The BIG Issue

Last week at my doctor's appointment, I had an ultrasound to check the size of my baby. It was "off the charts" so they told me. It measured in at 7.14lbs. I didn't get to discuss this with my doctor that day because of how busy the office was, but the nurses hinted that they would push for a c-section or induce me. Because of this, I was excited for my appointment today, thinking I would be induced early. But after talking to my doctor today, she wasn't very concerned about the big baby issue. I had already successfully delivered a big baby naturally, and my baby at the moment isn't "off the charts" as I was previously told. He will still be a big baby - probably as big as Phoebe was. But the point is, I don't need a c-section! I'm a bit disappointed that I won't be induced early (apparently they don't induce anyone who's had a previous cesarean. There's a greater risk of uterine rupture, or something) but I'm glad to just go naturally. I just have to be patient and ignore the fact that I can't breathe very well, my feet are swelling, I'll probably be over 200 freaking pounds by the time I go, blah blah blah. Normal pregnancy stuff that I'm not above. A plus size of having a plus sized baby: he'll fit great in his clothes! 18 days to go!

Yesterday we went to the zoo here in town. It's not a very big zoo, but it's great for kids like mine who get crazy in wide open spaces. Gwen got Gwen-excited at every animal she saw, but only wanted to linger for about 20-30 seconds at each one. When she got the point, she got bored and wanted to move on. So we got through the entire zoo in pretty decent time. Some highlights: the peacocks showed off their feathers for us when we got near, we saw a baby camel being fed by a bottle, the girls were beside themselves when they noticed that chickens and zebras shared the same pen, and the monkeys showed off their swinging skills for us. It was jolly cheap fun. We're going to go back in the summer before Gwen's birthday (when she still gets in for free) when the animals who don't like the cold are put outside. There were quite a few animals we couldn't see - like the bears and the alligators and parrots. 

Gwen wanted to spend more time at the "toys" than with the real animals. We spent quite a bit of time just waiting for her to get her fill of lion head water. 

 Logan measuring his wingspan to that of a golden eagle. Phoebe wanted to know how she measured up too.

One of the swinging monkeys. He was awesome. I love the monkeys.

 Not scared a bit to get up close to the snakes. You can't really tell, but there are actually two boas curled up together. 

Pre-Easter

While we visited family in Soda Springs for conference weekend, the girls got a visit from the Easter Bunny early. That sneaky bunny hid dyed eggs all over the living room, and the girls had the time of their lives finding each one to throw into their adorable sheep and duck baskets. 

When we returned home that evening, Gwen found her basket again and, after a complete search of the downstairs, complained that she couldn't find any more "Easter Bunny eggs." She was thoroughly bummed that she must wait three weeks until she gets to do it again. I told her the Easter bunny is coming twice because she is just too cute to visit once, but she wasn't buying. 

Thank you, mama and pop Owen for the great weekend! When we entered into Idaho Falls, Gwen almost started crying because she realized she had to go home and had left Gramma's house. Can't wait to see you soon!

Sayings, Doings, and Big Babies!

I am excited to say that on the day of the last post, Gwen finally used that darned potty, and she's been using the toilet every day since. Good-bye size 6 diapers! I'm hoping to train Phoebe before she grows big enough to fit into sixes. She's in fives now, so I had better hurry. I never thought I would be so proud of anyone for using the toilet. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things I do and say as a mother that I never thought in a million years I would ever do or say.

Sayings:

"Don't play with your poop."

"Don't touch your sister's poop."

"Don't lick the bottom of your shoe."

"You really shouldn't lick furniture, either"

"Don't tap dance in your sister's pee."

"If you don't swallow your throw up, you'll feel better."

"Let's go drop that "egg" in the potty."

(Actually, there are a lot pertaining to bodily waste.)

Doings:

Pinning my child's arms down with my knees so I can force antibiotics into her mouth for her double ear infection.

Picking my kid's nose, sometimes in public.

Sharing a cereal spoon with my snotty toddler.

Scrubbing poop of a toy box, the stairs, walls, hands, backs, hair etc (We have A LOT of poop stories around here.)

The lists go on, but you get the idea. I love love love being mommy, but I have to put up with some pretty gross stuff. I used to be a very queasy person, but nature has eliminated that gene from my system. Good news, since I'm having a boy next. Not that I'm saying boys are gross... just a little messier than girls. I'm only assuming.

Anyway, the girls and I are hanging in there during the day, waiting for Spring. Gwen's having a lot of fun with "learning time." Every day we do art projects pertaining to a certain weekly theme and she loves working on her alphabet worksheets. I'm so proud of this girl. She's learning to read at a rapid pace, and I really haven't done very much to get her going. She's a sponge, and picks things up so quickly! She spells new words with her alphabet magnets (the other day she spelled Big Cat all by her darling self) and she can sound out most any three letter word. Some days (usually on Sundays at church) I swear Gwen has ADHD, but at home, she can spend hours working on her pre-K workbooks and reading her Dr. Seuss books. And her memory amazes me. I would get lost within ten minutes of leaving the house, but Gwen knows the way to every place she has ever been in Idaho Falls. Seriously. If we turn a certain direction at the four way stop down the street, she knows exactly where we're going. She'll say, "Bye-bye, Winco! We're going to Walmart!" And I'll be like, "Oh... Winco's that way, huh?" I should really pay more attention in the car.

