The petting zoo!

We went to Green Meadows again yesterday. Gwen seemed to enjoy herself. She liked touching the sleeping animals. It was pretty funny they had these pigs in the center of a pen and a bunch of kids were on the other side...where all the piglets where and they could touch them, but Gwen went on the other side, where no other kids where and there was this sleeping pig! No one to bother her!
We didn't touch any of the Chickens, 'cause none of them were sleeping.
Her friend, Emily, the kissing bandit. She likes to give everyone kisses and hugs.

Can you guess what she is trying to touch!?
That's right, a cow. We had the opportunity to milk a cow, but she wanted nothing to do with that, but really the cows are rather large!
Another pig!
On the hay ride...before it started, can you tell it is way passed time for her to go home and nap!
Today I fell like an asthmatic. Not much fun, and really I am not sure they can give me anything good to clear out my lungs and stop my coughing!

SINUS HEADACHE!

So, I should be napping now, but I am so dedicated I am going to post first! I saw my Nurse Practitioner friend today and she said it sounded like I had "pregnancy congestion". I had no idea it had such a fancy name. I just thought I had an allergies that have possibly settled into the lungs. She told me she could bring the stethoscope and listen to my lungs (she lives down the street), but really, I am going to the OB on Friday, I think I can hold out 2 more days. She told me that I would probably get some antibiotics, and be done with it. I also spoke to the nurse yesterday and they said I could give Gwen some Zyrtec for her allergy issues, I am still undecided if I am going to give it to her. She doesn't really seem to be bothered except that her nose is running constantly and we can't really stay on top of that.

These pictures are from yesterday, we had a busy day when we came home from Strollers, I had some stuff I had to get done immediately when we got home and this is where I found Gwen. She has always loved car seats, she only climbs in when babies are not in there...hopefully that trend will continue.

Of course, a "candid" shot...I saw how much you enjoyed these pictures yesterday.
More later, I am having a hard time seeing straight and thinking.

Stay tuned for pictures from the petting zoo, where we went today.

HAT!

It is becoming more and more of a challenge to get candid well, really any shots of Gwen with the camera. She just doesn't think smiling is appropriate. This first picture actually Gwen was a complete accident, she turned into the camera. I should mention that this picture was taken post breakfast...notice the milk spills!
Obviously, Gwen posed for the next picture.
Gwen and her Daddy, she tried to put Eric's hat on me, but she didn't like how it looked and gave it back to Eric.

Gwen loves hats. She is one of the only kids that will wear a hat outside. She is really the only girl that wears hats, she actually doesn't like to leave the house without a hat, especially when it is cold outside!

I feel bad for my girl, I feel the allergies are really getting to her. This morning while we were at the park both eyes were watering, and I am pretty sure I am going to have to walk around with a whole box of Kleenex for us to share for our noses! I am sad to say that even though I am pretty sure I am only having allergy problems I sound like a frog and if I laugh, I have this not so lovely accompanying deep chest cough. But, we go to the OB on Fri, so I am just going to pray that they can give me something for that. I am debating on calling the Dr for Gwen and seeing what I can give her, since I am not sure what is safe for a almost 2 year old.

Daddy's helper...in training!

This weekend was busy for us again. I am pretty sure until baby #2 arrives, every weekend is going to be this crazy. I spent the entire weekend getting Gwen and I out of the house so Eric could work on the floors. It was surprising how well Gwen did, even with me dragging her out of the house without Daddy. This might be the only week Eric is happy to go back to work. I think he is pretty tired, but we are on a deadline people! Apparently not having the laundry "closet" working is enough to get him to work hard, well, and maybe me driving him crazy. Eric is so close to being done, if he wasn't so exhausted, he probably would have finished last night! But, exhaustion prevailed and he didn't finish, we will however be putting the drier back tonight with the godfather's help. I can't blame him for not finishing, but I think I he will be motivated to keep working when he sees what I picked up for him today (not that I suspect that he wouldn't be motivated, but you know he's got to get some reward for working hard)! I think he only has 2-3 ft left, but it is just hallway, so it shouldn't take long. It has been difficult for him, mostly because the hall is the one to all of our rooms and Gwen's nap schedule, which he probably would have worked through did not allow for that.
Here is Gwen with Eric after her nap on Sat.

