Shoe connoisseurs

We've been constantly either at the bookstore or somewhere else indoors in the afternoons since it's not even safe to play outside with all of this ice. I had them outside for awhile yesterday morning, and they had a blast tossing ice pieces down the hill and watching them fragment into smaller pieces. Faith also insisted on having an "ice pop" haha. But, we had intended on trying to take a little walk, and I quickly nixed that after starting to walk up our hill and realizing they hadn't put enough salt down on the sidewalks to make it safe enough to walk. I had no idea how I would walk back down the hill holding on to both of their hands, and I wasn't going to risk a fall for either of them or for me and the baby. So, we threw our ice for about 45 minutes and came back inside.

But, anyway thank goodness for Barnes and Noble. And, besides the bookstore, we've been frequenting Target because they love to try on shoes. We're hopeful to get to Disney for once and for all within this next month, and have been looking for comfortable shoes for them considering all the walking they will be doing. They LOVE to try on shoes! They sit there forever walking around with their socks on and browsing the shelves for different shoes that they like. Faith found these brightly colored sandals in rainbow colors that she loved. She would not take them off, and since there is a string attached to them, she tripped while attempting to run with them on her feet. It was hilarious!

Today I took them to WalMart since we're still trying to price different shoes. I found some in Faith's size on sale for only $5, but unfortunately, they didn't have her exact size. She desperately wants princess shoes like her big Dee. The funniest part of the afternoon though was when they discovered that there was a mirror there in the shoe department. They were both sitting there putting their shoes back on their feet, and I glanced up and noticed Maddie was smiling at herself in the mirror. Not typical smiles, but very "princess-y" smiles. I laughed at her and asked her what she was doing, and she goes "Oh.... nothing!" with a smile on her face. A little bit later, she was doing it again and cocking her head to the sides. I asked her again, and she told me "I am practicing my beautiful smiles." Hahaha.

The best part about this all was that while Maddie practiced her "beautiful smiles," her little Dis was standing there making funny faces and sticking out her tongue while pulling her lips apart horizontally. They're too funny!

What's in a Name?

I always assumed we'd be a family of men.

Dan and I would have our little boys, and we would live the fairy tale we always talked about some 9 years (Good Lord, it's been a long time!) ago. I never in a million years thought we'd have three little ladies. And, Dan and I could not be any happier.

Three little women. Three very important names. We wanted this baby to have a very significant name. And, we love the name we have chosen. It's funny because we both loved the name Madison, and especially that we could nickname her Maddie. Our little Maddie. In one baby book I read those four years ago, 'Madison' meant 'daughter of a soldier.' How extremely fitting with Dan still in the Air Force at the time. We loved Caroline too, and thus Madison Caroline became our Crannie. 

I tell Dan all the time that I can't imagine a different name for our Beebster. Our Faith. It fits her perfectly, and we wanted a very significant name for her as well. Faith is quite obvious, and I love it in that we (well, always mainly me.. Dan never worries like I do.. I wish I were like that) worried so much about having gotten pregnant just a few months before Dan was to get out of the Air Force. Worries over finances, prospective jobs, Maddie being just 22 months older than her baby brother/sister. Worries that I wish I had never worried about. I always worry about these trivial things, and lose sight of the big picture: we had been blessed with another miracle. We chose 'Josephine' because of its meaning of "God will increase." Faith Josephine. I love both of their names.

It's always so hard with the next baby to decide on something that we both LOVE, LOVE, LOVE just as much as we loved our other names. And, at the same time, we wanted something with a very significant meaning to us. Our third precious girl will be named Abrielle Hope, and we just love the name. Depending on how you spell 'Abrielle,' it means "strong one of God," or in its French version it means "protected by God." I mentioned this name to Dan, and he immediately said "that's our name." We've never agreed that quickly- and with so much conviction about it being "our name"- about their names. 'Hope' fits perfectly for its obvious meaning as well, and we're anxious to meet our beautiful little Abrie.

Maddie at first was funny about being totally AGAINST this name for her baby sissy. She's never been that adamant about something as she was about NOT naming her sissy by this name. She wanted the name 'Aurora' after her beloved princess, Sleeping Beauty. We've reassured her that she can call her Aurora if she'd like, and she has now fallen in love with the name Abrie. She told us the day after she had proclaimed it not to be the baby's name, that 'Abrie Constein' is a beautiful name for her new sister. Faith of course can't say the name Abrie, but does consistently pat my stomach and call for her "Bee!" Haha. They're such wonderful helpers, and they'll be awesome big sisters.

