Rosalyn :)

Since Rosalyn turns 2 1/2 today, I thought I would make a post of funny/cute things she has said and done lately...

--Recently, our cat (Roger) bit her for the first time ever. I was not surprised that he bit her when she informed me that she was trying to make him jump rope. She just could not understand why our old cat didn't want jump rope with her. Fortunately, the bite did not draw blood, though you would have thought she was mortally wounded the way she was crying. She later informed me that she needed a "wowwipop and stickas" (lollipop and stickers) to help her feel better.

--Yesterday, she randomly called my mom (normally Nana) "Mrs. Case" all day long! She would use this name in a very exaggerated way as in "Mrs. Case, Hello, Mrs. Case. I'm so glad to see you, Mrs. Case. Mrs. Case, you wanna eat supper with me, Mrs. Case?" All we can figure is that she heard one of the students at my mom's school call her Mrs. Case. She informed Jason today "Daddy, I went to Mrs. Case's house yesterday and played with my toys at her house."

--Last night, as I was tucking her in, she said "Momma, when I grow up to be a big girl, I just want to get a green helmet and skate soooo fast on TV....ok, Momma?" It was so cute! Obviously she has been paying attention to the olympics!

--She has become a bit of a hypochondriac at times. She always tells me "My rote hurts...I need some applejuice to make it feel betta." She will use the "rote" (throat) excuse all the time now...if she doesn't like something she will say "dat makes my 'rote' scwatchy, Momma." She also informed me recently that she had a "beva" (fever) and needed medicine. Even though she is perfectly healthy, she makes me put a little dap of Baby Vick's salve on her nose each and every night...she calls it her "booger medicine."

--She loves to play with her baby dolls and pretend to be the mommy. She takes them to the potty all the time....she will hold them over the potty and encourage them to tee-tee in the potty like a big girl!

--Recently, we were discussing the lunches that she and her friends bring to school (her Mother's Day Out program 2x/week). She told me (with an exaggerated, pitiful, disappointed sigh at the end) "Alli drinks co-co milk, Joe drinks juice box, Ros-a-wyn just drinks wata."

--She bursts into my room each and every morning at 7:30 am and says "Good morning, Momma, I SO gwad to see you!" and gives me hugs and kisses. Of course, I am still so sleepy, but who can be grouchy to that sweet greeting!?! I did tell her a couple days ago that I was still so tired and she said "Dat's ok, Momma, just come lay down on da couch...I'll just drink my milk and watch TV."

--Every morning, she insists on shaking my belly and saying "Wake up, baby sisters! Time to wake up! Good morning, baby sisters!" Poor Caroline and Elaina don't know what they are in for! I told her yesterday that the babies were so sleepy right now and they just wanted to rest in Mommy's tummy...she said "Come out, baby sisters, I let you go night-night in my bed and I will wead you a bedtime stowy!"

--She has gotten a little OCD about her pacis, even to the point of naming a couple of them. There is one that is fuschia colored that she has named "Pink." She refers to it by name as in "I need to go find 'Pink'." She refuses to suck a white paci or blue paci...we are not sure why, but she immediately throws them down and says they are yucky. She prefers only pink pacis, but will settle occasionally for green or orange. She will also bursts into tears if I even show her the little newborn pacis I've bought for C and E...she says "Those tiny baby pacis hurt my mouth, Momma."

--Her imagination has developed to the point that she gets worried about things "getting her" especially at bedtime. Every night, we go through a list of things that I have to repeat after her except saying "no" before the item. Each night, the creatures/objects are varied and some of them see pretty harmless! A typical night would be "No Cookie Monster, No owls, No turtles, No fishes, No octopuses, No frogs" Once I just repeat the "no" list back to her, she is perfectly satisfied and will go straight to sleep. Crazy girl!

--Recently, we got in the car and she said "I wanna wisten to some wap music, Momma." I found something with a livelier beat and she was dancing away back there in her carseat!

--She is constantly using big, new words like "dangerous" and "delicious." It is so much fun to hear her saying such big words and actually using them correctly!

--We were reading a book a few nights ago about a squirrel and I asked her what she thought squirrels eat. She looked at me like I was crazy and said "Momma, squills eat pine-corns." I am not sure if she was trying to say pinecones or acorns, but it cracked me up!

--A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to her age appropriately about breast-feeding since we are about to have two new nursing babies in our house. She later informed Jason and my mom "My baby sisters are just gonna eat my Momma's boob!" I about died. I wonder who else she has shared this fact with!

--One day last week, she was devastated when her crayons had to visit time-out because she drew a two-year-old's version of a green hopscotch grid on my kitchen floor (it wiped off, thankfully!). She wailed and said "I was just gonna play hopscotch, Momma. Here, want me to show you how to play it? It IS fun, Momma, I pwomise."

