Checking in a day early with a weekend/birthday recap because I just never know when I’m going MIA these days!
I started my birthday with a Daily Harvest Coconut Chai smoothie with a squirt of pumpkin whipped cream, which I found at Whole Foods. (It’s really good!)
My birthday present arrived from Amazon mid-morning!! We decided up upgrade our Dyson cordless to the best of the best because it’s something we use every.single.day, often multiple times a day. I’ve had a D6 Animal for almost 4 years and the amount of Gus hair and kitchen crumbs it has sucked up would probably fill up our family room! We got the newest model (the V10) because it has 3x the battery run time and a special attachment just for hardwood floors. So far we are loving it – it’s a beast and there’s really no need for a corded vacuum with this in da house. We’re relocating our older model for downstairs use. Cordless Dysons are total game changers, and I can’t recommend them enough. Totally worth the expensive price tag, especially given the cost per minute of use over time.
We had rainy weather for the rest of the day, so my dreams of taking Mazen on a fall-themed outing went out the window. While he was in school, I met Emily for lunch at Orzo where I got the butternut squash soup (again!) and the fall kale salad with butternut squash and lentils, which was excellent.
I met Mazen at the bus, and we spent the afternoon making a box fort with the vacuum box with Thomas, who came home from work a bit early, especially upon the report that I was having some contractions!
T made me my favorite cheese plate – St. Angel with crostini and fig spread. (Sorry that is not the most glamorous picture!)
And he grilled BBQ chicken in the pouring rain for dinner. Plus risotto and green beans.
Eileen got me a Princess Cake from Albemarle Baking Co. that was so fresh! The boys were cute singing to me in the dark. 2 + 6 candles!
While I was hoping to share a birthday with Baby B, that was not in his plans. Someone said maybe because he’s head down he confused his 6 and 9 and he’s coming out on 10/29!
On Saturday morning Thomas made us baked eggs with goat cheese, peppers, and spinach. Delish! I may have had a small piece of cake as an appetizer : )
We went for a walk (so glad the blue sky was back!)
And then heated up leftovers for lunch. A lettuce-less salad with sweet potato fries, chicken, green beans, pecans, and avocado.
Later in the afternoon we dressed up and headed downtown for trick or treating on the mall! I went as a mom 
We met up with our neighbors and the kids had a great time. There were tons of people downtown. M says he’s going as a green zombie for real Halloween but wanted to be Batman this time.
M got some yummy candy, and then we went with the neighbors to Vita Nova for dinner. (The grown-ups were not hungry yet.) Bettlejuice got lots of attention!
We went to the library to go through their haunted house (which was cute) and then headed home. I was totally beat from walking around for 2 hours. I can’t believe how hard these last two weeks have been on my body after staying fairly active for the first 38 weeks. I was totally exhausted.
Thomas and I had salads and grilled cheeses for dinner.
Mazen read me a Halloween book he brought home from his school library “teacher style.” It was cute!
T and I had some more birthday cake for dessert and watched Ozark. I have a love/hate with that show. Moments of it are so terrifying but overall it’s intriguing. We need a new show to binge watch for baby time – any recommendations??
I slept pretty well last night and have been doing the Miles Circuit and acupressure before bed. The past few nights I’ve had to drink OJ in the middle of the night for insomnia, but luckily all three nights it’s worked like a charm to put me back to sleep. I don’t know how I would make it through the nights pregnant without:
- A Snoogle
- A lacrosse ball (to release my aching hips)
- My kindle (to read in the lowest light possible)
- Juice
I baked pumpkin oatmeal for our breakfast with two kinds of chocolate chips on top!
Today is the day that my water broke with Mazen, so I’m thinking maybe that will happen again today. But we have at the longest to wait until Halloween to meet this little guy! 1 day shy of 41 weeks:
Let’s do this!
Glad you had a wonderful birthday weekend! Hope your little man makes an appearance soon!! How does orange juice help you with insomnia? 🙂
I think it’s a blood sugar thing?! Juice gets to the blood stream super quickly.
What a surprise, Kath! Happy birthday! 🙂 The new baby sure is taking his sweet time, hehe! 😀
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Happy belated birthday! Do you put your Kindle on blue shade? Mine is set for blue shade from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. That way the blue light won’t keep me awake, and the display is very muted so it won’t bother DH.
I don’t think any kindles have blue light so they are all “night time safe.” Am I wrong?
Have you watched Poldark? It’s on Amazon prime. It’s a great binge-worthy show
No i haven’t heard of that!
Poldark is very good and he’s very handsome! Outlander is a good binge show too! Both on Amazon.
I totally loved Man in the High Castle on Amazon Prime!
200% agree on the dyson cordless!! Every time I use it I appreciate it. Id love to upgrade to the best model eventually – I’ve got the v6 animal and the suction power, while definitely acceptable could be better. I’m sure the newer models solve that problem. The convenience is just incredible! Well worth the money. I got mine for my birthday, too!
If you think the V-6 is good, you’ll love the V 10! But yes it’s a difficult thing to upgrade because the V6 is still really good and it’s $$$. The run time on the V10 is 60 mins (v 20) so that was a big improvement to convince me.
