Why Me? Why Now?

I think Lucy is giving up napping!!!!!! :( Why now?!?!?!?!?! She will stay in her bed and talk to herself and her animals for at least an hour but she doesn't go to sleep. I need a nap!!!!! To her credit, she has been very happy this afternoon despite her no nap. She even entertained herself for quite a long time while I paid bills and balanced the checkbook.

She has actually been entertaining herself a lot lately, thank goodness! She will sit and read or play with toys on her own. Well, I use the term read loosely. Here is a video of her "reading":

The book is called "Blue Hat Green Hat" (at least I think that is the title) by Sandra Boyton. In the book a bunch of animals wearing different colored items of clothing and the turkey wears them all wrong so it says oops. It is very cute! Right before Dave got the camera she had recited the whole book, pretty much correctly. I have found her doing things like that a lot in the last couple of weeks. I will notice that she is reciting a book to herself or telling her animals a nursery rhyme or song. She does "itsy bitsy spider" for her baby doll a lot. That must be some kind of developmental milestone right?

Baby Brother's room is pretty much ready now. He is welcome any day, hint hint to him!!!!!!! We moved the crib on Sunday. Lucy was totally cool with especially because Daddy let her help him with it. It is now one of her favorite games to get in the crib and read a book or play. I took a video of the fun game she and Daddy made up.


We went to the midwife today and have nothing to report. We are just waiting now. It was a nice visit though because we saw Jackie the midwife who delivered Lucy. She is one of our favorites, and she gave us a copy of the February on call schedule. Jackie said "try for one my days." :) I am glad she gave me the schedule because there is one midwife that I really don't like; not that I will be able to do anything about it, but it felt comforting to me to know who I will be calling when the time comes. It was also nice to be with Jackie and talk about Lucy's birth because she was there too. The other midwives can just read my chart and ask me questions, but I don't remember parts. I feel very reassured after today's visit.

Time to go make dinner, pout about my lack of nap, and wait around for Brother to make his grand entrance. And just for my own fun, we have decided on a name but we aren't telling!!! hehehehe :p

Lucy Update

I haven't written a whole lot about Lucy lately. She has become a full fledged toddler with tons of words and ideas of her own. She talks talks talks, plays tricks on us, says "do it self" a lot, and can do some things herself. She remembers all kinds of things. Today we were going to go to play group but she was having fun at the diner with Aunties Linda and Grace so I decided to skip it. Instead we went to the bank to talk to Melissa and then we were going to go to the post office. Well she started bawling on the way back from the bank. I finally got her to tell me what was wrong and she said "other kids". I felt so bad! She was upset that we weren't going to see the other kids at play group. :( She brought it up again at bedtime tonight. I said I was sorry we didn't go. I'll have to be more careful not to mention things to her until they are 100% certain.

The biggest Lucy update is that she peed in the potty tonight before her bath!!!!!!!! This is the first time that she has actually gone in the potty. Scary and cool!




This is from last night when she and Daddy were outside playing. Dave didn't think she wanted to go out so he didn't bother with her snowsuit, she was wearing really thin, legging type pants. Well, she decided once she was out she wanted to play. She was yelling for me to come take her picture while she went down the slide. When I got there she was shivering and saying "picture picture". I quickly took her picture and took her inside. We snuggled under a blanket and Dave made us hot cocoa.








Lucy is over her fear of stickers and tape. I got mailing labels in the mail today and she really liked them.










Tonight's project was to go through the bin of Lucy's newborn size clothes to see what wasn't pink and girly. I found even more than I expected to. Lucy really likes to try on the baby hats, some of them actually fit her because she is a midget. Her baby coat, however, did not fit.(Well neither did this particular hat.) Kim gave her this coat when she was born and she wore it for the first month or two whenever we walked to the office. At first she swam in it, and now look.


A side note to this picture: she put the coat on correctly by herself. Months ago my Mom tried to teach her how to put the coat upside down in front of you and put your arms in then flip it over your head. Grandma told her this was Aunt Gina's special way (Aunt Gina works at a day care). Since Lucy idolizes Aunt Gina (I think it has something to do with the beautiful bride/princess thing :) ) I have shown Lucy this coat trick a couple of other times and told her it was the special Aunt Gina way of doing it. Well, it took!



This picture is just really cute! The thing on her throat is one of her mailing label stickers that she wouldn't take off.














Lucy has been sleeping in her big girl bed for about two weeks now, without any regression to the crib. Tomorrow night we are going to let her "help" us take it down and put it up in Brother's room. Cross your fingers for us that she doesn't freak out!

What else? She can count to 10, mostly. She usually starts at 4 and sometimes forgets 6. If she starts at 1 she usually skips either 2 or 3. She knows how to use the camera on cell phones. She loves money, well that isn't new. The other day she asked me if Molly and Haley could come over. I don't think both of them have ever been here at the same time before but I guess it is a good idea for the future. She helps cook, clean up and do laundry. She will willingly go not only with Oma, or Grandma but now with Jenny, Kim and Linda. I am sure she would go with any of her other aunties too. (I am so lucky to be here with all of this family near by!!!!!!!) I just remembered that a few times lately I have heard reciting a rhyme that Granny odes with her, it is in Dutch so I have no idea what she is saying or if she is saying it right but it is very cute! She does other rhymes with her dolls and animals too, like itsy bitsy spider and patty cake. She loves Winnie the Pooh.

