Christmassy Things

Merry Christmas eve to you my blogging friends! As I sit here I can hear my sweet girl upstairs in her bed wearing her new snuggy Christmas jammies making her early morning noises. I would love to know what she does in there before the crying begins which is when I actually go in and get her up. She sounds like she is having the most wonderful time in there by herself. I would think she was playing with her bear but she usually throws him out before she goes to sleep, at some point she also throws out her blankets and paci so she must be talking to herself oh so quietly.
I haven't been doing many Christmas themed blogs lately and I am in the Christmas mood now so I shall share! This feels like its Annies first Christmas because she was only a few months old last Christmas so she was just a cute accessory. This year I want to share all the Christmas experiences with her. Show her just how we do it and what there is to love about Christmas.
My goal with Annie is to teach her that Christmas is the celebration of Christs birth. When I was growing up I knew that it was but I really have to say I didn't care. I was way more excited about Santa and have very fond memories of Santa related things. I would say that I was always grateful for what I received from Santa as well as gifts from others. However I was never excited about the birth of Jesus. With that said I am still having a hard time letting go of the whole Santa idea for Annie. So this year Santa is just filling her stocking and I am thinking that maybe that is what we will stick with. I love the story of St Nicholas and can tie that in with confidence, but I might have a hard time convincing my husband that Santa simply be a play thing right from the start so as to not steal the focus.....
ANYWAY
We have been doing lots of Cincinnati's Christmas finest. We took her to see the trains downtown with our friends Lexi and Tim, & Cousin Carter and Gram (because carter is a train freak). I don't have a picture of that yet because they are all on Lexi's camera. We also visited Krohn Conservatory with Kara, Elly & the Port Man.


I wanted Annie to be able to walk so that she could really get the experience and not have to ride around in the stroller. But she was most interested in the fact that I was letting her walk freely and wandered around chasing and running from Elly Beth ;o)
We also went to the Creation Museum for the first time to see the live Nativity. It was VERY COOL and I can't wait to go back when she is older because she was mesmerized by the commotion and the storytellers but she didn't get it and her attention span is not as long as the story's that the people have to tell. However she LOVED the petting zoo and I hear that is there all year round so I am excited to take her there in the spring so she can run around and get licked by a cow (some kid got licked by a cow in the face when we were there) We also have no pictures of this evening because it was freezing rain mixed with snow and well we just don't do that to our camera :o)
We have decorated the tree, baked Christmas cookies, sang carols, played with her little nativity scene for hours and hours, read books about St Nicholas, and a really cool antique book called "A child is born" that she likes to look through. We have watched Christmas movies and the one that captivated her the most was White Christmas! She has eaten moms garland off of the tree and stolen just a few ornaments (she is very good about pointing with one finger at all the prettys). My one last goal is to drive past a decorated house tonight. I love to look at lights but I am not a fan of doing it with a baby in the car who can't see or appreciate them. However there is one house in Highland Heights that we have visited every year since I was little and his yard is decked out! So I shall share this mans Christmas spirit with my baby. I am also looking forward to a phone call from my Momma who reads "Twas The Night Before Christmas" to us every year and since we are all grown up and in different places on Christmas eve she calls and we are all on speaker phone (one year Kara conference called us all in together) as she reads our bed time story to us.
So Merry Christmas To You All and I hope you are able to celebrate Christs Birth with the people that you love and have happy memories of those who can't be with you on this day!

