I added some pictures to our web album from the Christmas season. Here's one that didn't make it onto an album yet. She's so put together. Such a classy young lady. So much potential. That's my girl!
1.05.2012
Phew...
I added some pictures to our web album from the Christmas season. Here's one that didn't make it onto an album yet. She's so put together. Such a classy young lady. So much potential. That's my girl!
Still There?
Just checking... I haven't been able to see them from this angle for quite a while so it seemed appropriate to take a picture to make sure. Yes, I'm still pregnant. No, there have been no signs of labor starting. At our doctor appointment on Tuesday we didn't actually get to see the doctor because he had to go deliver a baby. So, I will know if there is progress at our next appointment on Monday. Emma's heart beat still sounds great. That's the only update.Alice is napping and I'm tempted to do the same. I think my stuffy nose for the past few days has been allergies since my allergy medicine seems to help. Perhaps the warmer weather just threw my nose for a loop. Seriously, it's supposed to get to 85 degrees today! I think it was cooler during the May when Alice was born than it has been this January so far.
Uh... Now Alice is crying........ She's been asleep for 35 minutes. This is not okay.
12.22.2011
Moms, Should I Force Her to Eat?
I need opinions/experienced moms to chime in here.
Alice seems to be going through a "reverse" growth spurt... at least that's what I'm calling it. She goes through phases where she eats whatever I put in front of her without a problem. Her current phase, however, requires me to pinch/pull her ear and tell her to open her mouth... with EVERY bite, no matter what I'm feeding her. I was attempting to hold her head and that was just hard to do. She turns her head and rests it on her shoulder away from the food. The ear pinch/pull has been most effective. Occasionally I can get her to "help mommy" by holding the fork/spoon with me and getting it into her mouth. Once in a while I just need to touch her ear slightly and she'll open her mouth. Most of the time I have to get her by the ear and (attempt to) patiently tell her to open her mouth and eat her food. If I give her finger food, she eats some and then plays with it and makes a HUGE mess or throws it on the floor.
Mind you, her meals have been significantly smaller because I can only force feed her so much. PLUS, if she doesn't eat a good sized meal at breakfast/lunch/dinner, she wants to snack all day. She does have a fairly regular "snack" after she wakes up from her nap in the afternoon. A typical eating schedule for her is breakfast at 8/8:30, lunch at noon, nap time from 1-3ish, snack around 4, dinner at 6. One book I read said that you shouldn't be concerned about what your toddler eats in ONE day, but look at the content of their meals over 2-3 days. Clearly that's not intended for a pregnant mommy who can hardly remember at lunch time what SHE ate for breakfast, let alone what her daughter ate two days ago. Do I really need to keep a food journal for my 19 month old??
So.... Do I continue the route I'm going, trying to get her to eat a decent meal at "meal time"? Should I let her dictate being all done and then not feed her snacks when she wants them so she'll eat a better meal at the next meal time? Do I just go with whatever and let her snack here and there throughout the day? No one ever tells you about these kinds of things before you become a mom. I guess I wouldn't have been that interested in hearing it before I had a child. Funny how that works. But seriously, I'd love to know what others have done or even if you're going through the same thing with your toddler... What has worked for you???
Three days til Christmas! And just for fun, here's a really cute picture of my two favorite people :-D
Alice seems to be going through a "reverse" growth spurt... at least that's what I'm calling it. She goes through phases where she eats whatever I put in front of her without a problem. Her current phase, however, requires me to pinch/pull her ear and tell her to open her mouth... with EVERY bite, no matter what I'm feeding her. I was attempting to hold her head and that was just hard to do. She turns her head and rests it on her shoulder away from the food. The ear pinch/pull has been most effective. Occasionally I can get her to "help mommy" by holding the fork/spoon with me and getting it into her mouth. Once in a while I just need to touch her ear slightly and she'll open her mouth. Most of the time I have to get her by the ear and (attempt to) patiently tell her to open her mouth and eat her food. If I give her finger food, she eats some and then plays with it and makes a HUGE mess or throws it on the floor.
Mind you, her meals have been significantly smaller because I can only force feed her so much. PLUS, if she doesn't eat a good sized meal at breakfast/lunch/dinner, she wants to snack all day. She does have a fairly regular "snack" after she wakes up from her nap in the afternoon. A typical eating schedule for her is breakfast at 8/8:30, lunch at noon, nap time from 1-3ish, snack around 4, dinner at 6. One book I read said that you shouldn't be concerned about what your toddler eats in ONE day, but look at the content of their meals over 2-3 days. Clearly that's not intended for a pregnant mommy who can hardly remember at lunch time what SHE ate for breakfast, let alone what her daughter ate two days ago. Do I really need to keep a food journal for my 19 month old??
