New Dress from Christmas

From Grandma and Grandpa D....

New Elefun Game

Abby got some Toys R Us giftcards for Christmas from some family, so we went on a little shopping trip the day after Christmas. She bought a new play shopping cart full of groceries, a Minnie Mouse small toy, and the game Elefun. I was unfamiliar with the game, but she claims she has played it before. We finally got it put together and the way it works is that there is a fan in the elephant, and it blows little butterflies up its trunk that you try to catch with your net. It is trickier than it looks and Abby shrieks as they fly into the air. It is pretty funny. I snapped a couple pictures of Abby and Matt playing (which Matt was thrilled about on our lazy morning).

The Lion King Today

Today Matt and I took Abby to her first Broadway show, the Lion King. It was part of a Broadway Across America series that is here. Matt surprised Abby and I with tickets as our big Christmas gift. It was wonderful. Abby had seen the movie at daycare, so she was familiar with some of the songs and characters already. She did so well, though because it was a 2:00 showing, she missed her nap and it showed a few times. She had some loud yawns at times!

If you haven't seen this musical, it begins with the parade of animals down the aisles of the theater during the song "Circle of Life". It is a pretty powerful number and a great opener. Abby's face lit up as it started and everytime a new animal was visible, she got excited. I have to admit, I got a little emotional watching Abby take it all in. I'm blaming it on pregnancy hormones. I have included (at the top) a picture I found online of that song. It is (in my opinion) the best number of the whole show.

What a fun day.

Christmas Morning

For those family members that are far away this year, here are a few pictures of our morning...  We miss you all and Merry Christmas!

A Visit With Santa

We finally made it to visit Santa.  Abby was very excited.  She has never had a year where she was frightened by him.  This year, for the first time, she had a very specific list of items that she wanted:  Handy Manny Toolbox, a toy mouse, and a pink ball.  The toy mouse is influenced by  a Laurie Berker song called "Mouse in My Toolbox".  For those of you interested, it is on her Rocketship Run CD.  I highly recommend it to anyone with little ones. 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

I FINALLY saw it!

I FINALLY saw it!!! Twilight. I read all the books a while back and have been waiting patiently for the movie to come out, and then once it did, I didn't have anyone who wanted to go see it with me. So, today I dropped Abby off at daycare since we have to pay for Wednesdays whether I work or not, and went Christmas shopping and then SAW TWILIGHT!

My review as someone who read the book, is that I thought it captured the spirit of the books. I enjoyed it. I think it didn't go too long, which is a danger with some movies. I am so glad that I took some "me" time today to go see it.

Ice

We got what the weather people called a "wintery mix" yesterday afternoon and evening, which in turn, turned the roads to skating rinks. Today the major roads are all pretty good, but our subdivision is still solid ice. Just to prove my point, kids are playing ice hockey on the cul-de-sac behind our house. I guess if you can't beat them (meaning the icy conditions), join them?

I just bought my first newborn girly outfit for the baby! It was exciting. I ordered it online while I was shopping for Christmas- you know, all those free shipping offers are tough to beat. Anway, it is a red and pink stripped "sweater" knit one piece-so cute. Abby was a summer baby so I don't have a lot of winter clothes that are 0-3 months, so it was fun to buy. I also bought a 3 pack of white long sleeved onesies for layering. So fun. Just wanted to share...

Baby/Pregnancy Update

It has been a while since I've done much updating on here about the pregnancy. Today I had my 32 week appointment. Everything looks great. The baby's heartbeat was around 150 beats/min. which is very good. Apparently, though I feel like I'm the size of a house, I am actually doing well on weight gain and size. I was pleasantly surprised that I have gained only 27 pounds (which is within a very normal range), because I never look at the scale when they weigh me. My doctor and I had a laugh because I reacted with such surprise that it was a good number! I had feared that I would be up 40 pounds or something! All of my annoying pregnancy complaints are just that, annoying. They aren't anything to worry about, and really, are much better than they were with Abby.

As far as the non-medical stuff goes, we are slowly getting ready around the house. I'm starting to feel like I'd really like to be more ready than I feel. We are going to work on it quite a bit over Christmas break. I still haven't gone through Abby's old stuff to see what newborn clothes will be warm enough for this time around. We also have some furniture to move around. I've spent some time talking about it with Abby, because she'll be losing some furniture, but she is excited about some of the changes we are going to make in her room. I'm hoping if we can spin it that way she will not struggle with that part of it as much.