--She will often tell us "keep trying, don't give up" if she thinks we are about to stop doing something. She recently wanted me to make a bunny (of all things) out of her lego blocks and when I told her that I wasn't sure that was possible, she gave me those words of wisdom!

--When she makes a new picture at school or at home, she is SO proud and insists we put it on the "fwidgawata" right away. Every time she sees it, she says "I made dat, Momma!"

--Tonight, when she was getting ready to leave to spend the night with "Mrs. Case aka Nana" she told me "I just going to sleep at Nana's house, Momma, dat's all. I coming back tomorrow, ok? I wuv you, Momma, and I will miss you sooo much. It's ok, Momma, I'll be back lata, don't worry." She said this all with a tone indicating that she thought I was devastated at her departure!

--She loves to make me sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and insert everyone she can think of into the song. I have learned to shorten it by combining as many as I can...example: "He's got Nana-Pop-Jas-Laura-Al-Kelsey in His hands..." So far, she doesn't seem to mind this method.

--She is so grateful for the smallest little trinkets and gifts. If I give her a few M&M's she will say "Oh thank you, Momma, thank you, thank you" and kiss those little candies like I had given her a million bucks!

She is just the funniest, sweetest little girl and I am so grateful to call her mine. Her curiosity and eternal optimism keep me entertained & she fills my life with laughter and joy each and every day. I cannot imagine life without her sweet, sassy, sunny personality. She (along with her sisters) are my life's most precious gift!

On a side note....2 months from today (April 27th) we will be holding our new baby girls! I can't wait! So far, pregnancy is progressing normally with no problems other than general misery for me...a price I will gladly pay for two healthy babies! My next ultrasound and appointment is March 8th.

27 Weeks...

I am 27 weeks pregnant with Caroline and Elaina! Only 11 weeks to go...77 days...I am counting them down! So far, everything is going great and we hope it stays that way. I had an ultrasound and OB appointment yesterday. Here is the info from that visit:


**Baby A (Caroline): 2 lb 6 oz (61%), Breech position (butt down), HR 160's, perfectly healthy :)
**Baby B (Elaina): 2 lb 2 oz (51%), Transverse position (sideways), HR 150's, perfectly healthy :)
**Me: 24 lb gained, urine/BP great, measuring 36 weeks fundal height, passed 3 hour glucose tolerance test, started iron pills a couple weeks ago for anemia and nexium for excessive indigestion, referred to physical therapy for excessive back/hip pain (I wonder why!), overall perfectly healthy :)

Our next appointment is in 2 weeks. Our next ultrasound is in 4 weeks.

Here are a few pictures...

About 27 weeks with Twins!

And just for comparison, about 27 weeks with Rosalyn...

Of course, I can't post without including pictures of my beautiful, sweet princess. She is still a little busybody chatterbox who keeps us on our toes all the time! She is such a joy and I love her more than ever! If you can't tell by the pictures, one of her favorite activities is dress-up!

Rosalyn, The Babies, and Life in General :)

I haven't posted in nearly a month, so this may be a long one! I am running low on energy most days and blogging is one of the things that sadly gets put on the back burner :( Anway, just thought I would post some new pictures/updates on us!


Ok, first a jumbled update on Rosalyn!


Rosalyn is 28 months now. She is full of life and energy and brings unimaginable laughter into our lives everyday. We love her so much! She is talking all the time...full conversations and 10+ word sentences. Her vocabulary is easily into the thousands. She is constantly asking me "What's dat, Mommy?" and loves to go, go, go! This morning when I woke her up, she said "Mommy, I wanna go to Wal-Mart!" She is a little procrastinator at times and will often tell us "I'll do dat 'gamorrow' (her pronunciation of the word 'tomorrow'), Momma." She is very active...anyone who knows her can attest to the fact that she never stops moving unless asleep! She can be quite bossy, but I guess she gets it honestly :) She is extremely social and seems to be a leader at this point in her young life. She can name/recognize many shapes and colors now. She can count and sing songs. She recognizes most capital letters and knows the sounds that many make. Her favorite games are "music show," "cooking," "check-up," and "babies." It is so much fun to see her imagination developing! Rosalyn has also definitely hit the "terrible twos!" She is usually sweet and able to be reasoned with, but sometimes she can really surprise us with the intensity of her tantrums! She weighs about 30 lb and is about 35 inches...wearing all 3T clothes now. We are working on potty training and she is doing ok with it so far. Her favorite drink is chocolate milk and her favorite foods are macaroni & cheese and grapes.


Here are some recent pictures of my sweet girl!!

