jibber jabber on this cool day

I'm enjoying this cool weather. There are few things I love more than opening all the windows, letting a fresh cool breeze flow through the house and just hanging out at home all day. It's so refreshing. Texas weather has been a bit whacky this year...actually it's always whacky but this year especially. Yesterday morning I woke up and it was already 75 outside! The day before at that same time it was like low 60's or something. By noon it was 82. THEN, by 2 PM it was an amazing 62 degrees. I went from using the AC to the heater in one day! Last night it dropped down in the 40's and it felt sooo nice! I had the windows open last night until the hubby demanded they be closed because he was "freeeeezing". THEN he turned the heater on! There went my nice cold refreshing breeze ;-).


I've been in the cleaning mood lately. I think my iron pills are giving me the boost I need! Doing dishes isn't so much a chore when I have this view to look at above the kitchen sink every evening.
Awwwww, a little piece of heaven on earth.


Speaking of pills, I just got new prenatal vitamins yesterday. I had been taking some cheap brand I bought when I first found out I was pregnant. I figured I wouldn't bother the doc with a prescription kind until I finished the ones I was already taking. The day finally came and I put in my request for a prescription.

Real fast, I have to tell you, I'm a bit of a brand snob when it comes to certain things like vitamins, shampoo, toothpaste, drinking water, bread and many other things I can't think of right now. So THIS is why it was "important" for me to finally get this done. I just feel like these will do a "better job" than my $4 H-E-B brand. Surely, right?!

Anyways, these bad babies are HUGE. Not only are they huge but they're gel capsule form which I've never seen before...you know...in my many many years of being pregant. Psssshhhh! Okay, so maybe I don't have the status to quite say that I've never ever seen a gel form because I've only been pregnant one other time BUT even with all the people I know who've been prego I've never seen this kind. And not only are they gel capsule for easy swallow of these monster babies BUT they smell like vanilla. NO JOKE! If you are anything like me you smell all pills before consuming them so you know what your gag reflexes are going to be dealing with. It's part of pill taking for me. Must.smell.pill. I was quite amazed when I got a pleasant whiff from these horse pills. Now taking my prenatals won't be so burdensome.


And because I'm feeling...rather...silly today here is a picture of my usually happy and content little one being a whiny butt for "mom-mom" to pick her up.And yes, that is a lopsided view of my baby bump in all it's glory. Sorry, she wouldn't cooperate and be whiny in the center of my belly. Toddlers.

pumpkin patch

Failed attempt #1

She would NOT cooperate.

Close to failed attempt #2

The reason you see no picture of just her and I is because the hubby always feels the need to mess with the settings while he takes pictures of us which in turn messes up the pictures. I have ONE that I'm working on that MIGHT turn out. We'll see. Other than that, sorry.

We went close to 7PM so the lighting was terrible and we were surrounded by trees. So what sun we had was blocked by the fabulous woods. Oh well, this attempt wasn't TOTALLY failed, just halfway.

I'm going to Waco this weekend and my mom says there's a really decent pumpkin patch right down the road from her house so we'll attempt a third try on Saturday. Maybe third times a charm and my mom won't feel compelled to screw with the settings too ;-).

25 weeks

Here we are at 25 weeks-15 more to go. Wow. I really am shocked that time has gone by SO FAST. It literally has. At my last visit they gave me a hospital pre-registration form to fill out and take to the administration office. It's going to be here before we know it. AAHHHH!

Just as I said in my previous post, when I see pictures of Anna-Kate as a baby I get so excited to meet my Baby Belle. Life is definitely going to be different but it's going to be so fun. Two little girls. Oh my goodness.

The doctor called last week and told me that my glucola test came out great but my "blood levels" were a little low. So they started me on an iron supplement therapy because I'm a "bit anemic". This should help improve my energy...which will be nice!

Other than that, there's really not much going on pregnancy wise. Like I say every week, she's growing and kicking up a storm and I'm loving it. I can't wait for AK to catch a "tap" sometime. She's going to be like, "WHAT!". I can just see the look on her face now :-).

The other day I started wondering if all this clingy toddler stuff is related to me being pregnant. I've heard many times how little ones can sense a change is coming (or something along those lines) and can become clingy and even sometimes a little more rambunctious and testy...especially as the belly gets bigger and BIGGER. Has anyone heard of this or experienced it before? Maybe she just needs some extra cuddle time to be reassured that NO ONE will EVER take her place as "Mom-mom's" first baby. Really, let me know if you've had this happen to you.

