Adventures in Homeowning: March 2012

Leo @ 19 months old
Photo by Christina Bailitz Photography

Hello everyone!

Long time, no blog. Where has the time gone?! In less than five weeks, we'll be a family of four. It is crazy how quickly this pregnancy has gone by. We are super excited and have been spending the past few months getting ready.

Note: this is a really long post. I should do this more often so these aren't so long!

Leo @ 20 months old (almost)

Leo is almost 20 months old. Wow. I can't believe it. He is SO MUCH FUN right now.

Talking up a storm and putting words together. Some of our favorites:

Daddy, read
Daddy, help (can you tell who's been spending a lot of time with him?)
Holy cow
Spooky town (where Leo and Daddy go when they hide under a blanket)
Dipping sauce (a.k.a. ketchup)

He is very into "helping" these days. Wants to help brush his teeth, comb his hair, help Mommy and Daddy cook and so on. He is becoming independent and often says "Leo" when he wants to do something. He loves to dance and loves music. He loves to read books with Dad. He continues to have A LOT of energy. He is getting really good with his numbers, letters and colors. We love him to bits and are really enjoying these last few weeks before baby brother arrives.

Some pictures of Leo:

Caught red handed!
Sneaky Pete in Mom's Cloffice

Looking so big here! A visit from Pepere and Memere

Reading with Dad

Dancing with Memere

Food Allergies

We recently confirmed that Leo is highly allergic to peanuts, tree nuts and eggs. We thought he was after he had a reaction to eating eggs at 12 months and another after eating a little peanut butter around that same time. He got all red, rashy, hivey and vomited in both instances. So we had him tested just after he turned 18 months old.

Although I know things could be much much worse, it has been tough thinking about what life is going to be like moving forward. These allergies are life threatening. We now have two epipens with us at all times in case of a severe allergic reaction. Leo must not only avoid these foods, but also foods that made using these ingredients and foods that could be cross-contaminated with peanut/tree nut/eggs. We read labels on everything now.

We've know about the allergies now for about a month, so I've been trying to spend time reading about living with food allergies as well as connecting with other parents in the same situation. It can be overwhelming, when you think about all of the situations your child is in and will be in in the future where food is present -- daycare, school, parties.

Good thing our Leo is a smart cookie. We will teach him all about his allergies so he can learn to protect himself. He has a 60% chance of outgrowing the egg allergy, and a 20% chance of outgrowing the peanut allergy -- so we'll keep our fingers crossed for that too.

Everyday, this gets a little easier to live with but I am still working on the anxiety that comes along with it.

Some more pictures of lovely Leo:

Structured-disheveled hair after 2nd big boy hair cut

Lining up his animals, a favorite past time

He likes chips

With Mommy

Mini superhero with a mouthful of teeth

Eating "mac", one of his favorite foods

Baby Brother
Baby brother is baking away! On Monday, I will be 36 weeks along. Like I said, I can't believe how fast this has all gone by.

At 31 weeks, we had a 3D ultrasound to see what the little guy is looking like. Here are a few pics from that session:

Some think he looks like Leo...

Close up of the hand, knee and elbow. Cool!

Profile -- a little fuller face than Leo maybe?

Anyway, he looked great! And I didn't post the picture but he is definitely a boy. He is very active in utero so I know he's going to be a ball of energy just like his big brother. We can't wait to meet him!

The Boys' Rooms

As mentioned we've been working on the house, getting ready for brother's arrival. Poor A's been painting a lot, per my request. He's repainted both upstairs bedrooms, the kitchen, the den and our room. Everything is looking awesome.

Some pics of baby bro's room (formerly know as the comic room):

View from door. Paint is a light yellowy-green. We got another crib,
just like the one Leo has.

Other corner of the room. This bed used to be in Leo's room.

Close up of book shelves and wall decals.

Other side of the bed. A chair for rocking.

Back toward the door. Small closet with more woodland wall decals
over the door of the closet.

Close up of wall decal left of the window.

Shelf close up

Leo let us borrow some of his books to decorate brother's room

We've also done a little work in Leo's room. Since we moved the queen size bed into baby bro's room, we had a lot of empty space in Leo's room (it is quite large -- something like 24' x 12').

Here's what we did:

Painted room baby blue. Added ABC wall decal on one long wall.
Bean bag chair. School bus activity center to come.

Big boy bed -- but not being used at the moment. Just got it now to
fill up some of the space with something that will eventually be useful.
New curtains. More fun wall decals.

Cool pillow from Etsy. Baby bro has one too, but it is hidden until
he is arrives!

Other side of the room. Leo is still in his crib and will be until he is
ready for the toddler bed (his crib converts).

Another view from the door. Maybe someday, the boys will share
this giant room. I think that'd be fun for them. Once baby bro
is sleeping well, that is.

Fun dino bedding for the big boy bed.

Leo's space still feels a little empty to me. But this is where it is at for now.

Basement - Laundry Room

I've been going a little wall decal crazy. I've been buying them on Amazon. They are inexpensive and look nice on the wall, almost like they are painted on. Here are some birds I put in the laundry room:

Birdies on a branch by the window

In the corner...

Sitting on shelves we added ...

And yes, I am a nerd but I am super excited
about these laundry sorters from Walmart.
No more piles of laundry all over the floor.
When a bin fills, time to wash!

Basement - Comic Room

Still being worked on, but all A's stuff is in the new room in the basement. Here is what it looks like now:

Book cubby next to futon. Yes, that is a batcar
phone on top.

Other side of futon. Statue cabinet we found on CL fits perfectly in
the little nook.

Giant closet which holds his prized possessions

The doors slide all the way across the open for easy access
to the storage boxes.

Basement - Living Space/Play Area

We desperately need art still, but here is the living space, and the
play area next to it. This arrangement works out really well
as far as being able to watch Leo when he's playing.
Big storage closet along the back wall.

Door back there goes into comic room ...

With the housing market the way it is, I have been feeling a *little* buyer's remorse regarding all of the work we've put into our house. It is no fun to watch your house's value drop so low, especially when you've done the work that we have. However, I LOVE this basement and I am SO GLAD we did it. We use this space everyday. And since we aren't planning to move anytime in the near future, I just have to be okay with what is happening with the housing market and hope it rebounds some day. Until then, I am glad we bought within our means, have a house we can grow into and that we really like.

My Pregnancy

As I said, I am 36 weeks pregnant on Monday. I am feeling pretty good with just normal aches and pains. We wanted to document this special time, just like we did with Leo. So here are some pics from my maternity photo shoot at 32 weeks:

Photo by Christina Bailitz Photography

Wow. I'm just a big ball of hormones. I am sitting here, writing this blog, looking at these pictures, listening to some random James Taylor song that I don't even know, about to bawl. I am all sorts of emotional about this new baby coming. Excited, wondering how Leo will do, but mostly excited and VERY VERY thankful for all of our blessings. I really can't wait.

Phew. I think I need to stop now.

But before I do, a special shout out to my husband Adam.

It's his birthday on Saturday. He is the best dad Leo and baby brother could wish for, and the best husband and friend I could ask for. I am looking forward to the next year and many more with him. These boys are so lucky to have him, and so am I.