too...tired...and huge.

I want to blog about the birthday party that was.
I want to give tons of details about how she glowed when we all sang to her so I don't forget.
I want to eat ice cream.
I want to stay home from work tomorrow and celebrate all day long with my babytoddler.
But alas, I'm so tired I can hardly move and I'll do it soon. Tomorrow, maybe even.
For now, I'm going to rest, watch Parenthood (if I don't fall asleep), and be thankful for my almost 2 y/o. xoxo

Contractions

Contractions contractions for everyone! Mine feel like they've really amped up lately and are getting really annoying. It also doesn't help that she moved somehow today and I can't figure out where she is...however, she's pushing down on ... well, "me" and it's not comfortable. It also makes me feel like I'm going to pee my pants. Joy, let me tell ya. Getting down on all 4s helps - wiggling hips and going back and forth a bit.

Other contractions in the family - Morgan has decided that this is the week she will start using contractions - can't, don't, etc. :) Mostly it's "I can't do it" or "I don't want it!" Fun stuff. :) Just another part of the language boom. Loving it. :)

It's been a crazy week. More next week foh shoh. I must say I'm REALLY looking forward to this weekend as she's been talking nonstop about her party for weeks. It's late now, I'm contracting (shocker) and there are a few tiny things to take care of before I finally get to lie down. SO excited!!

Family Week

It wasn't planned, per se, but this has been one of the best family weeks we've had in a long time. I think the last time I felt this connected to my family was vacation in June...but it's been really great. Monday night we had to clean and such b/c we had another showing (a family from Utah?!) but by Tuesday, we went to Weed Park after a ride to see a few houses (none of which we put on the list), Wednesday night we went to the park by the river, and tonight we stayed home, Adam mowed, Morgan and I played, and then we had a family campfire per Adam's suggestion. What a PERFECT idea! We had s'mores, Morgan helped pick up sticks to put in the fire, and she showed us she's a champion water bottle user. And marshmallow wearer.

A few funnies and info from Morgan as of late:

• "Holla dooda doo!" (cock-a-doodle-doo when we're pretend sleeping and playing)
• "Because..." after we ask her a Why question; but she's not yet sure where to go from there. I give her two more days (addendum - she did it this morning (next day from post) when she said "Because...it windy!").
• Attitude (arms crossed) and pout lip - seen frequently as of late when she's not happy about something.
• Relating things to what she's watched on TV - Tonight she raised her hand to hit me (rarely happens) b/c she was mad it was bath/bed time. I stopped her and later after we were all calm, I talked to her about it. I asked her what she was doing with her arm up. She said, "hit mommy." While we were thinking/talking, she talked about Rintoo (sp?) from one of her shows and how he had hit Hoho...and how he should have used his words instead. I no longer feel bad about letting her watch TV as much as we do (which really isn't that much). 
• Big/Baby Sister - Morgan has been talking to Baby Sister often. As in telling her about her birthday party...telling her who she played with at daycare. And snuggling up with her when she wants to rest with her. I love the relationship they have already. 
• Morgan is now a rockstar with an open-faced cup. I washed ONE sippy in the dishwasher today...wow. I don't hate them like I hated hand-washing bottles, but cups = easier = my favorite. :) 
• We are still regretting me telling her about her Pinkalicious birthday party..."Guess what, mama/daddy/Mary/anyone with ears?! Pinkalicious birthday party!!!" Except today she added "now" to the end of that one...8 more days, sweetheart...
• "Pivacy!" (privacy) - Morgan now asks for privacy when she needs to go #2. She wants us to close the door and let her to her business. Then she calls for us when she's done...only to tell us she has to go more. "Moh pivacy!" This makes me feel like she's 8 y/o. 

 Tomorrow Morgan tries out a new daycare as her back up daycare since Mary's gone for a three-day weekend. We went to visit today after work and she fell right into place playing with the sitter's daughter, Addison, who's a few months younger than she is. She was sad when we left 15 minutes later and it was perfect - want to come back tomorrow? Yes!! Score.

Ok, Adam got me excited to look up our Halloween costumes for the first annual Davis Halloween bash and I also have to figure out where we're getting Morgan's iXL game from so if she gets any games for her birthday, she doesn't have zero clue what they're for. :)

Wow wow OW

So this morning I sort of felt like junk from not sleeping well the last 2-3 hours of the night b/c of this lovely cold Morgan has entrusted to me (thankfully hers is finally on the tail end). It was manageable though and we all got ready for church.

