We are officially less than a month away from my due date! I am getting really excited but super nervous at the same time! With Calvin I felt much more prepared. I had his name picked out, his room set out with his little clothes laid out, and his hospital bag ready two months ahead of time. We also had clothes lined up for ages 0-2 with Calvin. With this baby I only have a few newborn clothes and one gender neutral blanket that used to be Calvin's. She doesn't even have a name yet! I feel super unprepared for this baby, but I am hoping that things will just fall together as she arrives. There are so many names we have been considering for this girl and nothing has really stood out as "the one". We have thought of Cora, Lyla, Darcy, Charlee, Paige, Kennedy, Autumn, Elaine, and the list goes on... Girls names are so hard!
Baby girl has been moving a lot lately. She doesn't kick as much as Calvin did, but she does a lot of pushing and sliding along the inside of my stomach and ribs. She also kicks/pushed pretty hard out of my side which is a really weird feeling. I'm definitely feeling like I am in the final stages of pregnancy. I feel huge, slow, uncomfortable, etc. The doctor told me at my last appointment that my blood pressure was a little bit high. It was still in the "normal" range, but high for me. He said that it is probably just a normal symptom of pregnancy that some women get and it may cause more swelling, headaches, and stomach pain... awesome. It scared me to hear that because usually when I hear high blood pressure I just think "out of shape" or "fat". And I guess that fits since I am definitely both of those things right now. But it was a huge bummer because I have always had really great blood pressure. Hopefully it goes back down to normal by the next appointment and I won't have to worry anymore. We are finally having weekly doctor's appointments so it is getting super close!
Calvin has been doing so good lately! Every day I am amazed at how sweet and smart and wonderful that boy is. He is talking SO well. We had his 18 month appointment a couple weeks ago and the doctor asked us if he knew at least 20 words... I was pretty surprised that that was the average number because Calvin knows WAY, WAY more than that. He also speaks super clear. While we were at his appointment he had a popscicle stick and dropped it on the floor, clear as a bell he said, "different one". The doctor was really surprised and said that it was awesome that he was able to string words together. He will repeat almost anything you ask him to say and he is understanding a lot more that you tell him. We say prayers together as a family and he likes to be the one to say them. It is so cute watching him kneel down and fold his arms. When he kneels down he still has a hard time balancing so he has to catch himself falling forward a lot, it is really cute. We help him pray and he usually just says the last word or two of what we tell him. He also likes to say Amen in the middle of the prayer because he thinks he is done haha. Calvin is into climbing lately and tries to climb on everything. Another thing that Calvin is apparently into is pushing and hitting other kids. I seriously don't know what to do about it, but Calvin just walks up and pushes or hits other kids when we are playing out on the playground. I try to watch for any kind of reaction that might cause it, and sometimes kids get into his space, but most of the time it appears that he does it for no reason at all. We've tried talking to him, spanking him, giving him time out, and he is still doing it. I guess we should just pick a punishment and stick with it and then hope he grows out of it soon. One funny thing Calvin has been doing lately is smiling every time we have a camera on him, and it is the funniest smile you will ever see! He scrunches up his eyes and does a huge cheesy grin. It is so cute.
Calvin started nursery two weeks ago and he has been doing great so far. The first day I was able to sneak out without him seeing me and they said he didn't cry the whole time. The second week I just told him I was going to leave and I walked out. I could hear him crying and yelling mommy at the door for a couple minutes, but then he quieted down and did fine for the rest of the time. It has been so great to have him in there! I feel like I have gotten a lot out of Sunday School and Relief Society the past couple weeks. I got released from my calling the same week that Calvin went to nursery, so it has been such a great break! Another thing he has really enjoyed and gotten good at lately is playing on the iPad. It is cute to watch him turn it on and get his games going. He can get most of his games started without any help from Nathan or I.
Nathan has finals this week and has been studying really hard! We miss him when he is gone, but he has still made time to be home with us. What a great father and husband!
