The last week and some...

So after a weekend of the flu for Nate.....

And an ouchie finger that had to be drained by the doctor....... (was much worse than the picture shows)

Spotted- 5 mo baby bump

Warren looks like he is about to fall out of his stroller. After 6 miles, I was ready to nap too!

We are finally all healthy and trying to squeeze in some fun before we move! Here is what has been up to:

- March of Dimes with good friends Sarah, John David and baby Rocco
-playing outside because we had nice weather the first half of the week
-playing indoors at Gma Amy's because we had bad weather the second half of the week and we needed to get out of the house so dad could study for finals.

All day today Nate has been crying to go back to my parents. I can't blame him. I just packed all day today, while we were at my parents he:
-played with cousin Lauren
-snuggled and watched movies with the family especially Aunt Erica and Uncle Ben
-played with all the toys at my dad's gym (they have Little Tykes houses inside for the kids to play with along with a ton of toys- Nate loves it!)
-had lunch with Grandma, Grandpa, cousin Lauren, Aunt Erica, Uncle Ben and played in the tunnels at Burger King with Grandpa and cousin Lauren (my Dad got up there with them!!!)
-played on the power wheel tractor in the house
-ate lots of cookies Gma Amy made
-played on all the "big trucks" and tractors with my dad at the farm

I can't think about all the other fun things that he did... but grandparents are the best!! I will post some pictures once I get my mom to email them to me. My favorite quote of the weekend was when we were all hanging out at my parents house and Nate and Lauren pulled up 2 chairs and sat next to each other. Lauren said to Nate "Sit on my lap" then said "No wait, you're too big!" It was soo cute to hear that from a 2 year old, but funny because it is very true- his little cousin Nate IS a lot bigger than him! We are glad to live close to family!

Oh BOY!

Profile and hand

So... this morning Trudy (Chris's mom) came over to watch Nate and we went to the Ultrasound clinic. While we were waiting Chris said, "Final vote?" I told him again that I really couldn't feel it with this one, but I will still vote girl because we already have a boy. Chris said that he would vote boy so that one of us was right. When I got on the table he suddenly said, "Okay I vote girl too!" I started laughing because he did that same thing with Nate (do you remember that, sweet heart?) Anyway, she checked all the vital stuff and did the measurements for the doctor and then went on to the gender and said, " Well, there's a boy part!" and then went on to point out and explain just how she knew- showing us the difference between the umbilical cord and the "boy parts" . Chris called his brother immediately- I told him he can only say "boy" and hang up because you aren't suppose to use the phone in the office. On the way to the car he said "and they can have bunk beds..." I know he is excited for Nate to have a brother to play with just like he did!

3D image of face
You can see the eyes, nose, mouth (a little)

The ultrasound tech was having a hard time getting all of the measurements because of the way the baby was laying so we were afraid we weren't going to be able to tell the gender. She had a hard time getting pictures of the face because he kept putting his arm in front of his face. He didn't do 4 flips like Nate did- he was trying to sleep and every time she would push on him he would just turn the other way or cover himself with his arm!Stubborn already!

It is a good thing this baby is going to be a boy because Nate is ALL BOY and he would have probably drug a little sister through the mud with him anyway!

Playing in the rain this morning

A few of this little boy's favorite things

[TRAINS]

Nate loves to play with his trains and train table. We live pretty close to the train tracks too and he can hear the whistle blow and gets so excited and asks for a ride. I think we will have to take the AmTrack from Milwaukee home one time this summer.

[WATER]

Nate loves water in any form: baths, sink, dishwater, toilet water, ponds, swimming pools, and as of today RAIN! Chris is such a great dad for a little boy. After we picked Chris up from school today the boys went out for a walk (like they do every night while I make dinner) and found a bunch of ANTS under the Patterson's rain gutter (so that is why we were in your front yard Chelise!) after dinner it started to rain- and Chris took Nate back outside so he could watch the rain pour out of the gutters and down into the drain in the parking lot. HE LOVED IT! Thanks for taking time away from studying for finals to make a little boy's day, Chris!

