Hello 35/35 (and stripes)!

Today, on the last day of 2010, I am 35 weeks pregnant with 35 days until my due date. What a fun way to end the year right? Well, I'm certain some of you out there are having a lot more fun on NYE than these Spruiells. Between a toddler and an 8 months pregnant wife, Mike isn't enjoying much partying like he did in his 20s. Instead, he is currently working on building shelves for the boys' rooms. Yeehaw!

And here we are a 35/35. Somewhere out in cyber-land my co-workers are giggling. See they think it is really funny when I wear horizontal stripes. They just don't seem to understand why someone wants to emphasize a growing belly with horizontal stripes. My answer? It's not like I can hide it! And I need something to emphasize the belly and get me that seat on bart. But all of this made me realize something - most (if not dare I say 'all') striped shirts that are not button down shirts are horizontal! Seriously, I've been looking and I really think that's the case....maternity shirts or not. Which, by the way, that shirt I'm wearing in the picture - NOT maternity! Take that stripes!

Dos seems to be doing great! He's moving, hiccuping, and growing! I'm feeling pretty good with minor complaints. We thoroughly enjoyed the holidays...and by that I mean LOTS of treats and all around bad food. Hey, it's what baby wanted and who can turn down a 5lb bundle of joy?

In Cavin news, he now points to my tummy and says "yummy"! I'm not sure if this is just a simple mispronunciation or if he thinks I have just found something really yummy to eat and have eaten a LOT of it - hence the enormous belly. I kinda wonder if he is wanting in on the action. Yeah kid, it's called peanut butter balls and puppy chow. That's the secret.

Numero Dos answers SOME of our questions!

There have been a couple things Mike and I are mainly curious about regarding the 'looks' of our new baby boy. I won't share all of them b/c, frankly, many of them are a bit ridiculous. However, nearing the top of our list are:

1) Eye color - blue or brown?
2) Skin color - frosty the snowman or jimmy buffet?
3) Webbed toes? - it's where Cavin and I get our power (Mike disagrees - he's jealous)
4) Angelina Jolie lips? - this is how Cavin attracts the ladies
5) Spruiell nose?
6) Spruiell noggin?

Dos decided to tease us a bit and hand over some long awaited answers! From the pictures below, I think we can all determine that #4 and #5 are a 'go'. And the measurements that the doctor took on his head (at this point clocking in at 89th percentile) give #6 a 'go'. He held his left arm over his eyes the entire time just in case we had super technology that could tell eye color. :)



Judging from the picture below, I think #3 above could be a 'no go' - TOO BAD for Numero Dos! I'm still holding out though for some last minute duck toes though!

Aside from the superficial, everything is measuring well. All of his organs seem to be functioning properly, he is moving a lot, and still has those hiccups :). He has moved down slightly to 76th percentile over all in weight (phew!) but the doctor and technician kept saying things like "what a big baby!" and "look at those long feet!" so we really don't know what to expect.

Alliances

If you read my last post you already know how Cavin feels about Christmas. So we weren't too surprised that when we told him that he was going to meet Santa, that he would insist on bringing his bunny along for the ride.

You see? Cavin was born very close to Easter. So I think he feels like he would be betraying the Easter Bunny by being nice to Santa.




However, he was shocked to see that Santa and the Easter bunny actually get along quite well.

His plan was completely foiled when Santa actually gave him candy too!

It's back to the drawing board for Cavin.

He did refuse to sit on Santa's lap...take that big guy!

The Unpredictable Christmas Toddler

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I had this grand plan to take Cavin to go find a Christmas tree at our favorite Christmas tree farm. We had visions of strolling around, looking at trees, taking in the smells, enjoying some hot apple cider, and getting some good pictures of Cavin enjoying the experience.

Boy were we wrong. We do this a lot. A by "this", I mean forget what having a toddler really means...complete lack of control of any situation. Sometimes that works in our favor - like this weekend when I had to watch Cavin, bake treats, and make dinner while Mike did some work around the house. Cavin was an angel...played with my toys and barely asked for my attention. I was able to get a ton of things done! Sometimes it does not work in our favor. Like our day at the Christmas tree farm.

Now in Cavin's defense, it was a COLD day. His cheeks were chapped and he was tired.

