33 week appointment

I'm glad it's over! Our appointment was at 10:15 and I had to take Madeleine, and we didn't get called back until almost 11. She was not thrilled about sitting in her stroller the whole time. I'm so glad I brought her bag which was packed with things to do!

Anyway, I have gained 8 lbs (the whole pregnancy, not the last two weeks!) It's pretty much exactly what happened with Madeleine. I only gained 15 lbs total with her and then lost 30 within 2 weeks after she was born. Here's hoping the same thing happens this time! I guess the 8 weeks of puking every day really paid off!

His heartbeat was great - in the 150s. He is head down and LOW! She was surprised at how low he is. She said he might come a little early but not to get too excited. Plus she said the active phase of labor is shorter the second time around. I only pushed 20 minutes with Madeleine so she said he should be super quick once I get to that point!

I told Madeleine that the doctor would be looking at Mommy's tummy and checking out her baby brother. So when the doctor came in she lifted up her shirt and said, "Can you check my tummy too please? There's a baby brother in there!" The doctor about died laughing :)

Oh my goodness.

I can't BELIEVE how much this boy is kicking me! I'm about to take some tylenol pm. I have my 33 or so week appointment tomorrow morning. I like going to the doctor now because it's getting so close! I have to go every two weeks until week 36 then every week. Then hopefully it'll go really fast! Have I mentioned I only have 4 more weeks of work??

We're having a "discussion" about the name I chose. Ken doesn't seem to think it goes with our last name, but the few people I've told think it sounds fine! I do have two others in the running, maybe I should wait until he is born and make the final decision.

We had a great day today. We started out with 8am mass and it was completely packed. The entire school plus like every parent. We ended up in the narthex with no seat until an usher took pity on us and got a chair. We both got ashes and then went to Story hour at Barnes and Nobles, where we saw some good friends. Madeleine and her friend Quinn sat SO well together and listened to the entire hour! I think this was the first time she's made it through the entire hour. Then we went to a friend's house - they have 12 kids! I think Madeleine had the time of her LIFE there! We went to the basement which is their toy area, and Madeleine walked around with her eyes big as saucers saying "Oh my GOSH! Oh my GOSH!" She got to play with lots of new toys and she fit right in with the kids. Their mom gave me some great parenting advice too. Then invited us to stay for lunch and then she took a good nap.

The best advice I think I got was there's never a need to yell. If she does something wrong she goes in time out. I can't "couch parent." I have to actually follow through every single time. So today we walked out to the van after nap to go to the grocery store. She ran out to the driveway and when I called her to come back she said "No!" I immediately picked her up, took her into the house, and sat her in her timeout chair. She was surprised and not happy! The rest of the day she talked about it and even put Elmo in time out for "running away!" She really got it I think.

She also impressed the pants off of a mom at Story hour by singing her entire ABC's. :)

YAY!!

Everything is fixed and they only charged us $157.50!!! As much as I could think of a million other things I'd rather spend that money on, I'm thrilled that is all it was. So I did a bunch of laundry and dishes today (from the whole weekend!) and mopped all the floors again and Ken steam cleaned the carpet again. Everything is almost back to normal around here.

In other news, I was sitting in church last night and I thought of a boy name. This name would be my number one choice but there are a few issues with it, one of them being it doesn't sound THE BEST with our last name. However, few names do sound all that great with it. And I think I could get used to it. I'm going to think it over for awhile. This name I have always loved but I hadn't even thought about it for a while, and never for this kid. But it just hit me last night at church and I think it might be the one. You never know though - I could change my mind again! I was actually up from about 4:30 - 6am thinking about it. Then I fell back asleep and Ken's alarm started going off at 6:15. I also had a nightmare last night that I went into labor when my mom and dad were on vacation - they're going at the end of March. Let's pray THAT does not happen! So basically I didn't sleep much last night!

Oh and I'm not telling the name!!! :)

Fun fun.

