Potty training, possible bedroom changes, and cute boys!

Big news in the potty training world today! I was at class, Eric was doing the dishes, and Aeson actually went into the bathroom all by himself, without telling Daddy, and went #2 on the potty! This is big news for him, because he really hasn't gone #2 on the potty. He usually goes when he has a pullup on or just on the floor when he's running around nakey. (Thank goodness for hardwood floors!!!) Anyway, Eric hadn't heard from him after a few minutes (he just assumed he went in there to go pee, b/c he always does that on his own), so he went in to check on him & Aeson was sitting on the potty (another big deal b/c he will NOT sit on a potty.. little bit of a problem when we're out in public & there's no stepstool or baby potty!). Aeson tried to slam the door shut on Eric too. :) We were so proud of him! When he's gone pee lately, he even dumps it into the big potty all by himself and flushes. He's such a big boy now!

Other big news is Aeson has been sleeping for almost a week in his bed ALL night! He goes to sleep in there and other than waking up a couple of times to ask to be covered again (not sure why he doesn't do it himself! :)), he stays asleep & in his bed until he wakes up in the morning! This is a huge relief, because I was worried about him and baby being in bed with us at the same time if baby co-sleeps AND I didn't want to push him out of our bed when the baby comes home b/c I didn't want him to get any bad feelings!

We've been discussing our bedroom situation. We have 3 bedrooms.. One's ours, one's Westen's, and one's Aeson's. Only Aeson doesn't sleep in his. All of his toys, his dresser, the changing table, etc are in there, but his bed's in our room. We figure he will probably want to sleep in the same room with someone for quite a while, so we figured the boys should share a room and baby girl (if she's a girl :)) should get her own. Aeson's room was painted by Eric and his dad specifically for him, so I hate to paint over it, but I don't think we're going to have any choice. :( So, my thought is for us to move to Westen's room (which is getting ready to be repainted now, so we could choose the color) and Westen and Aeson to have our room, which is the biggest and also blue. Then, we'd redo Aeson's current room for the new baby. I plan to do things differently with this baby and hopefully have her(?) in her own room by the time she's 6 months old at the latest. Eric's more reluctant to make this change, but I think it's the best option. We'll see if he comes around! I am also pretty worried now that Aeson is sleeping in his own bed that he'll regress if we change rooms, or still want to sleep in our room, and there is just NOT enough room in Westen's current one (the one we'd be in). We think it might be easier since he'd still be sleeping in the same room he's in now, rather than a different one, but we may also wait until after the baby's here and he's a little older.. We'll see. I hate to ruin a good thing!

Aeson really is turning into a little boy. He knows all his colors, he knows shapes, he has some books memorized, and he can count to 10. It took him a while to talk a lot, but he can say EVERYTHING now. It's still funny to hear him put sentences together sometimes. Like last night, he asked Eric to "cover up me, Daddy," instead of "cover ME up." He loves to dance, LOVES to leave the house!, and loves to help or watch me do pretty much anything. My sister's son's name is Bentley, and he calls him "Bentbee." Haha, even Bentley calls himself that now sometimes! He's gotten quite independent and really doesn't want loved on or touched unless HE'S decided he wants it. Today, I loved coming home from class to a big hug and an "I love you!" from him, though. :)

He definitely has a difficult side, and Westen has been saying lately that I just "HAVE to sell him!" Westen's always saying things that make me laugh. Yesterday, he had fallen on the playground.. Later, I noticed brown spots on his face and asked him what was on his face. He said "freckles".. I said, "From what?" (thinking someone had maybe drawn them on him or something!).. and he said, "From falling!" Haha, he had seriously thought he got more freckles from falling! I laughed forever about that, and informed him it was probably just dirt from the rocks!

I have more to write about, but it's time to get a little boy out of the bath!

Apple Orchard, Baby Girl?

