Random Pictures

Emma's sweet smile! The girls were getting ready for bed and Will was trying different settings on the camera. I thought this was a sweet picture.



The plate on the left is Page's on the right is Emma's. Everything about them is different, even how they eat. Page eats one thing at a time very neatly, Emma plays with her food and mixes everything together.



This is how I found Emma after a few hours of daddy time. I think they were having too much fun to worry about getting dressed, pottying or even changing a diaper!

Nail Polish

Page has turned into a "do-it-yourself" girl to the very extreme. She wants to give me my vitamins, pour her own milk, set the table and paint her own nails just to name a few of the things she insists on doing by herself. The first two pictures are of Page's first attempt at polishing her own nails. Emma had to do it herself too as you can see by the last two pictures. Emma only managed to do one toe and one finger, but she got the entire toe and finger covered in polish front and back.

36 Week Progression Picture

Today I am 36 weeks pregnant and embarking on that last month of pregnancy. I am so excited to meet our little guy, but at the same time trying to relish the last few weeks of only having to care for two children! We took the girls to Toys 'R Us this afternoon to pick out a present for their little brother and ended up coming home with presents for the girls, not surprising! I guess I overestimated the Page's ability to think of someone else while in a toy store.

Page's Day

Last night while getting ready for bed Page told her daddy that she had some things she would like to do the next day. So today, in honor of Page, we fulfilled her wish list in complete. The morning started out with biscuits for breakfast after which Will took the girls on a long walk of puddle splashing and dog hunting. When they returned, after a change of clothes of course, the girls played dress up. Page wanted to get married today so she had on her Ariel wedding dress complete with veil and some of my flowers. Then we went to feed the ducks and play soccer at the community college by our house. We returned home for a picnic lunch of tuna fish sandwiches and chips followed by a nap. (I love Ambien by the way, it worked great for me last night!) After nap time we had jello for a snack and played in the pool. After another change of clothes we went shopping and then stopped by sonic for a "special dinner" complete with strawberry slush and tots. Next up was a bubble bath and jumping on mommy's and daddy's bed and cuddling before bed time. With the exception of getting a spanking for biting her sister during nap time, Page had a great day! (Emma enjoyed it too.) It made me smile last night to hear her list of things that she wanted to do. It was so simple and filled with things I didn't think meant that much to her. I have such great girls and am so blessed to be their mommy!

Ultrasound

Today's ultrasound was wonderful! Liam is now measuring around 6 pounds and the placenta looks great. The amniotic fluid was in the normal range and the doctor was very pleased with his measurements. I got to see him licking his fingers this morning! It was so funny. It looked like he was trying to suck his thumb. I made a comment about it to the doctor and he said no, he is licking his fingers one at a time. We both got a good laugh out of that. Then he started yawning and the doctor moved on to check other measurements. I also had some blood drawn to recheck my iron levels and the Group B Strep test done this morning and found out that I am only 1 Centimeter dilated and starting to efface. I did get a prescription for Ambien today because for a solid week now I have only been sleeping 30 minutes to 2 hours a day, total! I am so sleep deprived right now that it makes me nervous to drive anywhere. I tried Tylenol PM this week, but it has done nothing to help. I will take another progression pic on Sunday, I'll be 36 weeks then.

Popsicle

Emma REALLY likes popsicles!

Church Picnic

Sunday afternoon our church hosted a family picnic at a beautiful park in town. These are the only pictures I got because we were so busy playing, eating and talking that we forgot to take out the camera until right before we left! It was the perfect day for a picnic and the girls had a great time.
Other than that it was a low key weekend. We moved the bassinet and rocking chair into a corner of our bedroom and did a lot of cleaning. I keep thinking we are done with cleaning and then I think of something else to do. Nesting has definitely kicked in. I wiped down the baseboards in our bedroom Saturday morning while the kids made collages with pictures they found in Good Housekeeping magazines I was throwing away. Liam did "drop" this weekend. I woke up Sunday morning and felt a little different so I looked in the mirror and realized that he had dropped. I thought this didn't happen until right before delivery in later pregnancies, but it happened!

Good Report

I had an appointment with my O.B. yesterday and an ultrasound today. Between the two appointments I got very little information. At this point, no news is good news though, and I am looking forward to another week of getting things ready. He was asleep during the non-stress test this morning and had to be woken up twice to get a good reading. I think it was because the girls weren't with me and he was taking advantage of the quietness! I gained another 2 pounds from my last O.B. appointment. The amniotic fluid levels were still within normal range, so they didn't do a weight estimation because the degree of error is so great at this point. I will get another estimate next week. I am getting so excited about meeting this new little person!

