So Thankful

I know I said we weren't traveling until 2013, but we made an exception.  I had a few hours of regret on Wednesday as I had what I thought were regular contractions for 2 hours.  Luckily we got through our 48 hour visit to Lancaster without having to rush home to the hospital!  We are officially home until H2 arrives!

As I get older I understand the phrase "there's no place like home for the holidays" more and more.  There is really nothing better than going to my childhood home surrounded by my loving family to celebrate Thanksgiving. (And to have my mom do the cooking and cleaning...)  Even though it was just "us" plus Nana, the house fills up quickly with 3 kids and a dawg running around.

I am beyond thankful for my family this year.  Each one of them has helped me in their own special way whether that was helping out with Evie, crying with me over difficult news, give me insulin shots in my butt, supporting me financially, ironing our clothes, a kind hand written note at the perfect time, or picking up cookie butter from Trader Joe's.

Evie and I joined an already "dog-vacationing" Parker in Lancaster on Wednesday afternoon.  Daddy arrived a few hours later.  Evie had a chance to be the big cheese for a day with her grandparents and all the toys.  Auntie Laura and company joined the fun on Thursday afternoon.  Nana witnessed the craziness of the next generation of Stefany's.

Evie adores her G and Poppop. She calls both of them by name and reaches her arms up to be snuggled by them.  She likes to be in Poppop's arms when the clocks bong or coo coo.  She enjoyed watching G cook.  It's so endearing to see her interact with her grandparents.

Evie loves her cousins as well.  She is closer to a Cole sounding name than Hannah.  She likes playing with them when she is in control.  She doesn't like it when Cole (aka silent destroyer) takes the toy she wants or makes a mess of the toys.  I am so proud of her good manners in saying "thank you" (sometimes accompanied with a head nod) when her cousins share a toy with her.  The house on the patio and the basement full of toys were huge hits.  We had many laughs watching three unique personalities play.

On my drive back I heard my first bit of holiday music.  It's going to be a great season this year!  I love how the holidays take on a new form with kids. 

Thanksgiving 2012

35 Baby!

When I wrote this post at 24 weeks, I never thought I would still be pregnant at this point.  Thank you H2 for staying comfy in my belly up to this point.

My testing has been going well.  No reason for concern.  I am having quite a few contractions today.  It seems one day I have a lot of stomach tightening (contractions), then nothing for five days.  The good news is my parents are coming down tonight if something major happens.  The bad news is Jason and my dad are going to the Eagles/Redskins game tomorrow.   That's when it will happen, right Jackie Hege?  :)

We are traveling to Lancaster for Thanksgiving.  Our trip will be short lived since I have to be back on Friday morning for testing.  As much as I want to cancel and stay in Lancaster, I have a feeling H2 is coming sooner than later, so I want to stay on top of things... and be close to my doctors.

Induction will happen as early as 38 weeks. I am hoping sometime around Dec 12... my original due date.  Earlier, of course, if H2 is having any issues.  I'm pretty sure this time next month, we will be holding H2 with bags under our eyes.  AHH!  Are we really starting all over again?!  Evie is busy, but so easy compared to a newborn.  Lord be with us. 

We will keep you posted via the blog.  I have most of the same people on my text list from Evie.  If you want to be on it, let me know! 

Fun, Free Friday

The days of Evie and Mommy outings are limited.  We are probably about 1 month away from H2's arrival, which means this Mama is slowing down and will be home bound for a few weeks.  I feel like I am finally finding my stride as a stay at home mom.  I've met just enough mom friends with little friends for Evie to keep me fulfilled.  We had some kind of playdate every day this week and Evie had two napovers.  I'm so thankful God put some wonderful women in my life.  I've been longing for some new pals since my Maryland girlfriends keep moving!

Since Aubrey asked, ringworm has not made an appearance yet.  Poor Cole Bug has been running a high fever since Monday (gymnastics day).  George and Evie seem to be ok besides running noses.  What kid doesn't have a runny nose all fall and winter? 

We culminated our busy week with a trip to the Maryland Science Center.  My neighbor invited us along with her two girls, her sister, and her nephew.  Thanks to Melanie's connection at the Science Center, we paid $0 for our outing.  Kids are free under 3 (take note, Please Touch Me Museum) and adults are some expense price for the 2 hours we would be there.  Thank you Pete for your hook up of passes and allowing us to park in the back lot!!

The majority of the museum is not appropriate toddlers, but luckily there is a gated Kids Room for kiddos 0-8.  AND all the school trip kids can't go in there.  It was a perfect place for our little group to play. 

The water table was still a tad high for our vertically challenged tot, however, Evie played there for a good chunk of time.

So serious all the time.  I promise you she liked it

C'mon short arms, you can do it!

This was the smallest one there.  Daddy texted she looks like Gumby

Watching the bubbles in the fish tank was fascinating.  I saw a camera in the tank, but wasn't sure where it was projecting.  When we went into the submarine a few minutes later , a mom commented she saw us on the TV in there.  I hope I wasn't picking my nose!  I will know for next time... and here is your warning MD folks!

"Bubbles" is a word in her vocabulary

The Lego's kept her attention for a few minutes.

And this thing was pretty cool

They also had a 0-24 month area with a "waterbed" area.  Even though she transversed over all the mats at the gym, she was unsure of this one.   This area had a big chair for feeding babies and other toys for crawlers.  A good area for when H2 is with us.

After our typical 40 minutes of play, we had a snack on our way to eat our bagged lunch.

Overlooking the Inner Harbor while snacking

I love getting out during the week with Evie to avoid weekend crowds.  But that also means we run into field trips.  The museum was filled with elementary aged kids.  Luckily we found a few tables away from the lunch room to have our lunch.