I tell you, if you didn't know any better, you'd think she actually knew what she was doing.
When we weren't "helping" Daddy, we went to a community garage sale, flea market, first Saturday, Church, Target, Home Depot and Lowes! At first Saturday, I brought an umbrella stroller, because I was determined not to carry Gwen every where. She walked all over town, either pushing the stroller or holding my hand. I chose not to go into any of the shops, because let's face it she was walking and I have been in the stores before. We saw some friends that disappeared before we could talk to them, sadly, I haven't chatted with them in forever...sorry we got side tracked! Now, I think everyone is recovering in this house. I am sad to report, I think Gwen has seasonal allergies. I am beginning to wonder if that kid got any genes from her father. I think many of them would have served her a lot better than what she got from me! Seriously, I could use a child that is slightly less stubborn and willful. I can guarantee that she didn't get that from Eric, except for this one funny story his Mom tells, that I won't go into. I used to giggle, until I had children and realized that could be me one day.

Nothing doing

I am making the final push to get the inside of the house down...which translates to me trying to get Gwen out of the house so Eric can work. I don't know if Eric realizes I am trying to make the final push, but now he knows!
This weekend I went to the Nearly New Kids sale. I have mentioned this sale in previous posts here and here. I didn't get as much stuff as in those posts, they had tons of double strollers this time, but not the one that I want! I am still praying to find my stroller used! Anyhoo, I took Gwen to the local Children's Museum to check out their Spring Festival. I liked that they asked for donations for parking for the Boy Scouts that were taking the money and the stuff was cheap/free! Gwen and I took a hay ride. She seemed to enjoy it ok, but I guess she was kind of tired, she required me to carry her the whole time.
Here is Gwen and her horse! She loves the darn thing. She was laying on the floor kissing his nose, but Eric couldn't get that picture, but you get the idea.

We are not super busy this week. But I think next week will be busy for us. Gwen and I are going to the petting zoo with our fellow exercisers, and then for Mother's day we are having a Sat class where the Dad's get to see what this whole exercise group is all about! (and the Mommys get chair massages, you know I am there!) I also have Scrapbooking night.
The weather has turned back to cold around here and Gwen has been taking longer naps so we haven't been spending much time getting into any trouble. Gwen is certainly in some nice phases, she likes to play on her own and she is repeating EVERYTHING! Unfortunately Eric thinks it would be a go idea to teach her some not so toddler phrases, but that probably not effect him as much as much it would me. I spend way more time with her than he does, especially out in public. Although I guess it is a Dad's job to teach children different things than a Mom would. I was taught to say "pizza and Beer" when asked where I wanted to go to eat, also I taught to retrieve beers from the fridge for my Dad, I am pretty sure my Mom didn't teach me that stuff!

Poll

So I thought it would be a good idea to start polling you on when you think the baby will be born. June 4th is the official OB due date. June 1st is the due date I came up with using Natural Family Planning. With Gwen, I had predicted last time July 7th and the OB had June 30th. July 10th is when she decided to enter the world! In interest of the poll, I will consider June 1-4th on his due date!

Hershey

So last weekend we had a good time in Hershey, we were disappointed that the whole town did not smell like chocolate! Ok, maybe I was disappointed to find out that the town did not smell like chocolate. Eric was disappointed to find out that I made him roll down his window right before we passed the water treatment plant! Oh well, you live and learn. One thing is for sure, the town does know how to celebrate the Hershey Kiss! They had kisses everywhere.
(this picture was mostly posted for Grandmom...I thought she might like a laugh!)


Staying at the Lodge, we received complementary tickets to the museum and the gardens. We made it to the gardens but not the museum. It has been a long time since we have slept in! No babies crying or talking in the morning, waking us up.

From the gardens you could see Hershey Park, and you could hear the screams from the roller coaster riders!
We made it to Chocolate World, we took the tour, it was free. We ate lunch there and had a good time shopping in the land of chocolate before heading back.

