Teamwork

I think my daughters communicate telepathically. Or maybe by morse code. Either way, they seem to have set up a system where one of them is driving me crazy, then the other. Yesterday was Baby Sister's turn. She apparently thought she could create extra space for herself if she just pushed hard enough. She seems to be giving me a break this morning, so I hope that doesn't mean that Abby is about to pick up the driving mom crazy antics.

Abby came to an amazingly funny revelation last night. She was rubbing my belly, which is one of her favorite pastimes (she likes to find the hard lumps that are Baby Sister). She looked at my belly, then looked at me and said "Baby Sister has stripes." Of course those stripes are the stretch marks that mostly came from Abby, although Baby Sister has added a few in the last couple weeks. It's a good thing I have a sense of humor, since Baby Sister has lots and lots of stripes.

We are really looking forward to Steve being home tomorrow. Abby keeps reminding me that her Daddy is in Chicago (pronounced chick-cago). I'm not sure she understands what she is telling me, but she has the facts straight. I'm looking forward to a few diaper changes off, a nice uninterrupted nap, and a break from being the 24-7 entertainment for the last few days. Thankfully last night we had a friend from church over and she was more than happy to read to Abby and provide some much needed adult conversation.

Caught!

I found this little black kitten sneaking around our living room this morning trying to get into trouble.She was also trying to get rid of the competition, but unfortunately for her she isn't quite strong enough to get the door open.
Abby and I are entering day 3 of our adventure without Steve. So far we've managed to have a good start to the day, although I didn't get her to take a power nap like yesterday morning. But she did wake up in a good mood, so that helps.

Making Up For Yesterday

Abby decided to make up for yesterday's lack of napping by taking an early morning power nap. So, I enjoyed some personal time from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. I am trying to make Abby her own kitten hat, but I think the one I am making is going to be too big. We shall see. And this morning I did some customizing to the set of curtains we had for Abby's room. We bought pink sheers and then blackout curtains, so I had to sew the sheers onto the liners and then we put a butterfly ribbon to hide the seams (and match the sheet set Abby has). They are starting to look pretty cute!

We are trying out new Disney movies today. So far we've watched The Little Mermaid and we just got started on 101 Dalmatians. It was time for a change :-)

Only 2.5 days until Daddy gets home!

Our Girl - 33 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-33-weeks_1122.bc)

We had another check-up today. Everything was good and growing on schedule. There have apparently been a ton of really sick people around town lately and the doctor had admitted three kids around Abby's age to the hospital, so we are hoping to avoid whatever it is that is making the rounds.

Abby and I have almost survived our first day of our little stretch with Steve. He made it safely to Chicago around 3 this afternoon and Abby and I have been missing him already. Abby is all off schedule, didn't take a nap at all today, and is still going strong at 8:40 p.m. I'm hoping that means she will sleep in for me, since there won't be any alarms going off in my room tomorrow morning. Although she seems to have a knack for waking me up early. This morning Abby woke me up at 5:30 a.m. to tell me "Abby is tired." It's one of those things where you don't know whether to laugh or be upset that you have to crawl out of bed at 5:30 to go put her back into her own bed and turn her Veggie Tales c.d. back on. She didn't even want cuddled or anything, she just wanted to tell me she was tired. What a girl...

And... to keep today even more interesting, Abby wore a skirt under a dress today. And I had to take her out in public with her skirt on under her dress. Luckily they were both denim and the skirt didn't peek out too much. Unluckily, she got food on the dress (which was on the outside) and had a diaper leak on the skirt and tights, so I get to do double the laundry for today. Oh well... at least she has a little bit of spunk and independence.

Here Kitty, Kitty...

It was cupcake day at Abby's play group and she got to bring two mini-cakes home for her afternoon snack. Her afternoon snack ended up being 5 p.m. after she took a three hour nap. And the best part is that I didn't have to lay down with her or stay in her room. I just took her up, popped in her c.d. and left. I love it when that happens.

I finished a kitten bonnet for Baby Sister today. I had to do a little improvising to get the chin strap the way I wanted it. And I had to do a lot of learning, since I hadn't knitted anything besides basic dishcloths. I can now say I'm a fairly decent beginner at knitting.

