Olympic Fever and Belly Envy

We've got a case of Olympic fever over here.  I love the Olympics.  James does too.  And Zack is well on his way to being a lover of the Olympics as well.  So far his favorite sports seem to be beach volleyball (or sand volleyball, as he calls it), swimming, and he really enjoyed watching the support cars during one of the bike road races (though I don't know if that really counts...).  Zack has even taken to "swimming" on the floor in his room.  It's quite hilarious. 

Somehow, I've managed to be pregnant for both the 2010 winter games, and now the 2012 summer games.  When I was pregnant with Zack, I mostly remember crying during the Olympics....sports made me emotional.  This time around, I'm not nearly as emotional, but I did find myself tearing up after Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters and celebrated by giving his daughter a big ole bear hug.  Sniff, sniff. 

While these Olympics might not be bringing out the most emotional side of me, I for sure have found myself with a case of belly envy.  So many of these athletes have such amazingly flat stomachs (and wildly muscular stomachs).  I used to have a mostly flat belly, never a wildly muscular one, but I don't think I really want that many muscles anyway.  Now, I'm 26 weeks pregnant, and my belly is far from flat.  It is however, rock solid.   

Thankfully the Olympics will only be on for about another week, after which I hope my case of belly envy will dissipate.  And, I'll be back to going to bed at 9pm every night.  If I just so happen to be pregnant during the 2014 winter games (we can't decide if we want 2 or 3 kids...) I think I will write to NBC and ask them to move their nightly broadcast up by a few hours in order to accommodate my pregnant lady sleeping schedule.  I'm sure they will do it if I ask nicely. 

My Little "Helper"

It is a long term goal of ours to have our children be productive member's of society when they are grown and out of the house.  Zack is perfectly capable of contributing around here....just with small, 2 year old sized tasks. 

He is becoming quite the accomplished cook, and requests the step stool whenever I am in the kitchen making a meal.  And he requests ingredients for his own little concoctions that he's cooking up.  Earlier this week he requested flour, sugar, baking power and salt for his pancake mix.  Apparently making pancakes at least once a week lends to a 2 year old memorizing the ingredient list....

He likes to put dirty spoons and forks in the kitchen sink and loves to feed Walter dog. 

Today, I asked him to take a dirty washcloth and put it in the dirty towels, a task he has done many, many times.  He runs off to his bathroom, then emerges with the washcloth, talking about dirty towels.  He then runs off to mine and James' room with this washcloth, where I assumed he was going to put it in the dirty laundry in our closet. 

I just came out of the bathroom where I found the washcloth.  It was not in the dirty laundry, it was in the garbage can.  Apparently Zack doesn't like that one anymore....

I love my little helper. 

San Diego!

Ocean Beach

We just got back from a week long trip to beautiful San Diego.  The main purpose of the trip was to celebrate the marriage of Paige and Tom.  Our second objective for the week was to have lots of fun!  We successfully accomplished both. 

We rented a little house in Ocean Beach, which we shared with Brandon, Alexis, and their two boys.  From the pictures online, it appeared as though it was going to be quite cozy.  But, it was within our budget and only a block away from the ocean.  I was actually surprised at how big the house was.  It was still only a 2 bedroom, but the common living area was much bigger than I thought it was going to be, and the back and front yards had enough space for 3 boys to play in.  And, it was a block away from the ocean...maybe a five minute walk to the beach.  Can't beat that!  James and I would for sure go back here. 

Since we were going to be super close to Sea World, we got week long passes to Sea World.  Zack is pretty much clueless about sea life (we do live in the desert, after all), so we decided that we would get some books from the library about dolphins and whales with the hope that he would be excited for these new animals at Sea World.  Zack also picked out a book about sea lions, which he referred to as the "bunny book."  He really enjoyed this bunny book, and we also memorized a book about Firefighter Frank, but learned nothing about sea life.  He still did enjoy seeing some of the fish at Sea World.  He was bored out of his mind watching the dolphin show (but so were most of the adults in the group), and clapped a lot during the Shamu show.  James got to touch a dolphin, and Brandon did not.  This made Brandon very, very sad.

Churro Eating

Watching Sea Lions

In addition to Sea World, we spent a lot of time at the beach, playing in the sand and in the ocean.  For the first couple of days Zack referred to the ocean as the "big pool."  It was pretty cute, and quite logical.  He liked running into and out of the water, but wasn't a huge fan of the sand on his feet (but really, who is???).  Kaden, however, loved the sand and ended up buried on more than one occasion.  This pregnant lady busted out her best shoveling skills and dug him a mighty fine hole to sit in.

