Blankets....

Remember when I posted about how Julia finally sucked off the tag of her Blankie?? It looked like this.....





Well, this weekend I finally sewed a piece of ribbon on it to replace the tag. I asked Julia if she wanted a new tag, or if she wanted left like it was. She said she wanted a new tag. I then took her to the store with me and she helped pick out the ribbon to replace the tag with. I think the fact she had an input on it made the new tag all that more special.

Here is the new tag. I was able to snap a quick picture before it got sucked/chewed on!!LOL



Julia loves the new tag and I made sure to buy a whole roll of ribbon, so I will have plenty when I have to replace the tag on the other Blankie (which is just about to go), or if she manages to suck/chew this one off too! I hand sewn over it about 3-4 times in hopes it will not come off easily.

In other blanket news, I finally finished the baby afghan I was crocheting for Baby Jude. I love the bright colors, but I am not sure if they worked together quite right. Oh well, at least it will be unique!!



Here is a picture of it with the flash off. This shows the true colors of it a little better.

Yes, I know I am huge....

For the last couple of days, everyone who has seen me as commented on how big I am and how I look like I am about ready to pop! I guess I forget just how big I really am! LOL

Here I am this evening at 38 weeks, 2 days pregnant......

What a big girl!!

Luckily the potty regression from being in pull-up for a weekend only lasted about 2 days. Julia is back to being great again.

Actually she is doing better than great. This morning I heard her on the monitor that she was climbing out of the crib. So I got up and was trying to hurry in getting myself ready. While I was getting ready I hear through the monitor her leave her room, only to go back in a minute or so later. I thought this was weird, because normally she comes upstairs to our bedroom when she climbs out of her crib. I finally finish getting ready and go done to see what Julia is up to. What I find shocks me some, in a good way!!

Julia had climbed out of her crib, taken off her sleeper pajamas, taken off her diaper, peed in her potty, went back to her room, put on underwear, and just about had her pajamas all the way back on by the time I got down there!!! I was AMAZED!!!! She usually LOVES her diapers and makes it quite clear that she prefers to wear diapers. So that is why I was so surprised that she decided to put on underwear! Some mornings it is a real fight to get her in underwear (once she is in underwear she is fine and likes them, it is just getting her into that first pair that is the problem.).

Then today, we left the house at 9:30am and did not get back until after 5pm, except for the 20 minutes we stopped at home to bring in and put away groceries. I had two dr. appointments, we went to Babies R Us and grocery shopping! She did not have one accident while out! She told me every time that she needed to us the restroom!! I was very proud of my big girl!

I just hope she keeps this up once Jude arrives.

38 weeks!

Well, I am 38 weeks pregnant today!!

Overall, I am still feeling really good. I occasionally have times when I am ready for this pregnancy to be over, but mostly I am trying to enjoy these last couple of weeks.

I am having a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions this time around than I did with Julia. Some of them can actually be quite uncomfortable! Starting to have a bit of swelling too. I will be fine all day, but once I sit down for the night and try to relax, my ankles will swell some. Nothing too bad yet, but something I have noticed.

He is still head-down and is probably to big to be flipping now. But I am still not taking my chances and I am staying out of the pool!!

Went to Babies R Us today and picked up the few things I still needed/wanted for this baby. Trying to get some stuff washed up now....

It is so funny because at this point in my pregnancy with Julia, I had everything done; room done, clothes washed up, hospital bag packed, etc.... This time around, I just got the car seat washed up, but that is about it! Actually, Julia will most probably still be in the crib when Jude is born!! Good thing we have the co-sleeper that we will be using! I am not NEAR as stressed about things this time around.

Dragging out the baby stuff

My house has become invaded by boxes.

I am finally pulling out all of Julia's old baby stuff and washing it up. Today the infant seat and swing came out.

All of this "stuff" is making my house look REALLY messy. Add on top of that all the construction material everywhere from working on Julia's new room and all of Julia's toys; my house is a disaster!!

Since Julia's new room is not done yet, we have no place to put all of this baby stuff I am getting out. Julia's current room is where Jude is going and all of Julia's stuff is currently in there with very little room for anything else!!

Oh well.....

Aquarium visit

Since we were down in Cincinnati this weekend and the wedding was not until 5:30pm Saturday, we thought we would head across the river and go see the aquarium again. The hidden motive was that maybe it would tire Julia out enough that she would nap that afternoon.

Julia likes the aquarium, but I really do to....

Luckily, there was not too many people there so Julia was free to run from tank to tank as she liked.

The aquarium is really dark, so I really only got pictures in the areas where it had better lighting, so unfortunately, I did not get pictures of the fish.


Playing with the giant rainforest frog....


