Christmas Cards

You may or may not have noticed that I failed to send out Christmas cards in 2009, but it's been eating at me all year. Sure I could list every excuse in the book (kid, work, pregnancy, etc.), but really, that's no good since everyone else could use a number of the same excuses.

But this year is going to be different, because Shutterfly is making it easy. I'm thrilled to be able to show off my two beautiful babies -- who are 2.5 years and 7 months already (how'd that happen?!) -- in holiday photo cards.

I always enjoy reading yearly updates included with Christmas cards, but it's not something I'd necessarily do, especially considering that's what this blog is for. But one of my favorite Shutterfly holiday cards this year is the story card -- which comes in 5x7 flat stationery or a 5x7 folded greeting card -- particularly the "Our Ornaments" card.

Here's another of my favorite designs, since I've been feeling lately like I have one of each kind of child in my house; I'll let you make assumptions as to the word that describes which one.

For my many friends out there who don't celebrate Christmas, Shutterfly has Hanukkah cards abound. I think this one is especially cute:

But Shutterfly isn't just about printing photos and making holiday cards. Last year one of my uncles created a wall calendar, complete with the birthdays and anniversaries of everyone in the extended family, and it was a huge hit.

Another gift idea is a photo mug. Surely Grandma or Grandpa would like to show off their beautiful grandchildren with one of these, right?

If that hasn't already convinced you, Shutterfly is currently running a promotion for 50 free holiday cards; blog about it and earn yours. Click here for more information, and Happy Holidays!

Could I be more blessed?

I was somewhere (I don't exactly remember where) recently, and I was carrying Macy in my arms. Maddie was dawdling around behind us a bit, like usual. An older woman looked at Macy and said something along the lines of, "Oh, she is so beautiful!" Then Maddie caught up to us, and the lady said, "Oh my gosh! Is this one yours, too? She's gorgeous. You are so blessed." I smiled and said, "Yes I am."

And I am.

Maddie has been SUCH a good girl lately. I know I complained about some rough patches before Macy arrived and for a month or two after, but things have been great for the past month or two. For being 2, she sure does well. She's amazingly patient when I'm feeding Macy or trying to get her down for a nap. She listens (most of the time) when I ask her to do something. She loves on her baby sister and doesn't ever try to harm her in any way. She helps put away her laundry, and she's just great all around. I love that kid so much.

Then there's Macy. She's so sweet. The little girl smiles at the drop of a hat, and it's not just a little smile -- it's from ear-to-ear and with a wide open mouth. Her hair stands straight up at the crown, and everyone we meet comments on it. Personally, I love it. She's 4 months old now, and she weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces (97th percentile) and was 25.4 inches long (86th percentile) at her doctor visit. Maddie was barely 14 pounds when she was 4.5 months! Her sleep still isn't the greatest, but it seems to be getting a little better lately. It's OK with me for now, though, because I know this won't last forever. So I get up a couple times a night and snuggle with my sweet baby.

Life is good, and here is proof:


Yes, that onesie does say "I love Santa" on it. Now that she's no longer swaddled, Macy sleeps in long-sleeved onesies and a sleep sack/bag, and this was the last clean one. Funny thing is Christmas was almost five months away when the picture was taken, and it's getting too small on Macy already; Maddie wore it at Christmastime, obviously.

And here are a few more:


I think it's about time to retire the swing.

Diagnosis

OK, so there really isn't one.

It seems as though Maddie's latest mystery fever -- which spiked at 105 last Saturday night and didn't go down with Tylenol -- was random. A few of the other neighborhood kids had fevers with no symptoms, too, and Matt ended up getting it (go figure; he's always sick). The doctor believes that her three high fevers in a month's time were just coincidence.

In order to come to that conclusion, Maddie had her blood drawn once and gave two urine samples. After the first urinalysis, the doctor noticed some things that could suggest diabetes, so she recommended the blood draw. Maddie was a trooper, and though she cried, she didn't fight it. "My" (what she calls Grandma Schaefer) was along, and she sat on her lap during the draw. Macy, my sympathetic crier, shed a few tears as well.

So we learned that Maddie is anemic. We bought her a new daily multivitamin with iron, so hopefully that helps. She's kind of disappointed she can't eat her gummy vitamins anymore; I could only find Flintstones vitamins with iron. But she knows the doctor said we have to take a new vitamin, and she seemed to like the Flintstones well enough despite the texture change. She'll have to have her blood drawn again in a few months to see if her iron levels are within the normal range.

Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and well wishes when Maddie wasn't feeling well and I was a bit nervous about it. :)

Maddie's mystery illness

So here we are again. I realize it's been a whole month since my last update. Yes, I suck.

This summer is flying by. FLYING. I was worried that my days home with two kids would drag by, but they fly, too. We keep relatively busy, but I'm only now finding that we're getting into a bit of a routine, which is nice. Hopefully that will continue to develop as Macy gets older and naps/sleep/wake up times become more regular.

The main reason for today's update is to talk about Maddie's mystery illness. She woke up this morning with a 103-degree temperature, no other symptoms of sickness. This is the THIRD time in four weeks that a mystery fever of at least 103 has shown up. So I called the doctor, and they wanted to see her.

Her ears were perfect. She has no rashes, runny nose, cough, etc. She seems fine, except for the fever. They tested for strep throat. Negative. They did a urine sample (thank goodness she's potty trained, or they would have had to place a catheter), and we're awaiting the results of a UTI test. I won't go into too much detail and jump the gun, but if it's none of those things and the mystery fevers keep popping up, our doctor (who squeezed us in to see us, even though she didn't have any appointments available today!) said then they'll start looking for "weird stuff." I took that to mean more serious or unusual illness. So let's hope we don't have to worry about that.

In happier news, Macy is doing great. On Monday we moved her to her own room, her own crib. That night she woke up three times, but for the past three nights she's only been up once a night!! I guess she just wanted her own space. She's a rolling machine and has been for about a week or two now. She grabs at/holds and inspects toys with such a curious look on her face, and she sucks on her thumb and hands nonstop. She is SO smiley, and I enjoy my one-on-one time with her when Maddie is napping (as I do with Maddie when Macy is napping).

A busy weekend and a trip to Olbrich

Saturday was my niece Miranda's confirmation party in Kewaskum. Maddie and Macy had their picture taken with all their cousins on the Schaefer side and My and Buppa Schaefer. It was a windy day, and Maddie got stung by a bee, but it was a good time nonetheless.


Yesterday Kenny and Norma came to visit for Father's Day. Matt and I were able to get another coat of paint on the basement bedroom, and the girls had fun playing with their grandparents. We grilled rib eye and t-bone for lunch and ate out on the deck while Maddie napped and Macy chilled in her swing.


Last night was a great night! Macy decided to sleep from about 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. She slept from 8:30 until 4:30 the night before, so things are looking up in the sleep department. That set us up for a great day!

I've been trying to plan a get together with my former co-worker, Ali, for weeks now. The stinkin' weather keeps getting in our way, though, so today we decided to make it work no matter what. We planned to go to the zoo, but of course it was supposed to rain again, so we met at Olbrich Gardens instead. That way we could walk around inside if it was raining and outside if it wasn't. Luckily we were able to get in a nice walk around the grounds and even had a picnic lunch.


Maddie had fun with Ali's boys, Tyler and Alec (almost 5 and almost 3, respectively). All three of them were well behaved. We didn't even have any tantrums!!


Ali informed me that my former boss is giving up the magazine, and it will only be published through the end of the year. What happens after that is up to the WSGA (Wisconsin State Golf Association). She only works there two days a week, so of course she's worried about not having a job and being able to find a new one with the flexibility she has now. I would be, too. I just wish he'd have decided to stop publishing sooner ... then I could have collected unemployment! ;-)

After we left Olbrich, I had to stop at JoAnn Fabrics to pick up a few things. Maddie picked out a wind chime and some new stickers. And of course, that's where we had our daily tantrum, which included crawling around like a baby on the dirty store floor. Lovely. I resorted to bribery and bought her a $1 foam monkey face, which she's in love with. I think we'll incorporate it into the construction of a potty sticker chart.

OK, I've been on here long enough. Both girls need to get ready for bed, so I better get on it.

Has it really been two months?

Wow!

Have I really only posted one entry since Macy was born? I've found that my computer time is seriously limited now that I'm staying home with two children, and when I do have a free minute, I have real things to do. Even right now, as I try to sit here and type while Macy naps (on our bed -- something that doesn't happen often because she likes to be held), Maddie is all over me. Actually, that's the real reason I don't update. Every time I get on the computer, she wants to watch videos of herself!

