Big Girl

Lucy is 3 years old.

It is blowing my mind. She is such a big girl. Although, she is just a baby in my heart...the young lady that she is becoming is keeping me on my toes!

She likes clothes, shoes, bows, nail polish, makeup, lip stick, jewelry, sparkles, coats, scarves, fixing hair, and above all the color pink! She is a girly girl to the core.

Yes. She is still a kid though and plays in the dirt, in her cavatini, and lays on the floor.

But, she is looking at her Highlights magazine! She also looks through our mail, clothing catalogs, and my gossip magazines. Oh, and forgive my uncleaned floors...

She tries to stay little, like her sister. But, the poor thing is just getting too big. She is thinning out too; her little baby fat is disappearing...

She is playing with "big girl" toys too. She has a ton of Barbies and accessories now! I have even let her play with the Barbie shoes and small purses. 

Now, instead of the continuous moping around about my first baby growing into a little girl. Let's celebrate her achievements.

Lucy Milestones:

• She is using the potty all the time now.
• She is even waking up in the middle of the night to have us take her potty, with no wet morning pull-ups.
• She ate her entire soft taco the other night! Yes. This is worth celebrating. The only thing that she really goes to town on is canned Spaghettios. Yuck.
• She can and will paint your toenails. Just ask Heath.
• She has memorized two prayers.
• And, she has become the best big sister ever! She is always helping Olive and trying soothe her when she is upset. I have never seen such love! My heart melts. Related post to come later.
• She does the Goof-bot (the robot dance Goofy does on Mickey Mouse club house). 
• She can spell 'Lucy' and 'Mickey Mouse.' 
• She can even write her name, if she is looking at an example.

I just don't know what I'll do when she starts preschool next fall. Bah!  

35 Week Update

I thought that I should probably get this out ASAP, since I am again behind on the update.

Poor Heath. I am a beast in comparison to him! Can you say Jack Sprat?

How far along?
I am 36 weeks. So, a 35 week update was overdue! I can officially be called "9 months" pregnant. I have 28 days until her due date and 7 days before she is considered full-term.

Baby is the size of a...
According to BabyCenter.com, she is approximately the size of a honeydew. She would be about 18.5 inches and 6-ish pounds.

Clarification:
Yes - this is a new section. See, I need to clarify both of the above answers based on new information from my doctor's visit last week. First of all, my amniotic fluid levels are normal. Whew! Heath and I must have been wrong about seeing the measurements....or, were we?

You see, Olive is big. I mean really big. So, I have come to the conclusion that the measurements we were seeing were of her! Dr. B said that she measured in the 90th percentile overall. Her abdomen measured in the 97th percentile! She said that a large abdomen like that indicates that Olive will be a large baby. At my ultrasound, which took place at about 33.5 weeks, she estimated that Olive was approximately 6 to 6.5 pounds already! So, when the ultrasound tech said 5 lbs 12 oz, give or take a pound, she meant 'give' more than 'take.'  Then, when Dr. B measured my stomach she said that I was pretty much at 40 weeks already.

All I could do was shake my head. I had told Heath that I felt like she was big and so strong! Also, it made me feel a little better. Thank goodness there is a reason that I am so huge! Olive is huge too! So, now what do we do with this new information?

Dr. B said that she will definitely want to induce a week early, which sounded just fine for me. She said that we didn't want to chance that the baby's lungs weren't developed, even by a few days, so we wouldn't want to do it any sooner than a week early. So, she said let's set a tentative induction date of Friday, September 7th. She did mention a few times, "unless something changes." I am not sure what that means; but, I guess I will let you know if anything changes.

Symptoms:
My hips have been hurting pretty bad again. The last two nights haven't been as bad - thank goodness. It is just a toss up. At least I am sleeping in bed and not the recliner! :) I've been having some headaches; however, I think they are from being sleepy and stressed out from work. The swelling in my feet and ankles is getting worse. I barely walk around and my feet are puffing out the sides of my sandals. I won't miss this at all. Oh, and I am officially waddling. It is really bad, side-to-side, ridiculous waddling.

Anything new?
I am going to again compare myself to Gilbert Grape's mother. If the waddling weren't enough, I am just so big. When we went to a football scrimmage the other night, Heath sat us in the middle of the stands. I had a bleacher seat and I'm already gi-gan-tor next to Heath. I felt like "the fat woman" on display; everybody was staring at me as I ate nachos. Bah...I seriously don't care to go out in public anymore because of all the stares. I'm pregnant and very, very large...yes. Stop staring!

