The point at which

the stepping stool will now reside on top of the fridge.

While in the dining room checking email today, I realized Lydia was being suspiciously quiet in the kitchen. I peeked around the corner to see that she had pushed my little step stool across the kitchen over to the sink where she was standing on it and playing with one of her sippy cups that I had washed and left by the sink. The child sees something once and she's got it down.

the tv cabinet must remain closed unless in use.

Another recently aquired "skill" is her ability to operate the tv, dvd player and sound system either manually or by remote. She knows exactly which buttons to push to make all of them work. I didn't realize she could work them manually until one morning when I went upstairs and a few minutes later heard the baby einstein music playing. I looked over the balcony and she was proudly grinning up at me saying, "dd, dd!". (Oh, and I've also caught her opening up the dvd case, removing the disk, opening the disk drive and placing the dvd inside!) I guess this is a clue as to how many "dd's" she has watched over the past few weeks while Mommy laid on the sofa! Thankfully I no longer spend my mornings, afternoons and evenings in the horizontal position, but it has been a bit difficult trying to break her of continually asking, "dd, watch?". We're still working on that!

bibs

Does anyone have any advice about bibs? I am so disgusted with the plastic ones I've been using with Lydia. (Those plastic ones with a softer "fabric" backing.) They always seem to smell bad - it is so gross. I scrub them thoroughly after each use, hanging them to dry, and frequently soak them in laundry detergent (or toss them in the washer). Does anyone have any tips? Or do you have a wonderful bib you'd like to recommend?

Feeling Better

Thank you all for your kind inquiries and your prayers. Things have been looking up considerably since my last visit to the midwife a week ago. With a little encouragment from Liz, I had been psyching (sp?) myself up to be extra pitiful. I was almost prepared to beg for some medicine. As it turned out, I really didn't have to.
I had gained a whopping half a pound since my visit a month before. I'm still below my "pre-pregnancy" weight (which they don't know) but since I have some extra to spare, I don't think it matters. Anyway, I saw a different midwife this time. She was much more sympathetic and just generally pleasant. When she asked why I thought I hadn't gained more weight I was pretty frank...puking and all day nausea...?? When I laid down on the table she said my belly looked "small." As she got out her measuring tape she said, "How tall are you, 5'4"?". My brain was blank. Was I 5'4"... or maybe it was 5'6". No wait, everyone accuses me of thinking I'm taller than I am. 5'5"?? I told her I couldn't remember and that if it was important I thought the nurse had that in my chart. She laughed and then said my belly was measuring in the normal range but on the low end. Then she told me that she thought I had a long trunk and perhaps that is why I seemed small. (Good grief!)
Anyway, we chatted a bit and I explained that I had tried all the "natural" remedies for nausea without any relief. She then told me she was going to prescribe something "to see if you can't get to feelin some better." I almost cried. (I hadn't even been reduced to getting on my knees to beg!) She also told me to eat whatever sounded good to me....even potato chips or french fries and to be sure I ate often. So I walked out feeling encouraged and with my prescription. Yayyy!!!
So far I'm attributing my feeling better to the drugs. Maybe I was about to turn the corner regardless. I am still waiting for that "everything is normal" feeling to return. Hopefully it won't be too much longer, but I am thankful that things are finally looking up!
P.S. My next appointment is in mid February which is when we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl!

Trying to catch up...

I thought I'd post some pictures chronicling our past two months or so! I like to send out a Christmas card with a picture now that we have little one(s) in our family. Well this year I was feeling so crummy that we never could find the right moment to get a family picture. Eventually I just decided we'd send one out just of our child - after all she's the one everyone wants to see! Here are a couple shots (of many) from our impromptu little photo shoot.



Below is the Christmas card photo. Many of you were on the list to receive one, but I misplaced (and still have not found) several of my address books... Anyway we have twenty or more extras around here - guess I could scratch out "Merry Christmas" and write "Happy Valentine's Day" instead! I smile every time I see this picture.

Here are some photos of our day at the hospital when Kate arrived!

