Thanksgiving & the Day After

Well, our second Thanksgiving on our own went off without a hitch. Mostly. Turkey turned out well, rolls didn't burn, everything ended up on the table at the right time, etc. Well, we had to improvise with the deviled eggs a bit (ew) and the gravy turned out a little lumpy. However, dinner was delicious and I was quite pleased with myself for putting it all together so well.

The girls weren't pleased with being woken up for the early dinner, but once they woke up and started eating, they didn't stop. Cadence gorged herself on olives and Megan asked for seconds on mashed potatoes. When we served the pumpkin pie, they ate the whipped cream and left the pie. Silly girls.

This morning, we ventured out to a different Christmas tree farm than the one we went to last year. It was closer, but not as large. An enjoyable little adventure, though we, again opted to not get one from the field and will likely end up going to Home Depot for our purchase (either tomorrow or later into December).

 

After that little adventure, we ended up at Ihop for a (very) late lunch. Cadence eagerly attacked a chocolate chip pancake. Megan consumed her entire cheeseburger. Then both girls split the remains of my chicken sandwich. I just didn't have the space for the whole meal I got for myself. Baby boy rolled himself up and out. I was showing enough that complete strangers felt confident in asking whether it was a boy or a girl. It was pretty obvious. Not used to being so obvious at only 23 weeks. I'll have to get a picture later to share. ;-)

Cadence's 4th Birthday

It struck me, as I updated the little countdowns I have for the girls' age/next birthday, that 4 comes before 5. Cadence turning 4 wasn't a bit deal to me. I'd been calling her 4 for the past few months (though she protested every time I did so in her hearing). But realizing that she's actually 4 and the next step is the wise-sounding "5" made me realize just how big she's gotten!

Her birthday was about as uneventful as Megan's. She woke up eagerly asking if it was her birthday and asked and/or brought it up a few hundred times over the next 12 hours. When offered the breakfast of her choice, she insisted on cereal, just like every other morning. When questioned on what she wanted for lunch (and provided with several examples of something different), she wanted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. James got to spend the day with us, so we went to the store to get stuff for Thanksgiving dinner (I'll brave the grocery stores on Friday, but that's it!) and spent a lazy afternoon at home.

We did Skype with Nana for awhile, not that the girls sat still to talk to her for long, and Cadence opened her present while we did that. She got a Flynn Rider doll, that she stubbornly calls Eugene (it is his real name, after all!). Have yet to convince her the satchel he came with isn't a purse. Her goofy fake smiles crack me up:

Afterward, it was the same routine as Megan's birthday: Cupcakes with candles and then off to bed. Quiet and pleasant. (Too bad the girls woke up Sunday morning with colds):

So... what to say about Cadence? She's definitely a challenge some days! Incredibly stubborn and set in her way of thinking. Recently, we'll give her a time limit and she usually insists it be "10 minutes" and will refuse any other offer. She really, really thrives from routine. If you try to get her in the bath before lunchtime, it takes a lot of sweet talking. Ask her to hop in the bath right after lunch and she'll race you to the bathroom. If she falls asleep and wakes up and doesn't get "snack after quiet time", it's a fight. In fact, when she falls asleep before lunch, we have a hard time convincing her the meal I prepared isn't dinner.

Stubborn as all gets out, and definitely a girl I apply the "pick your battles" approach to. She'd wear that pink dress every day if I'd let her. I don't, but if we're not going anywhere I'll often let her wear it, but she and I tend to butt heads on days I deem the dress too dirty to wear or not warm enough (which is getting to be more common finally!).

She really enjoys Primary and her class, eagerly going with James each Sunday and giggling and grinning when I pick her up from class afterward. She's as imaginative as her sister, though her imagination is shown through interactive play with her dolls. She's also an amazing little artist. Her cats are easily recognizable by even people who don't know her and she colors very seriously and very well. She loves to laugh and will eagerly seek out things to make herself giggle and does things just because she knows it makes me laugh. So she's stubborn, but she's a very happy, very helpful sweetheart at the same time.

