Hi Baby

I had my circa-34 week doctor's appointment yesterday and Baby Nora checked out great. Carolyn is starting to recognize the doctor's office building now and when we drove near it yesterday, she said "Mommy's doctor! Hear baby sister's heartbeat!" She likes to hear the heartbeat, and so do I. I had been a little concerned because of how I've measured with this pregnancy compared to when I was pregnant with Carolyn (I was always "big" with Carolyn and "just right" or a little behind with this one), but Nora is growing at the rate she is supposed to and so there is no reason for another formal ultrasound- which is a good thing- but I still wanted to see her again!

Last night we went to visit Brad on call and he wasn't too busy, so we took some time to look at Baby Nora. She is waaaay down in there! It's really hard to get any sort of picture even resembling a baby since she has crammed her head so far into my pelvis- so I'm putting this one up that Brad labeled. :) I can't even really tell without the label. Brad did some measurements and her estimated weight right now is around 4 or 4 1/2 pounds; she's right on track and looking great. I can't wait to meet her!! I can't help but wonder if she'll have anything like the amount of hair that Carolyn had when she was born! Now that we're on the other side of Christmas, I am feeling that "nesting" bug even more strongly; though I'm too tired a lot of the time to get as much done as I'd like to. There are so many things to get ready before she comes- and really, six weeks is just a blink, though the days do sometimes get to seeming long...

First Christmas Program

Tonight we watched Carolyn participate in our church's Sunday School Christmas program. I made Brad be "AV Dad" with the camera and video camera up front- unfortunately he turned out to be sitting on the wrong side of the room to get a really great shot, but still here she is. :)
This is what she looked like about half the time:
Apparently there was something very interesting on the other side of the stage... :) But it didn't really matter- I was still so proud of her even though she really didn't do much other than stand there and ring her jingle bells. She just seems so grown up to me! How did my baby get to be 2 1/2?! Nana was there and she said that the days seem long sometimes but the time does go so fast. It's so true!! Very soon we'll watch another one fast forward in the blink of an eye from helpless, sweet, cuddly newborn into independent, personality-filled, wonderful toddler! What a blessing it is to be a mama. I can't think of anything more rewarding than the joy of watching my precious child bloom and grow right in front of me.

Carolyn and the Christmas Tree

A friend told us that one of her favorite Christmas tradition is to take a picture of her kids by the Christmas tree each year and put it in the ornament box to remember each year how they have grown. We're starting this year- and how could I keep it to just one picture when she was being so cooperative and I got three? :)


Okay so I bribed her with a jelly bean, but doesn't she look cute all the same?

Christmas in Troy

We traveled to Troy on Christmas Day to be with my side of the family. I think I was a bit "pictured out" after all the pictures I took with Emily and Carolyn, so really I didn't live up to my usual standard in terms of either quality or quantity of pictures... but such as it is, here's my rundown...
I have to admit, I thought Carolyn's puppy dog outfit looked so cute for Christmas!
Cute, silly little girl.
As my sister Laura is newly engaged, our Christmas get-together this year turned out to be as much about wedding planning as anything else. The morning after Christmas we went to Costco and bought some pretty flowers to experiment with the idea of making bouquets for the wedding as they are on a budget. I didn't have anything to do with the arranging (Michelle is better at that kind of stuff), but I went along on the excursion and helped pick the flowers to try with.
I think the final sample came out really well! Of course it's their decision, but I think there's definite potential. And doesn't my sister look beautiful?! She's going to be such a gorgeous bride!
Due to an unplanned scheduling conflict with Mom's work, we ended up separating out Christmas dinner on Christmas Day and Christmas gifts the afternoon of the Day After. Carolyn received many wonderful books (many were ones I remember from childhood) from Ammy and Papa and her aunties and uncles went together to get an awesome art station for our budding artist (which I set up today all by myself and she loved the minute she saw it).
As usual, the Stockings were a major highlight (though I don't think anyone besides maybe Mom and Dad is ready to give up the actual gift exchange just yet; it's too much fun to buy a little something for everyone; it would be tough to just be confined to just one person each year! I'm sure someday we'll get there, probably when there are more kids around... but not yet...).
Carolyn knew just which one was for her. :) We thought it was pretty amazing that she could read her own name... until we learned that Uncle Bryan had been coaching her. :)
Everyone loved the little ornaments that Carolyn made for them and the chocolate covered pretzels she helped dunk.
Inside her stocking, Carolyn found the one gift she's been asking for: her very own copy of Wall-E. She was totally fixated on it, giving the rest of us time to enjoy each of the other stockings. :)
No visit with Auntie Michelle would be complete without beautiful painted nails for Carolyn. She is so proud of them! Of course her pride in how lovely they look hasn't stopped her from chewing most of the polish off several of them, so I think maybe we'll stick with just toenails for now.
On Saturday all the girls went to help Auntie Laura find a wedding dress! It was so fun to be able to participate in this special time for her. Even though the majority of the sales associates at David's Bridal were less than helpful- apparently we "should have known" we'd need an appointment although more than half the dressing rooms were empty! They grudgingly offered to give us a time about an hour and 40 minutes after we got there- we could just "wander around"- with a two-year-old in tow until then... yeah RIGHT! Fortunately there was one nice person there and she snuck us in since Laura only wanted to try on 2 dresses anyway- and the very first one she tried, she ended up buying and getting a great deal!! Of course I will not post any pictures of it, but she is BEAUTIFUL and the dress is very "her." AND, it only cost her $200! It was clearly the right dress for her, and now this important step in the wedding plans is finished. :)
We all took turns entertaining/chasing Carolyn around. She especially enjoyed hopping up and down from the little round stands, fingerprinting the mirrors, and consuming as many snacks as were necessary to keep her cheerful. :)
I think her favorite part was this "bride" hat, which she was loath to leave when it was time to depart. I can't wait to see her be a little flower girl in this so-special wedding! :)

