March 2008

March 04

super fast

just thought i'd blog really quick.  we are under all sorts of watches and warnings.  it's been super warm today (75) and windy and now it is storming and windy as well...hence the tornado watch and severe storm warning.  i just wish this had come through during the day.  elijah is totally freaked out.  of course all this thunder started right as he was going to bed.  poor little guy is scared.  jerry is snuggling him in the big bed for now.

very exciting news, though, our swing set arrived today!  i can't believe it got here so fast.  i just ordered it last wednesday... we were expecting it at the end of the month. SWEET!  i got a picnic table for the munchkin off of craig's list this past weekend.

today, elijah and i went to costco and picked up some things for rachel and erin since he's in school and working and she's got the twin belly going on... i mean why not?  we were going anyway.  anything to help out.  but anyway, we got to their house and MR came out and started running around in circles of happiness to see Elijah and he just stood there for a minute.  i looked at him and said, "well, are you going to say hi?"  elijah looked at me and proceeded to pull his pants down.  it was freakin' hilarious.  we were all laughing our butts off... what the heck kid?  finally we moved on into the house and the kids spent most of the time running up and down the hall and then coming a crashing in to their parent.  it was quite amusing.

my folks arrive on thursday!!  we have a play date tomorrow and then playgroup on thursday.  jerry is taking thursday through monday off!!!  i'm really excited about this weekend.  the weather is supposed to be sunny, but chilly.  i don't even care.  it could snow and i would be alright with it... well maybe not snow... but ya know.

it seems like there was something else i was going to blog about, but i can't remember what it is...ahhh, pregnancy brain.  okay, i'd better go disconnect the computer before this storm gets too close...

just gotta explain these pics...  the first one:  elijah has figured out how to turn on his lamp on top of his toy chest/bookcase... this is how we found out how he does it...sigh...

the second pic:  this is how i found elijah when i went in to check on him before going to bed.  what a sweet little kiddo... anyway... that's that...  i added other pics to his 2 year album.

March 12

Surprises and the Babymoon

So my folks got here on Thursday.  We went to a local amusement park on Friday morning that has an indoor toddler playroom since it was POURING rain.  Friday evening I was supposed to go out with the ladies from our playgroup for one last MNO before Rachel has the twins... but it turns out that the MNO was a SUPRISE baby shower for me!  Everyone was in on it... I couldn't believe it!  We went out to dinner and then Carmen opened her store and we had a little party in there.  It was sooooo much fun!  I love being surrounded by such a positive mom force.  I know we don't always agree on everything and we all have different parenting styles, but regardless, all the women in our group are so accepting and supportive.  I feel very blessed.  I was given many fabulous gifts!  A very nice way to start off a great weekend.

So Saturrday morning, Jerry and I went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast.  It was very nice to not have to sit there and entertain a toddler while waiting for the food to arrive.  After that we hit the road to Myrtle Beach.  When we got to our condo, we were WAY early, but they let us check in anyway.  Very nice.  We were on the 17th floor across from the ocean.

  It was very nice!  The weather was rather cold and windy though... I didn't care!  We went to Broadway on the Beach for lunch and then saw 10,000 BC...not a good movie, but once again...didn't care!  We got some food and went back to the condo and did NOTHING!!!!  It was so nice!  Jerry slept until 10 on Sunday (I was up at 7 due to a starving belly, but after I ate, I sat around and watched movies...)  After Jerry got up we went to the outlet mall and walked around and had lunch.  My folks arrived around 2 with Elijah, so we went back into parent mode.

We met the parents for dinner and then came back to the condo.  Elijah had pretty much skipped his nap, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to put him down.  On Monday, we dropped Elijah off with my folks for a couple of hours and just sat around Atlanta Bread Company and talked to each other.  It was very nice indeed.  Now we are home and back to the daily grind...sigh...

My folks had a very easy time with Elijah and I think that everyone feels even more prepared for Grace's arrival.  Elijah only woke up at 5:30 and mom  crawled into our bed with him and he went back to sleep.  WAHOO!!!

