Early birthday present:

James was feeling creative and spontaneous, so he actually got my birthday present a little early. With his sister's help, he ordered the beads and made me this beautiful necklace. I love it! Given my simple choices in clothing, something with a little sparkle jewelry wise is perfect for me. Plus, tiger eye beads are beautiful! He's thinking turquoise beads for his next beading adventure. My manly man husband, lol.


Unfortunately, I won't be able to show it off at Church tomorrow, since it looks like Cady and I will be staying home. She's still throwing up a bit, but only if I give her straight formula. If I mix it with Pedialyte she does okay. And she's still not wetting enough diapers for my comfort, nor have her stools become less watery for my comfort. Until she is 100% better, we're not going to let her expose her icky germs to everyone else!

No worries. I'll be back at Church next Sunday, sporting my new necklace and officially 100% in maternity skirts. I just tucked away my last non-elastic waistband skirt the other day. Now I'm just waiting for the baby belly to solidify into that cute bump that gets rubbed by random old ladies (never had the joy of experiencing that one, actually, but...) rather than looking like I'm just outgrowing my old clothes, lol.

Stomach Bug

I think Cadence is on the downside of the stomach bug she caught. She threw up late Monday night and I assumed it was a reaction to me feeding her stuff that's technically on the no-no list (Little Debbies cake, anyone?). She didn't throw up all day Tuesday, but did throw up that night. And after that rough night and another rough day, I finally found time to sit down and get some advice on how to handle it. And thank you to a concerned and thoughtful Nana who called with the same advice I'd gotten. If I hadn't found time to do a little research, that phone call would have helped immensely (she was just a few hours late, lol).

Suffice it to say, Cadence hasn't had a single sip of formula today. Pedialyte only, and only in small amounts regularly throughout the day. She was also given a few saltine crackers once she made it through the morning without any major problems (Daddy slipped her a few without asking), and a few more as the day progressed. And she got a small bit of rice cereal and bananas about an hour and a half before bedtime. If she can make it through tonight without throwing up, she'll be getting a nice mix of Pedialyte and formula later tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, Grandpa's warning about bright green poop showing up if we were to ever give her grape Kool-Aid is apparently valid with grape flavored Pedialyte as well. Haha. On the plus side, I was pleased to actually see a little color in her diaper for the first time in three days. Hopefully that's a good sign and not simply a reaction to the grape flavoring. Downside, other than a little wet this morning, she hasn't wet a diaper since Tuesday morning, either. Hopefully tomorrow brings more good news on the dirty diaper front (haha, oh the things we consider "good news" nowadays...)

You can tell she's sick, though. She didn't play much today, and spent a large chunk of today fussing, or being cuddled with her favorite blanket and sucking her thumb. Only immediately following a nap and a bottle would she even look at her toys, and even then only for maybe ten minutes. Normally, she'd be perfectly happy to entertain herself and chase cats for at least half an hour.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to unplug the computer keyboard and pry it open. I got the keys squeaky clean from when Cadence threw up all over the keyboard, but forgot to clean under the keys and now some of them are sticking from what dried underneath. Oops.

Just a few general updates

Cady's top two teeth broke through over the past day or so. They're still not noticeable unless you're allowed to run your finger over her gums (she won't even let me do it most of the time). But it is not the end of teething for us, yet! Just this morning I realized her two top canines are about to pop through as well. So, we've got a few more days here. But I anticipate a little relief for all of us involved by the end of the week.

Standing has become old hat to Cadence, and actually the other day she lifted a foot in an attempt to take a step. She fell flat on her face as soon as her foot left the floor, but she's made the mental connection, nonetheless! She's also attempting to master crouching while standing, but so far as only mastered crouching low enough that falling onto her butt hurts less, lol. Unfortunately, she's so pleased with her standing abilities that bath time has become a nightmare. She wants to do everything standing up and has discovered the shampoo bottles on the ledge. Time to get one of those shower organizers that hangs off of the shower head!

