.35 week ultrasound update.

As you know, I was a bit nervous about this weeks ultrasound since it was at the same one with Amelia that I was told my amniotic fluid was dangerously low and was admitted to the hospital then and there. I'm happy to say that we did not relive that scenario this time.
While my fluid is on the "lower side of average" {a 12} it's nothing that has caused concern/alarm for my doctor or ultrasound tech. Also of note: Alice {unlike her sister at this point} is in a perfect head-down position {versus Amelia being in breech}. Also interesting is that the ultrasound shows Alice being a little over 4 pounds and which puts her in the 25th percentile for weight...do we perhaps have yet another very skinny very tall girl? In just 4 weeks we'll know for sure!


 

.Goings on.

Hey guys, as of this past weekend I am fully in the throes of babyshower/babyque set-up so I'm hoping to keep you updated on that progress but I might be fairly busy with it until the 12th. 
We spent all weekend running errands but I think we have a ton of stuff done and I'm feeling good about what I have left to do versus how much time I have left, we'll see how true that stands a bit closer to the date but for now it's no stress.
I've gotten the vast majority of my baby shopping done as well so in the next couple of weeks as everything arrives and gets washed and put away it'll really start to feel like Alice is all set up to come home with ease.
The deep cleaning of the house will probably start this weekend which I feel very "meh" about but it'll be nice to have it just done and out of the way. Our friends David & Abigail {the girls god-parents} have offered to take over "Amelia duties" so that we can actually get the cleaning done {because cleaning a house with a toddler running around is not unlike brushing your teeth with Oreos, good intentions but totally useless} so Peanut will get to run around the zoo, park, and have her god-parents spoil her rotten while Cheyenne and I get to attack the house with scrub brushes...I can't help but feel that Amelia is getting the better end of that deal.
Speaking of Amelia, she's been doing really well with potty-training lately. We had hit a wall a while back where she just would NOT sit down on the potty chair and would scream and cry. Not wanting to traumatize her and make the whole process take twice as long we shelved it and spent the time reading her books {like this one} and watching shows {like this one} to get her excited again and less anxious. It's paid off and she's been sitting down on her own and going when she needs. We still have more work to do but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now which is a big relief with a newborn on the way.
And speaking of working with Amelia on things and the newborn on the way we have been talking non-stop about how awesome it is to be a big sister and what it's like to have a baby sister these days. Every night we read this book and talk about what it will be like when Baby Sister comes home. Amelia is starting to warm up to the idea slowly - for the majority of my pregnancy when we bring it up she just seems totally disinterested and changes the subject, so the warming up has been a good thing. Of course she still doesn't fully grasp what's going to happen and change but we're trying our hardest to do what preparing we can. Fingers and toes are all crossed for a fairly painless transition from only child to oldest child.


 

.Blogiversary.

Today marks 3 years of this blog's existence! In three years I have posted 733 times {including this one}. A big thank you to anyone and everyone that reads this little blog and finds it in any way interesting.  Love you guys!

 

.Driving lessons.

You may recall from this post that I haven't driven a car in 10+ years and while it's never proven to be an issue in that time {we live in a city with an amazing public transportation system} the time is here when I really should get a license. One driver in the house when you are a family of two or three isn't a big deal but one driver when you have two kids under three years old? Issue.
So, on Sunday Cheyenne & I left Peanut with her Papa and off we went for a driving lesson. Let me say that the big issue is not re-learning {it's like a bike} but rather the fact that when I was sixteen and originally learned to drive I had an automatic and since my mom never learned how to drive a manual neither did I. Well, jump to present day and we have a stick-shift {because they're better} so really the lessons are focusing on how to drive a stick versus an automatic. The good thing is that our car has an amazingly easy clutch {or so I have been told by a few people} so it hasn't been nearly as much of an issue as I had psyched myself up for.
I'm also in luck that I have maybe the best teacher ever. Cheyenne is super easy going and knows exactly what I do and don't want to hear {for example: positive encouragement and reinforcement feels like someone rubbing a cheese grater on my skin - never ever tell me things like "you're doing a really good job" it'll just annoy me}. Back in college he had wanted to be a teacher {early education specifically} and it wasn't until the second time around that he changed paths and decided on computer engineering - but that natural and studied need to teach really comes out when he's showing someone how to do something that they've never done or uncomfortable with and he's able to set people at ease and build their confidence without them realizing that's what he's doing {just ask my friend Meegan who learned how to snowboard thanks to Cheyenne & his hetero-lifemate}.
I think the plan is to go back out every weekend and practice until I feel comfortable enough to go take my test and join the rest of the driving populace which should be either right before or a little after Alice comes.
Wish me luck folks!



