Due Date

Today is the day. Went to the midwife this morning and she basically told me I'm still pregnant. Heartbeat is good, size is good. Went for a walk in the mall this morning after my appointment. People kept looking at my big belly, they looked concerned. Still gaining weight, maybe I should not have eaten that giant pretzel at the mall. I am thinking this baby will be bigger then the first. The midwife said that the mother's intuition is usually correct. That would mean a 9 to 10 pound baby . . . not going to think about it!

Marlena should be back home tomorrow and I can't wait to see her. Maybe that is what her littler sister is waiting on. Trying to keep busy. Going to pack the car up tonight and start making crusts for Christmas pies. Keeping busy . . .

One More Day

One more day until my due date. The doctor's office called this morning to reschedule my appointment for today because my midwife was delivering someones baby. I was a little disappointed not to go today but they rescheduled for tomorrow. I don't think there is really anything new that she can tell me other then, "You're still pregnant!".

Ate more pineapple yesterday it is not something that induces labor for me but It is mighty tasty. I get to work more on the house today so that will keep me busy. Maybe she is waiting until I am finished cleaning.

Marlena is spending time in with my parents and I am really starting to miss her. I know that it is good that she is there instead of with me bored out of her mind watching me clean. I do miss our daily routine. Plus I was able to actually clean her room which really needed some reorganizing.

Anyway, off to mop the floors!

What is this baby waiting for Christmas!!!

Went to the see the midwife today(39 weeks) and there is really no new news to report. I'm beginning to think this baby will be born 6 days late like her big sister. I was hoping the midwife would say "Lets get to the hospital, this baby is about to fall out!!" I am really enjoying having a midwife this time around. I have had to call twice so far and I actually talk directly to her! She gave me her office number, cell phone number and home number!!! Usually if I have a problem I call the doctor around 9:00am hoping to talk to someone and I get a call around 5:00pm-6:30pm from the nurse. I could get used to this.

Meanwhile, Marlena is practicing being a big sister. The other morning she climbed into our bed and gently laid her body over by belly and said "Body slam my baby sister." A wrestling move I will surely have to thank her father for later!

Pineapple and Papaya

Marlena looking like a crazy squirrel as I try to use the self timer on the camera.

Best picture I could get with the self timer.

Pineapple is supposed to naturally induce labor . . . I ate enough pineapple to give my mouth a citrus burn and I am still pregnant. I have also heard that papaya juice is also a natural inducer. Well, I guess we will have to see about that. We are still working on the house to I want to get a little more done before I try it. Even though I know no one is really every truly prepared for a new addition to the family.

What is the rest of the family doing? Well , Scott is working hard at the store http://www.texashauteseat.com/ He has been very busy lately and will be even busier in the new year (in addition to our new baby girl) when the store is opened three days a week. Marlena is ready to celebrate Jesus's and her baby sisters birthday. She wants to make a cake for them both. We made some cookies for Santa all ready since I thought they would last longer. It is definitely a month for celebration!

38 Weeks ! ! ! ! ! !

Everything is going well. Went to my 38th week appointment and we listened to the heartbeat. We are waiting until next week to check for any dilation. It becomes a little stressful this last part of the pregnancy because I wake up everyday think is today the day?! I'm trying to keep myself busy getting baby clothes ready, getting a bag packed for the hospital, keeping involved in our weekly activities. So much to do so little time. I keep checking things off the adding more to the list.

I went to the grocery store to buy some milk and the past due date on it was the 25th of December. I was thinking I could still have this milk in the fridge when our baby gets here! We went to Target today and Marlena picked out an outfit for her baby sister. She tells me that her baby sister will be ready to come out on Saturday. Let's hope I have a little more time to prepare! She wanted to buy her sister preteen clothing and I keep having to reminder her that she is going to be very small at first and then she will get bigger.

Anyway, I better get back to that To Do List!

37 Weeks

Getting my socks on in the morning is quite the challenge. Every time I attempt it I think I'm doing to break my water. Coughing and sneezing has also gotten stressful since I am sure the baby will fly out of me. Not too much longer! I can't wait to meet her and introduce her to everyone.