Well, stay tuned next Sunday for a baby belly picture :-).

Baby AK

When I see these pics of my first baby girl I get sooo excited and almost impatient to meet my next one.

Oh she's so scrumptious!

I could look at her baby pictures forever.

"OH NO! stuck."

Here's what happens when your toddler takes a late nap and is still up at 10:30 PM.



I told you she loves flipping off of things. She's a wild one!

At the end she says, "OH NO! stuck."

Wow, she's pretty darn funny.

park adventures and costume

Today we enjoyed some time at the park. Usually when we go to the park it involves very little park play. My little sweetie would much rather walk and explore the area AROUND the park. That is always pretty neat around here because the couple of parks I rotate from have awesome landscaping and scenery and TREES! It's always so pretty.

My mission today was to get atleast ONE good picture of her. I haven't gotten one that I just love in a long time so I thought it was time for her to pay her dues as my child :-). Above, in the collage, are some of my favorites.

While we were there this little boy pushed her down and I kind of yelled at him. I mean, not like a full blown scream but I raised my voice a couple octaves and said, "NO SIR! YOU do NOT PUSH!" Of course, his mom was paying NO attention to him so someone had to correct the little......boy. She actually had no idea where he was. Before that, he almost pushed her when she was on the very top of the play scape (AND on the edge) and she yelled his name and said, "BE nice!". Obviously this must be an every day occurrence or something. GGRRR. There is nothing more frustrating than a child who is obviously never disciplined...only "corrected". He just had that look about him...and so did his mom.

ANYWAYS, it was a wonderfully cool day today and I enjoyed being outside with my little one. I love layering her up in fun fall clothes. It makes me very happy! I'll enjoy having a winter baby :-).

After the park we came home and enjoyed lunch and a video. I tried to make her take a nap but Daddy went in to snuggle with her and then he just let her up. Ooooh Daddy.

So, I got her dressed and we headed to the mall. We finally decided that we'll go to Waco for Halloween and so she needed a costume! I went to The Children's Place because I knew their costumes were on sale for 50% off and I had an extra 10% off coupon. So I got her a costume, which was originally $22.50 and the tights to go with it that were $7.50, all for $13.88!!! I was so excited about the deal I got!

Here she trying on her costume.


She was telling me that the hat was, "tuuuck". It was pretty funny. I think she looks adorable and we'll practice wearing the hat this week.

ALMOST wordless wednesday

Anna-Kate at 22 weeks and 5 days gestation

Isabelle at 23 weeks and 2 days gestation

The difference? Isabelle had her mouth open. Other than that, I think they look a lot alike!

wordful wednesday

I just came across this picture.

Look how chubby my little monkey was! Oh my goodness. How adorable.

I haven't had access to our old pictures for a while now because the hubby has been in the process of backing them up from our old computer. First they were all on CD's and now that the FreeAgent is working I have access to them ALL the time. Yay. I might go through a phase where I post old pics cause I'm reminiscing so just bare with me, k?!

I love my little girl.

I can't believe I'll soon have TWO!

no name post

I went to the doctor today for my 24 week check-up and glucose screening. That orange drink is so terrible. It's not bad when it's in your mouth but once you try to swallow it the gag reflexes kick in and cause some unpleasant things. Yuck. I'll find out the results within the week.

After that I got weighed and saw the doctor. I've gained 5 pounds so far with 3-4 of them being this past month. Jeez. I asked the doctor about this irritating back pain I've been having in the lower left side that shoots down into my hiney. He said it's my sciatic nerve acting up from pressure and such. NICE! Too bad it's not something we can actually fix or even treat. I'll just have to deal with the pain and wear a maternity belt to help relieve the pressure.

My next appointment is in four weeks and then I'll start going every two. Where has the time gone! Am I seriously THAT much closer to having this little girl?! Ah! I'm excited and nervous. We still have so much to do.

