Birthday Time

OK, I want to start off by pointing out that I'm still playing catch up from this summer's happenings, so I'm sorry that I'm a little behind!

August has always been THE birthday month for me and my friends. Not only is my birthday in August, but most of my good friends' bdays are practically back to back the first few weeks of August. I loved that growing up because I knew that there would always be at least one party to go to before we headed back to school. I'm just glad that I now get to share my bday experience and my most favorite cake (ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins) with ME now, and that she loves my cake as much as I do! Here she is "cake hopping" and eating cake from everyone else's plates.

Let me fly to the next plate of cake on my airplane!

I may not have had a big giant party, but having this sweet little girl in my arms is the best way to spend a birthday!

Not only are my friends's birthdays this month, but now ME's friends are having August bdays. Ashley and I took a roadtrip to NW Arkansas at the end of August with ME and Davis for Taylor's (Sarah's little girl) 1st birthday. For the most part it was a good trip. On the way up there, Davis and Mary Elizabeth took turns crying for a little bit or taking naps, but once we got to Taylor's luau party, we had a great time.

Davis, I think you took a wrong turn! (We had to stop in Russellville for gas, b/c someone's pregnant brain didn't think to fill up before leaving LR. So Ashley and I took turns going to the bathroom and let the kids stretch their legs.)

We stayed at my friend Helen's house. Her daughter, Ashley, came by with Noah and Caroline. This is our attempt of getting a picture of the 3 of them together. At least we didn't make them act out a play like my brother always made us do as kids!

Taylor, the Luau princess. Her momma decorated the birthday scene so cute, they even had a volcano!

What great friends!

Notice where both of these kids are...Davis in the dirt and ME not touching it! I tried to put her in but she freaked out. I guess it's a good thing we didn't take a beach trip. :)

Davis showing ME how much fun it is to play in the dirt.

ME putting the dirt back into the pool.

ME had more fun eating the water on the slip'n slide and climbing all over the blow up slide. There was no dirt that could get on her there. :)

We stopped by Krispy Kreme on the way home. I know she has her hat on wrong, but at least she's wearing something on her head just for a Kodak moment!

Now that Fall is here...

...I thought I would finish blogging about our summer. I've been meaning to do this all summer long, but for some reason just never got around to finishing this. So I wanted to make sure I finished blogging about the summer before Little Peanut gets here.

• My friend sent this picture to me so I could have documentation of ME's 1st bus ride. She rode the bus with me from the zoo to the park after our school field trip in May. She had fun looking out the window.

What's that?

• One of the most important parts about summer is swimming and I am sooooooooooo thankful that ME is a fish! She loved the water and didn't mind getting dunked under the water. I just feel bad when we drive by the pool and we aren't actually going swimming because I hear her in the back saying "Wawer, wawer". Since ME was so fearless with the water, we didn't go as much as I'd hoped because I was constantly chasing her around the pool. But we had a good time every time!

My fearless fish!

• We went to Craws for Paws (a fundraiser for animals that our friend, Scotty, puts on every year) in June. It was in the River Market pavilion and very hot. ME's hair can show how humid it was. She, of course, loved getting to see all of the doggies running around there.

Unfortunately, we didn't take any of the dogs home. :(

• In July, ME got her 2nd haircut. If you can't tell by the picture below, it didn't go as well as the first time. She didn't want to sit in the airplane/taxi/car chairs, she didn't want the apron on, and she really just didn't want to be there. Luckily there were bubbles and animal crackers!
  
  

Don't take off too much!

• And, of course, we had several playdates with friends.

We had lunch at Shorty Small's with Amy and Stella. This was our 1st experience of the summer for ME to show me how I wasn't allowed to hold other babies...big eye opener!

Design consultation/play date with the Charton's. I was neighbors with Alexa's mom in college. She just moved back to AR and I'm helping her out with getting her house "put together". Alexa is a great big sis to her little sister, Hollan, and was so sweet to show ME how to play on the swing set.

We met Davis and Ashley several times and, as usual, I could never get a decent picture of them both looking at the same time.

• We even made a trip to Memphis in August to visit Drew's grandma in the hospital. Don't worry, she's doing fine now! But we were able to see Drew's dad, his uncle and cousin, and then make a stop to see Mama Sam.

Don't worry, Daddy Mike, I'll pay tonight.

Thanks, Mama Sam, for reading to me...

...and for letting me play dress up!

As you can probably tell, we had a busy, but great summer. I'm just sad that it had to come to an end. But ME is now all rested up and ready to play the role of Big Sister now!

I'm a 1!

I just got back from the doctor and am happy to say that I have actually dilated to 1cm!!! I know that this really doesn't mean anything and that I could be at this stage for a long time, but this is progress compared to when I was pregnant with ME. Other good news is that I didn't gain any weight from last week and that Little Peanut has dropped out of my ribcage! Here's a picture to help you visualize my lower belly. :)

So all in all, I had a good visit. His heartbeat was in the 140s today, which is still good, and he's about the size of a Swiss chard (whatever that is). Dr. S is predicting that I'll still be delivering right around Oct. 13, although he said he wouldn't mind doing it this weekend considering he's oncall. Physically, I'm ready to get this baby out. But I'm not mentally ready just because I have a few things left to do around the house that I would really like to finish before Little Peanut's debut. Luckily, I have finally hit the "nesting" phase and actually have found some energy. I even stayed up until midnight two nights ago to work on things because I was on a roll!

21-months-old?

You must always say "cheese" when taking a picture; therefore, your mouth will open like me.