We asked a walking guard to take our picture with the sign, but I guess he zoomed in and couldn't get the stuff up top!
So, anyway, we had a good time, we didn't come back with any earth shattering news or to anything terrible. It was nice to spend some time together, just the two of us with no responsibilities. There were 4 restaurants in the hotel and we hit 3 of them. I am the most excited about my breakfast, banana stuffed pancakes with chocolate-hazelnut syrup! YUM! I am only sad that we didn't make a spa appointment 3 months in advance so that we could have gotten massages. Oh well, who knew! I am also happy to report that Eric and I can have conversations that did not revolve around Gwen or #2, which is unfortunate for #2, because s/he still does not have a name. Not knowing the sex of the baby does make these last few weeks more exciting, we have something to look forward to; finding out the sex of the baby! I know many will say won't it just be exciting to meet your new baby...I would say yes, except Gwen was a terrible newborn and Eric and I are not looking forward to hearing the newborn cry, I don't know many people whose babies were brought back from the nursery because they wouldn't stop crying...at that point we should have realized that we were in for some trouble. I mean if the expert nurses couldn't quiet Gwen, how would we know how?

New things!

Several new things have developed around here. The first and most important is that our poor girl seems to have a shellfish allergy, or to Old Bay's seasoning...either way I am thinking that we live in the wrong state for my little princess! I did find out that Gwen does not get hyper with Benadryl...pretty excited to learn that! This is probably bad news for anyone we promised to bring to May's, since Gwen didn't eat any of the shellfish, maybe a taste of the Old Bay's but we can't confirm any of that. We do know that she was touched by all of us who all had crab/seasonings all over our hands. Here is a picture the next day, I think she had maybe 2 doses of Benadryl and her eyes are still puffy! Poor girl had hives and puffiness!
This picture was taken at the horse farm on Wed. As you probably know Gwen would not get on the horse, but she did touch the horse and thought his nose was funny. One of our fellow exercisers worked at this horse farm and had a mini horse and a pony. I think only the older kids would get on the pony or the horse...by older kids I mean the over 2 and 3 year olds.

Here you can see the girls and the donkey and the pony. As you can see the brown pony was just a little guy, Gwen petted him. He had a huge belly, they called him "Belly" because he had such a wide girth!
Thursday we had swim class, our second to last swim class...Gwen was NOT in the mood. We had a hard time getting to class because of this. Traffic downtown was a nightmare because of people re-routing. Gwen the last 2 days has woken up crying naps and overnight. I always take this as a bad sign for our day, she will be clingy and whiny and all around frustrated with her surroundings. This probably wouldn't be so bad if the sisters weren't just here and making me put me feet up all day. Makes for a very tired Mommy!
Went to the Dr today, still one more 2 week appt to go and then I go weekly. Everything appears to be going well, as the CRNP said, no news is good news! I also do not have to get the Strep B test since I already tested positive, those of you that have had kids recently will know why that is good news! And the CRNP said that if we wanted to refuse the checking on whether or not anything is going on we could...I did that last time. Her feeling is when something starts happening, you usually know, which is how I feel. No need to poke and prod and get me excited that I am 2 cm dilated and 40% effaced, since I can easily be walking around like that for weeks! (not that I am mind you, I wasn't checked!) Gwen was so exhausted she feel asleep on the way home. I don't ever know what to do when that happens, mostly because it doesn't usually happen, but I "ran" up the stairs and tried to put her down immediately, she wasn't happen, because she woke up before we came in the house, but now she is sleeping! Alleluia! Mommy, as she sometimes calls me now, needs to put her feet up!

Bye-bye Mommas

Here are some pictures from Mom's camera. I think all had a good time. This is from the sisters first day here. Gwen was a little shy, but I think that we will all agree that the webcam and photo album did make Gwen less wary of Mom and she warmed up to her rather well.
On the way to dinner with Daddy.
This was taken after Eric and I were in Hersey. We left while Gwen was napping and from the following pictures I would say, she didn't seem to be too upset. That Gwen of ours is easily distracted by going outside! She loves it.