In summary, we were there what felt like 5 minutes, had what is equivalent to a shot of apple cider between the 3 of us, bought the 2nd tree we looked at (only b/c the 1st tree we looked at was immediately taken by someone else during a Cavin fit), and the tree ended up being enormous...so much so that Mike could barely carry it into the house himself. So it wasn't quite the fun Christmas experience we had planned out...but I still managed to get some pictures (even if Cavin only smiled in one of them).



Look! Two snowmen! (Cavin would only take this picture if we gave him the car keys.)



I'd like to say this is a picture of Cavin searching for our tree...but I think he was running away from us at the time...



And once we found him, his body went limp, he fell to the ground, and refused to come over to where we wanted him (this is when our tree got taken from us)...



But we still LOVE him very much and think he is the best boy in the whole wide world! Though the jury's out on how Santa feels about him now...

They've still got it...

...that best friends spark!

Giddy up!

Kisses

Sweet Thing

Mr. Spruiell #3 has the hiccups right now. Cute little baby hiccups that just feel like someone is tapping my belly with a tiny finger. For a while I thought Numero Dos wouldn't get the hiccups like Cavin did but I have been proven wrong. Cavin got the hiccups all. the. time when I was pregnant with him. And once he was born it did not stop. I remember when he was just weeks old he would get the hiccups like clock-work mid-morning. I remember because they would last about 8-10 minutes before they would start to really irritate him and he'd start to cry. We'd sit on the bed watching Matt Lauer (the Today show), snuggle, and I'd pat his back and sing to him until they went away....every morning. To this day whenever Cavin gets a case of the hiccups I fondly think back to those Matt Lauer mornings.

Well, low and behold, here we are at mid-morning and my second boy has the hiccups. Along with the tapping of my belly I feel a twinge of excitement inside as to what is to come. I know I have a lot of crazy times ahead but also cannot help but think about the sweet times too. How many things will Cavin and Dos have in common (hiccups - check!). And how will the boys be different? Will he have blue eyes? Webbed toes? Matching leg freckles to Cavin and I? Dare I suggest - the active personality? Will he be laid-back like Cavin and his daddy or a bit more high strung and resistant to change such as myself? Will he bond more with Sandy or Jerry (that says a lot about someone's personality).

I cannot wait to meet our little boy!

Hey guess what? I'm pregnant!

So apparently I became magically pregnant this week...because that's when my co-workers started taking notice. You know, the co-workers who see me, at a minimum, 9 hours a day 5 days a week. On Monday I received 4 comments about how "enormous" and "big" I am. I got a lot of "when are you due?...February 4th??...You are going to be HUUUGE!" Why yes I am people...the belly grows a centimeter a week so count on about 10 more centimeters. On Tuesday I got some giggles and a "boy you sure are pregnant". On Wednesday I decided to wear ALL black like from my feet to my neck...solid, slimming black. I was told how nice I looked twice that day (what a change) but then someone said "you look even bigger than just yesterday!" Well, that's the goal here folks. So today I'm owning up to my enormous elephantitis and blasting in on the Internet for all of you to poke fun and judge.

Today started off a bit rough as well. As I was giving Cavin a hug and kiss on his way to day care, he simply shifted his weight towards me and I took a tumble backwards to the floor. Mike had to peel my sorry pregnant self off the floor and listen to mumblings of how 'Cavin pushed me over' or 'I lost my balance', etc when really we know it is a complete loss of my center of gravity due to Numero Dos.

In other news, Mike and I are making strides on the boys' rooms. We ordered Cavin's new big boy furniture and bedding and we've narrowed down paint colors for the baby's room. We've also received all the crib bedding and most of the decor for baby's room as well. Now it's all about painting and setting things up...which can take some time. It is a lot of work designing two rooms at once while still unpacking our house, buying Christmas gifts, and wrangling in a toddler.

Cavin has become slightly more defiant with us lately. This morning alone he threw a fit because he wanted to put his sock on his hand instead of his foot, I didn't change his diaper fast enough, and he wanted to play with his "Memo" (aka Elmo) toy versus getting in his chair for breakfast. Last night, apparently all Mike had to do was walk into the room and Cavin burst into a screaming, teary fit. Dare I say this could be the beginning of the dreaded tantrum phase.

