On Friday we took Parker to the play area at the mall to let him burn off some pent up energy. Being stuck inside most days because of the snow or cold is hard enough as an adult, but as a kid that just wants to run I can only imagine how frustrating it is being stuck in three rooms of a house! Parker LOVES the dinosaur playland but is always a little unsure of himself at first. I’m not sure if this is because there are usually quite a few other kids there, because he’s so overwhelmed with what to do first, or if its a combination of several things.

Assessing the situation

Sizing up the lava slide

Help from Dad-dad

Waiting for another turn

In the lava tunnel

Peek-a-boo!

In the dino eggs

Crawling in...

The volcano

On Sunday night Parker found out it’s much easier to reach all the toys in his toy box if he simply climbs in. Obviously we couldn’t let this fantastic photo opportunity pass by so I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots.

Week 34 update will be posted tomorrow so tune in tomorrow for the survey and a new belly picture!

Parker has become a dancing maniac! One of his favorite songs to dance to is the theme from “Psych” and although we keep meaning to catch that with the camera, we have yet to do so. I did however catch him dancing to the song his Fisher Price dump truck plays on every third push of the driver’s seat. He’s actually figured out that it only plays every few pushes so he will keep pushing until the song comes on, dance, then push until he gets music again. It took me a few minutes to find the camera and get it started so of course I missed the best parts, but there are a few videos to give you a good idea. Micah and I think his dancing looks like a combination of a mild seizure and someone trying to get water out of of his/her ear. He’s decent at keeping the same tempo during the whole dance so that has to count for something, right?

I tried four different times to get him dancing and although he does dance, none are as good as before I got the camera out. Not to mention the cat torture!

And this one is from last week but definitely worth sharing (but I would say that about pretty much anything when it comes to this little guy).

We took a bunch of pictures this weekend both at home and the mall so hopefully I will get those posted tomorrow. Good night!

No new picture today because Micah took the camera, but I’ll be sure to get one next week for the 34 week milestone! I did find this survey on a fellow Octomom’s blog (Thanks Kelli!) and thought it would something fun to do each week until Baybaybot makes his or her appearance!

How far along? 33 weeks – Only 4 more weeks until full term!

Total weight gain/loss: 35 pound gain

Maternity clothes? Of course! I still have several shirts, sweaters, and stretchier pants that fit but for jeans the maternity style is a must!

Stretch marks? Pretty much the same ones from Parker. I can’t tell if any are new.

Best moment this week: Micah and I watching the hiccups while sitting on the couch.

Movement: Most often right after a meal or while sitting/lying still. Loves to “dance” right when I’m trying to sleep!

Food cravings: Pretty much anything sweet, but this week it got more specific because fruity (skittles/starburst) and chocolate (pb m&ms) didn’t satisfy the craving. The funfetti cookies seem to help for a little while, but I think I would need to eat every last one of them to really make a dent in the craving. Instead I’m trying to portion out the cookies to just a couple a day and tide myself over in between with cereal.

Gender: I’m leaning towards girl this week because of the sweets craving being so intense and with Parker all I wanted was fried chicken and potatoes (either potato salad or mashed with gravy). I’m only about 65% convinced of girl though. I love not knowing!

Labor Signs: Nothing really. Lots of BH contractions on Sunday but I attributed that to lots of walking on Friday and Saturday and not getting enough water. I’ve only had a few each day since then.

Belly Button in or out? Definitely still in! It’s getting flatter but I’m not sure it will pop out. It stayed in with Parker so I’m hoping it does this time too, especially since my belly seems smaller this time around!

What I miss: Being able to get off the couch in one fluid motion, being able to stay away from the bathroom for more than two hours during the day, and sleeping on my stomach!

What I am looking forward to: 34 week Doctor appt next Wed morning, finally booking my prenatal massage!

Weekly Wisdom: Don’t sit on the floor in an open area unless someone is around to help you up. Always sit near stable furniture if you are by yourself

Milestones: According to our babycenter.com weekly update, “baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark.”

New belly picture from yesterday when we reached 32 weeks Only eight left until the due date and a mere five until full term! Hard to believe that time is passing as quickly as it is this pregnancy.

32 Weeks

Since I wont be able to make the party this weekend I wanted to tell my cousin Beth to have a great shower and congrats again on the little boy she is expecting! It’s about time that side of the family got some testosterone That little guy is going to get so spoiled

And with time winding down make sure you visit our ExpectNet game and put in your guesses!

I searched through the old posts and sure enough, I took 30 week pictures when I was pregnant with Parker! Here is yesterday’s picture and the week 30 picture with Parker  for comparison:

I think Parker stuck a little further out than this one does, but  it’s hard to tell. Hard to believe this was back in August of 2008!

The final countdown has begun. We are officially getting into the last ten weeks of this pregnancy! To commemorate this joyous time (and to have photos for the scrapbook) I snapped a few “belly shots” today. I need to hunt down the pictures from my pregnancy with Parker to see how this belly compares. Of course those are on the external hard drive which isn’t currently plugged in so it will be a little while before comparison shots will be shown!