This is what 47 1/2 inches of belly looks like

Once upon a time, about July, I was a size four or six. Not anymore.

Three Milestones

First: Abby told her first "not" joke. It went something like this... "Abby change her play clothes... not." Then she laughed. I laughed harder - almost hard enough to fall down the steps. She certainly keeps us on our toes.

Second: I am up to 47 1/2 inches. I don't know how much further my poor belly can stretch.

Third: Steve now weighs 3 pounds less than I do. This is the first time since we've been dating that I've outweighed him. I guess his 4 weeks of eating sensibly and running on the elliptical have worked wonders. Now we are going to have to pull out his box of smaller pants and I'll need to pull out my box of maternity dresses, since pants are becoming a more and more uncomfortable option.

Growing UP

Abby has been stretching out - two weeks in a row her size 2T dresses seemed a little too short. It's hard to believe our little baby started out at only 8 pounds and 22 inches.

We finished our most recent round of swimming classes yesterday. Abby really enjoyed her class, but had the most fun when mommy was participating. And we had a much better time this time around since Abby's friends were in the class as well. We will have to see what we decide to do this summer when swimming is offered again - having two kids in the pool is going to be a lot more work.

Abby Reads

Abby's version of reading (this is the same video we put on facebook earlier this week - it just wouldn't load here until now).

If you can't tell, she reads this book a lot. Like 5 to 10 times a day. I'm pretty sure she knows every single word.

Newsflash!

At 1:00 p.m. today Abby finally did her stinky business on her potty chair - and got rewarded with two mini reese's cups. Let's hope she decides the reward is worth letting us know that she needs to go potty. And it would be great if she'd decide to pee on the potty too. Changing diapers is not something I really enjoy doing.

Abby is Grouchy

"Abby is grouchy."

The above statement came directly from the little girls mouth on the way home from play group. She wasn't kidding. After 1 entire hour of crying before taking her nap, I am exhausted. So for today, all you are getting from me is Abby's revelation that she is grouchy (this was said before the napping incident).

I think I should be grouchy too... but I am trying hard not to be. First my little grouch woke me up at 3:30 because she wanted to listen to her veggie tales c.d. Then the city decided they needed to remove the huge embankments along the edge of the road. Last year they were chest high when the city came through and took them down. This year they are mid-shin to knee high. I'm not sure that amount of snow merited waking me up at 6 a.m. so that they could remove it - I could see over the bank just fine, even in the granny car.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Our Girl - 32 Weeks

How your baby's growing:By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Apparently I've been doing a lot of laying on the couch (and with good reason), since Abby seems to have decided it looked like a fun thing to try. I've been having some major joint pain, mostly in my right hip and jaw. According to the web it's probably caused by the hormone relaxin, which helps loosen joints to aid in delivery. Unfortunately, I don't really need those joints to be loosened for a c-section and there seems to be an imbalance in the levels, because my joints never hurt like this when I was expecting Abby.

Abby and I went out for a lunch date with her friends Autumn and Little Abby. She had a great time at play land and finally went high enough to get down the slide (she had some major mommy assistance). We've been working very hard on breaking Abby of her recent habit of not listening to mom and dad. Today it took 3 tries to get her into her bed for nap time. She's also been asserting herself with Maize, which can be funny but also probably isn't too safe. Yesterday she was dragging Maize around by the collar (see pictorial evidence). Luckily we picked a very gentle dog, because I think any other dog would have taken a bite or two at Abby for all the abuse. It may make bringing home Baby Sister an exciting adventure. I'm really hoping that Abby will decide to be a helper/protector instead of a boss/aggressor.

And.... only 49 days until the scheduled c-section. Let's hope for a few days less :-)

Comparison

At 32 weeks pregnant with Abby I was 45 inches around. This morning I am 47 inches around. No wonder I feel like a blimp!

For the record: Abby's belly was 19 inches today, but she was sticking it out as much as possible. Then Abby made me measure Maize's belly too. Her's was 22 inches.

And... for the first time since we've been married, I am about to weigh more than Steve. We are within 1/2 pound of each other. I am going one way, he is doing a great job at moving the scale in the other direction.