Hmm, yesterday I was finally able to find a baby floating ring for the pool that didn't cost an arm and a leg. It's intended for ages 1-2, but I figured Cady's nearly as long as most 1 year olds, so I could get away with it! We went swimming the late afternoon. She thought it was the coolest thing ever and I was thrilled to not spend the entire pool time with a wriggling little turd. Love her, I do, but when she's wet she's hard to hold on to and pool time has just worn me out recently. Now that she can float (with me nearby at all times!) I think I might be willing to go more often.

James starts classes bright and early tomorrow morning. He is not looking forward to it, lol. Poor boy has a class at 7:45am, and since he's used to waking up closer to 10 or 11, that's the freaking crack of dawn as far as he's concerned! He's been setting his alarm pretty early for the past few days in an attempt to get his head used to it. I think I'll start getting up with him. Maybe pull out that prenatal yoga movie I got that I haven't had time to use (just as it came in, Cadence stopped doing her long afternoon nap when I'd planned to do it...) If I'm up at 7:30, though, I've got about half an hour, at the very least, before Cady's up and needing attention. But, I'm also pretty lazy so who knows if I'll get the motivation?

Megan's alive and kicking... literally. She's also exploring her temporary room quite avidly. I never know "how pregnant" I'm going to look from hour to hour. Sometimes she's low and forward and I am decidedly pregnant looking. Other times, she's high and back (like Cadence was) and I go back to looking like I've just gained a few. Either way, when I sit, I've finally got the belly that pops out, so you know I'm nearing my third trimester! She loves to squirm, which, since she is hanging out lower than I remember Cadence doing, is causing all sorts of uncomfortable sensations at inopportune times. I had my mother-in-law snickering at me during Relief Society because I was jumping and squirming again...

And no specific updates about my life. I'm afraid I currently am living vicariously through James and through Cadence's milestones. That is my life, and as fulfilling as it is... it's not much to blog about, lol. I am in the midst of half-planning Cadence's first birthday party, just not sure who to invite. I'm so bad about keeping in touch with people I'm not sure who'd welcome an invite... I figure I can send them out anyway and plan big. I know I'll have at least 10 guests from family alone. And I'm eagerly looking forward to my sister's visit! It's only for a few days, but at least I'll have somebody to hang out with that isn't my mom or James for that long! Not to mention, I miss her, lol. Phone calls are great and all, but...

August Pictures

How can you resist this grin?:

Drumming on the stove is one of her new favorite pasttimes:

Okay, this one's just funny. Our three cats waiting for James to share his tuna sandwich with them (They feel so entitled). Note the size differences, and Conan's not even sitting up straight like the other two, lol:

Keep your eye out for pictures at the end of next month! Aunt Erin and Cousin Lynne are flying down for a visit and I'm super excited! Hopefully we'll find time to go to JCPenney's and get some too cute pictures of the two cousins together. If not professionally done, well Aunt Erin's a whiz with her camera (she did our A-mazing wedding pictures), so we'll be sure to have something absolutely adorable to share! How could you not with two such precious little girls?!

Spongebob

When Cadence was only a few weeks old, I'd laugh about her George Lopez show fascination. A lot of that had to do with our nightly routine at the time, that included us cuddling and watching the 9pm episodes on Nick and Nite. She'd get good and quiet and watch the bright colors flashing on the TV screen more intently than any other show I might flip to.

For the most part, she's outgrown George Lopez. Another show has taken that spot in her little heart. If you flip the channel to Nickelodeon around 11am, she goes wide-eyed and quiet and will sit and watch Spongebob for an unprecedented 10+ minutes.

Today, I tested her devotion. We went to Target to wander around, since she tends to get bored if we stay home all day. In the video aisle, I held up 2 DVDs, one of Dora the Explorer and the other of Spongebob. Dora came into her view first, so she saw it and reached for it, but then she caught sight of the Spongebob DVD. Her eyes went wide and she had a huge grin on her face and very determindedly reached for it. And threw a sufficient fit when I put both DVDs away and out of reach.