On the home front, last night I got so sick of my little one NOT going to bed that I got her stuck bed out again. I'm going to leave it up from now on just so she can see it and visualize the consequences of getting out of her bed. Instead of waiting till close to midnight to actually make the move I pulled that sucker out at 10:30 after trying and trying for two hours to get her to sleep. I put her in that thing and you would've thought something was terribly wrong with her. She did not like her freedom being taken away what-so-ever. I told her she could have one more chance to stay in her big girl bed and I never heard a peep from her again. SOOOO, looks like the "stuck bed" will be taking up a permanent space on her wall from now on. Whatever it takes for this "Mom-Mom" to get some sleep.

Speaking of Mom-mom. That's my new name. HAHA. I went from just Mom to Mom-mom. I have no idea where she got it from but it's so cute and hilarious at the same time. I love when she walks in and says, "hi Mom-mom". It melts my heart.

Oooooh, and speaking of her calling me by "name". Two nights ago when Daddy was disciplining her for getting out of bed she was crying, "moooom-moooom". It was all I could do to stay posted in my bed under the covers. That was the first time she's ever cried for either of us by name. We've always been with her. Talk about pitiful.

Then, I got this brilliant idea to put one of those door knob thingy's on her door to keep her from opening and coming out and she starting pitching a fit screaming, "Mom-mom!!" She sure is getting this down nicely. Getting down how to break mommy's heart that is.

Sean and I were talking the other evening at dinner and we decided that it's not the terrible two's that she's entered it's just us being way unprepared with her change in independence. We were not prepared to have to be so consistent and firm. We were not prepared to discipline as much as we've had to. We were not prepared for her to put up this big of a fight. It's not that she's a terrible two. It's that she's growing up and this is what comes with it. She's always been our sweet little girl with an obvious fun and outgoing personality. But now that fun and outgoing personality is partnered with independence and a very strong will to do as she pleases. Time to shape and mold. Shape and mold.

So, to practically combat the bedtime madness around here she will be getting woke up at 8 AM sharp every morning. Her nap will be cut short and she'll be getting woke up from that as well. We'll take a walk every evening as long as weather permits. And in the mornings we'll try to have an outing. Obviously there is more to her schedule than this but mainly she will be getting woke up early and will not be getting a long nap anymore. I sure hope this works. It's definitely time for a more structured firm schedule...especially with another one coming in approximately 3.5 months.

24 weeks

24 weeks! 24 weeks! 24 weeks! This is such a big milestone. I've never had any pregnancy complications but I know and have heard of a lot of women who have to basically stand on their head to keep their little one in until this point. I've always breathed a sigh of relief at 12 weeks but I breathe a bigger one at 24.

She is growing rapidly and taking up much room. I know it's nothing compared to, lets say, 10 more weeks but she's definitely IN there! She's still laying transverse with her head on my left side and the rest of her body on my right. Because of her position I can feel her ALL over. When she punches or kicks sometimes it's so close to my ribs that I cringe. I'm just waiting for the moment where she gets me real good...maybe she'll be a good girl though and go gentle :-).

There's no denying that this belly is a pregnant one. I feel so much better wearing fitted shirts now. I don't look like I'm carrying around an extra loaf of bread. I don't necessarily prefer the baby doll type shirts...you know...the ones that hang from right under "the girls". Since I'm short those make me look huge. They just hang straight down in the back and front and probably add a good 15 pounds to my frame. NO THANK YOU! Fitted is the way to go for me...not like skin tight ones...just fitted.

ANYWAYS, I go to the doctor on Tuesday for my check-up and glucose screening. EEK! I hate this part. It makes me nervous. I have a fear of diabetes and I'd HATE to have gestational diabetes. That would NOT be cool. Although, this pregnancy I have a MUCH higher chance of having issues since Isabelle loves sugar so much ;-). Lets hope not though!

Other than that there's not much going on. I'll start working on little projects VERY soon and that'll be really fun! I think the first thing I'll do is buy her letters and paint them. Then I'll start working on re-covering the bumper and making the skirt. Woohoo!



Doesn't 22 weeks just seem like a fatty week to you? It does me. Maybe it's just the picture.

