Sleeping like a baby

Erin is such a wacky sleeper. Two nights ago she slept from 7:30pm til 8:30am! She woke up to eat very briefly at 11pm and 4am. That was an AMAZING night's sleep for both of us. (If only Leah would get in sync.) During the day, it is not unusual for her to only be awake for like 5-6 hours total. She can only stand being awake for an hour and a half MAX before she starts getting fussy. That is her window. If I miss her window she is a real pill to put down. If I am in tune with her, she lays right down in her crib for a good nap. Today, she slept from 10:45am until 3:45pm! Does anyone else think she sleeps a ridiculous amount for a 10 week old? I thought this kind of thing was more the behavior of a one month old.

I finally bought a new camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3K. Mike is working to get the admin page of our website functional so I can upload to it. That is why you have not seen Corn Maze pictures yet. But look for them soon! I guess I can post a few here.

Maddex and Gallers kids

A family photo

These kids are so darn cute!

Blogsurfing

I was blog surfing today and I found this You Tube video from Sesame Street from 1977. (How do I phrase that sentence to not say from twice?) Check it out.

I don't have much to say

Everything here is going swimmingly. I guess I will discuss with you the two things I have been focusing on lately.

Number 1 is choosing health insurance for Mike's new job. It is significantly more expensive at the new job than the old one. We are trying to decide between the HMO and the 80/20 PPO. The problem is the HMO is like 300 more a PAY PERIOD than the PPO. That is a LOT over the course of a year. I know, everyone says get the HMO with kids. And they could be right. But the deductible on the PPO is not that bad (300 ind/600 fam) and the out of pocket max is not all that high either. So what do you think?

I was also trying to decide (still part of #1) whether to move with my pediatrician to her new office. We REALLY like her, but her new office is 30 min away as opposed to 10 min currently. I was trying to make sure she was covered under both possible new insurances. She is, so we decided to move to the new practice and suck up the drive. Hey, there is more good shopping there than Monroe anyway.

Number 2 (this is going to sound silly) is my chore list. I found this link from my pregnancy board on BabyCenter. No, I did not pay outright for it. The rest of 2007 was half-price and Mike had enough left in his PayPal account to cover it. He was never going to use that $ anyway. So I got it. It is VERY comprehensive. I never think to do things like clean my porch light fixture, but it is one of my chores today. I like that it forces you to do the obscure chores. My house has been cleaner since I started it. Now I don't do every chore EVERY day. Sometimes I switch them around and sometimes I skip things that I don't think are necessary. But I like having something to keep me on track.

Also, we have to buy a new digital camera this week. We are going to the Aw Shucks Corn Maze this weekend and I can't be without a camera! We had a blast there last year. Mandi bought the girls the cutest Halloween outfits to wear there. Anyway, any camera advice???

Long time, no post...

I know it has been forever since I have posted. We left last Saturday for a week in Florida and just got back last night. Our neighborhood had a garage sale planned for today that I did not prepare for and I ended up just throwing things out there to see if maybe something would sell. We sold our old lawn mower and a bug bouncer. So it was not too bad of a sale.

Back to our week in FL. Saturday night when we arrived, lots of our friends came over to watch the Gator game. Leah stayed up until 10:30 that night and Erin did her whole "I am asleep until you put me down thing" til then too. We went out first thing in the AM to get a swing from Wal-Mart for Erin. It worked like a charm the rest of the week. Sunday we went to Downtown Disney with Mandi & Barry and Mike's parents. My mom stayed with us the whole week too and she was an AWESOME GRAMMY! Thank you so much!

Monday and Tuesday were park days thanks to Megan. Leah told us the rest of the week anytime we talked about Magic Kingdom "I din like the Winnie a Pooh ride." There is a part with Heffalumps where there is lightning and thunder that she didn't like. She didn't like that part of Rainforest Cafe either. But she did like the carousel, Dumbo, an her favorite, It's a Small World. We met Mickey, which scared her yet again, and she saw Mickey's and Minnie's houses. At Animal Kingdom we saw Nemo, the musical. Erin had a poop explosion right when the lights went down for the show to start so I had to exit quickly. Then halfway through she got fussy so Mike took her up to the top to bounce around. But for the most part both girls did well at the parks. Leah did not nap at all while we were in FL, but was still pretty good.

Wednesday Mike went to a skate park where our CAMERA was stolen. Yeah, the one with all the Disney pictures. So we have to rely on my mom, who took a few, and Mandi who took some too that first day. BOO! Us girls went shopping with my step-dad. Then we ate dinner at one of those Japanese steakhouses. Leah liked watching them cook.

Thursday was Sea World. The Donalds met us there and we got to meet Corgan, who is 9 days younger than Erin. He was a sweetheart. Belle is such an awesome little girl too. She is so confident and sure of herself. Also, she and Leah are the same size! we had a great time with them, but were exhausted early that day.

We finally arrived home Friday night at 8pm. It was a great trip, but super tiring. Thank goodness we still have the weekend!

Don't forget to...

delurk!


Please comment if you read here or are just stopping by to see what I am about after reading my comments on your blog.

Girls Night Out... and the Consequences

Last night Laurie, Liza (a new neighbor) and I went to dinner at Miro's Spanish Grille. I had decided the week before that I needed a little break from Mommy mode and asked the girls to go out. Several of our regulars were out of town this week and another one had ballet practice tonight so we were down to three. Not taking a diaper bag as a purse was unusual and driving the Corolla with only adults in it was even stranger. The restaurant was FABULOUS!!! We ate the chef's selection of tapas for an appetizer along with a pitcher of Sangria. There were things like a Spanish omelette, fried calamari, some beef tips with an aioli sauce, etc. The I ordered the seafood mixture that comes in paella on angel hair pasta. We all shared a tres leche cake and a Belgian dark chocolate cheesecake slice. This meal was so delicious, the company was awesome, the night was perfect.

I get home at 11:00 and Mike is in Erin's room comforting her. She was due to eat so I fed her and it took about 30 minutes to get her back to sleep. At 1am Leah wakes up crying. There is nothing wrong with her, she just wants company. She cries every 20 minutes until 2:30. Erin wakes up to eat at 3am. At least she went right back to sleep this time. Then she wakes up at 6:10 to eat again, but dozes off shortly after in my bed. Leah is up for the day at 7am and Erin is right behind her. There was not much sleep for me last night. I don't think it was DUE to my girls night, but it was a rough night anyway.

So Erin has left behind the newborn stage of sleeping all the time, anywhere, anyhow. The car seat and the swing used to be the magic sleep-makers, but no longer. She wouldn't take a pacifier at all up until last night, but even with the pacifier every time it fell out of her mouth, she woke up and pitched a fit. Even nursing doesn't automatically induce sleep when she is tired. So we are having the sleep-deprived crying jags often throughout the day. I hate that I KNOW she is tired, but she won't let go and just FALL asleep. What is up with that?

Kaitlyn Stewart has arrived!

Congratulations to Christina, Joe, and Zach on the birth of their newest family member, Kaitlyn Marie Stewart!(Is that still her name, Christina?) We are so happy that she is here and Christina did great with the birth from what I hear. We can't wait to meet the newest member of the Hive. Lots of love to you all!

Family Tree Answers

I feel bad doing this book tour and not answering the questions. So here are my answers...

1. In the book, many secrets had been kept. What kind of an impact did these secrets have on the characters once they were revealed? Actually I think many of the characters were able to face their own flaws better once the secrets were all out in the open.

2. How would you feel if your child looked like he/she was from a race neither you or your partner showed evidence of? Would you worry about your child's future? I don't think I would worry about the child so much. Nowadays, families come in all shapes and sizes and I don't think anyone from this generation going forward cares all that much about background.