 

.38 days and counting.

We have just a little over a month left before Miss Alice joins the family and I'm starting to feel equally crunched for time and totally ready for the day to be here already.
I'm feeling a bit crunched for time because we have family coming into town {my mom, my mother in law, and my sister in law} for the big event and my house needs that "oh lord people will be in here" kind of deep cleaning. That kind of cleaning is never on my favorite things list so I tend to put it off as long as possible and then end up staying up until 4:00am with a toothbrush scrubbing grout lines the night before planes arrive. Hopefully I'll be smart enough to avoid such a fate this time around but I make no promises.
And of course I'm very eager for August 23rd to finally get here because I am so very O-V-E-R pregnancy in general but especially when combined with summer. And of course I'm super super excited to meet our little girl and relive that totally unique joy that comes with having a baby.
I had my bimonthly OB appointment on Friday and everything went well, my weight is exactly where it should be as are all of my vitals. I've been lucky in both pregnancies in that I haven't experienced any swelling or edema. A lot of the ladies in my family dealt with terrible edema so it's something that I had assumed would effect me but I'm happy to say that it has not.
On a more superficial level I can also say that in neither of my pregnancies have a developed the linea nigra or had my belly button "pop", I have gone these past 30 years without a single hemorrhoid {the plague of the pregnant woman}, and any stretch mark action has been very minimal and faint. I know those last things don't matter so long as you have a healthy pregnancy and baby but they're still things that I'm grateful to have been able to avoid; being pregnant is {at least in my case} not the prettiest time in ones life and so I'm happy that I didn't have those few extra blows to the ole self-esteem.
I have my next OB appointment on the 26th where I'll have my 35 week ultrasound and I'm just a bit nervous since it was at that same point when I was pregnant with Amelia that all of the craziness started with the three day trip to the hospital followed by bed rest then a delivery that was 4 weeks early. My doctor does not believe that there are any signs that indicate that there would be a repeat of the last time but still....I'll be happy to just get through these last 38 days with everything running smoothly.

.Quilting away the inner pack rat.

In my basement as we speak I have what must be a metric ton in baby clothes from the last 2.5 years. Since we're having another girl in just a few weeks this is actually a good thing, I can reuse a good amount of them {though because one girl was a winter baby and one a summer baby there are some casualties that just cant be worked around - like size 6 month sun dresses and size 12 month snow buntings}.
But after Alice grows out of those clothes what to do? A bit of background: I am the anti-pack rat. I loath and detest keeping things in storage with no intention of doing anything with them. I hate nik-nacks of any kind and antiques make my skin crawl. I like my space clean, streamlined, and new/unused. So with that said it goes without saying that I'll be getting rid of these clothes once they no longer serve a purpose for our family {the idea of saving them for grandchildren gives me anal bleeding}. The obvious choice is donating them to families in need, a huge amount will go to that purpose. But I have a portion of them that I have strong sentimental value in and the idea of donating them makes me sad. Conundrum.
Thanks to Etsy.com {aka crack} I have stumbled onto the shop Lucends where owner Lucinda Snyder creates beautiful quilts with baby clothes that you send her. Baby clothes quilts are nothing new, I've seen a ton on Pinterest and the like but they're usually tacky looking or have that "country chic" look that just isn't me. Lucinda's quilts are beautiful heirlooms and I must have one. 
Stop by her store and look around for prices and sizes if you're interested. I'm thinking that next year when the time comes I'm going to do get the larger 60x60 quilt with a combo of both girls clothing instead of two separate 30x30 quilts.
We did something vaguely similar when we got married, instead of a guestbook that would never ever be looked at and just sit in a basement we had guests sign quilt patches then had them turned into a lovely quilt that now covers our bed {and is used on picnics, movie nights, tummy time, and a million other family things}. Quilts, it would seem are the answer to my storage woes - who knew?

