Each day a little easier

So I feel badly for David that he isn't going to have nearly as many pictures of himself as a baby as Allyssa did. It is a fact of life I guess. So far he just sleeps, eats, and poops. He's not up for long periods of time, so I would just be taking a picture of a sleeping baby. I'm really going to have to do that so that we can have a few pictures of him though.
Allyssa is getting much better at tantrum throwing. I've decided that it is probably a combination of three things. 1. She's almost 2. 2. She's teething. 3. She has a new brother. We are letting her throw her little fits, but we aren't allowing her to throw them in front of us. Yesterday, I tried taking her to her room. This is difficult since I am not supposed to pick her up. This idea might have to wait. But it did work. When she was done she came to me and said that she wanted to play. Sarah, my sis-in-law, told me that I should make whatever I'm doing look more attractive than her tantrum. That was the real winner! I noticed a little thingy that she liked to play with was sitting on top of a bookshelf and had probably been there for a few weeks, so I got it down and started playing with it. She saw me playing with it when she came out of her room the first time (she wasn't done throwing a fit, so she had to go back to her room). She quickly decided that it was not fun to be in her room and she came out to play. Hooray! She really never threw fits before David was born, but I guess that it was bound to happen.
I can fit into one pair of prepregnancy capris! I'm down 20 pounds and want to loose 10-15 more. I hope to be in a pair of prepregnancy shorts soon! Wish me luck!

Transitions

They are always hard. The good thing is that David actually took a pacifier today and it helped him take a nap all by himself! Hooray! I know that I can't rock him everytime that he needs to go to sleep because he's not the only kid, so I'm really glad that he finally took a pacifier sucessfully. Allyssa is having trouble with the rules. She learned to open doors. Not a good thing. Today she threw several fits about not being allowed to play with things that she shouldn't and being told that she is not allowed in the workshop and that Mommy couldn't go outside because Mommy had to stay with David, but she could go out with Daddy. It has been a really tough few days. I'm very tired. David (husband) is letting me take a nap during his lunch breaks. That helps a lot. It means 5-6 hours of sleep a day instead of 4-5. That is an improvement. The thing that I am feeling the most is isolation. All the mothers that I know live in a town that is half an hour away. That means that there aren't kids to play with or moms to talk with that live next door or down the street. Because of the sleep issue with me, I can totally understand now why moms send their kids to preschool at young ages. I am thankful that I am less judgemental about that now. It makes total sense why a mom of more than one kid needs to send the older to preschool. I don't have that option. Part of the reason I don't is the distance to the one that I would use if I would use one, but I really don't think I would anyways because it doesn't fit in with the lifestyle that my husband and I desire. But I still can totally understand why other people do it. Or Mother's Day Out. There's not one of those here either. Heck, I haven't even found a babysitter that isn't in high school and busy with extra-curricular activities. Anyways, I'm not trying to complain, I'm just trying to express my feelings about my situation. It is a hard transition. I'm feeling very competent as a parent, but having a really hard time dealing with Allyssa's tantrums and my lack of sleep. I'm really hopeing that the Babywise book comes through for me and David sleeps through the night at 8 or 9 weeks.

Update on our life

Allyssa got sick right before David was born. She is better now. Her sick cough is gone and has been replaced by her asthma cough. It might be that everything is blooming around here. Allyssa has been doing okay with the transition. She really wants to play with David. She shows him toys and says "See. Do you see it?" Thanks Grandma for teaching her that. She is jealous and throws some fits, but it has gotten better in the past couple of days. We're trying to get her to follow our rules again. That's another tough area. Things like not playing at the kitchen table or counter and how many toys she is allowed to take with her when she goes outside have been the hardest on her. She has gotten used to me changing her clothes and diaper on the floor. That's good. She even asked Daddy to change her on the floor this morning. David had one really exceptional night of sleeping and a few okay ones. We're working on it. All of the grandparents are back home now. Next week some friends of ours are going to help out by bringing some meals or groceries for us. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends. I'm starting to see how I can manage things with two kids. At least while David is so little not asleep a lot, I can still spend a lot of time with Allyssa. I'm really tired, but other than that, I feel good. David had his one week apointment when he was 6 days old, on Wednesday. He was above birth weight at 6 pounds 13 oz. He'll go back in for his two week apt. next Friday for newborn screening. Next Sunday, David gets baptised. We can't wait!

