Happy Birthday Andrea!

Happy Birthday Andrea!

Greg's youngest sister's birthday is today! She's one more reason we're so grateful to live so close by so much family! The girls love to play with their Aunt Andrea, and Annie's been excitedly singing "Happy Birthday" to her all morning!

Here's Annie her first Christmas Eve with Aunt Andrea . . . when people ask me where Annie gets her curly hair, Greg's and my little sisters are exhibits A and B! Annie also has Andrea's ears -- I'm talking exactly, she has the same little dimple on the back of her ear as her Aunt Andrea does.

Andrea with the girls in 2008.

Andrea and Ellie at the girls' birthday party last May. You can totally see the family resemblance, right?

One of my favorite pictures from Yellowstone -- Greg and Andrea walking down one of the pathways with teeny tiny Ellie.

Andrea being tickled by Connor and Annie in Logan on the way home from Yellowstone.

I told Annie I was going to be putting together a blog post about Aunt Andrea's birthday, and she insisted on helping. So, turning the time over to Annie:
I love you and I love you over at Grandma Ruth's house. And I love Grandma Ruth too. That's what. Mom, why is Andrea having another birthday if she had one before with us [we had a birthday lunch on Saturday since Andrea's going on vacation this week] AND going to Disneyland for her birthday? [We had to take a quick break here while I explained the difference between a birthday party and an actual birthday.]
I love Andrea, she is very nice, but Uncle James tickles me. I love that she has two birthdays. I like that she plays without tickling us as much as Uncle James does. She has a cat! I can write cat, Mom. It's "C". And then . . . um. What comes next Mom? Nevermind, can we watch Cinderella?

So, there were the random thoughts from Annie to her Aunt on her birthday!

Then, my favorite part of all this, was Ellie was sitting on my lap, saw the picture above and said, "Annra!" (Something she hasn't said before). And then mimed tickling herself and laughed and pointed at the picture again.

Daily Calisthenics with Grandpa

My parents stopped by last night to see the girls. The girls got a pretty good workout, playing hard with their grandparents. Grandma & Grandpa probably burned their fair share of calories too! There was running around chasing a laser pointer light, endless rounds of "Ring Around the Rosies" (my poor Mom was really starting to look dizzy), running from the Tickle Monster (i.e. Grandpa), walking on the ceiling, and my childhood favorite: being bench pressed by my Dad.

Here's my Dad benching Ellie. We did this ALL the time when I was a kid -- it was all about balance, and seeing how long you could keep from being wobbly, before Dad would suddenly vault you into the air and catch you on the way down. Ellie would have pretty decent balance, if it wasn't for the fact she tries to 'bounce' the whole time she's up there.

Annie helping to steady Ellie.

Go Annie! No hands!

Then Grandpa got tricky! Team lifts!

Ellie's bouncing was making it harder for Annie to stay up straight and for Grandpa to keep them steady.

Annie put on her sunglasses, and informed us that we all now looked like rock stars.

Here's video of the girls being lifted up together.


Annie then wanted to try lifting people too. She tried lifting Daddy to no avail. She did a bit better with Ellie!


Ellie, much like a Labrador, will happily chase around after a laser pointer light, for long stretches of time. She'll 'catch' it under her foot (whoever is operating the laser pointer quickly turns it off when she steps on the right spot on the floor), then when she slowly lifts her foot to check it, the light 'escapes' and runs away again. It's great exercise, and highly amusing for the rest of us. Is that bad? :-)
On Sunday night though, she found she could dive to the floor and 'catch' the light in her mouth. Then spit it out forcefully and it would appear again and take off and need to be chased again. This was cracking us up to no end. So, we tried to get some video of it when she was doing it again on Tuesday. This was the best video we got. It doesn't do the whole scene justice, but it was was something.

(We were also doing laser shows on the ceiling with all the lights off on Sunday night with multiple laser pointers. Annie exclaimed that it was the best night ever.)

Then Annie practiced walking on the ceiling.

Update Lite

So, I really don't have anything to update.

I'm sure the kids have said cute things, full of precocious antics and adorableness. But all I remember lately is that they're sleeping like crap. Waking up repeatedly during the night. Teething, illness, nightmares, and falling out of bed. And I wake up each time. (My amazing husband actually goes in and takes care of them, I just wake up -- and then stay awake. For like an hour or more.) I'm tired. I'm entering another phase of my on again off again pregnancy insomnia. And it's causing PTSD-ish flashes of, "Holy crap, I'm going to have a new baby and I'm going to be so tired, and what was I thinking, and I just want to fall back asleep 'cause it's 3AM, but I can't 'cause all I can think about is how I'm NEVER GOING TO SLEEP AGAIN." The other night Annie was screaming 'cause she'd fallen out of her bed in the middle of the night, Ellie was screaming because Annie's screaming woke her up and scared her, and the baby was kicking furiously in my stomach and for the first time I thought, "Oh my goodness, there's going to be three of them. And they have the potential to ALL wake up at the same time and there's only two of Greg and I." Eeep!

This is where you can all assure me my next will likely be a great sleeper who loves naps. Right?

Recipe Exchange

We had my parents over for dinner and dessert tonight. Our dinner was Greg's world famous homemade pizza. Just for fun, I'm gonna share our recipe.

First, the dough:

2 1/2 C. Medium Hot Water
5 tsp. SAF Instant Yeast*
2 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp. Oil
1 tsp. Salt
6 C. Flour (we do this 100% whole wheat, it's a bit chewier, less crispy on the bottom, but still really good)
Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees or so.
2. Add all ingredients into our Kitchen Aid. Gradually add approximately 6 cups of flour.
3. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the pan.
4. Allow to double in size (About 10-15 minutes)
5. Roll out dough in two cookie sheets (we do just over 1/3 of the dough in one for my 'thinner' pizza, and the rest in another for Greg's thicker pizza -- we have a lot of left overs or we have people over when we make this. You could easily half the recipe as well.)
6. Top with pizza toppings.

Our topping preferences:
A very thin layer of alfredo sauce on the dough.
Baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped or whole, covering the sauce.
Top with mozarella.
Cook up sausage (we prefer Jimmy Dean's Hot -- great flavor with almost no fat) then saute onions in fat.
Spread sausage and onions on the pizza, then put in oven (one at a time -- bottom shelf) until crust is done.