3. When Hugh discovers that Lizzie is a different race than him he questions the paternity of the child. He doesn't understand why Dana is so upset that he wants to prove he is the father. Do you feel that the faith and trust you have in your partner should be enough in this situation? Would you need to prove to other people and to yourself that you were correct? This was the part of the story that bothered me the most. I was so angry at Hugh for his accusations. I think your trust in your partner SHOULD be enough to not question their faithfulness. On the other hand, I WOULD want to know where the genes came from and would probably insist on doing the background research. But I like to think that I would not suspect my partner of anything unseemly.

The Great Mofo Delurk 2007

I cam across this in my blog-browsing and decided to participate. I know my close friends comment on my blog regularly, but I always wonder if anyone else reads besides them. So here it is...


Next Wednesday, I will be SURE to post and you be SURE to comment. In fact, you should comment on EVERY blog entry that you read that day to make sure that your bloggers feel loved. So pass back by here on that day and let me know you care...

Slow Cookin Thursday

As per Erica's instructions, I am posting two slow cooker recipes I made back in June.

Apple-Dijon Pork Roast

1 boneless whole pork loin roast (2-3 lbs)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons cold water

Cut roast in half and place in a 5 quart slow cooker. Combine the broth, apple juice and mustard; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

Remove roast and keep warm. For gravy, skim fat from slow cooker. Pour juices into a saucepan. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with pork.

Minestrone Stew

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (19 oz) ready-to-serve minestrone soup
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes
1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

In a skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until heated through.

Both were yummy. Good luck and happy cooking!

Sleeping babies!

For the fist time in a long time, I have two sleeping babies at nap time! Erin is in her crib too! She fell asleep in her swing and after an hour or so I transferred her to her crib because I had to shower and needed her to be near a monitor. So far no peeps! Now to address birth announcements.

PS I walked 2.5 miles today (first 1.5 with a double stroller, second 1.0 on an indoor track with Erin in the Moby wrap) and I feel good!

PPS Sorry about the exclamation points!

See-saws - Not safe for children

And apparently not safe for adults either! Today we took the girls to a new playground in Waxhaw (it is next to a skate park that is being repaired). They had two see-saws, the kind that are just a pole with a slab of wood at each end to sit on. The handles are just a small piece of metal at the front of each seat. So at first Mike and I got on and tried it out. He is heavier so he kept pushing off really hard and I would fly down. I didn't like it because there was hardly anything to hold on to and I felt like I was going to fall off every time. Then Leah wanted to ride. Mike held her while I pushed on the other side with my arms. Then we switched and I held her. Mike suggested we all ride together, so I got on with Leah and he got on the other side. That went well, because we were pretty evenly weighted. Leah then wanted to ride the OTHER see-saw. So Mike put her on and got on behind her and suggested that I get on the other side. I didn't want to, but decided to be a good sport. Of course they were WAY heavier than me and every time Mike pushed off, I felt like I was going to fall. I told him to stop, I wanted to get off. He stopped with me at the top. I thought he was going to let me down slowly, so I started to slide off a bit but couldn't stop myself and slid off all the way! I tried to hang on so I ended up twisting around the seat and landed on the ground HARD on my right side. It knocked the breath out of me pretty good and left a few bruises. I thought that was the extent of my injuries, but here it is 6 hours later and my right outer thigh feels bruised on the inside. I think I did something to the muscle. Seriously I couldn't even carry the baby up the stairs tonight! It hurts to walk or put any pressure on it. Mike starts his new job tomorrow so if I am injured, he can't even stay home and take care of us. I hope it feels better when I wake up.

So moral of the story - don't ride see-saws. Also don't listen to your husband. He has no idea what he is talking about.

Book Tour #4 Questions

Okay, these are all the questions I got this time around. If you read it and didn't send me a question, that's okay. You can still answer these on your blog. Everyone who answers, please comment this entry and let everyone know that you answered the Q's.

1. In the book, many secrets had been kept. What kind of an impact did these secrets have on the characters once they were revealed?

2. How would you feel if your child looked like he/she was from a race neither you or your partner showed evidence of? Would you worry about your child's future?

3. When Hugh discovers that Lizzie is a different race than him he questions the paternity of the child. He doesn't understand why Dana is so upset that he wants to prove he is the father. Do you feel that the faith and trust you have in your partner should be enough in this situation? Would you need to prove to other people and to yourself that you were correct?

I love Gatlinburg!

I was chastised in the comments last entry for not posting real post. So here it is... a REAL post.

We had such a great time these last few days with Nikki, Jason, and her family. We stayed at the Gatlinburg Falls Resort at the Eagle's Nest cabin. It was so beautiful! It had a hot tub, 3 floors of rooms, 5 bedrooms each with own bathroom, and a game room with air hockey, pool, poker table, big screen TV, and arcade game. Leah LOVED playing with Halle and
adopted Nikki's mom, Mia, as her own. She also liked hanging out with Nikki's sister, Teryn, and meeting the other family members. We just want to say thanks to the DeRosa's for having us and taking care of us so well! Oh yeah, and thanks to Joe for turning 30 so we could join them on vacation!

Anyway, we had a blast on Saturday watching the Gators bang out the win against Tennessee. When I pick up our pictures from JC Penney's (where I get all my photos taken), I will post the ADORABLE one of Mike and the girls in their Gator outfits. Sunday we headed to Gatlinburg and got settled into the cabin.


Monday, Mike and I took the girls on a hike to see Grotto Falls. We hiked a "moderate" trail 2.4 miles round trip. Leah rode in the backpack (thanks for loaning it to us, B&L) most of the way there and Erin was in the Moby wrap. Actually Leah got out and hiked with us probably at least 1/4 mile. At the top, Mike and Leah played in the falls and I fed Erin. We ate lunch up there and then started back. Now it took us 1.25 hours to get up there and only 35 minutes to get back. Leah actually fell asleep in the backpack on the way down! :) I so wished I could have gotten a picture of that, but the camera was packed away somewhere by then. We were so proud of going hiking as a family! You too can hike with a one month old. :) That evening I made roasted chicken and vegetables for everyone.

Tuesday, we went into the town of Gatlinburg and shopped around. We ate lunch at Bennett's BBQ, then took the tram up to Ober Gatlinburg. Mike and Leah went on the Alpine Slide, which Leah LOVED. We got ice cream and headed back to the cabin for a yummy Mexican fiesta. The next day we went to breakfast at Flapjacks Pancake Cabin, then walked around the Great Smoky Mountains Arts & Crafts Community.

That afternoon we went Hillbilly Mini-Golfing! You take this tram up the mountain and golf your way down. Leah did so well with her little orange plastic club. She teed off and putted every hole. After the first hit, she would move her ball to within inches of the hole for her last shot. We were there during naptime, so I think she did great! After golfing, we went home to let Leah have a late nap and pack up our stuff. We had an early dinner of burgers and dogs then headed home around 6pm.

Three things of note on this trip:

1. We do NOT like having both girls in the same room. Whenever one woke up crying, we were afraid they would wake the other up. Leah had a stuffy nose while we were there so she coughed at night a lot. (Erin has the stuffy nose now at home. She sleeps in her car seat for the time being.)

2. I can nurse Erin in both my Moby wrap and the sling I bought at Sleeping Baby Productions. That was nice because I didn't have to slow anyone down while we were out and about. The sling is WAY easy to nurse in and it will be even easier when Erin has full head control.

3. I love fresh raw corn! You can cut it right off the cob without cooking. It is great in salads of all kinds. I will definitely be using it in recipes in the future. If you eat my food, keep your eyes peeled for corn!

Extended Book Tour

Book Tour #4 has been extended for another week to give others a chance to get their questions in since I only have my question and one other one (thanks, Jen!). So anyone who is reading/thinking of reading Family Tree, please get me your question by NEXT Friday. Thanks!

