Snow Days, or How I Grew to Appreciate Electricity...

William bonding with the spider...

Checking out the butterflies...

A very snowy capitol...

Eating snow...He always looks so serious while doing it!

Wednesday night it started snowing, and it snowed and snowed. Jason has a 3 mile commute. It took him about an hour to get home. The roads were a mess, and then as the evening went on it became clear that we were at a very real risk of losing power. Then right after Jon Stewart, it went out for real. It stayed pretty warm in the house, thankfully, but it is always weird not having any light. We put William to bed by lantern light and then Jason and I played a good game of scrabble. I was hoping that it would be fixed by morning, but it wasn't. We went to Panera for breakfast and then William and I went on the Metro to DC so we could spend the day in a warm museum rather than a chilly house. When we got home the heat was on and all was well again. William has been having a ball playing in all this snow. We did a little sledding, but mainly he just enjoys eating it. I think we have about 8 inches in our neighborhood, and we are supposed to get more this weekend....

An Excersise in Self Control...

Today I ran to the mall to return a couple of things and made the mistake of stopping at Janie and Jack. Never a good thing, but usually I can control myself. Then I saw this:

The pictures do not do it justice. It is SO sweet and soft and adorable. It is however completely over priced. It took EVERYTHING I had in me not to buy this outfit. He could only wear it for about 1 month before it would get too hot to be in something long sleeved, plus he would probably outgrow it in about 2 weeks! I am proud of myself for being strong. But if it goes on a good sale before he is born, I am totally buying it!

A Wild Time at the Zoo...

The Piranhas...William said "It bit Grandpa's finger just a little, little, bit!"

Checking the weight density of different types of tropical wood. ...

William and Daddy went to the zoo on Monday, I stayed home and recovered from my newest virus. It was very cold, but they had a great time!

Creepy, Crawlies are the Best!

William has been VERY obsessed with all things creepy and crawly these days. Especially Tarantulas. The Natural History Museum has a great Insect Zoo exhibit, and they always have bugs you can actually hold and touch so I knew he would get a kick out of it. We braved the Metro and got to the museum about 11. We ended up staying till 3pm! William had such a great time watching all the bugs and touching a wide variety of critters. We also got to witness a tarantula attacking a killing it's meal- a grasshopper, and we got to see a recently molted tarantula exoskeleton. Pretty neat. William was so worn out after today he fell asleep on me while riding home on the Metro. I made a point out of setting out with no big plans or schedule for today and I think it helped us both enjoy the day more. I let him lead the entire experience and I felt better not having to urge him on or take him away from something he was really enjoying. I am going to try and squeeze in as many of these fun trips out as I can before the baby comes, I know it will be a while till I feel ready to take 2 kids on the Metro alone!

A Teaser...

We got a little taste of winter on Tuesday night. It wasn't much, maybe 2 inches, but it was enough to play in for a little while. William was thrilled and pretended that he was a snow plow with his little shovel throughout the day. I hope we get a decent storm before winter really ends...

Big Boy Bike!

We had dinner with our friends the other night and they gave us this great bike for William! Jack is way too big for it now, and William was thrilled. He has been riding it around the house and we picked out a new helmet yesterday so he can start riding it outside on the sidewalk. If it gets over 35 degrees outside we will venture out!

Baby Brother...

I had another ultrasound this morning to check the growth of baby. He looks great and is measuring big, just like William did. He is very active these days and seems to enjoy waking me up at 4am, I guess so I am prepared for when he comes out!

Puddles, Fits, and Defiance...

Since we went back to Washington the potty training has fallen apart. I figured when we got back home things would get right back on track. It has, sort of. Before we left, if William had an accident he immediately wanted his clothes off and dry ones on. Now, he could sit in wet clothes all day and I don't think he would notice. He is still 100 percent trained if naked from the waist down, so I just let him run around the house naked unless people come over, and even then I may let him, depending on who it is. I am kinda at a loss of what to do next. Will he ever be potty trained with clothing? Will I be sending him to a nudist college just so he stays dry? I don't know.

This morning Will was in time out before 9 am. I hate days that start like that. Everything is such a struggle with this kid. I hate feeling like I spend all day being negative with him. Stop. No. Put that down. Don't touch that! Get over here! Come back! and on and on... So sad. I want him to feel like he isn't a little ball of negative, but there are days where I feel like he is. We both try and give him a lot of positive attention, and it goes well at home. It just seems to fall apart when we are getting ready to leave, or when we are out and about. He still can't seem to listen. I start off most excursions with a pep talk in the car, so the first 2 minutes go very smoothly, but then when he sees all the exciting things around him, he tunes us out and can only hear and see all the distractions. It is so frustrating, especially since I feel as if I am running out of time. I need to get him under control before I have this baby. I don't want to feel as if I am forced to stay home because I can't get William to listen to me.... I see other people out with their kids all the time, why do they seem like they have everything under control? When I see a parent who has a kid in the middle of a tantrum, I don't feel anything but relief. Finally there is someone else who is in my situation!

Any advice? Continue strapping him down into strollers, carts, etc? Take toys away? Is it to early for a reward chart of some kind? I guess I just don't know if I am expecting too much from him at too early of an age. He has such a wide vocabulary and seems so much bigger than 2...maybe I just have unrealistic expectations.

Gearing Up...

Preparing for baby number two is SO different than baby number one. I never thought about it until recently. Before William came home I felt like I had to have everything here I could possibly need until he was 2 years old. Now, I don't even have a crib, and yet I am in no rush to get one. I was looking over the clothes I saved from William and realized that I don't really need anything in newborn size at all. They outgrow that size so fast that 6 sleepers and some onesies should do it. I will get a few new things just so I don't feel like the baby is wearing all hand me downs though. That just seems unfair. And un-fun.
There are so many things I feel less stressed about this time. I will be happy if the breastfeeding goes smoother this time, but I won't cry if it doesn't. Since I am having a boy, I will still dread the circumcision, but at least I am prepared to take care of it afterward. I feel very prepared for what lies ahead this time, and there are parts I am dreading, but I am very happy to be experiencing it all again. I am very thankful I was given the chance...

Nature Boy on the Potomac...

Searching for a good fishing stick...

Fishing for "Rock Fish"...

He caught one!

Daddy and William went out to the Potomac on Saturday so William could burn off some energy. He got nice and dirty and had a great time. I think he would live outside if we let him! He came back telling me he had caught a fish and he was so proud of himself. I came to find out, it was a pretend fish, but he was thrilled by the idea. I think I should update on the littlest man also: He seems to be thriving, and moving much more these days. His kicks are more frequent and much stronger. Jason was able to feel him for the first time last night! It is so nice to be able to share it with him. It certainly makes it seem very real. The midwife was happy with everything on Thursday and I will have another ultrasound in 2 weeks. While working the past 3 days I was having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions, but they seem to go away quickly. It's hard working through them though, especially when you are still trying to hide the pregnancy as much as possible from the patients!