Eating bananas.  

Caroline is in the church nursery. 

:) 

Here is Caroline's Easter dress. 

Yes, I am very cute! 

Aw, so sweet! 

Here is Caroline relaxing at Grandma's lakehouse. 

"I can't hear you!" 

Another Easter pic 

Easter 2006 

Why does everyone have to comment on my timing?

I'm eight months pregnant and anyone that asks me when I'm due undoubtedly follows my answer with "well, you didn't time that very well, did you??" "Pregnant in August? I don't know how you will make it..." Okay, so it's not against the law to be 9 months pregnant in the month of August. I'm very irritable and this point and people (especially strangers) and starting to make me angry with the comments. For the record, pregnancy in winter is no prize either. I've experienced both and at least I can go swimming in the summer. Plus, running the AC on full blast in winter is likely to make your husband very crabby.

I have about 7 weeks to go in this pregnancy, if I make it to a full 40 weeks and so far almost everything is finshed. Todd made a trip up to Indiana to pick up some furniture from my grandmother's house. We now have a new couch (new to us, I think it might be 30 years old though) a dresser, upholstered glider for Caroline's room, a kitchen table and chairs, a dressing table with a mirror (now my desk!) and some accent tables. It's nice to finally have a couch instead of the futon. Now all that I need to do is clean the house and find spots for some of the furniture. As far as preparations for the little one's arrival, I think I am almost done with that as well. We have quite a few clothes (a lot of gender neutral stuff from Caroline) and all of the necessities from burp cloths to pacifiers and even a brand new sling. I am debating buying a baby swing since we got rid of Caroline's (long story). I think I might need one this time because I'll have 2 little ones to keep happy. However, we don't exactly have a lot of extra space, so I may wait to see if it is even necessary. I will eventually need a double stroller, but it is another thing I will wait on. I am planning on carrying the baby in the sling while I push Caroline in the stroller for a while.

Caroline was sick the past couple of days. On Sunday night, she came down with a fever and by mid-day Monday her fever was 105. Monday we went to the doctor and they swabbed her throat for strep, checked her ears, collected a urine sample and the whole works. Everything checked out okay, except for the high fever and the doctor guessed that it was viral. Sure enough, by Tuesday afternoon there was no trace of the fever. Things are getting back to normal today, which is good considering that Todd will be gone for a few days.

Good News!

Here's an update on my mom's breast cancer:

She went to see the oncologist yesterday to discusss the treatment and the stage of the cancer. She learned that although the cancer was in the lymph system, it had not spread to any other organs. This is really good news. The cancer is stage 3 and still very serious. It is a fast growing, agressive type and she will need quick and thorough treatment to recover.

Been busy...

I have been busy these days. Caroline is 18 months old and a total handful. She's saying more words and learning new physical skills. Yesterday, I saw her "walking" on all fours. It was a hoot! She will try to wear our shoes and put shoes on our feet too. She knows that when we go "bye-bye" she needs to put her shoes on. She will often go find them and bring them to us.

In other news, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago. She had surgery to remove her breasts and test lymph nodes. The doctors are still running some tests and we should know what stage the cancer is in on Thursday. She is hoping to start treatment(radiation and chemo) next week. She has been a real trooper through this whole ordeal and we are very proud of her.

3rd trimester

I'm in my third trimester now. I think it's somewhere between 26 and 28 weeks (everyone measures differently) and I am now 27 weeks. It's nice to know that I am entering the last phase of pregnancy, where there is an end in sight. I'm large enough to be uncomfortable when I sleep and I don't fit into all regular bathroom stalls anymore :( The little one is still breech, which is not a major concern for me yet, but I still worry a little.

Caroline is continuing to do well. She doesn't talk much, but she can say a few things. Cheese, baby, yogurt (go-gie). Lately, she has confused banana and yogurt. She now calls bananas "go-gies" and does not say banana anymore.

Her favorite toy these days is her doll and stroller. She pushes the stroller all over the yard and around the house for long stretches every day.

I am going to be doing some more baby-proofing today. It seems that our bookshelves have become "toddler disaster areas". I am going to Lowes and I'm going to buy some plexiglass to put in front of the bookshelves. I plan on covering the bottom three shelves and hopefully it will keep Caroline from taking our books off the shelf and ripping out the pages. We want to encourage reading and such, so I was initially hesitant to do anything to the shelves. However, allowing her to rip up books doesn't encourage reading either. She has many books of her own, so I don't feel like we're depriving her of reading material.