March 19

I had a doctor's apt on March 19th. David's parents were in town, so he got to come with me. I was spilling protein, had a headache, and minor swelling, so I was sent to the hospital for tests. Before leaving for the hospital Dr. Hunter said that there was a 75% chance we'd have a baby before the day was out. At the hospital they did a sono and found that the baby wasn't growing at the rate that it should. That meant Preeclampsia had come again, my placenta wasn't functioning at 100%, so Dr. Hunter delivered David Dominic Vandercook, Jr. on March 19th at 5:49 pm. He weighed 6 pounds 12.4 oz. He was happy and healthy. We were dismissed from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Allyssa was very happy to have Mommy and David come home. We are adjusting to being a family of four with help from our parents and friends.

Well we made it through the day

It was a tough one, but Allyssa and I survived the afternoon (David had to work) until David came to rescue us from each other. Allyssa and Daddy had a great time while Mommy laughed and played along. They played airplane, and she plopped down on him, she practiced taking her shirt on and off, and we all played "Where did it go?" with a racoon. It was good fun. She had another meltdown at bedtime, but seems to have already fallen asleep, so she must be exhausted (she didn't take much of a nap, so no one is really surprised). All in all, it was simply a survival day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. It is a new day afterall, and Grandma and Grandpa are coming for a visit!

I don't need a toddler that doesn't take a nap

Stupid coughing wakes Allyssa up from her naps these days. I am really sick of it. She only coughs during her nap and in the early morning before she wakes up. I am really sick and tired of it. I really want her to take a good nap like she was a week ago. Doesn't she know that she is about to have a brother and that I really need her to take a nap so that when he comes along she still naps!? It is really frustrating. I know that she is tired. One day she literally didn't take a nap at all. Another couple of days this week she's taken short naps. Does this have to do with her asthma or with the time change? I don't know, but I don't like it.

Smelly Stuff

While I do wear body spray, I do not wear perfume, and really never have liked perfume. I was reminded of why today. As a child I often set behind a lady in church who wore a flower scented perfume that made me feel sick to my stomach. I would often have to ask my parents if we could find another seat. I thought that that was the worst that perfume could get...you know, over-powering, drifting too far away from the person, making the whole world smell like the perfume that that person is wearing. I was wrong. Today Allyssa was held by someone whose perfume smelled like poop. I'm not trying to say that it was stinky, which it was, I am trying to say that I repeatedly checked my daughter's diaper to make sure that I wasn't imagining this. I wasn't. And she isn't gassy. It is really quite sad that there is someone walking around who smells like poop on purpose. I am so glad that it is a bath night (it would be even if it wasn't) and that today is the day that I wash Allyssa's sheet after her nap. Hooray for that! Boo for perfume!

Full Term and a Story

Yesterday I was officially full-term. I am now 37 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I feel good. I'm no longer as sleepy in the morning, but I get very tired in the late afternoon. This week I've gotten up early enough to fix waffles one day and French toast another for the family for breakfast. It was good to finally get to fix breakfast for everyone again and not be dragging. It also helps that we got a new waffle maker, thanks to swagbucks, that also doubles as a griddle! It is very exciting because we haven't had a waffle iron in a LONG time because ours broke so many times that we gave up on it (we kept shipping it back to the company and the same piece would break again and again). The griddle sure made making French toast less time consuming!

I stubbed my toe this past week really hard. Most people yelp or scream something when this happens. I did. I shouted "Oww! Pain!" Allyssa thought that sounded like a fun thing to yell, so she shouted "Owww! Pain!" several times after that. I'm really glad that that is what I screamed!

