Thanksgiving 2009

I'm thankful for
- my wonderful husband. He is truly my partner in life, parenting, household work, and everything. He's always been supportive of the things I want or need. He's my best friend and he makes me laugh. He even thinks I'm funny. He's a better husband and dad than I could have imagined. No, he's not perfect, but he's definitely the only person for me.

- my sweet, smart little girls. Yes, they sometimes give me fits. But Ella is so sweet and empathetic. She's smart and can build towers and buildings better than any kid I've seen. She loves books and sings first thing in the morning. Mia is expressive and full of energy. She's empathetic too and gets so concerned if anyone is upset. She's a ham and loves to throw her fists in the air and exclaim, "I did it!" She loves books too and loves to color. They're both pretty cooperative and well-mannered too.

- our new little girl on the way. She's active and healthy. She's measuring exactly on her dates too. And I'm thankful to be halfway there! But I have to say that a few friends due around the same time I am haven't received the same good news at their ultrasounds. One may have a birth defect and another may not be growing as well as she should. Another found out one baby is healthy, but there was a twin that didn't make it. I've been praying for them and it's served as yet another reminder of how blessed we are - we're very fertile, have not suffered a loss or had any complications, and have two very healthy little girls and another on the way. By the way, we discovered that Nora was my great-grandmother's name. She always went by her middle name, Alice. While we didn't plan Nora to be a tribute to Mom's side of the family, she has her name from that side (her middle name was my paternal great-grandmother's name) and will most likely be induced on my grandfather's birthday. As Grandma is getting older, I'm happy to have these little connections to her family.

- our extended families are (mostly) healthy. There's been a bit of the flu going around (regular, not H1N1) but no one is actually sick. Almost everyone has a job, and everyone at least has some money coming in to support their family. Everyone has a place to live, a vehicle, clothes to wear, and food to eat. And we're even fortunate enough to see most of them for the holidays (Annie and Thomas, we miss you and are thinking of you). In my opinion, spending the holidays with family is what makes the holidays so special.

- materially, we're blessed. We have a house that is fully furnished. Most of our things are not new but they're in good shape. We have clothes, plenty of clothes. Same situation with toys and books. To the point I'm not even sure what I want for Christmas! I don't have any unmet needs and can barely come up with things I want. We have two reliable cars and we have carseats for the girls (including an infant carrier for Nora when she comes). Steve has a good job and we have health insurance. I have a good part-time job that gives us just a little extra money.

- we have good friends. Some of them are links to who we used to be and always there when we need them. Others are newer friends, who also have families and understand that part of our lives a bit better. Some fall into both categories. They're near and far and we're thankful for them and their friendship. Life isn't about stuff, it's about the people.

I know it's common for people to run down the list of things they are thankful for this time of year. Please understand today is not the only day I am thankful for these people, these things, all these wonderful blessings. Today is a good reminder to be thankful though. I'm watching the Macy's parade while Ella builds with Lincoln Logs (a wonderful birthday present) and Mia "helps" Steve make French toast in the kitchen. Later we have the big Scott dinner and we'll go to Mom and Dad's in Grand Rapids Friday night. Life is simple and I like it this way.

Ella is 3!

Three years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital room. The day before, I had given birth to Ella after being in labor overnight. She was beautiful. And I so glad I wasn't pregnant anymore! But our lives changed a lot that day. Here's a picture of her, less than a day old. Wasn't she tiny?


Here she is on her first birthday. She wasn't too sure about the cake.


Her second birthday, reading her new book with Daddy. By the way, the bottle was Amelia's.


And here she is yesterday, blowing our her candles. Where has the time gone?


She's grown up so much in the past 3 years. She can hold conversations now and sometimes tells jokes (knock knock ones - they don't make sense but she tries). She's empathetic and so smart. She's stubborn too. She asks us a lot if we're happy. We can answer her honestly that we are. Here's another picture. Even in footie pajamas, she looks like a little girl now, not at all like an infant and less like a toddler.


Time keeps moving forward. By this time next year, we'll have three little girls. Mia will be 2.5 and Nora will already be 7 months old. Crazy, isn't it? They grow so fast, but we're so proud of the little people they're becoming. Hard to believe it's already been three years and hard to believe we've only had her for three years. Happy birthday Ella!

Good news and lots of it

- First, the ultrasound was yesterday. The baby is measuring exactly where it should be and is perfectly healthy. Baby also cooperated and posed for us, which was wonderful. And it's a girl! So our third and final baby will be Nora Ann.

- In the past week, I've reconnected with lots of friends I haven't talked to in a while. This is wonderful and involved lots of wonderful news. Jenny and Nate even came over for lunch yesterday. Sad to say, it's been over a year since that's happened. We had a great time and plan to do it more often.

- There was some news at work that was almost bad and would have resulted in a lay-off for me on December 1. Luckily, that's been fixed (we're talking Federal level Medicaid, not any sort of problem with me personally) and my job is safe. That was a huge relief, especially since the day the bad news broke, we also found out Steve has still been receiving his shift differential. So he's been paid extra for almost a year. They can't backdate it and ask for money back since it was their mistake, but his checks will be about $120 less per month. So we're very thankful my PT job is safe.