Baby shower

Todd and I hosted a baby shower on Saturday for some friends of ours. It was an outdoor cook out sort of event. We had hamburgers, hotdogs (the kosher kind), potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, deviled eggs, a fruit tray, a veggie tray, and so on. Everything was pink, because David and April (the guests of honor) are expecting a girl. It was a nice event. I think that we had about 25 attendees and everyone seemed to eat a lot of food and enjoy themselves. The weather was also really nice. As soon as I locate the camera cable, I will post some pictures.

Food and more food...

I've discovered new foods that Caroline likes. She ate black beans and corn for dinner tonight. And loved them! After finishing off her first plate, I made her a second and she ate that too! Very exciting. She also likes string cheese, fruit cups, and yogurt. Oh, and bananas. We go through lots of those. She also likes broccoli, carrots, zucchini, rice, and any kind of pasta with tomato sauce. She is a really good eater, but she refuses to eat meat! I don't stress about it, but I always offer her some. Most of the time she with leave it on the plate, but sometimes she just throws it on the floor. Writing this post has made me very hungry, so I will cut this post short. I promise to write again soon!

I've been a bad blogger lately. Caroline and I have been adjusting to our new home and new city. We really like Charlotte and everything it has to offer. We've been to the parks, malls, shopping, and more. I think Caroline's favorite spot is our backyard, where she has free reign to run around and pick up interesting things. She brings me sticks and rocks and dog bones as gifts. The dog dutifully follows her around ouside, as if she is following through on her mission in life. Protect the little one. Lately, we've seen the dog camp outside of Caroline's door, just waiting for something to happen, I guess.

I've been to the seeing my midwife regularly and so far, everything in the pregnancy is going well. I'm nearly 25 weeks along and the baby is measuring perfectly. There have been a few minor snags that will hopefully work themselves out. The baby's placenta is anterior, which in itself is not a bad thing, but it makes it nearly impossible to feel the baby kick. I felt the baby kick really early, and then around 18 weeks I stopped feeling any movement. It was stort of frightening, but an ultrasound shows that the placenta is the reason. The baby is also breech right now, which at 25 weeks isn't necessarily a problem, but with the anterior placenta, I am again in compromised position. Babies with an anterior placenta aren't as likely to turn. The external cephalic verison (where doctors try to move the baby) is an option of course, but not with an anterior placenta. Sigh. Plus, it's contraindicated in women who are Rh- (I am). So, if the baby remain breech, I will probably need a c-section. I will just have to hope that the baby turns on its own. Other than these minor problems, the pregnancy is going well and we are really looking forward to our new addition.

My Blog-cation

I have been avoiding the blog for the last several weeks, because we have been busy finishing up the house. So far, we have made one trip to the Goodwill, with loads of clothes and other random items. We have another trip to do soon with more clothes and things. Hopefully, all of the unnecessary stuff will be gone soon!! I have also been getting ready for the baby. I put together the new crib and bought some simple bedding (2 crib sheets & bumper). I also went through all of Caroline's baby clothes and pulled out the gender neutral items and I have to say, we have enough clothes for the first 6-9 months!

Todd has been working at night lately and sleeping during the day. The schedule seems to work out pretty well for him, because he is able to work undisturbed.

Caroline is getting familiar with the potty and is showing a lot of interest in using it. We do potty practice at least once a day and she knows to "go" when I put her on the potty. I hope that she can be out of diapers by August! I'm not counting on it though.

Connected to the real world again

We've sucessfully completed the move. There were a few small glitches along the way, but for the most part, the worst is behind us. We are about half unpacked at this point, so we are still quite surrounded by boxes and such. The trip down with my mom went about as well as I expected. Caroline hated the car seat and would scream in it if I weren't in the back seat with her. It took my mom and I 2 days to make the drive and we were certainly happy it did not take any longer. Before leaving for the south, I made the proper calls to get all our utilities and such put in our name. I even called to have the internet set up as soon as we arrived. Unfortunately, the earliest date for an appt (to set up the modem-why can't we do that??) was on Tuesday. I thought it would be okay since we have cell phones. Well, what I didn't know is that T-mobile does not have service here--at all! Nothing. Not one bar at all. So we were without a phone until Wednesday. If you want to call us, use our land line (hint: its a 718 number). If you want the number, email me and I will give it to you.

