~Down on the Farm~

On Saturday we decided to take a little family outing to a local farm in our area.  We have driven past it for the past two years on our way to Annapolis, and you can see the giant corn maze from the road.  We figured since it was still early in the season it wouldn't be too crowded.  I think the heat also helped us in this regard because not too many people wanted to tramping around corn fields in 85 degree weather!

Rowen had a blast! He loved having the freedom and the space to roam as he wanted.  They had an adorable little cow train that I thought he would leery of but actually loved and was all smiles when he came back around to us! 

Up and down the hills he would march, jibber jabbing about all that he saw....

And he was pretty pleased they had a swing, although he wasn't too happy that there was only one and he had to share...

My heart...

But I think his favorite part of the entire farm was the goats! They were a little aggressive but he absolutely loved feeding them and made sure everyone got their fair share!

It was a wonderful little afternoon outing that left our sweet little boy worn out by the time we got home.  Hopefully as the weather cools down we will be able to enjoy more like this in the coming month! 

~Tidbits~

This week we have finally seen small glimpses of the cooler weather coming our way, and I am happy to not be sweltering every time I step out the door.  

~While I have had a few challenges dressing Rowen (its cool in the morning, but around 80 by noon) he did get to get back into jeans for the first time this season on Wednesday.  

While I had assumed he would be wearing a bigger size this fall, to my surprise his spring jeans still fit him pretty well!

~ On Wednesday we had a 'Date Day'.  Rudy said lets not put labels on these things, but basically we both took the day off, slept in until Rowen woke up, and then took him to school for the day so we could spend the day together.  While I have a few people who would gladly babysit, this is the first time we have done this and it was pretty fun. 

We started the day with Starbucks...

And then headed to an empty Ikea...and came out with more than we planned to...

While we had planned to see a movie, there really weren't any early matinees of anything we wanted to see, so we headed to a local mall and walked around for a bit.  Before heading to pick up Rowen again, we went to our beloved Joe's Crab Shack for a quiet and slow lunch...

~One of our Ikea purchases was a bookshelf for Rowen.  As we already know, my DIY skills are rather lacking, and I would rather take a piece of furniture and just change it up a bit.  We picked up 'lockers' for Rowen's room, but simply left the doors off, and I absolutely love them!

I think we have enough books for now!

~ This week we also got  a little special something in the mail.  Initially we had planned for baby brother to wear the same outfit coming home from the hospital as Rowen had.  Problem is we had wrongly been told that Rowen would be rather large so his coming home outfit sort of swam on him.  After some discussion, we decided baby brother should have his own outfit.  Rowen's outfit was puppy dogs (to go with all of his dogs in his first room)...

And baby brother's outfit will be alligators (to go with his room)...

That little package was one step closer to D-Day!

Rudy is about to make some stovetop pop corn which I have become rather obsessed with so with that I am signing off! 

~Care to Take a Seat?~

Today while I was out doing my four mile walk, Rudy and Rowen put together a little table we picked up for Rowen.  We have been browsing for a table for a while where Rowen could sit and play with books, blocks, etc. and we finally found one that fit our living room well.  When I got home Rudy showed me the pictures he took of Rowen sitting at his little table pretending to read to himself.  Enjoy!

~Boy Mom Brainwash~

I never thought I would be a boy mom.  In fact I was so convinced that I would have girls, that I didn't even consider boy names.  And then we found out that our first child was going to be a boy.  Sigh, a boy, I know nothing about little boys, how was I going to become a boy mom? 

One of the first things we did after finding out Rowen was a boy was go shopping.  This should be easy, if there is any activity I excel at, its shopping.  But then I was introduced to the unfair world of little boy shopping, where 80 percent of the store is taken up by little girl clothes and the other 20 percent is a hodge podge of boy clothes.  I get it, stores are building consumers like me everyday, and it starts with those female dominate store sections. But that didn't make it any easier.  While I picked through the slim pickings of cute little boy outfits, I couldn't help but make longing sideways glances at the oodles of adorable little girl clothing.  

When Rowen was born, I forgot about those little frills I was missing.  I started enjoying the many shades of blues and greens that had taken over my life, and I learned how to dress my little boy.  I started to not even notice the little girl clothing as I was able to quickly scope out things that would fit the style I had decided was Rowen's. It became easy to do.

And then I became pregnant again, and those little fluttering hopes of bows and lace socks started creeping into my heart.  I got my hopes way up. I tortured myself. I may have spent the entire 45 minute drive to the gender ultrasound picking out all of the hair bows I was going to purchase on the ride home once we confirmed what I already knew, that baby number 2 was a girl.

Except baby number 2 is very much a boy.  And while I wish it were socially acceptable to dress my sons in polka dots and paisleys (even if its acceptable, its just not for us), my favorite patterns will not be making an appearance in the near future.  This round was easy, in fact I have not bought little brother anything in a store. I have bought a piece here or there online, but for the most part very few new little boy items have joined our home.

