Birth Plan: Check!

Would you like to read it?


"I do not consent."


I even have it memorized!

Losing my grip on reality.

I just emailed Ina May Gaskin. This may sound crazy, but I really needed to tell her how much her amazing book means to me. I hope she writes back and tells me I'm superwoman. That would thrill me.

One good hour left...

I am 100% exhausted. I can't find a muscle in my body that isn't pounding. Lucy woke up from her nap at 5 and was just working my every last nerve. I've been doing great, really enjoying her, had tons of energy, all week long. She has been an absolute doll since we left Frostburg last week. But she and I were really butting heads tonight and it was all I could do to keep my patience. It's only 8, but I'm planning on getting to bed VERY soon. I can't believe how heavy my head is! This weekend I'm hitting 37 weeks and boy, am I feeling it! I can't wait to be holding this baby in my arms and not in my belly. I'm still feeling fine, but she's getting very big. Lucy didn't feel like this. It feels like little Ethel just has no room at all. Lucy was still pretty comfortable and content right up to her delivery. This new baby wants to stretch every direction possible and I'm just so sore!
So, I'm going to hit the sack in mere minutes, after I talk to Prince Charming and brush my tired teeth. I hope tomorrow takes a long time to get here.

Feb 31st: A Day In The Love

He surprises me with flowers just because he likes me a lot.

Here are Katie and I trying to figure out if the 2 dozen roses at the hair salon were for me or for Michelle, to whom they were addressed. For a few minutes I was really jealous of Michelle, and then we found out that Michelle worked there and Andrew had to give the florist the name of someone to deliver them to. As it happens, the very romantic guy sending roses to his bride-to-be was Andrew, and I was was the bride-to-be. Those roses just tickled me and they sat behind us on the altar of the stone chapel where we were married.

On more than dozens of occasions, Andrew walks through the door on a given day with his arms full of flowers for me, just because he thought it would be nice to surprise me. (Although I must admit his recent Tuesday diamond earring surprise was nice, too...) He's just an incredibly thoughtful guy who remembers that I love to be pampered on those rough Wednesdays when nothing's going right and that a bouquet of flowers is just old-fashioned enough to remind me of why I love the one I love.

He even brings me flowers when I look like this:

Feb 30th: A Day In The Love

He uses the phrase, "As many as we're given." I knew Andrew was the one when he said, "I think I'd like 7-9 kids, maybe more." His love for his babies is so deep and so strong. He could watch Lucy run around and chatter for days on end. We're both so amazed by her, and he spends countless hours telling me how much her adores her. When he works so late that he misses bedtime, I find him upstairs in her room before he goes to sleep, catching a few minutes of Daddy-time. I can't wait to meet our newest princess and introduce her to her adoring Daddy. We both want as many kids as God will give us, just for the fact that raising kids together makes us stronger, happier and more complete. There is nothing like falling in love with your babies to make you fall in love with your spouse all over again.

February 29th: A Day In The Love Of Andrew

We'll start with the 29th, then, eh?

What do I love about Andrew? How can I come up with the very first thing I love about him? This is very, very hard. There are just so many things about him.

#29. He's a peaceful person. Everything about Andrew is calming. I don't know anyone who's agitated or anxious when he's around. He puts everyone at ease and brings a happy calmness to the people around him. He's easy to talk to, imaginative, approachable and fun. When I think of how scared I am about having this baby, I know the fear will be far, far away as long as Andrew is in the room. When Lucy gets hurt and I start to panic, he swoops in and takes control in his easygoing, no worries manner. When I start to worry about something silly, he just tells me I'm being ridiculous and moves on without making a scene or making me feel stupid. He doesn't pick fights and when he has a problem, he just tells me and moves on. He never intentionally agitates people and he always makes sure he understands and is understood. He teases me enough to keep things fun, but would never try to purposely embarrass me. He loves to make me laugh, but never seriously laughs at my expense. I love him, and I love that I married someone who makes me a more peaceful and complete person.

A Month In The Love of Andrew

I have been trying to figure out a way to celebrate our anniversary month long-distance and I had a shower thought that will solve my problems.
To celebrate our anniversary, I'm celebrating A Month In The Love of Andrew. Each night I'll make a post about something Andrew does or says that sweeps me off my feet. Cause he does, every day. You might ask, "But Laura, this is the shortest month of the year, you stupid cheater."
To that I say, "Fine, I'll start tonight. I'll begin with the 29, 30th and 31st and I'll begin the month on the 1st, as planned. Of COURSE I can come up with 31 things I love about my sweetie."

And who knows...maybe he'll start reading my blog!

36 Week Progress!

I went in for an appointment today, amid the big snow. I had my Group B swab and my midwife asked if I wanted an internal exam. I said, "Well, I'm already half-naked, so...."

She said my cervix is nice and soft, I'm 50% effaced and I'm "funneling." I think that means I'm starting to dilate. I don't know. Progress terms are confusing to me because I've never used them before. I came home and had to ask what effacement was.

So, we're all snowed in today so I have lots of things planned for Lucy. We're going to dye pasta and make necklaces and pictures, and I bought Cheerios to make edible necklaces. Oh, it's going to be a day. Lucy's outside shoveling with Grandma, so I'm going to make some mac-n-cheese before she comes in hungry!

Long, Long Day...

Well, Ethel is still down low and making me uncomfortable. Hooray!

Lucy and I had a great day, but it was really, really long. I know there are a lot of people I need to touch base with, but I think I'm going to pass out within about 20 minutes, so I'm going to have to put that off until tomorrow. :-(
We went out to LabCorp early this morning, and then we hit the library and Shoppers. By the time we were done with that, we were both absolutely exhausted. We came home for lunch and a VERY long nap on the couch. When we woke up, Lucy had some ice cream, I had some yogurt and we hopped in the hot tub for a long soak. Once we were done there...tired again. So we watched a "Dee-Dee-Dee" (DVD) and colored. Grandma and Grandpa were both home later than usual, so we had a late leftover dinner and Lucy just hopped into bed. Another smooth night without a peep. I am SO proud of her for adjusting so well and doing what she needs to do. Such a sweet girl. She had a mostly happy day, but I know she's confused about why Daddy isn't here for her bedtime routine. That's usually his "job," if you could call it that. I started doing the bedtime stuff on Friday, so that she wouldn't be totally confused, but I can tell she's still waiting for Daddy to get back to his usual routine. Poor kid. She'll be VERY happy to see him next week! We miss you Andrew!

Breaking Ethel News!

Okay everyone, says some prayers that Ethel stays in this horribly uncomfortable position. She dropped to an all-time low tonight and while that's good news for my lungs, she really needs to stay there and get to work. I'd say my belly is about 3 inches lower and I'm waddling something awful, but that's GOOD! Let's just hope the little angel doesn't float back up...

We're Here!

Let Ethel Watch '09 officially commence! Today we're 36 weeks along and we've made the move.

