Updates and Random Tidbits

1. STILL NO BABY!
2. My due date is Wednesday.  As in two more days.
3. We have an ultrasound and doctor appointment scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the doctor decides that induction seems like a good thing to do this week. :)
4. All of the contractions and braxton hicks that I had been feeling over the past couple of months seem to have stopped (except for today I've felt a few).
5. Besides pain in my hips, back, feet and ankles; not being able to breath; and not being able to get up from sitting or lying down...I feel great.
6. Riley is back to her normal sleeping pattern.  And she even likes her mommy again...but still not as much as her daddy.
7. Last night, Riley slept with 4 standard pillows, one pillow pet, one bean bag, one miniature Tinker Bell pillow, Bunny, Piggy, and about 6 other stuffed animals.  I think she felt secure. :)
8. Our crummy rain-filled weekend turned into a beautiful backyard swimming weekend.  We were finally able to break out Riley's new "swimmin pill."  She is in love with it and I can see us spending a lot of time in it while I'm on maternity leave this summer. 
9. My little girl who hates to be wet or dirty can now be found picking up worms and looking for toads around the house.
10. Our garden is loving the sun and rain that we've had lately.  This year we planted 6 tomato plants, one cucumber, one yellow zucchini, peas, green beans, onions, green onions, leeks, two green peppers, four jalapenos, 4 habaneros, and basil.  Our tomato plants have even started to bloom.  The blueberry bush that we attempted has already been thrown out.  We're attempting to grow our cucumbers and zucchini up a trellis to save space.  I'm skeptical, but thought it was worth a try.  Better Homes and Gardens told me that it was a good idea.
11. We have a Dove that has taken over our empty hanging flower basket on the front porch.  She's sitting on one egg.  We look at her every day from the window to see if the baby has hatched.  We also have a family of Cardinals that have made their nest on our neighbor's fence. They seem to steal the grassy stuff out of our flower baskets on the deck every week...but they're still fun to see in our backyard.
12. Hopefully my next post will be introducing Harper into the world.

39 Week Update

I'm 39 Weeks today, and still going.  But, there's an end in sight!!!    I had an appointment this morning that proved to be a little more encouraging than the past few weeks.  I've been prepared to have this baby for several weeks now, thinking that it could be any day.  I decided to change up the doctor that I saw this week and I think it was the best thing I could have done.  The doctor that I saw the past few weeks really didn't do anything.  He checked me, checked the heart beat, and talked about the weather.  That was it.  Very generic and not informative at all.  The doctor that I saw today tried to be a bit more encouraging and said that I was "soft, and a finger tip dilated."  I guess that is progress from last week.  He felt my stomach and estimated that Harper is probably weighing in around 6 - 6 1/2 pounds.  He thought that her head felt a little large...but didn't seem concerned by this.  He said that he hoped to have me deliver before Memorial Day weekend which made me happy considering that's next week. :)  I have an ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday morning that will help the Dr. decide what to do at my appointment on Wednesday...that's if I don't have Harper before then.  So, stay tuned.  It really could be any day now!

Riley Nicole at 2 Years, 9 Months

Here we are again...another month closer to 3.  Riley continues to keep us on our toes and laughing. 