Last night however, all of the little blue outfits that I grew to love with Rowen were brought out of storage.  And I was hooked.  Call it brainwashed, I am sold on my sweet little boy clothing right now. In fact I think if I had to buy baby girl clothes right now I would probably be sad about all my little boy blue clothes. 

Sitting surrounded by the sweet smell of Dreft I carefully folded and cuddled forty shades of baby blue.  Washing the clothes made it all very real.  In less than ten weeks (hopefully) I will be a boy mom again.  I will dress my second sweet little boy in the clothes I once so foolishly thought I would never need.  While there are many other little things that make me a boy mom, including my excellent dump truck noises, pulling out my sweet little boys' clothing may be my favorite thing.  The clothes are ready, and everything else will soon be ready.  And I am ready to meet the other sweet little boy who has already stolen my heart.  

~I May of Swallowed a Basketball~

As of today, we are 3/4 of the way to meeting little brother! To say I am excited is an understatement.  I am having a hard time being patient, but I know the wait is so worth it.  This pregnancy has been easy, but sooo different than with Rowen.  I never once got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom when  I was pregnant with Row, but I sometimes end up twice a night with BR2.  And we have visited more shady not so pleasant bathrooms all for almost no reason because someone likes to hand out right on top of my bladder.  

Another major difference with this pregnancy is how I am carrying.  If I had to guess I would of said Rowen was a girl since I carried all over, but with this guy I literally look like I swallowed a basketball.  Ahem, case and point...

For memory's sake, here goes...

How Far Along....30 weeks!

Weight Gain....As of this morning, three pounds.  I'm happy and growing so I will take it. 

Maternity Clothes....everything. Up until a couple of weeks ago  I could get away with normal long tank tops, but now they awkwardly creep up and show off my delightful stretch marks, often with me unaware. 

Movement.....I like to call this guy a dragger.  I imagine him dragging his finger or toes along my sides in creepy sweeping movements.  He occasionally does the wave, but he is definitely a shock punch kind of guy.  

Cravings....Ice water with a splash of pink lemonade, I may have to buy stock in this stuff!

What I'm Looking Forward To....Working on the nursery and finishing up a few more line items for the room!

And for comparison of how far we have come...

Only ten more weeks to go!

~DIY Not So Much~

I like to think that at some point I was sort of a do it yourself kind of girl.  When we were in college, my roommate and I painstakingly turned out little 14x14 room into a Christmas miracle, complete with a snow village and a light up reindeer bobbing his head.  The next year, also at Christmas, I spent a weekend carefully crafting Tiffany Box Christmas ornaments with my little glue gun, some paint, and lots of patience to make them perfect.  My Tiffany themed tree stayed up for almost five months.  

I continued on my DIY journey for a few more years, making a centerpiece here, or a christmas bow there.  And then last summer, DIY was taken to a whole new level.  Hello Pinterest.  Suddenly my little DIY projects seemed so inadequate once I searched for what I was thinking of doing in Pinterest.  While I think it is an amazing resource, at the same time it makes me feel overwhelmed. 

As Pinterest has become my gauge of all things DIY, I didn't think Rowen's nursery was quite up to snuff.  Thus I was determined that little brother's nursery would be a DIY dream.  Every little thing in there would be hand crafted in some way by me, including the crib that I carved out of the tree that I cut out of the front yard yesterday morning.  Ha. I also decided that Rowen's big boy room needed a few DIY touches as well to seal my status as DIY god.  

Two weeks ago was going to be the culmination of all of the DIY projects.  In my bubble gum world, while Rowen was at daycare and Rudy was at work, I was going to craft up each piece of the boys' rooms, clean my entire house, run all my errands, and have a fabulous meal on the table when they came home.  By day two I realized this wasn't a likely goal, but I still thought I was playing the part well.

And then I wanted to make a bookshelf.  Two days prior Rudy had told me I was banned from going to that 'Jillian Moore' (aka AC Moore) store anymore until I had completed some of my projects.  But my wannabe DIY heart couldn't resist running in there and getting an unfinished bookshelf for Rowen's room.  By the time my boys got home, I was sitting my plump pregnant butt out on the concrete in the back yard, sweating from all possible sources, putting the last coat of paint on my DIY miracle.  

When I saw Rudy's face, I knew something wasn't right.  The questioning 'you like that color' may have set off the waterworks.  But he was right. The color did nothing for Rowen's room, added no contrast, and meant my eight hours of work had really been for nothing, except for maybe a good sweat.  I kept looking out the back windows hoping that some magical DIY Godmother would come paint it green instead of gray, but when I brought it into the garage a few hours later no such luck.  

Two weeks later, the bookshelf of shame is still standing in the garage.  In fact I get reminded of my DIY failure at least twice a day when I go out to get the dog food.  In reality, I can't really be upset about my bookcase because it made me realize an important fact.  I am not a Do It Yourself kind of girl.  