Macy is going to be 10 weeks old on Monday. I took her in for her 2-month visit on Monday, and the kid is 13 pounds, 12 ounces and 23 1/4 inches long -- the 98th and 82nd percentiles, respectively. She is a lot bigger than Maddie was. In fact, at her 1-month visit, Macy weighed what Maddie did at her 2-month visit. I'm very surprised she's gained so much weight, because she nurses quickly and not all that frequently. I guess she's efficient!

Maddie has adjusted pretty well to having a little sister. She's pretty good to Macy most of the time. We have some really big news ... SHE'S POTTY TRAINED! She went and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Schaefer for a few days, and during that time she started going on the potty and staying pretty dry. So when she came home, Matt and I did a three-day potty training bootcamp, and by the fourth day she didn't have any accidents. She's been potty trained for almost two weeks now. The first three days were exhausting for us, but they were worth it!

Macy has been sleeping in our bed for nearly two hours now -- and she'd been sleeping in my arms for an hour and a half before that -- so I think I need to go check on her. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more updates and photos, but you can check Facebook if you're anxious. ;-)

Macy Alexandra LaPlante

I can't believe it's taken me over a week to get here to announce the arrival of Macy Alexandra LaPlante!

Most of you reading this already know anyway, but our beautiful little girl arrived at 12:08 a.m. on Monday, April 12. She was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. For being born at 41w3d, I thought she'd be a bit bigger! She has a head full of dark hair, which I hope doesn't fall out.

Here is a picture from shortly after her birth:


As some of you know, I had a c-section with Maddie due to breech presentation and low fluid levels, and I was quite bummed (to say the least) about being forced into that situation. I desperately wanted to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) this time around, and I spent a lot of time researching and preparing for it. My wish came true, and I gave birth to Macy -- without an epidural -- three hours after we arrived at the hospital.

Our first week has flown by. We celebrated Maddie's second birthday on Saturday, April 17. Matt is off work until next Monday, and I'm already dreading his return. It's been nice staying in bed until Macy and I are ready to get up; I'm not looking forward to having to get up when Maddie wakes up!

I would like to thank all of our family and friends who have dropped off gifts, made us meals or simply came to visit. It is much appreciated!

False labor

I NEVER thought I'd be pregnant for this long. But I am. And it's really not so cool at this point. I hurt, I'm tired, and I don't have patience to deal with much.

Thankfully Maddie isn't being quite so sassy lately, and my mom was on spring break last week. She came down for a "few days" and ended up staying from last Monday night through Sunday afternoon. The "plan" was that I'd have the baby during her week off so she wouldn't have to worry about taking off of work (not that it's a big deal) to watch Maddie while we're in the hospital. But of course that didn't work out. I really thought she'd get home last night and THEN I'd go into labor, so she'd have to turn right back around, but the prodromal labor I had again last night didn't turn into real labor.

Yes, false labor. I've been having it for several nights in a row now (and had been having Braxton Hicks contractions every night for about two weeks before that). The contractions are rather strong, but they peter out when I go to bed. I've thought about just staying awake, but I know that's not realistic; when they're real, they'll stick around no matter what I'm doing.

This belly shot was taken last Friday, at 40 weeks:


Because of the mood you can imagine I'm in most of the time, our Easter was just "eh." I'll spare you the details. Maddie sure looked cute, though, in the dress we bought her in Mexico.


This time I'm really praying that the next update from me will include a baby announcement.

Ready and waiting, just like the rest of you

I'm not even going to talk about the nap thing anymore, because it's a disaster, and that's all I can say without breaking down into tears at this point.

I've been receiving a lot of phone calls, text messages, e-mails and Facebook messages/wall posts. I do appreciate that so many of you are thinking of us, but don't be offended if I don't reply. I'm just getting tired of the same old question and the same old answer. It almost makes me more irritated each time I have to tell someone that "I'm doing fine" and "no, I haven't had the baby yet." Constant reminders that I'm still here, still pregnant, still uncomfortable, still waiting to meet my baby, just aren't too much fun. I'm sure you all understand. And you will be notified when baby arrives. You don't have to worry about that. ;-)

I never had to deal with this with Maddie, since she came at 38 weeks exactly, and nobody was really expecting news at that point. I'm now 39w1d -- less than a week away from my due date -- but I could be here for a while. My doctor is comfortable letting me go a few days past 42 weeks before she becomes antsy to get baby out. And while I pray going that long won't happen, I need to be realistic and know it is a possibility.

