In this pic, it seems to look like she has dropped, but I can't really tell. Oh, and I lost 3 pounds from the last time I was in to see doc 2 weeks ago.
Friday 27 February 2009
38 weeks
I saw the doc on base today and I am 50% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated. So I could have a baby this time tomorrow or I can still be pregnant for 2 more weeks. I guess only time will tell. I haven't had any uncomfortable contractions yet so we are just waiting, but at least I can feel secure enough that if I do, I will be going right into the hospital and not waiting around. I don't even know what contractions feel like though without pitocin so who knows?
In this pic, it seems to look like she has dropped, but I can't really tell. Oh, and I lost 3 pounds from the last time I was in to see doc 2 weeks ago.
In this pic, it seems to look like she has dropped, but I can't really tell. Oh, and I lost 3 pounds from the last time I was in to see doc 2 weeks ago.
Hair and Painted Faces
Ok, so this blog post is going to be kinda random, but oh well.
Before Valentine's Day, I was reading my friend's blogs and on my friend Becki's she had posted some really cute hairstyles she found on another blog and had tried on her kids. I thought it would be fun to try one of them out on Natalie and here is her Valentine's doo. Can you see the hearts? She got so many compliments on her hair and now she wants her hair pulled back every day, which is fine by me.
Natalie as a butterfly (wasn't exactly sure what a butterfly was supposed to look like in face paint but Natalie tells me this is exactly what she wanted)
Before Valentine's Day, I was reading my friend's blogs and on my friend Becki's she had posted some really cute hairstyles she found on another blog and had tried on her kids. I thought it would be fun to try one of them out on Natalie and here is her Valentine's doo. Can you see the hearts? She got so many compliments on her hair and now she wants her hair pulled back every day, which is fine by me.
Then the week following Valentine's Day, the kids had a holiday from school. They were watching a TV program and the kids on there had their faces painted and Robbie asked if I could paint his face. I remembered that I had some face paints upstairs that I had never used so thought I would give it a try. Didn't turn out that great because the paints are absolutely rubbish and not worth the money I paid for them but I was talking to my sister Jane on the phone while I was doing it and promised I would post the pictures. The kids thought it was great and it was a struggle to let me wash it off before bedtime.
Here is Robbie as a lion. (wow, he looks so much like my sister Janie when she was little in this picture)
Natalie as a butterfly (wasn't exactly sure what a butterfly was supposed to look like in face paint but Natalie tells me this is exactly what she wanted)
Now onto Robbie's haircut. As you can see in the face paint picture, Robbie was starting to look like an orphan. The last haircut he had was back in November (at the beginning) and that was just a clean up around the ears and in the back for our family Christmas Card photo. It was now completely covering his ears and was starting to curl on the ends. His bangs were starting to look a bit wispy as well. So I had my friend Abi look at my "broken" clippers (I say broken because I took them apart to clean the hair out, per the instructions, but because I have no clue what I am doing in such things, I put them back together incorrectly) and I checked to see if they would cut by testing it on my arm, however when I went to buzz Robbie's head, it just started pulling the hair out by the roots and not actually cutting it. Because of that and making a complete mess of the front of his hair (poor Robbie was such a good sport about it!), we threw on a hat and after we dropped Natalie off at school, we drove to the base and had Phil the Barber fix my mess. Robbie did such a good job and sat there really still while Phil scissor cut his hair (I've been opting for clippers just because it was quicker). I think he looks so grown up now! Robbie is really showing his personality in these pictures too.
Saturday 21 February 2009
No pictures today
I just thought I would jump on really quick and tell you all how weird my children are...
They are here playing on the floor and they have this squishy stress ball thingy that looks like the earth that they call "cuddle world". Well Natalie tossed "cuddle world" across the room and Robbie crawls over to it on his hands and knees barking like a dog and picks it up in his teeth and brings it back to her. This was all his idea with no provocation from Natalie (which is usually the cause of him being mistreated and doing such things). They have kept this up for a good 20 minutes now and Robbie is loving the "fetching" game. Now Robbie is throwing the ball and Natalie is fetching.
