your new tools to build!

4. Make sure to measure twice, cut once! It is never too early to learn this incredibly important lesson!

5. Build the bird feeder! Admire work!

6. Beam with pride and exclaim "I made that!"

7. Beam with pride and show Grandma, who turn beams with pride and helps write name and date on first wood working project!

8. Help Grandma find the perfect spot for the bird feeder in a tree and fill with treats for the birds!

Home Show 2011

Eoin may not realize it, but this is was his 3rd Home Show! Grandma Lisa is the Executive Officer for the Home Builders Association in our area and is the driving force behind the Home Show exhibition every year. With a new location this year and our little side business, Wooden Whimsy, being featured as a booth, we were uncertain as to when Eoin would make it out this year, but the little guy made it out every single day. He LOVED IT!

The first night was Friday and Jordan manned the Wooden Whimsy booth with Jeff and Eoin and I walked the floor and ate dinner with Grandma Lisa. Eoin had his face painted for the first time and he was so good and to say he loved it would be a major understatement. In order to get him to wash it off that night, we had to promise that he could get it done again the next day!

Saturday was a busy day for Jordan and I; Jordan manned the Wooden Whimsy booth while I had a Grand Re-Opening celebration at one of the stores. Eoin got to spend the entire day with Papa Dean. And quite a day he had! They went to the zoo, McDonald's and Toys R Us. When I arrived to pick him up he was fast asleep. He rarely naps on the weekends anymore! We were scheduled for Eoin to go to Parents Night Out at Little Jewels so I could head over to the Home Show and man the booth for a little while, but when we pulled into the parking lot, he said that he didn't want to go to Little Jewels and that he wanted to go to the Home Show at the Coliseum! I couldn't say know and expected that Grandma Lisa would like to see him again, so we trucked back downtown. Besides, he had such a great day with Papa Dean, but still hadn't had his face painted again!

Sunday was my day at the booth and Auntie Erin took Eoin for some fun! They watch ed Toy Story 3 and had McDonald's, his favorite and yes, again! He asked Erin in the car, 'You take me to McDonald's?' and sadly this is a little man that is rarely told 'no.' Auntie Erin came back to drop him off a little before the show ended and so that she could take a look at the exhibitors; this also gave Eoin the chance to get his face painted yet again! The girls in the CEFCU booth that had the face painter loved him and were excited to see him every day! He chose the tiger face every day and loved looking at himself.

Since he has asked about the Home Show every day since, I think this is a fun event that he will definitely look forward to each year! Kudos to the exhibitors for making it very kid friendly and of course, anywhere his Grandma is and there are 'tractors' is a favorite place of Eoin's!

36 Weeks!

I'm 36 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby K is around 6 lbs - about the size of a crenshaw melon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 36 lbs (if I can keep it under 40 now, I'll be happy, although, I realize I am beginning to retain a lot of water and couldn't get my wedding band on today :()

Maternity Clothes: Maternity most of the time, sometimes Jordan's clothes and I even rocked a pair of jeggings this past weekend!

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: He is pretty active, especially right now :)

Sleep: Is basically a struggle every night; not to go to sleep, but staying asleep!

What I miss: Sleeping well (I am not naive enough to believe this will change when I am no longer pregnant), wearing regular clothes, not struggling to do medial tasks.

Cravings: I've lost my appetite lately, I am running out of space, however, I continue to gain lots of weight, so I'm not sure where the correlation is, unless there are fat and calories in ice?!

Symptoms: The itching has subsided somewhat this week, just in time for me to be congested, I am out of breathe a lot, have a watermelon strapped to my midsection!

