38 Weeks with Baby #2

Today was my last Monday of babysitting our nieces until well after the baby is born, so I asked our 8-year old niece to take a belly pic for me. My camera is clearly not behaving lately since this picture is just as fuzzy as the last one. Dagnabit!

Out of fear of forgetting something important, I finally wrote down my pre-baby to-do list and starting tacking projects. In two days, I have packed our hospital bag, washed covers for the car seat, swing, bouncer, play gyms and cradle mattress, started recovering the cushions for the glider rocker (a project that has been in the making since I was pregnant with Natalie. Oops!), cleaned the laundry room, and written out a few Scriptures to look at for encouragement during labor. Alex brought the cradle down for me today and Natalie immediately climbed into it. She looked pretty darn cute, but I made her get out and suggested she put her baby doll in it instead. She went and got her doll, laid her down in the cradle and proceeded to rub the baby's back like I do to her. She sure knows how to melt my heart, and she's been doing a good job of it lately, too. Whenever I bend down to get in a lower cabinet or something, she'll come over and rub my back and then give me a hug and a kiss. Sometimes she even asks, "You ok, Mama?" Precious. I decided to cuddle with her in her toddler bed tonight, a feat easier accomplished in a larger bed or without a big belly in the way, and she started rubbing my arm. I tried to get up at one point, and she sat up and pushed my head back down to the pillow. Guess she wasn't ready for me to leave her just yet! I'm soaking up the cuddles and making sure to try and take advantage of opportunities to show her that she is special and I'm here for her. With all the changes that have already happened and the ones getting ready to take place, I want to help her feel safe and secure instead of anxious.

Once we get the car seat installed and bags packed for Natalie to take to my parents' and for the baby, I think all the necessary things will be done. I have a laundry list of sewing projects that I'd like to tackle, but we shall see about those.

I've had a couple Braxton Hicks contractions the last two days and plenty of heartburn as soon as I eat sugar. And have I mentioned how badly I've craved sweets?!

Tomorrow, we are taking Natalie back to an inflatable games place we first went to back in February. The plan is to feed her lunch and then let her nap in the car on the hour-long ride there. I hope she enjoys it as much as she did when she was 14 months old. She really surprised me back then. I thought she'd be intimidated by it all, but she was my little wild child, running around as fast as her little legs would take her. I'm really looking forward to having some good quality family time before Alex heads back to work Thursday and our family of 3 becomes 4.  Hopefully the camera will cooperate tomorrow and we can get some good pictures to remember the day by, too!

37 Weeks with Baby #2

I have been entirely too lazy with the belly pictures this time around. Weeks go by where I think about taking one and put it off again and again. I finally bit the bullet and took this one, and of course, it is fuzzy! 37 wks 3 days with still-nameless-baby-girl-Godin:

We put all the Christmas decorations away today because I was just too eager to get the baby gear out. Natalie immediately tried to climb into the baby's swing, but I convinced her to let her new baby doll go for a ride in it instead. She got a new doll for her birthday and is obsessed with it and enjoys trying to feed it her food, letting her sit in the booster seat, high chair, training potty, etc. I think she is going to really enjoy having a real baby in the house, but I am going to have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous! Recently, a friend came over with her 2.5 month old baby and Natalie managed to pick the baby up off the couch when we were distracted. Talk about a heart attack!

Pregnancy has been enjoyable for the most part. My ribs have been behaving better recently and not causing me as much discomfort. Heartburn started up a couple weeks ago, but it's not horrible. Our last ultrasound at 35 weeks showed that this little one has hair like her big sister! My feet swell just a little bit at the end of days when I've been standing a lot, but that's not bad either. Over all, I feel really good. I just want this precious little one to be healthy and take her time. Well, maybe not too much time...41 or 42 weeks of pregnancy would surely test my emotional and physical strength! I feel very blessed to have a wonderful doctor who believes in God's intelligent design for a woman's body to successfully deliver babies and is supportive of my desire for a natural delivery. We're praying that our doula will be able to assist us in my labor despite having 3 other mothers due the same day as me. She made such a tremendous difference when I was laboring to bring Natalie into the world and we can't imagine going through labor again without her guidance.