I'm a Buy It Right Now kind of girl.  Sort of like the never a bride always a bridesmaid scenario, those who can't make, buy.  There are still smatterings of my DIY projects around the house, like the nursery nightstand not painted white yet sitting in my living room, but I am slowly transitioning most of my 'ideas' or creations found on Pinterest to purchases from Etsy and Amazon.  I may even claim I made one or two of the the items for good measure.  And in the long run I have convinced myself this tactic will save me some money since I tend to over purchase supplies for my projects and now I am cutting out all of those middle costs.  Now I just have to convince Rudy of this for the rest of his life.  

Dear Pinterest, my best friend that I love to talk trash about, you have won again.  But only until the UPS man shows up tomorrow.    

~Don't Know Much About History~

Don't know much biology.  But I do know that I love you. And I know that if you love me too, what a wonderful world this would be!!

Thinking of a title for this post made this song pop into my head and I can't seem to get it out.  Election season is in full swing, and in the Rivera household we have been watching both the Republican and the Democratic conferences.  

When I think back to this time four years ago, I didn't know my husband. The closest link I had to him was he was a teacher of my best friend's course she was taking. In fact, I didn't know Rudy until after President Obama had already been elected.  

One of the first conversations Rudy and I ever had was about the Kennedy Family.  While grading tests, I noticed that my instructor was also reading a book about Robert Kennedy.  What was most fascinating was that while he was reading, he was diligently highlighting passages of the book that he liked.  I have long had a fascination with the Kennedy family so this was an easy topic for us and I started asking him questions about what he was highlighting.  This was my first indication that my future husband was a history nerd. 

This election season is probably the first in my life that I have actually enjoyed and paid attention to, and its all because of Rudy.   I have always enjoyed my share of history (second only to math), but it is clear that history may be my husband's passion.  Every night of these conventions I have sat in awe listening to his explanations and theories and ideas about what today's politicians are selling.  He truly enjoys watching the speeches, absorbing the key points, and formulating an opinion about the topic.  

While I have seen so many sides of my husband throughout our relationship, this politics loving side, where he truly flourishes, and often doesn't lean particularly one way or the other, is amazing to see.  I can ask question after question on any of the current election topics, and he quietly paints a description of both sides of the issue.  And if he doesn't know the answer (I ask a lot of questions :)) he takes the time to find out more information for me.  

I'm glad I have him to guide me through this election season. Rudy makes me want to learn more this time around and I am feeling more and more educated each day about what the differences between the candidates are.   

 I knew our love of the Kennedy Family was a nice little commonality we had between us, but these conventions have further proven that some things are simply meant to be.  I know some about history, am learning a lot about politics, and love my history major husband.  

And since we stayed up late to watch Bill Clinton and both look worse for wear, here is one of my favorite pictures of us from long ago...

~Hello Fall~

For the majority of my life, I have associated the Tuesday after Labor Day as the 'official' start of fall.  While I'm still usually wearing shorts, and sweating to death (as I did this morning at 645 trekking across the parking lot in the cool but humid DC air), Tuesday after Labor Day was usually the day I went back to school.  In fact, my four siblings started school today, and I may of gotten a little weepy seeing the first day of school pictures of them on Facebook.  

We have had a great summer.  A summer where I can look back and say we did things we wanted to do, celebrated our friends and family's triumphs, and enjoyed our time as a family.  We worked hard.  We made changes to our home, decided to stay a while, and started prepping for big family changes this fall.  We took Rowen to the beach.  We found out baby #2 is a boy.  And Rowen, he has grown so much in these short summer months, and the 'baby' that he was in June seems almost a distant memory.  

And while I usually mourn the end of summer, and the loss of the long lazy days, this year I am eagerly anticipating fall.  Again it may partially be do to my over abundant pregnant lady hot flashes. This fall, probably more than any other will be a season of change for us.  We have spent the last few weeks making major progress in the preparation for little brother, whether it was moving rooms or purging lots of clutter.  We are so close to being 'done' that we can taste it, and in a few weeks I think we will be finished.  From that point on, our time will be focused on enjoying our time as a family of three.  Enjoying these last few months with Rowen while I can still remember what it is like to have one little boy running and babbling around my house instead of two.  

And towards the end of the fall season, that quickly rolls into the holiday season (yes I think Christmas is an actual season), we will meet little brother.  While I'm trying to be patient, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I can't wait to meet him, see if he is another mini Rudy, and watch his older brother love on him.  I may drag my feet and whine about still having eleven weeks to go, but I know that all too quickly these weeks will fly by, and so will fall.  

Will we be able to look back on this fall and say, 'We did everything we wanted to do', I'm not entirely sure.  But we will do a lot-like go to the pumpkin patch, trick or treat, play in the leaves, and maybe experience Rowen's first 'real' snow.  And at the end of Fall 2012, we will have grown, and will be a family of four.

So goodbye Summer 2012, you were a good one.  And hello Fall 2012!