Mmmmmmm.

For dessert we made homemade Reeses Miniatures. These are possibly the most addictive substance known to man. And the kids sure had a good time rolling out the peanut butter mixture and dipping them in chocolate:







They're the simplest things to make too . . . you just start with the centers:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 c. melted butter
1 package (10) graham crackers (crushed fine)
2 c. peanut butter

Mix all ingredients. (The graham crackers seemed weird to me at first, but they totally give these the Reese's peanut butter texture.) Let is sit in the fridge for awhile, then roll small balls and dip in chocolate (we just used chocolate chips melted in the microwave.) Then you're supposed to let them cool and set up, but we just ate them with warm chocolate dripping off them. :-)

Then, just some other pictures from this week.
Annie goofing off for the camera the other day.

Ellie and Daddy watching Dumbo on the computer. This is her favorite past time while sick.

Ellie really getting into the movie.

Annie still mugging for the camera.

Annie wanted to help me take pictures of my pregnant belly. I didn't know until I looked at it later that it really was just my belly she got in the shot. :-) This is the only picture she took, and my face isn't anywhere near in frame, but it wasn't a bad shot of the belly (at 22 weeks).

More Protein, Please

So, apparently I've been getting too much 'empty calorie' food as of late. I try and eat healthy -- I make good food for the kids, buy a ton of expensive produce, and try and cook real meals made from scratch. But this pregnancy has found me hungry much of the time, but with no real desire for food. Meat, for instance. I could eat meatless meals every night of the week and not miss it in the least. Instead, I'm filling my body with random, easy food every few hours instead of the same high quality, healthy stuff I insist my children eat.

Turns out, when you do such a thing, your appointment at the midwives' office will betray your crappy habits and flash a huge EIGHT POUND weight gain across the scale. Crap.

My midwife wasn't actually that worried about it -- I'd only gained a few pounds the month before, and unless I keep up the colossal gain, I'm on track to gain a normal-ish amount of weight for the pregnancy. But it stressed me out. I found myself worrying about it the entire ride home, mentally obsessing over what I'm 'doing wrong', barely noticing when I ran a freaking red light! That snapped me back to reality, and I pulled over and took a few deep breaths and decided to calm down a bit.

I don't worry too much about the weight I gain in pregnancy. I've managed to lose the weight from my first two pregnancies (admittedly though, when I only gained 15 lbs. with Annie's pregnancy, it was a heck of a lot easier to lose the pregnancy weight and then some vs. Ellie's 40 lb. pregnancy gain that took several months longer to lose.) My bigger concern is where I know I'm lacking in my diet. Protein. I don't gain a lot of weight when I'm eating enough protein during pregnancy, but replace that with my diet full of quick, easy carbs and the pounds pack on.

So, it's time to reevaluate. Not just because I don't want to be double my normal size by the time I have the baby, but because protein is what's growing my baby and preparing my body for birth.

So, I'm drinking milk more often, despite it not being a favorite.

Replacing salty snacks, like crackers, with more nuts.

Eggs. Getting creative in working those into my diet (as I'm not a big fan of straight up egg dishes -- but french toast I can do.)

And, ugh, meat. I'm working chicken back into the diet a bit more. Even adding some lean red meats (despite them holding zero appeal for me -- I'm over the morning sickness, but my aversion to some of this stuff is as strong as it was at 9 weeks pregnant!) The key to this is making a bunch of meat dishes when I am in the mood for them, then just have them waiting in the freezer ready to go, for when cooking chicken is the last thing I want to do.

I have a bunch of frozen edamame in my freezer that I was eating as a snack all the time earlier in my pregnancy (probably during that 2 lb. weight gain month) . . . I should bust those out again!

Doubling the amount of yogurt in my morning smoothie. Making sure I make my morning smoothie, instead of getting lazy and just eating a banana for breakfast and nothing else 'til after 10AM.

My midwife's big suggestion was making sure we're getting a bunch of protein from whole grains -- but I feel good about that, since we eat almost exclusively whole wheat breads and pastas. I'm even making 1-3 loaves of whole wheat bread most weeks (did I mention I got a handy dandy wheat grinder for Christmas? And we're busting it out at least weekly to replace the wheat flour we're using.) Greg makes us whole wheat waffles and pizza dough at least once a week. Even something like cookies or sweet breads we use whole wheat. The one I haven't worked into my diet yet is more oatmeal. It just hasn't appealed to me lately -- but maybe I could try it again . . .

Heck, I'm even thinking of switching out my plain M&Ms for the almond kind. That's a good step, right? :-)


Hopefully with some more forethought and conscientious planning, I can manage to feed myself in a more healthful way this month. And not have to run red lights on the way home due to the trauma of near-double-digit-weight-gains! :-)

Any suggestions on healthy, easy, protein-heavy snacks for me to incorporate into my diet?

And, because it's semi-related -- Annie this evening kept getting annoyed when she was trying to cuddle up on my lap to watch a movie. She kept squirming around, trying to get comfortable, then she'd grumble something like, "I can't even stay on you Mom! It's like baby Isaac is just trying to push me right off!"
(The funny thing is she had plenty of room -- I mean, I'm only like 22 weeks pregnant, there's not that big of a baby bump (even with that extra nine pounds) -- she just couldn't get comfortable and it was annoying her to no end. So, she blamed the baby. I can't wait 'til she can actually feel him kicking her off my lap, that'll really piss her off!)

Oh, and we were at the doctor's office with Ellie today. We waited, along with about a dozen other people with coughing children, forever in the waiting room. Annie was getting very impatient, and started to loudly ask questions like, "Have they forgotten us?" "Is it our turn yet?" "Are they ever going to see Ellie?" "What are they waiting for?" Then, "Wait! They got here after us! Why do they get to go in!?" The people around us were amused.
Another time Annie was asking Ellie questions like, "So Ellie. Tell me. Who's your favorite? Mom or Dad?" The guy who'd been playing with his iPhone and ignoring us the entire time suddenly busted out laughing at that one.
Once we got in, Annie decided being put in the 'Beauty and the Beast' room (each exam room has giant murals painted on the walls -- this one being her favorite so far) was worth the wait. Ellie was running a 100 degree fever, her coughing was horrible, but her oxygen was at a decent 95%, so it's not bad enough to really stress about yet. Stupid RSV. Her ears are clear though, which was actually the main thing I was having them check out. I pretty much knew going in there wasn't anything they'd be able to do if she didn't have an ear infection -- it just always feels better for some reason after you've spent $15 to be told to do all the things you're already doing (like use a humidifier and tylenol.)

