Lately

Helping Mommy cut cucumbers, its a butter knife he is using ! I love that our boys choose healthy snacks!

Down on the UT field with Aunt Tori. I guess they got to get a press pass and got to be down on the field once the players took to the field! Jason and I love this picture! Needs to be framed!

Making pizza with Mommy! Gray was excited! :)

At my cousins wedding in Dallas. My sister took this picture of my dad and I on her cell and eek I don't know how to fix the scary eyes I have on my computer.

Lazy day painting!

 Lately we have been relaxing a lot. I went to Dallas the first weekend of September for my cousin Eric's wedding.  Jason stayed with the boys and I got to have a weekend with my parents, brother and my sister. My parents graciously let me fly with them and I got to stay with my sister at her adorable apartment. Makes me really want to decorate this house really badly! Alas, it costs a lot of money and we cannot do that at the moment. We have been in this house for a year since August 27th and I know we will get it together eventually.

 I had a great time in Dallas and did a ton of shopping, I don't know why I didn't just buy a ton of maxi dresses with I was pregnant with the other boys. I hardly wear maternity clothes because I wear maxi dresses and just dresses/leggings all the time this time around.

The bad thing about being in Dallas was that I was on my feet a lot and I started getting a ton of bruising on my left leg, the one with the huge varicose vain down my entire leg. I went to my doctor the week I got back because I had to do my glucose test. I passed and since having Grayson they have changed the test from one hour to two hours to avoid you having to come back to do the three hour. I had to do the three hour test with Corbin but I did pass that one too. I showed my doctor my leg and he wanted to check on my platelets and did a blood test. Well I got a cal that next week and said I needed to come back in because my platelets were low. I went with the boys for a quick 5 minute draw and got a call back a few days later saying my platelets are still low and they are going to have to monitor it.  The nurse said that it wasn't a sign of pre-eclampsia yet and that the doctor wasn't concerned about this yet. So I have been taking it easy as much as possible. 

Port Aransas Family trip

Loved playing at the beach with our boys!

At the beach at 24 weeks and I feel huge!!! :(

Playing in the waves with Daddy!!

This past weekend, instead of frantically getting my classroom ready for the first time in five years, I got to enjoy a family vacation with our boys to Port Aransas.   I am not sure why we have not done this before as Jason's Uncle and Grandma have condos there and we didn't have to pay a cent to stay there, just a small cleaning fee! It was such a great family trip filled with lots of sunshine, good food and play.

   We are thinking of making this an annual family vacation as this was the boys first time at the beach  and we want to make sure Baby R. is able to experience the beach before his brothers did! Poor Corbin had to wait 4 and a half years and Gray 2 and a half! :( Grayson surprised us because he is usually our scared and timid child and he absolutely loved the beach and would go in the waves without hesitation! 