Also they have a new favorite TV show that they have to watch after school. It is totally not a show that you would think a 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old would voluntarily want to watch. It is, "How Clean is Your House?" with Kim Woodworth and Aggie MacKenzie. They hear the theme music and they stop what they are doing and come running. Robbie has endearingly started calling the show "Excusting House" (translated "Disgusting House" and is always exclaiming, "that house is excusting!"). I'm absolutely terrified if we are visiting someone he is going to say that their house is excusting (however, I have yet to meet someone here whose house is in such a state, there is a difference between clutter and filth). But I am a bit anal about my house and my friend Gena has decided to call me Monica because she says I remind her of Monica from Friends. Ok, I'm not THAT bad, but I do like a neat and tidy house and I do have help twice a month to keep it from getting ahead of me (We have a 5 bedroom house). I don't spend all my time cleaning and I have some paperwork that is starting to pile up to the point of scaring me and don't even go into my laundry room or my stamping room, I've been pretending those rooms don't exist and I could stand to vacuum a little more often. My toilets and kitchen on the other hand have to sparkle and we've had this cough going through the house so the Clorox has been brought out to clean doorknobs, light switches and other germ grabbers.
Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that maybe I shouldn't be letting them watch the show so often because as the kids were playing in the bath tub, Natalie found a Q-tip and was pretending to take swabs to check for salmonella! Also both kids are now terrified of germs and openly talk about E-coli and Listeria. We need to find a balance. I want my kids to practice good hygiene but I also don't want them to be afraid to have fun and get a little dirty.
They are here playing on the floor and they have this squishy stress ball thingy that looks like the earth that they call "cuddle world". Well Natalie tossed "cuddle world" across the room and Robbie crawls over to it on his hands and knees barking like a dog and picks it up in his teeth and brings it back to her. This was all his idea with no provocation from Natalie (which is usually the cause of him being mistreated and doing such things). They have kept this up for a good 20 minutes now and Robbie is loving the "fetching" game. Now Robbie is throwing the ball and Natalie is fetching.
Also they have a new favorite TV show that they have to watch after school. It is totally not a show that you would think a 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old would voluntarily want to watch. It is, "How Clean is Your House?" with Kim Woodworth and Aggie MacKenzie. They hear the theme music and they stop what they are doing and come running. Robbie has endearingly started calling the show "Excusting House" (translated "Disgusting House" and is always exclaiming, "that house is excusting!"). I'm absolutely terrified if we are visiting someone he is going to say that their house is excusting (however, I have yet to meet someone here whose house is in such a state, there is a difference between clutter and filth). But I am a bit anal about my house and my friend Gena has decided to call me Monica because she says I remind her of Monica from Friends. Ok, I'm not THAT bad, but I do like a neat and tidy house and I do have help twice a month to keep it from getting ahead of me (We have a 5 bedroom house). I don't spend all my time cleaning and I have some paperwork that is starting to pile up to the point of scaring me and don't even go into my laundry room or my stamping room, I've been pretending those rooms don't exist and I could stand to vacuum a little more often. My toilets and kitchen on the other hand have to sparkle and we've had this cough going through the house so the Clorox has been brought out to clean doorknobs, light switches and other germ grabbers.
Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that maybe I shouldn't be letting them watch the show so often because as the kids were playing in the bath tub, Natalie found a Q-tip and was pretending to take swabs to check for salmonella! Also both kids are now terrified of germs and openly talk about E-coli and Listeria. We need to find a balance. I want my kids to practice good hygiene but I also don't want them to be afraid to have fun and get a little dirty.
Friday 13 February 2009
36 weeks!!!
Here are my 2 latest belly pictures. The first one is from Sunday all dressed up for church. It's funny, I bought the dress this time last year at a huge clearance sale. It was originally 50 pounds marked down to 10. When I got to the till to pay, it rung up at 2 pounds! I fit the smaller size, but got the next size up because it was pulling funny in the chest. And here I am at 35 weeks pregnant and it fits just fine because of how much weight I've lost and not gained back in the pregnancy. I will say that sitting down wasn't that comfortable as the material is satin and doesn't have any give in it.
This picture is from today at exactly 36 weeks - 28 days to go!!! What a difference a week can make, huh! I'm really starting to get uncomfortable and things most girls take for granted like shaving legs is starting to get intersting!
I do have to say I am starting to freak out about a lot of stupid things...
I went to the base to have a Group B Strep test done because they don't do that routinely here and I have been positive in the past but they weren't going to test me. The midwife said if I got a positive result from the base then I could have the antibiotics during labor. It's just silly though. It seems a better use of resources to take preventitive measures rather than have a baby born sick because it contracted it during birth. Babies can be really sick from this and usually spend time in NICU.
Anyway, while I was there he offered to do another ultrasound to double check to make sure she is really a girl (which she is!) so I am on the table and he is taking measurements to judge the babies size since I am measuring 3 weeks smaller. I am at 36 weeks today. So he does the head circumference and says, "Wow, this baby has a big head!" Ok, so not something that a woman a month from giving birth wants to hear! Then from the other measurements, he is guessing that the baby is already about 6 1/2 pounds and that I could expect a baby possibly around 9 pounds! Natalie was 7 lbs 1 oz at 1 week early and Robbie was 7 lbs 15 oz at 2 days early. On the brightside though, Robbie was an easier delivery (however more traumatic emotionally).
