Sixth Word

I only count a word as a new word if she says it many times. There are many words she's said once or twice, such as "this" and "kiss," but we've both heard her say "hat" enough times to count it as her sixth word. She says it in reference to Paul's baseball cap. If I put one of her hats on, she takes it off immediately; the same goes for barrettes in her hair. However, she will wear her Daddy's hat for an extended period of time. She also uses it to play peekaboo, which is still one of her favorite things to do!

Today will be her first time going to Sarah's in 4 weeks. Yesterday when she saw Sarah in the hallway at church she started wailing, which was the opposite of her usual reaction to seeing her. Nadia also cried when I dropped her off in the nursery although thankfully she only cried for 1-2 minutes this time. I guess she's going through a stage of not wanting to be separated from Mommy. Hopefully she won't cry too much at Sarah's today. She'll be spending 7 hours a week with Sarah - from 2:30-6:00 on Mondays and Tuesdays. I'll drop her off, and Paul will pick her up. On Thursdays (the other day I am teaching this semester now that I'm up to 75% of a full-time load) Paul will come home by 3:30 to be with her. Wednesday mornings I'll be going to MOPS once a month; Nadia will join me for that. Wednesday evenings I have choir rehearsal at 7pm. That's my schedule for this semester in a nutshell.

Farewell, morning nap

I think the time has come for Nadia to transition to one afternoon nap a day. She took two long naps on Tuesday, but I think that was the last time that will happen. Wednesday through Friday she took morning naps (60-90 minutes long) but no afternoon naps unless you count falling asleep in the carseat for 15 minutes as a nap. Yesterday she played in her crib in the afternoon for about 55 minutes, and just when I was about to go get her, she fell asleep and slept for about 35 minutes. This morning she played in her crib for an hour during the time that was her morning nap. It is nice that she'll play happily in her crib these days. I used that to my advantage when she woke up at 5:50am this morning. I didn't go get her right away. I am not happy with reverting back to the earlier wakeup time (3rd day in a row that has happened). Hopefully the transition to one afternoon nap a day will help her get back to sleeping in until 7am. The next few days I think it will be a challenge in the late morning to keep her up, but I am going to try to keep her up until at least noon. Today it wasn't hard since we were at church, and there was a picnic after church. The weather was gorgeous! We are back to short sleeve weather, and it's very pleasant out. I tried to keep her awake during our 12 minute drive home from church, but she fell asleep 2 minutes before we got home. She didn't even wake up when I got her out of the carseat or carried her to her crib (at 1pm). Hopefully she'll take a nice long nap since it will be her only nap today. In light of giving up the morning nap, I am going to join a Sunday School class that is starting next Sunday. I signed up for one and was given the materials for the quarter today. I also am going to try going to MOPS once a month this fall at my "old" church, which is 30 minutes away from our new home.

Thankfully I feel much better today. Yesterday evening I started to feel better. Maybe it was the nachos at Applebee's that did the trick, LOL. We didn't get Paul a computer at Staples. He wants to shop elsewhere. This weekend I've been doing some organizing. I've been sorting through the boxes of Nadia's old clothes and taking out the items that are gender neutral. Thankfully both sleep blankets will work for our son as one was yellow and the other was blue. Of course most of her clothes were very feminine, but thankfully not every single item was. I felt sad packing up some of her little dresses - I was wishing she could wear them again or another daughter of mine could wear them; then I remembered all the new dresses waiting for her to wear in the future that I've already purchased and that made me feel better. Plus I am certain I'll dress my son up in cute little suits from time to time. I am going to bid on some fall dresses for Nadia on eBay. My organizing has mostly centered on Nadia's closet and our son's closet. I am moving the baby stuff out of hers (gym and such) and moving my stuff out of his and into Paul's office closet (scrapbooks, wrapping paper, and such). I also went through the toybox and removed the toys for infants that Nadia doesn't play with any more. I put them in his closet and will get them out when he's ready for toys. I'd call this urge to organize nesting, but it seems on the early side for that, eh?

P.S. These photos were not posed. Nadia loves to pick out a book and then read it in her blue rocking chair albeit many times the book is upside down. :-)

Size Five

Nadia started the summer wearing a pair of size 3 sandals. The last 2 months she's worn a pair of size 4 sandals. Although I didn't feel like going shopping yesterday, I had a feeling she'd fall asleep in the car on the way home, and since she wouldn't take an afternoon nap in her crib, I thought that was a good idea. I bought her one fall pant outfit at Ross and then went to Target. I bought a froggy potty for Nadia. It was hard to find a gender neutral one! I also got Nadia a few long sleeved tops, some socks, and a new pair of shoes (size 5). I think the shoes are soooo cute! They are brown with a few flowers on them (pink, orange, and blue). Unfortunately the black patent shoes I bought at the thrift store in Chicago in March (size 4) are already too small; she never got to wear them. I know she'll need some more shoes and a pair of boots for this fall/winter, but at least she has one pair now.

Farewell, summer

Well it's my turn to go back to school on Monday. I should have gone in today for the annual freshmen orientation picnic, which I attended the past 5 years, but I woke up feeling rather lousy this morning, which clinched my decision to skip it this year. I am not sure if it's my turn to have a cold or if it's just seasonal allergies, but I woke up with a fierce headache and have needed to have the tissues nearby all day. Nadia woke up at 5:50am so unfortunately my day started an hour earlier than usual. Yesterday she woke up at 6:55am, and that had been the norm lately. As they say that bad sleep follows bad sleep (and good sleep follows good sleep) she didn't nap well At All yesterday so then she got up earlier than usual this morning. Yesterday when I put her down at 9am for her morning nap, she just chattered and played in her crib for 35 minutes until I decided she wasn't going to nap. I thought maybe it's time to switch to one afternoon nap, but by 11am she was so fussy I put her down, and she fell asleep immediately and slept 1 hour. However, she then wouldn't take an afternoon nap at 2pm; she usually gets at least 2 hours of sleep total between her two naps not just one hour. Today she took her usual 90 minute morning nap (8:15-9:45 since she got up so early), but then she played in her crib from 12:15-1:15 instead of napping. Up until yesterday she was still in a good routine of two naps which together lasted 2-3 hours, but maybe she's transitioning to one afternoon nap?

Another sign that summer is over is that today the weather feels like fall (it's 65 degrees right now). I know it will get warm again; it's very unusual for it to be this cool in August. However it definitely feels like fall outside. I realized when I tried to get Nadia dressed in warmer clothes that I needed to do an inventory of her fall/winter clothes. I tried on a few tops/pants I had purchased on clearance many months ago. The size 18 month tops fit her just fine, but the 18 month pants are too big. I did purchase several size 12 month fleece pants that she hadn't worn yet; so she can use those this fall. I am sure sometime over the course of the winter she'll grow into the 18 month pants. Size 12 month dresses are already too small. She can wear size 18-24 month dresses, but I found out I only purchased one long sleeve dress in those sizes - and it's a Christmas dress. I have several really dressy winter dresses in those sizes (short sleeved), but she definitely needs a few long sleeve dresses. She also needs socks. She hasn't worn any for a few months, and the ones she wore last spring are way too small, and she needs a pair of every day shoes as it won't be sandal weather much longer. The outfit she's wearing today (for the first time) is size 12 months. The short sleeved shirt is a bit too small, but the jacket and pants fit. It doesn't look right with sandals though. She needs her first pair of sneakers I do believe! She just wore the shirt around the house, but for our venture out to go shopping she wore the jacket also.

