Random June 2012

I know it has been a while since we posted, but between one thing and another, life got a bit busy.  So, I am going to try to get caught up with things pretty quickly, which should be interesting with a 6 month old on my lap doing her best impersonation of an octopus......So, here goes: 

Here are some other random things from June 2012, just so I can remember some of our random fun:

My big girl with her tree building toy from Grandma Sue and Papa. 

Trying her first hamburger from McD's (I know, not a great milestone, but something to remember nonetheless).

Sidewalk Chalk Fun.....outside....something that is rare these days!

A quilt I am working on.  I am finally using my favorite flannels from my stash, to make a blanket for new friend and me to snuggle with while waiting for big sister to get out of school when fall arrives.....Sometimes it helps to have something to look forward to, and I have loved these flannels for YEARS and have been saving them.....and have finally decided they need to be used, so I can love them more, and not just store them and wonder when they'll be useful.  This feels good (even if it is taking me a long time to finish a small project at this point), because this project is about hope!

This is the dinosaur egg from Aunt Tifiny and Uncle Adam, which hatched in the water.  She LOVES dinosaurs!

Painted Fingers and toes...always an adventure!

Story time and resting time with Daddy!

And some of her recent masterpieces:

The Silent E from the Leapfrog movies - notice the x over the mouth, so it is silent...

a tomato plant

and a Zigongosaurus, which likes to come play at our house.

 Fun times this month!

Working in the Yard with Daddy June 2012

My girl loves to help her Daddy.  They decided to plant some potatoes in some tires for the summer.  So, Logan and our girl went out with their wheel barrows and some dirt and got to work....while I got to sit on the porch swing for a few minutes in the rare sunshine.  

What a helper! And at the end, she brought me a flower!  Oh how sweet!

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery June 2012

My girl is a source of joy and happiness everyday.  As I struggle with the challenges that seem to have arisen with this special new adventure in our lives, my big girl is a wonderful cheerleader.  She LOVES the idea of a sister.  She wants to help get everything ready, and to pick the toys and clothes to share with her sister.  She finds it a bit tricky to be patient, and prays to give thanks for our baby who is coming "soon" every chance she gets.  It has been a challenge to be so limited physically, since we are both used to doing lots of fun activities together.  As we've been experiencing so much nausea and other physically limiting symptoms, my girl has been understanding, and willing to play games or read stories as I lay down on the couch.  She loves to help me move my pieces, or draw my card, or spin the spinner.  We have learned that some games like Candy Land can be played while Mama is laying down on the couch, and that Clifford Uno and Elmo Phase 10 are great card games while Mama can sit up or lay down.  She has also taken to wearing a ball under her shirt, and telling me all about her baby and how she is going to take care of her.  

What a doll!  She helps me move past the guilt of not being so active or taking her outside for adventures very much.  It makes me feel good having such a great girl as my helper everyday! She sings to sister, reads to her, and is so excited to meet her! I felt the baby move a couple weeks before the ultrasound where when found out her gender, and Logan felt her move right around the time of that appointment.  Our big girl has been excited to feel the baby kick, and never gets tired of feeling her wiggling around.  She wants to know if it is a hand or foot or head, and she loves to talk to sister and sing to her, and then to feel if she is moving.  When she moves as Elise talks with her, Elise gets very excited and proclaims that, "the baby loves me, and is happy to hear me!"  She knows her sister loves her and is already practicing being a great sister.  I love having a big girl to share this with, (and with Logan as well).  There is just something magical about seeing this adventure through the eyes of my grown up girl, as each new development happens, and we get to talk about the miracle that a human body is, and how the baby is growing, and how it was when she was inside my tummy, and how we got ready for her to join our family.  It is really special and such a blessing to be sharing this all together as our little family!  Logan and Elise have agreed on a name, and I want to try out some other options, just to make sure we picked the right one for our girl...but as I try different ones out, Logan gives me his gut reaction to them, and some are hilarious!  And we come to realize, we have got the right name for this new one when she gets here!  I am working hard on enjoying this experience.  I feel this may be my last chance to have this kind of experience, and I want to savor each moment, and remember what a miracle it really is.  I find each day is easier as I try to be grateful for the challenges, since it means things are progressing and little one is healthy......but it is a challenge and I am grateful for my cheerleaders, including Logan, my big girl, and my mom and other family from a distance!

Another Car June 2012

With all the new things that will be happening this fall, including a new friend, and our big girl starting school (which means we will have to be driving outside everyday, rather than hibernating all winter), our special thoughtful man decided we needed a vehicle with a bit more space in the back seat, and with four wheel drive.  He found this little buddy to go on this new adventure with our family: 

I am so grateful for a wonderful husband who makes sure I am taken care of so we can take care of our girls and be safe doing what needs to be done - and he only laughed a small bit when I expressed the concern of being camouflaged in the snow.  I love this car!  It is a Vibe, and is a wonderful car!

Logan Birthday June 2012

Logan's Birthday last June was so fun.  My big girl wanted to surprise Daddy with some special things including: streamers, balloons and flowers, and a special new friend.  She also helped me make a measuring tape that said, "You rock Daddy!" which she did all the writing for herself (with a bit of help).  We made him a hug poster, just like we do every year.  It is fun to see how much she has grown, and I love to see her best guess spelling and practice writing things, and trying to interpret them afterwards!  We sure love our favorite boy!