Best Moment this week: This has been a week of getting stuff done and preparing for Little Man's arrival (finally). Lisa painted the nursery and we have it basically set up; Jordan and I rearranged the kitchen cabinets to be better prepared for bottles and baby food when it comes time. I started my hospital bag. We had the pleasure of joining our neighbors at the Sugarland concert at the Coliseum on Friday night and it was a great time; it felt great to get dressed for a night out. Today has been a trying today and it feels like nothing else could go wrong; we have repairs to make to Jordan's car, the dog got into some chocolate protein powder leaving a huge stain on our living room carpet and getting Eoin out the door today was struggle. I am going to vow to look at things more positively today. Hopefully positive thinking will change the day :) I had a doctor's appointment where they performed the strep b test; I also set the date for my c-section!

What's in a Name?

A name can become a legacy; it can influence someone's character; it is an important decision.

Deciding on a name for Eoin was not very difficult; we had it narrowed down to two, Eoin and Aodhan (Aiden) and Ashley and Nick were expecting at the same time and had decided on Aidan, so we went with Eoin. It fit perfectly and we have absolutely no regrets! We couldn't imagine another name for our little man.

His middle name was even easier as Jordan's middle name is after is grandpa on his dad's side, we decided to stick with that tradition and using Dean as the middle name wasn't even a question.

Eoin Dean, pure perfection. Well, at least we think so!

We had several ideas for names before discovering that our second baby was a boy. Although difficult the first go around, girl names came easy to me this time but it was the boy names that we have been a little bit of a struggle. Not much, you see, we have several that we love. We float back and forth between them.

Declan. Colin. Liam.

Each name is beautiful and each goes very well with our chosen middle name - Paul. Paul is my closest male cousin, we practically grew up as brother and sister; Eoin will be the ring bearer in his wedding in May 2012! Paul is also the name of Jordan's maternal grandfather. He passed away when Jordan's mother was young. Clearly, the name means a lot to both of us.

So still the dilemma, Declan? Colin? Liam?

At different points during this pregnancy we have completely thought we have decided on a name. It started with Colin. Colin Paul. Love it. Done. Jordan and I looked at each other and felt accomplished. To me it felt way too easy. Couples agonize over names - this is a fact. We just both liked it and decided. How often does that happen?

Since it felt too easy, I continued to 'look.' I gave more names to Jordan and almost every name I liked, he agreed it was a great name!

Declan was decided. It is Irish in origin (one of my stipulations) and sounds great with Paul. It is a little different without being too outlandish. Declan Paul. Love it, done. We have our name. We even decided that maybe it was time to share this name with our family and close friends. The response was great! Everyone LOVED it! A few days after we shared, Jordan looked at me and explained that he was having reservations about Declan. I admitted I was too. And so what was the other option?

Liam. Liam Paul. Lovely! Great. We have a little man named Liam Paul.

For less than twenty-four hours. Jordan called me at work today to say that he really liked Declan still. I admitted I did too. So where does that leave us?

Deciding. Making decisions. Feeling out which name feels more comfortable. Probably waiting until this little buddy makes his appearance before a name is set!

Today I decided to take a few minutes to look over some of our names. I went to the trusty bump.com to look up names. I simply clicked on baby names, then Irish baby boy names, then Irish (I detest redundancy, although you really wouldn't know it from the length of this post) and then I started browsing. I clicked on Eoin for giggles and whilst sitting at my desk, I got goose bumps! The site suggested other names I might like and what were the first two names listed? You guessed it! Liam and Declan! (Followed immediately by Aiden) Wow, this website can apparently read minds.

Of course, I headed over the Declan after that and the chills came on stronger! The first name suggested to me was, once again, Liam, but the first comment of the name was what was really a big coincidence. . . It read " Our first son (due in May) will be Eoin (Owen) and our if we have a second we have the name Declan picked out. I was hoping it would not get popular but we will see when the time comes for #2." Wow!

I am still not sure what to think of this! Which sign are we being given, if any. We love the name Declan and we love the Liam. I guess we are just going to have to be patient in our decision. I just had to document the processes we have been going through whilst deciding this little man's name. He may not have anything embroidered or letters on his wall until he arrives, but whichever the name, it will be perfect!