This time around I decided to go with a midwife . I went in for my 37 week appointment and she did not check for dilation. She said she only checks if there is a concern or at 39 weeks and does not feel it is necessary for an invasive procedure otherwise. It made sense to me since you can be dilated for weeks and nothing happens and in my case last time I didn't dilate until my water broke and I was already at the hospital. For those of you that have concerns, I will still be delivering at the hospital. I don't think I could do a home birth it is the furthest thing from my mind. I decided to go with a midwife because I want to TRY to do it natural . . . TRY. I am still not sure that I can do it without the meds. I wanted to do it natural the last time around but after the first contraction I was begging for an epidural! I told the anesthesiologist that I loved him after he finally administered it. I was very close to a C-section with Marlena. I remember them wheeling me in to the operating room and getting ready to strap my arms down. The whole time I was asking if I was getting a C-section and no one would talk to me. Scott was not in the room because they forgot to get him after he changed into scrubs. The doctor (thank you Dr. Haskett) had to tell them twice to get Scott in room. He yelled "That is unacceptable, someone get him!" After Scott got in there they told him I was getting a C-section but Scott told them that we did not want one unless it was absolutely necessary. Luckily, they were able to get her out with forceps . Dr. Haskett was not my doctor at the time he was on call that day since it was a weekend. Which is another reason I went with a midwife. Since I will probably deliver during the holidays I wanted to make sure the person that has been seeing me through my appointments and knows what I want will be the one with me during delivery. My midwife will since she is the only one there. I know that things still may not go the way I plan and having a healthy baby is the most important thing. I'm excited to see how things go this time around!

We are going to try to get the Christmas tree up. If there is not already a lot to do! Marlena has been asking for us to put it up and I want it to feel like Christmas so hopefully we can get it up before we have to take it down. With the new baby here we may have it up until May. Still trying to get everything ready for her arrival. Let's see how much we can accomplish . . .

Does this shirt make me look fat?!

30 days to go and I am feeling it! I'm thankful that there is no swelling so far. Last time my I could not recognize my hands and feet. It was summer time and I had to wear my sandals half way on and half way off. Also there has been no middle of the night leg cramps and my favorite neck cramps! This time I have restless leg syndrome (Scott says I've always had it) and when I wake up in the morning it feels like I already had the baby. After googling it I found out it is called symphisis pubic dysfunction or SPD. It happens to be pretty common. I don't look forward to night time but I know I need to stock up on sleep while I can.

Marlena is so ready to meet her baby sister. While we were driving she told me that she wants Gisele to sit on her lap in the car so that she can kiss her. I told her that she would have to have her own car seat and she told me to get her a big one like hers. I tried to explain that Gisele's would have to be smaller because she would be smaller. Marlena told me that Gisele would be big so she would need a big chair. I told her that we would just have to see what she looks like when she comes out and she finally agreed to that.

We are slowly getting the house together. We went through tons of toys this weekend and going to try to sell some to make some room. It is feeling a little crowded! It is hard to concentrate on getting things ready with all the holiday plans also in the mix. Well, at least it is keeping me busy!

Pillsbury Simply

OK, So I tried Pillsbury Simply Cookies. They sounded like a good idea too me because their website says they are:

0g trans fat

no high fructose corn syrup

no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives

I made them last night and I have to admit I think I miss the trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, and all the artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. I don't think these are an alternative to homemade cookies. I'm wondering how long these will be around.

http://www.pillsbury.com/products/sweet-treats/Refrigerated/simply-cookies.htm

Dora Costume

The Dora costume was a hit. I found orange pants and just rolled them up instead of cutting them. I'm glad that I did because it was cold enough to have them as pants the day before Halloween and warmer weather for shorts on Halloween. Believe it or not the hardest thing to find was the yellow socks. I had to glue together the bracelet a few times. I think I would use felt for the backpack instead of foam sheet like the instructions suggested. Scott did a great Map too that Marlena loved. It was a good learning experience.

Awesome Dora Map.

Big Sister Lena

Marlena accessorizing her Transformer shirt.