I don't know if anything else is new, besides the doctors appointment. I have another this week. We will see if "anything changes." Otherwise, I am pretty excited about getting a week taken off of this long wait! I am not too thrilled about an induction, which could lead to a c-section. However, if Olive is as huge as anticipated, then I would probably end up with a c-section anyway. So, I'll take my chances. Now, watch, Olive will be this teeny, tiny 6 lb baby. haha.

New with Heath?
Thank you to everyone who congratulated him on being done with his MBA. He will walk in December; we'll have to really celebrate then! Now that he is done, it has been awesome. He is present again. We have tackled  the "things to do before Olive gets here" list. It is almost completely done. We decided a few things can wait until her arrival. Her room is ready though! The house is clean, for the most part. I still need to do some dusting in the living room. Boo...otherwise, we are prepped!

New with Lucy?
I bought a book for her this last weekend.

 

We have started to fill it out. It is so much fun. It has places for her to draw and put stickers. It is really interactive and I'm excited that I purchased it. Lucy and Olive will cherish it. One of the questions was, "What do you think the baby is doing in mommy's belly right now?" I thought for sure she would say "sleepin'" or "cryin'," which are her usual phrases. This time she said, "Umm, playin'. Playin' with toys." haha. Her answers were all funny like that. I am glad to have them written down. (The author is the same as 'The Belly Book' and 'The Baby Book.')

Anything else?

Not really. I should probably end this post though before I lose you, if I haven't already done so.

23 Week Update

I have decided that I did myself a major disservice by not including a picture last week. I think it makes this week a bit more shocking. :{ Prepare....here it comes.

I kept telling Heath that I would forget how big I was until I would see my reflection in the door or something. I am HUGE! The yellow probably doesn't help the case much either. As Heath's grandma told me this last weekend, I "have a long way to go!"


How far along?
I look and feel like I should be a LOT farther along. Even Olive's movement seems so advanced to me. It makes me wonder if she won't be here a little earlier. But, technically, I am 23 weeks and 5 days.

I sure do like watching that bar move across the screen! It just needs to move faster!

Baby is the size of...
a large mango. She is approximately a foot long and a little over a pound.

Symptoms:
Alright, I will just come out and say it - my digestive system is all sorts of jacked up. I'll leave it at that. Pregnancy, no gallbladder, and a cheese craving equals all around awfulness. :(

My hips hurt the other night, but then it rained. I think it is just something that comes with the weather. I certainly hope so! :) My hips hurt with Lucy during the winter; so, I'm staying optimistic that I will get out of the constant hip pain. Maybe... :)

Not really a symptom; but, this belly is getting more difficult to work around.

Yes - those are my feet down there.

Anything New?

I am big. I know that I've already covered this. But, it seems like this last week my face rounded out completely and well, the weight caught up with me. I know that it is my eating habits. I am just eating. I don't watch what I eat, eat any more or any less. I just let myself have whatever I want. Fault? Ehh...that is in the eye of the beholder. At my last appointment I had only gained 9 lbs so far. Not too shabby! :) I am supposed to be between 9 and 13 lbs. I just think that adding 9 lbs to the 12 that I was already carrying around after Lucy ended up badly...oh well. Here's hoping I don't see 200. That is my only weight goal. That, and to not have everyone make shocking comments about how big I am... :{. It's already happening!!

Oh, and I don't have a negative blood type after all! :)  I called to ask more questions and especially about why I never had to get a RhoGAM shot with Lucy and I do now. I stumped the nurse. She was so confused, as was I. She rechecked my file and I have a positive blood type! That is why. My doctor said that when she brought it up to me, that she must have just looked at my file wrong and looked at antibodies or something. I wondered too; so, I busted out my blood card and there it was - positive. I need to pay more attention to what I put in my wallet...the good news is that if I would have gotten it, it wouldn't have hurt me or anything.

New with Heath?
He is being very sensitive to the fact that I tend to be a little more tired with this pregnancy. He is also really understanding about me not lugging Lucy around or picking her up and down all the time. I was doing it at the zoo and he stopped me, "You are going to wear yourself out quickly, doing that."

