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??