Monday, June 23, 2008

A little update

It's been a bit since I blogged about how I'm doing, so I thought I'd take a minute to do that. I read a lot of other mom blogs and many of us are pregnant right now. They seem to be really being in the moment of being a mom to one about to be a mom of two and I think that feeling or idea has only really recently hit me. I was rocking Maddie in the rocking chair the other night because she was having a tough time with teething and the whole time I was holding her, Grace was kicking us both from the inside. That's a crazy feeling. By crazy, I mean special. Holding someone you love so much and know so well, while a little stranger that you love equally is kicking your bellybutton from the other side is a pretty neat experience. It's strange because it feels like both a long time until we meet her and also it feels like it's right around the corner. I'm 30 weeks pregnant this week and I have a check up tomorrow morning. Basically, at the most, I have 10 weeks until Grace gets here, but she could really come any time in the next 7-8 weeks. That's exciting, but because it's going to be my last pregnancy (I'm pretty sure) it's also a little sad. Don't get me wrong; I'm uncomfortable for sure, but I always looked forward to having kids and it's kind of crazy to think of that part of my life as done. On the other hand, it will be nice to have my body back to myself and to get out of dealing with diapers, bottles, sleep deprivation (I know it will return when I have 2 teenage girls), etc. In the here and now I'm definitely in baby mode; going through all of Maddie's newborn sized clothes, buying some new things, finding the little hats and mittens they wear in the beginning (to not scratch their face), painting and hanging her name, putting the crib together, putting the double stroller together (it's HUGE), etc. It's busy stuff, but it's so fun and over and over I'm reminded how happy I am to be having another girl. I always wanted Maddie to have a sister and I'm so happy they will be so close in age. Maddie has such a loving nature to her that I feel like she's going to be a really good older sister. I'm not expecting there to not be jealousies in the beginning, but I think deep down she's going to do a great job. So, that's what we're up to. Maddie is still using her potty every day (mostly for pee, but today she's decided to use it 2x to poop :) She's getting the hang of it because with each drop, she gets jellybeans and hey, what wouldn't you do for a couple of JellyBellys?

Friday, June 20, 2008

Baby Grace


Went and had a 3D ultrasound today and of course, Baby Gracie was only sort of cooperating. Much like Maddie did when I had her 3D scan done. So, here's the best shot. It looks a little alarming, but don't they all. If you look close ( on the left of the pic) you can see her eye, cheek, nose and her mouth is open to yawn :) Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Father's Day & Potty Day

So, as many of you have read and commented, yesterday Maddie went potty in her little Elmo potty for the first time. It was VERY exciting around here :) There was an update last night that I didn't post and that's the fact that later after she did her "pee-pee" in her potty she told me "poo-poo." I thought she meant she had already done it so I was brining her upstairs to her potty to sort of show her where it should go. Well, we got up there and she hadn't gone, so I asked her to sit on the potty again and a few minutes later, she pooped! I could not believe it. I yelled for Gabe to get upstairs and we made a huge fuss and told her how proud we were. This was followed by 2 jelly beans (which she hasn't ever had before and now cannot get enough of :) This morning, I thought I should start the day with giving her the option of sitting on the potty again, and when she woke up, I put her on it and she peed again. She got 2 more jellybeans and is feeling very proud. We had Gymboree today and she's obviously still wearing diapers, but it was barely wet by the time we got home. So, I think maybe it isn't a fluke. We'll keep working on it and I'll spare you every detail other than the really exciting ones :) The pictures are from Father's Day morning when Gabe got his presents from Maddie and I. Some shirts, shorts and this craft I made by tracing her hand and writing 5 things she loves to do with him or about it this year. We added Sesame Street stickers because that's her favorite thing and the idea is to do it every year as her hand get's bigger. The bottom 2 pic's are Maddie last night after she used her potty :)


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Monday, June 16, 2008

Potty time

I know I need to post about Father's Day and about Lizzy and Justin's visit last week, but since I only have a minute, I have to tell you that a few minutes ago before I gave Maddie her bath, I asked her if she wanted to sit on her potty. She got on it, with her diaper on and I took it off and told her to try.

And, she did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe it. She was so proud and she kept trying to go more even when she was done. It was so cute. So, maybe potty training is upon us. It could also be a fluke, but I'll go with it for now. Yeah for Maddie :)

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Diaper Nightmares

I have to blog about this because I'm doing so much laundry and I can't stand it! Maddie has gotten quite good at taking her pants on and off. She practices this all day, many times a day. I thought it was cute and that she was such a "girl" for wanting to play with clothes. Well, the game has progressed and now she is taking off her pants so that she can get to the diaper. She's taking the diaper off as much as possible, but almost always when waking from a nap or in the morning. I've been running to get to her as soon as I hear her talking and making noise, but EVERY time, I've been too late. She's sitting in her crib, diaper tossed overboard and she's saying "Uh-oh." I try to have patience and tell her that it's not "Uh-oh" when you do something on purpose. She doesn't care. It's like she knows it's bad, she knows it's uncomfortable to sit there next to a tiny pee spot, but she does it anyway-all the time and every day for the past week. I'm struggling here. The laundry isn't as much of a problem as is the fact that often she sort of pees on her "nigh-nigh" (her blankie if you don't know) and then that has to go in the washer and she loses her mind because she can't have it for a half an hour. So then I'm sort of in the middle of trying to calm her from missing the nigh-nigh, cleaning the crib for the millionth time and all the while keep my patience because she's 20 months old and she thinks her new found ability to get out of her clothes is charming. I talked to Siobhan about this today because she went through the exact same thing with Aibha and from what I've read online, many kids do this. It's not necessarily a sign that they're ready to potty-train because even though she has a potty, she will not sit on it. No matter what. Not even for fun or to pretend. So, that tells me she's not ready. I don't think the taking the diaper off is because it's wet and uncomfortable, I really think it's the novelty of being able to take her cl0thes off. So, tomorrow is another day and we shall see what it brings. Just pray it doesn't bring me the Urinating Fairy again; I need a break :)