So, Friday night I see a few ants in the downstairs bathroom. Ken kills them with some kind of kitchen cleaner and a few paper towels. Then, he flushes them and the paper towels down the toilet.

On Saturday morning I go into the kitchen. It's completely flooded. So is the living room. So is the downstairs bathroom. Ken shopvacs up all the water and I call my brother to borrow the carpet steamer.

Then, we learn that whenever we turn on the kitchen sink, dishwasher, my upstairs shower or flush my toilet, the toilet downstairs overflows again. Suddenly there are ants in the kitchen too.

I have to go to the bathroom. So does Madeleine. Number 2. SEVERAL times on Saturday AND Sunday. The kid decided she loved beans this weekend. Luckily she hits her potty every time. (She's actually doing BETTER wearing her cloth diapers than she was in her pullups. She's only had about 2 accidents all weekend and that was when we were out.)

While the house keeps flooding, I call my dad. My mom and dad are at the Saturday night 5:30 mass but I text them to come over on the way home. Dad says we need a plumber.

Sunday morning we call Rotorooter. They come and can't seem to find the pipe outside that goes toward the house. They quote us $1600. Ken sends him away, goes outside and finds the access under our porch in about 5 minutes. I spend most of the day trying to keep a curious toddler away from the ant traps and changing her socks when she walks through water. Oh, we also have a mouse in the garage Ken's trying to "catch."

Luckily, Ken's toilet and shower seems to be working ok, so we have been using that. But we haven't done any laundry or dishes all weekend.

We called a different plumber and he is coming tomorrow morning at 9am. PLEASE God don't let it be too expensive and PLEASE let it be an easy fix......

Should I get the diapers back out?? with update

So Madeleine is doing PRETTY well on the potty these days, but has not seemed to improve at all for a few months. She does great at home, especially if she doesn't have pants on, but whenever we go out she does not want to go on the potty and just goes in her pullups. I am so sick of buying these things after 18 months of using cloth diapers!! They are so expensive! I have all the diapers I need for her right now. She doesn't want to wear diapers and hates to get changed, especially if she has to lay down. But I'm seriously considering it, at least for night time and naps. Did I try to start too early? What should I do? Should I totally forget about potty training for a few months, or still just let her go at home and wear diapers when we're out?

We did get some potty books and a potty dvd at the library today.... I'm thinking she might regress after the baby is born anyway so I don't want to push it too much.



One good thing about using diapers again - at least she could keep her pants up!!

*Update* So today I got a few potty books and a potty dvd at the library. We read all the books and she loved them. We watched the movie and she went number 2 on the potty after that, and she's gone number 1 a few times. HOWEVER.... she also peed on the couch (mostly on her silkies) and on my lap TWICE TODAY!! WHAT? She never does that. I don't know what is going on here. I'm almost thinking I should give it up completely until the boy is a few months old? But I have no idea.

Better picture

This is from my phone. I couldn't resist posting another picture! She had SO much fun with this and was really sad when they actually had to start playing and she had to get down! Also the drummer has 4 kids who were all there this weekend and Madeleine LOVED them. Especially the youngest one in second grade - she wanted to play with her the whole time and sit with her in Mass on Sunday.

Thrill of her weekend

I SO wish he was going to be here for St. Paddy's day....

LOVE these little pants :)

Getting ideas....

How cool would something like this be? I have never decorated a cake. Does anyone have any tips? Jenni H? Ken said he could get a great deal at the music store where he teaches guitar lessons and get her bongo drums for her birthday! I think she would LOVE it and we could have a drum cake too!!! I find it so funny that she loves drums so much! But it thrills me! It could be a passing phase or a lifelong hobby, whichever is fine with me - I just want her to do what she loves :)

Madeleine's birthday is coming up...

Wow, my little angel will be TWO in just a few weeks! I can't believe it, and at the same time it's much easier to deal with than when she was turning ONE and I cried for a month :) Plus it's weird to think that the NEXT month we will have a newborn again!! I don't think THAT has really sunk in yet....

