Christmas Lights Galore...

Aidan and I were on our way back from swimming class on Monday night and we were admiring the many houses already ablaze with Christmas lights and decorations. And then we saw it. The Griswold house. It is a house that already stands out in our town - a polish villa style mansion complete with turrets lost in a sea of traditional colonials. But during the Christmas season, this house could be seen from space. It had lights blinking on every available surface, lit reindeer suspended as if in flight, spinning trees glittering with every color light of the rainbow and lots n' lots of lit up plastic figurines - from Santa to Frosty. Oh - and did I mention the plastic life size manger scene?

We had to pull over to give the decorations our full attention. After a full minute or two of silence, Aidan asks me with awe in his voice, "Mom, do you think Santa lives there?"

Aidan and Brennan all dressed up to munch on some turkey...

Aidan was determined to capture his amazing jumping skills on camera. (Great camera work by Chris!)

No Thanksgiving Turkey Baby...

I really believed that we would have a Thanksgiving baby. Really, truly believed (and was happy about it!) that I would eat my turkey and stuffing within the walls of Children's Hospital. I even packed my bag. But, no baby. Not even a smidgen of a sign (beyond my beached whale appearance), that a baby arrival is imminent.

So, two ultrasounds, a fetal stress test, two doctor's appointments - and the conclusion? Let's give it a week and see what's going on. Grrrrr.

Good news? This has allowed us to deck the halls at our family home. The lights are twinklin' outside. The wreaths are gracing our windows. The tree is up and waiting to be decorated this evening. I even wrapped gifts last night! The only catch? The sixty plus degree sunshiny weather outside. Where is my snow?

I may POP already!

I am beyond ready to have this baby. BEYOND ready. No, the clothes are not all washed. I still have Christmas shopping to do and gifts to wrap. The hospital bag is not packed. The baby's room is a mess, but I need to have this baby. NOW.

My belly has reached epic proportions. Instead of annoying people asking me if I am expecting twins (this stopped being funny three months ago), someone asked me on Friday if I was expecting triplets. After she asked, this complete stranger laughed in a good natured way that had me imagining if anyone could actually blame me if I had hauled off and smacked her. Just once.

I have outgrown 95% of my maternity clothes. If it was not for my beloved black Gap stretch pants and turtleneck sweater (that I wear every day! EVERY DAY!), I'd be taking the kids out while I was in my pjs.

My bed looks like something from Princess and the Pea. In order to get any sleep, I have slowly added padding upon padding to my side of the bed. This has included a mattress pad, a rolled up down comforter and an extra thick foam cover. My poor husband sleeps three feet below me on his "side" of the bed. (I use the term "side" in its most liberal sense - as he currently gets about two inches to park himself and must use his own blankets lest he dare disturb my carefully constructed sleeping system.)

And speaking of sleep - of which I get none - I am awake every hour. Every hour. When nursing a newborn every two to three hours starts to sound like a blissful vacation, it's time to have the baby. IT'S TIME. (An almost amusing sidenote, besides bathroom trips, baby kicks and hip pain waking me up all night long, I have also started to wake myself up with my OWN snoring. Yep. My own snoring is so loud that I can not even sleep through it. Sigh.)

I can no longer see anything beyond the belly. After an ultrasound last week, Chris informed me that I had icky gel all over the top of my pants. But no matter how I turned or contorted my body, I just couldn't see it. He finally took pity upon me and cleaned me up as best he could.

And then I rewarded him with a hormonal break down to rival all other pyscho moments where I yelled and screamed that we had to get a bed for Brennan now or else! Are we planning on moving Brennan out of the crib and into a bed in the next few weeks? Um, well, no. But it is just one thing that I had in my head that we MUST ABSOLUTELY DO OR I CAN NOT HAVE ANOTHER BABY SO JUST DO IT OR I WILL EXPLODE. And do it now. Please. (I didn't really say please, but I did say thank you when he brought the bed home several hours later.)

I have another ultrasound tomorrow and a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. If I could get down on my knees and beg for an induction, I would. But I have a feeling that I would never be able to get up off the floor again.

Life with a Two Year Old Exhibitionist

Brennan's new favorite phrase? "I git nikkid".

Translation for those without toddlers at home - "I get naked."

He usually shouts it out as he makes an attempt to undress himself at home, at the YMCA or even at Dave and Busters smack dab in front of a giant television screen during the middle of a Bills game. (That one raised quite a few guffaws along with some raised eyebrows.) The boy just wants to be naked. And in the middle of winter no less. He's a hearty soul.

COLD STONE as a personality test?

