Recap

Friday I took half day off of work and joined Daniel and his class at a farm. The weather was better than last year but the behavior of the kids towards the end was the same. Tantrums ensued at 11am like clock work and most parents peeled out of there with screeching tires, me included!
Baby and I enjoyed the hayride and although I heard "hope your water doesn't break" a few times I came out alive and with my pants dry, thank you very much.

The weekend went something like this:
1. polish school
2. food shopping
3. getting more baby crap out of the basement
4. complaining about my ankle
5. a birthday get together at my mom's
6. a bike ride with daddy to the library while mommy shopped
7. staying sane

Yesterday we picked up daddy from the train station. Daniel yelled surprise, thank God daddy saw us because I was on my last leg. You see, the walk should be a brisk 15 minutes but it took about 30 because Mr. D stopped to check his tire pressure about 10 times. On the way back there were breaks because "my battery ran out" but really it's because he was exhausted. I needed the walk.
Some pics on our way back.

33 weeks



Can't wait till the baby comes. This will be me especially the wine!



I'm wobbling more and nights are just a pain. 6 more weeks to go!

I've had no weird cravings just get hungry more. I do love me some nightly string cheese. Ryan asks me right before he comes upstairs, if I say no he makes sure to asks twice. I'm known to change my mind just as he lays down in bed and gets comfortable. I always say "it's not my fault your son changed his mind". It always works. :)

What's in a name?

So, the biggest question that I have gotten lately besides, how are you feeling is... any names picked out yet?
It's harder the second time around to pick out a name especially when it's the same gender. We were relaxed about Daniel's name and it just kinda came to us so we wanted to take our time and not stress over it this time as well. We knew Daniel's middle name would be Jeremy to honor Ryan's twin brother that passed away at birth. Daniel came to us when I started thinking of names that would easily translate into Polish and were fairly traditional. Ryan's response to it along with the entire family was positive and so it stuck. It fits him perfectly.
Daniel's name means God is my judge.
I have read the story of Daniel in the bible and just loved his strong character and unwillingness to succumb to the King's pressure, his devotion to God and trust in Him.  (Reminds me of our little stubborn Daniel).
So, naturally this time around I reached for the bible and re-read the story of Daniel.
This verse and story sparked an interest:
Daniel 1

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. 4 “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.[c]” 5 The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah.

The name Mishael in today's translation is Michael. The meaning of Michael is-Who is like God.
Michael was Daniel's friend, follower and supporter in the bible and when I mentioned the name to Ryan he said "that's a pretty common name". My response "not more common than Daniel".
We talked about it and I said "how does Michael Ryan Marron sound?" Silence. Then, "I really like that".
It was a winner for weeks. No other names sounded or had a history like Michael does, especially when paired with Daniel. Daniel and Michael. It sounded good.
The confirmation really came after our 29 week ultrasound. We went out for lunch right around the corner from the Dr. office and started talking about names, while dining a cute little boy was giving his mom a hard time, he was about 15 months, cute as a button. When we heard the mom say "Michael come here" we knew it was a sign.
It's not unique, not a name picked by celebrities but a solid name that has significant meaning and most of all WE LIKE IT.
So, there you have it...

Michael Ryan

we can't wait to meet you!

I don't think I need to explain the middle name. ;)

Weekend

Well with a Dr. appt on Friday for Daniel we had a 5 day ZPak prescription for him and his upper respiratory infection. Just like daddy last weekend. With his asthma it's hard to get rid of a cough after a cold. He's doing better.
We skipped the PM preschool and relaxed with a nebulizer. With daddy out of town it was just us two. Saturday, while D was in Polish school I ran around, bought mums for the front of the house and went food shopping. Before I knew it, it was time to pick him up. We had lunch and then it was time for D's haircut. I figure he'll be good until the holidays and his hair will grow out before the pictures with the baby. We watched The Muppets movie. Daniel's favorite part..."when Ms. Piggy falls on the little guy". I enjoyed This Means War when D went to sleep, I also enjoyed the entire bed to myself.
I tried to get the baby's room ready a bit but I had a little intruder everywhere I moved.

