All Smiles

Why is she so happy?

Well, for one, she's been wearing big girl panties for over a week now with no accidents.

I, for one, am so proud of her...and happy that I get a break from diapers before the new baby comes!

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes For Mom.

All Smiles

Kick, Baby, Kick

Sunday night and all day Monday I was having painful cramps. I called my midwife, who came to my house directly from being at a birth all day to check and make sure things were okay.

As she was using the doppler, I felt it: three good kicks. The baby's heartbeat is fine, and the cramps have stopped, and I'm so relieved now that I feel the baby move!

At 20 weeks, I am halfway there. And I'm finally starting to relax.

Kick, Baby, Kick

Disney On Ice Show!

Recently I had posted about Disney On Ice and the great discounts available through Mom Central.

Thanks to Mom Central, The Knight and I were able to take the girls to see the show in Boston on Saturday night. The girls were so excited, they were up at 4AM talking about the show! We all had such a blast!!

Watching the show from daddy's lap

Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, etc.

Smiles galore!

Don't forget, you too can take advantage of the great discounts available. Just enter the code MOM for four tickets for $44 for Monday-Friday matinee shows and $4 off Friday night and all weekend shows.

Don't live in the Boston area? Check out my previous post to see when Disney on Ice is coming to your area!

It was such a great family show, I highly recommend it!

Disney On Ice Show!

Christmas...

How was everyone's Holiday?

The girls were so excited Christmas morning, The Mermaid was shaking. The Knight and I decided this year to lower our budget and instead of buying as many toys as possible, buying only a few, carefully chosen, high-quality toys. What a great decision. At first I was worried that the girls might be upset at only having a few toys, but I didn't need to fear; after opening her few toys, The Mermaid looked around and said, "Santa brought us a TON of toys!!"

The rest of the day was spent with family, exchanging thoughtful gifts and laughter...

My Sil and I with our pregnant bellies!

The Guppy

The Mermaid

Family

The happy look on their faces was the best gift for me...

The Mermaid was right....it was the best Christmas ever!

Christmas...

Letter To My Baby

Dear Baby,

I can't tell you how grateful I am that your heart is so strong.

I can't tell you how grateful I am that you are still with us, growing inside me, getting bigger every day.

And now that you know how happy and grateful I am that you are here, maybe, just maybe, you could start giving me a kick or two? Just so I can be reassured that you are still here without the use of a doppler? Strong kicks, nothing big.

At least think on it, okay?

Love,

Mommy

Letter To My Baby

Last Day of Nice Weather...and Then The Snow Hit.

Because it just isn't a party unless everyone is swinging.

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Last Day of Nice Weather...and Then The Snow Hit.

Snow Day

This weekend we got hit with a bunch of snow. The girls wanted to help The Knight shovel the driveway, so I bundled them up and out they went!

Did anyone else get any snow pictures over the weekend?

Snow Day

Megan's Hope

To lose a child is something that no parent should ever have to face.

And then to lose a child to something preventable, right around the holidays.....I have no words.

Today marks the five year anniversary of the death of sweet Megan, a 3 year old who was killed when her dresser fell on top of her.

The Knight and I have anchored most of our furniture, but this morning when I went to double check I found that not ALL our furniture is anchored....and we will be fixing that this weekend.

Please take time out of this busy holiday season to double check and make sure ALL your furniture is anchored....even if you think it cannot tip over, anchor it anyway. As Megan's mother writes, "Instead of putting a few holes in our walls and furniture, we forever have one in our hearts that will never heal. Walls can be fixed, broken hearts cannot."

For more information, visit Megan's Hope and learn how to baby-proof your furniture.

Megan's Hope

Handmade Christmas: The Guppy's Sweater

Another project that I was working on towards our handmade Christmas was a sweater for The Guppy. I finally finished it this week.

You can find more details on my ravelry page.

If you are a knitter, I'd love to hear what you've been working on!

Handmade Christmas: The Guppy's Sweater

The First Year That The Big Man Didn't Scare Them

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

The First Year That The Big Man Didn't Scare Them

Santa's On Her Side

On Sunday, The Mermaid got frustrated with me because I was "bossing her around."

So she turned to me and said, "Oh yeah, Mommy? Well, I'm going to ask Santa to bring me a shrinking machine, and he's going to bring me one! Then I can shrink you down to tiny sized and you won't be able to boss me around anymore!"

I just laughed. But when she sat down to make her list to Santa, I realized that she was dead serious. Number one on the list: a shrinking machine:

She also apparently wants a mountain and a merry-go-round. This girl dreams big.

This, by the way, is her second list to Santa. Number two on her first list was China, and she didn't mean pretty dishes.

Santa's On Her Side

Is This Year Over Yet?

