the home stretch

I am learning that sometimes less is more...information that is. I am typically a person who likes to plan ahead. I plan for things well in advance for the most part, much to the chagrin of many members of my family. I like to know what to expect so that I am prepared and not caught off-guard. I know I have mentioned this before, and if you know me you probably know this to be true.

Over the course of the past 8 months I have lost track of the number of times I have been asked if we are having a boy or a girl. It must be in the hundreds by now. That question is often followed by "How can you wait?! I would have to know...I am such a planner."

Oh, I hear you. Within weeks of discovering we were expecting this baby I had purchased new sheets for the crib. Before the middle of the 2nd trimester the neutral baby clothes were taken out of storage, washed, folded and put away. Several weeks ago I stocked up on tiny diapers, bottles & nuks.

And while I do not think one way is better than the other (finding out, or keeping it a surprise), I am finding that for me sometimes there is beauty in not-knowing. There is a sense of peace in knowing that we will truly be amazed and surprised together when our baby is born - and our love will overflow whether it is a new son or daughter. There is also a sense of calm in these weeks before delivery as I am not rushing out to stock the closet with "boy" clothes, or digging through bins to wash loads of pink things. For me, this is a big thing. I stress out and "not knowing" in this realm helps to keep me calm. I can't say this is true for any other part of my life, but it is true here for some crazy reason.

This morning I went in for my 36 week appointment . From here on out I will see the doctor every week. I had hoped that I would find out if I am dilated yet - but alas, my calm doctor doesn't check me all that often. This used to annoy me, but now I realize that it's just another way for me to stay calm. I know that if he told me I was not dilated, my mood would decline. If he told me I was, I would anticipate things starting to happen every day and the days/weeks would stretch out even further. Maybe after 3.5 years and 4 pregnancies my doctor knows this about me. Maybe he knows that right now, for me...less is more.

So now we truly are in the home stretch. Only 3.5 weeks to go until our due date, and I can say we are definitely ready. Believe it or not we have 2 names for each gender that we agree on...a major feat! Please do not be offended when we do not share these names with you. We have decided to keep them to ourselves as it was a long road to get to this list for us and we don't want either one of us to have a change of heart. You will know soon enough! We do thank you for all of your suggestions though, they did prove to be helpful.

I have posted all of your guesses for our baby contest in the sidebar in date/time order. If you haven't guessed yet and would like to, or you would like to revise your guess - please feel free to leave them in the comments below...just do so before next Wed, Jan 7th.

Happy New Year to you all...we hope it's filled with wonderful surprises!

animal adventure

As many of you know, Anna's very favorite cartoon character is Dora the Explorer. Through this television show she has learned a number of new words in both English and Spanish, and has gained an appreciation for "adventures". Often we will travel throughout the house looking for treasure with her flashlight, or we will search under tables and behind couches to find wild animals yelling "ayudame!" (help me!) to rescue. On days when the temps are above 15 we head outside for "snow adventures" where we walk through the snow around the neighborhood looking for polar bears, and other cold-weather creatures.

This Christmas Anna was gifted a membership to our local zoo from her Granka & Grandma Penny, and this morning we decided to go on a real animal adventure. We arrived the moment the doors were opened and spent a lot of time at all of the indoor exhibits. Some of Anna's favorites are the monkeys, the dolphins and today her favorite was the fish tank complete with large sharks. We even saw a bird show, which Anna loved. What a fun morning we had!

There will be many more exciting visits ahead as the weather warms up. Anna is already talking about how we will bring baby Moses to the zoo after "he comes out" and then we can see the baby dolphin too (one of the dolphins is expecting a child this spring as well). What a perfect gift for this little adventurer!

merry and bright

After a fun week at Nana & Papa's, we are back home and getting back into the swing of things. Our Christmas was filled with celebration, family, good food, gifts and laughter. We could not have asked for anything more. We arrived at Nana & Papa's on Tuesday of last week surprised by the amount of snow they had. During our stay they must have added another foot to the banks on the side of the roads - which were as tall as I was by the time we left. It was most certainly a white Christmas.

