Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has come and gone with it's usual quiet ease, but we did have some special little tidbits. James bought me a bouquet of beautiful flowers. Sadly, they only lasted the afternoon before Megan snatched the three biggest ones and hid under the table to pull the petals off. The rest of the flowers have been safely tucked on the counter, where they don't get seen as often, but at least they're safe from Megan's flower-loving fingers.

As for James, I didn't get him anything special, but the girls happily created "cards" for him. We dug through our little arts and crafts box to find suitable items to use and the girls had fun. Handprints, cardboard tubes rolled to be heart-shaped stamps, crayons, and foam stickers to spell out their names. If you peek in the bottom right hand corner of Cadence's, you'll see where she copied her name. Megan's "heart" stamps are... well, she tried, lol. They both had a blast and they were both so excited to show them to James as soon as he got home (he reacted with appropriate enthusiasm, of course):

About My Girls

So... my girls are pretty awesome.

Now that they're so much older, so much of their awesomeness has become "routine" and it's harder to notice the new things they pick up. But then, sometimes, they'll say or do something and I'll think "holy cow..." and realize just how old they are.

For example: I bought the girls some cheap magna doodles at our local corner store. Since they both wanted the pink one, I wrote their names on them with a permanent marker to tell them apart and avoid the inevitable squabbles. Megan lost interest in hers rather quickly, but Cadence, my little artist has been carrying hers around (with Megan's stylus, since Cadence's lost the magnet in its tip) with her pretty much nonstop (I think I know what the Easter bunny is getting her this year...). I've bragged about Cadence's artistic skills in the past, but she really is advanced for her age and doing stupendously. She'll hold up pictures and I can recognize them without her telling me what they are. She draws mermaids, castles, ships, cats, cups, princesses, babies, etc. I watched her draw a castle and she narrated as she did, pointing out the towers and the grass and the tree and the princess, etc.

She also totally stunned me by holding up her doodle pad with a legible version of her name (copied from where I'd written it).

Both girls love music and singing and pick up on their primary songs quickly. Cadence is just a little bit faster, due to her age, but Megan is not far behind her. They both learned all four verses to "I Am a Child of God" and are on their way to learning both verses of "My Heavenly Father Loves Me". I'm determined my girls will know the primary program songs as well as any of the senior primary kids by the time September rolls around. ;-) They also know a large number of songs from Disney movies, probably more than they "should", but what can I say? They love their princesses.

The music has evolved into their creativity. "Brave" doesn't have any specific songs for the girls to memorize, so Cadence makes it up and calls it Merida's song. It changes daily. I try to get video of them singing, but by the time I have my camera in hand, they usually stop, no matter how sneaky I am. They play so well together and I love listening to their make believe conversations and stories. They're often based on their favorite movie characters, but still 100% unique.

I wish I could pinpoint Megan's "special skill", like Cadence's art. However, Megan's still young enough it just hasn't shown itself. She's definitely the more social of the two and her imagination goes further. She adjusts to new situations easier than her sister. Other than a brief meltdown the other week because James took her to primary instead of me, she's fully adjusted to Sunbeams. In fact, last Sunday she gave her first talk in primary. No ideas on how it went. I had to teach and James stayed home sick, so the presidency walked her through it. She might not have been understood (she has a lot of words, but she talks so fast the whole things blurs into gibberish), but I'm sure she did well.

I still maintain her physical manipulation skills are above par. They'd have to be to keep up with her sister starting at such a young age. Only my own fear keeps her held back, because goodness knows she doesn't know the meaning of the word some days.

I talk to the girls about Connor daily. They'll get in moods where they want to "play with him" (shake my belly) or "kiss him" (self-explanatory). When Megan cuddles with me, Connor tends to kick a lot and she'll get a little smile on her face when I ask about it. I love watching them interact with the baby dolls they have. It makes me so excited to see them interact with their baby brother when he comes here. Cadence insists she's too little to hold Connor when he comes, but I bet we'll be able to change her mind once he's here. At that point, we might have issues trying to get her to not hold him. He'll quickly become their favorite toy. ;-)

Baby Shower

Some lovely women from my ward threw a baby shower for myself and another woman due in only two weeks. It was a great little get together, complete with good food and lots of chit-chat (which is the whole reason to go to those things, right?)

I had a blast. :-)

I also walked out with a lot of the basics I wanted. Some light blankets, towel & washcloths, some books, lots of clothes, diapers and wipes. All that's left for me to get my hands on are a few more odds and ends (lotion, shampoo, diaper cream, etc.) and we'll actually be "ready". There are a couple more bigger items (dual receiver monitor, swing, etc.) that I'd like to get, but none of them are necessities, so I'm not stressing about them. Plus, I have a month to get around to picking them up if I really want to.