Okay, I'm off to do LOTS of housework. I'm way behind on laundry.

new bedding

We got Anna-Kate's big girl bedding lastnight. I went into the store with the polka dot set in my head and when I got there and saw it in person I decided that it might be just a little tooo much. The colors weren't as pastel as I thought and the dots were way overwhelming in the "real" color. Plus, they only had one set and there was clearly a huge ripped seam and I wasn't buying something that was already falling apart. So, last minute I found this bedding and bought it. I came out to the car with something completely different and the hubs was shocked that I made a split decision like that. He's totally a thinker and would've come all the way home (a 20-25 minute drive) and researched other options. I on the other hand am a bit more compulsive and bought "the next best thing". LOL.



These colors are obviously not pastel and the pattern is way overwhelming BUT I liked it. It's going to take some getting used to but I think in the end once I get Isabelle's bedding stuff done it will balance out because hers will be all solids. I love the purple and pinks and green and aqua and brown and yellow. I'm excited to eventually purchase solid colored sheets to tone it down a bit. EVEN BETTER THOUGH, is that I don't have to repaint her letters because they are a dark pink hanging by a sheer yellow ribbon and match just fine. And the pillows I made to go with her baby bedding match this perfectly (we had a futon in her room before we moved).

All in all, I'm happy with it.



Here she is trying to hide. She loves to hide under blankets and is so excited to have her own.



After a little help on hiding basics she had even more fun!





By the way, it's so weird to see my little girl in panties. Awww. She's been doing really well on the potty training home front. She still isn't to the point quite yet where she tells me she has to go but she'll hold it until I put her on the potty and she'll sometimes go in there and try to do it herself. Things will be sooo much better once she can tell me.

Oh and in case you're wondering, sleeping with her big girl bedding for the first night had no major affect on her going to bed. We still had a very rough night and I ended up leaving the house for a while and let the Dad take over. I was really mad and I came home to a sleeping kid. His method worked better than mine but it is still really hard for a mommy to do.

NEED.ADVICE.

This little sassy pants beauty right here has been giving Mom (as she so lovingly refers to me) a run for her...um...money...if I had any. HAHA! Remember back not to long ago when I mentioned her screaming at bedtime and refusing to go to sleep?? And we pulled out the pack-n-play and would stick her in it so she couldn't get out of her bed?? Well, a few weeks ago I put my foot down, put the pack-n-play away and said to myself, "this little girl is going to sleep in her bed and like it!". Really, I thought this because she had been doing well in her bed. Haha! And she did good for a little while and THEN it started happening again especially once she figured out how to open all the doors in the house. AAHHH!

Yesterday morning she greeted me at a VERY EARLY 7:30 AM. This may not be early to you but this is super early for our household. I've always prided my little lady on how great she sleeps and how she lets MOM sleep in until atleast until 8:30, sometimes 9. But, it's been slowly changing and I'm okay with that but I'm not okay with her coming in my room at 7:30 and climbing the side of my bed to wake me up. Anyways, that's not really the problem and I have no idea why I just typed all of that.

The problem IS she won't go to sleep anymore without screaming her head off. She wants me or Daddy RIGHT THERE beside her in bed in order to sleep. Now, this wouldn't be a problem IF I didn't have a baby coming in approximately 16 weeks or so and if her bedtime wasn't my only time alone with my husband IF he's not working that night... otherwise, it's my ONLY alone time all day. Well, I do get some breather time during her nap but I'm usually busy doing stuff around the house so I'm not really getting to relax. And really, she just needs to be putting herself to sleep like she's done her whole life. This may be a phase and maybe she's experiencing some separation anxiety or something. I don't know. I've hardly been away from her her whole life so I don't know why she'd be experiencing separation anxiety right now of all times. I'm not convinced that separation anxiety is what it is though because she goes to bed JUST FINE for her nap...and IN her big bed. She lays down, takes her juice (I know, I know) and goes to sleep. We have her windows covered so it's always dark for sleeping no matter the time of day. When she's awake I pull the curtains back so don't think she's in this dark room all day ;-).

Mainly this is all so frustrating because I have no idea what to do. Crying it out seems like a nice approach to me BUT we live in someone else's home for the time being and I know it disrupts the flow of peacefulness. Shoot, it disrupts my peace seeing as how her bedroom door is right beside ours. I don't like letting her cry but some days it's all I can do. Good thing my MIL isn't here ALL the time. She stays at her boyfriend's house quite often so that's nice for us. BUT, I hate hearing her sound so tortured and pathetic. BUT, all that to say, I don't want to create a habit of laying with her until she falls asleep. I know soon I won't have time to do that...or the energy.

