Less than 4 weeks to go!!

Not that I'm counting or anything....... But, yes, I'm ready to say goodbye to the bump and hello to the baby!!! I took the picture above this morning which shows that the bump has definitely moved lower so that's good. I'm also ready to say goodbye to the winter and the ice. I fell four times last week and flat on my face on Saturday managing to scrape up my nose and chin. Now I am on a self-imposed dog walking ban until either the baby comes or the ice disappears - whichever is sooner!!

This week was my birthday so we had a play date here in the morning. The kids went wild in the playroom as always - lots of fun!!! In the evening we went out to eat at Old Chicago with Grandpa Ray and Grandma Sandy. Sadly, the Kilanowski family were sick and couldn't make it. They had a live band playing that evening which Oliver was fascinated with. He had to go and stand right up in front of them and do his little dance (see video). Quite the little mover :))

I'm trying to think what else we've done since I last posted but my mind is blank!! I feel like we've been busy but not sure what we've done, LOL!! Oliver is just great at the moment. He's giving me lots of cuddles and keeps kissing my face better (he says "mummy, ow"!). He's chosen a gift for the baby - a cuddly frog that makes noises!! The baby has also chosen some presents for him but don't say anything ;) I'll finish by letting you know some of Oliver's favourite phrases at the moment (hopefully I don't repeat any I said before!):

Ready, steady, go (I tried to get this on a video but I think I missed the "ready")

Biscuit, milk: after nap time he has milk and a biscuit and this was the first thing he said when he woke up yesterday!

Broken - followed by - Mummy/daddy/Oliver fix it: he is a one toddler destruction zone

All done

Uh oh, ice

Continuing the training - Oliver helping clean up after lunch. You wouldn't believe how much mess one boy with some crackers can make.....

Having a deep and meaningful conversation with the turtle

The cars are flying....

I'm not too sure how good the sound quality is on this one.....

My little Valentine :)

"I love the ladies" - yes, we had to buy that t-shirt for Oliver for Valentine's Day!! How could we possibly resist?? And he did very well at looking super cute in it! I got some beautiful flowers from Jon and we had a pretty lazy day all round. I started feeling sick on Saturday so Sunday brought a cold and yesterday I was feeling pretty lousy. It was so nice that Jon had a day off work yesterday so I had an extra pair of hands to help me with Oliver. Today I am on the up and should be back to normal tomorrow I think :)

Last weekend we watched the Superbowl at Jennifer and Matt's so Mikayla and Oliver got to hang out and play for the evening. They had lots of fun and pretty much brought out every toy Mikayla owns :) It was a late night for Oliver - the game ended around 9pm but it had been snowing so we had to clean off the car and take it easy on the way home so he was probably in bed at 10pm. But he handled it very well (no tantrums!!).

Today it is just lovely outside - sunny and almost 30 degrees (F). Oliver is at daycare so I took Scoop for a nice long walk. Too bad I fell over but she had fun!!! Don't worry, winter isn't over yet but it gives us hope that Spring is in sight :)

I got a new toy last weekend - an iPhone - so I took a few videos of Oliver at the swimming pool on Saturday. I put a few of them at the bottom so you can get a taster of what he does there. We have now signed him up for the next semester so he is good through June I think. There is also a video of Oliver going off to "work" with his tool belt!! This is one of his favourite games at the moment. He is very much into pretending and his imagination is amazing sometimes :) He loves to get his bears snuggled up under a blanket and have them go to sleep!! The bears all help get toys out and choose books :) And his speech is still coming on really well and he is getting much easier to understand. We went to lunch at Applebee's with Grandpa yesterday so he can now say Applebee's well!! In fact, he asked to go there this morning on the way to school :)

Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks pregnant so definitely in the home straight now!! Next docs appt is on Monday where I should find out once and for all what position baby is in - hopefully the right one!! This baby is still very active though so it wouldn't surprise me if it's still doing somersaults ;)

Happy Pancake Day everyone!! Not sure we're having any in this house as I just wasn't organised enough and the last time I tried making them was a disaster!! So have one for me please someone :)

Oliver and Mikayla do karaoke

And a duet on the cat keyboard

Oliver escaping Aunty Jennifer!

