Going Cordless

Olivia turned 3 weeks old today and had two little milestones in the last 36 hours. The first was her first spit-up, which of course went right down the front of my shirt yesterday around lunch time. I could have done without that. The second was losing her umbilical cord stump this morning - oddly enough at the same moment she was spitting up down the front of my shirt. So she is now cordless and Abby is having a great time comparing belly buttons with her baby sister.

Abby has been having a good and bad transition to being a big sister. Most days and most times are good, but she's also been having lots of meltdowns and fits. It will be good to try a day just the three of us girls tomorrow so we can start to establish some rules and regulations for the little girls who live around here. One will need to learn to nap by herself and the other will need to learn that she can't have everything she wants right at the minute she wants it. Actually... reading that sentence I think they both need to learn both of those lessons. I guess I have a lot of work to do.

We had a lot of fun with Grandpa Roy and Grandma Von here the last few days. And we got a lot of yard work done thanks to Grandpa. We have a great spot set for Abby and Olivia's new swing set and a nice new garden with a small rock retaining wall (we found the rocks when we were cleaning up the weedy "gardens" that were left out back). Last night we had a little birthday party for Abby and Grandpa Roy, since Grandpa's birthday was about 2 weeks ago and Abby's birthday is in 2 weeks. She had a great time opening some presents and has lots of cool new Belle things and princess pajamas. She was very impressed with it all, except for the singing gift bags... those kind of freaked her out.

Abby and I went tonight to our small group bible study for the first time since the first Wednesday in March. She had a great time seeing her friends, although she has completely forgotten her playtime manners and how to share. We have some major re-learning ahead of us on that front. But it was great to see friends and have some adult conversation with them. Abby gave all of her friends big hugs on her way out the door... it was the most adorable thing. I can't wait for Olivia to get big enough to have such great friends too.

Snuggle Time

Grandma and Grandpa Obreiter are here, but before they got here this morning Abby and Olivia enjoyed some quality snuggle time while watching Abby's favorite princess sing along movie. They needed to snuggle... Abby was in super crabby mode from waking up in the middle of the night and getting into our bed. No one in our room is sleeping well since Olivia likes to grunt and moan and groan if she isn't being snuggled. It's not that she needs anything... she is just noisy.

House Arrest - Day 10

I had the best of intentions to get some pictures of Abby and Olivia today in the nice natural sunlight, but then the morning got away from us. It is much harder trying to get pictures of one child and supervising the other when you are the only adult in the house. Especially when Abby decides she is moving on to a new activity in a new location (often half a house away). So... instead we got some flashy pictures this evening. I am not a fan of the flash. I would much prefer to get some natural light pictures.














That is just one of the many things I am finding trickier to do with two children. Showering is another. I am going to need a baby gate so I can trap Abby upstairs and put Olivia in her crib so that I can shower without having to wait for Steve to come home for lunch, since some days we need to be somewhere in the morning. Another thing that gets tricky is breakfast for Abby, since Olivia is normally wanting her breakfast right about the same time. Either way someone is going to end up crying. But I'm sure in the next few weeks we will get all these little things figured out and get back into a routine and rhythm that works for us.

Broken Blogger

We can't actually open our blog, so I have to resort to sending my posts in via email.  No fun!  We've been enjoying a lazy day around here (if you count cleaning as part of lazy) and are looking forward to having a little company stop by this evening for dinner and some adult conversation.  Abby and I went on a little trip to WalMart this afternoon while Steve and Olivia hung out at the house.  It was nice to get out again and Abby enjoyed her special Mommy time.  We are counting down the days until we can get back out and spend time with friends.  Abby asks almost every day if her friends are coming over today.  I'd love to tell her yes, but unfortunately it is going to be a while longer.

Happy Birthday Aunt Hannah and Happy Anniversary Great Grandma & Grandpa Hodges!  We hope you are all having wonderful Saturdays :-)

Great Grandma's Afghan

We have been having fun with the camera and Great Grandma Jennie's afghan. 

2 Weeks Old

Or negative 3 weeks... depending how you look at it.

Olivia went in for a check up today to make sure she was gaining weight. She's gained 11 ounces since Friday - I'd say that's pretty good progress for a little lady. So she was up to 7 pounds 11 ounces again and was 19 1/2 inches long (although the length measurements always seem a bit shady to me).

