Emery and Paisley's New Room

In preparation for the new baby, we moved Paisley into Emery's room.  I wanted to just get another twin bed, but Ivan and the girls really wanted bunk beds.  I ended up caving and we got bunk beds.  I decided to get a full on the bottom for more room for when we have Makayla come to stay with us.  Let me tell you, I'm not sure if it's just because I'm pregnant or what, but the whole process of moving Paisley into Emery's room was a lot more work than I ever expected.  We finally finished today and it's been about a month long project.  I'm glad it's done and I love their room.

We transitioned Paisley from a crib to a toddler bed a few months ago (after she jumped out of her crib once, crazy girl!).  She did good in the toddler bed and never even got out of it.  When she would wake up in the mornings, she would lay in bed and call for us until someone came to get her.  Funny since she knew she could get out and knew how to open the bedroom door.

The first night the girls slept in their new bunk beds, they did really good.  Emery on top and Paisley on bottom.  They didn't get up once - but, we also had a really long day and they didn't go to bed until 11p.  The next night was a much different story.  They were both up 3 times together, then Paisley got up another 2 times.  I moved the baby monitor into their room and it's funny to hear Emery convincing Paisley to get up so Emery doesn't get into trouble.  It's been about a month now and they usually stay in bed once we put them to bed.  Just last week, Paisley had her first accident with falling out of the bed.  I woke up at 230a to Paisley screaming and crying.  Then, Emery was crying because she got woke up.  Paisley was on the floor with the legs under the bed - I'm still not sure how it happened, but luckily, she's only fallen out of the bed once.  Here's to many more memories with the girls sharing a room and hopefully growing up to being really close, loving sisters.

28 and 32 Week Updates - Baby #3

Here are my 28 and 32 week belly pictures.  I'm still feeling pretty good - surprisingly, the back pains have decreased in frequency (unless I push myself too hard and clean the whole house in one day) and I've been pretty active with the girls.  My acid reflux is still kicking my butt - just hoping that it goes away after the baby is born.  I actually came down with a crazy cold two weeks ago, just my luck to get a cold in June.  It lingered for over a week, but nothing I couldn't get through.  Then, on Tuesday, I got a horrible headache.  I thought it was just from the heat and not drinking enough water and went home, took Tylenol and went to bed.  But, by around 10p, I was miserable.  I was finally able to get to sleep, only to wake up with the same horrible headache the next day.  I went to Walgreen's to check my blood pressure, just to rule out signs of pre-eclampsia. Luckily, my blood pressure was fine.  I ended up going to see my OB Wednesday afternoon because I was in so much pain.  They prescribed Tylenol with codeine and again, I went home, took the medicine and went to bed.  About an hour later, I got worried because I still wasn't feeling any relief.  Another night with a headache.  The next day at work, my peers and I were all trying to self-diagnose me.  We decided that it could be a sinus infection or migraine.  I called back to the OB and they gave me an RX for a Z Pak for a sinus infection.  Luckily, by Friday afternoon, I was starting to feel relief and today, I'm about 90% better.  It's always the strange, random things that happen to me during pregnancy. 

I have finally started to feel like I'm making good progress in preparing for the baby.  All of the newborn to 3 month clothes are washed, folded and put away.  We finally moved Paisley into Emery's room so the baby's room and crib is free.  Now, I just need to get the bottles ready and bring out the swing and bouncy chair.  

We aren't 100% settled on a name yet, but I think it will be Haven Grace.  I also like the names Liberty, Journey and Jersey.  I just feel like those 3 names are a little too far out there and don't flow well with our last name.  As with the other two, we probably will wait until right before we leave the hospital to make a final decision on the name, so we'll see.  

The girls are still as excited as can be about the baby.  Paisley calls the baby, "baby Haven" all the time and it's too cute.  They both love to hug and kiss my belly.  Emery regularly makes comments about how big my belly is getting, but she's sure to include that I'm not getting fat, the baby is making me fat.  Nice, huh.

28 weeks

 32 weeks

Annual Trip to CA

We were lucky enough to make our annual trip to CA at the end of May.  We had originally planned on waiting until Oct/Nov to go - so we could take the new baby to meet the family and so the weather could be nice and cool.  However, I got an email from JetBlue with a deal that we just couldn't pass up.  So, off we went!

The girls on the plane ride - Emery is such a good kid - she watched her TV shows and snacked on cookies and sprite and was really good.  Paisley was good too, but a little more active - I had to do a lot to keep her entertained for the short, 1 hour flight.