Getting her first hair trim by Aunt Lisa

Being Silly on Christmas Eve

Holding a Sparker on New Year's Eve

My Little Angel and Me :)

Not wanting to participate in the photo-op

One of her favorite perches...standing on a chair at the kitchen counter to "help" me

Smiley Face

My favorite Little Paci Addict

Ok, now an update on the babies and me!

I am 23 weeks pregnant with the baby girls today. We have decided on names..."Baby A" is Caroline Grace and "Baby B" is Elaina Joy. It was very difficult to decide on their names! I had an OB appointment today and everything is perfect so far, thankfully. BP was 100/60 (great), I have gained 16 lb above pre-pregnancy weight (I am "allowed/encouraged" to gain 40-50 lb total), and urine testing was normal. I am measuring (fundul height; uterus size) 30 weeks now. The babies are about 1.25 lb each and about 12 inches head to toe each. Their heartrates were both in the 150's today at my appointment. They are moving so much now that we can see my belly jumping! I have my glucose test for gestational diabetes in 2 weeks. I will have another ultrasound and see my obstetrician again on Monday, February 8th. I was supposed to see her again on January 26th (same day as my glucose test), but she said that the babies and I are doing so great that there is no reason to keep that appointment. I will start every 1-2 week appointments after February 8th! Also, my c-section is officially scheduled!!! Tuesday, April 27th, 2010 at 1 pm! I will be 38 weeks exactly that day. Overall, I am feeling ok and blessed to be healthy, but still very tired most days...it feels like I am about 43 weeks pregnant instead of 23! I am at the point now where it is very difficult to get comfortable, sleep, eat, breathe, etc but I know it will all be worth it to have two big, healthy babies! I am only working 1 day/week now, so that helps a ton. Also, Jason and my parents are wonderful about being at my beck and call to help with Rosalyn, bring food, etc. which I am super grateful for.

Jason has been busy with work. I have the best husband in the world...he is working 60 hours/week so that I can stay home with Rosalyn and grow our babies. I love him so much and I am so thankful for everything he does for me and Rosalyn...we couldn't make it without him! In his spare time, he stays busy helping me prepare the nursery for the two new princesses (we are getting there!) and playing with Ros.

Here are two pictures from today of my belly :)

(Warning: one is a bare belly picture, in case that makes you squeamish!)

Thanks for reading this huge post! I will try to post more often!

The Babies...

Don't have the time or energy to post pictures right now, but I wanted to let my faithful readers know that.....


The babies are both 100% GIRLS!!!

Both babies appear perfectly healthy and they are measuring right in target.

We are overjoyed!

Pictures!

A few recent pictures of my beautiful baby girl...

I love her so much that it makes my heart ache.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

17 Weeks Pregnant with Twins! The babies are now over 5 inches long from head to butt and weigh over 5 ounces each. Less than two weeks and we will know what we are having!

17 Week Update...

I had my regular OB appointment this morning....I am 17 weeks pregnant today. The babies both had heartrates in the 160s-170s and we could hear them bouncing around in there on the doppler. I have been able to feel faint movement for several weeks now, but it is definitely getting a bit stronger now. I am measuring 20 weeks. My BP was perfect, 100/70. Urine was good, no UTI this time. Weight is good, 10 lb total gained (only 7 lb gained from my baseline weight...I lost 3 lb in the beginning). I am having occasional braxton-hicks contractions and very mild swelling in my feet...my OB recommended a maternity belt to help with this + extra rest and liquids. Overall, a good visit and no complications so far, yay! My next appointment is Dec. 17th (19w2d) and my "big" ultrasound will be that same day! We can't wait to find out what we are having! In January, I will start every 2 week visits. As of now, I am feeling fairly good but I tire really easily and sleeping is starting to get difficult. I am taking medicine for acid reflux (I had it horribly with Rosalyn also) so that has helped my sleeping some. I will try to post some new belly pictures soon...I need to charge my camera battery first!

Miss Rosalyn is doing fine. She is so funny...that girl keeps us laughing all the time. She is talking up a storm and is super sassy (probably not such a good thing!). I will also post some new pictures of her later...I am having her Christmas pictures made this week--hope they turn out good!

We went to MS for Thanksgiving and loved seeing all of my extended family that we haven't seen since March. We are planning to go back during the Christmas holiday as long as the babies and I are still progressing nicely :)

Halloween and 13 Week Update

First, here are a couple of pictures of my sweet little trick-or-treater...





She had so much fun doing "chwicka chweat" and getting candy. Our little butterfly princess was precious! However--note to self for next year--a toddler suffering the after effects of large amounts of candy is NOT so precious!!

Today, I am 13 weeks pregnant...officially in the second trimester...yay!


Here is what the babies look like (we had an ultrasound this morning)...

Baby A

Baby B

And here is what I look like today...

