Hello 3rd Trimester!!

Although there is lots of confusion over when the "trimesters" actually start and end, I just do simple math: 40 weeks/3 trimesters and voila! Roughly 27 weeks is the third trimester in my book. It's also exactly 3 months until my official due date (May 13th). Not much excitement going on since the contraction episode a few weeks ago. Here are some random thoughts as I enter the home stretch:

1) I had forgotten how much I LOATHE, HATE DESPISE maternity clothes. With the exception of some side-ruched maternity t-shirts (which are somewhat cute), I've pretty much banned "maternity clothes" from my wardrobe. 1-2 sizes bigger in pants, nice, flowy shirts that are popular right now and my Bella Band are pretty much what I am sticking to. I'm NOT busting out my panel jeans until 9 months or the seams split on my regular pants :)

2) Speaking of 9 months, I have a good intuition that Baby 3 will not stay the full 9 months. Based on how I feel and my previous pregnancy (one month early), I am guessing Baby 3 will be a late April baby. Let's hope it not any earlier.

3) I'll post belly pics at some point. I realized I have NO pictures of myself preggo with Will. His baby book has a place for a picture of "Mom Pregnant" and I couldn't find anything to fill the space!

4) Continuing to work vs. staying at home is definitely weighing on my mind right now, but I am not making any decisions until this summer. I really have the most ideal job situation imaginable. 2 days a week, I get to be a part of the school where all my kids will eventually go, doing a job I love. But then there's major stress when the kids get sick, Scott travels, hectic mornings and just the sheer energy it takes to keep up with school events and homework, etc...working doesn't seem worth it. Plus, with Scott's new job NOT working from home--there is an additional challenge. I am not a person who gets bored at home with the kids. I have structure and we always find fun things to do. I like the fact that on the days I stay home, I have so much more energy to devote to my family. But I love my job! SIGH--it's such a tough call. No decision is perfect!!!!

50's Flashback!

Brookey's school celebrated their 50th anniversary last week, so we had to break out the poodle skirt and scarves!

They only gave us 4 days advance notice to "prepare" for this dress up day, which was tough but Party City came through :) I love the 50's!! We might all have to be a "50's Family" for Halloween this year....Brooke in her poodle skirt, Buddy in a letter-jacket, Scott in a suit with a pipe and me in a cute "Lucielle Ball" dress, heels and a feather duster!! I can't think of anything else more realistic!! :)

25 Weeks & Contractions

Things have be chugging right along with this pregnancy--the 3rd trimester is just around the corner and I have been feeling great. I went to the Dr. last Friday and everything was just fine. Last night I started feel contraction-like pains around 8:30pm. Being this is my third baby, I definitely think I know the difference between good 'ol Braxston Hick contractions and "real" ones.

It felt like exactly like early labor with both the other kids...about 10 min apart, didn't go away. Finally at 10:30, Scott made me call the Dr. Of course the kids were sleeping peacefully and the thought of having to get them up and drive them in L&D in the middle of the night or waking up one of my friends to come over was pretty much the only thing keeping me from calling earlier!

Dr's advice: take a hot shower and have a glass of wine!!! Apparently wine can relax the uterine muscles. Well, I was shocked beyond belief, but it WORKED! Within 15 min, the contractions stopped and I was finally able to fall asleep.

I have to say, that was a HUGE scare. Of course, as this was all happening, I was Googling everything from what drugs would stop labor to how many babies survive at 25 weeks. Google is a real bit&* sometimes :) Since I was technically "preterm" with Will, I'm at risk for going into labor early again. I am just praying Baby 3 doesn't make his/her exit for another few months!

Happy 2012!!!!!!

Scott, Brookey and I have all made our resolutions and we're excited to see what 2012 brings!

Northern Cal Beach Staycation

Scott was off all week so decided to do a little staycation down to Half Moon Bay to visit the tidepools. The kids will go pretty much anywhere to stay in a hotel!

We had a GREAT time playing at the beach and finding treasures at the tidepools--we had never been to any real tidepools before and it was really cool. We also made a pit stop in SF to have a crab sandwich (crab season is in full force!!!) and stroll through Japantown so Brookey could shop for these Japanese toys she loves (don't ask).

Bundled up for a Northern Cal beach day!


On the beach in Pacifica

Strolling the beach looking for fun stuff

Will at the tidepools

Brookey showing off her sea urchin shell at the tidepool

Scott trying to keep Buddy from running away! :)

He found a shell!!

Christmas 2011

Christmas has come and gone..AGAIN!!! Can't believe it's over. We all had a great Christmas, spending a couple of days with my dad visiting. The weather was sunny, dry and in the 60's for the entire week, which didn't feel too "Christmas-y", but I'm not complaining.

It's so freaking fun to see the kids at Christmas--it really just makes my year to see how much fun they have. Some highlights:

1. My dad and Scott spending 2+ hours on Christmas Eve setting up Buddy's 450 piece train set...

2) Seeing all of their hard work pay off when Buddy saw it and played with it for the next...8 hours!! The kid is obsessed.

3) Brookey lost another tooth so she really did want her "two front teeth" for Christmas (Santa couldn't work that miracle).

4) Brookey's gift of the year, a late model iTouch with a white, rhinestone (bling!) case. She thinks she's super cool, playing Angry Birds and listening to Kidz Bop.

All and all we had a great few days and it was nice to have Scott "home" and truly on vacation for the first time in forever. He's off all week (truly a Christmas Miracle!!), so tomorrow we're headed down to Half Moon Bay for a little stay-cation to visit to tidepools and chill by the beach. We're also sleeping in (7:30!!!!!) and yesterday the kids and I stayed in our PJs until 11am. I HEART vacation!!!!!!

He's ready for Christmas Eve Mass!


Can my kids smile or what?! Sheesh! They get that from the Rooney side...Uncle Chris in particular!!! Awful! But they both LOVE the train table!!!!

20 Weeks

We're at the halfway mark and this trimester has been FLYING by. It's a big difference once you start feeling better :)

Since I could only have one person with me in the ultrasound room, Brookey accompanied me this time! It's an old hat for Scott and he doesn't want ANY details whatsoever except to hear the baby is fine. So Brookey came with me and was fascinated by the process. It was nice to have her participate more this time since she was a little too young to care last time around.

Everything is "perfect" with the baby, thank goodness. 10 fingers and 10 toes, all the heart chambers, brain development good :) Most people think the 20 week ultrasound is the "gender finding out" ultrasound, but I take it much more seriously. It really is an anatomy scan to check and see if the baby has been developing properly. I'm always super nervous vs. excited at any ultrasound. So getting this over with was a huge relief for me!!!

The ultrasound showed the baby was measuring right on time for a May 13 arrival, however my uterus (AKA: my gut! lol) is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule!! Yikes. I definitely don't feel huge yet and I can still "hide" it with certain outfits. But I've switched to new jeans and I can actually fit into "small" maternity t-shirts. The "explosion" is about to happen, though. Just enjoying the next few weeks :)

A cute little foot and toes :)