37 Weeks

Constant back spasms + coughing toddler = NO NIGHT TIME SLEEP!

I'm not sure who fell asleep first, but it doesn't really matter. 

Feed the Ducks

What do you do with half a loaf of bread that goes moldy before it should??

 

Walk down the street to a pond and feed it to the ducks. 

These ducks were so aggressive, I seriously thought it was going to bite the bread right out of my hand.  I am showing the ducks that I am out of bread.  Eliza was a bit hesitant when the ducks got too close. 

Note to self:  a 16 month old is going to eat the moldy bread herself instead of sharing with ducks. :)

Happy December

Well... December has arrived which means that the year 2012 is quickly coming to a close. Yikes!!  I seriously can't believe that another year is almost over. 
We were determined not to let it pass us by. 

First, Eliza and I made these Christmas ornaments at the library Craft day.

Then, we rode on the Old Towne Perkasie Carousel.  This carousel is only open 2 or 3 times a year.  Rides today were free courtesy of Santa Claus who gave each child a candy cane and small toy car after their ride.  Once the candy cane was in her hand, the smile on Eliza's face didn't diminish until long after the candy cane was gone. 

She was absolutely fascinated by the Carousel  while we were waiting our turn to ride.  She kept pointing at the horses and dancing to the music.  When we got on the ride, she wasn't sure about it at all.  She latched on to me with a death grip, and absolutely refused to sit on the horse.  I had to sit on the horse and hold her on my lap; which was hard considering the size of my protruding belly. 

After the ride was over, I managed to snap this picture.  You can see the hesitancy on her face. 

 We rode a second time, but I opted to sit on the little benches that don't move up and down.  Eliza rode with her head on my shoulder the entire time.  For a little while I thought she had fallen asleep. 

 The Carousel opens again on Mothers Day 2013. 

After lunch, Eliza demonstrated her silliness.

After nap time, we watched these "rein" deer frolic in our backyard.  They played for about 15 minutes until the neighbors dog scared them. 

I don't know why this picture is so blurry, but it was a family of 5.  

 

Then we headed to the Old Towne Perkasie tree lighting celebration.  We saw a model train show, ate some (expensive) spicy Buffalo Chicken Nachos for dinner, and walked around the old town of Perkasie. 

 

 Bruce and Eliza standing by Santa's house - it's open for pictures with Santa every weekend until Christmas. 

 After getting some free hot chocolate and running into the previous owners of our house, we danced to the live Christmas music.  I thought this concert wanted audience participation.  While singing "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer," I proceeded to shout, "send them back" at the appropriate time.  To my dismay, I got a lot of strange looks from everyone around me, and Bruce couldn't stop laughing - not everyone was participating to the same extent I was. 

 Eliza's cookie covered kissy face.  Couldn't you just kiss that face all day.  She wouldn't keep a hat, gloves, or blanket on - silly girl!

At 7:00, Santa Clause came to town on the Perkasie Borough electric company truck.  He circled the crowd at the top of the bucket lift and threw down Candy Canes.  It was pretty cool; although Eliza found it much more exciting to watch all the excitement of the other kids instead of watching Santa Claus. 

The night ended with Santa Claus lighting the giant tree in the town square. 

 

 Next year we will know that things don't actually get started until 6 (we got there at 5), where to find more reasonably priced food, and where to position ourselves to get a better view of Santa and the tree - maybe we will even catch some of the candy canes!!!

Even though she didn't care about Santa Claus, Eliza was a bit upset when we left because she enjoyed the music and the people. 

Happy December - I hope that every one's holiday season is a merry one. 

All I want for Christmas...

When I was about 12 years old, my dad was serving in the Bishopric and had meetings Sunday afternoons, so I milked cows with my grandpa, my cousin, Jake, and Scott Bass.  One Sunday right before Christmas, Scott told us that in Priesthood meeting that day the instructor had asked everyone to share their favorite Christmas memory.  Scott told the instructor he didn't have one because he didn't like Christmas.  I was surprised to hear this and thought Scott was a bit of a Scrooge.  Scott went on to explain that he returned from his mission to Guatemala right before Christmas and his parents went out and bought him lots of new clothes and nice things, and all he could think about was the people in Guatemala who had nothing.

I guess I didn't experience this following my mission because I served in Spain where they are comparatively well off.  This Christmas I understand what Scott meant.  The only thing I want for Christmas is to help the people in New Jersey and New York who have lost so much. 

