First week of November

A lot has happened, not much at all has happened this week.  While I'm officially on maternity leave,(thank god!) starting October 31st, I'm just hanging out.   Sitting around waiting at 40 weeks.  I've been looking forward to this break.  I was starting to get burnt out at work and pregnancy brain mixed in with that and training my back-up was not fun.  Can't wait for a a screaming newborn to add to the fun.

My mom arrived on Saturday and of course, her bag stayed in Chicago. We didn't do too much over the weekend. We went to CrossFit and Gabe and I played.  Then hung out at the house  for a while.  Of course I got a migraine on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday-can we say drop in hormone level.  Still no baby.  

In between the migraines and teething 1 year old - we have been enjoying my mom's visit and cleaning up a bit around the house.  There are still a few home improvements that need to be finished, but I think we are ready for Baby A to arrive.

No matter what happens in the next day, Baby A will be here and our cute family of 3 will be a crazy house of 4.  I can't wait to see big brother Gabriel in action in the next couple days, weeks, years.  He is a amazing little boy and will be a great brother.  As for Baby A - just cannot wait to get to see who has been kicking me for the last 6 months!  

Pumpkin Carving

Back in October we bought pumpkins to carve for Halloween.  I had the idea that Gabe would get a kick out of pulling the gunk out of the pumpkin or at least watch Scott do the cutting.  That didn't happen.  Gabe was scared of the entire process.  He wouldn't get too close to Scott and wouldn't dare touch the seeds or gunk inside.  So, Scott carved us a nice jack-o-lantern and Gabe and I watch Curious George Halloween Special.  Here are the pictures of the wonderful event.

This is as close to Scott as Gabe would go

Halloween 2014

Halloween this year was a little different than past years.  We had to make sure Gabe was bundled up and fed before trick or treating.  Of course he is only 1 and we didn't go crazy.  We did fight him to get into his adorable lion costume.

On the Thursday before Halloween (October 30), Gabe's daycare invited all the kids to dress up for pictures.  It was so cute.  And Gabe "happily" put on his lion hat - for pictures only.  The kids looked great and Mary was able to get pictures Scott and I could not.

Clearly thrilled with the hat on

This is the best smile the whole day.

On actual Halloween, Gabe just work his pirate pumpkin shirt and was happy.  We picked him up and headed to the Birch's for dinner and play time.  Gabe did well.  He played with Mathew while the fire pit was set up and even ate dinner.  He wasn't too sure about the trick or treaters at the door.

He did want to hand out the candy.  Scott took him to a few houses before it was noticeable that it was almost bedtime.

We said our good-byes to the Birch's and thanked them for letting us hang out.  Then it was off to the Bello's house for a quick pop in.  Mike and Nicole hadn't shown up yet so we chatted then headed home.  Gabe fought sleep for 10 minutes and then crashed.  Scott managed to get him out of the car seat, carry him into the house and take off the lion costume without waking him up.  Very impressive work.

It was the perfect Halloween for us and I can't wait to continue it next year with 2 crazy monsters to chase around.

Pumpkin Painting

This weekend we didn't do a whole lot and it was a very nice change.  Scott had a HUGE deployment for work that started on Saturday, thanks to those in the Middle East.  So he needed to be at his computer for most of the afternoon.  Thankfully, nothing major happened and we were able to hang out with him while he monitored the situation. 

And by hanging out, I mean Gabe and I painted a pumpkin.  I had thought about doing this with him last year, but he was a little too young to really get into it.  This year I bought a couple small pumpkins to test out his artistic side. 

He loved it.  I managed to find a deal on paints at Hobby Lobby and he had his own set that he could do whatever with and bounce from color to color.  He had paint all over his arms and even tried a little paint in the hair - that many have taken a day or 2 to get completely out. 

I think was a success, but I'll let the pictures show the fun.

Life

Life lately has been kinda crazy.  Gabe is learning and talking more and more on a daily basis. Along with his learning, he is exploring and sometimes doesn't know what he really wants.  Which has lead us into the wonderful world of toddler temper tantrums.  It's a new learning curve for all of us to adjust to and thankfully he gets over them fast.