Happy Birthday, that cake looks amazing!
For binge watching, if you loved Lost, you will probably love Once Upon a Time. Lots of seasons, and on Netflix, it’s perfect for binging. I didn’t think I would care for it due to the fairy tale story line, but another Lost fan, suggested it and I love it. Some of the same actors from Lost are even in it. It has a continuous and mysterious story line, just like Lost
That was on my list years ago and I forgot about it! Thanks for the suggestion.
I love Ozark! I just finished the haunting of hill house on Netflix and it’s good! Very suspenseful but good! Happy belated birthday!
Ha! I didn’t recognize Thomas in bis costume at first ?.
And of course… your sweet Baby switched numbers- it will be the 29th I’m sure.
Hang in there!
Just checking in…
I love Ozark. Have you tried The Purge? Perfect for this time of year. They good a good job adapting it to small screen.
I think once they break your water you’ll have your baby boy quickly. Just enjoy your solo time with Mason.. His world is about to be rocked, both in amazing and challenging ways. The age gap is difficult, but there’s nothing like the bond betweeen brothers. You’ll rock it!
I’ve been binging on Poldark. You can watch on amazon Prime if you have it. So good! Good luck- I was induced the day I turned 41 weeks and had an all natural, great birth- and she was face up, which everyone also said would make it harder. It’s all about a positive attitude!
Thank you! I need all the optimism I can get!
I could write a love letter to my Dyson! I had been borrowing my ex-boyfriend’s (not ex then) V6 (aka keeping it six out of seven days a week) for the majority of our relationship, and too used it multiple times a day. I had it in my possession the night we broke up, so when we met a couple of weeks after we broke-up to “close things”, I asked him if I could please please keep the vacuum (he’s in a MUCH better financial situation than I…). He said it was the least he could do :). Almost worth the heartache! (actually, worth it).
Good luck!
Hahaha that’s great!
He looks lower!!
Madsen will love reading to his baby brother!
Oops sorry for the tablet typo on Mazen’s name! Congratulations on your beautiful son!!
Happy birthday!!!
I also had the love hate Ozark relationship. Part of me was happy when it ended and part of me wanted to have it go on longer.
I am voting for 10/29, since that is my birthday. When ever he makes an appearance I wish you and baby boy the best!
A great binge worthy show is Younger! Cute, easy and super fun.
Both of my boys had that head turn – in fact, my oldest was born with a huge hematoma on the side of his head from trying to fit through the wrong way! For my younger son, the hospital midwives had me lie on my back and bring my leg up and over my body, bent at 90 degrees. Imagine kind of the pigeon pose or figure-4 stretch but while lying on your back. For some reason, this helps the baby turn their head! Wishing you good labor vibes.
A Halloween baby could be fun 🙂
We loved Ozark although it does have some really dark stuff going on. We happened upon Designated Survivor this weekend on
Netflix and can’t wait to watch more of it. I think it’s only two seasons so we are limiting our viewing to two a night. Also some terrible darkness going on but not the same theme as Ozark. Hope everything goes well with the baby! Checking in every day to catch the news!
Watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon. Love, love, love!
Happy birthday Kath! And Happy National Oatmeal Day – I think of you every year for the past decade!
I feel like maybe I’ve commented this before and you said you watch it already, but….Call the Midwife!!! I cry every time a baby is born on that show! And probably easier to watch AFTER the safe arrival of your baby 😉 It’s so, so good.
I have the Dyson Animal too and love it so much. I am tempted by this new version for the longer battery life though! I sometimes can’t get through vacuuming the entire couch (dog hair control) without the thing running out of battery!
How about that! I saw on Instagram he did come on the 29th! Silly baby 🙂 Glad he’s not upside down any more!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am so thrilled for you, Thomas, Mazen and your newest addition 🙂 For show recommendations: when my husband and I were both on parental leave, we totally binged on Suits and The Wire! Both were fab. Now we’re on the Haunting at Hill House because ‘Tis the Season!
CONGRATS again!!!
Congratulations on your new arrival! He’s a sweet boy!
Congrats Kath. Can’t wait to see baby pics. I have the AM09 dyson heater fan combo. Dyson V10 is awesome.
Hi Kath…sorry so late but any reason you did not get the dyson v10 animal since you have Gus? Great for pet hair. QVC has it for $399.96. I want the cyclone since I don’t have a pet.
Oh gosh now I can’t remember the reason why. I think the Absolute came with the extra hardwood floor attachment and that’s what I was after. But that’s a good deal!
I have laminate flooring and carpet. No pet. Any advice? I live in the country and lots of dirt comes in. Thanks
I figured it out. Fluffy head picks up sand etc. Just what I need for the laminate flooring. Sorry to bug you Kath. I know your busy with Birch
🙂
Ty Kath. I agree the price is awesome. I have more carpet than “laminate. ” I was thinking the fluffy head was great for that. I live in the country so I’m not sure if I need the animal one. Any advice? Thanks
Kath….my v10 absolute arrived today. Thanks for the input. 🙂
YAY! Let me know how you
likelove it!