This or That Tuesday - Take Comfort…

I know it's not Tuesday, but I couldn't get to this yesterday...
Which is more comforting for you…

1. Lying down on the couch, or stretching out on a recliner? Lying down on the couch. I always feel like I am going to fall out of a recliner.

2. Going barefoot or wearing soft slippers? Barefoot, slippers never stay on.

3. Eating ice cream, or pizza? Ice cream (I agree with Erica)

4. Watching on TV…a classic movie or a reality show? Reality show

5. Wearing: blue jeans or sweat pants? right now sweats, but ordinarily jeans

6. A long, soothing bubble bath or a quick, invigorating shower? Shower usually

7. Furniture: leather, or something more on the fuzzy side? Do NOT like leather. it hot weather, it sticks to your sweat. In cool weather, it is cold to sit on.

8. Soft, classical music, or upbeat rock & roll? Totally depends on my mood

9. Darkness or light? Both at different times

10. Thought-provoking question of the week: You get married, or otherwise begin cohabitating with a significant other. S/he moves into your place, but brings with them the UGLIEST chair you have ever seen! You really don’t want this thing in your home, but SO says it is the most comfy chair s/he has ever sat in, and no way will they part with it. Do you: grin and bear it, or scheme to get rid of the montrosity somehow? Keep discussing it to death until the other person gives in just to shut me up!

YOU are tagged. Ha, ha, gotcha!

VMAs

So I had to watch Britney's performance at the VMAs, especially after Erica's comments. I had DVR'ed it and put on just the beginning this morning. Wow, it was BAD! I mean, REALLY bad. Britney looked as if she had to concentrate so hard to remember the words, she couldn't think about anything else. She barely moved around the stage, and the dancing she did do wasn't even full out. Her face was had no expression the entire time.

When the camera would show audience members, their faces were so funny. They looked like they were trying to be encouraging, but couldn't actually LIKE the performance. I will watch the rest later when Leah is sleeping because I saw the first minute of Sarah Silverman's monologue and it is NOT toddler-appropriate. :)

School Days

I really love that we are sending Leah to "school." She is always excited to go. Granted, I don't actually drop her off, Mike has been doing that since Erin is born. (I will probably get back to it when he starts his new job. More on that in another post.) But I am sure she is giddy with joy when she gets there. Every time I pick her up, she is happy to see me and says, "Mama, I go home with you? Awwww, my baby!" She loves seeing Erin in her carrier at pick-up time. I love seeing art projects I did not have to clean up after. :) They are all over our playroom now. Another non-Leah related plus is that I can either get so much done with only one OR I can relax and chill and veg on the computer or read the entire time. I can also take that time to just concentrate on Erin and what she needs instead of trying to juggle things. It is truly one of the best decisions we have made.

I started this post last night then had to feed Erin and put her to bed in the middle, so I did not finish. Now is is 7am and the girls have been up since 6. Both are happy, smiling, and playful. BUT I didn't hardly sleep because Erin was nursing like every hour and a half. So hopefully I can make it through the day.

Question due Friday

Book Tour #4 is ending soon. Don't forget to send me your question this week!

A few notes from my life

I have random bits of news to share. Let's get started...

I swear Erin is smiling now! Not consistently, but yesterday she and I were talking and I am pretty sure I caught a few smiles. I need to get them on camera, they are ridiculously adorable (what baby smiles aren't?).

I went walking with the CDS girls this morning! There were four of us, each pushing a stroller (me with my new double) taking up all of the road! It was funny. But anyway, I am proud of myself for getting started back on the path to fitness. A few more weeks and I will be back on Weight Watchers too.

Leah is so funny when Erin cries. She says over and over, "I know, baby, I know." I have noticed myself saying it now that I hear her say it, but I never realized it before. Kids pick up EVERYTHING!

Other than that, my dad & step-mom are coming tomorrow to visit for the weekend. Then the next weekend, the Konickis are stopping at our house on their way to Gatlinburg and we are following them up there for a few days. Our first overnight trip with Erin! I may be wrong, but I think Leah was almost 3 months before we went on an overnight. Ahhh, how things change with the second.

Mike is wakeboarding today, so it is my first day, ALL day, with 2 kids and just me. So far so good (at 3pm). I was even able to clean the kitchen, mop, and clean the downstairs bathroom while the girls were napping. We will see how bath and bed go. :)

Loving Two

I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then she is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you’ve never shared me before. I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me." And I hear myself telling you in mine, “I can’t," knowing in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying her — as though I am betraying you.

But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.

More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.

But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two. There are new times – only now, we are three. I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.

I watch how she adores you — as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments. And I begin to realize that I haven’t taken something from you, I’ve given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.

I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you — only differently.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you’ll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you – you each have your own supply.

I love you — both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.
— Author Unknown

I cry every time I read this (stolen from my pregnancy board). Although we are only at the beginning of this journey of two, I see some of these things starting to develop. You do have to sacrifice some time with the first to care for the second, but the LOVE is never sacrificed.

Book Tour #4 Reminder

Book: Family Tree
Author: Barbara Delinsky

Question Due: September 14th

All Questions Listed: September 15th/16th

Post Date: September 21st

How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email (angelleg453@yahoo.com) saying that you're interested in participating.

(2) I will keep adding to this list of participants so people will know who is participating and where to go to read other reviews on "post day" (September 21st). You can add yourself to the list up until September 14th.

(3) read Family Tree by September 14th (about 4 weeks from Tour #3's post date).

(4) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and email it to me on September 14th (or any time beforehand).

(5) on September 15th/16th, I will post the list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 3 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry (if we only have 3 participants, we'll all be answering the same questions. If there are more questions, we'll have more variation on the blog entries because people will choose to answer different questions).

(6) on September 21st, everyone will post their entry. I will post my answers too and a reminder that it's post day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section).

I want you all to know that I have already read this book, but I wanted to share it with all of you because it was SO good. It really lends itself to a good discussion so I can't wait to hear and answer your questions about it. Please consider participating, this book is very good.

Erica tagged me

Man, I just read Erica's My Favorite Time of Day post and I was tagged! So now I have to blog about my favorite time of day.

Is this horrible? Right now my favorite time of day is right after we put Leah down for bed at night. Either we have time to play and interact with just Erin OR Erin is sleeping and we have time to just relax. Is it bad that my favorite time of day is without my kid(s)?

Whose children are these?

I stole this from Christine. Apparently they both look like both of us.

The Wedding Tag - I read it too

1. Where did you meet your husband? I saw him for the first time at our wintergaurd dress rehearsal,, I met him at a guard show, but only for a minute

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband? Who remembers these things?

3. Where was your first date? I went to his house, then we rented Muppets from Space to watch there, then I stayed over to watch Simpsons, I didn't want to leave

4. Where was your first kiss? In my living room on our first Valentine's Day (a day early)

5. Did you have a long or short engagement? We were engaged for 11 months.

6. Where did you get engaged? At a park in the gazebo, Mike played a "Will you marry me?" song he wrote on his guitar.

7. Where were you married? Holiday Inn Harbourside at Indian Rocks Beach, FL

8. How did the reception go? It was just about the most fun I have EVER had!!!

9. How was the honeymoon? We went to Bora Bora and stayed at the Club Med there. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

If you read this and have not already responded, YOU are tagged!

Erin's 2 wk appt

We saw the doctor today and Erin has grown up a bit. She is now 7lb 15 oz after dropping to 6lb 10 oz two days after birth. I know Mike blogged about going to the hospital to have her bilirubin checked awhile back. I was pretty scared at the time. They had to do a heel prick to get the blood. I was having flashbacks to the first time I witnessed that with Leah and it was awful. They couldn't get the blood to flow and she was SCREAMING in my arms. I was sobbing and my tears were pouring all over her face. It took forever. So I was afraid this time, but the lab tech was awesome and Erin actually FELL ASLEEP while they were taking her blood. Her levels turned out to be within acceptable limits and by that Friday her weight was back up to 7lb 1oz. So it turned out okay in the end.

