E Update... 18 months = 1.5 years old!!!

Its hard to believe that little E is already a year and a half old. Lee was just downloading pics to the hard drive and commented on how much she has changed over the past 5 months!

So was is E up to? What is she not up to? She is putting words together to make semi-sentences and has started to associate things... like Emma party or cake happy or pretty dress or baby Sted-da (Stella - a little baby from MMO). We are working hard on our manners. She can manage to get out a Thank you which sounds more like tan-tin to us... Please we are not quite there yet. She still does not have a concept of Yes and pretty much says No for anything... Would you like your cup... Noooo...

We went to Wil-town for the Whirigig Festival earlier this month and met up with one of E's friends J. They are really really cute together! It was super cold out and fortunately there was a kids museum open so E and J and company escaped the freezing temps - well not really freezing but you know.

E has been on a few play dates with some of her friends from MMO. I really don't know how much the girls are actually playing and communicating but they seem to have a good time and understand each other.

E has not been able to go outside as much because it is so cold and with the time change. Papa is usually home when its light out but sometimes its been cold and dark so she waits inside for him. I really miss going on our walks because it is good for baby #2 and me and we've had a few nice days but definitely winter is on its way.

E has had a fetish for shoes like her Auntie Mary and now has started putting her own (and mamas and papas) shoes on. She has not mastered the art of determining right and left yet and get really upset if assistance is given - but we don't let her walk around with her shoes on the wrong feet for long! Also, E has started this semi-tumbling looking pose where you think she is about to do a summersault and then doesn't - but its pretty darn cute!

Not too long ago E went to her... second maybe third wedding. She was a rockstar. She took a 20 minute nap in the car on the way to Grammy's house and boycotted a nap in the crib that afternoon. She was in a good mood for most of the evening and eventually gave in and fell asleep in papa's arms (not pictured because there was no space left on the card). Here the last pics are from the wedding (with commentary, of course!)

Playing with Auntie Katie in the mirror!

Looking so-big in the chair. She boycotted the highchair!

Dancing with Papa. She was super bummed that they did not play Ring Around the Rosie!

Highlight of her night - attacking the cupcake!

Grammy assisting with the cupcake. Seriously the cake/cupcakes were the first things that she saw when we got to the reception. I know she led me over there at least three times to 'see' them. I think Grammy took her twice and the last time they were some of the first in line to get cupcakes after the cake was cut.

Its that time again...

Sometime this weekend I knew we were going to run out of our Farmer's Market Yankee Candle.... so it was time to hit up Hallmark and use the neverending candle coupon and scout out a new scent. Must admit I was kind of disappointed with the options to tide us between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Harvest scent was okay - but not great. The Thanksgiving and the numerous Christmas themed scents really did not do too much for me either... maybe its the baby throwing off my nose.

So I ended up getting Vintage Berries. I did have to peel off the Merry Christmas on the label because clearly it is not Christmas yet.. we'll be giving that one a whirl within the next day or two.

Maybe once I get up to 25 followers and can make some $$$ with this blog I'll have enough funds to do a Yankee Candle giveaway each month. Long term goal but I think it would be fun!

Pajamas!!!

Not too long ago on a visit to my parents house we came back with a few goodies for new baby. I had to do this post because it is incredible to think back on the times when Little E could have fit into the yellow stars outfit!!! I think the super small baby outfits are made extra soft and this one is no different! I still cannot get over the fact how tinnie tiny this one looks compared to one of E's night night outfits!

One day E will be able to hold her little brother or sister just like in this pic but for now she quite alright pointing at it and saying baby. It is interesting though that she had not tried to put one of her baby dolls in it though. Its' almost like she knows that her babies are too small for them or that they will not fit into the pajamas. I don't know. Its' weird she knows that this outfit is for baby for sure and that's really all she knows.

 

For now the pajamas and the little sleeper (not pictured) will have to hang on the back of the rocker/recliner because I have to get some more Dreft! I washed E's clothes in Dreft while we had the one large container that was a shower gift - which lasted a while - then I just started washing her stuff in the normal detergent. Just one more thing to put on the pre-baby #2 list : )

Fast Fact - Men in Line for Restrooms

Last week I was out of town for a hot minute on a business trip and I got a good chuckle when I saw this. Granted it was a Monday morning and there were lots of businessmen/women/people travelling so this must be taken into consideration.

My boss and I are getting ready to leave the Delta SkyClub room and I being my preg-tastic self had to patronize the restroom after my coffee and water and there is a line for the restrooms! Bummer... I know, I know but then I realize that on the right side there are three doors marked men and the left three marked women. All the ones are the right were red and the ones on the left were green. Sweet life... then I realize that the 5-person line is really a 5-man line and I don't have to wait!