Abby's been having a great time with Grandma Mary - they spent a lot of time outside blowing bubbles and exploring the backyard. She is sure enjoying her grandma time! I am trying to enjoy it too, but today a nap was definitely not in the cards for me. First the mailman rang the doorbell. Then once I got back into bed the phone rang. After that Olivia wanted fed. Then she was gassy and squeaking, so I needed to hold her upright against my shoulder. By the time I got her comfortable and ready to nap Abby was up from her 2 hour nap. So... I think early to bed is in my plans. Especially after Abby woke us up at 4 a.m. and Olivia joined her awake party at 5:30 a.m. It has been a very long day...

The Boats are Back

Another day almost in the books and I am still pretty much sane. I even slipped out for about 30 minutes to pick up some groceries all by myself. It was nice to be out of the house for a few minutes and really nice to grocery shop without having a little person throwing things into (and out of) the cart. And I was even able to sleep until 9 this morning and take a nap with Abby. I am going to be sad to see the era of grandparent help end and lose out on the ability to focus on one child at a time when necessary. But, it will also be nice to get into a routine and figure out how we are going to survive being a family of 4.

I weighed Olivia with the Nintendo again today and it said she weighed 8.2 pounds. I will be pretty surprised if she really does weigh more than 8 pounds when we take her in to be weighed tomorrow morning - that would be gaining over a pound since last Friday. But if we base weight gain on dirty diaper creation, then she may have actually gained more than a pound. We've been going through diapers at an amazing rate.

Abby has been enjoying some grandma time to the maximum. Today Abby and Grandma Mary took a walk down to the Soo Locks since we could hear freighters going through starting yesterday. They didn't get to see any boats, but I think they still had fun being outside. Abby loves being outdoors now that the weather is getting nicer (it was 53 degrees today). I have a feeling this summer will be a lot of time in the back yard for us - not that I have any complaints about that.

Candy Eggs

Here's a sneak peak of our birth announcement - we had a lot of fun with candy eggs and had more fun eating them when we were finished. Abby and Olivia tried to sneak a bite too.

We've had another good day today and have been enjoying and appreciating some Grammy time with Grandma Mary visiting. Abby loves having Grammy around and I appreciate having some extra help with two little girls now that Steve is back to work. We even got our playroom floor mopped and swept. It is so nice having extra hands around, especially hands that Abby loves to be with.

Olivia is picking up weight (according to the Nintendo Wii) and she is starting to sleep a little better. I still end up having to let her hold onto my finger a few times during the night, but considering the fact that she sleeps for about 3 hours at a stretch right now I don't mind a few extra minutes of hand holding to get her to sleep soundly.

"Give Abby Baby Sister"

I think we have a pretty good thing going with these two so far... that is until they team up on us.

At Home - Day Two

We have survived 48 hours alone (just Steve and I) at home with our two girls and so far I am shocked by how well it has gone. We really haven't had any huge fits or meltdowns from Abby and Olivia hasn't really been inconsolable either. I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop - I hope it is days or weeks down the road, but I'm sure we can't be that lucky with a preemie and an almost 2 year old.

We had a much better night's sleep last night with only about 30 minutes of awake but not feeding time. I have the bassinet arranged so that I can stick my hand into it from bed comfortably, so when Olivia just needs to feel and smell mommy I can let her hold onto a finger or rub her head. I had to lay her next to me for a little while too, but she only needed about 5 minutes of that before she was relaxed enough to get back into her own bed. We are definitely not a co-sleeping family - Steve sleeps too soundly and I sleep to lightly, so between the two of us one is worried about rolling onto a baby and the other doesn't get any sleep with a small person next to them. And the doctor's all said Miss Olivia needs to sleep in her own bed and on her back (just like any other baby) to help prevent apnea and SIDS. We are more than happy to comply.

Abby is still doing great in her role as big sister. She has been very good at following the rules for touching her little sister (no touching her face, no picking her up, etc.) and was very careful to keep Maize away from Olivia while she was in her bouncy seat. Abby also enjoyed a solid hour of time outside with her daddy today. The weather was cold (only 36 degrees) but beautifully sunny, so they went on an adventure around the block and played with Maize in the back yard. And she's been reading books to her daddy and baby sister this afternoon too. She is getting pretty good at having a lot of them memorized. She has also managed to absolutely destroy the playroom since we arrived home. You would never know that someone had it all picked up for us. We may have to have a little cleaning party tonight before bed and make her pick up some of her things. I think she pulled them all out just to make sure they were still here.