I also want to address Mike's blog about my dream. I know it sounded wacky that I was so upset about Erin turning into an animal. But let me explain my reasoning. It wasn't the turning into an animal that freaked me out. In the dream I was screaming over and over (good thing I don't talk in my sleep or I would have woken the entire house up) "She was never our child" and THAT is what killed me. I thought I had lost her. She was not mine. I realized in that moment that I love her more than anything. She belongs to me in reality. It was an important moment that makes me feel good now that I look back on it. But at the time, I was terrified of losing her. Hey, don't judge me. :)

Anyway, things are going well here. Erin is nursing well and for the most part sleeping well. I am feeling very good, so good I am surprised when I think that I had a baby 2 weeks ago (today actually). When I was pregnant, I couldn't remember when my belly wasn't huge and hard. Now I can't remember having a pregnant belly. How easily we forget. Anyway Leah is GREAT with Erin, wanting to hold her all the time. Mike is such a help, he took a shift last night with Erin, THEN got Leah all ready for school in the morning.

Well, I gotta go to bed while I can. Can't wait to see some of you in Florida in October!

Instant growing up

I was just reading my birth club board on BabyCenter.com. There was a thread by second time moms about how their first child seemed to grow up just in the time the mom was in the hospital. I realized that is exactly how I feel about Leah! She seemed to become taller, weigh more, and be even more verbal when I came home than before. Even big and pregnant, I could still hold her and she wasn't overly heavy. Now after holding Erin all the time, Leah feels TOO heavy for me to carry. I feel bad that I can't hold her as much.

Yesterday we were at the playground and Mike was holding Leah and spinning around and around. When he put her down, she was super dizzy and seemed upset by it. I picked her up and carried her the rest of the way to the car. Her body stretched from my shoulder to my knees!!! Where did my baby go?

On a cutie note, Nana asked Leah if she wanted to come listen to Erin cooing. Leah said to Daddy, "We are going to listen to Baby Erin cocooning!"

Welcome Baby Corgan!

Congratulations to Keri and Keith on the arrival of Corgan Alexander Donald yesterday evening at 8:03pm! I was following the blog closely until I went to bed at 9pm with fever and chills.

Yes, folks, I have mastitis. The area is not all that painful, just a little tender. But the fever and chills gave it away. This morning my dr called in an antibiotic for me, so I will be back to normal shortly. Advil is also a miracle drug, it gave me relief throughout the night so I could actually sleep some.

On another note, Erin grunts SO loud in her sleep. It wakes me up, but she sleeps right through it. It sounds like an old man grunting to stand up. Also I am struggling with getting her to wake up enough to eat much. Usually I can only get her to eat on one side before she falls back to sleep. And sometimes she only eats for less than 10 minutes. How can she possibly be getting enough food? I think I will make an appt with the lactation room at my hospital for next week and get their opinion on the whole thing.

Best wishes to Keri & Keith on beginning this new phase of their family!

Home alone

So I have to confess that the thing I was scared of most was putting Leah down for a nap with no help. Today my mom left to go back to Florida (Boo) and Mike's mom arrived at the same time. He went to do the drop off and pick up right before Leah's naptime so I was left to do it by myself. Thankfully Erin was eating when they left, so she was finished by the time I had to put Leah down. We went upstairs and sat in Leah's new chair. As you can see by the pictures on our website, I can hold Erin on one side and Leah on the other and read her stories. I was able to do that, get her into bed and rub her back as usual. Then I came downstairs and put Erin in the pack-n-play because she had dozed off while I was reading. Since then I have done some dishes and eaten my lunch. And now I am on the computer in a quiet house! I am so excited I can't see straight! Ahhh, now for some relaxation...

So much to tell

Things here are going pretty well. Erin is sleeping 3-4 hours at a time at night. Breastfeeding is finally getting easier. It only took a week this time, when it took a whole month with Leah. I am relieved because I was terrified of going through that pain for an entire month. So onward and upward.

Yesterday we took the girls and went to Dave & Buster's for Bryan's birthday. I know many people think we are crazy for taking a newborn out. But we are not the type to sit around and we want to start off how we mean to go on. She slept almost the entire time we were gone. I nursed her there sitting on the floor of the bowling alley. I used Keri's present, a L'oved Baby nursing shawl. Erin is just learning and I really have to watch to get her situated. So I had to have my mom hold the shawl out so I could see in. It was really dark in the shawl so it was kind of a comedy getting all set up. It worked well once we got latched on. So I am looking forward to more opportunities to learn how to use it.

Tonight we bathed the girls together. My mom was nervous about it but it went fine. We put Erin's bath mat in the big tub and tried to keep Leah from splashing so much. She did well. We dressed them together in Leah's room and read them stories together. We got Leah a reading chair today and it looks so cute in her room. Anyway it was so much fun doing those things as a family.

I will leave you with a few pics of the sisters.

Harry Potter Answers - POST DAY

1. J.K. Rowling demonstrates an impressive ability to integrate symbolism throughout her books. Even in her epilogue, James and Albus Severus, Potter's children, continue the teasing/taunting relationship that is indicative of the people for whom they were named. Therefore, in keeping with the theme of symbolism, if you were a character in Harry Potter, what animal would be your patronus and why? This is a tough one. Right now my patronus would be a female kangaroo because I have my baby in my pouch often now. :) (Hey, they said your patronus could change with the circumstances of your life.)

4. What do you think Bellatrix Lestrange's relationship was with Voldemort? I do not think Voldemort thought of her in any way other than an especially powerful minion. He took advantage of the fact that she had feelings for him. He was able to give her certain jobs because of her certain loyalty, but I think he knew she was crazy and was always a little careful not to let her in too far.

6. Do you think Dumbledore should have revealed all of the facts to Harry earlier? If so, at what point was he ready to hear everything? Even after reading all of the books, I still find myself irritated that Dumbledore waited so long to tell Harry everything (first the Horcruxes, then the Deathly Hallows). I think after hearing the prophecy would have been a good time to reveal the whole story. Harry had already faced Voldemort and several times by then. He may have been able to do more about finding the Horcruxes at Hogwarts while he was still there.

So far only Kelly in NC had posted her answers. C'mon ladies. Leave me a comment here whenyou have posted and I will link to your post.

It's not so bad!

That is what we tell Leah to say every time she tries something she didn't want to do, like slide down a water slide or get her hair washed. So I think giving birth this time around qualifies as something I didn't "want" to do. Not that I didn't want to do it, you know. But I didn't want to go through childbirth and the aftermath. I was SO not looking forward to it. Let me tell you, it was/is a breeze compared to the first time around. Not that I had it so bad with Leah. But comparatively, it is just so different.

1. My hospital experience was pleasant, my nurse was super attentive. I was her only patient the night Erin was born so she was with me all the time from the time she came on shift at 7pm. When Leah was born, I felt like I would buzz for a nurse and it would take forever for anyone to respond.

2. Erin actually slept in the nursery the second night and I got 7 hours of sleep! With Leah, they were too busy to take her in after bringing her to feed the first time.

3. There was a lactation consultant here and none in FL.

4. I did not need stitches, so the recovery of that part has been a breeze.It does not hurt to sit on hard chairs.

5. Breastfeeding hurts this time too, but I seem to remember it being excruciating last time. It took a whole month to feel okay. So far it's not so bad (my new motto).

It makes me want to do it all again... maybe someday. :)

We are home

We came home today at about 12:30, Erin was 36 hours old. Mike picked Leah up from school and my mom drove Erin and me home. When we pulled up in the driveway, they were standing there holding a sign that said Welcome Home Baby Erin and Mommy. I lost it and started bawling. My family is awesome! I will write more later after a nap. Erin is napping, Leah is napping, so must I.