Digging for dinos! Actually, I think Julia just thought it was a neat sandbox to play in.

Feeding the lorikeets. Julia was just captivated by them.

She REALLY wanted to pet the lorikeets.

I think the lorikeets really liked Jerrod!!

Julia trying to touch the SHARKS!! (they let you touch the sharks in this tank)

Sure she goes after the sharks, but she freak out when I tried to get her to touch the harmless horseshoe crab.....

This aquarium has several 360 degree tunnel tanks you walk though. Julia thought those were really neat, but was pretty unsure of the see-through floors. She did not like to walk on them.

We also got to see a diver in the shark exhibit feeding the sharks!! Julia thought that was pretty cool.

Oh, and the aquarium worked. We got about a 30-45 minute nap out of Julia afterwards. I would have liked it to have been longer, but it was enough to keep her happy and going for the rest of the night!

More wedding pictures

Well, I finally have a chance to post more wedding pictures. This time of the reception. Julia had a BLAST at the reception. Well, she cried for about 5 minutes of it because she tripped over the hem of her dress and face-planted into marble tile, causing her to get a bloody nose. A little loving from mommy made it all better. But you can still see the remnits of it in a few pictures. It was also an adult only reception, so Julia was the only kid there......

Jerrod and I attempted to dance, but my preggo belly was so big that I had to sort of dance sideways! LOL



Our attempts at a family picture. Julia just wanted down to dance and run....

Blowing bubbles with Aunt Ninne.

Blowing bubbles with Mike (Jerrod's uncle, so Julia's great-uncle, but we just call him Uncle Mike)

This is where Julia spent a good portion of the night. In front of the CANDY table!!!! Every kid's dream!

Using her pink lollipop like a wand..

Dancing and a swinging.....

Dancing with Aunt Ninnie

Dancing with Mike

Dancing with both Mike and Bev. They are like another set of grandparent's to Julia and spoil her like crazy!

More dancing with Aunt Ninnie.... I think Julia really wore her aunt out that night. Although, I am sure the 4" heels she wore did not help either!LOL

Julia is finally starting to tire out!

Now dancing with Aunt Ninnie and Bappa

Just with Bappa....

I think she wore several people out dancing with them. I am not sure where she got all that engery! But I am sure all the sugar from the candy helped!!!

Oh, Julia really like her "new shoes" she got to wear with her dress. She thought they were super fancy and neat. She even kept them on all night and did not want to take them off!! It looks like to me that they cut into her feet some, but she never complained about them. In fact, she wore them again today for several hours!

I am really glad Julia had so much fun at the wedding. Jerrod and I just loved watching her having a blast and her being in what seemed to be her element. You would never know that this was the same shy girl who used to cling to me at any social gathering! I think she hardly gave us a passing glance most of the night!

Regression

We had some major potty training regression. I knew it was going to happen since Julia spent the weekend in pull-ups. We tried keeping her in underwear this weekend, but after several accidents on Friday, I quickly realized that there was just too much stuff going on and put Julia in pull-ups for the rest of the weekend.

I figured it would cause some regression, but I did not think it was going to be this bad! It was a major battle, complete with tears, to even get her into underwear the last 2 days. I think I have lost count of the number of times she had peed on the couch! GRRRR.... I am SO glad I have a Bissel Green Machine!! I think every parent and pet owner should have one!!

Hopefully, this regression passes soon. We will just have to see if she regresses again when Jude is born.

Flower girl

Julia was a flower girl in Jerrod's cousin's wedding this weekend. (The reason we went to Cincinnati this weekend.) I took 120 pictures over the weekend, so I am going to only pick out a few and break them up into several posts.

Julia did GREAT as a flower girl!!! When they asked at Christmas for her to be a flower girl I almost told them "thanks, but no thanks" because Julia was still really shy at that point and I did not see how she would possibly ever do it. Luckily, she finally outgrew that shyness!! She only had one point where she freaked out slightly; when she got to the top of the stairs and saw all the people looking at her. But she soon found me sitting close to the front and did just fine walking down the aisle.

It was an outdoor wedding and unfortunately it rained! So everyone was packed under the gazebo, but it worked out just fine.

Waiting for the wedding to start....

Waiting with Bappa for her turn to walk down the aisle.

She ended up walking down part of the aisle with Bappa so he could hold the umbrella for her.

Minor freak out as she sees all those people crammed under the gazebo staring at her!

She even manged to throw a few flower petals once she got to me and I showed her how....

Smelling the rose petals during the ceremony.....

Not paying attention at all!!

Waiting for pictures after the ceremony. You can see the M&M bribes she is holding to get her to say put and OUT if the rain!

Still waiting...... (You can also see how wrinkly her dress is already!!)

