30 weeks, Thanksgiving, and updates.

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for here at the Mason house. And I would totally be lying if I said I didn't get a little misty-eyed throughout the day thinking about how blessed we are. Never did I think I'd be in the position of having the best husband, best 4-legged kiddo, best 2-legged kiddo, AND best not-yet-hatched kiddo all under one roof!

So...updates...

Ellie, like always, is hysterical! We've gotten a crazy amount of snow the last couple days and she has been loving it. Truff loves the snow too, so they go out and play in it quite a bit. Ellie thinks it is hysterical when Truff runs by and "dusts" her with snow. Well except for when she was laying down making a snow angel and snow got on her face. She didn't like that at all. 

Oh, and she just giggles and giggles when Truff jumps at the snow. It is the funniest thing ever. See?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYacY285mJY

They are playing together so much these days, it just makes my heart explode. Truff is SO good with her. Even when she sticks toys right in his face or accidentally runs into him. Oh, and they've started napping together. I mean, really, how cute is this? Truff is the best big brother ever!

E has a new obsession with climbing into things. So she will throw toys out of her toybox and then climb right in. This girl is crazy!

We went to the breastfeeding group this week too. Gemma, one of the LC's goes to our church and she gave us a hard time for not being there in awhile. E is up to 19lbs 13oz. And she got to work on her big sister skills with the babies there. 

We are, however, still in teething hell. We are officially up to 5 teeth. She has both bottoms, both "fangs" and one of her fronts has *just* broken the skin. I have a new trick that I use to see teeth (and the brush her teeth). I ask her how old she is and then we hold up one finger. But then she grabs my finger and sticks it in her mouth. No idea where that came from, but hey, if it gets brushing and checking done without screaming, I'll take it!

She is talking up a storm too! Momma, Dada, Fuffful (Truffle), That, Wawa (water), Food, Belle (any TV is "Belle" since Beauty and the Beast is our go-to car movie!), Grandma, Grandpa, No, Done, Milk. And I think she learns new words every day. She knows a bunch of body parts and can point them out (head, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, belly button). We are working on animal sounds (she does lions and dogs). And I know this is going to sound crazy, but I swear she can count. We were stacking blocks the other day, and I counted them...one...two...three...four...and then she went and grabbed another block, handed it to me and said "fai" (five). I did like a triple take on that one. For real???

She is a handful...but just SO much fun. She has such a big personality. There is never a dull moment with her, and I just love her SOOOOO much. She's the best. 

In baby S news...I had an ob appointment Tuesday. I had my favorite nurse, Kim. She made a comment that she hadn't seen me at all this pregnancy. Thank goodness! I'm still proud I've only had one freak-out appointment and the rest have been regularly scheduled, boring appointments! But, of course, since I had her my blood pressure was great, and we had fun chatting about the upcoming addition.

The actual appointment, though, was...meh. Heartbeat sounded great, but the doctor insists I am measuring big, and asked if Ellie was a big baby. Yup, a whopping 6 lbs 4 oz. *Rolls eyes*.  Funny how this doctor has now told be TWICE that I'm measuring ahead, but no one else in the practice seems to mention anything to me when I see them. Whatever. Next appointment I have an u/s. Fine. Not like size is the biggest concern, since I will be having another c-section anyways, but whatever floats your boat. Oh, and my next appt is with MY doctor, which I am excited about. That means I get to have the "You WILL let me out of the hospital after 48 hrs" talk with him.

How far along:  30 weeks 1 day. S will be here in 63 days. 

How big is baby: The size of a large cabbage. 15.7 inches and 3 lbs

What I've done to prep for baby: Hmmm...well, I did some shopping! Can't pass up some of the great Thanksgiving sales! I got a new carrier for S. I'm a big fan of good carriers and I am going to need to wear S while I am chasing around E, so I got a new K'tan wrap. I have a Moby from E, but that thing is SO hard to put on. I tried the K'tan on, and stuck E in it, and she loved it so hopefully her sister will too. Oh, and S's namely pillow will be done this week. Squee! I keep stalking her facebook page to see if she's posted pics of mine yet. 

