Busy Busy!

Okay maybe I don't totally hate him





Melanie with her decorated cookie

We have finally decorated our tree. Melanie was so funny. She was really into decorating the tree but wanted every ornament right on the edge of the limb so it almost broke. She talks about "her" ornaments each time she sees the tree. The tree is "so beautiful" when we turn on the lights. My friend Elizabeth gave her a Fisher Price nativity set for Christmas. Melanie LOVES it! She opened it and said "awwww, Baby Jesus, how cute." She knows more about the true Christmas story than I gave her credit for. She must be learning quite a bit in school. We went to look at neighborhood Christmas decorations last night and Melanie was all about the nativity scenes she saw. She would say, "look, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, how cute." Clint and I are having to brush up on our religion to even remotely sound like we know what we are talking about when she is talking to us.

We went to my work's Christmas party on Friday night. She had Ms. Mary Eveyln come and babysit and she brought her cousin Ms. Rebecca along b/c my friend Elizabeth was bringing her 6 month old over to be watched as well. Melanie had a good time with the baby. Apparently she needed a little prompting to share her toys and was pretty determined to get in Sarah's walker but all in all things are looking bright for the new baby. The next morning we went to my school's Winter Wonderland. Melanie got to have breakfast with Santa. This Santa was also super nice and realistic looking. Melanie even sat with him for about 2 seconds. She made some crafts, had her face painted and then decorated cookies with Ms. Claus. That night TJ had his annual Christmas party and Melanie got to stay with Ms. Mary Eveyln again. Today she is going to another work Christmas party with me but this one is just with the special ed staff and normally their little kiddos tag along. She is excited about seeing baby Sarah again.

One reason why I enjoy staying home:
The other day Melanie was playing in the backyard and saw her shadow. She was so excited that she chased it around and then she got on the ground and gave it a hug. Today she saw it again as we were going into gymnastics and she tried to teach it how to march :) I love moments like these!

Christmas Tree Farm

We took Melanie to go buy a Christmas tree this past weekend. We went to Home Depot first and could not find a good tree. She cried when we left without one. Then we went to a tree farm and found an average tree. I do not love it but the selection was terrible this year (not to mention the outrageous price!). Next year I think we may be going with a fake tree. She loves the tree and we are decorating it any day now so I think she will probably love the tree even more then.

I went to the doctor on Monday for my 24 week appointment. Everything was perfect. I had gained 6 pounds instead of 4- oops. I guess I had a little to much Thanksgiving fun! My BP was fine and the baby sounded great. I feel much larger this time around so I asked the dr. how I was measuring and she let me know I am measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. She is not quite sure the reason at this point. If I measure big at my next appt. they may do another ultrasound just to check out what is happening.

Melanie is getting super excited as we clear out the guest room to make room for her new big girl room. I was able to sell most of the items at work but I am still hanging onto a dresser and the bedding set which nobody wanted to buy...any takers :) But the room is mostly clear. Clint is going to paint it soon and the furniture has been shipped so all should be ready to go by her birthday. So fun! She tells me that the baby can have her crib but not her Dora (which she sleeps with every night). I explained that she gets to take her toys to her new room and just leave the furniture and she seems okay with that but we'll see. Her latest story for us and Clint's parents:
Melanie, how was school today? Did you go to the playground?
Mel: No, gym.
Oh, you went to the gym, what did you all do there?
Mel: Play balls with Mason.
Did you have fun with Mason?
Mel: He's my favorite.
Did you play with Zach and Grace?
Mel: Zach sleep with Ms. Nita (apparently Zach took a nap).
Oh, what else did you do?
Mel: Eat lunch.
What did you eat for lunch?
Mel: Crackers, cheese, and raisins.
Then she begins to tell me what each child ate for lunch...some had beans, some had sandwich, etc. I didn't keep track of it all. She has also been talking about a friend named Hazel. Clint's parents checked on who Hazel was....Apparently Hazel is a bird in a song they sing. Melanie must really like that song! But, it is nice to be able to actually learn what she did at school rather than just by reading her daily note.