On the bright side, he is started to pair words together to communicate. He says things like "Thank you mommy" and "Goodbye doggies". And every day I feel like a new word is said. Today's new word: cold. When they walked outside to go to Pari's house, he turned around and said "Coold!!" He truly is a lot of fun and we are amazed at his development every single day. But by the end of the day, Mike and I are WORN OUT.

Kinda like Cavin was this past weekend after a run to Home Depot to look at paint colors for his little bro...

He's a big kid now!

I'm not sure at what point Cavin no longer was a baby. Was it the moment he took his first steps? Was it when he began feeding himself with utensils? When he started brushing his teeth? When he started feeding the dogs by himself? Or when he first drank out of a cup successfully without a lid? If it wasn't any of those times, then I'm guessing it is when he graduated from crib to toddler bed.

Cavin loves his crib. If it weren't for Numero Dos he would have soundly slept within those 4 walls for who knows how long. But since Dos will be taking over Cavin's furniture shortly we took the 4 day weekend as an opportunity to transition Cavin to 'big boy' status. I sure do miss those mornings when I walked in to his room to see this:

Now we open our bedroom door to see this down the hall...

In true Cavin style, he took this change in stride. Cavin seems to 'go with the flow' with most things (a trait he did not get from his mommy) so I'm not surprised that this change didn't affect his routine much.

We made sure to put pillows on the floor by his bed for potential falls. Well, I'm glad we did because Cavin took a tumble at 4am his first night in the big boy bed. The next day during his nap time he took two falls. But last night he didn't fall once. And today, during his nap time, he learned a little concept called 'freedom'...he found his toys, books, and water to bring into bed with him to help him pass out. The only reason we knew he was up to something is we heard a police siren coming through the monitor (notice said police car in the bottom right of the picture).





Maybe next time we'll get an invite to the party in Cavin's crib. I hear the last one got so wild the cops had to break it up.

And just so you know....

...the doggies are settling into their new digs juuuust fine.

Giving Thanks

This year we were confined to California due to the impending arrival of Numero Dos. However, that didn't stop me from throwing on my Maroon Out shirt, turkey apron, and spending some quality time in my new kitchen. Someone had to make use of the double oven! I did cut a few corners with the Stove Top and instant mac-n-cheese but when I was just cooking for 3, I feel like that's okay. I still made a turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, and a cranberry/orange bundt cake so my boys had nothing to complain about!

It was a great Thanksgiving this year...in particular because my Aggies "BTHO" (beat the hell outta) texas! In the first time in a long time they've had a winning season AND have been ranked! Seriously, Craig, how long have we waited?? (All those mornings at the Chicken did not go to waste...)

On a more serious note (not that talking about Aggie wins isn't serious), I am very thankful for my family (both immediate and in-laws), friends, animals, and the two boys sitting next to me this year at the dining table...and the little turkey cooking inside of me. I am one blessed daughter, friend, sister, niece, wife, and mommy.

Baby Boy + 30 weeks = Third Trimester!

There he is folks. I'm not sure where the time has gone to (possibly work, moving homes, rooting for my winning Aggies, and yoga - with some bundt cakes, gingerbread lattes, and cookies in between)...but hello people, we are in the 3rd trimester. Count it. That's 10 weeks from today. Cavin has no clue what is coming. Scratch that - none of us really know what is to come....except I think Sandy, Jerry, and Toby have a clue.

I'm feeling pretty good...today. If you would have asked me two weeks ago I would have gone on and on about hip and pelvic pain, as well as, a mean case of the hives and loss of breath. But as with all pregnancy symptoms they come and go so this week I've felt pretty good. I'm sleeping well too, which of course I realize I've jinxed myself to nights of restless sleep until our boy arrives. Oh wait, there will be no sleep once he arrives either.

During our first trimester we had some blood work come back that indicated we could possibly have a low birth weight baby. Due to those results, we were asked to come in for a 3rd trimester ultra-sound to check his weight. The results: we have the opposite problem now. The baby is measuring at 83rd percentile in weight....allegedly on track to be an 8.5 to 9 pound baby! You want my take? The baby's enormous Spruiell noggin' is skewing the results (the head is one of 3 measurements they take to guess-timate the weight). Numero Dos was facing down and with his back towards my belly button so the best picture we got was of his thigh. However, the doctor has asked us to come back to check weight again so hopefully we'll get a face shot!

