One Last Post?

Well, when I wrote the last post, I was really hoping that by today I would have a new baby. But, alas, I do not. The good news is that I am actually glad I don't have a new baby right now because I'm nursing a sinus infection and would like to be a little healthier come birthing time. I'm on an antibiotic, though, so as soon as it kicks in, bring it on! I'm hoping we'll be announcing "It's a _____" sometime this weekend or early next week.

Our house is in a bit of chaos, what with our basement remodel starting in less than a week, but Will is really trying his best to keep things organized. The garage is packed, and the nursury is filled, as is our living room/kitchen, but most everything is at least on a shelf. Will has been working SO HARD, bringing things up out of the basement. There is A LOT. I think this has finally been a wakeup call for him, that he needs to stop hanging on to so much stuff. I feel bad that I can't help more, but I should be able to help more when we bring our things back downstairs. I am really looking forward to the finished product. I should have taken before pictures! I will take some with what is left of the basement right now and then when it's all done. Ethan has been having a blast playing in the emptying basement. All the kid needs is a paint can and a "drumstick," and he's good to go. I think he will have a hard time the couple of weeks that we will not allow him down there. Should be interesting.

As an update from last week, Ethan has been a lot better lately. I've learned that I have to anticipate hard transitions and plan ahead accordingly. He's big into making lists (i.e. scribbling on a notepad), so we often make lists for what we're going to do next, like leaving the house. And if he feels like he's being my helper, things go more smoothly. He has his moments, but I'm thankful he has been so much more pleasant to be around this week. Of course, he requires constant attention, and every day I think about how the most difficult part of having a newborn around will be giving Ethan the attention he wants. I'm very thankful that I will have a lot of people around to help out. My friends have already offered to take Ethan away on playdates, and I know that my family will be around to help give him attention, too. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he does with a new baby. I can see it going both ways, so we'll see.

I realized I never posted our sledding photos from an outting with my great friend Catherine and her son, Derek. Ethan and Derek are BFFs, though you wouldn't always believe it when they're fighting over toys! There are also some other recent pictures.

This is a VERY common thing these days. I told you: Will's been working very hard lately. He's pretty tired.

We took another trip to the Chicago Children's Museum. Ethan loves this exhibit for building.

Ethan attempted to climb up this net that leads to a pirate ship, but had to abort.

One of my best friends from college, Susie, is due a couple of weeks after me with her first, a boy. This was taken at her shower. Guess who won the Guess How Big Susie's Tummy Is game? :)

Ethan put on my snowboots - wrong feet, I think, but not bad.

One of two entertaining sleep pictures.

I almost peed my pants when I saw this one (who am I kidding, I'm 38 weeks pregnant - I DID pee my pants a bit). It was like he was trying to escape but just couldn't stay awake. Too funny.

Since we had yet to take a naked belly photo, I decided it was time, so I put the timer on the camera.

Will took this one last night. Not the most flattering light. Hello baby.

Looking Forward

It seems to me that Ethan has been sick more than he's been well this winter. We've moved from cold to cold to Hand Foot Mouth Disease and back to cold. It's been rather frustrating, but I guess that's the price we pay for having other friends around and going places. Kids pass germs around so easily, it seems.

After the last post is when Ethan came down with HFM, which was brutal. He got a pretty high fever, was all around miserable, and then had these awful mouth blisters, making sleep very difficult. He was so sad whenever he was going to sleep because even though he was so tired, he was in a lot of pain. He would literally sleep cry and was all around pathetic. So sad.

After being healthy for about a week, he came down with yet another cold, which has hung on for a couple of weeks, turning into a pretty bad cough and causing a slight fever over the weekend, as well. All of his illnesses have been a big wake up call for Will and I about what life will be like soon when we throw a newborn into the mix. At first, I was downright terrified, but I'm kind of learning that I cannot possibly prepare for what it will be like, so I'm going to stop trying. I know that things are going to be very difficult for a while and there will be many-a-frustrating moments, but, really, I'm just so excited to meet this new little Meuer that I don't care right now.

Which brings me to the title of this post: looking forward. There are so many things I'm looking forward to, but high on the list is simply being done with this pregnancy. Don't get me wrong: I know I am completely blessed to have not only become pregnant easily but also to hang on to my pregnancy. And there are lot of things I like about being pregnant, such as the fun belly, the love you seem to get from everyone - especially strangers, and the excuse to eat whatever whenever without the weird looks. But, in general, I really don't feel well throughout my whole pregnancy. The beginning is certainly the worst, but there has not been one day since about 6 weeks that I've really felt normal. After every meal, I feel "icky" and just not myself. And now that I'm so large, I am just darn uncomfortable. Putting socks on is a major process, as is shaving my legs (I've recently started bringing a stool into the shower to put my foot on), sleeping, and all things bathroom related. Sneezing without needing to change my underwear would be nice, too. I'm just done.

