Happy Halloween

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. I must say that this year - Megan got into the trick-or-treating spirit of things. With all the "baby planning" going on around here, we actually didn't get around to carving our jack-o-lantern until this afternoon. And lets just say, Megan wasn't that into that part of the festivities. She stuck her hand in once or twice and was over the pumpkin.

But then it came time to get dressed up in our costume.....
OH yeah - that was fun!!!! Megan was a Ballerina! Which worked out just fine for us because she has multiple dance outfits so she just picked out the one she wanted and ta-da.... Instant Ballerina. It was wet and chilly so thankfully she took my guidance and went with the long sleeve pink one (since I actually had pink tights for her).

Then it was time to meet up with the neighbors...
Unfortunately about the time our little photo shoot ended, the rain began. Bummer! I have to say, I don't actually ever remember it raining on Halloween when I was a kid. But when costumes and candy are involved - it's easy to entertain some kids. Like..... each adult take some candy and head to a bedroom. Then let the kids knock on the doors and just trick-or-treat inside....Finally the rain let up and we headed outdoors to visit our neighbors....

Megan loved it!

We got a few neighbors in before it started raining again. I have to admit that I was having fun and when the sprinkles began, and Megan said - "one more house..." of course we went to at least 6 more. :^) Now what we are going to do with all that candy - you got me....

And when it really did start raining again - we retreated to our neighbors house again and the kids (and dads) got engrossed in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So fun! Maybe next year Megan will want to be an Oompa Loompa...

OK, maybe not... I'm predicting next year we'll have a princess or cowgirl on our hands.

check-ups

It was a day of check ups for us....


Megan had her 2 1/2 year old well-child checkup appt. today. I love that our pediatrician's office has these. Most have 2 and then 3 year old - but not one in the middle. Our's was late - but great! It's really a developmental milestone check-up and language check-up. All is well! The Dr. asked tons of motor skill questions, like can she jump on one foot and/or both feet, does she try to gallop, can she ride a tricycle by herself, does she draw shapes, standing on tippy toes, using scissors and tweezers, ripping paper, getting stickers off a sheet, etc... It was great because Megan is doing great but it also gave me some great ideas of things to do with her at home. Megan was also a chatterbox so the Dr. pretty much skipped the language questions and just confirmed, "I see she knows up and down. I see she can ask a question. I see she can use descriptive words..." It was cute. Megan just talked and talked and talked. And every other sentence started with, "and I ok, I don't need a shot today thank you."



Well.... thankfully our office just got in a shipment of H1N1 shots so my little pumpkin did indeed get her 1st H1N1 shot. We go back at the end of Nov for the 2nd dose. (I should mention her that Daddy will take her for that one. :^) Finally I get to not be the one to hold her down. The Dr's and nurses are always shocked by how strong she is). Megan's not a candidate for the nasal mist due to her asthma so I'm glad they have the injectible vaccine. AND.... if I'm unable to get mine tomorrow at my OB's clinic (they also just got shots in and are partnering with 2 other offices to get them to expectant moms) then they'll give it to me next week since I'm carrying one of their future patients. Have I mentioned that I love my pediatrician!

Hopefully by the time this baby comes at least Megan and I will have had our seasonal flu and H1N1 shots (for Megan at least 1/2 of it) and I'm hoping that our Dr's office will get some soon so that Tom can get his. I know it's a hot topic - but as far I my thoughts go.... I'm not risking the health a newborn OR my high-risk toddler's health (asthma kids are very high risk for major complications) when a vaccine is available and the Dr's recommend it. Which means if I get my way, our whole house will be immunized. After the baby comes we all (that would be Tom and I) also have get our pertusis vaccine. This whole having a winter baby.... so much more to think about in the germ world.

We also got to chat about our "poop issues" and that was great to get some insight on next steps and what they would recommend. Although my Dr. (whom I love) also said - you know life is about to get really really interesting for all of you so don't stress over it. I'm not! That's one of those things that I've let go of and know that God will take care of it in it's due time. Not that I wouldn't LOVE to see Megan completely potty trained... but hey, there are some things that mommy's can't control and this is one of them! I wan't to be a good parent and "do the right things" but bottom line.... it is what it is. On that line, Megan has a little "bite" or something on her bottom that is starting to get infected so the Dr. gave us some antibiotic cream AND with a baby coming also put her on a course of oral antibiotics to make sure it doesn't get worse... which will hopefully keep Megan healthy for baby sisters arrival. One of my big fears is that she'll get sick and not be able to come to the hospital to see the baby. That would DEVESTATE her! I'm praying that our hospital doesn't close it's doors to siblings - most of the others have due to the flu... but so far, they are still letting siblings in. May Megan get to see her sister in the hospital - because you know all the big sister books have that little component in there -- go to the hospital to see mommy and baby sister...... Hopefully it'll work out that way.

