Straighten up!

I had another doctor appointment today. I'm 39 weeks, 4 days pregnant... just 3 days to my due date and our little girl seems to have a mind of her own!

I've been 1-2 cm dilated with the doctor's being able to feel her head for about 3 weeks now. Today I'm still 1-2 cm dilated, 60% effaced and little Allison has decided to wiggle her way UP. But not only is she higher, she's now crooked with her head off to my left side. We did a quick ultrasound this morning to confirm her position. She's not transverse, just a little lopsided so, as long as she doesn't spin anymore, we don't need to schedule a c-section....

My next appointment will be on Friday, January 8, 2010. Hopefully I won't make it that long!

Boy Technology at its finest....

You're probably wondering what "boy technology" is.... Dave defines boy technology as "creative solutions to life's little problems". I define it as Dave's creativity at work. In any instance, this is one of the best examples I've seen in a long time!

It was 3:00 PM. Dave had just returned home from work and JD and I were still enjoying a very lazy day in our pajamas (give me a break. I'm 39 weeks pregnant and getting the kid dressed is like wrestling an alligator!). JD decided that he wanted to go outside... now! He's a very persistent kid. Knowing that dressing the kid would cause a meltdown, Dave decided to employ boy technology.... strapping Ziploc bags to JD's feet with rubber bands. The "shoes" actually worked quite well and JD had fun kicking the ball around the back yard.... with no meltdowns!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas. Our was outstanding! I can't believe how much fun it was this year with JD able to open his own gifts and seeing the excitement on his face at all of his new toys!

Christmas Eve my parents came up to visit for a little while. JD was in a great mood and had a good time playing with Grandma and Grandpa. He unwrapped his new Christmas jammies and, as I was sitting in the recliner with him before putting him down for the night, I said to him: "Santa is coming to see you tonight but you have to have lots of sweet dreams before he gets here... okay?".... to which JD nodded his head like he actually knew what I was talking about. It was very sweet! Here are a couple of pics of JD in his jammies all ready for Santa to visit:

After JD was down it was time for Dave to play Santa. My brother in GA and his family got JD a toy tool bench but instead of wrapping it, we decided to set it up. We figured it would be easier to set it up the night before than trying to open it and set it up with JD's grabby little hands all over it.Boy am I glad we did it that way. As soon as we opened the door to the garage he made a bee line for the tool bench. He absolutely LOVED it and went straight to "work". In fact, he was so busy he didn't have time to really tear into the rest of his presents like I thought he would. He just kept going back and forth from the wrapped presents to the tool bench. Once some of the initial excitement wore off, he played with some of his other toys.... like the mower that Nanny and Poppy sent to him. He knew exactly what it was before Dave even got it out of the box, pointing and saying "mow!".... Once Dave put it together JD got to work mowing, pushing it all over the house. What's really going to be fun is putting the bubbles in (did I mention that it's a bubble mower?) and taking him outside to help Daddy mow the grass. I'm thinking that if he loves the mower this much now he's going to flip when he sees that it blows bubbles too!JD also opened some books, new sippy cups, some clothes, a Tag, Jr. reading system and books to go with that, a wooden triangle with fun stuff do on each side, an electric toothbrush, some bathtub crayons and some finger paints. After opening gifts we had a big breakfast and played until about 11:00 AM when JD, Mommy and Daddy all went down for a nap!

JD woke at 1:00 PM and we all got dressed and ready to head to my parents house for dinner. I had this outfit all ready for JD to wear on Christmas but it was too warm. It was about 65 degrees here! So, he wore it on Christmas Eve for Grandma and Grandpa's visit. Luckily I had a red button-down shirt and matching sweater vest in his closet, bought on sale after Christmas last year. He looked so grown up in his sweater vest so I decided to play around a little bit and spiked his hair with some gel. So cute!First we stopped by my brother Kent's house to see their very large and beautiful tree. JD had fun playing with their dog Pfinn and climbing into their other dog, Cody's, kennel.After visiting for a while we all went to my mom and dad's house for dinner and more presents! JD ran around and had fun for a while before dinner. Dave took him outside and let him run repeatedly through a big mud puddle, bringing him in soaking wet from the waist down, which is why my son is half naked in most of our Christmas pictures... his pants and socks were in the dryer! My Aunt Avis and Uncle Hutch came over for a little while and enjoyed watching my dad chase JD through the house.... When it was time to eat JD didn't want to have anything to do with sitting in his high chair so Dave, who eats fast anyway, got him down and let him climb up and down the stairs, which JD loved.After dinner it was time for more presents. This time, any time I held out a gift and said "JD... open?" he would run towards me screaming "OPA" and tear the paper away. It was so fun to watch. He got a dancing/signing Brobee doll (character from Yo! Gabba Gabba on Nick, Jr.) that he absolutely adores, an Elmo potty that he really likes to sit on, some books (including one called Potty Time with Elmo) and some small cars and things in his stocking.We left for home around 7:00 PM and JD fell asleep on the 45 minute ride home. When we got home he immediately unpacked Brobee and wanted to play.... but was beyond tired so we put him in his jammies and put him to bed. As I was sitting with him in the recliner, winding down, he kept lifting his head off of my chest and calling "Bro Bro". I even heard him call "Bro Bro" a couple of times from his crib. Apparently he thought that if he called Brobee, like he does me, it would come walking into his room... silly little guy!

First thing this morning (at 5:30 AM) we had to see Brobee, and the mower, and the tool bench, and the Elmo potty and everything else. He even wanted to wear the goggles that came with his tool bench! It was like Christmas morning all over again.

I'll end this very long and picture heavy post with a request. Please keep my grandmother in your thoughts and prayers. A few days before Christmas she was admitted to the hospital for an irregular heartbeat and ended up having pacemaker surgery on December 23. She was supposed to be released yesterday but was having trouble breathing and they discovered that one of her lungs was punctured during the pacemaker surgery. She now has a tube in her chest to drain the fluid from her lungs but we hope she'll heal well and be released in the next 4-5 days.

38 weeks, 2 days....

I had my weekly doctor appointment this morning and there is no change from last week. Still 1-2 cm dilated and the baby is low. Blood pressure and weight are both good and the baby's heart beat sounds good too. I've had a lot of fun comparing this pregnancy to my last one. Mainly because my last pregnancy was tough and this one has been so easy.... anyway, last time I was induced at 38 weeks, 3 days so, as of Thursday I'll be the most pregnant I've ever been! Kinda funny.....

In case you've forgotten what I look like at 38 weeks pregnant, this picture was taken on Saturday by a friend of mine at her son's 1st birthday party. I think JD will miss his "seat" when it's replaced by a baby sister!

This week's appointments...and stuff

This week has been semi-quiet. Well, compared to the past few weeks it has been very quiet! Wednesday I had my 37 week appointment. I am now 1 cm dilated. It's not much but it's progress! Weight gain is still good (I actually lost 2 pounds since last week somehow), blood pressure is good and baby has dropped. They asked me again if I wanted to schedule an induction and I told them again that I want to let Allison pick her own birthday... unless there is some reason an induction is necessary. I may sing a different tune if I end up being a week overdue, though!

Yesterday was a very long and busy day. I took JD for his 18 month appointment and shots and spent about an hour and a half in the pediatrician's office. They must have been busy or something. Keeping an 18 month old occupied in a tiny, bare examination room for an extended period of time is not fun for a 9 month pregnant woman! To make it worse, JD was overdue for a nap and it was past lunchtime so by the time he got his shots he was already cranky. He screamed and kicked. I had to actually hold him down. He's usually pretty good about getting shots but not yesterday! He now weighs 23 pounds, 10 ounces... which means he's only gained 9 ounces in the past 3 months... and he's now dropped to the 10th percentile for weight. The doctor said it's just the age where very active toddlers are less interested in sitting to eat and he'll catch up. He's 33 inches tall, putting him in the 25th percentile for height and he still has a big ole bobble-head.... 90th percentile!

After the pediatrician's office we drove to my parents house and JD slept a whopping 30 minutes in the car (note the sarcasm). I dropped him off with my mom and went to Devon's Salon to get my hair cut one last time before the baby arrives. When I got back to my mom's house JD and I walked down the driveway (it's a long driveway) to get the mail. When we got back to the house, JD was approaching the steps and, as I was reaching to grab his hand to help him go up, he tripped.... scraping his little chin on the bottom brick step. It's his first actual scrape. He's had countless split lips, bumps and bruises but this is the first time he's actually scraped something, drawing blood. Poor little guy..... I'm actually kind of surprised we've made it this long without even a skinned knee! Here he is, prior to scraping his chin, trying to sneak an ornament off of Grandma's Christmas tree..... Grandma caught him red-handed!So that's the recap of the doctor's appointment.... now on to more fun stuff. Tuesday the UPS man came to visit us, bringing JD's Christmas present from Uncle Merv and Aunt Angie. Don't worry, JD didn't get his present yet...it's under the tree... but the box that it came in was ginormous! I could have fit in this box.... okay, maybe a non-pregnant me could have fit in the box. But it has been a very fun fort for JD. Tuesday night the main attraction was closing himself in the box, waiting for Dave and I to "look" for him and then bursting out with lots of giggles as we were saying "where's JD". I just hope he has as much fun with the actual present!Finally, I'll leave you with some Fall pictures, also taken on Tuesday. It seems as though Autumn has finally decided to visit our house and make all the leaves fall off of our Bradford Pear in the front yard. JD had fun playing in the pile....

Hohoho!

Look who came to visit our neighborhood early! I went out to get the mail yesterday evening and heard lots and lots of sirens so we kept an ear out.... A little while later the sirens got louder so we put our jackets on, stood in the driveway like dorks and waved at Santa on the fire truck! JD just kind of stared at it. There were 3 fire trucks, the middle one carrying Santa. He didn't squirm or cry at the very loud sirens and horns... Maybe that means he's ready for a trip to the fire station with Uncle Merv next time we visit Georgia!

18 Months

He's officially 1 and a half. I just can't believe it! I've been going through his old clothes, pulling out the PJs and onesies that Allie can wear and am just in disbelief that JD used to wear these tiny little things! He learns new things every day and his newest way to tell me what he wants is to pull me by the finger and place my hand on whatever it is he desires. If he wants to go outside he'll put my hand on the doorknob. If he wants me to open a box he'll put my hand on the top of the box and say "opa". In a way it's nice that he can more easily tell me what he wants, it's not so much of a guessing game anymore... but on the other hand, being 9 months pregnant I pretty much want to sit and play with him and not be drug around the house all day long! Oh well, pretty soon I won't be pregnant anymore and will get some of my mobility back!

The other thing he does constantly is climb. Oh my God it's horrible. I swear this kid is like 3/4 monkey or something. If you've been to our house lately you'll know that our kitchen chairs now stay on top of the table. If he would climb into the chair and stay there, that would be OK. But that's not good enough for this kid! He pulls the chair out, climbs onto it and then proceeds to climb up on top of the kitchen table and dance around! Until I have the energy to chase him down off of the kitchen table eleventy billion times a day, that's where the chairs will have to stay! The picture above demonstrates his monkey-like abilities perfectly. I didn't put him in that swing. I didn't even open it for him. He wandered into Allie's room and a few minutes later I heard "MA.... STUCK!" I walked in and this is what I saw (by the way, that's his "say cheese" face.... he now makes it every time I pull out the camera)! He now climbs up into the swing several times a day.....and he's fast!