This weekend we're going to go purchase her "big girl" bedding so I'm hoping that'll help her feel more cozy in her bed. And I'm going to attempt a new bedtime routine to calm her down before she has to go to sleep. We've never really had a good bedtime routine so I think now is the time. Plus, I think it would be super duper helpful once the baby gets here for her to have that nice and quiet time with us before she goes to bed.

ANYWAYS, anyone have any ideas??

sneak peak (bows)

Here's a sneak peak at what's coming NOW to the Little Bow Head etsy store!


Also available, very soon-like sometime today, will be some Halloween/Fall bows. Seeing as how Halloween is two weeks away all Halloween bow will be shipped the same day as purchased...given that it's not a Sunday or other random holiday that would give the post office a reason to be closed :-).

I am sooo sorry that I've let my bow making come to a halt. I'm really trying to pick up the pace here. Being pregnant and potty training a two year old who has just recently figured out how to open any and all doors in the house is no easy feat. I'm trying!

I hope you find something you like and just HAVE TO HAVE ;-).

Isabelle's echo

I had Isabelle's fetal echo today. My appointment was at 2:15. I got there at 2:10 and didn't get called back until 3:45. Talk about FRUSTRATING. It should be illegal to wait that long in a doctor's office with no notice of WHY it's taking so darn long! I got back there and they weighed me, I went potty and the lady started the ultrasound immediately. I gained another pound. I think this might make 4 or 5 now. AH! The most I've gained this whole time.

Anyways, sweet little Isabelle was FULL of energy for some reason and wouldn't sit still long enough for the lady to get all the necessary pictures in the "allotted" amount of time. I have no idea why she was being so active either because I had only had a bowl of cereal the whole day. I think she was HUNGRY. I know I was starving.

She's laying with her head on my left side and the rest of her body on my right side. Every time the lady would push down with the wand thingy she would punch it or kick it. It was pretty funny. Then she started rolling from side to side and putting her arms over her chest where the lady needed to be getting pics and such. I was laughing.

Before she started getting the important pics she snapped some profile pics, hand and foot pic and a "YES! It's a girl!" pic. That was super fun. I was eating it up. She is such a cutie.

She is weighing in at 1 lb. 5 oz. and a tad bit on the SMALL side for her gestation. I was for sure she was a chubbo but apparently not.

Her heart looks perfectly fine. She mentioned that with pulmonary and aortic stenosis it usually runs a higher chance of reoccurring in another child than any other heart defect. They don't know why but the percentages are higher. So, I'll go back in nine weeks for another test JUST to make sure it hasn't popped up out of nowhere. As of right now though, she's been cleared of inhereting her sister's previous condition. Praise Jesus for a healthy and ACTIVE little girl.

I walked out of there at 5:15 and more hungry than I've been this whole pregnancy. Not to mention, greeted by Austin's lovely 5 o'clock traffic. UGH.

Now it's time for dinner.

23 weeks

Today I enter my 6th month of pregnancy. It feels nice to be a month closer. The activity of this little girl has picked up BIG TIME and the other day I'm pretty sure she was up moving for a straight 48 hours. Haha! It was crazy.

I can already feel her kicking up pretty high. I was confused about it but I'm assuming it's about right. My OB has yet to check the size of my uterus. It seems that every time I go I'm getting other procedures done and it counteracts him needing to check. Like my last visit, which I think is when he was supposed to start really keeping up with it, I had an ultrasound. Sooo, I think this next one he'll check and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he said it's measuring a bit bigger than normal. It's supposed to be measuring around 1.5 inches above my belly button but I'm pretty sure it's around 2 or more. We'll see what he says. Maybe I'm wrong and everything is right on track.

I finally scheduled my appointment for the fetal echo. I go on Tuesday at 2:15. It's supposed to take an hour and I'm excited to see my little girl in action for that long. YAY. Sean will stay home with Anna-Kate since it would most likely be disastrous to take her considering her nap is at 2.

