37 Weeks & Counting

I feel huge!  I am unbelievably sore and my pelvis feels like it’s about to fall off or split in two.  The searing pains in my stomach are still coming and going and now I have pelvic pain, heartburn, and backache to accompany it.  The baby has dropped and is very, very low.  At my 35 week appointment I was 2 cm dilated.  On Tuesday I go back to the doctors for my next check up.  I am hoping that I am more dilated and progress is being made.  I have been having false labor contractions for well over a month now so I hope the pain hasn’t been complete waste.  My 38 week appointment will be December 27^th and my doctor has agreed to “strip my membranes” to try to help things along a little bit.  Here’s hoping this baby comes out early!  I would love extra time off from daycare and the tax break!

Week 36 Sonogram

Autumn was excited to go to the sonogram with us and see the pictures of her baby brother.  She actually thought they were taking the baby out so they could get a picture!  The sonogram went well and we got a weight estimate of 5 pounds 2 ounces.  The baby that was once 2 weeks large is now 2 weeks small.  The sonogram technician printed out a duplicate picture for autumn to have for herself.  That made autumn very happy.  She carried is around a bunch at first and showed it to everyone.

Oh Autumn…

Her new sayings:

 “you said it sister”

“What’s the big idea?”

“Do I look happy?” –while pointing to her face!

Her new “princess” bed came in the other day.  It’s all set up in her room but the right mattress we ordered hasn’t come in yet so a temp from the furniture store is sitting on her bed with plastic wrap on it.  Autumn declared that the delivery people forgot her pillows and blankets and that she cannot sleep on the big bed until she has them.  She also has stated that the bed is for when she gets “really bigger” and that right now she likes sleeping in bed with rails (her crib).

Mall Santa

We went shopping during the weekend after thanksgiving to find the St. Lawrence Centre Mall had Santa Claus set up in the middle of the mall for kids to have their pictures taken.  When we walked by Santa smiled and waved at Autumn.  What did she do?  She slapped her hand over her face, tipped her head in the air and said “oh my gosh!”  Santa laughed.  She wouldn’t look at him and yet when we entered the next store she wanted to go back and see him again.  We walked by several more times … she didn’t cover her face again but she wouldn’t say hi either.  She was just to intent on staring at him and trying to figure out why Santa was at the mall!

Random Thoughts

Autumn’s new word… “expect.”  At meal times I tell her I expect her to at least take one bite of everything, she has to at least try each food served.  Well, last night, she broke out the “expect” word on daddy… demanding him to eat the play food she had made him.  She doesn’t miss a thing!

has a new playmate at daycare… a 2.5 year old little girl who is also named Autumn.  They play great together and it’s really nice for Autumn to have a girl her own age to hang out with.

Autumn is very excited about the new baby coming.  She keeps telling me to let him come out and she will get blankets for him and help change him and hold his bottles.  (haha).  I’m sure it will change once he is out and gets a bit bigger and will be stealing her toys.  (She defiantly gets aggravated with the 1 year old boy in daycare right now for that reason).

Last time we went shopping she kept trying to buy everything in the store for her new baby brother.  It was incredibly cute!  She made her way to the baby section in JCPenney and kept pulling out boy outfits, blankets, toys, and shoes… saying she “has to buy these for her new baby brother to keep him warm.”

31 Weeks & Counting

My last doctor’s appointment was on Monday, November 7^th.  I am 31 weeks along now.  This appointment included my RH shot I couldn’t get last time and results from my glucose screening (congrats… I’m not diabetic).  Dr. Joseph took belly measurements and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.  I also found out that these horrible menstrual type cramps I’ve been having are actually Braxton Hicks contractions. 

Since my last appointment I only gained 1 pound (thank god the weight gain slowed or I’d be a whale by the time this baby makes his appearance).  He has also figured out to lodge his bony foot right under my right ribcage.  It’s not very comfortable and there doesn’t seem to be much I can do to convince him to move.  Hopefully he’ll make his debut a bit early and give me a break from all this heartburn, cramping, kicks, and overall discomfort.

