ix: Full Term

On the pregnancy front, I am officially 36 weeks today. That makes me full term and I can go into labor any day now. I just wish my due date wasn't 4 weeks from now. I want her out!!

I've been having a lot of lower back pain, BH contractions, and getting walloped right in my girl parts. I figured it was because Rose is so low, even though she has her feet in my ribs. So to relieve some of the stress and pressure on my body I bought this awesome maternity belt. Granted, it's one of the most convoluted contraptions I own, but it is awesome and alleviates the pain in my back. I also bought the Tummy Sleeve so that I could wear my regular pants when all my maternity pants were dirty (some already don't fit).

Right now it's just the waiting game. I already have all the clothes and things ready for when she gets here, now all that needs to happen is for her to get here!

The girls are getting very big. Lily, who will be 3 and 6 months on Friday, is starting to learn Spanish. She remembers random letters and can count to 5 along with saying hello and goodbye. We're also working on the parts of the face. We still practice ASL so she won't forget, and she is starting to learn how to read. She's now to a point where she no longer needs her trainers at night. We've been Pull-Up free at nighttime for this entire month. She's only had three accidents since we started (one of them being yesterday) so we're really happy. Other than that, she's on summer vacation and just being silly and having a good time.

Iris will be 20 months on Friday. She is talking so much. A lot of times her sentences are mostly gibberish, but she is grasping the concept very much. She can sing her ABCs, remembers a couple of letters on sight (like O and Y), and can count to 3. She's also mean as hell when she's angry. Don't piss her off or she'll punch you in the eye and bite you. Right now I'm trying to get her to relieve her stress and anger in passive ways. Lily just throws a fit and whines and when she's done that's it. Iris though, she'll follow you, start screaming like someone is stabbing her, and throws things, particularly at you. I've at least got it down to where if they are tackling each other I can calm them down, get them to say sorry, hug, kiss, and let it go -- until the next fight, that is. Her teeth are still taking their sweet time. Right now she has what we call the Disney Goofy-Pete gap. Her top lateral incisors came in before her top central incisors, so she's got a "hi-yuk" kind of smile. One of her top central incisors seems to be trying to cut through right now, though.

Other than that, all is good. They've been hanging out and having a good time outside in our little pool. They are starting to golden and have cute little tan lines. I look day-glo beside them. ;)

Now I leave you with some videos.

viii: 43 Days To Go...

33w6d

Holy shit. Where has the time gone? I only have a month and a half left? Seriously, I knew I was close, but I didn't realize how close. I'm glad I'm almost done, though. My EVERYTHING hurts and I'm so heavy and tired. I hate feeling miserable, especially when there is so much to look forward to.

My friend Liz is throwing me a baby shower at the end of the month. It was a nice surprise when she told me her plan yesterday. When I was pregnant with Lily, I was the one who threw my own self a baby shower. With Iris, I didn't even think about one since I already had most of what I needed. Granted, I still have most of what I need (the joy of having nothing but girls) but it's still a nice thing to do all the same.

My allergies are no longer bugging me so much, and the only issue I'm having is trying to stay standing without toppling over or walking without passing out either from low blood pressure or overheating. I also have a hard time sleeping. I can't get comfortable at all, and since I'm nothing but baby, every time Rose moves it's like she's digging her feet and knees, trying to escape like Alien or something. Oh joy.

I want to go back to bed; I wish I could sleep more peacefully.

vii: Pictures

I know I haven't posted recent photos of the girls here, but if you have a Facebook profile and have me friended, then you've noticed I've been posting them there instead. :D

The most recent pictures can be found in the following album:
Family Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90133&id=502292446&l=8590a1e119



I'd post the videos, but unfortunately I'd have to post those one at a time instead of just all of them in one site. I'll figure something out soon.

vi: Haircut

So first off, let me say that Lily has Justin's wiring. Other than having his large forehead and incredible height, she's usually a degree or two warmer than most people and has thick hair that grows super fast.

I have to fight with her every day over her hair, especially on warm days. She overheats and feels ill, but when I put her hair up in clips or bands, she always yanks them out (along with a handful of hair.) Doesn't matter what style she had, she always yanked it out.

I was losing patience with her hair and Justin figured that it'd be best to cut her hair off. She has an ungodly amount, and it grows several inches within a month or two, so it's not like it won't grow back. So, taking his advice on what kind of haircut to give her that would last her through most of the warm weather, she had a good foot of hair cut off yesterday at the salon.

Here is her before:

Her hair is wavy, so when wet and straight it reached her bottom.

After a good foot cut off she was feeling better. I have a pony tail that's about a good 8 inches of hair wrapped in a rubber band. Justin thinks it's creepy that I kept her hair.