She is really excited about her birthday, ever since her cousin Eli's birthday party a few weeks ago. She keeps saying "It's almost Madeleine's birthday! Say, 'Happy Birthday Madeleine!'"

So I'm thinking about a party. It's probably going to be pretty simple, but should we have it at our house? Mom's house? Something music themed? Somewhere kid friendly where I don't have to clean up the mess? :) We don't have a lot of money to spend, especially since I accidently backed into my mom's car yesterday and left a dent! But that is a whole different story....

I should probably get on this! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Our great weekend in Durham

Madeleine and I had such a wonderful time this weekend with our friends in Durham!! They are the BEST hosts. They got a pack n play for Madeleine to sleep in so we wouldn't have to bring one. They cooked delicious meals for us and would entertain Madeleine while I finished eating. They took GREAT care of us. We enjoyed the amazing weather and played outside a lot! She enjoyed playing in the mud and we had to do a few loads of laundry! We went on a beautiful hike and I actually wore a short sleeved shirt outside for the first time in several months!

It was SO nice to be outside! In fact we had such a great time and enjoyed the company and weather so much that we decided to stay an extra day. These free standby plane tickets really come in handy!

She LOVED their dog and cat, and probably wore them completely out so they will sleep the rest of the week :) They have another cat too, but he was not a fan of the kiddo and we hardly saw him.

I stole this picture from my friend's blog - I just loved it . Madeleine was really really good this weekend! I was actually shocked how great she did. I was so nervous about travelling by myself with her but I would actually do it again! She had her moments but overall it was a good experience. She also took great naps and slept wonderfully at their house at night, even though she came down with a little cold toward the end of the trip.

We got to do some knitting, one of my favorite things! I got to teach my friend a few tricks and finished her scarf for her that she's been working on for a while :) We had such a relaxing weekend - watched a few movies, went to mass, hung out and just had a great time. They are such wonderful friends - we are praying they move closer one day!!

We had a rough last plane trip with a kid who was exhausted but refused to sleep! However as soon as she got in her stroller, THIS is what happened....

She was a trooper this weekend though. Thanks D and P for having us and for being such great hosts!

My little Drummer Girl

My girl LOVES to drum! She's been going to Music class for several months now and learning about rhythm, different beats, melodies, hearing harmonies, etc. She LOVES it. She loves it enough that we are sacrificing (money) to keep her going through at least one more session. I will post more on that later with more pictures. But she is CRAZY about drumming. She probably drums for at least an hour a day. It's the first thing she wants to do when she gets up. She sings all different songs and plays all different rhythms. I think she has some natural talent. This is the little drum my mom got for her for Christmas. Sorry about the "Just Woke Up" hair!

Ken taught her how to drum fast and slow, loud and soft. She practices ALL day. At music class she sometimes gets to play "real" drums and she is in heaven.

A few nights ago we went over to Sarah and Chris's house for dinner before band practice. As we were getting ready to leave, the drummer got there and started setting up. So she got to play an entire drumset and I'm not sure I've ever seen her so excited. She did NOT want to leave. She got to bed about an hour late that night and then drummed up in her crib for about another hour.

Honey, if that is what makes you happy, go for it! Luckily your Daddy knows something about drumming.

Ken even said there's a random tom that's been laying around the music store where he's taught guitar lessons for many years. He's going to see if we can get it for her birthday. I can't tell you how thrilled she would be.

Happy February!

According to my Ivillage updates, I'm 29 weeks today, and the baby weighs almost 3 lbs and is 13 inches long! No wonder it feels like he's about to kick me out of the chair I'm sitting in sometimes!

Also THIS line from the update really got me laughing:

He or she may be up all night and asleep all day, which is making rest tough for you! Don't worry, this doesn't guarantee that your baby will be a night owl after birth. He or she probably won't sleep through the night until about 6 weeks of age or so...

6 WEEKS!!!! SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT?? Where are these babies they're talking about???

I suppose I should go pretend to watch the superbowl....