Friday, July 30, 2010

Picture Catch Up

Maddie on our flight to Baltimore.  What a big girl in a seat all by herself!!

Maddie's favorite (of 3) ride at the fair.

Maddie and Mommy watching the parade.  We were probably waving at the firetrucks.  They were LOUD but Maddie loved them!

Maddie at her first fireworks display.

This is what a 25 month old looks like next to a 2 week old.  Oh boy am I in for it!! 

Maddie watching the circus with Daddy.

Playing after the circus was over...just waiting for the crowd to clear a little.

Apparently we have another rat problem...

Or this is the last time Eric lets Maddie help him with the cheese :) (This was one of 3 or 4 that she bit into!)

Maddie posing for a picture.  Notice the forced smile.  She was NOT happy with me but I promised her if I could take 5 pictures of her smiling then we would go to the airport.  She LOVES the airport.

This is the "cheese" face.  It doesn't look like she's smiling at all...

So then I told her to laugh and smile pretty and I got a much nicer shot!

First time fingerpainting today!  She really enjoyed making a mess :)

Focusing on her masterpiece.

Catch Up

My goodness...I always feel like I'm trying to play catch up with the blog!  I have good intentions on keeping current but then I run out of energy and would honestly rather veg and watch tv or relax in the tub than to type anything.  It doesn't help that my pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome is getting worse and worse by the day.  I had it with Maddie too so I know it'll be better after the baby's born.

I'm going to catch up in a few quick paragraphs:

First of all, Eric came home last Thursday and left this past Thursday (yesterday).  He normally gets a 2-3 week vacation but due to him coming home again at the end of August for the birth of the baby he had to make this one a short one.  It was nice to have him home since he got a lot done for me, especially in preparing for the baby.  I told him I wanted to have things ready to go in case she decides to make her appearance before he comes home on Aug 31st (our c-section is Sept 2nd so that's not a big window...).  He finished painting the nursery, put together the crib, brought down the pack 'n play and set it up in our bedroom, brought the infant car seat down and bases for me to clean (those nice rats that visited us a while back left us special treats!), and just generally got me motivated to get moving.  I still have a lot to do for the nursery but we'll see how much I can really do before September!  I need to sew the crib skirt but it's been over 2 years since I sewed using a pattern that I look at it and get all confused.  I might just need to look at it again on Tuesday when Maddie's not around distracting me.  I also have to wash baby clothes, empty out two drawers in my dresser to put baby stuff in while she sleeps in our room, sterilize bottles and such, buy newborn diapers and I don't even know what else...I made a list for myself but as I sit here right now I can't remember everything :)

We had a prenatal check up on Wednesday and everything's looking good.  I was scolded on my weight gain :(  That was the first time my doctor sounded disappointed with my weight gain so I was a little ashamed.  And then I got over it and had a piece of German Apple Cake that Eric made while he was home :)  My blood pressure is still looking good (116/70) and baby's heartbeat is strong and healthy.  We have the name decided on now.  Well, that's about 95% true.  Eric said he's still waiting for something else to strike him but he's not looking.  So unless he hears another name within the next 5 weeks, we have the name picked.  We still aren't sharing until she's born so don't ask!

Maddie gets cuter and sweeter and more spoiled by the day...Mother's Day Out is going GREAT!  She had three times in a row that she didn't cry when I dropped her off.  She started eating her lunches now and is napping better, all signs that she's comfortable there.  I'm so glad we decided to put her in it!  She'll go three days a week in the fall, M, W, F 9:30-2:30 so I'm really looking forward to getting adjusted to having a newborn again while Maddie's out of the house for 15 hours a week.  Maddie started using the word "actually" while Eric was home.  One time she told him, "Daddy, I really hungry.  I really hungry actually".  It's so cute to hear her use new words that surprise us to hear a 2 year old use!  Today I told her to go get her cup of milk so I could put it back in the fridge and she said, "Actually I want to watch you cook". 

Some things that happened while Eric was home (with Maddie)...Maddie went to the circus (she had a lot of fun once Daddy bought her popcorn!), Maddie spun around until she was dizzy and realized what it feels like to be dizzy!  She fell to the floor and said, "oh no, it's spinning."  We asked her what was spinning and she said, "the playroom!".  I laughed so hard...it was the cutest thing to hear.  Maddie went shopping with Daddy a couple of times while I stayed home and she seemed to enjoy that one-on-one time.  In general, Maddie just wanted to be Daddy's girl the whole week he was home and didn't want me to do a lot.  Eric had to buckle her into her carseat and take her out, he had to wipe her hands and face after meals, he had to hold her hand when we were walking.  Daddy had to get her up in the mornings and after naps and Daddy even got to give her baths!!

