Maio 3.0

As we enter the home stretch of cooking up the littlest Maio I thought I should take a sec to write some stuff down about this pregnancy.  I know that in a few short months I'll have neither time nor interest in rehashing it, to say nothing of a few years from now when I just have no recollection of anything before what I had for breakfast that day (if I'm lucky).

Our little birdie has been cooking for a bit over 30 weeks now.  Having been pregnant both over the summer and winter I'd definitely choose summer.  Sure the heat is a pain, but 17 layers vs. a cute skirt and tank top cuts way down on the Stay Puft Marshmallow factor.  Although...it is pretty funny to see people's faces now that I'm not wearing my parka.  It's like BOOM, they just noticed that I'm gigantically pregnant.     

I've been the lucky recipient of sciatica since about day 1 with this pregnancy.  I had a bit with Luke from about 6-8 months but this has been honestly since the first trimester.  When I feel good I can waddle around for a good 5-10 minutes.  When it's bad I can't take a single step without being in huge amounts of pain.  I've seen a chiropractor which helped a little, but not enough to take the edge off the deductible. The real downer about it is that I can't get on the treadmill or get outside to walk, and not getting regular exercise has been making me a little crazy(ier) in the head.  Seriously, poor Matt.  Oddly enough the most comfortable seat I've found is the driver's seat in my Pilot.  Who needs a ride somewhere? Cause this mama ain't walkin.

Of course chasing a 5 year old and 2 year old - who is seriously exercising his right to be 2 of late - changes the game too.  I wish I could go back to my 28 year old first-time-prego self, grab her by the shoulders, and scream "You think you're tired now? Seriously? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU CAN NAP WHENEVER YOU WANT!!!!!!!!!". 

Aside from the average pregnancy pains and related crazy that comes with the hormones (side note: I read somewhere that by the last few weeks the hormones coursing through a woman's bod are the equivalent of 1,000 birth control pills a day.  First, is that real? And second, I get it now) this has been a very good pregnancy health-wise.  Oh minus all the strep.  But the baby is growing rapidly and everything has been clear since the beginning.  The placenta is actually behind the baby which means she's pushed right up front.  I've felt her consistently since 15 weeks which at first was fun and now just feels like she's throwing a big rager in there pretty much all the time.  GG spends a lot of time loving on my belly and cannot wait for her sister to arrive.  Luke has no idea what's happening and I'm pretty sure will have zero interest come June.  He is being much, much gentler to his favorite baby doll though, which is a huge improvement over throwing her head first into the floor.

And the fun part of being a c-section mom: we just scheduled baby's eviction date.  So June 2nd, the date formerly known as Matt's birthday, will henceforth be known as baby girl's birthday.  He's excited and I find it adorable.

I know the next 9 weeks will fly by which is reassuring when I'm huffing and puffing up the stairs at work.  Can't wait to meet this little chickadee and really excited to see what she looks like (but baby, that is not an invitation to come out early.  Mom & Dad have serious construction work ahead of us still).  Onward!

27 weeks and bumpin' it at our Dells weekend. 

the midwestern men-folk in the water park were giving my belly a serious run for the money

30 weeks.  gigantor. i blame the placenta.

cutest little photo bomber ever

March Madness

March came in like a lioness with PMS this year, so there were lots of opportunities for us to come up with more inside fun.  Fortunately that included our annual trip to Great Wolf with Grandma Heidi and Pop Pop so at least we could expose our skin to air with >10% humidity.

cutie patootie ready to rock the slides

giving me the what-for

night 1 - awaiting the story time show with all the necessary treats in hand

we're so tired but want to see the shooooooooooooooooooooooow

best seat in the house

still has those squeezable cheeks

with rachel the raccoon

i was honestly surprised to notice how long her stems have gotten over the winter

rode this slide about a kerskillion times

a trip to the arcade was in order!

souvenir ears? check. won't take off their flip flops? check. time to hit it back home after a super fun weekend!

Other things to keep us entertained throughout the month:

a little poodle wranglin'

wrestling, aka the push game.  nothing can go wrong here.

tape the hat on the leprechaun.  not only did that leprechaun hide our shamrocks, he turned gg and luke's milk green.  naughty leprechaun!!

yeah that's right, i used a lucky charms box as our target. pinterest schminterest

which way do i go?

thoroughly enjoying this game

as if i need more reasons to lose my balance...

daddy's up!

finding our hidden shamrocks

i promise, luke was more enthusiastic than this photo would imply

bumpin' at work

Shenanigans aside, Matt and I were quickly growing weary of waiting for construction to begin on the new 4th bedroom addition.  THANKFULLY there was enough of a light at the end of the tunnel for things to get going on March 19th.  More on the reno saga later.

In the meantime it was time for the calendar to say spring and for us to celebrate Grandma Kathy's birthday.  It was a huge relief for me to get the kids over there as Matt was on day 4 of his boy's AZ getaway weekend and I was on day 4 of pregnant lady overload and about to hoist the mommy-white-flag (side note: you know you're done when your kids fall down separate flights of steps within about 8 minutes of each other).  Birthday bonus, the kids got to finally meet their new little cousin, Logan!! 

this picture perfectly sums up what i anticipate happening this summer.  her: totally into it.  him: n.o.t. interested

so proud to hold him

the cousins (all 4, ha ha)

hi, my name is genevieve and i'm 16

luke was totally in love with auntie barb.  and why not?  she was a lot more fun than the sleeping baby

a-dain!

luke skipped over the fruit tart in favor of a 'dween tuptate'

proud grandparents

While I wouldn't call it warm, the sun came out enough to at least give us some 6-layered hope that spring will indeed return.

hanging with mom at the playground

he announces every time whether he's going to slide on his "booty butt" or on his belly.  can we make it through the summer without a broken nose?

matt heads off on a run.  notice his lizard-like footwear.  kyle, this one's for you.