Picture Update: August 24th to August 30th (20 weeks)

Another busy week... even though Evan is off of school, we are not seeing very much of him as he is working SUPER hard to build an office into the closet in our family room before he goes back to school. Pictured below he is cutting the bead board for the wall behind the desk and shelves.

Harrison had his first cavity filled this week. He did an AMAZING job. I mean, honestly, he did better than I bet most kids do that are even 10 years old than he is! The dentist and the hygienist were both impressed! He honestly just laid there and let them work and listened to their instructions the whole time. Man, I wish he were always like that for me! ;)

Harrison got "headphones" (ear muffs) for doing such a great job at the dentist. He pretty much just wanted to wear them the whole day, particularly when he requested to vacuum. Funny guy!

FINALLY gave this boy a hair cut! It was getting way too long. We bribe him with hair cuts by letting him watch a movie (something he RARELY gets to do... pretty much just when we cut his hair). He actually begs us to cut his hair just so he can watch a movie.

My sister was out of town for two weeks, so we brought her dog to our house for a few days. She loved it, Harrison loved it, and Jack loved it too. :)

Harrison LOVES building Legos and playing with Daddy. Here, they were making cinnamon rolls. 

Having fun painting... he loves just mixing all the colors and putting them in one place.

I made zucchini cranberry muffins.

Harrison still loves these little books.

Working with Dad and helping him drill. This boy wants to be just like his Daddy!

I was REALLY craving a donut, so I told Harrison we could go on a walk to go get one on Friday night. We couldn't drive my car there because Evan had it. Even though I had his car (and his truck), both were packed up with my brother's stuff as we are helping him move this weekend.

He fell asleep on the way home from the store. Maybe I just need to go on a walk everyday during his nap time to get him to take a nap!

Poor guy fell asleep on the way home from helping my brother move and a Costco and WINCO run.

Building with Legos again! On Saturday night, he played with his Legos for hours. I got so much clean in our house! This kind of time is not something I am used to having, but I took full advantage of it and really got a lot done around the house!

Picture Update: August 17th to August 23rd (19 week update)

After such an insane go-go-go week last week, it was nice to actually just BE HOME this week. Evan really got started with the project of turning the closet in our family room in the basement into an office for me. I cannot wait until this project is done! I feel like a lot of organizing in our current office/spare bedroom is on standstill as I wait to FULLY organize until I can just do it in the new space. Harrison LOVED being out there in the garage every day with Evan working. It was nice that I got a break and got a lot of business stuff done. This week, they got both of the cabinets built and the faces of the cabinets built. Evan also got the wall outlet moved and will hopefully get the wiring all finished being hooked up this coming week! I am SO excited!

Also this week... I went to an OB appointment at my midwife's house on Monday. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat (136). I also was weighed and found out that I gained 6 lbs. in 3.5 weeks. YIKES! I was kind of freaking out at that number! With Harrison, I only gained about 20-21 lbs. overall. With this baby, I've already gained almost 14 lbs. and I am only 19 weeks (well, was 18 weeks at the appointment). I'm feeling pretty good pregnancy-wise. I am already having a hard time sleeping, though because my hips are hurting laying on my side. I use 3 pillows every night to help me sleep. My pregnancy body pillow was hurting my neck so I stopped using that. I'm considering getting just a regular body pillow as my current pillows are not quite long enough for the support I need for my back. AND... it's only going to get worse from here, considering I'm not even halfway through this pregnancy yet!

I haven't felt as nauseous this week, which has been nice. I only feel sick when I get really hungry. If I don't eat right when I wake up in the morning, I feel like I will vomit. I have been making myself a chia seed pudding with chia seeds and coconut milk as a source of protein to eat right when I wake up to tide me over before I eat breakfast. I still have food aversions, particularly to meat. I have little desire to eat meat.

I have been feeling the baby move a lot more, mostly at night or when I'm laying down. Feeling him move in there makes me feel more excited. I worry so much that something could still happen (especially when I hear so many horror stories). I keep reminding myself that there is nothing more I can do other than what I am doing to make sure the baby is safe and healthy! The rest is in God's hands. Having said that... I am getting more excited. I was just thinking today how I can't wait to hold this baby in my arms. It's weird for me to say that because I'm not a baby hungry person, but I am allowing myself to feel excitement for once. ;)

After my midwife appointment, we rushed to take Harrison to his first ever dentist appointment where they confirmed what I had been thinking: He has two cavities. :( He did an AMAZING job at the dentist. Honestly, it was definitely a best case scenario. He just laid there the whole time and didn't make a peep until the hygienist said after finishing the top, "Okay, you did such a great job finishing the top, should we do the bottom?" To which he swiftly replied, "No." She did it anyway and he did great just laying there while she cleaned and flossed. The dentist confirmed that he does have 2 cavities and we are going in tomorrow to get one of them filled. I AM NOT EXCITED. I think he will do great with everything but the shot of Novocaine to numb the area. We agreed to do nitrous oxide with him to hopefully make it so that he doesn't really notice (or care) about the shot. I am SO nervous, though! I've seriously been thinking about it and praying about it all week. I want this dentist appointment to go well because if it doesn't, they will refer him to another office that does complete sedation. Praying that we don't have to go that route for so many reasons!

Another view of the soon-to-be office. This is a terrible picture, but it is the only one I took of the project all week! I wish I would have gotten a before picture that had the closet full of climbing gear and all the other stuff we had in there. I snapped this one just so we could remember what a blank before looked like! I can't wait to see the results of Evan's hard work hopefully in the next week or so!