Best moment of the week: Thanksgiving morning cuddles with the family <3

Food cravings: First...wooohoooo...I managed not to get sick on Thanksgiving. Yay! But I do have a new craving. And it is Thanksgiving-realted...Cranberry. Sauce, juice, whatever. Normally I like cranberry stuff as much as the next person, but not enough to eat it out of the can!

Symptoms: Sleep is rough as I am just sore. But other than that, nothing too major!

Movement: S is crazy! Every morning at 5am, I get the dance party wake-up call. Apparently my kid didn't get the memo that Momma likes to sleep in. 

 What I’m looking forward to: We have some family time planned this weekend, which is much needed, so I am definitely looking forward to that. 

Next appt: OB appointment on the 12th. 

Now I remember why I hate the 3rd trimester.

Not to be all Debbie Downer, but the 3rd trimester STINKS. Really. Why? 

*Caution WHINING ahead*

1. Getting sick. I apparently do pregnancy in reverse. While I only deal with annoying nausea and a couple bouts of getting sick in the first trimester, I am BFF's with my toilet bowl the last. 

2. My glucose numbers. Party!!! I passed by GD tests, so no worries, right? Ugh, have you met me? I'm a worrier. So I'm still testing my blood sugar. For the most part it has been amazing. I am supposed to be under 130 an hour after meals. Bagel with cream cheese and greek yogurt? 101. Spaghetti with meatballs and too much garlic bread? 107. Ryan's homemade baked potato soup? 103. And then, out of the blue...pumpkin pancakes, sausage, and sugar free syrup? 160. There are no words to say how annoyed I am by this. Really. There is NO REASON that it was that high. None. It makes no sense. I could have that same meal last time when things were MUCH harder t control (like, I could not even have a HALF of a bagel for breakfast) and it wouldn't spike me. So now I am freaked and crabby and just in an altogether bad mood about my blood sugar.

3. Prepping for S. I *should* be proud that in the last month we've gotten a LOT accomplished. But instead, I am having a meltdown about how much their is to do. With the holidays in there, it feels like there is just no time at all. I am really hoping that we can have her room cleaned out and ready for paint by the first part of December. A girl can dream, huh? I guess that is the power of keeping a blog like this, I can look back and see that last time, we didn't get E's room cleaned out until 32 weeks. But I feel like when we couple how fast time is flying with how much I have left to do for S's arrival, PLUS the holidays in there, I just can't wrap my brain around getting everything done in time. Hence, the tears that were shed last night.

Okay, I am done whining now. Time for updates. 

How far along:  29 weeks 2 days. S will be here in 69 days. 

How big is baby: The size of a butternut squash. 15.2 inches and 2.5 lbs

What I've done to prep for baby: We worked on the nursery. I don't really feel like we are getting anywhere, but oh well. 

Best moment of the week: E has been a snuggle bug, and S just loves kicking at her. So funny! Ellie gives me a look like "what the heck was that, Momma?"

Food cravings: Nothing. With being sick, eating is tough.  

Symptoms: Nothing out of the ordinary.

Movement: Still lots of movement. It is SO funny when Ellie is on my lab nursing and S kicks her. Ellie gives me the 'what the heck was that' startled look. 

 What I’m looking forward to: Still Thanksgiving! And checking things off my list...

Next appt: OB Tuesday.

Gulp...3rd Trimester

I feel like a broken record, but really. How in the WORLD am I in the 3rd trimester??? How did that happen? I JUST found out yesterday, right?

Sigh. Time goes too fast, and I just don't think it is going to slow down any.

So, updates. Well, I did my bloodwork last Wednesday. I took the bean with me and she sure kept me occupied while I waited my hour. BUT...good news, I PASSED my 1-hour test, my thyroid is in check still and my titers are still 1:1. Wooohooo!