Clothes for our Son!

Nadia is definitely able to express her wishes more clearly these days. Thankfully she now makes use of nodding her head "yes" in addition to "no." I can ask her yes/no questions and she responds almost all the time. It's very nice to have more of an idea what she wants! Yesterday she made it quite clear she only wanted to play the piano if her big teddy was sitting beside her on the bench. Of course I still don't always know what she wants, but I know in time she'll be able to communicate more and more. Yesterday one of the words she repeated back upon request was "kiss." She pronounced it exactly right. Ahh what a sweet word to hear her say. :-)

This morning the choir director at the church I've been going to lately called to see if I was singing in the choir this fall. I was caught off guard, and since I hadn't made up my mind, I said "yes." Turns out the choir is having their kickoff picnic and first rehearsal this evening. I said I'd be there. I hadn't made up my mind whether to stay at that church or go elsewhere. I wanted to hear the choir at the church I visited this last Sunday. I was planning on taking the spring semester off in terms of being in the choir like I did with Nadia. I resumed singing in a choir when she was 6 months old. So one possibility is that I'll stay at this church through December and then can visit others and make up my mind next spring/summer. I did really enjoy this choir, and Nadia does like this nursery.

Nadia has been sleeping in until 6:50am on a more regular basis lately. YAHOO! I was amazed that she slept almost 12 hours on Monday night and then on Tuesday her naps totalled 3 1/2 hours. Usually her total hours of sleep comes to 14 hours not 15 1/2! She slept almost 12 hours again last night, but her morning nap was only 1 hour this morning. I was really tired yesterday morning so it was excellent timing that she picked that day to have a long nap as I slept almost as long as she did. I didn't take a nap today since I got 9 1/2 hours of sleep last night. She's taking her afternoon nap right now, and when she wakes up we are going to the mall to shop the clearance racks for her brother! Hopefully I will be somewhat accurate in guessing what size he'll wear next summer, and hopefully there will still be a few cute items left on the clearance racks. Everything should be really cheap since it's almost September. Although I've always preferred shopping for baby girl clothing, knowing it's for my son makes shopping for baby boy clothing really exciting also. :-)

I've had fun working on the baby registries (aka "Christmas lists"). Most of the items are for our son, but some are also for Nadia. I haven't put clothes on either list, but obviously we need clothes for him as very little of what Nadia wore was gender neutral. Although I'm wanting to get a second crib (the one I thought we were going to get was missing pieces so I'm still searching), I am not planning on getting a 2nd highchair or pack 'n play. My sister is giving us a double stroller she doesn't want any more. I put a few toys on the registry that are more boy oriented, but most of the toys Nadia played with from birth to 12 months are gender neutral. For Nadia for Christmas I put a dollhouse (one meant for very young children), little table & chairs for her bedroom, a toychest for her bedroom, and a play kitchen. If you have any suggestions of things a girl ages 18-24 months would really enjoy, please let me know! She's blessed to have her birthday and Christmas 6 months apart. Unfortunately our son will have his birthday less than a month after Christmas. I'll do my best to still make it a very big deal for him each year! If there's anything you think I might be forgetting that one needs for a second baby or for one's first son, please let me know. I have to admit that prior to having kids it was really hard to come up with many items for our Christmas wish list. Since 2007 (when I was pregnant with Nadia), it has been a lot more fun, and it's been much easier to come up with lots of ideas. We don't mind at all that most of the Christmas gifts labeled for Paul or I are actually for our children. :-)

Our Son's Room

I bought our first house in January 2001; it had three bedrooms as did our 2nd home that we bought in 2004. During the time we lived in those two homes, we only used one of the three bedrooms. I made the mistake of turning one bedroom into a nursery in the summer of 2002 since we were ttc. I painted the walls, put up wallpaper border (Boyd's bear theme), bought a matching crib set, etc. I gave that crib set away when we moved in 2004. In our 2nd home we did actually use one of the other bedrooms for 2 1/2 months since Nadia arrived before we moved. Our current house has four bedrooms, and three have been used right from the start since we made one of them into an office for Paul. I hadn't decorated the fourth bedroom yet. We had a set of twin bunk beds in there which were used a couple of times by guests, but 99% of the time the door on that room stayed shut. Well that will be changing in a few months! For the first time since 2001 ALL the bedrooms will be used on a daily basis. YAY!

In February 2005 when we thought we might have an adoption match with a birthmother expecting a baby boy (whom we planned to name Ian Alexander), I had picked out a transportation theme for his nursery (in primary colors). Although I saw many very cute bedding sets in other themes (such as jungle animals), I still found myself wanting to go with the theme I had picked 4.5 years ago. As with Nadia's room, I don't want to pick a theme that is too babyish. I don't want him to outgrow it at say the age of four which is what I think would happen if I picked Winnie the Pooh or something like that. I also didn't want to go the sports route just in case our son happens not to be too crazy about sports. Animals would probably also be a safe bet, but since the kids' bathroom is in a monkey theme I thought I'd pick something different. Even if you narrow it down to primary colors/transportation theme there are MANY choices - construction vehicles, trains, fire trucks, cars, etc. Wow! In the end I think I'm going to go with Travel Time (by Bedtime Originals). I really liked most of the items - lamp, mobile, wall hangings, and border.

I'm not crazy about the valance that goes with it, and it didn't have a coordinating hamper, but I found a hamper & valance in another collection that I think go well with the Travel Time stuff. I found other curtains that were much cuter (also had a transportation theme), but it was hard to find one that seemed like the colors would go well together. I started a baby registry at Walmart and Babies R Us last night although I doubt that's necessary for a second child; it's probably one of those things you usually only do with your first. However, since Christmas is about one month before he's due, I thought the registries would serve as idea lists for family members as to what to get us for Christmas. The only bad part of going that route is I want to start decorating his room NOW. I don't want to wait until after Christmas! :-) We'll see if I have the patience to wait and see if I get any of the items as gifts, or if I end up just buying the stuff myself before then.

I'm now up to 2 acid controller pills a day. I took two yesterday (one every 12 hours), and I felt much better than I had the previous few days. At least I'm still at the point where 2 pills is enough. For much of my pregnancy with Nadia even with 2 a day I still had heartburn. I gained 2 pounds in the 11 days in between my last OB appt and my perinatologist appt. I am going to try to be more careful about what I eat. I also am planning to make an appt with Dr. A (who delivered Nadia) to see if she still thinks VBAC is a good option for me. If she does, I think I'll start seeing her instead and plan on delivering in the same hospital where I had Nadia. Hopefully this time we can avoid both a c-section and the NICU. :-)

BIG Day!