Since we've been home things have been pretty quiet, but Steve's office did put together a beautiful diaper cake full of cute things for Olivia (some of which Abby decided she would borrow in the meantime - like some beaded necklaces and bunny rings). As we started to pull it apart (after we took pictures of course), we found surprises hidden inside too. It's nice that Steve has such thoughtful and sweet co-workers. We also had a surprise special delivery for Abby and Olivia last night from Steve's office mate Dave and his family. The girls got two matching outfits, a Beauty and the Beast Barbie doll for Abby (she apparently made them play pretend Beauty and the Beast when they watched her while we were in the hospital the first night) and an Ohio State hat for Olivia. I'm not sure we will let a hat like that onto our beautiful daughter's head, but it was a wonderful surprise and the little outfits are adorable (many pictures to come!).

Our Own Beds :-)

We just got back from Olivia's first appointment with our family physician. She is a little skinnier than when she left the hospital, but otherwise is doing great. I'm not even sure how much skinnier she is, since she apparently also shrunk an entire inch (and for a c-section baby that seems odd to me). So, we go back next Wednesday for another weight check and from there we will have a more consistent idea of how she is growing. She is eating every couple hours round the clock, so I'm sure she is getting some nutrition.

We arrived home yesterday around dinner time after our whirlwind adventure around the state. It was so nice to sleep in our own beds last night. Amazingly enough, we only had two kids crying in the car at the same time for the last 3 blocks of our trip. Better yet, they both slept the first 45 minutes and most of the last 45 minutes too (besides that little sob fest at the end). And Maize was really excited to see us - so excited, in fact, that Abby has a little cut under her eye from getting a dog "hug". As happy as Abby was to have her dog back, she was more happy to have her own toys again. She especially enjoyed introducing her new Cinderella doll to the princess castle. And we had a Sleeping Beauty doll waiting to give her when we got home too, so she has been playing non-stop with her princesses and the castle.
















Olivia is on night two of wanting to be held from 3:30 am to about 6:00 am. It makes sleeping a whole lot more difficult when you only get to sleep until 3:30. Poor Steve didn't know what he was in for when we got into bed last night. He'd been staying in a separate room at mom and dad's house with Abby, so last night was his first experience of sleeping and waking on Olivia's schedule. Luckily Abby didn't seemed phased by the crying and other baby related noises.
















I am finally staple free and feeling much better now that I don't have little metal spikes in my belly. Now just a couple more weeks of taking it easy and I should be back to normal. Luckily I have a super helpful husband, a wonderful family, and great friends. We were pleasantly surprised to come home yesterday to a re-stocked refrigerator and a counter top with food and snacks. We have some pretty wonderful friends up here in Sault Ste. Marie and we are so thankful for that. They make being farther away from family a whole lot easier.
















Olivia and I are going to be on a little house arrest until she reaches her original due date to try and give her a chance to build up her immune system (April 14th), so we are going to have to find some ways to keep the cabin fever at bay. I'm open to all suggestions...

Heading Home

Our family of four will be making the trek back to Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow to take Olivia to her home. We had considered staying down state longer, but we needed to get Olivia in to see her own doctor within 48 hours of her discharge from DeVos. Obviously, we aren't quite getting her there within 48 hours, mostly because our doctor was booked solid until Friday afternoon. So back into the car we go...

I forgot how long the night is with a newborn. I've been pretty spoiled the last week getting to rest without having to wake up and feed a little person. Last night was a learning experience for both Olivia and I. We had to figure out how she likes to be swaddled (apparently her arms are never to be confined), what her feeding schedule is (she likes to eat and then "snack" again about 20 minutes later - this is a habit we are going to break), and what sounds are just her normal squeaking and which ones are because she needs something. I hope tonight we can do a little better on getting her needs met without keeping me up all night. I'm sure Steve was enjoying the fact that he and Abby were sleeping in another room.

Abby has been loving her little sister and really enjoying picking out her outfits and helping with diaper changes. She seems to be on track for being an awesome big sister. She has also been saying some really funny stuff in the last 48 hours. I'm noticing it more and more now that we are spending time with her and not with the NICU staff. We have a pirate book at home, so the other day when she was up visiting at the hospital she just randomly said to me "prepare to meet your doom" - there were quite a few people in the room that day trying not to break out laughing.

Welcome Home Olivia

We have Olivia at home - not our home, but still out of the hospital. We passed all the checks, talked to her neonatologist, and escaped from DeVos Children's Hospital around 12:30 today. It felt wonderful. Now we just have one trek left and we will have Olivia at her own home, in her own bed.