Baby Abrie is my companion. I have always thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant. I love feeling them move inside, and I love that when Maddie and Faith are asleep at night, I have my little girl to keep me company. She's so funny in that she is so very elusive. Dan, Maddie, and Faith have only felt her move a handful of times. She will be kicking and spinning and doing somersaults one second, and the second I put their hands on my stomach she usually stops immediately. It's hilarious! Not so hilarious though to her biggest sister who wants constantly to "can I feel her little feet?" She moves all the time though for her Momma, and I am already wandering what this new little girl's personality will be like. I think she will be her own little person, and I love that.

I feel so incredibly blessed every time I feel this little girl move. I feel such an intense bond with my Abrie, and I am so very much looking forward to seeing my three little girls all together in just a few more short months. I feel like Dan and I have created our very own little piece of heaven, and I am so very grateful.

Two little singers

Faith and Maddie decided they didn't want to sing Tia Rosa "Happy Birthday" for her 25th birthday today, but rather some princess songs. Faith sings "Once Upon a Dream" all the time, and it's adorable. She chose that song, and Maddie of course sang "A Whole New World."

Priceless conversations

I had to jot this down so that I would never forget this hilarious, and yet precious, conversation between my two little women this morning.

Both Maddie and Faith were up at 7:30am or so and looking at some clothes that Aunt Lisi brought yesterday for littlest sissy. Sometimes I try not to interfere in their conversations because they are so darn cute, and I just like to sit back and listen. These can be the best conversations between them!

Beebster: "C'est dis?" (What's this?)

Cran: Awww.. it's for our baby. Do you like these shoes?

Beebster: "Ess! Dis?" (Yes, for me?)

Cran: Laughing... "No, no, no.. these shoes are for our baby. You're 2 years old, you won't fit in them."

All of a sudden the sound of the heat came on, and Faith got scared

Cran: "Don't worry, Fafe. God loves you."

Beebster: "I want Daddy!"

Cran: "Don't worry Fafe. God loves you. And, he loves me. And, he's always watching out for us."

Beebster: "Dis? Dee? Momma? Daddy?" (They're also watching out for all of us?)

Cran: "Yes, God watches over all of us. He'll always make sure you're not tooken (that's how she says taken) and he'll help you all the time. God takes everybody to Mexico!"

(I nearly burst out laughing at this point.. but I kept a straight face).

Beebster: "Ess! Ess!"

Cran: "God loves you, Fafe. Don't worry. He loves your blankie too and blankie will take care of you. Do you need a hug?"

Beebster: "Ess!"

They were just sitting there facing each other, and sitting there Indian-style on the floor. It was hilarious, and the sweetest thing ever. I love hearing Maddie explain things to Faith, and I love that Faith feels so comforted by the things that Maddie tells her.

They are two peas in a pod. And, I can only imagine how neat it will be to watch the dynamics between my THREE little girls.

Cranster and Beebster at the zoo

Zoo day

Took the little ladies to the Philly zoo today.

I'm not necessarily a fan of the Philly zoo-- my favorite thus far that we've been to was the "small" one in Tyler, TX when we took Maddie back in the Louisiana days-- but when you only have to pay the price of the weather for your admission, it's well worth it. I was planning on it being in the 40's and thus paying $4 for Dan, Maddie, and I but it ended up being right at 50 degrees by the time we made it. So, it was $5 a person but still a great deal. The 50 degrees was quite welcome too, and I swear we felt as though it was summer time!

It's hilarious because regardless of how many exotic animals are placed in front of my Beebster, she'll still continuously ask for the Boo's and Baa's. She was in heaven since the children's zoo had her two favorite animals in the world. We kept asking her what her favorite part of today was, and she'd automatically start cheering "Boo's! Baa's!" She's my farm animal lover. She also is infatuated with reptiles, and it's funny because I remember last February when we went and she was 14 months old, she also truly appreciated the alligators and snakes. Deja vu again this year. She kept going back to the alligator. She also loved the rogue peacocks that wander around the zoo, and the polar bears and lions. Maddie remembered making those pennies with zoo memorabilia in the machine last year, and so she loved making another one this year. That and the tiger trivia game were her favorites. And, of course the carousel.

