Pumpkin Time!

Today hubby took off so he could take me to my prenatal appointment. I just don't feel comfortable driving myself long distances these days and the midwife office is about 35 minutes away.

On our way home we decided to get a pumpkin to carve. Unfortunately, around here you can't really go pumpkin picking. Most places that do sell pumpkins have them lined up on a table and you just choose which one you want. After driving around a little we found a church near us that had a"pumpkin patch". It at least was decorated a little, had bales of hay around and the pumpkins were on the floor where Gigi could easily see and touch them.

We went in and told Gigi she could choose one pumpkin all for herself. She actually took a bit of time deciding. She would pick one up, turn it around, examine it a bit and then put it down before moving on to another.

Finally she did decide on one. It was very cute when she did. She was excited and started shouting, "I picked one Mama, I picked one!"

When we got home, daddy began cutting into the large pumpkin we chose. We told Gigi to help by scooping out the insides of the pumpkin. She reached in and grabbed a handful.

When she pulled out her hand she checked out the contents with a bit of a puzzled look on her face.

After disposing of the pumpkin "guts" in the garbage, she finally spoke and declared, "Ewwww! I need to go wash my hands!" Needless to say, she was done with helping daddy.

She then moved on to decorating the smaller pumpkins herslef with some stickers we were given at the pumpkin patch. She did a great job with that and really had fun!

When she was done with that, I thought it would be funny to decorate my belly as if it were a giant pumpkin. She thought this was hilarious and was eager to play along.

In the end, hubby did a great job carving the large pumpkin and even carved two of the little ones.

It was a fun day!

Prenatal Update - 39 Weeks

Well today was my regular check up with my midwives. I am happy to report that I have finally made progress!!

I am now 1-2 centimeters dilated, 90% effaced ( cervix is 90% thinned out) and baby is at 0 station (his head is fully "engaged" in the pelvis and heading toward the birth canal).

So, while all this information STILL doesn't let us know when actual labor will begin, at least I am now heading in the right direction.

Could be any day now! I am just he hoping he does not decide to make his debut on Halloween. The day after would be fine by me!

We just have to wait and see.

Some minor progress??

WARNING!!

This may be too much information for some;

Proceed with caution!

Pregnancy related happenings.

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Well, today I finally lost my mucous plug. For those that may not know, (although if you don't you probably aren't reading this) that means that my cervix is at least starting to thin out (efface) and possibly even dilate!! Unfortunately this doesn't give us any indication as to when I will actually start labor. Some people lose their mucous plug weeks before actual labor begins!

At least I have my regular check up tomorrow so my midwife will let me know whst is going on with my cervix.

Keep your fingers crossed that a little something is happening, but not too much! At this point I am begging and pleading with baby to stay in until AFTER we take Gigi trick or treating. For two reasons, 1) I REALLY don't want my baby to be born on Halloween and 2) I don't want Gigi to get short end of the stick on what should be fun night for kids.

Anyway, I will update you all tomorrow after my doctor appointment.

My amazing child

I am very pleased to announce that I think in a few month's short time, Gigi may be reading some simple words!!

I have been slowly working with her on identifying the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make. We have been using a variety of resources for this purpose including ABC discovery phonics program, watching Leapfrog's Letter Factory video and also watching a show called "Super Why" on PBS.

Well, I never really know with Gigi how much info she is actually retaining. Most days I feel like at least 80% of what I am trying to teach her goes in one ear and out the other. Her attention span is not great and any little noise in the house can sometimes be a distraction.

Yet she always seems to surprise me out of the blue.

Just the other day she asked daddy if he would play "Candyland" with her. Of course he said yes. As he was mixing up the playing cards to get things ready, Gigi was checking out all the pictures on the game board. She then looked at the word "start". She proceeded to name all the letters in the word one at a time, "S - T - A - R -T" I was already amazed when I heard that alone! But then she continued. She made the sound of each individual letter!! She attempted to put it all together and only needed a little nudging before she cried out in delight, "START! That's where we start, Daddy!"