Ok - now for the littest ones check-up... all is well with the baby. No major progress. All looks good so now we just wait..... 2 weeks till due date - Any bets on when this little girl will be here? Tom's hoping for her due date due to work things... I'm just wanting it after Nov. 1st. Bottom line - get here healthy and happy little girl!

Things I love!

Seeing Daddy and Megan reading together! Warms a mommy's heart.... especially when Megan gets in bed and then reads to herself and her stuffed animals... unless she's reading an hour later - ugh (but sweet!).

Off to the Dr tomorrow afternoon.... we are at 38 weeks officially. Wow. I've never been this pregnant. Megan was already here by now in my pregnancy. And boy am I feeling HUGE. I'm still hoping to make it a few more days and get past Halloween - we'll see what they say tomorrow. I've had several sleepless nights of contractions so I'm taking my bag, just in case... but hopefully you'll see a post from me tomorrow that all is well and baby is still baking.

Fall Festival

It's that fun time of year again... Fall! This is one of my favorite times of year because it's so much fun to go to festivals and pumpkin patches... and Megan eats it all up!
This morning we sent Tom off to play golf and met up with Natalie and then the 3 girls headed over to Megan's little school for their fall festival. Originally it was planned for the weekend we were at the beach, but much to my surprise it was rescheduled due to rain and we got to go. I have to admit I'm really glad it was rescheduled for today because we had a blast!


They had a fun train ride that took us through the parking lot. It was a bargain at 50 cents.... when a very similar train is like $4 at the mall.
Megan got her face painted (and a cute pumpkin on her hand, because at first she wasn't so sure she wanted her face painted... until she saw her friend Macie as a kitty cat).

They had a great pony ride. Megan loved the horses and I wasn't sure we'd get her off at the end.

Aunt Natalie was great and made sure mommy took it easy and didn't lift a little girl all day. And Megan was very happy to have another playmate!

There were fun games to play (with candy prizes).

And I think her favorite part of the day was the petting zoo. Who knew she'd love hanging with a guinea pig soooo much!

And getting to pet and feed a llama.

And in the end, we had a fun time romping through the pumpkin patch!

And the best part of fall.... my little pumpkin!

All is well!

Oh yeah - Ice cream - gotta love it. She's definitely our daughter!!

So today is officially "full term" day. Baby girl #2 is doing great and everything looks good. Last week my blood pressure had gone up a good bit. It was boarderline high, which for me is really high since my "normal" bloodpressure is always really low. But I really thought it was probably because I had just battled horrid traffic and was late to my appt and running to the office. Gee, I mean there's nothing like sitting in traffic behind an accident then running to your OB's office (totally out of breath), jumping on a scale only to totally freak out about how much weight you gained in 2 weeks, and then have a cuff slapped on to be told - any stress lately hon, your blood pressure is a little high..... oh really, gee, I can't imagine why!?!?!

At any rate - everything looked good. Megan's at a parents night out event at her little school and I'm working on NESTING! Ok, with this little computer break thrown in. :^) The reality is, if this little girl were on the same time frame as her sister, she'd be coming on Sunday.... now I'm hoping she's a little more laid back and will give us another week to get ready for her arrival.

The Beach!

I'm taking a little break from getting ready for baby to get some pictures up from our Beach trip. It was so warm in FL, and this morning we had freeze and frost warnings here. What a change! Oh well, before we welcome Fall - we'll just remember the end of our summer!
Megan had lots of fun playing in the sand! And the water...

Daddy made sure she got lots of time in the water (at 35 weeks pregnant, I spent lots of time sitting and watching all the fun!).

Megan loved playing with Aunt Kelly and her cousins...

Many sandcastles were built....

And destroyed... by Meganzilla.....Megan was way into her cousins's wake boards.... Looks like next year we know what Megan's souviner will be.

Of course, Daniel and Justin were eager to give Megan some lessons on catching waves! When not in the water, Megan was all about chasing the seagulls.

When relaxing... this was our beach set-up. We had our chairs and umbrellas and of course the "raft pool" and shady sand pit area. Got to love the beach!It was a super fun getaway! We are so glad we had this last trip with Megan before Baby Girl 2 arrives.And although, I'm not sure why I allowed this picture to be taken, I figured it would be good for Baby sister to know that she was indeed there - just incognito. Or as Megan would say, "in tummy-O."Our last beach trip as a family of 3!!!!

And the last silly picture of the 4 cousins at the beach!