 As soon as we got off the plane, we drove to Grandma Ruth's to visit with family.  We have been lucky the last two trips to have Grandma Ruth make us Kraut cookin's.  They are a German dish that don't sound all that appealing (hamburger, onions and cabbage mixture made in rolls and baked) but they are so, so yummy!  The girls gathered in the kitchen to cook and Emery helped roll out the dough for almost all 50 Kraut cookin's that we made.  She loves to cook, bake and just be in the kitchen!

 The next day we were off to Disneyland!

 Randy and baby Austyn ..

 Michelle and Issac ....

 Makayla, Emery and Paisley

 We got to meet Mickey Mouse - here is Michelle's cute little family ..

 The whole gang (minus Ivan, he stood this one out)

 The girls were so excited to meet Mickey Mouse - especially Paisley.  She's been in love with "Hot Dog" (what she calls Mickey Mouse) for the last 9 months or so.

 At the end of the night.  We had a great trip - the weather was perfect, lines were short and all of the kids were good and there were no melt downs.

 Paisley got a cute little Goofy hat ..

 Emery picked a pink Princess hat ...

 The next day, we just relaxed at the hotel and had a low key day.  When we planned this trip, I thought I would be 6 months pregnant and would be fine.  Well, once my due date was changed, I was 7 months pregnant.  I did OK at Disneyland, but I definitely needed the next day to just hang out and relax.  Ivan did a great job of entertaining the girls so I really could rest and relax.  He's such a good Papa to the girls!

 Paisley isn't a huge fan of swimming ... instead, she decided to make a little bed on the ground.  Yup, that's an empty lawn chair right next to her that she could have laid in.  Silly girl!

Paisley took a little nap to recover from Disneyland and swimming.  Emery was patiently waiting for her to wake up and I was lucky enough to catch this moment on camera!

 We were able to visit with Grandma Peggy, Shannon, Michelle, Randy and Austyn.  Here are the cousins giving each other some love - again, this picture is not staged.  They really do love each other and have a great time playing.

 The next day, we were off to California Adventure!  This day, it got up to 97 degrees - I was dying and miserable!  My body doesn't do well in the heat, when I'm not pregnant, so add that in, and I was pretty useless until about 3p when it finally started to cool off.  Like always, Ivan was a champ and took on both girls and I just walked along and tried to keep up.  Despite the weather, we still had a really good time.  We just may have rode The Little Mermaid and Monsters Inc 5+ times each since the lines were short and the rides were inside and air conditioned :)

Here is crazy Paisley - it was 97 degrees, and she had to have the blanket over her legs ..

 On the plane ride home - Paisley thought she was still at Disneyland and raised her arms for the plane ride.

As always, we had a great trip!  It was so nice for the four of us to just be able to spend quality time together for a few days.  We mixed in visits with my family, relaxing and of course fun at Disneyland and it was awesome!  Already looking forward to our trip next year ....

Easter 2013

We celebrated Easter at our house and had a great time as always.  Here are the girls' Easter baskets - Paisley has a love for babies these days, so we got her a little baby doll as the main gift.  Emery is all about asking the definition of words (like all day long, might I add), so we got her a little electronic dictionary as her main gift.

 Easter baskets from Grandma Phyllis - they were spoiled with candy and treats, just like grandmothers do.

 Next up, dying eggs.   

 Paisley, sitting on top of the kitchen table.  We have yet to break her of this habit, but she is getting better.  She does now understand that we don't sit ON the table at meal time.  Small progress is still a win, right?

 

 Our hands were a hot mess ...

 Emery starting to freak out when Ivan told her that the dye wouldn't come off and that her hands would be stained like that forever. 

 Paisley didn't quite understand the concept of being gentle with the eggs.  She would hold the egg above the cup of colored water, and just drop it in.  We had quite a few cracked eggs, but it added some character to the eggs :)

 Next up ... hiding and finding Easter eggs.  We got lucky with some great weather and were able to hunt for eggs outside in some beautiful weather.

 Uncle D, Auntie Silvie and Carter got into hunting for eggs too ..

 Another great holiday spent with family.  We couldn't have asked for a better Easter ...

St Patty's Day

Can I just say again, how much I love Pinterest?  It is like the best invention ever in my mind!  It has changed my life and I love it.  OK, maybe I shouldn't admit that it's changed my life, but I really feel like it has.  I can find so many ideas, recipes, cleaning tips, everything in one place and I love it!

Anyway, now that I've gone part time at work, I've got a little more time to actually follow through with the crafty projects with the girls.  For St. Patrick's Day, we made rainbows out of froot loops and cotton balls.  Emery is absolutely obsessed with rainbows, so this was the perfect project for her.  Paisley loves to eat cereal, so it was a good project for her too.  Here are the final projects.  The whole family participated and it was fun and cheap craft.