Science Center of Iowa

Saturday we took Whitney to the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines. With the cold weather keeping us indoors and our time together as a family of three dwindling down, we wanted to do something fun with her. I'm hoping this is our last weekend as three, but I guess I won't be terribly disapointed if we are allowed more time to spoil Whitney with our undivided attention. Originally I had proposed going to an indoor water park, but Wade wasn't too keen on taking a day to swim, and I'm not exactly swim suit model material right now. I remembered the Science Center and we packed up to check it out for the day. We all had a really great time and there was a lot for Whitney to enjoy. Whitney "fishing"
looking at a beaver in the Iowa habitat display

forecasting the weather

she loved the bubbles....

but for some reason she kept rubbing her eye with her soapy hand. We finally just had to take her away from the bubbles because she kept putting her soapy hand in her eye!

There was a rocket building and launching display that was the hit of the day, for both Wade and Whitney. I don't know how many times they launched their rocket. We were trying to leave for the day and Whitney insisted we go launch rockets one last time. There were no arguments from Wade! Wade was very proud of his rocket and that it launched further than the other kids.

putting said rocket up gorilla's nose. we were in the gift shop as our last stop, but Whitney was still so excited about the rockets that we had to go launch it some more. She was on great behavior all day and then slept on the way home.

37 Weeks

Nothing new on the pregnancy front, besides the fact that I'm another week along. Some days the braxton hicks are pretty strong, and then I notice nothing for a few days. Sleep is getting difficult. My ribs hurt and that is when I usually wake up with a tight and sore stomach. Some mornings I wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed. My instincts are still telling me I will have her in my 38th week, so hopefully next week some time??? I am feeling that second nesting kicking in. The baby stuff is ready to go, now it is time to clean bathrooms, dust, floors, etc. So far this week I have been unable to do so because Whitney has decided napping is over rated. She doesn't want to go down or she will take a very short nap. So, I SHOULD get off the computer and get busy before she's up...... At Amanda's baby shower on Saturday. Amanda is due Feb 26, but has had preterm labor and been on bedrest for the last month. Hopefully I have my baby before she has hers!

taken today 1/27

How They Grow

We got the infant carseat out and Whitney of course had to climb all over it, and I of course had to take a picture which made me think of the day we brought her home in it.......

36 Weeks

Well, I'm a bit closer to 37 weeks than 36 now, but here's my belly pic. In the last week I have gone from being okay with this pregnancy, to being done. I am so ready for this baby's arrival. I had my 36 week appt yesterday and everything is still going well. The doctor complimented me that I am an ideal pregnant patient with no complaints or complications! Thanks, but you don't live with me, lol! The baby is now measuring on schedule at 36 weeks, so not sure if she had a big growth spurt in the last week and that has added to my discomfort, or if the doc was just measuring a bit off the last few appts. We could also hear her "breathing" while the doc checked the heartbeat. That was pretty cool, I didn't know you could hear that and it is good that she is practicing and developing her lungs. I have been dreading taking care of a needy toddler and a new baby, but I am now ready to get the show on the road and take on the challenge. In the last week I have also started to have labor dreams and nursing dreams. You know, the ones where you don't feed your baby all day and you forget you have a newborn. Any one else have those, or just me? Though I am so ready for this baby to come out, I would like to hold her in until 38 weeks, then the countdown is on!!

Winter Fun

This was taken last week Monday during a snow storm. Wade decided that it would be a good day to run around Ada Hayden Lake. It was pretty windy and snowing, not to mention cold, so Whitney and I played in the snow for just a matter of minutes before we waited in the comfort on the heated Xterra. Out the window you can see Wade standing there, cooling down.
She likes to wear my boots

First time with play dough, good thing Wade is crafty because I can't do much with it!

Wade took Whitney out for a little bit yesterday. She likes her coat with "hair"!

35 Weeks

I am in my 35th week of pregnancy. I am thrilled to be in my last weeks/month!! The baby's room is ready and all the teeny tiny clothes are washed and put away. Diapers are stocked. The only thing that is not ready is the hospital bag. I figure I have at least a few weeks for that minor detail.