It's the final countdown

It's finally here! We get to take a look at our little baby in 48 hours! I still have NO IDEA what we are having, but I will keep my vote for girl anyway. It is strange because I was so sure Nate was going to be a boy... I just felt it, but I don't feel anything with this one (except for kicking, of course). Whenever I get excited about the appointment coming so soon, I hear the song "Final Countdown" in my mind. I attached a youtube video for your 80's enjoyment to help you get pumped too:)

In other news, Nate had been getting up between 4:30 and 5 every morning the last week crying that he's hungry. I can't get him to go back to bed. I finally give in when it is close to 6 and bring him down to get breakfast. He use to be such a good, consistant sleeper, then he got sick last weekend and his schedule is all messed up. How do I deal with this? How do I get us back on schedule?

Just to recap

I have had a lot of questions about moving after my last post so here are the details:

• We will live in Milwaukee, WI May, June and July for Chris's law internship
• Chris will live in Des Moines in August while working for the same law firm as last year
• Nate and I will be in IC as the baby is due in September and I don't want to be driving from Des Moines while in labor!
• We are moving out of our apartment in "The Hamptons" because we don't want to pay double rent and rent is going up (again).
• We are packing up all of our stuff because we aren't taking anything with us to Milwaukee. We are storing it until fall, and a lot of it will stay packed until our final move after graduation.
  
• We aren't sure where we are living in August yet. I want to save money and live in student housing, but Chris's friends have scared him out of it telling him not to do it. I say, I know it is pretty crappy- but it is for less than a year! And rent includes utilities and cable/internet for only like $460! How can you beat that? Sure we can only take 1/2 of our stuff and there is no carpet and the dryer is in our bedroom and the washer is in the kitchen... but I guess the longer we are in school, the cheaper I get! I say let's do it! Any testimonials from those who lived in student housing would be helpful!

Student housing kitchen
Yes, that is the water heater under the counter in the bottom left (one of Chris's objections)

• 

"I am so done with Iowa"

I was thinking it was probably safe to change my background wallpaper from snow after we finally had some warm weather... and then it started snowing while I was driving home from picking Chris up last night. Seriously. THis is getting ridiculous. To quote CHris's friend Taylor, "I am so done with Iowa". Although I don't know Wisconsin will be any better....We are in the middle of packing EVERYTHING right now since we only have a few more weeks left in the semester. Poor Nate hardly has room to play down stairs because one side of the house is packed boxes waiting to be put into storage and one side of the house is packing supplies.

Nate trying to eat lunch in the packing supplies mess.

I think it is so funny when he tries to walk in my shoes. Classic "kid" moment.

[Love]

I love how babies sleep with their bums up in the air.
It just makes me smile when I see it.

And it just melts my heart when him smile in his sleep

Chris posted on the blog last night. I am not sure when he wrote it if he remembered it is primarily my girlfriends that read this, so make sure to tell your husbands so they can read it and laugh at his jokes :) He wrote the post below as the new baby.

Interlude: A Message From The Womb

Hello Everyone, this is the youngest Russell speaking.

That's right. It's me. Straight from the Womb. Mom's always posting blogs on here about me, so I thought it was about time I cleared up a few things.

First of all, this whole "voting for my sex" thing is sick and wrong. It's liable to give me a complex. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm a (cough), excuse me, but all of your debating is making me start to think it's not so obvious. I'm what, like 18 weeks old? Sheesh. As if the birthing process weren't traumatic enough. Besides, if you want a real debate, go to Mullet.com. Or any Fabio fansite. Or ask Chelsea about Monica. There's a REAL debate for ya. Boy or Girl?
Boy or Girl?

Boy or...What? It's A Legitimate Question...

Sure, you're all excited that Mom can feel me moving, but in a few months, she's going to be complaining about it. You know what? Tough. I'm the one squished in here like a Sumo Wrestler in a baby diaper. You thought there wasn't leg room on an American Airlines flight? Try riding shotgun in this Mama. I'm not sure what all the excitement's about, anyway. I've felt her moving since day one. Heck, I'm sitting right next to her intestines. I can guess what she had for lunch just from the gurgling (yesterday was Mac n' Cheese.)



Here's the thing: I feel a little cheated. You know, that first baby, he's a big deal. Me? I'm like that last piece of popcorn you find when you get up from the couch after watching a movie. Sure, you get momentarily excited, you eat it, but still: you don't tell your friends about it the next day. And if you do, your friends look at you a little funny. I'm telling you, it's just not fair.

So shape up people. I may not have a name yet, but that doesn't mean you can just talk about me like I'm not here. I'm watching. And one last thing: My Dad is the man. Numero Uno. World Class. Top of the Line. Prime Time. One of a kind. (What can I say? He controls my allowance.)