Tornado protocol

Correct tornado protocol calls for two things:

a) Beebster in Easter bunny ears- she insisted on them and ran around screeching from being scared.. quite the sight! If they fell off, she'd put them back on and continue to screech.

b) Crannie in a shirt, underwear, socks, and shoes.. but no pants out on the deck with Dan and Beebster checking for green skies. Not to mention, Cran out spraying a bottle of their perfume to ward off "dangerous winds." 

Hahahahaha.

Radiator Springs

Awesome weather makes for a fun day

It's 7:20pm as I type, and the girlies are fast asleep and dreaming. This is a record lately, as they always go to bed around 7pm but usually spend the better part of an entire hour giggling, goofing off, and sneaking out together to try and get more books or toys. It was that kind of day though. A wonderful day.

The weather was perfect, maybe not sunny all day as they had originally said, but I'll take 65 degrees any day. The weekend is supposed to be rainy, so we wanted to take advantage of the day, and did. Dan was off last night for his sole day off during what is supposed to be his 4-day break, but we still enjoy it even if it's only one day. We took lunch down to the creek and spent the entire morning there. We've basically been living at the creek these days it seems. Dan is very anxious to get his fishing license again this year, but in the meantime has really enjoyed just checking out the trout from the path while the little women run. The other day they took some pine cones that they had decorated with glitter and glue and had fun tossing them one by one into the creek. They usually love throwing sticks. Anything really. Today they were looking for the little yellow wildflowers that they love to toss into the creek. Faith always waves "bah" to her things as they float down the water (or get stuck in the brush below when she has a particular throw that didn't get much to it) and Maddie makes it a contest to see who "wins!" Of course. 

They decorated Easter eggs the other day outside on the front steps, and had a blast. It was Faith's first time decorating Easter eggs and I found the kits at the Dollar Tree for only $1. We'll most likely go back and get more since they had so much fun, and yet cracked most of their eggs on the steps. Haha. On that particular day too we had been at the library, and of course Maddie had checked out an older version of her Betty Crocker "Kid's Cook" cookbook. She wanted to make nachos tonight since Dan was going to grill. She and Faith made their "cheesy chips" (what they call them) and they were quite good. They love their corn on the cob too. I love nights that Dan grills, so it was a fun day from start to finish.

*****

My little Breebster had a 33-week appointment this afternoon and ultrasound. We're fairly confident in the 23-week ultrasound that told us we'd be having our third little girl, but I still don't feel 100% sure because they still haven't shown us the little lines that I remember them always pointing out for both Maddie and Faith. I would love a girl OR a boy, and I am just so very thankful that everything's been going so smoothly so that is all that matters to both Dan and I! I have back-up clothes for a boy just in case, although Maddie told me before the appointment today: "I want my princess, and maybe not a prince." Haha. 

I didn't get any pictures to save from this ultrasound (darn doctor), but the little woman is so darn adorable already. There's no better feeling than to see them moving around so much on the ultrasound screen! The doctor estimated that she is about 3 lbs 11 oz at this point-- so cute! I have a strange feeling she will be bigger than Maddie, but I'm hoping not because 7 lbs 7 oz was hard enough! 

Our dynamic duo

Our C. and our B. are quite the pair. 

They crack me up on a daily basis at how inseparable they are. I hope they'll always remain this close, and that their baby sissy sures up an inseparable trio.

Today was dance class for the Cran. Maddie is not the only little woman in this family to look forward to her class, as Faith gets so excited as well. They both just love Ms. Dawn and Miss Melissa (Ms. Dawn's helper since about the 5th class or so). Faith has become quite the integral part of Maddie's dance class. She always kisses her 'Dee' and hugs her goodbye, and looks on longingly when Maddie gets to tie her tap shoes. In fact, this morning Faith was trying to put Maddie's tap shoes on for her Dee all by herself. Maddie kept laughing and saying, "oh, thank you Dis." Maddie always pats Faith on the back and gives her a kiss saying "see you later, Beebster!"