I had my 35 week appt. today. My weight gain has very much slowed down, and almost stopped, minus the weight baby girl is putting on. I suppose taking care of a toddler and not having the opportunity to eat all that Christmas candy any more has allowed me to take control of my diet again. And the fact that I ate so much chocolate at the beginning, I can hardly eat it any more. Now it is more of pure sugar craving, ie marshmallows, frosting, orange slices (the candy kind), etc. Yeah, I should probably get into the dentist before this baby is born! Back to the appt.... the doctor reassured me the baby is head down. I won't lie, I have been a bit paranoid about it with Whitney being breech. I am measuring a week behind, but I was at the last appt as well. The due date is not off, I just have little babies. I guess we'll be having another little girl. I got that linea negra with Whitney, you know that dark brown line that goes up your belly, but I find it interesting I don't have it with this pregnancy. I will now be going in every week until we have the baby. The pregnancy has been going well, no swelling, high blood pressure, etc. Sleep is okay/good most nights. The only complaint I have is not being able to bend over to put my shoes and socks on.

For those of you who have voted on my poll, my instincts are telling me Feb 5th, so we shall see! I kept telling my mom Whitney was going to be born April 30 and she said no way, that's way too early for a first pregnancy, my due date with Whitney was May 9 . My water ended up breaking on the 30th, but I didn't have Whitney until the next day, May 1. There may be something to intuition! Whoever voted after due date, I curse you!!

Bed Transition

I hope it's not too early to say, but I couldn't be happier/excited/ pleased, etc at how well the transition went getting Whitney into her new bed. I expected at least a week of sleepness nights and fighting her to stay in bed. It really only took two days for her to adjust. I took the rocking chair out of her room, and I think that was the hardest transition for her. I used to sit with her for a few minutes and she would settle down and fall asleep. The first two days, at both nap time and bed time, she asked to rock a bye. I just told her rock a bye was all gone and she accepted that. Now I sit with her at the bottom of her bed and hold her. She will either fall asleep on me and then I put her down, or the past few days she dives out of my arms so she can just lay down. Either way, I'm never in there very long. IF she even wants me to hold her it only takes 5-10 minutes, and it wouldn't even take that long if I didn't want to linger in there and hold her while she is a quiet sleeping angel.
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I'm not sure if it was pure luck, if she is too young to have such an attatchment, or that her new bed is somewhat similar to her old bed. I'm sure a combination of the three. We got a twin bed that we put on the floor. I got the same super soft sheets that were in her crib. I also found the bed rails at a garage sale last fall for $10. They surround her like crib walls. She also squirms her way into the corner, so I had to make a makeshift bumber out of a blanket so she would quit thumping her head on the wall. Minus the rocking chair, her bedtime routine stayed the same. She has been taking two hour naps and sleeping all night. She doesn't even acknowledge that her crib and rocking chair are in the next room. She loves to snuggle in her bed, and I believe she truly loves her new bed!!

Weekend Party Animals

Our weekend excitement is minimal. Being pregnant, having a 20 month old, and it being so cold out, we don't have much of a life right now. For New Years Eve I was home alone with Whitney while Wade was gone deer hunting. The highlight of our night, as I was doing laundry, was when Whitney found garage sale stickers that matched the polka dots on her pj's. Then last Saturday night we went to Ankeny to go to Sportsmen's Warehouse and out to eat. We tried to go to Old Chicago early to beat the dinner rush, because that's what you do when you have a toddler, but at 5:30 they had a wait of 45mins. No thanks! We opted to go to McDonald's so Whitney could play in the Playhouse. Yep, that's our life!

she thinks it is funny to suck on a "baby". I just hope she doesn't take up the habit once the new baby comes around. That would be my luck since I was desperate for her to suck on one when she was a baby so she wouldn't be dependent on me for comfort.

