Cailin Says

Life is definitely interesting with a crazy two year old around. She's starting to say and do some pretty hilarious things .... on purpose. With intention to be funny.

In the car yesterday:

C: Do it mommy! DO IT! (Rev the car up)

M: Sorry, it's too icy, and mommy's car doesn't do that.

C: Daddy did it.

M: Daddy revved the car?

C: Yep.

M: Oh really.

C: Yep. Do it mommy! DO IT! Daddy did it!

(Daddy insists he didn't. I'm not too sure.)

Walking by the diaper pail (gah, I know)

C: Ew! There's poopy in there! It's stinky in there! P.U.! (Waves hand in front of face)

She also insists that all the pillows and covers on our bed need to take up residence on the floor - several times a day. If I put anything back on the bed, my actions are met with an irate toddler staring at me. Who then waits until I leave the room to tear everything off the bed and toss it all on the floor anyway. I vacuumed an entire bag of dog hair off that floor yesterday so we should be good to have everything on the floor now. Gross.

She blames her farts on other people now too. Even if they are not present. She insists that it's Bailey who soils her diapers and not her. When she burps (which is as often as she can manage) she yells, " 'SCUZE ME!" and laughs like a lunatic. I'm kind of a fan of potty humor myself so there's not a lot of discipline there (sorry Auntie Hedder).

I think Santa is going to give her a little leeway since she is only two, but next year I have a feeling he's going to be sending an Elf our way to keep an eye on things.

Why I Need an Elf on MY Shelf

Santa accidentally sent a gift to the post office for me instead of to the North Pole. I was surprised to get the notice in the mailbox, but warmed up the car and brushed snow off it to make the trek to the post office to pick it up. Wouldn't want to inconvenience Santa by making him do extra work.

The lady was surprised to see me pick up a gift clearly marked for Santa, but since the address matched my ID, she let me take it home.
Where my curiosity got the better of me. Who would know if I peeked before Christmas? Santa made a terrible mistake of not sending an Elf to our house to sit on the shelf and watch goings-on. Or, perhaps he didn't since Cailin clearly doesn't need an Elf to watch her. Okay, maybe she does. At any rate, we don't have an Elf, therefore, no one would be able to tell on me if I did peek.
Just a little slice here in the tape.... No one's looking...
Just a little peek in the box. Oops, there's some paper in the way...
We'll just move that out of the road a bit there.... No one's going to be the wiser...
OOOOOHHHH!!! LOOKEEE!
A scoop coffee pot just for me!! Santa sure knows his stuff! Now I better put this all back in the box before anyone knows I looked. Now where did that box go?? It was right here a minute ago...
Oh. Busted.

Oh, Hi. I DO Have a Blog!

This was our attempt at a) Christmas card photo; b) hat modelling for my website; c) spreading the general cuteness around. Cailin is saying, "Look mommy! Two Carters!" in this picture. She knows how many "2" is. Carter says NOM! ARM! TASTY! (he's getting his first two teeth). He is modelling the teddy bear hat I made him. It's made out of pure 100% itchiness. Poor baby. I'm hoping a wash in copious amounts of fabric softener will help.

Things have been wild around here the last month. I've had my hands full with kids, Christmas preparations and starting a home business.
Carter had his 4 month shots. He's 16lbs 13oz, pretty tall and has a big head. Measuring in the 75th percentile for all. He cried for quite a while, but didn't react to his shots other than getting a tad hot/feverish later. He's a very happy camper, belly laughing and generally in a good mood. He has been sleeping all night again since starting rice cereal. He's loving the rice cereal; he makes all sorts of squeaks with his mouth wide open if I don't spoon it in there fast enough. Carter is just the sweetest happiest baby. He's now been playing in the Jumperoo.

We hit another milestone too. Cailin is now in a big girl bed. I sold her first toddler bed on Kijiji and ordered a pink sparkly racecar bed instead.

Last morning in her crib:
We actually got the bed at the right time. Cailin was able to climb into her crib by herself. She wasn't quite able to climb out by herself, but I'm sure it was forthcoming. At any rate, she would fill her crib to the rafters with every stuffed animal she could find then climb up and jump in like a weird ball pit. Then of course get stuck and demand OUT quite loudly while jumping around like a crazy person.

I kept telling her she was getting a new bed and showing her pictures of it online to get her excited. She seemed to understand she was getting a new bed, but wasn't excited until it came in a big box one morning (a week early!). She helped by hiding the various pieces under the crib and using the screwdrivers before hiding them in the couch.

It wasn't too hard to put together and finally:
She transitioned without any issues at all. I put a spinny doorknob childproof thingy on the door and she went to sleep without getting out of her room and playing in the middle of the night. Although one morning she came downstairs and scared the poo out of me - holding the door spinny thing in two pieces. "Hi mommy. It's broken. Throw in garbage?" I taped the crap out of it and she hasn't been able to escape since.

I'm pretty sure she dreams up interesting things to tell me when I open her door in the morning. This morning she greeted me and said, "Daddy's truck has hemi." Why, yes it does. She surprises me with this stuff all the time.

Cailin has been able to play outside here and there this winter. She really enjoys it. Especially when Bailey is out there with her running around.So anyways, I'm making crocheted hats and selling them online. I've had a whole bunch of orders since opening my virtual doors almost a month ago - almost 60 hats have been made/sold/shipped/waiting for pickup since then. I'm very excited about it. Unfortunately I've also been running myself ragged tackling the Christmas orders. I'm down to 2 hats now that have to be made before Christmas. I still need to update my website with the newest hats, but here it is Sock Monkey Hats by Krystal. There's a link to my Facebook page on there too.

I've met some very cool ladies - and ordered a couple neat items from another online store. Carter is getting a froggy cart cover (well, both kids can use it, really) and Cailin is getting a Thomas the Tank Engine blanket. In the past whenever I've told her about something she's getting (ie her bed) she hasn't been all that interested or excited. When I asked her if she wanted a Thomas blankie today, she went ape! She asked for it many times over today and looked in the dryer, shower, closets and toy box for the Thomas blankie. I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow.

I am working on Hello Kitty hats and a rainbow monkey hat tonight. I better get after it! Good thing I have a box of chocolates to keep me company...

Happy 2nd Birthday Odin!

Our sweet little Odin turned two today. Two years ago he was born on Friday the 13th, the first grandson and our only nephew. We love him to bits!

Yesterday we packed the kids up and loaded them in the truck with sippy cups, toys and snacks galore. Then we drove up to B.C. to spend the day with Odin and family for his birthday party. It was snowing a bit here and there, but soon cleared up and it was a good drive.

Cailin was painfully shy to start with, but after a while of Papa snuggles, she joined in and played with the kids. They ran all over the house and had a great time.

There was cookies, cupcakes and happy kids (of course!).

We had a great time visiting, and the birthday boy was so funny. He got some cars and didn't want to share his new Jeep very badly, especially not with Gracie.

Cailin cried when we left, she wanted to keep visiting with her cousins. I wish we lived closer! The kids really enjoy their time together. Cailin sang songs about Odin on the way home and wished him a happy birthday over and over. I wish he had gotten to hear it from her himself!

So happy birthday Odin, from Auntie, Uncle, Cailin, Carter and Bailey. We love you!