Abby was very excited to have her baby sister at Grandma's house too - she climbed right up onto my lap to see her and helped pick out an outfit for Olivia to change into. I think she is pretty excited about her new role as big sister so far and I hope she keeps up that good attitude in our next few weeks and months learning how to be a family of four.

Abby and Olivia

Monday Update

Olivia was removed from the i.v. last night and is doing great. She also had the feeding tube removed and is taking all her feedings either from a bottle or nursing if I am around. She nursed 4 times today and got progressively better and better at it as the day went on. She is totally ready to come home as long as her biliruben levels (that measure jaundice) have come down again today. She even got to put clothes on for the first time ever today. We let Abby pick out her first outfit when we went in today. Abby has decided that her little sister is alright. Steve asked Abby today what he should call Olivia, since he likes to shorten people's names. Abby looked right at him and said, rather forcefully, "O-iva Joy" (she can't quite figure out the L in Olivia). We cracked up. She gave her sister lots of pats and hugs. And she also did some great cuddling with her little sister.

Abby has been doing some really funny things in the last few days. She is really becoming her own little person during this transition. Today she went to the mother's lounge with me to help me pump some bottles for Olivia to drink during the night. First she started reading me a book that we have at home and she was finishing the sentences when I stopped reading. The lady in the area next to me was cracking up at Abby's very forceful reading of "Olivia" - her very favorite book. Then Abby decided to go on an adventure and surprised another mom who was pumping. I think Abby was pretty freaked out, but luckily the other mother found it funny. After Abby left the hospital, Grandma Mary took her and Aunt Emily to Dairy Queen. They ordered Abby a baby cone and Emily a blizzard. Abby told Emily she didn't want a baby cone and gave it to Emily to hold. Then she told Emily she would hold the blizzard (and eat it too). And she also told Emily to watch "belle girl" because Emily would like it and it was her favorite. I'm amazed at how much personality she's developed even over one week.

I'm also amazed by how marvelous God is when we allow him to direct our paths and trust him with the outcome. A few months ago I was reading Exodus and ran across a verse I'm sure I'd read many times before but never noticed. It was Exodus 14:14 - The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still. Now... anyone who knows me knows I am anything but still. In fact, it would probably be the last thing most people would say about me. But in the last few months I've found many things and situations in my life that have required me to just be still and trust God to do what he wants done in the situation. Little did I know all those little situations were just practice for having to be still and trust God to bring Olivia through her trials. It was not easy laying in a hospital bed trying to recover myself while my new little girl struggled to breathe. It was even harder to follow her as she rode in an ambulance from Petoskey to Grand Rapids. But somehow God allowed me to remember that verse in Exodus and to be still and wait for the work He was going to do in our family. And today we have a totally normal, healthy baby who is feeding on her own and ready to be discharged from the NICU. I've been asked many times in the last few days how I can stay so calm and collected in the face of everything we've been dealing with. As much as I'd like to say I am just that together, it's been nothing but faith that God knows just what he is doing. And I'd say He's done a pretty amazing job.

We Haven't Forgotten Abby

Here are some of Abby's latest funniness. A few nights ago she saw
Great Grandma Jennie and went right up to her to ask for candy. She
also told Grandma Mary to go put on a hat after Hannah fixed her hair.
She has forced her aunts to watch Beauty and the Beast probably twelve
times and veggie tales just as often. Most of all, she is having fun
with Dora the puppy.

Family Photos and Yesterday's Recap

I had every intention of posting an update of how Olivia's day went yesterday, but my mom and dad have satellite internet, so it was spotty service at best and I just couldn't get things to work. So instead Steve and I focused our attention on Abby and getting the swelling to go down in my feet and legs.

Olivia made amazing progress yesterday. When Steve left her at 10 p.m. on Friday night she was still on the ventilator and was on a very low oxygen level. They took her off the ventilator around 11 or 12 that night and put her back onto the CPAP. Olivia is not a fan of CPAP - I think she must have pulled the mask off at least 5 times in the couple hours I was able to sit with her (since a lot of my time right now is taken up with pumping breast milk for her. And she is finally able to have that milk through a feeding tube, so it is wonderful to know that her little body is learning to digest food. Hopefully that means she will be off the iv soon.