Seriously, when I have I ever seen men in line for the restroom and no waiting on the womens??? NEVER!!! Okay also let's rethink this in a role reversal just because. If there were 5 women in line and all the women's restrooms were occupied (not by those Wall Street people) and there were 3 open men's restrooms... twenty bucks says the bravest and most desperate women would be in those men's rooms in a flash!

Something that made my day and made me appreciate being a WOMAN in business : )

Ramifications of the EPIC FAIL!!!

I am sitting here is bed at 6 am the day of the three hour glucose test - now more annoyed than ever that I have to take it. Baby #2 is protesting the test because we both are intensely hungry!!! Hello! What is wrong with these doctors telling women who are 28 weeks preggo to not eat for nearly 12 hours. I stopped eating last night around 7:30 just to get my blood sugar good and low for this morning and we have been paying the price! I've been up since 5 because I am super hungry and now I won't be able to eat anything until about 11:30 this morning - at best.

I guess the only good thing that I have to look forward to is the general amusement that I get by sitting in my doctors waiting room and the fact that I will have about 3 hours to work on E's Christmas stocking - which I think - fingers crossed - should be done before Christmas. I need to do a post on it and you can see the progress. About 10 minutes of back stitching on part 2 of 3 then its on to the final frontier - I mean final third.

Cheers to that nasty orange drink!

Advent.. Fasting and Abstaining

Advent starting the in the Eastern Catholic churches on Monday evening at the conclusion of St. Philip's feast day. Though retailers might not let you believe it Advent is the time BEFORE Christmas (12/25), the 12 days of Christmas (12/25 and next 11 days), and the Christmas season - which I think lasts until 2/2 - don't hold me on the last one.

In this period of time in preparation for Christmas it is recommended that praying as well as fasting and abstaining (there is a difference between the two!) be observed so that the feast that is Christmas can be properly celebrated and appreciated. Similar recommendations are given for Lent in preparation for Easter/Pascha. However, being that I am pregnant the Church and all of Her Wisdom has given me a free pass so we've got the tree up and the lights out and the Nativity scene arranged in the yard already. Here's to being pregnant!!! NOT!

Older people, children, pregnant and nursing women, as well as those with other medical reasons/illnesses are not recommended to do the full fasting/abstaining regiment - because it is super intense. Instead, doing something to keep the fasting preparation period is prescribed.

Why is this blog worthy? Only because I will not be on Facebook until Christmas. I had Lee change my password and I have not been on since Monday night. Hopefully nothing urgent will come up - and it never does. The FB issue came up about a month ago when I was reading a blog about how someone was thinking about deleting their Facebook because it was a major distraction/waste of time. I get on FB way way way too much but I did not want to delete my account since I have my blog posts post to my wall - thus changing the password was the best of both worlds...

Also, decided it would be a wise idea to abstain from sweets for Advent not only because it will be challenging but I also failed the glucose test and then I went on a major binge. So sweets are definitely something I can do without for a while and it certainly won't hurt baby #2. It will make Christmas morning stocking with Godiva chocolates at my parents house even better - but I don't think that we had the silver dollar sized blue, green, red and gold foils last year - could be wrong. Maybe this year - those things are big time tradition in the McV household for Christmas stocking candies. Pretty much as big of a staple as the toothbrush at the dentist.

The Ultimate Family Car

There is much debate between Lee and I over what the best family car is - not that we need a car upgrade yet but I really don't want to be a minivan mom. Though I did learn how to drive on a sweet Dodge Caravan. I'm a planner so I think about these kinds of things, well, in advance of actually needing to.

Well the issue came up again on a FB thread of my friend's. She and her hubs and sweet baby boy were is a nasty car accident on 95 - thankfully everyone was okay but the car was not so I was forced to make my case for the ultimate family car to her. Though I don't think I was successful in convincing her that this car was the car she needed - yet - I am spreading the word about the awesomeness of the....

Sprinter!!! Yes people. Its a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter - formally a Dodge - Sprinter. Reasons why this car is well the best...

1. There is seating for 12 - 10 in the back with full seats with headrests. The fact that the conversion vans by Ford, Dodge, GMC etc etc seat 15 is great but they are only about 3/4 seats so its not particularly comfortable for normal sized people - which I can attest to from the soccer trips. Also, I imagine that not having the full headrests is not particularly safe in the case of accident but I really have not researched the issue.

Inside a Sprinter

Inside of a Ford Econoline. Though I am definitely a Ford fan. Thanks for not taking taxpayers money : ) which is why we own an Explorer and a Transit Connect!!!

2. There is enough head clearance so that an adult can stand in the back. Conversion vans you cannot do this. Also, I am not known for keeping the cleanest of cars but if you have multiple kids and with all of their stuff/food/sticker trash/life  - I imagine that a car can get really dirty fast so anything to make cleaning a car easier = better.