Happy Howl-oween!

Halloween was no big deal this year. I have to admit I've been a big preoccupied what with having a three month old and all. Also it may have something to do with the feisty and sometimes assertive (ahem) two year old we're trying to parent. I wasn't even sure we were going to do anything other than retreat (treat! get it?) to Nana's and eat her candy stash while hiding from trick-or-treaters. Luckily my friend Shelley invited us over and bribed us with pizza. We took our two year old girls around the block for a quick trick-or-treat then beat a hasty retreat (treat! oh, never mind...) back to her house for supper. The guys stayed behind and watched Carter. He slept the entire time.

Cailin reused her strawberry costume from last year:
It ain't gonna fit next year. She can manage to squeeze the hat on, but I'm sure it pinches her head so bad she can't remember her dad while she wears it. I'm glad a hoodie fit under it though. It wasn't all that cold out, but the wind was freezing so we didn't stay out for long. Just long enough to get some cute pictures of the girls and a surprisingly large amount of candy. Cailin wasn't feeling assertive, but rather shy and hung back from the doorways and refused to say 'trick-or-treat'. Or anything at all. She tucked her hands into the costume to stay warm and obediently followed us around. Aside from one house that had gravel Cailin got excited to play in, she didn't take her hands out. It was funny how both girls dropped everything to play with rocks. Fisher Price ain't got nothin' on rocks. Or sticks.

Not to be outdone, Carter dressed up too:
Heh, that's Cailin's shirt from two years ago. Mr. Smiley Pants looked adorable in it, even if it did have a little too much purple glitter on it for his dad's liking. He chilled out with the guys while we ran around in the wind and watched a little hockey. His first Halloween was a success.

For our own trick-or-treaters, I put a bowl of candy out on the front step. I hoped that would prevent anyone from ringing the doorbell and stressing Bailey out. As it was, she was hiding downstairs when we got home. I wonder what happened to make her do that? Also, only half the bowl of candy was gone. Since we don't get many kids over on Halloween I'm guessing it was either one or two greedy kids, or a bunch of very polite kids. I was hoping they would relieve me of the entire lot, but alas now I have the arduous task of eating all those sugar bombs myself.

As for Cailin's trick-or-treating horde, I put that in a bowl up in the cupboard and it's being used for potty training bribery purposes. She refuses to sit on the potty these days. Today I got her to sit on there three times for the price of a sucker and a few rocket candies. She told me a few times she had to pee, so looks like we're getting on track. She can easily do all the steps needed to use the potty all by herself so I hope it goes okay.

Carter is now three months old! I can't believe the time is going by so fast. In another month he might be ready to play in the Jumperoo and have a taste of rice cereal. It's crazy. He's growing like a weed, around 16lbs now, and he sleeps all night.

Cailin is also growing a bit. She hit 25lbs and is out of her 18 month pants. They still fit around the waist, but they are way too short. Kinda looks like she's expecting a flood at any moment. We're struggling with her 24 month pants. They are too long and too big around the waist. Most of them have adjustable waists, but even those don't go small enough. Back to the farmer rolls. Her shirts are size 3 now. I can't believe how fast my children are growing before my very eyes.

The house is still working out well for us. With the great purge of aught '11, we now have lots of room to play downstairs. Cailin spends her evenings going up and down the stairs to play on both levels. One of her favorite things to do right now is lay in our bed with the iPad and watch youtube or play Angry Birds. Unfortunately I'm not too keen on the snacks she insists on eating in there. I try to talk her into eating crackers on her father's side of the bed. As a side note, if I find one more goldfish cracker in that bed, I'm so firing the dog. Also? I'm getting pretty tired of the Nutella* found in random places on my WHITE bedding. Also also? Nutella doesn't look too healthy when you first catch sight of it out of the corner of your eye when it's smeared on the bedspread. With Bailey and a kid in a diaper, you can never be too sure. Anyways, moving on.

So it's November now and it's cold out. The house is cold and I'm a complete wimp. You would never know I spent 8 winters of my life working outside. I'm not looking forward to this winter at all, but a strange thing is happening to me. I'm actually starting to look forward to decorating for Christmas. Must have something to do with paring the Christmas decorations down to two boxes and being completely organized. I'm also looking forward to seeing the wonders of the season through Cailin's eyes, and Carter's too for that matter. I'm doing all my shopping online and avoiding crowds, and I'm making presents in my spare time. I think it's going to be a lovely holiday.

*for those of you not familiar with the deliciousness that is Nutella, it is a chocolate hazelnut spread not unlike peanut butter. Except for the chocolate and hazelnut part of course.

Baby in a Basket

This is Cailin when she was just a wee sprout, about two months old. I put her in this wicker basket with her knitted hospital hat and did a big photoshoot with her. Her hat was a bit small, but it looked so cute on her. I took so many pictures and put a billion of them on Facebook. There are many framed pictures of that shoot up all over the house.

A few days ago it was Carter's turn. He went in the same basket, but there was no way his knitted hospital hat would ever fit on his head now, so I just fluffed up his hair. Of course this photoshoot was different because I had two assistants helping me. Cailin and Bailey were fantastic baby-distraction-ers. They also spent a lot of time hanging out in my natural light source from the window. That is, when they weren't laying around on the mat under the kitchen sink:
Those two troublemakers really are best friends and they are never far apart. Bailey still sleeps outside Cailin's door waiting for her to get up in the mornings and they spend their days tearing around the house chasing each other. And generally making a lot of noise.

Carter is getting very smiley and talks a lot these days. He chats away happily and falls asleep with a little smile on his face. He is truly the sweetest baby I have ever seen.
Cailin insists on calling him "Buddy". It's hilarious. Everything is Buddy's - Buddy bath, Buddy blankie, Buddy jammies. When he cries, she makes sure to tell him, "It's okay, Buddy."

We had another busy day today. I think Bailey rolled in cat poop (I'm not that interested to really check too hard) and then rolled around in our bed at my absolute horror. Needless to say I washed/changed/fumigated our room so fast it blew everybody's hair back. Cailin helped me do laundry by stuffing clean and previously folded clothes into the dryer. So helpful!

We cleaned here and there. Did a little shopping at Walmart and got some groceries. Nana bought Cailin a beautiful winter coat, but it wasn't received well. I'm hoping she likes her coat better when she doesn't have toothpaste on her shirt and is upset about it.

Cinnamon buns anyone? Looks like we need more brown sugar!

Thanksgiving, Two Month Shots and Such

Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was nice to see everyone and eat my weight in baked goods. This year I'm so thankful for my healthy children, my family and our lifestyle. There are so many people who aren't as blessed as we are with what we have. I try not to take that for granted.

Cailin, Grace and Odin played together all weekend. They are going to be a little gang of troublemakers when they get older, I can already tell. The girls kept locking Odin in the closet and he would cry, Grace would blame Cailin and they'd all march back into the closet to do it over again. They absolutely love playing in Nana's office, especially now with the addition of a very interesting and fun futon. Let the games begin!

Grace loves Carter. She asks me if she can take care of him and wants to hold him. She's quite the mother hen and always lets me know exactly what Cailin, Odin and Bailey are up to at any given moment.