My ultrasound and appointment went very well. The babies are each 7 cm exactly which means they are measuring perfectly on target. They weigh a little less than an ounce each. They both have heart rates in the 150's-160's. They were flipping and turning everywhere...literally doing somersaults! I have been able to faintly feel them moving this week which is fun. Baby B was sucking his/her hand, so we may have another paci addict :) You can't tell in the pictures, but I was able to see SO much detail...fingers, tose, nose and mouth on the profile, etc. It was amazing. The doctor and ultrasound tech said they are looking perfect! I have gained 5 lb total which is a good start. My blood pressure is great and no other concerns at this time...I will go back on December 1st for my next OB appointment, We will have our "big" ultrasound (and find out the sex of the babies) on December 17th. We are so excited!

I will try to post again later this week!

12 Weeks...

This is what the babies look like today!





This is what I look like today!

I am 12 weeks pregnant today...nearly out of the 1st trimester! The babies are each 2.13 inches long and weigh 1/2 an ounce each. I am feeling good overall, just really tired at the end of the day. I heard the babies' heartbeats yesterday using the doppler at work...that was fun :) My belly (as you can see above) is growing...I think it is about the same size now as it was at about 16 weeks with Rosalyn. I am still mostly in the "pudgy vs. pregnant" stage...I see people looking at me funny like they want to ask about my pregnancy, but they aren't totally 100% sure that I am indeed pregnant and didn't just have too much pizza for dinner! I think I have gained about 3 lb so far. We are getting more and more excited as the days go by...I am beginning to make lists of what all we need (bought a box of newborn diapers just this week!) and starting to dream up little schedules and routines for Rosalyn and the babies. Those of you who know me well will understand that I cannot help myself when it comes to these things...I am a planner at heart :)

My next OB appointment is 1 week from today (Nov 3rd) and I will also have an ultrasound that day. I will keep you all posted!

Pumpkin Time!!

Since Halloween is this coming Saturday, we are doing something fun every day this week...


Sat (yesterday): go to the pumpkin patch with Nana and Pop
Sun (today): decorate pumpkins after church
Mon: color pumpkin picture
Tue: go to the store to pick out halloween candy and decorate candy bowl for our porch
Wed: dress up day at Mother's Day Out
Thu: decorate a wooden pumpkin door hanger
Fri: make pumpkin cookies
Sat: trick or treating!


We have several special sweet halloween books to read each day. We are also talking a lot about pumpkins and studying the color orange.


Yesterday, we went to the pumkin patch and today we painted our pumpkins. I took lots of pictures, so here are a few to enjoy. As you can see, Rosalyn mostly refuses to look at the camera or smile for pictures lately! I have decided that her special birthday video for her 3rd birthday party will probably be markedly shorter than in the past due to lack of photos. Here are the best ones I could get of the little stinker!

I have loved every "stage" with Rosalyn so far, but I have to say it is really getting fun now that she is old enough to enjoy doing things like decorating pumpkins and dressing up. She is so excited about life that it is contagious! I can't believe she will be 26 months on Tuesday...growing up waaay too fast!

Today while we were outside painting the pumpkins, she was so happy. She kept telling our cat "Ra-Ra, look, I paint-in a pumpkin, Ra-Ra, look!" She is also still talking about the pumpkin patch yesterday...she told Jason "Da-ee, I go to da pumpkin patch wis Nana an Pop an Momma and I ride da chain (train). I go fast!" So precious!! I love her :)

10 weeks today!

I am ten weeks pregnant today. The babies are about 1.22 inches/0.14 ounce each--I have combined 2.44 inches/0.28 ounce of baby in me : ) Anyway, I am feeling ok and overall this pregnancy has not been too different from my pregnancy with Rosalyn. It just seems my symptoms have been a little more intense and showed up a little sooner and my belly is growing much faster! I will post some pictures soon, hopefully. Someone who shall remain nameless (but weighs 29 lb and can't pronounce her 'R' sounds) broke my camera this week, so pictures will have to wait until I can purchase a new one. The unnamed person was trying to do "Click, Take a Pic" with Dora on TV.


Rosalyn is sitting beside me watching Sesame Street...one of her favorite TV shows! Unfortunately, she has been allowed to watch more TV lately because I have been quite tired and nauseated some days. She doesn't mind, but I feel guilty. She just finished her favorite breakfast--cheese toast, mandarin oranges, and warm milk. She requests that combo nearly every morning as soon we get up! She had "picture day" at school yesterday and she looked SO cute when I dropped her off (again, no camera to show you!). I can't wait to see how her school pictures turned out. I am a little nervous because she kept showing me how she would smile for her "pik-cha" and her fake smile made her look like a little turtle (a cute turtle, of course)! She is so adorable and hilarious...she brings more joy and laughter to Jason and me than we could have ever imagined!


I will try to post another update later this week!