Lately

We've been happily settling into a new routine since Will got home from TDY! Look at this happy reunited family. 

Spoiler: Will probz appear on our Christmas cards.

That is, temporarily at least, until Zelie comes on the scene and we find ourselves in a new routine. Yep, fret not, I'm still pregnant. 

Here I'm 33 weeks and some change during our trip to NC a few weeks ago to visit family. I'm actually currently 36 weeks on the dot today. My girl has dropped. I was growing increasingly forlorn from the state of my Tums consumption situation, when one day Zelie dropped and almost all my heartburn disappeared. Magical. And I also have the feeling every time I bend over that I am actually crushing a baby. So lots of bending in the knees these days. 

How I feel during the day has everything to do with how well I slept the night before. I've been having lots of practice contractions and cramping already. I'm skeptical that I'll make it to my due date based on the contracting, my progress so far (see below!), and my history of gestational hypertension. I've been keeping tabs on my blood pressure and it's been slowly creeping up again. The highest reading recently was 110/85, with my diastolic reading consistently in the 80s, and so we'll see what happens there. I have a LOT less stress about having the baby this time around, so fingers crossed I can just go into labor naturally . . . a little early. ;) 

At my appointment yesterday, I was already 2.5cm dilated and 60% effaced. Pretty similar to my progress at my 36 week checkup with Will actually. I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment despite lots of ice cream and second helpings at dinner (sitting at 30 lbs gained, woot woot!), but was measuring right on track for 36 weeks. She's been moving a lot less, likely attributable to dropping, but for peace of mind, we had an ultrasound to check her fluids. We saw her puckering up and practicing her breathing. I can't wait to squish her squishy squish face.

What can I say about these two? 

It's been really great having Will back home! As far as TDYs and pregnancies go (ugh), I think the timing of this TDY was really great. I was able to get into a routine of caring for Little Will and then Husband Will returned sort of just as I was getting to the exhausting end of pregnancy. But, due to inertia, I've been able to keep up the energy to take care of Little Will all day without losing my mind or utilizing Nanny Netflix for hours upon hours on end (though he probably gets at least an hour of screen time per day… just. keeping. it. real.) I even encourage Will to go to the gym after work. This does make me feel like a hero. ;) It's the little sacrifices. 

Little Will is 21.5 months. When people ask me his age, I officially tell them "he'll be two in February" rather than "he's just over one and a half." It is an emotionally-charged and significant change.

I can see you rolling your eyes, you know.

What a joy this kid is! He's always surprising us with new words we didn't know he knew. For example, Will showed him the parts of an airplane in a photograph a week or two ago, e.g., the nose, the wings, the tail, and the propeller, and he was able to point them out to us on one of his airplane toys. The mind of a toddler is a sponge. Take another example, however: Little Will really likes to angry-shout at the dogs to sit or be quiet. Don't know where he learned that . . . . Must be from a book. 

He's a total lover lately. During playdates, he tries to give all the other kids—and their moms—hugs and kisses. It's endearing and yet paradoxical considering he has extreme separation anxiety when I try leaving him with the kind ladies he has met many times at the Y childcare playroom. 

He's beginning to outgrow his 18m sized clothes. He LOVES trains, airplanes, and cars, and has no patience for things like crafts, crayons, or chalk. But he does love books! Especially those with subject matter pertaining to dump trucks, pickup trucks, or animals of any kind. Also, due to some loving/borderline obsessive encouragement from his parents, he's obsessed with babies. We're really excited to see how he likes having a little sister live in our house! 

We pushed back his bedtime to 7:30pm because he's been waking up before 6am. So far it's helped a little, but it's been nice for extra daddy time at night. We all get to eat dinner together as a family. He's still napping a solid 1.5-2 hours a day though, so the early wake ups are a tradeoff I can live with. 