I've had to try and keep Faith out of the classroom since now they're practicing their tap and ballet dances for the upcoming May recital. I don't want her to be a distraction. Luckily, she plays so incredibly well with her thousands of figures, cars, and ponies that she brings week after week. She plays on the steps and people marvel at all the voices she does for the different characters, and at how often she throws Maleficent or Jafar for being "bad." Haha. She comes up with many different things to keep herself occupied while her Dee is away, and of course is always so excited when Maddie has to come out to switch over to her ballet shoes.

Faith was ultra excited today because Ms. Dawn had us come in twice to watch both their tap dance and their ballet dance. They were practicing lining up with the lights turned off just as they'll do when they're ready to go on the stage. Faith was cracking up, and Maddie was at the front of the line saying "this is so exciting!" They kept waving to each other, and I can only imagine how cool it will for Faith to see her Dee up on stage in May. 

Ms. Dawn let us stay in there at the end while the girls did the trampoline, which is Madison's FAVORITE that she wants to do every week at dance class. All of the girls took their turn, and of course the little Beebster got to go too. All of the girls and the parents were clapping for her and she had this huge smile on her face. She was so proud to be one of the big girls! Maddie kept clapping and laughing at Faith, and they gave each other a big hug after Faith got off the trampoline. Of course then it was sticker time, and of course Faith always lines up behind her Dee and the rest of the girls to see if she can finagle a sticker for herself! Then they both sprint out of the classroom so quickly. It's really very funny!

Why exhaustion?

My little girls. My whole world.

I'm at the point in this pregnancy where I am feeling exhausted again by Faith's naptime and Maddie's "rest" time. I've always had that feeling of complete and utter exhaustion in the beginning of each pregnancy, but I remember it resurfacing during Faith's pregnancy right around this time as well. It's resurfaced now too. Must be due to keeping up with my two other little ladies while having my baby girl 'bake' at the same time. 

Once I put my head down on the couch for what I think will be a quick '5 minute rest,' I am passed out. I'm always up within 10 minutes since I assume my internal clock tells me it's time to get Maddie from her room at 2pm (either that or she's standing over me telling me to look into her "beady eyes" hahaha), and I suppose I do feel more rested, but not necessarily energized. I hate that. I feel so guilty when I don't necessarily feel up to doing workbooks with Maddie and playing her infamous "numbers and letters game" or a board game with her as we do every afternoon while we wait for the Beebster to awake. I want to WANT to do these things with her and feel energized, not do them out of guilt and feel less than enthused. 

It seems as though it's just that 1pm-2pm window of time though when I'm feeling so sluggish, so it's really had no effects on my Faith-y. And, really it's had no effects whatsoever, except for on my own conscience. I want to make sure I give my Crannie and my Beebe 100%. I can only imagine how magnified my worries will be once our newest little woman comes into the world.

I just love my little girls. All three of them. And, I know that that is what counts at the end of the day.

Mud cakes and kites

The only thing that could have been better about yesterday would have been for there to be leaves on the bare trees and flowers blooming. It was that perfect of a day. Maddie and Faith keep saying that they are so ready to sniff flowers and wear short sleeves every day. So, I'm not the only one totally excited for official spring tomorrow!

We spent practically the entire day outside yesterday. And, after it finally stopped raining after dinner or so today, the 4 of us all went for a really nice walk tonight. I can't stop emphasizing to myself how awesome it is to not have to worry about winter coats. It cuts the time in half to get these girls ready and out the door which is always very appreciated. Anyway, Maddie has been dying to make a "mud cake" for the longest time. They both love the Frances books (books that I remember checking out from the library when I was little) and they love one called "Bargain for Frances" where Frances and her friend, Thelma (the names themselves are worth mentioning!), make a mud cake and decorate it with daisies. They both made "sand cakes" at SeaWorld while they played in the sand, but have been desperate to have good mud for mud cakes. It as definitely good mud yesterday.