Free is a great way to experience a new adventure with a toddler.  Hooray for nice neighbors! 

Gymnastics

On this beautiful Veterans Day, I chose to take Evie to the open gymnastic time in Laurel instead of playing outside for what will probably turn out to be the last warm day of the year.  Oh well.  I made plans to meet our new playmate there, so we were indoors this morning.

The Fairland Sports and Aquatic Complex in Laurel is quite impressive.  Auntie Laura clued us in to the open gymnastic time for walkers- 5 years old.  Not only is it a great activity for $5, but I also found the Curling Club!  I can start preparing for the next Winter Olympics!

Evie had a great time running, throwing, and climbing.  

A little wobble on the dismount.  That's a minor deduction

A long trampoline, which was just an elevated running surface to Evie.


Uncle Sam and Cole showed up as well, which was good since Evie and George both have pregnant mommies! Uncle Sam maned the center for infectious diseases foam pit for us.

Throwing the foam squares was a super fun activity



Thinking about it... not that brave yet

Evie just sucked her thumb while in the pit.  I'm waiting for ring worm to show up

 Evie lasted about 45 minutes of the hour allotted time for the little tikes.  She just motored through the gym with no issues walking/running on all types of mats.  I thought the floor exercise mat was neat.  I almost starting doing back flips. 

Evie's ending pose on her floor exercise

It was definitely worth the 30 minute trip to Laurel.  We will go back again!

Since they don't know how to jump yet, I told them to dance-
that means bend your knees and shake your rump. 

Birth Annoucement: To send or not to send?

As we approach the holiday season, it's time to think about our Christmas photo card.  I asked Jason if we want to make our Christmas card a birth announcement too or send two large shipments out. 

Then I got thinking.

First, I will NOT combine H2's birth announcement with our Christmas card.  Already I would be failing as a mother by combining the two.  I have been listening to gripes from people with December birthdays as well as storing away good ideas of how to make H2's birthday special in the shadow of the largest gift giving holiday of the year.  I made up my mind on that decision.

Second, is a birth announcement a thing of the past??  By the time I get the announcement out (which I remind you of our speediness with Evie's) everyone will either see H2 on the blog or Facebook or know by email or text about him/her.  I will make one for us at least because I like having that token in H2's baby book. 

So weigh in, does anyone even want one?  Should I just save the money and take away your joy of opening something other than bills or junk mail?  OR do I go into blog/Facebook/text/email silence for a week and make some of you wait by your rusty, bent mailboxes to find out if H2 is a girl or boy?  THAT would be lots of fun. 

Hmmm....

Facebook vs Blog

Ok people, I said I wouldn't do it anymore, but I'm annoyed.

Why does no one comment on my blog?? 

I post a picture of Evie from Halloween on my FB page and I have 20+ likes and 10 comments. 

What would make you comment more on my blog?  Do you need me to take off the messy words you need to type in?  Is something wrong with your ability to leave comments?  I don't know if things aren't working until someone tells me.  You can rely on other forms of communication to tell me, like that old school thing called email or text messaging. 

Keep in mind that this blog means much more to me than Facebook.  Someday Evie and H2 will look over my blog and see all of your lack of comments.  I want them to see how much everyone loved her costume.  You can also like pictures in my albums! 

Please stalk AND COMMENT!

In other frustrations- I don't know what is up with the poll.  I took it off because it kept resetting. 

Boo!

Not only is Evie imitating us when we say "boo" when playing with her, it is also fitting for the going-ons of our house of recent.

Thursday before Sandy arrived, we were "booed" by our neighbors.  Our neighborhood plays this game every year- you ring the doorbell and run leaving behind a bag of treats and instructions to "boo" more neighbors.  We are pretty sure we know who left behind a bag of goodies so we could eat the food without worry.  The instructions said to "boo" two other houses within 24 hours.  We quickly made one bag for Evie's friend Emily up the street.  We decided one friend was enough.  I don't know when the rules changed to TWO houses. 

For the past three nights lights have been turning on unexpectedly in our house.  At first Jason and I thought we were just forgetting to turn them off, but when both of us are in bed and the overhead light turns on, that's creepy.  The main source of this ghost-like phenomena is the ceiling fan in our bedroom.  When we go upstairs at night, it is on.  When Jason was showering this morning and I was sleeping, it turned on.  We are going to change bulbs and batteries in the remote in hopes that will solve the problem.  I'm starting to wonder if we are being visited because we only sent one "boo bag"....

The biggest BOO event was Halloween!  Jason carved our pumpkins again this year.  My idea, his art work. 

Do you get it?  The kids in our neighborhood were trying to figure out what it spelled.  I like that Jason gave me the biggest pumpkin.  He said "it had the biggest surface area for "M", plus let's be real, you run this household"  Darn right.

Jason, under Evie's supervision, carved her pumpkin before going out for trick or treat. 

Grandmom gave us a duck costume for Evie months ago.  We never tried it on until 5:56 PM on Halloween.  It fit just ducky and Evie looked so stinkin' cute.  She kept her hood up the entire night too. 

Evie had a blast trick or treating this year.  She walked up to lit houses with her bag, picked out candy (next year we need to practice what kind of candy is good vs lousy for her parents), put her treat in her bag, sometimes said "thank you", then always waved and said "bye bye".  She melted my heart with her manners.  Ms. Pati gave the best treat- goldfish bags!  We had her go back 3 times. 

Evie took a 3 hour nap that afternoon, so we allowed her stay out until 7:45 PM waddling around our complex.  The cold didn't seem to bother her.  I think she loved all the attention from the big kids.  The night was pretty much perfect for her first real experience with trick or treat.

More pictures in the album.

Halloween 2012