There are three reasons why today is a big day for our family. First, we found out that baby is a BOY. He was shy during the first part of the ultrasound as he was in a breech position with his legs crossed. Nadia was head down in every ultrasound, but that's not true of this little guy. Thankfully though he did let us get a few good looks between his legs toward the end of the ultrasound. Everything looked fine. They want me to come back at 24 weeks for one more ultrasound so they can thoroughly examine the heart. I am very excited that Nadia will have a brother! I am following the pattern of my two sisters who both had a girl first and then a boy. Now we need to pick a name as Deborah Marie will not work for a boy, LOL! I also want to start looking at options for decorating his room. I have been searching on Craigslist for a crib, and I finally found one a couple of days ago that was reasonably priced ($50 and that included the mattress). They live near Paul's family, and since Paul's dad has a truck, they can pick it up and bring it to our house the next time they come up.
Second, Nadia turned 14 months old today. I still consider her to have a 5 word vocabulary (with "up" being the word she says the most often), but I think that will change dramatically in the next month as she's now starting to try to repeat words when I ask her to say a certain word. She will say "up", "Mama," etc. on command if I ask her to say one of those words. She's still a very good eater and generally sleeps at least 14 hours a day (11-12 of those are at night). I know the morning nap probably won't last much longer, but so far she still seems to operate best with 2 naps a day. Pointing is one of her favorite ways to communicate her wishes. She enjoys waving "hi" and "bye," clapping her hands, and giving someone "five." The last 14 months with her have been sooo wonderful, and I look forward to seeing all the ways she'll grow in the coming months! The highlights of my days are seeing her smiles, hearing her laughter, and cuddling with her.

Third, the fall semester began today for Paul. He is taking his last doctoral class. He's not excited about taking this particular class, but thankfully he won't be a TA this semester (as he was last year), and he's only taking one class (whereas he took 2 a semester last year). He plans to take his comprehensive exams in the spring. I hope this class goes better than he thinks it will. My fall semester begins one week from today so I am enjoying the last week of my 3 week vacation.

Nursery Woes

I probably mentioned it before, but I really dislike "church shopping." When we moved to our new house last September, I visited 3 churches, picked one of those as my new church, and in January joined the choir at that church. There were times I wasn't convinced I had really found "the" one we should go to; so I decided when the choir was on a break in the summer I'd visit some other churches in the area. Since I dislike church shopping I still ended up going to the church I had been going to several times this summer, and some weekends we were away (at my parent's church in MD, etc.). Including the one I went to today, I've visited 3 other churches in this area this summer. One I immediately ruled out. The second I really, really liked the preaching, and the people were super friendly, but it was a small church (around 100) so there wasn't a choir. I liked the preaching at the one I went to today, and although it's also small, they do have a choir (not in the summer though so I didn't get to hear them yet).

The only problem we experienced today was that Nadia was very, very unhappy in the nursery. She cried when I first dropped her off, and when I went back to check on her 5-10 minutes later she was still screaming. So I took her into the service with me. That worked for awhile, but then she wanted to get down and run around. So I took her back to the nursery and stayed a bit until she was happily playing and then tried to sneak out behind her back. It didn't work. I checked back 10-15 minutes later and a lady had in her in her arms outside the church building, and Nadia was still screaming her head off. The woman said she was willing to keep Nadia outside the rest of the service, but I didn't want her to cry that long so I took her back in church with me. When Nadia was 6 months and younger it was fine to keep her in church with me, and when she gets older it will be fine again, but it's not a good plan when she's 1 year old. I don't really think it was anything about the nursery or the nursery workers but rather today she was for whatever reason really clingy, and of course this nursery and the ladies in it were unfamiliar to her. I plan to visit this church again. Hopefully Nadia will be happier in the nursery the next time.

Yesterday we had a nice visit with my friend, Joyce, and her family on our way to Paul's aunt's house. Joyce used to teach 2nd grade at the school where I was principal. I have many fond memories of things we did together including we both bought our wedding dresses at the same time (same shop) when a bridal store was having a $99 sale (her dress was originally over $700 and mine originally over $500). She got married 1 year before I did. She is exactly 2 days older than me so we always celebrated our birthdays together, and she grew up on Long Island so we made a few trips out there together as my dad has some relatives who live on Long Island. We haven't seen each other as often as we used to since she got married in 2000 and moved to Harrisburg. It was wonderful to be able to introduce her to Nadia yesterday and to see how much her two kids had grown since the last time I had seen them (ages 6 & 8).

Then we went to Aunt Debbie's house. She was very touched that if jellybean is a girl we're naming our baby after her. Uncle Bill said we are having a boy, and evidently every time he's made such a prediction (such as with his own 3 children) he's been correct. I'll find out tomorrow morning if his accurate streak has continued or not. I did the Chinese gender prediction thing before I found out Nadia was a girl, and it predicted girl. This time it says "boy." Of course all these "methods" have a 50% chance of being right. :-) It was nice to see Paul's mom's side of the family as we usually only see them in December or January at Aunt Deb's annual Christmas party. Nadia enjoyed eating her grandma's famous baked beans. I need to get her recipe!

A Little Pampering

Well it has been about 2 1/2 years since I had a professional manicure and about 1 1/2 years since I had a professional pedicure. I had decided a couple of weeks ago to get one today. I didn't want to get it before our trip to the Poconos since chlorine eats away nail polish, and I thought it would be nice to get it done before school started. I picked today since we're going to a party this afternoon with Paul's mom's side of the family (at his aunt's house south of Harrisburg). I got a manicure and had my toenails painted (not a full pedicure which saved me $13). I was starting to regret my decision when I saw the other ladies getting their calves and feet massaged. That's one of my favorite parts. Unfortunately the guy doing my manicure didn't put any lotion on my hands or massage them at all. That also is one of my favorite parts of a manicure! My fingernails haven't had nail polish on them for over a year so I'm actually adjusting to having red fingernails, LOL. I have painted my toenails ever since the weather was warm enough to wear sandals so red toenails doesn't look out of place to me.

I went while Nadia was napping. She was kind enough not to wake up until 6:50 the last two days (which meant she slept almost 12 hours). Yesterday that translated to a very short morning nap, but thankfully she slept from 8:50-10:20 this morning so she was asleep most of the time that I was out. I first went to a yard sale and bought her a pair of pjs for next summer (2T) for $1.50. There were MANY yard sales going on near our house, but I restrained myself from stopping at any others. It's funny because for the first 36 years of my life I never shopped at yard sales. Then I made a quick stop at the library before heading to get my nails done.

Yesterday 14 members of my family joined the 3 of us at our house for about 2 1/2 hours. I fed them lunch (ravioli, garlic bread, and blueberry crisp), gave my sisters and their hubbies tours of our house, and the kids enjoyed playing with Nadia's toys. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to play Boggle. Hopefully we can at Christmas, which is the next time we'll all be together hopefully. They are planning on coming up here as I'll be 36 weeks pregnant, and since that's when I gave birth last time I don't want to be in MD that late in the pregnancy. We do plan to travel to MD for Thanksgiving, but my sister and her family (who live in Chicago) won't be there.