It's sweet. :) He even let me take a nap Friday night after work. I was worn out. I am glad that he is so understanding and considerate. He did make me laugh though. He told me that he and Lucy were outside playing in the driveway. A sports car, with blaring music drove by. It was a teenage girl and guy, laughing. He said he thought of "Friday nights" back then. Now, he was watching his two-year-old drive circles in the driveway, while his pregnant wife was inside napping. haha. He laughed and said it is just crazy how quickly life changes.

I promise, Heath; we will have Friday nights again - someday! :) And, as far as you letting me rest and taking care of Lucy, thank you. Seriously - thank you! I appreciate you and love you so much!

New with Lucy?
She is somehow becoming more and more dramatic. I think it is due to her daddy's spoiling. :) That is alright with me, as long as he also deals with the "I want my way" tantrums. She really isn't too bad, considering she is only two. She is still a baby, really!

But, she is getting better at the big girl potty! :) I made a new chart. It's cute. I will have to share it with you all sometime. She has two stickers on it! As I mentioned before, when we are home in the evening, we just strip her down naked. That way, she tells us when she has to go. If we do big girl undies, she pees them. She has to be naked. haha. So, it makes for some funny times.

Here she is playing in the living room, patting her daddy's shoulder, while they watch television. haha.

Anything else?
Not really. I think about everything that needs to be done before Olive gets here and it really isn't too much. But, we really need to get started! We need to buy new newborn pacifiers, new bottle nipples, a crib mattress, ideally a new video monitor, newborn diapers and wipes, and more that I can't think of right now. I just need to make a list again. Then, I need to go through Lucy's clothes and pull all of the newborn stuff and see what is the wrong season.

Right now Olive's nursery has become Heath's ironing station. That will have to change. We constantly battle the stupid ironing board! It needs to stay up; Heath uses it almost every day. I just don't know where to put it. :( Organization on the brain. :) Speaking of which, I need to make room in the cabinets for bottles again...ugh! I will be completely organized someday. It will make all of our lives easier. haha. :)

Have a great week! Zoo pictures to come! :)

21 Week Update

Here we are again, outdoors, with a head! :) The bump is getting kind of crazy and out of control!

How far along?
I am 21 weeks and 4 days (129 days left)

Baby is the size of...
or rather, the length of...a carrot. She is 10.5 inches from head to toe and 3/4 of a pound. Although, I have a feeling that Olive is probably closer to a full pound, considering her weight three weeks ago! :)

Symptoms:
The last few days have been getting rough. I was feeling pretty good; but, I carried Lucy quite a bit this weekend, sat on some gym bleachers a couple of hours, and squatted to give our chihuahua a hair cut. It really did a number on my muscles! I was and still am sore from it all. My back and shoulders are so tight. I think my husband should massage them! :)  I have to give him credit, he has a little bit...

The one thing that I am not really supposed to talk about (bowel movements) are completely irregular and annoying. But, to save you all, that is all I will say. Annoying!

I am starting to have a tough time sleeping again. I wake up a lot and dream constantly. I sleep, but don't really feel rested. So, I am feeling really tired lately. The smallest activity, like walking around Target for an hour, just about lays me out. Aww, I'm making myself tired. Let's move on...

Anything New?
The name is the same. I haven't gone to the doctor again. The belly is just getting a lot bigger! She is moving quite a bit more, or I am just feeling it more. Unlike Lucy, who used to kick and punch mostly up by my ribs, Olive's kicks are all downward. She hits my bladder like crazy and I am not as confident about my bladder control as I was with Lucy! :{ Constipation, then diarrhea, possible incontinence...get back boys! I know I'm a catch, but I'm taken!

New with Heath?
This last weekend, since I didn't feel well, he spoiled me pretty bad. I appreciate it a lot. I was just out of it and still am a little bit. I am so thankful that he takes care of Lucy and me. He is a great daddy and husband. Thank goodness for me!

He has really started to talk about Olive. He talks to Lucy about her and talks to me about our future, all while referring to her as "Olive." It helps us to better realize that a fourth family member is on the way! It gets kind of hard to believe at times. Although I am absolutely positive nothing can prepare you for having a newborn baby! And, in our case, adding another one to the family, while also having a 2 1/2 year old!

We continue to think about what we need to buy and what we need to do. It isn't as overwhelming this time, however, we probably need to get on it! I've been nesting a lot, but mostly in other rooms of the house. The nursery needs some TLC, since Lucy moved out.