Cailin had so much fun playing with her cousins that she cried when they left to go home. For days after she asked if they went home in (Uncle) Dustin's orange truck to 'go sleepy nap bed'. She's been practising their names since then, saying them over and over and ending with "go home". Apparently my brother's new name is 'Uncle Dustin Orange Truck'. Heh.

It snuck up on me pretty fast, but the day dawned for Carter's two month shots and checkup. Since it was impossible to book him in for his shots in town, I had to book them in a tiny town about 20 minutes from home, halfway between here and Beaver City. His four month shots have been booked (three months in advance) in Beaver City and I'm very glad I won't be taking Cailin with me for those.

Cailin is a very sensitive and sympathetic soul. She started crying the moment we got into the teeny tiny health clinic (which is actually an old converted house slash seniors' hall). She cried the whole time we were in there, reaching maximum pitch when Carter got his three needles and joined in for the chorus (so to speak). I was under the impression that going through needles with the second baby would be a lot easier than the first. Ha. When both my babies were screaming and the tears were flowing, I almost felt like joining in. However, it didn't last that long and we were able to get out of there in a timely manner. Cailin stopped crying once we were outside.

Of course once she was buckled in, Cailin demanded to go see Nana. I obliged since it had been such a stressful morning. On the bright side, Carter did not have any side effects from the shots. No swelling, no fever, no crankiness, no being sick. Unlike some other eldest children. Ahem, Cailin.

Carter's stats:

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz

Height: um, the nurse said it was 21", but he was curled up and was 23" tall at his 6 week checkup so I'm going with that.

Head: Pretty big

95th percentile for head and weight, and according to her botched measurement, 10th percentile for height. So the prognosis was that he's short and fat with a big head. But the height is off, so I'm gonna say he's 95 percentile across the board. Big healthy boy!

At any rate, Carter is sleeping through the night, eating very well and hardly ever fusses. He is such a good baby. I have no idea how I lucked out twice.

Other updates:

Cailin finally got her last eyetooth (again), and hopefully it stays out this time.

Bailey has a sore eye today and I have no idea how that came to be.

Carter is in size 3 diapers! Holy cow!

It took about 10 days, but the basement is completely purged, organized and clean. I did stay up til 5am to get the bulk of it done a few days ago. I can't explain how big a weight has been lifted off my shoulders having that done. Five truck loads of stuff left our house - donations and junk. I did the upstairs a few weeks ago, and it only took two days. Everything in our house now has a place, and it makes the tidying up so easy and quick. Carter's room is the playroom for now, and it's organized. He's got a queen sized bed in there at the moment for guests and such. After much thinking and angst, it suddenly dawned on me that he doesn't need a twin bed in there eventually - he's already got a bed. It's a big bed, but a nice bed. So I ordered a jungle comforter for it for Christmas. No need to try and make a guest room out of the (now organized) storage room. Guests can simply use Carter's room for now. Hope they like jungle animals.

Cailin is talking up a storm. Take this conversation we had this morning for example:

Cailin: What horsie say?

Me: Neigh.

Cailin: No, mommy! Horsie say WOOF! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Mommy, what horsie eat?

Me: Hay, or grass.

Cailin: Mommy, no! Horsie eat cars! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Piggy say oink!

Me: That's right! What does horsie say?

Cailin: WOOF! *laughs hysterically*

Cailin: Where daddy go?

Me: He went to work

Cailin: *twinkle in her eye* No, he went to the store!

Me: No, he's at work

Cailin: He went to bed! Sleepy nappy!

Me: Work.

Cailin: Store! *laughs hysterically*

Seeing a pattern here?

Cailin also knows how to work the iPad flawlessly and uses it to play Angry Birds and watch puppy videos on youtube.

While working on the basement, we've been leaving the baby gate down and Cailin has had free reign in the house. She loves it. While we're not letting her be downstairs without one of us there, she's been having a lot of fun. For a lot of the time I was slaving around in the storage room (upgraded to Storage Room of Mild Disarray), she would lay in our bed playing iPad games with her ever-present bowl of popcorn. Which leads me to my next point.

This kid doesn't eat anything anymore. At best we can get 2 glasses of milk into her, a couple crackers and maybe some cheese and toast per day. Maybe some meat, but always popcorn. I know they go through stages of not eating, but it's never easy to watch.

Cailin slammed the door shut on me yesterday when I took garbage out to the bin. I watched the door slam and then she was able to reach the deadbolt just enough to lock me out. Thankfully the neighbor was outside and graciously let me use his phone to call Ryan. Who didn't have his phone on him. I left him a couple messages while trying to convince Cailin to open the door for me. She cried and begged me to open the door. I told her I couldn't, she would have to be a big girl and do it for me. She got frazzled and upset. She tried her hardest to flip the deadbolt, but once it had turned a bit more (in the right direction even!) she could no longer reach it. I asked her to get her stool from the bathroom and she ran off to comply. She brought back a butterfly hairclip. Gee.

It was a gruelling 30 minutes as I waited outside for Ryan to get my messages and come home. Cailin and Bailey pulled a chair up to the counter, watched the breadmaker churn away at pizza dough and helped themselves to a bowl of popcorn. Watching Cailin and the dog eat/lick/bat popcorn pieces off the counter was almost funny if it wasn't for the circumstances.

After a while she gave up on the breadmaker, popcorn, trying to unlock the door and me in general and sat on the couch watching youtube on the iPad. Carter had cried off and on, but mostly slept through the ordeal. Ryan showed up with a key and everything was good.

I will say this though, our house is like Fort Knox. Every window had a doweling in it and was latched and locked, and all the doors were locked. With the alarm system on top of that, I feel quite safe.

It was Nana's birthday last weekend and we went out for a fire and pizza. Cailin played outside like crazy and had a great time. I brought cinnamon buns (a little overcooked, oops) and it was such a good day. Cailin ate loads of brown sugar and cinnamon helping me bake. She brings me the sugar bag and asks for some sugar. Funny!

We've had quite the month so far. It's been very busy, but good. I'm looking forward to settling down now and just living day to day with the kids.

Picture Time!

Welcome to Fall

CAILIN HAS GIVEN UP HER SUCKIE!! We are on night #4 suckie-free. Still working on that last stubborn eyetooth though. Gah.

Fall is officially here. It's been busy around here with a new baby, but things are organizing themselves into a routine. Carter has been sleeping a lot more at night and being awake a lot more during the day. At his 6 week check up he was 12 lbs and 23" long and has done nothing but grow ever since. He is now in 3-6 month clothes and even some 6 month sleepers. Carter is two months old today! Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Speaking of fun! Cailin is just barrels of fun. She is talking, singing and dancing and generally making life complete and interesting. One of her new favorite chores is to throw stuffed animals in the tub and wash them. She's especially fond of washing Elmo with soap. "Wash Elmo, soap!"
Recently I've been busy organizing and cleaning the house. It took me two days to completely clean, organize and purge all unnecessary items from the upstairs. It is really comforting to open a closet, cupboard or drawer and have a place to put away items. The playroom (which will one day be Carter's room) is also fully organized and cleaned. It's great to be able to toss the toys quickly into their assorted bins and be done with clean up in half the time it used to take. Guess watching those hoarder TV shows and getting panicky about clutter really paid off.

