My little boy is all grown up

I can't believe how much Jake has grown in this past month. First of all, he has officially made the transition into a toddler bed! It's been...well...let's just say it's gotten better. At first he was so enthralled with the newfound freedom that he was waking up at 6:00 am and just wandering around the house. Eventually he started going to the fridge, grabbing something to eat, then turning on the tv. Of course, this was all before the crack of dawn while Joseph and I were still sleeping! We would wake up and find Jake plopped in front of the tv eating an apple and watching cartoons. He's a lot better now that the novelty has worn off a little bit. (It may also have something to do with the child-proof doorknob that we ended up putting on his bedroom door. We figured that was safer than having a two-year-old wandering around the house while we were still dead to the world.)

Second, he's off his pacifier!! I know, I can't believe it either. I thought it was going to be a huge, scary, and extraordinarily difficult ordeal, but in all reality, he didn't seem to care that much at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was way more stressed about it than he ever was. Funny how that works, huh. It all happened one night when he wouldn't stop leaving his room (before the child-proof doorknob was on it) and we told him that if he got out of his room one more time that he would lose the pacifier. Of course, he did. So, being the consistent parents that we are, we took it away and he cried for about five minutes then fell asleep, no problem! Then I was going to give it back to him the next day, but he never asked for it again! And that was it! No more pacifier! AMAZING!

Finally, and this may be the biggest one yet for me, he's been successful on the toilet not once, not twice, not even three, but FOUR TIMES this past week! I'll spare you all of the potty talk, but let's just say that I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that we're going to get him potty trained before this baby comes. Wish me luck, and if you have any advice on the topic, please feel free to share, because I need all the help I can get!!

I know that the reason most of you read this blog is for the pictures, so here are a few that I took of Jake playing with his trains recently. I wish I had gotten a video because he was talking to himself the whole time saying things like, "The trains on the tracks...Thomas is on the tracks...Toby is on the tracks...Percy is on the tracks. The trains on the tracks..." He's just talking up a storm. I love to watch him grow!!

All good things must come to an end

It's that time of year again. Joseph left me this morning for school. I'm a dental widow once more. *Sigh...* We have loved having him home this summer, most likely for the last long summer vacation ever. In an effort to go out with a bang, we went with a few friends to the Lake of the Ozarks last week. We had an absolute blast! Except for the part where Jake decided he's done sleeping...but that's a story for another day.

When we got there it was unbelievably hot. I mean, I thought that Iowa had terrible heat and humidity, but it's got nothing on Osage, MO! First thing we did when we got there was strip the boys down.

Then us ladies assigned the men to go outside and grill our dinner. You can tell they were thrilled with this prospect...

We cooled off by taking a nice pontoon ride and swimming in the lake!

Please forgive my whiteness...it's really a lost cause.

Although I didn't get pictures of it, there was also lots of card playing while stuffing ourselves with junk food, swimming in the pool, and chilling on the deck while watching the beautiful sunsets. The trip was full of good eating, good friends, and good times all around. Thanks, Abarcas, for letting us tag along with you on your vacay!! We had an awesome time!

Yummy!

Sometimes the best part of eating at a fast food restaurant is the ketchup:Can you tell he's a picky eater?

Let the awkwardness begin

Oh boy. Here we are. You ladies who have been pregnant know exactly what I'm talking about. I've officially entered that totally awkward phase where you don't look pregnant, just bigger. My pants are starting to get too tight, but maternity pants are still way too big to be in the picture. Dressing will be impossible for the next few weeks. The next step is to take down all the mirrors in my house because I just end up trying to suck in that ever-growing midsection, of course, in vain.

I remember being in this phase FOREVER with Jake. I almost cried the day that someone asked me where the maternity section in Old Navy was. Her boyfriend said something like, "How would she know? She doesn't work here," and the girl responded, "Yeah, but look at her, she's pregnant, she would know!" Literally, it was one of the happiest days of my life to know that total strangers could tell that I really was pregnant! Second only to the day Jake was born and I wasn't pregnant anymore! Haha, just kidding.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how to get through this totally blah stage with grace and style? I mean, I know it's not like I had a ton of that before I got pregnant, but now all I want to wear is sweatpants and a t-shirt! Yuck!

Jake has something to tell you

Go ahead Jake, say it!

It's a boy!! Jake gets a brother, and we're all very excited!! Also, we're grateful that we don't have to buy all new stuff!

So, here he is, making his blog debut:

We can't wait for this little fella to join our family. We already love him so much. Two boys...oh boy!!

New baby, new smile, new house!

Things just won't settle down over here in the Dougherty household. We have been busy, busy, busy!

First of all, things are going well with the pregnancy. I've had a couple OB appointments that have gone well thus far, and we scheduled our appointment for next Friday to have another ultrasound to tell us the gender. We're beyond excited!! Woohoo!

Second, I got invisalign braces! They're not exactly invisible, as you can still basically see brackets on my teeth, but it's only for about 5 1/2 more months so I just smile a big 'ole smile and bear it! :) We got an unbelievable deal on them through the university, and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. They're scheduled to come off at the exact time that the baby comes, so we'll see which one ends up coming first.

Third, we're moving! Again, we're getting an unbelievable rent on a three-bedroom home that we just couldn't pass up, so we're moving this Friday into a new (to us) place here in Iowa City. It's a little closer to the school, has a backyard with a deck, and most importantly, has three bedrooms! This is also a shameless plug for any of you who will be in town on Friday to come help us out if you find yourself bored to death and wondering if there is anything for you to do. Why, yes, there is! This is going to be our first house that we'll live in. No more apartments! Yay! (Did I also mention it has three bedrooms? Eek!) I promise to post pictures of our new place when we get all settled in!

Between all this excitement, Joseph's family has come into town for a reunion of sorts, so we've been spending time with them over the past week, which has been wonderful. I can't seem to find my camera right now, so I'll post pictures later, but we have really enjoyed being with his family.

Whew! Where has the summer gone? Joseph and I are hoping to get a couple of days where we can just lay around and enjoy the lazy days of summer before he goes back to school. I don't know if that will happen! At least we've been able to spend some great time with family and each other.

Stop the train!

On the trip out west Jake's movie of choice was Polar Express. He gets pretty animated while he watches it, as evidenced in the video clip. The part that he's watching is where the kid needs to stop the train to let another child on. This kid is hilarious!