They put in a new carousel this year, and it was really neat. Very unique and they just loved it. These girls can NOT pass a carousel without jumping up and down with excitement at wanting to ride it. They were so proud to pick out a butterfly (Maddie) and a monkey (Faith) to ride!

They had quite the day, and were so excited they didn't even sleep on the ride home. Instead they kept talking about all the animals they had seen. They wiped out by 6:45pm, but not before playing the most elaborate game with Dan. They were too funny. Dan was the Sheriff of Nottingham ("Robin Hood") and they were switching back and forth between being the little bunny brother and sister and then Robin Hood and Little John. It was too cute. They were laughing hysterically. They just love when their Daddy is off, and always enjoy this time together.

Simply goofy

Snow tubing fun

'Warm front' in the 20's

The end of last week was miserable.

Considering the high for about 4 consecutive days was at most 8 degrees, we did nothing but stay inside and try and manage by being creative. It gets old though after 4 days of being "creative!" Ironically, it was sunny and bright pretty much all of those brutally cold days and yet literally painful to be outside. Such a tease.

 Thank goodness for baking and Nene's mixer that she got for the little girlies for Christmas. Maddie's cookbooks have come in quite handy, as has the mixer. Both Maddie and Faith are able to use it, and they love it. They baked so much last week: peanut butter and jelly cookies, cranberry streusel muffins, a cake, peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies, and banana bread. That kills quite a bit of time, and they love it. 

I hate though not being able to get them outside. Not only for their sanity, but for mine as well! I am not one to stay cooped up inside all day, and it drives me absolutely crazy. Luckily, it feels like we've had a "warm front." By "warm front" I mean roughly 25 degrees or so. Just in time too since Dan had a ridiculously long hold-over required due to a lovely protest. But, it feels really nice finally and not brutally cold to the point that we can't even stand to be outside for over a minute. It snowed a little yesterday so they were out snow tubing for about an hour. They just love that snow tube. And, it snowed out of the blue today and it was the most we've gotten all year, about 2-3 inches or so. They loved it! We were out snow tubing this morning, and then again in the afternoon after the heavier snow started falling. We were able to last nearly 2 hours the second time, which was wonderful. 

Waking up a sleeping 'Dee!'

Aurora/Princeton verdict

I had my 23-week appointment today for baby tres. Well, 22 weeks and 6 days technically speaking. We were nothing short of excited and anxious all at the same time because we knew today would be our big (and, first) ultrasound to make sure everything was going well, and we would finally be able to tell our big sisters if they'd be having a baby brother or baby sister.

The best part about today was learning that everything was perfect with this baby. I always worry about all of that. On top of that, my blood pressure has been perfect throughout this pregnancy. I feel as though I've never been healthier, and I am hoping this continues to stand throughout the remainder of the time. The baby's brain is perfectly formed, the 4 chambers of the heart look perfect, and the spine looked perfect. Everything looks perfect. Not to mention, we have another adorable baby. The baby waved to us and kept kicking, and even peed! The doctor was checking the baby's bladder and the next second, he told us "ohh.. he just peed. The bladder is now tiny." Maddie thought that was hilarious. Faith sat there the entire time playing with my sneakers and eating her Goldfish crackers. Once again, you could only see her little beady eyes poking up over the edge of the table.

I will never forget when we found out that we're having another little woman! Maddie starts screaming, "Momma!!! You were wrong! I was right! It's my AURORA!" It was the sweetest thing in the world to see her so excited and thrilled. Faith started screeching, "Esss! Esss!" and saying hi to me. I looked at poor Dan and felt a fleeting moment of guilt that we won't have our little boy. But, I couldn't be more overjoyed with the thought of a third precious little girl, and a baby sister for my two best big sisters. Dan is so funny. He is meant for girls. He loves his little girls, and was just laughing and laughing at our big news. We will enjoy all of our time with our nephews- both Dogolin and Tyler, and any future nephews we get- and look forward to grandsons. Ha. I suppose I'll never get to experiment with the sweet bowl hair-do that I was looking forward to with a little boy!

A little farmer's dream come true

Thank goodness for Amber telling me that the Pennsylvania Farm show was this week. I'd always known about it, but never really thought to take the little women there. Enter one prospective farmer.. roughly 30 inches tall who answers to the name of Beebster. Totally different picture. This was something we had to do! We've been looking forever for a dairy farm (which is not hard considering we're right next to good ol' Lancaster County) so that Beebster could visit with her precious Boo's, but I had never even thought to take her to the farm show. We've been watching it though on TV every now and then since they show it live, and they both kept asking and asking to go.