Oh -- and Ellie weighed in at a whopping 22 lbs. (dressed). She's really packing on the pounds now! :-)

Our Litte Gymnast

Earlier today, Annie watched some college gymnastics on television, completely mesmerized. Her favorite thing had to be the floor routines. She'd watch in awe, and exclaim, "I can do that!"

So I shouldn't have been too surprised when she later started running down the hall, into my room, and at full speed throwing herself into headfirst somersaults. Over and over again.

There were only minor injuries. Fortunately, none that involved her neck or spine.

Edited to add: I may be speaking too soon, but it's only 7:15, and both of my children appear to be fast asleep in their room. Crazy.
Especially surprising, since Annie got in trouble before bed and lost her 'reading books' privileges, and was put to bed 10 minutes before Ellie. Once Ellie joined her in the room, we heard a few minutes of comments such as: "I now wish I didn't share a room with Ellie! I wish we never shared a room!" But, within another few minutes, silence. Wow.

Getting Better . . . and Worse

Annie seems to be feeling much better. She coughs uncontrollably for about 30 seconds every few hours, we have to wipe her nose a bit more than usual, but all in all, she seems practically normal today.
Which, of course, means that Ellie's cough has progressed to hacking, her nose is a faucet set to on, her eyes are red rimmed and puffy, and at last check she was running a low grade fever.
They are conspiring against me so that we're trapped inside forever.

As far as the new bedroom situation goes:
Last night went better than expected. Sure, neither was asleep 'til after 8:30PM (when Ellie usually goes down between 7-7:30), but they both eventually slept, and Annie never cried once. She rather sweetly tried to calm her sister down, sing her songs, and talk to her. Greg kept itchin' to go in there and tell them to stop talking and go to sleep, but I suggested we let them figure this out on their own. By 8:30 things finally quieted down. When I looked in at 8:45, Annie was fast asleep. Ellie was laying in bed, staring up at this strange new ceiling, and quietly contemplating the situation she's found herself in. She was asleep by 9PM. To the best of my knowledge.
Coughing fits hit them sporadically throughout the night, but it never seemed to wake the other. Until about 5:30AM, when they both woke up coughing, then we could hear them in there chatting it up. That's when I told Greg (at 5:45AM), "OK, now you can go in and tell them to go to sleep already." Which worked quite effectively. Ellie started her typical on and off fussing around 6:30AM. This is what I've been most nervous about. See, Ellie wakes up, and noisily drifts in and out of sleep for a half hour or better every morning. I leave her there 'til at least 7AM (or if she falls back asleep deeply enough, she'll stay down 'til almost 7:30AM). If I go in and check on her though, she's up from 6:30AM. This is what's freaked me out about putting them in the same room. So, this morning, I chanced it and left her in there to whine and moan, until about 7:05AM. Miraculously, Annie slept through it all, and even when I went in to go get Ellie after 7, and was met with an enthusiastically loud, "Mama!" Annie didn't wake up until about 20 minutes later. So, again, better than I'd even hoped for!
Nap time today didn't work out quite as well. Ellie took an early nap, on account of feeling like crap, but had only been asleep for a half hour when Annie suddenly burst into her room to get something, completely forgetting her little sister now naps in there. This woke up Ellie instantly and she never did get back to sleep.
As for tonight -- Ellie's having the time of her life aggravating her sister. "Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna," she chants as she jumps up and down in her crib. I was up to my computer in the other room across the hall, on the phone with my Mom, and my Mom was chuckling 'cause she could hear Ellie's cheering of her sister's name over and over again. Annie keeps pleading with her to just lay down and fall asleep already. A minute ago Annie called, "Daddy! Ellie's not sleeping and she's standing up and can you please come in here and tell her to lay down and go to sleep!" It kind of cracks me up that Annie's suddenly the sleep police, and seems very concerned about this lack of beauty sleep she's getting . . .

But right this second, they're both giggling uncontrollably. Sure, it's 45 minutes past bedtime . . . but it's adorable.

(Edited to add: it's after 9PM and they're both awake. But both have remained relatively calm and happy, and their antics right now are more cute than annoying (this'll last a day or two, tops). I keep reminding myself they'll get used to it before I know it, and pretty soon they'll both be going down at a decent hour again!) :-)

Put in My Place

Yesterday, during a lunch of incredible pumpkin waffles that Greg made us, I was worried when I noticed the near-baseball sized scoop of peanut butter he'd put on Ellie's plate for dipping. This mainly coming from the fact that I had spent nearly 20 minutes the day before, cleaning up smeared peanut butter from our chairs, table, floor, and random parts of the kitchen (when Greg had given her a big heaping scoop of peanut butter with french toast -- the man is making sure she gets her protein or something!) (And I have a nagging unnatural fear of Ellie sealing her mouth shut with a gob of peanut butter and choking.) (But mainly, this was about the mess potential). Anyway, I sighed, frustrated when Ellie grabbed a handful and started smearing it all over the table. I looked at Greg, and rather uncharitably grumbled, "You're cleaning it up this time, so grab a wet washcloth."

Annie, standing next to me, glanced up, rather surprised, and said, "Please Mom." I turned and looked at her. She added, "We say 'please, Dad' . . . 'grab a wet washcloth, please, Dad."

Put in my place by a three year old. Check.

(Hey, at least she's come to expect good manners out of me!)

It Has Begun . . .

The girls are officially moved into one bedroom for the first time. Heaven help us. :-) I expect to not sleep much the next several weeks, but hopefully they'll prove me wrong.

(This is from tonight, as Daddy is reading the girls books on Annie's new bed right before we put them down in a shared bedroom for the first time ever.)