My sister took lots of pics over the last week. She got a few really good ones of Paul, Nadia, & I. I'll post them once she has a chance to edit them and such. We didn't order the one of the 3 of us that was taken at Picture People. I put the new large group photo in our bathroom (with a different frame as the old frame didn't work with the new print), and I put the pose of my dad with his 4 grandsons in a frame on the refrigerator. Switching the frame worked out well as the white frame that used to be in the bathroom looked better in Nadia's bedroom than a frame I used to have in there. Yesterday my family helped us move two doll cabinets from what is now the spare bedroom down to the dining room. Monday we'll find out whether that room is going to be for the baby or Nadia!

Rides and Blueberries

Yesterday my sisters decided to head to an amusement park (the one that we used to live 10 minutes from before we moved). So Nadia & I met them there instead of at the resort. We left after being there 3 hours because it started raining. The rest of the family stayed another 2 hours, which proved to be a wise move, as the light rain stopped soon after we left. I was fearing it would turn into a downpour. Nadia went on one ride with Adam (see pics in yesterday's post). That didn't work; she cried. She went on two rides with me - helicopters and cars. Wendy got a couple of good pics of Nadia & I in a car. She did fine, but it didn't seem worth spending more $$ on her riding rides. I think she's still a little too young to really enjoy it. She did enjoy watching all the people walking around the park and sharing some black cherry soft ice cream with Mommy. She's a girl after my own heart. Ice cream is the only food that she cries over (tears and all!) when it's all gone. Daddy likes vanilla milkshakes, but other than that he doesn't eat ice cream. One time Nadia said the word "ice" when I was feeding her ice cream. I haven't counted that as a new word since she only said it once thus far. Her favorite word these days is still definitely "up;" we hear that many, many times a day!

In preparation for my family coming to our house today, I stopped at the blueberry farm yesterday evening so that I could make a recipe my cousin's wife had posted on her blog recently. I had to taste a little last night, and it's very yummy!

Velcro

Nadia has learned how to take off her sandals. She is most likely to take them off while sitting in her carseat. Her nose seems a little better today. Hopefully her cough will also go away soon. She's been getting a lot more sleep; I think that should help. Yesterday's naps plus her nighttime sleep last night totaled close to 15 hours.

Yesterday when we arrived at the resort the other kiddos were about to go down for their naps so we hung out with Drayton and my parents in their suite for almost 2 hours before heading to the indoor pool. We swam for over an hour. It was fun to have all 8 kids in the pool at the same time (see pics in yesterday's post). Then we had dinner (pizza and ice cream sundaes) in one of the suites. I was hoping we'd be able to get in a game of Boggle before 7pm, but that didn't happen. Hopefully we can play Boggle together today or tomorrow. While the kids were napping , Yvonne & Joe played tennis, and while we were in the pool, Drayton and my dad were playing tennis. Joe, Drayton, and my dad were scheduled to play racquetball this morning. Yesterday 5 of the kids had pony rides and some of them also had their first experience with archery. Tuesday they all went miniature golfing. Nadia & I are planning to go up again this afternoon, and tomorrow they're all planning to come to our house as my sisters haven't seen our new house.

On Tuesday when Nadia was taking her 2nd nap, Gabby, the 6th grader who watched Nadia while her mom was also here 2 weeks ago, rang the doorbell and gave me a book/CD for Nadia on the ABC's. She said she paid for it with her own money. How sweet! I think she might be trying to drum up more babysitting business for herself. Her older sister is the one who watched Nadia while we went out to dinner on our anniversary. I told Gabby that Nadia was napping so she came back later and the three of us played together for 2 hours until it was time for Nadia & I to eat dinner. The kids go back to school on Monday.

18 Weeks

Well tomorrow I'll be at what was the half-way mark of my last pregnancy. I'm hoping to make it to 39 weeks this time so hopefully I'm not half-way done quite yet this time around. I still haven't been feeling the baby move. I keep reminding myself that I saw and heard the baby's heart beating less than a week ago and that I didn't feel Nadia moving until 20 weeks. Just five more days until we find out if baby is a girl or a boy! The heartburn has been increasing, but so far I am able to keep it manageable with just one pill a day. For many weeks I was taking 2 a day when pg with Nadia.

It has been such a relief to have naps and bedtime go back to being no big deal. She either doesn't cry at all or cries less than 1 minute. I am not sure why she had so much trouble at the resort, but I am glad those problems vanished as soon as we got home. Last night she slept 11 hours and 15 minutes since I put her to bed at 6:45pm, and her first nap this morning was 2 1/2 hours whereas a normal morning nap for her is 90 minutes. Hopefully soon her nose will stop running and her cough will go away. Her 2nd nap will hopefully be en route to the resort. Nadia & I plan to spend about 5 hours with my family. Paul is spending the night in State College at a friend's house. He had planned to spend Tuesday and Wednesday night there, but he came home last night since Nadia & I had come home from the Poconos four days earlier than planned.

We haven't missed having a landline at all, and in general it's been wonderful to have 2 cell phones instead. It makes easier for Paul & I to keep in touch throughout the day, and it also has meant I've talked on the phone far more with my mom than I had in the past. The downside of course is that people can reach you anytime, anywhere. Two examples come to mind. The Sunday we were in NYC my phone rang while we were in a PATH train station on our way home. I only answered the phone because I thought it might be Paul's dad calling us (they were watching Nadia). It turned out it was a prof at another college wanting to know more about our new middle level program since ours had been approved by the PA Department of Education recently and theirs hadn't. I let her know it wasn't a good time to talk, and I called her back on Monday. Two days ago the same thing happened in that my department chair called me while we were in the Poconos. Well the positives far outweigh the negatives; I'm sure the cell phones are here to stay in our family.

Water Park

Yesterday we went to an indoor water park about 10 minutes from the resort. Everyone had a blast! The bigger kids (and some adults) enjoyed the water slides, and three of the men tried to go surfing (Paul, Joe, and my dad). I don't have any pics of my dad surfing because he did it after we left to take Nadia back for her afternoon nap. Nadia spent most of her time in the wave pool with Daddy and also in the kiddie pool (which went from 6-12 inches deep). The yellow slide was one of her favorite things to do during the 2 hours she spent in the water. The other kids stayed there for almost 6 hours! In Antigua she cried if her head went under water, but she doesn't mind any more. She's getting so brave!

