Busy Weekend

Melanie had a fun playdate this past Friday. We met our friends Zach and Grace at the park and then went out to lunch. It had been a while since I got to see Melanie play with them. They are in the same class at school but you can only ask a 1 1/2 year old so much about their school day. They are all so different but yet all so much like 1 1/2- 2 year olds! We then went to McDonalds for a lunch date with them and Melanie, Zach and Grace climbed to the top of this structure and Rachel and I couldn't even see them. I guess they liked it!

On Saturday Clint ended up going to the GA game with his brother and wife and our neighbor. It was educator appreciation day at the zoo and I really wanted to go so Melanie, my mom and I went to the zoo. It was a great deal- I was free, Melanie was free and my mom got $3 off. Then we got 10% in the stores and food places. It was funny at the beginning. Melanie was in some trance. I don't know if it was the number of people or what but for about 30-45 minutes she didn't say much or show much emotion. The people at the beginning really hang around the exhibits and it gets really crowded. It thins out as you make your way through the zoo. Melanie's personality came out later on. I didn't remember the zoo taking so long. We were there about 4 hours and could have easily stayed at least one more but we were all exhausted and Melanie was falling asleep. My favorite thing was the gorillas. However, we took Melanie's picture by the gorilla statue and right after the picture she busted her lip. It was pretty dramatic. She didn't know quite what to think of the petting zoo. The animals were large and there was nothing separating you from the animals. She loved the carousel with my mom. Enjoy the pics!

The funny ones are from dinner club at TJs house.

Nice Weekend

First off...
Melanie's latest funny comment heard from the front seat of the car:
Melanie sneezed
Melanie: "Bless you me."
Hee hee sooooo cute!

Melanie got sick last week and it was NOT fun! Wednesday she had a bit of a runny nose but did not act like anything was wrong so we did not worry about it at all. Then Wednesday night I hear the most horrific cough over the monitor and then I hear her burst into tears. I run in there and she is crying and coughing terribly. I pick her up and take her downstairs. I am holding her and she is trying to go back to sleep but she can barely catch a breath. So I run upstairs and tell Clint to get up and that I need some help. I am normally really tough with her injuries and illnesses but maybe due to pregnancy hormones...I am not sure but I was NOT tough. I start crying at this point and I am telling Clint to get out the baby book and see what we are suppose to do. He is delirious and doesn't have his glasses on and I tell him that she is having trouble breathing and he says that the books says we should take her to the emergency room. Well, I had enough sense to know that was not what we were going to do so I told him to keep reading and we didn't come up with much. So, I thought well I need to monitor her tonight and keep her upright. So from 2:00 am until I had to start getting ready for work I held her on the couch. She was soooo pitiful! I got ready and took her to my parents and told them that I was going to make a Dr. appt and that they could meet Clint up at the Dr. later. Well at this point Melanie acted as if she was perfectly well and went playing around my parents. I swear she was sooo sick the night before. It ended up after a Dr. appt which Melanie HATED (and had to be held down by both my mom and Clint) that yes, she did have a cold and the croup! Yuck! The dr. gave her some steroids and all has been perfect since then. But, just a warning...if your child has the croup you will not be confused that it something else- it is a terrible sound!

Also, starting on Thursday I had terrible stomach pains. I was not too worried about the baby because they were not cramp feeling pains but pain to the touch kind of on the outside...mostly around the belly button. If anything came anywhere near my belly button it killed. I never felt this way with Melanie and I was not sure what it was. I called one of my friends, Amy, and she said she had the same pains with baby #2. I also called my dr. (to be on the safe side) and it is completely normal. Apparently my uterus has moved from where it belongs up and in the process it scooted everything out of the way and stretched a bunch of ligaments in the process. I think with Melanie this must have happened much more gradually and with this baby I think it happened in 2 or 3 not fun days.

So, with that drama over we had a pretty nice weekend. We were proud of our sports teams and Clint has trained Melanie well...she knows how to do the "Dirty Bird" dance for the Falcons (though it doesn't seem to help this season), she knows the "Goooo Dawgs, Sic Em" chant for GA and the tomahawk chop for the Braves and she can look at the TV and decipher the difference between baseball and football.

Clint and I celebrated my birthday extra early last night and had a date night to the Fox to see Stomp. We went a few years back and loved it so I really wanted to go again this year. We went out to dinner before and it was quite nice to get dressed up (though not too much fit...yucky in between stage...not too pregnant looking...not at all skinny looking...just a little chubby), and have a fancy night. No new pics right now...we'll get busy on that.

