Hannah's 4th Birthday!

Our little girl has turned four! It's amazing. We couldn't be more proud of her and the person that she is, so loving, kind, smart and wonderful!

Her little brother or sister has held on so far and let Hannah have her own birthday - thank you little one! I was really afraid of that giant full moon I saw Friday night and I'm contracting more often and a little harder, but for now, we're still hanging on. I'm very doubtful I'm getting two more weeks, but at least we made it through Hannah's birthday and were able to enjoy her big day together.

I took Friday off to start getting ready - cleaning the house and last minute shopping stuff. Saturday morning, we got up and she got ready for swim lessons. Daddy took her alone this week so I could finish doing stuff at home. She started out the day a little cranky, but also very excited for it to be her birthday. She was just tired and her afternoon nap cured all the crankies away! She got up from her nap and was super excited for her Cinderella Birthday Party. I had the house decorated so she was thrilled to see everything prepared and wanted to get into her Cinderella dress. I got her dressed and put her hair up in "princess hair". She was ready to go!

Her friends all started coming around 3:00. Once everyone got there, we headed down to the party room and the girls all decorated crowns with their names, sparkly princess things and jewels. They loved it!

Next we played pin the slipper on Cinderella.....I guess I didn't take any pictures of that. I was too busy blindfolding them I guess. We did a couple rounds of that.

After that, we played a few games of Cinderella BINGO. They had fun with that too!

And then they all sat around and watched Cinderella and had popcorn and drinks.

They had a great time, but sort of got bored of the movie about 2/3 through and just wanted to play. So they played until the pizza arrived and we all ate - salad, rigatoni, pizza & rolls.

Then Hannah opened her gifts. She got a lot of nice things. I'm glad it was a relatively small party because she just needed nothing!!! But she got some great things that were very nice of everyone to bring her.

Then we sang Happy Birthday and had cake. That's Hannah's favorite part - cake! Wonder who's kid she is?!?!? The girls played a little more and then everyone headed home.

It was a great party and I think the girls all had a lot of fun. It was a lot of work, especially being 9 months pregnant, but I would certainly do anything for my little girl! She had a much deserved special day. I hugged her so tight and said I was sad that she was getting so big and her response to me was, "But Mommy, I still love you even when I'm four". And of course, I told her "I will always love you too honey!"

One last thing about her turning four....today, she kept saying, "Now that I'm much older....." It was funny!

I love you big girl Hannah! You're going to be a great Big Sister and are the best daughter I could have ever wished for!

Who's in Charge?

I'm facing my first test with the new baby. I'm soon to find out who is in charge - me or the baby. I'm now at 37 weeks. I've officially got 3 weeks left until my due date. Sticking to this plan really works best for me - that's the way it's been in my planner so I've scheduled everything around this date. I was faced with a bit of a curveball this week that I am having a hard time swallowing.

This past Tuesday at my doctor appointment, I had gone from closed cervix last Tuesday and my midwife saying I'll most likely go to due date or overdue to 2 cm and 80% effaced this week and her telling me there'd be no surprise if I go a week or two early. Normally, that would be good news, but I'm just too busy right now to have a baby earlier than the plan!!!

I had a realy hard discussion with this little one Tuesday night telling him/her that I needed at least 2 more full weeks before it was time to be born. I've just got to get through this weekend for Hannah's birthday party and she deserves to have her own birthday, so there will be no baby this weekend. Next week is pretty full wrapping things up at work and a few things in the evening that I've got to do, so next week is no good either. Then the week of the 8th gets better as far as being free goes, however, if the baby comes this week, the weeks I have planned off for my maternity leave get a little screwed up and I'm not so happy about that. So the deal is that after the 12th, I'm open and will be ready to take a 2-3 day trip to the hospital to meet this little one. Sounds fair to me.

So, the battle has begun.....who will win? Hannah is very obedient, so this is the first test to see if I get another well behaved good child or one that will test me and push the limits forever!

I really wish I wasn't so routine and had to stick to a schedule because then this wouldn't matter so much, but it really does bother me that what I have planned may get thrown in the garbage!! I don't like not being in control - maybe this is a good test for me too!

So anyway, stay tuned for weekly checkup updates. We have another appt next Tuesday as well as the ultrasound. We'll see what that brings and then I guess we just go from there - anxiously awaiting - but not too soon!!!

