1 week until my due date!

WHERE does time go?!?!

This pregnancy has been just as easy as the first.  The only notable difference has been that I was MUCH MORE fatigued during the first trimester this time around.  It could just be a different pregnancy, or it's a result of chasing around an extremely active toddler all day every day!

16 weeks pregnant: Isn't the bump supposed to be in the front?

Another difference is how calm this baby has been.  Maks used to kick me like a jiu-jitsu professional (his personality was shining through way back in the womb).  As a result, I never could understand the other pregnant women who would swoon over the movements that their babies would make.  Mine hurt!  Thankfully, this baby has been a bit more low key.  I still always struggle to not find it completely strange that a bump on my belly is actually a protruding limb or body part of another human being...but that's just me!

26 weeks and growing.

I firmly believe that Maks has no idea how his life is about to change.  He has a baby doll that has been around since we first found out that we were expecting a second child.  After a week of gentle kisses, swaddling and walks in his wagon, Maks made it clear to me that he had changed his mind about being a big brother...by sneaking his baby into the trash.

I'm thinking he might prefer to have a 2nd dog instead of a sibling!

Fortunately, he's come back around and spends a large portion of each day carrying his baby around, sharing his food/water, changing his "diaper" and making sure he's buckled tightly into the infant car seat next to him on road trips.

Why the baby is wearing 3 pair of panties, I'm not sure.  He also used a baby wipe on the doll's feet - always a good idea!

Somebody broke into his little sibling's Christmas present early.  Apparently the baby doll has first dibs on the moses basket!

Luckily, he's excited about this arrangement!

In much the same fashion as my pregnancy with Maksim, we only finalized our birth plans near the final month of pregnancy!  But, I'm pleased to say that we'd decided to pursue a home birth with baby #2!  Prenatal appointments have been a breeze!  My midwife comes to my house and we basically have a quick little chat, making sure I'm feeling ok and all of my questions/concerns are answered.  There's no packing up Maks into the car, driving to a doctor's office, waiting for hours on end in a waiting room, etc.  So convenient!

33 weeks pregnant and Maks has declared this the best pillow in the house!

Birthing at home just felt right to me.  I toured a local birthing center, but it still just felt too hospital-like for my liking.  Of course, I am limited to Certified Nurse Midwives via my insurance, so that could have played a role as well.  The birthing centers were beautiful - private rooms with attached flower gardens, birthing tubs, etc.  But as I toured a laboring mama came through the front doors.  I just couldn't imagine giving birth in a building with a bunch of random people present - knowing my midwife was attending to others (prenatal appointments, etc.) while I was delivering my baby.  I loved the little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom home that I delivered Maks in.  Just Bryon, myself, my midwife and her 2 birth assistants.  It was quaint, homey, quiet and warm.  I just couldn't bring myself to accept the sterility of the birthing center, as gorgeous as it was.  I was looking for a comfortable, natural birth - not a stay at a 5 star hotel.

37 weeks pregnant and wearing Daddy's workout shirt...

...Desperately wishing there was an app that allowed you to skip the final weeks of pregnancy... 

...and travel back to a time where SOMETHING in your closet actually fit!

Needless to say, we found the one and only Certified Nurse Midwife in the area who does home births!  And she was available for my delivery date!  She's delivered nearly 3,000 babies in her career - which includes hospital births, birthing center births and home births.  I rest assured that she knows what she's doing, and that she will be more than skilled enough to identify any kind of situation that might require an emergency transport (Tampa General Hospital is about 2 miles straight down the street from us).

Belly kisses for Mama!

Modeling our midwife's behavior with the fetoscope.

I'm loving the fact that I can labor in my own house, in my own clothes, with access to all my own comforts.  If Maks is napping or sleeping, there is no need to wake him and find childcare.  When our baby is born, he will already be exactly where he belongs - at home and in our arms.  No uncomfortable hospital beds, no bad hospital food, no cold floors and stark white lights, no halls flourishing with the germs of sick individuals, no shoving a newborn into a carseat and nervously driving them home through inner city traffic...you get the idea.  Everybody has the right to pursue the birth they envision.  A peaceful home birth is what I strive for this time around (in addition to a baby that is smaller than 11 pounds...but we'll just have to wait and see about that!).

I can barely stand how he manages to curl his little foot around my belly.

He's one proud brother.

Fingers crossed that this love continues once baby #2 actually arrives!

I'm 39 weeks pregnant as of today.  1 week left...or maybe later today...or in about 3 weeks.  It's such a waiting game.  Part of me wishes to have this baby right now (I'm ready to physically be done with pregnancy) while another part of me is so incredibly nervous and unprepared to have 2 children under 2 years old on my clock!

Head over heels for my double pearl mama bird's nest necklace!  Our 2nd little egg will be here soon!

Maks and I continue to get into more of a groove with one another.  It's so difficult to imagine adding another member into our little circle.  I know it will be great.  But I truly believe it's something that you can't wrap your head around until it's actually here.