Sunday night was not a good night for Nadia & I. She went to bed much later than usual, and then she was up from 12:30-3:00am. She slept from 3:00-6:45am in our bed. Paul slept on the couch. Normally she sleeps 13-15 hours a day with 14 being the norm. Well Sunday night plus Monday naps only totaled 9 1/2 hours. Not good. What made it worse was the fact that it wasn't the first day she had lost several hours of sleep. Although she went down for her 2nd nap on Sunday without a peep, generally being put in her crib led to many tears, and I felt it was rude to let her cry. At about 2am (early Monday), I was about ready to get in the car and head home. Although I had planned to stay until Friday evening, I decided I would head back on Tuesday night if she didn't get more sleep on Monday night. On Monday night when I was trying to put her down at 7pm, I did let her cry a little since I figured no one was probably trying to sleep near our room at that time of day. I could tell it wasn't going to work, and I decided I couldn't take it any more. Paul was playing billiards with Joe and my dad. He was planning to leave for home shortly. I told him I wanted to go home also. So it turned out we could have ridden together in one car since we all ended up coming home on Monday night. Oops! I went and painted Susie & Jenna's fingernails and toenails since I had promised to do that for them on Tuesday, and then I helped Paul finish packing and we left. Thankfully Yvonne entertained Nadia for us while we packed.

It was a very hard decision to make. Of course I wanted to stay with my family whom I don't often get to spend much time with. The reasons I decided we needed to head home earlier than planned were #1 Nadia's physical health and #2

my emotional health. Nadia had one other cold (in March) and that one lasted 2 weeks.

Yesterday was the 2 week mark for this cold that I believe she got in MD (lesson learned - listen to your hubby when he says he doesn't think we should go to MD). Instead of seeing any improvement with her runny nose (which had been her only cold symptom), her nose was still running like crazy plus she was starting to cough. I believe the problem was lack of sleep, which was also the reason I was extremely thin emotionally. Since I've been pg, I've been averaging 9 hours of sleep at night plus a 1 hour nap. I wasn't getting anywhere near that amount the last few days since I was up with Nadia so much during the night and since I don't sleep as well when she's in bed with me. Well I am now certain I made the right choice as Nadia cried less than 1 minute when I took her to bed last night, and she slept 10 hours last night which was much closer to normal. We didn't leave until 8:15 pm. If we had left at 7:00 I believe she would have slept her usual 11 hours. Her first nap this morning didn't involve any crying, and she slept 1 hour and 55 minutes. YAY!

Since we only live about 65 minutes from the resort, I am planning to make a trip or two up there over the next few days so to spend time with my family (maybe 2-7pm or something like that). This way Nadia and I can both sleep in our own beds. I also missed my gargantuan pregnancy pillow. Right now it's time to head to the grocery store as I had left our refrigerator pretty bare in terms of fruit, milk, eggs, and such. I'm looking forward to a day at home, and I'm also looking forward to swimming and dinner with all my family tomorrow back up in the Poconos.

Co-Sleeping

It has been more than 8 months since Nadia has slept in bed with me. When she was much smaller, I did let her nurse in bed several times, and sometimes we’d both fall asleep. Usually Paul would then pick her up and carry her to her crib. Well she’s slept on top of me in bed several times the last few days. Normally she goes to bed and sleeps for at least 11 hours without any crying, but over the past 2 weeks that hasn’t been the case. First it was the fever and ear infection, then teething 2 molars, and finally being put to bed in an unfamiliar location. I couldn’t bring myself to let her cry it out when she was sick, and now at the resort it would be rude to let her cry it out as the sound carries to other rooms down the hall. Friday night she went down at 7pm without any crying, but then she woke up several hours later (I forget exactly when but it was between midnight and 2 am). I gave her some Tylenol and put her back to bed. She cried, and we let her cry longer than I would have had I realized how the sound carries so easily. Since then I haven’t let her cry. A couple of times she’s gone down easily without crying for a nap, but most of the time she’s fallen asleep in our bed before I’ve carried her to her crib. During her morning nap today I actually let her take the entire nap in our bed, and I wasn’t sorry I did that in light of the fact she slept 2 hours and 15 minutes. Every night she wakes up once during the night (often around 1-2am), and it usually takes at least 30 minutes to get her back to sleep. I’ll be glad when her nose stops running, she’s done teething these 2 molars, and we’re back in our own home even though I know there will be a bit of a rough transition. I will miss the snuggling although 2am is not my preferred time of day for snuggling.

Friday night Nadia and I got here first. I am very glad I don’t usually travel without Paul. It was a challenge to bring in the luggage and such by myself while pushing Nadia in a stroller. It was also a challenge taking her to the pool as the suite we’re in is about as far away from the pools as possible. I didn’t know I’d have to go up two flights of stairs, or I wouldn’t have taken her in the stroller. Thankfully I can carry her and the umbrella stroller if necessary. We were headed to the indoor pool, but it was closed for maintenance, so we headed out to the outdoor pool instead although the water was a bit chilly especially at 6pm. Nadia had a lot of fun though. She enjoyed the water even more than she did in Antigua in May. Paul arrived a little bit before her bedtime.

Saturday morning we tried again to go to the indoor pool and again ended up in the outdoor pool instead. Paul didn’t get in beyond his ankles as he only gets in warm water. After her second nap, we were able to go in the indoor pool which was very warm so Paul got in with us. Around 6pm the rest of my family arrived, and we ate at a barbecue on an outside patio at the resort near. My nieces and nephews were not too interested in their food as they were looking longingly at the outdoor swimming pool. After dinner Wendy & I took a trip to a grocery store to buy breakfast and lunch food for everyone, and Paul played billiards with my dad, Joe, and Drayton. Unfortunately Nadia didn’t get to sleep until 9:45pm which is why I was very glad her morning nap was longer than usual this morning as she still got up at 6am even though she went to bed almost 3 hours later than usual plus was up for 30 minutes during the middle of the night.

This morning we three went to the indoor pool after her morning nap. My parents came and visited with us for a bit in our suite after she woke up from her afternoon nap. The other three suites are all side by side, but unfortunately ours is not very close to the other three. Later in the afternoon we loaded up 2 vans and 1 car and headed to Wilkes Barre for our photo session at Picture People. I’ll post some of the poses in another post. Let me say it was a challenge with 8 children age 6 and under especially when some were hungry, some were tired (it was their naptime), and Nadia wasn’t feeling well. After that we went to Olive Garden for dinner. The food was very tasty, but it was a challenge to have so many young children at one large table. I think we’ll stick with take-out the rest of the week. Nadia did like the breadsticks this time. J Right now as I type this, Nadia is sleeping, and Paul is out bowling with my dad and brother-in-laws. He’s making the most of his time since he’ll be heading back home tomorrow night. Nadia & I will miss him!

One problem of so many young children is that they all have different nap schedules, and we each need to be in the room with them while they’re napping, so it makes the time that we can all spend together rather limited. So far the only time I’ve spent with my sisters and their kids has been dinner the last two nights plus the photo shoot today. Hopefully we’ll get to spend more time together the next few days. Tomorrow we plan to go to an indoor water park which should be a lot of fun!

Poconos Here We Come!