It was about 20 minutes before we were to leave and I got this incredible pain on the lower left side of my belly. Not quite my hip but just above and then towards the underside of my belly. It wasn't contractions or anything but continuous and more like a pulled muscle. I was thinking it was the baby, but didn't feel any body parts or anything. So finally I conceded that it did, indeed, hurt like hell to go from sitting to standing and vice versa and told Adam he was fully in charge of any movements Morgan needed help with for the duration.

I tried pushing my belly around with the off chance it was the baby sitting funny (never had this with Morgan's pregnancy). I was slowly moving around getting ready when all of a sudden, the pain vanished. No idea. I'm almost positive it was just the baby sitting funny but ow. ow. ow. I hope she doesn't sit that way ever again. And yes, I'm almost positive she's still sitting transverse and still hasn't found her way south. She's got some time...but figure it out, chicita!

We've got one week of Adam home (this week) and then he's gone T-F the following week before Morgan's Pinkalicious birthday party (which she continues to remind us of hourly - "Guess WHAT, mama/daddy? Pinklicious birthday party!!"). Then I think (as of right now) there are only 1-2 more travels before the baby gets here. How. Lovely, Is. That!? I think I might have babies more often b/c it forces him to stay home for a few months. ;-) JK - not a good reason for more babies.

Speaking of babies since I'm on the subject, after our wonderful dinner out, just the two of us, we threw around the idea that this is likely our last baby. It made me sad but it was also sort of a relief to know who our family is going to be. This does not by any means mean that I'm at 100% on this issue...but last night got me a little closer. Don't ask me again in about 3 years when my babies aren't even close to babies anymore.

Ok, it's nap time. I might have an hour if I'm lucky and Morgan gets as much sleep as she was acting like she needed. :)

5th Anniversary

Yesterday marked the 5th Anniversary of the day Adam and I said "I do" and agreed to start our own family. The day entailed Morgan going to daycare, me going to work a little later (due to a long/late all-day work meeting), and Adam flying home successfully (no delays/broken planes) from Barbados (which he said we could go visit sometime, unlike the Dominican Republic where he started his week). Since everything went well and Adam was feeling ok from the 12 hrs of continuous travel, we took Morgan to the Homecoming football game in Muscatine where she was SO VERY EXCITED for the drums (marching band), busses, and crescent moon (she has known this shape for a while already). It was a relatively calm night and just what we needed after a week away from Adam.

Tonight (Sat), Morgan is going to a sitter's and Adam and I are headed to the Quad Cities for a delicious, kid-free dinner at Biaggi's (a lovely Italian place with the best wine I can't have...although I'm not going to lie - I'm going to have a half glass of the one Adam gets) :) to celebrate. We haven't done gifts or anything yet since buying a new house is still in the running for a 5th Anniversary gift to each other. :) Otherwise, I'm not going to lie, I'm hoping for something blingy in a classy sense. :) Adam just informed me that he would have liked tickets to a post-season Brewer game. Glad I know that now that it's in full swing...(no pun intended).

Morgan did well this week while Adam was gone. Thursday at 4:33am she woke up and announced over the monitor, "Mama! Wake up time!" to which I almost ran up the stairs for damage control to find she was ready to get up and get going. I changed her diaper (she's been wet about half the time lately over night) and finally showed her it was still very dark outside. Thankfully she went right back to sleep then. I, however, did not, between the baby kicking, me thinking about how the day was going to go, and having a sore throat (Morgan finally shared her cold with me. Awesome. But expected.).

Thursday evening Morgan and I braved the 35mph winds and met some friends at the Homecoming parade in Muscatine. I totally overdid it and pushed our new double stroller (complete with Morgan and friend, Cooper in it) for the walk there (some uphill) and that was a mistake. I was super sore when we got home and thought I was going to fall over if I didn't lie down soon (contracting, not just being out of shape). Note to self - be less excited about the double stroller use next time and let someone else push it when they ask. The parade itself was cute and short and Morgan nabbed TONS of candy. At first I think she thought it was just to pick up and "collect" until she saw me stealing a tootsie roll...then she was all about eating it immediately. :) No worries - she has a tootsie roll and half a sucker on the way home.

Last night we had a good time at the football game but Morgan didn't get to bed until 9pm, up at 7am this morning, so I'm hoping for a good LONG nap since I wasn't tired when she went down but now am. Here's to hoping for a quiet next hour while Morgan and I nap, Adam watches the Brewer game, and the dogs enjoy their new (gross) cow bone bones outside in the sunshine. :-D

PS. Morgan's party supplies came today. I haven't opened them yet but am DYING to. However, they are upstairs and I'm not getting up unless someone delivers and ice cream sundae to my front door.