Three days til Christmas! And just for fun, here's a really cute picture of my two favorite people :-D
12.21.2011
Moved
Russell Moore's writing usually leaves me wowed. His talent for turning a phrase in a new or unusual way makes me laugh or cry or marvel. His blog post today is worth a read and it probably affected me more because Moore just celebrated the arrival of his baby boy. Here's a sampler:
Read the rest here.
Early on in your unborn life, a doctor told us he thought you would have Down Syndrome. He turned out to be wrong, but we didn’t know that until you were born. Sadly, you probably won’t meet a lot of kids with Down Syndrome because so few of them ever make it to birth these days, so you might not even understand what that is.
When the doctor told us this, your mother and I looked at each other and knew right away that you would be a gift: Down Syndrome or not. Your worth and your value wouldn’t be in whether or not this age saw you as having “power” or “success,” but instead based on your bearing the image of the God who made you and who loves you.
Read the rest here.
12.19.2011
Thrift Stores
For those who don't know, I LOVE thrift stores. I especially appreciate ones that are well organized and know that they are thrift stores (i.e. CHEAP). This morning we went to my FAVORITE thrift store because as a club member I received 50% off all clothing, shoes & accessories. Woot. I'm totally there. We got a ridiculous amount of clothing for the girls (mainly Alice) and a few things for Andrew & me. I feel much more ready for "winter" in southern California and am thankful that I no longer will need to wash Alice's clothes every few days to keep her in long sleeves :-)
Today marks 36 weeks of pregnancy, which means only four more weeks until my due date. For a good couple weeks I was convinced that Emma was going to come early. I'm not so sure anymore. I think it was just wishful thinking since I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. We shall see if there are any changes to report from the next doctor appointment this Friday. It will determine our Christmas whereabouts.
This particular Monday also happens to be the first of SIX Mondays where Andrew will have the day off work AND school. Of course our thrift store morning was something that wouldn't have happened without him. I love having my husband home and less stressed with a break from school. We are so blessed!
Today marks 36 weeks of pregnancy, which means only four more weeks until my due date. For a good couple weeks I was convinced that Emma was going to come early. I'm not so sure anymore. I think it was just wishful thinking since I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. We shall see if there are any changes to report from the next doctor appointment this Friday. It will determine our Christmas whereabouts.
This particular Monday also happens to be the first of SIX Mondays where Andrew will have the day off work AND school. Of course our thrift store morning was something that wouldn't have happened without him. I love having my husband home and less stressed with a break from school. We are so blessed!
12.13.2011
Quiet Moment
At our doctor appointment yesterday we learned that Emma is head-down! I'm very thankful for that as I'm not good at determining what lump on my stomach is which body part of hers. But she's creating a LOT of pressure and lower back pain that comes and goes.
Alice is having a rough morning and is now in playpen time--apparently the ONLY thing that's okay at the moment. She's already gotten one molar and the second one is either just poking through or about to. It appears the behavior (crying, inconsolable maniac) may be connected with incoming teeth. I've also had some pressure in my sinuses the last two days that's causing headaches and throbbing. I'm sure you can imagine how that feels with a screaming 19 month old to add to it. Please pray!
Less than half of the month until Christmas... :-D
Alice is having a rough morning and is now in playpen time--apparently the ONLY thing that's okay at the moment. She's already gotten one molar and the second one is either just poking through or about to. It appears the behavior (crying, inconsolable maniac) may be connected with incoming teeth. I've also had some pressure in my sinuses the last two days that's causing headaches and throbbing. I'm sure you can imagine how that feels with a screaming 19 month old to add to it. Please pray!
Less than half of the month until Christmas... :-D
12.09.2011
To Do
This morning Andrew pulled out the advent calendar ornament which begins the second third of the month. Just 16 days until Christmas!
It's also (according to the countdown <----) 38 days until my due date. THAT seems very soon. I think Emma "dropped" on Saturday. I won't go into detail, but I can breathe easier and haven't had any heartburn since then. She's still moving a lot, but does seem to have slowed down a tad. I'm pretty sure I look smaller than I did with Alice, but I'm not sure. I've gained right around 20 lbs, though having the flu certainly influenced that. I feel like there are still so many things to do before Emma arrives, so I'm going to make a list. I like lists :-)
To Do:
-Take hospital tour (planned for Monday, Dec. 19)
-Get a few more baby items
-Make list of who to notify of Emma's coming
-Figure out what to do with Alice when Emma comes
-Make & freeze some meals
-Pack for hospital
-Install baby car seat & move Alice's car seat
Okay... that doesn't seem as overwhelming as I was making it in my mind. And now Alice is awake. Today was a good nap day. This week has been good nap, bad nap, good nap, bad nap, good nap. At least she's sort of "consistent." Happy Friday!