Of course, the downstairs is a different story. Fresh off the victory of a fully cleaned and organized upstairs, I attacked the storage room downstairs (Pit of Doom) with a vengeance. It has now been upgraded to Pit of Despair. Kinda looks like a hoarder took over the basement right now. I had every intention of getting back to it over the weekend, but we spent it at the farm instead. Meh. I'll get it one garbage bag at a time.
Grampy and Pammy came to stay with us for a week and Cailin enjoyed their company thoroughly. She's still talking about them and looks for them occasionally in the playroom. We had a good visit and look forward to seeing them again.

August Updates

Carter is now three weeks old! The days are flying by way too fast. What passed for summer around here is fading into fall - sunshiny days with brisk winds and earlier sunsets. My sweet little Carter is growing before my very eyes. Our special nickname for him is Buddy and that's mostly how we refer to him - even Cailin calls him Buddy.

Carter is such a sweet and calm baby. He doesn't fuss very often and sleeps very well. So far we've only had one night where he wasn't too interested in sleep, but quietly observed his surroundings instead. Of course he likes to be held, but doesn't mind being put in his bassinet for a sleep either. Some nights we get up every two hours, but mostly he's been waking every three hours to eat. One night we even went four hours between feedings.

I'm healing up from my c-section fairly well. Once in a while I'll think I'm farther along in the healing than I really am and over extend myself. Today I'm taking it very easy as a result. Other than that, I'm feeling very good and can get in and out of bed with no pain. That's a huge bonus when I get up with Carter. I've been tired the last few days, but I'm expecting to catch up on some missed sleep in the next few days.

We've been out at the farm now for two weeks. It really doesn't feel that long! We started out by camping here for Mom and Dad's 30th anniversary a few weekends ago - and I never went home. I'm unable to take care of Cailin by myself, so she's been out here with a swarm of grandparents to look after her. I had a choice - I could be home by myself with Carter or I could stay at the farm too. I chose to stay. It's been a great system. Carter, Bailey and I take up residence in the guest room downstairs, and I only have to worry about caring for the baby. Mom and GG wrangle Cailin during the day (with a little help from Papa Ray) and Papa takes a turn in the evenings. She is extremely well cared for, and extremely lucky to have all those grandparents doting on her.

Since Ryan is on days off tomorrow, we will be packing up the kids and dog and heading home. I'll be glad to get there and get a routine going, but I'm going to really miss being at the farm with everyone. It's been a great time with lots of visiting and playing with Cailin and getting to know Carter.

I just so appreciate all the help that has been given to us (and especially me) in the last while. Thank you to Mom and Dad, and GG and Papa Ray for taking such good care of us. There aren't enough words to say the kind of thank you I want to portray for your efforts. From the big things like taking care of Cailin and walking Bailey when I wasn't able to, to bringing me a water - it's all appreciated more than you could possibly know. Thank you so much.

Welcome Carter!

Carter Aubrey Lyle

August 3

8lbs 1oz

20.5"

Mommy and Carter are both doing fine. Carter is a very laid back baby, good eater and wonderful sleeper. We're at home now and settling in nicely. Looks like Cailin is coming back from Nana and Papa's house tomorrow, and we can't wait to be all together!

Last Prenatal Appointment EVAH

I was looking forward to my last prenatal appointment (ever!) on Thursday morning. Well, kind of. I mean, how fun is getting in line with all the other pregnant women herded like cattle through a strange conveyor of peeing in cups, being poked and prodded and getting your dreaded bulk weighed? Answer: not much, really. But I really enjoy hearing Jellybean's heartbeat over the monitor.

Of course the drama started again Wednesday night. I was exhausted and sore. My stomach pain flared up again, along with some nice sharp jabs from Jellybean with a side of contractions. In short, I was miserable. Everything between my chin and knees hurt. Cailin got to go to bed nice and early while I retired to the comfy couch downstairs with an equally miserable and bloated Bailey. That dog doesn't leave my side these days. In fact, she was letting toots go against my leg for all she was worth. I could have cried.

I put up with pain, and acid dog farts for a couple hours and was about to heave my bulk into my own bed when Cailin woke up. She was so upset I pulled her out of bed and walked her around the house until I couldn't hold her anymore. We sat down on the couch to give my aching body a rest. She took the opportunity to grab the remote and turn the TV on. We watched a home improvement show for a while - until the couch positively quaked and rumbled. I turned to Cailin and asked her what that noise was. She pointed to her butt and told me, "Poopy!" then laughed hysterically. Apparently she had had a terrible gas pain. After that, she was all smiles and happy. We went downstairs to say good night to Daddy. She told him she had farted. He was so proud.

It took quite a while, but I eventually caught the wee squirming toddler and deposited her back in bed. It took even longer to convince her that she had to go back to sleep. The yelling of the injustice of such an act was long and loud. I retreated back to my couch since it hurt too much to lay down. I was up past 3am.

My phone rang at 8:30am. It was the doctor's office, and I knew they wanted me to come in early as soon as possible since the doctor was leaving on vacation that afternoon. I felt awful and sore. And dreadfully sick to my stomach. I ignored the phone call and tried to get some more sleep. They called the house line. And then called my cell phone back. I checked my messages. They wanted me to come in at 9:45am. That's laughable. I might be able to heave my bulk through their door at that hour, but Cailin simply does not get out of bed before oh, say 11am these days.

I rested for a while yet, then decided a shower would make me feel much better. Um, not so much. Let's just say I got sick and couldn't stop throwing up. Also? There is nothing like being nine months pregnant and vomiting. Riveting I say. I hope to never experience it again, and that's all I will say about that.

It took a while to recoup after that, and by then I had to really hurry to get my sorry behind in gear to get to that fabled last prenatal appointment (ever!). I dressed Cailin in her crib while she was half asleep and put her on the floor with suckie and blankie and told her to go put her shoes on. She immediately burst into tears, thinking I had forgotten her morning sippy cup of milk. "Juice! Juice!" she cried (everything is juice these days). I gave her the sippy of milk and ushered her to car and strapped her in. She was tired and obviously felt crappy.

The doctor took one look at us and asked what was wrong when we walked in (10 minutes late, I might add). I was the only patient in there. I explained Cailin was super tired and had been up late, and that I had been sick all morning. The doctor seemed very concerned. I thought maybe I would hang off her leg and beg her to make me feel better, but turns out she is a very compassionate woman. She had her staff give me the star treatment and I was in the examining room so fast my head spun (Jellybean is doing perfectly). She ordered me to go straight to the hospital for IV fluids and gravol. I could have kissed her feet. I love gravol.

Stats

Weight gain: 34lbs (how??)

Jellybean heart rate: 156 bpm

Jellybean size: BIG. measuring 39 weeks or so (doc was vague on that point)

My blood pressure: surprisingly 130/70

Cailin asked the doctor for a sucker (she would never forget that part) and I was reminded to head to the hospital right away. So I ran over to the office and picked Ryan up, who drove me once again to the hospital and dropped me off at the front doors. Cailin gave me the stick from her sucker - all done, Mommy! - as a parting gift. I texted Mom and Dad to keep them in the loop. I registered again, went up to Labor & Delivery and got a non-stress test right away. This would be the fourth time in L&D in two weeks if you've lost count.