Phoebe loves to read stories too, but she would rather play with her little animals and take them on adventures. She's a very imaginative child. She does great coming up with plots for her cows and hippos, and they have full fledged dramas practically every day. She's hilarious to watch.

Isaac is doing just fine! We had an appointment yesterday, and his little heart is sounding perfect. He moves up a storm every day, and I can't lie, it gets painful sometimes. And sometimes I like to imagine he's already fully developed and I go into labor the next day. I'm ready! But I still have 7 1/2 weeks to go. Next month, I'll be having another ultrasound to measure the little boy, to make sure he is indeed little. I don't know if I want to have another VBAC with a 9+ pound baby. Phoebe went through something awful that day. She was bruised from head to toe and one of her arms was super sore. She had to be on oxygen for an hour and she just looked so exhausted. Plus she had a knot on the top of her head from the vacuum the doctor had to use to get her out. Do I want to do that to another baby? We'll see what happens. I'm excited to get another ultrasound, anyway.

Here's Gwen just hours after being born. A precious 7 pounds even.

Here's Phoebe! 9 - 11! You see why I'm hesitant to have to push again!

Big baby!

 And she turns into this... Love her!

I love both my girls! And I'm excited for May to post pictures of the next love in my life!
I STILL can't believe I'm having a boy. So much more to learn!

At the Close of February

Happy end of February, another month closer to giving birth! Let me tell you, I am ready for that big day. I may not have a single stitch of blue in the house, and we still have to get a new crib, but I'm already slowing waaaaay down. The house has become messier, the girls are a bit slimier, and I'm needing at least three 15 minute naps a day to keep functioning (of course I don't get three naps...) I still have a little under three months to go! In my third trimester, this little guy is amusing the family by kicking and moving quite frequently. I think we have another Gwen coming! Woohoo! Anyway... This kid is quite a mover. I roll over in the middle of the night to snuggle as close as I can with my husband man, and Logan gets kicked in the back over and over again. I can't wait to meet my new baby! My sister-in-law just had her baby boy last week, and it made the whole having a new baby become more of a reality for me. Now I'm super excited, not just nervous to have three kids.

Enough about me. Here are some things that happened/are happening in the past couple of weeks:

As I said, my sister-in-law gave birth to an adorable baby boy last week. His name is Greysen. I haven't had a lot of time to spend with him yet, since the girls have colds and so do I now (of course), but here are some pictures we managed to snag while we could.

This pic of me is horrible (half my head is missing), but it's the only one I have of me and him. 

Greysen! So far I think he's a healthy mixture of the two parents (though, a tad more like Ronnie) but he'll change very fast in the next couple of months. We'll see!

Phoebe getting a closer look at her cousin.

Gwen was looking at him, but then got in trouble for trying to climb in...

Grandpa, Greysen, and Logan's thumb!

Auntie Maci with her first nephew.



Hopefully, these colds that we've had off and on since Christmas (no exaggeration) will clear up and we can spend a little quality time with the family soon.

My own children are going through some changes. Last night, we converted Phoebe's crib back into a toddler bed. She didn't sleep the entire night in it since she's not sleeping well with a plugged nose, but she loves her new bed.

Gwen loves it too. She wanted to sleep in it with her sister, but Phoebe would have none of it. I don't blame her. The both of them are awful to sleep with.

As a lot of you know, my three and half year old has still yet to make a thing in the potty. (On the floor, toy box, and table - yes. Potty - no.) We've become pretty frazzled around here, trying everything and anything to get her to go, but she's stubborn. (She started saying, "I don't NEED a Buzz Lightyear. I'm done with the potty!) We've finally had to go the messy method, which I'm not thrilled about, but we've become desperate. We told her that Walmart ran out of daytime, size six diapers. At first, she said she would have to wear size four like Phoebe, but we wouldn't let her. She's in her Elmo panties in the day time. Absolutely no diapers. No matter how many messes I have to clean up, I'm going to get that girl over this fear and out of diapers! I can't have three in them once Isaac is born! Heck no! So the super goal is to have BOTH my girls out of diapers by the time their brother shows up. Right now, we're concentrating mostly on Gwen, but Phoebe sits on the potty a couple times a day. She makes us sit her on the potty, because she got into the phase of stripping off her diaper and happily running naked through the house. I've been cleaning a lot of pee off the floor... But we're determined!

Determined, I tell you!

How He Plays with Mr. Potato Head

While I sat with my visiting teachers downstairs, my husband played with the girls in their bedroom so we could have peace and quiet. Well, play time with daddy is very different than play time with mommy, apparently. When I put them to bed that night, this is what I found:

Eyes in one ear hole, a nose in the other, and armpit hair! My husband: the imaginative genius.