My darling Andrew is on his way home with our new bed and a new crib, but without his girls. :-(

Lucy is playing with Josiah at his house, so Mommy is taking a little break after a very long day! We got out of the house early this morning and boy have we been busy! Lucy was a gem on the ride down without so much as a peep! When she gets back here, it'll be getting close to bedtime so I'll get her into the bath, feed her some dinner and we'll see how bedtime goes. With any luck things will be as flawless as they are at home!

Tomorrow we need to run out for a blood draw, a library card and a few little items at the store. Other than that we're going to try to give Lucy a normal day and try to start settling in as much as we can. She had a blast running around today, but I'm not sure she has any idea what's going on. She'll figure it out soon.

Well, I'm going to sit down and continue my reading. I decided to start re-reading The Nursing Mother's Companion and I'm only a couple chapters in, so that'll be my big fun for the next few nights. :-)

Naptime!

Well, this has got to be my most peaceful part of the day. Lucy is snoozing happily in her Boppy and Andrew and I just finished lunch. I am trying to pack, but I'm pretty disorganized. I'm just excited and can't think straight.

We went to Lowe's today and looked at bedroom doors for Lucy. Andrew has the awesome task of working on that while we're gone. He's also going to pick up a new bed for us tomorrow! Yay! It's going to be kind of big for that room, but whatever. It's a new bed and I'm just tickled pink.

I think we're going to go out to dinner tonight to lessen the activity around here and celebrate Ethel Watch '09. We;re surrounded by piles of clothes and toys, so anything we can do to avoid making this house any messier is a good thing, right?

I think we'll be heading out of here around 10 or 11 in the morning. I guess it'll depend on how long it takes us to get all of our stuff together after tonight. I can only pack so much, since toddlers and gigantic pregnant women require so many sleeping accessories. Lucy has about 15 blankets and pillows and pacifiers and water cups, not to mention the noise machine, monitor, night lights, you name it.

And me? WELL, there are bottles of Tums, the humidifier, piles of pillows to help me sleep more upright, the monitor base, chapstick, hair ties, water bottles, slippers....it's a veritable infirmary. So we'll have a few things to pack tomorrow, plus figuring out how to get it all in the car. Have I mentioned how much I adore my in-laws for inviting us into their home for this event? I love having company, but a week is usually my max. And what do they do? They open their arms to a cranky pregnant girl and her totally insane toddler. So, so blessed are we.

I'm NOT looking forward to the drive down tomorrow, but I'm hoping Andrew will feel like letting Lucy ride halfway with him just for fun. She likes to ride with him because she can see out the window and gets to sit with Daddy. I'll have to stop in Hagerstown to walk around anyway and I can take her back then. No. What am I thinking? Obviously I'll take her for the first half. The stronger, more patient parent should take the second half. Silly me. I just can't believe that the next time I drive through Sideling Hill I'll have two babies in my car! I'm just so incredibly excited to meet Ethel. I'm going to be exhausted and cranky and hormonal, but I'm so thrilled to be getting ready to welcome another sweet little girl into our family. I'm just addicted growing children, I guess. I feel like I've been pregnant for a million years and all I can think about is what names go well with Lucy and Ethel. Of course, today is my final countdown mark, so I'll probably be swearing that I'm stopping at 2 within the next couple weeks...

Okay, I need to stop typing and fold some laundry. My adoring husband has been very willing to carry it all over the house to get it all clean for me, so the least I can do is fold it, right? I love that guy. And he's so cute and kissable. And he's mine, mine, mine.

I had a reason to blog...

...and I totally forgot what it was. 

Well anyway, 2 days to Ethel Watch '09! Andrew went to work late today, so Lucy and I are having a hrd time getting into the swing of our day. We haven't even showered yet...yikes. I think we'll do that next and then clean up the house until lunch time. We're going to go out after Lucy's nap and buy a book for Andrew, stop at the bank and then head to the mall to meet Andrew for some walking around and maybe a stop to buy a baby book for Ethel. 

She's doing well- yesterday was a very, very busy day for her and she really didn't stop moving all day. She's having a very quiet day today, probably recovering from her Thursday party. I'm still emailing names to Andrew, without so much luck. We have one name that we really like, and the rest....eh. Who knows. 

Well, I'm just wasting time here so I think I'm going to hunt down my toddler and get her in the tub. 

My nose is burning.

I have approximately 72 seconds before Lucy realizes I'm not glued to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her.

My nose hurts. Stupid mountain air. We've had enough nosebleeds in this family lately to convince me there's something Erin Brokovich-y going on...hm.

Today my only real goal is to drink 128 ounces of water. I was up for 3 bathroom trips and 3 doses of Tums last night, whereupon I found my wedding ring screaming at me for not removing it sooner. Interestingly enough, my hands look just fine this morning, so I'll be keeping an eye on that. In the meantime, lots of water.

We have friends coming over this morning to play, and then we're going to lunch, a nap and a trip to the mall. I think we'll kill some time there before our meeting with the tax man. I feel so smart getting this done before Ethel's arrival. Who wouldn't want to be married to this?

I felt great all day yesterday, probably due to my 2-hour nap with Lucy...love that kid. Hopefully today will go the same way, because tonight is Grey's Anatomy and our first night of "Operation Snuggle Overload," a plan devised to help me become totally sick of my husband by Sunday. I doubt it'll work. :-(

Well, Lucy has been more than generous with her time and still hasn't realized I'm gone, so I'm sure this is going to bite me threefold within the hour. Toddlers are never generous and Andrew gave her a very heavy pair of binoculars to play with, so I'm assuming she'll pay me back with a blow to the head or something like that.

3 days until Operation Ethel Watch!

Well, it looks like we decided on the right week to head downstate. I finally reached the brink of mytolerance level yesterday and am now pretty anxious to get things moving. 

It turns out the back pain I'd had through most of my pregnancy wasn't sciatica, because I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sci last night. Turns out that's ten times worse than my worst back pain ever. I thought I was dying. It's doing better now, but I'm going to try to take it wasy today in the hopes it doesn't come back as bad as it was. I also reached maximum pregnancy discomfort, which is something I didn't have with Lucy until MUCH closer to my due date. Yesterday was just bad all around. I've never felt all the muscles in my body give up at once. 

In addition to my feeling yucky, Lucy has hit the terrible twos with a vigor usually reserved for keg stands and top 40 pop stars. Awesome! She's started each morning this week with a passionate tanrtum and general disdain for authority. She's still napping well and sleeping fine, but I'm so over the button-pushing. With any luck a change of scenery and some Grandma-love will fix her age-appropriate nonsense. She's fine if I keep her extremely busy and just a bit out of her comfort zone, but that requires the energy of a professional gymnast, or at least a 25-year-old UNpregnant mommy. I think getting down to Baltimore and seeing some new sights will help her a lot. I can't imagine it's much fun just sitting here watching the belly grow. 

Well, Maple can't live on lunchmeat, animal crackers and cheese cubes forever, so we have to run to Walmart to buy dog food. Andrew made a large obstacle in front of the giant wall she's been scaling, so hopefully she'll stay in the yard today. I still can't believe she got over in the first place, let alone twice. 