But baby, if you're reading, I'm ready for you to come any second now. Really. Any second.

Jinxed myself

My child will not nap again today. I think I jinxed myself with last night's post about how she's napping and going to bed better. Lovely.

Now I'm really afraid she's getting ready to drop her nap, and I'm going to be stuck with a newborn baby and a toddler who won't nap. How frustrating.

Waiting game

I'm definitely to the point in my pregnancy where I'm ready to have this baby.

Today I was 38w1d, and it marks the longest I've ever been pregnant; Maddie was born at 38 weeks exactly. I've decided I'm not exactly a fan of this waiting game!

I really have had a textbook pregnancy, so I don't have much to complain about. I have felt so much better physically this time around (in terms of back pain and other aches and pains), and I'm grateful for that. But now that I'm nearing the end, the uncomfortableness is setting in. My mid-back is starting to hurt, and I can't seem to get comfortable on the couch. I feel huge, and it's becoming harder to get off the couch, pick up Maddie, roll over in bed, etc. I've been having contractions -- some rather intense and definitely not just Braxton Hicks -- for over a week now, but they're never regular and I haven't deemed them worthy of being timed.

Yesterday I had a prenatal massage, courtesy of my wonderful mom. (Thanks, Mom!) It was actually her idea, and since she had a scheduled day off and was already in the Dells for a conference, she came and watched Maddie for me. (Friday morning before the massage, we hit up the Johnson Creek outlet mall, and Maddie is now set for summer. I used my Gap 30 percent off coupon, and I saved $42 at Old Navy!)

Anyway, the massage therapist focused on some pressure points that are supposed to help start contractions, and she showed me where they are so Matt and I can press on them at home. She also gave me some essential oils that are supposed to be good for bringing on labor. I'm not actively trying to induce labor yet, because I know I still have time, but I want to be prepared if it comes to naturally trying to do just that. Overall, my massage was wonderful and I left feeling really refreshed, even though the cold front came through while I was there and it started snowing a few hours later.

This is my 38-week belly shot, taken last night. I always forget until right before bed, and I'm always looking so fabulous by then.


Today I finally got most of my hospital bag packed; it's amazing how much sooner I did that last time around! I guess I was nesting, because I cleaned out the coat closet, the laundry room (including cabinets), part of my closet, and I did a ton of laundry.

On the Maddie front:

She's going down for naps and bedtime easier -- thankfully. I actually caved and bought a video monitor this week, because I was tired of sitting on the floor outside her bedroom door and making sure she didn't get out of bed at nap time. It only took a few days until she realized we were watching, and now she hasn't been getting out of bed. It's rather amusing seeing all the funny things she does before she falls asleep, though! I can't believe I didn't get one of these sooner!

We didn't do anything for St. Patrick's Day, but I did turn Maddie's bath water green with these Elmo bath fizzy things. Yellow and blue makes green, you know! ;)


Here's to hoping that my next post is a birth announcement!

Oh, and if you haven't made your guess, you can join our baby pool here. It's free, and there's no prize for winning. All you get are bragging rights!

Quite the day

My friend Andrea texted me this afternoon to say today was one of those days she wished she were a working mom (she stays home with her two beautiful daughters, who are almost 4 and almost 2). I wrote back that I hadn't had one of those days yet since I quit my job Feb. 25, but I told her to give me some time! Then I said I had just put Maddie down for a nap and I was eating a doughnut. I then snuggled in on the couch to catch up on the DVR.

That was shortly after 1 p.m., and by 2:30, it was turning into one of those days. Turns out Maddie wasn't napping in there, and she never did. I went in twice to try and get her to sleep (to no avail), and she played quietly for a while. I decided it was time to give in and let her out when she started pounding on the door and yelling, "KNOCK KNOCK" at the same time.

She saw the doughnuts sitting on the counter and wanted one, so (because she was being such a good girl -- ha!) I let her have half of one. At one point I looked over at her, and she was staring into space, obviously tired. The doughnut rolled out of her hand and onto the floor, and she snapped back into reality. I couldn't help but laugh.