A big move

is underway right now. Charlotte, NC is the destination and we will be there on Friday, hopefully. My mom is flying up to help me drive Caroline and the cat to our new home. I probably won't be blogging much for a few weeks, but I will try to squeeze in some photos of our new place and a couple of updates. We have been very busy lately with the packing, but it is almost done and I am thankful for that. Email me for the new address (I don't want to post it here!)

more cabin fever

Today, the weather was a steamy 40 degrees fahrenheit and the the was a nice wind sweeping across the island at a gentle 35mph. Caroline and I, bored to tears at being stuck inside, took a trip to the toy store for some wintertime diversion. We bought a small toddler tricycle (it doesn't have pedals) and a wooden train set. The train set is really cute and reminds me of the Brio trains I remember as I child. It's price, however, was something of another matter. The starter set was $19.99. The wooden tracks make a figure 8 with a bridge/tunnel combo. Back to my story though... As soon as we arrived home, I put the trike together, which was in about a zillion pieces and required batteries and a screwdriver and a hammer for proper construction. I couldn't find the hammer, but the screwdriver did the trick. Once the thing was actually together, Caroline and I donned our winter gear and headed outside to enjoy the "breeze" I put the trike on the sidewalk and showed Caroline how to get on it. She enjoyed sitting on it for about a minute before giving me the look of "it's cold--why are we outside" So, we went back inside and played with the train. The trike has gotten some use inside, where it will most likely stay until it's warm, so maybe July... Anyway, we are hoping for some good weather soon, because we are all tired of being stuck inside.

Snow, ice, rain, will it ever get better???

We are in the worst part of winter, here in NYC. It is March and it is snowing. Enough said. I'm going to bed (and it's 11 o' clock in the morning).

Cabin fever!

It has been soooo cold lately that we haven't even gone outside. This morning there was snow on the car, not much, but enough to keep us huddled up inside for the morning. I am planning on taking Caroline to the Staten Island Children's Museum. We have been before, but that was before Caroline had learned to walk. I think she may enjoy it a lot more this time. Mom will certainly enjoy letting her run around and get tired.

Caroline's teeth are still coming in. They obviously are hurting a lot, but she has managed to sleep through the night for the most part. Thank you infant Tylenol! Now, if only I could get our dog to sleep through the night. She likes to wake us up around 2:30 to play "dig in the garbage" or "bark at the neighbors." It's really getting annoying.

Caroline is back to a nap routine, which is nice. She refused naps for several months and it was exhausting. Now we have nice relaxing days with minimal fussing/crankiness.

we all slept through the night

Caroline did not wake up once. I think she is feeling better.

Caroline is teething

Lately, Caroline has started waking up every half hour at night. Before, she had a fever and we thought that she wasn't feeling well. Now that the fever is gone, she is still waking up. I noticed last week that she has a new molar coming in. Once I starting putting the teething gel on her gums, I could not stop, because she has teeth coming in everywhere. I tried counting, but stopped after I felt *8* teeth starting to poke through. It must really hurt, because she is cranky an upset all day! I don't blame her, either. Hopefully, the teeth will hurry up and come in.

13 weeks 3 days

I think this means that I am now officially in the 2nd trimester. To celebrate, I threw up my breakfast. Hopefully there will be no more celebrations. :)

:) 

Wow! 

:) 

Caroline is in waist deep snow. 

Hi! 

Caroline is running around where the snow has been cleared. 

Wow. Look at all that white stuff! 

Hi! 

This is our car, I think. 

Another one. 

The view from our kitchen. 

You can't see the steps. 

Hi everyone! 

more snow 

a lot more snow 

a pile of salsa

This morning I was startled by a crash on the kitchen floor. I went in to see what the commotion was about and found my husband ankle deep in chunky red stuff. I almost fainted at what I thought was blood and then caught a glimpse of the remains of the salsa jar. Oh. It was a big jar too. I like to get the bigger jars because you get a better deal on the price of salsa per ounce. I am going to speculate that we did not get such a good deal on this jar, based on the amount of salsa on the floor. At any rate, I told Todd not to worry about it and go ahead and get ready for work. I then started to clean up the delicious salsa. I was oh-so tempted to dip a couple of chips in it because it smelled so good. After picking through the glass shards intermingled with the salsa, I decided that it probably wouldn't be a great idea. Salsa--good. Shards of glass--not so good. I am going by the store to get more salsa today. I will be buying it in a plastic jar too.

Update

The winter storm has now overtaken the December 1947 storm as the worst in NYC's recorded history. The link is here.

i'm bored today

There's not much to do when you are snowed in. We set up a tent inside for Caroline to play in. It was an amusing diversion for about 10 minutes, then it became an obstacle in the living room. Oh well. She is in bed now, so I will take it down an put all her books away.

By they way, I'm currently 12 weeks 3 days pregnant, meaning that I have exactly one week before I am out of the first trimester. Yay! I have been feeling 100% better these days; I'm just very tired and I need lots of naps.

