Getting Ready for Baby Love

We really have been awful about getting this nest ready for baby #2. We had Audrey's nursery painted and decorated by the time I was 7 months along. And by we I mean Barker and Driscoll. This time I hit 8 and hadn't even picked a paint. Barker has worked non stop since July so everything else has been put off. Now things have finally slowed down a bit so we had a few hours to run and grab some paint and he and Audrey got to work. I supervised. Don't get me wrong, I've been doing my part. For one, I'm carting his heavy self around. And I've been buying things for him here and there all along. I created two registries so I'd have a list of what I needed to pick up, and so that I'd hopefully snag some coupons from both Target and Buy Buy Baby. And boy am I glad I did, cause I can't remember a thing lately. Had I not made those lists I'd surely have 3 diapers and one sock the day he arrives.

Audrey painting her brother's room. For those of you on a budget, here's a tip...child labor is cheap and much cuter than all the contractors I know.

Barker helping Audrey with home improvements. 

I'm hoping he got lots of paint on this shirt. I put most of his nasty old college and fraternity t-shirts in boxes in the top of our closet long ago but he will occasionally bust one out to paint in. This one is the worst. It's from some softball tourney in New Orleans. It will become a shop towel once our kids learn to read. 

When they finished painting I loaded them up and we went to the Celina Hot Air Balloon Festival. It's the only hot air balloon festival in the area that features invisible balloons. That's right. Not a balloon in sight. Awesome. I'm assuming it was due to wind. I don't know. But we still had a good time. There was carnival food and super unsafe rides. What could be better?

I saw a kid not much larger than Audi ride the pirate ship. She loves pirates so we asked her if she wanted to ride with daddy. I obviously cannot partake. She said sure, gave her tickets to the carny and got a seat.

She didn't appear to know what to expect before it started.

But quickly learned this was a bad idea. The look on her face the first few times it would swing back down was hysterical. Like any good parent I snapped and laughed away. But she enjoyed it and at the end was all smiles.

We went to get some hot chocolate and a grilled cheese for her afterward and I showed her the pics on my camera. She pointed at the pic of the pirate ship and said "That pirate ship made me nervous." We busted out laughing. She later said she liked it, but then reiterated that it made her nervous. The poor thing is a worrier. More and more like me every day. How will the world cope with two of us?

After some delicious (and super bad for us) fried food we hit the carousel.

And the swings.

Oh, and the little train.

But her night wasn't complete until I found a guy selling those light up cheap toys on the way out.

I'm cherishing these days that it's so easy to make her smile. The look on her face was worth a million bucks. She was over the moon to have a little light up toy. I also love the look on Barker's face. I call it his 'Tony Romo- I have no idea what is going on here' look.

She only briefly put it down to have some hot chocolate we got at McDonald's to warm up with on the way home.

She drank all but the last sip or two. I found that out when I tried to take a drink. She grabbed it back and said 'It's empty.' I agreed and replied 'You drank it all.' Her response: 'No, you drank it all.' ha! But in the end I'm glad I didn't or I would have been up all night, oh no, that's right, I was anyway. Cause boy did I pay for all the walking around. I knew I would but I also knew that Audrey would like the festival enough that it would be worth it. I swear this new baby is hard to please. If I walk too much, like for a couple of hours, I'll have some discomfort in my pelvis later. But if I sit up straight, say in the car or in a restaurant, he's protesting after just a few minutes. It's even started when I take Audi to school and back which can't be more than a few miles round trip. But church is the worst. Holy moly he rolls around the whole time we're at church, shoving hands and feet every which way. He's relentless. And apparently some nerve is quite a comfy pillow for him so he shoves his head up against it when I'm not laying down or at least at an incline. Picky, picky little guy. He must be cramped in there. But I don't mean to sound ungrateful. Don't get me wrong. This pregnancy has flown by, as I knew it would, and I do wish it would slow down a bit so I could enjoy this time in our lives a little longer. I'm very thankful to be adding to our little family of 3 and I realize most women have it much worse than me when it comes to pregnancy. I'm perfectly healthy and don't suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other dangerous or painful condition. I've been very fortunate in both of my pregnancies and am perfectly content to not walk non-stop for 3 hours if my ligaments aren't on board with the idea.