The transition has been in the works all week. First, we moved all of Ellie's clothes and things (including all the 18-24 month spring/summer stuff out of storage and all washed and sorted) into Annie's room. Condensing two full closets into one -- it's a miracle of near loaves and fishes proportions that we made it all fit. We washed and sorted all the baby boy clothes and blankets and other hand-me-downs and got them all put away in Ellie's old nursery. We moved ALL toys downstairs to the playroom (where the carpet has been relaid and the walls are all finished and touched up now), leaving only a handful of 'special' dolls and stuffed animals up on the girls beds. We got the extra crib out of the attic above the garage ('cause no way am I moving Ellie to a bed from a beloved child-confining-crib until she can clear her crib rails in a single bound or something), dusted it and got it all set up, bedding washed and all. We decided at the last minute to take down the toddler bed Annie's been in, and get her into the twin size bed now anyway (since when the baby comes we'll need the other toddler/crib mattress, so might as well make the switch now than just introduce yet another change a few months down the road.) So now one half of the bunk bed set Annie's preschool teacher kindly handed down to us has been cleaned and set up in Annie's room. Complete with new Disney Princess bedding. Yesterday the room was put together, and both girls were so excited. Annie was upset when I wouldn't let Ellie sleep in there last night (since Annie's hacking cough should only keep up so many people in the house), but tonight there was no talking her out of it, and we acquiesced and they are both in their new beds in their new 'sisters room.'

I think Annie's rethinking her decision though. Greg just walked in our room, leaving a screaming Ellie and a freaking-out Annie, ("Ellie, STOP screaming, it's time for bed. Go to SLEEP!") alone in their new room, and asked, "Are we sure this is a good idea?"

No. No, we're not. We just don't have a lot of other options. Unless we sleep the new baby in the extra upstairs bathtub 'til Annie's old enough to move down to the basement by herself. :-)

(Ten minutes later -- Ellie's still crying, although not as frantically. Miraculously though, Annie isn't crying. Which is saying something for our three year old, who spends most evenings crying and whining from her bedroom loudly about how she shouldn't be made to sleep. This may just have some unforeseen benefits.)

(Five more minutes -- Ellie's not quite crying anymore. Just whimpering a little. Annie's sweetly saying, "OK
Ellie, I want to go to sleep now, OK?" (Which is possibly the first time in her entire life she's ever admitted any such thing). I'm finding myself annoyed I can't hear the rest of their sisterly conversation, since my dryer is running, and Greg's watching "Red Green" on TV. I'd love to hear more of this . . . I'm considering setting up some form of listening/recording device . . .)

(One hour past normal bedtime: Annie's sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her sister approximately 740 times. It's sweet, but might be part of the reason she's still awake. Also, Annie started repeating the phrase, "Ellie, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" over and over again a few minutes ago . . . it seems to piss Ellie off. Possibly 'cause she's now worried her new bed has bugs.)

Disappointed

Annie was supposed to give her very first talk ever in Primary. She was so excited. I was so excited. Her coughing finally seemed to be subsiding, so I thought we were gonna be able to pull this off. Then this morning she suddenly started throwing up while walking down the stairs to breakfast. Dang it.

Good News & Bad News

Good News:
• Our tax return is here. Yay!
• The carpet guys are currently downstairs finishing the last step of our basement remodel (made necessary from the flooding in October). I'll be able to put together the toy room again, and send the kids (and all the toys) downstairs to play again.
• Both girls slept 'til 7:40AM (a good half hour to an hour later than normal for them.)
• Ellie's down for a nap. By 11AM.
• The kids happily watched the entire "Dumbo" movie while I laid in bed this morning.

Bad News:
• The kids are sick. Annie coughed all night, and it's getting worse today. Ellie's snot is smeared on every possible surface of the house. The sheets I washed yesterday. The clothes were all wearing. Toys, pillows and blankets. We're gonna be doing laundry non-stop for days. (And what isn't covered in snot, is slathered with Vaseline, which she got into before her nap.) They're both sick enough to be grumpy and ornery, but not sick enough to just want to lay in bed and cuddle with me.
• I'm not doing so hot either. I can't walk up or down a single flight of stairs without a full fledged asthma attack. And our house is on three levels. And I'm feeling nauseous. Ugh.
• I'm considering switching to a 'dry cereal only' rule for breakfast. Which will be only eaten out on the back porch. The girls has yogurt parfaits for breakfast (plain yogurt mixed with applesauce, layered with bananas and cheerios), and they both managed to spill their bowls TWICE. (EACH!) Then Ellie spilled her milk, dropped her dirty spoon while trying to put it in the sink, then tracked the splashed yogurt all over the floor with her footie pajamas. And have I mentioned my asthma attacks? Not helpful when I need to mop the floor and scrub chairs.
• Ellie taking an 11AM nap, means she won't take a 2PM nap, which makes for a VERY grumpy baby come 5PM.

iPod & Village Inn & I've Annoyed Off the IRS

iPod:
Only a decade or so behind the curve, I am now the proud owner of an iPod . . . with music, videos and pictures all loaded, favorite radio stations tagged, and I'm becoming a near expert on holding the tiny Nano while filming video of my kids. I feel so 'with it'.

But, I'm coming to you for some advice. Since pretty much everyone (Annie included) knows more about iPods than me . . .

Do I need a cover/case? If so, what kind is best?
What accessories are worth it? What are a waste of time and money?
Is there any chance I'll start using the Nike Pedometer feature to walk myself to better health? (Um, no, probably not.)


Village Inn:
Nothing beats going to Village Inn, eating pie, and staying and talking with an old friend until they start turning out the lights. Except maybe when they give you that pie for free (with any other purchase). That just tops off the whole evening. My friend Jessi and I had debated eating at 'classier' joints, but where else can you go and sit and take up a table for hours and hours without feeling guilty? So, we met up around 7PM, and talked and laughed and enjoyed triple berry pie up until we noticed the rest of the place was pretty much empty, I'd finished my third glass of water an hour ago, and they'd just turned off the lights in the front half of the restaurant. We made our way outside, and if it weren't for the bitter cold, I may not have made it home before midnight. As it was, we both froze our butts off within just a couple minutes and finally managed to part ways. The funny thing is I could've talked for hours more, and never have run out of things to talk about. I came home so wired from having had such great girl talk time, that I started recounting topics of conversation to Greg until he finally started reading scriptures aloud over my chatter, in an attempt to move me a little closer to letting him go to bed. It kinda worked.
It was the third night in a row I've ditched Greg to get the kids to bed on his own (thanks!), and not gotten to sleep 'til after 1AM, but it was well worth it. Oooh, and Jessi picked up the bill. I'm beyond spoiled. :-)

Jessi - we should set up a monthly 'appointment' for such activities! Like every 2nd Wednesday or something cheesy like that. I never remember just how worthwhile making time for these kinds of things is until I actually do it. If anyone else wants to meet up, just let us know!