These last few weeks are going to pass all too quickly. As excited and nervous and eager and anxious as I am to meet my new daughter, I do not want to be too busy or distracted by a to-do list or my own thoughts to spend quality time with Natalie before she has to share me with a sibling. Alex had to use up the last of his vacation time before the end of the year, so he is home with us until Jan 2 and then he'll be taking time off when the baby is born, so we have the opportunity now to make some good family memories with Natalie. She is at such a fun age, despite some recent challenges with nap and bedtime routines and general discipline. God is faithful and will give us the wisdom we ask for when dealing with her. I just really hope we ALL handle the coming transition smoothly. Sleep deprivation and hormone swings make me the most nervous, but it will all be ok. Millions of other mothers have gone through it before me, so I can get through it, too! Hallelujah!

More Natalie-isms

Natalie pronounces the word pineapple as "apple bapple". I LOVE hearing her say it! Cracks me up. And the kid loves her "apple bapple" as much as her mama.

Recently, Natalie kept opening the freezer door and grabbing the ice cream ("ow keem") before dinner. I told her we could have some after dinner, so after we ate, she grabbed it again and Alex told her that mommy would share with her. She came into the dining room where I was and said, "Ow keem! Share it? Mama?" How could I say no to that?

The other day, we were listening to our Veggietales station on Pandora and the song, "I Like to Move It" from the Madagascar soundtrack came on. Natalie jumped up and down, spun around, waved her hands and "moved it" like a wild woman. Now she asks for "move it move it" quite often. I am not crazy about the lyrics and wish she'd get hooked on a catchy Christian song instead. The Veggietales station drives me a little crazy at times because no matter how I try to customize what they play, they still manage to play a ton of stuff that kids probably wouldn't like (think lots of slow songs) and there are a lot of secular songs thrown in there that I was trying to avoid by creating a Christian station in the first place.

Thursday, at her 2-year well-child check-up, Natalie made friends with just about everyone in the waiting room. My mom was with us and had been reading her a story, but Natalie decided she would rather have another grandmotherly lady read it to her instead. She said hello to everyone she saw and even tried to climb into a few laps. She is never that friendly with strangers! While waiting in the exam room, we helped her pronounce the doctor's name, so when he came in, she said, "Hi, Doctor Miller!". We ran into good friends in the waiting room as we were leaving and Natalie kept wanting the husband to zip up her coat. Then we headed to the chiropractor, whom Natalie has met once or twice I think, and she reached out all on her own and shook his hand!

I have loved watching Natalie grow and change and learn so many new things these last two years. It never ceases to amaze us when she learns new things, especially when she says or does things and we have no idea where she learned them. God is so good to have blessed us with this child. Sure, she gets under my skin and tests my patience, usually on a daily basis. It's certainly not all sunshine and roses being a mom. I just never want to take her for granted. She brings us lots of laughter and joy. I can't wait to see her as a big sister!

A Big Ol' Brain Dump aka Pregnancy Dreams and Natalie-isms

Women talk about having some off-the-wall dreams during pregnancy and this time around, I have been no exception. At first, I had all nightmares, but lately my dreams just seem to be unbelievably random and well, kind of funny. I thought it might be nice to document them just so I could look back someday and remember what it was like to be pregnant with baby #2.

Two nights ago, I dreamed I married Daniel Boone. As in, the famous wilderness explorer/pioneer, Daniel Boone. Yeah. I hadn't watched any documentaries or anything that would have triggered that in my subconscious, so it must be those wacky pregnancy hormones! ;)

Before that, I had a dream that Tina Fey came to my house for my birthday along with a bunch of friends and their dogs. One friend has a HUGE Great Dane, by the way. It was a crazy party!

I started to write about the nightmare dreams, but I just can't do it. I don't think I'll ever want to remember those down the road. Lots of tragedy and sadness. No fun. So, on to a happier subject!

Natalie has been full of hilarious and/or cute anecdotes lately. Even though we are in the full-fledged tantrum-throwing phase, she can still be quite charming most of the time. Yesterday, after wearing out my nerves with incessant crying and whining for over an hour after waking from her nap, I heard her in the kitchen behind me as I was making dinner, saying all of her grandparents' names and the word "cousins". I turned around and she had her hands clasped together in front of her and then she said, "Night night. Amen." My sweet girl was praying for her family! It was the most precious thing ever!

Earlier this week, I dug out some books that I'd put away for when Natalie was old enough for them. I introduced her to Clifford, the Big Red Dog and well, she loved him. I read one book through and then she proceeded to "read" it herself, saying "Cifford" (no 'l') about every other word. She babbled on and on for a good long time.