We are at 33 weeks today. Less than two months until my due date and exactly one month (since February is exactly 4 weeks) until I'm "full term". Next week, when I'm 34 weeks, my doctor will not actively stop labor should it start, but we want at least 3 more weeks of cooking time here.

Connor and I are still measuring on the larger side, but no major concerns to be had. I remain the most uncomfortable I have ever been while pregnant, but at least I'm not having the indigestion issues I did with Cadence or the car accident-induced pre-term labor I had with Megan, so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum.

The girls are ready to see their brother, well, Cadence is (Megan doesn't seem to notice half the time). Cadence talks about it frequently, though she knows we have to wait until after James's birthday and that Connor needs to get a little bigger, first. If ultrasounds were accurate, he's almost big enough, though. With average weight gain calculated in, he's probably a little over 5lbs right now, which is about where they estimated Megan's weight at this gestational age, so we shall see.

Finish off with a quick picture of me at 33 weeks (Enjoy, and feel free to comment on how great I look for so close to full term):

(Later this week, I'll post an update about the girls, I promise. They're pretty awesome, after all)

3D Ultrasound with Connor

We went to an elective 3D ultrasound place this past weekend. I'd been toying with the idea so the girls could see him and the deciding factor was that James was unable to attend any of the three ultrasound I've already had and wouldn't be able to attend the 4th one I'll be getting next month (due to his size, the doctor said he will be requesting another growth ultrasound just to check up on him, no concerns, just as a precaution for any potential concerns).

It was an enjoyable experience, though the girls lost interest quickly. Connor was mostly asleep the whole time, he didn't do anything worth watching for longer than the first few minutes. Yawns are only cute to moms, I think. Anyway, a few of my favorites:

It must have been a "stars aligning" moment, because the technician was just gushing about how well it all worked out. Comments about my fluid levels and position, etc. Many people have commented that they're not as creepy looking as other 3D pictures and I tend to agree. He looks just like his sisters, though. I can't wait to see those cheeks and that sweet mouth and nose in real life. The tech also said it looks like he's already got a full head of hair at 31 weeks. So the question is: red like James or dark like mine was when I was born? I should take bets. ;-)

After the ultrasound, we had a brief break before we took the girls to the drop-off daycare and James and I went on the hospital tour to get an idea of where to go on D-Day. It was a nice experience. The hospital isn't as nice as Bakersfield Memorial, but just about anything will be better than KMC, where I delivered Cadence. Ideally, I'll only be there a day, so... There wasn't anything new or unusual about the hospital but it's a good thing we went, since James and I got a little lost getting there. Not to the hospital, we made it there without an issue, but I did make a wrong turn trying to get to the parking structure and we had to stop and consult two maps on the wall to figure out where to go next to find the maternity section. Glad we got lost then and not while I'm in actual labor!

January Pictures

New Years Eve. We bought some Panda Express. Cadence saw me using chopsticks and asked to try. She did surprisingly well for a first timer:

After eating less Chinese food than I normally would, I felt pretty full. Laying down helps move Connor away from my stomach so the digestive system can actually do its job. James had his finger over the flash, but for some reason the picture amused me. The sticker on my belly? Megan wanted Connor to have it.

The girls have their own mini entertainment system in the dining room so they can enjoy their movies when James and I want/need the larger TV for ourselves. At first, we let them watch their quiet time movies here, but now that the novelty has worn off, they're back on the couch where I can keep a better eye on them:

Tonight, the girls and I made brownies for dessert. I instructed the girls they were not allowed to leave the kitchen until my beater was white again. They happily complied. I busted up laughing when I turned around and caught Cadence licking it:

29 Week Sneak Peek

Due to "measuring large" at my last doctor appointment, I got another little peek at Connor this morning. :-) It seems I'm not the only one measuring large. Little Connor is already estimated to be a hefty 3lbs 12oz (margin of error means he could be anywhere between 3lbs 3oz and 4lbs 5oz). While that may not seem like a lot to some, it is the 93rd percentile for his gestational age and is actually closer to the average weight of a baby 3 weeks older than him. If he gains the average of 5lbs between now and 40 weeks, he's likely to be in the 8lb range on his due date, closing in on 9lbs.

That is, of course, assuming the measurements are spot on. Megan herself measured 2-3 weeks ahead when they estimated her weight at 33 weeks. She came out "above average" for her age, but not by any extreme amount. So, it's just a wait and see.