Here's my belly shot today. I couldn't find the black shirt I've normally been wearing and I was heading to the store so I figured this shirt would do. I really prefer to do them every 2 weeks at this stage since every week is probably a little overboard BUT I know some people like this kind of stuff so I did it for YOU!
As you can see, Anna-Kate was excited to have direct access to the camera so this was the best I could pull off this morning.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

our weekend

We went to Waco on Friday afternoon after allll the rain stopped. We were opening up for a garage sale on Saturday morning and needed to get all of our stuff ready. I didn't think we'd actually have that much stuff to take but after cleaning out the storage shed we quickly realized we had more junk than we originally thought. We filled up the WHOLE back of our truck with stuff to get rid of. It was nuts. Anyways, here's Anna-Kate posing in her cute outfit before we were about to leave.

In this picture I told her to give me cheese and that's the face I got. It was hilarious.

Then she climbed under the coffee table to get away from the camera, I guess.

I love being able to put her in fall clothes for the time being. Right before it rained and stayed in the mid 50's it was 90 degrees outside. It's supposed to go back up sometime this week but right now I'm enjoying a nice 57 degrees.

So, about the garage sale. My mom and I got out there around 6:30 AM to get everything completely set up. We had it pretty organized but needed to pull the GREAT stuff out into the drive way :-). People started showing up immediately and my mom and I came to the quick realization that the two of us together totally suck at telling people no. She totally sold some awesome stuff for hardly nothing because she doesn't have it in her to say heck no. Once my Granny got out there we finally started making some money. HAHAHA! In the end, we left with $76. My mom made $173 and my Aunt made like $30-something. I thought it was a good first garage sale for us. Definitely helpful financially AND in space. We really needed to clear out things. Oh, I forgot to mention, I did all this money making on a measly two hours of sleep. I was soooooooooooooo tired.

We left for home later that afternoon. I could barely keep my eyes open and did some catnapping on the way home. I figured out how to make myself comfortable by propping up the uneven side of me with a rolled up blanket (the side AK's carseat takes up). Between her kicking me in the arm and whining about her video I probably slept about an hour of the way home. Not bad. We stopped off at Jack-in-the-Box about 15 minutes from our house and got some burgers. Anna-Kate saw Daddy eating his like a "big boy" and decided she needed to eat hers like a big girl. She wasn't having that whole "pinch me off a bite" thing.

It was sooo cute to see her mocking him.

We all went to bed early that night (lastnight). AK was in bed at 8. I was asleep by 10. Sean by 10:30. I woke up at 3 something to relieve my bladder and then went RIGHT back to bed (I usually have a really hard time going back to sleep) until 10 AM this morning. I woke up sooo refreshed and happy. Ahhh, gotta love you some good sleep.

This morning I walked into AK's room to find this.

My kid is HILARIOUS! Gotta love her, that's for sure.

Today is like any other Sunday. Relaxing, napping, eating, football, laundry.

wordless wednesday

AK's cardiologist appt.

Today was AK's visit to the cardiologist. The trek down there (downtown Austin) is always an interesting and usually frustrating one. So here's the story.

I met my MIL at her workplace and we road together to the appointment. We had to pay close attention to highway splits and exits and such because it's beyond easy to get lost. We made it to the parking garage, parked in the PERFECT spot (except it was a super tight squeeze), got all of our luggage out (stroller, purses, diaper bag, snack, sippy) and headed over the little bridge to the doctor. We got to the elevator, took it up one floor and started the journey down the hall to the appropriate door. We arrived right on time ONLY to find that the door was locked. INTERESTING I thought. As we noticed the door was locked this lady with a badge came walking down the hall so my MIL asked her if she knew anything about why they would be closed when we have an appointment. As she was talking to the lady I was calling the office. While on the phone I find out that they've totally RELOCATED to a place across the highway! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! So, the lady who works in administration gets on the phone to find out where we need to go and we start our journey BACK to the car very flustered and aggravated. The sign stating the office and doctors was still posted by the door and everything. I'd say this wasn't the most very organized move.

We finally make it over there about 25 minutes passed our scheduled appointment...it might've even been closer to 35 minutes...and I'm beyond annoyed at this point. For one, we haven't had an appropriate meal yet and it's approaching 10:45 AM. Two, they hand me this stupid clip board with paperwork to "update" their records when everything I had to fill out they already knew! UGHHHH! While I'm trying to fill out the stupid paperwork my toddler is coming close to escaping out the front door. Yes, it was toddler accessible (my MIL was parking the car).