Congratulations To The Nelson's

Our friends Hilary and Dave flew to China at the end of last week and finally got to meet their daughter this morning. Here is the first picture of the Nelson's finally getting to hold their beautiful daughter, Mallory Fu Lynn Nelson. Congratulations, we are so happy for your family! You can see more pictures at:
http://myadoptionwebsite.com/ourmallory/

Fun at the Park

Mother's Day 2007

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! We started the morning at church followed by a morning swim in the pool. We had lunch and a nap, a very short one, and then put the girls in the tub to play and get cleaned up for dinner. Will took us to a little Mexican restaurant called Chipotle that I had been to once before and really liked it. I forgot,however, how spicy their meat was and the girls weren't able to eat much but rice, tomatoes, tortillas and chips. Oops!! Anyway, I got lots of kisses and hugs from the girls today and lots of words of encouragement from my husband. Having him home the past three days has been the best gift I could have asked for. We were able to get the bassinet put back together and all of the baby equipment down from the attic. We did lots of shopping and had fun just spending time together with the girls. I am so thankful for my amazing family and so blessed to have such wonderful children. They make it so worth all of the sacrifices and sleepless nights. The pictures are of the girls at dinner tonight. I can't remember if Emma was asking for more chips or for the camera, anyway it is a classic Emma face that makes us laugh every time.

Ultrasound Update

Things did not go as well as I had hoped at the ultrasound today. As per my last ultrasound post with Liam's 4.5 lb. weight estimate, his weight should have been well over 5 pounds today. The doctor estimated 4 pounds 11 ounces today. He said not to worry, but how could I not! They are supposed to gain 1/2 pound a week and he did not gain much at all in the last two weeks. I know that there is a large margin of error on the weight through ultrasound, but it still makes me nervous. They are going to start doing non-stress tests and blood flow analysis every Friday along with the normal weight and fluid check they do with the ultrasound. The doctor said that since he had gained, even though it wasn't much and the amniotic fluid was within normal range they are just going to keep monitoring and not do anything unless he stops gaining weight or the amniotic fluid levels drop below normal. I will talk with my regular O.B. next week about the results and see what she says. I got the feeling that he was trying to minimize what he found since I had the girls with me because he kept saying not to worry and that we would just check again next week to see how everything looked. I will be 34 weeks on Sunday and am so happy that we have made it this far with everything that they have told me and with the amount of monitoring I have had.

Potty Training

I have found the secret to success in the potty training department! Have an older sibling that your younger child adores!! Potty training with Emma is going great, which is a far stretch from the 6 months it took us with Page. We went to the store yesterday and got Emma her very first package of training pants since she is dry during the day now. Page is a little jealous of the princess training pants and I have to keep reminding her that she has princess panties which are even better.

We were back at the pediatrician's office yesterday for Emma. She has been on antibiotics since Friday morning for an ear infection and they were not working. She now has a double ear infection and is just as cranky as can be. Poor baby feels so bad and now we have started on another antibiotic to see if that helps.

We have had a pretty quiet week so far. With the potty training we decided to stay home this week and concentrate on that and get some cleaning done. Liam's room is almost completely done. I hope to have it completed by the end of the weekend. My next big project is going to be stocking up the freezer with meals. Otherwise we are just doing what we can to enjoy the girls as much as possible before Liam arrives and things get hectic!

Baby Shower Pictures

Last night was Liam's baby shower. Will's parents were able to make it in for the special occasion and we had such a great time. It was a child-free (yippee), couples shower thrown by a few women in our church. We had a fabulous Mexican buffet in honor of Cinco De Mayo. We received lots of diapers and clothes as well as gift cards for whatever we still need. I had such a great time and drank too much tea so I was up pretty late last night! The girls went straight for the pile of gifts this morning and had so much fun going through everything before we put it away.

33 Weeks Progression Picture

We have been having trouble with Blogger so I am republishing the post. If you were able to see it before and left a comment, please leave it again. We haven't been able to read any comments or see any pictures on our site and don't think that anyone else has been able to see pictures either. Anyway, here it is, again!

No new news about Liam except that he is getting VERY big. I have outgrown all of my maternity clothes! I have never been this big before and I still have a ways to go. Everything was great at my appointment last week. I gained 2 pounds so the weight gain seems to be slowing down again and I am grateful for that. His heart rate was 140 and he has been moving around like crazy.
As for the girls, Emma has decided that she wants to use the potty now and has been going since Wednesday. Usually we get there just a second too late, but on quite a few occasions she has made it to the potty to actually potty! I had no intention of starting this until after Liam was born, but she wants to do it now so I guess we have started potty training! Page's Mother's Day Out program ends in two weeks and we are trying to figure out something to do with her for the summer. Most of the programs around here don't go through the summer and she is still young, so the options are slim to none. She did say the funniest thing Thursday night. I had made red beans and rice and hush puppies for dinner. She kept asking for hush dogs or doggies, lol. No matter how many times I corrected her she kept saying it her way. It brought a lot of laughter to the dinner table.