Megan's 3rd Birthday

The past two years, we celebrated the girls' birthdays together. This years, we decided to make each birthday individual. The past few days, we've made it clear "Megan's birthday is on Friday and Cadence's is on Saturday", even pointed to the days on the calendar. So, today was all about Megan (much to bossy Cadence's frequent distress).

It started off like most Fridays. The girls and I woke up way too early to take James to work. When we got home, Megan curled up on the chair and decided to be a grump. When I told her it was her birthday, she informed me she was "done" with her birthday already, but I sang the happy birthday song to her and she had a big smile as I did. Guess she wasn't as "done" as she claimed. Started off the morning right with cinnamon rolls and lots of lazing around. Then we got dressed and headed to the store to get a few things for cupcake decorating and off to the park to meet up with friends.

The rest of the day went about as smoothly. Megan decided she wanted chicken and fries for lunch, so chicken and fries it was! After which, we watched "Finding Nemo" for quiet time (though Cadence was quite put out we didn't watch "Little Mermaid II" as she wanted). Cadence went down for a nap, but Megan didn't. I pulled out a little birthday crown for her to wear while she played. We went to pick up James from work, came home, and gave her the birthday present: Ariel and Eric dolls. The girls already had Ariel dolls (three to be exact), but they desperately needed some male companions and the only way to get Eric was with Ariel. Megan's in love and Cadence kept looking for a chance to snatch Eric away and play with him herself.

After dinner, there were cupcakes, decorated with the frosting and sprinkles of Megan's choice and topped with 3 candles. Mmm, cupcakes.

So... Megan's 3. She'll be a Sunbeam in a few short weeks and likely wrap her teacher around her dainty little finger like she does everyone else. She oozes charm when she wants to (and shrieks like a stubborn Banshee when she doesn't). I think it's the big blue eyes and too-cute smile, and the curls probably help a lot too. She's sneaky, too, which sometimes has me busting up because she's just so darn cute about it. Thankfully, I have had a lot of practice recently at keeping a straight face long enough to correct the behavior before I turn away and giggle once she's out of hearing.

She also has quite the imagination already! We got into a long conversation less than a week ago about the monster flying around on our ceiling. And at the doctor's office, she decided the table was a cave and would crawl under then come back out and tell me about the dragon she found (it was a boy dragon and he bit her, but he was a nice dragon). She wanders around the living room playing with imaginary characters, whether her sister is participating or now. I think we have a future storyteller on our hands!

She's definitely a drama queen. She's prone to dramatic fits when things don't go her way lately. Dramatic meaning she'll begin to cry, run away and throw herself either to the floor or onto her bed and stay there until you come find her. She loves to torment the cats and her sister. Surprisingly (or maybe not), I've had to tell Megan to stop picking on her sister far more often than I've had to tell her sister. It probably doesn't help that Cadence always responds so wonderfully... But Megan also adores her big sister and is already so sweet with her baby dolls I'm sure she'll be a wonderful big sister herself when the time comes. She's super affectionate. I get lots of "I love you, Mommy's" and lots of extra hugs and kisses, and when she's not feeling well for whatever reason, she loves to snuggle. She'll snuggle even when she's feeling well, but she's pretty energetic and loves to move, too. My little daredevil acrobat braves the playground like a pro and gives me mini heart attack after mini heart attack, but she's pretty darn good at navigating tricky situations.

Lots more to say about Megan, but it's kind of hard to summarize her. She's just... awesome. In every way. Even the stubborn ones. :-)

Anatomy Scan

(Pretty sure this news isn't news to anyone either, but posting because I intend to print this blog and keep it as a record for the kiddos eventually).