Hmmm - I'm guessing Uncle Jon's reading wasn't up to scratch.....

Enjoying a snack with his friends Rowen and Ezra

Oliver borrowed Ezra's Lightning McQueen apron and chef's hat :)

The trees on Saturday morning - just beautiful.

My gorgeous boy watching Cars!!

Dizzy dancing!

It's not often I post twice in two days but this morning Oliver was so funny! We went out to the Midtown Global Market and they had a group singing. Oliver eventually warmed up and started dancing in his own crazy style!! I'm pretty sure he takes after his father in the dancing stakes - enjoy :)

It's February!!!

I am so glad to finally see that February is here!! Not only can I say the baby is due next month but this is the shortest month of the year so makes it seem even better :)) Less than 50 days to go now!

It's snowing here again this morning. I am pretty much done with the cold weather and wish spring would make an appearance but you know that's not going to happen for a while yet. The air is so dry that even Oliver keeps demanding hand cream!! He wasn't feeling too great yesterday so I kept him home from school. He had a slight temperature and a runny nose so I spent the day dosing him up and he seemed a lot brighter this morning although he didn't want breakfast. So, he's gone to school and I'll see how he's doing at lunchtime.

Nothing too much to report over here. We took Oliver to a free event called "Rock the Cradle" a week or so ago. They have lots of music activities going on including a disco so we took him to hang out there. Hmmm - he wasn't too into it and spent the best part of the time hiding behind a curtain!! Sometimes he's just not the most outgoing of kids ;) Other than that, just a couple of play dates and, of course, swimming which is still going really well. We will be enrolling him for the same class next semester.

Just a few pics as I haven't been very good at taking any lately!!

You have to look very closely but you can just see the toes of Oliver's shoes sticking out from under the curtain.....

Oliver has become fascinated with my tea - so last week I let him have the last few mouthfuls of my (decaf) green tea. Strange that he liked it!!!

The nursery!! Complete with the fab curtains that my friend Rebecca made :)

Part of baby's going home outfit - who could resist the duck on the butt??!!

And a cute blanket to go with it - "squeeze me"!!!

Swimming!

So Oliver started swimming lessons again last Saturday morning and he got on really well. He was so excited to go that all we heard that morning was "pool" and when we were finished we got "more pool"!!! The pool we are going to is great - steaming hot (I was sweltering on the side!!) and just so much fun. In the half hour lesson they play lots of fun games that get them used to having water splashed over them, being under the water for a short time and jumping in. Some of the games were the same ones that our friend Sue did in her classes in the UK so that was really nice. Safe to say I think someone will be more than happy to go again tomorrow morning! And he's started having baths again at home (rather than having a shower with one of us) which is really nice. He thinks he's back in the pool again!!

We had a fairly busy week going here and there. Yesterday we went to Eagle's Nest which is becoming a regular haunt - so nice in the bad weather - and Oliver ran around like a crazy thing for a couple of hours. He is getting very interested in going to the section for the older kids (the toddler part is for 3 and under) but I knew if I let him in there he'd get stuck at the top somewhere and would want me to get him!! Whilst I don't mind climbing it's not the greatest thing for me right now ;) This afternoon we are off to a birthday party play date in Minneapolis which should be lots of fun.

Me? 9 weeks to go and, as expected, the time is dragging badly. I am starting to get cramps and back ache and I feel like every time I move I say "ouch"!!! I am ready to meet the new Jozwiak but know I have to be patient a little while longer.