Maddie was already asking from the time she woke up yesterday morning to go out and make their mud cake together. They took their 'supplies' (Maddie with a bug container and Faith with a backpack) for collecting flowers for their cakes. Then we walked back and I helped them pat the mud dry and they decorated them with these puny little white flowers. They put them on these little pool toys, and they looked adorable. Poor Faith-- her cake kept falling apart! She kept saying, "awwww Dis!" And, Maddie's was quite good that we left it out there while we went in for lunch so that it could "bake in the sun." By the time we went back out in the afternoon to show Dan, somebody had stolen it. Hahahaha. Who would want a mud cake on a rubber ducky toy is beyond me, but Maddie decided to call it "the case of the missing mud cake" and has been out with her notebook making notes about the case ever since. Haha.

Dan is the kite flyer in this family, and has been anxious for awhile to take them out to fly a kite for the first time this year. It was a 2-kite kit, and Faith's little kite is the TEENIEST thing I've ever seen. It's not even worth calling a kite. But, she LOVED it. It's her little 'baby' Snow White kite. She has been taking it everywhere with her. Needless to say, they were both excited to have their own princess kites. They had a lot of fun doing that with Dan yesterday down at the creek. 

Mud cakes and kites. A wonderful indication of the fun that we'll have this spring!

Anxious for spring

Tomorrow will mark 32-weeks along in this pregnancy. I haven't even thought of this pregnancy in months, but instead in weeks. I realized today that I'll be entering my 8th month tomorrow! It's crazy how quickly time flies! It's a bittersweet feeling. I'm so very ready to see what our third sweet girl looks like, and to just hold her and get to know her... to have her here with us. And, yet I'm not ready to give up having her in my stomach. I just love these moments of seeing my stomach visibly move and feeling those wonderful kicks, jabs, and hiccups.

The weather has been awesome, and I'm looking forward to it officially being spring on Friday. Not to mention, I'm looking forward to tomorrow because apparently it's supposed to be in the mid-60's. There are so many things that I'm looking forward to about the spring, and one of them certainly is all the cute spring clothes! I love summer dresses and dresses in general. I'm now excited about dressing my Beebster and her baby sissy alike! It works in my favor that Faith is still in 18 months and 24 months clothes (some 12 months as well) because I've gotten the two little women some adorable stuff to wear together. We went to Carter's the other day, and Faith is actually really funny because she loves shopping and picking out stuff that she thinks is to her liking. Maddie of course loves to pick out clothes that she likes, especially pajamas and dresses, and Faith is actually very into that now too. She kept smiling when I'd show her something that matched 'baby sissy's' and I think she'll be quite proud to be matching! I can't wait to get the THREE of them matching at some point too!

Easter is definitely our 2nd favorite holiday after Christmas. Maddie and Faith just LOVE looking at all the Easter stuff at all of the stores. They are very, very excited for the Easter bunny. Maddie has already written her list to the Easter bunny, and even asked to write one for Faith the day after. It was really sweet, and they're both hanging on the fridge.

They love looking at all the "sprouts" and the new "buds" that are wanting to bloom. They're definitely flower girls; they love seeing flowers. It'll be great to get them out to the gardens this spring, as we always love going out there every spring. 

*****

They have been playing 'Radiator Springs' like crazy lately. They have some new baby cars, and have been pushing them on the baby swing and setting them up in the dollhouse, etc. They took their new baby cars with them everywhere today, and I could hear them running their cars against the wall tonight while they were supposed to be sleeping. 

The wonder of cousins

Today was an awesome day for my C. and my B.

Whenever they know they get to spend a day with their Nene and Grampa (or, "Bop Bop" to Beebster) and their cousins, they are always beside themselves with excitement. Maddie was literally counting down the minutes until Nene and Grampa would arrive to drive us over to Donovan and Ella's house, and Faith kept saying "Where Bop Bop? Where Bop Bop?" They were quite excited to see their Nene and Grampa, and then even more excited to see their sweet cousins. 