It's also (according to the countdown <----) 38 days until my due date. THAT seems very soon. I think Emma "dropped" on Saturday. I won't go into detail, but I can breathe easier and haven't had any heartburn since then. She's still moving a lot, but does seem to have slowed down a tad. I'm pretty sure I look smaller than I did with Alice, but I'm not sure. I've gained right around 20 lbs, though having the flu certainly influenced that. I feel like there are still so many things to do before Emma arrives, so I'm going to make a list. I like lists :-)
To Do:
-Take hospital tour (planned for Monday, Dec. 19)
-Get a few more baby items
-Make list of who to notify of Emma's coming
-Figure out what to do with Alice when Emma comes
-Make & freeze some meals
-Pack for hospital
-Install baby car seat & move Alice's car seat
Okay... that doesn't seem as overwhelming as I was making it in my mind. And now Alice is awake. Today was a good nap day. This week has been good nap, bad nap, good nap, bad nap, good nap. At least she's sort of "consistent." Happy Friday!
12.06.2011
The Advent Calendar
I can't believe an entire month went by and nothing was posted on our blog. Actually... I can believe it. Hopefully the rest of December won't be like November was.
Now that it's officially the Christmas season I've been listening to Christmas music almost non-stop. I hope my husband would say something if he's annoyed... He hasn't said anything yet :-)
I also finally made our own advent calendar which I plan to use every year. LOVE IT! I got the idea from a blog I randomly stumbled upon, though I changed a few things based on what I had (or didn't have). Part of my lack of blogging has been trying to get this thing completed during Alice's lamely short naps and once she's in bed. Not to mention the fact that I got the flu right after Thanksgiving and wasn't feeling 100% until about a week ago. Then Alice started throwing up. Oi. When an 18 month old has a tummy ache, there's really no way of knowing until they throw up all over your bedroom floor. Not that it happened that way with us or anything.....
Anyway, the advent calendar is FINALLY done and I'm getting back into the swing of things after a really wonderful (despite the flu) break from it during the Thanksgiving week. Finally got the Christmas decorations up on Sunday night and got some much needed cleaning done around the apartment. Laundry is in full swing... actually almost done so I'd better get these pictures up... Plus Alice (of course) is awake after a 1 hr 20 min nap. Sigh.
I digress. Here are the much anticipated pictures of my handmade advent calendar. Okay, maybe not all that anticipated, but I'm pretty thrilled about it. The last step is to write names of Jesus on the backs of the ornaments along with a reference of where it appears in the bible. Thank you Pastor Ron for that idea!
In other news, Fred the frog finally kicked the bucket. I refuse to believe it was entirely out of neglect, as we hadn't gotten him crickets in quite a while. He was old and, as far as I know, lived a good life. Poor Fred. He's in the dumpster now. It smells a bit nicer around our apartment without him, but he was a very interesting conversation piece. He didn't contribute much to that conversation, but that's okay. He was a cool pet for a few years. Alright, off to get the girl and fold laundry. Happy December!!
Now that it's officially the Christmas season I've been listening to Christmas music almost non-stop. I hope my husband would say something if he's annoyed... He hasn't said anything yet :-)
I also finally made our own advent calendar which I plan to use every year. LOVE IT! I got the idea from a blog I randomly stumbled upon, though I changed a few things based on what I had (or didn't have). Part of my lack of blogging has been trying to get this thing completed during Alice's lamely short naps and once she's in bed. Not to mention the fact that I got the flu right after Thanksgiving and wasn't feeling 100% until about a week ago. Then Alice started throwing up. Oi. When an 18 month old has a tummy ache, there's really no way of knowing until they throw up all over your bedroom floor. Not that it happened that way with us or anything.....
Anyway, the advent calendar is FINALLY done and I'm getting back into the swing of things after a really wonderful (despite the flu) break from it during the Thanksgiving week. Finally got the Christmas decorations up on Sunday night and got some much needed cleaning done around the apartment. Laundry is in full swing... actually almost done so I'd better get these pictures up... Plus Alice (of course) is awake after a 1 hr 20 min nap. Sigh.
I digress. Here are the much anticipated pictures of my handmade advent calendar. Okay, maybe not all that anticipated, but I'm pretty thrilled about it. The last step is to write names of Jesus on the backs of the ornaments along with a reference of where it appears in the bible. Thank you Pastor Ron for that idea!
In other news, Fred the frog finally kicked the bucket. I refuse to believe it was entirely out of neglect, as we hadn't gotten him crickets in quite a while. He was old and, as far as I know, lived a good life. Poor Fred. He's in the dumpster now. It smells a bit nicer around our apartment without him, but he was a very interesting conversation piece. He didn't contribute much to that conversation, but that's okay. He was a cool pet for a few years. Alright, off to get the girl and fold laundry. Happy December!!
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