Last Sunday I led a crew of 11 over to Keansburg, NJ to help Lucille, Jean, and Julio.  We started out at the Morrisville meetinghouse in our stake where we received the sacrament, our assignments, and the "Mormon Helping Hands" vests.  We had a short sacrament meeting with all the other teams from our stake that were headed out that day.  It was a unique experience to have priests blessing the sacrament in jeans and hoodies with the congregation dressed in work clothes.

Our first work order was for a lady, Lucille who had a tree down in her yard.  I thought we would have it cut up and cleared in no time.  When we got there, it had already been cut up and we just carried the pieces out to the curb.  Quick and easy job.  Then she mentioned she couldn't get into her shed.  We looked inside and saw that several items had fallen over.  On top was a rubber tote filled with water that was very heavy.  We moved the tote and started removing the water logged items from the shed.  It was difficult to discern what was salvageable and what was best tossed out.  Before setting out on our quest, I had received instruction to keep everyone in my crew working.  As we brought items for Lucille to determine keep or toss, there was a lot of standing around.  I felt stressed that I wasn't keeping my crew working.  Then I stepped back and thought about it.  She was sorting through Afghans she had crocheted for her children, supplies she had used for her catering business, water logged drawers of craft supplies.  It was a very difficult thing.  She needed time, patience, and love.  We emptied her shed, left the contents in the yard to air out in the sun and told her we would come back in a few hours to put whatever she wanted back in the shed.

Jean examining his giant fish tank.

Next we went to Jean's house.  The water  had risen half way up the walls in his front room leaving behind water marks and mold.  We carried his couches out to the curb.  We cut out his dry wall and insulation and carried it out to the curb.  We saw his wife and daughter.  They seemed like they were still in shock.  As we finished up, Jean said he wanted to take us to Burger King to thank us.  We explained that we had brought our own food and that being allowed to help him was thanks enough.  He started crying and told us he really wanted to take us to Burger King, at least for coffee to thank us.  Finally he understood that we had other people to help.  He gave us all hugs as we left.

The curb in front of Jean's house when we left.



When we arrived at Julio's house, his dry wall had all been removed and his house was empty.  Lucky for me their plumbing still worked and I could borrow their toilet; unluckily, the walls had all been removed.  Luckily, there were only guys around.  Julio thanked us for stopping by but said all the work was done that we could do.  Then he told us the people that needed our help were his next door neighbors.  He and his wife led us over there and told his neighbors who we were and that they needed to let us help them.  They did need our help.   You could smell the wet mold when you walked into their house.  Julio impressed me as the kind of neighbor I would like to be.

Adele is Julio's neighbor.  He and his wife are from Egypt.  They had no where else to go, so they were in their home through the storm.  They were in their house talking; Adele's wife turned to hand him his shirt, and the next thing they knew they had 2 feet of water in their house.  They didn't know what to do.  They didn't know if the water would rise higher.  They spent all night worrying.  While the water finally receded, they didn't get electricity back for 10 days.  I can't imagine what they did for 10 days in a house that's been ruined by flood with no where else to go, and no television or computer to access the outside world and find out what is happening to get them out of that mess. 

 

We removed their furniture out to the curb, pulled up their carpet, cut out their dry wall.  We took a lunch break, had a tail-gating party out in the street with sandwiches, chips, and cookies.  An organic cheese truck from Wisconsin drove down the street giving away free food and coffee.  I am not an organic fan, but I will never speak bad about organic producers again.  They were followed by a van giving away bottled water.  We pointed both the van and the truck towards Adele's house and declined to take anything from them.

Tail-gating for lunch.

After lunch we did another room in Adele's house.  The house smelled much better when we left; though it was still unfit for living.  I considered inviting Adele and his wife to come stay at our house, but being two hours away would prohibit them from working with insurance agents and contractors to improve their situation.  I hope we gave them hope.

Room after we "finished"

We returned to Lucille's house.  We put things back in her shed.  Lucille asked who to make a donation to.  I told her not to worry about it.

Being there makes it personal.  Seeing it on the news, you feel bad for the people and you pray for the people.  Having been there, I think about Lucille, Jean, Julio, and Adele and their families every day and pray for them specifically.  As I thought about them during my scripture study last Monday I read this scripture in 2 Nephi 8:3 "For the Lord shall comfort [the people in New Jersey] he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.  Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody."  My Christmas prayer is that it may be so.

Lucille and the crew.

Stay tuned to read about my trip to Seaside Heights yesterday.    