Here Lydia is with a couple of her most favorite gifts - the kitchen from Mema and Papa and the doll house from Joss and Liss. (When the dollhouse was out of the box, one of the first things she attempted was to squeeze Pup through the front door...it was hilarious.)


She is fascinated with "gasses" - she points them out whenever she sees them.



Uncle Patrick and Aunt Susie -(Shoe and Pat or But) -Ben's sister and husband who spent several days here with us over Christmas.



Lydia seems to love her little cousin. We weren't sure what she would think of sharing the limelight, but she hasn't been as jealous as I expected. Whenever Kate makes any noise Lydia is quick to remind us "baby! baby!". She loves to look at her and it is very cute how she squats over the infant carrier to take a peek. She always wants to touch her and it is amazing how gentle she has been. Here are some sweet pictures from the first time Lydia got to "hold" Kate. I didn't post the last one where we took Kate away and Lydia was crying with her arms stretched out!

Pregnancy the second time around

Wow. So much has happened since my last post. I'm sure it will take me a couple of posts to give any kind recap on what we've been up to this past month. Since I don't have access to posting the pics right now, I'll stick to my pregnancy woes.
This pregnancy started off different than my last....that is to say I haven't been hugging the toilet everyday from the very beginning. That is a defininite plus, let me tell you! I've still been struggling a lot with fatigue and all day nausea. And I have still thrown up....just not as frequently as before.
Ben has really been wonderful. He takes care of me and Lydia and does everything. He has been bringing me some breakfast in bed every morning before work as this seems to help me. Then he gets Lydia up and fed before he leaves. I am thankful that his job can be flexible like that when we need it. He can even work some days at home - or even an hour or two before Lydia wakes up so that he can get his work done.
Lydia has had some adjustments to make to this "new" Mommy as well. We have been staying at home when at all possible. I know she gets so bored playing on her own and entertaining herself all day. I have to say that Baby Einstein DVDs have been a wonderful way to allow me some rest time. (She gets the remote and walks to the TV saying, "DDD? DDD?".) As soon as i'm feeling better we're going to have to curb this trend! She is used to getting out and doing errands, going to the park, meeting Daddy for lunch...I had not even been to the grocery store in at least a month until earlier this week, and that was not an experience I' d like to repeat any time soon.
On Tuesday I decided I felt well enough to get out to the store for a quick trip. We were out of all our staples and didn't even have anything for lunch. On the way out the door I grabbed a pile of clothes that have needed to go to the dry cleaners for about 3 weeks! (Unfortunately when I dropped them off I realized I had grabbed the wrong pile of stuff -- oh well, I left them anyway!) Then as I was heading into the grocery store, Ben called to tell me our new washing machine was going to be delivered in the next 30 minutes. (Our old one stopped working Christmas week when all the family was here!) So I hurried in to make a much needed deposit at the bank and also to get a sub sandwhich for lunch. As I was leaving the deli counter I started to feel terrible. I started to get tunnel vision and then my hearing became very faint. I was getting weaker and dizzy and felt I was passing out. Thankfully Lydia was in the cart and I just had to sit down in the middle of the floor. I got up and struggled to the register to buy my lunch and the man at the check-out was quite concerned. He was very nice and helped me sit down and then got me some water. After a few minutes I felt somewhat better and I made it to the car. (I think the cold air and the water helped.) I felt that I could drive safely and I knew I needed to get home to meet the delivery guys! I was practically in tears upon arrival and they were already there waiting on me. I was so shaky I couldn't even unlock our front door! I took them upstairs to the laundry room to get the old washer and then they informed me that since it still had some water in it they weren't allowed to take it away. I couldn't believe it! Well, in the end they did take it away (without spilling any water on their way out) and they hooked up the new one. What a morning!
Right now Lydia is laying on Pup while the B.E. Dvd is going and still attempting to play with her doll house with one hand. She just spilled my ginger ale on the floor and has already had way too many pretzels. We're both still in p.j.s and it is 12:30!!!