Meghan's Second Christmas

I didn't get tons of pictures of Meghan's Christmas. One of my "goals" for myself was just to be in the moment enjoying it with her while we were at my parents house. And, we had a wonderful time!

She enjoyed helping make cookies. She was very meticulous in the application of her sprinkles - they were usually placed right in the middle of the cookie and were often on bunnies - cause when you're an adorable almost-2-year-old, people will frost and hand to you whichever shape they know you like most :)

Before we even left for Manhattan, Meghan was talking about seeing her Aunt "Gahbi". She clearly remembers playing with Gabrielle and Zach when they visited early in the fall and she took advantage of every opportunity to be with Gabrielle the entire time we were in Manhattan. She's a REALLY COOL aunt!

She enjoyed so much one-on-one time and perfected her grab-your-finger-and-pull-you-with-me technique. With so many people around, she was sure to be able to get someone to go play whatever she wanted whenever she wanted :) 

She enjoyed playing with Greta while we were there....she also wore a tutu under her shirt with a tutu most of Christmas day, because two tutus are way better than one!! 

We also started her gluten trial while we were in Manhattan and she enjoyed Christmas cookies and Christmas morning monkey bread....A LOT. This picture also shows how constantly alert she was - with so many people around there was always something important to be paying attention to! 

The trip was wonderful for Meghan. Sadly, she started acting like she wasn't feeling well towards the end, slept terribly the last night, and got sick on the way home. But, after that and a day of feeling "off" she was on the mend immediately. Seems that lots of people we know (her DeLoach cousins included) had the sicks over Christmas!

Our Weeks :: December 7-23

We have had a pretty calm  last few weeks. We have been busy getting ready for Christmas and just spending some low key time together before the excitement of the holiday weeks. (Christmas, New Years, Mommy's Birthday, Daddy's Birthday - all in less than a month!)

In tooth news - Meghan has broken one molar and one (maybe two) canines in the past few weeks. She has more canines swollen and this round of teething has been very rough on our poor girl.

My Bible study group had a "Christmas Tea" a few weeks ago - Meghan was the sole kiddo at the party and looked adorable in her Christmas outfit! She had a blast getting "nice kisses" from Miss Debbie's labradoodle and the dog they were dog-sitting for the week. She also enjoyed reading the nativity books she knows and playing with tools and animals. Oh- and eating popcorn!

She loves that outfit because it has a "no-man" and a "tutu" - two of her favorite things!!

We had our 20 week ultrasound, and in case you missed the post about it, we're having a girl! Her name is Katie Grace and she's growing perfectly typically!! She's a tiny tike (like sister) weighing in at the 25-29th percentile, but there are no concerns with her at all. 

We have been allowing Meghan to open her gifts from Mommy and Daddy slowly over the course of the month so that Christmas would not be too overwhelming. Now at each family gathering she will just be opening gifts from the people we are with. Following are pictures from her opening her sea plane which she loves to play with in and out of the bath and her dollhouse which has already seen hours of play! 

Some Meghan updates: 

• She is talking so much these days! Some favorites of Mommy and Daddy include that she will now make "I want __" statements both in response to us asking a question (Are you ready for lunch?) and without prompting. One day, near dinner time, she walked up to me and said "Mommy, I want pancakes." - You'd better believe we had pancakes for dinner that night! Another cute thing is when she's playing with her puppies and babies and calls them "Honey" as in "Oh, come here honey!" etc. 
• She knows all of her capital letters, all but 2-4 lowercase letters, and almost all of the letter sounds. She loves pointing out letters on our shirts or the environment and stating their sound. 
• Coloring is still an absolute favorite activity and her strokes are getting very strong and very deliberate. She will tell us something like "color feet" and then color the feet of the animal, etc. She also likes to make "text like" figures and claim she's written her name, Daddy's name, whatever else.... From teaching I know it's incredibly developmentally inappropriate to start teaching her to write her name at such a young age, but it's tempting because of her interest level. I must remind myself that in the long run that would stunt her writing skills not improve them! 
• "Play me" is one we hear often - she likes to have us out in the playroom with her! 
• She is sitting still for longer and longer books and multiple books in a row. She loves to read books! Current favorites are her Biscuit treasury, her Eloise Wilkin treasury, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, G is For Goat, and her My First Little House books. 