***Swagbucks is a search engine that gives points for searching. Each point you earn gets you closer to winning a prize. My favorite prize is the $5 gift card to Amazon.com, but they have hundreds of options!

Today

Today I had a doctor apt. I'm fine. I was supposed to have a babysitter watch Allyssa, but at 5:30 last night my sitter cancelled. It was too late to get another sitter without being super rude, so Allyssa came with me. David had dressed her this morning before he knew the temperature, so when I opened the door to load her up in the car, I quickly had to shut the door, take off her skirt and sandles, grab pants, socks and shoes, and re-dress her. Then I put on socks and shoes myself, but didn't have time to switch to pants. I grabbed her jacket and quickly put it on her as I rushed to get her in the car. I brought along the book A Dragon in a Wagon. We made it all the way to the office without having to resort to a snack in the car or the special book. All she wanted was Caillou's Community and water. She didn't start fussing until we were about 2 blocks away. Pretty good. At the doctor's office, I was told that 4 ladies were in labor and the doctor could leave anytime. Go pee in a cup and wait to be called. As we waited to be called into a room, I gave Allyssa the special book. She had me read it to her so many times that the lady sitting near us sighed with relief when she was called into a room. I don't blame her. I would have liked a room without that book, too. In the room, I struggled to keep her occupied until I had to undress. Then the doctor came in and asked why I was undressed to which I replied, "The nurse told me to." Oh well. Allyssa was very upset about the doctor being there. She threw a fit. The doctor picked her up and handed her to me on the examination table. That wasn't fun at all. She cried as I held her and had to lay down to get measured and then sit up all holding her with one arm on this skinny table. She cried until I finally got dressed. Then we headed to the store because I can't buy ground turkey sausage at my Wal-mart and was out of it. Allyssa wasn't a fan of stopping, but goldfish crackers kept her from being too angry in the store. Then we headed home. The whole way home she kept asking for songs or books or simply fussing. We finally made it home and she didn't want to come inside. By the way, I had to pee and was dressed in shorts and was freezing. I made her come inside after I got the car unloaded. That did not make her happy, so she threw a fit on the floor. When she was done with that, she came to see what I was doing in the workshop. I was putting the meat in the freezer. She decided she should play in the worshop, but she isn't allowed to because there are too many dangerous things in there for a little girl, so she threw another fit when I removed her. Then I got her jacket and shoes off and put away and got her diaper changed. I got lunch on the table and told her it was time to eat. She threw a fit because she had to leave her toy mommy and daddy behind. She ate one, maybe two bites. Then told me she was done. Undoubtedly it had to do with the goldfish. Oh well. So I got to eat hardly anything and went to put her down for a nap. She fell asleep at noon only to wake up several times coughing until finally staying awake at about 12:20. I tried to rock her back to sleep once I realized that she wasn't going to settle down herself, but that failed, so she spent the rest of naptime awake in her crib while I cried and tried to get chores done. What a great day this has been!

Sweet things she says...Silly things she says...

No matter how tired I am or how much my feet hurt, I jump up and run when I hear this over the baby monitor during nap time,
"Mommy...Mommy...Mommy"
so quiet and with a sleepy and scratchy voice, she calls for me after a coughing spell to comfort her so she can go back to sleep. Sweetest thing I've ever heard.

"Water need." So I get her a cup of water. "Thank you, Daddy...Mommy...Thank you Mommy." She gets mixed up a little and says it to Daddy first, but she knows who I am and corrects herself.

