New Beds

We've been wanting to switch Eli out of his crib for a few weeks now since the baby is arriving soon. On March 24, we took the crib out of Eli's room, gave him Elina's toddler bed, and gave Elina a new twin mattress. We only bought Elina the mattress top (no boxspring) and for now we just put the mattress on the floor. She has been in heaven with her new bed. The day after she slept on her new bed, she told me, "Mommy, do you know why I didn't come out of my room a lot last night? Because I think my bed is SO comfy! I love my bed!"

Eli was also excited about his bed, especially because we put Thomas sheets and a Thomas blanket on it. But it's been a little rough switching Eli to a toddler bed. I think that part of it has to do with the fact that he has a cold right now, so he isn't feeling his best...which means he hasn't been sleeping well either. He's also been accidentally falling out of bed a lot lately, so that makes things worse. His naps have gotten a lot shorter the past few days, so he's been real crabby at bedtime. Luckily, he doesn't destroy anything in the room when we leave him. He usually just walks around a little, reads a few books, and then crawls into bed. Sometimes he'll get lazy and just fall asleep on the floor. Hopefully he'll adjust to the bed soon because he really needs some quality sleep.

Princesses + Ice Skating = A Magical Time

Last weekend J and I took Elina and Eli to watch Disney On Ice. (B wasn't too keen on going, so he was glad J offered to take his place.) We went with KT and L and with another mom, T, and her 2 daughters. So, yes, Eli was the only boy on the trip. I really wanted to take him though because Mickey and his friends were going to be there, too, and he just loves Mickey. Plus, Eli knows all the princesses, so I figured he'd have a good time. The girls got all dressed up for the show...don't they look cute?
The show was pretty good. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the section about Halloween that incorporated all of the Disney villains. The song was so-so and kinda long and Elina got really scared. She said, "I want to leave!" We didn't leave, but I didn't particularly like it. Other than that, she thought everything was pretty magical. She was just quiet and in awe.

I WAS impressed that Mulan was present. We thought that was pretty cool. And Tiana (from "The Princess and the Frog") was already in the show, too, so the show was pretty up-to-date. However, we (even the girls) all noticed that Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) didn't make the cut! I was sad because she's my favorite old-school princess. Surprising, right?



The great thing was that Eli actually sat through the whole thing. He was quiet and really paid attention. He loved seeing Mickey and during the intermission, he started naming all the princesses that he just saw. Awwww.

The Anticipation

I'm at 36 weeks now and I have to admit that I'm nervous. I'm SO nervous because next week (37 weeks) is the week when Eli surprised us by arriving 3 weeks early. This time around, the anticipation is killing me. Since I can go so early, I feel like it could happen at any time. Every time I take the kids somewhere I think to myself, "Is this the last thing we're going to do before our lives are turned upside down?" The anticipation is worse this time around, first of all, because the baby could arrive at any moment now without any warning. I know this sounds like common sense--duh, it's a surprise to most people--but for me labor is early (Elina was born at 38 weeks and Eli at 37 weeks), very sudden, and very quick (I had Eli about 30 minutes after my water broke). All of those things combined makes it very, very scary...especially now that I know better. I mean, my OB told me that this time, the minute I feel a contraction I need to go straight to the hospital. That gives me a good reason to be a little nervous, right?

The second reason the anticipation is worse this time around is because we already know what to expect. During your first pregnancy you don't really know anything concrete. You only know what you read about in books and what your friends tell you. You know that you will be tired, but in your mind it's all dreamy and nice. Yes, I will nap when the baby naps. Yes, the baby will naturally know how to latch on and breastfeeding will be easy as pie. Yes, I'll be working out a little after the doctor okays it 6 weeks after the baby is born. Yes, I'll be tired, but it'll all be worth it because I will have this cute, adorable baby. After you've had your first one, you realize that you can never nap when your baby naps because you'll always find other things to get done during that "precious" time. You realize that breastfeeding doesn't always come naturally and that you have to work hard at it (especially in the beginning) for it to work well at all. You realize you probably won't get to the gym for the first few months after baby is born because you are exhausted (although I do know people who jump right back into the gym after 6 weeks, but I'm not one of those people). And you realize that all this tiredness is worth it, but, honestly, sometimes it doesn't feel like it...especially in the beginning when you just live in your pjs, sit on your butt for 1/2 the day feeding the baby, and just wish that your newborn could get with some sort of sensible schedule.