35 Weeks

28 Weeks

32 Weeks

 

With Eliza, I made it through my pregnancy with only 1 maternity shirt and 1 pair of maternity pants purchased at Salvation Army.  This time around, I actually had to buy maternity clothes and as you can see from the pictures even those are getting tight.  It's funny how different each pregnancy is.  I konw that some things are different simply because it is pregnancy #2, but other differences I attribute to expecting a boy this time around.  I created this little chart to document for my purpose the differences between my pregnancies. 

 

Characteristic	Baby #1	Baby #2
Morning sickness	Semi-nauseous all day for 16 weeks; threw up a lot	Semi-nauseous for 1 morning – threw up once after eating cottage cheese that may have been in the fridge too long.
Weight Gain	Total of 45 pounds	Barely 20 lbs at 35 weeks
Size	Despite the weight gain, I actually looked and felt relatively small – still fitting into most of my regular clothes.  I didn’t begin to feel uncomfortable until a few days before delivery	Despite the slow weight gain, I am a lot bigger than the first time.  My belly feels heavier and stretched to the max – some of my maternity clothes are too tight.  Started feeling uncomfortable weeks ago.
Exercise	Jogging until 7.5 months along; rode bikes, played basketball 5 days before delivery, played tennis twice a week, and went for walks everyday.	Didn’t exercise for the first 16 weeks; played basketball once and was so sore afterwards I said I wouldn’t do it again.  Now, walking is difficult and leaves me stiff and sore afterwards.
Legs/Lower Back	Mild swelling around the feet and ankles; slight pain in veins.  Minimal back pain	Frequent nerve pain shooting down my legs; no swelling, but charley horses and leg cramps 3-4 times a week.  Constant lower back pain.
Baby Position	High and in – often felt movement against my ribs	Low – constant pressure on the pelvic region and lower abdominals.
Fetal Movements	Only ever felt movement from the middle of my belly to my right side – never on the left.  Movements were plentiful, but small and soft.  Kicking never bothered me.  Bruce could hardly ever feel the baby moving.	Feel movement/kicks everywhere – sometimes on my right and left side at the same time.  Kicking is sharp and strong – it often hurts, bothers me, and takes my breath away.  Bruce can see my belly moving from side to side, and can feel the bed vibrate when he kicks at night.  Must be a boy!!
Appetite	No appetite for the first trimester, normal appetite for second trimester, and huge appetite for the third trimester.  Couldn’t stomach foods like broccoli or toast.  Craved sweets (candy) and cinnamon bears.	Normal appetite for all trimesters.  Can’t stomach the texture of bananas.  No food cravings.
Sleeping	No difficulty until 39 weeks	Haven’t slept well for second and third trimester.  Wake up to change position, and can’t get comfortable.
Braxton-Hicks	Never felt them until 38 weeks - infrequent	Started at about 30 weeks – infrequent.

 

I still feel fine - I just have a lot more nerve/leg/pelvic pain this time around.  I tire easily and have little energy to do things - which is completely uncharacteristic of me (that's the hard part to deal with - is that I don't feel like myself) A lot of it can be attributed to the fact that I do a lot more lifting and bending this time around than the first time.  I didn't have a toddler who refuses to walk to tote around; nor toys, sippy's, tupperware, ziploc bags, magnents, etc. to pick up off the floor multiple times a day the first time either. 

 

I'm on the home stretch.  Somedays I feel ready for baby to come; others I'm not so sure.  One thing is for certain - I'm down to less than 5 weeks so this baby will come whether I am ready or not.  I will certainly welcome him when he does come.

 

34 Weeks

 

A cute sidenote:  Whenever Eliza hears anything from anyone about baby brother, she pats my belly and gives it a kiss.  Today I asked her if she wanted a baby brother for Christmas and she nodded her head enthusatically with a big smile on her face.  I think she will be an excellent big sister - one that is full of love and wants to share.  Even though she says she wants a brother, I know she is in for a rude awakening when said baby brother makes his apperance.   

 

 

 

 



16 Months

My baby girl is growing up so fast; I would be extremely sad about it if she weren't so stinkin' cute.  Her laughter and giggles is to die for, her happiness is contagious, and her smile is enough to melt your heart.  I am so in love with this girl..., but really who isn't??

 

First, some growth stats:

 

At 12 months:

Height: 2' 4.9" (40% ile)

Weight: 19 lb, 2.2 oz (only 1.4 oz heavier than 9 months) (40% ile)

Head Circumference: 18.31"

 

At her 12 month check up, the doctor was worried about her slow growth, so I had to come back in for a weight check.  She seems normal to me so I'm not worried - she's just a bit on the lean side which isn't a big deal.

