Expanding

I had my 7 month check-up today. I can't believe I'm in the 3rd trimester already. It was the regular glucose testing with a bonus ultra-sound to check my placenta. Good news is that my placenta has moved up and out of the way, and I got to sneak another peak at my precious girl. I've said this before, but Mary Ellen is MUCH MORE active in the womb than Hattie ever was. The tech even made the comment that she is quite the active babe. She predicted that I'm having a tomboy. That would be quite the change from the Miss Priss we have right now :).

The neatest part of the ultra-sound was that we peaked in on her while she was practicing her sucking reflex. How precious it was to see those little lips hard at work! She's gearing up for our upcoming nursing sessions together. And, according to the tech, she's weighing in at a beefy 2 lbs. 13 ounces.

The dates that the ultra-sound machine is giving are still about a week and a half ahead of the doc's dates. They more closely match my own dates, so I definitely still think Mary Ellen will be arriving more towards the beginning of August than her original due date of Aug. 21st-23rd, but we'll see. Hattie was 2 weeks early, and I was already 4-5 cm when I went into the hospital, so I'm sure that's affecting my judgement.

The best part of the whole appointment was that my ob suggested we do another ultra-sound at 36 weeks just to make sure everything with the baby and the placenta look good before the delivery. YAY!

Then by the time I got home, Hattie was already down for her nap, but when she awoke, it was like she KNEW that I had been away, focused on her sister all morning. She was so clingy and whiney and demanded so much of my attention this afternoon, more than usual.



People ask me all the time if Hattie "knows" she's about to get a sister. We've told her countless times that there is a baby in Mama's belly. She'll kiss my belly and even point to it when I ask her where "Sissy" is. All that being said, I am 100% sure that she doesn't have a clue what's about to happen. We've had a good trial run with me watching Gracen, but I don't think it's helped prepare Hattie much for Mommy and Daddy having and loving a new baby just as much as we love her, a baby that doesn't leave the house at 4 pm every day, a baby that's going to be close and nursing on HER mama for much of the time.

I hope she adjusts better than I think she will, but I have a feeling that we have quite a few clingy, whiney days ahead of us. Hattie's adjustment to her new sister is by far one of my biggest worries about Mary Ellen's arrival that I have. Well, that and the lack of sleep, which has already started to rear it's ugly head in my life since I am going to the bathroom every 2-3 hours a night now. I just wanna tell my body, "Look, you don't have to get me ready for what's to come. I just wanna sleep while I still can!!!" I had the realization while having lunch with my mother-in-law today that I probably am not gonna get a good night sleep for quite some time.....like 6 months probably, and that's being optimistic.

Still, I can't help but think about those little lips that were sucking so sweetly today, and I definitely think this one has her daddy's profile. I compared the girls' ultra-sounds, and they look so different to me. We'll see. Easy or not, though, we will make the transition of being a family of 3 to a fam of 4 eventually.......

Hattie, the Tree Hugger

While we were away on vacation, I would call Mimi to check on Hattie every day. She was always good about filling me in with the things Hattie was eating, what they were doing for the day, the funny things Hattie was saying, and all that good stuff that fills a toddler's day. On about the second day she told me that Hattie was becoming a tree hugger - literally. They had gone for a walk that morning, and Hattie had to stop and hug every single tree she passed. Since we've been home, I've noticed this, too. She can't pass a tree without a quick but sincere embrace. I guess it's her way of "going green."


But she doesn't exactly fit the description of a barefoot, hippie-type tree hugger considering the fact that she still insists on wearing her prissy "princess shoes" most days.

Babymoon 2008

Sean and I just returned from a much needed and awaited vacation to the northwest to visit his sister, Laurel, her husband, James, and Wendy, their daughter. We left last Wednesday, and despite the fact that we both came down with strep throat 2 days before leaving, we had a WONDERFUL time. By the second day, we felt great (thank God for antibiotics!!!!).

Now, I haven't seen much of our country, but I am boldly going to claim that the northwest is one of the most, if not THE MOST, naturally beautiful stops that the U.S. of A. has to offer. And my sister-in-law and her husband are THE BEST hostess and host who have ever entertained me. They had sites planned and mapped out for us; some that we had previously talked about but others that were their own ideas. They were so kind to let us have free reign over one of their vehicles the whole time we were there. We enjoyed visiting with them and getting to meet and have dinner with some of their neighbors. And I am astonished at how well behaved Wendy is, Laurel, really! She's so sweet and kind natured, and she made me pine for my little one the whole time.