Now that we know all this, the anticipation is worse. It's worse when you're armed with the real, hardcore truth. I was laughing so hard when I watched a recent episode of "The Office" when Pam and Jim had their first baby. The nurse came in and offered some advice and Pam said something that contradicted the nurse and Pam said, "I read it in some books." And the nurse just glanced at the camera and said, "Oh, you read a book...so you already know everything." And Pam just nodded. I laughed because that's how we all are with our first--we're naive....but I think it's better to be naive than to know what's really about to happen to you because it's a pretty rude awakening. I think for us it's just been worse because our kids have been colicky (seriously, how could we get 2 colicky babies???), so after they're born we're pretty much on lockdown for a few months. I think that's the part that I dread. But maybe this time won't be so bad because Elina had colic for 5 months, Eli had it for 3 months, so this baby may only have it for 1 month....right?? We can only hope.

I really don't mean to sound down about the arrival of this new baby. Don't get me wrong--we're really excited about it! But right now I'm just posting about some of the thoughts I've had over the last week or so. I mean, I know it won't be so bad because I have great friends and wonderful family nearby who are all willing to help out in every way. B also thinks it will be easier this time because at least Elina and Eli have each other for entertainment while I tend to the baby. He's probably right. I think I'm just worried because last time I was so unprepared when Eli came. I literally had nothing packed and nothing ready. I was just on all fours in pain while my good friend, KL, came over and attempted to put together a hospital bag for me. (After this event, KL and I became good friends forever.) So now I'm trying to be good...this week I'm packing up my hospital bag, washing baby clothes, getting out the baby car seat, and finishing up my to-do list. Hopefully, by next week I'll be ready to go!

Tea Time

Last week, Elina and I had a girls' night out. We got a little dressed up and went to a restaurant called Madhatters Tea House and Cafe. Elina always loves a good tea party, so I wanted to take Elina here for their Kids' Tea Party for two, which includes peanut butter and jelly, turkey and cheese, and ham and cheese sandwiches. It also includes tea and a dessert.

We had wanted to get really dressed up, but the weather did not cooperate because a cold front came in. Elina was sad that she could not wear a short-sleeved dress without tights. I had to make her wear a long-sleeved dress with tights and she wasn't too happy about it. She even suggested we wait until summertime to go so that we could be "more fancy." To make matters worse, since I'm so pregnant, I don't really have any fancy clothes that fit. So I had to wear jeans with a semi-fancy top. Elina really wanted me to wear a skirt, but it was just too cold to wear one. To make it up to her, I let her put fancy jewelry on me instead. She gave me a few bracelets and made sure that I wore my wedding ring (which counted as a fancy item). See, my fingers have been getting swollen at random times so I don't even wear my wedding band that much these days. (Yes, I realize that I appear to be "that" lady with the 2 little kids and one on the way whenever I'm out and about...but I seriously can't wear a ring when my fingers are swollen!) Elina wore a pink flower ring, a pretty green necklace, and a flower hairclip to be super fancy. She was in heaven.
We had a great time at the tea house. She loved sipping tea from a fancy tea cup. She didn't eat all that much, but we had fun. I told her stories about the day she was born and about the day Eli was born. We talked about school, friends, and what life would be like after the new baby arrives. Here was something cute that she said--

Me: Elina, remember when Eli was a little baby and how he cried all the time?
Elina: Yeah.
Me: You didn't really like that, remember? Sometimes it would make you cry because you were so upset about it.
Elina: I know.
Me: So, when this new baby comes, there might be a lot of crying, too. Are you ok with that?
Elina: Yeah. It's ok, Mommy, because now I'm older...and I'm taller. So it won't bother me. I'll help calm the baby down...the way I calm Eli down.
Me: [holding back some tears] You're a great big sister, Elina.

Elina is so sweet, isn't she? She's just so excited to have a new baby that she's convinced the crying won't bother her at all. I also love that she mentions her height as a factor in why she's more mature now. Kids are so cute. I just hope she still feels the same when the actual crying begins. I'm sure she will help me with the new baby. She's already really good at calming Eli down whenever he cries. She'll just sit next to him, hold or rub his hand, and tell him to calm down....and usually, within a few minutes he's calm. It's really sweet.

So what were the boys up to while we were on our little girls' night out? Actually, B and the Eli were on their own little date. B also took Eli out to eat at Cracker Barrel and he said that they had a good time, too. He said the conversation wasn't quite as riveting, but that they had fun regardless. And notice in the picture how "dressed up" Eli got, too. What a fun night for all of us!

