Two Years in Pictures

In honor of Lucy turning two, I have put together a little photo retrospective...one picture per month from the first two years of her life. I hope you enjoy "watching her grow" as much as we have!

Just born

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

23 months

24 months...TWO YEARS OLD!

Good times

It's been a heck of a few days. I had a cold brewing late last week, but ok, not so bad. On Friday night at 5:30, Miss Lucy gives me a swift kick to the abdomen (very unintentionally). We follow up with a precautionary call to the doctor, who tells me to go to the hospital to be monitored. They tell me I might be there for 4 hours, but maybe up to 24 hours (to rule out a placental abruption). All tests look ok, but darn it, I am having regular-ish contractions and am dilated 3-4 cm. So I get sentenced to all-night fetal monitoring. No food, i.v. in my arm. Jeff was great -- he stayed with me all night. And so were my in-laws for coming to Boston at midnight to retrieve Lucy, and my mom for spending the weekend. Thankfully I was released on Saturday morning, but by then my little cold because a massive one. Horrible congestion, cough, etc. So it's Monday now and I just spoke with my doctor, who gave me the ok to take some fun things like Robitussin and Sudafed. I am just so fearful of going through labor without the ability to breathe well. And because I have so much congestion and have pretty much blown out my nasal passages, I can't smell anything. What if I have the baby and can't smell her little baby head? Silly concerns, perhaps, but still I would much rather go through childbirth as a well person than a sick one. So, pray for my speedy recovery and that baby decides to stay put for another week or so!

Note to Baby

(That's you)

UPDATE: I have changed my mind. Big sister came home sick from daycare today and I am not feeling so hot myself...so, let's wait a few more days, shall we? We'll all get better and then we'll really be ready for you! And no, this is not reverse psychology.

Dear Baby,

Today we are at 37 weeks gestation. Do you know what that means? It means you are now FULL TERM!!! Which also means that you are now free to come out. Really, I mean it. Today is good. Your sister is in daycare, the laundry is done, the house is relatively clean. You have lots and lots of pretty clothes waiting for you. And a beautiful pink nursery! I know, I know, it is so nice and warm in there and it is so cold out there. I guess you are like your mom...you'd rather soak in a warm bath until your fingers look like prunes rather than brave cold weather. But we've got plenty of blankets for you and even some hand knit hats and mittens (hand-me-downs from your sister, ok, I know!).

Speaking of which, maybe you are a bit afraid of your bigmouthed big sister? Don't worry about her, she is really very sweet. In fact, I'll bet can you hear her asking you to come out and play with her. She really wants to meet you! And it will be great if you can clear up her confusion by coming out of Mommy, because right now she thinks you are coming out of her tummy.

Well, that's all for now. As I said, today would be great. But I know, you've got weeks and weeks before anyone tries to smoke you out of your warm and comfortable home. So I'll wait patiently...sort of.

Much love,
Mommy
xo

She's Two!

Lucy Elise turned two on Saturday! It feels like she has been two for a while, actually...maybe because I've been saying "she's almost two" for a few months, or maybe it's because her terrible twos arrived early!

She started out the day with a princess crown on her head, of course, followed by a princess card and a present she has wanted for a while -- a ducky backpack. She has a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, wanting it on when it's off, off when it's on, etc. (typical two year old behavior I suppose). For breakfast, we had eggs, toast, and her favorite food in the world, veggie sausage. She actually calls the sausages "greedies" because in the book Little Miss Greedy, the character eats 22 sausages for breakfast. I think that Lucy feels she should do the same...though we always stop her at three.

In her crown

Wearing the ducky backpack

In the afternoon, we had...what else but...a princess party! Funny, because all her little guests were boys :) Still, we did it up with tons of pink balloons, pink roses, and a princess cake. Lucy wore her gorgeous new dress, which she calls her "Poppa dress" because her Greatnana and Greatpoppa gave it to her (sorry, Nana, I don't know how you got left out when she named the dress!) She looked so pretty, like a little flower girl in a wedding. She had a great time at the party and seemed to really and truly enjoy the fact that it was her birthday. What more could we ask for?

Playing with a party blower

With Nonni...at least we can see Nonni's face!

Waiting for her cake

Blowing out the candles

The princess cake

Pretty party girl!

Spring was here...and then it left

We had a lovely January thaw...60 degrees out (or close to it) for a few days! I loved being outside and took some great walks. The snow was melting. Were the birds maybe even chirping? On Saturday I got my hair cut (for the first time in 7 months), had lunch with friends, and took Lucy to her friend Renny's birthday party at a mini gym. She had a lot of fun playing in the ball pit and jumping on the trampoline!