Marlena is going to be a big sister in about 7 weeks (give or take a week). She is ready for her new sister to get here so that they can play together and so she can feed her banana's. I have explained that this will have to wait awhile but I don't think she quite gets it. She also wants to help the new baby go to the potty. I have visions of the baby's legs and lower body siting in the toilet water as Marlena tries to get her on the potty. We are busy trying to get ready for our new arrival. I am hoping that the "nesting period" will kick in soon because right now I'm in the "procrastination period".

Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved our first pumpkin since we have had Marlena. Marlena loved getting her hands dirty pulling out all the filling. We saved some seeds for roasting.

Scott and I cut our different construction paper for the eyes,nose and mouth so that Marlena could chose which ones she wanted.

She taped on the pieces where she thought they looked best.

Here is a picture of Marlena helping her daddy with a Dora Bandage after he cut himself trying to carve the pumpkin.

The finished product!

Starfall

Starfall!!!!
http://www.starfall.com/

Me and Marlena's favorite website. This is a great website for learning the alphabet and reading skills. This is a free site and easy to navigate.

I think we will be using this a lot this week since it is raining all but one day this week! Our whole yard is a complete swamp.

Rainy Days and Worms

It has been raining a lot here. I was trying to stay indoors but then I remembered my favorite days were going outside in the rain or after the rain with my sister and playing. So we have been making aluminum foil boats and giving pasta shells a ride in the gutters. We have also been worm hunting! The first day we find a dried leaf and give the worm a ride down the gutter. Marlena also builds a worm house out of leaves. After she has played in the water and let the worms crawl all over her arms and hands I tell her we were going to have to take a bath. She asks me if we are going to wash her hair. I see the clump of grass clippings in her hand and I know where this is going. The big smile on her face made me tell her "Go for It!" She places hand fulls of wet grass clipping in her hair. It is a good day.

Day two of worm hunting is a little more interesting. I'm trying to not project my fears on Marlena so I have held snails in my hands, let spiders walk across my arm and try not to flinch when I see a wasp fly by my head. I don't even mind little worms but on day two of worm hunting we saw the biggest, ugliest worm I had ever seen. I did not want to touch it! Marlena had no problem picking it up and examining it, she wanted me to hold it too. This I just could not bring myself to do. I am proud to say she is braver then me. She looked at the worms tail (or was it his head)and says "Look Mama, it has a finger!" which was about as big as my index finger so know why she said that. Luckily she did not want to play with it long. I was glad we could get back to the aluminum foil boat.

The Birds!

Grackles! The are all over the place this time of year! Usually congregating in parking lots or phone lines. We got out of a restaurant and we saw them covering the parking lot. It looked like a modern Alford Hitchcock scene. As we walked to the car I overheard a guys saying he was going to run his car threw them. We got in the car and I ask Scott to get closer so I can get a picture. While I take the picture another car excitedly drives threw the carpet of Grackles. "Hey, that guy had the same idea that I did," Scott says. I ask him if WE are going to drive threw them too. "Yes," he giddily replies. I don't know why I was surprised since three other guys had the same idea. I asked Scott if I could leave the window open. I wish I had a picture of his face when I said that! I have to admit, it was fun.

20-30 minutes of free time

Here Marlena is washing the dishes. I do not ask her to do this, she actually volunteers. I am able to get 20-30 minutes of free time with this activity! She washes the plastic recyclable out (yogurt cups, applesauce cups). Give her a scrub brush and a little soap and she is set. She gets to learn about responsibility and likes the feeling of helping her mama out. I like it too and I get the 20-30 minutes to load the dishwasher, pick-up toys or relax!

Latin Playground

My sister discovered this CD and I have to say, I highly recommended it. I am definitely going to add the rest of these to Marlena's Christmas wish list. They have French Playground, World Playground, Brazilian Playground and much more. We have listened to this CD for a solid week (no exaggeration there) in the car and I have not gone insane yet. She is starting to sing the songs in Spanish too . . . so am I! She likes loves the different instruments like guitar and maracas. It is a great CD to dance to, check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Playground-Various-Artists/dp/B000066RKP

You can listen to the songs here:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Putumayo-Presents-Latin-Playground/e/790248020129/

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/trailer.php

We are having a free viewing of this movie here in our area. It can also be seen on Netflix.