Oh, I also need a toothbrush.

Feeling Patriotic?

Forever.

Lucy is in her chair sleeping, her wispy red hair over her face. She's covered in dry cereal and still looks positively angelic.
It's been a rough morning, getting back into the swing of another week, we're both pooped and I know that I have so many things to think about this week. Andrew took the car, which is fine, but it leaves me feeling trapped!
This morning Lucy and I were playing in the office and we turned on the Beach Boys to dance. The song "Forever" came on and I pretty much fell apart. If you don't know it, here's the video.



This song sums up so much about how I feel about Lucy. She's taught me that parenthood doesn't last 18 years and it doesn't end when you're separated by life events or death. She and I are tied together for good. I'm sure fatherhood is awesome and amazing, but motherhood is surreal to me. Having carried her inside me for so long, there will always be a part of her inside me, and me in her, and that's just mystifying to me. I'm convinced that I'll always physically feel her pain and joy. That's scary and still fine with me. Sometimes I hate having her on the outside where I can't protect her like I once could. But I sure love getting to know her. She's still a stranger to me in a lot of ways, but it's so exciting watching her grow and learn. I'm really looking forward to learning who she is in her heart and seeing her accomplish so much. Can you tell I adore her? I can't wait to meet Ethel. I'll bet she's just as perfect.

January 20, 2009

Lucy's sleeping through the inauguration. She just doesn't dig the political scene, I guess...

I didn't vote for Obama, but today is a huge deal. My eyes are full of tears, because I'm incerdibly hormonal and because I'm an American. I don't agree with his politics, but it doesn't make this day any less special for him, for me and for our beloved country. 50 years ago a day like today wasn't possible. For the United States, today is akin to the emotion people may someday feel to see a woman running Iraq or Pakistan. Seeing this country elect a biracial President gives me hope that someday we might allow our citizens to live and that we might someday stop the genocide happening daily within the borders of our nation. We've come so far, but we have so far to go. Please join me today, and every day, in praying for our great country and for our new President. We have much to celebrate and still so much to ask of God. 

it is c.o.l.d.

Recently there have been many days where I'm very jealous that I do not get to stay in the warm house. Today? Yes. Today is one of those days.

Love, Dad.

Wiggle Worm

This baby is kicking my booty. From the inside. I had no idea babies could inflict so much pain. Little Ethel is an incredibly busy girl. As I type this, my belly is just waving all over the place. At 5 and a half pounds, she's got a lot of power behind her wiggles now. I'm 35 weeks pregnant today, with 35 days to go until my "due date." I use the term due date loosely because I think it's bogus. But we'll save that for a time closer to the big day, when my midwife is begging me to consider my options. :-) 

Today was super fun. Lucy slept til 7:30, which was just awesome. What a peach. We had a playdate this morning with Ben and Jacob, and Lucy had a blast. She adores Ben because he's a big boy, and she just loves Jacob, because he's a helpless baby who "needs" her. It ws so cute watching her try to take care of Jacob. He seemed a little confused by her insistence that he keep his pacifier in, but he was very patient with her rookie mothering. 

We came home for a 3 hour nap and then Calvin and Katherine came to visit! We hung out here at the house for awhile and then we went to Main Street Books to wait for Andrew to get home. I bought Lucy the cutest book and she just can't get enough of it. We had dinner at the Princess and came home just in time to get Lucy into bed. 

Tomorrow will be a quiet day watching the inaguration and keeping things low-key. I think we'll make some cookies to take to Jeff and Katie's tomorrow night. We're going to go over to visit and play board games before we head downstate. We always have a blast with them and I know Lucy will be tickled pink to see them again.

Well, I'm not giving my full attention to my Monday night trashy TV. Now, that's not very fair to NBC, is it? I'm going to sign off here and catch up on just which Momma's Boy goes against his mother's wishes and picks the love of his life. Will Jewish Rob pick Camilla? Will JoJo finally tell his crazy mom to leave him alone? Will Erica, the 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year, find a place in sweet Michael's heart? It's just so hard to say...

The Girl's Got Issues

Well, I think we're coming closer to a new name, but I think we'll wait until we meet her to finalize it. And I will not be posting about it a whole lot more. Ha. From this point on, said unnamed baby will be referred to as "Ethel."

Chicken was kind enough to sleep until 7:30 this morning! I REALLY didn't think that would happen, seeing as she went to bed at ten til 7 last night, but it was a very welcome surprise, since we were up late watching the game.

I attempted to shave yesterday. That's just getting funnier and funnier. I think Andrew's critique post-shave is even funnier than the actual event. I must say, I'm excited about moving downstate and not worrying about my prickly legs bothering my bed buddy...otherwise, pregnancy is always very good to my body. I adore my pregnant body and wish I could feel the same about my post-partum body. In theory, I should feel even better about it AFTER I give birth, right? Just one of those things, I suppose. I'm going to really work on that this time around. Now that I have Lucy and she's so in tune with my attitude, I can't be negative about my body image. I won't have my toddler learning the words "fat" or "flabby." Yeah, there is a lot to accomplish in the confidence department after you have a baby. Last time was a pretty tough struggle to get anywhere close to feeling good about myself. I mean, if I had confidence issues when I was a freshman in college, how am I going to conquer my self-esteem just having given birth? I'm hoping to run a 5k this summer and am really excited about the snow disappearing a little. No, I'm GOING to run a 5k this summer. "Hoping to" is a phrase that really bothers me. I'd like to consider myself a woman of action, after all. Ideally I'd like to run one on my birthday (Memorial Day) and one in July or August. And then maybe something a little tougher closer to Halloween. I'm getting horrible cabin fever and anyone who knows me knows that my activity level just isn't suited for a Frostburg winter. I understand that pregnant women and slippery surfaces don't mingle well, so I'm doing my best to just clean the house and keep up with Lucy, but that's just the tip of the energy I have these days, so it's hard to stop there.

Why can't I live in Florida?

Well, Lucy and I have a packed day. No time for sitting around. We have friends to see in Keyser, friends coming into town this afternoon and we're still in our PJ's!

Baby Watch '09

Well, tonight begins our last week in Frostburg before Baby Girl makes her appearance. We've got a lot to get done, get packed and get sorted out before we go, so I'm anticipating a very busy week. I also have to start dealing with the idea of being away from Andrew for 4, 5 or 6 weeks. Sad face. He'll be down for his long weekends, but I know he has a lot of school work and work work to get done and prepared before he takes time off for the big event, so he does need time alone and away. It'll just be hard being away from him every night as I start to get more anxious about the big day. However, this time is important for me to get my head together and really focus on myself and the baby, so falling asleep with my own thoughts each night will be good, in a way. And it'll make our weekends very, very good!

I worked on my packing list tonight, and a list of each day's activities for this week. Lucy is very excited and agitated about whatever's happening, but she has no idea what that is, exactly. I'm hoping that she'll settle in well downstate and we can have a relaxing few weeks before we meet our new girl. 