Decorating with Nana

Anna's sprinkles - very generous!

Christmas Eve was spent decorating cookies, and preparing for the celebrations to come. We attended a church service filled with Christmas carols and then gathered together to exchange gifts afterward. Anna, exhausted from playing and laughing and playing some more, had to wait until Christmas morning to open her gifts. She woke a few times in the night asking if I thought Santa had arrived.

Once she woke and determined that it was indeed "getting light out", she ran down the stairs as fast as she could to see if he had paid a visit. She was thrilled to see her stocking full, and that her cookies and kisses for Santa had been eaten and replaced with crumbs and a note.

She had many gifts to open, but after opening the first - a tube of chapstick - she was satisfied. She was content to sit and "lipstick" as she told us, and just admire her gifts in their pretty packages. It took all day to slowly work her way through all that Santa, Nana & Papa, Uncle Nate and Grandma Mer had given her. She enjoyed each gift thoroughly before moving on to the next.

Christmas morning

"Lipsticking"

Piles of presents

Leading us in song and dance

Our visit, like the Christmas season, came to an end so quickly it seemed. So much anticipation and preparation...where I suppose so much of the fun lies. But we did take time to remember and appreciate the true reason behind the season...the birth of Christ. And as we reflect back on the past year our greatest gifts have not been those wrapped up in paper but rather the time we have spent with family & friends, the memories we have made and the promise of a baby to arrive shortly. We are truly blessed.

joy to the world!

Just a few pics of the one who brings so much joy into our lives. We hope your holidays are filled with joy and laughter too!

a week gone by

So many guesses! And they vary so greatly, it will be great fun to see as the days pass who gets closer and closer to winning our little baby contest. Thank you for indulging us...each guess brought some laughs for us. We are certainly getting excited around here. Over the past week our littlest one has undergone a major growth spurt. It's hard to know exactly how much he or she has grown, but it is definitely a noticeable change. My clothes are stretched to their limit and the baby's movements are strong - yet more contained as his/her quarters become tighter and tighter. My next appointment is on Monday afternoon to make sure that everything is ok before holiday travels. I am confident that all is well - baby is just getting big!

While you all have been busy guessing, we have been busy celebrating around here. Holiday parties at ECFE & with neighbors, Steve's work, Grandma's house, a Christmas celebration of our own at home just the 3 of us, and more. It's been a very festive week filled with good food and time with loved ones.

On a more sad note, this week we also said goodbye to Steve's Grandma Toots. After a full, wonderful life, Grandma Toots went to be with her parents and with Jesus in Heaven this past Thursday. Unfortunately due to weather and what would have been a treacherous drive we were not able to attend her funeral, but she and all of her loved ones have been in our hearts and on our minds. I am so glad we were able to know her, and that Anna was able to meet her. She will be missed by so many.

As our celebrations of the birth of Christ continue in the days to come, we wish you all peace.

baby contest!

Now officially 34 weeks, it's time to host our baby contest! Here's how it works:

What: Guess the gender of our baby, as well as the date he or she will arrive. If your guess is the same as someone else's please add a time (such as 8am, 1am, etc).

How: Leave your entry in the comments - just click on the comment section at the bottom of this post and type in your guess. If you leave an anonymous comment, please include your name so we know who you are!

Who: Everyone! Even if you have never commented before, you are afraid I don't know you read our blog, or you don't know us very well...please guess! We would love it if everyone who reads our blog (even infrequently) left a guess. It's fun for us!

The Prize!
The winner will receive a $20 gift card to one of my favorite stores...Target. Not only does my brother work for their corporate headquarters, but it is a store that I frequent quite regularly - just ask my husband. Your gift card will arrive just in time for you to snatch up a post-holiday deal.

To help you with your guess, you are welcome to look back at previous pregnancy posts to look at heart rates and pictures of me, etc. At my most recent appointment this past Friday it was confirmed that the baby is still head down, ready to go. He or she will likely be over 7lbs according to the doctor (a little bigger than Anna). The baby's heart rate this past visit was just shy of 160bpm - which has been fairly consistent. Our official due date remains January 25th.