Random Ziaja Fam happenings

• Corbin and Grayson love to introduce them themselves to people they meet when we are out. Corbin always says "Hi, my name is Corbin and I am 4." At the grocery store the other day Grayson started doing it too.  He said "I am Grayson James and I, two." (he had started calling himself Grayson James and he has started calling his brother, Corbin Michael) 
• I cut Jason's hair myself this morning!! He had to teach me what to do but I think it turned out great! I was a nervous wreck.  We are trying to save money and so we have started cutting the boys and Jason's hair at home. The last time we took Grayson to get his haircut at my salon he flipped out big time!!! We had to restrain him on my lap and it was not good at all. He was so upset and crying the entire time!  
• Our family LOVED watching the Olympics. Corbin came up to me one day with a Chuck E Cheese medal he got for his birthday party and said he had won a gold medal on the balance beam!!! SO cute! :) In fact every day Grayson would ask me "Mommy, can we have popcorn and watch the Olympics?" It quickly became our favorite activity each night!!!
• When Grayson was talking to my Dad and sister on the phone they asked him where the baby was and he said "baby R. is in Mommy's tummy, he snuggles!" :)  BTW our child is a phone hog!! I kept asking him if I could have the phone and he said "No, I talking!" He loved chatting on the phone and talked a ton!
• I hope I am not going to be a tank once this baby is born!!! I swear my body thinks its an invitation to keep every once of fat on it. I may have not told the truth on a post when I was pregnant with Grayson but by 20 weeks I had already gained 20 lbs! I was embarrassed! But at the same time I was only 100 lbs when I got pregnant with him. I only gained a total of 34lbs by the time he was born.  I have always tried to eat healthy when pregnant. Although I remember making a cake with chocolate icing and eating almost the entire thing over the course of a few days when I was pregnant with Corbin.  With both the boys I only gained like 35 lbs when pregnant with them and for my height and weight that is normal.  I am right on track to gain the same amount, as I am 22 weeks right now and have gained 18 lbs right now.  My body aches when I am pregnant and ever since Grayson get this horrible vain bulge out down my ENTIRE course of my left leg. When I was pregnant with Grayson it just stayed on my left thigh, will this time with baby R. it has run down my entire leg down my calf by my ankle complete with bruising, never had this with Gray! I may need to ask my doctor for compression hose at some point, I believe you have to have a prescription because one of my co-workers had varicose veins and had surgery to remove them and had to get a prescription for them, apparently they take like 10-20 minutes to put on!   Oh boy! 
• I am just grateful baby R. is ok! :) No matter how much my body hurts aches its worth it! 
• BTW I made this recipe from Weelicious.com... http://weelicious.com/2011/10/11/crock-pot-mexican-tortilla-lasagna  We all loved it and its definitely a keeper! Super easy to do!  :) I used things I had on hand so I changed it slightly. I used very finely diced rotisserie chicken instead of ground turkey, left out the egg because we were out, used whole wheat tortillas instead of corn tortillas, and omitted the cilantro because we didn't have any. I kinda have a great love affair with my crockpot right now!   I made the boys a copy cat recipe of Rudy's creamed corn in our crock pot that I found on pinterest , our boys are addicted to that stuff, and Jason and the boys loved it! It will have to be a keeper as well! I halved the recipe and it still make a ton! 
• I am rockin' the old 3g iphone because I stupidly picked up my iPhone 4 with dish gloves on that were completely dry and it dropped and the screen shattered all over the place.  Jason is up to date on all the rumors for apple and he says that the iPhone 5 is supposed to take preorders on September 12th so we are going to do that. As of right now the 3g is soooo slow and annoying! I miss my iPhone 4! :(
• Grayson has a new saying "oh my goshes" its too cute! :) 

"doctor" Corbin

 Yesterday I had my monthly OB appointment and had Jason's sister Corie come over to babysit the boys. Corbin really wanted to come with me because he is so excited about his new brother. I was super nervous about having him come to the doctor with me because my doctors office isn't the most speedy of places and I end up waiting forever. I said yes and poor Grayson was heartbroken when I left.  He was crying and screaming and as I pulled out of the driveway he was looking out our front door crying. This momma started tearing up! 

  Let me just say that bringing your child to my doctors office is like magic! We were in and out of there in under 35 minutes.   My doctor let Corbin put the "goo" on stomach and he loved listening to our sweet boy's heartbeat.  When Corbin heard the heartbeat he said "It sounds like a police car, or a puppy dog!"

 Afterwards we went to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and got yummy drinks. Then we went and got lunch at Freebirds.  We had a great time just the two of us.

Sweet older brothers

   Its amazing how almost overnight Corbin is more bonded with the baby now that we know the gender and his name.  His is constantly coming up to me to hug on his brother and kiss my belly and asks how his brother is! It is the sweetest thing! :)

Last Saturday we were relaxing on the couch together and I told Corbin to put his hand on my tummy because his brother was kicking and Corbin got to feel it! He looked at me with the cutest expression of surprise! I have been able to feel our baby kicking and moving around since 17 weeks and he sure likes to kick! :)

  When I was explaining to Grayson that his new brother is a boy, I had to put it in two year old terms he would understand! He is very much at the right stage of development and has been asking what "parts" a boy or girl has? He is constantly going asking "Does so and so have a penis!"  When I told Grayson that the baby was a boy and he had a penis... he tried to lift up my skirt to see. I had to explain that the boy is inside my tummy, he thought I was the boy! He now understands that the baby is a boy and has a penis. 

   By the way Grayson is rocking the potty training and sometimes goes on his own without even telling us.   On Wednesday he said he had to poop, so I put him on the potty. He has only gone one other time in the toilet.  Well I ran downstairs to get a diaper... we are not full on potty training yet, I am kinda waiting to see if this "sticks" and he is ready for it.  All of the sudden I hear him start hysterically crying. I ran upstairs and he had gone poop but was freaked out. I had to have Corbin be a model and show Grayson that it is indeed not terrifying if Mommy wipes you. He would not get up from the toilet because he freaked himself out by pooping in the toilet. So proud of this little guy. We are still working on it because he went in his diaper today! Oh well! 