Nadia & I are going to leave our home at about 3:30 this afternoon to head to the resort where we'll be spending the next week. Paul will leave about the same time from State College. Nadia & I will be swimming for a bit before he gets there. My parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews will be arriving tomorrow afternoon. There will be 9 adults and 8 kids (age 6 and under). It should be a very special time! I plan to take LOTS of pics, and we are all going to Picture People on Sunday afternoon for a group photo session. It will be a miracle if we can get all the kids to smile at the same time, but that would be awesome! It's been 20 months since we've all been together, and at that time there were only 5 kids. Paul will be coming back home Monday night as he can't take another week off of school. Nadia & I will be staying until next Friday. I am hoping that she will sleep well even though she'll be in the pack 'n play instead of a crib. Last night I gave her Tylenol when she went to bed, and she awoke screaming around 11:40pm. I gave her more and rocked her for about an hour before putting her back to bed. Another molar broke through yesterday so she now has 6 teeth on the top and 3 on the bottom. These molars are definitely causing her a lot of pain!

Ten more days until THE ultrasound. We've chosen a girl name - Deborah Marie. Paul picked both names. If baby is a girl, she'll be named after Paul's mom's sister (his Aunt Debbie) and my mom (as my mom's middle name is Marie). I like the sound of the names and the fact that they represent special people on both sides of our family. I am trying to forget that the names mean "bee" and "bitter." Of course last time we only had a boy name picked out prior to THE ultrasound (Ian Alexander), and that time about 2/3 of the people on my poll guessed we'd be having a boy. I'm assuming this time we'll find out we're expecting a boy since #1 we've only picked a girl name and #2 about 2/3 of the people who have voted have picked girl this time, but who knows...maybe the majority will be right for once, LOL!

Molars Hurt!

Nadia now has eight teeth that have broken through. The thing that surprised me was that the 8th tooth wasn't on the bottom. She's had three on the bottom for several weeks. As of this week, she has five on the top as one of her molars broke through. When she was teething with the other seven teeth, her nighttime sleep wasn't interrupted too much. Molars must hurt more than the other teeth as last night she had a tough time sleeping. I gave her Tylenol at 9pm and rocked her for about 45 minutes before putting her back down. She woke up at 5:30am which thankfully hasn't been the norm lately.

Yesterday Nadia did really well with pointing to my nose, chin, cheek, and ear upon command. The word "up" is now her favorite word. Yesterday she was just using it correctly, but today she's also used it several times when really she meant "down." OOPS! She also can now follow two step commands such as "go get a book from your bookshelf and read it in your blue chair." It's so cute to see her sitting in her chair "reading." She uses that rocker/bouncer so much these days that I am worried about her sitting on top of her sibling if I put the baby in the bouncer. Maybe my idea to get a swing this time isn't a bad one. I might not be putting the baby in the bouncer. Of course Nadia didn't like the bouncer when she was little so who knows what her sibling will think of it anyhow at that stage.

Today I had my 17 week OB appt. I had been very nervous lately because I haven't felt the baby move in about 10 days. I kept reminding myself that I didn't start feeling Nadia move until my 20th week, and that it wasn't consistent until my 21st week. If I had never felt this baby move I wouldn't have been so worried, but to feel the baby kick and then not feel anything was terrifying. My worst fears were intensified during part of my appt as the OB searched and searched all over my belly and couldn't find the heartbeat. At my 13 week appt the midwife found the heartbeat as soon as she put the doppler on my belly. The doctor asked a nurse to bring in an ultrasound. While the ultrasound was coming, the doctor suggested maybe the problem was because they didn't have the table totally flat. She lowered the part of the table where my back was and tried again and thankfully did find the heartbeat - HUGE relief on my part! Since the nurse had already brought the u/s machine in, she did a really quick u/s and gave me a picture (just of the baby's head). So the bottom line is that baby is fine, and I will stop worrying about the fact I'm not feeling him/her move yet.

I gained 5 lbs over the last 4 weeks which is exactly how much I gained in between my 13 and 17 week appts with Nadia. I've gained 9lbs total since the egg retrieval. The difference is I started out a bit heavier this time around so I currently weigh 7 lbs more than I did at 17 weeks with Nadia. My b/p was higher than usual (although still fine), but that was probably due to my stress over whether baby was still alive or not. I have laid in bed so many times the last 10 days praying for the baby to kick me again, but it hadn't happened so I was really starting to believe I had lost another baby. I am very, very, very glad I was wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

The OB tried to talk me out of VBAC. She said that they wouldn't refuse to go that route with me although the one increased risk factor was the fact that the births are less than 2 years apart (which is evidently how long it takes for the uterus to completely heal after a c/s). She said however that she doesn't understand why I'd want to increase the risk of death for myself and baby. She said that although the risk might be small, if something does go wrong (uterine rupture) it usually means the death of mom and baby. She said it has happened to her before so she never recommends VBAC. She also emphasized the fact that Nadia was only 6lb, and if I had trouble delivering her, what if the next baby is bigger? I keep going back to the fact that the OB who delivered Nadia said she would see no reason I couldn't do VBAC if I got pregnant again (I asked her at my postpartum visit). However every single person I talk to these days (the midwife and OB at this clinic, the nursing professor at my university who teaches the maternity classes, etc.), strongly encourages me to go the route of a scheduled c-section. I really, really, really wanted to do a VBAC, but I have a feeling I'll end up with another c/s. If my membranes don't rupture on their own (like they did with Nadia), my c/s would be scheduled at 39 weeks. If my water breaks on its own again, she said they can do an c/s within 15 or 20 minutes. She said they would not use general anesthesia, but I would be in the recovery room for an hour before I could be with my baby. Bah humbug to that. Well anyhow pray for wisdom with this decision. Obviously I don't want to do anything that might lead to my death or the death of the baby. She kept emphasizing that this is a small hospital. I wanted to ask what does that have to do with it? Well how I give birth is not nearly as important as that I am giving birth again. I am very grateful that the Lord has sustained this little one thus far, and I can't wait to find out in 11 days if baby is a girl or a boy! I will be surprised if they tell me I have placenta previa this time. It seems like I am carrying the baby higher this time around.

Comedian?

One career I never have considered pursuing is that of comedian. I am not a great joke teller or anything along that line. I do try to inject humor into my classes, and when I get my class to laugh, I feel a sense of accomplishment. That has always been one of my favorite qualities of Paul - his sense of humor is much better than mine. He loves to make me smile or laugh, and he laughs VERY easily, especially at his own jokes, LOL. Actually sometimes watching him laugh is actually what gets me laughing more than what he just thought was really funny. Today Nadia has been laughing so easily. I think in her eyes I am a comedian. Her laughter today has been just what the doctor ordered so to speak. I am not sure why but yesterday evening and this morning I was just really upset. I felt like I wanted to cry and cry and cry but wasn't sure why. Maybe it's just pg hormones. Maybe knowing my parents recently attended a funeral for a stillborn baby who weighed over 7 lbs (bigger than Nadia was at birth) has made me more nervous about how jellybean is doing. I will say though I feel sooo much better right now than I did this morning even though I haven't felt the baby move today. Laughter is the best medicine - especially the sweet laughter of my little girl!!