Some things I've forgotten to write about:

I felt the baby move for the first time about a month ago. Some days I would feel it, and some days I wouldn't. It felt a lot different than I remembered Westen feeling.. His movements were really soft and fluttery, I don't remember Aeson's first movements, and this one actually felt like real baby jabs, just smaller. For the last week or so, I've felt it move all day, most of the day. I love feeling it!

There are THREE of us who are pregnant in my anatomy & physiology class, and we're ALL due in February! One of the other girls is still planning on taking classes then, while the other one's not. At least I'll have one along with me!

***

Friday, we'd made an appointment at a sonogram place in a town about an hour and a half away. They have a fantastic apple orchard we went to last year, and since we knew Westen would want to go to the sonogram, we decided to take him out of school and spend the day there. We got to the orchard about lunchtime, so we had lunch, let the kids play, fed the goats, and finally picked apples. It was a great time, and both kids loved it there. We searched for some stores afterwards to go shopping but couldn't find the ones we wanted. Finally, we found a secondhand store, and they had some really nice maternity clothes, so I was able to get some shirts! I'm in desperate need of jeans! We headed to the sonogram place for my 4pm appointment. The technician said she may not be able to tell this early and if not, she would have us come back in a couple of weeks. Baby had it's legs bent and the umbilical cord between them at first, so we were worried we weren't going to be able to tell! After some jiggling around, the baby did move, and after getting several shots, the technician repeatedly said it's a girl. While she didn't have me come back in two weeks, I sort of wonder if she was sure or if she was trying to convince herself! She said she was sure, but I'm going to wait to buy anything until after the sonogram at our doctor's office, which will be right before Halloween. :) Eric's mom came with us for the day and when we got back home, we all went out for dinner before finally getting back home. It was a great day!

Westen's had soccer games for the last several Saturdays. This past Saturday, he scored THREE goals for his team! He was very proud of himself! It was a pretty big deal for him too, because he'd pretty hesitant to get in the mob of kids around the ball. Eric had to miss the game because of work, but Westen was super excited to tell him later on the phone!

I don't believe I've written that my sister is also pregnant. She's a month behind me! A friend just announced they're pregnant today, so she's about 3 months behind me. And then we got a note that Westen's teacher is also pregnant (I'd wondered!) and a few weeks behind me! Tis the season for pregnancies, I guess!!

Oh, and if the baby IS a girl, her name is Aubryn Esme. And if it would happen to be a boy, the name is Cullen Lukas. We just couldn't keep a secret!

School stress

I'm going so long between posts that I don't even remember what has happened! The days are passing by in a blur now! My classes are pretty overwhelming. I have SO much work and studying to do for anatomy & physiology mostly (some for chem too) that I'm not spending as much time on my online classes as I should. I've still gotten full points for each week's homework, but I don't think I did as well on the tests as I would have liked. I had four tests in the last week! The house is constantly a mess, and that stresses me out. I feel like I'm always telling the kids I can't do this or that because I'm studying/busy. Yesterday, I said I would quit if I could get my tuition back (you can't after the first week).. Today, I feel a little better now that all the tests are over with. I hate being stressed out all the time, and I worry about the effect on the pregnancy. I'm really trying to just tell myself I can only do the best I can, so there's no reason to stress. It's a lot easier said than done, though! It's very stressful too, because if I don't get good enough grades, then I won't get into nursing school, and all this will be pointless! And if I DO get into nursing school, I think the next 3 years will be like this! It's soooo stressful, you have no idea!

I miss working part-time at a job I loved, like I did when I was pregnant with Westen and for some time after that. I haven't liked a job I've had since then, and I got too bored/lonely staying home 24/7. I love going to school and learning the things I am- I just wish all the stress didn't come with it! I also hope that when I'm done with school this time, I will find a job I love with hours I also love, like I had before. You don't realize how great that is!

As for the pregnancy, I'm 17 weeks tomorrow. All is going well so far, and I'm extremely thankful for that. We're actually going to a sonogram place on Friday to try to find out if it's a boy or girl! I feel like it's a boy, but I think that's because I have two boys and honestly can't imagine having a girl! I'm excited to find out, though, so I can do more shopping/planning. It also makes me feel more connected to the baby.. makes it more real, I think! I honestly can't believe I'm almost at the halfway point.