Weird Bathroom Routine

Lately when Autumn goes poop on the potty and uses a wet wipe to get cleaned up she still feels wet afterwards.  Unless we change her pants and underwear she insists she still feels “wet”.  One day after wiping up after using the potty Autumn was having a meltdown insisting she was wet while the other daycare children we’re starting a commotion in the other room.  In a hurry I blew some air on her bum, told her she was fine, and left the bathroom. 

To my amazement she agreed, pulled up her pants and went on her way.  Now, every time she goes poop on the potty and uses a wet wipe to clean up she insists that someone blow on her bum to dry it off.  It has become yet another hysterical quirk that Autumn insists on and will be completely embarrassed about later on in life.

28 Weeks & Counting

We went for another ultrasound today so the doctor could get some better pictures of the baby’s spine and monitor his growth.  We found out he has flipped and is no longer breech and his spine is up (ready for labor).  I think this baby is confused about how long he has left in there (almost 12 more weeks)! 

He is kicking me like crazy lately and as soon as I try to rest he goes nuts.  We are definitely on different schedules.  Autumn is getting better about going to the hospital now since she has been so many times with us and hasn’t had her own appointment again in awhile.  Juggling her 3 year appointment with new baby appointments will be fun in January.

The little man is nothing like autumn.  She was small and quiet (at least in the womb).  This little man doesn’t stop moving and he’s much larger in size than my little princess.  The baby is currently measuring half a week large and weighing a whole week large!  Not looking forward to labor!

Dinner Time

Lately it’s been a real struggle at the dinner table with autumn.  She has always been kind of difficult but recently she has started driving mom and dad nuts.  At least we used to get one easy meal a day, breakfast.  But now... she won’t even eat that without complaining and trying to negotiate.  It’s getting very frustrating.

Columbus Day Weekend

This weekend was long... and not because of the extra day involved.  We spent all day Saturday and Sunday installing new windows in the downstairs of the house.  Monday we went to the dentist with Mike for a cleaning and then spent the evening cleaning the house and Mike had to finish the last window casing in the kitchen.

On Saturday Autumn went with "grandma greenhouse" to Mcdonald's and then to 2 different parks in Massena.  Uncle Wayne met up with them and played on the playground with Autumn.  Then Autumn went back to Bombay for a bit and then met up with mommy and daddy at Pizza Hut with grandma for dinner.

On Sunday Autumn went to "grandma tractor's" for the day.  She spent the day playing with cousin Liam and picking pumpkins with Aunt Jackie. Mommy and daddy drove up to Bombay at the end of the day and had order out pizza with grandma and grandpa for dinner.

Awwww......

Autumn looked at a wedding photo in the den and said "aww, mommy, look!  you and daddy are so cute!  You love each other... awww...."

Home Renovations (still going…)

The garage doors have been installed now and look great.  The upstairs windows and bathroom windows have been replaced with new energy efficient ones.   The playground has been completed, and the chimney has been repaired.  The wood stove has also been temporarily removed and the stone floor under it has been replaced and brought up to “code.”  The baby’s room has been painted and molding has been installed.  I do need to finish painting the closet in the baby’s room though.  We have also gotten about 1/4 of the metal roof primed and ready for paint.  We are moving through our to-do list with good speed.  Let’s just hope we can finish everything we wanted to before the cold weather hits and the new baby arrives.  Everything will be much harder with an infant.  We have also added new windows for the downstairs to the to-do list.  They have been ordered and will be installed when they arrive.

Week 25 & Counting

This week’s doctor’s appointment went well.  The doctor is happy with my weight gain, even if I’m not.  I have gained 9.5 pounds so far this pregnancy.  The baby is kicking all day, it seems like he never sleeps.  The next appointment had been made for October 24^th and will include my glucose screening test for gestational diabetes.  Also, a week before that I have to return for another sonogram because it seems that the last time I had one done (at about 20 weeks) they couldn’t get good spinal pictures because the baby was moving too much.  102 days to go!