By about 4 p.m. yesterday the nurses decided that they were tired of putting the CPAP back onto Olivia since she was pulling it off about once every 20 minutes. So they removed it and left her on just room air breathing all on her own. She did fantastic. So well, in fact, that I didn't even notice that she wasn't on the machine when I came back. I just looked at the stats on the screen, saw they were good, noticed that her arms and legs weren't failing so I knew she was sleeping, and sat down to put my feet up.

We left Olivia around 5, since Abby was in serious need of mom and dad time, but she was still doing great when Steve called to check in around 10. We are about to head up for the morning, so we are hoping more great progress was made overnight.

Breathing Room

Olivia is breathing on her own!!! She has been off the CPAP for
almost two hours. She is on triple photo therapy for jaundice but the
nurse is hopeful that it will create some improvements.

Good Morning

Olivia got off to a great start today. Sometime between 11 and
midnight they were able to move her off the ventilator and back onto
CPAP. She is on room air, which is a huge improvement. And our fiesty
little girl has pulled the CPAP off more than a few times today.

We will give a better update later when we get back to a real cmputer.

Olivia's Newest Photo

Olivia is continuing to make improvements tonight and is requiring less oxygen than this morning. We are now expecting her to be at DeVos for between one and two weeks, but the neonatologist believes that she will have no lasting effects from her early start. Steve has been with her all afternoon and I have been resting and trying to recouperate from the surgery and long car ride last night (along with the severe sleep deprivation). Abby also needed some serious mommy time and has still been having some mini-meltdowns throughout the day.

I'm hoping to spend all day tomorrow at the hospital with Olivia and Steve, or at least as much of it as my body will allow. We've borrowed a iTouch from one of my wonderful little sisters, so we should be able to update you all throughout the day as we get more information.

DeVos Children's Hospital

Olivia, Steve, and I arrived at DeVos Children's Hospital pretty early this morning. I was very fortunate to be able to be discharged less than 40 hours after my c-section. We are even more fortunate to have an amazing group of friends in Sault Ste. Marie who made sure we had just what we needed to make the trip from Petoskey to Grand Rapids (Thanks Deb, Tara, Trevor, Craig, Samantha, and Chad for everything!). So at 10:30 last night Steve and I left Petoskey following Olivia in the ambulance full of the team from DeVos. On the way to pick Olivia up, the ambulance hit a deer, so they got started a little later than anticipated, but they made the trip back in good time, with no problems and Olivia responded really well to the initial treatments.

God has been faithfully providing just what we needed and making sure that we are in the right places at the right times. We were able to be transferred from Sault Ste. Marie to Petoskey while I was in labor without a problem. The surgeons in Petoskey were able to get us in almost immediately for our c-section (my apologies to the moms who got bumped on the schedule so we could be treated first). Then we were able to have a quick transfer to Grand Rapids and Olivia was able to see doctors who work with preemies everyday. When we arrived at DeVos at 2 a.m. the nursing staff had arranged for a room for Steve and I at the Renucci Hospitality House, which is connected to the hospital building. Having a bed and shower right in the same building as the NICU was such a blessing after being awake all day and driving long and late into the night. And being in Grand Rapids we are able to see Abby and stay with family while Olivia gets well.

This morning we were finally able to hold Olivia and she was instantly a happy baby. The nurse was able to turn her oxygen level down from 40% to 37% almost immediately after she started snuggling with her mom. When I left at noon she was down to 34% oxygen on the ventilator and the nurse was hopeful that she would be off the ventilator and back onto the CPAP sometime tomorrow. After the CPAP Olivia may be able to breathe totally unassisted and start eating and possibly even nursing. Abby was able to come to the NICU this morning to meet her baby sister. She did amazingly well and spent about 20 minutes visiting with Daddy and checking out her Baby Sister. She got scared about the "Big Sister" sticker they wanted to put on her shirt and the visitor bracelet they wanted her to wear.

Steve is spending the afternoon loving on Olivia, while I am back at Mom and Dad Hodges' house resting and giving Abby some quality time. The trip down last night really made me sore and probably wasn't the greatest thing for someone so soon after surgery, but I wouldn't have stayed in Petoskey while my littlest princess was in Grand Rapids. I wish I could spend every minute up at DeVos with her, but I know that she'll do best with a rested mommy.