My little woman was in absolute heaven. Both Cran and Beebster had the best day. We even got to take a shuttle bus to the farm show complex, which put the cherry on top of their day. They were both screeching in delight that they got to ride a "school bus" together. Haha. Maddie is always talking about the day that she'll get to ride the bus with Momma, Daddy, and Beebster (although I have warned her that Dan and I will clearly not be allowed to ride the bus to school!). So, they were in heaven even before entering the doors to the farm show.

We got a free Turkey Hill sample of ice cream upon entering. Maddie loves her ice cream. Faith was loving the Turkey Hill boo's. We headed straight toward the back so that we could get this cow and sheep lover to her animals. Faith didn't even know where to start. She started jumping up and down when she saw the classic black and white dairy cows. She wanted to see every single cow there. She kept trying to cross the line to pet them, and I had to tell her that they could kick and that that is why the rope was there. Ha. Maddie wanted desperately to see horses. She kept telling us she wanted to ride a horse and brush it's mane. All of the horses were out for an exhibition show, but she and Faith were able to pet a horse that was there which made their day.

They LOVED the baby ducks that were swimming and sliding. I think they both thought they reminded them of the ducks from "Planet Earth" and so they were laughing hysterically when the little ducklings would slide down the slide into the water. They were fascinated by the chicks hatching from eggs that we could actually see right before us. That was really neat! They both laughed at all of the roosters and hens. Faith sat crouched for the longest time watching a mother pig with her piglets. And, they both got a kick out of the Baa that started baaing loudly right to them.

There was a lot of kid-friendly stuff that of course they loved. These girls can NOT go without riding a carousel if they see one. And, so they rode it. I wondered if that was my Beebster screeching when the ride ended, and sure enough Dan was headed towards me with a screeching Beebster who didn't want to get off of the ride! There was an area where they got to play with corn kernels and fill their buckets with them which they both loved. Maddie and I did an activity where she had to fill her basket with stuff from a list-- she had to get eggs from the hens, pick apples from the trees, and dig for potatoes from the ground. She really liked that a lot.

They had an awesome day. They crack me up too at how much they love doing stuff that each other likes to do. Maddie kept tickling Faith and asking her, "didn't you have the best day with your boo's and baa's?!" And, on the drive home they were of course listening to their Mary Poppins songs and "Spoonful of Sugar." When it gets to the part where Michael gets stuck in the closet, Faith stars wiggling her feet and going "Dee! Dee!" because she knows Maddie loves that part, and they both start laughing. They were quite full of beans when we got home and Maddie was chasing Faith around calling her her "little mouse." They passed out quickly tonight, but not before Dan and I heard Maddie reading a Pinocchio book to her Beebster.

I can only imagine all of the dreams they'll have tonight of farm animals!

Sparksy's apartment

Last night I was drinking my milk, which prompted little Tres to start wriggling and dancing. Maddie had been asking and asking when she would finally be able to feel her baby brother/sister, so I decided to go in with my milk and lay down to see if they could feel the baby. Low and behold, they did! Or, I should say Maddie did. She was ecstatic and going "Oh, Momma! That's my Prince Phillip or my Aurora!" Faith kept pressing on my stomach, but I think she was just pretending that she felt something because she wanted to be like Maddie. She kept going "Ess!" and giggling. It was cute.

*****

For some unknown reason, Maddie now sometimes refers to her Beebster as "Sparsky." I swear they have the strangest names for each other! Well, today while we sat at the post office Maddie was cracking up Dan and I telling us that one day she and Sparsky are going to live together in an apartment. I asked her, "well, what will you make Daddy and I if we come over for dinner?" And, she told us that they will make spaghetti every night. And, that she and 'Sparsky' are going to have an awesome apartment! Lovely.

Chocolatey birthday weekend

We decided to do Crannie's family birthday weekend early, since Dan is working on the 11th. We'll probably take her and Beebster to Chuck E Cheese (their most favorite birthday destination) on her actual birthday, and she is anxious for it to be the 11th already! Although she has told me repeatedly, that 4 is the maximum age that she would like to achieve. She does not want anything to do with turning 5 next year. Neither do I!