My MIL comes in and asks how long they've been in their new location and they said since July. She says that it would've been nice to receive a letter or phone call regarding the move before our appointment. She says they like to call and talk personally with the person or leave a message before the appointment. She says someone called yesterday and never mentioned it. Then I started thinking, not only did they call and confirm the appointment they called me BACK to clarify an insurance mix up. Yes, I spoke with someone twice and neither time did that lady mention a new location. BIG UGH! Not only that, but they mailed me a letter close to the end of September reminding me to set up the appointment! BALSDJSADLKJDfIOASJD

So, we get all that squared away and head back for the testing. Anna-Kate was no where near as...um...flexible and happy about it as she was just a year ago. She weighed in at 27.9 lbs and like 32.5 inches tall. HAHA. My little shorty. A year ago she was just 20 lbs. Aawwww. She cried for a second when I laid her back on the table to start the echo but I laid down beside her and that seemed to be okay. The woman clicked on The Wiggles and I bribed her with some CARS fruit snacks. Worked like a charm.

After THAT test we went over into another room and had an EKG done. That was easy cheesy. She sat back on my lap, squishing my plump belly, and enjoyed a granola bar. She pulled a couple of leads off at one point and that was funny but overall did really well. The doctor came in to see us shortly after that, aaaand

he says that everything looks great! Her pulmonary valve that was once narrow is no longer that way. As she's gotten bigger so has the valve. She basically grew out of it. He says that when he listens to her heartbeat he still hears a murmur but that is a sign of good heart health considering they just ran a ton of tests on her heart and everything checked out just fine. A narrow pulmonary valve can never regress and become narrow again. So, we've been cleared from seeing the cardiologist ever again...unless for some odd reason she develops some other symptom or problem. It was such a relief to get this final testing over with.

Now for some pics:

Here is Anna-Kate last October at 14 months old getting her echo and enjoying her FIRST sucker. The things we do to keep them content. (Also, in my defense, she totally had a bow in her hair but kept pulling it out :))


Here she is with Daddy last year. He was showing how flexible she is.


This was her last year after the appointment. Being a baby can be sooo tiring.



Now, in all the mayhem I didn't get ONE photo of her last appointment :-(. Bummer, I know. I was so excited to compare. I did however, snap this smiley photo of her when we were leaving. I guess you can even tell the difference in a year from this one photo. Aww, my baby is growing up.


I forgot to mention that after the appointment my MIL treated us to Chili's. YUM! I haven't been there in a good year because they jacked the prices up around the time Cheddar's came around. You can't beat the good queso, food and prices you get at any and all Cheddar's locations :-). Anyways, for lunch I thoroughly enjoyed a cup of Chicken Enchilada Soup, some over seasoned fries and a couple of chicken crispers. OH my was it delicious! Oh, and you can't forget the Sprite. It's nothing compared to Dr.Pepper but I'm more careful about my fluids when I'm around my MIL. She doesn't think caffeine is good for the baby. She doesn't know my babies. Their amniotic fluid is probably Dr.Pepper! :-)

potty success FINALLY

So, I've been potty training AK for approximately 11 days now, consistently. I've started and stopped a couple of times before now. I told you, I'm not so patient about these types of enduring things. For the first five days or so we had absolutely NO progress. The first two or three days she would hold it until nap or bedtime and then fill her diaper to the rim with pee. It was getting quite frustrating...like THIS face would indicate.

Then for a couple days after that she would pee one-three times a day in the potty and then pee the rest of the time on the floor. The good thing is that when I would ask her where she went potty she would show me the spot so I could clean it.

THEN, it happened, she finally started peeing in the potty MORE than she was peeing on the floor. This happened on the day that I almost gave us a potty training break. I was sooo tired of cleaning up after her that I almost called it quits for a day or two...or maybe a week. BUT, I thought to myself that THIS might be the day that she "gets" it and I should not give up. And of course, it was indeed the day. Since then we've been doing good around here. We've had one bad day of the last six or so. Yesterday was the best day of ALL. She went potty a total of 13 times! and one being #2! WOOHOO! She had two accidents all day. One being in the morning when I think she just didn't think about it and peed on my leg when I was feeding her some cereal. She stopped mid flow though and went the rest in the potty. The other was later that evening when I totally forgot to ask her to go. Whoops. So, I'll always remember October 4, 2009 as a huge day of potty breakthrough in our home :-).