I must mention he still poops 3-4 times a day. We introduced the potty ring a few days ago after he showed that he can control his peepee before baths. Every time we put him on the potty, he eeks out a little pee, whether or not he has to go. So that's cool! We have yet to see a pooper though. Suffice it to say we are not getting rid of the diapers any time soon. But hopefully he'll just pick up on communicating when he needs to go, etc., in the next several months or so. No pressure. Promise. 

These are the details you've been missing in your life! What is the diaper status of Baby Billy Brez!? 

Anyway, we are trudging along here. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving here in IL with some neighbors due to pregnancy travel restrictions. And then Operation: Wait On Baby Zelie really commences. 

Indian Summer

The last few days have seen me utterly absent from the Internet thanks to gorgeous Fall weather with highs in the 80s. Little Will and I are both over the sickies of the past three weeks, so we've been really milking these unseasonably warm Illinois days while they last. 

We've been spending most of Little Will's waking hours outside. And while I love a cute Fall outfit as much as the next basic blogger, I would never wish away this gorgeous weather. I prefer pants on my toddler to be optional at all times. 

Besides, you can STILL bake all the pumpkin treats even when it's 80 degrees and you are reluctantly cranking the A/C. 

"WOWWWWW," he said, upon stacking the measuring cups neatly. Also, belly button. 

These muffins (with plain water rather than milk because we were out; still delicious). These cookies (with less than a full cup of pumpkin and about 3/4 the full cup of granulated sugar; still delicious). 

Ever since reading St. John Paul the Great: His Five Loves, I've been a little obsessed with St. John Paul II. (Quick and dirty review: the book lacks a little flow. In other words, it's not all that well organized and could use some heavy editing. I think I heard it was thrown together quickly for St. JPII's canonization. BUT! I really enjoyed reading it and still highly recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about this legendary saint.) ANYWAY, after lots of prayers for a just outcome and merely a couple days after telling Will how much I REALLY REALLY LOVE St. JPII, we find out on his feast day: no more trial next month. I really think it was a sign he was looking out for me. Or not, fine, but I love him. 

I'm currently waiting for the word "GO" from Will on whether to start dinner. (Dinner #2 for me, don't worry). That's right, TDY is officially over in about ONE HOUR. Hence, all the baking. This TDY was okay. Still definitely preferred over fourth trimester TDYs. In fact, the first week was a breeze, the middle three weeks were pretty awful, but this past week of Indian summer was again pretty easygoing. I'm looking forward to lots of family time and bing able to cook a meal without this happening. 

Are we the only ones who hoard TV cables?

I won't hold my breath or anything. 

Days Like Today

Sometimes life hands you a tub full of turds.

Today was one of those days.

Literally.

And, alas, we Snapchat it to all our (9, I think I have about 9) friends, thus that we may laugh to keep from crying!

Or something.

I'm tired.

This was just after he climbed into the tub filling with water still donning his diaper. I digress.

… 

I discovered yesterday that Little Will has an ear infection on top of all the cold/cough crud. He'd been rubbing his left ear for a few days and then yesterday I really noticed the drainage. (This is his second ear infection since getting ear tubes in July. He hasn't even had his follow-up appointment yet, people!) 

Anyway, so that's some more joyful news. 

This morning, I spent hours on the phone with NetGear and Charter trying to get our Internet/Wifi situation sorted out. I was feeling pretty high and mighty after canceling cable - (WHO NEEDS CABLE ANYWAY? NOT ME SUCKAS) - and of course the Internet goes out and all Hell breaks loose. 

We have the scars to prove it: 

I mean WHATEVER IT TAKES. I can't have you being mesmerized by the blinky router lights and tapping at the laptop keyboard when I am on the phone with the nice Indian lady with customer service.

I still didn't get it working until about 20 minutes ago. I only used approx. 5 out of our 10 gigs of Verizon data in the meantime. (We FaceTime a LOT.)

The big highlight of our day was that Will had cupcakes delivered to our front door! Six of them! Two Oreos, one red velvet, a cookie dough, a pumpkin cheesecake, and a funfetti to be exact. I won't tell you which ones we had for dinner.