Super Fun Weekend

On the elephant ride


At the reptile show

Melanie had a super fun and busy weekend. Saturday I had a work meeting in the morning and then a hair appointment so Melanie and Clint had a daddy/daughter morning. He took her to a reptile show and then to watch football. She apparently really liked the reptile show saying "Wow! Big snake." She even got to touch a few of them. On Sunday we all ventured to the Gwinnett Fair. Quite comical I must say. My parents are NOT and were NOT fair people. So, I had never been to a fair. (In dad's words..."I would rather put a stick in my eye than go the fair.") But, since I'm pregnant the number of fun things to do is a bit limited and I thought the fair sounded like a blast. I don't know where all the fair folks come from but I have not seen them in Gwinnett County before. Quite the people watching venue! Most things Melanie was too small for but there were about 4 or 5 rides she was tall enough (with a parent) to do and a couple of games and a petting zoo. However, the fair is NOT cheap. I don't know how people do it if they have multiple school age children- you would easily spend $100. Melanie got to ride 1 ride (for exp. if we all rode the ferris wheel together it would have been $12!), play one game and go to the petting zoo. I think the petting zoo was her favorite part.
We went to gymnastics today. Melanie did great. The warmup was double the length it normally is because the kids were learning how to do things backwards and I was tired by the end- how pathetic is that? I think I am going to count Melanie's gymnastics class as my working out for the week- I'm sure my OB would love that since they asked if I was working out or walking about 5 days a week....ummmm NOPE! Didn't even do that before I was pregnant. I bought a pregnancy DVD workout...still haven't taken off the plastic I guess I better get busy!

The Things Kids Say...

Our day at the park




The bra and panty set Clint's mom gave her

Melanie has been super funny with her one liners recently....

A week or so ago I brought her to our bed after she woke up. We are talking and just sitting there and Melanie looked at Clint's chest (he didn't have a shirt on). She then pointed to his nipples and said "apples." Obviously she doesn't quite understand the real word.

Also, a couple of weeks ago Clint had to get new tires for his car. So, when they were finished I drove him up to the car place to drop him off. It made Melanie sad to see him get out of the car and then have us drive off. I was trying to explain he was coming home but he had to get his car back- it had just gotten new tires. Well, for whatever reason she refused to call them tires and instead called them "tigers." So, we were at my parents a couple of weeks later and she decided she wanted to tell my parents about them so. So, she told my parents that daddy's car has new lions. So cute!!!!

Today I ventured to the vet with Melanie and Shelby. It was the first time I ever took both of them. I don't know about little dogs, but Shelby is not the easiest at the vet. She LOVES the vet and acts sooooo excited about everything that she is hard to control. Thank goodness Melanie was on her best behavior. She kept saying that Shelby was going to the doctor. Melanie cried when we went to the exam room and saw everyone in scrubs- I think she thought it was her turn and I explained it was only for Shelby. So she stopped crying and watched in amazement at everything they did. Well, they had to complete a fecal test on Shelby so Melanie stared as they stuck the thing in Shelby's butt and when they pulled it out she said "Thank you." We all started laughing.

Also I had my 12 week Dr. appointment on Monday. Melanie knew we were going to hear the baby go "bump, bump." I have gained 3 pounds my BP is great and we heard the strong heart beat- hooray. I feel less tired than I have and I think my appetite is back to normal. So, I think the worst is over. My clothes all fit funny but what else is new? I haven't had normal clothes since before I was pregnant with Melanie.

Melanie's First Day of School

The baby she is obsessed with!


Her first day!


Melanie in my pants...her weight loss success story...

Well, Melanie had her first day of school today. Clint and I went to registration last Friday and we got to meet the teachers and see the class. Melanie really seemed to enjoy the class during registration so I was hoping for the best today...and got it! I feel soooo fortunate that I am able to work part time and experience things such as her first day of school. She was such a big girl. She went right in the classroom and picked up a baby and forgot I ever existed. I convinced her to tell me bye and she was on her way. The teachers said she did great today. Wahoo! Nothing like the gym nightmares when she was a baby.

The cute cute cute thing she does now is hug and kiss the baby in my belly. I don't know how much she really understands. She will ask if daddy has a baby or if she has a baby but I tell her only mommies can have babies. Then she will lift up my shirt, stick her finger WAY in my belly button and say baby. Then she will hug and kiss my belly. So sweet!

She is quite obsessed with numbers right now. All she does is go around and count things. Pool steps, cheerios, blocks, anything is getting counted. She goes up to 14. She still loves shapes and colors but numbers are her "thing" right now.