Oh, I forgot!  The swing set arrived and has been assembled thanks to my dad and Jerry (incidentally Tom and Jerry...hehehehehe) We haven't anchored it yet, because we need to mow under it and adjust a few things, but it's all good!  Yesterday I went and picked up a basketball hoop (the little outdoor kind) from a guy selling it for 5 bucks on Craigslist.  When I got there, he said I could just have it!!  How nice!  So I think we are all good for entertainment for Elijah for a while.  I will pick up a wading pool as the weather gets warmer, but that's it for the back yard.

Okay, we have some friends coming over for a play date this morning.  I guess I should try to look alive by the time they get here!  I'll upload pics of the view and the swing set later.

March 16

How does this work?

So on Friday we go for our midwife appointment.  I actually only gained .2 pounds in two weeks.  So, I'm feeling pretty good about things.  Thinking grace just had a growth spurt a while back and that's where the weight gain came from.  Two weeks ago I was 30 weeks pregnant and measuring 31 weeks.  This week I am 32 (ish) weeks pregnant and I am measuring 35 weeks!!!  How is it possible to grow tummy-wise and not gain but .2 pounds!?!?!?!  Whatever!  Anyway, now we are almost 33 weeks and here is a pic of me now and a pic of me with Elijah at 33 weeks and 4 days...

I guess I'm not that much bigger.  I can't believe how much lower he was already.  Mary (the midwife) thinks that Grace will come early and my labor will be shorter.  We'll see.  I think she is nervous about not making it to the hospital on time (she lives a little farther away.)  We went over our birthing plan and Elijah's birth story.  She wants us to call her immediately if we feel like we are going into labor.  Told her not to worry... I don't want Jo Shmoe the doc delivering our kiddo.  So we are seeing her again in 2 weeks and we'll start pelvics then.  Grace is head down and I fell like she's trying to jam her way down into my cervix, but as the picture shows she is still higher.  It's all good!  She'll come out when she's good and ready (just hopefully not 234897071238947980754 pounds!)

Okay, dinner is ready.  There are other things to blog about, but I wanted to post these since I had requests for them!

March 18

How to say goodnight....

I know the video is long, but I think it's rather funny.  I walked back into Elijah's room the other day to find this...please note that we do NOT cover our child with toys at night... We have no clue where he picked this up, but he does the same thing for his dolls.  One can only hope that he won't do this to Grace...sigh....

March 27

Easter and play dates and babies, oh my!

So I got a call during breakfast Easter morning that Rachel had her twins!  Baby girl was 5 pounds 13 ounces and baby boy was 7 pounds 6 ounces!!!!  that's a lot of baby!!!  They came home on Monday night and all are doing well.  They are super cute and so little!!!

We went up to see Jerry's folks for Easter and his sister and her kids were there.  I totally forgot my camera...sigh... but they all had fun!

We have been so busy with play dates this week.  But it's been soooo nice out that I'm glad we were able to get out and play with friends!  I went over and helped out with MR this morning while Rachel and Erin took the twins in for a check up.  Rachel's brother was there, so that was nice.  We took the kiddos to a local park.  I don't understand people that think that it's okay to bring their really big dogs to a park and let them run loose.  I don't care how nice your dog is, if a kid is scared of a dog, the last thing they want is one running straight at them.  Sigh... we ended up leaving sooner than anticipated because of these people.  Sigh... oh well.  The kids still had fun playing and it was nice to visit with Rachel's bro.... (very nice of her to have the twins while he was on Spring Break...hehehehe!)

Elijah is sacked out.  But I have a feeling it won't be for much longer.  So I'll add some pics and relax a bit myself!  Hope you are having the same great weather we are!! (74 degrees baby!!!!!)

March 31

So yeah...

