Disappointingly Right

I knew it, but I’m OK with it. 0 dilation, 25% effaced, hovering just above my pelvis so around a -1 station but low enough where he won’t flip flop on me. Head down, butt on the right legs to the left but he still rolls around in there so I’m sure that changes daily. It was cool to see all his body parts again, he was really moving around in there. So, with that said, I’m OK with him baking for a few more weeks- he needs to fatten up like his sister! And, I know the longer he stays in the better sucker he’ll hopefully be when he comes out.

But, to follow up the ‘disappointing’ information she informed me that the visiting restrictions have now been lifted for the maternity floor which means Miley can now come and visit in the hospital!!! YEAH!!!!! I was grinning from ear to ear after hearing that information. I really wasn’t too keen on her meeting Baby Bear for the very first time at home, in her territory, it will be nice to have her meet him at the hospital and plus, I am going to miss her like crazy so I’m happy I’ll get to see her!

Things I find amusing:

1. Earlier in my pregnancy I was a COLD pregnant woman. I would get mad at how hard it was to find cute long sleeve tops for winter as they mostly have ¾ length sleeve and short sleeve and I would ware my fleece pants and thermal long sleeve shirt to bed every night. Now, I find myself standing outside in the blowing snow in a ¾ length sleeve cotton dress trying to cool down and wear short sleeves or tank tops with shorts to bed and still get too hot and have to kick the covers off.
   
   
2. You know how people say they don’t want to get a new puppy during winter as it’s too hard to potty train. I think the same goes for kids!! Miley has good weeks and bad weeks and they ironically seem to coincide with a runny nose and/or cold. Miley has officially been diagnosed with Toddler Diarrhea and she should grow out of it, but that seems to cause her to have runny stool whenever her nose runs, not to mention when you don’t feel good you just don’t feel like putting in the extra effort. I’m THANKFUL she only gets mini colds, she’s pretty healthy, but MAN… this whole potty training/learning deal is a lot more work than I was expecting it to be. I think we’ll just continue to let her go when she wants to go and really buck down maybe when I’m on maternity leave or this spring when hopefully the runny nose will be gone for awhile!
   
   
3. Monday night Taylor offered to cook dinner! He decided on making gourmet looking grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. But what was the only thing I could stomach- a bowl of Raisin Bran. And what did Miley want… Salsa. I felt bad for him- he went through all the work and he was the only one to enjoy it. Taylor- your effort was greatly appreciated!
   
   
4. How excited Taylor gets when I start talking about fixing/changing/renovating our house. His eyes light up much like Tim Taylor from Tool Time! Apparently “we will have fun talking about it tonight!” What is it that I want to change in our house…. It’s a secret until it happens. :)
   
   
5. How excited I get for my weekly appointments at the doctor even though I know I’ll more than likely come home disappointed. With this being my second child I know better than to get my hopes up that they will tell me at my 36 week appointment that he’s at a 0 station and I’m 50-75% effaced and dilated to a 3, as you can tell this is what I WANT to hear at my appointment but in every effort to keep me from having a melt down after my appointment I’m going to go in expecting to hear that I am MAYBE ½ cm dilated, 25% effaced and he’s still at a -2 station.

So, on that note, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to see if I was disappointingly right, or happy that I got what I WANT! Fingers still crossed though, for good measure!

Baby Bear Bets

See all the bets that have come in so far on the right.

Still taking bets- so get yours in before he comes out! :)

If you are one of those people that want to make an extremely educated guess, like me, I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday to see where things are sitting.

What a Goof!

Last night Miley was being her goofy self.

As Taylor was trying to get on her pajamas after her bath she was jumping all over our bed being goofy. Then all of a sudden her cheeks puffed out like her mouth was full of something, she looked at me and then swallowed hard. I asked her if she just puked in her mouth and she responded with a nod and a little drizzle coming out the side of her mouth. I quickly grabbed a towel and tossed it to Taylor to wipe her mouth off and told her to go to Daddy to clean her up.

She then proceeded to JUMP over to Taylor, now with major hiccups and said- “I puked” as she waited for him to wipe her mouth.