One week from Four!!

I can hardly believe it! My baby will be four years old in 6 days. It just seem so unreal. I've been looking back through pictures of her infant and toddler years and it's amazing how she became such a big girl this past year. Vacation 2009 in March, she was still such a toddler and then since this summer and fall, she really grew. It's just so amazing. I keep telling her that I want her to just stay three and her response to me was, "Mommy, I'll still love you when I'm four"......how sweet she is! So I guess I'll let her turn four!

We went to have her 4-year old pictures taken today. She was really good despite the photographer not being that creative. She did fine overall and took over 100 pictures, but none were like "oh, how can I choose" poses. I went to Portrait Innovations and really wanted to get the $9.95-one-pose package so I was hoping it wouldn't be terribly difficult to narrow down the choices and luckily, it wasn't that hard. Hannah took a lot that were good and oh so cute, but there really were only 3 poses that I really liked that captured her personality as she turns 4. I was able to get the one-pose package and then bought another 3-sheets of another pose just since it sort of marked her 4th birthday. Here's what we came up with:

The main pose

And the extra pose

And in other news, we started swim lessons this past Saturday. To clarify (and to answer Erin's question) yes, Tony goes in with her. This class is a parent with child class and I think Hannah is one of the older students in the class. There are a lot of little ones and probably several 3-year olds, but the lessons start in the baby pool area and then go to the deeper (5-foot) area of the pool, so at this point for Hannah, we definitely need Daddy there. It's starting very basic, which again, is good since Hannah has zero experience in a pool as of yet. They worked on blowing bubbles in the water, which she did really well. I guess the water was fairly cold, so her lips were chattering the whole time, but she still did really well for her first lesson.

They worked on front floats (to which the teacher remarked she had very nice form)

and holding on to the wall and kicking and blowing bubbles.

They also threw a toy and then swam to it.

Then they had a little play time down the slide.

She really liked it and I'm so glad we finally got her into lessons. Maybe now I won't have to worry so much this summer at Aunt Dawn & Uncle Jack's house and maybe we can actually take her swimming on a hot summer day!

Tony and I went on what is likely to be our last "one child date" Friday night to our favorite Japanese restaurant. We had a great meal and it was really topped off with the fact Tony's boss was there and picked up our tab. It was so nice of him and we tried to tell him no, but he insisted! We may have ended up with a free meal anyway since the chef was doing his little show with the bowls of fried rice and as he reached to give Tony a bowl, the whole thing went flying across the table and crashed in front of him and went all over the place! It was just rice, so it cleaned up easily, but it still was a mess with the glass bowl broken and rice all over the place. Leave it to Tony for that to happen to!!! At least it wasn't a knife (again)....yep, one time many years ago he got a knife in his lap when the chef was twirling them around. Those aren't butter knives either so that one was a little scary....nothing happened though! So anyway, we had a great meal and a nice night out together.

I went to see The Lovely Bones with the girls from my book club Saturday afternoon. I haven't read the book and most of them had read it several years ago. The movie was OK, I didn't LOVE it, but it was good. I guess it was quite different from the book. I was expecting to cry a lot and didn't at all. I mean, the thought of a 14 year old girl getting murdered is sad, but the story wasn't told in a way that I thought was sad. It was good overall, especially for a matinee price. The girls all surprised me at lunch with baby books for the new baby! I was so surprised and it was so sweet of all of them. It was also amazing that with all the books we have for Hannah, I only got one book we already had. It's nice that the baby will get a few things of their own and not all hand-me-down's from Hannah!

And speaking of baby, everyone at poker (well the girls) all think I'm much bigger than the last tournament 2 weeks ago, but still mostly all belly. My mom thinks I've dropped since a week ago and I just feel the same....big and uncomfortable. Everyone keeps telling me they think this is a boy, so I'm getting real anxious to find out if everyone is right. There are only a few people who have said it's a girl, so we'll see.......either way is fine for me of course. The only difference it makes is on clothes. If this is a boy, I'm getting rid of all Hannah's clothes in a child resale at one of our schools in town in March which I'm excited about. I had planned on taking everything to Once Upon a Child, but if I can sell it on my own instead, I'm sure I'll make out much better. We'll see what happens I guess.