Blizzard of 2006

I just heard on the news that NYC has received almost 23 inches of snow, making it the #2 snow storm in history of the city. Last night we heard lots of thunder and saw the flashes of lightning through our bedroom window. Lightning and thunder is rare in this town. I can't remember ever having a storm thunder and lightning. The streets have not been plowed and our car is hidden beneath the snow. It doesn't look like we are going anywhere today. I took some pictures, but I'm afraid that they don't show much other than white stuff here and white stuff there. I will post them soon.

I went to my crochet class last night. It was an excellent way to firm up my "book knowledge" of crochet. That is, I knew how one was supposed to make a single crochet, but I couldn't actually do it reliably. Somehow, the best teachers are people who have actual real world experience as, opposed to books with nice photographs. Next week, I will start working on a baby blanket. Yea!

Caroline went to the doctor today for a checkup. She is doing "well overall", though she is small for her age. Her height was around the 50th percentile and her weight was in the 25th. I suppose I should start feeding her candy and cookies, right? The doc suggested that I make her eat more, but I countered with "I'm below average weight for my height--could it possibly be genetic?" He relented, but added "She is doing well overall." He then told me not to feed her peanut butter before the age of 3. Hmmm. I have lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches forever. I mean, I eat one every day or nearly every day. While pregnant with Caroline, I ate quite a few of them and while nursing her, I ate even more. The AAP recommends waiting until age 3 before introducing peanuts. Ha! They also recommend peanut butter as a healthy snack for one-year olds. So which is it? Well, it's controversial. Some say, no peanut butter at all (that means nursing moms cannot eat peanuts or peanut products) and also means no peanuts during pregnancy. Other people say that it's fine after the baby is 12 months as long as there is no history of peanut allergies in the family. Caroline loves her PB&Js, by the way. I know the doctor is just playing it safe, so I don't mind when he says these things. I just do my own research and make my own decisions (I consulted dad on this one).

Caroline brings us books to read to her these days. She will also take pens or pencils and write on any available paper. It actually amazes me how well she holds the pen. She doesn't use a fist; she uses an almost correct pencil hold. She likes crayons too, but tends to eat them.

I had another sonogram yesterday. The baby is the right size and everything looks healthy. Of course, we won't know if it's a boy or girl until April 3. I need to get the scanner working again before I post some of the sonogram pictures.

I am going to a crochet class tonight. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Caroline is almost completely weaned and she seems to be handling it okay. She has occasional breakdowns though and I usually give in and nurse her. The doctor says that I shouldn't breastfeed if I'm pregnant, though everything I have read about breastfeeding during pregnancy has indicated that it is only problem if you have a history of premature labor or other health issues. At any rate, her nursing is slowing down a lot and we are spending more time cuddling.

Nesting early this time...

I knitted three hats (okay two, almost finshed with the third though) and I started learning how to crochet. I think that it's a symptom of nesting. I know that it's extremely early to be doing these things , but I have already felt the baby moving. Everyone scoffs at this notion (even doctors), but I know what I'm feeling and it's not gas (like everyone says it is).

The crocheting is turning out to be harder than I thought. I've learned the chain stitch, single crochet, double crochet, and treble crochet. People knit and crochet on the Staten Island Ferry a lot. Of course, I wouldn't be caught trying to make something that looks like a chewed sock in public, so I will have to wait until I am better before taking my crochet with me. The people that crochet in public can seemingly make entire afghans appear before my eyes. It's quite deceptive and after seeing people whip out these beautiful stitches effortlessly, I thought that it would be an excellent hobby to try. Wow. Now I am stuck trying with much effort to remember yarn over twice, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, loop off, yarn over, loop off, loop off, yarn over, loop off, loop off, yarn over, loop off, loop off. Yikes. This is one stitch, called the treble (or "trouble" if you're me) crochet. Now I am not using the proper terminology, but this is simply how I remember what to do. I'm not giving up though. I've only spent one day learning crochet, so it's bound to get better, right?

New words

Caroline has a small vocabulary at this point. She says:

Mama
Dada
Cat
Meow
Dog

The funny one is "meow" which she says while chasing after the cat. We practice her words everyday and are trying to encourage her to say more.

We're expecting another baby!

I'm 11 wks pregnant today and I thought I would announce our news to the world (or at least the 5 people that read this blog). As soon as I can figure out how to work our scanner, I will post the sonogram picture of the little one. Wish us luck. Caroline will be about 20 months when the baby is born and I'm sure that it will be crazy. My due date is August 24th.