It's a really neat thing for me to see the bond not only between my two little girls as sisters, but also the close connection that they have with their cousins. It's something I always wished for with my cousins, and never had. I always hoped that the day I had my own children that they would be close with their cousins, and it's neat to see that dream realized. It's not only the bond between Maddie and Donovan, who are close to 7 months apart. They, of course, get along like brother and sister. He's her only "Guy!" It's not only between them though; Donovan and Faith are the Flup and the Flop and have always gotten along since the day Faith was born. I'll never forget how much Donovan loved Faith as a baby. They both think each other is quite funny. And, both Faith and Maddie have been in love with their sweet 'Baby Cuz' since she was born as well. She'll always be "Baby Ella" to them, and Faith especially has a lot of affection towards her younger cousin. It's really neat to see the bond between the 4 of them. Just as I am anxious to see the bond between 3 sisters, I am also looking forward to seeing the new dynamics that will shape FIVE cousins!

Date night

And, by "date" I mean Dan, myself, and our little Cran and Flop! 

We had a wonderful date. Dan had actually been the one to come up with the idea earlier this week. We have two little girls who love eating out, and we'd been eating at home for about a month now since we'd gotten back from vacation. Maddie's always asking to go out to a restaurant which is promptly followed up by her little shadow saying, "Oh, ess!" (which is funnier even when Maddie suggests driving the whole way down to Chef Mickey's for dinner). Dan asked them on Tuesday night at dinner if they'd want to have a "date" this Friday, or today. Maddie asked what a date meant, and Dan explained to her it'd be a fun night where we could eat out and get ice cream for dessert. Needless to say, they've been quite excited ever since.

Maddie had been talking about her "date" all day today. She even made a bead necklace after her rest time for the special occasion. Faith, of course, goes around enthusiastically saying "Ess! Ess!" whenever Maddie mentions it, so they were both very excited. Faith even 'booped' on the toilet before we left which made them both that much more thrilled. Needless to say, that was the topic of conversation for most of our night out: Faith beaming with pride about her boop. Hahaha. We went to Outback and then to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. It was delicious! It cracked me up because I'm not even an ice cream person, but for some reason I'd been in the mood for the strawberry shortcake ice cream dish from Marble Slab (back in the good ol' days in Shreveport). I suppose it's been my one pregnancy craving. My littlest miss started moving and kicking up a STORM the second I started eating that strawberry ice cream. It was hilarious. Maddie chose cherry ice cream with Reese's peanut butter cups, and was in absolute heaven. Faith had her chocolate cone with sprinkles. 

They both kept asking when we'd have another date the whole ride home. It was a great night with our Prince. 

'Quilmas'

My little Faith is too darn precious, I swear.

The child kept coming out of their room tonight pointing to her 'pompas' (butt!), her ears, and her hands and feet. She was quite concerned that she was going to sprout a donkey tail, ears, and hooves just like the 'bad boys' do in Pinocchio. It's really too funny. Dan and I kept telling her when she'd come out gesturing to her body, "no, Beebster.. don't worry.. you're not going to turn into a donkey." Hahaha. She ended up passing out in our bed since it didn't help that her Dee was passed out and not there for reassurance!

She was up last night from literally 1:12am until 5:30am. What was she doing? Easy. She was blabbering and carrying on! I have no idea what made her be so full of beans in the middle of the night- unless her 'movie night' snack had something to do with it!- but she kept talking and talking and talking. I kept hearing her say to Maddie while they lay on their makeshift bed at the foot of our bed, "Come on, Dee. Awww, Dee. Dee? Dee?" while trying to wake her Maddie up for company. I think between the Beebster and the Cranster (Faith's antics and Maddie's cough.. well, and Faith's.. from last week), they are attempting to get me used to sleeping in spurts through the night rather than a solid night's rest. For that, I am grateful!

Tale of two best little buds

My hope for our next little lady (or boy! for some reason I have started to wonder about the accuracy of our 23-week ultrasound.. hahaha) is that she has the same intense bond with both of her big sisters- and that they do with her as their baby sister- as Maddie and Faith have as sisters now. 

The C. and the B. remind me so very much of Christian and Ethan when they were little. They do everything together, just as I remember Chris and Ethan were inseparable, even with their 4-year age difference. It's really neat. Last night they were fooling around and being goofy since they had had a 'movie night,' which inevitably always means that they are full of beans then until about 9:30pm or so. They get the privilege of sleeping in our bed on movie nights, so Maddie was lounging on our bed reading her big book of Disneys and Faith would jump on her butt and kiss her Dee to make Maddie start giggling like crazy. You always hear, "come on, Dee!" It's too cute. Then, once I disappear out to the living room thinking they have finally drifted off to sleep, I notice two little heads poking out of the door of the cottage in the living room and giggling non-stop. They are a pair of characters for sure!

