Birth talk, etc.

My parents were here this past weekend. We had so much fun, and Marissa had a blast. I actually left her home with them on Friday while I went to work as a nanny. It was so weird to be at the family's house without her, but Marissa loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and they loved it too. The funniest part about the weekend was how Marissa said Grandpa. Most of the time, it sounded more like "beanpole" than Grandpa! We just cracked up laughing every time she said it! We tried to get some family pictures taken (for Christmas cards), but I'm really not happy with any of them. In the ones where Marissa was cooperating, I look drugged, and in the ones I look decent (very few), Marissa is going crazy. We may try again, or just go with a picture of Marissa by herself. Frustrating.

Crazy girl in the outtakes

Last night we had our first babysitter for Marissa (besides family) so we could attend the orientation at the birth center I'm planning on delivering at. It finally seems so real that we'll be bringing home a baby in February! The orientation mostly consisted of reading through their information packet of procedures and requirements, etc. Then we got a tour of a room and it's soooo nice! They have queen size beds (which would be great for Dan since when Marissa was born he had to sleep on a strange couch/bed thing - but he will be going home to stay with Marissa once Arianna is born), normal-looking furniture (instead of hospital-looking), and a HUGE bathroom with a HUGE tub where I hope to labor and possibly deliver in. I'm starting to get so excited about this birth. I have absolutely NO complaints/regrets about Marissa's birth, but I have high expectations about this birth! There are a few circumstances that would prevent me from delivering there (a breech baby being the main one, besides other risk factors that we would know about before even going into labor), and so I'm a little worried about those. But even if they happen, they'll just transfer me down the hall to the regular labor/deliver area. There is also a NICU right in the attached hospital, just in case.

We left the orientation excited (well, I did...Dan is still worried about passing out like he did during childbirth classes before Marissa, even though he was fine at her actual birth), only to find a completely flat tire on our "second" car, since we had to put our "family" car in the shop because the heat stopped working! Dan started to change it to the spare tire, but one of the bolts (no idea what they're actually called) was a different size from the rest so the tool he was using wouldn't take it off! He called one of his friends who came with a big set of tools in different sizes, but they still didn't help. Finally, some guy in the parking garage (turned out Dan and his friend sorta knew him from college) came over to help and had the right size tool and even a drill for us to use. An HOUR after we were supposed to get home, we finally made it home!

Marissa did so great with the babysitter! I was really annoyed that we got the flat tire while we were paying for a babysitter. But when we got home, Marissa told the babysitter "I not want you to go. I need you to stay at my house!" It was so cute, and she was so excited to tell me all the things they did while we were gone. Today she asked if she was coming back! I knew she'd be fine, but I didn't expect her to enjoy it so much! It's such a relief to have a babysitter lined up, and know that Marissa likes her. We have a few other occasions we will need her (or the other one we met a few weeks ago), but for Arianna's birth, a friend from church (with 3 kids of her own, and pregnant again!) offered to watch Marissa. Marissa and her middle girl are in the same class at church some of the time, and my friend watches that class on some Wednesday nights. So I feel very comfortable sending her over there (they also live very close) when the time comes!

Today I had a doctor's appointment (27w, 1d), and now I start going every two weeks instead of four! Crazy! I'm finally starting to gain more weight after that horrible month of misery way back in July! I actually lost over 10 lbs then, but from when the doctor started keeping track, I think I've gained close to 20 lbs. I'm measuring at about 26 weeks, so hopefully that measurement doesn't continue to be small again (like with Marissa). Although I kind of expect it to be small, since I'm small and I make small babies. But they ended up being concerned over nothing with Marissa because I was consistently measuring small for the correct week, and that was part of the reason they induced me.

Well, I guess that's all. I'm so excited that Friday is coming soon! I love the weekends normally, but I'm going to have a full week off from work, and it just doesn't get any better than that (well, until I can quit in January to stay home with my girls!)!

Baby business!

Profile shot

Cute foot

3d - she kept putting her hand by her face and messing up the pictures!

Thumb up her nose

Cute fingers

Finally moved her hand, but it was still a little blurry

My ultrasound last week went fine. The placenta is still "globular" and the "cord insertion" is still on the side of the placenta. So I will continue to go back for ultrasound checks about every 4 weeks until she is born or something doesn't check out ok. She is still growing fine, which was their main worry for the weird placenta stuff. She was measuring right on for 26 weeks, and weighed 1 lb 15 oz! I saw her little tongue moving around inside her mouth, and I saw her "inhaling" and "exhaling" fluid. So cute! Then the lady was just learning how to do 3d on that particular ultrasound machine, so she tried it out on me! I never got to see 3d with Marissa, and it was just sooo cool!

Ok, I need some help here, ladies: Dan and I can't agree on how to spell her name! We want it to be pronounced "ar-ee-ah-na." Dan thinks it should be spelled "Ariana" but I really prefer how it looks with two n's "Arianna" - but Dan thinks it will get mispronounced more often if we spell it that way. We could always do something unique like "Arionna" "Ariahnna" or "Ariyhanna" but then Dan suggested that we just throw a silent "q" in there just for fun. Lol. I'm not really into the odd spellings either. So speak up, and speak your mind - I'm asking for honesty here

A day in the life...