 

And the Results....

My girl has been practicing a new version of one of our favorite songs, to sing for our new friend:

 

(the volume is a bit low, and the pictures I'm holding may be hard to see.  One is Logan, me, and our girl, and the top one is our ultrasound picture.  And at the end of the video, my girl says, "toot," because some of her favorite dinosaurs make music by hooting and tooting with their crests...so she is adding to the music!)

My Grown Up Girl Figures It Out

My girl is such a smart cookie!  Over the last several weeks we have been talking about babies in a general sort of way.  Back in February, our girl saw a Blue's Clues episode where one of the characters had a new baby in their family.  She was fascinated with this, and acted it out repeatedly, taking trips to the pretend baby hospital to pick out a baby to bring home.  Usually the baby ended up being one of her dolls, and she would take care of it, or ask me to take care of it.  I asked her at one point if she would like a real baby, and she told me, "No, I'm just fine.  I don't want a real baby, just pretend ones."  I asked her why she didn't want a real baby, and she told me she didn't want to share.  OK.....

Well, for the last several years as we've had lessons and discussions about families and siblings (like in church when they talk about being nice to your siblings), we explained to our girl that it was ok to be just her, that there are all kinds of families, some with lots of kids, some with one, and some with just parents, and that each is ok and special.  We would tell her that it was ok to not have brothers or sisters, and that it made her special to be the only kid in our family.  So, I guess this being okay without a real baby wasn't a real shock.  However, now that things are changing a bit, we have started talking more about babies, still in a general way.  We tell stories about what it was like when we had our girl, how it was to have her in my tummy, and how things were when she was a little baby.  We pulled out her baby book and showed her pictures.  She started warming up to the idea of babies in general, but we still wanted to wait to talk about bringing home a specific baby to be part of our family until things were a little farther along and hopeful.  All she really knew is that Mama has been sick a lot lately.  She is so helpful and great at playing on her own, or getting me a drink of water at the right time, or reading me stories, or reminding me to take a deep breath...all very helpful things.  Still, it has been a challenge, since we aren't able to do many of the things she has been used to doing, and it has been hard on Logan as well.  They both have amazing amounts of patience and are wonderful!

So, on Monday, my girl wanted to make a floor poster.  She was insisting that I needed to get down on the floor to color with her, and I was trying to explain that it wasn't really comfortable on the floor for Mama.  She kept insisting, and I finally asked her to look at my tummy.  I asked her if she thought it was getting a bit big.  She looked at it, and said, "Mama!  Your tummy is getting SO BIG!  Maybe there's a baby in it!"

I was a bit surprised that she had made that logical jump, but asked her how we would know?  She responded that she didn't know.  I suggested we could go to the doctor's and they could tell us if there was a baby inside, that they could listen and maybe feel the baby move.  I had already been feeling little movements for about a week, and thought it wouldn't be too long before my girl would be able to feel them too, and we had a doctor's appointment the next day.  My girl was so excited.  She thought having the doctor find out if there was a baby inside Mama was a great idea.  I then told her we could even go to the hospital and have a picture taken with a big machine, and they might see if the baby was a sister or a brother.  She was really excited about that prospect.  I asked her if she would like a brother or a sister, and she quickly and enthusiastically replied, "Mama, I've always wanted a little sister!!!!"  I was a bit surprised by that, and asked, "But what if it is a brother instead?"  She replied, "Well, then I'll change my mind and want a little brother instead!"  So, I felt a bit relieved that she would be ok with whatever the outcome was.  When we went to the doctor the next day, they did all the normal check up stuff, and found the heartbeat with the little doppler.  My girl was so excited!  She also recognized the little machine as being like the one we have at home, and realized that we could listen to the baby heartbeat at home (Logan got me a little handheld fetal doppler for Valentine's day, and I had been able to hear the heartbeat once or twice a week from week 10, which was a huge reassurance for me).  So, my girl was WAY excited and looking forward to the next day when we could go for an ultrasound, or go to the hospital to take a picture with the big machine.  I was glad that she had figured out the whole baby thing, to an extent at least, and was happy about it, and looking forward to being the grown up big sister.  What a great girl!!!!

So, the next day, we went for our ultrasound.  Our girl was so excited to see pictures and to see the baby moving around.  We were hoping for a 3D picture of our little one's face, but first one and then both arms ended up in front of the face, and weren't budging, so we didn't get a very good view.  They were, however, able to see that everything looked good, and that baby was healthy and a good size for 19 weeks.  Logan told me he know right off from seeing the first images, but it took me a bit to figure out what was what, and it took the tech a bit to make sure about gender.  Or course our grown up girl was really excited, and kept asking about when she was in my tummy.  After we got a couple pictures, we came home and our girl put them on the fridge and then requested to see the pictures of her in my tummy.  She also started announcing the news to everyone she could, "We are going to have a new baby soon!"  It was pretty neat that our big girl can be part of this whole thing, and is old enough to understand parts of it, and to be interested in her own story as well!  What great memories, and what fun to share with her and feel her enthusiasm!

And, since my girl has so many questions about when she was in my tummy, I want to do better at documenting this one, so I can have stories to tell this next one....so here is our progress at 19 weeks, 4 days (the day of our ultrasound):