Westen & Aeson have been great! We went to a family fun night at Westen's school last week, and I took Aeson & Bentley to a parade last week as well. They both constantly make me laugh with the things they do and say, and that is definitely a small stress reliever!

School & Bloodwork

Westen came home from his first day of school saying that he had fun, but he wasn't going to go back because it was just too long! Obviously, he went back. :) He's had a few occasions of getting lost (the first day, he said he almost cried twice!), he's made a couple of friends, and he's come home with stories of girlfriends (of other people and of people saying one little girl was his but Westen she said is NOT - and added that she's mean to him!) and friends. One little boy told him he didn't want to be his friend anymore! Westen said it hurt his feelings a little, and I think I said all the right things to him, but you never know! I felt so bad about it! I hate the drama that results when lots of kids are around each other.. but I suppose they learn something from it too.

Mr. Aeson is officially done nursing. I'm actually pretty sad about it! I wanted him to wean before the baby comes, so I am glad he did, but it just makes me a little sad that that part of our relationship is over. I can't even imagine him as a "big" brother yet either!

I think I mentioned his bloodwork being elevated the last time (up to 11 from 6), so we re-tested after two weeks and it was slightly decreased (10.3). His doctor is comfortable waiting until the usual time to test again but said if we want to earlier, that's fine with her as well. She said sometimes it will raise when they're growing a lot, so hopefully that's all it was. With tumors, she said it's usually a huge hike and it continues going up. I'm somewhat relieved, but it's still something we'll have to deal with every three months until he's four!

Life has been absolutely crazy since Westen and I started school. My classes cover an insane amount of information, and I'm taking four classes (plus two labs), so with all the work I've had to do, I'm pretty much unavailable to anyone or anything from Monday-Thursday. There has definitely been some stress, but I am also enjoying it, and I really love that I'm doing it. I really never get bored or lonely now, like I did when I was home all the time!

End of First Trimester

By Wednesday, I will officially be out of the first trimester. I can hardly believe it! The very first thing I did when I found out I was pregnant was make a list of things that I want to get or need to do before this baby comes. I think I'm going to have to be much more organized with three kids! Anyway, I came across it the other day. We still have lots to check off!

-buy a deep freeze

-make casseroles & dinners to put in it for after baby

-buy a MamaRoo (it's a super awesome swing thing that's supposed to be amazing!)

-buy baby clothes if it's a girl (she would have NOTHING to wear!)

-buy/install a dishwasher (I barely have time for dishes now)

-buy a new high chair (the only thing we've marked off!)

-possibly more maternity clothes

-more cloth diapers & inserts

Lots to do still! It's hard buying things on a limited budget, but maybe we can get some taken care of at Christmas- or after when we can get deals!

It seemed like Eric and I spent two entire days looking at baby names earlier this week. We found our girl name quickly & easily, but the boy name is a completely different story. We can't find even ONE name we both like. I'm seriously worried if it's a boy, he will be nameless! We're still looking, but I swear we've been through every name out there! I have a feeling it'll be another boy we're blessed with too, so it's not like I can just forget about it! (Even though Westen keeps telling me we don't have to have a boy name because it's NOT a boy!)