Christmas Morning

We had a brand-new experience this year: Christmas morning at OUR house for the very first time in our family history! :) I had really been looking forward to this; it is so wonderful to see both of our families and Christmas really doesn't seem like Christmas to me unless we do, but I really wanted to see Carolyn wake up Christmas morning at her own house and begin some special family traditions together that are just OUR little nuclear family.
We had to wake her up at 10am because she'd been up so late the night before with all the excitement of Christmas with the Irvings... and this is pretty much what she looked like, though this is from a different day. She is going through a "phase" where she only wants to sleep on the ground! She won't sleep in her bed anymore... if you ask her about it, she'll just tell you that she sleeps on the ground! I'm trying not to let it bother me (well at least not let her see that it bothers me...) and hopefully this too shall pass at some point...
Our new Christmas breakfast tradition: homemade cinnamon rolls hot from the oven on Christmas morning... these were GOOOOOD! (especially for a first attempt!)
It was fun to see Carolyn open and enjoy the things we picked out specially for her... and I do look awfully pregnant in this picture... and I'm starting to feel it, too! I can feel myself starting to "puff up" and it's starting to get hard to get around or find a comfortable position to sleep in. I'm rather dreading my doctor's appointment tomorrow because who wants to get on the scale the Monday after Christmas! Ugh!! But just a little more than 6 more weeks and maybe Baby Nora will be here and make it all worth it. :) She's been moving a lot and taking up so much space- there can't be room for both of us for tooo much longer!
Carolyn loves the new train set I found for her; it's pretty much the coolest thing ever- all the vehicles are so cute and the foldable playmat makes a train table unnecessary (a plus since we didn't have room for one anyway)- and best of all, it fits in a Rubbermaid tote to be brought out deliberately for playtime together. :) I think it's a great toy that will give her lots of room to imagine and grow. :)

Christmas and Cousins

We have had a lovely, week-long Christmas celebration. The nasty weather inconvenienced us a bit last week, but we made the best of it and had a wonderful time all the same. Carolyn and Emily especially enjoyed each other's company!
We spent Tuesday night at the "Irving Hotel" and thoroughly enjoyed watching Carolyn and Emily together. I have really never seen Carolyn so instantly comfortable with another child; they played beautifully together- really no scuffles over toys; they just played and played and played like they'd been doing it their whole lives. :)
There were deep conversations inside the doggie crate
And plenty of tickling.
Nana read stories to both the girls together.
They spent hours playing with this "vintage" Fisher Price cash register. Every time we asked them to hug each other so we could get a picture of cousin sweetness, this is what Emily did. :) Carolyn is big enough not to fall over anymore, but the hugs are still a little lopsided due to their size difference! :)
What a silly girl!! Not to be outdone by Emily's beautiful, stunning smile, Carolyn came up with a special face of her own to put on when we got the camera out. :)
We celebrated on Christmas Eve with traditions old and new. For the past several years we have had lobster dinner on Christmas Eve. I was a little nervous about letting Carolyn in on this tradition because her very favorite part of every grocery store trip is going to look at the lobsters! I sort of hoped that she wouldn't recognize them when they're such a different color but she did, and when I told her we were going to eat them, she said "NOOOOO!" Fortunately she was soon distracted by something else, and since the lobsters are really only for the grown-ups (the kiddos had lasagna), we avoided any major upset. :)
We started a new tradition of the making of funny t-shirts. Each person had another person's name and had to come up with something funny to put on it. This was the shirt Doug made for me- his prediction of Nora's weight! Yikes! Hope that doesn't come true...
Here are Carolyn and Emily just before we started opening presents. Aren't they sweet?
Carolyn's first Christmas present experience of '08. She enjoyed it all much more than last year and it was fun to watch her get into it. :)
Of course each time she opened something new, she just wanted to play with that one thing- and could care less about opening anything else. :) This plastic veggie set can actually be "cut" with a little knife- she loves it!!
Uncle Kerry and Doug and Katy fed into Carolyn's love of art and stamps with two really cool wooden stamp sets (with washable ink!)- I think these are going to get a lot of use!
And both girlies got matching cow PJ's- here they're going through a spirited rendition of "If You're Happy and You Know It"
And what picture series would be complete without this sweet one where Emily learned how to make Carolyn's "special" face. :) I really wish they were able to see each other more often- it is so much fun with them being so close in age- and Baby Nora has a buddy on the way, too- Emily's baby brother or sister is due April 1, just 7 weeks after Baby Nora is due! They don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, but my money's on a girl. I hope that wherever we land once residency is done, that we'll be able to take lots of trips to and from Raleigh as our little families grow up together.