What a goof! After that jumping time was over!

Grocery Shopping

I seriously feel like I live at the grocery store lately.

A little background information- when we first got married and up until the point where Miley was eating three meals a day with us I went to the grocery store once a month, Yes, just ONCE! I would occasionally go back if the milk ran out or something small, but for the most part, once a month I would fill up the refrigerator and cabinets.

Now, I seriously could go once a week, and I have been lately, and I find it rather annoying! I LOVE to shop, some would call me a shopaholic, and I would agree, although I have come to find the same enjoyment I get when I purchase a new shirt as with purchasing bags of groceries to help with that NEED to shop. But, with that said, grocery shopping once a week is still annoying. Why can’t I figure out how to do a bulk shopping trip like I use to?

I thought about this for awhile yesterday, yes, when I get to the end of my pregnancies I start to mentally check out and I ponder the most random thoughts. Anyway, I guess I go to the store so often because I can go through two boxes of cereal, myself, in 1 week. Right now we have five boxes in our cupboard! I love cereal, every kind imaginable, from Fruity Pebbles, to Corn Pops to Raisin Bran- all of which I currently have in my cupboard.

Then it dawned on me that everyone in my house has been craving fresh fruit- must be cabin fever. Taylor eats about 2-3 bananas a day, Miley enjoys bananas, I’ve been craving grapefruit. Just the other day I went and bought 13 bananas! One bunch just wasn’t enough!

And MILK- of course with my obsessive amount of cereal I seem to consume lately I can also, weirdly, drink a glass of milk with this pregnancy! I have been lactose intolerant since I was 16 years old. I could have milk on cereal but never could I drink a big glass of milk with a meal. A couple months back I was just craving the biggest glass of milk and I gave into my craving and nothing happened! I tried a few days later and the same thing! It has been amazing!!! Just think, for all you milk lovers out there, not being able to drink a glass of milk for 9 years! I don’t overdo it, just to be safe, but at least a couple times a week I enjoy my glass of milk while I still can!

So, with all of this said, this is why I find myself running to the grocery store almost weekly. I guess I’ll just have to get use to it with my growing family now, it sure will be different having to feed four mouths!

Make sure you place your bet in the post below for when Baby Bear will be here!

When Will Baby Bear Be Here?

Poll is now open for bets! See the poll information on the right side of my blog and start taking a guess. Post your guess in the comment section of this post. Each week I will list those who have made their guess for that week.

There will be 2 winners- a Date winner and a Weight and Height winner who guessed the baby would be born during the week he is born.

What do you get if you win? It's a surprise, so make a guess!!

Due Date: Feb. 23

FYI- Miley was 1 day late and 8 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long

Big Sister Miley

I just have to share this story.

Saturday, after Sesame Street, (see post below) her and I were laying in my bed cuddling and she had found a bottle of hers from when she was an infant and thought it would be funny to put water in it. Well, she actually put water in it for the baby! She lifted up my shirt and said she wanted to feed the baby! So she put the bottle up to my tummy and when it would drip out water she would rub it in my tummy.

After she decided he was done eating she then cuddled her baby brother and rubbed his 'back' to sleep and then covered him up with a blanket. (*Baby Brother and Him referring to my tummy)

I think she is going to be a great Big Sister and I think she is as ready as I am for him to come out.

Here's to week 35, may it go as fast as it can!

Sesame Street Live

We took Miley to Sesame Street Live on Saturday, her birthday present from us. It was a fun adventure! She was in Ahh when it first started and, like most kids, Elmo was her favorite, she actually got kind of mad when he wasn't on stage.

During intermission Miley picked out an Elmo doll and she got her first taste of Cotton Candy! We figured, go BIG or go Home and make it an entire experience. She thought it was pretty good but wasn't a fan of getting sticky so it didn't last long.

It got a little long towards the end and she was ready to go home and thank goodness we had an extra seat next to us so she could move around between the two of us. But all in all it was a fun morning and she really enjoyed it.

Just arrived and sat in our seats

I'm so excited Daddy!!

The opening act, in complete Ahh!

Sitting on Mommy's lap

We had great seats!

YUM Cotton Candy!