 

.The weekend.

We had a fantastic weekend. As I said in an earlier post, the ocean was calling to me so on Saturday we packed up the kiddo, dog, and cooler and made our way to Cannon Beach, which although always packed with tourists is still my favorite coastal town for day trips.
We had a great time, Amelia did her usual crazy warrior woman thang yelling out at the top of her lungs "I'LL GET YOU OCEAN!!!" while running as absolutely fast as possible toward the surf. The waters of the Pacific this high up are crazy cold year round and only a psycho would go and submerge themselves in it without a wetsuit...apparently my child is a psycho because she spent the whole time jumping and running into the waves and getting drenched head to toe with no thought whatsoever to her own well being. Once she started turning blueish Cheyenne or I {we took turns since we are not in fact as ballsy when it comes to the frigid water}would drag her back up to our picnic spot in the sunshine on the beach and would wrap her up in a towel to get her back up to a healthy 98.6 - she was less than thrilled, each time screaming "NO SUN! MORE OCEAN! OOOOOOOOOOCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAANNNN!" yeah, we got some looks.
After a while she decided to take a break from trying to swim to Japan and/or defeat the ocean and just stood at the waters edge while staring with a somewhat frightening level of concentration out at the water then when the tide & waves would roll in she would yell "THE OCEAN'S COMING! IT'S COMING!" I love her. Both Amelia and Josie fell sound asleep as soon as we got back onto the highway. Perfect day.
On Sunday with the temps high {for us - yes I know it's hotter where you are and no, I don't care} we spent the afternoon playing in the pool then went over to our friends {Tom & Meegan}for a barbecue and had a great time. It's amazing how good it is for the soul to be around people you love and have such fun with. It was the perfect end to an amazing weekend.


 

.Mortification.

Kids say the most embarrassing things sometimes. Case in point: Yesterday Amelia & I were at the pool and  she was playing over in the shallow in with a little boy that looked to be just slightly younger than her. Sidetrack: the kid {not mine} was fat. I know that sounds mean, but he was the level of overweight that you usually only see on episodes of Maury Povich, to say that he was a McDonalds fan seems to be an understatement {and yes, I find that very sad and not funny}.
So, Amelia and the little boy are kind of playing in the same area with his mom and I near enough to make sure that they are safe when I notice that Amelia is openly starting at this child with her mouth agape. Nice {please note my sarcastic tone}. Then I saw the other mom realize that my overly skinny child is apparently horrified by her overly obese child and I tried to do damage control by saying "oh is that a little boy? Have you made a new friend?" instead of just playing along as I had hoped, Amelia reached over to him and extended her index finger to reach out and point directly to one of the kid's chins and say "Mama, what's that?!"
Shit. Just seriously, what the hell Amelia? I didn't know what to do so I said "it's a little boy sweetheart, he looks like he might be your age. Can you say hi?"
Instead of heading the extreme case of "mom glare" that I was giving her she just kept pointing at this poor child and yelling "what's that?!" and I realized that although *I* know that she's asking "what's that" it must sound like she's saying "it's fat!" to people that don't speak fluent Amelia-ese. So the kid's mom is giving me this death glare as she surely must think that my a-hole kid is calling hers "fat". Double shit.
I had just no idea what to do so I chickened out, grabbed Amelia and pretended like we needed to visit the bathroom then sneaked off with my social monster.
Oy vey.

 

.If you need us we'll be at the pool.

.Just checking in.