So I was thinking today how soon things are really going to change around here. Soon we will potty train Marissa, which will change many of our routines. I will be done working sometime in January, and then sometime in February, Arianna Grace will join us. And I wanted to have some kind of a record of how we usually spend our days. So ignore if you'd like, but here is a typical day for us:

7:45am - We no longer use a monitor in our room to hear Marissa when she wakes up (she was starting to wake up in the middle of the night for stupid things, and it was really starting to wear me out!), but I assume she usually wakes up moments before my alarm goes off for the first time. Sometimes she comes into our room, but most of the time she gets out of her bed, turns her light on using a chair, and plays with her babies and doll house. She LOVES putting her babies in her old baby swing (which used to be in her closet, til she discovered it when I was digging for baby stuff - now she keeps telling me how she's going to share it with her "baby 'tisser'" i.e. "baby sister"!), changing their diapers, and singing to them. Some days she wakes up earlier (if Dan sees her before he leaves at 7:25) and she still plays for a long time. (Yes, I know this is amazing and wonderful, but as soon as we start potty training we won't do this anymore)
8:00am - I usually hit snooze til this time, and then get myself ready for a day at work. She likes to watch me, or run back and forth between my room and her babies in her room.
8:10am - Time to change her diaper and get her dressed. Most of the time her hair is wild and crazy, so I spray it with some water and brush it out so it curls a little. Some mornings she loves getting sprayed, and begs me to spray her hands, and hair again and again. Other mornings she has a hysterical meltdown because she didn't want to get wet that day.
8:15am - We go downstairs, she puts her purple shoes on, and I start toasting our waffles. We sit down at the table, her next to me in a big-person chair, and eat our waffles. Most of the time she doesn't finish in time, so she gets a plastic baggie to put her waffle in (no syrup obviously!) so she can finish it in the car on the way to work.
8:30am - We drive 25 minutes to work, where I watch H (3 years) and M (15 months).
9:00am - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, H's mom takes him to preschool as soon as we get there. M and Marissa have about an hour to play before it's time for M's bottle and nap, and they all play together on days H doesn't have school.
10:00am - Diaper change, bottle, and nap for M, tv time for H and Marissa. When I first started this job, the mom told me H watched a lot of tv, and we have kept up with that pattern. Lol. I limit it though, and H and Marissa actually play very well together lately (not so much back in the beginning when they didn't understand each other's "language" and H hit and pushed Marissa all the time). They have conversations with each other, they voluntarily share toys with each other, take turns very nicely, and generally don't need too much interference from me.
11:30am - M wakes up from her nap, and we all head upstairs to play in the bedrooms. H and Marissa love to push around his garbage truck and firetruck, and they take turns nicely. They also love to use H's tools to "fix" everything in M's room.
12:00 - Diaper changes all around, then back downstairs for lunch. I usually scrape together whatever I can find, because the family isn't the greatest at getting regular groceries. But I always manage to find a main dish, veggies, and fruit, and the kids eat pretty well. H and Marissa eat the same thing, and I only make one thing each day. I will not let them be too picky! M is at an awkward stage with eating now (I hate the early-finger-food stage!), and usually only eats fruits at lunch (although I hear she usually eats a huge breakfast, so I guess that makes up for it).
12:45pm - Usually someone has pooped. So more diaper changes. Then play time.
1:00pm - The mom comes home (or downstairs if she worked in her office that day) and we go HOME!
1:45pm - We get home, remove all our cat-hair-covered clothes, and place them in one big pile in the laundry room to be washed at the end of the week. Naptime for Marissa.
2:00pm - My quiet time! I eat lunch, watch tv, and spend time on the computer. I almost NEVER do any housework during this time. It's my ME time!
3:30-4:00pm - Marissa wakes up. Depending on her mood when she wakes up, sometimes we play in her room, I do some laundry, or we come straight downstairs to play. I often clean up the living room now too, because she is such a good helper at putting away toys, and I can't vacuum without her, since she insists it's her job to push the "on" button.
5:00pm - I start cooking dinner, depending on what we're having.
5:30pm - Dan gets home from work. Since he rides his bike to and from work every day, he gets a quick shower, then it's time for dinner! Dan is in charge of motivating Marissa to eat a decent meal for dinner since I feed her every other meal, plus extra kids at lunch. Feeding toddlers is not one of my favorite things to do!
6:00pm - Playtime! Lately Dan has been playing CRAZY WILD games with Marissa, as I have been too tired to blink. Lol. They are hysterical to watch though!
8:00pm - Bedtime for Rissa. We brush her teeth (she loves doing it after us!), read a book, then sing some songs (Jesus loves me, then the "Marissa song" [M-A-R-I-S-S-A, spells Marissa everyday - to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle], then Twinkle, Twinkle). She goes to bed like a pro. No complaints usually, and she lays right down and stays in bed. Sometimes she talks and sings to herself for a while (up to an hour!), but she always falls asleep wonderfully.
8:15pm - Our alone time! We are really into a lot of tv shows this season, so we watch them together.
10:00pm - I shower at night because I'm too tired to get up early enough to shower before Marissa wakes up in the morning.
10:15pm - Bedtime! Dan can fall asleep in seconds even if he's not exhausted. But I've been sooooo tired lately, for obvious reasons. An early bedtime is wonderful, although our friends make fun of us for being "old" already

That's our typical week day. Weekends are lazy, relaxing, boring, and wonderful! And while I definitely wish I didn't have to work my job still, Marissa loves going there and playing with her friends, and I think it's a really good experience for her. It's also taught her a lot about babies, which will obviously be helpful in the coming months.

My parents are coming this weekend! They haven't seen Marissa since July, and she has obviously changed a TON since then. I'm really looking forward to it, and then it's almost time for Thanksgiving break!