IRS:
So, the government and TurboTax got my hopes up with a whole "You should expect your tax return on Friday, Feb 12th." That's when my sister was expecting hers, and she got hers several days early. My sister-in-law was likewise promised money by that Friday, and it showed up in time. Me? I anxiously waited. Repeatedly checking my checking account, as well as setting up new e-alerts on it so I'd be texted AND emailed when the money showed up. And I waited some more. And it wasn't there on Friday. Or the next Monday. I checked the "Where's My Refund?" IRS site, and was informed I could expect my deposit on February 23rd. That's like a week and a half later! I was very disappointed, and kept up my diligent stalking of my checking account, as well as the "Where's My Refund?" page, hoping for some good news about my date being bumped up. (Oddly, I haven't figured out why this means anything to me -- the money is earmarked for a new shed and sandbox -- so it's not like we're gonna even touch it for months, and yet I've developed a slight obsession with the dates the money is supposed to be deposited.) Anyway, for days it mocked me with it's 'next Tuesday' date. Until a few days ago when it suddenly changed to a significantly longer message:

Your tax refund is scheduled to be direct deposited on February 19, 2010. If your refund is not credited to your account by February 24, 2010, check with your bank to find out if it has been received. Please wait until February 24, 2010 before you contact us again because we are unable to take any action until then.

I should be happy it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. But instead I feel like the IRS just told me to back off and stop being such an obsessive freak. :-)

So To Speak

I've mentioned Ellie's amazing non-verbal communication skills (and my subsequent fears she'll never talk.) The other day we had a perfect example of why Ellie feels absolutely zero need to verbally communicate with us . . .

We have an umbrella that's shaped like an elephant. Complete with big elephant ears. Ellie is nearly as obsessed with elephants as she is grandfathers. Once the girls are done playing with it, I tend to put it away out of sight, like on the top shelf of the coat closet. For a few reasons really . . . I don't want it destroyed, and I don't want everything else in my house destroyed by umbrella wielding children. Someone always gets injured when the girls play with umbrellas inside the house. Sometimes me.

Anyway, the hankerin' to play with an elephant umbrella apparently hit Ellie outta nowhere one day. But, of course, she couldn't find it during her search of the house. So, she comes walking up to me . . . in one hand, a regular umbrella (a small travel kind that she'd gotten out of the diaper bag by the back door). In the other, a stuffed elephant. She walked up to me, thrust the umbrella forward, then with the other hand, thrust the elephant forward. Then smooshed the two of them up against each other and stared at me expectantly. It took me approximately a second and a half, and I asked, "Do you want the elephant umbrella Ellie?" She smiled and responded, "Yeah."

Is it any wonder this kid feels no need to talk?

Practice, Practice, Practice

I took the cutest pictures of Ellie this morning. But they were of her walking around with my underwear on her head (which she does often. She likes to fall asleep cuddling such clothing items as well. I don't know quite what to do about this.) The pictures are adorable and funny, but inappropriate for internet sharing.

Anyway, the real point of this post. Greg's been getting his fair share of practice for raising a teenage son. My parents have been out of town, and my brother has been a tad, well, needy.

First, on Saturday, the day of the Sweetheart's Dance, Cody forgot his tie and called Greg and asked him to bring it to wherever their activity was.

My thoughts: I don't care if it's specially bought just to match his date's dress . . . how dumb was he in forgetting it, how hard is it to pack everything you'll need to get ready . . . seems like a good learning experience to me. (My one problem though was that my Mom was the one who'd bought the tie, and therefore I didn't want it to 'go to waste' for her sake. Although I later talked to her, and she responded, "I told him ten times not to forget the tie. The dork.")
Greg's: Sure, why not, I can do that.

Then, Greg spent his Saturday night over at my parent's house, confined to their bedroom watching "Harry Potter" while he was 'chaperoning' the after-dance party from 9:30PM-12:30AM. While 8 wild teenagers ran around blowing into a conch shell and loudly playing crazy teenage tag in the house for hours.

This morning Greg got a call at 6:30AM. Seems Cody had locked himself out of his house (what huh!?) and needed Greg to come by and bring the spare key over to let him in. Greg ran right over there and rescued him, while I stayed in bed, mumbling stuff about my brother being an idiot, and wondering why he was outside at 6:30 in the morning (it's too early to be leaving for school, right?) and vowing to get to the bottom of the mystery once I was more alert. Then I fell back asleep. Greg got home, had just a minute to finish getting ready for work, then had to leave. I asked him, "So, why was Cody locked outside? What's up with that?" Greg's response, "I don't know, I just brought him the key." He didn't even seem annoyed. Not even a little. That level of patience is not of this world.

Greg's gonna be good at this raising a teenager thing. Me, I probably won't be as nice. :-)

Annie the Genius

Annie has her Uncle David over, and we just overheard the following statement from my daughter:
"Here David, let me show you the trick to putting together this puzzle . . . it's really hard if you're not a genius like me."
This was after she'd told her Aunt Talina when she first got the puzzle out, "Talina, you can help me put it together, 'cause it's really hard for people who aren't smart, or geniuses, like us."

Different Each Time . . .