Of course, my blood sugar numbers ARE creeping up. So I am attempting to cool it on the sugar, and watch what I eat a bit. But so much of the stuff that would have spiked me before is fine now. For example, breakfast, I can do greek yogurt and be under 90 for my 1-hour. No way could I do that before. And I can have OATMEAL. That was forbidden fruit last time. So it is definitely better.

I also had an endocrinologist appointment on Friday. Great news there too...since I don't officially have GD, AND my thyroid looks good, I graduated from the endo for now! Yes, my next endo appt is scheduled for March! Yay! That means I actually graduated from 2 specialists, and am down to "only" my OB.

How far along:  28 weeks 4 days. S will be here in 74 days. Yikes

How big is baby: The size of iceburg lettuce. 14.8 inches and 2.2lbs

What I've done to prep for baby: Scheduled S's arrival! 7am on January 31st! Whaaaa? Still trying to plug away on the nursery. Maybe S will have a nursery by the time she can drive. 

Best moment of the week: Curling up on the floor, all 4.5 of us, when the power was out.

Food cravings: I don't feel like eating anymore. So that is a struggle. I am trying to get enough down. But no real baby-related cravings, that I would say. Now with this colder turn in the weather? Uh, I want ALL THE SOUP. But that is weather-related...

Symptoms: Meh, I've been more crampy lately. I know I'm overdoing it. So I try to take breaks and drink lots of water. 

Movement: Oh yes. S is a ninja baby. I seriously thing she might bust herself out. 

What I’m looking forward to: I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK. So that. Definitely. I will probably only be able to eat 2 bites, but I can dream about all that food!!!

Next appt: OB next Tuesday.

Oh, and then there is the little princess. She's awesome, as usual! 

We've been working on eating with a spoon. It is going...marginal. She's still wearing more yogurt than eating it, but at least she is attempting to feed herself and not just shoving her hand in the container. 

Last Sunday, at church, I really wanted to smack the lady in the next room over from the classroom E is in. I went to get her and she steps up to me and says "Boy, Ellie sure is a strong willed child." Since I was fairly sure the proper response to that was not "duh" I proceeded to keep my mouth closed. Come to find out, when we get home, Ellie WAS upset. She dug right into her diaper bag, grabbed her sippy, took a drink and started melting down. Someone had put the lid on too tight and nothing was coming out of the straw. Poor thing was thirsty, I bet, and they didn't get it. Arg. I mean, I don't expect everyone to know my child's every cue. And yes, she is strong willed. I mean, please, look at this face:

Only one of us is going to survive her teenage years, I am sure. But it went over MUCH better this Sunday when a good friend was in charge of her room at church and I got to hear how she was such a crack up, and how her expressions reminded her so much of her girls when they were younger. 

Oh, and we got her 'main' Christmas present. Uh, this was supposed to be a 'light' present year. Nope. We are keeping it top secret for now, but I think both Ellie and Daddy are thrilled and can't wait for Christmas now...

Last weekend we went to Detroit to see Aunt Mandy's dress. Well, let me back up. See, Mandy wanted E and I to go with her and the rest of the bridal party to pick up her wedding dress. I agreed. Friday night I asked for the address, pumped about a Mommy-Ellie roadtrip (and I think Dad was pumped about some free time getting stuff done around the house). She gives me the address. Yeah, not in Grand Rapids. IN DETROIT. Sigh. So...we decided Ryan would come with and we would hit Ikea to get stuff for S's nursery. 

It was a good trip. E is fantastic in the car. Mandy looked gorgeous! And Ellie picked out what she thought Aunt Mandy should wear...this gold number right here. Girl is obsessed with sparkles. It is in her blood...

It was a LOOOOONG day, but she did awesome at Ikea too, and we got all the furniture we need for S's room: Book shelf, dresser, shelving unit, toy storage unit, rocking chair, etc. 

Girl still really throws me for a loop sometimes. Like last Monday. I put her down for the night, check in via webcam an hour later and find this:

Yes, my child is totally asleep, sitting up. How weird is that? I had to go lay her down so she wouldn't get a sore neck. 