And I think that's about it for now. We've got a super busy week ahead of us. Monday's our only free night and I have to go grocery shopping since I didn't have a chance to do that this weekend. Tuesday night is Bible Study, Wednesday night is Story Time, Thursday night is Gymnastics, Friday night is my nephew John's birthday party and and Saturday is Hannah's birthday.....there will go another week!!!!

Borderline Nuts

So what do you do when you're 8-1/2 months pregnant, work full time, busy with other stuff evenings and weekends and completely exhausted?

Evidently, the logical answer is to start going back to Story Time on Wednesday nights AND sign your 4 year old (in 11 days) up for Swimming Lessons on Saturday mornings!

Thank goodness I have a very helpful husband/daddy to assist me with this mad schedule or I'd be certified nuts for sure! Right now, it's only borderline. So our weekly schedule now is as follows:

Monday's are generally free in evenings (wonder what I can fill them up with???)

Tuesday's Tony works late, so I'm on my own with Hannah to get dinner ready, clean up and do bath time. Oh, and once a month is Bible Study.

Wednesday nights are now story time at 7:00, so we rush home for a quick dinner and off to the library.

Thursday nights are now gymnastics nights (more on that below). I've also got book club one Thursday a month as well as my monthly NAWIC meetings one other Thursday a month.

Friday's are generally free although this week, we're going on our last "only one child" date. Typically, we either run to the mall or just come home and then I crash on the couch by like 8:00.

Saturday's are my house cleaning and laundry days. Now we have swim lessons at 10 (Tony will be taking her since there will be NO bathing suit wearing for me!) We also usually go out Saturday night for dinner or something.

Sunday's I'm trying to do better about getting to church - still working on that, but I also do my weekly meal planning, grocery list and shopping and try to make a decent dinner for us.

So yeah, with a schedule like this I'm certain that it was wise to add two more things. Wonder where this baby is going to fit in????? One thing for sure is that looking at my planner, this baby needs to just come when it's due. My schedule is pretty full and I just don't have much time to have this baby before I'm expecting it - which is on or around the 19th. I guess this little person better learn now that I like to stick to what's in my planner - disrupting it too much is not a good thing - makes me a little crazy and we can't have any more crazy added to my life - they'll commit me! The good news is that my visit to the doctor today indicates there is no sign that I'll go early. No cervix dialation yet, but baby is still growing and moving ALL THE TIME! The bad news about that is I'm starting to get pretty uncomfortable. Moving around is a real chore, sleeping is tough and I really get annoyed when I drop something because bending over with a basketball in your middle is not so easy. The good news is I haven't been gaining any more weight. I'm definitely doing much better with that this pregnancy. I had lost a pound on my last visit from where I was 2 weeks prior and today I was the same as I was last week. Baby has grown another inch. My midwife ordered an ultrasound in two weeks. I'm not exactly sure why she's doing it. Seems like it's more for fun than really necessary. She mentioned it when I asked if she had any idea about what size I should expect the baby to be. She said I'm measuring normally and right where I should but we'd know better by ultrasound so she wrote me an order. I guess it'll be good to find that out, but we'd better get no indication on the gender of this baby on that visit! I'll be pretty upset if we make it all the way to 37-1/2 weeks not knowing and then have the surprise ruined at an ultrasound!! Even though I'm dying to know, I really want to find out when the baby comes! My latest feelings on the issue is boy, but there isn't a good reason why I say that other than that's what everyone keeps telling me from how I'm carrying this one. We'll see......

So about gymnastics. Hannah was promoted up a level from her mid-year performance evaluations. I was happy to get her out of her old class because of the crazy kids and because I think she was getting a little bored. However, I'm not so sure she was really ready for this level either - it's like real, learning serious skills level gymnastics, not for play so much anymore! She warms up with all the big kids and it was funny watching her last week do things she'd never done before. Like stretching her arms where you grab your elbow from behind your head - she had a tough time figuring that one out or getting into a split. She'd never even seen a split before, but tried to get into all three. The coach had to help her get into these postions, but once she did it, she sort of got the hang of it. Then they went to the high beam and she was all alone on it - no one to hang on to. She quickly figured out she had to pay very careful attention and have full concentration or she'd fall off. I was so proud of her for the effort she put into it. She did really good for her first night. I asked the coach after if she thought she'd be OK and she agreed that she was a bit young yet and that the other girls had the advantage of being in this class all year so far and Hannah was just coming into it, but she thought she'd be fine in a few weeks. She definitely gave a great effort and had fun too! I'll try to remember to take my camera this week.