- Mia slept all night in her toddler bed last night! Nap time isn't looking so promising at the moment, but one full night is great.

- Ella is showing more interest in potty training. She'll sit bare-butted on the potty now, whereas before it was in full diaper and pants. She doesn't sit long enough for anything to happen, but it's another step in the right direction. Mia refuses to try now, but I'd rather have one fully potty trained than both half trained.

- Ella's birthday is Thursday and her party is Saturday. She's very excited to blow out candles. I'm looking forward to family and birthdays. She and Mia don't know it yet, but they have new toys and books to look forward to.

- It's small, but I get leftover Chinese for lunch today - yum! And I have a show to watch on the DVR. It's a good day and a good week.

Christmas is coming!!!

I'm excited, can you tell? Today I bought Ella boots. We have boots in sizes 5, 6, and 7. Ella needed 8s. We also have three pairs of 3T snow pants (not sure how that happened, but anyone need a pair?). I bought myself a winter coat (a big puffy, XL coat to accommodate the growing belly) and a festive Christmas mug. The Christmas decorations are up along Michigan Ave and lit already. Steve started A Very Monkey Christmas (Curious George) for the girls tonight. And the girls found a box of Christmas stuff I found after sorting through boxes of things from my old bedroom. There are ornaments, tins, some stuffed animals, a Santa soap dispenser, a string of garland, and a jingle bell necklace. Ella is wearing the jingle bell necklace and Mia unrolled the garland and dragged it around the house, leaving a trail of silver behind her. It makes the house look all Christmasy. I'll hold off until after Thanksgiving to break out the tree and the rest of the decorations and music.

I just realized that I never changed the profile pic from last Christmas either. Huh. Guess I should update that soon...with a new Christmas pic! :D

Happy news

I have had two good nights of sleep. Mia learned more of the words to "You Are My Sunshine." I had a great phone conversation with my good friend and fellow mommy Liz. I'm rereading Anne of Green Gables (I read the series through for the second time while pregnant with Ella). Ella's forehead is healing well (she tripped and smacked it on the front door on Sunday, leaving a scrape, bruise, and nice goose egg). An issue with our WIC card was resolved with minimal frustration. Ella's Gloworm is recovering from surgery ;) (the batteries were dying and needed to be replaced). Baby #3 keeps kicking. And I'm in a good mood today. :)

Insomnia

Last night was a bad night. Apparently, when pregnant, a salad for dinner followed by a large latte is a bad idea. Not enough food followed by caffeine. And I did have a bowl of cereal later, but it wasn't enough substantial food. As a result I had a horrible stomach ache. I even thought I may get sick. I didn't. But I felt pretty miserable and curled up on the couch for a while being heading to bed. I fell asleep around 11:30pm.

Another reason a latte in the evening is bad when pregnant: it's a diuretic. I woke up around 1am and had to use the bathroom. Then I couldn't get back to sleep because of my growling stomach. So I got up and ate some poptarts. I tried to go back to bed around 2am. Didn't work. I was wide awake. And then my mind started wandering. I'm a bit frustrated by a friend who, despite repeated voicemails, Facebook messages, and wall posts on my part, has yet to even acknowledge I am still alive, let alone pregnant again. So from there I got upset, which made it even harder to clear my mind and get back to sleep. I touched Steve's shoulder and it woke him up. I didn't mean to wake him up, but sometimes just touching his arm can make me feel a little bit better. He was not happy I woke him up (who would be? by then it was almost 3). So I came back downstairs, crying because I'm hormonal and was exhausted but not tired. I watched some tv and decided not to go back upstairs because it would wake him up and he needed his sleep. My stomach was a bit upset again. By the time that passed, I was starving again so I had another bowl of cereal. Which upset my stomach. I finally went back upstairs around 6, because I knew he'd be getting up for work soon anyhow. Climbing into bed woke him up. He asked if he could help me with anything and I broke down and cried again. Sobbed for the next hour. Over everything. My frustration with my friend, being sick 90% of the time, being emotional, being tired but not able to sleep, my worry that people will be disappointed if this is another girl, and a whole slew of other things. Steve offered to stay home with me again today so I could sleep in. Very sweet of him, but I didn't want him to use up too much of his sick time this close together. So at 7am, after 1.5 hours of sleep and 6 hours of sleeplessness, Steve got up for work and I finally fell asleep.

As predicted, the girls were awake and shrieking with giggles by 8:15. I dozed a bit and got up with them at 8:45. I got a grand total of 3 hours of sleep last night. I was scheduled to work for 6 hours tonight. Since I got half that much sleep, I didn't think that was wise. So I called in and will take a nap when the girls do today.