And here are a few of Oliver's favourite things to say at the moment:

wipe;wipe please;wipe mummy/daddy - usually referring to a runny nose that needs wiping but could also mean hands and mouth at meal time

thank you mummy/daddy - he just loves to say this at the moment and finds it pretty funny when we say "you're welcome Oliver"

help please mummy/daddy

Oliver - sounds more like "warwar"

waffle - sounds like "offal"!!

bye bye crumbs - he likes to clean the crumbs from his chair and the table after lunch

I'm sure there is tonnes more and I'll remember as soon as I publish this!!

Here are a few pics from swimming and recent days. In the mean time, Go Vikings (just one game away from the Superbowl!!)!!!

Ha ha!! It's fun to splash Daddy!!

This picture shows how hot is in the pool - I had to keep wiping the lens!

We need to work on Oliver's jack-knife position when he's on his back!! He did great laying flat in the bath last night so we'll see if he can do that tomorrow.



So, I ordered some nursing covers for when the baby comes and they arrived in the mail this week. I had to take them out of the packet to look at them and of course Oliver wanted to look too. Here he is wearing one of the covers with bear blankie nestled underneath in the appropriate position :)))

Off to the garage to get Mummy's car serviced - we had to take cars of course.

Playing at Eagle's Nest

Just 10 weeks to go!!

That's right - I am now 30 weeks pregnant so I am starting to feel like I'm in the home straight although the end of March still seems a long way off. Last night Jon and I went to tour the hospital in Maple Grove where we will be having the baby. It only opened just before New Year and is just amazing. Compared to anything I've seen in the UK it is complete luxury :) Even the husbands get their own pull out couch with Tempurpedic mattress! There are flat screens in every room (in case you have the time or energy to watch "on demand" while you're in labour) and whirlpool tubs in every bathroom. They have 6 labour and delivery rooms and then 18 postpartum rooms where you go an hour or two after having the baby and it is normal to stay in the hospital for 48hrs. It all makes me look forward to the big event but I wish my friends and family in the UK could see it (the hospital that is, not the big event - ha ha!!).

In other news, I think we've settled back in at home now although Oliver is still taking long naps in the afternoon. I was pottering about in his room for 15 minutes yesterday afternoon before he finally woke up! Thankfully he has no trouble going back to sleep in the evening but he is waking up early in the morning and we hear him chatting, singing, kicking etc etc etc.

We've had a relatively quiet time since coming back but we've still got out and about. Last Wednesday we went to a new event at the Midtown Global Market. They are doing different activities for the kids every week and last week it was music which Oliver enjoyed. At the weekend Oliver's friend Bryce came over with his mum who very kindly made some curtains for the baby's room for me. We just need to get the pole put up and hang them but I'm very pleased with them. And yesterday we met some new friends at a play date at one of the British mum's houses.

Did I mention last time that Oliver's speech is coming on really well?? He is such a copy cat but does a really good job of trying to say things we do. I must try and get a video of him saying some things because it's really quite funny!! For instance, Lightning McQueen somehow comes out as "godego". I have no idea how this happened but anyone who didn't know Oliver well would wonder what on earth he was going on about!! And of course the inevitable embarrassing moments are starting to happen. One day last week we were out and Oliver says "mummy poo" as if it's the most normal thing in the world to say. Thanks son :))

This weekend is going to be quite exciting as Oliver starts swimming lessons again. Yes, I finally got him enrolled and classes start on Saturday morning - yey :)


Shaking his thing at the music morning!

Snuggled up under the blanket with bear

New PJs part 1 - very cute polar bear PJs from the Curry family (although Oliver is hiding the polar bear! When we put them on he said "bear, bear" and when we zipped up his sleeping bag he said "bye bye bear bear" - awwww :))

New PJs part 2 - Lightning McQueen PJs from Niki and Ellis. These are very special as they have Oliver's name on them as well. Of course this made him say "godego" about a million times.......