This time though? The place was filled to the rafters with laboring women. There was one in there screaming like they were shooting a horror movie down the hall. She was scaring all the first timers. The one nurse (ONE NURSE FOR ALL THOSE WOMEN) kept apologizing for the wait for my gravol. Every time she came into my curtained room she had to run out to go help someone else. I put my feet up and laid back, glad for the rest. But eventually enough was enough. I had things to do that didn't include sitting in a busy hospital listening to the agonizing of my fellow preggos. I know it's a natural process, but it's unnerving after a while.

Eventually the nurse came back and asked me if I knew what I was in for. I got scared and told her no, what was I in for? I expected something dreadful - maybe a painful procedure, maybe an early c-section or something like that. She leaned in and whispered, "An IV." Pffffttt. Come on lady, I've had much worse than that! Bring it on! GIMME MY GRAVOL ALREADY. I'd been in there for almost two hours at that point.

She put the IV in, expecting me to flinch or cry or something. Which I didn't. I'm nothing if not a tough nut when it comes to pain (except obviously the last few weeks of this pregnancy of course - GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT). She put the sweet, sweet gravol in the IV bag and left me for a few minutes. My nausea went away almost immediately.

I was feeling moderately better when she came back and told me she needed my bed for another patient. I had to wheel my own IV pole out to the couch in the waiting room around the feet of several other (very) pregnant patients and sit myself down. I felt a little cheated. Gravol makes me super tired and I now didn't have a bed to lay in. Ugh. I sat and watched as my veins slurped down the first bag of fluid in record time. Eventually the nurse came back, started a second bag, inquired how I was feeling and lamented that there was no TV for me to watch back there. Um, okay. How about not having to sit in the waiting room while receiving fluids? Isn't that more of an inconvenience? I could give a rat's posterior about watching TV.

I watched the second bag disappear as quickly as the first. The nurse came in again and started a third bag. Holy cow! How much fluid did I need anyway? I was approaching four hours in there and hadn't been seen by a doctor yet. The nurse eventually came back and apologized for me getting the short end of the stick in treatment. They were having babies in storage rooms they were so busy and full up. So... they were going to send me home without the doctor having a look at me after all. If I still felt I needed to see him, he would be available at 8am the next morning. She stopped my IV, bandaged me and bid me adieu.

I left feeling decidedly... puffy. Jellybean's graph had been perfect, and he wasn't stressed at all, so I didn't feel that bad about leaving. If we could only get through until Wednesday without any more drama!

Nana had picked Cailin up from Ryan and had both girls downtown (Kelli is also here for a visit). Ryan picked me up at the hospital and we met the girls at home. I felt moderately better, but my stomach was still hurting. I packed a bag for Cailin and Mom whisked the girls back out to the farm. I miss my little girl whenever she is gone and I felt bad I was too sick to take care of her. I slept the entire afternoon. I felt better when I woke up. Bailey even behaved herself (as much as she is capable of anyway). It was so quiet without Cailin that night.

The next morning I got up and took my time showering and getting ready for the day. I made cupcakes for Kelli to decorate later that afternoon. I made the girls lunch while Nana went to painting class. We decorated the cupcakes. Cailin decorated her hair and after some futile attempts at cleaning her up, she had to be tossed in the bath. Nana came back to get the girls, but I wanted Cailin at home with me. So she took Kelli to get feather hair extensions and Cailin went for a long nap. It was a good day. After Cailin had gone to bed, I retreated to my comfy couch downstairs to watch a movie. And ended up being sick and unable to sleep until after 3am. Sigh.

Today was touch and go. I can honestly say the most energetic thing I did today was make french toast for dinner. The rest of the time I sat on the couch (with swollen feet up scaring the other residents) surrounded by more toys than I could possibly count. The entire living room looked like a toy store exploded in there. Cailin was all revved up and showed zero signs of napping and... didn't nap. By 6pm I begged Ryan to take her with him when he took the movies back. He did more than that - he took Cailin for a ride and was gone for two whole hours. I had a blissful nap on the couch and got some much needed rest.

Cailin doesn't let me rest very often. Whenever my eyes slam shut for a minute, she has to ask, "What Mommy doing? Mommy sleeping! Mommy sleepy?" and pokes me. Then laughs. What a comedian. She is talking so much these days. Her baby words are being replaced with real words and sometimes I'm surprised when she launches into a great long speech and that I've understood most of what she's said. When I stop and think that we'll have another one soon, our son, and that we'll get to watch him and listen to him too, my heart gets very full.

GG and Papa Ray are coming in the morning, and we can't wait to see them. Cailin especially talks about GG and 'Papa' a lot. "What GG doing? Where GG go? GG go Nana's house?" and then repeats everything except with "Papa" instead of "GG".

Technically now, it's three more sleeps til Jellybean's here. Lordy, I don't know if I'm gonna make it.

More Labor & Delivery Drama

First of all, we'd like to wish a very happy birthday to Auntie Rochelle for Thursday!

After going in on Tuesday to get my painful stomach issues checked out, I figured that would be the end of it until I either hit labor or my scheduled c-section. Ha!

Yesterday I realized I was spotting (so sorry to the grandfathers reading this, I know that's far too much information) and phoned the hospital. They said something along the lines of, 'get thee to the emergency room and right away'. And perhaps, 'don't have a baby today'. I'm not sure, I lost track after the 'go to emergency' part. I texted Mom I was going in.

Ryan had the car all soapy in the driveway and its contents strewn about from here to Alaska. I told him I had to go back to the hospital and that I was in a bit of a hurry. He rinsed the car off and came in the house to watch Cailin who had just woken from her nap. I took a slightly soapy car and drove myself in. I realize that wouldn't work for everyone. I wouldn't have drove myself if I was in pain or panicky. As it was though, Cailin had to be fed dinner and there would be plenty of time for them to join me at the hospital if I needed them later. Oh, all right. Cailin touches everything and she doesn't need the germs right now. She doesn't need to be in the hospital licking walls or something.

Once there, it was a snap to check in at emergency and I was able to get upstairs in record time. Plus there was ample parking to boot. The nurse on call was very kind and strapped me into the monitors again. It was a relief to hear Jellybean's unstressed and healthy heartbeat. I was having no contractions whatsoever.

After a while, the doctor on call came in and started going through his checklists. He was extremely funny and very pleasant to talk to. He put me at my ease. My blood pressure was still high though - 149/68. I've never seen my own number so high before. Jellybean's numbers were perfect. He was having a snooze in fact.

The doc ran the usual checks and it could not be determined where the blood had come from (sorry for the over-share again, folks) so he wheeled the ultrasound machine over. It was huge and ancient. He told me they used this machine back in the day when the city still had dinosaurs as residents. It was at that time that my stomach started its painful clenching again, and I made sure to tell him.

This ultrasound was wonderful. He didn't rush at all, and took time to look at every inch of my baby boy. And yes, it was more than confirmed that Jellybean is a boy. The doc showed me his little hands, clenched into fists and held over his face as he slept, his fluttering heart and his little toes. Jellybean has tons of hair - it looks like sparkles in a halo around his head on the screen.

Then Jellybean crossed his feet at the ankles and pushed into my stomach hard. And the clenching began again. So now I know why that's been so painful - he's pushing both his feet into the underside of my stomach and it is more than likely bruised from all the abuse. Huh.