Rapunzel

Against everyone's wishes, including dad and grandmas (that's plural), I scheduled a time to take Cavin for his first haircut....one of many 'big boy' moments to come! I'm sorry but the kid's hair was getting way too long in the back, falling over his ears, and just needed a bit tidying up.

On a regular day, it looked like this:

I know, I know....adorable "bed head" pictures. But at 4o'clock in the afternoon? No. Before he became a male version of Chrystal Gale, I had to step in.

So I ensured this would be a fun experience for all males involved. With the recommendation of a friend, I took the boys to a kid-friendly barber shop for the big cut where a man by the name of Larry Love (complete with enormous arms, tattoos, and fun stories about his 3 year old) put Cavin in a race car, turned on some cartoons, and went to town.

All in all, I think Cavin and Mike enjoyed themselves. And someone sure puts the meaning "handsome" to the word "Cavin"!

We've moved!

After many years, we finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a house out here in California. We bought a sizeable place in the 'burbs and are loving it!

Everyone was really excited about our new digs. Cavin packed the UHaul.



And Jerry drove.



Then we packed the kid himself up and were on our way!

If you need our new address and haven't received it already, please contact me and I will get it to you.

***MANY thanks to my mom who watched Cavin while the real move was taking place and to my dad who packed up half our house for us. We couldn't have done it without y'all!***

The ratio shifted for a day

Yes, for one day in 2010, the ratio of humans to animals tipped in the animal favor. At 2.5 humans to 4 animals, this was a scary thing for myself and Mike. But then again, that's what Halloween is all about right?

(photo by Meg Sexton Photography)

The day started off at Cavin's friend, Dane's, house. Dane hosted his friends over for a Halloween party. It was truly a blast watching all the toddlers run around in their costumes. It took an act of God, a really great photographer, and some bribing with M&Ms to get 6 toddlers and one baby to sit still for this picture...

(photo by Meg Sexton photography)

From left to right that's Cavin (doggy), Dane (pirate), Drew (train conductor), Maddy (bumblebee), Grayson (firefighter), Benjamin (robot), and Britton (duckie).

A couple hours later after we got home, ate, and just before heading out to do some trick-or-treating, Lucas flew on by (pun intended). Cavin was very excited to see Super Schooler!

Cavin was eager to show him how he can pant like the doggy he is.

After Lucas left, we took off trick-or-treating and let me just tell you I was WAY impressed with our neighborhood! These houses get pretty serious with their decorations. I think my favorite was the two houses that had wires connecting them with ghosts hanging from the wires...so that it looked liked ghosts were floating in the air above the street. Very impressive! Everyone was very into the holiday and there were tons of kids running around. I already cannot wait for next year. Mike and I have big plans for decorating our house for the holiday.

Cavin seemed to really enjoy the trick-or-treating for a couple reasons: 1) he loves ringing door bells 2) he is obsessed with lights so he pointed out every porch light that was on and 3) his new favorite phrase is 'tank uuuu' (aka 'thank you'). So he'd point out a porch light, trotted right up to the person's door, rang the door bell, said 'tank uuu' when he got candy, put it in his basket, and we moved on to the next house.

Once we got home, he took inventory of his loot.

A successful year I'd say!

Searching for the Great Pumpkin

Last weekend, we took some time off from moving homes to visit the Clayton Valley Pumpkin farm...just like we did last year. Cavin got a lot more out of it this time around since he could run around and play. Seriously, this place is any toddler's dream! They have hay mazes, tunnels, pools of beans, train rides, oh...and pumpkins.

Cavin insisted on bringing bear along with him so he'd have a friend to share the fun with as well.

He went through a hay maze and came out to find us through the tunnel...


He buried bear (and got buried himself) in the bean pool...



He played some basketball (w/ his 'I'm a serious basketball player' face on)...


And he goofed around!


And Nana and Pa took him to feed the animals, in particular, a pregnant llama.

Cavin and daddy watched the train go by...

And he posed for a picture with Pa and Nana...

An on to the more serious business of choosing the perfect pumpkins!

Cavin insisted on pushing the cart since his mommy is pregnant. Kudos to us for raising such a southern gentleman (take that bart riders)!

Look! Cavin with two witches!

And we finally found the keeper!