Mild Panic Attack

You don't realize how much you rely on your computer until it goes kaput!  Our laptop went out about 9 days ago - completely.  Mostly, I was upset because I haven't backed up any photos or videos we've taken for the last year and a half!  Stupid, I know! Soooo...a few days after it went out, I took it to Bountiful for my dad to look at. After a lot of troubleshooting and ordering some parts, he was able to get it up and running like new, AND recover all of our files.  HOORAY!!!!  Thanks Dad, we are truly grateful.
And speaking of Dad, we had the fam over to our house last night for my Dad's birthday and my sis-in-law Tara's birthday.  Just a few photos from last night, plus some random ones:

As you can see, our stubborn child is STILL potty training on and off (since he was 1 1/2! yikes!)

This is his "I'm a tough guy" pose.

boy.

DAn and TAra's b'days.  THey should be switched around into a TADA!  This is my entire immediate fam.

The last 1/3

Stats:
Week: 28, meaning yes, I have reached that last trimester!  2 more weeks and I'll be 3/4 of the way there.  Yahoo!
Name: Still Sam Daniel Vala, but Isaac will tell you IT'S NOT SAM UNTIL HE COMES OUT!!!  It's baby McGee. 
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 
-the good:  I love feeling the baby move at this stage.  He's quite an active one and never tire of the moving around.  It's kind of magical.
-the bad:  all the usual aches and pains.  Nothing horrific like trimester 1.
-the ugly:  Luckily, nothing to report here.
Comparisons:  Things are so similar to my pregnancy with Isaac it's a little spooky.  At 24 weeks with Isaac, I had one sleepless night of horrible upper abdominal pain and I had the same thing happen with this one during the same exact week, I think to the same day, even!  Luckily both times it only lasted one night and hasn't returned.  With Isaac, I was always a little freaked out because starting around 23-24 weeks I got a sensation like my whole belly would turn hard, but not like a contraction because it wouldn't go away.  It stayed hard for 1/2-1 hour at a time.  Any kind of activity brought it on, even standing for more than a few minutes at a time.  Not painful, just uncomfortable, harder to breathe, and it caused me to become winded so much easier.  Same thing is happening with this pregnancy.  Eh, I can't complain though. 
Big Bro:  Isaac's super excited to hold the baby and teach him things.  He still insists that baby McGee does not have hands nor feet because he can't walk or crawl yet.  Whenever he sees my bare belly, he says "oooooooh, CUTE!  Our baby is so cute, I just want to hold him!"  It's adorable.  He kisses, hugs and tells him good night and good morning daily. 
Nesting? not even close.  That instinct has certainly not kicked in for me.  Also, we don't really know yet where we are setting up a nursery for him because our house is kind of in transition with remodel, etc.  Soooo...even if I had the nesting instinct, I wouldn't have the option to do that yet...or at least that part of it.  
Early/Late?  I'm counting on late.  I'll be surprised if he arrives before May 7th.  I guess that's just based on my experience with Isaac, though I know anything is possible :)  I just don't want my water to break while I am teaching...awkward.

Here is a photo of me at 27 weeks pregnant. 

Cut or Hack Job? You Decide.

Dave says hack job.  I say hair cut - ish.  I think Dave is just jealous of my "special" hair-cutting skills.
He says I'm wording it wrong.  He's jealous of my ability to give "special" haircuts.  I've trimmed a little bit of Isaac's hair here and there, but never given him a full on haircut.  I started when he was around 1, and have always told him the birds need more soft material to build their nests with.  They need a comfy place for their babies, then we throw the hair in our backyard. :)  He's always been down for that excuse, but this last go around, he needed more than just that.  So, he got to go to the aquarium as a prize for being extra good during his haircut.  I thought about just taking him somewhere, but I don't want him to start salon aversions this young.  We'll wait 'til later for that.  So, I give you "the cut."  Not hack.
Isaac was not very into having his picture taken, but I managed to catch a few angles of his new haircut.

More Isaac-isms

Just a few that I can remember from the past couple of weeks:
Eating frozen yogurt, and apparently worried that mom was going to eat it all before he got his fill:
As I took a big bite:  "Easy does it, mom.  Easy does it."  Hmm...good to have a little voice telling me how to use self control if I'm overindulging.  :-)
I asked Dave a question, and his reply was "kind of."  I responded by saying "it's a simple yes or no question."  Isaac immediately piped in "It's complicated mom, it's complicated!"
Dave's mom took Isaac to the playland at McDonald's while she was watching him.  When Isaac oohed and awed each time we had driven by a McDonald's Playland, we had always told him that the food there was icky.  There was never any further questioning.  So they went to a  McDonald's within walking distance of our house, and Isaac ate apples and grapes there, then played on the playland.  When I got home Isaac IMMEDIATELY told me  "mom, mom!  The food at McDonald's isn't icky after all!  It's healthy!" HA! :)  Silly kid.
Isaac's had some issues with holding it in when he has to go number two, not constipation, mind you, just trying with all his might to make sure he doesn't go (that's a whole other story.)  Anyway, the other day his solution to the poop problem was "I'm gonna get a shrink ray, shoot the poop, and we will solve the problem.  Hooray!"  Sorry buddy, I wish it were that easy.
"skorkee, korkee, sockees, do it! do it!  bolodees, argee, sorees, look out! "  when you hear  gibberish lines just like this coming from Isaac's room when he's playing alone, you better prepare yourself to walk in to mass destruction.  In fact, I just translated what I heard over the monitor and now I am afraid to stop typing and go see what Isaac has left in his wake.
Apparently "baby McGee" does not have any hands or feet.  Isaac is pretty insistent that babies are born without these appendages.  I told Isaac I was concerned about how baby McGee will function without hands and feet -- "don't worry mom, I'll protect him."
Isaac's thoughts after being sick:  "those germs in my body were having a party.  They were having cake and pizza and probably wearing party cones."

My Goof