Merry Christmas!

May you find your very own naked set of buns under the tree tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!  

Baking cookies....and the subsequent sugar high

It was about time the girls and I busted out a batch or two of a Christmas must-have.....sugar cookies.   My helpers were all too eager to help and, in all honesty, wanted to do everything themselves.  I may have been asked to 'go sit on the couch' a few times so they could do it all their own way.  But this was going to be a joint, fun, holiday bonding occasion damnit and I was staying put.
If only they could channel this determination into cleaning their room:
They quickly adopted their own jobs....Reese was master roller, Ryan was chief decorator.
And then we learned the hard way why 'chief decorator' requires at minimum a Pre-Kindergarten degree.
Still working on sprinkle control.....obviously.
So we tried out a new job on her.....cookie watcher
And the take home lesson of today? Probably best not to bake sugar cookies at 4:30 in the afternoon....or else this is what your living room will look like after dinner.
Shield your eyes from the pull-up on Reese.....I don't even want to talk about it.  Two rather bad (and I mean bad) accidents in underwear in the last 2 days + impending birth = throwing in the towel  (#2 speaking) for the time being.

37 weeks

2 milestones this week.....baby is officially full-term and Grant has successfully left and returned on his last work trip without any crazy absent-father birth stories.    Woo hoo.   At my appointment yesterday, I am now 2 centimeters, still 50% effaced and baby is even lower (doesn't feel possible) at -1 station*.
*Yes, I'm throwing in some advanced pregnancy terms on this fine Tuesday - 2 extra credit points if you have any clue what this 'station' business is all about
According to the scale I actually lost a pound but I'm calling it a wash due to the boots and heavier attire I had worn the week before - so unofficially we'll still say I'm up 26 pounds.  Baby's heartbeat was a rockin' (at least for this little nugget) at around 150 bpm.  Heartburn had subsided a bit but has returned in recent days....Tums have again become a godsend.
I think the girls are over the bump photos....Ryan is a pretty good sport (with a tinge of attitude), Reese had better things to do.

Weekend distractions

We were lucky this past weekend to have a special guest visitor.....Ella came to town.  And it was the perfect weekend for it - the tragic events of Friday are too much to bear and to have family in town and fun activities to keep us busy was just what we needed.
On Saturday we took Ella to the recently renovated and much improved Spencers for a nice and greasy breakfast.  Thank goodness for small jellies and sugar packets whilst waiting for your grub.
Since we did the mall Santa (without much success or with extreme success, depends on your love of small children freaking out), we opted to take up Jennifer's Pharmacy & Soda Shop in Clayton on their free Santa Saturday. No charge, use your own camera. Perfect. They rolled out his chair before the big guy's arrival and we were all smiles. Santa's chair isn't so scary....
And then we heard the jingling of some bells and Santa appeared from around the corner while the girls were still sitting in the chair. If only I could have caught Reese's immediate jump down off the chair and full sprint across the room to hide behind me the moment she laid eyes on Santa. She retreated into Dad's arms and stayed there until we could finally coax her into at least giving Santa a high five.
Ryan fared much better....girlfriend had a list of toys to ask for after all.
And the highlight of the Santa encounter....a flying monkey the waitresses throw across the back of the counter.
Poor Santa didn't stand a chance...
Then later that evening, Ella made us a delicious home cooked meal and introduced the girls to olive fingers.
All while clad in their brand new slippers...
Thank you Ella!