What else?...I guess that's it for now.  After Maddie goes to bed I'll try to put a few pictures up.  It's been a while since I posted any pictures!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I Lied

Looks like I lied about getting some pictures ready to post.  I hit the ground running (well, as fast as my 33 week pregnant self can "run") when we got home from Baltimore and started trying to prepare for Eric to come home and blah, blah, blah...nothing anyone cares to hear about!!  Anyway, I did manage to get some pictures printed to mail out to Maddie's great grandmas (all three of them!  Lucky girl!) but I have yet to get them put on the blog.  Maybe this week, but I'm not making promises...

Eric comes home tomorrow morning for a quick 6 day visit.  I'm bummed that it's such a short trip but I'm trying to stay positive and be thankful that we have at least those 6 days to spend together.  Initially Eric was trying to give up his vacation because it's no fun to travel from Nigeria to Houston and back within a week, but they forced him to take it (thank you!!).  This will be our last visit before Eric comes home for the birth of baby girl #2.  We're hoping to have a lot of quality family time during these 6 days and not a lot of chores, although I do need some cleaning help while he's here.  I guess we can call that quality time as long as we're working together :)

In pregnancy news...I'm 33 weeks pregnant now and feeling every bit of it!  I'm easily worn out after a short amount of activity.  My feet an ankles have begun the dreaded third trimester swell.  YUCK!  And my wrists are joining in :(  I can no longer wear my watch comfortably and the carpal tunnel is acting up.  Sleep is becoming quite a chore these days!  I should set up a video camera to show everyone what an ordeal it is to roll over in a tempurpedic mattress when you're so middle-heavy.  It takes way more effort than I like to put into it at 2 am.  But since I'm up I usually just go ahead and make use of being out of bed to use the bathroom since at some point I'll be up to pee anyway...  :)  The worst symptom I have to deal with is a pain in my belly, well I guess it's more ON my belly.  It feels like a bruise just above my belly button and it gets so sore the more the day goes on.  I've read up on it and apparently it's normal but it sure does hurt!  It doesn't help when Maddie digs her boney elbows in to sit up or when the dog jumps on me.  The good in still barely outweighing the bad with pregnancy, though.  I still get to feel baby girl move all the time.  She hasn't settled into her head down position yet as I'm getting kicked all over the place!  It's fun to be able to feel her in there!  I'm starting to be able to feel little feet and what I'm assuming is her butt pressing against me.  I'll get confirmation at my appointment next week.  I love knowing that my body is able to grow this little human and that my body is nurturing her and nourishing her to make her strong and healthy to live with us in just 6 more weeks!  When I think about the miracle of it all, the aches and pains seem like less of an issue (until I stand up to walk back to bed, then I'll start complaining again!).  I'm ready to meet my baby girl and I think Maddie's ready to meet her baby sister (who she calls baby Turtle...although we do have a "real" name picked out now, we don't want Maddie sharing that name so we convinced her to call her sister "Turtle" for now!).  Maddie's in for a shock when she realizes all the changes in store for her...

As for Maddie, she's doing so well with Mother's Day Out now.  When I took her this morning she didn't even cry!  She went right into her classroom, hugged her teacher, and started playing with Mr. Potatohead.  I kissed her goodbye and she said "bye momma" and that was it!  I almost cried because I was so proud...but I made it a no tears day for both of us :)  I was waiting for this day to come and now that it did, I'm so relieved and I KNOW I'm doing the right thing by putting her in there.  She will continue to go through the summer until Aug 4th (so, 2 more weeks) then we'll have a break until Aug 30th.  In the fall she'll go 3 days a week so I'm looking forward to that. I know she'll love it and I'm going to love having a little time to myself with the new baby! 

What a blessed life I have!!  :)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Favorite

This is my favorite picture from our trip back to the East Coast.  Thanks, Dad, for this great shot of Maddie!!

We're Home!!

Just wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone :)  Maddie and I spent a great 9 days with my mom (she came to Houston) then 13 days back in Maryland and Pennsylvania visiting with my family.  It's been fun and also a little tiring.  We got home last night and this morning we're getting right back into the swing of things.  Maddie will be heading to Mother's Day out in less than an hour, I will go grocery shopping then come home, get it all put away, put on my bathing suit and head to the pool to relax without a toddler.  If only I could enjoy a margarita...  :)

I'll work on getting some pictures together over the next couple of days to share our vacation with you all.  Maddie was such a trooper on our trip.  She LOVED the plane taking off and she LOVED showing off for our family.  She met a lot of cousins on this trip (most she had met before but was way too young to remember).  She enjoyed playing outside with my sister's boys for about 3 hours on Sunday afternoon and has been asking me "Where Jon go?" or "Where Jon went?" ever since.  She took to him right away!

Ok, I better go get Maddie up and ready for school.  Hope everyone's enjoying their summer vacations!

7 more weeks til baby #2 arrives :)  :)  :)