Connor reacted as I've come to recognize as "normal". As soon as that wand pushed on my belly and invaded his space he was fighting back. He eventually accepted the poking and prodding and, other than a few stubborn kicks, he tucked his hands up by his face and went to sleep. Darn shame, too. The tech attempted to get me a nice 3D picture of his face, but with his hands in the way, she couldn't get a clear shot. Had a good laugh. To estimate his size/weight, the tech needed to measure his femur, but every time she'd get that focused, he's scoot over and "show off the goods". She eventually got the measurement, but it took 3 or 4 tries to make it work. And if the "borderline obscene" picture I had from the 21 week ultrasound wasn't enough to erase any doubts Connor is a boy, there's another one tucked into the 29 week pack of pictures. Definitely boy.

I didn't actually talk to the doctor at the hospital today like I normally do once the whole thing was done. He got called in for a consultation and the nurse offered to just have him forward the results to my personal doctor and go over them with him at my appointment next week. The tech said there was nothing that stood out as unusual to her, so I decided that's "good enough for now" and we'll see what my doctor says when I see him next Tuesday.

Sunbeam, Take 2

Megan's first day is a Sunbeam this morning. Try as we could, nothing would get Megan excited about going to primary. In fact, mentioning the inevitable was likely to prompt a protest and a few (or more) tears. Still, when the time came, she clung to my hand, followed me into the noisy, kid-filled, chair-filled, stranger-filled primary room and quietly sat in the chair I led her to. She watched James and I as we edged out, as silent as ever, and we thought we were in the clear. But a few steps down the hall and we heard her start crying.

Learning from past mistakes, James returned to the room and I fled. While sitting in my own class, I heard Megan's tears as she and James walked the hall for a short time, and when I had to run out to the car, I peeked in the primary room window and saw Megan in James's lap with her fingers in her mouth. James was able to leave and another parent took over keeping her calm, which is promising that she'd allow a stranger to step into that role. Another teacher of junior primary told me she did well from the on, but was not happy with the transition from sharing time/singing time to class time, but I did peek into her classroom and saw her sitting quietly and when I picked her up, she was all smiles, so I assume that part went well.

Cadence slipped into CTR 4 without issue. James says she was misbehaving as usual from the get-go. I am amused that she'll be friendly with her little partner in crime in the ward, but when the little girl waves and says hello to Cadence anywhere else, Cadence is suddenly shy and won't acknowledge them. In fact, Cadence's friend got dirty looks for even looking at her over the back of the pew this morning.

James and I had a good laugh when we were in the foyer (the church pew was just too uncomfortable for me this morning and I had to get up and walk, and then needed somewhere extra comfortable to sit, so we claimed the couch in the foyer for the last half of Sacrament). For a large portion of our time in the foyer, another person came out with their 1 year old daughter. For some unknown reason, this little girl terrified Cadence. When the toddler toddled over toward where Cadence was coloring, Cadence picked up her crayons and book and backed away then ran over to us and sat between us. When the little girl walked along the couch and used James's knee to hold herself steady, her next hand grip was Cadence's foot and Cadence lifted her foot out of reach, refusing to let her touch her. It was highly amusing.

I am now teaching CTR 8 this year. I was teaching CTR 7 last year, which means I have kept the same group of kids. I am very pleased with this change, because I genuinely enjoy teaching the class I have and am looking forward to teaching them for another year. Plus, I get to teach lessons that are scripture based, rather than themed. Motivation to study my scriptures more!

Connor is doing well, as far as we can tell. He is kicking hard and often, and I'm pretty sure he has regularly schedule dance parties (or gymnastic practice). It's not uncommon for my stomach to be bouncing, especially on his busy days. Megan, who tends to lean against my stomach the most, gets kicked frequently and generally ignores it. I can't coax the girls to hold a hand in place to feel when he's actually kicking, but they've both felt it. He's easily the most active of the three in utero. I think he's doing everything he can to earn the "most uncomfortable pregnancy" award. This morning he got his foot or fist or something wedged against my hip bone and pushed with all his might. Kind of hurt. I'm also pretty sure he flips from head-down to head-up position every other day, because the location of his movement is not regular in any way.

Due to the doctor's minor concern over how large my fundal height (pregnant stomach) was measuring, we'll be going in for an ultrasound this Tuesday. I'm not concerned and am quite certain I only measured large due to a recent growth spurt/weight gain, but better safe than sorry. I should get a nice estimate of how big he is and I'm always happy to get another peek at the boy. We'll also be doing an elective ultrasound that both the girls and James can go to (due to limited scheduling options and James's high-demand job, getting a medical ultrasound appointment he could attend without issue proved difficult). We'll be doing that in 2 weeks, which is the absolute latest for a "good" 3D ultrasound, before he starts getting squished and running out of space.

29 weeks today, so, in 8 weeks, it'll be "safe" for him to come, and he should be here 11 weeks at the latest (because at that point, he doesn't have a choice). Time for time to start crawling...

