Extreme Blog Makeover

You may be seeing some serious blog template experimentation in the next few weeks if you are checking it often. I realized that this blog has been dedicated to "Baby Jake Broxterman" since I started it and I feel as though I'm leaving Bebe Dos in the dark if I don't grow and expand the blog along with the family. Sooooo, my goal in the next few weeks (before this baby graces us with his/her presence) is to find the perfect template that represents the Broxterman Family as best possible.

Speaking of Bebe Dos, we had our 35 week appointment yesterday and we finally got to have another ultrasound. Our last one was at 19 weeks so it's been a LONG time since we've seen our babe in there! Doc did the ultrasound to try and determine this baby's size so that we can start to make birth plans armed with this information. After doing some measurements, the very-unscientific-method-of-determining-fetal-weight estimated that this baby currently weighs 6 lb. 4 oz. Right. Now. If you have no idea what that means, let me put it into perspective for you. Babies gain about 1/2 pound each week in the last couple of months. So, if this baby were to be born on its due date (40 weeks), baby would weigh about 8 lb. 12 oz. Additionally, if this baby went as long as Jacob did (41 1/2 weeks), baby would weigh about 9 lb. 8 oz -- right on target with Jacob's birth weight. How many of you out there still think this baby is a girl?!?!

Given this information, Doc is still set on inducing me around the 39th week so as not to let this baby overcook and get too large and end in another marathon labor. My thoughts are certainly mixed. I'm worried that 39 weeks will be too early, therefore it will end in a marathon labor anyway because my body isn't ready. And if we wait too long, baby will be too big and therefore end in another shoulder dystocia case. I guess all we can do is trust the Doc and hope that a) this baby is a normal size and b) my body is ready for an induction.

Happy 35 weeks and 2 days!

Random Fun

I know it's been a while since I've written and decided that tonight would be my "random" post. I have all of these photos and videos that were taken of Jacob sporadically in the last few weeks but never really could develop them into a story. We've been so busy lately as well so I have neglected my blogging responsibilities once again.

I only have energy for captions tonight :)

My Friday playgroup meets at different fun play places each week. Here are some photos from Antz in your Pantz, Jump for Fun, and Chuck E Cheese:














Out to dinner with the family when Grandma and Grandpa were visiting:







Jacob finished his last class at the Little Gym and unfortunately, after this session, the Little Gym near our house closed down. I'm currently looking into an alternative extracurricular activity...





And finally, Jacob has transitioned from dancing on his toy chest to singing on his toy chest. Yes, in his underwear. He loves to sing nowadays -- and of course we love to let him.

More Chicago...

I forgot that I had taken additional pictures with my little point and shoot camera in Chicago. Unfortunately, this silly camera doesn't take the best photos, but it does take great video clips which is why I purchased it. Why can't they make a small camera that does it all? (if you have one, please advise?)

Jacob passed out in Uncle Eric's spare bedroom. I just think it's cute that he's in a real bed:



When we arrived on Thursday, we decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. This place is AMAZING. Jacob loved checking out all the sea life (especially the dolphins) but he didn't particularly like seeing a spider crab up close. Mark was holding him and brought him over to the aquarium with the spider crab and Jacob screamed bloody murder at the top of his lungs. It nearly scared the pants off of everyone in the room. I was taking a break on a nearby bench and couldn't stop laughing at the sound of my poor son's shrill scream. In his defense, I went to take a look at the spider crab myself and admittedly, it could scare the skin off a snake. It was SUPER creepy looking. Of course, in Jacob's mind, the best part of the aquarium was the kids play area where they could dress up as penguins. We couldn't get him out of there!







By the way, today marks 33 weeks! In 2 weeks, we'll have another ultrasound and finally get to see the baby again. From then on, our Doc is going to try and guess at the baby's size to see if an earlier induction is necessary. There is a huge part of me that would really love to see this baby come on his/her own so please pray for a spontaneous labor this time!!

Chicago Reunion

I have been meaning to post pictures from our recent trip to Chicago but it has been hard to find the time! Mark, Jacob and I left for Chicago on Thursday, Aug. 6th and Jacob and I returned on Monday, Aug. 10th (Mark had to fly straight to SF for an all week meeting so Jacob and I flew back solo). After the flight there, I was seriously contemplating renting a car and driving back to Dallas. It was THAT bad. I'd say half of the reason was Jacob's irritability and restlessness on the flight. The other half of the reason was the turbulence that had me panic stricken for 2 straight hours. When you're 7 months pregnant and prone to Braxton Hicks contractions under major stress, this is NOT the flight you want to be on. I thought if we survived, I was definitely going to have this baby in Chicago. Alas, we made it there safely and baby stayed cooking in my belly, but I was dreading the flight home alone the entire weekend. Sure enough, Jacob ended up being an angel on flight #2 and he and I made it home without any major incident. Cheers to that!

Chicago was a great time mostly because we all got to see and catch up with family and so many old friends. On Friday morning, my old mom's group hosted a playdate where we got to reunite with each other. I was almost in tears when I walked through Carrie's door -- it brought back so many great memories. It had been a year and a half since I'd seen everyone so of course the kids had changed so much. As we always used to do, we lined the kiddos up on the couch and took a million snapshots hoping that at least one was print-worthy!