UK Christmas 09

So yesterday we returned from our 2 week holiday to the UK. What a wonderful time we had seeing so many people. And Oliver was really a superstar. It amazes me how adaptable he can be sometimes. We were delayed for 3.5hrs on the way out but he went to sleep quickly once we got on the plane and stayed asleep for the majority of the flight. Then it took him only one night to adapt to the time change. And the whole time we were there he slept in lots of different beds and had no problem with that at all. The flight back yesterday wasn't quite so good as he only slept for 1.5hrs and had a couple of tantrums along the way but he had a really good night's sleep, has been to school this morning and is now taking his afternoon nap. So, fingers crossed that he adapts to the time change this way just as easily (unlike his parents who were both up at 4am this morning!).

We spent the first two nights of our trip staying with Niki and Ellis who live pretty close to the airport. It was nice not to have to travel far after the journey over there and so good to see them both. Ellis has grown so much!! And he was wonderful with Oliver giving him lots of hugs. On the Monday morning we went to visit some of my friends who I used to run with so I caught up on all the gossip and realised how much I miss running with them all. Thanks again Sue for the wonderful food!

Later on the Monday we went to Center Parcs for two days - a fab break organised by Steph and Mark. For those who don't know, CP is similar to a resort in the US - there is lots of accommodation on site and then you can do all sorts of activities there. The kids just loved the pool and Oliver had no fear at all when it came to going down the slides designed for the little ones!! He was even braver than his mum when it came to the wave machine ;) And cousin Morgan did an amazing activity where you trek through the trees really high up and then jump off a platform at the end (on a rope of course!!).

After CP we stayed a night with Granddad Graham before heading down to Cornwall on Christmas Eve to spend a week with Nanna Pan and Funny Michael. Steph, Mark, Morgan and Rowan were there for most of the time as well. The boys were absolutely great together and shared their toys really nicely with Oliver. You should have seen the chaos on Christmas morning :))

We headed back "up North" on the 30th and stayed another night with Graham. Then it was cousin Rowan's 4th birthday on New Year's Eve so we spent that night in Taunton. Oliver had a sleepover with his cousins while mum and dad had a hotel room for the night!! Then we had one more night with Niki before paying a flying visit to Deb and Graham in Ware then flying back home yesterday. Phew!!! Where did all that time go???!!!

All in all a great couple of weeks. But now I am on the large side I am quite glad I don't have to travel anymore!! Baby countdown is on :) I must say, this one is becoming quite a wriggler. Will have to get another bump pic soon - maybe when I am 30 weeks (only 10 days or so away!).

We have returned home to some wonderful cold weather, ha ha!! There was a big snowstorm here over Christmas so the piles of snow around the place are just huge. And some of the side roads are just like ice sheets so you have to drive super slow. Oh yeah, and it's silly cold outside - but then it is January!!

Anyway, lots of pics and a couple of videos to share with you. Happy New Year everyone!!


At Niki's playing with cars (of course!)

Hugs from NikNik :)

Ellis soundly beating me at Mario Kart

Love this photo Nik - don't tell me off for posting it!!!

Oliver and Rowan doing some artwork on the chalkboard at CP

Rowan wasn't feeling too well on the last morning so he got hugs from Nanna Pan

Oliver with Granddad Graham

Reading the newspaper with Daddy!

Oliver's favourite game - get as many cushions as possible and hide underneath them

Doing Aquadoodle with Mummy

Rowan helping Nanna Pan to cook

The rather large pile of presents waiting on Christmas morning

Mark and Jon surgically attached to their i-whatevers.....

Rowan and Oliver having breakfast together


Present opening!!!

Funny Michael in his Santa apron!!

Awwww - Aunty Steph and Oliver

Nanna Pan snuggling with her two youngest grandsons

Looks like we caught Oliver red handed going for an apple ;)))

Morgan, Oliver and Rowan eating (again!)

On the swings at the park near Nanna's

....and the train

.....and climbing the net

Hugs from big cousin Morgan

New Year's Eve and a birthday wouldn't be the same without a beer right??!!