My new baby girl

I cannot believe she is here! It was all so surreal. Things kept coming out of my mouth and I was like, I said that? Not inappropriate things, but I felt outside of myself somehow for much of the time. Her birth story is pretty simple once we arrived at the hospital. Labor was a total of 28 hours which is an improvement on Leah's 41 hours! Here it is:

We got here at 5pm and I was checked. Totally disappointed to hear I was only 3 cm and 50% effaced after the 2 previous days. (You can read that in other entries). I was thinking about walking a little bit before hooking up to the IV because I wanted to move things along, but the contractions seemed closer together and more painful than they were at home. So they IV'ed me and gave me a shot of Nubain to take the edge off until I was 4cm and could get my epidural. I had 2 nurses at the time, one who was new and training. She did the IV and I was super nervous about that, but no troubles there.

You read the post earlier about being loopy with the drug. That is an understatement. I was having a hard time seeing straight, but I could deal with the contractions. I got a new nurse at the shift change, her name was Joanne. I was her ONLY patient and she was AWESOME! At 7:30, just about when the shot was wearing off and I was pretty much in pain again, the news came that I was 4 cm and ready for the epidural. Mike had gone out to get food, so I had to call him and tell him to get back here and hold my hand for the scary part. Well, the epidural went completely smoothly. Dr. Menk (?) did a fantastic job and I was completely numb. It did worry me that I wouldn't be able to feel to push, but everything felt too good at the time to worry too much.

At 9:30, I was 5-6cm and 75% effaced. (It gets a little confused here because things started happening so fast.) At 10:30, she went to check again and my water had broken. I don't remember the dilation. At 11:15, she checked and said I was complete. The doctor was called and things got prepped. There were 2 issues. One: I could not feel to push and two: every time I turned to lay on my back, I got supine hypotension (technical term for low blood pressure due to laying on back) so I felt like I had to throw up. We tried pushing for a bit on my side before the doc came and it was not really working all that well. With every push though I got more feeling of pressure back and could tell when to push. The epidural was actually wearing off because the syringe of meds if only for four hours. No pain though, only pressure. Finally I decided to suck it up and lay on my back.

I gave one test push and they shouted STOP. Erin was practically flying out and the doc wasn't back yet. So he arrived and we began pushing for real. After maybe 2 pushed her head was out and 2 more after that, she was all the way out at 12:27am on August 13th. As she laid on my chest there was no crying for the longest time and she was getting purpleish. I kept saying she isn't breathing yet and they sand it's okay. Eventually with a little encouragement, she began screaming. Mike got to actually cut the cord this time (he didn't with Leah) but we have no pics of it because he was the photographer and had to put the cameras down to do it. I got a really good look at her before they whisked her off to the warmer. I was so happy that everything went well, but still not convinced that this little girl was mine to keep. Anyway, NO TEARS this time thus no stitches. That was excellent to hear.

After clean-up all around, they brought her to me and we nursed for quite a while on both sides. I was extremely happy about that. She was passed to Mike and then to my mom. I forgot to mention that she made it up right when my nurse paged the doc because I was complete. So just in the nick of time. After I was able to get up ad use the bathroom, Erin had her first bath. We finally were left alone to sleep some at 3am.

Erin has been with us the whole time. She would not wake up to feed when I changed her poopy diaper at 6am so we are going to try again here soon. Lots of tired love to all and thanks for checking on us to often. We are over the moon with this new little life and can't wait to introduce her to Leah later this morning. Pictures of that will follow in the next post.

PS More pictures are on the camera but have not been uploaded to the computer yet. I can add more pics to this post of bathtime and nursing time when they arrive.

SHE'S HERE!!!

Welcome Erin Audrey Gallers. Born August 13, 2007 12:27 am. 7lbs 4oz. 20 inches.

WOOT!!!

operation broken water is a success

Mike: Water is broken! ANg is between 6 and 7 cm dilated. water broke on its own. we're moving right along!

tales of an epidural

Mike: well, theres not really that many tales. or tails. but angelle is hooked up to one now. she was 4cm at last check (7:30) and the nurse just checked and shes about 5 cm now. She said its weird to touch your legs and only feel the sensation in your finger, not your leg. i guess the meds work pretty good. she is trying to take a snooze right now. thats about all the updates. more to come.

At the hospital...

We are here! I was admitted at about 5pm. When checked I was 3cm and 50% effaced and baby is at -2 station. I can't have my epidural until I am 4cm, which thankfully is not that far away. I was able to get a shot of Nubain in my IV to take the edge off the pain and it is a LIFESAVER. I totally feel loopy and sleepy and have to keep correcting my typing because it's hard to see all that straight. But the contractions are totally bearable and I have been doing this visualization thing that they swell and recede. It really works pretty well. I am quite content at the moment.

Doctor wants me checked again at 7:30 to see if I am ready for that epidural. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Off to walk around Lowe's

So here's the deal. We are gonna go shop at Lowe's while Leah is napping (thank goodness for my mom coming last night). Hopefully the walking will put the C's closer together like it has done. Then I am going to come home and shower and we are gonna go to the hospital around 4ish or so. I don't care anymore, they ARE going to check me. Either they will send me home with something to help me rest tonight if I am not admitted. If I am admitted, all the better, because hopefully I will get the epidural and either rest or get pitocin to ramp things up and maybe have a baby tonight.

We really are nerds

We decided to chart my time between contractions to see the trend. They are getting closer together on the whole, but NOT FAST ENOUGH!! Can you believe I have had almost 100 contractions since last night at 8pm? I am OVER this!

A repeat of Leah's birth

So here it is, 8am, and they are no closer together than they were ALL night. In fact since 7am, they have spaced out back to about 15 minutes. Maybe it's because I was able to doze a teeny bit between. I was having dreams about tracking devices. The contractions are tracking me, I can't escape them! So we are off to walk the neighborhood and get some doughnuts. Maybe a good walk will kick start them again. My body does not want to let babies go. Is that a sign of how I will act when they leave for college?

I doubt anyone else is awake...

but I am! Contractions had been coming anywhere from 7-15 minutes apart from 8pm until 11pm. BUT for the last 2 hours they have been 10 minutes or less. There is no sleeping for me tonight. Mike is on his way home from the airport with my mom. So glad she is almost here. One of my main concerns about this baby coming was what to do about Leah. At least now I know my mom is here and will take care of her without a lot of disruption to her schedule.

Update: The last couple of contractions have been 6 minutes apart! The doctor said to come in when they are 4-5 minutes for a half hour. It may soon be time!

Book Tour #3 Questions (Harry Potter)

I am posting these now so I don't forget. Ladies please post your answers sometime this week on your own blog. We will all run around next weekend and check out the answers!

1. J.K. Rowling demonstrates an impressive ability to integrate symbolism throughout her books. Even in her epilogue, James and Albus Severus, Potter's children, continue the teasing/taunting relationship that is indicative of the people for whom they were named. Therefore, in keeping with the theme of symbolism, if you were a character in Harry Potter, what animal would be your patronus and why?

2. In the most recent book, Harry discovers the weaknesses or faults of his role model Dumbledore. In one of the previous books, he discovered the faults of his father. Describe a time when either you discovered that one of your adult role models wasn't perfect or when your child discovered that you had weaknesses too.

3. If faced with certain death, would you walk into the situation to save the ones you love - knowing there was no time for goodbyes?

4. What do you think Bellatrix Lestrange's relationship was with Voldemort?

5. Harry named his son after Snape. Do you think Harry should have forgiven Snape after all he had done? Do you think it was appropriate to name his child after Snape?

6. Do you think Dumbledore should have revealed all of the facts to Harry earlier? If so, at what point was he ready to hear everything?