I can't think of any more specifics right now. She is such a person now! You can actually have a conversation with her. Lucy is great! I am getting anxious to meet her baby brother. I can't wait to find out what he is like and what she will be like with him!

The Zoo, Sleep over, Midwife appointment

Yesterday was mine and Dave's wedding anniversary (7 years!). Dave took most of the day off and spent it with us! First we went to the zoo, which I have been wanting to go to for a couple of weeks now but the weather hasn't been great. Yesterday was sunny and in the upper 20s (a heat wave compared to last week) so we went. I love the zoo, especially in the winter. A lot of the animals are more active than in the summer, the tigers were very busy and Lucy loved watching them. After the zoo we went out to lunch then Lucy got dropped off at Oma and Grandpa's house. She had her final trial run sleepover and it was a success. She even ran to me and hugged me this morning when I saw her (last time she slept over she didn't want to leave Oma). Dave and I went to Toys-r-Us to get a Lucy a present for when the baby gets here. She is getting her own baby to take home from the hospital! (That was the idea from the lady who taught our childbirth class.)



I just looked out the window and this is what I saw.





She took her purse out with her to play in the snow! She is so girly sometimes!








Anyway, so Dave and I went to a movie. I think it was the second one we saw in the past year! We saw Defiance, about the Jews in Poland who survived by hiding in the forests, it was really good! After we went to Borders and then I wasn't hungry so we went to the grocery store to get Dave something for dinner. At the store I saw some strawberries and decided I needed to have them. Lucy breaks out if she eats strawberries so I almost never have them. Well since she was at Oma's I thought I would have some strawberries for dinner. Yeah, I ate almost the whole container along with a bunch of raspberries. Big mistake! I almost thought I was starting labor this morning until I remembered my dinner. Doh! All is well, I am just dumb. :)

Speaking of all is well, we went to the midwife this morning. They were running way behind and so we missed the inauguration completely. :( That is the only bad news to report though. The midwife said they think that Baby Brother will be about the same size as Lucy was so they are not worried! Yeah! I was worried!! We are now at the waiting point. There is nothing to do but wait for him to make his grand entrance. I will be going to the midwife once a week now until he shows up.

Lucy wants me to go have cocoa with her now that she came is from the cold. :) I have a few videos I will try to post later.

5 weeks left!

We only have 5 weeks left!!! Yesterday we went and took the childbirth refresher class at the hospital. I didn't learn much but I am glad I went. Our hospital has created this really nice new book that they give out at the childbirth classes. I read it last night and I am glad to have it. It has a short part with summaries of what each stage of labor is like, things you can do to cope and tips for the labor coach. I think that will be handy. It also has a really big section on breastfeeding, that was great. I remember what a hard time Lucy and I had at the beginning but I didn't remember the details of it. It is a great refresher of the steps you take and the different holds you use at the beginning, all things I had kind of forgotten/blocked out. :)

While Dave and I were at our class, Lucy spent the morning with Linda and Big D. She had such a good time that when she got home she was exhausted but wouldn't go to sleep because she kept telling us about the stuff she did with them. Linda sent me a few pictures.

































I hope that the artist showed Lucy a thing or two.










I guess she really liked Aunt Linda's toys. This picture is super cute!










Thank you Linda and Dee!

OMG!!!!

The highly anticipated ultrasound occurred this morning. Is everyone dying to know just how big Baby Brother is? I am not telling. Just kidding! Now we only saw the ultrasound technician and of course she can't/won't tell us much, and ultrasounds can be up to a pound off either way, but.... she said he is 5 lbs 12oz at this point which puts him in the 80th percentile. Yikes!!!!! Just for comparison Lucy friend Haley was 5lbs 11oz at birth (she was two weeks early but I still have 5 and a half weeks to go!!!)!!!!!! The important thing I can't remember is, do babies gain 1 pound a week from now to the end or is it only half a pound? I am going to go look it up in the pregnancy book. I am very anxious for my midwife appointment next week to discuss what they think about his size!!! (The issue/worry is that Lucy had trouble getting out and she was 8lbs 2oz so if he is going to be bigger there could be a problem.)

I have to go get Lucy down for her nap and look up the rate of growth for the baby now. I should probably clean up this pig sty a bit too.

New Link

I have added a link to my parent's travel blog. My Mom writes on it whenever they are away to tell about where they are and what they are doing. You can get to it by clicking on the link over to the right (near the link to Molly's blog is) or you can click right here.