It was very nice to have the sisters here, I realize how much lifting and active work I do around here, when I was told to sit and put my feet up constantly. At this point, I would like to mention my feet have not yet started to swell! We are about 6 weeks out, we had an ultrasound yesterday, seems the baby could be about 5lb 4oz. This seems rather large to me, esp when my girlfriend who just had her 8lb baby was only 4.5lbs at the same point. So, it leads me to believe we are looking at another large baby, of course I did glance at the head measurements and it seemed that the new baby's head wasn't measuring large for their size...unlike Gwen! I couldn't be more happier about that!

The sisters have arrived!

And, they are wreaking havoc in the house! Already Gwen has been late for both bed time and nap time! Actually, it is not too bad, of course I say that as I sit on the couch by myself Gwen is sleeping and no one else is in the house...much like my other days around here. I guess the difference is that I am waiting for the sisters to arrive back home (apparently my Mom didn't realize that the memory card for the new camera is essential and left it unopened at home, so they went to buy a new one.) I am also waiting for the hubby to get home, which he just called and said he was on his way, we are leaving for here as soon as the sisters get back! The hubby and I are going on a "babymoon" and leaving Gwen with the sisters. Who do you think is going to have more fun, the sisters or us? I think the only person that is going to be upset is Gwen! I don't think she will be too bad off, she seems to be getting along with the sisters just fine, better probably when Eric and I aren't around, but I know she is going to be sad when she wakes up and we aren't around...and then she will probably forget about us! Hope you have a great weekend. Sunday we will be celebrating Grandma's birthday! (I won't tell you how old she is going to be, she'll probably come back and read this post and then be mad at me, if I told you)

Finalizing plans

Not much exciting going on around here. I am still pregnant, Eric is still at work and Gwen is still napping. I am beginning to wonder about that girl the last 2 days she has taken longer naps than usual. I wonder if warning her about Grandma & Aunt Ellen visiting means that she knows she is going to need the extra rest! Yesterday's nap was so long I actually snuck up and checked to make sure she was still breathing. I can usually hear her breathing in the monitor, if I turn it way up, but I couldn't hear a thing. Plus, I was nervous about some redness and bumps she had on her chest after spilling her milk (with honey nut cheerios) all over herself. Apparently Eric feels this is not an allergy to nuts, but more like a skin sensitivity, since she also excema, I just don't know what to do. I probably should call the pediatrican, but I hate for Gwen to go through all that crap for nothing.
I am also debating whether or not I should do a 2nd birthday party for Gwen. It will possibly be around 6 weeks after the #2 comes around when Gwen turns 2. We have a very busy summer, with Eric's official graduation, the birth and eventually a Baptism. I don't want to neglect Gwen, if we had family around it would be much easier, you know we could always "force" them to come over and celebrate and I am not saying I wouldn't celebrate, but really what is so exciting about turning 2, besides the fact that they are "terrible".
Here are pictures of the scene around here on Saturday.

You can see why the hubby likes being home so much! Seriously the adoration can you just see it...although I am not convinced it is because of Eric or because she knew he would share whatever crap it is that he chosen to eat.
I almost hated to put Gwen down for her nap today. She has been so cute today, babbling up a storm and in such a good mood. I swear I am in so much trouble when she starts learning more verbs and can speak in sentences. I won't have a moments peace! Well, it sounds as if she is awake...I am sure the neighboring counties can hear the squealing!

We made it

I have realized that since my Mom and I have gotten webcams I have noticed that I haven't felt the pressure to update with pictures and stuff. Or maybe I am just getting lazy or busy. Eric did finally make it home. I felt terrible on Friday, but then Eric made it home and Gwen you know was so happy, I was so happy.

We got so much done this weekend! We got the crib up, complete with mattress. We pulled Gwen baby stuff out of the cave and we will try to bring it back up around the house and hope that Gwen will EVENTUALLY realize that she can not sit in the swing or the bouncy seat or her car seat, especially when it is otherwise occupied by a baby! I also pulled out the neutrals from Gwen's old clothes and now have to launder them.

Here are some pictures from our play group, of course I didn't get any pictures with her smiling, but she did have a great time.

We now have a problem though, before the play group Gwen never went near these type of ladderish things at the play grounds, but now she totally thinks she can do it. Poop! Way more work for Mommy...seriously that kid is fearless at the play ground.


