Our weekend...

This weekend was pretty eventful, at least to us it was :)! Ty actually had Friday off so he spent the day in Kalamazoo shopping and looking around with Riley. I stayed home and slept and baked cookies (and ate a lot of batter...oops:))! Then we took a tour the the Hospital where we will have the baby. Since we're new to the area we've never been to the hospital and thought that it would be a good idea to check it out, you can never be too prepared I suppose. I thought that Foote Hospital (where we had Riley) was nice, but it is no comparison to Borgess. The rooms are huge and it seems like a comfortable environment. The nurses that we met were also very nice!

Satuday, a friend of Ty's from high school stopped by because he was in the area. Ty had a great time chatting and catching up and it was the first time he met Riley. Last time we saw him I ws pregnant with Riley, he probably thinks I've been preggo forever...(although I feel like that sometimes too).

Then today, Sunday, Ty had to meet his group for one of his MBA classes in Spring Arbor so Riley and I tagged along and went shopping and to the park while Ty was working on a project. We dropped him off and then Ri and I went to Baby Gap (of course, since I'm addicated to that store!!) and then met up with some friends at the HUGE park in Jackson. We met up with Nich, Jennie and Hailey and Sarah, Ryan and Mia. Before we moved we all got together fairly often, and I miss them all since we've moved. Riley and their girls play so well together and Sarah and Ryan are expecting baby #2 in mid-September, so now our "new baby" will have a playmate too :)! We're so thankful for their friendships...it's great knowing that even after not seeing friends for a couple of months we can still pick up where we left off when we get togehter--like nothing has changed. I forgot my camera at the park, but hopefully I can get the pictures from Jennie or Sarah and post them later. (Here are a couple pics, thanks Jennie :)!)

Jennie and Hailey; Me, Riley and baby #2; Sarah, Mia and baby #2 :)

The girls in their strollers eating a snack (Riley kept feeding both of them, she's learning how to share :)!)

I told Ty that if the day at the park today doesn't put me into labor then nothing will--Riley had such a blast, but I didn't realize how difficult it would be without Ty chasing her. Thankfully our friends really pitched in and helped me a ton with Riley. I think I spent most of the afternoon explaining that "yes, I'm only having one baby", "no, I wasn't due yesterday...", and "my back doesn't hurt as bad as it looks like does...". But overall we had a blast and it was beautiful out, I LOVE this weather! Can't wait until it's here to stay.

My little...I mean BIG girl :)!

This is a shot of Riley's new 18 month picture. She's growing up so quickly and I can't believe she's 1 and a 1/2 already. She's such a sweet little girl, so sensitive, caring, loving, independent yet still very cuddly, nurturing, so much fun and so much more!

I took Riley to get her picture taken every month of her life until she was 1 and then I got her 18 month and then will probably go every year starting at 2. I have loved looking through all her pictures and being able to see how much she has grown and changed each month. She's always (well, almost always...) done really well smiling and being very well behaved, this time was a bit different. She was VERY well behaved, but wouldn't smile for the photographer for anything. Not one single picture was she smiling in...in fact, this was one of the very few pictures she wasn't giving the photographer "the eyebrows" (as Ty calls them--he says she got those from me). "The eyebrows" is her "dirty look". But, I still think she looks beautiful!

Writing hiatus...

UPDATE: We got Ri a prescription for "butt cream" and picked it up this afternoon--seems like it is getting better and healing already! I'm thankful, poor little thing...it would be much easier if she could have just told me what was wrong.

It's been a little while since I've written...no not because I had the baby already, Joey's mom :). (Thanks for checking in though :))! I suppose that's a good thing, although I'm getting VERY ready! Only 3 weeks to go, that's only 21 days! YIKES!! It's getting SO close!! But, to be honest I haven't written in a while mostly because it's been a boring week.

Ty has been working SO much lately and we miss having him home. This week he's working 13 or 14 hour days and then also starts his MBA again. He had the last 6 weeks off. Poor guy, he's been so busy--leaving for work at 5 am and not getting home until 8 pm, then going to bed at 9pm just to do the same thing the next day. Although tonight he has to drive to Spring Arbor for class from 5:30-10:30pm then drive an hour back and get up tomorrow at 4am, work all day and have class all night again tomorrow!

I appreciate him working so hard so I can stay home with Riley and this new little one! He is such a great husband and father, I couldn't ask for anything more!! I think more than anything, though, he misses spending time with Riley. Last night he got home after she already went to bed and he had to go into her room and hold her for a while while she slept! She misses him too, but hopefully he won't be so busy for too long!