I was SO proud!! The best part was when hubby looked at me with that , " I didn't know she knew her letters" look in his eyes! That REALLY made my day because it shows him that I DO try to educate our child while he is working!

Progress!!! I am very pleased!!

Halloween Crafts

Today we did a couple of quick Halloween related crafts. Poor Gigi has been practically begging for crafts and school work and I just haven't had the energy lately. Well, I mustered up everything in me and sat down with her for two craft projects. Nothing too involved or complicated, but she was happy!

The first craft was thanks to one of my favorite sites, childcareland.com. I actually get a daily art project emailed to me through her. They are really great, especially considering they seem to only use items you would normally have on hand and if a template is needed she has link to print it out.

Today's "Daily Art Project" from Shelley was handprint ghosts. I modified it a bit. We used paint to make our "ghosts" and glued on wiggly eyes.

Gigi liked smooshing the paint on her hands, but after she had actually made her handprints she was pretty grossed out and upset that her hands still had paint on them. She was fine after we cleaned up with a rag.

She then glued on the wiggly eyes and was quite proud of her ghosts!

For our second craft of the day, I cheated and used a kit that I had purchased on sale from Joann's craft store. The kit is for making pumpkin magnets, but we made pumpkin stick puppets instead.

The foam pumpkins are already cut out and all we had to do was choose what eyes, nose and mouth we wanted to use and glue them on.

Then we glued Popsicle sticks to the back and done! We had pumpkin puppets!

Like I said, nothing fancy, but it was something done! It took up all of maybe 30 minutes of our day, but hey we did something productive and creative today!

Park day with daddy

Today hubby had a rare day off. He is supposed to have one rotating day off every week in addition to every Sunday. Well, most weeks he only has Sunday off. This week he got lucky and wasn't forced to work his scheduled day off.

The day here was overcast and breezy - great weather for us since it cut back on the heat! So to take advantage, we decided to take Gigi to the playground. Especially considering she missed her Tiny tots class on Monday and Tuesday, her dance class on Wednesday and we already had canceled on Karate for tonight - all because she's had a cough and a runny nose this week. So she hasn't been able to do much so we thought she would enjoy a couple of hours playing outside.

Well, she had a blast! I didn't feel much like walking around (my back has really been out of whack lately) so I just sat on a bench mostly and took pictures.

Gigi and daddy played together - it was good bonding time for the two of them. After all, I get her all day every day!

Daddy pushed her on the swings, went on the slides with her,

helped her climb a tree,

and even played tag.

Gigi tried a couple of things in her own as well. She walked across the wobbly bridge all on her own! She was quite unsteady and had a bit of trouble keeping her balance. She actually even completely fell toward the end and decided to crawl the rest of the way! Poor thing - I felt bad but it was so funny! She was much better at it the next time she tried.

She also walked across the balance beam - which she did very well with. That gave her no problems at all.

She had a great time and Daddy was very happy to be able to spend some quality time with his little princess.

After a couple of hours of fun, daddy was tired out and Gigi was filthy!!

Nothing a bath couldn't fix though!

Prenatal Update - 38 Weeks

I had my regular weekly appointment with my midwives.

Unfortunately, I am very sad to report that baby boy is just way too comfortable in Mama! My midwife checked for any progress today for the first time. To my surprise (considering at this point with Gigi I was in labor), my cervix is still completely closed!! :(

So, baby is just not ready yet.

We have to wait on him.

Maternity pics!

A couple of weeks ago my little family went to JcPenny's to take some maternity pics. I just got them back today so I thought I would share.

We took a lot of shots - I was glad the photographer was so easy to work with. there have been times that we have gone to the same studio and only had 10 shots max taken. We had easily double that this time. I'm sharing a few.