Silly:
The other day David mowed the lawn. He came inside to get an extension cord to plug in the blower to blow off the driveway. When he left I said to Allyssa, "Daddy is stinky." Of course "stinky" is a fun word to say, so she practiced that for a while saying "Daddy nink-nee." I thought it was absolutly hilarious, but didn't want to encourage her to call her Daddy stinky, so I quickly told her not to worry that he'd take a shower when he came in. When he came in she said to him, "Take shower." It wasn't a statement of fact, but rather in the tone of a request. I smiled and kept my mouth shut. Off he went to get a shower having no clue what new word Allyssa had learned. So while he was getting cleaned up, I had her practice saying "Daddy smells good." She knew all of those words, so I didn't think it would be a problem. He came out of the shower and she ran to him and all on her own says, "Daddy nink-nee. Take shower." I died laughing, so David asked me what she'd said. I told him and then prompted her to tell him he smelled good. She said "Daddy smell gooood." Then, she gave him a big hug.

Other Kid Stuff

One of these pictures is of stuff that I'd bought or could re-use from Allyssa for O.K. Another of these pictures is of wonderful gifts I recieved at my baby shower. And the other one is of me and O.K. about a week ago. Enjoy!

More photos of Allyssa from Feb and March 2009

For some reason the pictures didn't want to all upload in the same window, so here are the rest! Enjoy!

Photos of Allyssa from Feb and March 2009

What we did today...

Today was busy. Well, I'm not sure about the whole day because it is just after noon right now, but the morning was busy. Allyssa and I had breakfast and got dressed and played and read books and went outside and played on the swings and played with the dog, and ate a snack, and ran outside to watch a train. That's quite a sentence, but that's the way it felt. After all of that I was finally able to convince her that we should go to the store. Cantelope was the key word for her. Sadly, she thought we were just going to HEB. She was totally unprepared for our excursion. We did go to HEB and picked up said cantelope, some lettuce, generic chocolate chips because stupid Wal-mart doesn't carry them anymore, broccoli, floss, and we did not get tortilla chips because they didn't have the size of bag that I wanted (that's the story of my life when it comes to HEB and Wal-mart). Then we went to Wal-mart. My goal was to buy TONS of stuff that we use often and everyday so that once the baby is born we will only need things like milk, bread, and fresh produce. I'm sure this idea is pie in the sky, but it is a noble goal. I was so proud of my coupons. I saved $10.75 because of them. Included in that amount was my free bottle of Suave conditioner that was valued at $3.00. Thank you Suave. And I can't forget to mention the bars of kid's soap from Johnson and Johnson that were priced at $.97 and I used a dollar off coupon, making these three bars of soap free! Oh and this morning when I gave Allyssa a snack, I quickly checked to see if there were any good coupons that were blogged about and found this which led me to the coupon for Arm and Hammer's Clean Shower. Not only did I have a $.75 off coupon, but the product was also on sale! Hooray! Combine all of that with my other coupons (toothpaste, toiletpaper, etc...), and I think that my coupons did me quite well today. Almost all of my other products were generic because Great Value makes their noodles, tomato sauce, southern style beans, pinto beans, cereal, etc...just fine for us. My cart was overflowing. Well, almost. It was quite the expensive trip for me, but I think that it will really help us out in the long run. When we got home, I unloaded the few items that needed to be refrigerated/frozen and got Allyssa busy playing before sticking lunch in the microwave (ah - the blessings of leftovers). Then I unloaded all of these groceries and household products and put them away. All this before lunch! What a morning! Sadly, Allyssa did not get worn out and she is awake in her crib. Dear God, please help this child sleep!

My least favorite parts of pregnancy

In no particular order:
1. Clothes that don't fit right. (I can't stand the waistband that touches my tummy, so most of my pants like to slip down and my shorts that fit of course fit lowly because I don't wear them up on my tummy, so my shirts have to be long enough to cover my belly. All in all it is a sad, sad situation of clothes that aren't comfy and don't fit right. The good news? Pregnancies are about 40 weeks long and I'm past week 36.)
2. People who treat me like an invalid (for example: I am not allowed to lift anything or move anything over 1 pound. People will try to force me to stop doing something that causes no discomfort at all simply because it involves lifting. However, when I'm doing a task that really does cause discomfort but does not involve lifting, the same person won't offer any help. Odd, I tell you. Odd.)
3. Being told to take it easy. (Every mother of more than one child can tell you that slowing down when you are pregnant with any child other than your first is virtually impossible. Combine that with the fact that I have no family near me, and this idea is down-right laughable.)

