Like Mommy

I've been using my exercise ball a lot the past few weeks, sitting on it really eases my contractions. Today Natalie grabbed one of her balls and said "Nanee sit on ball like Mommy!" and there she sat for a good long while.

My Girl

Natalie is so full of sweetness it can almost hurt sometimes. She just oozes innocence, warmth, love and a little mischief. She's almost always a good girl, even though she has her off days, and parenting her has really been a treat... even though she is a bundle of energy. I've always loved our time together but I'm starting to appreciate every moment with her more and more now that Nick's arrival is just around the corner. Nick is a blessing I never knew I wanted, so I guess in a way he truly is a gift, and I am so very excited to meet, hold and snuggle my little boy. At the same time I'm feeling sadness that the dynamic of my relationship with Natalie will (or might) change. I know I will never love her less, think her any less special or be any less motivated to have special time with her, but my heart hurts already because I know how displaced she might feel after her brother's arrival. I never want to intentionally hurt Natalie and a part of me can't shake the feeling that even though she is smart, she still is only two and her emotions are very tender. Being an only child myself I have no clue what it's like to share a parent's affections so entering this new parenting frontier is almost more terrifying than becoming a mother for the first time.

I mean, don't you just love this little face?

BFF's

Natalie has really enjoyed having her daddy home. He's been doing all the really great "daddy" stuff. She loves swinging with him and yells at him to "go faster daddy!" It's really almost too precious for words.

More Rocking Chair fun

Natalie is a goon for the rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel. Every time we go we have to allow at least 15 minutes of pure rocking joy.

Longest blog post ever part 2

Mom bought Natalie tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live! for her birthday. She was absolutely in love with the whole thing and even loved meeting the characters!











She even met a movie star! Haha! Remember this doofus from Men In Black?

Here he is with Natalie, just as doofus-y as ever!

And for our final photo update: Natalie was Alice in Wonderland for Halloween. Too bad is was a rainy and miserable evening, I don't think Alice traditionally wears a pink rain coat!





As for the rest of us, we're all doing pretty well. I'm still pregnant... and I'm so sick of it. I'm now officially two weeks more pregnant than I was when I delivered Natalie so this pregnancy feels like it's taking forever. It doesn't help that I felt some pains last week and went to l&d only to be told that I was in fact in early labor but it wasn't quite time yet. Both the doctor and the nurses agreed that it wouldn't be long.... eight days later I'm very frustrated. Ever since then I've had lots of contractions and discomfort, I feel like a giant ticking time bomb. To make matters worse I got a stomach bug over the weekend which poor Chase has now fallen victim of. So I guess I shouldn't be so impatient, it's really not the best time to be having a baby with a tired and recovering mommy and a sick daddy. I had a check up on Wednesday, everything was perfect. My blood pressure was 120/68, my weight was down half a pound (thank you stomach bug), Nick measured right on track and his head is way low. So all good things!

Nesting took over a few weeks ago, Nick's room is all set up, I've cleaned and done load after load of laundry. I've been walking as much as possible and bouncing on my exercise ball, Chase has been giving me foot rubs (which are supposed to start labor, I swear) and we even ate spicy food two nights in a row. Last night was a full moon and I briefly considered sleeping outside butt naked in hopes of reigning in every ounce of strength from the full moon. Clearly Nick is going to come when he's good and ready but I just wish he would have some consideration for his poor mother. Hopefully the next blog post I make will be introducing my new little man.

Longest blog post ever part 1

Since Chase has been home I've been really bad about updating my blog. So to the three of you that regularly read my blog, I am truly sorry ;)
I have a lot to catch up on and will try and get pictures up (in no particular order) as best I can. Nick will be here soon, so I'd better get busy!
Back in September Pam and Chelsea hosted a beautiful shower for me and Nick. I highly recommend befriending Pam and Chelsea, they throw really great showers! Of course, I like to keep them around for their awesome friendship, not just their uncanny shower throwing abilities but still....





Then we had Natalie's birthday month. I swear there was something new and fun for Natalie to do every single day in honor of her birthday. She got so many presents from so many people on so many different days that I think she started to think that's the way it would be forever! To kick off the birthday festivities Mom, Aunt Pam, Aunt Chelsea, me and Chase took Natalie to the State Fair. We took her last year for her birthday and we've decided we'll make it a tradition to go with Aunt Chelsea every year. She had a really wonderful time and enjoyed all the rides and sights, unfortunately she was starting to get sick so we had to cut the day a little short.




Here are pictures from several days worth of gift receiving. Birthday presents galore!!










Then there was the Foofa birthday party complete with a Foofa cake, a Foofa dress and personalized M&M's!










To be continued...