Transfer Orders

Olivia has received some transfer orders and we are about to head out to DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. The doctors are fairly certain that she has persistent pulmonary hypertension, which is a short term problem that can be treated, just not here in Petoskey. So... she is going to start the treatment as soon as the specialists from Grand Rapids arrive to pick her up and Steve and I will follow in the car. We've been very fortunate to have a wonderful hospital staff at Northern Michigan helping us with all the questions and details of making the best decisions for Olivia and our family. And we are very thankful that they agreed to release me way ahead of schedule so that I can be with our little princess in Grand Rapids and our big princess (or "Belle Girl" as she would prefer to be called) in Hastings while we wait for Olivia to get past this little hurdle and head home.

Welcome Olivia Joy!

Well... our youngest child is apparently a very determined young lady (among other things). For some reason, we will probably never know exactly why, she decided on Tuesday afternoon that she wanted to get out of my belly. We worked pretty hard to keep her there - I was a great pincushion for quite a few hours trying to get contractions to stop - but it seemed like for every shot they gave me to slow labor down she got feistier and more determined to get out. Her punching and kicking and bucking was so extreme at times that they couldn't tell if or when I was having contractions.

Olivia was supposed to be born in Sault Ste. Marie so she could be a Yooper, but she apparently wanted to be a "Troll" like the rest of her family, so she decided to make her entrance early enough that our local hospital needed to send us somewhere that had a NICU available, just in case she needed it. I'm glad they did send us or she would have been sent after birth to Marquette and I would have been stuck in Sault Ste. Marie recovering without the ability to see her and most likely without having Steve around. As it is, she started out on the CPAP machine - all the hoses over her nose in the pictures - and with iv antibiotics and lots of monitors. This morning they switched her from the CPAP to an oxygen hood, which is a good step. Once her breathing stabilizes we will be starting feedings and if those go well and her tests keep coming back good we could be going home in the next few days. We are kind of anticipating being here 5 to 7 days, but with preemies, even big ones, you never know. They were able to take out her feeding tube this afternoon and Olivia and I had some quality one on one time, even though we cannot hold her yet. She was very alert and, like her big sister, was loving having her little feet and legs rubbed.
So here are the official stats, for the interested:
Olivia Joy Obreiter, 7 pounds 11 ounces, 19 inches long, born 3-10-2010 at 7:40 a.m. at Northern Michigan Hospital, Petosky, MI.

Big Sister Abby is spending a few days with Grammy Mary and is LOVING it and playing with the puppies. She hasn't seen Olivia yet, although she did stop by the hospital last night and visited Mommy before she left for Grammy's house. We didn't want Abby's first impression of her little sister to be one with tubes and hoses and scary noises involved. Hopefully they will be meeting very soon.

More Melting

It was 55 degrees outside today - not really what you'd expect for a Sault Ste. Marie early-March afternoon. We love it! Not that we got to spend any time outside today. We were too busy with playgroup and Time Out For Moms. One went great, the other not as planned, but Abby had fun at both.

We had lots and lots of kids at playgroup this morning and Abby had a great time creating a gorilla and playing with play-doh. Then we went to Time Out For Moms, a thing our church does for moms. Somehow everyone else, except for one mom who is pretty new to the church, decided not to show up. I'm glad we went and had lunch with Jane, but I felt pretty bad that it was just the two of us. I hope she doesn't give up on other church related functions because of today's turnout. On the bright side, I invited all the moms from our playgroup to join us for Time Out For Moms and about 8 of them did. So Abby still had lots of little friends to play with at the lunch date.

Abby took her daddy for a "run" around the block yesterday. Abby's new thing is half-running and then telling Steve or I to run too. He thought it was so funny, since she hadn't done that trick for him yet. They had a great time playing while I was out for a meeting. And Abby even went to bed on her own, in her own bed, without Steve or I sitting with her until she was asleep. She still woke me up at 3 a.m. to turn her music back on, but I figure it was a decent trade off for not having to fight to get her to sleep.

Muddy Buddies

Abby and Maize took advantage of some 49 degree weather after having lunch and took their first outside adventure of the year. Abby was more interested in being outdoors than Maize. She helped me sweep off the porch and we checked all around the backyard to see what was growing now that we've had almost a week straight of 40 degree days. I know it's way to early to expect Spring in the Upper Peninsula - I'm sure we will get some more snow and cold weather - but it was nice to enjoy some springy weather today. It's just a shame she wouldn't turn around and give me a smile for a picture. And her pants are pretty muddy, especially the bottom since the yard was kind of tricky to walk in.