Tomorrow I'm 35 weeks pregnant with 35 days to go. I'm getting SO excited about meeting this little girl! We started making a list of everything Andrew has to do while we're gone, and boy is there a lot to finish up! We really haven't done much up to this point because it'll just be easier for him to do it all while we're out of the house. Lucy and Baby will be sharing a bedroom and that won't happen until sometime around the middle of the summer, so we have lots of time there. However, Lucy is in for some big changes before then, so a lot of the work he's doing in the next few weeks is for HER. She'll be moving into a toddler bed this spring,  so we put that together today and he'll be hanging her bedroom door. Our upstairs now is currently a loft style plan, so we have a small amount of construction to do there. We'll also be changing our own room, so he has some things to get done there, as well. I also want to get all of the quarter-round trim put down on the main floor. The previous owners had carpet so the quarter-round was pulled up, but since the hardwood is back, we need to get that down again. I hate the way the house looks without it, but it really hasn't been something we've had time to tackle, so Andrew will be working on that, too. Our biggest issue and the main reason we haven't it so far is because we have a lot of wood in the house and it's really hard to match the color of the stain, the wood being so old. So, any woodworking projects we attempt are pretty time consuming, since nothing about this house is pre-fab friendly. Andrew enjoys staining, but he really needs plenty of time to do it and very little distraction. 

Andrew will also be pulling out all of the infant stuff and reassembling a few things. Lucy's obsession with babies means that she wants to "play" with all of her old stuff. We decided to leave everything packed away until the birth because that way we'll have a real baby to use as an excuse. She's starting to understand that there's a baby out there who will be using her stuff, but she still has no idea that baby will be using her stuff her in her own house...it's going to be a long few months! 

Lucy had a great weekend. We didn't do a whole lot - we wanted to keep the weekend low-key and quiet before we made the move next weekend. We just hung out around the house for the most part. We spent the morning cleaning beore church - this house is always a disaster on the weekends! Lucy was a dream all through Mass. She just sat quietly, holding her rosary and repating, "Jesus! Jesus!" 

Tonight we're watching the Ravens/Steelers game and heading to bed the minute it's over! The Cardinals/Eagles game was awesome and I think Andrew's enjoying a day full of football. Go Ravens!

Feelings get you killed.

Andrew and Lucy just ran out to pick up "Appaloosa" while I'm cooking dinner. How excited am I to be watching a western tonight? Andrew and I are wearing out our copy of 3:10 to Yuma these days, so that'll be super exciting. I love westerns almost as much as I love desserts, so tonight will be fun. And since Andrew slept in til 8:30 this morning, I know i can stay up for the whole movie and not worry about tomorrow! Hooray!

Daily Dance Party with Dad

She gets her moves from her PaPa!

Quiet Saturday

Here are some recent pics of my Chicken and our latest activities. We went to Gabe's last weekend and we were feeling silly, so we "made over" our bathroom. Now, our bathroom is already not the cutest, so giving it a makeover is so far outside the realm of possibility...but we were feeling like adding some color, so we found a spectacular shower curtain for just thee dollars and it's kept us smiling all week! We did, however, need a new bathroom rug, and that was what started the mayhem. We found a fluffy one and Lucy just fell in love.

The shower curtain - please note my fabulous husband cleaning the bathroom. And the prison window.

Lucy and Daddy wrestling. I love that smile!

What happens when you cover a toddler in royal icing and lock her in a room with an 80-pound puppy? The puppy eats the toddler! Maple was SO excited to find Lucy covered in cookie dough and icing. This picture really in't very good, but I wanted to show how huge Maple is getting! Lucy is growing like crazy and I would say Maple is definitely the BIG sister now.

Our pretty girl.

The cookies we made for Daddy on Thursday. He works so hard and he loves these cookies, so we spent the day working hard to have a treat for him when he got home!

Andrew teaching Lucy "how to take a Myspace picture."

We're having a fairly relaxed day around here. We took Lucy out this morning for a drive and a little trip to Kohl's. We bought Baby Girl's coming home outfit while we were there and were pleasantly surprised to find that Lucy has a matching onesie, so OF COURSE they'll be matching from the get-go. I resisted the urge to buy matching sailor dresses for future pictures and we returned home with just a few items.
I took a quick bath when we got home and then hung out on the couch with Lucy while she watched Madagascar in her Boppy. She wanted my to rub her head while she watched, so we sat together for awhile. She's up now and running all over the place. I gave her a hot dog and some "Fluffy Yogurt" for a late lunch and she's running around repeating everything we say. Charming.

Sigh.

She went down in her crib. It was a struggle, but she did it. I hope the coming week is better. It took her about 25 minutes to give up and hit the sack. I just hope I have more hope as the days progress.
We're not sure about naming our baby Phoebe anymore. Phoebe is a great name, but it's not as feminine and sweet as I'd like and it doesn't flow very well with Lucy. Anna Lucille is a great name, but when you're naming sibling sets of little girls, you have to be very fair and very careful. I don't want her to grow up at the 2nd daughter with a freaky name.
At this point, if you hated Phoebe, please don't tell us either way. All that will do is leave me wondering how many people hate the next name we choose. At this point I'd rather just get to thinking and go on from there. We'll keep you updated!

Day Ruiner

Whew, this place is just rocking today. Lucy woke up at 4:45, but since I was up all night with the worst heartburn ever, I didn't really care. I brought her to bed with us until a more decent hour. I dreamed that Andrew told me I needed mental help for being a psycho pregnant woman and I flipped out on him in the middle of Lowes. I kicked Andrew out of bed at 6 to hang out with Lucy and I guess Karma got me for that one because I woke up 30 minutes later with a nosebleed. Awesome!

At breakfast Lucy had Apple Jacks. She refuses to eat the orange ones, so those are all on the floor waiting for Maple to come up for a snack. Oh, and our hot water pipe in the kitchen is frozen. Yay. 

But, I had a huge moment of maternal pride this morning, so it's all just fine. Cutest thing ever.

I was in the kitchen ad lucy was in the living room playing with her snow boots. They just fasten with two straps of velcro on each foot. I came out into the living room and she had this astonished look on her face. She had managed to put the right boot on the right foot and velcroed it. She screamed, "I DID IT!" with this huge smile. So cute I teared up a little. Of course, that could also be the heartburn...sigh. 

Well, we're stranded in the house again today. It's -6 but it feels like -18, so I can't take Lucy out in this. Say a few prayers. I might actually have to call the funny farm today.

Ear to Ear

Well, Lucy did great overnight. She woke up around 3:30 and Daddy put her back down. She wasn't happy, but went back to sleep within about 15 minutes. She woke up again at 5 and I ignored her for a bit because she wasn't too upset. She was out again in about 10 minutes and slept til 6! Now she's in her chair with her milk watching Phineas and Ferb. It's a Disney cartoon, but I think it's geared toward adolescents, so she has no idea what's going on, but she's happy waking up slow in her chair. Andrew is still out, so I need to get him moving, but I just wanted to post about how proud I am of Lucy for handling her business overnight. 