A little while later I thought it would be a good idea to get out the markers and let her draw. Why? Um, I'm not sure. Pregnancy brain? Maybe. I left her halfway unsupervised, and when I came back to her a minute or two later, she was covered in green marker.


Now thankfully this is washable marker (do you really think I'd be stupid enough to leave my 23-month-old unsupervised for even a minute with regular markers?), but I decided a bath was the way to go. So on the way -- naturally -- Maddie touched all the white trim and doors she could get her green little hands on.



After bath was when it all went downhill. She didn't want to get dressed, she wanted to suck on a dirty sippy cup from the dishwasher, she didn't want Daddy -- he came home shortly after the bath was done -- to change her diaper and worked herself into hysterics. She was crying so hard, I really thought she was going to make herself puke.

When we got her settled down, she wanted cereal. So we gave her a bowl of Rice Krispies, and she sat at her little table, where she's been eating all her meals lately. It's almost 5:30 by now, and remember -- we're running on no nap. Shortly after refilling her bowl, we heard "uh-oh," and the bowl was on the ground under her table; her lap was soaked in milk and Krispies. But she wanted more cereal, so I had her sit in the high chair this time. That's when this happened:

OK, it is taking Blogger FOREVER (over two hours at this point) to upload this video, so here is a YouTube link to what happened (unfortunately, I don't think I can embed it).

So I carried her to bed, where she's been since (though in the time it has taken for me to upload these videos here, she's awoken twice). We'll see how this goes. She's either taking a really late nap and then will be up until midnight or later, or we'll be lucky enough that she'll sleep all night (but possibly wake REALLY early). All I know is Matt and I were excited to be able to enjoy dinner by ourselves tonight, even if we did eat it while sitting on the couch! And he told me "I've got her" if she wakes up tonight, so I'm holding him to his word!

So even though our afternoon was a bit stressful, I'm still glad I'm a SAHM! ;-)

Locked in the closet

I think Maddie "locked" herself in her closet sometime Friday night or Saturday morning.

Matt got up with her Saturday, and he said he found her in the walk-in closet. Now there aren't locks on the door, of course, but she closed herself in and couldn't get out because she isn't strong enough to pull all the way down on the handle and push out at the same time. Matt said it looked like she had JUST awoken and looked really confused, so he thinks she went in there sometime during the night and couldn't get out (versus waking up in the morning and going in there).

I thought I heard her once through the monitor in the middle of the night, but when I looked at it, I didn't see any lights flashing, and I didn't hear her again. When I heard her through the monitor in the morning, it wasn't a loud sound (obviously, since she was in the closet) and I was already awake, so it wasn't like she was waking me up with her voice like she would have been in the middle of the night. So that means I could have been hearing what might have been her final "cry for help" in the middle of the night before she gave up and settled in on the closet floor. :( Oh, and to make matters worse, her closet floor was filled with stuff we moved out of her bedroom (her pink chandelier, a photo shelf with hooks on it, etc.) when we painted and haven't re-hung yet. So I'm sure they weren't the most comfortable things to sleep on.

I know she was fine in there, but it does break my heart to know she might have spent part of her night on the closet floor. I bet she was scared when she got stuck in there. It's dark, and it gets cold in the closet. I hate thinking about it.

So we're making sure the closet door is shut tightly before she goes to bed. And once she's able to open doors on her own, we'll put a safety cover thing on the handle.

*********
Oh, and while I'm at it, I almost had a heart attack during her nap on Friday. By the time she went down, it was nearly 2 p.m. So when I hadn't heard from her by 4, I went in there to wake her up because I didn't want her napping later than that; I also thought I might have heard noises coming from her room.

When I went to open the door (carefully, since she might always be standing at the other side), it hit something and kind of thumped. When I looked down, I realized it was her head. I thought at first she was lying there playing on the floor with Baby or something, but then I realized she was face-down and not moving. Then I called her name loudly and gently pushed the door against her head (kind of a nudge), and she still didn't move. Honestly, that was one of the scariest moments of my life as a parent. I really thought she was lying there unconscious or dead.

After yelling her name a few more times, I reached my hand down and pushed her head out of the way, and that's when she started to move. She cried instantly, probably because it startled her to wake up that way, with her face being pushed along the carpet. When she sat up, I was able to go in the room and hug her. She snuggled with me for about 10 minutes.