Abby, Steve, and I spent the evening yesterday with our friends the Dodge family, including Abby's great friend Maddie. They had so much fun dancing and hugging. They are pretty adorable together. Steve also got his first - and probably last - dose of the Academy Awards. Neither of us are really movie people, so we really didn't care who won what or who wore which dress, but we did have fun with friends and Abby got to spend time with one of her two best buddies, so we always jump at the chance for that to happen.

Today Abby is using her imagination and is pretending to be Grandma Mary's puppy "Bark-ski". The real puppy - who's name is Barski - moved to a new home, but I'm sure Grandma Mary would rather have this new version of her puppy visit. We even had to get a dog leash out so that Bark-ski could go on a walk around our house. And she's crawling everywhere around the house instead of walking, since dogs can't walk. What a girl...

Making Progress

Abby and Steve helped me finish moving furniture and putting away baby clothes and things today, so we should be all ready to bring Baby Sister home when she arrives. We even set out the baby diapers and wipes. Abby enjoys helping, kind of... she really enjoys trying to test out Baby Sister's things. She tried to put on some size 3 to 6 month pants the other day. I'm sure you can imagine how well that worked. And based on the sinus pressure and congestion I'm getting (again) I'm hoping Abby will be helping with Baby Sister sooner rather than later so that I can take some real medication and get over this bug faster.

Abby has really gotten into playing with her little people and doll house in the last week. She sets them all up, makes them dance, eat, and do other things that little people like doing. It's fun to watch her imagination working. The only downside is that she often wants Steve or I to "play too" but she doesn't want us to do any more than sit on the floor next to her. For Steve that is one thing, but for me sitting on the floor right now causes my legs to fall asleep within about 2 minutes. And then there is always the challenge of getting back up off the floor. But Abby is too cute to not play with her, so we do it anyway.

Playland Progress

Abby can finally navigate the playland at Burger King all by herself. I only had to climb into the play structure one time to show her where to put her feet. She spent about 90 minutes running around in there this morning with her friend A.J.

Now I hope she takes a long, long nap so I can squeeze a good nap in too.

Only 34 more days until the big c-section :-)

Our Girl - 34 Weeks

Only 35 days until C-Section day! Hooray!!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-34-weeks_1123.bc)

Abby and I are having one of those crazy, forgetful kind of days. Luckily I've remembered to take Abby and bring her back on all the errands we had to run. Now is just our regularly scheduled Wednesday clean up before our bible study meets here tonight. I need to get some serious mopping done on this floor, but I have a feeling that is going to have to wait until a day when Steve is around to help out with that.

Abby's feeling pretty good today. I'm pretty sure she woke up about 1 hour before she decided to grace me with her presence this morning. I finally went upstairs to see why she wasn't up yet and she was in her room playing with her doll house. Apparently she isn't a big breakfast eater... must be she gets that from her dad.

Kitten Hat Pattern

Just for the record, and for those of you brave enough to try knitting (this pattern is really pretty easy), here is the kitten hat pattern:

Size 3 months - size 4 knitting needles
Size 6 months - size 5 knitting needles
Size 9 months - size 6 knitting needles
Toddler size - I used a size 8 needle

4 ply Miss Canada Superior Fingering yarn recommended (I didn't use it for either hat)