We got a lot of snow last night, so I think we'll be staying in today. Maybe we'll come up with a fabulous new craft or something. 

More Beads!

Since Julie's first letter, I've received more beads and am so excited! Tammy sent in my sister Meghan's birth story with a beautiful silver bead, Celeste sent in Jenalyn and Eli's birth stories with beautiful glass beads and Sarah, God love her, sent in two beads because she's a mommy to Norman and Cole, two floppy and lovable dogs. It wouldn't be the same without Sarah's words and I'm so happy she decided to send me a letter! Celeste also sent me a gorgeous St. Gerard prayer card that I'll be carrying in with me right up through Phoebe's arrival. I'm so excited! John is going to help me these beautiful beads into a string, since he's been learning how to make rosaries and doing an amazing job. I still have to convince him that I'm going to need a rosary for this, too...how far in advance do I have to place my order??
Lu took a nap in her crib today and then came downstairs and crashed on the couch for another 2 hours. Silly kid. Right now she's wandering the house with a box of spoons and calling, "Yoooo hooooo! Mommy!" She sounds just like Grandma Susie when she says "Yoo-hoo!" I really need to get it on video.

Affirmation.

When I got home yesterday, Andrew said the nicest thing to me. He said, "I had all these plans to do a bunch of housework and get a lot of stuff done, but Lucy didn't let me do a thing all day!" 

Ahhh....apply peaceful smile HERE. Now, I know just what he means, but Lucy and I have worked out a bit of a system so I do get a few things done. But it was nice to hear it from someone else in my own house. 

Usually I do a speed clean right when Lucy is waking up to Playhouse Disney, because she won't ask me to "help" wth anything. When she eats breakfast, I do dishes and wolf down my own breakfast. Then we do a bath and the Naked Lap and get dressed for the day. I can usually make the bed in our room while Lucy screams through the house in her birthday suit. I just have to make the most of every minute she's distracted. That's what makes my day so tiring. So it was nice to hear that those days I don't get anything done are well understood. 

Today Lucy and I have Toddler Time and then a quiet day of cleaning up the house and relaxing. She had a very busy day with Daddy yesterday, so she probably has some recuperating to do. 

I'm going to spend this afternoon working on a few lists of things I need to do to get ready for Phoebe and making some affirmation cards to settle my head a little. I used them with Lucy and I was just full of peace. Even if I end up with a c-section I'd like these last few weeks to be full of strength and peace. 

About how much he loves me.

Andrew wants me to blog about his love for me. I would much rather blog about the fact that rather than take sincere interest in my blogging, he's sitting next to me in bed playing Text Twist. 

So, I went downstate last night and Andrew and Lucy stayed here for some bonding. Other than Mickey scratching at my window at 1am, it was AWESOME to have a full night's sleep without that familiar whine. Andrew and Lucy had a morning full of fun while I went to my doctor's appointment. I'm now just a little over 34 weeks and feeling awesome. My back pain has miraculously disappeared and I'm full of energy. My midwife says that my blood pressure is great and that I'm slightly anemic, but a few little diet tweaks should help that. She said that she received my OR report and my uterine incision is good for attempting a VBAC. She also felt for the baby and said she's head-down and in a great position. Her back is facing my left side, so that would explain the terrible pains she's giving me in my right side. She gave me some exercises to do to keep her in the right position and I'll be back two weeks from today. 

Before I left the area I did a little shopping for some more things Lucy might want while we're downstate, and then I grabbed some Boardwalk Fries and made the drive home. When I got here, Andrew and Lucy were ready to get out of the house again, so we went to a furniture store to look at beds, Gabriel Brothers where we decided to give the bathroom a makeover and then to Martin's for a few things. We got home and decided that making dinner would be far to laborious, so we all had English muffin pizzas and cried about our stuffed bellies. One we got Lucy to bed we watched Tropic Thunder and now we're about to turn in. All this baby growing and parenting is exhaustifying. 

Quiet Day

Well, today was just about as relaxing as yesterday. Very quiet with a hint of heartburn. I'll be glad to get my organs back into the right places soon...
We all slept a little late and had a quiet day. We went out to Lowes and a few other places to run some errands, and it was mostly a football day, which was just fine. It seems like the weekend is always just too short when Andrew doesn't have that extra Friday off...
Tomorrow I'll be heading downstate for an appointment with my midwife and Lucy will stay up here with Andrew. Long drive just to have my blood pressure taken, but hey, whatever. We have playgroup in the morning and Lucy was VERY excited when I reminded her that we were going to see all of her friends.
Tonight was a bit of a bedtime struggle. Ok, a big bedtime struggle. I'm not sure why, but Lucy was NOT going down well. Andrew is up there now, trying to get her to sleep. Such a nice and peaceful weekend, too...

Don't want to get excited...

but I think I might be close to complete healing. I slept under my humidifier last night and that was simply AWESOME. I just sucked in cold, wet air all night. And when I woke up...my uvula was smaller! I feel like, 20 times better AND my voice is coming back. Maybe it's the amoxicillin, maybe it's just Jesus. I have no idea, but I really don't care as long as my uvula isn't the size of my thumb. Hooray! Today we will celebrate. We want to find something to do, but we're not sure what...

Yay Ravens!

Another win!! I'm sure it was because Lucy was wearing her jersey today. :-) We had a very quiet, relaxed day. Lucy took a looooong nap and I was able to get a little rest. My uvula is still swollen, but I made it through dinner fine, so whatever. 

Chicken Little did a great job staying at the Lang's tonight! We finally got in around 9 and she was just sitting on the couch watching Noggin, like she does it every Saturday. I'm so proud of her! She came home absolutely pooped. Tonight was a small bump in her bedtime routine, but it was really worth it, considering the meeting we ended up having. 

We had a great dinner out. I had a nice time getting to know the boss's boss's boss, and the food was delicious. The best part for me was hearing from him that he sees a lot of potential in Andrew and sees him going far with the company. I see so much in Andrew and have seen great things for him for so long. I was so happy to be sitting with him tonight, when Mr. X, we'll call him, mentioned the many things that I already know about Andrew. He is a really unique employee and I'm so proud of him for really shining in the work he does. The dinner was great and we learned a lot about the choices we'll have in the future. I can't wait to see where Andrew's young career with the company takes us!

Too Cute. So Smart. Italian Ice.

I was casually dining on a fine italian ice this morning. Lucy joined me in the living room with her own spoon. After several spoonfuls the sugar must have gotten to her brain. She approached me for yet another spoonful with the spoon backwards in her hand (holding the head of the spoon, stem exposed).

I said "turn it around". She handed me the spoon, spun her cute little body in a full 360-degree circle, stopped to look at me, grabbed the spoon and smiled. As I laughed hysterically, she dipped it into the italian ice cup.