Sunday was our annual "January Family Birthday Party". We celebrate my grandma's birthday, Hannah's birthday and my mom's cousin Jen's birthday which are all in January as well as my cousin's daughter Carley (Dec. B-day) and my Great Aunt Norma (Feb B-day). It was at my Grandma's retirement center again this year. We had lunch and then cake & ice cream and opened gifts. Hannah had a good time and loved starting her birthday celebrations! I still can't believe she's going to be 4 years old!!! She's such a little girl now and so good! She got some good games and books.

I had the day off for MLK Jr. day yesterday. It's the last holiday unitl Memorial Day for us, but luckily, I'll get my leave in February and March and into April (that's what the planner says anyway), so I'll get a nice break. I'm keeping up with the 4-day weeks probably until I have the baby so it's making work really easy and weeks go fast.

I've got stuff for Hannah's birthday party just about all set. I just have to clean the day before, take the cake topper to Giant Eagle and get last minute stuff. I hope she and the girls have a good time and like her Cinderella party! I think it'll be fun!

Perfect 4-day weekend

As I mentioned in my last post, I had taken a vacation day last Friday and also today. It made a nice long, 4-day weekend that was much needed! And the best part, I didn't do (much) work-work. I never checked work email both Friday or today. I did sign on last night for a little bit to clear out my inbox to avoid it from getting closed, but I only did a few things and then shut it down. I was very proud of myself for actually tuning out of work for 2 days!

I did my shopping around for insurance last Friday. I think I've managed to save ourselves just under $500/year by switching. Definitely well worth the effort. I've still got to finalize everything, but I think I've made my mind up on what to do.

Then we took Hannah to Disney on Ice last Friday night. She has never been to a show like that before and we kept it a surprise until we got there. She was thrilled to pieces when she walked in and saw the ice and the Disney stuff....she knew exactly what we were there for!!! Here's her ear to ear grin when we first walked in.

Then she was in complete awe during the show. It was priceless to see her joy....it even made the $22 spinny light thing well worth the money!!! The show was pretty good too....lots of princesses and lots of Mickey & Minnie. We had a great time!

Saturday, Tony went into work for the morning and Hannah and I snuggled on the couch after making bananna pancakes for breakfast. She was so lovable and cuddly! Then we went out to my mom's for her to spend the night. I did some running around and then we left to play poker. I finally had a better night. No money, but I finally placed in our tournament, which was good for my "poker self-confidence". I had been wondering what I was doing so wrong so it was nice to have a better night.

Sunday was a great "me day". I never got out of my jammies and sewed all day long! I fixed one of our throw pillows, finally made Hannah's bedroom curtain, and then made 7 tote bags for the girls for Hannah's birthday party. Tony went to get Hannah from my moms and made dinner, cleaned up and gave Hannah a bath, so I relaxed all day! It was terrific! We got the last of the baby stuff down from the attic and put all the Christmas stuff back up.

Here's Hannah's curtain. It goes great in her room. I've still got to make a seat cushion for her desk chair out of the same fabric.

Then today, I got up early and started cleaning the house. I got that all done, showered and left to run a bunch of errands. I got a lot done and realized I'm VERY pregnant now!!!! My legs were killing me from shopping for 3 hours and I become out of breath fairly easily. I wonder if I'll make it another 5 weeks? I'm contracting at least once or twice an hour most hours. Nothing hard, just what I think is normal. I have an appt with my midwife tomorrow, so I'll double check that all is normal for now. I feel pretty huge.....here's my big ol' belly at 34-1/2 weeks.

I picked Hannah up from daycare and came home, made dinner and ate. Tony cleaned up and I'm on the computer doing a few more things (duh) and Tony and Hannah are playing upstairs very loudly!! They sound like they're having a lot of fun....lots of laughing and screaming and they're driving the dog NUTS!!!

So I'm back to work tomorrow, but only have a 4 day week and another 3-day weekend since next Monday is a company paid holiday.

A Saturday "Sew" needed!

The New Year's weekend was much more relaxing than Christmas. It was so long overdue!