She calmed down only because she caught sight of a Spongebob coloring book that was on the other side of the aisle and eagerly began reaching for that, even trying to climb out of the cart to get to it. We quickly left that aisle and I gave her keys to distract her.

So, I'm thinking we might have to go for a Spongebob themed first birthday party, or at least birthday cake. Which brings to mind a totally different problem: what in the world am I supposed to do for her first birthday? I want to do something, but to invite both sides of her extended family I'd want to do it somewhere neutral (as in not my family's house, not James's family's house, no church property, and preferably in the SW). I did consider a park, but it'll be mid-November... Then I debated just having a big family dinner somewhere, but James and I cant' really afford to pay for everyone at a restaurant (hosting a big BBQ=affordable, hosting a dinner at a restaurant=expensive) and I think that would be our obligation as the hosts. It has been suggested to just have two seperate parties, one at each family's house, but... it just doesn't feel the same. I'd rather just have one big get together. After all, in Cadence's case, they are just one big family, there's no "my family" and "James's family" in her little world.

Of course, if we could come up with a guest list that's more than just our family, I might consider James's suggestion of a church rec room his grandparents are affiliated with (the reason no LDS church property is because of James's grandparents). But, so far that guest list is... pretty puny, as I hesitate to add a bunch of my friends who I haven't hung out with in awhile. I'd want to have more than 15 people invited if we were to use the rec room. Of course, having a big guest list would allow me to go all out and not feel silly. Which is really what I want to do. I need friends pronto!

ETA: And Cadence's two top teeth decided to play peekaboo, so we're dealing with a very fussy, very clingy, very sore little girl right now...

Old friends and pizza

We didn't even make it to Monica Ward's Sacrament meeting this morning. We're not complete slackers, of course. Instead, we crashed the Rosedale Ward's Sacrament meeting, because Jeremy and Emilee's little boy Tyler was being blessed. While James hadn't been specifically asked to being the circle, he did make sure he was cleaned up just in case. Good thing, too. Jeremy and Emilee arrived late, so they didn't get a chance to ask James beforehand, but James was gestured to, lol. And I got to hold Tyler for the first time, despite meeting him when he was only a few days old (Cadence was in a very clingy stage, I couldn't even hand her off to James in order to get my hands on the newborn!). I'd almost forgotten how spinelessly squirmy they can be. Cadence got her backbone at a very young age.

We left that place and went on our merry way to John's Incredible Pizza where we met up with Mike and Erin. Cadence went to town enjoying a plate of spaghetti, a piece of cheese pizza, two breadsticks (one of which was almost entirely whole when it ended up on the floor...), and some saltine crackers. She got good and messy, then cleaned up just in time to be spoon fed a bit of ice cream and a brownie. Oh yes, we encourage good eating habits early. Haha.

Jamie and Bradley showed up (Bradley attempting to run into the restaurant before his mom had paid, lol), followed by Shaimaa, her sister, and her sister-in-law. The whole get together was for Shaimaa's birthday (which was yesterday). Nothing super exciting happened, but it was fun. A fair bit of gossip. Teasing Jamie because Cadence refused to be held by her. Watching Bradley give Cadence dirty, suspicious looks whenever she'd glance at his plate of food. Getting caught up on the little ins and outs of each other's lives in general (Erin's new place, Shaimaa's boyfriend, etc.).

I meant to get a few pictures. But I got so caught up in everything else that my camera stayed tucked in my purse. I should have at least gotten a picture of Cadence once she'd stolen my ice cream cone. Or even my chin and neck when she turned to give it back to me... Instead, I'll leave you with a completely unrelated photo:

It's that time again!