This morning when she wanted out of her wading pool, Nadia said a new word (her 5th). She said "out" as clear as a bell. She also has been more consistent lately with saying the "p" when she says "up." This afternoon I got in the pool with her (it's SO hot here today - I am glad it wasn't this hot yesterday in NYC!) and she lasted much longer in the pool than she did this morning. She actually laughed quite a bit. I think she found it funny that Mommy was in her pool with her. This was my first time wearing my new maternity suit that I got on eBay a few weeks ago. I'll be using it a lot next week (actually start this Friday evening) as we'll be in the Poconos. YAY! Nadia hasn't been in a pool other than her wading pool since we were in Antigua in May. It will be fun to swim with her and also my nieces and nephews. On Monday we're going to an indoor waterpark. Paul can only stay the weekend (through Monday), but everyone else (16 of us not including the jellybean) will be there for an entire week.

Nadia's nose seems worse today. How can so much stuff come out of one tiny little nose? I can't even begin to count how many times an hour I have wiped her cute little nose today. Unfortunately she also didn't nap well at all today. Paul accidently woke her up during her morning nap, and her afternoon nap wasn't great either. I am going to put her to bed a little earlier than usual. Hopefully that will help. I think she's rather tired since she also went to bed an hour later than usual last night (and still got up around 6am this morning).

Nadia and I had ravioli for dinner. It was her first time eating it, and she LOVED it. It was one of those things not on my grocery list that just struck me as something I should buy when we were shopping today. Does anyone ever stick with just buying what's on their list? I always end up buying more than what I thought I was going to get. I set the bags of grocery on the floor when I came in the house, and as I was putting a few things in the pantry, Nadia found the bag of grapes and had put three entire grapes in her mouth at once. LOL! I took them out of her mouth since #1 they were unwashed and #2 that's way too much for her to eat at once. I usually give her one half of a grape at a time not three whole grapes at a time. She loves grapes!

New York City

Paul's parents and our nephew (Shawn) arrived at our home a little after 8am yesterday. Paul and I left about 8:40 after I put Nadia down for her morning nap. We made one stop en route to Newark and then took the PATH train into NYC and then took the subway to a stop near Tavern on the Green, which is in Central Park. Our reservations were for 1pm, and we arrived just a few minutes early. I took a few pictures as we walked back to the room where they said our table was located. When we got there, I thought this doesn't seem like the room where the buffet is served. I was told that we had reservations for brunch (off of the menu) not the buffet. I went to the bathroom while Paul sorted it out, and when I came back he said we'd have to wait 30 minutes. We waited a little for maybe 15 minutes while discussing our options. I usually eat lunch with Nadia at 11am in part because I have been eating dinner around 4pm on my way to work since I've had office hours/class from 4:10-7:15pm. I had eaten some grapes, an egg McMuffin, and a nectarine en route to Newark. I was trying to eat enough so that I wasn't miserable, but I still wanted to be hungry at 1pm especially since we were eating from a buffet. I was very hungry at 1pm, and if we had been allowed to start eating shortly after we arrived, I would have been fine. However at this point I had a splitting headache (from low blood sugar), and I was having a hard time thinking clearly to decide what to do. I had a banana and some crackers in my purse, but I didn't want to eat just a few minutes before we were seated in the restaurant. I also wasn't sure how long it would take us to get from the restaurant to the theatre for our 3pm show, and I didn't want to feel rushed during the meal considering it was going to be the most expensive meal Paul or I had ever paid for.

So at 1:15 I said let's go. I ate my banana, and we shared a hot pretzel we bought in Central Park. Instead of getting back on the subway (I was tired of sitting in a vehicle of any sort), we walked down Broadway toward Times Square. The last time we were in NYC was for a Duke bball game at Madison Square Garden, but the last time we were walking in this area of NYC was in 2000 when we saw Les Miserables. They've made fewer of the lanes of the road for cars and more for bikes and pedestrians. There were more bicycle type taxis than I remember seeing in the past in NYC; it reminded me of our time in Beijing. In hindsight, it didn't take very long to get to Gershwin Theatre from Central Park. We probably could have eated the brunch if they had seated as at 1:30. Well we saved a lot of money as we spent $16 for lunch (pizza and such) which would have been about the amount for tax/tip alone if we had eaten at Tavern on the Green. I had that on my "I want to experience once in my lifetime" list, but I think even though we didn't actually eat there, I'll cross it off the list. Most of the things on the list are much bigger than eating at a certain restaurant (such as we want to go to Hawaii some day).

The show (Wicked) was very good. It reminded me of the book which tells the story of the Three Little Pigs from the wolf's perspective. In this story, the Wicked witch is actually the protagonist who is far more helpful and kind than the "good" witch who is very self-absorbed and vain. The actress who played the part of the wicked witch was outstanding. Wow did she have a powerful voice!!! I would say that of the 6 Broadway shows I've seen, I would rate this one #3 after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which we saw in London) and Phantom of the Opera (which I saw in DC). I don't think Paul would rate the 4 he's seen in the same order I would. I know he really, really liked 1776 which was probably my least favorite.

Unfortunately our trip from NYC to Newark was a lot longer going back. At one point we JUST missed a PATH train because we were putting another $1 on our Metro cards. That alone extended our trip by 20 minutes. I think we need to get brave the next time we venture into NYC and actually drive into the city, particularly if we go on a weekend. The parking used to be a lot cheaper in Newark than NYC, but that also wasn't the case this time. Our reasons for going via the PATH train in the past were that it was cheaper and less stressful than driving in the city, but it's no longer cheaper, and I think I'd rather a few minutes stress of driving in a big city than extend the length of the trip significantly. Paul got some dinner at Wendy's on the way home, but the thought of fast food made my stomach turn so I waited until we were home at 10:30pm to eat a bowl of cereal before going to bed. I had eaten some crackers at about 5pm which was enough to tide me over although my stomach was growling much of the way home.

We had good conversation on the way to NYC although Paul didn't enjoy the part where we were talking about boy's names. He likes Gordon and Newton for first names for a boy, and I don't. Surprisingly he didn't mind one of my suggestions (Ryan). We shall see what we come up with. On the way there we laughed at one point when we realized we both had the same silly song (Aiken Drum) going through our head, LOL! We didn't talk much on the way back. I was not feeling well physically or emotionally. Thankfully since I had done the driving on the way to Newark, he drove us home. I was hungry for dinner, missing Nadia, etc. That was the longest I had ever been separated from her.

I think instead of a date in NYC we should have gone as a family to Knoebels amusement park. Paul's parents took Shawn & Nadia to McD's for lunch (she enjoyed her 2nd happy meal) then to the amusement park and then to Perkins for dinner. Even though she still has a very runny nose, and definitely isn't feeling 100%, she had a great time. They said she was waving to everyone as she rode the carousel and enjoyed riding in a little car with Shawn, etc. I think Paul & I will have to take her there sometime in the next month or so before it closes for the year. I was thinking her first trip to an amusement park would be Hershey Park in December (Christmas Candylane), but it sounds like she's already old enough to enjoy riding rides!