We went to Jerry & Shelly's on New Years Eve. We had a big dinner out at Bob Evans (are we getting old or is this how it gets being married with children???). Then we just hung out at their place so the girls could play and we ended up playing 90's Trivial Persuit and poker. We all actually made it to midnight, including Hannah and Maci, and we left just shortly after that.

New Year's Day was equally as simple. I got a few things from the store and we mostly hung around our house all day. Around 5, our neigbors came over to watch the Rose Bowl (YAY OSU!!!) and we made a bunch of appetizer snacks and had our last junk-food meal. They all stayed over until like 10:30 and then we watched a movie and went to bed.

Saturday was a day I've needed for a while. I got up with Hannah, got her breakfast and then headed to my craft room and sewed all day long!!! I had a few projects that I wanted to get done. My church Bible Study has decided to make bags of quiet toys/books for the kids to use during church service and I had volunteered to make the bags. Since this project was on a timeline, I did these first. I had purchased the fabric a few weeks ago and found a really easy pattern to make a tote bag online. I made 10 bags, 2 of each type of fabric I got. I love them!!! They were really pretty easy to make and they are so cute - and very practical. They will be perfect for the church bags and I like them so much, I'll be getting some more fabric to make a few for our use as well.

I don't really remember what we did Sunday, but I don't think it was very eventful. I remember going grocery shopping and making dinner, but that's about it.

It was back to work Monday. I had to go to Columbus Tuesday for work. Thank goodness the weather wasn't that bad on Tuesday. My drive down and back was pretty much fine except for my windshield kept freezing up. I had to drive with my defrost on high heat, high fan and my window cracked the whole time! It was fine - a little noisy, but it worked. Bible study was cancelled on Tuesday night, buy Hannah and I went over to Laura's anyway so the girls could play. Wednesday and Thursday were normal work days and I took a vacation day today!

Tony started his diet this week and I'm not eating everything in sight either. I figure the baby is gaining enough weight for the two of us for the next 6 weeks, so my goal is to only gain a few more pounds before I deliver. Today marks my 34 week point, so 6 more weeks to go! The baby is getting so much bigger and I get kneed (or a foot) jabbed into my side quite often.....it doesn't feel good!!! I have to push back on it and it goes back inside easily, but boy, it's not fun! Sleeping is getting difficult and we laugh at the way I stand at the kitchen sink (like 2 feet away because I can't reach it with my belly in the way)!! I think most of my pregnancy weight has been belly, (and my legs). I definitely haven't gained as big of a butt or hips and sides as I did with Hannah. So far, I've avoided the "kankles" - all the swelling like I had with Hannah. I'm getting really anxious to be done being pregnant and have this baby - and find out who this person is! Although, I've decided, I don't want it to come early at all....I'm too busy in January!!!!

I've finally got Hannah's birthday party partially planned. We're having an all things Cinderella party for her. I'm only having 5 of her friends over and we'll have them dress up in Cinderella dresses, do a few activities - make crowns, Cinderella Bingo, Pin the slipper on Cinderella and then watch the movie. I've got all Cinderella party supplies (got really cheap online!) and make rigatoni & salad and order a pizza and have a Cinderella cake and open presents. I'm thinking I'll make the tote bags for the girls for their party favors to take home and then they can reuse their bags. I'm hoping to find Cinderella fabric, or just girly fabric at least. I sort of can't beleive I'm doing a party at our house since I'll be 9 months pregnant, but it should be fairly easy and low key so I should be able to handle it.

As I mentioned before, I'm off today. I'm shopping for new insurance - what fun! I want to try to go out later to Joann's and the party store. We'll see if the weather and my ambition allows for that or not!!! I also took Monday off, so I can do it later this weekend or Monday too. I still want to make Hannah's curtain for her room (that fabric has been sitting in my room for several months now!) Tonight, I'm so excited to take Hannah to see Disney on Ice! She doesn't know where we're going yet, but she knows she has a surprise tonight. I can't wait to see her face seeing the princesses out there on the ice! I think she'll have a blast. This is her first show like this to go to, so I'm really excited for her!

Here's a picture of her from this morning. I can't believe how big she is now! I can't believe she's going to be 4 in a couple more weeks. She's such a good kid and I just think we're the luckiest parents in the whole world to have her as a daughter!