Well, okay, so I went a day early... Here we have July 15th (19 weeks) right beside the far less flattering August 14th (23 weeks). Megan's really expanded her living quarters, but I haven't expanded with her, so my whole stomach looks swollen instead of the nice compact baby bump that most others seem to have this far along. I'll complain, but I'm really not all that upset or concerned, lol. I spend most of my time in t-shirts anyway, so who cares if the first 6+ months of pregnancy just as me looking like I packed on the pounds?

And then... I got bored. Really bored. And here was the fruits of that particularly bored labor:

Busy, but not doing anything. Fun times!

Well, I was going to doctor a photo of Cadence standing against something and erase the thing she's holding on to to make a really bad "look, Cady's standing" picture that was obviously doctored, but that didn't work out as expected, since I don't have any pictures of Cadence standing even while holding on to something.

She is standing, though. The funny thing, however, is she does it without thinking. Suddenly something needs both her hands, so she'll let go to do something, realize she's standing on her own, get a terrified look on her face and reach for whatever she was using to hold her up before. I've tricked her into standing by letting go of her hands and quickly handing her a toy, which she'll happily play with for a few seconds before that realization of "I'm standing by myself" hits her and she quickly plops down on her butt. Silly girl.

We ended up having to leave Church early today. Cadence has gone and changed her schedule on me again. Now instead of settling down for a nap 2-3 hours after waking up, she's going as many as 4 or 5 before needing to crash. Add in the fact that we all slept in until 8:30 this morning (a-freaking-mazing, by the way), and she was wired during Church. We ended up sitting in the foyer for Sacrament, because of how loud Cadence was being. And James missed most of Sunday School. By then she was starting to get sleepy, but we had no blanket and she won't go to sleep without her blanket anymore. So, we took her home rather than have me spend all of Relief Society pacing the halls trying to keep her calm until the end of Church.

The blanket thing, by the way, is too cute. It's the blanket the Monica Ward ladies gave us when Cadence was first born. I didn't realize how attached to it she was until yesterday. Jen watched her for us so we could go to the temple, and apparently when she was tired, she grabbed the blanket (which was on the couch at the time) and crawled over to Jen to be picked up and cuddled to sleep. Also, last night, the blanket was still on the couch and she got tired, so she picked herself up, laid her head against the blanket and sucked on her thumb and a piece of the blanket's yarn to tell James she was ready for bed. She got a bath and then got wrapped up in her favorite blanket and promptly went right to sleep, fingering the unraveled pieces of yarn and sucking her thumb.

Oooh, last night! Last night Megan started squirming like crazy and I was able to get James's attention and point it out. She's finally big enough that you can see my whole belly move with her if the movements are violent enough. This pregnancy is going so much faster. I almost feel bad that I can't appreciate every little thing as much. But, I still enjoy the moments I do get to sit back and focus on (though being so absorbed in baby movements in the temple when you're one half of the witness couple... not so good. Thank goodness I caught James moving and realized I was supposed to be moving too, lol).

22 weeks and hospital tour

Well, quick note: I'm 22 weeks along as of today. Only 18 more to go until my due date, 16 more to go if Megan wants to come as early as Cadence, and 20 weeks to go if Megan is more stubborn (if she's more stubborn than Cadence, then Heaven help me!!!)

James and I abandoned Cadence at her Nana's house and went to the L&D tour and orientation at the Memorial Hospital. What a switch from what KMC offered us last time around! First and foremost: private post-natal recovery rooms! Then there's the whiteboard that they keep updated with all your information so you always have an idea what's going on and what else will be done soon. The, uh, 32" flat screen TV and DVD/VCR player in every room is awful nice as well. And then the private bathroom and shower. No having to wonder if one of three other women is using the bathroom at the exact moment I have to pee...

I am a bit nervous though. I asked a few questions and it was confirmed that if for any reason I have to schedule delivery (aka induction), I will not be allowed to go to Memorial. I'll be routed right back to KMC. Kinda makes me wish I'd never gone on the tour. If I'd never seen how nice L&D could be, I wouldn't miss it if I end up back at KMC.