I had wedding duties 3 of the days, so James hung out with the wee man and the friends while I helped Paige prep for her big day.  The wedding was so beautiful and we couldn't be happier for Paige and Tom!  And, I can officially say I've been a pregnant bridesmaid!  My dress was the perfect dress for a pregnant lady, and the lady who altered it says she can size it down to my non-pregnant size when I'm done growing this sweet little human. 

One of the few pics we took at the wedding

All in all, it was a great trip.  Zack was a champion little traveler.

The highlights of the trip for me were:

Paige and Tom getting married.
Playing on the beach with my sweet family.
Zack talking about Aunt Paige.
Zack loving his new Shamu.
The sugar high dance party the 3 little boys put on for us.
Going to Balboa Park.
Zack rubbing my belly and telling me "baby, belly."

My 2 favorite guys at Balboa Park

Ewwwwww, gross

Last night I was making us green beans to have with dinner.  As I was washing them and cutting the ends off, my little helper says to me, "Ewwwww, gross!"

He is hilarious.

Then I got to thinking, where in the world did he learn to say things like that?  Oh yes, from his mother.  I tell him ewwww gross to things like dog poop, boogers, dirty feet and other gross things.  

According to Zack, green beans go in the same category as dog poop and boogers.  He's the best. 

Belly, belly, belly

I am now 22 weeks pregnant and have finally taken a belly picture.  Hopefully I can manage to take a few more through out the pregnancy so this child can also see what it looked like while stretching out my belly. 

I've noticed a few obstacles to documenting my "progress" this time around. 

1.  I'm pretty lazy these days.  It's hot out, a lot of days I don't bother styling my hair.  A growing belly and a messy hair-do don't make a lady feel all that pretty, so I avoid cameras.

2.  Zack.  We think he is freakishly cute and love to take pictures of him.  He, however, does not enjoy this.  So, whenever we get the camera out he furrows his brow, says "no, no, no!" and shoves his hand in the camera lens to avoid being photographed at all costs.  Often times the camera puts him in a bad mood.  Since 2 year olds can be a tiny bit moody from time to time I try and avoid doing things that I know will set him off. 

3.  I'm a teensie bit afraid to see what the belly is looking like.  It's feeling a lot bigger than it did when I was this far along with Zack.  Denial is powerful! 

However, when I compare the belly pics side by side I'm not seeing too much of a difference, at least size wise.  I think I'm a bit "rounder" this time.  Somehow with Zack my belly was sticking out, but flat.  Awkward.  I must give my compliments to my photographer, his skills have greatly improved.  2 examples, the background and the fact that I'm looking at the camera this time.  Though, looking back at other pictures of me while I was pregnant with Zack, my skin was out of control.  Acne city, much like a teenager going through puberty.  Thankfully this time I'm not quite the pimply teenager I was last time.  I guess being 30 has its benefits! 

It's pretty hard to believe that I'm already half done with this pregnancy...only about 4 months left!  November will be here before we know it. 

Running, 100 degrees and Smoking....

What do running, 100 degrees, and smoking have to do with one another??? 

It's what we saw two people doing while we were driving home from church yesterday. 

We are just cruising home in the 100+ degree heat, at 12:30, when we see runners.  2 of them.  The guy is slightly a head of the lady.  He's doing a bit of a shuffle jog.  She's doing more of a speed walk.  And she's smoking.  A cigarette.  While out for a Sunday jog. 

I told Zack they were making a poor decision, just like people who ride their bike or motorcycles without helmets are making a poor decision. 

I can maybe almost a teensie bit understand running when it's 100 out (ok, no, I can't.  That's what treadmills and running outside at 5am in the summer are for).  But I absolutely cannot comprehend smoking while running.  Well, really, smoking at all.  But while exercising??  Poor decision.

Oh to be 2!

Two year olds are hilarious.  Sometimes completely irrational, and sometimes the most logical people on the planet.  I happen to wildly love my sweetie pie 2 year old Zacky boy.  He makes me smile on a regular basis.  For example, the other morning I was making him breakfast, which really is just re-heating pancakes in the microwave.  When he heard the microwave beep he came running into the kitchen yelling "Yay!  Yay!! Pancakes!!!!"  I smiled at his joy over microwaved pancakes. 

In addition to a deep love for microwaved pancakes, he has a deep love for his blocks (legos, technically, but we call them blocks).  His love for his blocks is so deep that we sometimes have a hard time prying him away from these blocks for a nap, a meal, and for bedtime.  There have been tears involved more than one time when we have had to put these blocks away so they could go night, night.  I think I may have gotten a glimpse of how he feels about this myself, just the other day.  I had built him a pretty sweet set of stairs with his blocks.  My building skills have greatly improved over the past couple of weeks, and I was proud of how structurally sound these stairs were.  Then Zack destroyed them.  I nearly cried.  I wanted to show James my stairs when he came home from work.  Just a little glimpse of what it might feel like to be a 2 year old....