Baby Hoosier #3 :: Week 21

This week, Baby is the size of a: pomegranate 
Sleep: I am finally able to sleep comfortably on my side (if I use a body pillow!). I am a back/tummy sleeper so having to change that as my belly grows made sleeping a bit awkward. 
Best moment this week: Our ultrasound! Katie is growing perfectly and we have no placenta previa. It was so great to finally see her and know that she's a girl and to give her a name!
Movement: At this point I was just starting to feel Meghan without concentrating on her; Katie is much more wiggly and/or much stronger. She has noticeable sleep times and waketimes and she makes sure that Mama knows when she is awake. It doesn't hurt at all yet, and I love each of those little kicks that remind me she is there and healthy and growing.
Food cravings: steak, carbs
Symptoms: still some morning sickness, some shortness of breath, lots of kicking baby in my belly, muscles are stretching around my belly, my stomach (while always hungry) is able to hold less at one time right now
Milestones: She is swallowing lots of fluid now (her ultrasound revealed that her whole digestive/urinary system seems to be doing well with this). She is also developing meconium - her first poop - how cute (note the sarcasm?!?). 

Baby Hoosier #3 :: Week 20

This week, Baby is the size of a: banana
Sleep: I am able to stay up a bit later some nights. I am now having to go to the bathroom frequently during the night - so that's causing some lost sleep :) 
Best moment this week: We finally got our 20 week ultrasound scheduled! We will see baby on Monday afternoon! I also finished the cross-stitching for the baby's birth sampler. Now I just need to do the back-stitching and add baby's name!
Movement: Baby has become quite the wiggler. Several times a day I can feel it moving around or kicking in my belly. I am thoroughly enjoying it! 
Symptoms: I am down to only one dose of morning sickness meds (vs. 3)! My stomach is definitely restricted for space so I can't eat much at one time and then often have heartburn afterwards. I am having less back pain! And I get out of breath pretty easily. 
Milestones: Baby's sensory system is developing - the brain is specializing in sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. It is also developing the coating that will protect baby's skin while floating in amniotic fluid for another 4.5 months!

Our Week :: November 30 - December 6

Meghan and Daddy enjoyed playing with play-doh on Sunday night before he had to go back to work. After having Daddy home for nearly a week, it was hard for this girl when he had to go back.

We got a picture of our Angel Gowns. These gowns were made for babies who don't survive life in the NICU from my wedding dress. It's our way of memorializing the baby we lost. In addition to these gowns, a few wraps for very small babies were made, and there is some purple left over to be paired with white from another gown in the future. Since we are days from the date we would have been 'full term' with that Little One, this picture was such an encouragement to me.

Meghan has been teething like crazy this week. She broke and i-tooth and has a molar and two more i-teeth pushing hard and nearly through the surface. She's been very clingy, but this morning she played by herself for a while. It was so sweet to listen to her talking and she engaged in imaginary play with herself.

A new book came from Great Grandma and Grandpa. It's a soft book about opposites and she has been loving reading it. She doesn't quite have the concept of opposites, but she is beginning to understand the abstract concepts represented by those words and this book has been a very enjoyable read for her!!

Meghan has been enjoying hanging out with me while I work on the dishwasher each morning. So, I gave her the chore of putting away silverware. She's done it every day this week and loves the chore and sorts them correctly!

She loves her winter hat. When I asked her what a monkey says, she made this whole-face smile for me and the camera. We LOVE this picture - that's her super happy smile that we often get while playing.

I brought up some Duplos for her to play with and they have been her go-to toy all week. She stacks towers, matches colors, and then takes it all apart to start over.

She has been loving a string attached to her tractor for her own version of a "tractor pull."

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

One week ago, Cole put up the Christmas tree and lights before Meghan got up. It had no ornaments nor had it been "fluffed" yet. Meghan has loved seeing lights on trees at the stores, so I was hopeful that she would be excited about her tree. And excited she was, I snapped a ton of pictures! 

Meghan came down the stairs with Daddy, she was almost stunned into silence by the tree. 

Max (from the Grinch) came out for the month, too. He walked with her to see the tree.

She loves touching her own "light tree!!"

She quickly figured out that reading by the Christmas tree with Mac was a wonderful way to spend the morning!

As I decorated the tree, I decorated only the top 2/3rds. Meghan was given a basket of large bells on strings to play with and to decorate the tree with. She's been loving them:

We were asked to do the first advent reading at church. Meghan got to wear her Christmas dress early for the occasion. She wanted to take some pictures, but refused to pose for them. She was much to excited by the Christmas tree. I got some cute shots of her, anyways.

My favorite one: