Treats

So my poor kid is going to have a RUDE awakening when mommy is no longer pregnant! This whole summer I have been a sucker for treats. I crave sweets and Leah usually gets some if I have some. So what have we been snacking on??

1. Sonic. America's Drive-In and home of the Lemon-Berry fruit slush. I could drink one of these every day. Leah says "mommy likes Sonic" and "can I get a slushie" when we pull up. I had a hard time passing up the 99 cent milkshakes they had in June too.

2. Peanut M&M's. I have a bag in the closet at all times. Leah likes the idea of peanut M&M's but often comes to me with a half chewed peanut that she has spit out.

3. Doughnuts. Heaven Scent Doughnuts to be exact. Anything with custard filling for me.

Leah "showing" me her doughnut.



4. Ice cream. Everything from Dairy Queen to homemade rootbeer floats and banana splits. Helps with the heartburn you know!

5. All sorts of other odds & ends like pudding cake, chocolate covered bananas, snowcones, grandma's good chocolate chip cranberry cookies.

mmmm snowcones

Now, please don't think I am eating all of this at once, or even that I am passing up my veggies for the tasty treats. I just like to indulge once a day or so. We are sure to brush our teeth to get all the sugar off before we go to bed too!

On the Move

So this was Leah and I a year ago packing up the moving truck at our house in Wausau to move to Saint Louis. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday and other days it semms like years ago.

Well, this week we are at it again, moving that is. For a month or so now we have been looking for a house to rent as we are swiftly outgrowing our apartment and our lease is coming up at the end of Sept. We found a winner of a home over the weekend and signed a new lease yesterday afternoon. We are able to get into the new place next week so we can be settled before the baby gets here.

Interestingly, the landlord had to choose between renting to us and another family that looked at the house at the same time. He was totally taken in by Leah and "wants her to live in his house." Guess he wasn't scared off by her running hotlaps across the hardwood floors and leaving finger prints on the windows!

Now I am trying to decide if I was more crazy last year with packing up the entire house with a one year old while my husband was already gone to MO or this year with a two year old and being 9 months pregnant. I'm feeling a bit stressed now but I know that I will be thrilled to be out of this apartment and settled when this baby gets here. My other option was to wait and try to pack and move with a 2 year old and an infant which doesn't sound fun either!

So as of next week, this will be home!

Counting down the days.

So I am now to the point where I get to see my OB every week. Joyous. I am less than a month till "D" day. I'm curious to see if this baby arrives early or on time as my origianal due date was the 12th but got pushed back to the 22nd?

Had my first "internal" exam yesterday. It was quite the adventure since Leah was there with me. I took her along not anticipating having my feet in the stirrups. I don't think she is too scarred. She was quite curious about what the dr. was doing though. She was okay with the explanation of "he's just seeing if the baby is ready to come out". He's not. I'm not dilated at all.

So this is what I looked like back at 34 weeks along. I'm waddeling. I'll be 36 weeks tomorrow and will have to talk Paul into taking a new photo.

I Wan'na Be Like You

One of the pleasures of having children is they are reflection of ourselves. Not that they always reflect the things we would like them to! Leah has a seemingly normal desire to be like me. She wants to put on make up, have her toe nails painted, put on her own clothes & shoes, etc. Sometimes that spills over into wanting to wear Paul or my shoes and yesterday, my bra. Nice.



This was taken after she removed her own dress and struggled to get her arms through the straps. She was quite proud of the fact that she got it on. She told me that she doesn't need to wear a bra though because she has little boobies. Then she told me she will be a mommy someday with big boobies. Yes, she listens and remembers EVERYTHING I tell her. Never a dull moment around here.

And not that my child is a monkey, it brought to mind this song that I haven't heard in ages!

Farewell to the Beloved Nee Nee

So we finally did it. At least I hope we did it. We got Leah to get rid of her Nee Nee aka her pacifier. It has been her constant companion since birth so the fact that it's gone is a big deal.

Where did it go you ask? Well we had an especially busy morning yesterday that involved dropping the car at the shop & having to drive Paul into the office. We stopped at the hospital where I am planning to deliver baby #2 to pre-pay for the delivery and when we got back to the car the nee nee was GONE!

So I suppose I could have trekked back through the long open halls of the hospital, back to the finance dept, and into both bathrooms that we used on a quest for the missing nee nee, but NO, it was time for mommy to be hard core. I have been telling Leah for months that it was her VERY LAST nee nee and if she lost it there would be no more. We have also been telling her that she was going to have to pass her nee nee on to her new baby brother.