Daniel practicing winking

Sunday, we enjoyed a trip to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us. The first 20 minutes were great with Daniel in the cart. The last hour and a half was filled with tears about wanting a pirate ship (which was almost identical to the one he has) but you know the packaging fools kids into thinking it's totally different. As a girl I remember wanting a Barbie doll because the background of the box pictured a castle and some other barbies on it having a grand ol' time, only when I ripped the Barbie out of the box I had... well...only a Barbie and the background was garbage. A little snooze in the car did him some good as we pulled up to the library. He had a great time with a friend from school there and just kept saying "I just need $40 for Bucky (name of ship)" he is collecting money for good behavior, although he would be in the negative with that escapade. I'm trying to make him understand that you can't have everything that you want but according to him "Yes, I can mommy, I need it ALL" not sure the lesson hit home this weekend. I'm sure we'll get plenty of practice. We enjoyed a quick trip to the park and some cuddles in bed watching rented movies.
I'm trying to take it easy with a bad ankle, according to the orthopedic Dr. this morning it's my ligaments acting up during my pregnancy. I got a nice sexy brace for it and was sent home to "relax". Yeah OK buddy. I'll get the maid and pool boy right on that to-do list.

School is cool

Daniel has been doing great with going to 2 schools. I have been adjusting. One annoying thing is the amount of paper work I have to go through from 2 schools and a Polish school. Oh yeah, we get other children's clothing in his backpack too and our sweaters are given to others. The permanent markers came out this morning to initial his tags. Hopefully, this helps everyone.

I ordered Daniel's fall shoes on line. We'll see if Zappos delivers. Ryan picked the colors. How adorable are these. They got great reviews.

8 Years and 32 weeks

Happy 8 Year Anniversary to my hubby. 

It's been a great ride!!!!

Weekend

Whenever I sit down to write a post about the weekend I have to take myself back to Friday and then slowly try to remember what in the world we did.
Well, Friday D started his level Red swimming class. He missed last week since he was sick. He did very well. They are focusing on breathing and holding their breath under water.
The three of us treated ourselves to Culvers ice cream afterwards. They are awesome, you can add 2 ingredients to the ice cream. There are about 15 choices. We sat in the car and inhaled them. Then we headed to Walgreens to load up on drugs for Ry who had a fever and was feeling crummy.
Saturday, D had Polish school and I raced around like a nut; deli, haircut and then to pick up D. By the time we got home from school Ry was looking pretty bad.
He was a trooper and took a shower so we could go see Disney on Ice but 30 minutes before leaving I knew I couldn't make him go  and he didn't mind not going either. I recruited Daniel's best friend. 15 minutes later, I, 8 months preggo and 2, 4 year old boys who squeal like girls, were on our way to see the show.
One problem....what major arena doesn't except debit cards for parking? I had to turn around, find an ATM and then head back. It was the longest 10 minutes EVER, all I heard from the back seat is, "where are we going, is the show over, why are all these cars here, are we going to see Captain Hook?" Did I mention I heard this both in Polish and English? Thank God Daniel was not a twin!
Anyway, we made it in but not before the boys noticed every single Disney paraphernalia known to man being sold. My only response to get us through the grueling 5 minute walk was "Yes boys we'll look at it all during intermission". Both English and Polish answers seemed to have worked on them.
We sat down and I could finally relax. Of course every few minutes there was the "where is my backpack? can I have a snack? can I have popcorn? who is that? how did they do that? when in Captain Hook coming back? is it over? I don't know those guys". One intermission and a 10 minute wait in line to go to the bathroom later we were back in our seats to enjoy the rest of the show. The boys did good but I'm glad there will be a 4 year difference in age between my sons because I saw tantrums with siblings that day that made my eyes roll in the back of my head.



 Sunday, with daddy feeling crummy we decided 5 days of a fever was enough and a trip to the care clinic followed.
45 minutes, a diagnosis of a respiratory infection and a prescription for a 5 day Z pack later we were on our way home. D was picked up by his grandparents to head out to Santa's Village for the last time of the season.
He received a camera from them and here are some things I found on it. Thanks grandma and grandpa, going through my own gazillion pictures doesn't keep me busy enough. :)

 

Chillin' in the semi truck at Santa's Village

He came home exhausted just like his grandparents. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for allowing my daddy to sleep and rest and my mommy to continue to scratch things off of her to do list since she is nesting.
When Ryan woke up Saturday night with a fever of 102.9, I panicked and was up from 4-5am going through baby stuff. Why? I imagined myself with the flu in the hospital while my baby had nothing to come home in and felt like the second child the moment he was born. Yes, hormones can do crazy things.
Ok...my to-do list awaits.