New with Lucy?
Although she still occasionally gets out of bed at night, I would say that we have successfully made the transition to her big girl room. She doesn't really talk about the crib or her old room at all. And.....we have been binkie-free for over 72 hours!! Small victory in our house! :)

I'd love to say that we did some type of ceremonial goodbye to the binkie, or "mailed them" to her baby friends. But, we didn't. She got in trouble Friday night and we took it away. And, well, we decided since we were on a roll, we should continue with it. When she asks for it, we just say, "No binkie. Sorry honey." Surprisingly, her response so far has been, "Okay..." - of course it is in a whiny tone.

Now we need to move on to our third feat - potty training. More about that some other time...

Anything else?
I was recently approached with this question, "You aren't seriously naming your baby Olive are you?"

I expected it from the person it came from. I tried to be cordial, "Yeah. I know it isn't very popular." She continued to make disgusted faces, while ridiculing the name. I just smiled, in the bitchiest way I could possibly come up with, and nodded. She ended her rant by saying, "I just worry about other kids making fun of her."

Ohh...I see. She was telling me the name Olive was horrible, as a favor! Silly me! "I told her that I didn't think there was anything to make fun of and to be honest, "if she is a good person, then I don't care."  Her response was, "Yeah, I guess. Was Olive Oil one of your favorite cartoons growing up?"

It wasn't, but oh my gosh! God forbid that children call her "Olive Oil." That would just be the absolute worst! Riiiiight...they won't even know what Popeye is in that generation.

Finally, I just said, "Yeah, many of my family members don't like it too much, but they are too polite to say anything." I was hoping that would shut her up.

Fun times!  I still love the name and no one is going to convince me otherwise. I just have no use for rude people. Get a clue....what a way to start the week! I hope the rest of it goes better!

19 Week Update

How far along?
I am 19 weeks and 4 days (139 days to go); I am 49.3% through my pregnancy! Yay! Half way there!


Baby is the size of a...
large, heirloom tomato? She is 6 inches from head to rump and 8.5 oz (although at our appointment the ultrasound tech said she was 11 oz!). We could have a chubby baby on our hands again! :) Here is a picture of an heirloom tomato:

Symptoms:
Thank you for all of the concern about my hips. They haven't been bothering me as bad the last few nights (knock on wood). It must be an on-and-off thing for now. I hope it stays away! It is really painful! I feel really good otherwise. I had been sleeping pretty well too; however, last night wasn't very good. I dream like crazy! I just wish I could get some real rest. Also, I got up to go pee four times! No more water for me late in the evening.

I also made the mistake of eating some chocolate candy around 10 pm... :[ I knew that I shouldn't have. I had indigestion then for about an hour following. Blech.

I feel like I am getting to be way to big for only five months of pregnancy. I also feel like I waddle a bit. :{ Already.

Anything new?
There really isn't much, since I have been writing about the baby every post lately. :) The big thing was to find out that it was a girl! :) I am still very excited and love being able to imagine life four months from now. :) Is that enough smiley faces for you? I guess I'm happy and getting a little crazy with them...sorry. 

I wore my first pair of maternity pants last Friday. Ehh...I hate maternity pants. I really do. They are just so baggy looking around the crotch area, especially the khaki ones. I immediately went back to wearing my regular ones with belly bands. We will see how long I can do this. I think I was around 24 weeks with Lucy before I had to give in. Then again, my body was very different back then.

Oh, but I did get a few pairs of yoga capris from Motherhood. They are super comfy! :) 'A+' purchase!

New with Heath?
He has started calling the baby by name and telling people about the name. So, it looks like a name post may be sent out this week. :) I think we will be telling my blog readers, family, and friends; but, we will probably keep the name off of Facebook, for now at least. Many of my family members, who hate the name, don't think anyone would steal it. But, I don't want to chance it. (Paranoid!)

I think being able to call her by name makes it more real to Heath too. It is so nice being able to say, "when the girls get older," and phrases like that. When I say, "Girls," I immediately think of my mom. When she would yell at my sister and I as children, it was always that term.

"Girls! Get away from there!"
"Girls! Don't touch that!"
"Girls! Come inside!"

I try to think back to myself as a child and I never imagined having two girls, just like my family, growing up. :) Heath probably didn't imagine it either! haha. Last night, Lucy and I were laying in mine and Heath's bed. We were snuggling, along with her baby doll, Aurora, and her stuffed horse, Bonnie. He looked at us, smiled, and said, "What am I going to do with three girls?"