Pair this with the fact that Ethan has been the tantrum king lately, and I am actually looking forward to the "break" that a hospital stay will bring. Sad, yes, but also true. I will miss Ethan a lot while I'm away, but I am actually excited about not having to deal with his disciplining for a couple of days. Is this terrible? Oh well. It's been a long winter.

Of course, what I'm most looking forward to is the moment when I meet little baby Meuer and Will announces "It's a ________!" My one midwife is adamant that the daddy gets to reveal the gender, which I think is great. I really have no idea and am just so curious right now. Will it be a brother or a sister for Ethan? Will he be beating up a little baby boy or girl? Who knows? But I can't wait to find out and hold and love and cuddle this new baby!

Winter is a Roller Coaster of Blah

The title of this post comes from the lips of William H. Macy as narrator of one of Ethan's Curious George cartoons. How true it is, and we've been have a lot of bitter cold blah around here. But here are three ways we combat the blah: indoor art class, a trip to Pop Pop's school in the city, and a visit to the Chicago Children's Museum. I think Will and I do a pretty good job keeping ourselves from going crazy in the 4+ months of winter we can have in Chicagoland.

Oh, yes, and sometimes hybernation works, too. We snuck this picture the other night after bedtime.

11 Days of Christmas

With two weeks off for the holidays, Will and I packed in a lot of fun things. Some of the highlights include:


11. A morning trip the Shedd Aquarium. Always a fun time, Ethan loves to watch the divers in the tanks cleaning and feeding fish. It really is a cool place. Will's morning was ruined, unfortunately, by a $250 ticket for tinted windows. :(
10. Will and Brian went to see Avatar one day of break, and Lisa and I took the boys bowling. Very fun, especially watching the two younger boys. We topped off the fun day with yummy crockpot tacos!
9 a. Christmas Eve day we spent at Lisa's, attempting to have Ethan nap there while we went to Mass. That way we would be closer to Uncle Johnny's when he woke up. Plus, we wanted to exchange gifts with my immediate family. The nap didn't quite work out, but it was a fun day nonetheless.
9 b. Christmas Eve dinner was at Uncle Johnny's this year, which was super fun because we all get to sit at one long table. My uncle builds a table for the occasion so that it can be attached to the kitchen and dining room table. The setup of the house allows for us all to eat together. Dinner was Caesar salad, homemade ravioli (amazing!), meatballs, sausage, braciole, and garlic bread. It was all delicious. We did our cousin exchange after dinner, and Ethan had a great time playing "golf" (ping pong) in the basement.
8 a. We were able to have Christmas morning at home this year, which was so fun with Ethan now being more aware. It was an Imaginext Christmas for him, and Will went slightly wild buying toys for him. He now has the fire station, fire truck, ambulance, rescue helicopter, crane, and a lot of smaller figures that go along with these bigger items. He also got the Melissa and Doug pizza as well as cookie set, which are two favorites.
8 b. We travelled to Winetka early Christmas morning to spend time there with the whole family before Courtney, Hammond, and Jake had to leave for their Christmas dinner. The boys had a wonderful time opening more presents, and we ate two nice meals that day there, too. Ethan was relatively calm and well-behaved, making for a very relaxing holiday.
7. The day after Christmas, I had to take a slightly scary trip to Hinsdale Hospital, after calling my midwife about an excess of Braxton Hicks contractions. Just as a precaution, she had me meet her at the hospital (she had two women in labor) to be checked and put on the monitor. She also did a test that determined that I was not, in fact, in preterm labor. Phew. I started to get a bit nervous not only because I was only 31 weeks but also because our house is NOT ready for a baby yet! Luckily, everything was fine, and the BH's have calmed down.
6. On the 27th of December, Will and I went to the city for an overnight date (my Christmas present from him). It was awesome! We went to Gino's East for lunch, went to see the movie Invictus, had "cocktail" hour in our hotel room, and then went to Frontera Grill for a late dinner. Our meal was fantastic, and I don't think I've seen Will as excited about guacamole and salsa as he was at this Rick Bayless restaurant. We stayed at the Sheraton along the river, which was a nice hotel, though our room left much to be desired. We're convinced it was a mediocre room due to the fact that he booked it through Priceline and got it at less than half the normal price. It was a fine room, just not one we would ever want to pay full price (about $280) for. Sleeping in together in the morning was probably the highlight of the trip. We haven't been able to do that in 2 1/2 years!
5. The next day, I had a lunch date with a great friend from college, Annie, and our moms. We both happen to be pregnant, and it was fun to get together with our mothers and catch up.
4. I had another lunch date the next day, this time with another college friend Kristin. She brought her boyfriend, Matt, and Will, Ethan, and I all went to a new eco-friendly restaurant in downtown LaGrange called Prasino. Fun times!
3. The next day was New Years Eve, a night I have always dreaded because of the pressure to have cool plans. The last few years, we haven't done too much, but this year we actually did make plans. We went to our good friends the Martinez's for dinner and dessert. Two other couples came over, with their kids, and we had a fun, kid-friendly evening. We counted down at around 7:50 and we home by 8:30pm. Not bad. The only drawback was that Ethan was so hyper when we got home that he was up until almost 11. Both Will and I just wanted to go to bed, but Ethan would not settle down.
2 a. We brought in the New Year with Hammond, Courtney, and Jake at a place called The Treehouse in the Northwest suburbs. Ethan and Jake had a blast, but I'm not sure about Will and Hammond, who had to chase the two boys all around the place and climb up and down the treehouse dozens of times. Talk about a nice time to be pregnant!
2 b. After a nap at H & C's, we went to my Auntie Laura's house for the annual NYD/Charlie & Johnny birthday party. That's where I got a picture of Ethan smothering Grandmama (see below).
1 a. The next morning, I had Annie's baby shower, which was a lot of fun. I am so excited for her (and my other good friend Susie) to have their first babies. They are going to have so much fun and both will be wonderful mommys. It's fun to watch them go through this process.
1 b. And, finally, that night was Susie's husband's - another fabulous friend - surprise 30th birthday party. Unfortunately, Will had to stay in with Ethan when our babysitter cancelled, but it was fun to see friends I don't often see. Kevin was legitimately surprised and really seemed to enjoy himself.

