Erin Akin Carroll

Okay, so I think the Bozo picture is actually very scary and it may be removed from my blog soon. But I can’t say “hip hip hooray” without thinking of the Bozo Show and the Grand! Prize! Game!

I digress.

Anyway we do have two big reasons to celebrate! I passed my glucose test despite all the chocolate cake-eating that occurred the night before. So I don’t have to go back for the three-hour test!

We’re also celebrating because Hudson had his follow up appointment with his doctor this morning and his ear infections are gone. Hallelujah! No tubes for now!

That’s all I’ve got for today. I’m folding laundry, reading a little bit, and preparing a delicious pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and asparagus supper for my family. Or for Todd and me because Hudson will probably refuse the good stuff and end up with grilled cheese. But at least his ear infections are gone!

A few people have emailed me or left comments asking what we’re doing to get ready for the new baby. So I thought I’d talk about a couple of big things and then open it up for advice. How often do I ask for advice? So get it in while you can! (just kidding)

The Bedrooms and Sleeping Arrangements

Even before I knew we were having another boy, I had planned to go ahead and move Hudson to a big boy room and keep the nursery as it is. If we had found out we were having a girl, I would have switched up some of the fabrics and stuff like that to bring in some pinks, but the nursery is pretty gender neutral in terms of colors. I didn’t want to own two cribs at once since Hudson will be two years old in June and would likely be moving to a big boy bed anyway. I just hated the idea of buying a crib if I was only going to use it a couple of months.

So this is the nursery, Hudson’s current room. We’ll change up a couple of things to personalize it for the new baby, but I still love the fabrics and colors we chose and I’m excited for another little one to spend some time in this room.

I’m praying Hudson’s transition to his big boy bed is smooth. I’ve read a few blogs (including Marriage Confessions)  about the transition to the big boy bed and some tips on how to make it an easy transition for everyone. We plan to move Hudson over as soon as his bedding is finished and as soon as we have curtains for the windows. (My child needs a pitch black room, remember?) Hopefully it will all be finished at least a month before his baby brother arrives.

The shelves and toys will stay in Hudson’s room and I’m even more thankful now that we worked out a good storage system for that room.

Here’s a sneak peek of the fabric swatches that we’re using for Hudson’s room! It’s boy-ish, but not too dark and still really fun. He loves cars and trucks so we had to incorporate that. We’re going to make it fun while still keeping it stylish for his mom’s sake and his KK’s sake!

The Stroller Situation

This is where I need advice. I love our BOB stroller and plan on keeping our single BOB in case we’re ever just taking one baby out. I am planning to get a double BOB with the infant seat attachment so Hudson and his brother can ride along together. After we got the BOB we used it for a lot more than just walking and jogging. It’s such a great stroller.

But it is going to be really wide and maybe it’s not the best stroller to take everywhere. I plan to have it regardless, but I’m wondering if we need a second double stroller. These are the others that I’ve had my eye on. We already have our Graco infant seat and plan to use that again. But holding Hudson and holding the infant seat is the main goal I’m trying to achieve in this task.

The Baby Trend Sit and Stand

Baby Jogger City Select

So what do you think?

What is the best double stroller for an infant and a toddler?

What was it like transitioning your toddler to a bigger bed and a different room?

I’m ready for tips!

1. I currently weigh 8 pounds less than I did the day I delivered Hudson. And you know I’ll be gaining more in the next 16 weeks before this baby is born. But I’m not yet ready to accept wagers on how high that number could be! Thankfully, my doctors haven’t said a thing about it, so I’m not worried. I love those women!

2. Hudson is doing much better, thank goodness, but my sinuses have been invaded! Our bedroom can get really stuffy so I’ve been sleeping in the guest bed to prevent TC from having to hear my snores that sound like a freight train coming through the room. And because the guest bedroom gets better circulation. I miss my bed– and my husband!

3. I know I shouldn’t have, but I made a huge cake last night and ate a piece. And I knew I had my glucose test this morning. Probably not the smartest idea. Hopefully the test isn’t positive– false positive or actually positive!