Waiting with daddy.... Daddy is all wet because he sacrificed himself getting wet so Julia could stay under the umbrella.

An attempt at a picture with the bride and groom. The bride used her bouquet as a lure to get her to stay there....

Next post, the reception where Julia danced and danced and danced..........

No privacy

Anyone with kids can tell you that you get very little privacy. You cannot even use the restroom without a tail. But I have lived with pets for the last 10 years, so I am used to an audience.

But now, I cannot even shower alone!! Every time I hop in the shower, I have a little guest before I am done. Sometimes I don't even realize she has crawled in with me until I turn around! AND Julia is a major shower hog!

Ladybug suitcase!

I have been wanting to get Julia her own little suitcase. Right now whenever she spends the night somewhere, we just shove all of her clothes ans things into her diaper bag. It no longer all fits in there. Then with Jude coming and Julia is going to be spending several nights away, I figured it was time she got her own suitcase.

I found this little ladybug suitcase at Wal-Mart of all places. It cost less then $30 and also included a small matching ladybug backpack. As long as it last a couple years until she outgrows it, I will be happy.

Julia is in LOVE with it!! She had to wheel it out of the store! She has been wheeling it all around the house all day.

Since we are going to Cincinnati tomorrow for 2 nights, she will get her first chance to use it!

Here she is with her new suitcase. I could not get an actually picture of her wheeling it behind her, but these get the point across.




Please forgive my messy house. I swear it was clean yesterday, but I have a toddler who drags toys everywhere and a husband who does not seem to EVER remember where the clothes basket is located!!

37 weeks!

Well, I will officially be 37 weeks tomorrow, but we are leaving tomorrow for Cincinnati for the weekend (for a wedding).

Had another midwife appointment today. Everything still looks great. She said that they might do another quick ultrasound next week to make sure he stayed head down if either of us have any doubt about his position. I am almost sure he is still head down. She did say she might try to start striping my membranes next week. Normally they would not do that until 39 weeks, but she knows how much I was to avoid another induction and she does not think it will put me in labor, but it might help further the process along some. I also have a few other tricks that will help soften the cervix that I will probably start in a week or so. I am not trying to get the baby to come early, I am just hoping these things will help get things ready so labor will actually occur on it's own before 42 weeks (the longest my midwife will let me go before inducing me).

Oh, I have just about approached the 20 pound gain mark for this pregnancy. My goal was to gain 20 pounds or less (I gained 18-19 pounds with Julia). So I am fairly pleased. I am overweight to start with, so I did not want to gain any excessive weight. With Julia I was down to my pre-pregnancy weight within a week or two of her birth. I hope the same happens this time.

Julia is still obsessed with playing with Baby Jude (playing with my tummy). She rubs, talks to, sings to, kisses, hugs, etc... my belly several times a day. She especially loves my belly button. She thinks that is the direct link to Jude.

Here she is talking to Jude through my belly button!

Our cats are saints!!

I could not be more pleased with our cats.

We have 5 cats and some of them are getting up there in years (the oldest is 10). We were not sure how they would react to having a human baby in the house. When we first brought Julia home, they pretty much ignored her. Once she started to become mobile, they cats realized they could still out run her. Well, Julia has gotten much bigger and faster. AND she LOVES playing with the cats. She also loves bossing them around.

I am still amazed at the level of patience the cats have for Julia. It is like they know she is just a child and not to harm her in any way. Julia can be pretty rough with the cats at times. We don't let her pick on the cats, but you know how toddlers are and just how quick they are. So a lot of cat tails and hair gets pulled. Julia is also not gentle about making them get off the current piece of furniture they are sitting on that Julia has decided SHE wants to sit on. Julia might get a grumble or two from them, but that is it. If Jerrod or I tried half the stuff she did to the cats, we would end up scratched and bloody!! Especially from Jasmine, our tortie. Tortie's are known for their bad temperament. As long as you let them do their thing, they are fine, but don't try to get them to do something they don't want to do! I still have scars on my hands and wrists from a tortie who did not want to be held by me when I was working at the vet's office. Yet, Jasmine has never made any attempt to harm Julia. Even when Julia really deserves it! She will just give Julia a good yowling and walk away. Good kitty!

Gavin, though, takes the cake as the best cat ever!! I swear this cat feels no pain. Julia will pick on this cat mercifully, yet he just sits there and takes it! Julia will body slam him, pull his tail, pull him by his long hair, poke his eyes, practically choke him, etc.. and he will basically purr through the whole thing! He definitely earned his keep around here with just how awesome he is with Julia.

They way they cats are with Julia almost makes up for all the hairballs they leave on the floor for me to find (hairballs are always bad in the spring/early summer around here).