Why couldn't he have liked this form of transportation throughout the previous 38.5 seeks of pregnancy? 

In the end, he'll forever remain my first born.  And he has taught me so, so much (about myself, parenting and life in general) in such a relatively short period of time.  We're soaking up the last few days of our special bond before we open our arms to another little man to love!

Almost "home"

Upon returning to Florida from the Dominican Republic, we still didn't have a "home" to move into.  It'd still be another week before our house in South Tampa was ready for us!  Luckily, Bryon has an aunt and uncle who live in Apollo Beach.  We were able to stay at their home, even though they were out of town while we were there (again - they're always on the go!).

Someone had been missing his girl!

"I'll never ever let them leave you for a week.  Not ever again!"

A kennel is no place to be alone.

It's always nerve wracking to stay at someone else's home when you have a youngster.  Baby-proofing is tough.  Of course, Maks' favorite places to explore were the china cabinet and the liquor cabinet.  Good grief!  With Bryon having an hour commute and working 12 hour shifts, I had my hands full.

Indoors, Maks perfected his architecture skills.

Easy-peasy

Daddy tries to jump in and take partial credit (don't let him fool you).

Outdoors, Maks was constantly collecting seashells.  (Nevermind the fact that they were supposed to be decorative landscaping accents.)  Out in stores soon: "How to Feng Shui Your Yard" by Maksim A. Kroger

Favorite picks of the day.

...and play on the dock.  He's fearless.  Yikes!

  Napping was a flop.

Patiently waiting for her audience to return to story time.

Books for his Boo-boo.

At least SOMEONE falls asleep during storytelling.

But, luckily, there was a nice playground and dog park just around the corner!

Early mornings at the park!

Always climbing...and giving his mama heart attacks!

He was NOT so sure about Ava's handholding.

It's totally appropriate (and normal?) to let your child wash his balls in the water bowl at the dog park, right?  Ain't no stopping Maksim!

We spent a lot of time at the mall play area; just an excuse to get out of the house!  "Real traffic" wasn't exactly Maks' favorite part of the trip...

He's totally unimpressed.  "Mama, MOVE THIS CAR.  NOW!"

But he did think he was pretty cool driving this car without a shirt on!

"Yeah, this is MY ride."

"Hey, ladies!"

Halloween was low key.  Bryon had to work and Maks has a 6pm bedtime, so there wasn't much going on for us.  The mall was a fun getaway to people watch and see some costumes (we didn't dress up this year, but you can revisit Maks' first year of Halloween fun by clicking here) before calling it a day.  

He briefly considered being a clothes hamper for Halloween.

Wishing a Happy Halloween to Daddy while he was at work (boooo!).

Halloween capped off the end of October, which meant it was time to move into our NEW home!  Let the adventure continue!

Throw back Thursday

Remember when I said I'd follow up with our family photos from Maksim's 1st birthday?  (No?  I don't blame you.  I'd said I'd post them in a week...and that was only about 6 months ago!)  Here you are:

This one is my FAVORITE.

Our Dominican Disaster

FLORIDA.  BRING IT ON.

We woke up bright and early, let Maks release some energy and said goodbye to Louisiana - embarking on our 3 day road-trip journey to The Sunshine State.

What a gorgeous Fall morning!

I WILL miss this yard. 

"Don't drink and slide."  Leave it to this kid to find the lone beer bottle that Daddy left on the patio.

I was lucky enough to travel in a car with a carseat-hating toddler and a 65lb dog.  Bryon did his part by driving the UHaul through some intense winds and rain.  Neither were very rewarding.  But, we made it to Florida.  What we haven't done is get settled.  We technically moved here October 1st, although our house wasn't ready for us to move in until November 1st.  Bryon started working right away.  And let me tell you, watching after a toddler and a dog while living in small quarters and out of a suitcase (while pregnant) is not a walk in the park.  Sunrise strolls like this helped to make it better:

For the first 10 days, we stayed in a Temporary Lodging Facility on base at MacDill.  I'm sure the housekeepers there thought we were crazy because we took the queen mattress off of the bedframe and moved in onto the floor of the living room.  Since it was only a 1 bedroom unit, Bryon and I slept out in the main area (so that he could get ready for work and leave in the morning without disturbing Maks, and so that we could stay up/run errands in and out of the apartment after Maks went to bed at 6:30pm) while Maks slept on his twin mattress that we brought from home in the bedroom.  It was a rocky transition at first, but Maks slept his 12 hours at night and eventually took some decent naps during the daytime.

We went a little stir crazy.  For example, these mommy fails:

Fail #1:

He looked so uncoordinated running down the sidewalk...only to find out I'd put both of his feet through the same leg of his shorts!

Fail #2 is visible by looking at his nose.  He'd been deciding to unbuckle himself and jump out of the jogging stroller while in motion.  When he wouldn't listen to me, I let him continue to do so (to try and teach him a lesson).  All he learned was to slide off on his belly the next time.  And I was fortunate enough to deal with the horrified looks of bystanders as my jogging stroller conveniently rolled over my child's body.