Ah, well, so long as Megan is healthy and happy when she's born, I suppose I can't be too bummed about having to share a bathroom. I will miss the chance to watch whatever movie I want to, though... I'm all set to pack "Ever After" (which my mom bought on DVD for me since they couldn't find the VHS I left behind!) in my hospital bag. Hehe. I so love that movie. Maybe we can snatch James's brother's portable DVD player...

ETA: James had a good time teasing me. A good majority of the women in the group were probably due in the next month or two, considering how big some of them were. Others appeared to be around the same time frame as me, except I was the only one in that tour group that wasn't sporting a noticeable belly. Naturally, as soon as we got home, Megan rolled forward and let me have that bit of baby belly for awhile. She couldn't have done that earlier? LoL.

Rearranged

James and I decided it was time to move the dining room table out of storage and fit it in the little room that our floorplan calls a "nook". As this nook had currently been taken up entirely by my little computer station, it took us a bit of head scratching to decide how this could be arranged, as I was entirely opposed to moving the computer into the spot right next to our television.

Of course, as it always goes, we moved one thing, and then another, and then another until the only things in their original spot are our television and the big couch (simply because we considered moving them and decided it was too much of a hassle). The dining table is pushed up against one wall, giving us enough room to have a mini computer station lined up along the opposite wall. Bookshelves were moved, including one moving to the bedroom, which had also been rearranged as James and I realized if we put the bassinet back in our room, there'd be no walkway on my side of the bed.

Now we're talking televisions. The big 40" old LCD sucker is taking up a large portion of the corner of our bedroom. Unfortunately, the one we have in our front room is just as wide, if not as tall. We're contemplating switching that one for the old 32" LCD we gave my mom awhile back (she'd be trading up!), put the 32" in the bedroom and move James's beloved 40" into the front room.

Before we do that, however, we must ensure that old TV picks up all the cable stations in the front room. Last time we trusted that sucker as the main room telelvision, at our old apartment, I didn't even know we had full cable access until a few months before we moved. I'd been thinking I was super special for being able to get ABCFamily and Disney and some of the other higher cable channels if I flipped to the channel (TV channel 17 got me access to cable channel 65!) when the stars were aligned correctly, I did the hokey pokey, wiggled my nose, and chanted. Turns out, the chanting wasn't necessary, just a better TV that could translate our apartment's screwy cable signal. However, since the TV can successfully pick up all 75 channels in the bedroom, I'm going to assume it's learned its lesson and will do so properly in the front room as well.

Cadence loved us rearranging, since it took us a few days to finally get everything in it's place, which means lots of goodies were in new places and within reach! Items that had been otu of reach on top of bookshelves and desks were now conveniently laying on a coffee table that she'd never seen before, that was the perfect height for snatching the pens, papers, and other trinkets.

Ah, but funny story before I go: We have a 5-shelf bookshelf in our bedroom, and recently moved one of our 3-shelf bookshelves back there as well, right next to it. Around 5am this morning, I wake up to James muttering in surprise and open my eyes to find him crouched at the foot of the bed on my side, looking towards the bookshelves that now line the wall by his side of the bed. "We have a problem" is what he says and I look up to see Taz had used the 3-shelf bookshelf as a stepping stool to leap to the top of the 5-shelf bookshelf (which she and Hanna had done several times when a similar arrangement was in the old apartment). James, by the way, doesn't wake up entirely for quite awhile. So though open-eyed, moving, and talking, he was still very much asleep, which means his brain isn't up to it's usual snuff. In the dark, Taz looked entirely black, and James did not recognize her. He chased her out of the room and followed her so he could flip on a light and see who our black-cat intruder was, then returned to the room and told me it was okay and that it was only Taz and went back to sleep. I fell back asleep very amused.