++So as not to neglect the baby++

We haven't said much about the little one on the blog recently...but we're hard at work getting ready for her arrival. I'll be 36 weeks tomorrow (gasp!). To put it in perspective, I was born just shy of 36 weeks. Now that's a little scary. Here's proof that she (and her mother) are growing just fine:
I've been feeling pretty good. Just this week I have started to feel like I am slowing down a bit. My hips are sore. Mark reminded me I complained about this last time. I think it's all about making room for the baby. It's also a little more challenging this time around because I have a little guy who wants to play active stuff, and has all sorts of little toys that require lots of bending to pick up, etc. I swear I will never take bending for granted again!

We think Wyatt is ready for what is to come. We know there is no preparing for it. He talks about baby sister a lot. He tells me my belly is "REALLY BIG" (spoken with lots of inflection). He also shows me his belly and his baby sister in there too. Today while at Old Navy he brought me a pink baby shirt and said "look mom, for baby sister!" I was impressed he had picked a pink shirt that was clearly for a baby. Then the kicker: "isn't it cute?" What? This kid does not miss a beat. He must hear me saying this kind of stuff to Mark when I show off her clothes (which by-the-way we have a closet full of).

We also have her room all set. When it all came together, I am actually glad I kept the blue. It works well with all our stuff and prevents Mark from hyper-ventilating when entering the room. As I have said before, I'm not much for princessy frilliness. I think her room is girly and happy. It makes me smile just to go in it. We're just waiting for a few more things for the walls.

Someone is always very eager to try out the crib. He informed us last week that he wants to sleep in there with baby sister. He even showed us where each one of them would lay.This lamp was in Mark's room, and then Wyatt's room. I added just the right amount of pink to make it girly!
These were a great find at the Pottery Barn outlet, along with the bird hanging above the changing table.

I am most proud that I made these drapes myself. My mom told me what to do, but I didn't even call her once for help during the project (partly because she is on a cruise ship so it wasn't really an option.) Final cost was less than $10 but the main reason I made them was to get exactly what I wanted (no one ever said I wasn't particular).

This is on it's way to grace one of the walls:

So now we play the waiting game. It would be nice if babies gave you a heads-up on when they are planning to arrive. It would certainly help with planning for Wyatt's care! And for those of you wondering...yes she has a name. I'm so superstitious about things that we don't even use it in the privacy of our home. I was tempted to order something for the walls with her name on it but just couldn't do it either. It will just have to wait until after she is born. Wyatt has some ideas for us though. The front-runners are "Toria" and "Baby Gabby" after his two friends at school.

++Our fireman++

I remember in August when I decided to make Wyatt's birthday party have a fire truck theme I really hoped his interest stuck long enough for the big day, as I have learned with toddlers preferences change almost daily. Well, here we are six months later and I would have to say he is more into fire trucks than ever. The best part is that now that he talks so much his interest has evolved into imaginative play, sometimes all by himself, which keeps us laughing all the time. Here he is in his firetruck pajamas...wearing his fire boots and hat, with his hose. The funniest part is that he takes all his gear off, puts it "away" and pretends to sleep before "fire fire fire!!!" and he starts the process all over again. He narrates the entire process from putting on the boots, coat and hat, sliding down the pole and spraying out the fires.

While Mark's parents were in town we visited the Memphis Fire Museum...believe it or not, also a hit! He could have played all day on the two firetrucks they had there.

The bad news...the fascination has also crept into garbage men. Somehow that pretend play isn't quite as glamorous. It is helpful on Sunday nights, though, when he takes great joy in helping Dad collect all the trash and bring it out to the curb.

++Is there anything better...++

...than sharing one of the simple pleasures in life with your child for the first time?

++Pumping it up++

Wyatt was invited to his very first destination birthday party last week. His neighbor friends Olly and Sydney are born just a couple of weeks apart so they shared a party at Pump It Up. Wyatt talked about it for the week leading up to it. Most excited that there would be "no big boys" on the bouncers. Wyatt had a blast. I think he was nervous at first that his time would be limited so he ran around to everything really fast stopping back to tell me, "one more time" every few minutes. Daddy arrived a little late to join in on the fun (believe it or not, participating while 8 months pregnant is not encouraged).

Not a great photo but I needed to get a shot of how sweaty the little guy got.

Wyatt was so impressed with the birthday party that ever since I told him that his dad's birthday is coming soon, he has been asking to go to daddy's party. Today I had to get out a calendar to show him how many days until then. He's also full of ideas for the party. It is going to be a train party. We are going to have cake and eat chips (according to Wyatt that is what daddy likes best---funny that's he's not far off). To keep it a surprise for daddy I won't give away Wyatt's ideas for a gift, but let's just say I think Wyatt is hoping daddy will share...

++Christmas...the finale...finally++

Our Christmas extravaganza continued well into the week that followed. First Wyatt got to open his present that arrived in the mail from his cousins. The diggers and lunchbox were a hit!

And then, magically, our sad looking tree with a few presents under it was transformed while I was at the doctor and Wyatt napped...

Wyatt couldn't wait to see what was in all those boxes from Grandma and Grandpa (who, by the way, arrived on New Year's day for a long weekend).

Grandma got him started.

We were almost derailed by the airport as he lost interest in presents and just wanted to play with it. No worries...we were able to distract and get him back on track. (note: he hasn't stopped playing with it since then though)

In true toddler form, it was almost as much fun to climb into the box as it was to open all the boxes.

Evidence that I was there too. Here we are checking out his new Curious George puzzle...in our matching shirts.

Dad got a new hat from Uncle Matt but it appears Wyatt may have other plans for it.

And now everything is put away and we wait patiently to celebrate the arrival of another little baby...no mangers for this one though.