Sprout

I'm 33 almost 34 weeks pregnant and am getting very anxious to meet this baby!  Everything is looking great with Sprout and baby has dropped this week and in a very good position for delivery.  (Not that this means anything will be happening early!)

I have had a dream about my whole delivery and first week at home and Sprout was a boy.  So we'll see if this baby follows in Amelia's steps and is a girl or if I'm actually right this time.  What excited me about my dream was how beautiful the whole birth and first week went.  It was everything that I was hoping for and gave me a little boost that maybe things will go the way I hope.

This baby has been keeping me up at night with kicking so consistently that I'm already predicting our nursing schedule to be 10:30, 2:30, 5:30 and 7:30.  I'm not sure that I remember Amelia kicking me so hard either so we shall see if this is just a longer baby with less room or just another active child.

I'm definitely smaller at this point in my pregnancy than with Amelia but Sprout is measuring right on average for everything like Amelia.  I'm chalking it up to our different diet this time around.  My second trimester energy is all gone and I'm lucky if I have any energy left everyday to cook dinner.  I'm having a hard time cutting back on activities but I just don't feel good if I over do it.  I've also had to cut way back on the amount I'm eating at each sitting so I'm eating 5-6 times a day.

The other major difference with this pregnancy is that we have a midwife and are planning a homebirth.  I love our midwife!  She has been able to calm me down from some of my fears and help me to feel better when I've had bad weeks.  It's been so nice to have that extra support person to listen to me.  Our appointments are at home which has been wonderful as we usually have them during Amelia's nap time.  The times that Amelia has been awake our midwife doesn't mind either.

So when Sprout's ready to come out into the world Amelia will go to stay with Grandma Sissy while Lucas and I stay at home.  With Amelia's birth I was told to come in immediately even though nothing was happening.  I now know that I could have stayed at home until things really kicked in and I'm excited to not have to be traveling around so much.  I will be able to labor in the comfort of my own little nest and not have the pressure of medications being pushed on me.  I will be able to labor as long as my body needs to and not have people constantly checking the state of my cervix and strength of contractions.  If something should happen and we need to transfer to the hospital we will and I'll be ok with the transfer because really it's all about bringing Sprout into the world and having both baby and Mommy healthy.  My goal is to be able to relax as much as possible and let my body do what I know it was designed to do.  

Daddy's Squirrels

One day this week while getting Amelia buckled in the car she was fussing so I told her we had to go home because Daddy was waiting for his girls.  That caught her attention and I repeated that we were Daddy's girls.  So the whole way home she talked about Daddy's squirrels, we're daddy's squirrels.

Shoveling

Amelia loves to help Daddy!

Today she got to go outside and help him shovel the snow and she loved every minute of it.

 She didn't even care that she had to use a big shovel.  In fact she was probably happier that she had one just like Daddy rather than a small one.

When it went off of the sidewalk onto the grass of course it got stuck.  She just stared at it and I could tell she was trying to figure out what she should do.

Then when she dropped it and tried to pick it up she got snow on her mitten which she had to investigate.  She was trying to get it off but then I handed her the shovel and she was off again!

Table

I picked up this table at a garage sale this fall and Amelia has been loving it.

 She likes to color at the table, sometimes I'll let her eat her snack at this table and she loves to drag the chairs around to give herself and extra boost up.

She was also pretty happy that it got to be by the Christmas tree.

Puzzles

Helping Papa with puzzles has recently changed for Amelia.  She has been in quite the mood to copy everything that we do and is thrilled when she can accomplish something on her own that is something the "adults" normally do.  

She figured out how to climb up on to the tall chairs and sit by Papa so there's no stopping her helpfulness with puzzles now.

She even snatched up Papa's glasses to wear so that she could be just like him.  

Santa and ECFE Open House

ECFE had an open house this week and I wanted to go mostly for Amelia to see Santa.

I figured since she didn't cry for Saint Nicolas she'd be alright with Santa.  We got there early and actually followed him in.  She was really excited and followed him down the hall.  Once he was ready I let her go over to him and she gave him five right away.

Then she sat on his lap and all of a sudden Santa was not awesome anymore!