(((In her defense, usually when she hears me say "turn around" she's at the top of the steps & I'm instructing HER to "turn around")))

For about 10 subsequent spoonfuls, she would run across the living room with her spoon towards me. Spin in a circle as she reached me, smile large & proud then proceed to insert her spoon into the italian ice cup.

Cute. Smart. Can't wait for her to "teach" Phoebe all this fun stuff!!!

Love, dad.

My poor honey bun.

He's very sad about the game. OOH, I'll just use my pregnant lady card to make frequent potty trips and since I have to pass through the BAR, we're golden!! 

However, this is a really, really important dinner and I hate to say this but even a playoff game with the Steelers can't top a dinner to discuss the future of your career. 

BUT, that means I need to shrink my uvula by 50% by TONIGHT. I called my midwife and she said I could gargle with saltwater. Ewwwww. Anyone who's had multiple colonoscopies knows that salt water can really bring back some horrible memories and can make you really sick just by the taste, so that's out. Instead I'm drinking a TON of ice water, not eating ANYTHING that would irritate it and trying not to talk at all. It's going to be a long day. It doesn't hurt at all, but it's really, really annoying and since it's swollen to about 7x it's normal size, the vibration against my gag relfex is killer and makes me very awful. 

Well, Lucy is stealing my granola bars out of the diaper bag and Andrew's happily feeding them to her. I have to go and somehow convey that I don't share my granola bars with my little chicken. She's just so CUTE this morning that I can't resist very easily and I can't protest quickly enough to stop her!

Oh, we decided to start gently modifying her sleep using Dr. Weissbluth's model again. (See "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) We did it with her when she was about 7 months old and it was AMAZING. The past few mornings she's been waking up at 4:45. Not cool, Chicken. So, last night we started using the "sleep begets sleep" theory and put her down for bed at 6:45 instead of 7. She got to 5:15am without a peep! So, we'll be putting her down at 6:45 for the next few nights and then 6:25 for another four to see if we can trick her body into sleeping a little later in the mornings. I have NO idea how this works, but it really, really makes a huge difference. When she was younger, there were a few nights where she'd head to bed at 5:30pm, but she'd sleep soundly until 7:30 without issue. Kids need SO much more sleep than we adults realize because we mask our exhaustion with caffeine and powering through. At Lucy's age she should be getting about 14 hours in a 24 hour period, and when she doesn't get that, she wakes up early and is cranky in the evenings. So, we start from scratch. At least it's a very, very peaceful way of working with her. Hopefully she'll be back to a 7pm bedtime by the time Phoebe gets here. Just a matter of tweaking and tweaking until we find our magic bedtime!

Scheduling Error?

The "?" in the subject of this post is because I'm not SURE it was an error... I think the decision made was the correct one even though it was made unknowingly.

You see, I have a meeting with my boss [ok, technically he's my boss's boss's boss] about future career opportunities. He & his wife invited Laura & I to dinner. I scheduled 6PM today not realizing that the RAVENS V. TITAN PLAYOFF GAME begins at 4PM TODAY (Saturday) not Sunday... ...

So, as I'll only be able to catch probably the 1st quarter of the game... here's a small tribute to my boys. Go Get 'Em!

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80deee79

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/3690072/

REGARDLESS OF TODAY'S OUTCOME AND REGARDLESS HOW MUCH I'D LOVE ANOTHER SHOT AT THOSE STEELERS (WHO LITERALLY "STOLE" THAT LAST GAME FROM US).... FANTASTIC SEASON BOYS. GREAT WORK.

Still swollen

Uvula still swollen.
Italian ice refreshing, but not making a huge difference.
Not cool. Not cool at all.

Uvulitis

My uvula is swollen. I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up with a terrible feeling in my throat. It turns out I have a swollen uvula from mouth-breathing and snoring. The only remedy I can find online is ice cream and time. I don't want to be up at 2am eating ice cream. I'm not that girl; never have been. I'm going to try a bit of Italian ice, but this is awful. It's a horrible feeling. I hope it's better very soon. :-(

My Big Girl!!

Guess who went pee-pee in the potty TWO DAYS IN A ROW?!?! That's right! Lucy! She actually told me she had to go both times and refused to use her little seat adapter. I am so proud. She's definitely not ready to start potty training, but I'm incredibly proud of her determination to be a big girl and use the big potty. She totally gets it and I have hope for potty training whenever we start! Oh gosh I'm so thrilled. She's too cute. After she did her business today, I said, "Now you can have a piece of chocolate!" She replied, "Ohhhh YEAH!" Potty + Pee-pee = Candy? What's not to like??

The Infected.

WHAT a day we've had. I woke up feeling incredibly down and I was wilting where I was planted. Who wants to start a payday like that?? Andrew asked if we could meet for lunch and I actually got grumpier! That's usually the highlight of our Fridays. Nina prescribed chocolate ice cream for breakfast and I called my doctor and Lucy's doctor and made appointments. I figured the only person I was going to listen to where Lucy was concerned was a degreed professional because it seems like I've totally lost my perspective otherwise.
So, we loaded up for a day out and got gas on the way out of town. We went to Lucy's pediatrician first and found out that she has an ear infection and Dr. M told me that she assumes that's 70% of the problem, 30% being that Lucy's just an obstinate toddler who wants what she wants. I asked her about Lucy's naps and about her wanting to co-sleep in the early mornings. Dr. M's response was, "If you're happy with the naps and you have to choose between 45 minutes of crying in her crib or 3 hours of peaceful sleep in your bed, I don't really see where you'd have trouble making that decision. As far as I'm concerned, she needs her sleep, you're lucky she's still napping so well and she can sleep hanging from a tree for all I care. As for her morning sleep...you do know that half the world co-sleeps, right? I support it and encourage it if that's what you find works for you right now." It was really nice to hear that she supported our routine as it already stands and that she feels that Lucy is doing so well. She said that as long as she's going down well at night and sleeping through that long, we're fine to deal with the early mornings in whatever way works best at the moment, since Lucy's getting older.
Once we left the pedi, Lucy passed out immediately. I called Andrew and we met at the mall. I put Lu in the stroller and she slept right through lunch and THEN she slept through a trip to Walmart. My trip to Walmart might have been my crowning glory today. I had budgeted $60 and made a list to stick to. I don't stick to lists, so I was really determined to prove Andrew wrong on this one. :-) I spent $59.13! Hooray! I got everything on my list and with a little creativity, I even got a couple things that WEREN'T on my list. I feel awesome about that.
Then it was time for my appointment. Lu was perfectly behaved through that one, too, as long as I let her use as much "yotion" as she wanted. Whatever. The girl appreciates hydration.
I have an infection of the head, apparently. They're not sure what, exactly, is so sick, but they're pretty sure some antibiotics will help. And, I learned a couple of things! Turns out my blood pressure is borderline "too low" and that taking Sudafed can actually lower your BP and that might be part of why I've been feeling so rotten. It's probably been low enough that it's making the bad feel even worse. Today it was about 112/65, which is not particularly good. It can also lead to dizziness and fainting, so that may explain the weird blackout episodes I've been having, as well. However, the staff was sure to mention that I look awesome and that Phoebe is a great name. I think I'm in love with my nurse's nurse. What a peach.
We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home and it turns out Lucy's prescriptions weren't called in before the office closed, so I had to use my outdoor voice to kick a few hineys into gear to get the pedi's office to make some calls. They're doing that now and Andrew will be picking up all of our meds on the way home. It's going to be an Amoxicillan Weekend! Tomorrow night Andrew and I are going out for a dinner meeting of sorts, so our drugged little chicken will be with the Lang's for awhile. I'm told she's going to visit Rocky and Taylor (two rambunctious and overly friendly Boxers) so she should have a good time.