The doc finished up, went to study his findings and came back for a chat. Baby is perfectly happy and healthy, everything is exactly where it should be and there are no problems to be seen. Jellybean's numbers and graph were perfect. Since I'm only 37 weeks along, he thought it best that I go home and rest. There was no urgency to remove the baby from the oven until he's baked just a little more, he said. I agreed. Then the doc tried to charge me ten dollars for using the bathroom. Just this once though, he let me go for free because I was leaving.

On my way out the door, the nurse stopped me for one more check of my blood pressure. It was sky high, but she didn't tell me the exact number. She went back to find the doctor again, but he had already left for his rounds. She told me to come back the next afternoon to get it checked again. She thought maybe after a rest it would be a lower number.

Today I made my way back to emergency, registered and went up to labor and delivery again. This is the third time this week. I'm surprised no one offered me frequent visitor discounts or something. At any rate, upon explaining the situation to the nurse on call, she immediately ordered a non stress test with the blood pressure check. Over the next 30 minutes I had several blood pressure checks (all normal or even low) and got to listen to the sweet sound of my baby boy's heart. He made a perfect graph again, and no sign of any contractions but plenty of baby movements.

Then I had to pee in a cup for protein/sugar checks (gah, I know, I know). All clear. I should be good to go until my next doctor's appointment on Thursday. From there, it's a straight shot to the following Wednesday when Jellybean will make his appearance.

11 more sleeps until his arrival. Holy thundering tarnation and a hand grenade. Or something. I'm gonna burst from the excitement. Or maybe that's just my bladder.

Dang Cats Anyways

I'm not a fan of cats. Before this last week though, I wouldn't have said that cats were the bane of my existence. That's a tad dramatic. This week however? I'm saying it freely, dramatic or not: cats are the bane of my existence.

We're about the only idiots on the block without a cat. I say this because everyone else obviously knows something we don't about those feral felines. I do know that they make my nose water and eyes itch fantastically and that Ryan is deathly allergic, but aside from that, I don't know much.

What I do know is that since we don't have a cat, our yard seems to be neutral territory and all the neighboring cats feel that it's public damn property. I wouldn't mind if a cat wandered through once in a while, but it seems like every five minutes there's a new one in the yard. I can't let Bailey out without first going out and doing a cat sweep. Bailey is terrified of cats (and also wildly unassuming) and I would hate for her to get injured from some strung-out feline. Plus there's the fact that they hunt and kill birds in our yard. That drives me crazy. I'm not keen on the birds getting killed of course, but I realize even cats have to eat (food chain and all that). The problem is the disgusting mess left behind, because let's face it, cats aren't very tidy in their bird maiming/eating frenzy. I don't need my kid or dog playing in remnants.

Of course because our yard is neutral territory, the cats choose to hold their fights there. Cat fights produce the most unsettling noises I've ever been privy to. The usual location for said fights is right outside our bedroom window in the flower bed. I've woken more times lately with the hair standing straight up on my neck than I care to mention. While it explains my wild hair and lack of sleep, I could totally do without all that wretched yodelling.

I imagine the cats have set up their own kind of UFC fighting to be held amongst my precious hollyhocks and poppies. The players in no particular order:

The General

A grey and grizzled war vet. Covered in scars, fresh and old. Sometimes bloodied by a recent battle. Big and confident, this tomcat isn't scared away easily. Can yodel with the best of them.

"Muffy" The Muffin

Muffy is a fluffy unassuming orange house cat. Generally shy, but fairly sweet. Wildly unintelligent. Bullied by most of the other cats on the block. Has to be saved from certain doom several times a week. Also needs to be removed from under vehicles before proceeding to leave the driveway. Bit of a shmuck.

BOW (Black on White)

Wily cat that's new to the neighborhood. Unafraid of being shooed from the yard or driveway. Refuses to leave the yard even when asked politely. If there is a disturbance amongst the cats, this guy is right in the middle of it.

WOB (White on Black)

Brother? Sister? Er, sibling, to BOW. Also wily. Also will not get the hell out of the driveway, yard or flowerbed. In great danger of bodily harm. Backs up BOW in most cat disturbances, or is the cause of them.

Those are the four main players. Of course, it seems like every second day there's a new cat I haven't seen before sauntering around our property. I'm at my wit's end trying to keep them out of the yard and away from pooping in my flowerbeds. That's not the worst part though.

The other day I went down the hall to grab a diaper out of the closet. A great big fluffy orange cat passed me in the hallway, leaving the playroom. I let out a most unladylike gasp/shriek he had scared me so badly. If I hadn't just emptied my bladder prior to that, I would have done it then. The cat, Muffy, exited stage left through the open deck door and under the fence to his own yard. After the fact, Bailey came to my rescue and barked at him from behind the safety of the deck rail. Thanks, dog.

Muffy is an okay cat, but that's outside. I will not tolerate cats in my house! We don't have a cat dammit, there's no reason for one to be inside our sanctuary! Also? Damn, he's big close-up.

Yesterday, BOW or perhaps WOB was in the house (I can't tell them apart). I just about lost my mind, chasing shrieking and trying to find something to throw at him. If I could move just a little faster I would have kicked him right over the rail of the deck. As it was, he was rightfully afraid of the slow moving, slightly waddling freight train of a woman coming after him. He made it through the deck rails and onto the safety of the ground with tons of time to spare, however he sauntered around just out of my reach for what I deem an unnecessary amount of time.

Today those rotten brother cats were both in my yard hunting birds along with yet another unknown feline. I went out the back door to chase them out of the yard, but they would only go so far without me donning shoes and actually chasing them. Since some lovely bird put a poo poo in my Croc on the back step, there wasn't any chasing about to happen.

I have completely had it. How on earth am I going to get rid of all these cats? I was going to be nice and say they could wander through my backyard, but with the recent intrusions INTO MY HOUSE, I say it's war. Any cat on my property from this point on had better be willing to take the heat for trespassing. I might not be very fast right now, but I will get them. Oh, I will.

To the Hospital - and Beyond

Yesterday I woke up to sharp pains in my stomach. I thought maybe I had rolled on Jellybean and he was fighting back, but that wasn't the case. For the next hour I lay as still as I could while my stomach clenched and hurt. On top of that, I was having some lovely contractions. Now I'm no stranger to contractions, but I didn't know how to process the stomach pain on top of them. My poor belly hardened into a tight ball and wouldn't relax. Even a steamy shower didn't do any good. It stayed painful and hard as a rock for the next hour.

I hummed and hawed about what to do next. Nobody wants to be the girl that cried wolf (er, labor) at the hospital and be sent home in embarrassment. I wasn't convinced that this was even labor I was experiencing. Then I thought about it - how would I know if it was labor or not? I've never been through it before! I called my baby doctor and she said something along the lines of 'get thee to labor and delivery and do not have a baby today'. Okay, I can do that. I hope.

I texted Ryan to come get me, painfully got Cailin up and what passes for dressed these days and made her a snack. My belly felt like it was going to rip in half; I was nauseous but couldn't barf. I managed to chase Bailey outside and get us all ready for when Ryan got home. Upon his arrival at the house, the iPhone charger had to be located (in the truck), truck keys had to be found (on the bookshelf, safe from Cailin and also Ryan's searching eyes) and the truck's car alarm had to be neutralized (bringing a concerned neighbor to his kitchen window to ask if everything was alright - he had just had his own truck stolen a few weeks ago down south).