So again, I'm guessing she woke up at some point during her nap (because I had checked on her earlier and saw her sleeping in the bed) and came to the door but couldn't open it. I didn't hear her, so she eventually gave up and fell back asleep on the floor.

Needless to say, I'm trying to get her to call out for us when she wakes up in the morning and from nap. I keep telling her to say, "Momma!" when she wakes up, and that I'll come get her, but she doesn't. So I guess I need to keep the monitor on louder until she figures it out. I just picked up a new monitor for the baby, so we can have monitors in both rooms, and I'm thinking I should have just gone with a video monitor for Maddie's room.

Poor kid. :(

Mexico 2010

I guess I didn't feel the need to rub it in, so I failed to mention here that we were going to Mexico – though most of you who are reading this probably knew anyway.

We went to Cancun from Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, and we had a lot of fun. The weather wasn't the most fabulous we've ever had on vacation – we typically luck out and have seven days of nothing but sun – but it was still nice enough. And, most important of all, Maddie had a BLAST! The kid enjoyed every second of it, as was evidenced by her shrieking with joy every time we walked out of our room. She loved standing and playing in the ocean and swimming in the pools, even though they – the pools – were a bit chilly.

Twice we took the bus down the hotel zone a bit to an area with lots of restaurants and shopping, but we just hung out at the resort for the most part. Maddie loved swinging on the hammocks, which she called "weees," and snacking on her "poopels" – pretzels – by the pool.

On our last day, we had to check out by noon but our ride the airport didn't come until 4, and she actually fell asleep in my arms (WAAAY rare), so we took a nap in the "weee."

Matt and I both agree that we're so happy we were able to take this vacation with "just" Maddie and have the memories to hold onto forever. We're excited to be adding to our family and to give Maddie a sibling, but it is a little bittersweet knowing she'll be our "only" for just a few more weeks. Her brother or sister is due April 2, so just about seven weeks from now.

If you haven't already seen the rest of our photos (well, the ones good enough to share, anyway!), check out this link.

Dammit

Did you know that the alternative word for "damn it" is spelled "dammit" – not "damnit"? It's a common mistake I see, so I thought I'd enlighten some of you in case you were unaware. That's just my word lesson for the day.

Anyway, on with my post. Dammit about sums it up.

Last Wednesday, as we were sitting on the couch, Maddie turned, looked at me, and puked all over both of us. It was wonderful (sense my sarcasm?), and it continued throughout the evening. I think I counted seven times in two hours, and by then the poor thing had nothing left in her and was just dry heaving. She and Matt camped out on the living room floor, because neither of us wanted to leave her alone in the crib, and there's no way I was sleeping on the couch or floor at 29 weeks pregnant.

During the night, Matt woke up to her hitting him on the head with a book, which was in the corner of the living room, near where she slept. This is his recollection of the encounter:

Matt: Maddie, what are you doing?
Maddie: Doesn't say anything.
Matt: Don't you know it's night-night time?
Maddie: Night-night?
Matt: Yes, night-night.
Maddie: Lies back down and goes to sleep.

Just like that. She's too funny, even when sick.

Luckily she recovered, and though she was whiny all weekend – that reminds me, I need to check for eyeteeth, since those seem to be rather elusive – she is pretty much feeling better.

Saturday afternoon we went and bought her a big girl (full) mattress and box spring. Sunday we had the family (my parents and siblings) over for a Christmas-type gathering.

Then Matt woke up around 12:30 a.m. today, sick. That's all I'll say, because I promise you don't want any more details. I was really hoping we were going to avoid whatever is "going around," but of course that couldn't happen. Right now I'm just praying I don't get it, too. It's the last thing I need right now.

Play dates galore

Well, Matt's trip to Vegas last weekend was rather uneventful. He did not bring home enough money to finish a bedroom in our basement. OK, so he lost. We're still finishing that room though – wife's orders.

Maddie and I spent the weekend in NL because I didn't want to sit home and do nothing for three days, especially considering it was going to be so cold and we'd be cooped up inside.

Friday night we went shopping at Sam's Club, and the kid had a blast wandering around the huge store. She kept looking up at the tall ceiling, running around, and sitting down on the ledge in front of the freezer cases, kind of like when she sits in Grandma Schaefer's fridge.


Saturday morning we had a play date with three of my friends (Andrea, Natosha and Kim) who all had babies within five days of each other at the end of September/beginning of October. There wasn't much playing going on, but I'm sure Maddie would have been all about showing them how to use their toys had they been awake longer! It was nice catching up with my friends, and of course I enjoyed seeing their babies.

