Pregnancy update

My pregnancy has not been much fun to talk about the last 19 weeks but for the sake of remembering I should write more. To start on a positive note I have been feeling the baby move since somewhere around 16/17 weeks. I can really feel it a lot this week and it's been really sweet for me! I feel like I have just popped out there this month and have finally bought some maternity clothes. All of my clothes from my pregnancy with Madeleine are for a totally different season so I am basically starting over. I must say that Montgomery has really slim pickings for maternity shopping.
Madeleine talks a lot about the baby in mommy's tummy. She will hug and kiss it. She usually claims it's a baby sister. We find out Monday the 22nd what we are having and we cannot wait!!!!!! Daniel thinks it's a boy and I am starting to think it's a girl. Mainly b/c I hardly have to shave my legs!! Is that a weird symptom or what?! I was the same way with Madeleine. However, I have had 2 dreams this week that I am having a boy.
I still feel nauseous a lot. I usually only throw up once a day and sometimes not at all. The worst thing is trying to get around in the car. To keep the nausea away I feel like I have to snack all day long. I dislike more foods than I like. But I do crave Asian type foods, caesar salad, pasta, fruit, Quizno's subs, and ketchup. My McDonalds craze has seemed to fade a bit. Which I consider to be a great thing! When I was really sick that was one of the only things I could keep down. This week it seems that my snacking schedule has been raisin bran, banana, granola bar, tuna salad, cheese, and crackers for lunch, chex mix, ice cream or cereal and dinner. Well, with all that I'm hungry :)

Happy Birthday Madeleine!!

I can't believe my little girl is already two!!! There are so many things I want to remember about this year it's hard to collect all of my thoughts. Especially since I have major pregnancy brain going on! Madeleine amazes me with her language and social skills. She makes complete sentences and knows how to use I, me, you, ours, theirs, his, and her for example. She never forgets when I tell her we are going to do something or go somewhere. If I tell her we are going to play with play doh after nap time she will remind me. When we are in the car she recognizes directions to familiar places like Me Me's, Megans, Chick-fil-a, Publix, Wal-mart, School, and the park. If I turn opposite of the direction she wants to go she will say no this way and turn around. She LOVES music and knows the words to many songs. Her favorite being Jesus loves me, Jesus loves the little children, Twinkle Twinkle, Row your Boat, and Happy Birthday. It seems that Madeleine's precious heart is already so tendered towards the Lord. Her favorite books and songs are usually about Jesus and I hear her talk about him all throughout the day. Just last week she was playing with her Nativity and she says, "Jesus eats Chinese food" I have not stopped laughing about that one :) At every meal she sings God our Father with her hands clasped together and will remind us when we forget. She knows that Christmas is Jesus's birthday. She listens intently when Daniel or I pray for her at night and she loves to name all of the people in her life that Jesus loves. Ok I know this is getting long and I haven't even talked about her party yet! I will record more later after Mad's 2 yr check up!
Her party turned out to be a success despite being sick all week. I felt so unprepared but we pulled together at the last minute. We had a cupcake theme party and all the children decorated cupcakes. Jeanne made adorable monogramed apron's as party favors! At first I thought my idea about letting the children decorate their own cake was going to be a bust and make a total mess. However everyone was extremely cooperative and so consumed with their cake that there was not much chaos! Madeleine seemed to be totally aware that the party was all about her. When she woke that morning and saw everything decorated she said, ooohhh I love it! She sang the entire happy birthday song to herself as loud as she could and blew out her own candles. I don't know if I posted a good pic but, I did make her birthday outfit and Jeanne put the applique on it for me. Anyway, I'm proud and I thought it turned out pretty darn cute :)
The picture in Madeleine's new big girl room (a post and pics to come soon) is of her and her new Baby and baby doll cradle that Me Me and De De got her. Daniel and I got her a Kidkraft play kitchen and play food and dishes to go with it. She also got a new table and chair set but it's not here yet. OK, enough time for pics.....