I took Harrison for a quick trip to the park while we waited for our squash to cook for squash soup. This is the new playground at the elementary school I went to when we moved to Enumclaw. Funny seeing my child playing on it!

This picture cracks me up so much! Evan was reading to Harrison and Harrison decided he wanted to climb up onto Daddy's shoulders. To get a better view of the book?

Real life in our house... I should have taken an after picture when it was sparkling clean. ;)

Harrison woke up and was still SO tired and cold that he wanted me to hold him. I suggested he cuddle up on the chair in a blanket. He laid there the entire time I made breakfast. Of course, when I went to snap a picture, he turned away on purpose. The kid kills me that he won't let me take pictures of him!

This is a before on my office. The after is still a work in progress. Hopefully, it will look wonderful in the coming weeks when I move everything downstairs! ;)

Harrison REALLY loved two of the books that Harrison and I got at the library on Friday. First thing when he woke up on Saturday morning, he requested that his dad read them to him even though we had already read them each a few times the night before. ;) It probably doesn't hurt that they are called "I Stink" and "I'm Dirty."

On Saturday, Harrison and I went and got some Berenstain Bears books at the bookstore downtown. He has really loved reading them the past few days and I don't mind adding to our collection. I used to read and love them as a child too! As soon as he woke up on Sunday, he wanted Daddy to read him one of our new Berenstain Bears books.

After breakfast, we went over to my family's house so I could water for them while they are on vacation. Fancy looked so forlorn and tried to jump into our car that we brought her home with us. Harrison and Jack were both overjoyed! I brought her back home after church and felt so bad leaving her there. I think I might go back tomorrow and bring her to our house to stay. We'll see how the dentist appointment goes! ;)

On a Sunday walk with cousins behind grandma's house

19 weeks... I just look chubby at this point!

Picture Update: August 10th to August 16th (18 weeks)

WOW. This week was INSANELY busy. Harrison had swimming lessons every morning. Tuesday and Saturday, we went up to Seattle to visit friends. Wednesday, we were at Oma's house visiting. Thursday, we went to Monroe to see the MacDonald's. We drove so much and were gone so much! Hoping for a more relaxed week at home next week (with NO swimming lessons)!

Loved seeing these 3 cousins (and Isla... a girl in their class) swim together. They are so cute.

I got another Randall box! :)

Harrison was SO excited because Reese let him drive the yard waste truck this week in lieu of his birthday! Harrison was so happy about it!

After swimming lessons, we ate lunch and had some down time before we headed up to Seattle. We met up with my former roommate, Tia, briefly as she had just flown in and was waiting for the ferry over to visit her brother. It was so good to see her! :)

This is the only decent 18-week picture I got this week.

Watching the ferry

Harrison and I went on the merry-go-round while Evan renewed our parking time.

For dinner, we met up with my friend from high school, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Jens. We ate at the Crab Pot and it was SO delicious! The king crab legs were to die for!

Afterwards, I went with Michelle and Jens to the Mariner's game. I left early so I could go home with Evan and Harrison (he was getting exhausted) but we had a good time anyway.

Evan took Harrison to REI while I was at the game. Here is Harrison pretending to kayak.

On our way up to Monroe on Thursday, I stopped at Snoqualmie Falls and just let Harrison sleep because he was so tired. I felt so bad because he woke up so hot and sweaty even though I parked in the shade. He was SO ornery after that at the falls. I'll have to bring him back when he is happier.

My Evan had gone up early to Monroe to help Evan MacDonald with his floor. We met up with them and hung out. Harrison (and Jack) played with the girls for a while. Lindsay and I ended up taking the kids on a walk downtown to pick up some Mexican food we had ordered. It was fun to eat a picnic dinner outside with the kids. It was really good to see the MacDonalds and their new house. I realized that I hadn't seen them in a year since they moved up North! Hopefully, I'll be better about seeing them, even if they do live an hour and 40 minutes from us now!

After swimming lessons on Friday, I took the kids home to get their clothes so they could come play at our house. They caught a frog in the interim and were so proud of themselves.

Harrison helped me shred a bunch of zucchini and make banana zucchini muffins. The rest of the zucchini we froze. So fun cooking with vegetables from your own garden!

This boy LOVES vacuuming right now. Who am I to say no when my child wants to vacuum?

Finally got a smile out of this guy for a picture!

After getting this closet all cleaned out, Evan started on the demolition phase before the build it back up phase. Basically, it just meant taking out the hanging rack at this point. Hoping to see a lot of progress next week!

Daddy's little helper! This boy loves working on projects with Daddy. He wanted to wear an old hard hat our neighbor gave him.

On Saturday, Harrison and I headed up to Seattle to get together with my former roommates, Darcy and Christine. It was really great to see them. We met up at Discovery Park. Harrison LOVED digging in the sand and then throwing the sand. He just wanted attention. He got to ride in his first school bus from the parking lot down to the beach, but we "hiked" back to the parking lot, which was at least 1.5 maybe 2 miles. We got him to run or walk most of the way, but he wanted to be carried a few times. I was proud of him for going so far uphill!

I love this one of him sprinting down this old bus bench.

I love that cute face!

Christine graciously carrying Harrison for me.

Darcy keeping Harrison occupied by running with him.

Roommate selfie!