The 2 things I got pictures of were her favorites, this one with the slide she would take a ball throw it through and chase after it, yelling about the ball! At one point while one of the other Moms and I were talking Gwen leaned back her head and squealed at the top of her lungs. We were both like, guess she is having a good time!
We are quite busy this week. Grandma and Aunt E will be here Thursday for a couple of days. Not sure I will get much posting while they are here. Really not sure I will get much done at all while they are here, so nothing big better happen while I am "gone"!

21 months

Today I am feeling much better! Apparently just having the will power to feel better is enough to make yourself feel better. Just like my Dad said, it never worked when I single but now I have Gwen & ? to take care of so I can't afford 2 sick days! (Eric is apparently not 100% yet)
The last month has brought many changes in our lives with Gwen. She is chatty and funny and the most exciting thing is her attention span is extending! She will now spend longer than a couple minutes playing with a toy and sometimes that translates to reading more words on a page in her books. A very exciting time for us! She is also able to spend time entertaining herself without much interaction. This is especially helpful when I am trying to make dinner or I have to take a potty break. Gwen is also starting to recognize my belly. I am still not sure she understands what will be happening in a couple months. (I think I finally got Daddy on board to get the crib up!) Gwen used to pull my shirt down if I lifted it to show her the baby in my belly, but now she has actually kissed and hugged it. Hopefully that is a good sign for our future, but I can't say that it is.

Gwen's language has improved also, she has her little phrases, and when I teach her a new sign, she gets it immediately. You know you spend your whole day talking to a child with not a huge amount of "appropriate" vocabulary, but then you are talking to her and all of a sudden she responds in the totally correct manner and intonation and you just have to laugh, because it is completely unexpected and because when it happens to Eric it freaks him out and he says "what did you say kid?" and then asks me if I heard it and then laughs.
Gwen's latest obsessions are bus and toes. When we are in the house she is constantly talking about her toes. If she hears a loud noise outside she calls it a bus, which is why I told her the sign for motorcycle! She still calls trucks buses, even though she used to call trucks trucks. It can be very frustrating, and why I told my Mom she will definitely not be home schooled!

Video

I multitasked, while I was sleeping I downloaded this video for ya'all!
Oh and yes, Gwen had her shoes on the wrong feet. And no, Eric and I were not responsible for that at all. When she was eating lunch one of her shoes fell off, so I took her other shoe off and when lunch was over she put them back on herself! She certainly wasn't happy when I tried to fix them for her, but what can I say, she is slightly stubborn. Can't wait until see hits those terrible 2s/3s!

Sickness

Apparently Eric is feeling better, but I feel like crap. Worse than that really, although I am starting to feel better now that I don't have to keep an eye on Gwen. I knew I wouldn't be so lucky as to escape the illness, but I had hoped. A girl can dream! So my plan is to nap on the couch until Gwen falls asleep and then hit the bed upstairs, I am hoping that a good night sleep will make me all better and we can go outside, we have swim class tomorrow, you know. We also have plans to go to a playgroup at a local kids gym with many of our friends.
Thanks to the godfather to bringing over some supplies...unfortunately for him I refused to let him in the house so he wouldn't catch the sickness! I am feeling much better after having some soup.
Oh, and did I mention that Gwen was very good today and didn't get into really any trouble, thanks kid! Mommy really appreciates it. I will try to remember how great you were today the next time you are driving me crazy!

Bye Daddy!