Our house has been hit with a big stomach bug.

It hit The Knight and The Mermaid first. Just when they started feeling better, it hit me, and I got so ill I landed in the hospital for a day, getting IV's and having the baby monitored. Thankfully, we're fine now, although The Mermaid is still sick. The Guppy is the only one who has escaped this bug.

When we're not getting sick, we're trying to prepare for the holidays. I'm making a lot of gifts this year, and my fingers ache from frantically knitting as fast as I can.

I've also made some homemade peppermint sugar scrub, an idea I got from Melissa over at Chasing Cheerios:

Next time I will add a little bit more sugar....

So, in general, I've been healing, listening to Christmas music, and enjoying the little life inside of me.

Is This Year Over Yet?

The Best Christmas Ever!

Saturday afternoon The Knight pulled out our Christmas decorations and we got to work. Usually we leave these things for the last minute, so this is a record for us.

We had two perfect little helpers....

I was surprised at how helpful they were, and oh the excitement that shone in their eyes!

Afterwards, while we sat and enjoyed the peaceful lights of the tree, I crept around it with my camera and took pictures of my favorite parts:

An angel, to remember those who are not with us today...

A reminder of how many days I have left to prepare!

The garland that The Mermaid finger knit just for our tree....

A pretty flower...

A snowman that isn't afraid of the sun....

And family, with enough space for one more.

Afterwards, The Mermaid whispered to me softly Mommy, this is going to be the best Christmas ever!

I hugged my pregnant belly tight, couldn't agree more.

What are some of your treasured holiday decorations and/or ornaments? I'd love to see pictures!

The Best Christmas Ever!

Google Brought You Here, Why?

If you are the person who was searching for Breastfeeding Games for Girls (9 times!), I'm sorry, I don't know of any.

If you were the person looking for breastfeeding videos, YouTube has a great selection.

If you were the person wondering if Nestle is an evil corporation, go and check out Baby Milk Action. And then join the boycott.

If you were the one looking for information about postpartum periods, I feel for you. I really do.

If you were the one looking about how to care for a breastfeeding mother, here's a quick list: lots of rest, water and healthy foods, and support, support, support!

If you came here looking for information about a living room with green accents, sorry I couldn't help you. But it sounds great!

If you were the one who came here after typing in "I am the breastfeeding mother of a two year old", good for you!! Bravo!! I hope you are enjoying the benefits of extended breastfeeding.

And finally, if you were the one who came here looking for Prince Charming....let me know if you find him, okay?

Google Brought You Here, Why?

Hand Print Christmas Trees

My patience as a mom has been wearing a little thin lately. So, I figured some good quality craft time was in order, and yesterday the girls made hand print Christmas trees:

They traced their hands on green construction paper, cut them out, and created a tree out of them to decorate. The Mermaid loves any chance to use scissors, and the Guppy loves to use glue!

We hung their creations up in the window next to the hand print Rudolph that they made last week.

possible upcoming crafts:

Beaded Christmas tree ornaments

Salt dough Christmas tree ornaments

Easy to make Christmas tree ornament

What crafts have you been doing lately with your children?

Hand Print Christmas Trees

Sharing Inspiration

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving?

I love the holidays because I love spending time with family and enjoying great food...

Other than that, I've been spending my time getting the house back together. It' now about 90% clean, yay!

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Yesterday I had an appointment with my midwife, and the baby's heartbeat was so strong and beautiful. I'm starting to finally relax and can't wait until I can feel the baby move!

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I've also been busy searching for ideas for Christmas gifts. I am really feeling the urge to go handmade this year, but with the limited amount of time I have left, I'm going to focus on handmade gifts for the girls. My biggest inspiration for my projects have come from Melissa over at Chasing Cheerios. Her creativity and her ideas to incorporate crafts into schooling her children is truly amazing...and her projects leave me drooling on the keyboard. So far, I am thinking that I will try to complete the following projects for the girls:

Flower Button Board

On The Go Dollhouse

Playsilks (I've already ordered the silks and now I'm just waiting for them to come in so I can dye them).

Tell Me A Story Blocks

I'm looking for other ideas, too. If you are making handmade Christmas gifts this year, for young or old, I would LOVE to hear your ideas!

Sharing Inspiration

Quiet Days...

The past few days have been quiet. The Guppy recovered quickly from her illness, but not before passing it along to The Mermaid, so our house is still filled with sniffles and coughs (but no more vomiting, thank goodness).

I've finally started to feel better....the nausea is only hitting me occasionally, and the achy exhaustion that has plagued me all through this pregnancy so far is finally lifting. Yesterday while the girls rested I attacked the house and got 80% of it clean, and got the laundry back under control as well. It's amazing how messy the house got when I was sick, but soon it will be our cozy refuge once again.