He asked Grandma Sissy for a hug so Amelia decided maybe he wasn't so bad after all and gave him a hug.

 After that we got to do some painting.

Eat some cookies with frosting.

And do lots of coloring and playing with all of the toys.  She had a fun night but it was right at dinner time and I could tell she was getting hungry for something more than cookies.  When we got home we put all of her artwork up on the fridge and hung the ornaments she painted on the tree.  She loved that!

Saint Nicolas

I've been trying to get Amelia excited about Christmas and move on from Halloween and Thanksgiving.  She had fun with turkeys but still could not forget about the pumpkins.  So I've been pointing out Christmas trees, lights and Santas wherever we go.  While she loves these new things she still can't forget about those pumpkins.

Saint Nicolas visited our church one Sunday and I thought it would be a prime opportunity for Amelia to familiarize herself with the idea of sitting on someone's lap.

Yeah, she wasn't having any of it.  She didn't cry but kept this annoyed look on her face the whole time.  When we got in the car she kept saying, "Thank you Santa!" because she got a small bag with hay in it.  The funny thing is she had no idea what it was but was excited because Santa gave it to her.

Snow!

Amelia checking out the first snow of the season.  

When Amelia woke up from her nap one day it had started snowing so we told her to look outside.  She said, "Oh no!"  Since then she has changed her mind about the snow and loves the fact that she gets to wear her boots and hat quite a bit.  She even thinks her mittens are awesome!

Thanksgiving

I was able to go on a quilt retreat earlier in November so I attempted another dress for Amelia.  This one fit a lot better and she wore it for Thanksgiving Day.    

We had our traditional day at Grandma Sissy's house with lunch as the big meal and Lucas coming later from work.  Usually I help my mom cook and prepare the day before so Amelia and I went over like normal.  I wasn't able to help much though as my third trimester had hit me hard that week and I had no energy at all.  I managed to keep my mom company while Amelia ran around doing all of her favorite things at Sissy's house.    I also ended up not feeling to great on Thanksgiving day and the Friday after.  It's a good thing I don't normally plan on Black Friday shopping!

Tops

It had been awhile since we've been able to go on a date night so Lucas and I were really excited when we managed to schedule one for November.

One of the absolute favorite toys at our house are tops.

It was just too cute how all of the kids lined up to watch all of the spinning tops and kept making Lucas spin them.

Baby Elise

Amelia had a cousin born on 11/11/11, baby Elise Louise.   Although the way Amelia pronounces it sounds more like Felieze.  At first Amelia wasn't so sure about the baby.  She wanted to sit on Aunt Kait's lap and then give Elise hugs.  Pretty soon she wanted to sit on my lap too and while she was climbing up Sprout started kicking!  It was pretty odd to feel the presence of three children on my lap.  Amelia has since warmed up to Elise and doesn't feel compelled to be right by me if I'm holding the baby.  I'm praying that this transfers over somewhat to her new sibling.  

Elise's room has a painted tree on one wall and Kait was wanting to hang up birdhouses on the tree so Amelia just had to paint one for the room.  Of course she loved every minute of painting and did not want to quit.  I had to make her stop though before there was too much paint dripping off of the birdhouse.  

Halloween Part 2

Halloween Day was a little crazy for us but Amelia was game for everything that we had to do.  

In the morning we had a party at Allie's house. 

 When we got home Amelia painted her little pumpkins while Lucas and I carved the big pumpkins.

Amelia is sporting her Halloween boxes that Grandma made for her.  All of the grandchildren received a pair this year and she loved that there were pumpkins on them.

Then Amelia took a short nap and we were off for trick-or-treating.  We visited Great Grandma Kreykes in Saint Peter.  Stopped to see Grandma Korky at work (McDonald's).  Then went to Grandma Sissy and Papa's house.  Stopped to visit Aunt Kait and Uncle Jeremy and finally went around our neighborhood.  Last year there weren't very many neighbors home so that part was short, but it seemed everyone was home this Halloween.  Since we knew everyone, Amelia kept inviting herself into everybody's house.  She also kept taking candy out of their bowls and everyone thought she was so cute they just let her do it.  One neighbor gave Amelia a small container of play-dough and she wasn't sure what it was but just knew that it wasn't candy so she tried to trade it with a different neighbor for candy.