Eric left this evening for NY. Fortunately for us he left at bedtime so Gwen didn't get too upset, we will see how it goes tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Also, fortunately for us Eric has been sick for the last 2 days, (not fortunately for Eric) but that did mean that Gwen got 2 extra days with him that we would have otherwise would not have seen him, because he was supposed to be at meetings and gone all day, as far as Gwen would be concerned. Apparently sleeping all morning the last 2 days really did the trick, and Eric might not be 100%, but he is back on eating solids. Hopefully this will be the last time he gets to sick/has to leave town for a while. We have stuff to do, I mean, I am 32 weeks! Still no crib set up, official name or any of the other things we should probably do! (I am not panicking yet our anything, can you tell?) We did finally fill out the useless paperwork for the hospital, but sadly I don't think we have mailed it yet. Probably should take care of those things, but we have some visitors coming next week and we NEED to get a space clean so people can get through downstairs...i.e. we need to finish cleaning out the "cave".
The baby in the belly seems to be getting more uncomfortable in his/her surroundings. He/she does not seem to like me exercising and when I sit down in the evenings, or any other time I have more than 5 minutes of sitting he/she exerts their need for me to move. This is something I don't remember with Gwen, I am hoping that this is a good sign...i.e. we won't be trying to take up a permanent residence in my belly, unlike their older sister! Fortunately, we are still not interrupting my sleep, which Gwen certainly did 3:30am every morning I woke up with Gwen. I do not wake up with this child in the middle of the night, I do however wake up at 7ish. I have a hard time falling asleep and if something or someone wakes me up in the middle of the night it takes a LONG time for me to fall back to sleep! Can I tell you how unpleasant that is? I am hoping that I will not have that problem after the baby comes. Which I guess means that now that I have heard from Eric that he has landed safely, I better go to sleep. I don't have any one to get up with Gwen but myself, although I have been getting up with her for almost a week, so I should be used to it. It is quite annoying to have a chipper baby say Daddy in the morning to you, when you know she knows you are not Daddy! I know this Daddy obsession is a good thing for when the baby arrives but the constant Daddy calling is going to drive a Mommy crazy over the next couple of days. At least she now has a name for me, she never used to call me anything, I was apparently just the crazy lady who stayed with her all day. But, now I am "Mom", not Mommy, not Momma, but "Mom". So gratifying to finally hear her call out for me and cry for me, you know and not just for Daddy! Sometimes it is just nice to be recognized...wouldn't you say Eric?

What's wrong with this picture?

Can you tell me what is wrong with this picture? Don't have anything to give you, just the satisfaction that you can tell a minute incorrect detail in a picture. I will tell you what is wrong, in a couple of days!

Weekend sickness

Gwen's sickness seemed to be short lived, thank goodness. She seems to be doing much better, some days a little whiny, but what can you do, she is almost 2! She has definitely become attached to both Eric and myself, I don't know if she realizes that he will be gone, or that she is starting to understand what the phrase baby in the belly means. She cries if Eric leaves, she cries if I leave...fun times!
This weekend we had a nice Sat. The museums were all free this weekend and if you went to 4 you got a souvenir bell, if you learned a interesting fact about each place. I am happy to report with a nap even, we were able to visit 4 museums on Sat. The last place we hit was the children's museum and Gwen seemed to enjoy a room they had there where they let the kids play with some toys that seemed to be from old times. I think she would have stayed there for a while, she kept saying moo! (She was playing with a wooden cow, he was climbing over a house). But, then we came home and Eric has been sick ever since. Boo! I am hoping that his immune system became depressed with the stress he has had recently and that has caused him to get something we have already have...do you think that is too much to hope for? He is scheduled to leave for NY tomorrow. I think he is going to make it. I am hoping that resting today will allow him to be better and at least Gwen has had one more day with Daddy before he leaves us for 4 days!
Gwen cracks me up. While she is napping I heard her say Daddy, UP and then went back to sleep. I guess she talking in her sleep because it has been about an hour since then and she is still sleeping! We have a lot more things/pictures to update you on, but I think I am going to make you wait until the 10th when I do her monthly update!

Beautiful day

but alas, I think that Gwen is not feeling well. Yesterday she slept an hour later than usual and took a very long nap. Today she woke up early and had thrown up last night at some point. Poor child, we heard her wake up and cough periodically, but didn't expect that she had gotten sick. She was acting a little clingy this morning and tired, but since she got up early I hope that she doesn't get sick again, she hasn't eaten much in the last two days. Let us hope that she doesn't really have anything more than a cold. Eric will be leaving town next week for a whole week, basically. I do not want to be dealing with a sick child while he is gone, she cries for Daddy constantly, I can't imagine she would be doing anything else. She seems to be taking a long nap again today. Let us hope plenty of rest and fluids and some warm fresh air will make for a short illness!