4. I love me some Chick-fil-A half lemonade and half sweet tea. I know many of you do, too. Chick-fil-A has some lingo for this drink- anyone know what it is? (Many thanks to Jennifer who commented! The girl at Chick-fil-A yesterday called it a “split.” I usually say Arnold Palmer, but that’s not what CFA calls it.)

5. I drink caffeine when I’m pregnant.

6. I also drink Diet Coke when I’m pregnant.

7. Please, no lectures for #5 and #6. (I do it in moderation.)

8. This little boy is hanging out right on my bladder. Sneezing is a doozy.

9. Even though I was born a blonde, God obviously wanted my hair to be dark by the time I turned 25. I’m going today to make it blonder. I’m blonde at heart.

10. I unjoined my gym for 2011. Smart financially, but not sure yet if it was the best decision. I’ll figure it out when I’m ready to start exercising again.

11. I cannot sit in a movie theater or a Mexican restaurant without having a Diet Coke.

12. I don’t like praying out loud. I get nervous and feel like my prayer is being critiqued. I prefer to pray silently.

13. I received a pamphlet at the doctor’s office today for a special new service where the mom and baby get their own private nurse and share a nurse for their stay in the hospital. This also means the baby stays with you the whole time in the hospital. It sounds dreamy, but honestly? I want my sleep and plan to do what I did with Hudson. They’ll bring me my baby every 3 hours during the night and I’ll have him all during the day. But those last couple of nights of sleep are kind of important to me. Okay, they’re really important to me.

14. I buy too many books. I am supposed to finish all of the unread books in my house before buying a new book! But I bought two new books this weekend and I immediately started one of them. There are lots of sad, unloved books in this house.

15. After I watched Toy Story 3, I went to my closet to find Le Mutt, my oldest stuffed animal. Le Mutt is a ratty old dog. But I just hugged him because I felt so sorry for him. I’m pretty sure that makes me crazy.

Any confessions you care to make today?

We had such a fun weekend. Three friends and I hosted a baby shower for our friend, Emily and her baby boy on the way. It was so much fun putting together a shower for her with such great friends. It’s always fun to plan things but even more fun when you’re doing it with people you like.

My very generous parents-in-law were once again so kind to let us use their house for the shower. It’s got a great floor plan for entertaining and it’s so nice to have such a big space to use when you need to host lots of people. There were 24 of Emily’s friends and family members at the shower, including her mother, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and a great friend who flew in from Los Angeles. She and her sweet little boy are very loved!

The hostesses with Emily. Emily is the tall blonde in the middle- I promise she is 8 months pregnant. Doesn’t she look amazing?

Just before the shower started we were wondering aloud about when the baby boom would happen for our class. We’ve had two families join our class that already had children, but Hudson is still the only baby that was born while the parents were in our class. And now Emily and I are both pregnant. Then we found out that these other two pretty mamas are expecting, too!

all the pregnant girls from our Sunday school class

I’m so happy we had this day together to celebrate Emily and her sweet baby boy and that we had the opportunity to pray for both of them. Parenting is hard and having supportive friends and family around to love you and your children is such a blessing. This little boy is already so loved!

cards to write sweet notes to the mom-to-be were put in this photo album for her to look at later

the food table: fruit, cupcakes, pimiento cheese and pita chips from DiPratos, spinach salad, and chicken salad w/ rolls

sweet cupcake toppers made by Nat Kat Designs to match the invitations from Tiny Prints

hydrangeas are Emily’s favorite and look so great with blue and green baby boy decor

yummy chicken salad

Some of the girls (and little Hudson) got together last night to hang out. We wore our pajamas and just sat around and talked. Hudson ended up making sweet eyes all night at one of my friends. I’ve never seen him get such a crush on someone before, but he was smitten! He loved having all of my friends read to him and play with him. I don’t think it bothered him a bit to be the only boy in the room!