Looks like Connor is on his way. :-)

Yup, all boy! I know that's what most people were looking forward to with the 20 week anatomy scan (21 weeks for me, but...). And Connor was not shy about showing it off. I caught two separate glimpses of his, er, gender before the technician even meant to look. It's a good thing we were planning to find out, because that surprise would have been ruined in the first minute of the ultrasound otherwise. Every time the wand passed over that spot, he was showing it all off.

Anyway, the ultrasound experience itself was amazing. My last two experiences, the technicians turned the screen away and didn't speak to me the entire time. This time, the technician kept the monitor toward me and narrated everything she was doing and looking at. I got to actually see the position of the placenta, know when she was looking at and measuring the kidneys, etc.

Despite wiggling like crazy (and making the tech's job difficult in the process), he refused to turn over to let her get some of the measurements she needed. So I had to flip from side to side to get him to turn. She eventually got all of them without too much of an issue. He was head down, with his head almost right up against my cervix (which the doctor deemed perfect: long and closed). Someone should tell him he's got at least 15 weeks left in there. He also measured a few days ahead again.

The doctor came in shortly after her to review the pictures and measurements and take a quick peek himself. In his opinion, all was well, but, of course, the final verdict will be given by my personal OB. Very polite, very friendly, and he made sure I had all my questions answered, including gender, made sure I had my CD of pictures, and sent me on my way.

Still getting bigger over here. Definitely no hiding the fact that I am pregnant most of the time, which is funny given my previous experiences of having to tell people because they couldn't figure it out on their own. Measured my waist the other day and I was 6" bigger around already. Also have issues getting shoes on and off at times. James is getting a good laugh. :-P

Disney on Ice

For the girls' birthday, we purchased Disney on Ice tickets, not that they get the idea that it was a present for their birthday (so they will get a little something open on the actual birthday when the time comes). They were so excited when I pulled out their Halloween costumes and told them they were going to wear them to Disney on Ice and eagerly told their dad they were going to go see Captain Hook and Smee at Disney on Ice when he got home from work this afternoon.

The actual experience fell short from Disneyland itself, but they still had fun. They got a little glassy-eyed during the Incredibles routine (they never really cared for the movie), but Cadence was grinning ear to ear when Mickey Mouse and the gang skated out. Megan was equally excited, but rather tired so she didn't show it as much. They were lukewarm on Alice in Wonderland, but ecstatic over the appearances of Captain Hook, Smee and Tinkerbell when the time came. Those spots ran a little long, and the intermission was too long and they started getting restless.

So, after Lion King and seeing Snow White, we took our fidgety kids out as Aladdin began (before they could see Jasmine). Cadence wasn't fully committed to leaving early and kept peeking over her shoulder as we climbed the stairs to get out, but she was begging to go home every time her fascination with the show began to wane.

In the end, it was for the best. We avoided the exit traffic, which was even better since they were doing construction that would have been chaos if you added the traffic from people leaving at the same time. A few pictures I snapped before the show began (none during). Cadence was trying to make a "funny picture" in the one she's in. Weird kid...

The Annual Check-up & Stats

The girls had their annual check-ups this morning. Thank goodness my pediatrician is content to see both girls at the same time, because I don't think I can handle doing this twice in one month.

As I posted on Facebook while in the midst of this headache: Megan is every pediatrician's dream patient, while Cadence is every pediatrician's nightmare.

Cadence was a handful as soon as they asked her to take off her shoes to be weighed. Cried and hugged her arms to herself so they couldn't do the hearing test or take her blood pressure. She insisted the ear exam from the doctor hurt and the only reason the doctor got to look at her throat was because she started crying when we laid her down for the rest of the exam.

Megan was perfect. She even turned her head side to side for her ear exam, held the little tool the doctor used to check her reflexes and giggled like she was being tickled during the chest, stomach, and legs portion of the exam. She was so well-behaved, the nurses were able to take her out of the room without me to go do the vision test. The doctor didn't even bother requesting the same test on Cadence, knowing she wouldn't be able to focus and likely fail. They did attempt a less formal vision test, but after naming the shapes on the chart up close, she refused to do so from a distance.