22 Months Young

Apparently hats are hilarious! Especially when being worn backwards.

Abby has been keeping busy today - she visited her friend Ella, took payroll to the crisis pregnancy center with me, had lunch with her dad, and told all her dolls "I love you anyway." I guess she's read Olivia a few times since Olivia's mommy always says "I love you anyway" when she puts Olivia to bed. It's amazing the things our little sponge soaks up and remembers.

We've been watching a bit of the olympics, since there isn't a lot on t.v. in the evening that is Abby appropriate. Last night she enjoyed watching the "dancers" (ice skaters) doing "supers" (lifts) and the luge, which she called sledding. She is still convinced that the olympics is one giant pow-wow, so whenever they come on she gets excited to see the pow-wow again. She sure keeps us laughing.

Unlike Abby, who was a kicker/puncher, Baby Sister seems to be a flipper and roller. This is way more uncomfortable than the kicking/punching variety of babies. I've been struggling to sleep at night with all the flipping going on. It's been resulting in lots of uncomfortable bulges that are hard to sleep on. But it does make for easy identification of the baby in my belly for Abby, so she at least has the advantage of knowing some littler person is in there trying to get out.

Happy Valentines Day

Abby got to pick her own breakfast this morning from these options:

Russel Stover Chocolates
Great Grandma Grace Sugar Cookies with frosting and sprinkles
Fresh Strawberries

She picked the strawberries. I was shocked! I didn't know that there was a variety of child who would turn down candy or cookies given the chance (all three where on her plate at the same time).

Cookie Making

Abby and I are going to have a cookie making extravaganza tonight so that she can share valentine's cookies with her dad's office mates and her favorite babysitter and family. We picked up some heart shaped cookie cutters, so all we need to do is bake and decorate!

Tomorrow Abby is going to be breaking in a 2nd new babysitter for the week. This time Susie, Kitty's sister, is going to be babysitting Abby while Steve and I spend the afternoon in board meetings (again... it must be the week for being bored... or board). Luckily for Susie, tomorrow morning is swimming class, which Steve can take Abby to before his meeting. So, by the time Susie comes, Abby should either be napping or ready to.

We did another night with the c.d. player - I wish I would have discovered this months ago. I put on the Veggie Tales c.d. (it sings to Abby with her name in the songs), sat with her for the first couple songs (since one is "If You're Happy and You Know It" and she just has to get up and stomp her feet) and then left. She fell asleep, the c.d. ended, and it was blissfully quiet by 9:30 in our house last night. It was close to a world record for getting Abby to bed early. And she still slept until after 8 a.m. this morning, so I'd call that a good night all around. Except for maybe the fact that Baby Sister was using me for a punching bag.

New Beds Are Up!

Abby loves her new beds. In fact, she loves them so much that we had very little problems getting her to sleep last night. Except that we may have started a dangerous new habit - listening to music while she falls asleep.

We got a great deal on Abby's new mattresses - Big Lots is having a great sale where the box springs are only $10 with the purchase of a mattress. We were very excited and decided to go ahead and buy both sets and put up both beds. So now Aunt Hannah or Aunt Emily can camp out with Abby. They all love sleeping in, so it should be a great fit.

Our Girl - 31 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-31-weeks_1120.bc)

We had our checkup this week. Baby's heartbeat was 144 beats per minute. Abby was excited to listen to her baby "sing." We also got a tentative c-section date (the surgeon just has to okay it) for April 7th. If we can make it that long.

New Things

Abby has two big new things since yesterday afternoon. The first is a new baby sitter in her lineup, her friend Autumn's older (17 year old) sister Kasi. She had a great time with Kasi last night while Steve and I were both at board meetings. She talked and talked about "our friend" Kasi after I got home. I'm so thankful that we now have two baby sitters that Abby loves staying with.

The other new thing in Abby's universe is her twin sized bed, which arrived via UPS earlier today. Abby and I put the first of the two beds together this afternoon so that we'd have a idea of what we wanted to do as far as mattresses and box springs. Abby and her dad have a date planned for tonight to go look at mattresses. She was very excited about her "princess bed" and I hope that will transfer over into excitement about sleeping in it. In the process of moving things around we did manage to crack an electrical outlet in half, but that was only a 95 cent repair that Steve will have to make sometime tonight or tomorrow.