Synopsis of Movie:

Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.

Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.

The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

Banana Bread Friday

Marlena and I love to bake. She is getting better and better at it. It makes a BIG mess but as long as I remind myself of that in the beginning, it's OK. Half of the ingredients end up on the counter top or the floor but I just add a little here and there. It always comes out pretty tasty and the benefits out weight the negatives. We used this recipe this time, http://spinningsugar.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/worlds-best-banana-bread-no-kidding/
but we added about 1/2 cup ground flax seed to the mix and brown sugar to the top before baking.

Peeling the bananas

Mashing the bananas

The measuring and mixing is one of her favorite parts. She has to try everything that we put in it. I tell her every time that she is not going to like the salt or the baking soda but she wants to try it anyway. I think she likes the part where I give her sugar to get the taste out of her mouth.

Yes, I let her crack the eggs. Am I crazy?! Yes, a little bit. She does a really good job though and we always use a separate bowl. I fish out the shell before we beat the eggs. Today there was only a very small piece.

The finished product minus a few slices because we had to sample it before we could even think about taking a picture. Fresh out of the oven with some cream cheese and a glass of milk. As Dora the Explorer would say, "Delicioso!"

All You Single Ladies

So cute that I had to share.

September Weekend

View all

Get your own

We had a great September Weekend! We got to go to an arts festival and to San Antonio. Small family trips are a nice get away when you can afford a big vacation.

Recreating Dora

Halloween is not to far off. We are working on a Dora Halloween costume. I could have bought one for less then it is to make but once I started I now have to finish. Scott and I were discussing her outfit the other day. Dora wears a pink shirt, orange pants, yellow socks and white shoes. I told Scott that it is obvious Dora dresses herself because what mom would let there child out of the house like that!

Pink shirt- check
Orange shorts- check
Bracelet- working on it

We used Crayola Model Magic for this project. I decided to use the white version and paint it to save on money but it does come in different colors. This is very light weight. I found instructions on the Nick Jr website http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/dora-bracelet.jhtml and they suggested using Polymer clay (such as Fimo or Sculpey) but I thought this worked great. You can also find a printable bracelet that would have worked great but I found it AFTER I already started this project.

Marlena painted the different pieces for the bracelet.

The finished bracelet. Now on to Dora's Backpack.

Tutu Weekend

This weekend my sister came to visit and we made Tutu's for our girls. I loved this craft because it required minimal sewing and very low cost. I used the two websites below for instructions. Our girls loved their skirts. I want to try it again but make it a little longer this time.

http://pupsikstudio.blogspot.com/2008/01/tutu-tastic-tutorial.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0&feature=related

Craft Time

$1.00 crafts at Micheal's are great! Marlena had a great time painting her alligator. We took it to the library to show it to the librarian.

Saturday Baking

Marlena checking to see if we added enough sugar.

Scott doing precision lattice work

The final project.

We had a great family activity this weekend, baking a cherry pie! Marlena did a great job of mixing the ingredients for the filling. She had to taste everything. The sugar was her favorite but the salt and the vanilla extract did not get a good response! I put the crust ingredients together and Scott did my least favorite part and that is the rolling out of the dough and the lattice work. He has to have the lattice work on a cherry pie. I made it one time without it and I think I ruined his whole experience. Baking this way was a great family project and made the process a lot more fun for me! I think there may be more weekend pies in the future.

In Search of the Duros

I have been craving duros. Every once in a while I get a strong craving for duros, I can't blame it on the pregnancy. Straight out of the frying pan or with a little cayenne pepper. I used to be able to get them at HEB and then I could only get them at Walmart. I went to search for them and they were no where to be seen! I was about to search for the nearest Fiesta Foods then I remembered we had a grocery store that was once a Fiesta Foods and EUREKA, they were there. I got some duros, pan dulce and even found some tres leche cake. It is going to be a good Friday evening.

Fortunately for me I will not be arrested by the library police. I found the missing library book. I turned the house upside down looking under all the beds and in all the drawers. I finally found it right there on the shelf at the LIBRARY!!! Next time I will look there first.

Chicken! It's what's for dinner!