35 Weeks!

I'm 35 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 35 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby K is around 5.25 lbs - about the size of a honeydew melon

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 31 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Definitely along with others, but I can't wait for 'real' clothes again!

Gender: It's another little boy!

Movement: He's pretty active and has had the hiccups quite a bit a lately, but I can also tell he is running out of space pretty quickly!

Sleep: Yes, please. Eoin has not been sleeping well lately and I am very uncomfortable, so it is very broken sleep. Pair that with the loss of an hour due to daylight savings and I need a nap!

What I miss: Sleeping comfortably, a beer, not struggling at little tasks

Cravings: I've lost my appetite lately - I think maybe my stomach has run out of room, but I do eat a lot of ice (yeah, I know annoying) and carrots.

Symptoms: Itching (I need to go into this further), being big and large, exhausted,

Best Moment this week: It's been busy on the work end of things, so it went by really quickly. 4 more weeks until we meet the newest prince. For some reason that feels like an eternity away!

34 Weeks!

I'm 34 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 34 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby K is almost 5 lbs - about the size of a large cantaloupe.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 31lbs . . . seriously getting out of hand!

Maternity Clothes: Still realizing that I am mixing it up quite a bit, today I'm wearing a non-maternity dress with leggings, but it looks more like a long shirt.

Gender: It's a BOY

Movement: He is definitely more active some days than others (isn't everyone!) Sunday I was almost worried b/c he wasn't moving much and then yesterday and today he is been super active. So have I though, so I wonder if it goes hand in hand :)

Sleep: Sleep is definitely getting tougher. Getting comfortable enough to fall asleep is a challenge and then staying asleep is another beast.

What I miss: Real clothes; not itching; falling asleep and staying asleep and of course ENERGY

Cravings: I have been eating tons of ice and carrots; apparently I like things crunchy! Really crunchy; I'm thirsty all the time; today at my weekly morning Rotary meeting I think I drank 5 glasses of water! The meeting barely lasts an hour!

Symptoms: The usual: heartburn, itching, being huge, etc. etc.

Best Moment this week: Eoin is potty trained! I want to scream from the rooftops! It actually would have been part of last weeks post, and really deserves its own, so I will not go much further. Every day he is becoming a little man so much more, and he will tell you that too :) I love him to pieces and can't wait for him to be the best big brother ever, even though he says he loves the baby 'this little much' and he puts his fingers together to show you how much (or little).

Cars

Anyone who wants to argue with Eoin being all boy, bring it on . . . this child is obsessed with all things boy! Basketball, 'hi ya' (his version of karate), helping daddy work in the garage, and of course, cars, trucks, tractors, basically anything with wheels! Okay, I have to admit, he likes to help me comb my hair every once in a while, but that's beside the point. The child freaks over vehicles. On our way to school every morning he points out every vehicle to me. School buses, plow trucks, big trucks, tow trucks, UPS trucks, tractors, everything. In fact, I have been corrected by my sweet 2 1/2 year old when it comes to vehicles - I said, "Look Eoin a bulldozer!" His response? "Well, it's kinda like a bulldozer, mommy, it's a backhoe." Seriously!

I found out that State Farm, being a major sponsor for the new Disney Cars movie due in theaters in June, was going to have life sized 'characters' at the two corporate locations in town and couldn't wait to get Eoin over to see his favorite, Mater! We went before school/work last Friday and he was thrilled! Although Lightening McQueen was at the other location, he was very pleased with the new 'character' Finn McMissile! He couldn't stop staring at them. The characters looked great, but did not move; Eoin said they were broken, and needed new batteries! Out of the mouth of babes.

Grandma Kohn picked him up early from school that day to take him on a trip to Toys R Us for some new cars (she helped set up the visit and was thrilled to hear how much he loved it!). He received the characters from the movie and clearly they fit in well with his expansive collection. The picture above shows a small portion of the amount of cars this child has, but the impressive thing is that he knows when one is missing!