Our house remodel is almost done.  At least the stuff that needs to get completed before Baby A arrives.  Thankfully my mom arrives in 2 weeks and has volunteered been requested to help paint the woodwork in the house.  We did come up with a paint color for the living room and hallway, now to find time to mud and prime those rooms.  It's amazing how a little/a lot of paint can completely change a house.  I still can't get how awesome our kitchen looks.

Scott finally finished his 9 month long Regional Leadership Forum at Wash U.  It was a lot of work on his part, reading 5-6 books for each session, as well as his job and family fun.  I'm very proud of him and was happy to attend his graduation ceremony and meet some of the other attendees.  Big thanks to Aunt Michelle for watching Gabe in order to make that night out happen.

I am on the final countdown till Baby A arrives.  We are officially 37 weeks today and the baby is almost 2cm dilated, head down and kicking up a storm.  I'd like to say I'm completely ready for this kid to come whenever he/she please, but I'm not.  I do have the newborn clothes washed and cleaned.  They haven't been put away, but they are clean.  I still need to move Gabe's clothes to his new big boy room and we do need to make some freezer meals.  I think we will be ready whenever he/she makes the big appearance, or by November 6th ( the due date and/or induction date)

That's pretty much everything that has been happening in our world lately.  Lots of business and lots of cheering on our Cardinals to the NLCS, our Huskers to a great start to the season and the Blues(yay hockey is back!). 

Pumpkin Patch

We took Gabe last year to Thies's Farm for his first official pumpkin patch experience and decided that it was the place to try out again this year.  It's very close to our house and there is a huge play area for him to run around in.  Check out the size of the pumpkins there!

This year Aunt Kelly was with us to take in all the fun.  Thankfully, Gabe is under 2 and still gets in for free. 

Gabe loved the wagon rides

There was a couple hay pyramids for him to climb up, a pirate ship for him to steer and a tractor for him to check out. 

He could have stayed and watched the goats all day

Overall this kid had a bunch of fun playing outside.  We even let Gabe guide us through the corn maze. 

Captain Gabers

Climbed up all by himself - with a little help from dad

 

Trying to be brave, but it was dark in there

Leading us through the corn maze

Oh tractor!

Since we had just had a huge rain storm a couple days earlier, they were not letting people out to pick their own pumpkins.  Which was ok, we ended up really muddy last year.  We selected a couple pumpkins and some mums and called it a day. 

Successful trip to the pumpkin patch

Thanks Aunt Kelly for going with us on one of our many fall traditions!

More Home Improvements

The home improvements continue at the Allenzotti House.  Besides the new flooring, we've had some random appliances go out on us.  It all started with the garbage disposal going out.  Let's be honest, it was probably on it's last leg and we rarely put anything big down it.  So, this wasn't horrible and we lived for a couple weeks without it.  Then it was desperately needed. 

The sink disaster area

The garage entrance with the new garbage disposal sitting on it

Then one evening I noticed that the washer had not completed the cycle and then wouldn't drain or even finish a cycle.  So the appliance repair guy was called and a new drain pump later we were back in business.  One Saturday night, I decided to run the dishwasher - since we hadn't replaced the garbage disposal, the sink backed up.  that was all sorts of fun to clean and gut under the sink.  And then, the refrigerator went out.  After 20+ years of refrigerating it was done.  Scott took it a little harder than the rest of us.

Saying good-bye to the refrigerator

After a week of eating everything in the refrigerator and freezer, we bought a new, way bigger, refrigerator.  Of course delivery was on Wednesday, 5 days later.  That ended up working out well for us since the plumber was coming on that Wednesday to fix the sink and garbage disposal. 

Scott and I were very lucky, Scott's parents said they would house sit that Wednesday while the delivery and plumber were there.  We even had some painting help.  We didn't have to miss work for the deliveries.  After that crazy week, our house looks completely different and things are actually working again!  Yay!

Hello new refrigerator and almost 1 coat of paint