Baby I'm Amazed By You

I was on call today and though I like getting paid $3 an hour to do my laundry and take a nap I don't like the waiting game never knowing if I am going to have to drop what I am doing and go to work. But I always get a lot done on these unexpected days at home because I can't leave for fear that I will get called.
Today was a lot of laundry and playing with my baby. I am blown away by her every day and I can't believe I don't get the video camera out more often. A few days ago I was driving in the car and when she gets fussy I sing to her. I have been singing Christmas songs lately and I was singing "Up On The Housetop" when I got to the "hohoho" part I hear this little "hohoho" from the backseat (only her HoHo comes out HaHa and I love it)! I was blown away! How did she know to do that at that moment in the song? So later when Aunt Kelly got home we were singing it for her and when I got to "click, click, click" she joined in with her own version of tongue moving and back of the throat clicking! Kelly and I screamed of course and we were super proud of her! How am I supposed to keep up with this smart kid? She has also added "Beth" and "Porter" and "Pawpaw" to her list of words in the past week. She has stoped with the Dog Dog woof woof so much and moved on to saying Doras name all day every day! She also tried to use a fork tonight at dinner and I did manage to get a few seconds of that on video. She thought it was super funny when she would get a piece on her fork, with much help, but then she would turn the fork around and put it in her mouth by herself. It was cute because she would laugh every time she saw the food on the end of the fork. So I decided that I need to go buy her some forks, I will put them in her stocking just to have a good excuse to spend money.
We took her to see the trains downtown last weekend and she liked them but was not overly impressed, she liked the free cookie the most. My friend Lexi took some pictures so when I get them I will be sure to share.
I think I have mentioned before that she is super addicted to her Daddy right now which I am really excited about. I think it has caused Joe to realize how much time he doesn't get to spend with her because it feels like he is always making her cry by leaving. So he has been making more of an effort to not work late and come home for dinner between work and practice. He has also been letting her tag along some now on his errands and just keeping her with him when he is working around the house. It makes her super happy and I love to see them playing together. Here is a picture from the day we got the tree, she was by his side all day and she wanted to "help" him prepare the tree stand which I thought was the beginning to an adorable friendship.

1st OB Appointment

I had by 1st OB appointment today. Silly brainless me scheduled it at 12:30 right in the middle of Annies nap time. Who wants to take a 14mo old to their OB appointment let alone the first one when you have to fully undress and sit for long questionnaires about your physical history! So my sisters being together today at Krissys house kindly accepted my child among their 5 during nap time and she showed them all up with her napping abilities :o)
So off I went (a little late) to my appointment (just a short jaunt from Walton to Clifton) and upon my arrival I was given a good natured hard time by the PA who is this older black lady who I LOVE! After my Q & A and dressing in the lovely warm comfortable pink "put it on like a poncho" top...wait I thought poncho's were supposed to warm you, there is nothing warming about this practically see through poncho, and the not quite big enough to wrap around my body sheet, I am sitting very strategically on the exam table when in walks the PA and says "Wrap up your gona get an Ultrasound" hmmmm what?!? I tell her I just had an ultrasound 2 weeks ago and she looks at me like I have two heads. hehe the number one thing about pregnant women is that they ALWAYS want to see their babies! And now this crazy pap smear refusing woman is going to refuse a complimentary ultrasound?!? Well OK! So I wrap up as best as I can (the usually busy office is eerily quiet today anyway) pad down the hall in my trouser socks, poncho and sheet for an ultrasound :o) Ertha (the PA) fires up the machine and confirms heart tones and then turns the screen towards me and lets me watch the baby move its little arms and legs buds. During this time she calls the phlebotomist in to kill two birds with one stone and draw my labs while I am watching my little pea bounce around in utero!!! I thought to myself that if I were anyone else or if this was my first pregnancy I would be confused offended and bothered by all of this craziness but personally I thought it was fun. :o)
The worst part of the appointment was when the nurse accidentally threw out my urine before drawing it for labs and so I had to do the impossible (pee in a cup) TWICE!!! Does anyone have any peeing in a cup secrets for this extremely inept patient???
After a long chat with my favorite OB I was off with my goody bag and an appointment set for the beginning of January back across the river to walton to pick up my little girl ;o)
I have to say that it was kind of fun going to my appointment without her, just like old times (0nly 8lbs heavier..grrrr). However I am excited about sharing this pregnancy with her and seeing if she catches on at some point.

Sorry that they are pictures of pictures, I didn't feel like digging out the scanner.