Phoebe and Valentine's Day

This past Sunday we celebrated Phoebe's 2nd birthday! I feel like we've had her forever, so it seems like she should be older. Maybe it's denial - another year of 2?!  She had no idea what a birthday was, even though we kept telling her all day that she was now "Phoebe 2!" (Whenever we ask her what her name is, she answers "Phoebe 1!")  I tried to make certain things for her special that day. During the girls nap time, Logan and I had blown up a bunch of balloons, so when Phoebe came downstairs, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She has a passion for balloons. When Gwen came down to join her, they made up their own game of catch and played for a good hour while I finished prepping for the party. We had a fun party with the whole family which greatly excited Gwen. She was talking about seeing everyone for days. But as soon as they arrived, Phoebe naturally clammed up and wouldn't say a word. In fact, she clung to her daddy for a while until she got used to all the attention. (My girls are such opposites, it's unreal.) During the party, she opened up a bit more, I think. She loved every gift she got. She's been playing with them nonstop for two days straight, and hasn't gone back to her "old toys" yet. Maybe this means I can pack up more of their stuff. I hate all the clutter!

We certainly love our precious, petite Phoebe. She brings so much laughter to our family and does something new and hilarious every day that gets us talking. (This morning, for example, she woke up at 6:30, and instead of crying, she yelled out, "Mommy! Help!! I'm awake!") I can't imagine our family without her. She completes us perfectly.

Yesterday, for Valentine's Day, we didn't do much since we did so much the day before. But the girls did get large stuffed Valentine's Day animals which thrilled them to no end. I presented them at nap time, almost as a bribe to keep them in their room. Didn't really last long, though. Phoebe was sure Gwen would steal her "doggy pup" and kept screaming whenever she got close. To make the day even more special, Logan got off work super early to take an assessment for a potential job, so we were all excited to have him home hours early. Because of the lack of rest, Phoebe was out by 7:00. I prepared a late dinner out of habit, but when Gwen saw her beans and cheese in her bowl, she said, "I am NOT eating" and left the table. Today we didn't fight with her, so Logan and I had a little dinner date in our own kitchen. Then the girls went to bed, and we cuddled on the couch and watched some Psych. It was a good day.

I didn't take many pictures at the party, but here are a few in case you didn't see them on facebook.

The birthday girl! Two years old, can you believe it?

Posing pretty with her daddy. I was very proud of Gwen for not ripping Phoebe's presents open as soon as she saw them. Then again, we did bring them down when she was miraculously passed out on the couch.

 Clinging to daddy because there were people in her house. She's wearing an adorable Minnie Mouse hat her grandma made her. She was getting jealous of Gwen's homemade Grandma hat, so she got her own too!

Opening presents. She kept that hat on for a long time.

She loves puppies. She was enthralled with her walking furry puppy.

This pic is kinda blurry. But it shows how nicely Phoebe can share all her toys!

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day with their special ones!

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday! It was a pretty good day, too. Logan had to go to work, but I had fun baking my own birthday cake. It turned out delicious, if I do say so myself. (Logan wouldn't know, because he wouldn't have any. He's not a big fan of too much chocolate. Crazy man.) The girls were over the moon about it. Gwen kept giggling and telling me happy birthday all during the process. She was so excited to gobble up my birthday cake.

Logan and I had a real date night for the first time in a long, long time. Lindsay was able to baby-sit for us, and we took advantage! We went to our favorite restaurant (Garcia's) and afterwards browsed Target. We heard that season 4 of Psyche was on sale really cheap, so we had to get it. We also got a few other things too, like a season of 24, a Blake Shelton cd, and a new Trivial Pursuit game. But these were just fun splurges, not my birthday presents. Logan completely floored me with his gift! I had been complaining about how slow the delay is on my camera, so my man went to the store and browsed cameras like the hot stud he is! It makes me smile to think he took time off from work to secretly compare cameras for me. He got me a bloggie touch, which I had never heard of before, but is awesome. It's as small as a cell phone, but takes very clear videos and sharp 12.8mp pictures. And it's a touch screen. Love it! He's certainly spoiled me the past couple months. A nook and a camera, he's so sweet! And the day before my birthday, he took me to Walmart so I could pick out a webcam. My dad has a skype account now, so on my birthday we were able to see each other! I haven't seen my dad since I was 16. He moved to Virginia when I was in middle school, and I visited him only a few times after that. With the webcam, he was able to meet his granddaughters and my husband. It was a great gift!

Oh - a random funny story. While I was getting ready for my hot date, Gwen was looking at my belly, thoughtfully. She finally said, "Mommy... are you 200 pounds?!" I tried not to laugh while I answered. "No way! I'm 100 pounds! Get it straight!" I think she thought she hurt my feelings, and after I finished getting ready, she gave me a big hug and said, "You're beautiful, mommy!" She's the sweetest little girl, even if she thinks I look 200 pounds.

Here are some pics I took with my bloggie. I think I'll be able to take a lot more pics now since there is hardly a delay.

I wish it could be my birthday everyday! But there are a lot of birthdays coming up. Phoebe's turning 2 in less than 3 weeks, and most of our family members turn another year older next month, too. It's a time for cake! Woohoo! Now if Logan would just eat chocolate! And he swears he's not a picky eater... (He's going to get so mad at me... hehe.)