3. The extended model has an additional 2-3 ft of cargo room. we fill up our Explorer for a weekend trip with one child in a heartbeat. Pack and Play, stroller, clothes, toys - the works... Can you imagine how much stuff you can fit in 2-3 ft of storage??? I can't but I bet we would fill it really fast and get everything we needed in the van and not have to rent a UHaul trailer - though sometimes I think if we can stretch the Explorer out past baby #2 we might just have to.

4. The Sprinter is not a minivan. The Sprinter is so much more than a minivan!!! It is more sleek and slender and basically its amazing - and I have not even rode in one - let alone driven one.

SO anyone out there from Mercedes-Benz or whoever if you need me to give my full mami-fied workup on a Sprinter and want to donate to the Kibbe cause - let me know and I will forever plug the Sprinter and all its greatness

Exercise while Pregnant!

Just finished up another great round of exercise a few minutes ago. Sometimes it is so difficult to get motivated to do my exercises but knowing that my lovely glucose test numero dos is only a few short days away I got going. Once you start to do the DVD it is great. The music is cheesy and the ladies (Summer Sanders and her sister in law) are a little silly too but overall I really enjoy this DVD. I am doing the 2nd trimester workout. I don't really like the 3rd trimester workout because you have to sit down and use a chair - which is not my thing.

Here's to getting that heartrate up and trying to not fail the 3 hour glucose test.

Spoons are SOOO Overrated

E is all about her utensils but sometimes she will ditch them and just dig in with her hands. For some reason she LOVES to do this with yogurt. This is why yogurt is a bath-night-only dinner food. I don't know what it is about yogurt because it's quite slimy I think but E has a good time so that is what matters.

Well if Mami can't save you, at least the mums will!

Well little E had her first taste of falling down the stairs yesterday. I usually let her climb the front steps of our house - there are 5 - and she has practice on the 21 stairs at Grammy's house and the 20+ stairs at one job so she has gotten to be quite the climber. She is very careful when she climbs too and I am careful to be behind her. Coming down she has some practicing to do and recently I've been carrying her down the stairs even though she loves to 'step-down' herself because I am afraid she will send herself, me and baby #2 to the hospital with her flailing steps.

So yesterday we were coming in from our walk - thankful for a nice weather afternoon so we could get our sand playing and 1-mile walking in. E made it all the way up the stairs as usual so I went to unlock the door and in slow motion before my eyes - E somehow starting falling backwards, head over heels, down the stairs, crashing into the mums! Hmmm... that did not how I expect to see my little E fall down the stairs. I mean I knew it would happen eventually but I thought everything would happen really, really fast and there would be loud banging and screaming and blood and tears and the works!

Minor damage to the fall catcher!

I ran down and scooped little E up who was screaming and in tears, though not in pain just really frightened! We went inside got the cup and the Nini and rock-rocked for 2.5 seconds and she was over it.

Glad I had the mums... I need to figure out my winter, spring and summer cushions on the front steps in case of any future tumbles.

EPIC FAIL!!!!

No not an epic failure of a mother - not yet at least. Epic failure of my glucose test. I got the call from the nurse today. I thought I was in the clear because I did not get the call on Friday. 140... right at the cutoff!!! I think I will poke my eyeballs out because this is the second time I have been right at the cutoff!!!!!!!! My doctor hates me (no not really)! Though I think he thinks I'm weird for a number of reasons including the fact that I seriously considered and thought I could leave the country while pregnant. Apparently (according to him and my sister in law) that is a horrible idea but hey I listened - I did not go!

Anyways back the the frustration over the glucose test... I have been such a good little preggo-licous mama this time. I have gained half the weight comparatively then I had the last time, I have been very conscience about what I eat and all this for nought! Incredible!!! I even celebrated my victory over the test on Thursday and through the weekend (we were at my parents and yes there was a box of Famous Amos cookies that was 1. open! and 2. the bag was such that it was impossible to keep the cookies fresh = just the way I like them : ) 

So back to the labs for the 3-hour test. I love the blood taker - his name and Reuben and he is awesome! He'll probably be the highlight of my trip back - though he got me good on the one hour test so we'll have to have a chat about that! I have some beef with the 1-hour test - 1. there is no baseline. Meaning that there is no blood drawn before you drink the sugary goodness - with the 3-hour test there is - you cannot drink the mess until your blood is drawn. The result from the 1-hour test is just a number whereas the results from the 3-hour test provide a true delta (change) over the time interval - basic science people!

Speaking of basic science, there was a woman there taking the 3-hour when I took the 1-hour and she had water that morning when the directions are clearly to not eat or drink ANYTHING - very clear. Here's the kicker - she was a nurse. I just don't understand! Not here to judge because maybe she was super desperate but really you are going to risk failing the 3-hour test!!! No thank you.