Natalie repeats every. single. thing. she hears and sometimes it's just too darn cute. A couple of weeks ago I exclaimed in exasperation, "You are driving me nuts!" and Natalie said, "Nuts!" and ran to the pantry. I had to laugh and then deal with the mom guilt from saying that to her. She has discovered cashews and loves them. And she has an insatiable appetite these days, so it is like a constant feeding fest over here.

Baby girl wants to be held. A LOT. So she holds out her hands as if she expects you to hand her something, not like she wants to be picked up, if that makes sense, and then says, "Hole-jer?" I think she's saying "Hold her?" It's funny how she doesn't know to refer to herself as "I" and "me" yet, although I am in no hurry for her speech to develop to that point. We understand most of what she says and it's just sad when toddlers start speaking in full sentences, sounding like big kids!

I know there are more cute things that have happened lately, but my memory fails me. Natalie is in bed for the night and this mama needs to get busy sewing Christmas presents! My sewing machine awaits...

The Long Overdue Baby #2 Update

It's amazing how my blog post titles continue to get more and more un-creative...

It's also amazing what a poor job of documenting this pregnancy I've done...

But, alas, I finally took a belly pic and am posting it here for the world to see!

It's true what they say about showing earlier with your second baby. I feel like my belly has been noticeable since the middle of my first trimester. Maternity pants have been a must for at least a month and a half now, if not longer, but I'm still trying to make some non-maternity shirts work (see belly pic above, lol).

I've been taking fewer naps these days, although it's more out of stubbornness to enjoy some peace, quiet, and "me" time while Natalie naps and not because my energy has completely returned. It's getting there though. I started taking an iron tonic earlier in the week since I have always been borderline anemic and wanted to hopefully get a good report on my iron screening at my next doctor's appointment. The reviews of the tonic said it also gave lots of people energy, so here's hoping that the same will ring true for me!

Baby girl move around quite a bit, but is still wreaking havoc on my sciatic nerve on my right side. Chiropractic and prenatal massage haven't entirely helped the discomfort, but this too shall pass. I'm so grateful for my doula, Mattie and her beyond wonderful massages.

I'm craving sweets even more than usual, so bring on the Moose Tracks ice cream and apple pie!!! I made 2 pies this month - one for my birthday and one for company. Can't get enough apple pie! It's my favorite! I really do want to get the sweet cravings under control, so I stocked up on fruit at the grocery store yesterday and am going to try to make myself snack on that instead of the aforementioned Moose Tracks decadence.

Natalie is starting to catch on to the idea of there being a baby in my belly. Today, she patted my belly and said, "Baby!" out of the blue. I'm so looking forward to her being a big sister! I've been praying this whole time that my girls will be best friends from day one. Despite the fact that Natalie is a light sleeper, in my heart, I want her to share a room with the new baby, so we've rearranged the furniture a little to better accommodate the toddler bed being in the nursery. We'll see how it goes! Alex and I just started working on turning my office/craft room (the 3rd bedroom) into a combined office for the two of us, so that's even more motivation to make the kids' bedroom sharing work since it will allow us to keep our office set up until the day we (possibly) have a 3rd baby.

We have pretty much resigned ourselves to the idea of waiting until the baby is born to give her a name. We have a short list of contenders, and I'm sure hoping that one of them is THE ONE, otherwise, well, we're sunk. We have had SUCH a hard time agreeing on possibilities. It seems strange not having a name for her yet since Natalie had a name from day one. But, whoever she is, I'm excited to meet her and snuggle her close! Personalizing anything for her will just have to wait...

And speaking of that, a friend just gave birth to her third baby girl yesterday morning and she and her husband are still in the process of choosing the perfect name for her. I finally learned how to crochet edging on a receiving blanket, so I made one for the new baby.

My best friend's mom made two of these blankets for Natalie and they are now both mine and her favorite blankets. They are so generously sized that they can swaddle a newborn securely and still cover up a sleeping toddler. She gave me some pointers and after reading a few tutorials and ripping out a lot of mistakes, I finally figured it out. I have a blanket in progress for our new baby, too. Only 15 more weeks, give or take, and she'll be here! Man, that doesn't sound like much time. Eek! Have so much to do between now and then!

21 Months on the 21st

Last week, Natalie turned 21 months old. I really wish that time would slow down already!Last Wednesday (9/18), we moved Natalie to her toddler bed. (I made her sheet and pillow case out of fabric from JoAnn's. Sheets are surprisingly easy!)