I know I ask this every month, but can Mary Elizabeth really be 21-months-old already?!?! And I know that I ask "where has the time gone?" every month. But really...where has it gone? I also know that I say this every month, too...I'm really enjoying this stage of her life. She's really comprehending a lot, asking "what's that", and saying a few sentences now. She is so compassionate and caring for everything. And her OCDness really hasn't changed, which I'm not complaining about seeing that I'm 37 weeks pregnant. I'm actually using that to my benefit whenever there is a spill on the floor or if I drop something because she loves to wipe up or pick up things and put items back in their proper place.

As far as words:

She's saying so much now that I can't keep up, although Uncle Bebo probably would still beg to differ. But a few things that she says A LOT are "dot dog" (for hot dog), she puts "Oh, a" in front of most nouns, and "Boots" whenever she sees a remote so she can watch Dora.

Things she's into:

• She's obsessed with watching Dora! We don't watch TV that much, but it's bad enough that I missed the beginning of Dancing with the Stars and I haven't seen a weather report in quite sometime. :( Can you guess what she's looking at in these pictures?

  

  

  Here she is singing "We did it!" The ending of Dora.
• She's also getting even more interested in the baby's arrival. I got the bassinet out and ready for a sweet baby boy (thanks to my mom's help) and ME thinks it's a boat where a baby goes "Night, night". So she puts her baby doll in the boat.

ME has pigtails and a tatoo?

When I picked up ME from daycare on Friday, this is what I found...

She has pigtails on both sides. This was the best I could do with a camera phone.

At first I didn't even recognize her, then I thought I was looking at myself as a baby. It was kind of a strange thought! But seeing those pigtails was a great way to end a week of hardwork. I told her to look at herself in the mirror at daycare and she kept saying "Pretty" and wouldn't let any of the boys in her class look in the mirror. Then as we drove to Babies 'R Us, she kept saying "Ouch, ouch, ouch" with a smile or "Kay, fixed it" as she was pulling on her pigtails.





So after that excitement, we made it into Babies 'R Us to register for Little Peanut. It was getting close to dinnertime/bedtime, so she was getting a little restless, so I started doing anything for her to keep her happy. This basically meant loading up the shopping cart with any Elmo items we saw as we were walking around the store (but I managed to make it out of the store without any of them!). However, while I was talking to one of the employees about which double stroller to get, I turned my back to her for a few seconds then turned back around to find someone drawing all over her arm. As I caught her in the act, she pointed to her arm and said "No, no! Boo, boo." Here's a lovely visual of her after we got home (look closely at her left arm). Let's just pray we never see real tatoos!

Artist for Ovaries

ARTIST FOR OVARIES

Date: Friday, September 25, 2009
Time: 5-8pm
Location: Courtyard by Marriott downtown (River Market)
Appetizers and Cash Bar
Tickets are $10/$15 per couple at the door

If you're interested in purchasing tickets before the event, contact Amy Lasseigne at arovcc@gmail.com

Artist For Ovaries is a Wine/Cheese Silent Auction benefiting the Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition. This fundraiser will allow AROVCC to produce and distribute educational material to the women of Arkansas regarding the signs & symptoms of ovarian cancer.

Several local Arkansas Artists are contributing pieces – including yours truly and my dear old friend Amy Lasseigne, whose mother is an ovarian cancer survivor. There is an estimated 45 pieces of artwork to choose from. Sale prices will range from $40-$800.

Here is my stool that will be in the auction. If you like teal, then this will be a great spot for you to find something. Every art piece had to include teal somewhere on the piece. Some may not have as much as mine, though.

- Last year 130 Arkansas women died of ovarian cancer.
- In 2009, over 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer; over 15,000 will die.
- The symptoms are silent, so please listen: pelvic pain, bloating, frequent urination & feeling full quickly.
- If you have had certain forms of hormonal breast cancer you have a higher risk of getting ovarian cancer.

Please come and help support the women of Arkansas .

The Arkansas Ovarian Cancer Coalition (AROVCC) exists with the purpose to educate the public about the signs and symptoms affecting the women of Arkansas . The AROVCC, whose membership is comprised of individuals who each have been personally impacted by ovarian cancer, works to help save lives by disseminating information on the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer, ovarian cancer research, and resources available. By promoting professional and public awareness through educational materials, mass mail-outs, rallies, seminars and fundraising events the AROVCC has developed into the driving force against ovarian cancer in the State.

Flashback to two years ago...

So I went to the doc for my first exam today only to find out what I could have already guessed. If you kept up with my pregnancy from last time, I bet you can you guess, too. I haven't dilated! Actually, he said that I'm almost a one, but that was pretty much stretching it.


Between the drs. appt. today and waking up yesterday morning and saying "Oh my" after seeing my belly in the mirror, I'm having a feeling that I'm going to experience a delivery (or at least the beginning process) similar to ME's. Somehow, Little Peanut keeps going up rather than down. Now I know I'm not a doctor and don't care much about science, but isn't the baby NOT supposed to come out throught the mouth??? It's funny to see my profile right now because the top of my belly is very torpedo-like, whereas the bottom part is squishy. However, in the eyes of my 3rd graders, I look like I've gotten skinny, even though they didn't approve of my meant-to-be-wrinkled shirt that I wore today. :) Gotta love kids! They can give you a compliment one second, then destroy your image the next.



I start going to my weekly visits next week probably to keep finding out that my cervix is still too high and that I haven't dilated. But my doctor thinks that Little Peanut is facing down already, so that's good.

The famous preggers question for this point in pregnancy:

Are you ready?

My answer is this...

I'm physically ready because I feel I'm running out of room and out of breath, but I'm not mentally ready and want to be able to take as much time off as possible after the baby comes. But Dr. S wants me to have Little Peanut early because he said he'll be out of town the week that I'm due and he'll be sad if he misses me as I will, too! Guess we'll just have to wait and see what God plans.