Although we are exempt from the contest, our guesses are:

Me: Boy, arriving Jan 23rd
Steve: Boy, arriving Jan 26th
Anna: Boy, arriving in 20 minutes

Happy guessing!

breakfast with santa

This morning Steve, Anna and I went to Breakfast with Santa - a program offered through our local Park & Rec department. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast, along with a few of our neighbor friends, and then Santa arrived to greet all of the children.

Anna told Santa that she wants a slide for Christmas, and that she would be at Nana & Papa's house so he shouldn't forget to bring her presents there!

After breakfast Steve enjoyed making a Christmas craft with Anna - a reindeer bucket - and then we went to get our pictures taken with Santa. It was a fun and festive morning!

i fear the teenage years

Today I received a phone call around 1pm letting me know that Anna had no interest in taking a nap at Mom's Day Away, and requesting that I come and pick her up. Upon my arrival, Anna was playing in the hallway with one of the teachers (so as not to disturb the other kids who were resting) and the teacher was laughing about all of Anna's antics. She said that earlier a group of older boys walked by and Anna asked each one:

"Hi, what is your name?" And when they would tell her, she would reply "I'm Anna. Nice to meet you!"

In the car on the way home I asked her about her day and what she did. After telling me about a snowball fight (hmmm, not sure about that one) and her art projects, I asked her who she played with today.

"I played with the boys. Not the girls, just the boys."

anna's guess on baby's arrival

While I was in the "mom's meeting" portion of our ECFE class, Anna was playing with one of the baby dolls in the room with the other children. One of the teachers asked Anna if she was excited about becoming a big sister. From what the teacher recited back to me laughing it sounds like the conversation went something like this:

Teacher: Anna, are you excited to be a big sister?
Anna: Yes!
Teacher: What is the baby's name going to be?
Anna: It's baby Moses.
Teacher: When is the baby coming?
Anna: In 20 minutes!

Then she proceeded to stand up holding her baby doll and sang the entire song "Rock-A-Bye Baby" as loud as she could to an audience of at least 6 other children - proud as can be. Oh boy...

pay attention

Anna: What is your name again today?
Me: My name is Mommy. What is your name? Are you Anna?
Anna: No, I am not Anna. I am "Motts".
Me: Motts? You aren't Motts, you're Anna silly.
Anna: No, I am Motts (giggling).
Me: OK Motts, let's get moving.
Anna: Mommy, you can't call me Motts, I'm Leah. Pay attention.

so this is why they call the 2's terrible

It's like a case study in action around our home these days. This morning Anna woke up very early, before the clock said 6am. I went into her room and told her that it was still nighttime and that I would come and get her when it was morning. Running on an average of 4-5 hrs. of sleep per night I am not prepared to begin my day with Anna before 7am. Every 10 mins from then until 7, she rang the alarm yelling "Mommy, where could you be? I'm up now!". Finally I went in to free her from her pink palace and was thrilled to see she was in a wonderful mood.

Anna then had a warm bubble bath, followed by 2 heaping bowls of Cheerios with blueberries and bananas, watched 25 mins of Mickey Mouse and then took me on a safari hunt through the house searching for wild animals with her flashlight and her camera. It was pleasant. It was not yet 9am.

Knowing our plans for the day were not to begin until 10am, I bundled Anna up and we took to the outdoors. After spending the bulk of the day outside yesterday sledding, shoveling, walking, playing and everything else you can do in the snow, I thought this would be a great idea.

I pulled out the shovel and began to attack the driveway, Anna next to me with her pint-sized shovel. And then...

the whining began. Oh, the whining!

The snow is too heavy. I can't push my shovel. My car won't drive in the snow. My boots don't work in my car. I need my sled. I don't want my sled. I want to go walking. I don't wanna walk. Cover me with snow. Get me out of the snow! My hands are cold. I don't wanna wear my mittens. Mommy, put my mitten on. I want to go in. No, I don't wanna go in.

