Where to start!

Oh my gosh, what a nice weekend it was! We got some work done around the house, some shopping done and had some fun too. Declan went to bed dog tired every night this weekend. Friday evening we had dinner at our favorite pizza place in the neighborhood (which is Ledo, a chain, but we can walk to it and they have delicious food). Declan enjoys putting the crayons in and out of the styrofoam cup they bring them out in more than actually coloring which is amusing. He polished off an entire grilled cheese sandwich and some blueberries I brought from home. It's so funny with him. Sometimes he doesn't really care much about eating and other times he really packs away some food. I try not to think about my grocery bills once both boys are older and eating adult sized meals regularly. The little man is typically very well-behaved at restaurants and only got disruptive this time when some strange woman who had been sitting behind us stopped to tell him how cute he was on her way out. She kind of got a little too into his space and he freaked, a normal reaction for him these days to strangers. I wish people would believe me when I tell them it isn't personal.

On Saturday morning we ventured down to the Ikea to check out some furniture possibilities for the house. Mainly we wanted to look at an entertainment center for the family room and pick up some shelf units for Declan's room and our bedroom. Little man fell asleep on the way home. I guess he was just too overwhelmed by all the Swedish design. He was very, very good, but he really just wanted to run rampant in the furniture showroom. We made him stay in the cart. Needless to say we won't be taking him with us when we go to the furniture stores in Sterling to shop for new couches. I think he would be very bored.

Speaking of Declan's room he has finally moved into it, pretty easily I might add. With his crib back we have transitioned him into his new space. Our plan is to buy his next "real" bed and have it in the room with the crib for a while. I will transition the crib to toddler bed a month or so before the baby comes and then move him into the real bed in the fall when we need to move the crib to the nursery. He has been such a great sleeper and generally great about going down for naps and bedtime since moving into the house so I hope the change sits well with him. I still have some decorating to do but I'll post some photos of him room when it is more finished.

On Sunday I took Declan to the playground at the neighborhood elementary school while Jake assembled the new bookcase for his room. I obviously have a lot to learn about such things. The playground we normally go to is perfectly sized for Declan with one small slide and a couple of kid swings. The one at the elementary school is HUGE. Imagine 7 or 8 different tall slides and lots of platforms, bridges, etc. It didn't take long for me to realize we were way out of our league even as the only ones there. He got frustrated about not being able to get up the slides, I had a hard time lifting him repeatedly, I was way nervous about letting him loose on high platforms where I couldn't reach him, etc. We will save visits there for when he's a little older. In the evening we ventured out to a BBQ in which he wore himself out following around the older kids and letting them bounce him around on a trampoline. It was so fun watching him have a such a good time. He slept late the next morning and so did we.

Yesterday Jake spent some time staking out the proposed fence line addition in our backyard. We need to close in the fence so that we can be more comfortable letting the dog run loose as well as the kiddos. It won't actually take a lot of fence pieces to do it but working with the existing split rail means matching up pieces and measuring everything out carefully. We have to put in two gates also which should be interesting. I took a trip to Michael's while Declan was napping. I needed a couple of picture frames and I got some other things to decorate Declan's new room. My head is actually swimming a bit in ideas for decorating the house so I am trying to focus on one thing at a time and his room is it right now.

And now I am back at work and feeling a million times better than last week. I think there was a growth spurt late last week though because I feel positively huge. Someone at the BBQ actually commented that I looked "tiny" for being due in 3 months which I appreciated but I don't feel that way. I have gained less weight than last time so far but the weight I have gained has gone to exactly the same places on my body. I just hope the summer doesn't bring a ton of crazy swelling. Regardless, it is worth it. My life with boys has been quite the adventure thus far and I am ready to add one more to the mix.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!