Word of the Week: Ellyson

Yep, as of Christmas Eve, Baby Girl has a name: Ellyson. We debated for months. We polled our friends and family on the gender of the name. In the end, we changed the proposed "i" to a "y" to make it more feminine. She'll probably go by Elle, or maybe "E", or maybe by the full Ellyson. But there you have it.

P.S. This is the awesome sweater dress that Carter got me for my birthday.

. . . In hopes that Saint Nicholas, Soon Would Be There

So this was the first year that we experienced the long night associated with being Mr. Claus. All the gifts were wrapped 1-2 weeks before Christmas, but there were four large gifts to be unpackaged and assembled after Carter went to bed on Christmas Eve. Let me just say, we started at 9 p.m. (walked in the door from Nana and Papa Jack's house, wrote a note to Santa and put out cookies, took Carter straight to bed, and dove right in). We finished at about 11:50 p.m. - both exhausted.

 The train table was the one gift not from Santa - and it was assembled in the play room, not the living room.

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, we traditionally have breakfast with our friends Cal and Jenny, and their daughter Mila. We did that again this year, and the kids exchanged gifts. Both of them were much more into Christmas this year.

Christmas Eve dinner, we celebrate at Jack's parents' house.

Carter danced with Nana.

He watched the Christmas train. (This kid LOVES trains.)

We exchanged gifts, and Carter wanted to play with each one as it was opened. So it took three men to keep up with his demands of unpackaging.

Zoo Trip

During Christmas "break" (aka Carter's break and a day when Jack and I both were uber-flexible with work schedules), we took Uncle Brad and Aunt Meredith to the zoo with us. As always, Carter had a ball.

We caught a rare glimpse of the baby gorilla. It's hard to believe she's eight months old, wile the baby giraffe that we see all the time is only five or six months old.

My Birthday

Okay, time to play blog post catch-up.

Before Christmas, we celebrated my birthday. It was low-key. I spent time with my two favorite boys, and then my dad and one of my sisters joined us after Carter's name for birthday cake.

Major highlight of the day? Having Carter sing to me. One of the sweetest sounds in the world.

Carter gave me a Swedish massage cushion, and ack also gave me an awesome sweater dress, which I wore to a Christmas party the night before my birthday. (I've been seeing them in the stores and thought they looked really cute, but couldn't justify spending money on a maternity version. So Carter and Jack took care of the splurge for me.) And Jack made my chocolate-peanut butter birthday cake, and an IOU for a prenatal massage when we take our weekend getaway (without Carter) next month.

Merry Christmas

There’s an overgrown, artificial pine tree in our living room, so Christmas must be just around the corner again.

It’s been a pretty calm year around here. Jack and Christina both are working from home now. Jack has been working as a yearbook sales rep for more than a year, but will embark on a new sales career in the coming weeks. Over the course of the year, Christina started doing almost all her work from home. Honestly, I don’t mind them being home a lot. My favorite place to sleep is under Jack’s desk, at his feet. However, Jack finished his master’s degree in May, and hasn’t been spending as much time in that office since then.

Everyone in this house seems to have an unhealthy obsession with running. In the spring, Christina ran a marathon. The last few months, Jack has been training and has run two half-marathons already. Thank goodness they don’t expect me to run with them! But of course, Carter goes with them. He is one bundle of energy. He can’t ride along in the races, but they push him on training runs and he likes to run the final stretch with them. I’m told he even ran his first road race already: a 50-yard dash on Thanksgiving.

Carter has become more my nemesis than anything else, though. The kid just won’t leave me alone. He chases me, hugs me, tries to ride me like a horse . . . How is a dog supposed to sleep around here? Two mornings a week, he attends preschool – and that is my saving grace.

Jack, Christina and Carter have taken a few vacations without me this year. And to be honest, I’m really starting to appreciate that time to myself. I like being with my family, but it is nice to have a break from the toddler once in a while.

But the biggest news around here? That has to be the impending arrival of “Little Sissy”. Yes, that’s right. Apparently one torture device isn’t enough; Jack and Christina are bringing another into this house before winter is out, and this time it's a girl.

Until next year,

Wordless Wednesday

Preschool Christmas Party

Despite some sleet and a two-hour school delay, Carter had his preschool Christmas party last Thursday. (Talk about a great school schedule: arrive at 11, lunch at 11:30, party at 12, then leave!)

His class had an indoor bounce house, had a brief drop-by from Santa (Carter was one of only three children comfortable getting near him), decorated cookies and then had a class gift exchange.