Big Bite!

We had talked about possibly taking her to the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie if this show went well, and she did do really well for a 2 year old, but we were glad we were in a stadium full of kids her age because we aren't quite ready for a movie theatre. We'll save that for a day once the baby is here and she is older and it can be her special day with just Mommy and Daddy.

34 Week Check Up

My 34 week check up went well. My weight gain is right on the money, my blood pressure couldn’t look more beautiful and Baby Bear is still head down.

I did talk to her about all this pressure I have been feeling on my pubic bone and she said that is normal and she felt where his head was sitting and when I’m lying down he’s low, but he’s not engaged so she doesn’t think he will be making an extra early appearance.

Although, she did say, because I am sitting and running around all day long that when I get home I need to lay down as much as possible as lying down will take the pressure off of my pubic bone and in the end allow me to, hopefully, work up till the day I deliver. My boss sure liked hearing that! (he asked if I wanted a recliner for my desk so I could really relax while I worked!) (Too bad that can’t be a reality!)


Since it has been prescribed to have me lay down at home as much as I can don’t you think that means Taylor should do all the cooking and cleaning! :)

34 Weeks

34 Weeks

Not much to say really except that when I tell people that I still have 6 weeks left their eyes slightly pop out of their head in shock that I still have that much more to go as if they are thinking, WOW, she is going to get even bigger!

Most are sincere and apologize for their initial response and I tell them that I'll be the first to say that I'm 34 weeks and should be going on 39!

Weirdly though, my body is feeling better, it must just be getting use to holding this big baby. However, the potty breaks are getting VERY annoying. Just last night I was up 6... yes... SIX times to go to the bathroom, that is almost once an hour I was waking up!! I think it will be easier to have this baby as I can at least sleep for 3-4 hour stretches versus waking up every hour!

My good friend Kelsey had her baby girl this past weekend, Emma Jean, such a cute chubby baby. Gotta love the chubby ones!! But let me tell you, boy was I jealous to see the picture of her baby and to know that she wasn't pregnant anymore and could lay flat on her stomach! I honestly don't really mind being pregnant, I would say that it's just a hard adjustment for me with already having one at home and not being as mobile as I would like to be. And I think at this point in anyone's pregnancy you just get so anxious to see what your baby looks like and to be able to hold him and kiss him!

Well, here are some pictures of the belly, sad to say, 34 weeks brought on some very unwanted stretch marks, I'm hoping they will fade away once I'm not pregnant anymore as you can only see them if the light hits them right, I only had 2 tiny stretch marks with Miley but since I'm carrying this one directly out front I think my stomach is really stretching out.

34 Weeks side A

34 Weeks side B (I think sometimes you can look bigger on one side than the other)

Miley's tummy at 34 weeks, she just loves having her belly picture taken too! :) HEHE

(Sorry for the funky coloring of this photo, the flash did something goofy, and of course, with a toddler, you only get one chance to get a photo!)

Conversations with a 2 year old

Miley has really come to understand her feelings now and being able to express them. For example, Monday, here are two of the conversations we had:

Me, calling out to Grandma's

Me- "Hi Miley"

Miley- "Hi Mommy, I miss you"

OK- talk about melt your heart, this was the first time she has ever said that without me asking her if she missed me. So sweet.

Then, on the flip side, that same day, coming home from Grandma's. She prefers to walk into the house by herself. As I was juggling my purse, lunch bag, her bag, the mail and her blanket and trying not to slip on the ice as I do my pregnant waddle to the door, Miley decided she wanted to play in the snow. I told her we needed to go inside first as she can't play in the snow in her Ugg boots and with no snow pants on. After trying to ask her nicely to come inside I ended up just picking her up and bringing her inside.

Me- "I'm sorry Miley but we can't play outside in the snow right now, Mommy is in her work clothes and you aren't dressed warm enough to play in the snow"

Miley- with her hands on her hips, " I'm MAD at you!" and throws her glove at me!

Trying not to laugh at her I said, "Then you just be mad and let me know when you are done" and within five minutes she wanted to snuggle with her mommy. :)

Pictures from Miley's Birthday Week Adventures

Here are the pictures of Miley enjoying all the rides Nickelodeon Universe the day of her Birthday.