Matt and I have talked baby names some, but still haven't narrowed it down to "the one". We have a top 3 now, which we are keeping to ourselves- sorry, I know that is hard, but I'm feeling good about our choices (though he did shoot down one of my favorites on the list). We will probably do it the way we did with Abby, where you all will find out when she is born.

"Making" Christmas Cookies

This was cookie baking weekend at our house. We went and bought extra of all the essentials (flour, sugar, butter, powdered sugar, etc.) on Saturday morning and have worked in short bursts. We have made 3 kinds of cookies so far (or at least started them).  Saturday we made the sugar cookie dough and chilled it, and finally on Sunday (today) we cut them out and baked them. Frosting them will come maybe tomorrow. Abby was a BIG help. As you can tell from the pictures, she got flour everywhere! (including on her mouth, hmmmm, I wonder how it got there?)

After we finished, Abby was in charge of washing the cookie cutters.  I think I remember that she did that last year too.  I feared we made glue by the time she was done, because of the mixture of a lot of flour and water on her dress.  It will wash.  She had a great time and did her job well with a smile.  We are building memories.

Christmas Music

I love Christmas music.  Matt and I have a great collection of Holiday CDs, and usually it is hard for me to wait until Thanksgiving to listen to them. This year, however, I have felt like I needed some fresh music for the season. So, I just got on iTunes and downloaded a CDs worth of new Christmas songs to enjoy in the car.  A majority of them are by Christian artists that Matt and I like. I haven't listened to it completely yet, but I have high hopes.  Here is my playlist, in case you'd like to do the same:

Away in a Manger, Casting Crowns
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jack Johnson
Carol of the Bells/Sing We Now of Christmas, BarlowGirl
This is All I Have to Give, Todd Agnew
Someday at Christmas, Jack Johnson
O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Enya
Where Are You Christmas, Faith Hill
12 Days of Christmas, Relient K
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Casting Crowns
Do You Hear What I Hear, Todd Agnew
All I Want for Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey
All Is Well, Michael W. Smith
O Holy Night, Faith Hill

Abby and her Audience

Painting, Part 2

Well, it's done!  ...and beautiful!  Nicole had a laser level and she and I taped everything off for the stripe.  The men painted.  Then, we made up the crib so we could see how it all looked and it really pulled it together.  Matt and I are feeling really good about how much we got done AND how it looks.  Here are some pictures:

My Rainbow

I stole this idea from my Mom's blog.  Here is my Rainbow:

Your rainbow is strongly shaded yellow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a joyful person. You appreciate optimism. You're good at getting people to like you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Painting, Part 1

Today is Painting Day!  "We" are painting the baby's room.  Our friends Nicole and Derick are my heros, helping us out.  The fumes are already pretty bad in there, and they just started, so I'm pretty much banned other than checking in.  My big responsibility is food today.  We started with doughnuts and are having yummy queso for lunch.  Abby has gotten to help some, which she is so excited about.  Here are some Phase 1 pictures.  More to come soon!

Playing Wii

Last night, we had a bit of a family night playing Wii.  Abby loves it and Matt is really good at letting her "help" him.  We golfed and bowled, and then Matt and Abby played tennis.  Now, there is a secret, but you can't tell Abby.  When Matt plays tennis with her, we give her a controller to play with, but really (shhh, don't tell) only Matt is playing.  Abby swings her little heart out and really thinks that she is the only controlling those players.  It is the only game we really do it on.  Everything else she really does play.  Just keep it a secret, okay?

Mac and Cheese

For Thanksgiving, I made a huge thing of baked macaroni and cheese, particularly because I thought Abby would definitely eat it, not to mention that I love mac and cheese.  So, the recipe I used has you put cracker crumbs on the top of it, which I really like.  However, when it was time to eat Thanksgiving dinner, I was told by my three year old that she didn't like macaroni and cheese that had crackers on it.  I give up, right?

Okay, fast forward to last night's church pitch in.  We get Abby a little macaroni and cheese (that strongly resembles the stuff I made) on her plate.  She eats it!  After a question or two from me about her food, she informed me that she doesn't like macaroni and cheese with crackers on it from our house, but she DOES like macaroni and cheese with crackers on it from other people's houses.  Now, I truly give up!

Thankful

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted.  As you can imagine, it has been a busy weekend.  We are kind of laying low today, and relaxing.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of family around.  This year, everyone hung around for an extra day or so and that helped with leftovers.  -because as you can see, we had PLENTY of food.  