Green Food for Everyone!

St. Patrick's Day was pretty fun this year. We started the day with a green breakfast. I gave the kids green milk and green eggs (both with green food coloring) and I let them paint their toast green. They thought it was so cool that everything was green.
Last year we celebrated Pi Day with KT and her family on 3/14. We wanted to celebrate again this year, but my family was in town so we had to skip it. Boo (not about my family being in town, but about not celebrating Pi Day). So, we decided to have our St. Patrick's Day green dinner with KT and her family instead. KT brought over green veggies with green-colored dip, green rolls, green-dyed grape juice, and green pistachio jello. I made pesto mashed potatoes and rainbow cupcakes (you know, for the leprechauns and the pot of gold). The cupcakes took a little time to make, but they came out so cute. I just loved all the colors! We also had B pick up a rotisserie chicken on his way home from work so we could have a protein. We couldn't think of a green-colored protein and frankly, we thought it would look sick, so we just opted for a yummy rotisserie chicken. I know we're not even close to being Irish or anything, but I just love color-themed holidays...especially now that we have kids. It just makes things so fun! I was even proud of B for wearing a green shirt to work, so we had to take a family pic of all the green we were wearing (although Elina and J informed me that my shirt was actually more blue than green...isn't teal in the green family?...I thought it was...oh well.). We hope that everyone had a fun St. Patrick's Day!

Lots of Babies

This past weekend Elina and I were talking about the arrival of the new baby. Elina is SURE that it is going to be a girl. She was already telling everyone that she's getting a new baby sister and that her name is going to be Clara. The thing is, we like the name Clara, but it just doesn't go with our last name. When Clara is said with our last name, it's just too Clark-Kent-comic-book-character for us.

Our big dilemma is whether or not to give the new baby a name that begins with the letter E. I wouldn't mind not using an E, but then what if this baby ends up being the black sheep of the family? I just know that he/she would also blame us for giving him/her a name that doesn't fit the rest of the siblings. But the thing is, the letter E is pretty limiting. There are hardly any good E boy names. And to make matters worse, the kids have second cousins who all have E names...so Edward, Elaine, and Ethan are all taken.

So here is what Elina and I talked about this weekend--

Me: Elina, how do you know the new baby will be a girl?
Elina: I just know. I really really want a sister.
Me: I know you do, but it could end up being a boy.
Elina: No, it's going to be a girl and her name is going to be Clara.
Me: Elina, I like the name Clara, too, but it just doesn't go with our last name.
Elina: [thinking about our last name] I think it sounds good with our last name.
Me: Well, we're trying to give the baby a name that starts with the letter E because your name and Eli's name both start with the letter E.
Elina: Ohhhhhh.
Me: So here are some choices...and you tell me what you like the best. Eva, Edie, or Emma.
Elina: [thinking hard] Ummmmmm...I like Emma the best.
Me: Ok, then maybe Emma can be the new baby's name if it's a girl.
Elina: Ok.

After this conversation, Elina drew this picture--
It's a picture of ALL of us (she wrote "all" on the top of the page). Yaya, Mom, Dad, Eli, Emu (Emma), Elina, A-Gong, and A-ma. Then there are 7 little babies afterwards. I asked Elina what those little heads were. She said, "Those are all the babies that are going to come out of your belly after Emma. We're going to have 7 more babies." I said, "That's a lot of crying." She said, "That's ok."

We were all so in shock when we saw the picture because we didn't know she was so baby-crazy. But when B saw the drawing, he just nodded his head in approval because he's totally ok with having more babies. Elina and B are so alike it's scary.

Anyway, maybe you readers can help us out...should we stick with the letter E or not?

34 Weeks and Counting

I know I haven't been very good about posting pictures of myself being pregnant. So here is a rare picture that I got B to take one night before I got into my pajamas for the night. I think this is the first picture I've taken of my belly from the side this entire time. How sad...but honestly, I just don't have any time to think about it. I always wanted to take pics, but never got around to doing it.

So far the pregnancy is going ok. I've had to deal with some "bum issues" (we will NOT get into that) and a lingering cold, but other than that I don't have much to complain about. My belly feels huge and the baby has been a real mover. He/She seems to enjoy poking me...to the point where I will yell out loud because I'm so caught off guard. I don't remember this with the other 2 kids. I try to let Elina feel the baby, but she's not too patient with it. I'll put her hand on my belly and she'll keep talking or moving around, so she can't feel the baby. So then I ask her to stop moving and talking and to be patient...she'll start looking bored and then whisper to me, "This is taking way too long, Mommy." At this point, she's only felt the baby maybe 3 times. And right after she feels the baby, she just takes off and continues on with her life. Not the reaction I was expecting, but oh well.