We go for his 18 month well-visit on Thursday, the 17th of December, so I'll have height and weight stats for you then. Although, I don't think he's gained much weight since his 15 month visit. He's just so active. Between the running and climbing and the fact that he seems to be too busy to actually eat much, I'm not surprised! The good news, though, is that he LOVES milk! He's been on whole milk for an entire month now and he drinks at least 24 ounces per day.... and he's doing great. Soy may be a different story. He's been on soy for about 2 weeks and has had a couple of "episodes" where he wakes at night with tummy pains and proceeds to scream and kick for about 20 minutes until he passes gas. But it doesn't seem to be everything with soy in it.... maybe it's just certain types of soy (like soy lecithin as opposed to soybean oil). I'm still trying to figure out what is triggering it.

Lastly, we finally turned his car seat forward facing. It was just time and, once I'm able to wrestle him into it, he enjoys looking out the window, etc. I am a little stumped, though. I have never had a problem with getting him strapped into his car seat. Now that it faces forward, almost every time I try to put him in there, he arches his back, wiggles around and screams! Any ideas as to why??

Anyway, that's it for his 18 month update... on to more fun stuff! Last night we bundled ourselves up (it was only 38 degrees) and went to Brookgreen Gardens for their annual Nights of a Thousand Candles. It was absolutely beautiful and JD was a good boy. He put his hat and mittens on, let us put a blanket over him and enjoyed the ride!

She's smaller!

Woohoo! Allison now weighs approximately 6 pounds, 5 ounces. That a full pound (and then some) less than JD weighed when I was 36-37 weeks pregnant with him. Maybe Allison will be around 8 pounds when she's born!

Everything else looked good too... weight gain, blood pressure, etc. And, now I'm down to weekly doctor appointments. The doctor I saw today asked if I wanted to be induced around 39 weeks and I told her I'd rather just wait it out unless a medical necessity for induction arose. Hopefully all will continue to go well and Allie can pick her own birthday!

Cat calls and dizziness

The other morning I was sitting on the couch and JD wandered into the kitchen. A minute later I heard "keeee keeee.... HEY! Keeee keeeee..... HEY!" He was calling the cat. So I got up to see where the cat was. JD was lying on his stomach on the kitchen floor calling into Sammy's hole... or, as I like to call it, her escape route. This hole leads into our pantry where we keep her food and water so JD can't get to it (apparently cat food = candy to toddlers) and then there's another hole from the back of the pantry that leads to the garage where her litter box and scratching posts are kept. Of course, by the time I got the camera to video his "cat calling" he had calmed down a little bit... but it's still cute!

This video cracks me up. The dancing snowmen were a gift from my brother Merv and his wife Angie last Christmas. I pulled it out tonight just knowing that JD would love it....and love it he does! He pushes the button and, instead of dancing like I thought he would, he just runs circles around it until he falls down from dizziness. I laughed my head off watching him do this over and over and over today!

Allie's Shower

This past Saturday was my baby shower for Allison. I purposely kept it very small, limited only to family and friends that I actually see or talk to on a regular basis. We already have so much baby stuff that we really didn't need much. Mostly clothes and diapers, both of which were generously provided for us!

Here are a few pictures from the party. JD had fun and even got to have cake. It was his first experience with real cake (he's only had the dairy free/soy free cake). He loved it, of course and was quite wound up that evening... running naked through the house screaming at the top of his lungs as I chased him trying to get him into the bath!
Yes, I know... that is one big belly. I am 36 weeks along in these pictures. I have a growth ultrasound tomorrow to determine how big Allison is these days. I'm hoping she's less than 7.5 pounds right now because I still have 3.5 weeks until my due date and the average baby gains 0.5 pounds per week. If she's 7.5 pounds now that means she'll be a 9-pounder by January 3.... YIKES!

Anywhoo - Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the gift table. All the gifts were so pretty wrapped in pink... I do, however have these pictures of her closet and dresser drawers, which are now overflowing thanks to the generosity of our family and friends! And a special thanks to my mom for putting this shower together... it was a lot of fun!