The Girls' Rooms

We were busy yesterday moving furniture around. I really wish I had taken a before picture of the baby's room, because it was our catch all disaster room! I love the baby's new room with all the matching furniture that just happened to come together. The crib is a hand me down from Wade's cousin Jeff when we had Whitney, the rocker was a gift from my parents when Whitney was born, and the dresser is a hand me down from Wade's sister we recently acquired. And the bedding and swing are all baby shower gifts from Whitney. I am so thankful that others are so generous to us! (and that we are having another girl to reuse everything!)

Whitney's room doesn't have the cutesy baby room look any more, it has turned into a little kids room, but that's okay, it still looks good to me. Again, we are very fortunate with the way Whitney's room has come together as well. If you remember from over 20 months ago, Wade refinished the dresser and her old changing table (two pictured left) and Whitney's new bed and toy storage bins were Christmas presents from my parents.

I'm not fond of the toys in the corner, but we're not about to have toys piled up in the living room. They are already the way it is.

My little Dora geek. She HAS to put this shirt on when she finds it.

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It's hard to say this early in the game how the new bed is going, but I think it is going well. Much better than expected. Bed time took longer than I expected. She wanted to rock a bye and asked for a few times, but when I told her rock a bye was all gone she was okay with it. I tried laying down with her, but that just made her excited like we were having a slumber party and she didn't want me to leave after that. I sat on the bed with her and she fell asleep in my arms and stayed asleep when I put her down and then slept all night. Nap time today was the same as last night. She wanted to rock a bye and when I tried to lay down with her she just got excited. Wade tried with the same results. He finally just laid her down and left the room. She stayed put and is still sleeping. We were so worried about her accepting her new bed that we wanted to do everything possible to make her feel comfortable, that we ignored the fact that we were making her new bed a fun place, and not a new sleeping place. I didn't sleep well at all last night. I am so worried that she will forget where she is and just walk off the edge of her bed.

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Hopefully it will continue to go this well. I was really worried that she had an attachment to her crib, but she seems oblivious to the fact that it is in the next room, and she doesn't want to crawl in it when she sees it. She has not asked for her crib. Maybe it's a good thing that she is so young yet because she is so accepting to what we are doing. Maybe she will adjust to her new sister like she has been with us all along!

Nesting

Taking her first nap in her new bed

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I am 34 weeks pregnant now and finally nesting. The holidays are over, I can now say I am due NEXT MONTH, and the urge to get everything ready is taking over. Yesterday we went to Des Moines to good ol' Bed Bath and Beyond to find new bedding for Whitney. I had hopes of finding some cute bedding collection but couldn't find what I wanted. I selfishly don't want her to have too "kiddy" of a room. Something that says I'm a little girl, but still looks tasteful. When Wade figured out how much comforters and such cost, he said "no, we're not spending that much on a toddler." (Usually it is me who says that kind of thing). But he has a point. There is no way she would sleep under a comforter any way and she doesn't need a bunch of cute throw pillows. She doesn't stay under a blanket the entire night any way. So, for now she will sleep on her super soft micro fleece sheets and continue to use her little blankets. The rooms are still in transition and staging, pics to come later. Don't expect too much, I am a minimalist the way it is, and we're not about to hang wall decor when we will be in a different house a year from now.

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I'll update tomorrow or later this week on how the bed transitioning is going. She has been sleeping 10hrs straight at night and today she easily went down for her nap. I would like to get the rocking chair out of her room, and that may be a tough one because she likes to "rock a bye" for a few minutes before bed. Haven't decided if I want to leave it in her room for a while, or just take it out now and start a whole new bedtime routine with her new bed. (opinions are welcome) I did not rock her before her nap. I sat in bed with her and then laid her down. She opened her eyes and looked around a bit, but went right back to sleep. I have my fingers crossed that it will continue to be this easy! Yeah right! I also need opinions on whether I should shut her door at night. I have been, but not sure if I should "lock" her in there now that she is free to get up on her own?

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Wish me luck! I'm off to do a bunch of tiny laundry!