She came back home on a sugar high since she doesn't normally get anything with a lot of sugar and it was a miracle she was able to fall asleep that night!

Halloween Part 1

 Amelia was a kitty for Halloween this year.  I was excited to make a simple costume that would also keep her very warm.  I didn't plan on the fact that she would hate the hood for the costume.  I tried keeping it upstairs so that she could see it and then I tried wearing it hoping she would want to copy Mommy.  Nothing was working!  My last effort was putting a "pretties" by the ear, and that sealed the deal for my girly girl.

 It still bothered her some but she kept it on.

Here is her "Cheese" face that has become common during photo sessions.

She didn't even mind wearing her costume to school.

Apples

We weren't able to go apple picking this year but we did visit an apple farm to buy apples for canning.  

 Of course they had pumpkins and you already know how Amelia feels about those!  She's still asking about pumpkins on December 17th!

 We went back to look at all of the apple trees and show her where they grow.

 She really just wanted to eat them.

She had so much fun that day and was super excited that it was tasting day at the farm.  She was able to sample apples, cheese, pie, and donuts.  Mommy was super happy to come home with two half bushels of apples for canning and apple cider for drinking!

Wedding

One of my cousins got married in October.

I tried to make Amelia a dress to wear for the occasion but it ended up a little big.  She didn't care and her favorite part of the whole evening was the dance of course.

 She ran out to the dance floor and didn't care if anyone much less anyone she knew was around.

Then uncle Josh tried to dance with her.  He picked her up and she gave him this glaring look as if to say, "you have some nerve doing that."  When he put her down she made a beeline away from him and avoided dance for about five minutes before running back out again.

It's been fun to see how her dancing has evolved over the past 6-7 months.  I still have no idea where she picks up some of these dance moves.  Could it really be her just moving her body the way the music moves her?  She definitely has more rhythm than Lucas or I.  She's even begun choosing slow or fast movements to appropriately match the music!

Gymnastics Update

                                                    Amelia with her friends, Lila and Allie

Gymnastics has become a joy and I'm glad I stuck with it.  Next week is our last week though and we are going to have to take a break since Sprout will be here before we know it!

I know she is really going to miss it.  Amelia has gotten very good at trying new things there and even attempting certain things like the low balance beam by herself.

Some of her favorite things are summer salts, bear walk, swinging on the bar, headstands, jumping off of blocks, and playing in the foam pit.  She also loves to sing the cheer at the end of class and follows along with the actions.

"Tumbling tots, tumbling tots, flip, flop, hooray!"

Random October Happenings

 We went to Hy-Vee one day, usually we are Cub Foods shoppers and Amelia was lucky enough to receive a balloon at the end of the trip.  She loved this balloon until Mommy had to make it disappear because she was becoming very demanding with me and the balloon.  She figured out that if she let go of the balloon it would float up to the ceiling and I would have to go get it for her.  So I tried to tie a toy to the end so it wouldn't float.  She cried.  So I took off the toy and attached a very long ribbon to the balloon so she could always reach it.  Well now it wouldn't go all the way up to the ceiling.  She cried.  The balloon disappeared.

 I had closed the piano for some reason and we opened it back up again.  She loves to play on the piano and plays something for us almost daily.  Usually she makes Daddy come over and play with her and as she is with all things, she has a precise plan and he is to follow it.

We inherited this Elmo alphabet toy so now Amelia thinks she needs to learn letters.  I was happily teaching her colors thinking how appropriate that was for her age.  One night she started talking to me about triangles and before I knew it she had most of her shapes down without me really teaching her.  She also decided that  she would like to work on numbers along with everything else and can consistently count up to 6.  Yeah, my little overachieving, multitasking, determined little girl doesn't remind me of myself at all.... ha ha

 Her hair is getting longer and I've been managing to get it in a ponytail without the whole thing coming apart within an hour.

 Because of gymnastics she has become obsessed with stickers.  She can now take them off of the paper by herself and loves to share them with everyone including pup pup and Mommy.  I always have to check over my pants before leaving the house to clean off any stickers.