Today was a good day for a few reasons.

1. I fit into my first pair of non-maternity pants. It’s a little snug, but I’m happy to have at least one non-maternity clothes option.

2. Carissa’s umbilical cord fell off. She now officially has a belly button.

3. We took our first family outing. As we pulled out of the driveway I realized we had four persons in the car. FOUR.

The outing was fun. We celebrated the momentous event by getting lunch at In-N-Out. We hadn’t been there yet (except for once in California). The burgers were cheap yet delicious.

Then we went to CostCo and spent too much, as always. But the very best thing we got there (in my opinion) was the $1.50 waffle cone hand-scooped with three flavors of gelato: mixed berry, pistachio, and vanilla with chocolate chunks.

Oh. My. Good. Heavens.

The place was jam packed with people (Saturday afternoon), so John took our goods out to the car while I waited in line. It was totally worth the wait. And the buck-fifty. Wes and I sat outside in the shade and shared the cone. He liked it. I liked it. We came home very happy.

…still pregnant.

This is how I feel:

This morning John looked at me and said, “You know, I don’t think you can look any more pregnant.”

Well, time will tell.

This baby is definitely more normal sized, which Wesley wasn’t. I’m in constant amazement of how HUGE the uterus can grow, and how I can feel foreign objects inside me–like knees, elbows, and feet–nudging me (HARD!) in places where normally internal organs belong. To feel a foot poking out my side is pretty surreal. And it makes me think I’ll appreciate the movement more when it’s outside my body, where I can just look and not be obligated to feel.

Yesterday was my birthday (I’m officially in the “almost 30” club) and I spent most of it cleaning the house and shopping for baby things. But thanks to my sister I got some terrific cupcakes.

Let the nesting begin! The baby is taking over Wesley’s old room. I didn’t want her room to look like Wesley’s, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time or money on making it different. In the end she gets pink hangers instead of his white and green ones…

…and some floral curtains that layer on top of his sage green ones…

…and, you know, girl stuff.

Unlike last time around, when Wes surprised us three weeks early before we’d had time to even find out where the hospital was located, this time we’ve already visited the (different from last time) hospital, figured out where to park and which entrance to use, and pre-registered. We’ve also packed our hospital bag and Wesley’s overnight bag for when I’m in labor. I picked out some baby clothes to take to the hospital, including a going home outfit for her.

I still feel bad about how when we brought Wes home from the hospital we were kind of unprepared and had to borrow a blanket from the nurses to protect Wes from the rain. So this time I’m ready with blanket, hat, socks, mittens, onesie, sleeper, and of course a dress with matching cardigan.

So now it’s the wake-up-every-day-and-wonder-“Is-this-THE-day?” routine for me. So far I’ve dreamed three times about having the baby. Amazingly in my dreams I either sleep through the labor and delivery part, or she just falls out, or I otherwise skip everything up until the part where she’s born and I’m holding her. Wouldn’t it be nice if it worked like that in real life?

Welcome to our home.

Wes likes Chapstick. Namely, to eat it. He gets that it has something to do with the lips, but whenever I get Chapstick back from him it’s usually half empty with teeth marks.

Wes and I have been touring homes in the county Parade of Homes. There was this one house with a nifty built-in playroom decorated like a French cafe with a real working lantern. Wes liked the door that was just his size and, even better, the light switch that he didn’t have to stretch to reach.

PICNIC

A couple weeks ago Wes and I spent the morning at my sister’s house and we had a gourmet picnic lunch in the backyard.

My sister made us PB&J (and a special microwave toasted cheese sandwich for Wes) with diced peaches and string cheese. The wet marks on Wesley’s shorts are from the peaches he was eating.

Wes likes to get a reaction from animals by waving things in front of them. He does this a lot with our cats at home. It makes him giggle. Here he is trying to get a rise out of Casper the Horse, but I think Casper assumes Wes is giving him a snack.

We had a fun picnic, and afterward Wes fell asleep in the car about two minutes after he was buckled in.

CARPET and TILE SHOPPING

We’ve been shopping around for carpet and tile for our basement. Wes is a big help (NOT), so sometimes the majority of my time browsing is actually spent keeping Wes out of trouble. At one store they had a room full of sample books that kept him happy.

And a toy car he was semi-interested in.

We haven’t decided on carpet yet, but we picked out some great Italian porcelain tile that’s on closeout and a terrific deal. We also think we’ve found some slate for the kitchen and fireplace. On Monday the tiling starts!

CANDY CANDY CANDY

Wes doesn’t like a lot of candy, but he likes M&M’s. It’s the only candy he’ll ask for. The other day he saw the bag of M&M’s out and asked for some by making a sound and trying to sign something. I realized I didn’t know the sign for “candy,” so I looked it up and taught it to him. Here he is showing off his new skill. And yes, now he asks for candy ALL the time–breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and in between.

Wes and I went to the Tulip Festival. I had never been and wasn’t sure it would be worth the entrance fee, but it totally was. The grounds were beautiful, the weather was warm, and the air smelled sweet like flowers.

Wes preferred to be out of his stroller, but when he was a few tulip petals met an unfortunate end.

When he wasn’t destroying tulips he was doing a lot of this:

My church calling involves working with the cub scouts and attending monthly pack meetings. At this week’s meeting, because it was Earth Day, the boys recycled trash by making junk sculptures. They were in teams of families, and siblings were encouraged to participate. When they finished each kid stood and shared their creation. It went like this:

– a robot
– another robot
– SpongeBob SquarePants
– a robot in the likeness of SpongeBob SquarePants
– a robot in the likeness of SpongeBob SquarePants wielding a ninja sword
– SpongeBob SquarePants with scissors stuck in his head

You get the idea.

Then the sole team of young girls stood to show what they had made:

– a cleaning supply bucket decorated with flowers, complete with cupholder and toilet brush

I was impressed. Makes me wonder how life will change once we add a girl to our family this summer.