I remember being pregnant with Annie, and wondering if I'd ever feel her move. I made it to the magical '20 week mark', where you're supposed to be feeling the baby move, and I was still unsure I'd ever felt her move when I knew it was her. One of the most surreal experiences was watching on ultrasound, as she literally walked herself around my uterus, in some tricky sommersault . . . and realizing the entire time I wasn't feeling it at all. As cool as it was to watch, it was a bit Alien-ish, as I watched evidence of a fully functioning, moving, kicking, squirming, flipping human being moving inside me and feeling almost none of it. It took a few more weeks before I was regularly feeling her move . . . and weeks more before her movements could be felt from the outside. (And she was one wiggly baby . . . every doctor or ultrasound tech commented on her nonstop antics, it just took awhile before I recognized and regularly felt her kicks and hiccups).
Even then, Greg was only able to occasionally feel her move. He would watch as my stomach contorted and spasmed, and we'd marvel at her ability to nearly stick her butt through my side . . . but the second Greg would put his hand on my stomach, she'd become perfectly still. It worked so well, that I would, at times, roll over during the night and gently shake him and ask, "Can you put you hand on my stomach and make her go back to sleep?" She had a supernatural ability to recognize Greg . . . he'd even try to silently sneak up on my belly, as to not tip her off, and yet, as soon as his large hands rested on my stomach she went perfectly still.
He was able to feel Ellie more often, but she wasn't a 'put on a show for anyone' kinda of baby either. Like most 2nd time Moms, I'd felt her move much, much earlier (14 weeks, maybe?) And Greg was able to feel her move earlier as well. But, I've hear stories of parents pushing on the belly, getting a push back in response and they'd make a little 'back and forth' game of it as entertainment. My girls were more, "Hey! That's my space! Don't push there!" then they'd retreat back by my spine, refusing to participate in such games. Probably pouting.
So Greg and I have been pleasantly surprised this pregnancy. Our baby boy made himself known around 13-14 weeks. And, shocking to us both, Greg actually happened to have his hand resting across my stomach when I was about 15 weeks pregnant, and we suddenly both exclaimed, "Wow! Did you feel that?!" (Keep in mind at that at that stage, the kid is only like 4-5 ounces). Last night, during my 20th week, Greg was able to feel the baby kick and move several times during just a minute or two period. This baby is as wiggly as his siblings, but seems more likely to let his Dad in on it. The girls just liked to make me look crazy, as I'd describe in detail their antics to Greg, only to have them calm down when he was around . . . this baby actually kicks it up a notch for his Dad. It's really cool. (Except for Greg not being able to put the baby to sleep with his mere touch like he could with Annie. That was so useful.)


And, just for fun, here's some random pictures . . .

This was Ellie this morning. She's pouting on the bed. Which isn't the point of the picture . . . people always ask me if she has any curl like Annie, and when she was laying down I noticed her hair had dried with a little curl in it today and thought I'd get a picture.

Here's Ellie napping the other day. She's like a budding scientist or something. :-)

Then this is what I've been doing with a lot of my time lately . . .
Here's a pile of baby boy hand me downs I've sorted and laundered.
I even moved everything out of Ellie's armoire and dresser into Annie's closet, and we're preparing to put them into the same room sometime in the next week or so. Pray for me. I'm convinced they'll never sleep again.

And, my first 'baby boy purchases'. I just wanted a few basics in newborn size. I know a lot of kids skip right to the 0-3 months sizes, or at least grow out of them in a matter of days, but both of my kids have been between 6-6.5 lbs, so we've actually spent several weeks, even a month or more, wearing newborn sizes. We're hoping our baby boy will be a bit bigger at birth, but figured a few onesies and basics that don't drown him the first week or two were worth the investment. (My friend who handed down her baby clothes to me had like an 8.5 lb. baby, so there was no newborn stuff in the pile.) :-)
My Mom was a bit disappointed in my shopping selections. "Where's the blue?"
I wasn't too worried -- knowing my Mom's taste, I don't need to buy a single thing in blue or with baseballs on it, and we'll still have a full wardrobe for him of dark blue sports-themed apparel. :-)

Grandpa 24/7

Ellie talks about her Grandpa's all day long. She's constantly asking about them, wanting to know where they are, wanting to call them on the phone, demanding we say our breakfast prayer over again because we forgot to mention Grandpa in it . . .

When my parent's pull up, as soon as Ellie hears the car she starts to shriek, "Ampa, Ampa, Ampa!" and excitedly jumps around in place or twirls in circles until she falls. (Of course, soon as my parents walk in, she yells, "Ampa!", but then runs right past him into Grandma's arms.)

Same deal when we go to Greg's parent's house. As soon as we turn down their street she starts to cheer, "Ampa! Ampa!" The whole time we're getting her out of the carseat, it's all, "Ampa! Ampa!" Then we head inside and she runs for Grandma and settles in on her lap with a book.

This morning before preschool, Annie was watching Dora, and responding to the television at all the appropriate places in the show. The Map song is playing and they're asking who you call when you need to know where to go, or something like that, and right as Annie shouts, "Map!", Ellie chimes in, "Ampa!" Then, of course, you repeat the question and answer ('cause everything is repeated over and over again on this show), and Annie again responds, "Map!" and Ellie even more emphatically shouts, "AMPA!"

Don't mess with this little girl's love of her grandfather(s), she's mildly obsessed . . .

Also this morning, at breakfast, I asked Ellie, "Who does Ellie love?" "Ampa!" she shouts.
"Who else?"
She pauses for a second, then responds questioningly, "Esus?" (Jesus)
I laughed, "OK, who else?"
"Ampa!" Then a pause, "My Dada!" Another pause, "an Ampa!" (and Grandpa).
Yep, we got it kid. You love your Grandpa. :-)

Edited to add: I wanted to add a quick Annie story. I was telling her Uncle Cody all about her happily singing the word "Metamorphosis" over and over and over again during the ultrasound, and how the tech, Greg and I found this so funny. (You really have to hear Annie sing it to really get the adorableness of it though, it's so cute). Cody asked, "What does metamorphosis mean, Annie?"
"Um, it's like a big change." she responded.
I now feel like it's only fair for me to make some kind of financial contribution to PBS or something.

Crimped Hair, Popcorn Bowl Hats & Fingerpainting

Annie's hair is a constant battle. Sleeping on her curls just one night results in a rats nest (a hair term I now fully understand). There are tears and screaming. Oh, the screaming. There's fighting and squirming and shrieking and I'm not quite sure which of the two of us hates the 'brushing Annie's hair' portion of our morning more? So, one night, just for fun, we put Annie's hair into about eight small braids. It took forever, but she thought it was so much fun, that she sat really still for it while watching a movie.

Here she was when she woke up in the morning.

She loved it brushed out. She thought it looked so pretty, and it was so much smoother than normal. The next day we just brushed it again, with little protest, as the crimpy waves smoothed out much easier than her curls normally do. She kinda looked like she belonged in an '80s video by the second day though.