*sigh* I was able to keep a smile on my face, but I honestly felt like crying at some points while dealing with Cadence. Sometimes she acts out in such a way that makes me wonder if I did something wrong. But Megan is so well adjusted, I'm usually able to remind myself it's just personality shining through. Still, in the moment, it can be hard to not feel like it's somehow my fault. I try to remember that she does well in primary and at daycare and once she's away from me more often (preschool) she'll probably adjust completely and most of our problems, at least these ones, will be less. She also probably remembers doctors from before and, while unable to recall details, remembers there is a part that hurts and spends the entire visit remember that and dreading it.

Actually, once the shots did come, she calmed down rather quickly. Cried while they held her to administer the two shots and the nasal flu vaccine, but once I had her pants and shoes back on, she was fine and more concerned about Megan, who cried for the first time and was actually harder to soothe afterward. I think Megan's big blue eyes and sweet personality worked against her in that moment, since the nurse decided to comfort her for me while I finished with Cadence, but I basically had to hold out my arms for the nurse to realize I was ready for her and to put her down. Hey, lady, that's my sweetheart to comfort, hand her over. :-P

Anyway, stats:

Megan-
Height: 37.25" (previously 34")
Weight: 25lbs (previously 23.5lbs)
*50th percentile in height and 10th in weight. She dropped back down to her usual range with weight this time around. Doctor was not concerned one bit.

Cadence-
Height: 40" (previously 37.25")
Weight: 34lbs (previously 30lbs)
*50th percentile in height and 25th in weight. Once again she's back to her usual range. Guess both girls plumped up right after our move to Texas last year and have finally adjusted.

This Pregnancy...

(I hope this isn't coming as a total surprise to anyone! If so... surprise!)

I thought, having done this twice before, there wouldn't be too much new this time around. Boy, was I wrong! I have experienced every symptom in the book and then some this time around. Not only that, but despite going into the delivery room in pre-pregnancy jeans both times I went in to delivery my kiddos, this time, I moved into maternity jeans at 19 weeks (and was ready for them long before that, but I was stubborn).

Below is a (very blurry) picture of my belly at 19 weeks and 3 days. Quite a difference from 19 weeks last time! I dare say I'm already as round as I was nearing the 3rd trimester last time (and I've still got almost 9 weeks before I get to that point!). But, as James and I joke: "I may actually look pregnant this time around!" At the very least, I won't have to convince nurses at the hospital I'm full-term and they don't need to freak about pre-term labor.

Anyway, all goes well with this little one. :-) Ultrasound put the due date as March 24, 2013 and the tech pointed out a little nub during the 13 week ultrasound that indicates this little one is most likely a boy. We'll be confirming in a few more weeks. I have my 20 week appointment next Tuesday and I should be able schedule the ultrasound shortly after that. However, I already bought a little vest and tie set (too cute and too reasonably priced to pass up!). It was only on clearance ($3) because the pants were missing from the set.

Drove by the hospital I'll be delivering at this time around. We'll take a tour after the holidays are over to get a much better idea of where everything is, but for now I have a general idea and I'm content with that. I really like the doctor I've been seeing. He's very easy to talk to and always gives me 100% when he's in the room with me, even when I know he's running behind. He's young, probably the least experienced in the clinic I'm going to, but I trust him and he's 100% behind my choice to do a VBAC (aka, no repeat c-section unless I choose).

For those of you that didn't get to see this on Facebook (I think I posted it to a more private group and not publicly), here's a nice little profile from the 13 week ultrasound, complete with little hands and legs. Baby Smith is on his (her?) way!