This was a conversation we had yesterday--

Elina: Daddy is the "funnest'' because he takes me ice skating and he chases us and he lets us ride on his back.
Me: Oh, so Daddy is the "funnest," not Mommy.
Elina: Yeah...but Mommy, you're the "funnest" at letting me feel the baby in your belly.
Me: THAT'S what's fun?? You don't even really like that.
Elina: Yeah, but it's kinda fun.

So I think Elina's taking pity on me, right?? It's nice of her to try, isn't it?

Babymoon #3--According to the Kids

So I know many of you are wondering what the kids were up to while we were in Austin. J and M made sure that they had hours and hours of fun. J is definitely a fun aunt!

Here are some highlights from the weekend--
1. The kids watched as M cleaned out J's little fish tank. I know it doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but to the kids it was pretty cool. Elina loved being in charge of pouring Dory (the fish) back into the bowl. Here's a video of Elina and Eli talking to Dory.



2. Because Elina loves to dance like a crazy lady to music, Eli is also a big fan of crazy dancing. In this video they're dancing on J's balcony. Elina is attempting to sing the Hawaiian song from Lilo and Stitch.



3. The kids also spent a lot of time at a few playgrounds. J lives in a family-friendly neighborhood with a few nice playgrounds within walking distance. Lucky her! The kids' favorite things were the baby swings--even for Elina. She said that they felt safer, so she liked them better. Eli would just laugh and laugh while he was swinging.



4. J and M also took the kids to have lunch by the Turtle Pond on the University campus. The kids thought it was so cool that there were so many turtles out and that the turtles would get so close to them. Here is video of Eli playing a game with J at the Turtle Pond (it could've been taken anywhere, but it's just too cute not to post). Every time she poked his face and said, "Boop," he would poke himself and say the same thing.



5. J and M took the kids to Zilker Park to play and to ride the Zilker Zephyr (kids' train ride through the park). Because the weather was nice, there were lots of people....which meant the kids could only ride the train once. Eli was pretty sad about this, but there were just too many people. 6. Eli and Elina even got to visit M's lab. They were actually interested and listening intently when M described some of the instruments. Look at how interested Elina looks in both pictures below....maybe a budding scientist?
The kids had such a great time in Austin with J and M. I think Elina's reached that age where she enjoys having time away from Mommy and Daddy. Plus, who wouldn't enjoy a weekend filled with playgrounds, parks, train rides, turtles, science labs, and silliness? We're so thankful to J and M for taking the kids for us so that we could get some alone time. You guys are the best! The kids can't wait to vsit again!

Babymoon #3--According to Us

Before we have each baby, we always try to spend one weekend without our children...just to relax and get away from it all. Before we had Elina, we went to Amelia Island Plantation in northeast Florida. Before we had Eli, we went to Austin for a few days. This time we decided to go back to Austin for 2 reasons: (1) because we love that city and (2) because it was more convenient for everyone. Since J works full-time now, it's hard for her to get down to San Antonio at a reasonable hour on a Friday, especially with Austin's awful traffic. So we thought it would just be easier if B took a half day at work and then we'd drive the kids UP to J instead.

We dropped the kids off at J's work and Elina was already excited to be rid of us. Once we said our goodbyes (which the kids didn't even care about) and J hopped into the car with the kids, Elina said, "Yay! Finally! We're going to have so much fun!" Doesn't that just bring tears to your eyes?
Then we went to check in at the Brava House Bed and Breakfast. B is never a huge fan of B&Bs because he is not a fan of old places with quaint knickknacks...especially "quaint" things like older, smaller television sets. Let's just say he was less than thrilled to see the little CRT TVs in our room. See, we had brought a few movies on the laptop and B was going to hook up the laptop to the TV so that we could watch on a bigger screen. But when he saw how old the TVs were, he said, "I don't even have the right cables to hook the laptop up to that thing!" I asked him, "Are they really that bad?" This was his response, "W, those are the types of TVs people leave on the sidewalk because they can't sell them and nobody wants them." Harsh, right?? Here is a picture of us next to the TV. B put his arm around the TV to emphasize how small it is.
Other than that, our suite was nice and roomy and enjoyable.