After Maddie's nap, we went over to Kasey and Teasha's house to play with Treston. He's closer to her age – about four and a half months older – and he shared his toys and pretzels nicely with her. I'm waiting for Teasha to post some pics on Facebook, because I think Kasey took some good ones of the two of them playing in the basement. Teasha just sent me a message on Facebook saying Treston has been asking, "Where's Maddie? Where's Maddie's grandma?" since we left! Too cute!

This is me last Friday, at 28 weeks, before I got my hair trimmed and roots done! ;-)


I can't believe I potentially have 12-plus weeks of growing to do. I always think I'm about the same size I was at this gestation with Maddie, and then I look back at pictures and realize I'm wrong. I'm definitely still bigger this time around. My mom said the other week, "Well, maybe your growing will slow down soon." Um, yeah. Because that happens in late pregnancy!

Wednesday?

So you're telling me it's not the weekend yet? Crap.

After nearly two weeks of sleeping in, this getting-up-before-6:30-a.m. stuff is quite tiring. And poor Maddie – I hate having to wake her up for daycare at 7, when she'd sleep until at least 7:30 if I let her.

Tonight Matt is learning how to iron. Well, I taught him one other time, but he didn't quite catch on. So tonight is the night. If he thinks he needs to run off to Vegas a few times a year, then he needs to learn how to iron his own shirts. Apparently when he went last summer, he didn't iron before going out. I can imagine what a wrinkly mess he must have been for that entire trip. Oh well – at least I didn't have to be seen with him!

The purpose of this trip, you may wonder? The old fart turns 30 on Friday – yep, he's getting old – and he would rather party in Vegas than spend time with his beautiful, pregnant wife and gorgeous daughter. His cousin Steve gets comped rooms at some fine Las Vegas hotels, so their stay is free. Hopefully he comes home with some winnings – enough to finish a bedroom in the basement would be ideal.

New year, new blog

Because it's a new year, I figure I'll just jump right in and start off where we are – no recaps about what's been going on for the past several months or anything like that.

We rang in 2010 – well, kind of – with friends Bill and Michelle and their two kids, Brookelynn and Boden. They left by about 9 p.m. so they could get the kids to bed, but before then we had a fabulous meal of lobster, potatoes, caramelized mushrooms and salad (with appetizers beforehand), and the kids had Happy Meals. Maddie must have been hungry, because she ate all four of her Chicken McNuggets. Yuck. I'll never understand why kids love those things so much. Michelle also brought cheesecake bites, which I ate way too many of, and I bought – I mean "made" – these mini chocolate fudge cakes. Yumm!!

The kids played in Maddie's tent and tunnel for the longest time,


and then they posed for a few pics in front of the fireplace.


The adults had a nice time visiting, and I enjoyed my O'Doul's Amber – my party beverage of choice when I'm unable to have the real stuff. It's actually pretty good, in case you're in a similar "situation."

Today it's back to the real world for me – for the next eight weeks at least. My last day of work is Feb. 25 (my birthday), and I'm not coming back after this baby arrives. I'm really excited to become a stay-at-home-mom – or SAHM for short – but I'm a little nervous, too. Luckily there are a few other SAHMs in our neighborhood, so hopefully they'll help me stay sane. I'll be 35 weeks pregnant when I leave work, so the plan is to have a few weeks at home to enjoy with Maddie before the new baby arrives. We're taking a vacation to Mexico at the end of January/beginning of February – Maddie is coming with – so that means I only have seven weeks of actual work left.

I suppose I should get back to work since that's where I am. There's nothing more exciting than golf in Wisconsin ... in January!

I'll leave you with this picture of Maddie giving one of her babies "uggs." She'll be a great big sister!

A family blog

I decided a long time ago that I don't really like the format of webs.com, so that's why I haven't updated our family Web site in quite a while. A blog seems like a much better idea, and that was really the format our site was taking anyway.

So, this isn't going to be much of an update, because I need to head to the bedroom so I can practice my Hypnobabies (more on that some other time), but I anticipate updating here much more frequently. It's way more user-friendly and just ... less of a pain in the butt.

I'll leave you all with this picture of us from Christmas, and I hope to be back with a proper update very soon.