Checked Out, Checking In, Checked Up

Wow. What a face. You just can't bottle that early morning preggo look! (Come to think of it, last year's Christmas pictures looked eerily similar...maybe that's just what I look like in the morning?)

The snow has gone, and Thanksgiving was a real feast. My birthday was Friday, and the kids were just SO excited that they couldn't wait another minute: I must open my presents. Nana sent an adorable count-down block set (that's it, in the picture.) Ernie has a ball changing the numbers every morning, and there's another sign/block set for birthdays- this could be a permanent fixture on our manetel almost! :) Thanks Nana, you make wonderful stuff!

Unfortunately, my birthday was also the day I took to the couch. A week later, I'm more up and at 'em and VERY grateful for renewed strength! Wonder Daddy stepped in a did absolutely everything over the long weekend, and the kids and I have slowly eased into the week. Lots of plain dinners and snacks (leftovers and buttered noodles are perfectly valid meals right?), but I'm discovering the magic of NOT cooking...there are no dishes to wash! That's a good thing, because it took me until Tuesday to finish washing the pots and pans from Thanksgiving- hunching over that sink and leaning my belly against a counter, not to mention being on my feet, has been a rather alarming prospect.

Ernie's schooling is focusing a lot more on penmanship and stories and math right now, instead of field trips and art projects, but it's something we haven't spent a ton of time on together, so this is probably a good thing!

We're slowly getting ready for Christmas- I've been working on presents for a while, and E has a little stash tucked away as well, but the decorations have been slow going. I don't want a lot of visual clutter right now, and I don't want to have a lot to put away, so we're working hard to put up only the things that are really important! So far we have outside lights up (thanks, Wonder Daddy and Ernie!) and a Christmas village that used to be my grandmother's. The kids think the way it lights up is just magical, and I love how excited they were to help put it all together. We'll get our tree on Saturday and decorate that, and we'll hang the stockings. Table linens and placemats will come out at some point, to make a meal special. I'd like to get a wreath put together for the front door- normally, that's just holiday floral picks tucked into my favorite grape vine wreath, and E can help me with that this year.

I haven't decided if our dancing "I'm going to eat a pumpkin log and lots of fudge!" snowmen and "feliz navidad!" santa are making an appearance this year. They were in near-constant play last December, and I still haven't gotten the songs out of my head...(thanks, Dad- the girls LOVE THEM!)

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow, and I've been rehearsing it in my head for weeks. "Hi doc! I hurt! My belly hurts! I can't stand up without having contractions!" To which she'll reply "See? I told you that you were getting too fat." Ouch.

We'll see what she says, but considering that she's been telling me for months that I've been getting too fat, and that I'm going to have an enormous baby and get health complications (never mind that in both my prior pregnancies I've put on the weight, had normal-sized children, have incredibly good blood pressure (100/60), and zero indicators for gestational diabetes, and lost all the weight afterwards to get back to a healthy weight after nursing my babies for two years each) I don't have much hope for a different response tomorrow :) Oh well! This current wave of nausea and soreness has kept me out of the kitchen, and away from the dinner table, and I haven't gained a pound in two weeks. Which will probably make her worry. Heehee. Gain weight! But only as much as I say and when I say! Grow a baby, and don't put on more than 30 pounds!

The girls are all doing fabulous. Ernie asked me today if Jesus can cross his eyes. She also put buttered-and-sugared bread in the toaster, which popped up sparking!. She's my helper around the house- she loads and unloads the dishwasher, and starts it. She puts things away every morning while I direct her from the couch. She helps Mimi wash her face and hands after snacks, and reads to Mimi. She fetches, carries, and waits patiently while I do my fastest hunch-backed waddle around the house. She told me sadly yesterday that she wishes she didn't have a Mom and Dad, because then Heavenly Father could be her dad, and Heavenly Mother could be her mom. Luckily, we got that issue squared away, and she's tickled pink to know that I'm actually her sister.

Mimi is my happy cuddle bug, who has learned to say NO. "Mimi, please put these markers away where you got them." She looks me up and down, and disinterested, says "Nope" and walks away. Umm...no, that isn't actually an option child. So I take her by the hand, walk her over to the cabinet, and we put the markers away. She asks for suckers and Tums and movies and milk all day long, which I'm pretty sure is right about the same mind set as her sister was at this age. She told me very seriously last night, pointing at her head, that she's a "bubble head." She loves to pick out her own clothes, and is normally carrying around a stuffed animal. If you tell her where a monster is, she'll go and fight it for you. She can blow her nose. (E still has not learned to breathe out through her nose. It's a problem.) She calls her cousin "himmy," which is shortly followed by "and LOLO!! LOLO HOUSE!" because she's certain LoLo's house is the best place on earth. (They have a constant supply of bananas, even if there is a shocking lack of Mimi-approved milk.) She calls her sister "ee-ah-bet" and can't put consonants on the beginning of words, although they're loud and clear at the end. She loves talking to her Nana on the phone, and runs to her "Bippa and MeeMaw" when they visit.

Whew. All right, that's us, checking in! I'll try and keep my camera handy more often, but really...I don't get great pictures from this couch. :o)