Then we headed to dinner at our Austin staple--Austin Land and Cattle. This place has the best steaks and they even come with the sides. Imagine that. Nowadays, there are just way too many fancy steak houses that make you pay for your side dishes. Seriously, who only eats a steak by itself?? No one. Well, B had a yummy filet mignon and I had a wonderful ribeye. We were in heaven.

We got back to the B&B and got ready to watch "Angels and Demons" on the laptop. (I know it's an "older" movie, but we are WAY behind the times.) B hooked it up to this ipod speaker thing in the room (see, they had some fancy stuff) and we got into bed and started the movie at 9:30pm. By 10pm, B was already nodding off and by 10:15pm, he was officially passed out. How romantic. I decided to stay up and I actually finished the movie by myself at 11:30pm. I thought it was really good. I mean, it managed to keep me up until 11:30pm!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good rest that night. I woke up to the sound of at least 10 different birds at 6am! I was up by 7am and couldn't fall back asleep so I got up and worked on some things until 8:45am. B was still asleep, but I was so hungry I woke him up so that we could go eat breakfast. Plus, he had been asleep since 10:15pm the night before, so I figured he needed to wake up.

After breakfast, we walked down Lamar Street and did some window shopping. Then we spent 2 hours in a bookstore looking through magazines and books. This has always been one of our favorite things to do--before and after children. We just love bookstores. Then we grabbed some yummy lunch at Z'Tejas. We got brunch items that each came with a muffin. The muffins were absolutely delicious. They were the best muffins we had ever had. Weird considering this is a restaurant that calls itself a southwestern grill.

After lunch, I got a manicure and pedicure. Since I had woken up so early in the morning, I almost fell asleep during the food massage. (So, what was B doing while I was getting my mani and pedi? He was watching the rest of "Angels and Demons." And he actually ended up really liking it, too!)

For dinner we went to Jasper's. We had such a great dining experience that it might be a tie with Austin Land and Cattle for our favorite Austin restaurant right now (although our fancy dining experiences in Austin are pretty limited). We were interested in this place because J and M had recently gone and liked it and the man who owns Jasper's, Kent Rathbun, had beaten Bobby Flay on Iron Chef with his famous slow smoked baby back ribs. B is a big fan of ribs and I think ribs are a hard item to find on fancy menus, so we thought we'd give this place a try.

At first we were wary about how our night would be because our waiter took a long time to greet us after we sat down. Then he took awhile to get our waters to the table. But once he realized how long he was taking he said, "Sorry about the wait. Dessert's on me tonight." Our faces lit up and we knew everything would be ok. After the rough start, the service for the rest of the night was excellent....and so was the food. I got the barbeque spiced sea scallops with charred corn-pepperjack blue grits and Austin Amber butter sauce (pictured below). The scallops were cooked perfectly and literally melted in my mouth. Delicious. B got the ribs (pictured above) and they did not disappoint. Perfect. We also shared a side of aged gouda-ham mac n cheese. Sublime. We ended the meal with the Vanilla "Dessert Toast" a la mode with candied pecans and bananas. It was like French toast with vanilla ice cream, pecans, and bananas. It wasn't my first choice, but it's their most popular dessert so we decided to try it. It was wonderful. Seriously, we had a great meal at Jasper's and can't wait to go back already. I just really liked the menu because it wasn't your traditional fancy menu. It was fancy Southern, hearty food....and it was delicious.

On our last day, we woke up late and then went to the mall to do some shopping. I had birthday gifts to buy and B needed new black shoes for work. I know it doesn't sound like it was exciting to go to the mall, but it was exciting for US to go shopping WITHOUT our children. It's such a different experience. You're not busy making sure your children are next to you and you actually don't lose your train of thought ("What did I need from this store again?"). It's quite amazing. We had also gone to IKEA during the weekend and it was so different without our kids. I actually saw things in the store that I had never noticed before. The reality is, our kids are pretty well-behaved in the grand scheme of things, but kids are kids and they still interfere with some good, relaxing shopping time.

So that was our weekend. Not quite as exciting as our previous Austin babymoon when we went on the Duck Tours and went to see the bats, but it was exciting enough for us. We did some window shopping, bought a much-needed lint brush, ate GREAT food, got a decent amount of sleep, and even watched one movie. And even though we didn't finish the movie together (and we didn't take many pictures at all), we still chalked this up as a wonderful babymoon.