Let me just say our hospital is a complete gong show. I painfully waddled to emergency, hand on belly and Health Card in hand, my best 'I'm in labor' face on. The lineup up went up and down the hall and no one gave me a second look. After a few minutes of waiting I decided to go straight up to Labor & Delivery instead. The nurse on duty there immediately sent me back to the main level to register at Out Patients. I did, and made my way back up to L&D and onto the OB Triage room.

They hooked me up to monitors - one for the baby's heartbeat and one to measure contractions. Somewhere in the elevator the contractions had lessened and weren't very strong now. However, the clenching in my stomach hadn't abated at all, nor had the pain. They took my history, had me sit for 20 minutes to get a good look at the graph the monitors were making and had me lay back and rest. My blood pressure seemed high - 145/84 - but they didn't seem concerned about it. I was pretty happy to see Jellybean's healthy heart rate and be able to see his movements via the contraction numbers. Meanwhile, Ryan was having a terrible time finding/paying for parking in the shockingly ridiculously undersized hospital parking lot.

Eventually Ryan was able to get the truck parked, Cailin in a stroller and get up to where I was (after a bit of a search). Cailin wasn't sure what to make of all the monitors and such, but she was happy to sit on the bed with me and beat me up a bit before settling in to eat some crackers. My baby doctor surprised me by throwing back the curtain and checking on me to see if I was in fact in labor. In short order it was determined that I wasn't - but that it is not far off at all. I explained my issue to her and got a Zantac and some toast for my efforts. She thought I had some gastro problems.

After a little more monitoring, they told me to go home and take it very easy. If my pain didn't go away or got worse, please come back right away. So I did turn out to be the girl who cried wolf - er, labor - after all. Don't get me wrong, I was relieved Jellybean wasn't coming early - at 36.5 weeks, it is still a little too soon for him to make his appearance. But I am so done being pregnant that it's not funny. I feel really bad for those that go weeks past their due date.

Mom met us at home and took Cailin for the afternoon so I could rest. Ryan had to run back to work. Bailey and I snuggled up and took full advantage of the break and slept all afternoon. When I woke up I felt better. My stomach was still sore, but it wasn't doing that awful clenching thing anymore. It started again later, but not as badly as before.

Cailin had a great time shopping with Nana. She even got to go see Papa at the office! When Mom dropped her off at home, she gave a little wave and said, "Bye Nana!" at the door. She is really starting to talk these days.

Today I feel better. My stomach is still sore, but nothing like it was yesterday. Everyone is tired and dragging their feet. The weather is bizarre today - windy and sunny, then it pours buckets of rain, cloudy, back to dazzling sun, just in time to pour rain again. It's not that warm. It's the kind of day you lay on the couch with a blankie and do nothing. Coincidentally, that's exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Can't argue with that!

Updates, Updates, Updates!

Oh boy, has it really been a month since I posted last?? Things have been crazy busy here for the last month.

The House:

We've been working on the house every chance we get. Cleaning, organizing, moving furniture, and generally getting ready to welcome the newest member of our family. We still have a few things to do, namely get the spare room ready for guests to stay in, but baby-wise we are all ready to go. We hung some light fixtures in the kitchen, painted some of the ceiling and - oh, yeah - built a deck. The deck is wonderful! We've been enjoying every moment we're able to outside.

We also got a new sectional couch, moved the other furniture around the house to make room and put together the new TV stand for downstairs. Did I mention all the cleaning, organizing and tidying we've been doing? Here's a pic of Ryan and Cailin enjoying the new couch after a long night of teething on Cailin's part:
Cailin:

Is learning new things every day. She's talking a lot more, and speaking in sentences. She had two birthday parties on two weekends in a row. The first was rained out, but the second one we had for the family had decent weather. We were able to set up the bouncy house and let the kids go bonkers. I didn't manage to get a single picture of that party, and didn't realize it until later. I'm glad everyone else had their cameras going! It was a wonderful day, with family from near and far showing up to celebrate. I made cupcakes, we had BBQ food and it was just a nice, relaxed visit.

Cailin has recently undergone what we think is an allergic reaction to something she ate. She has a rash under her arm that has been extremely persistent to clearing up. I took her to the doctor after trying two different pharmacists' recommendations. She's now got Benedryl to take and a prescription cream to try and clear up this rash. Her tonsils are also swollen and sore, so I have antibiotics to give her if she takes a turn for the very sickly in the next few days. I'm hoping the sore throat and rash aren't related.

Cailin surprised me last week by asking to go potty - on the big potty - all by herself. It seems like she's been motivated to learn by her older cousin Grace. She's been trying every day now, but usually she's already peed by the time she actually gets on the potty. At least she knows! She doesn't want any help either, telling me no and pushing my hands away. She wants to do it all by herself.

Visitors:

GG and Papa Ray came and stayed in Beaver City for a week. Grace was there too, and she and Cailin have been really good buddies. They play together really well and have so much fun tearing around the farm. It was so nice to have everyone out and get so much visiting in!

Papa Ray built railings/seating on the deck at the farm (Papa and Ryan helped). It looks really nice. GG fixed all the flower gardens up, and does that ever look nice! The yard is really coming together. It was hilarious to drive out one day and see Papa Ray on one lawn tractor, Nana on the other, and Papa running the push mower while GG weeded the gardens. It was Put-Your-Guests-To-Work-Day at the farm apparently.

We got to do some shopping, chase after kids, and got lots of visiting in besides. Grace is going home soon, she's been in Beaver City for two weeks now. Cailin is going to miss her!

Bailey:

Terrorized by several thunderstorms - including a very dynamic one right above the city - and pooped on the new couch. Still in the doghouse. 'Nuff said.

Weather:

Aside from the sort of sunny/windy/somewhat chilly weather we had while GG and Papa Ray were here, it's been raining non-stop. It rained so much and so hard that our basement leaked a little water. We were lucky though - other houses had as much as a foot of water in their basements. After making an irrigation ditch to lead water away from our house, we've been problem free. But oh! the rain, it just never stops! Actually, today was the first day in over two weeks where it stopped for any length of time. The sun came out for a while too - just in time to give a brilliant sunset. Hopefully that's the end of the rain for a while - Ryan's getting sick of BBQing in the rain:Jellybean:

Is doing very well. I've had several doctors' appointments in the last month. I got in to see the surgeon and the c-section is booked for August 3rd. That means less than 20 sleeps until we get to meet this wiggly wonder. He's measuring 36 weeks at 35 weeks along. I'm assuming he'll be keeping that ratio up for the rest of his duration 'baking'. His heartbeat is strong and healthy and moves around a great deal despite his lack of elbow space.

Me:

I'm (we're) currently 36 weeks along. I'm getting to the very tired, very done feeling stage. At the end of the day I'm so tired and achy that I usually just crawl into bed without much reading (and obviously without any blogging). Of course, that's about the time Jellybean wakes up and does his daily cycling workout.

