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.