Harvest Fest

I finally made it back to church this Sunday for the first time since I've been pregnant I think. I wasn't feeling so great through church and was feeling pretty bummed about how I felt. After church Daniel surprised me with my birthday present a little early. I FINALLY got a new camera! A Nikon D40! He gave it to me so we could use it for our annual Christchurch Harvest Fest. We got it charged just in time, but I still have lots of practice. It's a pretty complicated camera!
Anyway, Harvest Fest is one of my favorite things we have at our church and I was really looking forward to it this year since Madeleine is old enough to enjoy it. Luckily, I was feeling much better than I did at church that morning! I already missed out on her and Daniel's trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We had a band, lots of games, hay rides, BBQ, and trunk or treat. Madeleine actually kept her entire costume on the whole night. I thought she would at least get rid or the hat! She has not stopped talking about hay rides, pumpkins, animals and of coarse candy. Madeleine is officially addicted to candy now. I am in for a lifetime of tantrums in the check out lines.

Little Things

Madeleine has been cracking me up when I listen to her play with her toys these days. For example, I saw her making the mommy and daddy kiss in her doll house. She is really good at manipulating them. She used to get really frustrated when she couldn't make them sit down in a chair or on the potty. When she would get mad at them she would bite them!! She does this a lot to her toys but, luckily not other people!!! Atleast besides me :) Madeleine also loves to make her babies and animals do things that she does like eating and changing their diapers. She always wants to take toys away with her in the car or when we go places. She just amazes me with how grown up she is now!!!!
As for my pregnancy we are still plugging along. Last Friday I broke down and called my doctor. I couldn't stand being sick any more and I was ready to see if I had any other options. I was starting to worry that I was dehydrated or that the baby was missing out on necessary nutrition. Fortunately they were very proactive and referred me to a obstetrical home nurse. They have my medication set up through an iv at home!!! Today they came and gave me a bag of fluids and I'm feeling pretty good. I even ate a piece of pizza for lunch! Praise the Lord! Maybe things will continue to improve. I'm feeling very hopeful at this point :)

Lizards

Daniel and Madeleine found a baby lizard in her room the other day. Even worse, I found a dead one under Daniels pillow!!!! Where are they coming from!!!!!????? I guess there could be grosser pests in my house but still, get OUT! Madeleine doesn't mind the Lizard. She looks for him every day! She has always been fascinated by every animal, bug, and critter. I don't know where she gets it from. Not me!

Sticker Love

I have not thought about getting stickers for Madeleine until recently when they were in the $1 bin at Target. I bet they are always there. Anyway, she loves stickers and they occupy her forever!!! One day I put one on her hand before dropping her off at school and she still had it on when I picked her up! Hopefully I can start using them for rewards, I need something besides food!

We're Pregnant!

We're so excited that Madeleine is going to have a little sister or brother on the way! A long way at this point, but it looks like the due date is May 14th. Honestly, I knew I was pregnant before I even took a test because I could feel it! And with early pregnancy tests these days you can find out way too soon. I feel like I have been pregnant forever already! I woke really early one morning and couldn't resist taking the test. I told Daniel that he could sleep in and Madeleine and I went to the grocery store to make a special breakfast. I changed Madeleine into a "I'm the Big Sister" t-shirt in the parking lot at the store and we picked up what we needed. When we got home Daniel was up already and helped us unload. He never noticed the shirt, just like a guy :) So I pointed out to him that she had a new shirt on. He was soooo surprised and we had a wonderful breakfast! That night we had dinner at Me Me and De De's . Me Me bought steak and a live lobster for dinner to celebrate. But really the lobster was for Madeleine. :) She loved it! And, I must say it was the finest lobster I have ever had in my life!!!!!