Monster Daddy

Fighting with Autumn to eat her meals has become an everyday thing, as well as an every meal thing.  It’s getting awfully frustrating.  The other night she had some Diego toys at the table with her (in a last ditch attempt to get her to eat) and daddy had to pretend to be a monster trying to eat her toys to get her to eat in order to “save” the animals and Diego.  I hope this doesn’t turn into something we have to do every night.  Even with the game it took almost 45 minutes for dinner….  

Halloween Costume

Autumn is excited about being a princess for Halloween.  I ordered her the "Belle" costume from Disney and it's beautiful.  She was all ready to try it on but the dress is covered in sparkles and i'm not ready for the mess yet.  Grandma "greenhouse" took the dress home a few nights later to try to find matching material to sew a small handbag for autumn to use as a candy bag.  I really don;t know why they don't sell a matching handbag for little girls.  I think it would ruin the costume if she was walking around with a pillow case!

I have to send the little shoes back for an exchange.  Even though we ordered the size she currently wears there is no way those shoes were even coming close to fitting on her foot.  Last year she wore a size 5 shoe so we got the size 5/6 Minnie Mouse shoe for her costume.  They were never worn because they were so large.  Now the poor girl wears a size 6 shoe and again i ordered the size 5/6 and now its way, way to small!

Best Friends

Tonight Autumn declared that she was Mommy's best friend and that she loves her mommy!  I will have to remember this when shes a teenager yelling at me that I ruined her life!

Little Boss

Autumn has to make sure she tells daddy all about our day when he gets home or during dinner.  She doesn't just tell what she did but what the other kids did and if they got in trouble.  She is the little reporter...  telling us over and over again.  She also tells kids to stop things when she thinks their being bad and tells me to spank them or to send them to time out.

Christmas in August!

Autumn stumbled upon some Christmas toys I had set up in the spare room for Daddy to look at.  What could we say.. no... these toys are for a few months from now?  She was so excited!!  They were a Diego tree-house and rescue center and Dinosaur mountain along with a bunch of extra Diego toys and vehicles.  She jumped up and down shouting about how much she loved them. Mommy and Daddy got lots of hugs and kisses in return for the toys.  Seeing her joy was worth hunting down new Christmas toys.

21 Weeks and Counting!!!

Today I have another routine check up with Dr. Joseph.  Its a long drive but does give me some quiet time every 3-4 weeks.  The baby must be getting big because I can feel him moving around in there all the time.  I don't think this boy sleeps!
We had our 20 week sonogram last week and obviously found out we're having a little man.  The baby measured right on target for the age... nothing like Autumn who weighed 2 weeks small the entire pregnancy!  I guess that's the difference between having a girl and having a boy.  Autumn is so petite and cute and I am worried about how large this man is going to be upon his entrance into the world...

Potty Training

I am crossing my fingers while I type this but I think potty training is complete!!  Autumn hasn't had an accident in 3 weeks!  She goes potty completely by herself and only shouts for helping wiping after she goes poop.  Its so great to be able to go out and do things and not worry about changing diapers in public or if we forgot the diaper bag.  The worst thing now is if we forget the drink and have to pay $2 for one while we're out shopping!

Water Safari (8/15-8/16)

During the week long vacation from daycare Mike also took a week off from work and we went on our first over night family vacation (it might have been one night but it felt like we were gone awhile).  We stayed in the hotel across the road from the water park (water's edge inn).
The first day was kind of a bust because it was so cold and raining, Autumn didn't even want to go in the water and she shivered the whole time.  When we returned to the hotel we went swimming in the indoor heated pool at the hotel and Autumn loved that.  She called it "the big warm bath."
The second day was great.  Autumn couldn't get enough of the water park.  She went down one slide continuously for about 30 minutes.  She really didn't want to leave at the end of the day and keeps asking to go back to the water park.  We even went shopping around town (old forge) in the early morning before it warmed up to buy everyone souvenirs.  Next year when she's a bit bigger and can go on more rides I bet she will love it even more!