So, that is just one more thing to add to my list of things freaking me out. The others are... Not making it to the hospital (Nat and Rob were both induced) or even knowing I am in labor (I went to 4 cm with Robbie without feeling a thing), no epidural (or it not working if I need a c-section), not finding someone to watch the kids, not being able to get a hold of Shawn at work when the time comes... I could go on.
Just the irrational thoughts of a crazy pregnant woman.
Happy Valentine's Day
I thought I would share a couple of cards I made over the last couple of days for Valentine's Day. It has been a LONG time since I've posted a project so here it goes. Also included is a box I did for my last class at the library, it's a treat box.
Treat box using the Always stamp set; Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Rose Red card stock; Rose Red classic ink; So Saffron Poly-Twill Ribbon; Scallop Edge punch.
This is a card we made for Natalie to give to her valentine, Harrison. It uses the Love You Much stamp set; Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, and Pretty in Pink card stock; Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper; Rose Red and Kiwi Kiss classic ink; Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain and Rose Red Double-Stitched Grosgrain ribbons; Scallop Edge punch.
This is for my valentine, Shawn. It uses the same card stock, paper, ink and accessories as the card above, but the stamp sets used are Always and Frames with a Flourish.Tuesday 3 February 2009
More fun in the Snow
Well, the snow continued to fall overnight and we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland. The kids had their first snow day and Shawn was given the morning off (if he wasn't to be on duty, he would have been given the whole day). So after breakfast, we took the kids out to enjoy the snow.
This is the view from the play park that is just behind our house.
This is the front of our house. We share our house with the Post Office which our landlord owns and runs. We have the whole upstairs (5 bedrooms) and half of the downstairs. The house would be absolutely humongous if the Post Office didn't take up so much. As you can see, at 9:00 am the road is still completely covered. Cornwall only gets a snow like this maybe once every 3 years so they don't have the equiptment to clear the roads.
Here is the town church and cemetary.
Natalie making a snow angel.
Robbie's snow angel.
Mmmm, snow tastes good!
Shawn building a snowman!
Finished product.
Sadly, all of the snow is gone from the roads and it's warming up and melting. However, they are calling for cold temperatures this evening and overnight so tomorrow is likely to be a nightmare with ice on the roads. Thankfully, there is nowhere we need to go that we can't walk to.
This is looking at the outside of where we enter our house.
This is the view from the play park that is just behind our house.
This is the front of our house. We share our house with the Post Office which our landlord owns and runs. We have the whole upstairs (5 bedrooms) and half of the downstairs. The house would be absolutely humongous if the Post Office didn't take up so much. As you can see, at 9:00 am the road is still completely covered. Cornwall only gets a snow like this maybe once every 3 years so they don't have the equiptment to clear the roads. 
Here is the town church and cemetary.
Natalie making a snow angel.
Robbie's snow angel.
Mmmm, snow tastes good!
Shawn building a snowman!
Finished product.
Sadly, all of the snow is gone from the roads and it's warming up and melting. However, they are calling for cold temperatures this evening and overnight so tomorrow is likely to be a nightmare with ice on the roads. Thankfully, there is nowhere we need to go that we can't walk to.Monday 2 February 2009
Cornish Snow
Ok, so some of you who live in the US and Canada that get snow on a regular basis are probably going to laugh at this, but it's really significant to us.
Shawn and I were both born and bred in the Midwest, Shawn in Illinois and I in Ohio. We met and were married in Virginia. We grew up with snow and the winter after we were married, Virginia had a few really good snowfalls. Then we were transferred to Naples Italy in 2002. Well, didn't see snow at all while we were there except for when we came home to visit just after Natalie was born in November 2003. Then we came over here to the UK. Well some parts of the UK get snow regularly, but Cornwall very rarely gets a significant snowfall. We've had snow 2 previous times since we moved here in 2006, but it melted just as quickly as it fell so this is a real big deal for us. Natalie has no memory of the last snow she saw and Robbie has NEVER seen snow up close and personal so they were so excited! What is funny is that Shawn and I were out shopping today when the snow started and we were confused by it. Then we started our drive home after getting a bite to eat and fueling up the car. Seriously, if we had left to start home just 5 minutes later, we would have been in some serious trouble. We pull up to the school to pick the kids up on the way home and the roads are still really clear but there is a dusting of snow on the sidewalks and grass. We walk to Robbie's class to pick him up and it's still just flurries, then we walk to Natalie's class to pick her up and all of a sudden it's looking like a blizzard. I've not seen snow like this in forever! By the time we get back to the car not even 5 minutes later, the road is covered and there is an inch on the car. The 1/2 mile drive to the house was very interesting. The Cornish don't have a clue what to do in this kind of snow! What is usually a 2 minute drive turned into almost 15. Once we were safely at home, we let the kids play! Robbie was obsessed with making and throwing snowballs. It was so nice to share this with them and it was even better that Shawn was home too so we could play. The snow now has been scattered but there is about 2-3 inches right now and our little town is at a stand still (child's play I tell you, but when you only get 1 snowfall like this about every 3 years you don't get used to it like us Midwesterners!). Our usually busy street is really quiet and abandoned. Now we are snuggling down for the evening and we are about to have some yummy hot chocolate!