We had an interesting time Sunday too. The power went out (for the second time in 2 weeks. Arg.) Luckily, we now have batteries in her monitor and noise machine. She was a trooper, and we had a little family playtime and picnic in her room before we all laid down on her floor together and then Dad gingerly transferred her to her crib when she fell asleep. Power outages with kids are just SO hard, though. I am glad that at least she wasn't as scared as she was when it happened last weekend in the middle of the night and she woke up and FREAKED out. She did not want to be put down, though. Not that I minded too terribly much!

So really, Ellie is awesome, and I love her to bits, and although she is SO exhausting these days, she is really just more fun than I ever could have imagined and I am SO lucky to be her Mom!

26.5 weeks, Halloween, and such...

So, Thursday was Halloween! My little birdie dressed as a birdie and we went out Trick or Treating. We didn't get to go to as many houses as we would have liked, but that's okay. It was icky and rainy out anyway!

We started out at Craig and Ellie's house. Have I mentioned they are obsessed with Ellie? Yeah. She has them wrapped around her finger! We were their first trick-or-treaters since they moved in in 2004. Turns out, they had their son and daughter in law over and were having pancakes for dinner. Well, that made my Ellie awfully happy, as she went right to "big" Ellie and enjoyed some pancakes. Who said that 14 month olds can't have treats? She sure made the right dinner for this one!

Then we stopped at Reabe's house. They hadn't seen Ellie in awhile and she had a very good time "trading" candy with Jim while we talked.

Then it was over to finish the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

She was pooped after all that running around, for sure! But she had a great time trick-or-treating, even with the crummy weather!

Then, Friday we took off to WI to see the family. We got there really late, and Ellie was pretty much delirious! She was running circles, laughing and falling down. Poor overtired princess...but it was SO funny. The rest of the weekend was fun too, but SUUUUUPER busy. We had a full day Saturday seeing family and having Ellie's "Wisconsin birthday party" and then had to head home bright and early Sunday in order to make it to the gym in time. Needless to say, Monday I CRASHED!

And now, a baby S update...

How far along:  26 weeks, 5 days. There are 93 days until my due date. Being in double digits makes me want to throw up. How is this going this fast??? Thursday I will be in the THIRD TRIMESTER. 

How big is baby: The size of an eggplant. 14 inches. 

What I've done to prep for baby: We ordered her crib! It should be in this week, and it was a pretty darn good deal. I'm trying to start a 'needs' and 'wants' list that is a little more comprehensive than my half-registries. Ryan did point out that the "needs" list is actually pretty low. Which is good! Hopefully we can get some of our wants for Christmas too. We'll see! 

I will say that it is funny this time around, because I'm almost MORE compulsive about making sure things are taken care of for Ellie when S comes. Like the busy bags. And I am fighting the urge to cook up like 100lbs of sweet potato under the premise of making sure I have easy food to heat up for E. Reason number 406 that a freezer is on our new baby 'needs' list, I guess! 

Best moment of the week: Honestly, the real best moment of the week was this weekend when we were in WI and I was trying to get E to sleep. She curled up on my chest and was just so stinking content to snuggle in and fall asleep. Sigh. I love that little one. But pertaining to pregnancy and/or S? That is harder. I mean, I love her ninja-girl dance parties, but other than that, I can't really think of anything. Which makes me kind of sad. I feel like I don't appreciate this pregnancy to the extent I did with Ellie. And that makes me nervous about making sure I appreciate S when she gets here. 

Food cravings: Nothing really. I was just telling Ryan last night that eating has gotten easier again. I still can't eat very much food, but I haven't had the aversions that I did earlier. If I can remember with E, this is when I started getting sick a LOT so I am hopeful I can skip that part of pregnancy!

Symptoms: Nothing new. Feeling HUUUUUGE. Been having loads of sinus issues which pregnancy just makes worse, so that kind of stinks. 

Movement: Oh. Yes. S is SO active. 

What I’m looking forward to: Getting my glucose test over with. Arg. And a fun Mommy/Ellie road trip this weekend!

Next appt: Today I have an OB appt and then I have an endo appt on Friday. Fun, fun!