I've been experiencing some very painful contractions. I can't help but think OH BOY HERE COMES LABOR when all the pain starts. Contractions are worse on days when I'm really busy and on my feet a lot. Also? My bladder seems to have shrunk to microscopic levels. I get up more times a night than Bailey does. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

We're on the go doing stuff every single day and before I know it, it's bedtime again. The days are shooting by in a big blur. As much as I want to be done with pregnancy - on the other hand, I want time to slow down to enjoy every moment of this summer.

I'm enjoying every second with Cailin and watching her learn and grow. She's figuring things out and starting to problem solve. Can't reach something? No problem, build a ladder to reach it. The kid's a genius when it comes to climbing.

I have a lot of stories to tell from the Adventures of Cailin and Grace, but those will have to wait for now.

Cailin's 2nd Birthday

Cailin's birthday party went really well. We were rained out of course, but spent a nice afternoon in the house playing with new toys. Two of Cailin's little friends showed up, Olivia and Devanie. I was disappointed we weren't able to spend time on the new deck, play in the water table, kiddie pool or bouncy house, but that's okay.

Cailin got some really cool stuff - a lawnmower that makes all sorts of noise; a baby she can take in the tub/water table; a vet kit complete with shaggy puppy; a baby penguin you feed and much more. She's been playing with everything non-stop. Oh, and don't forget the keyboard complete with microphone... She's been playing with it like crazy (truth be told, so has her dad).

I didn't go crazy making a big, intricate cake for her party, instead choosing to go with cupcakes. I made orange blossom tie-dye cupcakes with swirly pink and purple icing (purple and yellow on the inside), and ones with chocolate icing. I like how the cupcake "tree" turned out:

Nana and Papa brought the birthday girl balloons (which needed to be immediately freed from their weight and released into the house) and the much loved lawnmower.
A good time was had by all, even Ryan - who ended up grilling hamburgers in the pouring rain. Thank you all for coming and sharing Cailin's special day with her!

Rhino Ride and Big Girl Bed

Whew. Another crazy action packed weekend! On Friday we risked a trip to the mall to get Jellybean some sleeping quarters - namely, a 'micro-bassinet/playpen'. Thank you Auntie Ro, Uncle Don and TJ for the Christmas money! We used it on stuff for the kids. Cailin got a pink diaper shirt to cheer on Papa's hockey team:We had fun in the mall. Cailin ran around and had a great time collecting items for the cart. She found a fuzzy blanket that really needed to be cuddled and packed around the store. We got a lot of errands done - including paying for the supplies for our new deck. Weather permitting, we will have it finished by the end of this coming weekend.

We headed out for the farm and watched the hockey game. Kind of. Cailin ran around the downstairs living room and distracted everyone a lot. She can open the door knobs down there and has a lot of fun just opening the door and closing it behind her. She shouts, "Bye!" to us as she's leaving the room.

On Saturday we loaded up the Rhino and took it down to the Dunes for a ride. Ryan had the great idea of strapping Cailin's carseat to the Rhino with a ratchet strap. It worked great:
Cailin enjoyed the ride like crazy, whooping and wheeeeeeeing and laughing. Until we went down a hill - at which point she slapped her hands over her eyes and they pretty much stayed there until we went back to the truck. Well, she alternated between covering her eyes and then covering her ears. Towards the end she was almost asleep. That kid could sleep anywhere. And yes, I am eight months pregnant and going 4X4ing. I got a lot of stares on the trails. I can't imagine why!

We each had a turn riding by ourselves without the carseat poking us and then packed the Rhino up. Cailin had a great time playing in the gravel pit and digging up rocks to throw. We drove back out to the farm to drop off the trailer and ended up staying for supper again. Cailin had the greatest time playing in the Power Wheels Jeep:
For her first time driving it, she did magnificently. I followed her as she drove around in circles and laughed. She insisted on wearing her sweater, buttoned to the top with the hood on of course. And don't forget the suckie. I'm convinced she will be hiding a suckie in her desk at school. Sigh.

Nana and Papa were willing to watch the Smartie overnight so Ryan and I could go to a movie. We were practically in the truck backing out of the driveway before they said yes. No, not really. But once Cailin was bathed and tucked into her jammies, we left and went to see Bridesmaids. It was funny, but not as funny as I expected it to be. Still, it was so nice to have a date night. Since it was the late show, we were home after 1am. I thought we'd turn into pumpkins.

Sunday found us lazily picking up around the house and cleaning. I went and printed birthday invites for Cailin's party. I also got a few prints of recent photos I've taken, and I was pleased with how they turned out. I can't believe my baby is going to be two in less than two weeks.

Today I had to take Bailey to the vet for her booster shots... and a nether-region issue. Don't ask. She's just fine now and feeling much better than she has been. This is the first day in a few weeks that she's actually been herself. It's nice to have her back.

Because I'm a sucker for punishment, I also fit in a quick trip to Walmart for a mattress for Cailin's big girl bed. Surprisingly, I didn't feel homicidal after leaving the store. And I found everything I needed in quick order.

Once I got home, we set up her bed right away:

We thought maybe she would even have a nap in her new bed. Of course, she was way too excited about it to settle down to sleep in it. She played in it, and would tell us 'bye' and shut her door and jump into bed. Approximately five seconds later, she would open the door and come find us to tell us 'bye' again. Rinse, repeat. She also rolled out of it backwards and whacked her head off the floor five minutes after getting her big girl bed. I'm glad she got that out of the way so early. I'm proud to say that she's extremely careful getting in and out of bed now.

So, needless to say she ended up napping in her crib. I think we have lots of time to get her into the toddler bed so we'll be taking the transition slowly. Jellybean will be sleeping in our room to start off with and that gives us a few months (as much as six even?) to get her accustomed to her big girl bed.

We were supposed to be getting a crib from a guy at work, but that deal fell through when they found out it changed into a toddler bed and now their child is using it again. We were going to buy a crib, but after careful deliberation, we decided that it's simply not needed. It would have been super convenient of course, but not entirely necessary. We have time to switch Cailin out of her crib and then Jellybean can use it.

Tonight we watched the hockey game (boo, hiss) and had a lovely taco dinner. I'm sure Cailin jinxed the game by eating tacos in her Canucks diaper shirt and getting it completely filthy. It soaked in the sink with dish soap through most of the game.

I also made chocolate chip muffins for dessert, much to everyone's delight. I see quite a few are missing from the muffin jar.

Cailin passed the time by waving to us and saying, "Night, Cailin! Night, Cailin!" and shutting her door and getting into bed. Much giggling ensued, then the door would fling open and she'd come back out to tell us each in turn that she was going night-night. She tried to get Bailey to go to bed with her, but alas, the dog refused (smart dog). This of course, caused Cailin much strife and we had to listen to paint-peeling shrieks of anger as she was thwarted by a dog.

I also managed to clean, tidy and organize different nooks and crannies of the house in between all our excursions this weekend. Today we went really crazy and cleaned as much as possible in the basement. We're gearing up to tackle the storage room - aka The Pit of Doom. I also cleaned out the hallway linen closet and we organized the toys in the baby's room. There is a lot more work to be done before he gets here, but it felt good to accomplish so much today. The laundry is caught up and 80% of the house is spotless.

I was so tired after all the activity from this weekend that I sat on the couch during the game and had to shut my eyes for a moment. Cailin finds this offensive for some reason. There is no greater way to get her attention than to try and nap in her presence.

I can't believe there's only six weeks left before we become a family of four.