I am enjoying the change of seasons right and an excuse to get her new clothes. We had so many this summer I didn't have any reason to buy and new ones...now I do :) However, with my new part time pay check I can't splurge as much as I used to- YUCK! But, since we are on such a budget we have started thinking about the holidays and her birthday and not letting everything sneak up on us. So, I was able to go get browse around for her some Christmas things today while she was at school. I went to SO MANY different stores just piddling around. Normally, she would be FINISHED after about the 2nd store but I had 4 hours to play. What fun!!! I really wanted to find some Melissa and Doug puzzles and on EBay they were as much as they are in the store so I thought, well I'll just go buy them. For those of you who don't know, Melissa and Doug make the most high quality wooden toys- including great puzzles. Sometimes TJ Maxx and Marshall's carry them and I was able to get a couple of things there and then I went in a consignment store and they carried them also- so I racked up.

Well, It Is Official!!!!!!

We got the postive test result on Friday the 13th- Melanie was born on Friday the 13th- of course it had to have something to do with a holiday in this family!


This was the setup I had for Clint. I took a test while he was in the shower one morning b/c I was forbidden to take too many tests this time around. (I did anyway- what Clint didn't know didn't hurt him). He came down for breakfast before work and I had this set up. I gave him baby shoes with Melanie's birthstone when I found out we were pregnant with her.

Most of you know this already...but... WE'RE EXPECTING!!! Baby #2 is on the way. It is due March 23, 2008 (Clint's mom's birthday!). WAHOOOOO! I didn't want to put anything on the blog until we had our first "official" doctor appointment. We had the ultrasound today and everything looks perfect. For those of you that have seen me lately you know I am already starting to show. I started showing soooooo much sooner with this baby so I was convinced there was more than one baby camping out- but as it turns out just one. The ultrasound machine is new since Melanie and it was amazing. We got to see all of the baby's parts and watch it move around. When we had Melanie's ultrasound at this point she just looked like a bean. This baby looked like a baby. I am 10 weeks 1 day right now. The pregnancy has been relatively easy. I was SUPER tired but I think the worst of that is over. I realized it is much harder to take a nap once you already have your first baby! I had some nausea- but I only got sick once (at Popeye's- how gross!). So, enjoy the pictures!

Neighborhood Festival

We made cupcakes Sunday night





Getting on Emerson, the horse

Playing in the inflatable jump thing

Playing with silly sunglasses
This past weekend our neighborhood had a festival and Melanie loved it. It was SUPER hot but other than that it was a blast. They had food, a clown making balloons, a DJ by the pool who had little dance contests for the kiddos (Melanie earned herself a stuffed monkey), tons of inflatable jump things and a horse to ride. It was really exciting to do so many different things. Enjoy the pics!

Back to Work

Peek a boo- sticking out her tongue

She loves to hang and do her gymanstics tricks on bars

With baby Carol Sue




Dancing in her crib at my parents


Playing across the street from my parents with their grandson
Well, as you have probably figured out due to my lack of posts I have gone back to work. I am working part time this year which is going to be amazing. The past two weeks I have worked close to full time dealing with pre-planning week and getting the first week and our job sharing schedule all figured out. I am very excited for the upcoming week!!

Melanie is getting smarter every day. She can count 1-8, skip 9, and then say 10. She knows the shape circle and will say "Circle, around....stop." So cute!! She knows some of her colors. She pretty much always gets orange and purple right and she is getting more accurate at blue, red, green, pink, white and yellow. She still loves her babies and her newest game is naming them all. Her favorite baby at our house is "Kimberly" at her nanna's it's "Baby Grace" and at my mom's it's "Carol Sue." She is so funny. I will offer suggestions for names and she will say "no, no, no" until I come up with a name that suites the baby or animal. She has a beanie baby named Casanova and LOVES that name- so silly! Her favorite food right now is salad- who would have ever thought that? She also loves fruit. Her newest thing to say is "Goooo dogs, sick em, ruff ruff." I don't think she has a clue what she is talking about but when she sees a Georgia "G" she will say the cheer. :)

I have posted a ton of cute pictures. Pretty much the whole month of August worth of pictures.

Play Week

Melanie dancing to "Hot Dog" her favorite song- on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse


This week Melanie has enjoyed playing with her friends Caroline and Drew. I watched Drew Wednesday morning. He was sooooo good and as you can see quite photogenic. However, Melanie was NOT. I positioned them and told them to "smile" which Drew promptly did and Melanie did the opposite. But, they loved playing together. Then, Caroline, Drew, and Melanie played together most of Friday. Amy watched Melanie in the morning and Clint and I watched both Caroline and Drew that evening. Melanie was worn out by bed time!