I'm definitely bigger.  Megan is right... I just wanted to live in a delusional world.  My skin on my belly actually hurts.  It feels bruised... oh poor me...  I am supposed to be taking it easy in the words of our midwife.  Not so easy when your toddler thinks it is funny to run away from you and then stop to see that you are coming after him and then take off again...sigh.  This week may be the last playgroup we go to for a bit.   There is a birthday celebration on that day... and it's actually supposed to not be raining.  I know we need the rain, but I'm going a little insane with the kiddo in the house.  I sent him out to play in boots and a raincoat this morning (I mean it's 60-something degrees...)  This afternoon we jumped in puddles and got some swinging in between showers.

I had this grand plan to make a bunch of all in one diapers to sell in the store, but I realized I needed fleece and not flannel and so I have all this super cute snuggle flannel that's just been sitting around.  What's more is that the snuggle flannel is on sale again for 2 bucks a yard and man I just want to buy it.  It really is the cutest stuff ever.  So, since I don't want Jerry to divorce me, I had to come up with something to do with all this flannel.  I came up with Snuggle Buddies.  I have made bunnies and bears.  They are really cute if I do say so myself.  I have a big and little one of each.  They are pretty much just stuffed and then I stitch on detail.  I'll get pics soon and post them here.  I think that I can sell them fro fairly cheap.  I mean I'm using less than a yard of fabric for two (one small and one big) and then the embroidery thread is a whooping 20 cents.  The fill is 4 bucks a bag and I use about half a bag per 2... so ya know.  They would be cute shower gifts or a gift for a sibling...maybe the sibling could give the smaller one to the new addition...  Jerry thought about making many different sizes akin to those stickers you see on the back of cars showing the family members.  All good thoughts....

Going back to being huge... What gives the general public the right to comment on a pregnant woman's size?  I was standing in line at JoAnne's and the cashier asked when I was due.  I've just started saying soon... you say May and they look at you like your an alien.  This woman a couple people behind me said, "well you must be having twins."  "Nope...just the one..."

I don't mind my friends talking about my size, but random people on the street... "Wow, you are HUGE!"  I mean you honestly wouldn't go up to someone and say, "Wow!  Your butt is HUGE!"  I mean you honestly can't hear it enough.  I know Rachel had it hard... though she had some good comments.  After telling someone her twins were a boy and a girl and STILL they asked,  "Are they identical?"  (this honestly happened more than once.)  Rachel would say, "Not from the waist down."  I mean people honestly just don't think before speaking.  I mean I know that I'm big.  I am carrying this little girl all up front.  Her feet are actually on top of my ribs.  Elijah liked to stuff his feet under my ribs.  She is head down though and her head is nestled down into my pelvis.  My mom is coming down next Thursday and staying until after the baby is born.  We have an appointment next Friday.  Mary the midwife will do a pelvic and do the Strep B test.  So we'll see if anything is happening.  We walked around Target this weekend and man I had to sit down through some contractions.  Braxton Hicks I rarely feel.  I have to actually have my hand on my tummy to feel the tightening.  But nothing consistent.  I'll be 36 weeks when we go in... so we'll see.  I practice squats in the shower, and I honestly feel like her head is just going to come right on out.  (Sorry hope that's not TMI!)  I guess it would be nice for her to come out nice and quickly, but I would prefer to make it to the hospital!

On the toddler front.  Last week I sucked it up and started making Elijah go to sleep for nap in his own bed.  I had been rocking him and I really like that time with him.  It's our cuddle time and most of the time I just fall asleep for a bit with him and then put him into his bed.  So it wasn't going great.  I was putting him in our bed and cuddling him.  This weekend, my super smart husband just made his nap time routine match his bedtime routine... duh!!  So it works great!  We have a little relaxing time in the big chair (usually watching 15 minutes of Curious George) and then he picks out 2 books, I read them, sing him a song, cover him up and leave.  We were sitting in the room a couple of days.  I asked him today if he wanted me to stay in there and he said, "No, bye-bye mommy."  I gave him a kiss and left the room... 10 minutes later...  I probably shouldn't write this...he'll probably not do this anymore!  But it's nice.  I will miss our little snuggles, but I'm glad that this wasn't a struggle we had to deal with after Grace arrives.  Not that there won't be regression on every front, but alas alack...

Okay... that's all for now.