And here are photos from her first haircut! She wouldn't let me get an after photo but we really didn't cut too much off, just trimmed the bangs and trimmed the ends to clean it up.

Our next adventure is Sesame Street Live this weekend! Should be exciting!!

Miley is 2!!!

Yes- that’s right, Miss Miley Kay is officially 2 years old!! YAHOO!!! This week was FULL of fun events for her, yes, even at 2 years old she didn’t just have a BirthDAY she had a BirthWEEK! And she most certainly knew that all attention was on her this week and she ate it up!

Sunday we had friends and family over for a Little Einstein’s Birthday Party. She was so excited when we decorated the house on Saturday in preparation for the party. I didn’t go overboard but yes, I did get some themed decorations to brighten the place up, which are still all hanging up, hum. We had a delicious lunch, which the Birthday Girl was too excited to eat any of and then it was on to my homemade cake, of which I am VERY proud of myself. (I would consider myself more of a chef than a baker but I proved that day I can do both!) She got some wonderful birthday presents and had a wonderful time.

Playing with Peyton

I don't want to eat lunch I just want to play :(

Singing Happy Birthday

The first of MANY attempts to blow out the candle

FINALLY!

YUMMY!

My Masterpiece! (that is June from Little Einsteins)

Trying to be sneaky and steal some more frosting

PRESENTS!

Check out her sweet leather lazy boy!

Tuesday was her actual birthday and Taylor and I took the day off of work to have a day of fun with her! She got a gift card to Build-a-Bear so we headed to the Mall of America to make a bear. Out of all the cute snuggly animals she could have chosen she headed STRAIGHT for Alvin the Chipmunk! She was adamant that she get him versus any of the other cute animals that we could have then chosen a super cute outfit for. So, we let her get her Alvin and convinced her to at least pick out a pair of shoes for him (Alvin already came equipped with his signature red sweatshirt).

After Build-a-Bear we went to Nickelodeon Universe. We sure got lucky that day, since it was Tuesday we got to take advantage of Toddler Tuesday which the mall has every Tuesday. And since it was her birthday she got a free unlimited ride wrist band, SCORE! They only had rides open to toddlers so it was so calm and peaceful in there, we didn’t have to wait in any lines and Taylor was able to ride with her for free as well as a chaperone. She went on every toddler ride there and had a BLAST! Her face was gleaming with pure excitement.

We then ventured up to third floor to have lunch. Another special treat for Toddler Tuesday is that at 12 participating restaurants toddlers eat free!! I have been CRAVING Bubba Gumps for months so we went there! Miley had on her special Birthday Girl shirt and got a lot of special attention from people all day and it didn’t stop once we got to Bubba Gumps. They had their mascot Shrimp come to our table and say Hello to her and then, after our meal, the entire wait staff came over and sang Happy Birthday to her and had the whole restaurant clap for her and they gave her a special Birthday sundae! She thought this was just the greatest. So, an entire morning at the mall only cost us a few extra dollars at Build-a-Bear and lunch for me and Taylor, talk about a GREAT deal!!

That evening was Miley’s first dance class with Just for Kix. She LOVED it, it is a Mommy and Me class to help introduce her to dance and to learn to follow the teacher.

To continue the fun, Wednesday she got her first haircut at a salon. She did pretty well, a little squirmy but you could tell she felt like a Princess sitting in that barber chair. We didn’t cut too much off, just shaped up the bangs and trimmed the ends to even things out and keep it healthy.

Then, onto Thursday- with the snow storm it took me 2 hours to get home! I sat still on the highway as they cleaned up an accident for 45 minutes. So, since it was almost 6:30 before we got home and I was just exhausted from being in the car that long I told her her Birthday week would continue with her favorite dinner treat- McDonald’s chicken nuggets!

Next Saturday we will be taking her to Sesame Street Live, her birthday present from Taylor and I, I’ll make sure to give a full report after that adventure.

I will upload more pictures of our day at the MOA this weekend. And Thank You to my friend Kelly for the pictures from Miley’s birthday party!