Monday, December 30, 2013

38 Weeks with Baby #2

Today was my last Monday of babysitting our nieces until well after the baby is born, so I asked our 8-year old niece to take a belly pic for me. My camera is clearly not behaving lately since this picture is just as fuzzy as the last one. Dagnabit!
Out of fear of forgetting something important, I finally wrote down my pre-baby to-do list and starting tacking projects. In two days, I have packed our hospital bag, washed covers for the car seat, swing, bouncer, play gyms and cradle mattress, started recovering the cushions for the glider rocker (a project that has been in the making since I was pregnant with Natalie. Oops!), cleaned the laundry room, and written out a few Scriptures to look at for encouragement during labor. Alex brought the cradle down for me today and Natalie immediately climbed into it. She looked pretty darn cute, but I made her get out and suggested she put her baby doll in it instead. She went and got her doll, laid her down in the cradle and proceeded to rub the baby's back like I do to her. She sure knows how to melt my heart, and she's been doing a good job of it lately, too. Whenever I bend down to get in a lower cabinet or something, she'll come over and rub my back and then give me a hug and a kiss. Sometimes she even asks, "You ok, Mama?" Precious. I decided to cuddle with her in her toddler bed tonight, a feat easier accomplished in a larger bed or without a big belly in the way, and she started rubbing my arm. I tried to get up at one point, and she sat up and pushed my head back down to the pillow. Guess she wasn't ready for me to leave her just yet! I'm soaking up the cuddles and making sure to try and take advantage of opportunities to show her that she is special and I'm here for her. With all the changes that have already happened and the ones getting ready to take place, I want to help her feel safe and secure instead of anxious.

Once we get the car seat installed and bags packed for Natalie to take to my parents' and for the baby, I think all the necessary things will be done. I have a laundry list of sewing projects that I'd like to tackle, but we shall see about those.

I've had a couple Braxton Hicks contractions the last two days and plenty of heartburn as soon as I eat sugar. And have I mentioned how badly I've craved sweets?!

Tomorrow, we are taking Natalie back to an inflatable games place we first went to back in February. The plan is to feed her lunch and then let her nap in the car on the hour-long ride there. I hope she enjoys it as much as she did when she was 14 months old. She really surprised me back then. I thought she'd be intimidated by it all, but she was my little wild child, running around as fast as her little legs would take her. I'm really looking forward to having some good quality family time before Alex heads back to work Thursday and our family of 3 becomes 4.  Hopefully the camera will cooperate tomorrow and we can get some good pictures to remember the day by, too!

Thursday, December 26, 2013

37 Weeks with Baby #2

I have been entirely too lazy with the belly pictures this time around. Weeks go by where I think about taking one and put it off again and again. I finally bit the bullet and took this one, and of course, it is fuzzy! 37 wks 3 days with still-nameless-baby-girl-Godin:
We put all the Christmas decorations away today because I was just too eager to get the baby gear out. Natalie immediately tried to climb into the baby's swing, but I convinced her to let her new baby doll go for a ride in it instead. She got a new doll for her birthday and is obsessed with it and enjoys trying to feed it her food, letting her sit in the booster seat, high chair, training potty, etc. I think she is going to really enjoy having a real baby in the house, but I am going to have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn't do anything dangerous! Recently, a friend came over with her 2.5 month old baby and Natalie managed to pick the baby up off the couch when we were distracted. Talk about a heart attack!

Pregnancy has been enjoyable for the most part. My ribs have been behaving better recently and not causing me as much discomfort. Heartburn started up a couple weeks ago, but it's not horrible. Our last ultrasound at 35 weeks showed that this little one has hair like her big sister! My feet swell just a little bit at the end of days when I've been standing a lot, but that's not bad either. Over all, I feel really good. I just want this precious little one to be healthy and take her time. Well, maybe not too much time...41 or 42 weeks of pregnancy would surely test my emotional and physical strength! I feel very blessed to have a wonderful doctor who believes in God's intelligent design for a woman's body to successfully deliver babies and is supportive of my desire for a natural delivery. We're praying that our doula will be able to assist us in my labor despite having 3 other mothers due the same day as me. She made such a tremendous difference when I was laboring to bring Natalie into the world and we can't imagine going through labor again without her guidance.

These last few weeks are going to pass all too quickly. As excited and nervous and eager and anxious as I am to meet my new daughter, I do not want to be too busy or distracted by a to-do list or my own thoughts to spend quality time with Natalie before she has to share me with a sibling. Alex had to use up the last of his vacation time before the end of the year, so he is home with us until Jan 2 and then he'll be taking time off when the baby is born, so we have the opportunity now to make some good family memories with Natalie. She is at such a fun age, despite some recent challenges with nap and bedtime routines and general discipline. God is faithful and will give us the wisdom we ask for when dealing with her. I just really hope we ALL handle the coming transition smoothly. Sleep deprivation and hormone swings make me the most nervous, but it will all be ok. Millions of other mothers have gone through it before me, so I can get through it, too! Hallelujah!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

More Natalie-isms

Natalie pronounces the word pineapple as "apple bapple". I LOVE hearing her say it! Cracks me up. And the kid loves her "apple bapple" as much as her mama.

Recently, Natalie kept opening the freezer door and grabbing the ice cream ("ow keem") before dinner. I told her we could have some after dinner, so after we ate, she grabbed it again and Alex told her that mommy would share with her. She came into the dining room where I was and said, "Ow keem! Share it? Mama?" How could I say no to that?

The other day, we were listening to our Veggietales station on Pandora and the song, "I Like to Move It" from the Madagascar soundtrack came on. Natalie jumped up and down, spun around, waved her hands and "moved it" like a wild woman. Now she asks for "move it move it" quite often. I am not crazy about the lyrics and wish she'd get hooked on a catchy Christian song instead. The Veggietales station drives me a little crazy at times because no matter how I try to customize what they play, they still manage to play a ton of stuff that kids probably wouldn't like (think lots of slow songs) and there are a lot of secular songs thrown in there that I was trying to avoid by creating a Christian station in the first place.

Thursday, at her 2-year well-child check-up, Natalie made friends with just about everyone in the waiting room. My mom was with us and had been reading her a story, but Natalie decided she would rather have another grandmotherly lady read it to her instead. She said hello to everyone she saw and even tried to climb into a few laps. She is never that friendly with strangers! While waiting in the exam room, we helped her pronounce the doctor's name, so when he came in, she said, "Hi, Doctor Miller!". We ran into good friends in the waiting room as we were leaving and Natalie kept wanting the husband to zip up her coat. Then we headed to the chiropractor, whom Natalie has met once or twice I think, and she reached out all on her own and shook his hand!

I have loved watching Natalie grow and change and learn so many new things these last two years. It never ceases to amaze us when she learns new things, especially when she says or does things and we have no idea where she learned them. God is so good to have blessed us with this child. Sure, she gets under my skin and tests my patience, usually on a daily basis. It's certainly not all sunshine and roses being a mom. I just never want to take her for granted. She brings us lots of laughter and joy. I can't wait to see her as a big sister!