36 weeks

Like I mentioned before, Grant was out of town all last week and normally that wouldn't make me worry (in terms of early labor) but this time around I swear if I get a good sneeze or cough I will produce a child.  The contractions are becoming more intense.....traditional braxton hicks all day long (and by 'all day', I mean all day - anytime I do anything.....put on shoes, get up quickly, think about it, etc...) and now I've been getting irregular painful contractions here and there.   Not to mention the lowness of this babe.   Walking is comical.  Sitting is hilarious.  Sleeping is relatively non-existent.   Needless to say, I was a little nervous (and still am) about Grant and his travel schedule.   For my 36 week appointment I was at least happy to hear this all wasn't in my head and we are already making some progress.  1 (not quite 2 yet) centimeters dilated, 50% effaced and glorious confirmation that there is a head insanely low (and I'm not a big sissy after all).   Heartbeat was slightly higher than usual...148.  And I'm up another 3 pounds for I think a total of 26 thus far.  Still measuring 4 weeks behind but now that we had the ultrasound my doctor isn't the least bit worried.    I like my babies nice and meaty (both girls were 8+ pounders, closer to 9lbs) so we're in no rush over here but the bag has been officially packed (funny how the 3rd time around it consists of about 4 items and could probably fit in my purse) and all pre-registration paperwork has been completed.  Now we just chill and relax.....get Grant back from his one last work trip next week and ideally get to the 38 week mark and then game on, let the walking and full force nesting commence.......because mom and dad wouldn't mind a little tax and insurance break with a 2012 baby....just sayin'.
And in case you were wondering where the Reesers is, she opted out of the photo and then decided to take care of some business in the background...those are her feet dangling.

chugging along...

We're still here.  Sorry for the long delay.   We were laying low last week as Grant was in Belgium for about 7 days on a work trip......and hells no were we going to risk any early labor business while he was out of town (although it would have given me full naming rights.....so the thought did cross my mind).   Hopefully we'll be back later today with a bump shot and update now that I'm on my weekly appointments.
But back to the leisurely week at hand.  We dropped Grant off at the airport and despite the pic below, Reese gave him the saddest (break-your-heart) 'don't go daddy' you ever did see. I wanted to cry for him.  But she recovered:
With daddy safely across the pond, Ryan had her first 'date' with her buddy Andrew - $1 taco night up the street.  They even got their own table.   Reese wasn't happy to be excluded from the special table and preceded to tell on me to the good natured family on the other side of our booth.  "My mom isn't letting me sit with with Ryan and Andrew because I wasn't listening"....
And girlfriend doesn't waste time....since Andrew's father was out of town all last week as well (and his mom is also pregnant with #3), we were invited over for a pizza party that ended in the formation (and subsequent breakup) of a new band:
 
Continuing on the Andrew-train, the ladies also started swim lessons last month with him....all smiles before the first class:
And then Reese realized she would have to say goodbye to me (although I was a whopping 10 feet away) and go with the instructor.....needless to say, the ENTIRE first class Reese stayed right here:
No coaxing, encouragement, bribery or peer pressure would change her mind...but I am happy to report that the last two classes have been a complete 180 - she now loves swimming and can't wait to get in once class starts (albeit topless one week, but we'll save that story for another day or for child protective services). It was only fitting that when we decided to head down to the lake for two days last week, the girls raided Grandma and Grandpa's closet and came out dressed head to toe in swim gear ready to swim in the pretend pool they setup in the bedroom.
The next morning I asked Reese to go get dressed and she came out looking like this:
So here we are....all caught up.  Looking forward to Ella's visit this weekend, surviving one last 24 hour work trip for Dad (fingers crossed the babe stays put) and then cruising into Christmas and crazy, chaotic babydom.

Weekend stuff...

My wit is gone, along with my waistline these days.  So here is our weekend in pictures.
Saturday Grant took the girls out to the library and lunch so I could go visit my friend Julie's precious new baby (hi Alice!). The girls LOVE the library, but not necessarily for the books (can't win them all) - puppet shows and renting free DVDs would top the list, then books.
We also had some crazy nice weather - Ryan was in the backyard playing by 7:30am Saturday morning.
Sunday morning Grant and Reese had their morning breakfast date, complete with jelly stacking competitions...
Later while Reese napped, Ryan got in a little one-on-one softball practice with dad.
the tush, the tush....love that tush.
Sunday night our family friends had their annual Gingerbread Party and the girls loved every second (and every lick of icing and piece of candy they could get their hands on)...
Reese was her usual entertaining self....full of musical wonder