7. I can’t help but look at everything through Mother’s Eyes. I was so moved by Molly Weasley’s jumping in to fight Bellatrix to defend her daughter. I think that sort of action just comes naturally to mothers. Is there something you have done that you attribute to the “Mother Instinct”?

Contractions... is this it?

So I have been having contractions (real painful ones, not just tightening) since about noon today. At least that's when I began somewhat timing them. They have been fairly consistent at 20 or so minutes apart. I have had a few periods where there are none, so that makes me second guess myself. But I woke up this morning feeling different, so I truly think we will have a baby by Monday at the latest. What I am really hoping for is a baby tomorrow. I will update if/when we leave for the hospital!

Oh another thing, I always say my labor with Leah was 41 hours because I began with contractions like this, 20 or so minutes apart, Sunday night at 8pm and she wasn't born until Tuesday at 1:30pm. At what point do you consider that labor begins? Did I really have a 41 hour labor, because that seems insane. I was only 3cm when I got to the hospital at 11pm on Monday night. (Just had to pause for a contraction at 8:06pm) So do I count labor as begun with this one at noon? I guess if I go to the hospital and they send me home, it counts as false labor. They almost sent me home with Leah because the contractions weren't regular enough, but then they took pity and let me have the epidural so I could get SOME sleep.

I am doubting there will be much sleep tonight, especially since my mom's plane arrives at midnight. I am so happy she is coming I cannot tell you. Here's hoping that I update sometime tonight that we are going to the hospital!

Pain in my chest?

So I don't know what this pain in my chest is all about. I think it is gas pushed up so high because it has nowhere else to go. But it is keeping me from sleeping tonight which sucks because I am actually tired and could fall asleep easily. So here I am playing around. I was able to find links to some of my favorite So You Think You an Dance moments. I am totally addicted to that show. The other night our cable was out and I was TERRIFIED that it wouldn't come back on in time for me to watch the top 6 perform. Anyway, my absolute fav...


Ivan & Allison

There was another one I love but it was just this past week so it's not up yet that I can see. I totally want to be these people. They have amazing bodies and are able to convey so many emotions through movement. I wish I had danced for longer...

My new look

Mike did this last night while I was sleeping. What does everyone think? Is it too bright? Should we tone it down with some other colors too?

Breathe easy, baby

Last night was no fun for my poor baby Leah. I put her to bed around 7pm (Mike was wakeboarding) thinking that I would get some prime scrapbooking time in. At 8 she was still awake, snuffling. I guess she is coming down with a cold or something (preschool strikes already). But eventually she feel asleep. At 10pm she woke up crying and coughing a harsh almost asthma like cough.

I of course jumped immediately to croup. The last time I suspected croup though, when she was a year or so, it was not the case. I have read that when they can't breathe, taking a little walk in the cool night air will help. Unfortunately here in NC, the temp was 90 at 10pm! Where are we, Florida?

So we went into the bathroom to turn on a hot shower and create lots of steam. I was not looking forward to that as a hugely pregnant woman in July. I was holding Leah on top of my belly while she was crying and coughing trying to get the shower curtain into the tub so the water didn't run all over the floor. Everything on the sides of the tub was flying around, banging the tub which made Leah cry harder because it was so loud. I finally got it all set up and we sat on the toilet for like 25 minutes. I was DYING of heat and Leah was squirming all over my belly.

After a little bit, she stopped crying and was breathing better. I had her sit on the floor in the bathroom while I got her humidifier all set up in her room. Then we went downstairs to chill out while the humidifier did its job and to wait for Daddy (he was almost home by then). She went right to sleep after that and slept until 6:15am, thank goodness.

She is still very stuffy today and her voice was very hoarse when I picked her up from school. I think she overdid the talking there. There is another little girl there named Leah and and our girl said "I want to hug my neighbor, my other Leah," the whole way to school. How adorable it that?!?

PS I now have cankles. My feet are soooo swollen. Come out, baby Erin!

Harry Potter question

Who else read it? C'mon, email me a question! Mom, Christine, (I know Laurie is out of town or else she would do it). I will get Mike to submit a question this time too. Due on Friday!

No news is... no news

Apparently Erin is VERY happy in there, as was her big sister, because as of this morning, there has been no change from 2 weeks ago. The doc said that at my appt next Monday morning, he will strip my membranes to see if we can get something going. I am NOT looking forward to that (with Leah it was pretty painful), but I am if you know what I mean. I had it done on a Thursday or Friday with Leah and started with contractions on Sunday night. So either way it will probably still be at least until early to mid-week next week.

No, Erin is not here yet...

I know that is what you all care about. Now onto my blog entry...

Yesterday we went to Cane Creek Park. It was so much fun. It is situated on a trophy bass lake. For a small fee, you can swim in the lake off of their "beach." I have NO pictures because I was playing in the water the whole time with them and it was too much work to dry off and get the camera. Anyway, the only time Leah has been to the beach (besides when she was a baby) was this past Memorial Day when we went to Ft. Lauderdale. The waves were HUGE and the water was chilly so she wasn't able to play in it. This time the water was practically bath temperature (I wished it was a bit cooler, it has been horrifically hot here). Leah had a ball! She was sad that we didn't bring beach toys but we didn't really think about it being real sand to play in. Even so, we made birthday cakes, buried rocks, and Mike sculpted us a mini-dolphin. It was such a good time. Further into the park there is a rock wall you can climb. Mike held Leah's feet to make sure they didn't slip off the rocks and she climbed all the way up to the top! Now if only we can get her to stop falling so much when she runs...

Also I have a complaint. Companies who set appts with you to come to your house should tell you upfront how long past the appt time they anticipate coming. Because someone was supposed to be at my house at noon today to fix the nail pops in the drywall but he didn't show up until 1pm. What if I had to be somewhere? I was madder about this and had a whole post planned, but then the guy was really nice and finished up in like 25 minutes so I am over it now.

REMINDER: Harry Potter questions are due to me by Friday. I have been trying to decide what question I want to go with all week!

My little girl is all growns up

My little baby started school today! Now, granted, it is a 2 morning a week mother's day out program and not full-blown school, but it was WAY harder than I thought. I cried for like 20 minutes after I dropped her off. I like to attribute part of that to pregnancy. I was not like this when she went to day care full-time for goodness sake! But what I kept thinking that tore me up was that they would read stories and sing songs there that I wouldn't know. She would tell me about them but I wouldn't know them. How ridiculous is that?!?! I've always been the one to read to her and teach her songs, so I was sad that I was going to miss stuff.

Leah, on the other hand, was FABULOUS! When I was ready to leave her there this morning, I asked for a kiss. The little booger said "I don't want to kiss you, Mom." Just... like... that. The nerve! Then she ran off to play in the little kitchen. I called bye from the door and she said bye back. That is all I got.

When I picked her up, she was sitting at the little table with all of her school buddies eating lunch. To the right is an adorable lunch picture. They also glued together pieces of a sailboat and painted them today. They learned to sing about alligators and monkeys swinging in trees. They played on the swings. She was in heaven! I am so happy we decided to do this. I won't feel guilty when I can't do these things as often after Erin is born.

My dr appt on Monday

I forgot to update, but there was nothing really to report. I saw another doc in the practice just to meet him in case he is the one who delivers me. He looked at my blood pressure, weight, and fundal height measurement and said "Keep doing what you are doing." So that was it. Next appt Tuesday at 10:30. Baby Watch 2007 continues. Stay tuned.