1:49 am

Lucy woke up screaming at 1:30am. Andrew's up there with her now. She's terribly upset and is screaming her head off. She just can't come down at this hour, and she's not happy at all. I feel absolutely sick listening to her. He went up to change her diaper and rock her for a few minutes, to try to calm her down. I have no idea what to do with her at this point. She hasn't woken up in the middle of the night in ages. I gave her some Tylenol and rocked her for a little bit, but once her head hit the pillow she was back at it.
I really wish I wasn't sick. It would make all of this ten times easier. I also wish I were a stronger parent. I know she wants to come downstairs, and 99% of me wants to let her, if only to get a little rest. I don't know if the other 1% of me has enough resolve to even get through this tonight. I'm so tired and sore and sick of wondering if I'm doing the right thing and second-guessing my decisions. Why on earth does God trust me with a second baby?

The way to a woman's heart is through her Dayrunner.

Ah, be still, my heart!

Lucy and I had major cabin fever today, so Andrew took us out to dinner when he got home. We went to Applebee's, where they serve the best corndogs January has to offer. Just ask Lucy. The girl loves corndogs. She was a doll and kept us entertained during our entire meal.
After dinner I convinced Andrew that I just had to run to Staples for new inserts for my Dayrunner. Oh gosh it's so blank and pretty and just waiting for all of my planning. I almost don't want to write in it. I just LOVE calendars and dayplanners. I can't help myself. Andrew has actually raised serious concerns about there being some borderline obsessive issues about calendars. I mean, I know I have some neurotic tendencies, but I'd really agree with him on this one. It's actually almost unhealthy. I bought a new dayplanner the week before Christmas, but aside from being charming and whimsical, it's just not the proper caliber for woman on my organizational level. Yes, Dayrunners are a tad more expensive to maintain, but ultimately more satisfying to a truly insane organizer like myself. The only thing I really can't stand is that they're made for righties and I'm a lefty.

I also bought pocket dividers for my Dayrunner. Yeah, it's that awesome.

Good Morning, devoted readers!

Well, we got snow overnight and are looking at another 3 inches or so by tomorrow morning, so we're staying in the house today. Maybe I'll do a photo essay on a day in the life of Lucy. It'll be a riveting piece, no doubt.

Laura, Party of 4? (Or, How I'm doing my part to never conceive a 3rd child.)

Well, we all know how glowy and gorgeous pregnant women are. Since getting sick, I've been trying even harder to make myself especially attractive to my husband. He insists that I'm glowing, which is so cute considering how gross pregnancy can be. How do I keep my man as happy as possible? Let me count the ways.

• I'm perfecting my late-pregnancy waddle and am sure to groan when I have to move from a reclining position.
  
• When we kiss, I frequently interrupt with, "Heartburn! Heartburn! Where are my Tums?"
• I comment on the amount of hair on my belly almost daily. This helps him to understand the sacrifices I make for our family.
  
• I allow him to complain about his weight and then remind him that I'm a mere 4 pounds from surpassing his all-time high.
  
• I've perfected the ultimate head-cold cough and insert just enough wheeze to make it extra special.
  
• Additionally, my intense head cold has given me an excuse to go to bed slathered in Vick's every night, and you know what that does for your love life. I'm just sharing all the details tonight, aren't I? After three years of marriage I'd be a fool not to recognize that "Ugh, you stink." actually means "How did I get so lucky?"
  
• I'm growing what appears to be a gremlin and take special steps to make sure he has plenty of time to watch my belly wave about on top of Phoebe's spindly little limbs.
• Raising a toddler has its perks, too! I often run out of Mommy-time to shower during the day, allowing myself to greet Andrew after work with just the right combination of frizzy hair and dirty clothes.
  
• I send him sweet text messages throughout the day. Some would say this keeps things spicy. Recent texts would include spiciness such as, "Dude, do you know where the Tums are?" and "Cereal for dinner!"

Yes ladies, take it from me. Keeping a man happy is a full-time job, but it certainly can be done with a little extra effort.

Andrew really is being such a doll through this pregnancy. I can't IMAGINE having to sleep in a bed with a pregnant woman, let alone listen to the mouth-breathing and panting it takes to get through a simple task. He's such a saint and always nods enthusiastically when I ask, "Does this pregnancy look better on me than Lucy's?" There's a lot about pregnancy that people refuse to talk about and that couples endure silently. I don't endure much silently, but Andrew is truly a champ. He just pretends that pregnant Laura is just as sweet and fun as pre-pregnancy Laura, and I think that's why I feel so good most of the time.

I am sad that we haven't kissed on the lips since Saturday. :-( He finally let me kiss his chin this morning, since he's obviously sick now, too. That was nice. Hopefully by the weekend there will be more kissing and less hacking in Frostburg. In the meantime, it's almost time for bed. After our late night of Text Twist last night, I could really use a decent night of sleep!

Today's Pics

Ice on ONE blade of grass. Yikes! We had a LOT of ice to deal with today.

Lucy and Andrew playing Mariokart. She loves it!

Anna Lu Reruns!

We've actually found something funnier than spraying a cat in the face!


Lucy saying grace - always charming.


Did she say a bad word? We'll never know. This happened one time and one time only, but it's good for a laugh every time you hit play! I still have my doubts that at the age of 10 months she'd have picked up that word AND used it correctly...


This one just kills me. She was a stinking cute baby and is turning out to be an equally stinking cute toddler.


Nothing cuter than a baby playing with toilet paper!


Lots of rhythm!


This video absolutely makes me laugh out loud every single time I watch it.


Ah, nothing sweeter than a lack of motor skills...

Happy 4:24am!

Whew, 5 hours of sleep! Could my head BE any more icky??

Boy, you people sure are defensive about liking me! I never get that many messages that fast...I should have added a clause about other members of my immediate family, obviously. :-) Silly me.

Well, Andrew and I were up WAY too late playing TextTwist on my phone and now I'm paying for it. Ha, sadly that's not a euphemism for anything but being a couple of nerds who actually did stay up way too late crowded around a tiny cell phone screen trading insults about who's smarter. So far I'd have to say it's still me, but I'm sure my happily NyQuilled husband would disagree. We got to level 70 or something stupid like that, and now we're both going to be dragging all day, but happily, these silly things are what keep us married, aren't they?

