WEEKEND AT THE BEACH

Jake and I have been dying to take Luke to the beach this summer before Kate arrives. The beach is about 2.5 hours away, so it's a long trip to do just for a day. Fortunately we were invited by some friends to join them and a few other families that we're friends with, at their beach holiday condo for the weekend. We drove to the coast Friday, and left again Saturday at dinner time. It was such a fun weekend. 

Friday, we kinda did our own thing, because everyone was arriving at different times during the day.
We decided to go to Fort Macon, and old civil war fort right on the beach.
It was very interesting to look at, and although we were all hot, sweaty messes, it was fun for us to see.
After Fort Macon, we took Luke to a little mini golf place near the condo.
They have a little train there that rides you to the first hole. Luke loved the train.
The actual game of mini golf was interesting. We paid $18 to play the 18 holes, which turned out to be a race to see who could hit a ball - any ball... even remotely close to a hole before Luke snatched it up and put it in the hole by hand. LOL... There were no rules, no score keeping, and every round turned out to be a hole in one. LOL

FORT MACON

MINI GOLF

Saturday, we spent the morning relaxing in the condo, hanging out with everyone, and then we headed down to the beach. The condo literally sits right on the beach, with a full view of the ocean, so all we had to do was head down stairs and walk over the walk way onto the sand... sooo convenient.

I've been burning really easily this summer (pregnancy maybe?) and I'm not feeling very comfortable in the heat at the moment, so I spent our time at the beach chilling out under a gazebo tent, with the ocean breeze keeping me cool. Luke and Jake played in the sand. Jake was really trying hard to build a sandcastle, but to Luke it was just a fun game of smashing castles. LOL
After the beach, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool...nice and refreshing after the sand and salt of the beach.

 Daddy trying to build a castle

 2 towers up...

 Here comes the 'godzilla'

 Getting the 3rd tower up...

 Godzilla is nearly there...

And 'SMASH'...

 A defeated daddy... lol

 And I triumphant 2 year old... :)

 Chilling with a snack

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It was a really fun weekend, and we're so glad that we were able to go...
We all arrived home EXHAUSTED... Luke slept in until 10:30am this morning and then went down for a 3 hour nap again just after 2pm. LOL... we vacationed him into a coma on our little weekend away.
I hope he had a great time. Hopefully we can do a few more fun things with him this summer before little sister Kate comes and demands some extra attention for a while :)

27 WEEKS

One more week until the 3rd trimester... then it's the final stretch until Baby Kate makes her appearance.

I had another Drs appointment on Monday to check on her, and everything is going well.
I had to have the glucose tolerance test, which involves drinking a bottle of sickly sweet glucose, followed by a blood test an hour later... I can't say it's a pleasant experience drinking pure sugar first thing in the morning.
Kate was on a sugar high for a few hours... she wriggled, and kicked like crazy after I drank the Glucola.

I haven't gained nearly as much weight this pregnancy as I did with Luke... well at least so far.
I'm hoping that I can keep things under control and avoid another 18kg (39lb) pregnancy... especially since I never did lose all of the weight I gained with Luke.

I think Kate will be smaller than Luke was. My belly seems to look a bit smaller this time, and when Dr Chandler measured me on Monday, I was measuring 1 week smaller than I was, so I think she's just going to be petite... well here's hoping at least. LOL :)

Tomorrow we're heading to the beach for an overnight trip, which we're really excited about, and then next week, Jake has 2 weeks off work, which will be when we get stuck in getting ready for my moms visit and Kate's arrival.

It's starting to get really hot now, which can be quite uncomfortable for me at times, but I'm really glad that I'm feeling so much better than I did with Luke. It has made such a difference, especially when I have had to keep up with a toddler this time. I hope Luke loves his little sister when she comes :)

FUNNY AND SWEET MOMENTS

Since my less than happy blog post on Sunday, we've had some good moments, and some bad moments, but I think Luke has sensed that his mommy needed a break, because for the most part, he has been a bit easier the last 3 days.

He's cracked me up a few times this week, so I thought I'd share a few of his sweet and funny moments.

On Monday morning, we all had a bit of a sleep in. Jake didn't have to be at work until 9am because he was working later that day due to a conference call to Japan, so we lay in a bit, and even Luke didn't wake up until 8am. Luke however has a very active bladder at night and despite us using thicker, overnight diapers, he often will still leak through by morning, just because of the quantity of pee in his diaper.
Anyway, I went into his room at 8am when he woke up, and I checked his sheets, and of course, they were wet... my response, "ah Crap" (it was only like the gazillionth time I've changed his sheets)... Luke who barely says any words at all, copied my exclamation with an attempt at, "ah Crap", sounding something like, "Ah Cra"
Yes, I shouldn't have laughed at my cursing child, but he caught me by such surprise, especially given his lack of vocabulary and it was pretty funny... so Jake and I both had a chuckle. I guess I need to start working on watching my own mouth. LOL

Monday, to my absolute joy turned out to be a much needed pleasant day with Luke... after my blog post on Sunday, and how much I was dreading the new week, I really appreciated his sweet, funny temperament while we ran errands together and hung out at home.

Yesterday, Luke walked into the living room with only a diaper on cos I hadn't dressed him yet. He must have realised for the first time ever that there was something in his diaper, because he proceeded to stick his finger into the leg of his diaper and then pull it out and look at the poop on his finger... when he realised it wasn't anything pleasant, he looked at me and started to cry. LOL...

A couple hours later I got out the shower, only to find Luke rinsing his toothbrush (that had toothpaste on it) in my drinking water glass... Kids are SO gross. LOL

Today we had a fun day at the park, followed by a MEGA nap... the longest nap Luke has taken in forever... of course, after such a huge nap, he woke up chirpy as can be. It was already 5pm so I asked him if he was hungry and wanted dinner... he got all giddy, ran into the kitchen where he got a bowl out of the cupboard and handed it to me for his dinner.. he then went and patiently waited at the table with his arms folded so we could bless the food and eat... I love that he is so sweet about blessing his food before he eats :)

Another quirk Luke has is his movie selection antics... Luke likes to watch DVD's, but when we allow him to watch one he likes to pick it out himself, and then put it into the DVD player and press play himself too.
However, what should be a 2 minute job of getting a movie on, usually takes us 10 minutes, because Luke sits on the floor pulling out one DVD at a time, and then meticulously looks over the characters on the cover, opens it up and stares at the DVD a while, and then puts it back on the shelf, just to pick another one and do the exact same thing. FINALLY, he'll decide on one and we'll get it started. We've learned to just let him be, because while he is 'deciding', there is no convincing him which one to watch. LOL.. he'll decide when he's ready.

Not anything funny or sweet, but I have taken Lukes bed guard rail off of his bed and for the past 2 nights and 2 nap times he has slept on his big bed without the rail to keep him from falling off. With how frequently I have to change his sheets, it was just a really big pain with the rail on, and it's also quite high which was getting uncomfortable for me with my growing belly, when I had to lean over it to put Luke into bed if he had already fallen asleep in the car etc.
So far, he has done really well... 4 sleeps in the bed with no falls yet...

Hopefully the rest of the week will continue to be an improvement from the last few weeks.

PUSHING THROUGH THE STRUGGLES

Funny how so often your greatest Joy, is also your greatest challenge.
PARENTHOOD...
I love being a mom, and I love my little boy so so much and it has by far been the greatest joy in my life to be a parent, but that doesn't mean that it has been easy. In fact, it's been far from that.

I know I've said this before, and some people probably think I'm being silly, but Luke is not an easy child.
My mom and dad always told me that I was a challenging toddler. I was apparently sweet as pie when we were out and with other people, but I was a complete monster child who made my mom cry when we were at home.
Luke I suppose has inherited my 'challenging child' genes.

He is such a social boy.. he loves to play with other kids, and be out doing different things. When we're out, he is usually quite a pleasure - if we're doing something fun of course... shopping and errands don't constitute as fun.
I was also an extremely social child, and I lacked all ability to entertain myself... I required constant attention, which is exactly how Luke is.

We're going through a particularly challenging phase with him right now, and I think Jake and I are both mentally and physically exhausted from trying to keep up. Our patience has been tried, and stretched and has reached the limit. We have exhausted all our ideas, and are feeling like we're at our wits end with our little monkey.

Before I was a mom... and even after having Luke but before he realised he had an opinion about everything, I would see other parents with their challenging kids, and think, "What is wrong with those kids.. and why are the parents allowing them to be such monsters?"... I've very quickly begun to eat my words, and realise, that it's not always a lack of parenting or bad parenting that makes for challenging children... I think some children just really are that way... I know my mom was a good mom, and my two siblings were pretty ok toddlers, but despite me receiving the same parenting as them,  I was her challenging child.