Well, I suppose that's all. Expect another update in 2-3 weeks with the latest ultrasound and news. :-)

Halloween 2012

I know, it's early, but we won't be Trick or Treating around here, so the Trunk or Treat tonight was it for us. We bought the girls' costumes a few weeks ago, getting a great deal on both of them. Unfortunately, they were both a touch too big and my sewing machine broke (joy). I was able to fix Cadence's but there was no way I could make the machine cooperate long enough to hem Megan's skirt (and no way I was sewing THAT by hand!)

We also painted pumpkins again this year, but since we stripped the girls down to just their underwear I'm not posting those pictures online. Still, they had a blast painting the over-sized pumpkin we got from the pumpkin patch and the girls got a kick out of the silly face I painted on once their paint had dried.

The Trunk or Treat at our church was fun. The girls had a blast playing all the games and then going through all the trunks to get their treats. They filled their little $1 pumpkin pails almost to the brim! :-) It was unexpectedly cold, so the girls had to layer. Long-sleeved tees and thicker stockings under their skirts and they still kept shoving icy fingers into my hand and Megan's nose was bright pink by the time we finally left.

Anyway, as always... Pictures! :-) Megan had taken off her little matching velvet crown and Cadence was holding the "fur" shawl rather than wearing it, but they looked adorable nonetheless. Even better, we can re-use these costumes when we go see Disney on Ice in 2 weeks. Ignore Cadence's "smile" in the first picture. We captured some real ones from her in the last 2 (also, ignore the crayon on the front door and the mess behind Cadence in the last picture... or else).

The Zoo (Again)

The girls and I needed out of the house and I wasn't keen on just going down to Walmart again. So... why not use the zoo membership now that it's cooling off again? It was still pretty warm, 80-something and muggy, but not quite summer temperatures, so totally doable! We packed PB&J sandwiches and some juice and went out for most of the morning.

The girls are starting to know the zoo pretty well. As we drove, they listed all the animals they wanted to see. Unfortunately, also on their wish list were cats, dogs, and dragons... While the zoo still has the dinosaur exhibit going on, there were no dragons. We saw the Halloween decoration being fixed. The zoo has a Halloween thing going on (costumes allowed and trick-or-treating at different exhibits), but only on the weekends. So maybe if James is off this Saturday we'll check it out...

Anyway, pictures! (Megan can't keep those fingers out of her mouth)

Pumpkins 2012

Had to flea bomb the house today. The threat of cold sent them running to safety in our house. Safety no longer, mwahaha.

So, while James worked, I picked up the worst of the mess so cleaning after we got home would be easy. We got the girls dressed and headed out the door (once the cats were safely tucked away, that is) and on to a nearby pumpkin patch. It wasn't nearly as grand as Dewberry Farm with all it's amazing attractions, but it was free and it had a jump-house. And, personally, I preferred their pumpkin selection.

We briefly wandered the pallets of pumpkins before the girls noticed the bouncy castle. I wasn't sure they'd be interested. The last time we'd attempted it, Cadence screamed, but that was over two years ago, so...  Anyway, they loved it.

They lost interest once other people joined them, that darn shyness rears its ugly head again. They might've been fine if it was just the other kid, but a mom climbed in to coax her toddler to play. Anyway, we went back to picking out pumpkins. The girls found several nice, plump round pumpkins but frequently insisted they were too large and finally settled for little round pumpkins about the size of a baseball or softball. To make up for it, James and I surveyed the selection to find an oversized one. We actually bought a bigger one than I intended, but I think the girls will enjoy painting it when we get around to decorating it (since we paint instead of carve pumpkins for now).

Sadly, no pictures of me this time. I'm feeling unpleasantly plump lately (Gee, wonder why that is). Actually the real reason is we didn't spend that much time at the pumpkin patch and these are pretty much the only pictures I thought to take. James is in by a fluke. We bought the girls' Halloween costumes, which will also be used when they go see Disney on Ice for their birthday next month (Well, a week before their birthday). Very much looking forward to that as well.