Christmas Morning 2012

The rolls are rising, the ham is cooling, and the sweet potatoes are baking away. Christmas dinner is nearly ready, and it's been yet another pleasant and quiet holiday here, other than the too-frequent squabbles over whose toy is whose and whether or not their sister is allowed to touch it. Plus, I think we had some sugar crashes and highs making the moments worse.

Mother Nature decided to participate as well, and gave us a severe thunderstorm warning for Christmas morning and decided to include a tornado warning as well. Thoughtful. ;-)

Waking Megan up this morning proved to be difficult, though Cadence was pushing to go out into the living room quickly. James let Cadence go see what the big deal was while I coaxed Megan out of bed. It was a mixture of the promise of candy and Cadence running back to show Megan her new Twilight Sparkle plush doll that finally lured her out into the open. The first thing she noticed as she dug through her stocking? The mini chocolates. She had one unwrapped and in her mouth and was reaching for her second before we even realized it.

It took a little more convincing to get them to stick the stocking goodies away, but the promise of presents did the trick. Since the tree was in the too-small dining room, we sent them to grab one each and bring it back to see who it belonged to. The majority of the presents were their's, but when one had mine or James's name on it, it was a little difficult to get them to relinquish ownership. Once they saw what it was (waffle iron, new pans, etc.) they lost interest and went off to find another one.

The girls enjoyed their new collection of toys: Two new Disney princess dolls, a pop-up tent, a toy laptop (with learning games!), necklaces, "Don't Spill the Beans", the Shrek DVDs, and the final piece... the dollhouse. Once the smaller presents were out of the way, we received protests to my claims of "all done! no more presents!" Guess the girls weren't going to be fooled, since their was an oversized gift-wrapped lump right next to the tree. Combining donations from grandparents, the girls got a gift I knew they'd go crazy over (middle one is a video of them opening i

And we've been playing with our new things all morning. Ignoring the cinnamon rolls, eating mini candy bars, coloring in new coloring books, crawling through the tunnel to the pop-up tent, etc. The girls are happy, and spoiled.

James got a half a dozen new gifts, most of which he picked out himself. A few new knives, a new belt and belt buckles, and a war club. I also picked out most of my presents and got a brand new camera (opened early to start taking lots of pictures!), a new set of skillets, a waffle maker and griddle (my kitchen is now almost fully stocked, time to start replacing the appliances that are wearing out/too small), and we put in an order for a brand new ring sling to use when Connor gets here.

Also, the girls got new Christmas dresses (as well as new Christmas pajamas, as featured in the above photos). They wore them this past Sunday, so that was considered Christmas Sunday. I got a few pictures of them in the new dresses, but Cadence refused to sit still and her one posed picture is of her laughing her head off. She's such a turd:

I suppose that's all for now. Christmas dinner needs more of my attention (almost done!) and then on to the quiet evening with the family, enjoying the last day of James's 4-day weekend (we got him to ourselves next Tuesday too!) and some apple pie to top off the evening.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! :-)

Getting Uncomfortable

I think Karma has decided to get some payback. I've often mentioned how small I remain during previous pregnancies. While it wasn't quite bragging, I probably mentioned it one too many times and took a little too much pleasure in my luck. Whatever the reason, Connor is stretching me to the max. Here is 26 weeks pregnant (and 3 days) this time around (with my new pink camera taking awesome pictures that don't need editing, Merry Early Christmas to me!):

For reference, I had to include pictures from previous pregnancies, the furthest along I had for each. With Megan at 34 weeks and Cadence at 35 weeks:

And to think I have 3 more months to go. Ouch!

Cadence & Santa

We finally got the Santa pictures from the Ward party (granted, it took me almost a week to email the person that had them, so partly my fault). It was a 20 minute wait to see the guy and when we finally got to the front of the line, Megan refused to go to him, but Cadence was game. He had her giggling and grinning and talking the entire time (a real talent when it comes to Cadence and her moods!). When I finally got to see them, they made me grin, because I remembered how giggly and shy and sweet she was talking to him about Christmas. I hope, next year, we'll get both girls, but this year, we have some great pictures of Cadence enjoying her visit with Santa Claus.

The Ward party itself was enjoyable. We sat at the table with a new family in the ward. The adults teach in nursery (where Megan is) and I teach their daughter, so we had some common ground to chat about. I got thumbs up when I made a face when Twilight was mentioned, lol. Cadence ate three plates of salad. Megan picked at everything and kept asking for chocolate spread on the table as part of the centerpieces.

The girls are looking forward to Christmas. I'm terrible at remembering to do the advent calendar every night, but the girls know when all the "squares" are gone, the next day is Christmas and they're content with that countdown. We already had to strip the tree of ornaments once because the girls wouldn't stop touching them, and they're about to lose them again. We're also not sure how long the presents are going to last in their reach. *sigh* Next year, with Connor likely mobile, we might have to put a gate up around the tree to keep it all safe!