3rd Trimester

As of today, I'm 28 weeks pregnant with Monkey #2. That means we only have 84 days left to go. 12 weeks. Not sure if you can tell, but this suddenly seems like a very short amount of time. It's not that I'm feeling unprepared "stuff"-wise, but the whole idea of nursing (and another possible cluster-feeder) and pumping and up all night, and whatever else comes with a helpless little family member is sort of making me nervous. I just remember the very last time I nursed Morgan and being so over the top ok with it...but truly it was also a time that she and I got to spend together, just us, and I'd never give that up.

So hello, 3rd Trimester. I am going to miss you dearly, 2nd trimester, but if the 3rd continues to be as easy as the 1st and 2nd, then I'm in. And besides, it means I'm almost done with the belly (which hasn't been bad either since I'm almost positive I'm much smaller than I was last time). I don't know how much I've gained officially with this one...but it's somewhere between 16-20lbs. I had a 4lb gain at my last appointment but all told, had only 7lbs in 8 weeks which I think is on the side of normal so either way, things are looking up.

I mentioned in my ultrasound post last week that Baby Sister is sitting transverse across my stomach. Well, last night I was all snuggled up with Adam on the couch and when I got up an hour later, she felt different. Like maybe she turned south like she's supposed to be? But as I type this, I recall earlier today when she was fiercely "kicking south" today...but as I type she is trying to crawl out my right front belly area. :) Who knows. As long as she figures it out by her birthday...

PS. Morgan now routinely uses up to 5 word sentences and beyond. Yesterday once or twice, I casually mentioned that Adam was going on an airplane far away today for work without her really thinking twice about it. This morning I woke her up, was getting her clothes out of the dresser and asking if she slept well (she did, in case you were wondering), and then she said, "Daddy far far away!" How on earth does she remember this stuff?! Also, she's starting to recognize lower case letters which I blame on a new favorite book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (she knows all the upper case letters and has for a while), recognizes quite a few numbers 1-9 in print, and can now almost count to 20. Another kicker - she can tell me what maybe 8-10 letter sounds go with the corresponding letters (ie. "D says duh, S says Ssss"). Seriously. My kid is the bee's knees and that's final. :)

Sister Love

Another wonderful day under our belts...this has to be one of our better family weekends in a while (by family, I mean just the 3.5 of us). Today Adam went golfing (maybe the last time this season?! I know, I doubt it too) ;-) while Morgan and I went to church and to buy fruit at the grocery store.

I got lots done which included changing all of Morgan's clothes over to winter/fall and go from 2T to 3T for a majority of things (and then found out it might get sort of "warm" by Wed!). I kept her 2T jeans/pants b/c they fit her in the hiney and the length is ok (for most...) but her 3T pants FALL off of her and they are long. I wish there were 2.5T pants...seriously. Also, I found that she had a HUGE stash of 3T clothes I had totally forgotten about. I knew we had some from my nieces but that was way more than I remembered...so anyway, she's SET and needs nothing in terms of clothes until she grows into 4T.

I finally feel great about her birthday theme as we finalized it today and I ordered tons of stuff. :) Pinkalicious!! She is thoroughly in love with this book (we read it three times today after she woke up from her nap and I told her that she's having a P bday party when she turns 2 - which she already says she is, btw) and I was thrilled to give her this excitement to look forward to. I'm not sure if I'm ordering or making 30+ cupcakes but I don't really care b/c I'm excited either way. :-D

So finally, on to the reason I titled this post "Sister Love"...this evening after dinner, Morgan was very into Baby Sister and loved her up big time. She pulled up my shirt, read Baby Sister a story (Brown Bear Brown Bear), kissed her, squeezed her (until I told her it was a little too much love), and talked about how Baby Sister is coming for Christmas (insert toddler squeal here). Morgan is so very excited to meet her sister and it warms my heart to think of the two of them together. Adam is still worried about not being able to give Morgan the attention she needs/deserves, however, I'm less worried and thinking it will all work itself out as it does with every other family in the whole wide world. :)

Ok, signing off. Tired, towels to fold/put away, and I'd like to snuggle with Adam a bit before we go to bed and he leaves for the Caribbean in the morning. We'll miss him...and pray for his safe return Friday night.