New with Lucy?
I wish that I could say that we were closer to achieving all of our goals before baby is born. 1) Get Lucy moved to her big girl room and have her stay in bed at night. 2) Get Lucy potty-trained. 3) Get rid of the binkie.

I think Lucy is getting used to her big girl room and doing a bit better at night. But, the binkie isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I know it needs to be gone at least a couple of months before the baby is using one in front of her. It is just tough. I don't think Heath and I are ready for that battle.  The potty-training was looking pretty promising there for a while. But, now she is lying to us about it. When we ask her if she has to go or if she did go, she says, "No."  It is totally obvious though! Still working on it...

We have her practice saying the baby's name. She is really good at pronouncing it. :) Ahh...I can't wait to see them interact. I hope it is a smooth and happy transition for Lucy - being the baby, to sharing the spotlight!

Anything else?
Not really...we are pretty boring these days. We continue to prep the house and financially prepare for the baby. But, it still seems like forever from now. I tell you though, once September hits, it'll be the first of the year before we know it! Maternity leave, football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter break...I cannot wait!


Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Sometimes Lucy's birth seems like years and years ago. Sometimes it feels like yesterday.

The pain seems long gone and I hardly remember it. But, the time that I've spent with Lucy doesn't seem like enough to fill two years! I guess this is parenthood...

How my little girl went from this -

 

To a toddler, I'll never quite know.

But, one thing I do know is why she looks like she does. Her daddy.

I tried to tell myself over and over again that she looks like me. She has blonde-ish hair. She has big brown eyes. There is some of me in there! Plus, it had been a while since I had seen Heath's baby pictures. But, then...I saw some of him when he was two years old.  It's Lucy....in boy clothes.  Even Lucy thought it was herself! She pointed and said, "That's Lucy!"

My arguments are all down the drain with a shear glimpse of the images that I will lay before you -

 

 

I rest my case. Heath's genes are apparently WAY more powerful than mine - except that big toe! :)

As the day continues, and the weather calls for a light snow, I will be thinking of the Super Bowl Sunday that Lucy was born. At 1:12 pm, it was snowing then too. :) Seeing her face for the first time was amazing. I dreamed of what she would look like. Now, I know that all I had to do was look to my right and she was staring back at me, with freckles. :)

Ahhh....the miracle of life.

Big Girl Room

Another renovation is coming soon to the Lucy Jean house! :) We are in the process of changing our spare bedroom into Lucy's big girl room! I have been slowly collecting things for months now, getting way too excited about organizing and decorating - not to mention all of the ideas I've pinned on Pinterest.com.

Although I don't have any before pictures right now, I will have some soon. I do have some of my completely accurate and to-scale diagrams though! :)

Pretty bland room, right? Well, this is what I hope to do with it:

 

The closet is pretty big and the tall dresser offers five 1.5' x 2' drawers. As of now, that is plenty of room for Lucy's clothes. The book case will be a storage area for additional toys and other girly items. :) And, I am not sure sure about the rug yet, hence the question mark. The room is carpeted; but the carpet is beige and we might need a pop of color!

Speaking of colors, what is the color scheme? Here it is:

These aren't the exact shades; but, they are as close as I can pull up on the computer right now. :{ The main thing I wanted was for them to be darker and not pastel.

The plan is to have two walls white, one wall teal, and one wall dark purple. The pink and green will be accent colors. :) You would be amazed at how popular these colors really are. I am finding stuff all over!

I plan on buying the same bookcase again, that we have in the playroom, from Target.

I will then fill it with a few, cute bins.

Since I am really getting excited, we have already started to purchase things too. Here are just a few of them: 

I got these cute hooks at Kohl's for only $11 each. They will be prefect for Lucy's coats!

 And, we got this lamp at Target for $16. Lucy picked out the pink one. I let her choose between pink, purple and turquoise. I have a girly-girl after all! :)

I've also had my eye on some bedding at Target.com. I originally wanted to get Lucy Tangled bedding; but, it just didn't tie into the colors. I was afraid that it wouldn't look cohesive enough. So, I am thinking about getting this toddler bedding, even though it has some pastel pink on it...

There are still a few other things we need. So, if anyone spots some cute items out there let me know!

• a ceiling fan (white)
• 7 new drawer pulls/handles (one screw hole)
• accent pillows
• an area rug
• picture frames and other decor
• white shelves (for keepsakes - up and out of the way)
• and more that I can't remember right now...

What do you think so far?