We welcome spring!

Hello Spring!

Some days I think Maggie has given up naps. She told me this week that it's hard falling asleep in her ladybug bed. Too cute. I think it has to do with more on her mind these days, so when it looks like a nap might not happen, I institute "quiet time". Usually by 4 though, which is really too late for her to nap because it throws bedtime out of whack and makes for grumpy parents, she's testy and ready to crash.

Maggie is reiterating more experiences and stories from her day and I don't want to forget that when she is referring to something that happened a day, a few days, or a few weeks ago, she refers to it as "last year". Love it. 

Time

Maternity leave is a wonderful thing. Who doesn't like being paid to be home catching up on things, relaxing, knitting, and being with your family? This week I found a lilac for our front yard, which completes an area we planted last year, I got a snowcone on a warm afternoon with vanilla ice cream inside, hubby got me two more containers of rice pudding before they went off sale :-), I took my first epsom salt bath after a long day on my feet which gave me such soft skin and not so sore feet anymore, and I FINALLY ordered prints for our walls that was long overdue (including the bath photo idea Pat-you rock!).

Something about Maggie turning 3 last week and seeing a flyer for the Lorax at the library got me thinking that Maggie was probably ready to see a movie in the theater like a big girl. The result was a certified girl's night out with my sister and cousin Eden. Maggie went complete with new purse and lip gloss. We ate good thai food and enjoyed $5 movie night. The movie was a bit ridiculous and a little odd the way it was made (I'm not the biggest fan of new animation) but the message to not cut down all the trees in the land and be nice to animals seemed to cancel out the couple "scary" parts that were a little much for both girls. I had to hold down Maggie's seat the entire show so that it didn't fold her up like a taco.

I'm feeling creative and peaceful right now. Almost done knitting this hat for the baby and Maggie has requested this pig.

Be Green

Happy St. Patti's Day! No corned beef for us this year. Hubby not the biggest fan and eating leftovers isn't that yummy. This year we've planned an impromptu double date with friends and no kids at a nice restaurant out of town that we've always wanted to try. My friend texted me though yesterday saying to make sure and keep this baby in. Getting tired of the morning Braxton Hicks which now sometimes go in and out through the day (like today). I know it's preparation for the real thing but grrr, it wears on you.

It's been so rainy here all week and I'm glad because we needed it. Last night it really came down. Maggie played outside and rode her trike around with snails in the back.

All I ever do these days is fall asleep with Maggie at night and wake up really early before the rest of the family. Have I said yet how good this rice pudding is when you are 9 months pregnant? My belly is all out front and the past couple days I've noticed while eating that crumbs end up residing on top of my belly.

Maggie is officially 3! She scored on presents...lipgloss, purse, Olivia DVD and book, rocking cradle for her babies, and lots of clothes. When she really liked something, it was fun to see her reaction and excitement! She bounced her way through the night and had a clean bill of heath at the doctor that day.

As with last time around, I was going through this book the other night looking up names as we hadn't decided on a full name yet. We have a good idea now and he'd argue, but hubby won't really give me the go until we see this baby boy. The book has a bunch of "fun lists" and on the Comfy Names list, both Maggie and our boy nickname were listed together. One of our likely boy names is on the Names for Smart Kids. Better than being on some of the other lists titled Old Maids and Grumpy Old Men, Wimpy Names, Future Workaholics, Macho Men, Soap Opera Names, Bad to the Bone/Death Row Names, and the fun lists go on...

The baby room is put together and things for the most part organized (including new paint) in the room, wood chips were delivered, cat got a haircut, carpets cleaned today, lots of laundry done, and homebirth supplies ready.

Things to still do are fun things now - put in the vegetable garden and re-do the front yard area with new plants, touch up the baby room paint trim, have hubby do the belly cast, and have more fun reading and trying to get a hat made for the baby (and a knit rabbit for miss mags).

Medley

Officially on leave after one of the craziest weeks I've experienced in a long time where many things happened spontaneously good and bad, just uncontrollable. So it meant rolling with the punches each day and keeping our heads up.

Today my little one is at daycare on her normal schedule and I'm off mine, which is a wierd feeling as I haven't had a day like this to myself since she was born. It's pouring rain today too so it's stretch cotton and rain boots for both of us today. Lots of things to do in preparation for the baby but also for Maggie turning 3 tomorrow. There are days and moments where I just want to freeze a good moment in time and not let Maggie grow up anymore and keep things just as they are (especially when I know life will be different soon). I've really loved aspects of every stage as Maggie has grown older. She's so good at communicating (when she's not copying baby talk) and cracks us up all.the.time. Hubby and I are often asked or we talk about if we remember what life was like before kids and we do (maybe him more than me but I think we do pretty good at keeping a balance still), but for me, I really do cherish the ups and downs we experience as we raise kids because all the good moments outweigh the other stuff and it's quiet days like this that make me appreciate it even more.