I've also been really diving into my knitting, working on a sweater. I taught The Mermaid how to finger knit, and she has spent the past two days working on a garland for our Christmas tree. I was very surprised at how quickly she picked it up...and a disappointed with myself for my lack of patience while teaching her how to do it.

I've also been spending a lot of time looking at future homeschooling projects to do, arts and crafts, etc. Drooling over Etsy at homemade gifts for Christmas. Quietly reflecting on what direction I want our lives to go this upcoming year.

It's been a nice, quiet lull before the holiday craziness hits. What have you been up to?

Quiet Days...

Poor Baby

I woke up at about 1 AM this morning to the sound of dog barking in my room.

Then I thought, wait a minute, we don't have a dog...

It was The Guppy, coughing her poor little lungs out with this racking, dry cough that raises the hair on the back of my neck whenever I hear it.

The rest of the night I was up with her, trying to get her comfortable enough so that she could sleep. She finally fell asleep around 6 AM, and slept until 8 AM, when she woke up and promptly got sick all over the bed.

She's gotten sick twice more since then and we are all just camping out in our pajamas, hoping it doesn't turn into something worse than a cough with a stomach bug thrown in for good measure.

How is it, that no matter how fast our children seem to be growing, that the minute they get ill they suddenly look so helpless and small again? I lay on the couch with The Guppy and hold her in my lap, stroking her back as her tiny body is racked in a coughing fit.

Mommy, will you lay with me all day? she asks me.

How can I not?

Poor Baby

Knitting Away High Expectations

Yesterday I took my knitting bag out from under the end table and took a peek inside.

How long has it been since I worked on my knitting? I found out quickly by examining the project on my needles; a sweater that I had started working on for The Mermaid last year.

It was in March of this year that I last picked up my needles. The sweater will no longer fit The Mermaid, but if I finish it, it will fit The Guppy...

So last night, I sat and knitted. Knitting is such good therapy for me; I usually pick easy projects that don't require much thinking, brainless ones that I can work on while talking or watching TV. It relaxes me and lets me think about things while I work; it gives me a visible accomplishment and proof of progress to look at by the end of the day.

I think that is what I need the most right now; proof of progress and accomplishment. My life has been extremely crazy and unsettled lately, and on top of that, while I am feeling much better, this pregnancy is leaving me exhausted and with little ambition. The house is an absolute mess and I find myself unable to work on other things in my life as well. In fact, last night while knitting I even felt guilty, thinking there is soo much work you need to get done and instead you are sitting here knitting. But for some reasons, the needles kept calling to me with their reassuring and calming click click click and I kept knitting.

As I finally sighed and set my work aside to go to bed, I took one last look at it and paused. Where before I started was nothing, there was now the beginning of the front of the sweater. And there it was, right in front of me, and I thought, So this is what accomplishment looks like. I had forgotten. And suddenly I knew why I had craved to hold the needles in my hand again; so I can remind myself that I can accomplish things, and be proud of them, no matter how small.

So, today I am going to tackle my own expectations of myself. I am going to admire and praise whatever small accomplishments I make around the house, instead of getting overwhelmed by all that I have to do. Baby steps is my new plan of action. I'm going to start with putting away some laundry. And I will make sure I end my day with knitting.

For more Tackle It Tuesday, visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

Knitting Away High Expectations

Uninterrupted Conversation

Yesterday I took the girls and we drove out to visit my sister in her new apartment. We hung out there for a bit, then went out for ice cream.

For dinner, we went to a new restaurant and had great food.

On the way home, The Knight and I played "I Spy" with the girls. We laughed together, each person's laughter bounding off the others and echoing into our hearts.

We got home and all went to bed early. As I lay in the dark cuddling with The Guppy, she whispered to me about all the fun she had today, a day that I thought would be uneventful and boring when I woke. Then she whispered And now it's night time, time to go to sleep and have good dreams. I smiled as we drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in the morning when The Guppy kissed my cheek. I look up at her, and she whispered And now it's morning time, time to wake up. As if our conversation was never interrupted by a full night of sleep and good dreams. And I realized that this type of conversation, the kind you can have only with really good friends and loved ones, the kind that just pick up where you left off no matter how much time has gone by....that's the best kind of conversation.

The Guppy sat up, stretched, and said Guess what, Mommy. My life is AWESOME!!

I couldn't agree more.

Uninterrupted Conversation

A Kiss For My Baby

I went to my appointment yesterday full of anxiety.

When it came time to listen to the baby's heartbeat, my heart leaped into my throat. As my midwife moved the doppler probe around my belly, I stared out the window and prayed.

My midwife searched for the heartbeat...and searched...and searched. She added more gel to the doppler probe and tried again. More minutes ticked by.