The driveway was shoveled in record time as I hummed to myself trying to drown out the whining. As I finished up to a chorus of Anna's pleas to go inside, she pulled one of her mittens off. I told her that it was ok, we were going inside anyway. She then proceeded to stand on the driveway crying that her hand was freezing because her mitten was off and mommy won't you put my mitten on?

Meanwhile, I was standing in the house begging her to join me inside where her hands would be warm. This logic didn't make sense to her 2 year old mind.

Finally we made it in the house, and her snow clothes were removed. The crying began again. Still about the mitten. I calmly told Anna that she could cry on the stairs if she wanted to continue to whine and cry.

That wasn't happening.

That was when the screaming, crying, hand wringing and stomping began. This was indeed the biggest tantrum I had witnessed. And over a mitten??

So, I picked her up - legs kicking her unborn brother or sister, arms hitting my shoulders and put her in her room to calm down. 5 mins later she emerged happy and ready to play.

2 hours later we returned home from a fun and successful playdate with some friends at a local indoor park, Anna excited about the macaroni and cheese she was going to enjoy for lunch. 2 hours of happiness was apparently enough for her.

But I don't want mac & cheese anymore. I want a grilled cheese. Can I have a cookie? But I want a cookie. I don't like this mac & cheese.

Ahh, the mood swings. So happy one minute and the world is coming to an end the next. Knowing that this is a phase, and that this is all part of her brain working on the next stages of development certainly helps...but a glass of wine (but not whine) would be better. Maybe, just maybe, she'll get it all out before the baby arrives.

baking cookies

Yesterday we had our annual cookie bake at Grandma Mary's house. We spent the day having a delicious lunch, and baking sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, popcorn balls, caramels & cornflake wreaths. Anna enjoyed helping Matt with the popcorn balls, and helping unwrap all of the hershey kisses for the peanut blossoms. But of course her favorite was helping Grandma with the sugar cookies - sprinkling flour everywhere she could. By the time she was done we just dumped her in the bathtub as she was covered from head to toe! It was a wonderful day...something Anna will continue to enjoy for years to come.


(P.S. Notice the pics on the top were taken with my brother's fancy new camera! Now we have another person to snap pics!)

potty time prayers

Overheard from the kitchen while Anna was taking care of her business in the main floor bathroom.

"Dear God, thank you for all of the wonderful things that I love.

Thank you for my toys that I love.

Thank you for my piano.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you God for my mommy and daddy.

Thank you for the people that I love.

Thank you for the things we do.

Thank you for my pants...."

name game

This past week we have been teaching Anna our names, in the event that if she were to get lost she could let someone know what her parents' names are. This has caused a flurry of conversations about names, and has prompted her to ask everyone in sight "what is your name again?"

The other night as Steve gave Anna her bath, I overheard the following:
Steve: Do you like to take baths?
Anna: Yes, I do.
Anna: Christa gave me a bath the other day.

This morning as we came down the stairs for breakfast:

Anna: What is your name again?
Me: My name is Christa, but you get to call me Mommy.
Anna: Oh. My name is Christa, but you can call me Christa or Steve. OK?

snow bunny

a visit from papa

This week we are lucky to have a special visitor in our home. Papa came to visit! Reason #439 why I have the best father-in-law, Jim arrived on Monday to not only play with Anna and spend time with Steve and I, but to put up shelving in our garage. Seriously...who drives 4 hours to put up shelving and clean out someone else's garage? Yes, we are very very lucky!

But, it hasn't been all work and no play for Papa this visit. Yesterday we spent the morning in the big city - visiting the Christmas display at Macy's and taking Anna to see Santa. The theme this year is "A Day in the Life of an Elf" and showcases the hard work the elves take on in preparation for Christmas. It was fun to see the display, and to have Anna visit Santa. No tears for this little one! She ran up to him and hopped on his lap...telling him about the slide she wants for Christmas (no idea) and feeling his beard to see if it was real.

Afterwards we were able to meet Steve for lunch and then take a tour of his office. It was fun for Anna and Jim to meet his co-workers and to see where daddy goes every day. Anna was a proud young lady. It's been a fun visit with Papa so far...who knows what else we will get in to!