Shawn and I were both born and bred in the Midwest, Shawn in Illinois and I in Ohio. We met and were married in Virginia. We grew up with snow and the winter after we were married, Virginia had a few really good snowfalls. Then we were transferred to Naples Italy in 2002. Well, didn't see snow at all while we were there except for when we came home to visit just after Natalie was born in November 2003. Then we came over here to the UK. Well some parts of the UK get snow regularly, but Cornwall very rarely gets a significant snowfall. We've had snow 2 previous times since we moved here in 2006, but it melted just as quickly as it fell so this is a real big deal for us. Natalie has no memory of the last snow she saw and Robbie has NEVER seen snow up close and personal so they were so excited! What is funny is that Shawn and I were out shopping today when the snow started and we were confused by it. Then we started our drive home after getting a bite to eat and fueling up the car. Seriously, if we had left to start home just 5 minutes later, we would have been in some serious trouble. We pull up to the school to pick the kids up on the way home and the roads are still really clear but there is a dusting of snow on the sidewalks and grass. We walk to Robbie's class to pick him up and it's still just flurries, then we walk to Natalie's class to pick her up and all of a sudden it's looking like a blizzard. I've not seen snow like this in forever! By the time we get back to the car not even 5 minutes later, the road is covered and there is an inch on the car. The 1/2 mile drive to the house was very interesting. The Cornish don't have a clue what to do in this kind of snow! What is usually a 2 minute drive turned into almost 15. Once we were safely at home, we let the kids play! Robbie was obsessed with making and throwing snowballs. It was so nice to share this with them and it was even better that Shawn was home too so we could play. The snow now has been scattered but there is about 2-3 inches right now and our little town is at a stand still (child's play I tell you, but when you only get 1 snowfall like this about every 3 years you don't get used to it like us Midwesterners!). Our usually busy street is really quiet and abandoned. Now we are snuggling down for the evening and we are about to have some yummy hot chocolate!
View from the front of our house about 4:00 PM.
Natalie catching snowflakes on her tounge.
Robbie coming at me with a snowball.
Shawn enjoying the snow (sorry no pics of me, I was the one taking all the pictures!) 
Sunday 1 February 2009
34 Weeks
Whew, the final stretch! It seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I remember thinking during the last 2 times I did this that the time seemed to pass so slowly. I have been keeping myself a lot busier this time and I have to walk 3 miles a day to take kids to school so our daily routine has been helping pass the time. I am starting to get anxious now thinking of all that needs organized, but in actuality, I am way ahead of the game.
Provided that the ultrasound we had is correct and this is in fact a girl, I have all the clothes washed and put neatly in drawers. I've ordered the gdiapers and have a few weeks of those (still need to get some backup disposables in case this little nudger is small) and they are organized and in the changing table. I've made lists of what needs packed for the hospital for me and the baby and we are going to pack a bag for the kids as well. We have the car seat and stroller all ready and accessible. We have the swing, pack and play and bassinet all set up. Next Sunday my friends are throwing me a baby shower. I have my birthplan all typed out and with my stuff. I still have loads of time!
Anyway, here is my latest picture...
Provided that the ultrasound we had is correct and this is in fact a girl, I have all the clothes washed and put neatly in drawers. I've ordered the gdiapers and have a few weeks of those (still need to get some backup disposables in case this little nudger is small) and they are organized and in the changing table. I've made lists of what needs packed for the hospital for me and the baby and we are going to pack a bag for the kids as well. We have the car seat and stroller all ready and accessible. We have the swing, pack and play and bassinet all set up. Next Sunday my friends are throwing me a baby shower. I have my birthplan all typed out and with my stuff. I still have loads of time!
Anyway, here is my latest picture...
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