Either way, she likes it. I think it looks cute. It's very similar to my own hairstyle, so I know how to rock it with cute accessories. She feels comfortable with it, and I'm relieved that I don't have to deal with a crap ton of hair and waste half a bottle of detangler just to have her destroy my hard work.

v:

So about 2 weeks ago, on a Sunday, I'm getting Lily ready for bed when I notice she has a small rash on her butt. Thinking it was jut that she needed a bath, I didn't think much of it. The next day, however, the rash was all over her legs. It was a warm day and she had been wearing velvet leggings, so I thought it may have been a heat rash. On Tuesday, not only was the rash all over her bottom half, but it had migrated to her arms and face. By Wednesday it just seemed to be getting worse. So on Thursday afternoon, while my husband was off of work, I took Lily to the doctor to find that she had an ear infection in her left ear and the source of her rash was the viral infection. I felt terrible. Lily had never had an ear infection, and the on time we were incredibly close, we nipped it in the bud. This time she had no symptoms. All we had was one fever and this ridiculous rash. She didn't hurt, she felt just fine, and was horribly confused that she was sick.

The rash was so bad I felt horrible every time I saw her. She resembled a burn victim. It was EVERYWHERE; the soles of her feet and even the palms of her hands were covered in bumps. It looked like a mix between heat rash and chicken pox.

(3.21.09)

Thankfully, we were given antibiotics and she's no longer sick. She is back to her normal, goofy self already.

(3.30.09)

(3.31.09)

During this time, Iris and I contracted a cold, so we were all sick for a while. We are all better now and are all just suffering from allergies. Thanks to this being allergy season, ALL of us have been with runny noses and sneezing. Can't avoid it really. Both Justin and I suffer from seasonal allergies so our children were not spared. But Iris is well and also back to her goofy self.

(3.30.09)

(3.31.09)

iv:

One hundred sixteen more days to go...that is if Rose decides to come when she's due...which is never the case with my children... I'm more than halfway along now. I cant believe how quickly this pregnancy has been passing.

Physically,baby wise, I've been doing well. I'm having a bit of trouble gaining weight, though I'm not very worried. Rose seems to be growing just fine and her size coincides with her due date. She's very healthy, and VERY active. Now just physically,I feel like utter crap most of the time, though. I'm horribly tired, bloated, and my allergies are 10x worse than before. Nothing I can really do except take Benadryl and Sudafed for my symptoms. It really sucks. The meds aren't really helping. My blood pressure keeps dropping dramatically and I get light-headed and dizzy quite often. I had to quit work because I was fainting during my shifts.

Emotionally I'm doing well, too. I've been taking Prozac again now for almost two months. It's helped out a lot on keeping me focused. It makes me jittery, like if I had too much caffeine, but it's better than wanting to do murders and burn this place to the ground.

So far so good. My everything aches, so I really want this pregnancy to hurry along.

iii.

OK, so I said I would post about the girls at the end of last week...well, we've been busy. :-P

Anyway, Lily is large and full of sass, which is nothing new. She's the size of the average 4/5 year old and intellectually at that level. She's still a brat, though. Almost every day she's in time out more than once before noon. *sigh* It's been a struggle with her behaviour but we are working on it. It feels like there is just constant whining and back-talk from her. I am super happy when she's behaving, but lately those days have been few and far between. :(

On a different note, a private preschool up the street from my house at the Lutheran church is willing to take Lily early this school year. I usually have to wait until she is a certain age, but they said as long as she is not a disruption to the class, she is allowed to start with the four-year-olds this year instead of the three. She's super excited. Lily has been asking me for the past year if she could go to school, and for the past year I have tried everything to get her into Head Start or other similar programs for preschoolers. But since she is not developmentally challenged nor handicapped in any way, they didn't want to take her early. It was frustrating for all of us. I understand the "no child left behind" but because of it, it is hindering the progress of the children who are above the average. It's great that these programs are helping children with disabilities reach the proper level by a certain age, but what about the children who are like Lily who need more to satisfy their thirst for knowledge? *sigh* Oh well, at least I finally found a place who would take her, even tuition is a little over $100 a month.

On the Iris month, she hasn't been a big pain behaviour-wise like her sister. She does have her days when she's in a mood, but those are few and far between. I just wish Lily's moods were, too. LOL. She FINALLY has teeth. Her first tooth came in on the 9 of last month, while her second one just cut through today. I've been impatiently waiting for her teeth. LOL. She doesn't care less, considering it was never a problem for her. That kid has razor-sharp gums made for eating...and she loves to eat, that's for sure.

All in all the girls are happy and healthy as well as incredibly brilliant. They had a developmental screening last week on Thursday and they mastered everything for their age and above, Lily the 3-4, and Iris the 1-2. ;)

We've been spending a lot of time of family time during the weekends. Justin's been taking us out and about on Saturdays and so far we've been to the aquarium at the Doorly Zoo and two days ago we went to the Children's Museum. They had such a blast. I feel bad with the fact that their only friends are Mommy and Daddy, so I want them to interact with children as much as possible. Justin just absolutely loves the way their faces light up when we take them somewhere.

Anyway, it's snack time and the girls are asking for food. ;) It's amazing how quickly they grow...