Here's a picture of the first day, as soon as we got the braids out (before we brushed it, and definitely before it reached its full fullness of day two crimpy hair.)

Here's Ellie showing off her bedhead that same morning.Later that day, Ellie did what she does most days: finds her sister's nightgown from the night before and puts it on over her clothes. She's become quite proficient at putting on oversized nightgowns all by her little 20 month old self. This is preferable to her other favorite dress up habit though . . . finding anything of Mom's that's smooth and silky, draping it around her head, and wearing it around the house like a scarf . . .

Earlier today, Ellie thought watching a movie while eating popcorn was the funnest activity ever. Even better was when the popcorn bowl was empty and she had a new 'crown'. A crown she would occasionally pull all the way down over her face and lick the salt out of . . .

(The bowl was empty because the popcorn had been dumped out on the bed, of course.)

Here she is watching the movie once the popcorn was gone.
(And I think we need to wash her hair tonight before bed.)

Sometime this evening . . . I can't even remember what we were doing, it's just a cute picture of her (and her hazel eyes -- we think we're finally able to say they're hazel, instead of 'undetermined'. Although there's definite areas of brown and green in them.)

Lastly, while Daddy was making dinner, the girls were fingerpainting with Uncle Cody and his girlfriend Taylor (totally one of Ellie's favorite people in the world).

They take it very seriously.

Very seriously.

And I came upstairs with my camera filled with pictures just waiting to be downloaded, while Cody and Taylor cleaned up the girls and the mess and I blogged about it. Gotta love family. Now I gotta go, 'cause from the amazing smell coming from the kitchen, I believe the waffles and bacon for dinner that Greg's been working on is ready!

Thank You Uncle Sam!

So, last night (on a whim), I ordered an iPod nano. It'll be my very first iPod (first MP3 player in general -- I'm quite behind on the times). (Did you know it has a built in video recorder (yay!), but not a still camera (whathuh)? Seems like an oversight to me.) Oh, and it'll be purple. Annie's decision. Actually, her first choice was the hot pink, but I made her pick between blue, purple and black.
I also ordered the Hypnobabies Home Study Course (which I will load the CD's tracks onto my brand new iPod, of course), to help me prepare for birth and hopefully relax and unwind enough to stop waking up several times during the night for no apparent reason. (I hate pregnancy insomnia). I was on a bit of an online shopping spree last night.
All of this frivolous spending was due to a fairly decent sized tax return. Most of the money has now been earmarked for the shed of Greg's dreams, the last small stretch of fence needed to corral our children in the backyard, and a sandbox for the kids. But, this was my share of it. And I'm pretty excited . . . I've spent a nice chunk of my morning organizing things on iTunes, in preparation for my iPod's arrival (sometime next week or later, though.) It should be fun.

(Although, really, why am I thanking the government . . . I'm just getting back money I overpaid them in the first place. So, instead, Thank you Hilary and Greg, for not adjusting your withholdings accordingly, and getting a nice chunk of your own money back, after it's been held interest free all year for you!)

Boys vs. Girls

The whole week leading up to the ultrasound, I was being bombarded by the thoughts, "I can't have boys . . . I don't get boys . . . I'm a 'girls' kinda person, I grew up around all these sisters, and now my own girls . . ." I'd see boys in the store, neighbor boys, Annie's male friends, and watch them do things, well, just differently than my own girls and think, "That is not my world, I wouldn't know how to handle that . . ." (It was also just an unusual week where I saw a lot of 'naughty' little boys acting up, even in ways unusual for them. Little boys were starting to scare the crap out of me . . . what odd, destructive little creatures!) So, of course, we go in for the ultrasound and within 15 seconds are told, "Well, it's a boy!" And I was a little shocked. I hadn't realized just how convinced I was it was a girl until that second. I hadn't seen what the tech had seen, and she'd already moved on to doing head measurements and the like. I couldn't quite process how I was feeling, and part of me was thinking, "The tech must've not seen it right . . ." so I went on watching the ultrasound, just waiting for her to get a second look and tell me, "Oh wait, it's a girl." But within just a few seconds, we saw a little baby face on screen, and I smiled and thought, "Oh, he's gorgeous." We saw his tiny feet (kicking away like my bladder like it was a soccer ball) and I thought, "Oh, look at his little feet!" I melted at the sight of him. Even before we got to the 'gender shot' part of the ultrasound, the visual proof I'd been waiting for, I had a son. And I couldn't imagine anyone in his place.

So, I'm going to get to raise a boy! A son, who'll grow into a man. (Who'll get married and move away and replace me in his life . . . but that's getting ahead of myself!) :-) And my husband, who is the greatest example of a man that I've ever known (kind, strong, sweet, hardworking, smart, tender, compassionate, understanding, supportive, funny and wonderful) is exactly the kind of man who should be raising the next generation of men. It's gonna be different, but it's gonna be amazing! He is the addition to our family we've been planning on, preparing for, even if we hadn't realized it yet. And he's gonna fit in perfectly.

As I've been processing this whole 'change' in our life coming up, I've realized where part of my 'hang up' about having boys has come from. It wasn't really the whole 'they're wilder, or have more energy or are more destructive' thing like I thought it was. It's about expectations. And the expectations that we (mainly Greg) should or would want a boy more than 'another' girl. I've found myself defensive of my daughters, only wanting another daughter, in response to the comments I've gotten about how 'disappointing it would be' if we had another girl. Since our big 'it's a boy' announcement, I've received emails and comments and phone calls, some dripping with 'relief' for Greg, that he's finally getting his son. (Greg, even more so than me, was convinced it was another girl. That we'd only have girls. And he was fine with that. He loves his little girls, and could happily picture a house filled with pink purses, and baby dolls, and makeup, and be perfectly happy with that.) Upon receiving our latest news, one of my grandmothers cried and cried tears of happiness . . . not that we were pregnant, but that we would be having a son. It was 'about time.' And 'Oh, lucky Greg!' And 'Greg must be so thrilled! He'll finally have a son!' Ever since we found out we were first pregnant with a girl, with Annie, we received near-condolences. Like, "Oh, how's Greg taking the news?" "Is Greg OK with that?" Um, that's he's having a healthy, beautiful, daughter . . . he's fine with it, thanks. So, for this pregnancy, I think even wanting a boy made me feel mildly traitorous . . . almost to spite those who 'wished us better luck next time', I only wanted girls. Now, of course, I can't imagine having any family different than the one God blessed me with, but I have to tell you, this whole 'gender' thing leaves me feeling kinda defensive at times. I try not to but at times have found myself a bit resentful of those comments about 'finally having a boy' or stress the importance of passing on a family name, or place extra importance on a 'first born son or grandson'. And I know people don't mean anything by it. (And frankly, it's mainly old people.) I know for many of these people, it comes from a place of their own love and affection for their own sons, and they're just thrilled for us that we'll be able to experience raising a son too. And we're excited for that too. But it just kinda hurts, somewhere deep down, that maybe these people didn't see our girls as 'enough,' or that there would be something more special about them if they were 'sons'.