One of the other things contributing to my emotions yesterday was that the previous Sunday (in MD) I felt the baby kicking and doing gymanstics within me. I haven't felt anything for several days now, and it's making me very nervous. I need to go back and read my blog posts from when I first started feeling Nadia move as probably I didn't feel her every day at first then either. I am very glad my next appt is on Thursday. I would give anything to hear the heartbeat today, but I'll wait 3 more days. I didn't give consideration this time to renting a fetal doppler like I considered last time, but right now I wish I had one!!!

The other main thing that led me to feel bummed was thinking that we've now lived here for almost 11 months, and I still haven't made one new friend. There are a few super casual acquaintances at church, but that's it. I joined the choir and went to most of the monthly breakfasts for ladies, but so far I haven't made a new friend. I know it takes time, but I really would love to have at least one friend I could talk with on the phone now and then or go to lunch with, etc. Usually I am the one with more of a social life, but Paul actually has been doing more social things this past year than I have now (in State College). Of course if I had to pick between having a friend or having Nadia, I would definitely pick Nadia, and I also can't forget that Paul has been my best friend for over 12 years!!! I visited two other churches recently, and I plan to visit another in 2 weeks. Hopefully over the next year I can make one new friend - in the neighborhood, at church, something...

I know when I start feeling blue I should start counting my blessings. It's so easy to focus on worries and disappointments, but that really doesn't do anyone one ounce of good!! I am grateful that Paul's parents were willing to spend ALL day with Nadia, and I am grateful that Paul and I could go to NYC even though I don't want to do it again any time soon. I don't enjoy spending so much time on the road in one day (which is why we never go up/back to MD on the same day). If we lived closer to NYC, I am sure I'd want to go there more often though as there is so much to see and do there!!

I should have loaned our camera to Paul's parents as I ended up only taking a couple at the Tavern on the Green, and it doesn't make sense to post them since we didn't end up eating there. I thought we'd take a lot more. I even went and got my haircut the day before in preparation for our date. I tried to take one in the theatre before the show began, but I was told no pictures allowed. I think Nadia missed me also because this morning she was snuggled with me for about 20 mintues before we went down for breakfast. I love her sooooooooooooo much!!!

Love the Monitor!

If an expectant mother asked me for advice as to what to put on her registry, I would definitely suggest putting a video monitor on the list. It has been soooo nice to be able to see Nadia while she's sleeping!! I think it's especially useful if you are ever going to let your baby cry. It's also great entertainment for mom & dad. Paul and I have laughed watching all she does prior to going to sleep. She moves all about the crib - tackling a teddy bear, etc. It's better than watching tv, LOL! I got it for $89.99 (free s/h) on eBay (new). We need to get a second camera sometime between now and January so that we'll also be able to watch the jellybean.

One thing I said before would be on my "top ten" list that still is in use (unlike the gym which has been in the closet for a few months, but I'm sure jellybean will also love) are the Take-Along Songs books/cd's. The last few days Nadia has been obsessed with the Silly Songs one. If we put it at the back of the stack of books, she hunts until she finds it. If I put a different CD in, she keeps pointing to the CD player until I put the proper CD in. I put it on the kitchen table at one point yesterday as I was sooooo sick of it, but she happened to spot it and was pointing like crazy for me to give it to her from the table. Pretty soon I'm going to be singing songs like "There's a hole in my bucket" in my sleep. Paul said as he fell asleep last night he was thinking of the lyrics "Do you ears hang low" (also from that CD). I recently found two more Take-Along Songs online (used) - Baby Animal Songs and Christmas Songs. I am looking forward to having two more to choose from (once she gets over the obsession with Silly Songs). Once these arrive we'll have 9 of the Take-Along books/CDs. They've been a hit with Nadia for many, many months!!

Yesterday I finally caved and took a pill for heartburn for the first time this pregnancy. I feel silly for having waited so long!! Wow did it help!!! I am sure I'll be taking them more often as the heartburn has gradually been getting worse (and coming more often). Well it's off to NYC for Paul and I. I'll be sure to post pics and tell about our time at the Broadway show and eating near Central Park tomorrow!

Won't you be my neighbor?

Growing up I loved that song on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Actually even as an adult I've been known to start singing that song when I'm outside on a really pretty day, LOL. When we moved into our new home (11 months ago) I noticed that a few houses were on the market in our development that weren't for sale when we came to look at this house prior to making an offer the first time around. Since then some have gone off the market (although none have sold), some have stayed on the market this whole time, and now others have recently placed for sale signs in their yards. Including the new construction (they've made SO much progress the last few weeks!), there are 13 houses in our development, and 4 of them are currently on the market (none are foreclosures). We're trying not to take it personally that everyone seems to be wanting to move since we moved in. I also know of another neighbor (the one whose girls like to babysit Nadia) who plans to move to Virginia within the year (her husband has been working down there for awhile already and comes back to PA on the weekends). One of our next door neighbors has an 18 month old boy. Unfortunately they are one of the ones moving; they already purchased another house about 10 minutes away (same school district). One neighbor has a two year old girl and a 4 month old son; they also go to Sarah for babysitting so maybe Nadia and Madeline will become friends (their house is not for sale and they recently added an addition to their house so my guess is that they're not planning to move in the near future). I have no idea if the family who is building the new house has any young children. There are other children in the neighborhood, but they are much older than Nadia.

A young couple lives across from us (no kids), and I must admit I feel guilty when I see how many hours they spend every week doing work in their yard, gardens, washing their cars, etc. They seem to thoroughly clean their vehicles once a week. Paul said well at least we're not using as much water as they are. :-) We're talking years since the last time Paul or I cleaned either of our vehicles in terms of vacuuming, waxing, etc. The first time I planted flowers and such was in a townhouse near Annapolis where I lived with two roommates from 1994-96. I didn't do any yardwork when I lived in an apartment by myself (1996-2000), but in the previous two homes we owned (actually I bought the first one and moved in 8 months before we got married), I put in a fair amount of time and money into the flower beds and was faithful and mowing the lawn and such. I planted both perennials and annuals at both homes. I hope the current owners have enjoyed the perennials. At this house I had every intention of planting flowers. We removed some ground cover I wasn't crazy about in the spring in preparation. I never got around to planting any flowers though, and it was a big mistake to remove the ground cover. It has looked much worse as even though I've tried to remove the weeds by the roots, they seem to come back in full force very soon after I finished weeding the bed. Most weeks Paul has mowed the lawn once a week so at least our lawn has looked fine, but the flower beds look awful. If I want to feel less embarassed, I just need to look out the backyard instead of the front as the neighbor behind us did plant flowers (in preparation for an Open House months ago) but since then hasn't weeded and their flower beds also look awful. You can't really even see the flowers there are so many weeds. The neighbors with the beautiful yard and gardens are very generous with sharing veggies with us and other neighbors which is nice. I don't have the aspiration (yet) to have a vegetable garden, but I would like to plant flowers next summer and also a couple of blueberry bushes. One of the apple trees has a few apples, but in general we are paying the price for having waited too long to spray insecticide on the trees. Hopefully next spring we'll do better with that and can enjoy apples from our trees. I recently bought some apple dumplings from our grocery store (they were on clearance in the bakery), and Nadia LOVES them. She eats about half of one while I eat the other half.