Lets see...what else is new in the Paulk household?! Well, I'm taking Riley to the doctor today because the past 5 days she's had what I thought was diaper rash but yesterday I finally called the doctor because she's never really gotten diaper rash before and it was hanging around for longer than it should. After describing her symptoms and the rash the nurse thought that Riley may had a yeast infection (which is actually fairly common in infants and toddlers). Anyways, since she's had the rash she's been putting up such a fuss when I try to change her diaper...NO WONDER! Poor little thing...I feel horrible that I didn't call the docs. sooner, but I had no idea! So as prescribed by the nurse I've been giving her 3-4 baking soda baths a day (which, believe me, is not easy because I can barely get close enough to the bath tub to do it because my belly is so big). Also I have to change her diaper every hour or two and I can't use wipes--warm wash cloths only and I'm suppose to let her run around naked a few times a day. So yesterday I spent most of the day bathing, changing diapers every hour or two and cleaning up pee on the floor (because she was running around naked). It's been a long week already and it's only Tuesday! But whatever makes her more comfortable and helps her booty get better!!

Keep her in your prayers because she seems pretty miserable! Hopefully the doctor will prescribe something today and help her heal quickly.

Chuck E. Cheese's

We also took Riley to Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday for her little friend, Amaurion Moore's, 1st birthday party. She had a lot of fun and her and Amaurion always play really well together. We didn't know if there would be a whole lot for her to do there because it is mostly for older children but they did have a baby section that she had a blast in.

The only thing she didn't like was Chuck E. Cheese himself. As long as he stayed far enough way she was fine, but the closer he got the clingier she was. Not that we were surprised, she can be the shyest little thing. It takes her a long time to warm up to people.

Whack-A-Mole :)! This was a favorite of Ty's as a kid too.

Mom, I told you I'm tall enough for the rides...

Riding on the Clifford toy.

Riley and Amaurion in the school bus!

A day at the park...

What a beautiful weekend we had!! I LOVE it and can't wait until it's here to stay! Riley and I started by walking on Friday to Walgreens and getting a "snack" which is just down the road. Then on Saturday when Ty was home we walked all the way to Starbucks, which seemed like 10 miles to me (it's actually maybe 1/2 mile)...I was exhausted when we got done. Ty got the usual white chocolate mocha over ice and Riley and I got a water (boring, I know). Then today we took full advantage of the sunshine and warm weather. We went to Gull Lake (mom, Jeff, Jori and Lily are in Hawaii) and Ty got to clean out the Explorer, which he loves doing!! Riley and I played in the yard with bubbles and babies. Then when Ty finished we took a walk around the lake and went to a park. Riley had SO MUCH FUN being able to roam free and run around with no worries. It was so fun watching her, Ty did most of the chasing and I took the pictures since I can barely walk, let alone run! I was telling Ty that I was hoping to take Riley and the new little one to the park a lot this summer but man after today I might have to wait until the weekends when Ty's home to go. Riley is so fast and it's hard for me to chase her around plus I've have the "newbie" strapped on me too probably, but I suppose I'll get the hang of it after a little while. It's hard to believe I'll be chasing 2 little ones around soon!!

Here are some pictures of our adventures this weekend:

So, Friday wasn't quite as warm (probably 55 degrees), but I also probably "over-bundled" her...oh well, at least I know she didn't get cold :)! She had on her normal outfit, with a sweatshirt, her winter coat, a hat, gloves and a thick blanket. Am I being overprotective already??? :)

"Conductor Riley", she LOVED playing in this train...it had about 5 other cars and she jumped from one to the other.

I love this picture of Ri and her little "Pebbles hairdo"!

Sliding with Daddy...

35 1/2 weeks preggo...

Updated belly pictures at 35 1/2 weeks: (I'm definitely getting uncomfortable).

We've got a doctor's appointment on Monday so I look forward to see what the doctor has to say. We also start going every week now--that's when you know it's getting so close!!

35 1/2 weeks

35 1/2 weeks

Don't mind Ty's sweats and the Lakeshore t-shirt from 4th grade that I've got on...it was late :)!

ZZZ....

z z z z z.....

Sleep is something I haven't been getting much of lately. I have been so frustrated lately because I have pregnancy insomnia and I'm not sure there is such a thing...but if there isn't, there should be! The last couple of weeks I've been averaging 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. AND...the only place I can sleep is on the couch, it's the only place I've been comfortable lately.

Last night we went to bed at 9:45 because Ty had to work early but I didn't actually get to sleep until at least 3 am. I know, I know, I probably should get used to such little sleep with the baby almost here, but at least when he is here I'll have a reason not to sleep. I suppose maybe it's maybe my body getting me ready for the months to come!! If this little one is anything like Riley then I'll be lucky to get 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Lets hope he sleeps better as a "newborn" than she did. Although we can't complain much about Riley because since she was 7 weeks old she's slept through the night--about 13 hours. She sleeps from 7 pm until about 7:30 am now, and has done that since she was 2 months old!! But until she was 7 weeks she was up ALL NIGHT, we (well, at least I) literally got an hour or maybe 2 a night.

Anyways, enough rambling for me tonight. Hopefully sleeping tonight will be better--I REALLY NEED IT!!