So all in all, it will be just fine! I just might keep bathing Will in a different tub until I get the gusto to do some bathroom disinfecting. 

Survivalists

You know what's my favorite? Spending an hour and a half of PRECIOUS PRECIOUS NAP TIME attempting/failing to fix a Wifi router. The fact that Will has been napping for over an hour is already a big win, so we'll just hunker down here next to the modem and see what we can tap out for you today as I ignore the periodic whimper from the baby monitor.

The big news 'round here is that Little Will has been fighting a cold. He was pretty pathetic over the weekend. We were in all out survival mode. 

Pulling into the church parking lot on Sunday. The agony of a ruined nap!

He was pretty out of it Saturday and Sunday, but ever since, it's really only been affecting his sleep. 5am wake ups and really short naps, same bedtime. Other than that, at least since Monday, he is basically his normal energetic self, just with extra phlegm. Don't ask him to wipe his nose with a tissue either. It's mom's legs, mom's belly, or mom's face only, please and thank you.

The lack of sleep has been pretty overwhelming for me. I was out like a light at 8pm last night, I'm proud to say. And meals over the weekend resembled:

Freakin' gourmet.

But I did manage to get some snuggles and smiles from the toddler-in-residence despite serving him non-meals.

Look at that squish face.

What's MOST interesting is that [husband] Will was also in survival mode over the weekend. Our lives are practically the same right now! (TDY countdown - we are HALFWAY through!)

Manly hiking.

Manly camp site food. 

He and two new SOS buddies went on a weekend camping trip at a campsite in Alabama. He was really excited because these guys were real outdoorsman types, SERES trained Air Force pilots. MILITARY GRADE. MUSCLES. MANLY MEN!

SERE stands for: 

SURVIVAL!

EVASION! 

RESISTANCE!

ESCAPE! 

I think Will went into it (or at least I did) thinking that they would kill their own food, wrestle mountain lions, etc. Come to find out they were most expertly Air Force trained in the escape part of the course. After a little rain made it difficult to start a fire Saturday morning, I get this snap:

They escaped right on over the their local Cracker Barrel. 

I don't know what Bear Grylls' reaction would be, but I'd say these guys are pretty well trained on the ins and outs of "survival mode." Well done, boys. Well done. 

One way or another, we're all just surviving!

7 Quickies

1// I'm 29 weeks today, so that's cool. 

I actually had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago because they didn't get a good enough look at Zelie's heart at her 20-week scan. Everything looked great. Head down. The tech even let us FaceTime Will in since we used the whole "he's away for military duty" thing, which was awesome. I love technology. 

My weight gain has slowed considerably since I started trying to eat healthier (I even lost a few pounds, which prompted a trip to Starbucks for a blueberry scone). I'm still only slightly behind how much I'd gained at 29 weeks with Boog, when we'd just moved to STL. Crazy. (I have heard before that time flies when you're having babies. It's true.)

2// The disruption in Little Will's routine by going to daycare is really messing with his sleep. (Or at least that's what I hope is all it is, which means that he'll be back to normal TOMORROW. Yes?) Ever since Tuesday he's been fighting bedtime at night and waking up over an hour earlier than usual. Obviously, this means he will snuggle in for some extra sleep in bed with me. Because toddlers love that. At least that's the lie I've told myself for four straight mornings.

Why does he insist on wedging himself between me and my precious body pillow? WHY?

This morning, after getting kicked in the face numerous times for about an hour, I had finally, somehow dozed off. I was awakened by the sound of Curious George. My little man had slithered out of bed, found the Amazon Fire Stick remote, and turned on cartoons. 

These are LIFE SKILLS, people. (You just push the center button of the remote twice to play what had been on previously, but still.) I got to lay in bed for a few more minutes while he stood there making monkey sounds at the television.

3// But honestly, he may be starting to develop a problem. It's like a flip switched and now ALL he wants is TV.

This TV takes a little more work to get to George. Sorry. Also, you're holding it upside down.

4// Just a small problem, right?