But, I'm so happy right now. Despite all my fears about it being a boy, now that we know that's the case, I can't imagine life being any different. I'm going to get to raise a son. And he, along with his sisters, will turn out amazing!

And, just edited to add: The comments that have affected me have NOT been the congratulatory, "We're so excited for you! I love having a little boy!" or "There's nothing like a little boy!" or "Just wait, there's something so special about being a Mom to a son!" These comments make me excited for a baby boy of my own. It's completely the "You must be relieved" or "He'll be the first grandson" (on my side, that ship sailed three years ago on Greg's side) or "Greg's waited so long" or "I bet you were praying for this every night" or "Greg must be so excited for a son" kinda comments. The, 'this is way better than the alternative, i.e. another girl,' kinda comments.
Oh, and pregnancy hormones play a part in this, obviously :-)

Unfair!

This was the first time I'd ever noticed this, but the racks of girls clothing (especially clearance racks) WAY outnumber the racks of boy clothing. And now that I have some little boy shopping to do, I'm finding this quite obnoxious! Where's my racks of winter clearance outfits for a baby boy!?

Ultrasound Results

There are mouths open in surprise and people are speechless.

We're having a BOY!

We hadn't really expected that. I was shocked and happy . . . it took a minute to sink in, but once it did I was all perma grin as I marveled at his adorable feet, and beating heart and hands tucked up under his chin. He's adorable. And looks perfecly healthy and strong, and is measuring just a few days ahead, so everything's on track. Annie thinks he looks weird and was unimpressed by the picture quality, but is shockingly cool with it being a boy (since all we've heard from her is that she's having a baby sister, not a brother.) Although, she informed the ultrasound tech that we cannot use the name Flipper anymore, as that was her girl name. She was extremely bored and disinterested the entire time . . . which surprised me, as this is the child who asks to watch baby development videos on Babycenter.com and watches ultrasound videos on Youtube for fun. Instead, she bounced around on her Dad's lap, while repeatedly singing the word "metamorphsis" over and over again, and showing little to no interest to the pictures on the screen. She did get momentarily excited when the tech did a split screen and Annie exclaimed, "There's two of them!" When we explained that there were two pictures of the same baby, she went back to her general state of disinterest and distraction.

And, of course -- we can't forget . . . Greg said it would be a girl. He was WRONG this time!! (Of course, even though I said 'boy', it was only 'cause Greg said a girl, and I totally was thinking girl, but had to pick the opposite. So I was surprised, and kinda wrong too . . . but since I put my 'official vote' down as boy, I've now officially been right one time! Even if my prenatal maternal instincts were as off as usual.)

Oh, and we're in proud possession of the "best 'little boy parts' picture" in the history of this ultrasound tech's career. It's impressive. It's a boy. There really is no doubt.

Today is the Day

So, our ultrasound is scheduled for (way) later this afternoon. I wanted one first thing, but figured that it was best to let Greg go to work for most of the day before having to leave early :-) I should know by about four this afternoon now. Unless our child is super modest and we don't get a good 'gender' shot . . . in which case we would be making an appointment at Fetal Fotos for Monday morning. :-)

Greg says he thinks it'll be another girl. He's guessed girl for each of ours, and so far has a pretty good track record. I, on the other hand, have guessed boy for each baby. Partly just to be contrary to Greg's guess, 'cause that's the only way one of us can be right and one of us will be wrong. (Is that unhealthy?) :-) So far I've made a very poor showing in this whole 'gender guessing' game . . . we'll see how it goes today!

Any last minute guesses from you guys?

Like Mother, Like Daughter

When I was young, I wanted to play "School" for hours and hours. I would make my younger sister Star come to school, where I would sit her down to a desk and give her worksheets and make her sit still in a chair while I lectured. She'd whine and beg for it to be recess. I wanted to work on our letters. She just wanted to go outside.

I don't really remember any of this, I've just heard the stories of me 'encouraging' Star to do just one more worksheet, and Star crying to my Mom, "MOM! Hilary won't let me have recess again! I don't want to go to school!"

I was reminded of this earlier today, as Annie had Ellie sitting quietly in a small chair. "We must be reverently and quietly, Ellie, this is Primary." She started talking about everything they're going to do "next Sunday." Then it was singing time. Ellie got in trouble for not paying attention to Annie while she led the music. Then it was time to pray, so it was time to put down the crayons by her paper and fold her arms. Ellie wasn't listening, so Annie decided it was time for Ellie to "give me your crayons until you can listen to the teacher." Annie assured me that "Ellie really likes Primary . . . she's going to sit right here until we're done."

Maybe I'm biased, but oldest children are hilarious overachievers :-) Second children probably just find them obnoxious.

Random Pictures from the Last 2 Weeks

I finally plugged in my camera and downloaded any pictures from the last couple weeks. So, here's a random sampling:

The day after I washed all the bedding upstairs, I found this small handprint on the sheets of my bed (chocolate?). It's a clear reminder as to why we do so much laundry.

Ellie in her bathrobe, sharing a bottle with her baby doll.Annie dressed up, per usual.

Annie had fun applying chapstick to her Dad. Unfortunately for Greg, it was bright freakin' red princess chapstick. It was a good look.

Ellie had a week or so there where she was intensely interested in the potty. We made many outings to this little green and white potty. As did Ellie's toy gorilla.

Here's Annie singing one of her made up songs to her Teddy Bear: