Baby Lucas update { Week 29

Wow…29 weeks!

Look at that belly…
now granted this pic was last weekend but since I have been addicted to cucumber salad, fried green tomatoes, squash, berries and any other kindof fruit or veggie I am craving…
I have gained zero pounds in the last 3 weeks according to my home scale.  The docs scale may tell a different story?  Doubtful though.
So the belly is just straight out there these days.  As most of my friends seem to exclaim “Your all belly!  Couldn’t even tell till you turned around!” .  I have my suspicions they are probably lying…God Bless them.  Oh and I had my bank tellers all going nuts this week with “WTH!! When did that happen!!  We just saw you like 2 weeks ago and had no idea!”  Personally I think they were just keeping my banking business…smart gals Oh and yes…I know my bank tellers by name and we gab often about not much of much…cause I have never met a stranger…so it wasn’t an awkward thing but they definitely had me laughing and telling them they were totally kissing up and to keep it up cause they are so on my good list.

Adam was alot of belly to till the end when I was all swollen all over from the heat…Haley was up way high in my ribs and definitly more “around” but I also only gained the same like 10lbs or so I seem to be doing with Lucas.  I really have to give that credit to the never ending heartburn and contractions though.  It is hard to eat anything “heavy” with such things going on.  I find I eat no more, and possibly even less, than before I got pregnant.  The heat helps nothing as well.  It was nice to be back in regular clothes though with Haley within a few weeks so maybe I will get that with Lucas as well?  I wasn’t a petite little thing to begin with…not technically “over weight” but not tiny either.

The kids had a great time with Aunt Amber last week in Cleveland and Daryl and I took the time to start the baby room…
I am going to let you in on our big family secret.
We had taken Haley’s old room and been stuffing stuff in it for the better part of a year…and just closing the door.
I know we can’t be the only family in the world with a room that has ended up as the “storage room” of sorts?
Oh please I hope not…
Cause that room was flat up embarrassing.  Like something out of an episode of “Hoarders” or something!
Our house though is not that big.  We have five us living in 2500 square feet….
Which, don’t get me wrong, is a nice size home!  We love it!
NOT complaining!
We just have 5 of us already, soon to be 6, and this house has ZERO storage space…what’s up with that?
Oh and don’t forget the 2 dogs, 2 cats, 1 hamster and 1 bunny…it is a zoo over here

Somehow we always make it work though and this house is such a great home filled with lots of love and that is all I care about.
Except Lucas really would like his own room.
So I hope you guys read all of that before you see this before picture…LOL!
Here it is…
you ready…
I am holding my head in hoarder shame…

Ok now that my dirty laundry is all out there for the world to see…
I shall redeem myself by stating that this room in NO way looks anything like the rest of our house.
No hoarding anywhere else…
except maybe the halfway messy garage that is also doubling as storage from time to time.

But look!!
We painted and got it all cleaned up!

Lucas will not have to deal with a pink and purple butterfly room!
He even has a crib!
Now granted we had the great debate of “So do we use our drop side crib or not?!”
The news will have you believe that if you put your baby in a drop side crib they will die instantly.
Some huge number of babies are hurt in their crib each year..both drop side and not.
So we decide the first two kiddos survived it
and after all the stats on deaths from strollers and even grocery carts each year are high as well.
We shall simply make sure the darn thing is put together correctly.
Like we did with the first two.

So onto the next biggest debate we keep hearing about….
Bumper pads or no bumper pads?
Final decision was bumper pad in the big crib since he really won’t use this crib till 4-6 months.
He will no doubt be beside us in Haley’s old cradle.
We are co-sleepers around this joint basically and it just works best for our family.
No bumper will be in the cradle

and then there is the whole “Starting from scratch” thing.
We haven’t had a baby in this house in 9 years.
We had nothing.
But my mother taught me how to do one thing VERY well.
Yardsale.
Look…I hear my friends who are buying all of the newest…latest, greatest baby gear.
I have had friends say things like “Oh I could never put my baby in hand me downs.  I only want new things for them!”
Here is the thing…Lucas is #3.
This means if we know anything at all it is that he will be in an outfit 2 seconds before he is onto the next size.
Why spend $20 on 1 outfit when I can go to a yard sale and find him 20 barely used outfits for $20 bucks?
This closet here…this one full of baby clothes.
Nice clothes…(cause I am uber picky)
No stains…many still have tags!
All these baby clothes and the drawers….and the baby toys…
Grand total isn’t more than $40 bucks.
I have been slowly collecting 0-12 month items since April.

of course he will need more but this is a great start!
I just can’t get into spending hundreds of dollar on brand new sparkly things that will stay that way…
cause babies just don’t ruin things like older kids do…lol!
Of course there are a few favorite things we are starting to collect and family members are starting to bring in.
Jill and her mom picked this up for Lucas…so cute!

Oh and I love this one…lol!

See this swing…

Yep that is a swing that was selling at Babies R Us for like $169…
I paid $20 from a dad in our neighborhood who’s baby…hated it.
Barely used…took the seat cover off and washed it in the washing machine.
Just because.
His baby wasn’t even old enough to hold up her neck yet.
No way had she even drooled on any of the toys.
The money we saved can then go to more important things…like diapers…lol!

and finally….what makes me all teary…
the kids added in their favorite stuffed animals that friends and family gave them when they were babies.

At the end of the day…I think it was hard on us to let go of the old room.
I suppose that is what “hoarding” is all about?  Finding it hard to “let go” of things.
Mainly because it was putting an end to a chapter with Adam and Haley where they were “the babies”.
We have loved every minute with them.
Painting over walls with Haley coloring marks and taking down Adams old bed and selling it…
Sigh….it goes too fast.
Too fast.

Seems like just yesterday we took shifts in this room trying to get little Haley to sleep…
nursing illnesses and nightmares…
playing barbies and Pet Shops.
All things in the past now I suppose.
Moments we will never have again.
Memories to last a lifetime though.
She has moved on and considers herself “to old” for such things these days.
Maybe it took us this long to put together Lucas’s room not because we thought he may not happen…
Maybe it was more about closing that chapter that neither of us are really ready to just yet?
I doubt any parent is ever really ready?
At least those of us who have enjoyed every minute.

Now I find random family members in Lucas’s room…
just dreaming about the day he will be filling it.
Found Haley and Cookie in there this morning…
Dreaming about what it will be like in just a chunk of weeks no doubt…

 

change is inevibtable I suppose.
Just thankful for the oppurtunity to do it all over again.
The exact same way.
We wouldn’t change a minute.