Easter Egg Hunting

We took advantage of the nice weather this morning (it is now raining and supposed to rain tomorrow a bit too) and let Abby have her own Easter egg hunt, since we will be missing the Easter egg extravaganza at Great Grandma Jennie and Grandpa Steve's house tomorrow. Our small group had brought by an "Easter" basket for us as a gift and it had lots of great things like diapers, wipes, candy, bedtime body rub, and filled Easter eggs. So we took those filled eggs, filled a few more that I picked up at the store, and sent Abby out into the backyard to hunt eggs. She found one, opened it, realized it was full of candy, and decided she was all set. It took some major coaching to get her to pick up another egg, but after about the 3rd or 4th one that she found and opened she realized that there was lots of eggs and lots of candy available. It was pretty funny. So was her egg hunting outfit. I love how she refused to wear her "fuzzy boots" all winter when they would have kept her feet warm and has recently decided they are the best shoes ever. It makes life interesting around here... we never know what is going to tickle her fancy.

Olivia decided to pass on the egg hunting fun and took a nap instead. We picked up some gas relief drops for her (she was and is a gas passing champ) and we have all been sleeping much better in the hours that we are sleeping. It has really solved her grunting/moaning/groaning all night long problem. So it must be working at making her feel more comfortable, although it isn't really preventing the gas passing. So while we are sleeping better, we are for some reason also getting up much more frequently. I think she must be about to grow a ton since I was up about every hour and a half to hour and forty-five minutes last night. I was really hoping for the every three hour schedule, but it was not happening. I'm hoping we aren't in for many more nights like that. She has been back on the two to three hour schedule during the day today, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Since we've got the gas problem about under control, Olivia decided it would also be a good day to have a plugged tear duct. So her eye looks crusty and yucky, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her and she doesn't have any signs or symptoms of sickness. We are keeping a close eye on it, but other than needing some extra washing it seems to be manageable.

Steve and I are starting to find a routine for dealing with a newborn and a precious little lady who is hitting the terrible twos with all her might. Our only problem this weekend is exhaustion coupled with an ill dog (digestive issues... worse than having to clean the biggest diaper blowout). So we are pretty tired... to the point where I remembered to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer and then walked up the stairs without starting the dryer. Whoops. I did manage to get a nap for a whole hour, so that should help. I think another nap is in the plans for tomorrow - the weekends and having Steve home are so much nicer.

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 :-)

Daylight Savings Time = BAD!

We are not enjoying daylight savings time. I have been getting less and less sleep lately from the pregnancy. So when Saturday night rolled around we tried to keep Abby up an extra hour hoping that would help her make the "fall back" switch. Wrong... Instead I was up an extra hour and still up at her normal time (8 a.m, which was now 7 a.m., on a Sunday morning when I don't need to be up until 9 a.m.). We are still fighting the fight. She was super sleepy and ready for bed at 8 last night, rather than her normal 9 or 10 p.m. bedtime and she woke me up at 4 a.m. this morning.

I really need a nice long nap, and this string of icky weather we've been having has been just what I need to help with napping. Now I just need to get rid of the rest of the things I need to complete, so that I can actually take advantage of the nice napping weather.

Abby has been singing to us lately. She is really funny. Today she was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It went about like this... Twinkle star wonder are. She is pretty much adorable. She also loves to sing Jesus Loves Me to me, mostly in the car. She insists that the radio be off before she sings. And, if she doesn't like the song on the radio, she sticks her fingers into her ears and yells out "change, change" until I switch songs. It is hilarious!

Insomnia Again

I thought the insomnia was supposed to be a late pregnancy problem - at least that's how it went with Abby. Boo! I am super tired and have to stay awake with Little Miss Sunshine, who is all energy. Maybe it was that sprinkle donut I let her have for breakfast.

Terrible Tuesday

We are having one of those days today - the terrible kind. The kind where you didn't get enough sleep the night before and the day starts way too early. Also the kind where your dog wakes you up from your nap right after you get to sleep. And the grouchy kind - we are all grouchy. And the cabin fever kind, with the weather too cold to leave the house and no car to leave anyway. And finally the kind where you don't feel good, but you still have to do everything you normally do because there is no one else around to do it.

This afternoon has to be better because it can't get worse!

And so that I don't have more of these terrible days, just a friendly reminder about the rules for calling our house.

1. Please try to avoid calling during nap times. They are always the same time of the day, every day, like clockwork. 10 am to noon and 2 pm to 4 pm are Abby's naps. Unless it absolutely can't wait, I'd appreciate your assistance in keeping her asleep by keeping our phones quiet.

2. After 9 pm we are all trying to get ready for bed and to get Abby to sleep. Unless the world is going to end if you don't call us right then, we would all appreciate our quiet, uninterrupted time for our nightly routine and Abby's bible story. One phone call when she is just about asleep adds 30 + minutes to our routine while we get her calmed back down and asleep again.

Now we know all of you, our family and friends, have watches and clocks and such, so if you want to avoid reading grouchy posts in the future, check them before you call!

We are going to make attempt 2 at getting the Buick back into our driveway. There was too much ice on the windshield for Steve to drive it last night, and, since it will be running straight off the battery and not recharging it, we won't be able to run the defrost on the drive home, so getting the ice off has to be done before the car is started. We will see if we can get it done tonight, otherwise we may be having it towed again. Then is the big process of trying to decide what to do with the poor old girl. If anyone wants a project and wants to tow the car away from here, let us know!

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I think the above statement would accurately describe our weekend so far. We have been running, running, and running some more. First we were out late Friday night at bible study, and Steve was home late from Lansing. Then we had a cookie baking party Saturday afternoon, Steve went to the Lake Superior State U. hockey game Saturday night, and Abby and I spent the evening with a friend. We are all wiped out from that big day!

I don't know if any of you have the same problems at your Wal-Mart, so if this doesn't sound like your average trip be glad. We have an abundance of Canadians who cross the International Bridge to shop at our Wal-Mart (even though there is one on their side of the bridge as well) and so no matter the time or day, our Wal-Mart always seems to be unusually busy. Today was no exception. I think I waited in aisle gridlock for at least 5 minutes in the dairy/soup aisle. I cannot wait until the Super Wal-Mart opens - at least then there will be more space for all these people to fit into...

Abby is still working on perfecting her crawling skills. She was getting around the McDonald's house pretty well last night before she fell asleep. She still hasn't figured out how to get the knees and hands moving together so that she doesn't end up in a faceplant, but I bet it won't take her too long to figure that part out. She's already figured a lot of new things out in the last couple days. And she only has one scrape so far, so we should still be having a photogenic Christmas.

And now for the weather update... it is the first day in about 3 weeks above freezing, but we are getting a snow/sleet/freezing rain mix, so I think I'd rather have the fridgid temperatures and snow that that yucky stuff. There was at least 2 inches of slush in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We've got about a foot of snow in most of the yard (more where it has been shoveled and piled). So if you are dreaming of a white Christmas, I know where you can find one. I'll gladly trade if you can guarantee me 75 degrees and sunny...