Seeing Santa

We went to see Santa yesterday. We went up to the Avenue b/c I loved the Santa they had last year, it is free, and there is no line. So off we went. Melanie was very excited about the experience and when we got there and she saw Santa she was equally exicted. There were 4 or 5 kids in front of us and she watched them all get their pictures and she was saying "my turn." She kept commenting on Santa so I began to think we might actually get a good picture. Well, I was wrong. She HATED Santa. As soon as Clint put her on his lap she started screaming. She liked him again once Clint picked her back up. At lunch she told us that "Santa scared me." But, she liked to talk about his red suit, white beard, and the reindeer food that he gave her. So I think she likes the idea of him as long as he stays 5 feet away :)

Also, Clint had a baby yesterday. He got a new car!!! We were not planning on getting a new car anytime soon but his car started to have one thing after another go wrong and we had to draw the line somewhere. So he got a 2007 4 Runner. It was used but only had 1,245 miles on it. The previous owner only had it for 1 month and ran into finance issues so we basically got new car for the price of a pre-owned. WAHOOO!! It is beautiful and I am sure the car will make the blog at some point.

Cute saying

Yesterday we went shopping for the new mattress and box spring for Melanie's big girl bed. She loved sitting and laying on all of them to "test them out." She cried when we left without it saying, "My big girl bed." Later on she said the cutest (and I must admit pretty smart for a 1 year old) thing, "Oh my gosh, I can't wait, my big girl bed." Can you believe she said all that? I just laughed and told her yes, for her birthday. So smart :)

When will it be Christmas?

Never did I think Melanie was going to be so into Christmas. She is obsessed. She loves all of the decorations, clothes, presents, songs, EVERYTHING! We were driving and at the intersection of Grayson Parkway and Grayson Highway they have every light post as far as you can see decorated with the silly holiday things the city puts on the light posts. Melanie says (it is dark outside) "Dad, look, Dad, look, AMAZING!" She loved the decorations. She is so excited that we have wrapped presents for her at the house. She thinks they are all for her. She wanted to unwrap them and I told her no, not yet. She said, "In 2 hours?" I had to explain the answer to that was no also. Last year I made the mistake of waiting too late to buy her birthday and Christmas clothes and the stores were starting to put out summer clothes....WHAT? Who wears summer clothes January 1st? Anyway I wasn't going to make that mistake this year. So Clint watched Melanie and Aileen, Becca, and I took a girls shopping outing. We purchased lots of things but I got Melanie all of her "event" clothes. I brought them back and she LOVED her "Christmas clothes." She carried them around on their hangers forever and finally hung them in her closet herself. She also thinks my pitiful mantel decorations are "wow." So we took her stocking down and let her practice taking stuff out. Clint is teaching her the Christmas songs we sing at my work that unfortunately he has had to memorize over the years. So, enjoy the picture of my child in her Christmas morning outfit practicing how to use her stocking. I think she will be set by Christmas!

Thanksgiving

I still have problems with some of the captions so at Clint's parents it is Melanie and Rodney's brother Jerry along with Brian and Dawn.
At one of the houses it is my mom's mom (also called Ma) and my mom's brother Ronnie and his wife- he did a super job aggravating Melanie as he did me (all in good fun of course!)
At the other house it is my dad's parents (Granny and Pawpaw- Melanie was trying so hard to keep all the names and family ties understood) along with my dad's brother's Ricky and Wally.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We started off at Clint's parents. His mom a DELICIOUS spread of food. Clint's uncle Jerry was able to make it which was nice because we don't see him often. After that we took a road trip to Chattanooga to see both sets of my grandparents and my parents siblings. Melanie was super. She slept all the way there and all the way back and had no problem sleeping in her pack and play (which we hadn't used since our beach trip this summer) in the same room as us! She warmed right up to all of the family members after only a few minutes and was so cute and lovable to everyone.

She is still doing excellent in her big girl bed- however she does know she can get in and out as she pleases. But she really doesn't get out until the morning- which is fine with me. She can get out and play and give us a couple more minutes of sleep.

Baby Petunia is growing- boy is is growing (at least I am so I hope it is also!) I will be 23 weeks tomorrow. This pregnancy has flown by compared to Melanie. It is quite the wiggly baby. I thought it was suppose to sleep way more than it is...hmmmmmm... I hope this is no indication of future sleep patterns! So far it is in the exact same position Melanie was in. With it's feet in my upper right under my rib cage and arms down in my lower left. I remember feeling Melanie's little fingers down in my lower left stomach but I can't quite feel fingers yet. I feel like I am carrying this baby lower than Melanie.

What a Big Girl!

