Lovin' On Littles: 11/13/13

Happy Halloween!

Our little peacock wants to wish everyone a very Happy Halloween!

We weren't going to dress you up at all, because I am kind of a Grinch when it comes to Halloween but your daycare was having a parade through the hospital Halloween morning, so I didn't want to be that mom and make you sit out when all of your little friends were participating.

Here are some outtakes of your Halloween photo shoot on our (dirty) front porch.

Had to get one with the antennae on. Still a bit too big, so you weren't
a big fan of it.

Daddy, the entertainer.

This is blurry, because I turned around real quick to see what he was
behind me doing to try to get her to smile, and I get this picture.
Shortly after a neighbor drove by and honked and made a comment
that what he was doing was working, because she was laughing at him. :)

Sure do love this sweet girl. Probably the cutest peacock
there is!

And just like Roo pointed out on facebook, next year there will be TWO of you
on these steps with the pumpkin! Holidays are so much fun having littles!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your daycare had a parade through the hospital on Halloween morning, so I took you in and helped get you ready for it and was able to snap a few pictures of you been uncooperative and hating every minute of that craziness. I think you can pretty much tell how the morning went by the pictures.

Not overly impressed, but still tolerating the costume.

Trying to get a picture of all of the kids together before
they ripped off their costumes.

And then we loaded them into the wagon...the most pathetic
peacock you ever did see. HATED it.

...Still not a fan. Pretty sure you thought this was child abuse.

I saw Heather pulling your wagon down the hallway and I could tell
that you weren't in it. And then I saw Dot carrying you. Right about this time
she asked if I minded taking you. You had had enough. So I took you, and stripped
off your costume and we watched the rest of the parade together. Poor baby :)

Your buddy, Cade, and his adorable Captain
America costume. Can't wait til you're big
enough to cooperate so nicely!

And that was our day! There's always next year, I suppose. :) Still think you are the cutest peacock there ever was.

Fall Baking with the Aunts

About this time every year, I start to get the itch to start running my oven again. One of my favorite things about fall is making fall sugar cookies. Of course, with the aunts being in town, we found a time when they could both take a break from studying to do it all together. So they came over on a Saturday and we dug out the mixers and aprons and started whipping them up!

After we got the cookies going I also decided that I was going to make several lasagnas to put in the freezer for the winter. The four of us had a great day together, and LA seems to like baking. Ok, maybe it's just because her favorites were here to entertain her which is much more exciting than a day with Mommy. I'm already looking forward to all of the Christmas baking we will be doing in a few months!!

Roo cutting out the dough.

Kilah ~~helping~~ supervising.

Ok, kidding, she really helped the most
by caring for this munchkin!

The end product of our lasagnas.

Ornery little missy loving her walker (that she still
can't move in herself yet).

Our days' work. Doesn't look like it amounts to a whole lot!

And frosting them all. Always entertaining with the 3 of us.

Thankful for a much needed day with my sisters. And LA enjoyed every minute of it too. My heart is so happy now that these 2 are here in town. Counting my blessings twice these days.

Baby #2: 16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks...holy buckets!
Total weight gain: Still down at least 1/2 pound! We will see on Wednesday when I go back in what their scale says.
Maternity clothes? Not yet and all my pant buttons are closing still.
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Getting better now, probably because we are so busy and I'm just exhausted. Haven't been having to get up to go to the bathroom during the middle of the night for several weeks now so that is nice!
Best moment this week: Mommy and Daddy just got back from a quick long-weekend trip to Minnesota with Hank & Jenny, Ty and Kim, and Nick and Kayla Dankers which was so much fun. We went to the Mall of America two days and then the NE/Minnesota game on Saturday. A much needed weekend away, and a very fun weekend LA got to spend with Grandma Ila and the aunts.
Miss anything? I've had an occasional Diet Pepsi but still wish I could let myself have more. And red wine again. They even served wine at the MN game this past weekend, so that was a big bummer.
Baby is the size of a: Avocado. Babe can now pick up my voice, and hair, eyelashes and tastebuds are forming!
Movement: Almost positive I have been feeling babe since about 13 weeks. It's usually in the very middle, and just a couple nights ago on my left side...all in the same spot every time. Just tiny little flutters. Excited to feel more!
Food cravings: Nothing specific, but Daddy pointed out that I am much more opinionated about food in general with this pregnancy. I eat whatever, but if given a choice I almost always have a preference.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. Had scrambled eggs on our trip that actually tasted pretty good.
Gender: Do not know, and love not knowing this time!
Name: Pretty much set on the girl name, and most likely the boy. Daddy is finally on board with the girl :)
Labor Signs: N/A
Symptoms: Not a whole lot, really. Just a bit more tired than normal, but I think that is to be expected with an 11 month old. Have had just a few days of mild heartburn, so I'm nervous that this one is going to be like last time in a few weeks.
Things People Say: Just one comment from a patient about having a baby bump and asked when I was due.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Just busy, and content.
Looking forward to: Hearing a heartbeat again this week at our appointment, and our next ultrasound. Grandpa and Grandma Deaver might be coming next weekend so that should be fun, too!