So without further rambling.....here are some of the pics that we took while on our trip:
Day 1 - We went to Multnomah Falls, had ice cream at this little hole in the wall but popular local joint, and the went to this gorgeous lodge and had coffee and tea on their deck over-looking the mountains.
The Falls:

Chillin' on the deck at the lodge:

Our view from the deck:


Day 2 - We spent the day in Portland. Checked into a fabulous b&b, The Lion and the Rose, and spent the day seeing the city and checkin' out the locals in Portland, well, gawking is more like it. Lots of different kind of people make up that city. I felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb!
We also went to the Rhododendron Gardens. These flowers are BEAUTIFUL and are in full bloom there right now. Some pics we took at the gardens:



Then, after going back to the b&b and taking a 2 hour nap (ahhhhhh!), we went to dinner at a fabulous grille in downtown Portland - yum!

Day 3 - We drove to Cannon Beach. It was about a two hour drive but well worth it. The weather was perfect and the beach was hoppin'! It is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and the shops and restaurants on the strip are so darling. Some pics from the beach (oh, and ever seen The Goonies? Parts of it were filmed at this beach.):


That night we went to a fab. restaurant with Laurel, James, and Wendy, and snabbed a table outside by the water - perfect!


Day 4 - Sunday. We wanted to take it easy since it was our last full day in town, so we went to church, lunch, and then all took naps (ahhhhhh!). After naps we went on a long walk around their beautiful neighborhood and some hiking trails. Then they had their neighbors (who are some of the nicest people I have ever met!) and their little girl over for dinner. Here is a pic of Sean sampling some dessert:

I have to say, I had so much fun watching Sean and Laurel together. They are SO GOOFY and crazy and "get" each other in a way that I guess only siblings can :0).

Day 5 - We're leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when we'll be back again......we hated to gooooo!

Before Laurel took us to the airport, though, we went to Cafe Sip-n-Play. Y'all, we NEED one of these here! It was awesome. What a great concept! - sip on coffee and munch on a snack or lunch while your child plays in the center with tons of toys and other tots. It's super sanitary and geared towards family with a breast-feeding nook and lots of hand sanitizer everywhere. We enjoyed sippin' our lattes while Wendy plays:



Okay, well, this goes down as the longest blog post EVER for me, I think, so muchas gracias if you made it to the end.

AND of course NONE of this would have even been possible without the ever amazing MIMI, who has entered the blog world (check her out!). Thank you so much, Mimi, for watching Hattie for us for almost a week. From what I can tell, she had a blast, too!

Naptime is just about over and I have a TON to do to get the house back in order. Looking forward to catching up with everyone via blogs and email!

Happy Mother's Day!

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.
She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never.
A mother is something absolutely new.~Rajneesh

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies who read my blog!

{22 Months}

I can't believe she's almost 2.

She's starting to get that 2 year old, grown up look. My baby is starting to look like less of a baby and more like a little girl to me.

She talks all the time, non-stop. She has opinions and ideas. She's not the shy little baby that she once was. I see her turning into a reserved but out-going little girl. She's still very cautious and thinks everything through before acting. I love her humor and her energy. I love her imagination and her charm.

I love being her mama.

And I love that she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger :).

I can't believe we'll soon stop counting her age in months and start counting in years. It's going by too fast for my liking. I want time to stand still a little.

Happy 22 months, my sweet Hattie Ruth. Now stop growing, so your mama can love on her little baby girl forever and ever.

We've decided........

to name our newest little girl Mary Ellen!!! Now, unless when we see her in a couple of months we have a change of heart, that'll be her name.

Tomorrow marks the 6 month mark of my pregnancy. I'm starting to feel it. In just the last two weeks or so, my stomach has become heavy to me. Our little girl now weighs a little over a pound, and I'm feeling every bit of it.

On my to do list for the next 15 weeks or so before Mary Ellen gets here is:
1.) Decorate and furnish Mary Ellen's nursery
2.) Decorate Hattie's "big girl" room
3.) Possibly potty train Hattie in June and July when I am no longer watching Gracen but won't have the new baby yet. We'll see when we get to June if I think she's ready. I'm seeing signs of readiness, but I'm a little nervous about it, too.
4.) Enjoy the short time I have left with just Hattie and me.
5.) Sleep as much as possible
6.) Get Hattie into our church's Mother's Day Out, which I am currently on the waiting list for. I have really prayed, prayed, prayed about this. She'll be just over two and part of me isn't ready for her to be out of the house 2 days a week, but a bigger part of me knows that this time will give me an opportunity to have some alone time with daughter #2, and I can see that Hattie is really ready for socialization. I want her in our church's mother's day out because I like the program, and it'll give me an opportunity to meet other moms with 2 year olds in our church, so I am content with her getting in there or just waiting until the spring when we'll try again. Plus, it's a lot of money, so if she gets in, we'll make it work, but if not, we won't have to pinch pennies as much. I really have prayed and thought about this a lot, y'all!

With all that being said, I am getting more and more eager for this little one in my belly to make her debut. I feel like time is dragging a little more now. The novelty of being pregnant is beginning to wear off; I know that we're having a girl, and I know what her name will be. Now I wanna see her and cuddle her and watch the relationship between my two daughters develop. But I also know that she still needs to cook a while longer, and I still have a lot to do before she gets here.