Whew - it was a busy 2 weeks. We had a long house "to do" list for the break, but very little got accomplished. We did use that last Sunday to start cleaning out the basement. I think Will is finally getting serious about finishing the basement, and before that happens we (okay, Will has) have a lot of purging to do.

Here are a few pictures taken during the break:

Here Ethan was helping me prepare the fruit compote I made for Christmas Eve morning. It's a tradition in my family, though usually for Christmas Day. But since I knew we would be limited on time the next day, I made it for the day before.

We decided to start a new tradition this year for our family. Our Elf on the Shelf, Pumpkin, gave Ethan one present on Christmas Eve morning. Will was up the night before, stressed about all the presents we had for Ethan but the limited amount of time we would have to open Christmas morning. This is the stuff that keeps my husband up at night.

He's discovered the present!

These next few were taken at my sister's house on Christmas Eve day. Unfortunately, they're the only pictures I have of our Christmas celebrations, as I forgot my camera there.

Ethan digs in to Grandma's giant pile of presents.

Aunt Lisa made Ethan this fabulous "Cheeky Monkey" fleece blanket. It's super snuggly, if that wasn't obvious from the picture.

Aunt Moe (Malia) got Ethan this acoustic guitar, which was a major favorite that day. We are keeping it safe for a couple of years, though, as it is pretty nice and we don't want him to destroy it.

Here I am at Gino's East, the first stop on our overnight city date.

View from our room at the Sheraton.

Same view, obstructed.

View from the other window. The building in the forefront is the NBC tower.

Drinking my complimentary Starbucks in the morning.

Ethan's playing with one of his new toys, a set of Wedgits, that he got from my mom. It's one of my favorites, as well as Ethan's.

He he. Check out the shoes.After a few attempts at Ethan rolling the ball himself (it took at least 2 minutes for the ball to get to the pins), we opted for this ramp for the two little ones. Great idea!

Ben and Drew take their turns.

Matthew was so cute watching his ball.

Ethan went up to the fan and said, "Take my picture!" so I did.

This cracks me up. Ethan insisted he carry the ball himself. A little scary, but he never dropped it.

New Years Eve with the kiddos!

My wonderful group of LaGrange area friends (Tamera, Laura, me, Catherine).

Ethan clearly afraid of Uncle Hammond.

Down the slide with Daddy.

Backwards

This is my favorite picture. Ethan was playing with my grandma, having a great time. Both were laughing so hard. But this is the picture I snapped, which looks pretty bad. It makes me laugh really hard.

The three preggo friends at Annie's shower. Susie's on the left, Annie on the right.