Playground

The playground was finished this week and looks awesome.  Autumn LOVES it.  The great thing about having a small playground in our backyard is that I don't have to drive downtown after a long day with daycare.  the bad thing... after a long day at daycare I have to go out and push the swing non-stop.

Orange!!!

Everything has to be orange right now.  orange clothes, toys, plates, cups, bowls... everything.  We even bought an orange bathing suit because we thought it would persuade her to keep it on during pool time.  Hopefully it will stay on during a coming trip to water safari.

Naked

Right now we're having trouble keeping clothes on Autumn.  After each potty trip she strips her panties and pants and insists on new ones.  When she swims she insists on stripping naked.  She doesn't think any clothes should get wet, including her swimsuit.  Its making for an interesting summer...

Bean Picking

While picking beans with autumn I asked her to go ask Daddy to get me another bowl since the one I was using was filling up.  Autumn's response... " of course I can ask daddy for a bowl, but I need to pick more beans first!"  Too funny!

Autumn's Fear of Doctors (7/14/11)

Autumn is deathly afraid to go to the doctors lately.  It must be all of the shots they give babies.  She cries the minute the nurse puts us in the small exam room and closes the door.  She doesn't stop screaming until we are leaving.  It makes it hard to discuss much with the doctor.  We recently purchased a baby alive doctor doll for autumn in the hopes that it will get her used to the idea of a doctor and make the appointments less traumatic.  She hasn't received it yet... waiting for a special occasion!

Doctor's Appointment (7/26/11)

This afternoon I had a doctor's appointment for my fourth month of pregnancy.  16 weeks and counting.  Everything has been going well lately, which is nice after the early scare with bleeding at week 12.  I got the paperwork for my next ultrasound today too, just have to call and schedule it in Potsdam.  We'll be able to find out the baby's sex if we want to in about 3 weeks!

Home Renovations (2011)

Currently we are using the Daycare income to complete home renovations that we have been meaning to do since we moved in.  Since January we have put new carpet in all of the rooms upstairs, renovated the downstairs bath and upstairs bath, added molding to Autumn's room along with wall decor, ripped out and replaced the side porch, front porch, and main entrance, purchased supplies to build a large playground along with rubber chips, purchased garage doors, and paved the driveway.

Still on the list: install garage doors, order and install new windows for the upstairs rooms and downstairs bath, paint the metal roof, repair the chimney, prepare the spare room for the new baby, and build the playground.

Diego (July 2011)

Autumn's newest obsession is Diego.  All she wants to read are her Diego books, all she wants to watch is the Diego cartoon, and we had to buy Diego underpants.  She even has a little toy Diego she carries around everywhere.  If this keeps up I will be making a Diego cake for her third birthday!

Little Hands (7/26/11)

Autumns newest saying is "I have little hands, not big hands...see?"  She gets her own cereal out of the cupboard each morning and also gets mommies' cereal out.  When Dad asked why she didn't get his out too, she replied that she has "little Hands."  Her favorite cereal is Raisin Bran... of all things.

When reaching for her puzzles, that are on the top toy shelf in the living room she states, "I can't reach, I have little arms, not big arms...see?"

Watertown Zoo (7/22/11)

Today we went to the Watertown Zoo with Grandma Masuk.  Autumn had a great time even though there weren't a lot of exotic animals.  We saw goats. llamas, pigs, turkeys, chickens, birds, elk, wolverines, wolves, and owls.  After we left the zoo we took Autumn to the playground and then went to the mall for some shopping and lunch.

Potty training is still a work in progress but there were no accidents during our trip.