Well somehow over the course of the day I convinced Leah that she had left her nee nee at the hospital so that her brother will have it when he comes. Paul reinforced this idea when he got home and we are pretty sure it stuck. It's now pushing 36 hours with out the beloved nee nee and she is surviving.

Now was it such a big deal that my 2 year old still had her pacifier? NO, not really. Poor girl treated the thing like a cigarette though. Seriously walking around with it hanging out of her mouth and trying to talk around it. Taking it out to eat a few bites of food and then jamming it back in. Whining and crying until we found it when it was missing. Making life generally annoying for all.

Anyway, it's a new chapter. Life with out the nee nee. Well sort of . . . . . I did fine the nee nee that she left at the hospital underneath her car seat last night, but DON'T tell her that!

Note to self regarding potty training.

Dear self,

Unless you have an overwhelming desire to visit the family bathroom at Walmart twice in a half hour shopping trip; do not give your 2 year old a full glass of water in the hour preceeding the shopping trip. Even if it was the water in her fancy straw cup that kept her entertained in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Even if you are worried about your child's need for hydration when it is 90 degrees at 10am. Even if you are 8 months pregnant and may be needing to visit the bathroom yourself with in the half hour.

So yeah, had an OB appointment this morning. (All is well with #2) Gave Leah a full cup of water. Spent the next hour regretting it. She went twice at the dr's office and twice at Walmart. Guess having to go is better than having wet pants.

Oh the joy of a newly potty trained two year old!

Emotions

So it's interesting that at some point toddlers all of a sudden "get" emotions. I know they feel them LONG before they can express that they can feel them. Some the common emotional expressions we hear from Leah include:

"That seems scarey to me"
"We are happy to see them"
"You will be very sad when you miss us"
"Are you upset mommy?"

Anyway, a while back while trying to get her to say "cheese" for the camera, I had her make some faces to express her emotions. This is what we got.


CHEESE


SILLY


SAD


SURPRISED


SLEEPY

Ploy Book

So I know in the world of sports teams have playbooks. You know those books with the pictures of x's and o's and lines and arrows and stuff that basically tell the players where to go and what to do. Well, I have decided that a "ploy book" must also be in existence. This is a book that is passed around to all children and is filled with a list of all the "ploys" to use to prolong bedtime.

I think it starts when they are infants with the crying or filling a diaper. Next it moves on to things like needing a stuffed animal or a blankie or a pacifier. Now, since Paul and I have been blessed with a particularly verbal child, it has moved to the following.


"Snuggle by daddy few more minutes"
"I have to go poopy"
"I have to go pee pee"
"One more book mommy"
"One more hug mommy"
"One more kiss mommy"
"turn my fish light on"
"leave the door open"
"I need a drink of water"

I'm just convinced at the existence of a book of some sort because I know I didn't sit down and teach her these requests and when to use them. We are fortunate that she knows that most of them don't work. (I am a sucker for more hugs & kisses) And really, she is a good sleeper most of the time so it doesn't kill us if bedtime lasts a few extra minutes.

Time for a photo.

First, Leah is back to her normal self.

Seems like this blog needs some photos.

Leah loves playing in water. Water fountains, which she calls "water moutains", are a favorite. I really wish she wouldn't insist on drinking out of every single one we come across. I have resorted to having extra clothes in the diaper bag at all times since she just can't stay away from them!

Letter to a sick kid.

My dearest Leah,

Chocolate milk looks a LOT better going down than it does coming up. So do breadsticks, grilled cheese & apple juice. I'm sorry you are sick.

Next time mommy covers your bed and pillow with a towel so you won't puke all over them; can you please leave the towel where it is instead of vomitting on the pillow, sheet, blanket, wall, etc.

Thanks for being a quiet puker. Makes it easier for momma to deal with. The fact that you just say "uh oh, what happened" instead of screaming about it is nice too.

I'm glad you figured out that your kiddie potty works great for throwing up in as well as it does for peeing and pooping in!

I realize you don't feel well but mommy can only handle so many hours of cartoons. Can we please watch something else?

It is really sweet that you feel asleep on the couch. Unfortuneatly momma can't get anything done but blogging and surfing the net without waking you up.

HOpe you feel better soon! Love you,

Mommy

Pregnancy Venting

When purchasing a watermelon at the grocery store on Monday night some woman commented that my belly looked a lot like my purchase. Um, yeah, I know.

Last week a girl who I went to highschool with told me I looked like I was ready to pop any day. At that time I had eight weeks left till my due date.

It's hot and I'm sweaty. Sweaty all the time.

I shouldn't complain as I have had a generally easy pregnancy. I'm just nearing the uncomfortable part which means I am almost to the end! Seven weeks from Friday the little man is due to be here!