So as my level of annoyance will only escalate over the next week or so until the test, in the short term I must find something to do for 3-hours of my life that does not involve work because there is no wi-fi in the office and does not involve little E. Last time, I read the unabridged version of a book that I cannot remember - I don't think it was Crime and Punishment - anyways. Not doing that again. Maybe I'll work on my cross stitch. Long term decision is that if there is a next time around I will not take the 1-hour test. I will demand the 3-hour test first so that I don't completely waste two mornings. I mean really what I am supposed to do with E??? How do people find time to take off work! Fortunately I have highly flexible jobs and family that put up with this insanity.

Also, great news of my last appointment - starting in December I have to go every 2 weeks!!!!! I told my doctor 'no' and he laughed and said what do you mean 'no'. I love my doctor too. He tells me things that I need to hear  - not things I want to hear - which is important because he is doing his job and looking out for me. If I did not want his opinion I would A. not be paying him the big $$$ and B. probably would just show up at the hospital in labor and forget prenatal all together - which is a horrible idea. So I will be an obedient patient - not afraid to push the limits and voice my opinions - and go back for the 3-hour glucose test even though I was only off by one point.

I guess its' true close is only good enough in horseshoes and hand grenades : (

Thoughts on the Eve of the Glucose Test

Tomorrow I have my glucose test. I am not fearful of the test - though I did fail the 1 hr test last time with E and had to go back for the 3 hr test only to find out I did not have gestational diabetes. So I am more annoyed with the test more than anything.

So what had I done differently with Baby #2? I have been asking myself this in the hopes that my efforts of being a more responsible and educated preggo-eater will help me avoid the dreaded 3 hr test. Well, to date I still had gained about half the weight I did with E. I attribute this to chasing E around, being a consistent walker and being more vigilant about my cravings/excuses to eat junk food.

I'll expound on latter. First, it was pointed out to me that I have definitely made less frequent/ hardly any stops at McD's. With E I would treat myself to a tea or chocolate shake a couple times a week. This has changed because E takes naps in the afternoon when I used to go after lunch on my way back to work / why spend the extra money - it adds up! Second, I have a horrible sweet tooth especially when it comes to chocolate. Now, I don't keep chocolate in the house and Lee has helped with not bringing it into the house. When there is chocolate in the house it last for all of 2.5 days. I am addicted. This time to solve my chocolate fix Lee and I have turned to Fig Newtons. Definitely not chocolate - I know I know but it is just sweet enough to help the craving pass and they are not soooo great that I will sit there and eat the entire package - I have been known to burn up a pack of Oreos - not this time.

Not to make you think that I am completely depriving this baby of the sweet pleasures of life outside my tummy. Chick-fil-a should be renamed haven for pregnant women or just pregnant Joanne. I have only been there twice but everytime I go I am reminded that I wished I went more often. Fortunately, the RMT Chick-fil-a is generally inconvenient and it is even more expensive than McD's. This baby will likely love Chick-fil-a sauce. That stuff is amazing. And as a treat for Baby and me tomorrow morning we are going to hit up the Wil-town Chick-fil-a as a reward for not being able to eat or drink anything starting at midnight!

Also, this baby has had his/her fair share of chocolate. My mom and I made chocolate chip cookies one weekend and I had enough cookies and dough for the two of us. When we visit my parents I am forced to raid their pantry because there are ALWAYS Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies - I just have to hope that they are open so I can raid stealthfully under the radar. And of course, when we go over to my mother-in-law's house there is a little glass jar of chocolate. I think I polished off the Christmas M&Ms from last year in October so then she filled it with Kisses.

As long as the chocolate is not in our house I, fingers-crossed, should be okay. I'll definitely keep you posted on this one.

Our Fam... aka how we survive

Okay so maybe that is a little dramatic but E is totally wearing off on me these days and her drama-fied self is now flowing onto the blog : ) Not so secretly hoping baby #2 is a boy so there will be less drama over, well pretty much everything, but this week I'm thinking/feeling like this baby is a girl! Back to my point...

E and Uncle Kev! Need I say more???

Lee and I have been very blessed to have our families and friends - which many of them totally count as family - close by... well its not like either of us moved particularly far away from them so maybe its our own doing but our lives/jobs and families are in NC (minus some special ones in SC - but still in the Carolinas region so it totally counts).

E with her Papi and Jibbe on her b-day horsey

Our lives are hectic and whose aren't but it is so nice to have family around you can depend on and let me just tell you about some of the these great people. I'll try and do a post dedicated to someone or someones every week or so - in no particular order. Maybe that is a little ambitious but I'll give it a whirl.

Grammy, E and me Marti Gras 2011 - secretly very excited about our Marti Gras 2012 pic!

Side note, I am horribly embarrassed that these are some of the only extended fam pics that I have posted on the blog. So this series of posts should help remedy that situation!