Saturday, June 7, 2008

28 weeks pregnant and the hottest day of the year




So, summer has arrived. Today it was 95 degrees and like 80% humidity which means that it felt like it was over 100! Nightmare for the person who turned 7 months pregnant today :) Maddie and I stayed indoors as much as we could and we only took 1 walk around the neighborhood only to return to our house sweating buckets. Not my idea of fun. So, I thought I'd include some pic's of the growing tummy for those of you far away. Definitely getting bigger. Gracie kicks just as much as Maddie ever did and funny enough, she does it at the same times Maddie did; for example, every night at 10pm, she's definitely awake. This week I have a dr.'s appt. on Tuesday and they will do the routine to test they do to check if I have gestational diabetes. Didn't have it with Maddie and hopefully I don't have it this time. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully you're enjoying your weekend somewhere a bit cooler than here :)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

7 months and a Hospital visit!

So, today was interesting. And by interesting, it was no fun :( Maddie and I were having a normal day. We went to the bank, Target and then to Gymboree. After Gymboree, I was walking through the mall and I wouldn't stop getting Braxton-Hick's contractions. Like, one after another and my stomach was getting rock hard and I was so uncomfortable. For the past 3 days, I've been feeling like this, so I decided to call my midwife. Well, she told me to rest and call her in a couple of hours. Which I did and I was still having the contractions, so she sent me to the hospital. I was feeling upset. I didn't want to go to the hospital and make people worry, plus, I carried Maddie to full term no problem; so why was this happening? Basically, after being there and monitored and tests being run, I was found to be fine. I'm just over doing it. I need to take it easy and make sure to drink a lot more water. So, as Gabe and I left the hospital, I said "see you in 12 weeks." There really is a reason that pregnancy is so long. Because today I was scared there and not prepared. When you're 40 weeks pregnant and in real labor, you're happy to be at the hospital because you're dying to meet your baby and have your body back to yourself :) So, that's it. Lizzy and Justin will be here tomorrow and I'm excited.
Also, for all who know her, my good friend Siobhan had her baby yesterday. Her name is Aisling (pronounced Ashling; Irish spelling) and she was 7 lbs. 15 oz. A perfect size. I cannot wait to meet her!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

A Cold and a Cleaning Frenzy

Well, Maddie has a cold that she got from Gabe and I'm lucky because I don't have it. She's been a little under the weather for about 3 days now and I'm hoping (finger's crossed) that today is the last day of it. We had to miss Gymboree this morning because they don't want you to come and make all the other kids sick. So, instead we headed out for a nice walk before it gets too warm today. Plus, we have more thunder showers coming, so we needed to get it out of the way. Then we went and donated more things that we don't need from the basement. That's the best feeling. I think I'm finally done with all of the de-cluttering-making-room-for-another-baby work I've been doing for about a month. Everything feels purged and that feels great. The basement is really coming along as a play room for the girls. Grace's crib is ordered and on it's way as I blog; probably be here tomorrow. So, it's all coming together and that feels like a mission accomplished. Yesterday I took it upon myself to move a few pieces of furniture to see if it gave me more space. It did and I think I'll leave it this way until I don't need as much baby stuff (swing, exersaucer, bouncy chair, etc.) out. It's not out yet, but I made room in anticipation. I have 89 days til' my due date, according to the pregnancy calendar. In line at the grocery store, we met a little girl named Grace and her mom told me that she had her August 23rd. A sign that my Grace is coming a little early? Who knows. I know that Alexa thinks she'll be born in August :) We shall see.
Elisabeth and Justin are coming here this weekend. Well, Justin is already here and actually coming over tonight to hang out and have pizza. But, Lizzy gets here Friday and then next week we have some fun plans to do with them. I love having visitors (hint, hint to all you Californian's). A funny thing I wanted to blog about since last week, but couldn't find the time. I'm really thinking about Christmas all the time. Isn't that the strangest thing you've heard? Why it's on my mind, I have no idea. Maybe it's because last years was so terrible, or because this year I'll have two little girls at Christmas time. But, whatever it is, it's funny. I just keep thinking about what we'll do this year (since we won't be traveling) and what kind of traditions I want to start and always do. I figure that Maddie will possibly start remembering them now, so I want to make good memories for her and for us.
So, that's what's going on here. Gabe's busy with work and meetings, but we've also been finding a good balance at being together. He's doing great and just celebrated 60 days on Sunday. I'm doing good too.