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!).

Crying In The Car

We didn't even make it into the church building this morning before Abby was crying and pleading with me to let her stay with me in service rather than go to the nursery. Ugh... Luckily, I got her distracted with food and was able to sneak out and join Steve in the church service. Unfortunately, he had decided to sit in the exact middle of the auditorium, which meant I was about 20 seats in from the aisle. Not a good plan for a pregnant woman to be so far from the aisle (and the bathroom). And Baby Sister was not on her best behavior this morning either, so it was a LONG service, even though we were out earlier than normal.

Baby Sister made the flip last night from head up to head down. There was definitely a foot pushing down at the bottom of my belly last night when I was trying to sleep (you could feel it - it was kinda weird). She used the same foot on my lungs this morning during church. I am so looking forward to the point in time when she is too big to do these flips and such. And even more looking forward to having my body back.

Tonight Abby decided to try out a new movie - Snow White. I am so, so, so glad that we aren't spending another evening watching Beauty and the Beast. We definitely needed a new movie for a change. As much as Abby loves Beauty and the Beast, Steve and I are getting to the point where we know all of the words. I'm hoping she'll continue to add new movies to the rotation so that we don't have quite as much monotony around here. And we've been trying to really cut back on the amount of t.v. she is allowed to watch, so that has been helping with our Beauty and the Beast addiction as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't help with the state of the mess in our playroom. Less t.v. directly equates to more mess...

Swim Class - Week 2

Abby has been practicing putting her own shoes on all week. She is getting pretty good with most of her pairs. But, sometimes this new found skill creates extra headaches trying to get out the door - like yesterday when she switched shoes 4 times before we could finally leave.

Week two of swim class was about the same as week one, except with extra fun created by the addition of Daddy and AJ and family to the swimming crew. Abby had a great time - she even asked multiple times to go underwater. She is going to become quite a fish. She is really enjoying her time in the pool. It's just too bad that we have such a short summer season this far north.

I learned a valuable lesson about living this far north - the sticker for your license plate will not stick in sub-freezing weather. I finally had to bring the plate in off the car, let it warm up, and use glue to get the sticker to freeze. But at least this way I will not be pulled over for having expired plates.

Still no progress on the baby naming front. I believe we are back to square one at this point. We were fairly certain that we were going to use Elizabeth Claire, but with the loss of dear sweet Ella shortly after her birth, we wanted to use a name that would be distinctly different so it wouldn't seem like a constant reminder of the loss our family will be dealing with for days, and weeks, and years to come. Our broken hearts are praying without ceasing for Laura, Marty, and their families. I can imagine nothing more heartbreaking than the loss of a child, especially after the 21 months of enjoying our sweet Abigail.

Playland Predicament

Abby met her friend AJ for a lunch date at the other play land in town today (Burger King) and she was actually big enough to climb in and around all by herself. But we still had issues... big kids. Abby is terrified of coming near them. And so, when she gets all the way up into play land and one gets near her, big pregnant mom has to climb up too so that Abby can be rescued. The rules sign on the outside said, "If you see anything weird, tell a manager." I'm pretty sure big pregnant women climbing around in the play structure counts as something weird, right?

Readers Are Leaders

Abby is continuing her education by learning to "read" certain books with her dad. She can finish the pages for him in about 5 books that they read often. It is pretty adorable to hear him stop reading and listen to her pick right up where he left off and finish the page. Now we just need to get her to learn her ABC's (I know... bad parenting, since she is way smart enough to have known these for months).
















Abby and I took some paperwork over to the crisis pregnancy center today since I do all the bookwork for them in my job as treasurer of the board. While we were there one of the volunteers noted that I "looked like you are about to have that baby." Unfortunately... not. And today I definitely felt like I was about to have a broken back from carrying this heavy little girl around. I think we are going to set the "over/under" for her at 9 pounds and I'm pretty sure the smart bet is going to be way, way over.

Our Girl - 29 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-29-weeks_1118.bc)

Baby Sister is still really active - I thought I might get ripped in half last night with all the activities she was preforming. I hope this isn't a sign that she will have major day/night mix ups when she is born.

Very Messy Lunch Date

Abby played a mean trick on her dad at lunch, right before he had to go back to work. She managed to explode the sippy cup again (she bites the lid and then pulls the cup until it separates). Then, as the picture shows, they both had to have a major change of clothes.

Too Many Socks

There are 89 (yes... I'm sure) pairs of baby socks in Baby Sister's drawer. A lot of them are size 6 to 12 months, but that is still way more socks than any little girl probably needs. I guess you can say we solved the problem of the disappearing socks.

Abby got her first Polly Pocket set today - a Beauty and the Beast one. We had to get something Belle that Abby could take with her after taking the dvd to church on Sunday resulted in a little meltdown over the church not having a dvd player or t.v. for Abby's personal use. So now, instead of traveling with her favorite dvd, we are traveling with a tiny Belle and a tiny Beast doll. The things we do to make life with a toddler less trying...

We are still no closer to finalizing Baby Sister's name. Steve asked me if I'd picked out her name yet, and I told him I wasn't picking one because I didn't want to give her a name he hated. He said the same thing. So we are still at an impasse on naming this little lady. And with just over 10 weeks left, it may be coming down to the wire.

Swim Class

Abby enjoyed her swim class today. She did a great job kicking and paddling and practicing holding onto the side of the pool. While she did great, the new teacher didn't - it was basically just free swim time for the people in the pool. Oh well... at least Abby and I had done the class last summer so I knew some things she could be working on.
And... most impressively, Abby let me put 4 ponytail holders into her hair this morning before the class and she actually left them in until the class was over and I took them out while washing up afterward. This new found cooperation is going to make our days so much easier and make it much easier for Abby to see Beauty and the Beast. And yes... we've watched it 3 times in the last 24 hours and probably she would have watched it 4 except I said no last night (resulting in a major meltdown). It should have been the first movie we bought... it would have saved us a lot in buying different movies to find one she actually liked.

Tale As Old As Time

Every kid does it eventually... you all know what I'm talking about. The endless watching of a single movie, over and over and over. Up until today our movie was Monsters, Inc. We watched it at least once a day everyday for the last week. So today I decided we'd buy Beauty and the Beast when I found it at the local children's consignment shop. Bad move mom...

Beauty and the Beast is apparently our over and over and over movie. We've watched it two times since noon (plus took a nap and went out on a mom and Abby date). Basically every minute we've been in our house we've been watching Beauty and the Beast. And Abby is crying at this very minute for me to put it in again. Not happening.

Steve is in Dearborn tonight and all day tomorrow for a dental conference, so I'll be flying solo with Abby tonight. I'm hoping she cooperates well. This is really the first night I've been totally alone with her. All the other nights he's had conferences I've been downstate visiting family, so I've had some assistance. And to further complicate things around here my friends, the Braxton-Hicks contractions decided that yesterday and today would be a great time to start making their grand appearance, so I've had a few minutes during each day when it's all I can do to stand up, let alone chase Abby all by myself. She already tumbled down two steps trying to do a stompy dance and chase Maize. This could be a long 11 or so weeks until the c-section.

Oh... and tomorrow is Abby's first swim class in this sememster's "Aqua Tots". It should be fun. I loaned my maternity bathing suit to our friend Tara who is bringing one of Abby's best friends, Maddie. It was to the point where my belly was hanging out the bottom anyway, so I didn't see the difference between wearing a tank top over my maternity suit and wearing one over my regular bikini. So I may be representing the less classy (read white trash) version of the bathing suit tomorrow, but I promise that's not how we live on a regular basis now that we live in the U.P.