So long summer.... We'll be back next year (9 months or so, and counting!)

sit and stand stroller sale

Here's a little note to my friends who are expecting kids and who are wanting a Sit and Stand stoller..... Rightstart.com is having a sale on their sit and stand deluxe - it's only $99.... this is the one that has the 2nd back seat that you can convert to a jump seat that normally retails for about $160-$200. And they've got free shipping on it right now.

So basically you get the EX version for $30-50 less than the LX version (with just the jump seat - no conversion seat). I just love a bargain. What I've realized is it's really hard to find this stroller that's not black (I have an issue with black strollers in the GA sun). We weren't going to get the EX version - but no we are. The one that is on sale is light blue and brown... hopefully our girls won't mind a little blue over their heads! :^)

Wanted to pass on the deal to anyone who's been looking or is starting to think about looking...

Getting Ready

This time last week we were busy preparing for our roadtrip to the beach. Every year we head out with my parents and brother's family for a week on the Gulf. It's always a blast - this year our trip was delayed a bit so instead of a July trip, we ended up kicking off Fall on the coast. The house we rent is near Sea Grove - about 20 minutes from PCB. Last Tuesday, Megan was really wanting in on the preparations. So much so that she overcame one of her great fears...... The dreaded Vacuum Cleaner!!!!

She was so good at it - into the details and could go where no preggo mommy could bend and stoop to get to. All I had to do was say, what about that piece of trash - and she was all over it!

With all those smiles, you'd never know that if the Vacuum was turned on inside the house she'd freak out and jump into the closest person's arms. It's a small step, but one that I appreciate!

Sayings to remember

We just got back from a short vacation to the beach (got the family trip in pre-newborn). It was great but while we were there Megan was saying some fun things and it reminded me to get some of her sweetest and cutest sayings written down so I don't forget them.

Last night as we were getting her ready for bed - after a long day on the road.... Add up 2 vehicles, 4 kids, 2 meals on the road and a pregnant woman and you've got lots of stops... therefore a 6 hour trip becomes a 10 hour trip. All that to say - Megan was a little giddy/punchy last night. I've come to realize that at moments like that you either deal with a grumpy going to bed battle, or make it fun.... I tend to go the fun route as long as I'm not so tired that I too am grumpy. Well in the middle of our horsing around to get PJ's on Megan puts her hands on my cheeks and says, "Mommy I love you so much I could eat you up!" I love her!

Here are some more...
"I got an idea..." (followed by a finger in the air and her grabbing your hand to take you somewhere)
"I need some Privacy" (with a closing door in your face)
"What chu doin?"
and one of the cutest..... Imagine Megan popping around the corner with the cutest little smile on her face saying, "Mommy, you got a suprise for me?" - this is her way of asking for some treat that she knows I wouldn't normally get (popsicle, lollipop, candy, etc...) What a charmer!

I'm hoping to get some beach pictures uploaded later today - nap dependent of course!

An Atlanta First

Ok, you can't be from Atlanta without having a claim to fame of going to the Varsity! So after our fun outing to ring in fall, we headed over there with some friends. Megan got her first FO.... Frosted Orange from you non-varsitians. Imagine sipping a partially melted orange creamsicle.

The four monkeys were ready to leave... Megan, Charlie, Kelly and James.

Scarecrow Harvest

It is that time again.... Time for pumpkins, scarecrows and lots of fall fun to be had by all!

This weekend we went to a local festival - The Scarecrow Harvest. It was pretty different this year - much smaller, but still a lot of fun.

Our Natalie went with us, and Megan loved having all that extra attention and loving!

If you ask Megan she'll tell you her favorite part of the day was "riding the horses." Which means, she loved the hay ride that was pulled by the horses.

As you can see from the picture above, that carriage was pretty far up there, and my big ole baby belly just wasn't going to cooperate - so this year Megan got to enjoy the ride with Daddy and Aunt Natalie.Of course I got lots of hugs and kisses once it was over!

And not only did we take advantage of the free hay rides - but also the fun arts and crafts. Megan loved the big area for sidewalk chalk.

She got to decorate a little pumpkin. She was very focused (can't you tell by her tongue sticking out... she's so her Daddy!).
I got in on the fun and helped her make a little door hanger with tons of fall stickers.
Megan also liked creating her scratch-off scarecrow.
We ended up meeting up with some friends at the festival and Megan's friend Charlie (Happy Birthday Charlie!) got in on the scarecrow action with his mommy, Kristy.

And what is a fun festival without a few turns in the free jumpy houses!
Megan loved her first taste of Cotton Candy! Oh yeah, the dentist is going to love us....

We are making the most of our time together before baby sister arrives. This is such a fun age and we want to enjoy ever minute of it! In just a few weeks our little family of 3 will be a family of 4... hard to believe!