• The last week or so she has wanted her daddy for everything.  I think she's resenting me for having a baby in my tummy and not being able to do as much with her.  She cries when it's my night to put her to bed because she wants her dad "to lay down by me."  She cried all the way to Hedy's this morning because she wanted her daddy.  She's said things like "I don't like you."  I'm not sure where she picked that up. I find myself constantly reminding myself that she's going through a huge transition and is anxious about all of the change - which she hates.  She is very routine oriented.
• She's wearing size 2T and 3T pants and shorts and size 3T shirts.  Some of her jammies are 4T because all of the Disney jammies seem to run small.
• She counted to 23 last night.
• She wants nothing to do with going to school.  I keep talking to her about pre-school since we will look into this during the spring of next year or when she turns 4.  She also wants nothing to do with organized sports - although I think she'll love both once she's finally there.
• She loves princesses.  Especially "Beauty."
• We've already decided that she wants to have her birthday at the indoor water park at a local hotel with a Disney Princess theme.
• She's very into movies lately.  Unfortunately, I have only bought her about 4 movies and we rely on our DVR to record movies on TV.  Her favorites include Princess and the Frog, Tarzan (her "baby/monkey movie"), Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Horton Hears a Who (her "elephant movie"), Ponyo (her very strange "fish movie"), Strawberry Shortcake, and of course Frosty the Snowman.
• She picks up on everything that people say.  The other day there was a commercial on and the man said something about "there will be blood."  She said "Mommy, what the guy say on that movie?"  I said that I wasn't sure.  She said "there will be?" I answered with blood and she said "hmmm, maybe that guy need a band aid" and went on her business.
• She won't touch your hand or sit on your lap if she thinks that you have an owie on it.  Brett had a blister on his hand from working in the basement and she refused to touch his hand or have him hold her for two days straight.
• She hates to have dirty and/or wet clothes.  She will take them off immediately if she thinks they are dirty.  She often comes home from daycare in different pants because she gets her lunch on them and thinks she needs to change.
• She loves water.  We've played in the sprinkler twice already this spring.
• She still loves to swing.
• She likes to ride her bike/trike.  She still can't reach the peddles on any of her toys because she has Mommy and Daddy's short legs.  I recently found a balance bike  on sale on Zulily and told her that she was going to get a new bike.  She asks about it every day.  Hopefully she will like it.  It doesn't have peddles so she will learn to balance on her own.  I figured she can't reach them anyway and we may be able to bypass training wheels so why not give it a try.  Daddy isn't completely sold on this idea.
• She loves to play with her dolls and pretend that she's in charge.  She will feed them, change their diapers and clothes, but most often she takes things away from them for being naughty.  I think she's going to try to be the boss of her little sister.
• She loves to eat "ice ceam cones" for her snack at night.  If she can't have ice cream she will always ask for cheese or popcorn.
• She eats her vegetables best.  It's become more of a chore to get her to eat.  Most mornings she refuses to eat breakfast at Hedy's.
• She loves milk.  She will usually only drink milk and water.  She will sometimes try a drink of lemonade and will say that she wants juice, but only drink a few sips before abandoning it.
• She hasn't had an accident in forever and has helped our water bill increase by $15 - which totally outweighs the cost of diapers.  She still wears pull-ups to bed, but rarely has an accident.  She will usually wake up 1-2 times a night to go potty and most nights goes right back to bed.  She still needs help from Mommy and Daddy to wipe.  We'll usually hear her call our names in the middle of the night and she'll already have gone potty and needs help wiping and getting dressed. She will always cover her ears before flushing at night - but only at night.
• She will keep band aids on for days if we let her.
• She has the driest scalp I've ever seen.  I haven't found a remedy yet.  I've tried cradle cap lotion which just makes her hair greasy for two days.  I've tried Head and Shoulders 1-2 nights a week which just makes her scalp drier.  We've used Suave Free and Clear/no dye kids shampoo, Suave Hypoallergenic scented kids shampoo, Aveeno cream wash, and Aveeno soap for babies.  Any suggestions are welcomed!

What Would you Do?

Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if your toddler girl came home from day care with this report:

She had to sit in timeout because she hit two older boys over the head with a train because they would only share one train with her and she asked for/wanted two.

A. Take away her bedtime stories.
B. Stress the importance of nonviolent communication.
C. Chuckle a little because your little girl is standing up for herself in a daycare full of boys.

I may, or may not, have had to hide my laugh....and then stress the importance of nonviolent communication.

Slip N' Slide

YESS Duck Derby

I decided that it would be fun to take Riley to the YESS Duck Derby this year.  We had been passing the billboard with the big duck on our way to Hedy's for several weeks and Riley always pointed it out.  We even decided to "adopt" 6 ducks with the chance to win 1 million dollars.  Unfortunately, we didn't win. Our 6 "Murphy Ducks" couldn't match up to the other 30,000 ducks racing.  But we went out to support the cause and really had a good time.  Riley thought it was pretty neat to see all of the mascots, but wanted nothing to do with them as they approached.  We were "those" parents and forced her to take a picture with the official duck, though. We also had our first experience with temporary tattoos.  She loves hers so much that it is still on today and you might even catch her giving it a few kisses. I think we'll have the kid at the Iowa State Fair with fifteen tattoos.  Here's a few pictures:

 Watching in anticipation

 The Race

 Riley and Mommy ready to go home!

 Daddy, Riley, and the Duck.

Cheese!

37 Week Update

I hit the 37 week mark today.  I thought for sure that I would have a baby by now, but Harper is hanging tight still.  Now that she is considered full term from this point on I'm praying every night (morning, and day...but who's counting) that she decides to come join us on the outside.  I had my weekly doctor appointment yesterday and there is still no change.  If fate has anything to do with this pregnancy I think I'll have Harper next week while my parents are in California.  Yes, once again they are scheduled to be on vacation in California around my due date (I had Riley while they were in California in 2008).  I'm feeling a lot of pressure and have been pretty uncomfortable the past week or so.  I've been soaking in the tub the past few days to relieve some of the pain.  Riley's never seen me in her bathtub before so she thought it was pretty fun when she followed me up to her bathroom last night.  She was convinced that she was coming in with me...until the water was too hot.  So she spent the next 20 minutes "giving mommy a bath."  She tried to give me every toy that she could find and repeatedly dumped water on me.  She also took things away from me that I didn't need in the bathtub... I think she's proven over the past couple of weeks that she is prepared to be the boss of her little sister.  She's getting pretty good at telling all of her dolls/Mommy/Daddy what they need to be doing. I think life might get interesting in the next couple years when Miss Harper will have a mind of her own!