3 for 3- We are having a BOY!

      We are ecstatic to announce that we are having another boy! I was so incredibly nervous during the ultrasound just hoping our baby was developing normally, my heart was racing so fast.  We found out last Thursday after almost 2 months of waiting that they finally had an answer to the Maternti21 test results and there was no evidence of trisomy 13, 18, or 21. We knew that this wasn't a possibility for the baby anymore but at the first screen they indicated that could mean there was a heart problem or something if there was space between the NT fold. At the ultrasound once they said he was developing normally and his heart looked great , I finally could relax!  The baby was not shy about showing us his boy parts. Before the ultrasound tech told us what it was I could see a scrotum, she put the wand like looking up at his business and knew it was a boy! To be quite honest I was a little freaked out at the possibility of having a girl for some reason. I guess because all I know is how to raise boys! Jason and I are very attached to the boys name we picked out anyways. Its funny because my mom and sister were convinced it was a girl!  I honestly didn't care. I will say I was a tad disappointed at Corbin and Grayson's ultrasounds because I wanted a girl so badly. This time was so different.  It just seems so petty to worry about gender with all that has gone on this pregnancy.  That has really changed my outlook. Now looking back it seems so silly. I wouldn't trade our adorable sweet boys for the world.  Our boys currently fight over who can sit next to Mommy and snuggle with me and Jason a lot of times has to scoot over to make room for our sweet boys!  They are Momma's boys!!!

  We cannot wait to meet our new baby boy!!  We have his name picked out but cannot decide on a middle name yet! So we will announce it once we know his full name! Keep on growing baby!! We love you! Your brother's cannot wait to meet you!!!

Yesterday we went to brunch at Z'tejas for my parents 41st wedding anniversary.  While getting ready to go I heard Grayson getting into Jason's drawers. He picked out Jason's outfit!!!! Grayson was like "Mommy, Daddy needs pants!" I had to help him get Daddy some shorts but Grayson picked out his shirt! It was so cute!

We bought our new brother some presents. Grayson got him a Angel Dear lovey which are his favorite little blankets. I let the boys pick it out and they got him a puppy.  Corbin picked out a pacifier attached to a little longhorn toy. Corbin proudly took the picture with his newest brothers presents! :)

Here is a picture of Grayson's in-progress big boy room! We have since moved his bed so that one side is against the wall. We are having a bit of trouble sleeping all night long. He has woken up at like 2 or 3 am a few times  and screams for me from under his door.  We need to add decorations and Jason put up curtains over the weekend. It will come together eventually!

Bullet pointst

 The last few weeks in bullet points:

• My sister and her girls were in town over the Fourth of the July and we had a great time! My nieces and the boys got along so well. They even introduced us to a new favorite children's book series  Pete the Cat. 
• We went to Sea World with my family and it was amazing seeing the boys get so exctied to see all the shows and Corbin even went on a water roller coaster type ride. He did awesome, Jason and I were really nervous because we couldn't go on with him so he went with my parents and sister and their family. I couldn't go on ride of course and Jason didn't go because he is not a fan of heights.  Corbin loved it! ;)
•  My sisters and I got to take my mom out for a much belated Mother's Day play at the Zach. We like to wait until my sister is town to go for a girls night plus my dad! :) We had a good time going to Z'tejas and to see the play Fully Committed. 
• While my sister was in town we went to the mall to shop for her birthday. While there my child almost sent me into the biggest panic of my life.  We were about to go in the Gap and I went in with Grayson in the stroller and Corbin was with my sister and husband and her girls. The next thing I know I am saying "Where is Corbin?" He likes to hide in the clothes racks and stuff and so I gave Grayson to my mom and my brother and I started searching for Corbin.  It took a good 20 minutes and telling the employees what my child looked like to find him.  A girl found him in the baby Gap store which is attached to gap and gap kids. OMG I started bawling when they brought him to me. I told him how terrified I was that I thought someone had kidnapped him and that he was confined to the stroller the rest of the trip. Scariest moment thinking the worst when I cannot fine my child. 
• THE DOCTORS OFFICE LITERALLY JUST CALLED AND SAID THEY NEED ANOTHER BLOOD SAMPLE BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH FETAL DNA IN THE 3 VIALS THEY TOOK! They are sending to another lab this go around and seeing if we can get results this time.