Snowed In (AGAIN!)

The snow started again about when we left the concert Saturday night, and I'm not sure if it's let up yet because I haven't been outside since then! I truly don't mind snow within reason- I don't like driving on wintry roads, but really Michigan is pretty used to snow and does deal fairly effectively with accumulations that would shut down some other major cities... So as long as snow stays fluffy, pretty, and preferably confined to grass and trees and the outsides of houses, I'm really fine with it; kind of like it actually, especially before Christmas. But I do NOT like it when snow interferes with my life!! So far, this winter is shaping up to be a lot like last winter- and by the end of the last eternal cold season I was ready to pack up and ditch Michigan forever!! And NOW we are seriously considering STAYING when we have a clear opportunity to leave? What is wrong with us?!

Yesterday we had "blizzard" conditions all day with nasty biting blowing snow and subzero wind chills- so naturally, church, AND the childrens' Christmas program were canceled. :( [thankfully the program was rescheduled for next Sunday :)] So, AGAIN, we spent the day inside. The experience of the last few days has made me think that a "Snow Box" would be a great idea for our house- I'm going to work to put together a box of ideas and special toys to bring out when we have snowed-in days because they get soooo LONG!!

Anyway, all complaining aside, we tried to make the best of it. I got all the Christmas gifts wrapped and ready to go, did the laundry, and attempted to supplement the heating of our house by baking most of the day. :) The best part of the day was rolling and cutting out sugar cookies as a family. :)
I found a cheap, small rolling pin just the right size for Carolyn at Target and she loved being able to help roll out the dough.
She was much better at choosing a space that actually had room for the cookie cutter this time than she was the last time we tried this a few months ago.
But I think her favorite part of the experience was "banging out the dough" with Daddy. Who needs a rolling pin? Daddy's way is much more fun. :)
Daddy goes for quantity and speed at the expense of quality sometimes... he smashed about 10 cookies per cookie cutter load and then dumped them out on the table like this... hence many of our cookies are missing arms and legs and have misformed heads. But I suppose they'll taste just as good. :)
Grinning at each other...
And now a cheesy smile for Mommy... I love watching Brad spend time with his girl. The daddy-daughter bond is such a special one!! We are excited to have Daddy off for the next week!! :) One of the few perks of resident life (well our residency anyway) is that they work at half-staff the 2 weeks around the holidays and each resident gets a whole week off to spend with family... I will miss this next year, wherever we are, where he will once again be the low man on the totem pole! But I'm enjoying it for now. :)

Christmas Date

Saturday night Brad and I went on our annual Christmas Date- a tradition dating back eight years to our very first Christmas together when we didn't yet spend the holidays with each others' families and wanted a special time together to exchange gifts. We don't do presents on the Christmas Date anymore, but we always make time to share something special together. :)
This year we went to see one of our very favorite artists, Andrew Peterson. His Christmas cd, Behold the Lamb of God, is our very favorite of his work to date, and this was his Behold the Lamb of God tour! We've been excited about this concert since we found out almost a year ago that he was going to be in our (relative) area! And we were not disappointed. I paid the slightly higher "VIP" ticket price and we got these really great seats in the center of the third row- about 15 feet from him! It was perfect! We had a great time and it was a really meaningful show that brought us back once again to the real meaning and the true purpose and story of Christmas. If you haven't heard this cd, you should download it today! :)
Still together, still happy, still in love- been together now almost 9 years (thanks for the correction Mom; I'm too tired for math!)! Time flies when you're having fun. :)

Snow, Snow, Snow

I think a few too many people in our area have been dreaming of a white Christmas because it has snowed and snowed and snowed over the last month (and the last week especially!) Friday we were totally snowed in but Saturday we got a break for the day and the sun even came out for a little while. We took Carolyn outside to play in the snow. The snowsuit I bought for her for last season finally fits! :) And I love how the light reflecting off the snow makes the colors look in these pictures. :)
This year she is much bigger with much better motor skills- last year she was too small to really trudge through the snow, but this year she really liked stomping around even though it was almost as deep as her whole little leg!
She liked going "plop" in the snow.
She especially liked tasting the snow. She says it tastes "cold."
Daddies are especially fun in the snow- and way more fun than pregnant mommies who feel like they might topple over! :)
We ended our snow adventure with hot chocolate and marshmallows. :) It was nice to get some fresh air because the snow doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon... ugh!