He asks for "choo-choo?!" (Thomas the Train) or "ooo-ooo-ahh-ahh?!" (Curious George) approx. 50 times a day, but I'll be grateful for it when baby #2 comes I'm sure. 

5// So we canceled cable and we're saving $80 a month. We hope that between Netflix, Amazon Prime streaming, and various apps, we can avoid paying for cable forevermore. (I've also heard Sling TV is a great option for streaming sports and such.) Any college football fans have tips for streaming games? 

6// My friend, Julia, wrote a post about welcoming baby #2 which sums up basically all my feelings on the subject. I mean, if I had time and mental energy to think about the subject ;) She is only a couple weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy, and she also has a son named Will and they are about the same age. Essentially we are the same person in all the important ways, so click on over. 

7// Will's boss called to check up on me yesterday because he's TDY. I'm pretty sure this phone call is in the commander's manual or something, because I remember getting a similar call when Will was away at JAG School (different boss). They just call and ask how things are going, if there's anything you need, etc. I always politely say I've got things under control, but next time I'm going to ask for someone to come over and pick up dog poop from our back yard. As a joke. Unless they say yes. THEY'D HAVE TO SAY YES, RIGHT?  

Have a great poop-free weekend, everyone. 

Linking up for the first time with Kelly since she started hosting!

TDY Cheaters

TDYs are the worst. TDY = Temporary Duty . . . one of the few military acronyms I actually know. I went to a neighborhood playdate with other military spouses and I was definitely the only mom who missed the memo with all the acronyms. 

Neither here nor there!

TDYs seem to be especially horrendous when they are more than two weeks. Something about remaining under the two week mark makes them much more reasonable. Will has been gone for a little over a week. For what it's worth, I'd 100 times over take a long TDY third trimester with a toddler (who's a good sleeper!) than fourth trimester with a newborn (who's a bad sleeper). Any day. But it's still been a rough go to spend all your waking hours with an irrational little human. 

Our demeanors, 65% of the time. PS - find us on snapchat: theresabreslin.

The TDY is one of the pinnacles of "motherhood martyrdom." I have yet to experience a deployment, but at least then you feel lots of concern and sympathy for your spouse, who will typically be working exceptionally long hours in uncomfortable quarters in dangerous locations, etc. etc. But the TDY. At least in my experience, it means short days of lectures/exercises, plenty of "team-building" (e.g., ultimate frisbee, barbecues, and drinks out) with various colleagues, and lots of Netflix streaming. And if you're lucky, an absurd amount of FaceTiming with your wife ;) It is really easy to let yourself feel resentful if you're not careful and grounded. By staying grounded I mean stress eating pumpkin muffins obviously.

But that's beside the point, because we're cheating this time. Yep, little Will is going to daycare all week. 

The Child Development Center (aka the CDC - sad choice of acronym) has hourly care available if a classroom slot is open. It's a fantastic option at only $5 per hour, plus it's an environment with which Will is already very familiar as it's where he went full-time from 12 months to 18 months old. I knew I would probably need this option if I wanted to get any work done from home. (I really did have more energy for it when Will was an infant - go figure.) So, I called the CDC on Friday to see if they had any open slots for the next two weeks and ...

Nope. 

But then later that day I got a call telling me that Monday and Tuesday had opened up. I just had to gather some new paperwork and he'd be all set.

And thennnn . . . 

Yesterday morning after dropping him off I get a call that the rest of the week had opened up. If I took the whole week I would only pay the discounted weekly rate.

Well, twist my arm whydoncha?

So, William is currently at daycare, as he will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. I am able to furiously bill hours and hopefully get this project out of the way before tackling trial prep for my pro bono case. (Oh, have I not mentioned that I have a federal pro bono trial scheduled for when I'm 35.5 weeks pregnant? No? Let me remedy that now. I have a federal trial for which I am sole counsel scheduled one month before my due date. Hooray!) And then after that maybe I can tackle prep for the next little human that will join our family. 

One thing at a time.