From left: Jacob, Blythe, Kate, Lindsay, Mia and Luke (taken on 8/7/09):



And check this out nearly 2 years earlier. From left: Mia, Kate, Blythe, Kevin, Lindsay, Jacob and Lauren (taken on 8/31/07):



Nanny and Papa were also in town for a different wedding in Chicago so we got to spend lots of quality time with them and Uncle Eric. On Saturday morning, we drove to Wisconsin where my old friend Kevin was getting married. Jacob was napping during the ceremony, so I walked to the church by myself and got to enjoy the wedding without a single distraction. It was beautiful. I was so happy that we decided to make this trip because Kevin is a dear friend of mine and I really wanted to be there for his big day. We brought Jacob to the reception later in the evening and he really did great early on just sitting outside with us playing with his cars. He was super excited about the prospect of dancing and couldn't wait until it all started. Unfortunately, he didn't realize he'd have to sit through toasts, and cake cutting, and dinner, etc. before the action began so that was somewhat of a challenge. But all in all, he did well. There were other kids there that he chased around the dance floor while we all had cake, but then when the real dancing began, he didn't understand that running at warp speeds through the big circle of guests huddled together for the "We are Family" song was inappropriate (if not dangerous). We realized that shortly after that we might have to call it an early night. In the future, we might rethink taking a toddler to a wedding, but we are still young parents and have a lot to learn! I got to snap some adorable shots of our little man all dressed up though. In these pictures, I can foresee a grown man many, many years down the road and it really makes me want to stop time.

Daddy and Jacob walking into the reception. I don't know why I love taking pictures of them walking together -- maybe I just love to see the back of Mark and his mini-me.





Jacob, show me your "happy" face!



Jacob, show me your "half-smile"



Jacob, show me your "grumpy face"



Jacob, show me your "excited face"



Jacob's best part of the night was running full speed on the dance floor!



Especially with the other kids...



"Why can't I dance with the bride too?"



On Sunday, we got to catch up with Mark's old friends the Lapadulas, the Clarks and Jim McCaffrey. The Lappys just had their 2nd baby, Hadley, who didn't make a peep the entire time through a 2 hour lunch. Man, I might sell my soul to have baby #2 be like that!! It was so fun catching up with everyone and I just hope it's not another year and a half before I make it back to Chicago!!

Jacob's 2 1/2 year "birthday"

Last Thursday, Jacob officially turned 2 1/2 years old. To commemorate the occasion, I decided to have his pictures taken at the Picture People. We used to take him there every 3 months during his first year of life because they were fast, relatively inexpensive and just plain easy! Since we haven't had any professional pictures taken since last October, I thought we were way overdue.

Jacob was fantastic. He always amazes me when we go to have pictures taken. I'm usually a bit stressed about it (hoping that he'll cooperate and that we'll get at least one good picture) but every single time we have gone, he has been such a ham for the camera and likes to have fun with the photographer. This time was no different and we actually had a fabulous session!

Here are some of my favorites from this session on 7/30/09. Also, below, I wanted to include some of my favorites from previous sessions. I always love looking at how much he's changed in such a short amount of time!

Picture People session 7/30/09 (Jacob = 2 1/2 years old)

















Picture People Session 2/21/08 (Jacob = 1 year old):







Picture People Session 11/9/07 (Jacob = 9 months old):







Picture People Session 8/7/07 (Jacob = 6 months old):







Picture People Session 5/8/07 (3 months old):

Blankie crisis averted

If you have spent any time with Jacob in the last year, you know that he has a favorite blanket. He absolutely cannot go to sleep day or night without it. I'm not sure how or why this particular blanket became "the one" but it did, and now we hold on to it as if it were made of pure gold. Mark and I have had many "what if" conversations about blankie disappearing and we really don't want to know the answer to that. A long time ago, I went looking for a duplicate blanket just in case and couldn't find it anywhere. I knew I had received it at one of my baby showers in the Fall of 2006 and it was from JCPenney, but whenever I went to a JCPenney and looked for it, I could never find the same one. I even scoured JCPenney outlets in case they carried products from past seasons without any luck.

Today I had a disappearing blanket scare. Jacob and I went out this morning to the post office and then to a morning playdate. When we got home, it was nap time so we went upstairs and jumped into bed to read books and sing songs. He immediately asked for his blanket and I realized (or thought) we had left it downstairs earlier in the morning. I went downstairs looking for it and could not find the darn thing anywhere. I checked the car thinking maybe we had taken it out with us and it wasn't there either. I looked in every room and started panicking. I came back upstairs and told Jacob I couldn't find it and asked him if he remembered where he had it last and he just had a meltdown right then and there. Mind you, he was tired because it was nap time, but I knew I was in a severe danger zone. Where was that blanket?! I felt so bad for him and frustrated at myself for not keeping a better eye on it. I asked him if we could sing songs and go night-night and he just kept saying "NO! I want my blankie!!! Blankie mommy!" I decided I'd go through the house one more time to see if I missed it before. Sure enough, I went to the back of our bedroom closet and there it was (it's a Texas master closet folks, and it's huge, and I had no idea he had taken it all the way to the back of it and left it there earlier that morning.) Ugh, what a relief! I came upstairs with blankie and it didn't take but 2 seconds for Jacob to fall asleep. He was so happy.

After this episode, I knew I had to take action and find a duplicate blanket just in case this ever happened again. I looked at the tag and it was barely legible after all of the washing over the last 2 1/2 years but it said "Bright Future" on it. I started searching the internet and could not find the same Bright Future blanket. I used all kinds of search words to find it..."Bright Future blanket", "Bright future JCpenney blanket", "Bright future multicolor baby blanket", etc. It wasn't until I searched specifically on "Bright future plaid pastel blanket" that a posting from ebay appeared and I found a woman on ebay selling the exact same blanket!! SCORE. It was the only one I could find anywhere so I grabbed it.

Hopefully this will keep our blanket anxiety to a minimum in the future. Oh the things we do for our babies...

Jacob with his blankie at 5 months (notice how blankie always appears with paci):



Jacob with his blankie at 11 months:



Jacob with his blankie at 14 months:



Jacob with his blankie at 18 months:



Jacob with his blankie at 21 months:



And the blanket I found on ebay (yay!):