Maddie miraculously did take a nap yesterday afternoon, and so we always tell them that on those days they get to stay up for a movie night. We went to Blockbuster looking to rent 'Pinocchio' but they didn't have it. They each picked a little box of "sweets" though for their movie that night, and we ended up buying 'Pinocchio' at Giant a little bit later. Oh, they LOVE Pinocchio! We rented it a long time ago in the summer, and that is when Maddie started dipping her finger into the fish bowl to pet her "water baby" like Gepetto does to Cleo. Ha! They laugh hysterically when Pinocchio falls down the stairs during his show and gets his nose stuck in the wood, and have to watch it about 3-4 times each time. 

Maddie kept saying the whole night that this was "the best night ever!" and Faith would answer, "ESSSS!" Of course, earlier in the evening we had had a miniature crisis. Faith used to make pooping in the bathtub more than a sporadic occurrence this past summer. But, she hadn't done that in a long, long time. She decided to do it last night though! She's constantly telling us when she pees and poops ('bees' and 'boops' according to Faith), and goes on the toilet much more than Maddie ever did at this age. But, last night she all of a sudden started saying "Momma, I booped!" and she was right. Lovely! Needless to say Faith started screeching in disgust at what was swirling around in the bath water and was extremely apologetic, while Maddie this time was the one to not freak out (usually she does since she hates being dirty) and calmly stood there while I disinfected them and washed them again. Once Faith calmed down, she told us about how she had pooped in the tub about a million times the rest of the night: "Momma, I booped! Hehe. Da-Da, I booped! Hehe. Dee, I booped! Hehe." She went in to the bathroom this morning too and pulled the curtain aside and pointed saying, "I booped! Uh oh!"

The plus side to having had the Beebster with her misfortunate incident in the bathtub, is that the tub is never scrubbed better on these occasions! So, I suppose she did me a favor if I look at it that way.

31 week appointment

Well, 31 weeks tomorrow.

Becoming forgetful has become a trademark of my life these days, and was showcased yesterday in true fashion. I am NOT a forgetful person at all. I kept telling myself that my appointment was today at 4:30pm. We got back from the playground yesterday and I had a missed call from the office. I was supposed to be there yesterday at 4:30pm. Needless to say, I was quite embarrassed. Ironically, Dan and I had just been talking about our appointment for "tomorrow" and that is when I noticed I had a missed call. Luckily, they were somehow able to fit me in for today.

My blood pressure is perfect, something worth mentioning to me. By 31 weeks pregnant with Faith, I had been to triage already twice for my blood pressure and this is when the BPP ultrasounds became second nature because of that combined with her low fluid levels. I am feeling so fortunate not to have had any other reasons for an ultrasound this time, and am hoping it continues to stay this way. The doctor did schedule an ultrasound for my next visit in 2 weeks only as precautionary measures since I have that history of low amniotic fluid and blood pressure problems. But, hopefully this will be my last ultrasound needed. I love getting a chance to see the baby, but am thankful we haven't had too many due to health reasons. So, we're quite excited for our ultrasound in 2 weeks! She's measuring perfectly though and I've now gained a total of 7 lbs. I realize this isn't much, but considering I started with this one at just under my ENDING weight with both Maddie and Faith and I still have 9 more weeks to go, the numbers do get to me sometimes. But, I'm more than thankful that everything is going very, very smoothly this time!

Faith and Maddie decided to go back out to the waiting room with Dan before the doctor came in today. They, of course, have to be there to watch the nurse take my blood pressure and weight, etc. They are fascinated with this and insist on standing next to Momma to ensure I am OK. It was funny though because when I went back out to schedule my next appointment, Faith came running up to me yelling "Momma!" and then patted my stomach and said, "How dis, Momma?" (as in, how's the baby?). Everybody laughed. 