The first two nights, she shocked me by not getting up even one time to test her new boundaries (or lack thereof, since she isn't contained like in her crib). On the third night, our air conditioning went out, so her bedroom was too warm for her to be comfortable to fall asleep. We opened her window and let her sleep in just a diaper, but she was quite restless well past bedtime. Then she woke up at 5 am Saturday, wide awake and asking to eat. Not a good way to start the weekend.

She has shown a lot of interest in the potty recently, so I tried to start potty training her today. All along, I have been eager to be done with diapers, but after today, I'm in no hurry. Apparently Natalie is not as ready as I thought. We had NO success. It was ridiculous. Like, 3 accidents in 30 minutes ridiculous. So, I'm backing off and waiting, probably until Spring sometime once we're hopefully in a routine with the new baby. Part of me feels like a dope for thinking she could possibly be ready at this age and another part of me also feels like a loser for giving up after one day. But you know what? It's not the end of the world and life with cloth diaper laundry will go on and my child WILL be potty trained eventually, and that's what matters. Who cares if it doesn't happen right now. Just pray that I have enough energy to tackle the potty training when she's truly ready and am not just utterly exhausted from adjusting to life with 2 kids. I'm pretty scared about all that!

These days, Natalie thinks she is too big to sit in her high chair and will only eat while sitting in a chair or next to us on the couch. She hates wearing a bib and is getting picky about sippy cups. Um...mommy hates cleaning up unnecessary messes, so just wear the bib and use the no-spill cup, please, child!!! She is obsessed with apples and asks to eat them all.the.time. We took her to an apple farm and Alex let her mooch off an apple with him, so now she prefers to bite right into the whole thing instead of having me cut it up for her. I made an apple pie last week and Natalie kept asking for "Ah-pie". She can say "apple" clear as day, but for some reason, she hasn't figured out how to say it with "pie".

We take a lot of walks around our neighborhood, and recently, we've been leaving the stroller at home. In some ways, it's nice not having to push a 30 pound stroller with a 26-pound toddler in it, but our walks last twice as long since we're constantly having to tell Natalie to keep moving. She likes to watch for animals and airplanes, pick up rocks, mystery berries, acorns, and flowers along the way. At least she's observant, enjoying nature, and getting some energy out! She asks to take a walk pretty much every day and even goes into the laundry room where we keep Layla's leashes to make sure her puppy gets to come along, too. Speaking of Layla...it is now Natalie's regular job to feed the dog in the morning and evening. She gets right into it, too! Sometimes she even tries to sneak a 3rd feeding in there in the afternoon...

Any time you ask Natalie a question, she answers with the cutest little "yes". My mom asked her something like, "Does Mommy have a melon in her belly?" and Natalie said, "Yes". Thanks, kiddo! Needless to say, she's pretty agreeable these days! She says well over 100 words and has finally started saying Grandma ("Damma". She has been saying her other grandparents' names for quite a while). She came up to me the other day with her hands clasped together and said "pray". So we did, and then at the end she said, "Amen!" It was precious!

I'm loving the age that she's at right now. Everyday is full of new things she has learned and figured out. It's amazing how quickly kids pick up on things! She loves to give kisses and asks to cuddle. She is definitely both a mama and a daddy's girl (just what we prayed for!). We're working on tantrums and how to not be upset when she doesn't get her way (like when mean old mommy doesn't choose the grocery cart with the car on the front for her to ride in). It's strange to actually be able to almost carry on a conversation with her now. She seems so grown up and yet still so much like a baby at the same time. I think she is going to be a great big sister! We had lunch at my parents' house after church yesterday and Natalie cuddled up next to me and started rubbing my belly. It was the most precious, sweet thing ever. She's never done anything like that. My mom tried to take a picture, but, as usual, Natalie's 6th sense for when the camera is out kicked in and she stopped being all cute.

So, that's life with a 21-month old Natalie! Never a dull moment around here and we wouldn't have it any other way! 

A Funny Bacon Story

I'm back from oblivion just for a quick little story so that I don't forget it. Today is my 27th birthday. I woke up and popped some cinnamon rolls and bacon in the oven for a quick birthday treat/breakfast. Natalie has become quite the little fan of bacon and kept asking for more. We thought she'd had enough because she reached up and put a small piece on the counter like she didn't want it anymore, so Alex took it and fed it to Layla. Well, Natalie didn't like that at all. She ran over to Layla yelling, "No! Bacon!" and tried to pry the dog's mouth open to retrieve her bacon. I.love.my.child. Bless her heart! Hahaha!