My Dr. Apt yesterday

It went well. I only have to see the doctor once next week. Hooray! I also don't have to do fetal monitoring next week! Hooray again! Dr. Hunter was going to set my date for March 25th. I was very happy with that date. It was 38 1/2 weeks. Sadly, when she checked her calendar, she saw that she was not going to be at the hospital that day. That meant that my date was moved to April 1st. I was really looking forward to having a March baby. I did make sure that Dr. Hunter understood that I do not want a different doctor cutting into me. That means that if I go into labor and she is not available to come do my c-section, I might have a VBAC. I haven't decided yet. I don't have to because April 1st is a LONG, LONG, LONG time away from now. Stinko. Anyways, the other thing is that Dr. Hunter schedules C-sections for Wednesdays. It is Lent. My husband's a pastor. We decided not to think about that either. David's guess for the baby's actual birthdate is March 19th. What's your guess?

MOPS

Today was MOPS. Allyssa has had a hard time in MOPS for several months. There used to be no toys or activities ready to be played with when she arrived. So, since she had nothing to occupy herself with, it was hard for Mommy to leave. Apparently now, she has associated the room that she is in with negative thoughts. Today, when we walked in the door, there was an activity for her to do right away! I was so excited about that! I thought that maybe she'd have an easy time getting settled in. Not so much. She took one look at the room and arched her back and screamed. Thankfully, we brought her baby in today, so one of the ladies started playing with her baby and invited her to join her. Smart lady. It worked.

Doctor apt later today. Maybe we'll get a date set!

Today so far

Today I woke up feeling quite pregnant and quite tired after a restless night of not sleeping. Sadly, at 4 am I was hungry, but too tired to get up, so by the time I got breakfast at 7:30 I was sick to my stomach because I was too hungry. O.K. doesn't wait for food. I spent much of the time between 7 and 7:30 when Allyssa and I ate begging Allyssa to understand that Mommy could not pick her up because Mommy didn't feel good while I cried as I made an omelet for her to eat. Thanks to Sarah, omelets only take 2 minutes to cook after they are mixed up, so breakfast wasn't difficult. By 10am, I felt much better, so the day went better after that. Allyssa got a late snack because of my bad morning, so she hardly ate any lunch and went straight down for a nap. What a good girl! She's such a sweetie. I've known for a couple of weeks that new teeth would be coming. For the past week, she's been chewing on her hand, so they're getting close. I thought that she was getting two teeth on the bottom. Turns out that not only is she getting those but she is also getting a tooth that I thought that she already had. See my little girl had a gap in the middle of her front two teeth. I thought that she would have a space like mine. Not the case. The front tooth was just slow to come in. There is a tooth now coming in between what I thought were her top two teeth. I'm hoping that there is room for it to squeeze in there. Allyssa's doctor says that the APA now recommends that kids see the dentist when they are one. I haven't taken her yet, but I'm thinking I might next week before O.K. is born.

Jesus Loves Allyssa

Allyssa woke up from her nap today signing and signing "Jesus Loves Me." Her version goes like this:
"Jesus loves me, loves me, Bible, Bible." It was mostly to the right tune, too.

And her motions were correct for "Jesus, Bible, little ones" and "He is strong."

How could I have forgotten my grocery store story?!

Today I went to HEB and Franko was my cashier. He says, "You're pregnant again?" I said, "Yes." Franko did not ever see me when I was pregnant with my daughter because I didn't live here.
Franko: "Oh. How many kids do you have?"
Me: "This one," (pointing to Allyssa) "and the one I'm carrying."
Franko: "Oh. I thought that you were pregnant a while back."
Me: "I was. 9 months is a long time."
Franko: "Oh. My girlfriend is 3 months prengnant. We can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Are you having a boy?"
Me: "Yes."