*****

The weather has been very agreeable lately, and I'm very thankful for this as well. We've been able to get out without winter coats and it's so nice. We took a lunch to the lake this weekend, and I packed a lunch for them yesterday at the playground also. We're wanting to clean the deck for once and for all maybe tomorrow so that they can sit out at their little table again and enjoy it.

It's 7:52pm right now, and I can hear my little ladies getting their figures out of their bins and playing 'Aladdin.' They're too funny. They've already come out twice with blankies over their heads like shawls saying they were "disguised like Robin Hood." Haha. The things they come up with are too funny. Before bed they also started stacking movies and books, and when we asked them why Maddie informed us that tomorrow they will start moving "to the wishing room" (living room). She said they will miss us very much, but that we can come to visit them whenever we want. So, tomorrow morning apparently begins moving day!

Bedtime stragglers, part 1

Fun day, and anticipating a nice weekend

It's hilarious to me that 38 degrees this morning was such enjoyable weather. Well, pathetic I guess you could say also! But, pathetic as it may seem, 38 degrees was plain lovely for a nice walk this morning with the C. and the B. pushing their doll strollers full of figures. We even busted out the chalks as we've done on any nice days that have popped up here and there.

We got a treat today, as our Flup and our Ella came over to play. That is a treat any day to see their cousins! They just love seeing their cousins, and their faces were priceless when they found out they were on their way this morning for a surprise visit. We met them outside and they raced and had a blast for about a full hour. 

It got up to 55 degrees by the afternoon, and Maddie had wanted to go down to the creek to walk so we did that once Dan was awake. It was a really nice walk, and the weather only required sweatshirts which is an added bonus. Faith and Maddie had a blast together. They were holding hands walking down the trail towards the end of our walk and Maddie put her head on Faith's head with her eyes closed and told her, "I love you so much, Beebster." To this, Faith responded "Ess! Dee!" (me too, Dee!). They're too funny.

I'm quite excited about the warm weather we're supposed to have this weekend. Cloudy and maybe drizzly, but hey, it is supposed to get to almost 70 degrees by Sunday! Dan is supposed to be on his 4-day break, but only has off tomorrow night. But, we'll make the most of it I'm sure and he's excited to go to Maddie's dance class on Saturday morning. It should be a nice weekend!

"Keys to the Kingdom"

Bedtime stragglers part 2

Eavesdropping!

Bedtime stragglers, part 3

Cranster and Beebster- show part 1

Cranster and Beebster- show part 2

Unexpected surprises bring the most joy

It's so strange how the world seems to stop when you're pregnant with your first child. You have all the time in the world to concentrate and dwell on being pregnant and all of the 'firsts' that you experience, etc. I worked up until a week before Maddie was born and even received my degree at 36 weeks pregnant while spending a semester sitting through my last 18 credit hours with a bouncing little Cran inside of me, and yet still felt as though I could concentrate most of my energy on remembering and appreciating this first pregnancy.

I remember with Faith the world seemed to slow a little, but yet it was still me having to keep up with my little Cran the toddler. I couldn't dwell on being pregnant 24 hours out of the day. But, of course I had a little more time than this time around to think about it. I swear this time, if it weren't for my enormous stomach, I would forget that I am even pregnant. There is not enough time in the day to take a step back and let it soak in, as I still have to be a momma to my two big girls even while pregnant. 

That is why I thoroughly enjoy the night times with my precious little Abrie. Dan was laying next to me on the couch last night and felt a really long series of bicycle kicks, somersaults, and those neat wave-like motions while she moved what seemed to be her butt around in the air. He kept laughing, and it was a neat moment. I love the time that I get with baby sissy by myself and with Dan and I together with her. It's something I won't forget. I am in absolutely no rush for May to come because I don't want to ever forget that awesome feeling of having a baby moving inside. Of course I am so excited to meet her and hold her and see who it is she resembles, but I'm not going to rush that day. I already know how quickly time flies even in utero, so I am in no rush to start the 'growing' process already!

I can't get over the fact that littlest stinker will already be at the 30-week point on Wednesday. I'm already going every 2 weeks starting next Tuesday. Ridiculous!