And we spent a lot of time at the park and zoo.

Just a tad concerned that whenever he sees a meerkat he excitedly yells, "Da-da!".

I'm kind of loving the signs at our park!  And Maks loves chasing said squirrels more than playing on the equipment.

Since after 10 days our lodging came out of our own pocket, I figured that I'd rather spend money on a real vacation/hotel rather than simply pay for a hotel in Tampa.  So, we'd booked a week-long trip to the Dominican Republic.  We'd made the mistake of not going on a baby-moon prior to Maks' arrival and didn't want to make the same mistake this time around.  However, Maks would be trekking along with us.  So, we chose an all-inclusive (not our typical style) beachfront resort with infant/childcare facilities.  A nice week to de-stress, relax and soak up some sun.

Prepping for Punta Cana in the Florida sand!

Punta Cana.  It was awful.  Let me elaborate...
*DISCLAIMER: We did end up with some decent tans, and some nice photos to share!  Don't be fooled by how fun it looks; we won't be traveling back to the Dominican anytime soon!

For starters, the day before we left, Maks woke up from a nap with a funny sounding cough and mucus-y spit up.  I didn't think much about it because it only lasted about 10 seconds and he seemed find.  Around 8pm that night, I was out picking up food for Kira to eat while we left her with a friend.  Bryon called me stating that Maks woke up with a horrific cough (he NEVER wakes up from sleep) and needed to go to the ER.  He'd called his step-mom, who is a doctor, and she was concerned about whooping cough as well.  So, off to Tampa General we went.

To make this story much shorter than it actually was...Maks was in awful shape but couldn't sleep the entire time we were at the hospital.  We finally left at nearly 2am with a diagnosis of croup and an upper respiratory tract infection, a few prescriptions from the doctor and the advice to continue on with our trip as planned (it was too late to "cancel" at this point anyhow!).  We were also given medicine for whooping cough, although the results of his test wouldn't be available for a couple more days.  This way we'd have the meds in case his test results came back positive and we needed them.  Better safe than sorry.

THIS was a big hit!

Fast forward to our plane ride, which included Maks not sleeping until we were within an hour of landing in the Dominican Republic around 9pm at night.  We'd been so busy running around picking up prescriptions for Maks, etc., that when we landed, we realized that we hadn't brought ANY cash with us and all we had were our credit/debit cards.  Luckily we met a nice couple on the plane who lended us some cash for our visas, and we were able to pay them back after paying a ridiculous currency transfer fee at the airport.  Lesson learned!

Beachside kisses.

After an hour transport from the airport to our hotel, we arrived only to find that they'd not placed a crib in the room for Maks.  (I even double checked with the front desk upon check-in, too.)  We called housekeeping and they assured us that the crib would be delivered asap.  Then we called back no less than 12 more times.  Once 1am rolled around, we put Maks to bed without a crib.  At nearly 2am, they called to see if we still wanted it delivered.  "No, thank you.  Let's try again tomorrow."

Cutest booty in the Dominican Republic.

Oh, and we chose this particular resort because of the fact that they had a well reviewed "babyland" where we could drop Maks off to play and swim in a special area so that we could go on excursions/enjoy a meal/sit on the beach for a few hours on our own.  Anyhow, the staff let me know upon check-in that Babyland was under COMPLETE RENOVATION AND WOULD NOT BE OPERATING THROUGHOUT OUR ENTIRE STAY.  Um, shouldn't they have told me this prior to reservation? 

Babyland was obviously a bust...so we hung out at the pool with adults instead.

Maks reports that this is the best way to travel.

Maks attended his first foam pool party!

Maksim refused to nap every day, but remembered to be cranky.  The only way we finally got him to nap on the last day was to let him cry for an hour in the ergo carrier while we walked on the beach.  Once he fell asleep, Bryon got to sit motionless in the hot, hot sun for 2 hours while Maks napped (and Bryon sweated).  Maks also woke up no later than 4:45am every single morning.  Not horrible, but the hotel restaurants didn't open until 7am, which made for a long morning without ANY food.  We ran into the same problem at dinnertime.  The resort restaurants didn't open for dinner until after Maks went to bed for the night - which meant that every night Bryon and I took turns going to dinner and eating alone while Maks had to stash up on food at other meals throughout the day.  

This dismount could use a little work.

Maks' cough and infection cleared up fairly quickly, but Bryon caught it later in the week.  Alternatively, my pregnant self caught some sort of food/water poisoning (despite solely using bottled water).  Maks was lucky enough to catch the water bug at the end of our trip as well.   

"See ya, Mama!"

Free drinks!

Mazel tov!

So, for the most part, we spent each day dreading how many days we still had left before we were able to go back home.  Not the vacation we'd planned.  It was a total bomb.  Live and learn.  (And go by ourselves next time!)

Finally back in the USA.

Here's Maks' layover workout in Miami.  He did this at least 10 times.

Happy to be back in Florida...but still don't have a "home" to go back to just yet!