Tagged by Tiffany

places I've worked
1-Target
2-Aunt Chilada's as a hostess
3-Sylvan Learning Center as a tutor
4-O2B Kids (preschool)

movies I can watch over and over
1-Father of the Bride 2
2-Can't Hardly Wait
3-Dirty Dancing
4-When Harry Met Sally

places I've lived
1-San Ramon, CA
2-Franklin, TN
3-New Port Richey, FL
4-Monroe, NC

favorite tv shows
1-Grey's Anatomy
2-The Office
3-So You Think You Can Dance
4-Supernanny

places I've been
1-Bora Bora
2-New York
3-New Orleans
4-Bahamas on a cruise

favorite foods
1-Mexican
2-Italian
3-Southern
4-whatever I am craving at the moment

majors I've considered
1-Dance
2-International Finance
3-Education


places I'd rather be
1-visiting my mom
2-in the hospital having this baby

If you are reading this, you are tagged! All of the categories are supposed to have 4 items but some just didn't apply to me.

My Water Baby

Last fall Leah took swim lessons (well the baby kind where you just get them used to the water). She pretty much HATED them. She was happy to play games with me but ANYTHING that required her to get her face wet and/or go under made her scream. After a lesson or two, she would scream whenever we approached the pool. It never got any better.

That's why I was so surprised today. We went to the water park at the aquatic center and the water was kinda chilly. At first only Christine and Alex were there (Alex is Leah's age too). Leah would barely dip her toes in then. Alex and his mom were going on the slides but Leah said "No thank you." (Literally) Then after a bit Ian and Ty show up with their families. When Ian started going into deeper water and bouncing around like a bunny, Leah wanted to do it too. She didn't even want to hold my hand! She would also lay on her tummy in the shallow area and push up with her arms so that she was floating on her tummy! You have no idea what trying to get her to float was like in swim lessons. Last but not least she wanted me to swing her through the shoots of water so that they would hit her on the back. This is a child who has a conniption if "sprinkles" touch her. So I was VERY proud of my water baby today.

On another note, the sleeping is still not going well. We had one good night and two good naps since I wrote last about it. Yesterday she spent almost 2 hours in her room in bed BEFORE she fell asleep. I put one of those doorknob things on the door so she can't get out and wander around and it TICKS her off when she tries to get out. Also at night, I think she is having dreams and they wake her up and freak her out. For example last night:

She wakes up screaming Mommy at 4am. When I get to her door she is standing there with blankie saying "I want to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room." I didn't want to bring her in because usually when I do, no one sleeps anymore that night. But I had to pee so bad (damn prego bladder) that I did anyway. She told us that there were sharks in Leah's room. We talked about how sharks live in water and I said "Do you have any water in Leah's room?" and she said "No, only at the movies." Ahhhh, we had seen Shark Tale on Wednesday as the kids' movie. I guess I can't do anything about her dreaming, can I?

I laughed so hard I cried

Last night was supposed to be so relaxing. Leah did not sleep well the night before due to several coughing spells, but she had a great nap yesterday. She was pretty cranky all day, crying over EVERYTHING. So I decided early bedtime and we would have the evening to ourselves. I have not gotten it together enough to put her to bed early in a LONG time. By 7:20 she was bathed and we were reading stories in her bed. I left at 7:35 completely confident that sleep was imminent. Throughout the next TWO hours, she proceeded to request the following: medicine on her bug bites, more medicine on bites I had missed, a sip of water because she was coughing (also cough medicine), something to put her boogie on (she had picked it out of her nose), and last of all chapstick. This child, at 2 yrs old, has learned the making excuses at bedtime routine. Mike and I were cracking up at each new request, but I was so tired of climbing the stairs every 10 minutes with 50 extra lbs strapped to my front that I was almost crying. This CANNOT happen again tonight. We are going to cover all those bases in advance to see if that works out.

Quick Dr Appt Update

My doctor told me that I am 1 cm today! It is the beginning of the end. No thinning of the cervix though, so he says probably not this week. I predict within a week of my due date. He said we will induce if no baby by August 22nd. So there you have it - one month left no matter what! I have weekly appts now, on the next 2 Mondays. Stay tuned for Baby Watch 2007.

Latest in my life

This weekend was BUSY! Friday afternoon we (Leah, Laurie, Ian, Chase, and I) met Bryan and Mike at Carowinds to go to Boomerang Bay, their water park INSIDE the regular park. It was lots of fun. Leah and Mike went on the Platypus Plunge, which is a double tube ride for kids. We all went as a family on Crocodile Run (a lazy river). I laughed so hard at getting myself into a tube. Mike had Leah already in his lap and was heading down the river when a lady took pity on me and held the tube still so I could flop on it on my belly and flip over. Getting out was hilarious too. I floated past the exit and was starting the river again when I finally hauled myself out. Then I had to wade with my tube against the current to get to the exit. A RIOT! After a yummy Cracker Barrel dinner, Leah passed out the second she laid in her bed and slept until 8am (a miracle!).

Saturday morning, I prepared meals to freeze at Dream Dinners. I made yummy things like Maple Glazed Pork Chops with Bountiful Baked Beans and Canadian Bacon Stuffed French Bread. Those will remain in my freezer until I need them when the baby comes.

My new Harry Potter book arrived at 1pm and of course I started reading RIGHT AWAY! I read for an hour until my baby shower. Laurie hosted a CDS (cul-de-sac) party for me at her house complete with a 10-minute massage for everyone. How awesome was that?!? We played silly games and used our favor bags to work on our fingernails (cute collection of supplies). I had a diaper cake and a BIG basket of baby things to go through. Thanks so much Laurie and all my CDS girls! Pictures are on our website for your viewing pleasure. I read that evening from 5-6:15, then again from 8:30 until 2:15am. I finished the book that night and am VERY happy with it. That's all I can say about that because I have LOTS to friends who are working on it.

Remember if you are reading Harry Potter, be thinking about a discussion question to email me by August 10th.

The Escape Artist

Leah decided to showcase her new skills today. She has not been going down well for naps lately. Some days she won't sleep at all, others she talks for an hour or more before falling asleep. It's really frustrating. So today I cleaned out my van where I couldn't hear the monitor and closed the garage door when I went back inside. I guess Leah heard the door because I could hear her crying through the monitor on the kitchen table, but from FAR AWAY. I happened to close the upstairs baby gate today because of her new skill of opening doors. Even though Leah CAN open doors she has never left her room when she is supposed to be sleeping. I go up the stairs and she is standing on MY bed.

She had gotten out of her room and climbed onto my bed (I have never seen her climb onto my bed before).

Needless to say, there were no naps to be had today.

Just to refresh my memory

I got the chance to relive the good old days when I constantly had poop or spit-up on my clothing. I took Leah to the children's movie of Charlotte's Web today. Toward the end, she was getting restless so I put her on my lap, hoping to last the rest of the movie. As I stood up to gather our stuff after it was over, my pants felt wet. Once I got out into the light I looked down saw a wet spot on my pants where she had been sitting. In the bathroom I discovered that she had EXPLODED out of her diaper on both sides and up the back JUST LIKE A NEWBORN! We had to exit the theater with me, poopy pants, and Leah, naked except for a diaper and sandals. Quite the picture. Needless to say I did NOT get to stop by the grocery store on the way home like I was going to.

One more reminder how FUN those days are.

Note to self: pack extra clothes for EVERYONE!

P.S. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Leah is now on meds for constipation so those kinds of poops are not unusual, just not usually so explosive.

Book Tour #3

Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J.K. Rowling

Question Due: August 10th

All Questions Listed: August 11th/12th (assuming I am not in the hospital having a baby)

Post Date: August 17th (my due date!)


How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email (angelleg453@yahoo.com) saying that you're interested in participating.

(2) I will keep adding to this list of participants so people will know who is participating and where to go to read other reviews on "post day" (August 17th). You can add yourself to the list up until August 10th.

(3) read harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by August 10th (about 3 weeks from the book's release).

(4) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and email it to me on August 10th (or any time beforehand).

(5) on August 11th/12th, I will post the list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 3 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry (if we only have 3 participants, we'll all be answering the same questions. If there are more questions, we'll have more variation on the blog entries because people will choose to answer different questions).