Even though we are very excited I must say I HATE the first trimester (and hopefully not more than that.) I have been very sick since about 6 weeks. I am able to take the nausea medication Zofran and I have actually found it to be somewhat helpful so far. Luckily, I was able to get Madeleine in for an extra day at MMO, so she is now going on MWF through November!! My wonderful friend Mary is helping on Tuesday and Jeanne is the rest: house cleaner/dinner/errand running/babysitting super grandmother/mother-in- law for all the other things that have needed filling in. And all I can say for Daniel is just that he is PATIENT! Very patient, loving, and wonderful! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends, family, and support. Hopefully we will move on from this phase sooner than later. For now, my patience will continue to be tested and refined. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and that we will move on quickly :)

You may notice that Madeleine is eating hot buffalo wing pretzels. She LOVES them. They are Daniel's favorite snack and she always asks for a bite so we let her have one thinking she would not like them and leave us alone. It totally back fired. She wants them every time we pull out a bag. And yes, it was 6:30 in the morning on the way to the grocery store. They were in the car and she spotted them. Not having breakfast yet I gave in :)

And please remember, I cannot take good pictures, nor will she stay still long enough for me to get a decent shot. I will have a new camera before we have this Baby!

Playset

Finally I'm posting about the beautiful playset Daniel built for Madeleine this past August!!! It took many, many, many hours to put together and a lot of brains :)! Madeleine is loving her new swing set and is actually pretty good at letting Daniel push her in the big girl swing. I won't do it because I'm still scared she's going to let go and I'll push her out. She loves the play house which has a little mail box and a door bell. She also loves climbing up and down the slide as well as sending other objects flying down! I'm sure there will be many pics in the future of her playing on her new playset. Especially now that it's cooling down. Finally!!!

First Day!

Today was Madeleines's first day of mother's morning out at Trinity Preschool. We are so happy she is there and I think it will be a perfect place for her to start! I feel like Madeleine really needs the interaction with other kids as much as I need a couple of hours to actually get something done! Right now her day mostly consists of play, snacks, outdoors, lunch, and coloring. Really this year will be more about sharing toys and social skills. Her teachers are Mrs. Noelle and Mrs. Roberta and she will have 9 other children in her classroom. Mrs. Roberta also works for Christchurch so Madeleine is already familiar with her. Hopefully it will help lessen the separation anxiety. Madeleine cried as I suspected but she quickly recovered and enjoyed the rest of her day. When I picked her up her teacher said she had a great day and commented that she wanted everyone else's lunch too. As you can see, I packed a ton of food for her and it came home nearly empty!!! I also fed her a huge breakfast. She is just like her mommy :)
While Madeleine was in school I acutally got to dig through the racks at TJ Maxx and Target, get treats and a leash for Lucy at Pet Smart, and have a lunch date with Daniel at Street Cafe. It was the perfect first day for the both of us!

Museum

Jenny and I took Madeleine, Emory and Lawson to MMFA and the park yesterday to get the kids out of the house. Jenny, Lawson, and Emory are Madeleine's favorite new playmates. She calls Jenny, Miss Enny. It sounds so cute! Almost every day Madeleine says "Go Lawson's house?"
Madeleine stills seems a little young for the museum but there were still several things she could enjoy. Blocks, puzzles, books, cars ect... Mostly she enjoyed being with her friends.

The Park

It's Friday and we were ready to get out of the house!! Madeleine and I have got in the habit of going somewhere almost every day now. Our most famous request is " The Store" which usually means Publix because she gets to ride in the car and gets a free cookie. Today we met Mary, Ross Townsie, Gina, and Jackson at the playground. We then went to Chappy's for lunch. I am so proud of Madeleine today because she actually stayed in her chair the entire meal and ate almost all of her chicken and french fries. Chappy's has been a huge hit with her!!! I am so glad we're moving into a phase of being able to take her out to eat again. At least as of today :)




She always makes this face!

Little Piggies

Mary, Ross, and Mary Townsend came over to play this week and Townsie had her hair in pigtails!!!! Oh so cute!! Anyway, Mary tried to put Madeleine's hair up. It was fun but, I don't think her hair is ready for this style yet :) It's bone straight and not long enough yet. Maybe one day Madeleine!