I would say I am going to attempt a new belly picture every week from here until the end, but since we all know how good I am at remembering things like that I will instead say I will try to get one every other week At least I know my short comings, right?

I still haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of the new room, but I promise by this weekend I will! I did however finally get motivated enough to upload all the videos from our mini Christmas on December 19th all the way through until this week. They are actually uploading as I type this so you will have to be patient enough to wait until they are finished to actually watch them. In fact, at the rate they are going, it will probably be tomorrow before all fourteen of them are done but I wanted to make sure I posted that they are going up while I was thinking about them! This pregnancy brain has me forgetting all sorts of things lately.

To watch the videos visit our youtube page. There are other videos that I may not have actually mentioned here or other places so feel free to take a gander at others. I always enjoy going back to the very beginning and seeing just how far this little boy has come.

I know this is extremely advanced notice, but I wanted to make sure I at least mention it once because I know things will get busier and I might forget.

In order to keep as many people on the same page as possible when things start happening without causing us stress about who to call, what is being passed on, etc., we started a Twitter page. NO TWITTER ACCOUNT IS NEEDED TO FOLLOW ALONG. Again I repeat NO TWITTER ACCOUNT IS NEEDED. All you have to do is go to the following website:

www.twitter.com/brickgowen

and watch as updates get posted. Obviously this will be a very dead page for the next several weeks, hopefully at least the next seven! Granted Baybaybot could decide to show up a bit early, but I will not be full term (37 weeks) for another seven weeks and two days.

The plan, as of now, when labor starts is to call both sets of parents and then do one post on here reminding people to check twitter. After that it is up to all of you to keep yourself up to date! We will have the laptop in the room with us and will post how things are progressing. Now mind you, this is labor and things could get a little informative; however, we wont go in to detail. It will be mostly progress updates along the lines of dilation and effacement. If that is too much for you just wait until the official announcement is made

As for normal life updates, keep checking here. I’m hoping to get a new post up in the next day or two to show off the progress in Parker’s room. Micah and Randy got a lot done this weekend while Merry and myself entertained Parker and cooked up lots of tasty food. I wish I would have thought to take some pictures of what we made to make you all drool!

God Bless you all

Parker has started being extra cuddly with my belly this week. I still don’t think he has any real comprehension about why we are calling my belly a baby or asking him to hug and kiss it, but something is drawing him to give baby some extra love. Just for fun I decided to ask him if he thought the baby was a boy or a girl and he quickly responded “Grrrrrr!” Next I asked him if he was getting a “bubba” or a “sissy” and he chose “sssssss” with no hesitation. Being the smart mom that I am I wondered if he was simply imitating the last sound I made so I switched each question around and still his answers remained “grrr” and “ssssss.” I tried so hard to get a video of him giving his answers but each time I tried he would get far too distracted by the animals and eventually I gave up.

Could Parker have an insight into the gender of Baybaybot? Obviously we won’t know for a couple months, but it’s fun to speculate! I know I’ve heard of a wives tale of asking young kids and that being a pretty good indicator. Then again, most wives tales are full of phooey!

I set up a new ExpectNet game for all of you to put in your guesses about Baybaybot’s gender along with arrival date, time, and stats. I’ll give you some background info from both pregnancies so you can compare and make a semi-informed decision

With Parker: Fairly constant nausea up to the halfway point, threw up three times. Bathroom breaks ALL the time. Craved comfort foods like mashed potatoes and gravy, potato salad, fried chicken, and meatloaf. Original due date was Oct 12th but new date set at Oct 25th. Water broke on Oct 12th, Parker was born on Oct 13th weighing 6lbs, 15oz and was 20 inches long.

With Baybaybot: Constant queasiness until just past halfway, threw up once. Still able to go all night w/o getting up to pee (at 29 weeks). Craving desserts, especially oreos, but cheesecake, banana cream pie, and milkshakes are all right up there as well.

I hope having some of these little facts will help someone with their guess!

What a better way to help Parker learn his colors than to use crayons! Okay, so there are lots of ways to teach colors but coloring is such a fun activity and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the time when Parker would actually use the crayons to draw rather than as food. Today was the day for attempt #2. Attempt #1 was back in November at the doctor’s office in the waiting area. The crayons went right in the mouth that day and I was hoping for a different result today.

Showing off his work

Almost coloring

The final product

Parker helped me write “Parker & Mommy” at the bottom but he only “helped” for a few letters before protesting and trying to take his hand back. I made sure to date the top as well.

Now I can’t say the whole picture was drawn by Parker, because it wasn’t. I had to show him what to do a few times so the darker lines are more than likely mine while the lighter scribbles are mostly Parker’s. I wish I would have thought to snap the pictures while he was enjoying himself and actually interested in coloring rather than waiting until we were almost done, but that’s the life of a mom!