(6) on August 17th, everyone will post their entry. I will post my answers too and a reminder that it's post day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section).

Blogaversary

I just realized that my blogaversary was July 11th! I have officially been writing in this blog for one year. I have actually been doing it more often lately and am really enjoying it. If there is anyone out there who reads my blog that I do not have on my links list, leave me a comment. I'd love to know if I have other readers.

Kids say the darndest things!

I have to put in a few of Leah's latest quotes (all today):

L: Mommy, I'm say-rd (scared) She comes to hide next to me and tucks her face away.
Me: Why are you scared, baby?
L: There's a ghost! Where's Daddy?
Me: He's at work, but I am here.
L: I want Daddy come home!

Where is this child learning about ghosts?

I offer Leah a Nilla Wafer before I pack some in a bag to take as a snack.
L: No thanks. Put it in the bag for safekeeping.

Um, safekeeping?

Leah is in bed, supposed to be taking a nap. I hear over the monitor:
Mommy, I have a surprise for you. I have pee pees.
Turns out to be poo poo and that was NOT the surprise. Apparently she has a birthday cake for me. But she put the two topics together to make for a WONDERFUL surprise for me.

Gotta love those little ones. :)

Oh yeah, I had the ultimate pregnancy brain experience today too. I let Leah climb into her carseat by herself this morning while I tied her balloon on the seat. I then helped the guy load groceries into my trunk. We drove off and I called Mike to tell him some of the cute things she said this morning. I am about 2 blocks from the store and I hear Leah saying "Stop talking for a minute Mommy. I have something to tell you. You forgot to buckle my seatbelt." I had NOT strapped that child into her seat! Just drove off and forgot about it. Dang, I need a 2 yr old to keep me on track.

My view on the new HP movie

I have been to the movies more lately than I have been in a year! Mike's weekly wakeboarding trip got canceled due to weather so we WERE able to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night. This small town of Monroe we live in is SO ridiculous when it comes to movies. It was OPENING night for goodness sake and there was no line and practically no one in the theater 25 minutes before the show started! In Clearwater we would have had to get tickets a week early and wait in line to even get into the theater. AMAZING!

So this might be a spoiler here, do not read on if you are planning to see it and haven't yet. I don't know if it was too hyped or what, but I was left a little disappointed. I truly do think the reason was the shortness of the scenes. This was the longest book and I think it was a struggle to fit all the important plot points in. Everything except the major battles was shown in snippets that really did not give you the proper emotions of the characters. I felt everything was just a bit too SHALLOW. I felt much more deeply while reading. The scene where the students battled for the prophecy was awesome. My favorite by a mile though was Dumbledore and Harry's battle with Voldemort at the end. It was SO well done. I actually liked the changes the director made to the scene BETTER than the book version, which is saying a lot.

There, I don't think that paragraph gave anything away that you would not have known after reading the book. No spoilers here. If you saw it, what was YOUR opinion?

Just FYI

I am planning on Book Tour #3 being Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I haven't set dates yet but I am guessing we only need like 3 or so weeks to read it because I am sure everyone will be DYING to finish it quickly. I myself will probably finish it by the end of that weekend (July 22nd) so it will not interfere with birthing babies in the slightest.

Hey, I just remembered I was reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when Leah was just 2 months and I read obsessively while she sat in her swing A LOT (sorry, baby). Good thing I read so fast, she was not confined there for long.

Anyway, I guesstimate a question due date of August 10th.

A Pea in the... Nose?

I had to blog about this. It was hilarious and terrifying all at the same time. Last night at dinner Leah had some peas and carrots from the can. Mike and I are sitting there with her and she is watching Dora as a special treat. We usually don't watch TV at dinnertime. So all of a sudden I notice that she is digging in her nose. I tell her to stop and she says "A bean." I immediately thought of pea and said "Is there is pea in your nose?" She said "Yeah." I still didn't think it was true, I mean, why would she put a pea in her nose? Then Mike held her other nostril and made her blow, and suddenly we could see the pea. It worked well for a minute, then I guess she freaked out and sucked in. We couldn't see the pea at all anymore. I run upstairs to get the tweezers and I can hear Mike downstairs telling her to blow again. At this point I think he was scaring her and she started crying. I was afraid that crying would make her breathe it in even farther, so we had to calm her down. I took her on my lap and talked calmly to her while reaching in her nose with the tweezers. I still could not see the pea, but I kept grabbing farther and farther in. I was freaked out to go to far, but it didn't take too long to grab the pea and pull it most of the way out. Five seconds later it was out and she was back to eating chicken nuggets, no more peas today. :) We starting having her repeat "Food only goes where?" and she says "In my mouth, not my nose, not my ear, only mouth!"

Ahh.... parenting adventures!

This weekend and our trip to Chimney Rock

This past Saturday we had an extremely busy but fun day. First we packed up our stuff and headed to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville for our neighbors' Kenna(6) and Andi(4)'s birthday party. We got to ride a wagon around the ranch and feed animals like bison, ostriches, and giraffes out of our hands! Leah did not like to let them eat from her hand so much (and I can't blame her) but she would watch Daddy from the safety of Mommy's arms. Very fun trip to anyone who comes to visit us, it's about an hour and a little drive from our house. I do not have any pictures because we FORGOT our camera. We are bums. My friends should be sending me their pictures soon so that I can post them.

After we left there, we headed straight for Mike's boss's house. He lives on Lake Norman. They have this party there every year called the Dock Crawl. Several neighbors get together and throw this party on their collective docks. This year Matt hired a band to play on the top of his dock (the bottom is where the boat is dry-docked). FYI this is where Mike goes wakeboarding every week. So we stopped at Wal-Mart on the way and bought me a pop-up float and Leah a little blow-up boat and Mike a tube. I thought Leah would be a little scared to climb right in the lake since she is hesitant to get in the pool most of the time. She was NOT AT ALL! She LOVED floating around being pulled by us. After a little while she wanted to sit at the bottom of my float, which was nice because she was more in the water. She wore her swimsuit with the floaties built-in so we didn't worry too much about her jumping from float to float. We finally headed home that evening to see my dad and Myrn who were waiting at our extraordinarily messy house.

Monday we drove over to the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area. It is really nice over there. We explored the town a bit when we got there, but it was raining at first. We ended up having really good pizza overlooking the lake and walking around this pretty boardwalk once the weather cleared. Tuesday we headed up to Chimney Rock itself. That was an awesome drive up and an even better view at the top. Leah and Mike took some other paths too. The first picture is a rock called Devil's Head that they saw when they took a little walk without the rest of us. After we were all done exploring and almost ready to head down the Rock, Mike realized that he had locked our keys, his wallet, and both of our cell phones in the car! We then proceeded to wait 3 1/2 hours for AAA to come and let us in. I guess we couldn't have picked a better setting, but still we were all STARVING when we finally could leave. (We snacked out of the gift shop in the meantime.) We stopped to grab a sandwich and take some pictures by the river (had forgotten our camera in our explorations the day before) before we headed home utterly exhausted. I really want to go back up there next year and hike some of the trails that go to the waterfall. The top of the waterfall is the film site of The Last of the Mohicans. They rent kid carriers (backpacks and front packs) if you don't already own one to hike around with.

So now we are gearing up for 4th of July dinner at our house (homemade spaghetti and meatballs from my dad, YUM) and then a trip to the park to see the fireworks. We may also head over to Waxhaw to the parade. Will post pictures of that later!

Let's be honest here

I only got halfway through the book and was not psyched to finish it. I have also heard this from several sources. Do you gals want to call it a day on this round and start fresh after this week? I have too many other interesting reads lined up to spend so much time on something I don't enjoy. If you are mortally offended by this, let me know. :) Otherwise Book Tour #2 has been canceled.