On Friday we decided to take the front wall off of Melanie's crib- essentially making it a daybed. I was petrified at what might happen. We put the kid proof door knob thing on the inside of her bedroom door and wished for the best. Well she loves it and does great!!! All weekend she stayed in her bed as if she didn't know she was allowed to get out. She would call for me in the morning and when I would come in her room she would then get out. Yesterday I saw her little feet (under the crack of the door) go over to her nightlight to turn it on after I laid her down. Then, yesterday after nap I heard knock on the door and she was knocking for me to let her out. I was so nervous but she is doing great. I think she will be super in her big girl room in January!

Busy Weekend

Right before the concert


Arm around best friend Grace


With Nanna at the party

On Saturday Melanie went to her best friends birthday party. Zach and Grace turned 2! She had so much fun at the party. They had a jumpy thing which she liked but was a bit unsure about. The presents however were another story. Melanie LOVED the presents...too bad they were not hers. She pitched herself quite a fit b/c she couldn't open and have the presents. DRAMA!

Sunday we went to the Wiggles concert. Melanie obviously didn't know what a concert was so she didn't quite know what to expect. When we got there she got soooo excited and ran from the car into Gwinnett Arena. She was scared when they first turned the lights off but as soon as the Wiggles came out she was mesmerized! I almost cried. She was in such a state of disbelief that it was actually happening. She loved the entire concert. Her favorite song was Twinkle Twinkle b/c they made the entire arena black and had everyone take out their cell phones as stars. She thought that was so amazing! It was a wonderful experience and even Clint is on board for going again.

Our latest drama however is that Melanie is throwing up and we do not think she is sick. She will gag herself and then throw up. She did it at school on Tuesday and Donna had to go pick her up but she didn't at all seem sick. Then the next day at Mexican she did it again but still never seemed sick. So we don't exactly know what is going on. She is also purposefully holding in her poop. Lovely. She won't push it out on the potty or her diaper. She basically waits until it just falls out of her bottom. She isn't constipated b/c she is still going daily but it is just dramatic and silly. The other day we were so tired of taking her to the potty every 5 minutes that we just took off her diaper and pants and put the toilet in the middle of the den. Eventually she went over to it and pooped. Whatever. Hopefully the gagging and poop strike will both be short lived!

So sweet!

We went to see the baby today. This appointment was MUCH less traumatic than the last. First off, Melanie was not invited. I wore her out at gymnastics and took her to her grandparents. Second, my stomach pains have not been around for almost 3 weeks- hooray! The doctor said they are normally the worst between 12-20 weeks for 2nd pregnancies so hopefully I am all but finished with those. Third, my hernia looked fine on the ultrasound and did not cause the doctor any worries. She assured me that a vaginal delivery would not be affected by the hernia. She also said that surgery is an option but not pressing by any means. She said that I should wait a couple of months after the delivery and see if I am having any problems...if not...don't worry. Fourth, the heartbeat was loud and clear and the baby was quite wiggly. And...fifth, the ultrasound was fantastic. Everything the doctor measured and believe me, it is alot (the heart valves, head circum., bladder, etc.) is perfect. The baby weighs 12 ounces. I think the ultrasound technician could tell if it was a boy or girl- she had to get a pelvic bone measurement and had us turn our heads and not look. But, pretty much the baby kept it's back to us the whole time. If any of you remember, Melanie stayed profile the whole time so I think my babies are smart and don't show their stuff too early. So, enjoy the pictures- we sure are!

Fun Pics

Here are some fun pics from a dinner club at TJs house and when my parents took Melanie to Stone Moutain to participate in all of their pumpkin activities and ride the duck boat.

Trick or Treat

We had a WONDERFUL Halloween! I had a great birthday (even though I had to work). I woke up to Melanie singing Happy Birthday to Mommy...so sweet! The kids at work were so excited for a party also. Melanie was a CUTE cat. She was such a good sport at wearing the costume. She really liked going house to house saying Trick or Treat. She was much more comfortable at the houses she knew though. Next door (Chris and Aileen's house) she walked right in and went to their sliding glass door to find their dog. We took the wagon for the walk but she was so facinated by all the kids and decorations that I think she might have walked on her own. She worked very hard to get a a GIANT orange sucker open and she succeeded and was quite proud. She was facinated by the 27 candles my mom thought were necessary on my cake. We had to light them all multiple times so she could blow them out. Enjoy the pics (though they are in backwards order)!