32 Weeks

I've definitely grown in the last couple of weeks! At my last doctor's appointment a few weeks ago they told me (surprise, surprise) that I'm measuring small. The doctor told me to make sure I get enough protein in my diet and to not be afraid to splurge a little. I made Ben hide the milkshake maker, but I think the girl scout cookies did their job. I have another appointment this week and I'm curious to see if I'm still measuring small, because nothing about me feels small right now.

Twinkies!

Elizabeth made Alison and I matching dresses and I think they are absolutely perfect for Easter. Hopefully my belly still fits in the dress then, but I'm so excited to wear them. Alison looks so grown up in it. She was twirling around the house in her new dress and said, "Mommy, now I'm a princess and you're a princess!"

Recovery Mode

I thought I better post before everyone thought we were dead. A mysterious flu bug snuck into our house and invaded. Alison woke up in the middle of night last Wednesday throwing up and continued for about the next 8 hours. Pedialyte became my best friend...and so did the washing machine. By Friday Alison was back to her normal toddler self and my challenge became trying to keep from doing too much and still get some good rest. Then, Ben came home early from work Friday sick. I've never seen someone so sick. Saturday I quarantined Ben and Alison and disinfected every inch of the house and did massive amounts of laundry. We've been throw up free for several days, but Ben is still not feeling all the way better and Alison told me several times yesterday that she didn't feel good. Alison giving Daddy a get better kiss

As for me, by the grace of God, I was spared. I know there were a lot of prayers said for me and the baby's protection and they were certainly answered. I've had ups and downs of feeling okay and then not so great. But I feel like it's my body's way of fighting hard to stay healthy and as long as I get good rest and plenty of food I feel pretty good. I feel like my body knows it can't even go there, so it better do whatever it has to to stay healthy. Hopefully soon we'll all be back to 100%.

A couple of days ago Alison was playing with her letters on the refrigerator. If she puts letters into the "Letter Factory" it tells her what sound the letter makes and then will say the word she's made. She left to play with something else and I turned around to find she had spelled her first word! I couldn't stop laughing. My daughter's first word to spell is SIN and don't you love how it's right next to her memory verse?!

30 Weeks

Baby Boy Alison


I thought it would be interesting to take a picture at the same stage of pregnancy in the same shirt with different babies. I thought I was much bigger this time, but I guess I'm really not. You can tell we've moved from Michigan just by looking at my hair.








It's getting harder to hold Alison. She doesn't seem to mind, but baby brother sure gives her some good kicks when she's sitting on him. Sleeping has been a million times better lately and my trips to the potty have even decreased (Ben says that means I need to drink more water, but I'm taking it as a blessing of more sleep).
Alison is very excited to be a big sister. This afternoon movement from the baby's room caught my attention as I walked by. I stepped in the room to find a baby doll in the swing...and the swing was on. I found Alison and asked her if she did that. She said yes and told me I needed to whisper because the baby was sleeping. She then proceeded to give "baby brother" a bottle and cover him with a blanket. She's been in there all afternoon giving him rattles, practicing buckling the bouncy seat and even playing the mobile for him. I think she's ready for this little guy to get here.

'A' is for ME!

We've started working on learning letters. My goal is to focus on one letter a week, so naturally we started with 'A'. I hadn't intended on starting our 'A' activities until Monday, but Alison was anxious to read our A books from the library, so we got a little head start. We told her the sound the letter 'A' makes and that Alison starts with 'A'. My little sponge caught on very quickly...except if you ask her what 'A' is for, she says, "ME!". 'M' is for mommy, just doesn't cut it as an explanation. She very clearly gets 'B' is for baby brother, 'D' is for daddy and can even sight read the words ant and box, but 'A' is still for me.

We have continued to go swimming once a week, but had to miss our "date" this week because we were out shopping for baby brother's bedding. We thought it would be a good idea to take her this morning when Ben could get in with her. It was a great idea in theory, except I forgot to pack his swimsuit. I still got in with for a few minutes, but she definitely needs some time with her daddy in the water. She's always been a water baby, but for some reason has become more timid about swimming (although you wouldn't be able to tell by the way she talks non-stop about going to the pool).

Here's the baby's new bedding. For some reason I get really excited about baby bedding. It's crazy, I know.
My goal was to just piece together the bedding instead of buying the expensive packages. It was a challenge, and one that's not over yet. This was the only single bumper I was able to find. I really like it and got a matching changing pad cover. I like the animal theme and was really excited to find the mobile. For some reason the mobile became a necessity for us with Alison-we used it ALL the time. My only hang up now is that I can't find a bed skirt or lamp shade. I also need some stuff to hang on the walls and am trying to come up with some creative not-expensive ideas. They had some cute wooden animals to hang on the wall at BabiesRUs, but they were crazy expensive. Sure, we got all that stuff for Alison, but #2 is a whole other story.

It was a snowy day today and perfect for snuggling and watching basketball. Alison had the life: a warm daddy who fed her fruit snacks and milk while a kitty kept her feet warm (I can't keep socks on her feet for longer than 5 minutes so Milo was really helping me out).

Don't forget your slimsloop!