Alert the media! Maybe I AM the media.

Did you know my blog is averaging about 100 hits a day?? That's a very big deal, seeing as the only people who talk to me are people who have to because a) they were once connected to my body via umbilical cord, b) they have helped me to create newer and better umbilical cords or c) they were once connected to my umbilical cord co-creator via their OWN umbilical cord. (Read: my mom, my spouse and my spouse's mother are really the only people who talk to me.)
So, this is BREAKING news. Please continue to link others to my blog so that I may reach celebrity-gossip-blog status before I turn 50. This calls for a peanut butter cup. Or 12.

A couple pictures

Lucy's sleeping bag from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Tammy. She loves it!

Lucy and Phoebe play with stickers.

"I'm wearing too many colors!!"

Camp Cooke

Waving at the snow plow at 7am.

The Oreo Incident

The Great Tartar Sauce Snooze of '09.

Quick Update

I just ate the best dinner of my life.

Let's see. Today Lucy and I hauled every pillow and blanket we own into the living room for "camping." That basically means Mama is sick and tired and wants to be lazy but can't figure out how to keep the toddler there without a huge production. It worked! Lucy was nice enough to read books and play with plastic food long enough for me to lie around and moan like the invalid I am.
We went out to the library and the grocery store, something my mother AND mother-in-law would never approve of. It was really, really icy, but I had a nasty craving for a breakfast burritos for dinner. I was willing to risk life and limb for them. The roads were fine; just a slippery driveway. We went to the library to exchange DVDs and when we pulled into the parking garage Lucy screamed, "YAY!!" I love how excited she gets when she sees things that thrill her. She did the same at Food Lion. We bought italian ices for our sore throats, Pasta-Roni because it sounded delicious, and lots of yummy things to put on our burritos.
When we got home it was lunchtime, so I put a few cubes of cheese, two slices of turkey and a glob of tartar sauce on a plate for Lucy. She loves tartar sauce, so I figured it might get her to eat her lunch. It really worked, but she was so tired that she started doing the sleepy tilt in her chair, which always tickles me. I watched for awhile as she dipped her fingers in her tartar sauce and licked it all off, with her eyes closed the entire time. I haven't laughed that hard in a very, very long time. And of course, without a voice I sound like an 82-year-old chain smoker.
We took a nice, long nap and woke up in time to clean up our camp and get in the shower before Daddy came home. He got home in time to help with Luce while I made the best dinner EVER. In my last semester at FSU, they started serving breakfast wraps in the mornings and it was ALL I ate. I always had bacon, sour cream, salsa and cheese on mine. they were SO bad for me but the most amazing things in the world. So I made them tonight and we basically inhaled them. And as an added bonus, eggs are like, a billion times cheaper than meat and Lucy will eat them! Well, not tonight, obviously, since Daddy came home and filled her up with Italian ice 10 minutes before dinner. Whatever, we're sick.
Lucy will be headed to bed in about 30 minutes and then Andrew and I are going to be sick together and read books until we pass out at approximately 8pm. I'm considering doing the dinner dishes, but whatever would I do with my Wednesday??

Upswing!

Well, last night I applied a lethal combination of drugs and cunning to my illness and had tremendous results. (I refuse to believe the cold would be leaving my body today anyway.) I took Tylenol, Sudafed, prenatal vitamins and a giant heaping dose of Vicks and watched Mama's Boys. As it turns out, trashy tv IS the answer to bad health. I slept ten times better last night and my head is SO much better today. I'm definitely going to have a cough for a few days, my voice is definitely still gone and I'll probably use the entire box of tissues sitting next to me, but it turns out I will live to see 26. (Although Andrew tells me it's a sad and depressing age...)

My little chicken slept from 7pm to 6am like an angel. When she started making noise this morning I had this awful feeling that it was only 4am or so. When Andrew told me it was 6 I nearly cried with joy! What a doll, letting us sleep "late" after a night of irresponsibly late TV. She's sitting in her chair watching Playhouse Disney while we all wake up. 

We have NOTHING to do today. I've been trying to think of an activity for two sick girls to do to pass the day, but I'm at a total loss. Maybe we'll go to the mall and pretend we're healthy...I don't want to get anyone sick, and I don't want to be out in the cold, but the house is pretty boring. Maybe we'll reorganize something. That's always a thrill. 

Breaking News.

If you were under the impression that beauty school students have it easy, you've been mistaken.

Usually the Monday after a trip home is incredibly rough for all of us. I got up at 4:30, so today should be a long one, I think. Oh well, aren't Mondays supposed to be long? We have to run to Walmart for fruit and dog food, and then we'll come back here to play the day away. I guess I'll just cater to Lucy's every whim as she gets settled back into her home. She did GREAT last night and went straight to bed without a peep. She slept til 5:30 and then slept with us til 7:30. What an angel!
Can you believe I'm 33 weeks pregnant??? Jeez. I'm at that point where I feel huge but still have lots of energy. I liked this point with Lucy. Of course, nothing I have fits. Well, I have one orange t-shirt. That's it. I think I'm going to buy a few more in a few colors when we go out. Once you get to this point, even the biggest maternity shirts are too short...
I had a good appointment on Friday and we've started moving a few things down to Andrew's parents' house. Now that New Year's is over, we're on Phoebe watch, just waiting to get things all ready to go! Andrew and I decided that he's going to work as long as possible and will come down when labor starts. Since we want to use as much of his PTO as possible AFTER the baby arrives, and I'll have plenty of help without him, we thought it would be best to just work as long as he can. He'll come down on his long weekends off, but I'm going to miss him like crazy!
Well, it's time to bathe the beast and get out the door. She's been carrying her "doo-doo" around all morning, so we're in for a princess day full of tu-tus and pink. Yay! Looks like I'll get that chance to do my nails after all!

I might die tonight.

I am incredibly ill. Lucy has been sick and her "Welcome to Baltimore" gift for me was an intense head cold and possible flu. I have pictures from the weekend but am too tired to post them all, so here are two to tide you over.

Mom and Tim gave Lucy a baby nursery for Christmas and the girl is just nutso for this thing! She has spent the last 24 hours "lotioning" her baby. She's so into lotioning her babies that as she was falling asleep last night, she sat straight up and said, "Mom!" I replied, "What Luce?" She fell back into bed rubbing her hands together, whispering, "Yotion...yotion..." and passed out cold. The girl's obsessed.

This is Lucy playing at home tonight after a very long week away. Uncle Tom gave her a keyboard and BOY is she amazed by this thing! I love the headset - she spent most of the evening learning how to plug it in to the keyboard. It's noisy, but noise matters not in matters of distracting a toddler.

We received all sorts of mail and stuff that I'll have to spend this week catching up on. All sorts of thank-you's and replies to do in the very near future. As for right now, I'm going to bed early. I really can't be this sick for much longer; I'm just wiped out... :-(