 

At 15 months:

Height: 2' 5.92" (30% ile)

Wight: 20 lb 8.4 oz (40% ile)

Head Circumference: 18.5 " (83 % ile) - she's so smart!!

 

Second:  A synopsis about the Cakes

 

•  She WILL NOT drink milk!  Not at all.  I have tried multiple times a week for the past 4 months to no avail.  I have tried chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, whole, 2%, 1%, skim, mixed with water, mixed with yogurt, carnation instant breakfast, Enfamil milk substitute, Pedisure, half and half, almost everything, and she won't drink any of it.  The first time I gave her milk in a sippy, she took one sip, spit it out while sticking out her tongue and saying "blah" and threw the sippy on the floor.  If something even looks like milk, she won't even try it.  She will eat products that have milk mixed into it as long as she doesn't actually see me pouring the milk into it.   She knows what the carton looks like, and turns her head away from it every time.  What is a dairy farmer supposed to do??  Her favorite foods are yogurt and cheese - she even loves ice cream - so I'm really not sure why she won't drink milk.  Any suggestions??  Instead, she drinks a lot of diluted juice, water, lemonade, etc.. anything except milk. 
• She is allergic to peanuts.  After she broke out in hives two times after eating the smallest amount of peanut butter, I had her tested for allergies.  She was such a champ at the allergist - she didn't even cry when they pricked her with all those needles.  She whimpered a bit and looked up at me pleading for me to take the itchies away.  Sure enough she tested positive for peanuts.  No peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter candy for her.  The doctor said there is a 20 % chance she will outgrow it later, but a greater chance that she will develop more food allergies in the future.  I'm grateful that it is only peanuts she is allergic to - they really are the easiest to avoid compared to soy, wheat, milk, or egg.  However, I do have an epi pen now, and I pray that I will never have to use it.  Bruce and I still eat peanut products, we just make sure that she doesn't ingest any. 
• She has become a picky eater.  Some days she completely devours a dish, and the next day she won't touch the leftovers.  She wants to feed herself and eat with a fork or spoon.  She hands me her spoon or fork for me to put food on it; then she does the rest herself.  Clapping for herself usually follows a successful bite.  She will always eat peas.... but she will only eat them right off the table.

She will take her peas off her plate, put them on the edge of the table, eat them with her mouth, then smile and giggle at herself.  Hey, at least she eats her vegetables. 

• She loves being outside - going for walks, going to the park, playing with the rocks on our back patio.  At the beginning of August, our neighbor gave us her son's old Power Wheels.  It is one of Eliza's favorite things to ride.  Every time we pass by it in the garage, she has to get on it and ride.  I was amazed at how quickly she picked it up.  When I first put her on it, I told her to push the red button with her thumb.  I demonstrated for her one time, and then she took off on her own.  Because it is old, the steering is difficult to maneuver.  So we still have to steer her in the right direction.  This video was taken the first time she rode it (about 3.5 months ago)

She enjoys visiting Maisie on the farm.  I think this picture with the farm's newest calf is absolutely adorable. 

• She loves "helping" mom in the kitchen.  I use this term loosely because although she acts like she wants to help, she really wants to snack on whatever I am making. 

When I take her off the counter, she goes through her routine.  First, she takes all the food off the bottom two shelves of the pantry.  Next, she heads to the fridge and slides all the magnets onto the floor.  Third, she heads toward the drawers and starts pulling out dish rags, and throwing all my Ziploc bags all over the floor.  Then, she pulls out my cookie sheets and cooling racks from the oven drawer.  Finally, she throws all the plastic Tupperware all over the kitchen floor.  When she is finished "handing me dishes," she wants either hugs my legs or begs to dump ingredients into or stir the contents of the bowl.  She is a great helper - things just take two times longer.  She thinks she can do everything I do.  What a cutie!!  She also like to "help" do the dishes.  Mostly she pulls the dirty silverware out of the basket and tries to eat with them.  YUCK!!

• She loves riding in the car.  Now that it's cold, she gets so excited whenever I pull her jacket or coat out of the closet.  When she gets in her car seat, her hand immediately goes toward the snack tray - there is usually something (crackers or pretzels) left in there from days before, and she starts munching right away.  She reads books to herself, and dances like crazy to the music on the radio.  She also enjoys snuggling with teddy in the car.   