Dentist's Kids Gone Wild

The coke can was robbed from the recycling bin. I did let her have the sucker, but we were making valentines for her friends with the other ones, so it hardly seemed fair not to let her have one.

No, I'm Fine

We have been hearing "No, I'm fine." a lot lately. Ask Abby about anything and you are likely to get that response. Like, "Abby, do you need some breakfast?" or "Abby, do you need a new diaper?" She is apparently fine. All the time.

We survived our unplanned trip to Hastings and now have the hard task of getting back into a regular routine - including nap time. Yesterday Abby was so exhausted that she had to leave the nursery during church, then she fell asleep while listening to the sermon. She also took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She was apparently pretty tired. And she slept her normal 11-ish hours this morning.

Last night Abby put a little soccer ball under her shirt and walked around for a little while with her baby "Angela." She wouldn't let me take her picture, but it was pretty hilarious. Maybe we can catch her in the act again sometime.

It's Puppy Time

Abby is having a great time visiting her grandmas and grandpas, but I think she is most concerned with the 5 wiggly bulldog puppies at Grandma and Grandpa Hodges house. She is pretty impressed with those guys and has been sneaking in to pet and hold them as often as possible. She even has all of their names down pretty well.

Abby spent almost all day yesterday with Grandpa Roy and she had a great time. She even made it an entire day without watching Beauty and the Beast - this is a big step for us. And Grandpa Roy survived watching all 4 of the Obreiter grandkids at once by himself for a few hours before reinforcements in the form of Great Grandma Joy and Great Aunt Jessie arrived. I am so thankful that we have wonderful family who don't mind having an extra little person around.

Abby cracked me up yesterday watching Aunt Emily play basketball. She was pretty good about staying in the bleachers and actually watching part of the game. But... she was most impressed with the automatic flushing toilets in the bathroom. Apparently she's never seen one of those in Sault Ste. Marie before. She was also pretty impressed with Grandpa Scott's popcorn.

We are just about 2 months away from having Baby Sister (who still needs a name, by the way). I will be glad to be over some of the "joys" of pregnancy, like the 7 charlie horses I had during the night last night. Or the fact that the seat belt in the very back seat of mom and dad's car only fit around me if I pulled it all the way out (which then causes it to tighten and lock, so that I was strapped in tighter than Abby ever is). Or my all time favorite, being so big that my pants don't go up high enough to beat gravity and keep falling down and practically off. I'd rather have the crying baby, the sleepless nights, and the surgical recovery than any of those annoying pregnancy issues...

Our Girl - 30 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-30-weeks_1119.bc)

Boys Are Busy

Abby and I had some new friends over today and boy oh boy did I forget how busy little boys are! We watched an 18 month old and 3 year old from a new family who is attending our church (and their dad works at the tribe with Steve). Huron and Rian were cute and well behaved little boys, but boys certainly play much differently than girls. Much, much differently. Luckily, Abby napped through most of their visit, so I only had to handle 3 children under the age of 3 for about 30 minutes.

Abby and I are spending some quality Abby/Mommy time tonight while Steve is attending the tribal board meeting to see if he is going to get a raise under the new compensation package that is being voted on tonight. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the package will be approved, especially since Abby's favorite baby sitter lives with Dr. Dave, Steve's office partner, and Dr. Dave has been considering his options if the package isn't approved. We don't want to be on the hunt for a new baby sitter anytime soon, so we've been praying for a good outcome.

We are also praying for a good ride down tomorrow to visit family. Cousin Joe Nichelson probably doesn't quite know what he is getting himself into taking Miss Abby on a ride with him. But then again, he does have lots of littler siblings, so I'm sure he's had his share of fun riding in the car with a toddler. I'm hoping enough fruit snacks and dvd's will make the ride a happy one for Abby. Either way, we are glad to be going and spending some time with Joe. It's been a long time since I've had a good chance to visit with him and I personally am pretty sure I have the most amazing cousins in the world.

Whoops!!!

Apparently we aren't quite ready to use our workbook with the dry erase marker. Guess we'll put that away for a few months (and supervise better the next time she is using it!).