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.