So this first picture is Abby waiting patiently for everyone to get to the table so we could eat.  The second picture I cropped some, so I didn't have mad relatives since everyone was shoveling in food!

The Feast

Today was Abby's Preschool Thanksgiving Feast. She has been so excited about it. We've been hearing about it quite a lot around our house. She has been practicing their songs for weeks. When Matt has talked to her about preparing for our Feast on Thanksgiving, she told him that she didn't want to go to two Feasts, she just wanted to go to one at Preschool. So, today finally arrived. I decided to run an errand at SuperTarget on our way and I asked her if she wanted to get something special to eat for lunch after Preschool. Her response was, "No. I want to eat at the Feast." You see how one track mind she has been?

We arrived at church for it, and they gathered all the kids (multiple preschool classes) for their songs. As seems to be her way, she clammed up quite a bit and was very quiet during songs. I'm not even sure she sang all of them. Many of them have motions and she did hers on a much smaller scale. It got better as they sang, but she was definitely shy- too many strangers, I think. When it came time to eat, we shared a plate. All of the dishes were prepared by the kids, except the turkey. Her class was responsible for preparing the rolls. We had turkey, green beans, rolls, cookies, and water. She turned down the dressing and cole slaw (no surprise there).  (Oh, and we did need a snack when we got home.)  Here are some pictures of our morning...

Loving her Daddy

Matt was watching a football game and Abby decided this was just a good place to lay, all on her own. She loves her Daddy.

I'm exhausted!

I'm exhausted! After I posted last night, Matt and I got another burst of motivation and moved (from the baby's room) our "office" to the loft and put the crib together. We didn't really get everything moved, but we did get the desk moved, which is the biggest thing.



Today my big job was to clean to prepare for Thanksgiving, so I'm not running around all stressed out on Wednesday. I have dusted and dusted and dusted and cleaned bathrooms and vacuumed and cleaned out paperwork from the office. I had to put dusted multiple times because it doesn't sound like a lot, but it was. I only have a few minor things left on my list and I'm saving those for Matt- or at least for him to help me with. I know that I'll be glad I did all that work today, tomorrow, but for right now, I'm just glad to be lounging on the couch.

My major plans for the rest of the evening? Dancing with the Stars Finals. Rough night.

Decorating

We are moving full steam ahead on decorating the baby's room. Now that my c-section is scheduled for Jan. 30, it feels like it rapidly approaching. My friend, Nicole, a designer, came over today and we decided what we want to do with paint. She had one of those huge paint sample things, with every imaginable color on it.

We spent some time looking at the bedding set and narrowed down some colors and exactly what we wanted to do. Here is a picture of the set (we don't have all the accessories, but it gives you a good idea):



We are going to paint the walls a light sage green, the same color as the leaves. Then, at a chair-rail height, we are going to paint a wide stripe of the bright pink color, with a possible dark brown thin stripe in the middle of the pink stripe. We aren't definitely going to do the brown stripe- we're going to see how burnt out on painting we are. We are all super excited about it and have set a "Paint Day" of Dec. 6. It is going to be really pretty, I think. Yay!

Mix tape

While we were cleaning out to prepare for the new baby's room, we found some old Walkmans. In my old one, there was a mix tape labeled "Mix-Happy". So today, while running errands I put it in my car stereo- the only cassette player I think we have. What a trip back that was. It had to have been made while I was in high school based on the song choices. I had everything from Amy Grant to REM to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Bel Biv DeVoe to Wilson Phillips to Michael W. Smith. Abby's favorite was "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Yup, even that was on there. Good stuff, huh? I'm thinking I seriously need to get a copy of that old Wilson Phillips CD. Love it.

Father, Thank you for bringing me fun memories from my past. It brings smiles to my face. Amen

Pregnancy Risks

So before I begin this, I should say that everything is looking great in my pregnancy.

That said, I have heard several pregnancy stories in the last week or two that are devastating. There are times when pregnancy feels like a high risk activity, even when everything seems normal. I, myself, have suffered a miscarriage at 10 weeks, which was the most personal loss I have ever gone through. We heard of an acquaintance at a restaurant that Matt caters through who just lost her baby at 8 months pregnant. Even after delivery, the doctor said that everything looked normal and they aren't sure why it happened. I also just received an e-mail from someone in my Mom's group at church that their friend who was 25 weeks pregnant lost her baby. She had developed preeclampsia and they had to deliver the baby because the mother's health was at risk, and he didn't survive.