We took the boys for ice cream at Cold Stone on Sunday. As I explained to the boys that they could pick one "mix in" for their ice cream, they watched me very seriously. They both walked up and down the line examining each mix in available.

Aidan was overwhelmed and immediately began his deliberations. Should he go for the white chocolate chips? The marshmallows? Chocolate chunks? Lots of choices, lots of choices.

Brennan walked by each mix in once. He stopped at the jar of m&ms , looked up at me and declared: "I want that." After the ice cream server mixed it all up and handed it to me, Brennan looked around the shop, pointed to an empty table and said: "And I go sit."

And off he went to get himself comfortable at a table where he could dive right into his ice cream. Aidan? Still deliberating.

Love, Lots of Love...

I love Buffalo. I love living here and I just wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I love the city and its quirky neighborhoods. I love the hockey (GO SABRES!) and even the football. I love the theater and museums. And the restaurants - mmm, the restaurants! We like to eat in Buffalo and it shows. From the eclectic gourmet of Left Bank to a good ol' fashioned chicken finger sub - you just can't beat it.

I love my little slice of suburbia that my husband has dubbed "whoville" just twenty minutes away from well, anything. I love the town dance, the ice cream social, toddler times and even holiday caroling.

I love the four seasons here. The damp smell of spring with blossoming trees. The euphoria that summer brings - trips to the beach or pool, outdoor concerts and a new festival every weekend. The crispness of fall surrounded by autumn colors. And the winters. I even love the snow.

I love the people. The genuine kindness of Buffalonians combined with a sense that we are all merely separated by one or two degrees. A city with a small town heart.

I have lived from coast to coast - from Oregon to Connecticut with a few stops in between. I live in Buffalo because I chose to live here. It is and always will be, home. I truly believe Buffalo is one of the best kept secrets and I like it that way.

But what I love most about living here - is that I am blessed to live among my family, surrounded by a bevy of cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents.

Last night, we all came together to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. As I watched my family laugh together, revel in each other, I felt blessed. And as my cousins, age ten through sixteen, took turns pressing their hands up against my belly to feel the baby move and those hands were joined by that of my mother, and lastly my grandmother, I gave a silent prayer of thanks for living here and for loving Buffalo.

Maternity Leave, Maternity Leave, Oh How I Love Thee...

Yesterday was my official last day at work for six whole months. SIX MONTHS! I love me some maternity leave. While the actual extraction from work was certainly not easy - and led to lots of stress, a few contractions and even a nice migraine, my first day of maternity leave and the sigh of relief it provides with the promise of some actual relaxation makes it all worth it.

Big Sigh. Now I just need to have this baby. But not until I get all my Christmas shopping done, my gifts wrapped, a few things baked, my house clean and organized, baby clothes put away and my hair highlighted. Hmmm - did I just say something about relief and relaxation? Yeah, sure.

Oh Baby...

Random baby on the way moments with my two adorable little boys.

Brennan has taken to lifting my shirt to gaze at my rather large pregnant belly. After a moment, he gives the belly a nice pat and says "Ha ma baby" (toddlerease for "Hi My Baby.") He then puts my shirt down and gives the belly another nice little pat. I have also caught him pulling up his own shirt and gazing at his own cute lil' pot belly while he gives it a poke and says "Baby?"

Chris and I think we may have a name for our third little boy. But as we are still not a hundred percent certain, we decided to keep the name to ourselves for now. We ran the entire list of names currently under consideration by Aidan and he enthusiastically picked the same name that was the front runner. The next day, we found out Aidan shared our name selection with both Chris's parents and my mom. When, laughing, I asked him about keeping the name a secret, he grudgingly admitted that he also told all his friends at school, his teachers and one of his cousins. And that is what a preschooler can do with information in a 24 hour span of time. It also reminds me that within 24 hours of my taking the pregnancy test with this baby number three, Aidan's entire school knew the results. Apparently, Aidan even walked his teacher through how the "two lines on the stick means my mom is having a baby". There is no such thing as privacy when you are the parent to a preschooler.

Batman and Superman Trick or Treat and Live to Tell the Tale...




While Aidan could barely contain his joy over the unlimited candy promised by trick or treating, Brennan was not convinced. His foray into trick or treating lasted for all of one house after which he started yelling at his father in broken toddler english "I wanna ma momma" repeatedly until Chris brought him home. He perked right up, though, when he realized that he could have candy, his mom, and an adoring public who came right to his very own door. Why deal with that whole trick or treating thing anyway?




Despite a little rain, soggy feet and lots of mud, Aidan pronounced the night a success. He is adamant that his secret identity is secure because no one recognized him behind his mask.





My Little Superheros...