How do we see baby?

We've told Kate that when we go for our ultrasound she can stay at a friend's house or she can go with us to see the baby. I really didn't know which she would pick. She really likes the people that Gabby is going to be staying with. She has decided to go with us to see the baby. I've told her that she'll see pictures of the baby on a TV screen. She seemed to understand, or so I thought. Yesterday she brought it up again and said something about seeing the baby. Then she asked, "Are they going to open you up so we can see the baby?" Thank goodness no! She also keeps asking me if the baby is kicking. I think she'll really enjoy it when she can finally feel (and see) baby moving.

Learning about baby

I got Kate a couple of books about babies at the library. One is about what babies are like after they are born and how they develop (Babies: All You Need to Know). She had decided that the baby will play hide-and-seek with her, so I thought a little education would be appropriate! The other is about when baby is in utero (Before You Were Born). She is fascinated with it. She asks about what the baby is doing all day long now! I told her as baby grows larger I’ll be able to tell her more, but for now I only get a few kicks a day, not like it will be later when we can figure out where different body parts are and when baby is doing flips. I’m so glad that she’s excited about the new addition. It makes the transition easier, knowing she’s happy about it.

Plus it gives us some great Kate-isms:

"Is there a rubber ducky in there?" (The book gives the example that it's like a bathtub.)

"Baby, what are you eating? You don't understand that do you?"

Patting me on the back, "I'm patting the baby on the back too."

Baby on Board

As a pregnant woman, you go through a phase where everyone looks at you and wonders, “Is she just getting rounder?” People try to decide if there’s a possibility that there’s a baby and total strangers wonder if it’s just left over baby weight from your 18 month old. And, of course, no one dares to ask for fear that you just happen to carry extra weight around your midsection.

Today was the first time in this pregnancy a total stranger looked at me and without a doubt knew I was pregnant. She was commenting on our little girls being so cute and then she looked at me and said, “Oh, and mom has another on the way!” It’s kind of fun to have your pregnancy be recognizable as a baby and not just too much time with the pastries.

Alarm

I’m a schedule person. I shop on a certain day of the week. I make a menu. I rise at the same time each day. We eat dinner at the table at five in the evening every night. If Justin is more than twenty minutes late getting home from work, I call to see when he’ll be home, so I know how to plan the time until he gets here.

That of course all gets tossed when there is a new baby. You’re up whenever they decide. You feed them if their hungry, even if they just ate an hour ago, because they are going through a growth spurt. You dance your way through the night just so the rest of the household can sleep.

Gabby didn’t sleep through the night until she was eight months old, but now she never requires any one at night, unlike her big sister who will nearly run you ragged some nights. But one flaw with Gabby’s sleep is that she started getting up earlier and earlier. This made getting myself ready before she rose difficult. I never knew when she would wake. Six o’clock? Seven forty-five? Somewhere between? I never knew.

I started setting a time and I wouldn’t go get her before that, but I felt that she couldn’t possibly know that it was a set time. It must have felt random. Some days she’d been awake for thirty minutes and others I came at the first wimper.

We had this trouble with Kate about 18 months ago and a friend suggested an alarm clock. I though it was crazy, but nothing else worked and she was getting up at 5:15! I started with the alarm set at a couple minutes before she woke up, moving it by five minutes or so a day until now Kate gets up at 7:45! Lovely. Plenty of time for me to start my day.

Gabby is younger and doesn’t get it as well as Kate did, but she’s started to figure it out. While she may cry when she wakes, she usually settles back down because she’s learning no matter how loud she yells I’m not going to get her until the alarm goes “beep-beep,” as she says. Now she doesn’t yell at all most days and when she does its short lived. Now she’s even sleeping later. I also let her get up earlier, but it gives me long enough to get a shower and be dressed before I’m responsible for another person.

Not Me

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


I didn't feed my family pizza twice in one week because my husband picked up pizza for Mother's day so I didn't have to cook and the food I put in to the fridge to thaw wasn't defrosted in time. Not me! I would always keep a healthy back up. Right?

I didn't leave a set of three pairs of baby socks to be rained on at a friends house because I thought I'd be sneaky. I left them on the doorstep and called later to be sure they would be found, but they were of course NOT out of the house when we had a horrible rain storm. Not me!

I didn't laugh inside when our minister suggested as an example that we should make children replace flowers they destroyed as punishment, knowing that for Kate that would be a reward (from the shopping to the planting!). I guess I better keep her away from my flowers.

Mother's Day

I spent quite a few years not liking this holiday at all. I would skip church because I hated not being among the mothers. It was very difficult, but now I’ve been blessed with three children.

My husband gave me Friday afternoon off. I went out all by myself (well, baby was with me but he/she isn't getting into any trouble yet other than making me nauseous). No one to carry, no car seats to buckle and unbuckle, no restocking the shelves as we pass by because curious hands pulled items off as we walked past. It was quiet. What a great Mother’s Day present.

I love my girls with all my heart, but every now and then a couple of hours off is quite a joy. But I wouldn’t trade them for all the world.

Happy Mother’s day to my Mama and the other mothers out there. And those who are waiting, I pray you’re holding your baby next Mother’s Day!

A Trip to the Zoo

We took the girls to the zoo yesterday





It was a nice trip. We spent about four hours walking around the grounds and looking at the animals. We had perfect weather, warm but not hot and a gentle breeze.






Gabby wasn't very interested in most of the animals, but she liked the walk.





The first exhibit we saw were the elephants. Kate thought she'd like to get a lift.





Gabby's favorite the Tropics house. She liked the otters shaking off when they got out of the water.






Kate said the tiger (who was sleeping in a hollowed out log) was her favorite.

Telling Kate

If you really want someone to get excited about a new baby, tell my three year old!

We told Kate about her new sibling tonight. We had really planned to wait a few more weeks, but with each passing day we were becoming more concerned that someone else would slip, and we both really wanted to enjoy her reaction.

I asked her about two of our friends who are expecting babies and then I asked her, what do you want to have at our house (she’s always asking for a brother or sister)? She answered enthusiastically, “ICE CREAM!”

Backfire.

So I tried the more direct method. I told her we were going to have a new baby. She has decided if it’s a boy his name will be John and if it’s a girl she wanted to name her Kate. She switched to Kaitlyn when we said that would be too confusing and then eventually to just Lynn. Those aren’t even on our list as possibilities…

When I asked if she thought it was a boy or a girl, she decreed we would be having another girl. Kate is ecstatic (she did also get her ice cream, by the way), and Gabby keeps walking around saying, “baby.”

My Kitchen

This is my kitchen. We spend a good bit of time there everyday, preparing meals and doing any art activities or writing.

We have lots of natural light, which is nice. The window over the sink looks into the back yard, so sometimes Kate can play outside while I work on dinner and keep an eye on her.

This is our dinner table. We eat all of our meals here. We're going to have to get some more chairs though--when baby joins us at the table, he or she will need a place to sit!

The curio cabinet on the left belonged to my mom's mother. It fits quite well there. The girls like to spy themselves in the mirror.

This china cabinet was my parents. I was able to get it when my dad built in cabinets in their dinning room.

This is Kate in her kitchen--she thought it was quite important that it be included.

This is the girls play table. It sits in the kitchen too.