(That is not me holding her up...it is a mini gym staff member. I don't wear tie-dye shirts...any more.)

Alas, it was just a tease and we were soon reminded that we are indeed still in the dead of winter in New England. Overnight on Sunday night, my springtime fantasy came crashing down as we received nearly a foot of new snow. We all stayed home from work/daycare on Monday. We bundled Lucy up in the morning to go play in the falling snow. Unfortunately, it didn't go too well. She kept wanting to touch the snow so she took her mittens off -- but then promptly complained about the cold. She cried being outside...then cried when we tried to bring her in. When we finally did get her in, she had a good, long tantrum. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the day inside.

"Hmmm, maybe I should leave my mitten on? Nah, I'll just keep it off and cry about the cold."

The week in review

Well, not exactly...but I had to think of a better title than "not too much happened this week." Let's see, what can I tell you?

(1) Miss Lucy has a cold. And so does Mommy. And we think Daddy is getting one, too. Here is a good up-close picture of her runny nose (it's been a lot worse than this, but trust me, you don't want to see it!):


On Monday, we kept her home from daycare as the cold was really starting to brew and she had a slight temperature. Here is what she did while at home with Daddy on her "sick day"...some sick day ;)


(2) I had my 35-week doctor's appointment on Thursday. Everything is great. I go weekly from now on...hopefully only a few more weeks, though technically I have five more until my due date and then another week after that before we'd think about trying to smoke the baby out (our crude way of referring to induction!). Here's me at home before my appointment yesterday:

That's all for now! I am very excited because we have a photographer coming to the house on Sunday to do some proper maternity/family/Lucy's second birthday photos. So maybe I'll stop taking self-portraits. We have one birthday party to attend this weekend and three next weekend (including Lucy's), so there will be lots of good times and cake opportunities to report soon!!

Friday happenings

It was another frigid day out today and we did not leave the house all day. I am a bit stir-crazy, but it's better than being cold. Warmer temps are in the forecast, though! Yeah!

I started out the day with a self-portrait (note: those are not stretch marks on my tummy -- they are veins). Less than 6 weeks to go...scary:

Dylan came over to play at 10...they had so much fun together. Needless to say, my afternoon has involved some vacuuming!



Dylan was nice enough to lend his baby sister Claire to Lucy for a while so that she could get some good big sister practice in. She loved holding Claire...for about 20 seconds, and then wanted to "go play." Still, I am very proud of how gentle she was for those 20 seconds!

She even helped Naomi give Claire her pacifier. The problem is, she kind of thinks it is a toy and she kept taking it out of Claire's mouth and then putting it back in. Poor Claire! She was a veyr tolerant little baby and smiled through it all.

Bye-bye Christmas

Today during Lucy's nap, I took down all the Christmas decorations, boxed them up, and put them in the garage. I literally could not get this done fast enough...strange, because I normally hate to take the decorations down. (When I was a kid, my least favorite day of the year was the one on which I would arrive home from school to find that my mom had taken down the tree, put the presents in our rooms...so sad!) I think this urge to un-decorate is due to a combination of factors this year. First, I was not entirely thrilled with my decorations. Last year, I thought our condo looked so great -- but that was when we had a bowfront window to put a tree in and a mantle to hang our stockings. It just wasn't the same this year with no tree (something I regret...despite the agony of picking up needles, I will always have a tree in future years) and with the stockings hanging from knobs on our console table. Not that I am complaining about where we live now -- it is a temporary and a means to the end of finding a house that we really love -- but this place is just not very Christmas-y. Anyway I think the bigger source of my motivation is the countdown to baby. Now that tomorrow will put me at t-minus 6 weeks and counting, I just feel that the time is right to clean out everything I don't need and to focus on getting ready for the big arrival. Nesting, perhaps??

Dee-yi-shish

Yesterday morning, Jeff and I were joking that Lucy really needs to have a "catch phrase" that will make her famous when she stars on her very own sitcom. (You know, like Arnold asking "Watchoo talkin' 'bout Willis?" on Diff'rent Strokes.) Anyway out of the blue about half an hour later, she proclaims (with absolutely no promting) that her breakfast is dee-yi-shish! What can I say? A star is born :)

Check it out (this version does have a bit of prompting from me!):

33 Weeks

(That about sums it up)

I will be 33 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Part of me feels like I can't believe this baby will be here so soon, but another (and I think bigger) part of me feels like I have been pregnant for-ev-er and can't wait to be done with it. Yeah, I know, I should be savoring the experience, blah blah blah. But honestly, between the Braxton Hicks contractions, the constant kicking/jabbing, the lack of lap space for a toddler who wants its, and the utter exhaustion...put a fork in me. I'm done. What's that you say? SEVEN MORE WEEKS?