Father, please comfort these women, and their families, in the pain that I know they must be feeling right now. It is difficult to see any reason in these kinds of loss. Surround them with supportive, caring people. Amen.

Portraits

So, I hope this isn't weird, to post a picture of myself. I've seen it on other blogs, so I'm hoping not. I had 2 "portrait" pictures I thought I'd share. One is of Abby laughing while she is playing ball with her Daddy. In some ways, Matt and I are very traditional in our parenting. He is definitely the one who gets down on the floor and plays very physically with her. I am much better at the more quiet activities. It makes for a good balance. It also makes me think of how difficult it must be to be a single parent and have to fill both of those roles. I would be exhausted- of course with being pregnant, exhausted is a daily vocabulary word for me.



The second picture I'm sharing is of me, obviously. This is me at my sister's wedding reception, relaxing at our table after things have slowed down some. Matt snapped it. Being at the beginning of my third trimester for the wedding was no small feat. I think it took me almost 5 days to feel a little more like myself again, I was so tired. -but it was worth it, as my sister is now hitched!

My Girl

What a weekend!

The big wedding has come and gone. My sister is married. She had the most amazing flower girl ever and the wedding was beautiful.

A Remarkable Day

What an amazing time. Barack Obama has won the presidency. I stayed up a little last night and watched results while talking to Matt on the phone (he's on a business trip). I turned in before anything coud be official. Indiana was still too close to call, so I really went to bed with no news, only hopes.

I woke up to all good news. Indiana went blue for the first time since the 1960's, Obama has won. My 3 YO doesn't have any idea of a time where a black man couldn't be president and that feels good. I have to admit his speech late last night made me tear up a little- but that could be egged on by my pregnancy hormones. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable day!

Barack the Vote

Have you voted? I have!

What an powerful day. I have avoided news lately because I was so tired of all the ads, but now that Election Day is here, it is kind of exciting. I'm excited that our state is considered a "swing state" this year, so it is going to make it more interesting to watch the results tonight.

Here is to the hope that change is in the air!

Love is in the Air

Love must be in the air. My sister is getting married, many TV shows talk about it... I figure that is where this must have come from (because the comment came out of nowhere at the time).

Abby: Mommy, I really want to marry someone.
Mommy: Well, when you are a grown up you can marry someone.
Abby: Okay. (smiles)

Tinkerbell

Abby and I finally watched Tinkerbell, the new Disney DVD. I bought it the day it came out without telling her and we surprised her with it today. It was very cute, and a fun new movie with the same type of "princess" twist that she is so into right now.

At the beginning of the movie, it introduced how a fairy is born. Being pregnant, and having had one child already, I really liked the way they introduced it.   According to the movie, "The first time a baby laughs, a fairy is born." When a fairy is born, they are introduced into the fairy world and their gift is identified. In Tinkerbell's case, it was tinkering. I found the thing that the Fairy Queen says to be really beautiful. I'm such a nerd that I wrote it down, but I would imagine most mothers would find it well said: "Born by laughter, clothed in cheer, happiness has brought you here."

Fun movie.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

As a kid, I LOVED eating salad. My parents would buy me those Italian salad dressing mixes (where you made it yourself with vinegar, oil, and water), and I would eat salad until my heart's content. I remember taking a big ol' bowl of salad in my lunchbox in elementary school, and it was the best lunch even though I knew it was a little weird.

Fast forward to 2008. My daughter loves salad. We went out to our local pizza place recently and I got the salad bar and shared it with her. She went to town on it. Her favorite thing is the croutons. But- she also loves "purple lettuce", cheese, egg, and carrots. It must have "white dressing" aka Ranch. Tonight Matt gave her a choice for dinner. He was going to make our family favorite, Pineapple Pancakes, or she could have salad. She chose salad. Granted she also wanted a pancake once they were ready, but her first choice? Salad.

Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Happy Halloween

Here is Miss Ariel, the Little Mermaid for Halloween.  She got very excited, especially once she got her costume on.  She decided that she wanted Daddy to take her Trick-or-Treating, which was okay with Mommy, because Mommy was exhausted after teaching all day.  

Carving our Jack-o-lantern

We went to the pumpkin patch this weekend, it was now time for the carving. We actually got Abby to put her hand in the pumpkin this year, so we had to capture it on film (though she still didn't like it). I love the family picture of us. Another pregnancy picture for posterity's sake.

Abby also insisted that her pumpkin had eyes like hers: "ovals". She did not want triangles. (I compromised a little)  She also required it to have ears, so we obliged.