Jake and I have really tried to get through to Luke, and not allow certain behaviors, but he is so stubborn, and so strong willed, and often nothing we do will change his pattern of behavior. I suppose much of it is 'terrible twos' and him discovering his preferences and opinions about things... all a part of growing up I guess, but no less challenging to deal with as a parent.

Right now Luke's most regular behaviors include constant screaming, and endless tantrums.
Part of it is frustration about his limited communication skills, and part of it is him just not able to accept 'NO' when Jake or I won't give him his way.
Much of my week while Jake is at work is spent enduring endless amounts of Luke screaming at me... it may seem silly to feel 'hurt' by attacks from a 2 year old, but I frequently feel worn down, tired and at my wits end after multiple hours or days of enduring his screaming at me. I try really hard to learn his needs and wants, so that he doesn't act out in frustration... but even so, sometimes I won't give in to his wants (like his 3rd cookie) and that results in a tantrum and screaming session all on it's own.

I'm exhausted, and sad that right now my life as a stay at home mom makes me feel miserable. I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom, and I know that eventually we'll get past this phase with Luke, but for now the struggles with him make me dread each day that I have to tackle alone. I want to be a happy mom, and I want to love every minute I get to spend with my wonderful little boy... and it makes me feel extremely guilty that I don't feel that way at the moment, but I'm just at a loss for what else I can do to make all of our lives more pleasant, and easier.

I'm so grateful for my son, and for the baby girl that will join us soon.
My life really is richly blessed by my family, and I do very much know that... but that doesn't make my challenges and struggles right now as a mom any easier, and it makes me sad!

BLESSINGS AND GRATITUDE

Over the last few weeks, small but significant things have been happening in my day to day life that have been constant reminders of how richly blessed I am.
The little things have sometimes been as simple as something someone has said, or a thought that popped into my head, but I've been thinking a lot lately about how wonderful my life is.

Life isn't always easy. We all have our challenges and trials, some harder than others, and each person or families challenges are specific to them.
I've really begun to realise though that a 'glass half full' or 'glass half empty' attitude can make the world of difference to how you perceive those challenges and blessings. It's so easy to get stuck in the hardships, and overlook what great things are right there in front of you.

Jake found out yesterday that there will be a week of 'furlough' in July (Mandatory unpaid leave when the company shuts down for a period of time due to financial difficulty etc)
When he came home and told me, I was relieved... relieved, because a couple months ago, there had been talk of the furlough being 1-2 MONTHS, not just a week.
We knew how much that would hurt our income, and I'm just so grateful that it is only 1 week at this point. Yes, 1 week less of pay next month will make our budget tighter, and eliminate the option for the overnight trip to the beach we had hoped to do with Luke... BUT... it's just one WEEK... not a month or two. And we have a great back yard, with fun toys for Luke, and a cute little sprinkler... put some burgers on the grill, and we can have a great week of family vacation right here in our own back yard... I plan to enjoy every minute of that unpaid week, because we'll have a week of family time, to spend with Luke and each other before Kate arrives and things get a little crazy.

Often I look around my home and think about the things I'd like to be able to buy.. furniture, decor items, carpeting etc etc... but then I've learned to take another look around my house, just to realise how much I actually already have... we have EVERYTHING we need... we have a comfortable home, and my family's needs are all taken care of. I am grateful for my hard working husband, and that we never have to worry about diapers for our kids, or food on the table. We may not have money for vacations or expensive luxuries, but our primary physical needs are met. I don't know if things will always be like this, but I am grateful that at least for now, our needs are comfortably met, and we have sufficient for our family.

I am also grateful for how wonderful my family is... I have the best husband on the planet...
He is honest, kind, considerate of all my needs, patient, strong and the most wonderful, hands on father I could ever have asked for. There is nothing that I can do as a mother, than Jake can't also do...
I love my adorable, healthy, active little boy. He sure keeps us on our toes, but we are so blessed to have him in our lives. He is smart, and oh so funny and we just enjoy watching and helping him learn and grow. I know he'll be a wonderful big brother to Kate. My family is perfect for me :)
I am also so grateful for our fertility. We haven't had to endure struggles to get pregnant, and although my pregnancies aren't always a breeze, I am mostly healthy through them, and so are my babies. Kate is growing big and strong, and will be just one more HUGE blessing in our lives.
I'm also grateful that we have such extended family... what a wonderful support system we have. There is never a shortage of people to call, for advice or even just a chat to share in the events of our lives. :)

Not everything about our lives is easy...we have our share of trials, but I like to think that my glass is always half full, and getting fuller...
My life is good and I hope that no matter what happens in the future, that I will always be able to recognize that.