Carter was super excited about his toy: a truck pulling a boat. Of course, his BFF Ashlyn was also really excited about Carter's toy.

Daddy Jack's 90th Birthday

Last Sunday, we celebrated Jack's grandfather's (that'd be Jack Sr.) 90th birthday. The party was really low-key . . . two of his four children, four of his six grandchildren, and two of his three great-grandchildren. Carter really enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to him. He's really into singing right now, and that's one of his favorite songs . . . even when it doesn't culminate in a piece of cake for him. :)

Making Cookies

Around here, all the gifts are bought and wrapped, and we have a week to spare! So Carter and I took some time out this week to bake and decorate Christmas cookies.

Yes, that's right. We've been finished shopping for some time now, and we finished wrapping presents on Thursday. (A few large gifts are still in boxes, to be assembled on Christmas Eve.) The Santa gifts found a home inside our unused luggage. Time to kick back and relax . . . well, except for a few days of work next week.

Word of the Week: Orange

'Tis the season for clementines! And this family eats our fair share of them each winter . . . I don't remember if Carter joined in the merriment last season, but this year he is all in. He was excited about seeing the "Carter-size oranges" at the market - and then also at the grocery store. He loves, loves, loves them, and will eat 2-3 per day. Which puts him about on pace with his daddy.

Nightmare

Sorry for the lack of photos this week. I will get some on here before long.

Anyway, Carter has been up since 5:30 this morning. I'm hoping he has enough energy to get through preschool, but I warned his teachers to call me if he's too tired. I'm not sure what woke Jack, but he heard Carter screaming from his room and went to check on him (I woke when Jack got out of bed). He walked in and Carter was sitting, eyes wide open, screaming that Marley had eaten his corn dog. Over and over again, he screamed "Marley eat my corn dog!" When Jack finally deciphered it and realized that's actually what he was saying, he brought him to our room. He was still very upset and spent 30 minutes in our bed before Jack gave up and took him back to his room, and laid on Carter's floor until I'd had a chance to shower and get ready for the day. (That's a perk of two work-at-home parents: if no one has a morning meeting, mornings are a lot more flexible.)

He's had nightmares only a couple times previously. This one was just funny, though. Carter did eat mini corn dogs last night for dinner, but Marley didn't eat a single bite of them.

Funny Conversation and More Carterspeak

I just have to document this one.

Yesterday, the three of us were sitting at the table for lunch. Carter was not so interested in eating, so Jack and I explained to him that he needed to hurry up and eat lunch, because after lunch, he was going to take a nap. And then, after his nap, we were going to (his great-grandfather) Daddy Jack's house to sing him "happy birthday" and eat cake. Carter very seriously stared straight ahead. Then he said "I should take a nap."

Some other funny comments of late?

He knows the story of Christmas pretty well. In fact, I'm impressed for a two-year-old. Last night he told me the three kings put the star in the sky . . . but aside from that, he's got it down. He told me that they sang "happy birthday" to Baby Jesus last week at school. I was intrigued, so I asked him if Baby Jesus blew out the candle. He giggled and said "no!" I asked him why not, and he said "Baby Jesus is born on Christmas."

Baby Sissy now is moving and shaking and kicking, hard enough for Carter to feel it. Sometimes I encourage her to move while his hand is on my belly. He picked up on it, and now pushes on my belly and says "Baby Sissy, kick! Wake up!"

Almost everything in the past happened "last night." However, for future references, he uses "tomorrow" or specific days of the week (if we've told him the specific day, like "We'll go to the zoo on Saturday" - then he remembers).

28 Weeks

• Weeks: 28
• Weight change: +16
• Exercise: Finally had to make some adjustments. Leg fatigue, pelvic pressure and a low-lying (in other words, on-the-bladder-lying) baby have forced me to make some changes. I've invested in a maternity support belt, which helped diffuse some of the weight from my legs/bladder/pelvic bone. My midwife also gave me the all-clear for cross-training, in an effort to take some stress off my legs and feet. So Jack and I also have invested in a rowing machine, and I started using it this week in place of some of my runs. (We needed a second piece of cardio equipment anyway, and a rower was the one that we could agree on.) My runs are 3 miles, 4-5 times a week, but I've had to start walking 1/4 mile at the half-way point - not to rest my heart or lungs (which are screaming that I'm not working hard enough), but instead to let my legs recover a bit. Still 8:34 pace on the treadmill..
• Notes (that I can speak of!): Slow digestion. Actually less hungry than normal. The spurts of movement by Baby Girl are not only quite noticeable, but often rather painful. I didn't think it would be as painful this time, since my skin was pre-stretched. To the contrary - my skin is willing to stretch into a nice, rounded ball, but doesn't flex as well when she starts moving. I blame the fact that I put on five pounds of fat right after I got pregnant with Carter - but did not do that this time. Maybe there's just less padding? Also, we're still working on a name.
• Cravings: Non-existent.