We took some of the whole family,

some of just Gigi and I,

some of just hubby and I

and some of me alone. I am 36 Weeks along in these pictures.
I can not get over though how much bigger I am with this pregnancy than the first! It amazes me that a woman's body has the ability to stretch the way it does to accommodate a baby. Anyone who doesn't believe that pregnancy is a miracle is out of their mind in my opinion. I am truly blessed and so grateful to be able to experience this!

The first picture is of me at 38 weeks pregnant with Gigi - literally the day before I went to the hospital to have her. The second is this pregnancy at 36 weeks.

Big as I may be, I am really happy with the way they came out. Gigi was in a great mood that day, so it seemed to me that every picture she was in was absolutely adorable. Which made it hard to decide which to purchase! :)

Finally Done!! I think...

Well, my list of things I wanted to accomplish before baby comes is completely checked off - practically!

The only thing left is to give the house one last really good deep cleaning. I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but I have actually hired someone to come and clean the house for me. I am not the type to get outside help for this sort of thing - after all; I feel that as a stay at home mom, part of my "job" is to keep the house clean. But these days with my swollen feet , ankles AND legs, my aching back and my bulging belly - I thought it would be better to have someone else get down on their hands and knees and scrub. Hubby tries to help, bless his heart - but he just doesn't seem to have the same standards of clean as I do. So, tomorrow I have an appointment set for 12:30 for the cleaning lady to come by.

With that just about to be completed and with what I've done this weekend - I think I may actually be done with my list!!

I've packed our bags for the hospital and placed them into the van.
I've written out my birth plan and placed it into my hospital bag.
The cameras are charging and sitting by the front door.
I've purchased the things we still needed that we didn't get from the baby shower.
I've made and/or purchased all the gifts for Gigi and packed them into the van as well.
Hubby has built a bookshelf for baby J's room.
Hubby has painted the baby's room.
I've vacuumed and shampooed the carpet in baby's room.
I've washed and put away all the baby clothes and bedding.
I've taken apart, washed, put back together and stocked up the bassinet.
I've secured the infant car seat into the van.
I've made my nursing cover.
I've purchased blank, print your own announcement cards.
I've already created a template for the birth announcements.
I've addressed all the envelopes for the birth announcements.
I've done all the laundry - including things that don't get done on a regular basis like the shower curtains and quilts for the beds.
I've sewn all of our matching pajamas for Christmas (I'll have a whole separate post on that!)

Now it's just maintaining the order of the house and ... WAITING FOR BABY!!

Which by the way - my actual due date is November 4. Since I can not be induced, I have c-section scheduled for November 11 (one week after due date) in case baby decides to be stubborn and not come in time. We will jut have to wait and see!!

Checking off my list!

Well, as I continue to try to accomplish a list of things before baby arrives, I am now able to cross two more things off!

I have just finished making a nursing cover for myself and a new cover for the boppy nursing pillow.

I have made quite a few nursing covers in the past, but I've either sold them to others or given them as gifts. This is the first one I've made for my own personal use. So, since I've done these before, it was actually a quick project which left me wondering why I put off for so long!

I decided to use a neutral fabric. I'm the type of person that feels the need to have things match and it would bother me if my nursing cover would clash with my clothing. Strange, I know - but that's me.

The color in the second picture is a bit washed out looking - I guess from the flash. The actual color is more like the first picture. Anyway, it's done and waiting to be used!

Oh and by the way, just for those who may be wondering - no, I am NOT ashamed of breastfeeding my child. I just possess a bit of modesty which makes we want to cover up my own body while nursing in public. That is the reason for the nursing cover.

As for the boppy cover, I have never made one of these before. I purchased a pattern from the fabric store to attempt this. The actual fabric I bought from Walmart at only $2.00 a yard.

I received the actual boppy pillow at my baby shower when I was pregnant with Gigi. It did have a cover, but it was very girly so I felt the need to make one that would be more appropriate for a boy.