Predicament

I tried to look back at my blog to what was going on when I was nine weeks pregnant with Annie. I laughed when I found that I started my blog when i was 20+ weeks! I feel like I have been blogging forever. So in my memory at nine weeks last time I was feelin good. I thought that I was about nine weeks when I announced my pregnancy only to find out that I was only 6 :o)
I am shocked at how I feel this time but I wonder if its because I was a lady of leisure before and now I have someone else to look after. I am still working out which makes me very happy. Actually my best time of the day is between 9-noon and that is when I go to the gym because the playroom for Annie is open. I couldn't decide in my sleeplessness last night if I really felt good while working out or if I was distracted by my sheer exhaustion during my workout that I don't notice the nausea. I decided it was maybe a mixture :o)
About the gym playroom, here is my latest predicament. The manager of the playroom is this really nice lady with 4 kids 2 girls in middle and 2 boys in high school. She is very kind and always offering me mom advice (teething, sleeping through the night, etc...) She lives about 2 streets down from us and she loves Annie. This summer her youngest came to work with her and she was sweet and played with Annie the whole time. I appreciate the consistency of Annie knowing that Florence is going to be there every day and she seems to be very good with the kids as far as rules and discipline. But here is the hard part. She keeps asking me if I need her to babysit Annie. She would always offer to take her home with her if I needed to go shopping or run errands which is VERY kind. However I dont even know this womans last name! I feel like I would really appreciate having someone close by that I could have watch Annie while I run somewhere quick but I am not going to leave her with Florence. My biggest reason is her sons and husband. All the stories you hear about kids getting hurt, raped, etc are from neighbor boys. Now today she gave me her number because whenever she offers I just say "oh thats so nice of you" But I feel like I am going to hurt her feelings if I continue to blow her off. So what would you do? I don't want to offend her by telling her that I think the men in her home are rapists!

Mildly Amusing Annie and Pregnancy Updates

Thanksgiving at Grammys

Wild Crazy kid jumping in the couch pillows

Playing with my new camera lens

Do any of you ladies think in blog posts or facebook statuses? I have to admit sometimes I do. I love when I get a good blog post idea, good meaning I find it amusing enough to share with you my fellow bloggers. However lately I have wanted to blog and have no creativity in my brain. I feel like my posts lately have been whiny and boring. Maybe because that is my attitude lately? Have I been whiny and boring? Please let me know I am preparing my heart for constructive criticism.
I have too many thoughts and things bouncing around in my head. Its because I was gone from home for 3 days and my house looks like it exploded. I am slowly getting it put back together however I have always been the person who only has it together when things are clean. I could never study until my room was clean in college. I cant cook until the kitchen is clean and I am that person who has to organise the dirty dishes before I wash them.
Annie is saying so many new words, I really should get the video camera out and record her but I am just not that person. I have a LOT of still shots so I decided that that is my thing and I get credit for that.
She has said "Musket" (which is my parents new dogs name) a few times clear as a bell however now when I ask her to say Musket she says "aaaa-bus!" every time! Its pretty funny.
She is learning the meaning of Dinner, Snack & Lunch. When I say do you want dinner? She says "mmmmm"
She says "Dog, Dog, Woof, Woof", clicks her tongue and pats her leg in that order over and over all day long. She can spot and hear a dog a mile away however when we get close she doesn't want to touch them!
She loves to look at pictures and calls everyone in them "Dora".
When a phone rings she puts her hand to her ear and answers it, even when Joes phone vibrates which I think is funny.
She LOVES Joes new nephew Brady and when she sees him she pats him and says "awwww".
She also loves playing with her baby dolls and has me swaddle them and help her feed them with a bottle which excites me for the new baby next year because I think she will be soo sweet!

Pregnancy wise I am 8 weeks and 5 days along and feeling gross most of the time ever since last wednesday. I think my doctor put a curse on me when he told me last tuesday that there was still time to get morning sickness and the very next day I was nauseous all day long! Its worse at night after dinner and I have to eat every few hours during the day to keep from feeling crappy. Otherwise things are good and I get more and more excited every day. I started looking at baby names already because I was worried that I wouldn't like any. Our list with Annie was pretty limited and I wanted options this time. So I started researching using babycenter.com and I have huge list made! I know that as time goes along I will get rid of some and my husband will take an ax to quite a few which is ok because I pretty much deleted the whole list that he made :o(

So I realize that this post was only mildly amusing and more for my archiving memories purposes than your entertainment. But at least I got a few thoughts out of my head for now. I shall add a few pictures so that you don't stop reading my blog. :o)