Cast on 65 stitches. Knit 9 rows in garter stitch (knit each row).
Row 10: Knit 2, increase 1 stitch in the next stitch, repeat until until last five stitches. Knit last five stitches. (85 stitches total on needle)
Row 11: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 12: Knit
Row 13: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 14: Knit
Row 15: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 16: Knit
Row 17: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 18: Knit
Row 19: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 20: Knit
Row 21: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 22: Knit 29, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 22, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 30
Row 23 and alternate (odd) rows: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 24: Knit 30, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 24, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 31
Row 26: Knit 31, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 26, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 32 (the increase should be directly above the previous increase for this and all even rows)
Row 28: Knit 32, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 28, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 33
Row 30: Knit 33, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 30, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 34
Row 32: Knit 34, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 32, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 35
Row 34: Knit 35, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 34, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 36
Row 36: Knit 36, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 36, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 37
Row 38: Knit 37, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 38, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 38
Row 40: Knit 38, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 40, increase 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, knit 39
Row 42: Cast off 52 stitches. Knit to end of row.
Row 43: Cast off 52 stitches purlways. Purl to last stitch, knit 1.
Row 44: Knit
Row 45 (and all odd rows): Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1
Row 46: Knit
Row 48: Knit
Row 50: Knit 1, decrease 1 stitch, knit to two stitches, decrease 1 stitch, knit 1 (decrease two total stitches on on each end)
Row 52: Knit
Row 54: Knit
Row 56: Knit 1, decrease 1 stitch, knit to two stitches, decrease 1 stitch, knit 1 (decrease two total stitches on on each end)
Row 58: Knit
Row 60: Knit
Row 62: Knit 1, decrease 1 stitch, knit to two stitches, decrease 1 stitch, knit 1 (decrease two total stitches on on each end)
Row 64: Knit
Row 66: Knit
Row 68: Knit 1, decrease 1 stitch, knit to two stitches, decrease 1 stitch, knit 1 (decrease two total stitches on on each end)
Row 70: Knit
Row 72: Knit
Row 74: Knit 1, decrease 1 stitch, knit to two stitches, decrease 1 stitch, knit 1 (decrease two total stitches on on each end)
Row 76: Knit
Row 78: Knit
Row 79: Knit 1, purl to last stitch, knit 1. Break wool, leaving stitches on needle.
Row 80: With right side facing, join wool at edge of bonnet. Pick up and knit 21 stitches along this edge, knit in 11 stitches left on needle, pick up and knit 22 additional stitches along other edge (54 stitches total).
Row 81: Knit
Row 82: Knit 2 together, knit. Repeat until end of row.
Row 83: Knit. Cast off.

Sew up two seams in the back with yard needle. Either make a cord (double yarn crocheted) at each eyelet at front of bonnet or crochet chin strap.

The Great Melt

I've been racking my brains trying to figure out what to get Abby for her birthday. We didn't want to spend a whole lot on birthday presents, since a new swing set and play place is in the plans for this summer. Boy this girl is hard to shop for - she has everything a kid could want or need. Last night I took some well deserved personal time to go out and do some birthday browsing. I was met at the door by Abby, who could have cared less about what was in the bags and was only worried about the fact that I had princess wrapping paper with me.

Abby is acting like she feels better today, but her nose is still pretty runny and stuffed up. She's a tough little lady. In fact, I don't think she would have taken a nap today if I hadn't physically placed her into her bed and then laid down in "mommy's princess" bed (also known as the second twin bed in Abby's room).

Baby Sister is still trying to escape and Abby is still plotting and planning with her at every chance. I hope that Abby still thinks her little sister is cool when she is outside of my belly. Last night Abby randomly put her hand on my belly and got a nice, swift kick from her little sister. Unlike the last few times, when she was majorly freaked out, Abby thought that was pretty darn funny. So today she's been pushing on my belly hoping to get kicked again.

On a weather note, we are supposed to be above freezing for the next 7 days (at least) and we are having some major melting going on. I can almost see the whole deck again (and all the "presents" Maize left on it this winter) and the yard is getting some pretty thin spots where the grass will be showing soon. Now it's time to start planning where we are going to place gardens and swing sets and all of those fun things we couldn't do since we moved a little too late in the season last year. I'm even thinking a fire ring would be a nice addition... but then again maybe too dangerous for Abby.

Productivity

My helper is sick, but she's still being pretty well behaved today. That is... if you don't count whining toward misbehavior. She's got a pretty stuffed up nose and I'm sure her sinuses and head feel pretty full too. She was even willing to stand under the shower for a good 10 minutes all by herself and totally ignored the toys in the tub with her.

Abby was really excited to have her daddy home yesterday afternoon. She wasn't sure what to think at first, mostly because Maize was really excited and all the barking scared Abby a little. But I'm pretty sure she was very glad to have her favorite playmate home. In fact, for most of the rest of the afternoon I got the cold shoulder in favor of playing with Daddy. Not that I minded a little downtime from being the entertainment for Abby.
Abby and I finished a flannel blanket for Baby Sister this morning. It is now a great source of confusion for Abby, since we made an almost identical (albeit smaller) version of this blanket for Abby's dolls with the extra material. I think she figured out that it wasn't a doll blanket when she tried to wrap the doll in the whole yard of fabric, which was a little too much for her hands and arms to manipulate around her dolls. We still have fabric for one more girly blanket and made this blanket initially for Uncle Nate and Aunt Courtnie's baby boy, but we decided to make him a more manly version, so Baby Sister is keeping this one too (which is a great match for her car seat). We have lots of other crafty projects to keep Abby and I busy while we wait for Baby Sister.