My blog postings have been so sporadic lately and I'm sorry. I have several blogs that I subscribe to where the authors go ages and ages without posting and it drives me nuts and I feel like I've kind of been that type of blogger lately - my apologies.
The thing is, there just isn't too terribly much to report. My pregnancy is healthy and without incident {knock on wood}and honestly just seems to be mirroring my first one.
Amelia is her happy little self. She's so funny, she just says the most hilarious things but they happen so fast that I don't have time to write them down. She seems to have a frat boy sense of humor these days. Just yesterday she was sitting next to me on the couch reading a book to herself and she farted. She laughed and laughed at herself and then said "Mama! Mimi farted! I'm makin' bubbles!" then she made a fake fart noise with her lips and goes "that's what farts say". Then last night while we were grocery shopping she demanded to get out of the cart {ugh} and then walked around stomping and roaring and saying "I'm a Dinesy" {her name for dinosaur}.
She also continues to be totally fearless much to the delight and terror of Cheyenne and I. We love and strongly encourage how independent she is but there are times when it makes me heart stop in my chest {like when she decides that jumping and leaping off of Mommy & Daddy's bed is amazing fun}. Just like last summer she's a total fish in the water, she L-O-V-E-S the pool and every day when she wakes up from her nap she ask if we can "go splashin' with the kids". When we're in the pool she wants no part of being coddled or looked after, she'll shove us away and say "no help Mama" or "no helpin' Daddy" and demand to "swim" -aka dog paddle or float on her back- all by herself then she'll eventually make her way over to perfect strangers and join in whatever games they're playing. As a child I was always super shy around strangers and just in general viewed life from a fairly nervous perspective...I'm so happy that Amelia didn't inherit that from me.
Cheyenne & I had a great anniversary, or as great as it can be in the summer while you're heavily pregnant. Can I just say that having now officially been pregnant for one half of my wedding anniversaries I'm looking forward to never being pregnant on another one again. Anyway, we went on a date Downtown which I know doesn't sound exciting but it was perfect. Since we never ever leave Amelia with a sitter for more then an hour {and by "sitter" I mean a grandparent} it's rare that we have any time out on the town without the kid and although I about had a total panic attack as we pulled out of the driveway and covertly checked my cell phone a million times I eventually loosened up and had a great time. Since moving to our quiet residential neighborhood in NoPo {or North Portland to the non-locals} from the heart of NW {we lived on 21st & Irving for years and years} Cheyenne & I have both struggled immensely with how much we miss living in the heart of things. We go back and forth on the idea of moving back to the downtown/northwest/pearl areas for a few years on an almost daily basis, I have no idea what we'll end up doing since our decision changes far too frequently but I will say that every time we go back to the old stomping grounds we feel such a strong pull and sadness about not still being there. Hmmm. Anyway, with that in mind we decided to have a date with not only each other but with our beloved city so we spent time in Powell's before grabbing dinner from the amazing food carts that fill the streets then headed over to a park to people watch and enjoy our painfully delicious food after which we walked over to the Fox Tower to see Moonrise Kingdom by the amazing Wes Anderson {how can you NOT want to see a movie by one of your all-time favorite writer/directors when the plot is sweetly romantic and the cast is great}. By the by the movie was fantastic and if you're a Wes Anderson fan then I can't suggest it strongly enough, it is easily one of his very best.
Tomorrow is the 4th of July and honestly, until my grandmother mentioned it the other day I had totally forgotten, even when I feel spry and full of pep it's not a holiday that I get overly worked up over and this year I feel even more ambivalent about it that usual. I think we're just planning on drugging the dog, grilling up some hamburgers and sausages and playing in the backyard then watching whatever insanely entertaining yet highly illegal fireworks display that our vaguely hillbilly neighbors put on.
We haven't been to the coast since September I think and quite frankly that is much MUCH too long. I start to get all claustrophobic when I go too long without having at least my feet in the ocean - don't get me started on the mental crisis that happens when I have to be in a landlocked state -  so with the weatherman calling for beautiful blue skies and temps in the mid-high 80's {barf} this weekend I think I'm going to pack up the husband, kid, & dog and deal with the traffic so that I can go to the beach and put my feet in the water and my fingers in the sand and breath in the salty air. Amelia I'm sure will do her usual battle cry when we get there {imagine Xena Warrior Princess at age 2}. I've never known anyone else who is so certain that they have the power to take on and defeat an entire ocean, perhaps she also gets claustrophobic in the months we go without being next to such vastness.
And that's pretty much all that I have to report, we're in the last few {7} weeks before chaos reigns supreme in our house and we're all three equal parts excited and terrified. Wish us luck!