I became convinced that there was no heartbeat.

My midwife looked at my face and smiled. "Don't worry, I haven't given up. Don't give up yet." she said.

And then, suddenly, there it was. Strong. Reassuring. Beautiful.

My midwife and I looked at each other and smiled. And then I burst into tears.

My midwife took my hand and held it as I cried in relief. She wiped the doppler gel of my belly, then leaned over and gave the baby a kiss. I think I will love her forever for that.

Because I was so anxious about the baby, my midwife suggested that I come in again in two weeks instead of the usual four, so I can hear the heartbeat again sooner.

I slept last night with both hands hugging my baby, a smile on my face.

Thank you so much, my little belly bean, for showing me how strong and well you are.

A Kiss For My Baby

Please Keep Beating...

I'm now officially in the second trimester of this pregnancy. Tomorrow I will be 13 weeks.

Kalei's heart stopped beating at 14 weeks.

I have an appointment with my midwife on Monday, and I am terrified. This fear creeps up on me at unexpected moments, seizing my heart and making it skip, leaving me gasping for breathe.

I heard this baby's heartbeat at 9 weeks (9 weeks!) and it was so strong and comforting. But then I remember how I had heard Kalei's heartbeat at 12 weeks, and how strong it was then and how it still stopped beating.

I keep telling myself not to worry, that we will hear a strong heartbeat and not that awful quiet and stillness like last time. That I will know my baby is doing well. That calms my fears for a while, but then it always comes sneaking back up on me again.

Please, little love of mine, let me know that you are okay. Let me hear the beautiful sound of life.

Please Keep Beating...

Learning With Friends

This year in homeschooling I find myself moving a little farther away from workbooks and worksheets and more to hands on learning through activities. I've done this mostly because I've noticed that while the Mermaid loves to learn using both activities and workbooks, the Guppy is not fond of workbooks at all.

In fact, I think they rather bore her.

We've also joined a homeschool co-op made up of five families with kids from ages 2-6. We meet every other week, and the girls look forward to these get-togethers with great excitement and enthusiasm. I love that the girls are learning to interact with children of different ages, and that they are building lasting friendships with a regular group of children. I also love that since all the moms take turns leading each session, they get to learn from a different "teacher" every week, each with her own style.

These pictures are from our second session, when the children painted gourds, measured a pumpkin and took out the seeds to cook.

At yesterday's session, the kids learned about composting, seasons, harvesting, and made homemade apple sauce.

Even though we've only had three sessions, the children already act as if they are best friends. They care for one another, looking out for the younger children and making sure each child has a fair turn to participate in the activities.

Yesterday, after we left the meeting and got home, the Mermaid tugged at my hand until I bent over so she could whisper into my ear: I'm so glad I met all my new friends, Mommy. I love them so much!

I can't wait to see what the coming year brings!

Learning With Friends

These Quiet Moments

My dearest Guppy,

This letter is very much overdue, as your third birthday was over a month ago. Even back then, it didn't seem real. You were still the same delicate, sensitive two year old that you had been all year. Even now, over a month later, there are times that I forget that you are now three.

But little by little, I sense the small changes that have come over you. These small changes have been just enough to prove to me that yes, you are in fact getting older.

You still seem so delicate and fragile. But at times, a new streak of stubbornness shows through. Many times, instead of doing what I say without question as you have done in the past, you instead crossed your little arms over your chest and boldly told me "No!"

You interact more with other children. When you used to play quietly in the corner by yourself, you now jump into the games and chaos with all the other children. You boldly assert yourself, telling others what you don't like and what is okay.

You talk a lot more. And surprisingly, you reveal how much you observe during learning time. Your learning style is so different from the Mermaid's that for a while, I wondered if you were really learning anything at all. You are modest and quiet with your learning, compared to the Mermaid. While she loves to walk around and talk and sing about what she learned, you keep it all quietly inside you, until you bring it out in the most random moments to astonish us all.

Still, despite this new boldness and stubbornness within you, you still retain that delicate and sensitive quality that the Mermaid has abandoned by this age. You still like to cuddle with me, and give me kisses. You still like to be near me, in my arms if possible. You still bury your head in my shoulder or hide behind my legs when you see something that makes you nervous.

This morning I woke up early and rose to start my day. You instantly sat up, groggy with sleep and trying to keep your eyes open. But you wouldn't go back to sleep unless I was laying with you. When I tried to convince you, you simply threw your arms around my neck and said But I need you, Mommy.

Even though there were a lot of things to be done, I lay back down with you a little longer. Because there will come a day soon, when you won't need me anymore. So I resolve to enjoy these quiet moments of cuddling while I still can.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Guppy. We love you so much.

These Quiet Moments