• She knows the following body parts:  head, hair, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheeks, shoulders, belly, arm, hands, fingers, elbow (yes, she knows elbow!), back, knees, feet, toes, leg, ribs, and armpit.  For some reason, she still struggles with eyes (she wants to point to her ears, then cheeks first).  Ask her where these body parts are, and she will point to them - it's the cutest thing.  She can also do all the actions to the primary song The Wise Man and the Foolish Man - she loves when we sing it in primary. 
• Her favorite things to play with are not toys, but CD cases and books.  She loves flipping through the pages.  I read about 20 books a day to her, and she reads about that many to herself. 

I absolutely love it when I find her flipping through the pages of any book, and "reading" them out loud.  Her sweet little voice makes me smile every time.  She doesn't say any real words yet, but she sure thinks she has a lot of important things to say.

I really don't mind picking up dozens of books every day because she pulls them off to read them.  I'm glad she enjoys reading as much as I do.  Lately, she will sometimes put one book away before pulling off another one, but that doesn't happen every time. 

 

Her favorite book to read is the Book of Mormon.  She will listen to dad read from the BOM for a little while every night.  But before she can go to bed, she has to read a couple of verses herself.  She will grab it out of Bruce's hands, open it up, read some verses, smile at us, look at the picture of Jesus in the front, read a few more verses, and then put the book back on the table.  She then grabs her sippy of juice, and folds her arms to wait for family prayer.  I don't think I have ever seen anything as cute as that!

  (Ignore the wild hair, she doesn't like to keep ponytails in anymore, and her hair is getting so long.)

However, she likes shooting baskets with her dad. I love that she cheers for herself!! 

• This is her favorite seat in the house.  She will sit here to eat her snacks, read her books, practice standing, or just to sit.  Before this picture was taken, she was "helping" me fold laundry.  She likes my purple shirt and decided to put it on. 

•   Although she likes to wear my clothes, she doesn't like to wear her own.  I wrestle the clothes on her every morning because like most toddlers, she doesn't like to sit still.  She often takes her shirt off, and has been known to take off her diaper if she runs away before I can get her pants on.  Last week at the grocery store, I turned around to look at her after I loaded all of my groceries on the conveyor belt, and she had her shirt half off.  I told her that not everyone wanted to see her belly, and that seemed to fix the problem until we got to the car. 

 

• Although she has been "walking" while holding our hands for 2 months now, she will not walk by herself.  She is too cautious and hesitant to venture out on her own.  Considering how she didn't start crawling until 13.5 months, I don't think she is necessarily in any hurry.  With in the past month, she has started walking around while holding the furniture.  She tries to stand up on her own, but she starts giggling so much that she can't stand for long.  She won't walk if I am only holding one hand - she has to have both in order to go anywhere.  Once she starts, she tires easily and wants to be carried.  On one hand, I don't mind that I'm not chasing her around everywhere; but on the other hand, I am getting tired of toting her everywhere.  Her problem with walking is that she is much more interested in "dancing" than she is in walking.  She usually does some kind of dance move with every step she takes.  The girl is a dancing queen.  Any sound of music or beat and she really gets her groove on.  
• She loves to play the piano.  She provides daily concerts complete with page turning and singing.  Once Bruce asked if we should sing a song for family night.  She slid off my lap, crawled into the living room and sat up at the piano to accompany us. 

•  She is so silly that she sometimes turns around and plays with her hands behind her and sometimes with the back of her head. 
  
  
  
• She is full of personality and has the funniest facial expressions.  She knows what she wants and where to find it.  Even though she doesn't say any words, she does and excellent job of letting me know what she needs and wants.  She answers most of my questions with a nod of the head - she loves nodding yes! 
• She's full of hugs, kisses, loves, and smiles.  She loves playing with her daddy, and we are both completely in love with her!! 

 

 

Leaves are falling all around

Well, actually they're not falling all around.  Hurricane Sandy pretty much whipped all the leaves off the trees in one night.  Now, they are in huge piles around the street.  But.. before the hurricane came through, Bruce and Eliza spent some time doing yard work.  First, they raked the leaves, and played in them. 

 



It was as if Bruce were a little kid again.  They walked and laughed in them. 

They made leaf angels

and threw them in the air. 

Then... they wrestled in them. 

After all the leaves were cleaned up, it was time to mow the lawn. Although she tends to slow the process down some, she sure likes to help her daddy with the yard work.  If I keep her inside, she watches longingly from the sliding door, banging on it to beg her daddy to let her help.