Her personal request for her birthday was to to go to Hershey and Chocolate World. She thought it was the coolest thing that Beebster went to Sesame for her birthday and also wanted to do that, but I explained to her that Sesame was only opened that one day and that Maddie was lucky enough to be born smack-dab-in-the-middle of the dreaded Pennsylvania winter. January 11th. In Shreveport, it was no big deal. But, here we are limited to what we can do to celebrate. Chocolate World, though, was an excellent idea. 

We went on Friday and she had a blast. So did Faith. Amber came with her nephew, Cameron- who happens to turn 5 on January 14th, so the two of them were busy comparing their birth dates- and it was a lot of fun. We ended up riding the tour ride 3 times, and actually tried the free portion of the "Factory Works" experience this time. It was awesome. They all enjoyed that a lot. They got their "work" photos taken and then received their factory hats. They went down the assembly line and the woman gave them a plastic Hershey container. When she called their number, they had to press the button and place their Hershey container there to collect all of the Hershey's kisses that would accumulate. Then they had to place their container on the conveyor belt where it was wrapped shut. It was really cute. They even had to clock out of "work!" 

My youngest little woman is cow-obsessed. Or, I should say, "Boooo" obsessed. She was SO very excited to see the boo's singing during the ride, and always anxious to ride again to see them again. The second we had to get off of the ride each of the 3 times, she was already asking "Where Boo?" and wanted to ride again. 

My almost 4-year old little woman had a wonderful time with her pal, Cameron. They were so funny riding in the front of the ride with Amber's mom. They held hands and Maddie would giggle about whatever Cameron was telling her about going through the roasting tube, etc. He was too funny!

******

We stayed the night in Lancaster at Nene's house, which is always a hit with the little women. Maddie was quite anxious for her birthday "party" on Saturday. She had spent the course of a week browsing through her 2 cookbooks and spending forever at Barnes and Noble looking through their cookbooks, and had chosen two different "appeteasers" she wanted to make herself for her party. She found "fancy dipped strawberries" and "party cone hats" and these are the two that she chose. She was so very proud of herself. The strawberries were a hit, but the party cone hats sat almost untouched due to the fear that the JuJube's were too stale. Haha. She LOVED her princess cake, although I wasn't too pleased with it's appearance. I am not skilled in the art of decorating.

Cran loved Donovan's pinata at his 3rd birthday party this past August. She had remembered it, and asked if she could have one about a week ago. We found a very inexpensive one at Target that resembled the one I had when I turned four as well. I told Maddie that I had a pinata at my 4th birthday party, and she thought that was so cool that we had that in common. She and Beebster were the only ones swinging at the pinata with the baseball bat, but Dan did help them to put an accessible crack in it. They thought it was great to collect candy for their bags!

My little chef received an awesome Betty Crocker kid's cookbook from Tia Rosa that was the hit. She has not stopped looking through that book. We went to Giant today, and she already picked out the ingredients to make cookie ice cream sandwiches tonight. Considering she is actually napping this afternoon (busy, busy weekend!), she and Beebster will get to bake and eat tonight for a "movie night!" She also got a princess sweatshirt from Nene that of course was a hit since it has Aurora on it. She has worn that now two days in a row! And, a Barbie car from Grammy that she and Beebster have not stopped playing with since yesterday. Maddie has a Barbie doll and her Aurora doll in it earlier, and told me matter-of-factly that the Barbie doll is the leader because she is "42 years old." Haha.

It was a wonderful weekend, and one that Maddie thoroughly appreciated. She had also taken her "Pretty, Pretty Princess" game because she wanted to play with everybody, and had so much fun playing 3 rounds with Daddy, Grampa, Tia Rosa, and then her uncles too. She kept telling everybody "thank you so much for my celebration!" She's my sweet Crannie!

*****

To put a cherry on top of this weekend, my littlest stinker has now officially started moving hard enough that I can feel him/her if I put my hand on top of my stomach. 21 1/2 weeks. I remember Faith moving very, very early (in fact, this one scared me because I didn't feel him/her until about 18 weeks consistently) but she wasn't moving hard enough for Dan and I to feel her until 24 weeks. It's quite the exhilarating feeling, and something that I've always enjoyed so very much while being pregnant. He/she was doing some dance moves last night during the Chargers/Colts game, and it was the funniest thing!