1st Dentist Appointment

Abby had her very first appointment with the dentist this week. I know, I know, I put it off longer than I should have. Her pediatrician recommended her first visit to be right when she turned 3 and I am just lucky I got it in before she turned 4. Why must I put these things off? Well, I expected it to go much differently than it did, and perhaps 6 months ago it would have gone that way. However, my little sweet pea did AWESOME!!! No crying! No complaining! Did exactly what she was asked to do through the entire visit! Even the dentist made a comment about what an amazing patient she was. So proud! Oh yeah, and NO CAVITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting those cute little teeth nice and clean!! Brought along her beloved blankies and kitty
All done!

Daddy's Birthday!

Marc celebrated his 39th birthday on the 14th! Next year comes the big 4-0! Such a lucky guy to look about 10 years younger than he really is. Abby and I made had fun making him a birthday cake as usual.

Blowing out the candle!Enjoying some of our hard work (none for mommy though - darn gestational diabetes!) Chocolate face!

Matthew's Room

We FINALLY finished Matthew's room! Wowsa, was it a lot of work!! Thank goodness I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Marc stained and hung hooks on this unfinished shelf I found on clearance at JoAnn's. We painted 2x2 blocks and then glued wood letters on them to make his name blocks. Then we hung the blocks from the hooks with ribbon.Stenciling.....Ahhhhhh! If I never see another stencil in my life it will be way too soon! After stenciling flowers above the chair rail in Abby's room , I swore I would never do it again. Well, I did, and I hated it even more this time around. Not sure if you have ever stenciled, but it is not like you can just run a roller over the stencil. Your brush has to be very dry and you literally have to tap the paint on to the wall so it doesn't bleed under the stencil. Each circle required about 5-10 coats of paint. I thought I would never finish! I think my total time spent stenciling was about 16 hours. Marc's biggest project for the room was this dresser I found on Craigslist for $40.00. It was a hideous beast, but I knew it had potential. Marc spent countless hours in the garage sanding all the nasty forest green paint off it and then staining it to match the crib. We finished it off with some pretty new knobs and then Marc stained the chair rail to match the crib and dresser.Here is the before picture of the hideous beast....ICK!! The sides were the most work because they were painted completely green. Lots and lots of sanding to get it all off.Although not ideal space wise, I really wanted to keep a full size bed in the room since this room used to be our guest room. Not sure how many guests will ever get to use it, but I am sure I will get a lot of use out of it until Matthew is sleeping through the night so I don't disturb Marc when he has to get up for work.These squares were originally intended to be hung as a headboard for the bed but I decided I liked the idea of using them for the whole wall instead. I took 12x12 Styrofoam squares and then covered them in this super cute dot material.
I had this comfy recliner in Abby's room for the last 3 1/2 years and it has been amazing. It was so nice for the countless hours I spent nursing her as a baby and then to read books in every night before bed ever since. She has grown quite attached to the chair and shed some tears when I told her I needed it in Matthew's room. It took some serious bribing to get the chair out of her room and she still keeps asking for it back, but I am hoping with time she will stop missing it so much :(.I love, love, love the words we put on the wall!And to finish the room off, we did a wall of stripes just like Abby's room.

35 Weeks

Oh my....only 26 days to go before I meet my sweet little miracle boy. I have such mixed emotions.

A big part of me wants him out ASAP so I can hold him in my arms and know he is okay. For some reason that feeling of anxiety I felt during the first 20 weeks about losing him has reared its ugly head again. Maybe just because I am so close to getting what I prayed so hard for? Not sure I will ever really get over the loss of two sweet babies. I also am really starting to feel the physical toll of pregnancy. My back and hips are ready to be done carrying the extra weight and the pressure "down below" is well, INTENSE! His head is already very low and wow can I tell! Standing isn't exactly comfortable anymore. My favorite place to be? The pool! Now I see why women want water births! It is amazing how much pressure is relieved in the water. The lovely 1st trimester heartburn and nausea has also reared its ugly head again (bad but still not nearly the to the degree of what I experienced for the first 18 weeks). I also cannot wait to ditch this horrible diet I follow because of the gestational diabetes! I just want some carbs and sugar people!!!

Another part of me wishes that time would slow down its crazy passing. Knowing this will be the absolute last time I am pregnant really makes me cherish every hiccup (which the poor little guys gets about 7 times a day) and kick. It is so amazing to me that we can grow little humans inside us. I feel so blessed to have been given this gift from God that I prayed so hard for. I am so incredibly grateful that I was chosen to be Matthew's mommy. I have also started to feel that twinge of guilt already about how much Abby's life is about to change. She definitely knows she is getting a baby brother, but she has no concept of what that means for Mommy's time and attention. The other day she got very sad and told me she likes Matthew's room better than her room and I almost cried. I know these are all very real and normal emotions that all big brothers and sisters go through so I just keep reminding myself that I am giving her a friend for life, even though she may not understand that for many many years. I suppose I just have to do the best that I can to keep her involved in everything I have to do for Matthew. I know she is going to be a great big sister and will love helping take care of him.

Winnie the Pooh!

A couple weeks ago we took Abby to see her first movie in a theater. I picked Winnie the Pooh because I thought it was a safe bet to not have a villain or anything else scary in it. She has always been a super scardy cat and does not like any of the Disney movies because they all have something scary ! Welllllllll....they managed to put something scary in Winnie the Pooh! Can you believe it!? Grrrrrr! Owl invents a creature called a "backson" and they spend the majority of the movie talking about the scary "backson" and how to catch it. She asked to leave the movie a couple times, but managed to be a trooper on Mommy's lap and made it though the whole thing. However, now she says she never wants to go to a movie theater again. Oh well...I still greatly enjoyed her first movie going experience! (and dinner at Johnny Rockets afterward)