Nothing like having a big chicken come out right before you have your chicken wings! It did not seem to bother Scott to much, he enjoyed his wings.

Weekend Activities

My parents came for a visit this weekend and we all had a great time. Marlena showed them her necklace making kit. This kit gives me about 30 minutes of time to clean or do other household chores. I bought an assortment of beads for about 3 dollars but then I bought some pasta. Marlena's abuelos actually dyed the pasta different colors and my dad found a good use for those colorful straws I bought earlier. He cut them into smaller pieces. Now I need to find other inexpensive things for her kit.

Here is instructions on dying pasta if you want to try it.

Need:

Pasta

Plastic bags

Food coloring

Rubbing alcohol

1. Add about a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol to each bag of macaroni and several drops of food coloring desired to each bag depending on how much pasta you are looking to dye.Close the bag and shake until the pasta is coated.

2. Lay out wax paper and spread out pasta so that it can dry. We left ours out over night. I think it worked great!

Let's see if this works

Let's see if my tech skills are up to date. I found out I can post
blog entries with a cell phone, or can I? Humm I guess we shall soon
find out. This could be handy for long park stays. I feel I should get
caught up with all this technology before Lena starts kindegarden. I
have two more years to learn HTML!

Wjjmpatd

10:30 pm

I should be asleep by now. I've been trying to get more sleep because I know that after December it will be awhile. I have to soak it all in while I can. Mmmmm, I love sleep. Our little girl has been kicking up a storm. She is wide awake when I'm supposed to be deep asleep. Scott got to feel her kick for the first time this evening. Marlena is fast asleep. . . I hope. Around 9:50 pm I kept hearing a noise coming from her room (she is in bed by 8:00 pm). When I went in her room and I caught her on her trying to climb her dresser. "What are you doing," I asked. "I'm sleeping," she replied as she jumped back into the covers. She wanted me to sleep in her bed. I told her that we could take a nap together tomorrow. I didn't think I could survive the night with my two girls kicking me. One on the inside and one on the outside.

The Remodeling Begins?

Remodeling the guest room/office into a baby room. Three months to do this can it be done?!?! As you can see we have a lot to do. Notice the clothes on the bed. We are currently trying to organize all the clothes that are too small for Marlena and get them organized and ready for our new baby girl. We are going to leave the bed in here but the crib somewhere. We need to clear out the office and make it back into a closet. Where all that will go I do not know. We are thinking of pictures instead of a mural like we did in Marlena's room because Scott just does not have the time to do it. I will keep you updated on the process.

Hunting

In search of the missing library book, ugh. Where or where can it be? I had to do a google search just to remember what the book looked like. Marlena has lead me on several wild goose chases claiming she remembered where it is. I've heard of stories where the library has turned people in for over due books. Here is one example of many that can be Googled.
http://http://www.wisn.com/news/17258567/detail.html
I have renewed this book three times already. I'm a little worried . . .

Friday Cuteness Overload

Just a little cuteness for your Friday pleasure!

My Bright Idea

I was running low on straws. When I went to the store they had some colored straws on sale! I knew Lena would get a kick out of these instead of the plain clear straws that I had been buying. Never, never buy colored straws. Every meal it is "I wanted the pink one", " I wanted the green one". I can never predict the right color for the right meal. This is why plain clear straws are the ones we are buying from now on.

Pretzannabutteraisin bug

Mac and cheese and peanut butter banana caterpillars. I was quite proud of my creation. Marlena kept looking at it. "What is that?" she said pointing to the antennas."Those are the antennas," I told her pointing at the pretzels. "No mama those are pretzels," she looked at me like I lost my mind. She did not buy that the raisins were eyes either. She did like them though and ate them until there was nothing left. Scott decided to name them Pretzannabutteraisin bugs and I think she liked the name so that is what they are!

It's a girl!

We found out we are having a girl! I'm about 19 weeks in this picture. Marlena thinks that we are all pregnant,including her daddy. She keeps wanting me to feel her tummy for the baby in there. I think Marlena is happy that she is having a sister even though the other day she told us that she wanted a boy sister! We explained that boys were brothers and girls were sisters.