Word of the Week: Donkey

Carter's talking all about Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph these days. He talks about Mary riding on the donkey. And apparently that somehow means that Mommy needs to ride on a horse. Not sure entirely how that translates except that donkeys are similar to horses. I do think it's pretty neat that Carter understands about the baby in my belly, and the parallel with Baby Jesus in Mary's belly.

However . . . he did put a new spin on the story this week. He apparently decided Christmas isn't coming fast enough, which must mean Joseph and Mary need to hurry up and get to Bethlehem. So they had to take a train.

Hospital Time

Today we toured the hospital where Baby Sissy (yes, she's still unnamed) will be born. I actually had a choice of two hospitals this time. We did not tour the other because on paper, this one seemed like the better choice for the birth I want. And it did not disappoint. It beats the pants off the hospital where Carter was born. Jacuzzi tubs in every room (not a single one at the last hospital). One room for labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum (last hospital had one for L&D and a second for postpartum). "Celebration dinner" for mom and dad the day after the birth (probably paid for by the hospital parking fees). Some additional labor aids that I won't name in public.

And yet, somehow, it still all feels a little surreal . . . I still have moments when I honestly forget that I am pregnant. Either Carter or his sister reminds me and I come back to reality.

Word of the Week: Hot Chocolate

I've posted before about Carter knowing how to order coffee for Jack and me. (And in fact, he now has picked up on the "peppermint" part, so he knows it's a "peppermint mocha, no whip" - all he's missing is the "nonfat" part and he's got it!)

Anyway, I have warmed some chocolate milk for him on occasion, so he could drink "hot chocolate" with us. Well, one day this week, we were at a Starbucks at the mall and on a whim, I ordered him a kids' nonfat hot chocolate, no whip - his very own Starbucks! (P.S. - They're only $1.15 and are served lukewarm.)

He was so proud of his hot chocolate, and actually drank a little more than half of it - which I consider a success.

Carter GPS

Funny story about our trip to the zoo last weekend . . .

Because Jack was driving somewhere that afternoon, and was going to a place he'd never been before, he took the GPS system with him. We have been to the zoo, probably eight times in the last seven months. So while we always use the GPS to get there, I thought I'd mastered the route and could go without it. But just in case, my cell phone has turn-by-turn directions, and Jack's mom brought her GPS system along.

Well, we turned off the interstate and pulled up to the first red light. It was the only turn I wasn't certain about. I couldn't remember if I should turn right or left. I prepared to turn left and saw a building ahead that I thought would let me know whether I made the correct decision. Well, Carter started yelling from the back seat "turn that way" and pointing in the opposite direction. He was really upset about it - telling me "no" and kicking and screaming that I should turn the other way.

Well, the building I thought would prove me right or wrong, proved me wrong. So I only went two blocks in the wrong direction before turning around - but Carter was quite upset that I'd made the mistake. We listened to his directions the rest of the way there. ;-)

Santa at the Zoo

Saturday morning was a members-only Santa visit at the zoo. Jack had plans with his dad and brother, so I enlisted Nana's help in taking Carter to see the Big Guy. It went a little better than the trip to Lenox. We actually got him to smile! And we timed it perfectly. We only had to wait in line behind one other family, so it was about five minutes. But by the time we left the Santa festivities, the line was at least 45 minutes long, probably longer.

 And when Santa offered him a piece of candy (mint), he lit up - then he was all about seeing Santa!

 After visiting Santa, we took time for some Christmas crafts. I have to give kudos to the zoo. They really put on a good event. They had donuts, cookies and candy . . . bottled water, hot chocolate and Starbucks coffee, and some little crafts for the kids. It was very nice.



Wordless Wednesday: High-Five for Santa

Turkey Trots

So Thanksgiving morning brought an early start at our house. Carter and I went with my dad and my non-racing sister, to watch the finish line of the half-marathon.

But not long before Jack would finish (a personal best of 1 hr, 52 min), we had to migrate to the nearby Drumstick Dash so Carter could prep for his race.

Luckily, Jack did finish in time to meet us in the "holding area" for the kids' races. So he was able to see Carter's very first road race - and actually was able to run it with him. Carter was very proud and kept talking about "my race".