When I went to buy the fabric, Gigi was with me and she decided she wanted new froggy pajamas. So, froggy fabric it was. I bought 2 yards and was able to make pajamas for Gigi and the new boppy cover.

The boppy cover actually was not a very difficult project - the most difficult part was actually sewing in he piping. I've never used piping before so it was interesting to say the least trying to figure out how to use it. There a few spots that are not perfect if you really look all around - but I'm still pleased with the outcome. It even has a Velcro closure in the back so I can easily take it off for washing.

I had pleny of fabric left over for Gigi's pajamas, which proved to be easier than anticipated as well. She likes them so I am happy!

Oh and in case anyone is wondering; I am self-taught. I kind of just figure things out as I go. So far it's working for me, though I am sure there are some things I do that are actually more difficult than what they need to be. But in the end, I get things made and that is a good feeling knowing that I have created something from just a piece of fabric. It fills me with lots of pride!

Big Sister Gifts

With baby on the way, I am desperately trying to accomplish what seems to be 101 different tasks. One of the most important things for me to get done though was making sure that we had some special things to give Gigi on the day she comes to the hospital to see baby for the first time, as well as for the first day we bring him home.

I had been thinking about what to special thing to do/give for weeks; looking online for ideas, asking for other moms. Most said to give her a new baby doll. While I understand how this could be helpful with some kids, Gigi has so many bay dolls already it just didn't seem special enough to me.

So night after night I racked my brain until finally I thought of a few ideas that I thought were pretty good. some were altered versions of things I had seen online, so I can't take full credit for everything - but all were customized to Gigi's taste.

Now that I had some ideas, the problem was which to actually go forward with. After only about 2 minutes of deliberation I decided - ALL of them! My thinking was, Gigi is my first child - and my only daughter - she is SO special to me, I don't see any reason to limit the ways that we show her this.

So this is what I have done - and I must say I am very excited and quite proud of myself that I actually have it all completed and packed up in my hospital bag.

For the first hospital visit:

For when Gigi arrives at the hospital for the first time to meet her baby brother, I put together a little "goodie bag" of sorts. The bag will be from Mommy and Dada to remind her that she is still our special girl.

In this tote I put some "Super Sleuth" items, since she likes that show; A new coloring book, two short story books, a puzzle and a game for her "Little Leaps" system (The game is actually a bit young for her, but she still likes playing the Little Leaps so I let her - besides, I found it on clearance for $4!).

Then, from baby brother she will get a foam crown that I decorated with stickers that says, "Big Sister" and a personalized button for her to wear that says, "I'm the Big Sister" and has her name on the bottom.

Also, a book called, "I'm a big sister" which is really cute.

Lastly, from baby brother she will get her very first Italian charm bracelet! On the bracelet are three charms. The first is a little girl with the May birthstone (Gigi's birthstone). Then there is a charm that says, "I'm the big sister" and last is a little boy with the November birthstone (which should be when baby makes his debut).

Now don't worry - I DO have a charm of a little boy with the October birthstone waiting on the sidelines in case he decides to come early - which I am anticipating. I can easily and quickly switch out if necessary.

For when we come home:

Then for the first day we are home from the hospital, we will have a small ice cream cake that says something like, "congrats on becoming a big sister" or something similar. I haven't bought this yet, but since ice cream cakes can keep well for a bit, I will probably buy it next week some time.

And lastly, I made a her a "Big sister on duty" diaper duty belt. This was a borrowed idea that I saw online usually intended for expectant dads at baby showers. I sewed this just for her. It is like a little tool belt. There are three small pockets in front that I filled with diapers, wash cloths and a rattle. Then there is one large pocket in the back that has diaper disposal bags in it. It will fit around her waist and she can wear it to help Mommy give baby a diaper change - which she has announced over and over again she plans on doing.

I realize I may have gone a little overboard - but hey, she is my princess and she deserves it!