I couldn't help but laugh at this whole exchange. You see...9 months is a LONG time and people now think I've been pregnant twice with this one child!! Obviously, 9 months is a LONG time.

Lots of topics...read and enjoy!

So getting rid of satelite didn't help last night because Redbox has a code for a free movie rental on Monday nights. So last night, we used Redbox for the first time. I'd seen the Redbox in our Wal-mart several times and walking past it saw several movies that I wanted to watch, however, yesterday when I went the movies were all different than before and there were very few that I'd heard of. So I used my code to get Fireproof. David and I watched it last night and both of us would recommend it to married couple to watch (that's who its target audience is). So last night was not a good example of getting things done. However, tonight, David starts his new adult instruction class at church, so since I'll be home "alone" (girly will be asleep), I'll be getting some things done! That's good because I'm running out of time to get things done before O.K. is born.

Since this blog is supposed to be about Allyssa (I deleted me other blog, so you'll have deal with a few non-Allyssa things), here is what is going on with her:

1. She loved collecting, piling up, and counting sticks a month and a half or so ago.
2. She dropped that hobby for playing with her "pebble cup," which she filled with pebbles and dirt and would dump out all over herself.
3. She gave that up for Lent and now likes to go lizard hunting. (Okay, so she still likes sticks and pebbles, but the new cool thing to do is look for lizards and say "Lizard, where are ye?" Her "you" sounds more like a "ye" when she is singing this question to the lizards.
4. She liked having a stuffed bear "hold" crayons (really Mommy or Daddy held them against the bear's paw) and color with her.
5. She gave that up for having the stuffed bear "Run Run Run Run Run" around the house "holding" a balloon while she held the bear. (I just wrapped the string around the bear's paw to keep it from floating off.)
6. She likes to repeat EVERYTHING anyone says multiple times in a row. So make sure that you don't say anything you don't want repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Although that hasn't happend to me yet, and I'm hoping it doesn't, I can see how it could be a problem.

And since I don't have another blog to post this list on, here is a list of things that Allyssa and I accomplished so far this week (Monday and Tuesday):
1. Trips to Walmart and HEB
2. 3 loads of laundry (this is, of course, in addition to the one load of diapers done daily that doesn't get counted)
3. Tags snipped off of O.K.'s new clothes that we were gifted to us at the baby shower this weekend. (Allyssa liked jumping on and rolling around in the pile of clothes on the floor when I was all done.)
4. Furniture dusted (Allyssa really enjoys this)
5. Whole house vacuumed
6. Kitchen and Den swept
7. Snacks, meals, playtime, normal life stuff, etc...

I would say that that is a very productive list. And the week continues with plans of trying to organize O.K.'s dresser and figure out what I want to pack for him to wear home from the hospital. Oh and packing the new baby doll (that's right another one!! I think this will be like #20) that we'll give Allyssa, oh and getting my clothes repacked since I robbed my packed bag of them so that I could wear them. (I had it packed before I went to the hospital a couple of weeks ago for tests, just in case, so that David would know what to bring me.) Who knows what else we'll get done! We're on a roll!

Goodbye television shows...Hello getting stuff accomplished

With the new baby coming (and realizing that it is silly to pay so much for television) we've decided to get rid of Dish Network. Sad days really. Last night we watched out last HGTV. But see, that's just it. Even with all of the channels, we found ourselves with nothing to watch, so we'd watch HG. Well, except for Mondays. Mondays were my Jon and Kate days. How I'll miss my Jon and Kate! Anyways, so now it is regular t.v. only. But because of this, we are putting a much larger chunk of change into savings each month. And surely that will help out somewhere along the way. And we might just have the additional benefit of getting things done faster. Like my scrapbooking...maybe I won't be so far behind on it. Or David's projects like Allyssa's toy box that he was hoping would be done by Thanksgiving. Not that I'm trying to rush him or that t.v. kept him from doing it, but things like that might be much more interesting than the couple of channels that we get, so maybe they'll get done quicker. Maybe not (especially with baby #2 coming). We'll see.