Ready As I'll Ever Be

I am within 2 weeks of my due date! Which is crazy! Time is going by so quickly and also taking forever!

Because I'm doing this naturally, I won't be induced unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Which means Baby H will probably come in January, just to mess with my plans! I don't mind too much.

I have most everything figured out, at least as much as I can. I have 2 freezer meals all ready to be thawed and thrown into the oven. They are a 13x9 pan of white enchiladas (a recipe I got from my aunt Kirsten) and 11x7 of lasagna. They will both have leftovers and it's enough to feed all of us and my Mom, if we make them when she's out here. I'll also make a meal to take to the birthing center to eat and keep my energy up. But it's just a breakfast casserole and I can make it quickly in between early contractions!

Finally got someone to be on call for when I need someone to take Aubrey. I always feel weird asking people to babysit for me. And so asking someone to be ready night or day for a phone call to watch my toddler for an undetermined amount of time made me drag my feet. But I have my neighbor and a friend both willing to help.

Jared and I have been slowly stocking up on diapers and wipes. We don't have nearly enough to make it very far, but every little bit helps! Never know if there will be a big storm keeping us from getting out of the house, so it'll be nice having some on hand.

I saved most everything from when Aubrey was a baby, so we have clothes and blankets and so many cute things for this next baby! Had to get some long-sleeve outfits though. Aubrey was a Spring-time baby and didn't need long-sleeves while living in Georgia.

All the laundry is done as well. The clothes were washed in the right detergent and I have them all organized into cute bins.

I've also taken the classes required to use the birthing center and I've preregistered at the hospital (just in case).

The main thing I have left to do is wait! I have no idea how the contractions will feel and I don't know how I will respond to them. To normal pain, I get really quiet and I just have tears leaking out of my eyes. I'm not very vocal so we'll see if Jared can figure out my thoughts to find ways to help me!

Waiting is hard. I like having some sort of plan. Jared is trying to find ways to help induce me after Christmas and before New Years. So that means acupressure foot massages and eating out-of-the-ordinary foods. If he's willing to do that, I won't fight too hard!

Aubrey and I have lots of lazy days. She loves watching Christmas movies. Her favorites are Frosty the Snowman and Veggie Tales: The Little Drummer Boy. We're often in pajamas most of the day (because I'm lazy). But Aubrey has been really good. She doesn't mess too much with our Christmas tree. Sure, there are ornaments she likes to play with, but they are all ornaments that won't break, don't matter if they break, or are easily fixable.

Jared has been amazing with helping cleaning and dishes and watching Aubrey. He gets up with her every morning while I lay in bed and try to catch up on sleep I missed during the night. Aubrey loves the time with him!

A Quiet Book for Aubrey

I made a quiet book for Aubrey!

For some reason I just felt like being crafty. And Aubrey has a difficult time staying entertained and quiet at church. She's either entertained and loud, or bored and also loud. She is also loud here at home. So I thought I'd try making a quiet book!

I don't know why, but I always thought felt was more expensive than it really is. But I just got a few packets from Wal-Mart that had a variety of colors. Perfect!

Here is the book:

Nothing amazing. But in the pocket at the top right, I put the letters of her name.

Now we can work on her recognizing her name in print and she can learn a few important letters!

The "first page" is to help her count. She can move the bead across the pipe cleaner and it was the number next to it to help her make the connection. Aubrey already loves moving the beads back and forth.

I only did upper case for now. And I tried to make an apple, a banana, a clock and a door. Start with the first bunch of letters and eventually move on from there. If I get motivated, I'll cut out lower case letters too.

I did a few normal shapes and a few extras to learn. That way it's not just the same ones over and over. I also wrote the name of the shape inside it. I figured she'll have this book for a while so might as well make it a little difficult. That octagon really threw her off the first few times!

These pages are more interactive and fun. She can put apples on the tree, or pick them off and put them in the basket/pouch. And the flowers are a little bit harder for her. She has to button the little piece on to the big piece. Right now she is just matching colors and putting the piece on top. But I'll start showing her how to button them soon. 

Last of all are the Thanksgiving pages! She has to put the 3 long strips on the football, which is also a pouch for the turkey. She can put the feathers and feet on the turkey. I might make a little top hat and write T H A N K S on each feather. We'll see. 

Already been Aubrey-approved!

Anyways, that's my book! I'm really proud of it and I'm excited to keep adding to it. After Thanksgiving I'll do a Christmas page. And I'll keep adding holiday pages and some harder activities. 

It's been a lot of fun figuring it out as I went. I learned a lot and I have so many ideas to try to implement!

The last molar

Aubrey is finally getting her last molar. She has all the others and I figured out the pattern. The bottom teeth always came in pairs. Then one at a time on the top. 

A couple weeks ago she got all cranky and was driving me crazy. So I did some checking and found the sharp tip emerging from her gums. 

I let her crankiness slide because I know it's not really her, it's just the pain and uncomfortableness. 

Now that I'm in my third trimester, I'm not as easily forgiving as I was last time. I can't move as quickly and I can't do all the energetic things she wants me to do. 

When she starts to throw a tantrum because I can't read her mind, I just let her cry. She'll fling her arms all over and smack the floor. Once or twice she'll go back to hitting her head on the floor. But she has made great progress in her speaking, so if she wants something, she can tell me. 

I'm not going to get up out of my comfy seat and offer her everything in the kitchen when I THINK she MIGHT be hungry. I will make ONE meal that I know she has eaten regularly before. If she won't eat it, then she can have a slice of bread later and maybe some yogurt or a banana. 

I've even gone so far as to do the silly old wives tale of putting an egg in a sock over her door. These mood swings are exhausting and there isn't really much I can do. I figure, if the egg and sock doesn't work after a few days, I'll just use it in my next batch of cookies. Then at least the egg won't be a complete waste.

Jared is good with Aubrey. He's not home all day with her craziness. So after he's eaten and has a chance to unwind from work, he'll rough-house with her and keep her entertained for a while. 

I'm not excited at all to go through all of this again next year with a new baby. With Aubrey, I had NO IDEA she had teeth coming until I saw them pop out! At least now when I notice a mood change around 4 months with this next baby girl, I can go ahead and assume it's teeth. Once Aubrey gets this one out, she'll be done, which is awesome.