Not Complaining

I haven't let myself blog anymore this week because I feel like doing is complaining. Complaining is the prerogative of the 8 and a half month pregnant woman but I don't want to do it. Well, i do but I won't. :)

I was reminded by multiple sources that I hadn't blogged about my midwife appointment on Tuesday. So, everything is fine, we are pretty much just waiting. My blood pressure was fine and I only gained 4 pounds in three weeks and with those weeks cover the holidays I am in really good shape. If i am careful I think I can keep myself to less gain this time than i had with Lucy which would be good since I started higher this time. Breastfeeding and chasing a toddler ought to take care of all of it anyway so I am not too worried. :)

They did schedule me another ultrasound for next Tuesday so they can check Baby Brother's size. this was not an unexpected thing. I am kind of excited to get the chance to see him. i never had an ultrasound this late with Lucy so it will be cool to see something that should look like an actual baby on the monitor. They are also going to check his position, they are having a hard time telling for sure if he is head down.

Dave just came down from putting Lucy to bed. He said she is crying and saying she wants Grandma. This kid is very good at trying to get out of going to bed! I think my mom will like hearing that though. :)

oh, one last thing, I am not sure but Lucy may have counted from one to ten by herself today. I was cooking dinner and she was playing on the other side of the room when I decided to listen to what she was saying to her self. When I tuned in she was on four and I think she got to ten correctly, she was talking softly and I didn't want to interrupt and throw her off. She is so smart! :)

Holy Crap!!!!

I know I just posted but you would not believe what is happening at my house right now! Lucy said she needed to go potty and went into the bathroom!!! Bigger than that though is, Dave took her to the potty!!!!!! Holy crap! :)

The Bench

A friend of ours gave us some benches to use at our dining room table. Lucy loves them! She requests every meal to be at the benches and she likes to climb up and just sit or stand on them for no reason other than to be on the benches.
















(Yeah, that's a phone book she is sitting on. We don't have any encyclopedias.)















For a change, I am dreading Lucy going to bed tonight. I have to balance the checkbook and pay bills. :( Due to total neglect over the last few weeks my wallet will barely close there are so many receipts hanging out of it and my checkbook ledger is pretty much blank. Yikes! I am glad I chose that nap this afternoon. ;)

The Stork, Winnie the Pooh and so on

Have you seen how close that stork is to the house?!? The other day I suddenly felt myself being interested in the labor/birth section of the baby book that, up until now, I have barely glanced at. I also decided, "hey! we should really get signed up for that childbirth refresher class." (I am going to call tomorrow and hope it isn't too late to get into it.)

Tomorrow Lucy will be 22 months old! I can hardly believe what a big kid she is. If you call her baby she says "no, kid". She plays pretend now, and is always making us stuff to eat in her kitchen. She has also developed this obsession with Winnie the Pooh. I'm not really sure where it came from but she LOVES Pooh right now. Ganny sent down a great big Pooh and she loves it! She drags it around, lays on it, gives it rides in her dump truck, dresses it up, and reads books to it.

















Lucy has also taken up, what a I am assuming is a very common 2 year old behavior, not wanting to wear clothes. If it were summer I wouldn't care, but instead she decides she wants to do this in the middle of winter so we spend lots of time fighting about it. :( The other day I turned the fireplace on and let her take her jammies off; she was very happy.




As you can see, she does concede to the season a bit. :)








The good news around here is that the house is un-decorated and cleaned (mostly)!


Lucy helped, of course. She sorted through all the Christmas cards and organized the strings of beads from the tree. she is such a big "help" these days!













I seem to run out of energy quickly now so I am going to lay down on the couch for a bit before Lucy wakes up from nap. (Lucky for me she has been taking 2-3 hours naps!!!!)

Happy New Year!

We all decided to spend last Sunday chilling out and relaxing after our hectic Christmas. I seem to be having trouble getting myself going again. All of the exhaustion (and germs) caught up with me. I haven't left the house in almost 3 whole days (I did have to go out on the back porch this morning to yell at the dog)! Lucy was sick at the beginning of the week and I went down right behind her. I would I say I feel bad for Dave because he had to work and help take care of us and the house, but considering that at this point in my pregnancy with Lucy I got put on bed rest, he has gotten it easy in the housework category this time. Anyway...

We had a great Christmas! Lucy loves her new kitchen and the million other toys she got. That little girl got a pair of Uggs for Christmas!!!!! It was a sad day for me as I watched my 21 month old daughter surpass me in coolness. ;) I have updated My Pictures and My Videos is mostly done.

Here a couple of pictures:



Christmas Eve. This is one of Lucy's favorite new toys, a giant dump truck that she can put tons of stuff in.











Cousins Kristy and Nick gave Lucy this giant dog
she sleeps with it every night now.











Christmas morning. (I don't look tired do I? We were up until almost 12 putting the kitchen together.)
















Santa knew just the way to this little girls heart; jewelry!

















I'm not sure but I think Molly liked the gift I picked out for her. :)












Lucy got this super cool bouncy pony from her aunties.












Lucy cooked lots for Grandma. Actually, Lucy did lots of everything with Grandma. I am sure my mom wasn't glad to see us go, but she certainly needed a nap after we left!










On Friday we went to my parents house (they came to our house on Christmas day and then we went with them to their house on Friday). Lucy's favorite thing to do there is make Grandma read to her. This visit she had to sit in her own chair with the blanket on her lap and Grandma had to lean way over and read to her. :)












A much needed nap at Grandma and BobBob's house.












Finally, this lovely close up shot of my giant belly. :)










There are more pictures and videos on the links.