Love and Prayers in Week 17!

Baby #2: 13 Week Belly Pic

Well, didn't get anything written about it, so not much to note other than the first belly pic. At this point I was feeling pretty great and had no complaints!

Date taken would have been about October 7th.

Ten.Months.Old

At TEN months, you:

Think you are hilarious when you sneeze

Will eat apples and pears when mixed in oatmeal now (!!!)

Have been to your new daycare for 2 weeks

Love 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'...gets a smile every single time!

Kick. Non. Stop.

Are obsessed with drinking water out of a cup
Are starting to have a touch of stranger danger
Started waving "bye bye" on 9/23/13
Still wear size 2 diapers
Fit perfectly in Gap's pants size 3-6 mo
Wear mostly 9 month onesies
Love your singing puppy
Get compliments almost daily about your hair
Get really excited when you see Mommy or Daddy
Love your aunts
Sleep 9-12 hours a night - like a total champ
Still struggle with constipation pretty often
Usually eat about 30 ounces of formula a day
Refuse to hold your own bottle (again)
Have just 2 teeth on the bottom
Babble a lot, especially after bottle before bed
Are not much of a snuggler
Are going to be ONE in TWO months :( :( :(
Love to play Peek a Boo

Let's talk about your new daycare. As expected, you hardly ate or slept there the first week. You are only one of four kiddos in your room, and they are all your same age. Your teacher, Heather, seems to be amazing and from what your Daddy has heard she is one of the best. We get a daily report on what/when you eat, sleep, poop and even what you did that day learning and play wise. Much different than our last one where we never had any idea about any of that. They even send home a weekly schedule and are totally ok with us coming up to visit you whenever we want (also much different than before). It's been a big adjustment for all of us, and I am slowly getting less of a gut ache when I think about it. I'm not sure why I am having such a hard time with this, because I really do know that it is going to be so much better for you. After a couple days of you refusing all food, I decided to just have them do formula and quit trying foods all together so at least you were getting calories from formula.

Let's also talk about how you started to refuse holding your own bottle again as mentioned above. You started doing it (finally) several months ago after I started cracking down on you, and then all of the sudden a couple months ago you entirely ~~forgot~~ refused doing it. You would make fists and hold them out like you were showing us your muscles, and would freak out until we gave it and put it in your mouth. You would even try to lounge forward with your mouth to get it like a baby bird and would lose it again when we pulled it away so you couldn't reach it doing that. I could not figure out why she started doing it. And then, your Daddy confessed. He hadn't been making you do it, so you got smart and just completely started refusing altogether. He was in the dog house for that one! If you forget and have a weak moment, you have been caught grabbing and holding the bottle yourself. Proof that you are a stinker. And very spoiled.

You have also been slightly better about eating fruit this past month, but only when it's camouflaged in oatmeal. And only apples, pears and surprisingly prunes. You still refuse peaches and bananas every time. We are also giving you more tiny bites of table food and you do pretty well with that.

You are starting to act like you always want down. And you look at the floor and your legs are already spinning. You so bad want to be mobile, but when it comes down to it you have no interest in learning. Still a fish out of water when you're on your tummy. I just wish you would want to learn to crawl!

You have got to be the most loved on little thing there ever was. Between Aunt Roo and Kilah, you are spoiled almost daily. Roo stops over most nights even if but a few minutes. She has also been known to get a random text of you doing something real cute before bathtime and 3 minutes later is on our door step taking a quick break from studying to come give you a squeeze. I do not know what I am going to do when those 2 are gone and I still have at least 3-4 years left. I already forgot what it was like when they didn't live here.

I know every parent thinks their child is the cutest, and I always swore I wasn't going to be that way, but you are seriously the cutest little girl at your daycare. I absolutely love picking you up in the afternoons - I see you and think "I get to take THAT cute one home. She is mine." I'm not the only one that thinks that either. You get compliments on how stinkin' cute you are everywhere we go. It also helps that you smile nonstop. What's not to love about that?! Loving something so much it hurts? Yep, every single day.