First Day Of Kindergarten

Well, today was my first little boy's first day of kindergarten! We went to Back to School Night a couple of nights ago to meet his teacher and get all the information they had for us. He has a new teacher to the school this year. Anyway, while she was talking, I teared up TWICE! I couldn't even sleep that night, wondering about how he was going to do and if he would be able to do things for himself. The school seemed so big and scary for a little 5 year old boy! It also makes me feel like less of a mommy since he will no longer be in MY care all day. :( Yesterday, I took him to meet his teacher and show him around. He seemed nervous but didn't say much. This morning, I went in and laid in his bed before he had woken up, wondering how my little boy in his giant bed (he wanted our queen bed when we got a new one) was old enough to go to school all by himself all day long. I stopped myself from crying before I woke him up and then spent some time cuddling with him. He got up and ready but barely ate breakfast. He teared up a little later and said he was scared and didn't want to go. :( I gave him hugs and told him as many reassuring things as I could think of. After stopping for a picture on the way out, Aeson and I took him to school and walked him to where he was supposed to be. He seemed just fine, and we were able to leave without any problem. I cried the whole way home and have teared up several times since then! I keep wondering how he's doing, and I hope he's having fun. He was worried about how long the day would be. I'm hoping he has lots of good things to tell me when I pick him up. Tomorrow, we're planning on trying the bus ride and then see which he prefers. I just can't believe he's starting his school career.. feels like it's just the start to him leaving me forever! :'(

Updates on Aeson & School-time Routine

I called this morning about Aeson's bloodwork, and his last AFP had only been 6.something, so going up to 11.3 this time was a pretty high jump. From what I've read, it starts relatively high at birth and then is supposed to continually decline over time. I probably should have kept track of what the levels had been, but since they'd always been normal, I guess I didn't feel I had any reason to. Anyway, I asked if we could re-test sooner, and she said to go ahead in 2 weeks. I'm glad! This one was already a bit behind the 3 month mark anyway b/c the doctor had been on vacation. So, we'll test again on the 31st and of course appreciate any prayers sent our way. I'm hopeful but not expecting everything to be okay either. I think I thought I'd be more upset when/if something like this came up, and while I have gotten teary a couple times, I'm really not.. yet anyway. I think partially because we've always known it could come back abnormal (and this is just a reminder of why Aeson has to go through it every 3 months) and partially because I don't know that there IS anything wrong yet. I'll be praying hard until we find out, and it really just makes me give Aeson extra hugs, extra kisses, and spend extra time with him.

Speaking of Aeson, he's actually started watching tv this last week. He really never watched it before (and that's a good thing, I know!), but all of a sudden, he started sitting in brother's room watching tv for short periods of time. While I don't like a lot of tv time, it is nice to have that extra quiet/alone time!

He's also doing AMAZING on potty training! At the beginning of the week, Westen asked him if he would go potty and he DID. This was after refusing for the last couple of weeks with me. (I was hoping to get him potty trained while I was on a break from school!) So anyway, since then, he's constantly gone on the potty! He's only had one accident so far too! He'll even tell me when he has to pee and he goes in there all by himself and prefers to pee in the big potty (we keep our step stool in front of it). We have put a pull up on him when we go to friend's houses or out places and he doesn't tell us at all then. The night before last night, we put undies on while we went on a walk (we've just been letting him go around the house diaperless), and he peed then.. but last night, we did it again, and he didn't! I think I'm going to continue to use pullups for sleep time but start putting him in underwear when we go places & just take extra clothes. I'm so proud of how he's doing, though!

He's also constantly talking in sentences, and it's so cute to hear him do so. It's funny how you can see him thinking & to hear how he puts the words together. One example I wrote on the 2 year old questionnaire that he recently said was "I need that Gabba Ga cos" (translation - I need that Yo Gabba Gabba costume).

***

I've never been good at sticking to a schedule or routine. Since school is starting next week, I've come up with one that I'm hoping to stick to! It consists of after school having free time, homework/things ready for the next day time, dinner, pick up, bath, and rest time before an actual set bedtime. The kids have never had a set bedtime, but I know Westen will need it now that he's going to have to get up so early! I've also never been good about having the kids pick up their toys on a regular basis.. Since we're all here all day every day, it just seemed rather pointless to me. Now that we'll be gone a portion of the day, though, and they do need to learn to regularly pick up after themselves, I'm going to try having them pick up on a nightly basis. They do pick up after themselves but not all the time and they never pick EVERYTHING up unless we're all deep cleaning the house.. which is about once a week. Anyway, I do like routines, so I'm hoping we can stick to it!