37 Weeks and A Day on the "Farm"

Today, marks my 37th week being pregnant. I am in official countdown mode. We are at t-minus 3 weeks and counting. Just a couple of general thoughts about this pregnancy... things are still going well. I am still not uncomfortable enough to want to have this baby. I mean really who really wants to go through labor again? Also, I feel that I am not totally prepared this time around. I have no clothes washed for the baby, my bag isn't packed for the hospital, and countless many other things have yet to get done (I will write another post about my lack of preparation). Also, Pearson and I have not been able to come to a consensus on names. I fear our baby is going to leave the hospital nameless. I know all this stuff will get resolved and done so there is no reason fretting about it now when I could be writing about our great day.

I realize that my days enjoying outings with only Mae are going to come to a screeching halt so today I decided to take her to a "farm" to visit some animals and enjoy the great outdoors. Mae was a little freaked out by some of the animals, especially the horses and the stall with the turkey and the bunnies. She, of course, loved the "lambs" and the John Deere electric kids' cars. Here are photos from our adventure. As you can see Lucy joined us.

Arriving at the farm.

Mae and The Pig

The Turkey that literally was an inch from us. They allowed you to go into a barn stall, which had about 10 bunnies and this turkey. I would be scared if I was by myself with it.
Mae unsure about the bunnies and turkey. Lucy undeterred.

Mae's favorite song, Mary had a little lamb, came to life.

The Lamb.

Baa, Baa Black Sheep.

At the garden at the farm. The gate provided some amusement.

Enjoying the John Deere cars. Little did they know they moved.

Mae's favorite thing at the farm.

Since Mae was unable to reach the pedals, I was able to convince a young gentleman to take her around for a spin.

Mae's driver. Of course, she loved this.

She got a new chauffeur.

Not wanting to leave.

Saying goodbye to the horses.

To Dye For

Another holiday. Another holiday tradition. Another holiday where I am really interested in partaking in the tradition. Another holiday where Mae is unaware and can take it or leave it, however, she is super happy to oblige her mom's need to participate in traditions. Growing up Catholic, Easter was a BIG deal in the Kogut Family. Along with the spirtual and religious side of the holiday (not just going to church on Easter Sunday), we also participated in the commerical events - getting Easter baskets, new Spring dresses, having an Easter egg hunt, and dying Easter eggs.

As you will notice from the photos we had a surprise and very special guest with us to dye Easter eggs this first time. My mom/Grandma Kogut came into town for the holiday. We were also lucky to have Sarah and Lucy join us in yet another holiday this tradition.

The Eggs

The Dye

Mae dying her one and only Easter egg. Already a pro.

Grandma Kogut helping out.
Lucy and Sarah

The Team

This was right before she took the spoon and drank the vinegar and dye concoction.

Giving up on dying eggs. She would rather eat yogurt.

Lucy also would rather be eating yogurt.

Mini-Dictator

Everyday Mae gets more and more verbal. I like to think a new day = a new word. With her burgeoning ability to speak and tell us what she wants, the more and more demanding she becomes. We now affectionately refer to her as our mini dictator. Her demands begin as soon as she wakes up and continues until she falls asleep for the night. Generally speaking her first request in the morning is either "milka" or "moogoose" [music]. However, on some mornings when we come downstairs for breakfast, she asks for "pasta." Of course, I have to respond by saying, "we don't have pasta for breakfast." Then the demands (you see I am not saying requests) continue during the day....."I sit there," "books," "up," "wash," "soap," "moogoose," (this is repeated again and again throughout the day)," "eat," and it goes on and on. Last night, Pearson came downstairs and said, "Mae did the cutest thing ever." I asked what it was. He said after he covered her up to go to sleep, she all of a sudden stood up and said, "kiss." Of course, Pearson gave our mini-dictator her wish. Who could resist?

NOTE: I know I did not explain how we are handling all these dictator like requests. Discipline and handling the persistent toddler is another post for another day.

Thank goodness there isn't ever a drought in Seattle

Another day, another great friend keeping us company. Tonight, we were very fortunate to have Kate and her daughter, Nora over for dinner. Of course, we snucked in bath time with the kiddos together. Bathing with two is so much more fun than one. Nora is 10 months and is absolutely adorably happy, you can tell from the photos of her below.

Nora

I might have made the mistake of purchasing a stool for Mae to wash her hands. Prior, she hated washing her hands. Now, I can't keep her from climbing up on it and standing on it for 10 minutes while she turns the water on and off. I have purposely kept the bathroom door shut so she won't ask to "wash." Also, once she starts it is impossible to get her to stop. She especially loves using the soap.

Belly shot - 35 weeks pregnant.

Another belly shot.

Under the Sea

Another day, another great outing. Today we went to the Seattle Aquarium for the very first time. Mae enjoyed being under the sea for the morning. Thanks to our great friends Sarah and Lucy for keeping us company.

Hanging with the Monkeys

I have yet to mention it but Pearson has been out of town since last Tuesday. (He will be gone for a total of 11 days). I have also failed to mention that I have been pretty sick (yet again!) since he has been gone. I have tried not to wallow in my misery of being alone, 8 months pregnant, sick, caring for Mae, and taking care of our crazy dog. I don't say this because I want an award for Mother of the Year because lord knows, there are many more people doing a far better job than me. I also know there are many parents doing it alone because their spouses have more demanding jobs than mine, such as being in the military. I say it because my friends are awesome and have been keeping me great company while he has been gone. Case in point, we went to the zoo yesterday with Mae's friend Greyson. It was a great day - the sun was shining, Mae was thrilled to see the monkeys, and she was pretty excited that Shanda brought the red wagon (Mae's favorite form of transport).

Greyson showing off his manly strength.

Snack time.

Greyson, Mae, and Coco. I tried to get them to smile but no one wanted to.

Monkeys!

I think this brought the most excitment of the day.

Running to see the penguins.