Physically, my pregnancies are not especially difficult, other than my pelvis separating a few months early. Emotionally, my pregnancies are very difficult. I am very blessed that I don't have physical difficulties but I am not looking forward to five more months of this. And I'm not sad in the least that this will be the last time I experience this. The bright spot is increasing kicks and I'm hoping Steve can feel one soon. (There was a hard one I felt with my hand at 1:30 this morning, but I didn't think he'd appreciate me waking him up for that. Good thing too, the baby didn't kick again that hard.) And the ultrasound. Knowing more about the little person growing in me helps. With the holidays, the next couple months should go by fairly quickly. And then I'm down to about 10 weeks, 9 if the doctor induces early. I'm 17 weeks today so only 23 more to go. I hope I can sleep better. At least I know to avoid lattes now.

Best husband ever

Steve is not perfect. No man (or woman) is. But he is wonderful. He isn't always patient with me when I'm pregnant (this is when I am most difficult), but he tries to be and apologizes when he isn't. If I'm craving something, he'll get it for me (although I've never asked him to run to the store in the middle of the night). He's great with the girls and tries to remember to tell me every day that I'm beautiful (I don't feel very attractive when I'm pregnant). He gives me alone time or workout time when I need it. When I need some girl time, he understands. He's supportive and loving. He does a lot around the house. I try to reciprocate.

Today Steve overslept and ended up calling into work. Since he was home, he got some stuff done around the house. He did the dishes and other bits of housework. He played with the girls. He fed them lunch, changed diapers, and we put them down for naps. We spent some time together before I headed to work. I got home to find he fed them dinner and cleaned everything up, had the girls entertained, and had even given them baths. He even saved me the last chocolate chip cookie. Is he great or what? :)

Halloween!

The girls love to dress up. So I was pretty excited to dress them in costumes for Halloween and take them trick-or-treating or something. Steve wasn't sold on the idea. He said they wouldn't get it so why bother? But they LOVE to dress up! So we kind of compromised. I would do the costumes and take them. I figured if I took the girls to trunk or treat in Spring Arbor, Leslie could meet me because I didn't think the logistics of pregnant me alone with two toddlers would work well. She enthusiastically agreed. Perfect.

Kat gave us an Arabian princess costume that was just a bit small for Regan last year that we thought would fit Ella. Since Steve wasn't big on the idea of a costume anyhow, I decided I wouldn't buy anything and Mia could wear her pink sweatsuit with a pair of bunny ears we have. Simple and easy.

Last week I realized Mom and Dad would be visiting during trunk or treat so I decided to ask Mom if she wanted to join us. She did. Tracy heard about our plans and decided that they should come join the fun, since Donovan isn't big on Halloween either. Perfect, we would have four adults and four kids.

So we all gathered at our house for dinner (sub sandwiches) and then dressed the girls. By the way, the watermelon isn't part of Mia's costume and the plush cell phone isn't part of Ella's. They raided Haylie's carseat and took her toys.


Chloe was a ladybug and Haylie was a flower. They were warm enough in their costumes. We took off Ella's head piece and Mia's ears (which she refused to keep on her head anyhow) and bundled them in their coats, hats, and mittens. So Mia wasn't really in costume anymore and Ella's was mostly hidden. But Ella was very excited to "go to a costume party" at "the castle." Mom rode with us and Leslie rode with Tracy. All the guys stayed at our house and watched a movie.

We got there for about the last 20 minutes of it. Most of the kids had already made their rounds and left so we got through quickly. We started out with just Ella walking. Mom was carrying Mia, Leslie was carrying Chloe, and Tracy was carrying Haylie (of course, she is only 4 mos). This was the first trunk.


Then Chloe decided to walk too. She and Ella held hands. Shortly after, Mia decided to walk too. She was so adorable and concentrating very hard on walking.


They did great walking. Ella kinda lead Chloe around and Mia and Mom followed us. Tracy moved around us taking lots of pictures (most of these are from her camera - thank you!). Then we saw the ponies. Once Ella spotted them, she bee-lined for them. It looked like they were closing down since it was almost 8pm. The man asked if anyone wanted to ride so I asked Ella and she lit up. I walked with them and she kept saying, "Mommy, I'm riding a horse!" At the end she wanted to ride all the other horses too. I had to tell her that they were going to bed soon.

While Ella was riding the horse, Mia was very concerned. She's afraid of most animals (or at least not fond of them) and kept saying, "Ella, come back!" I guess she was very relieved when Ella was safely back on the ground.


After riding the horse, Ella didn't want to hold Chloe's hand anymore, so Mia held hands with her. Those two are like two peas in a pod. They have similar coloring with reddish hair. They have similar temperaments. And they can make each other giggle. They were shrieking and giggling while they walked. The man handing out glowsticks thought it was so cute that he gave each of the girls more glowsticks. We ended up with two each.


Then it was 8pm and people started packing up and leaving. It was perfect for small kids. Some candy, extra attractions (Ella was so excited to tell Daddy about her pony ride), and a short distance to walk. We walked back to the cars and stopped for cappuccino on the way home. Short and sweet and so much fun! And because they're so cute and escaped being in most of the other pictures, here's Tracy and Haylie. Doesn't Haylie look like her mommy?


Tracy thinks we should do this again next year. I agreed, but we'll be outnumbered, unless one of the guys wants to come. I jokingly told Tracy that we could have six by next year. She didn't think so, lol. Hope you had a great Halloween too!