To document this age change for Maggie, here is what she's into right now:

-she LOVES to dance and we try to capture as much as we can on film. She loves singing to our local children's musician Mr. Cooper or Sugarland, the country duo that mom and dad like :-)
-everything Maggie likes is pink "my favorite color!" (and sometimes purple or another color that she will randomly bring up). Not sure if I encouraged it from birth because we didn't paint her room until she was about 6 months old or push pink clothes on her or princesses or whatever girly, she has just taken a strong affinity for girly things as time has gone by.
-we read a lot and check out books every week from the library. She has gotten really good at reading a book a few times that she likes (the Olivia series is in her top 5 right now) and then she can read the book to us almost word for word by memory. It amazes us.
-she loves to snuggle with us in the mornings and tells us it's wake-up time and that she's ready for breakfast. Daylight savings is helping her sleep in a little more this week but we're often up pretty early but we let dad sleep in a little longer on weekends.
-she's constantly hungry and has been saying she's hungry right before we leave her room at night for bed. Pretzels seem to do the trick. 2 nights ago she ate a whole orange with a vengeance in bed right before she fell asleep.
-people still comment that she looks like a walking doll with her curly hair, petite size, good vocabulary and manners.
-she loves the "Sgetti" Factory and eating out at restaurants.
-she loves meat, especially a good steak.
-she loves our cat Lily and has been talking more about pets lately, telling us that she wants a rabbit. Not a super tall order, but we'll have to think on that one.
-she likes gum and thinks it's one of the coolest big kid treats. My mom said sugarless gum is not a battle to fight and I think it just might help get rid of the binky once and for all (that and some recommended reverse psychology).

Helping dad paint baby room

Top of Heavenly in Lake Tahoe - didn't care for "cold feet"

Crazy week

Not sure if the full moon has had anything to do with it, but our life turned crazy Monday and I've been hearing it all around this week. I've been crampy for a couple weeks now with it getting more intense some mornings. Labor feels pretty close. Among trying to wrap things up at work so that I can take leave and just keeping on top of the daily stuff, we were hit with Maggie having a pretty bad asthma attack two nights ago that led into the morning. Hubby has suspected this for awhile as he has the same problem and recognizes the signs but I was thinking cold/cough again. Not sure where winter was this year (I keep thinking we'll get more rain and cold weather still), but the arrival of spring has snuck in and brought back allergy season with it. The white and pink blooms and a bit of wind are off the hook.

I spent many hours at the doctor yesterday with a pretty sick kid on my hands but the treatments they gave her made her perk right up. It felt good to take care of her and see her get better through the course of the day. And now we're having a really good night of sleep after a really bad one so I am thankful for that. The result though is she has to take some regular medicine for the asthma but I'm glad we have this over not knowing why she was getting sick and often. This is linked with the allergy signs we've noticed over the past few years.

I have a long to-do list that is constantly on my mind and I'm slowly checking things off. I joked yesterday that this baby is going to come and we'll be sleeping with him in our bed (which would have happened anyway), taking diapers out of the box after his birth, and digging through paper bags full of hand-me down clothes once he arrives. This is not the type of prepared I was hoping to be but whatever happens, I know he will arrive into our household safe and warm. Planning is great but things don't always go the way you think they will.

Uh Oh

Up another early morning not able to sleep after Maggie needed help going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and my mind activated again. I feel the days getting very close and I feel unprepared. In the last week, I've experienced lots of changes in my pregnancy and the signs are pointing to labor being a few days away to still being out 2-4 weeks. I was ok initially with being at work until that point, now I feel like hunkering down and staying close to home if my days are numbered. I will probably go on leave early and try to relax as much as possible. According to my midwife, having a baby at 36 weeks is safe but it has a few more complications that go along with it. Keep the baby in another week or two!

The realization that hit me last night is that if this baby really is close, I might miss out on some of the last minute things I had planned for March. Belly cast from hubby on Valentine's Day, family photos before birth, getting room set up how I wanted (this didn't matter to me the entire time even though I was collecting things...must be a nesting thing right now), and other little things I haven't checked off the list yet. I know it will all work itself out but now my priorities are changing from what is necessity and what is fun? Ok, go! Ay yay yah. My sister reminded me last night, after we celebrated her 30th birthday (had to document all of this because I don't journal except here and we have lots of big changes happening in our family right now as my sister is also preparing for a big move and I end the night with a momentous late night call), that this baby will come when he's ready and that he will be a totally different being than my Maggie. It's a wierd thought in some ways because I have no other frame of reference other than to compare this experience to Maggie's pregnancy, labor patterns, birth, and everything that followed and the differences are throwing me for a loop. I need a day to recoup :-)