Waitin' on Caleb: Week 14

Belly expansion is official. My pants no longer fit. Thankfully, this problem is easily solved with the help of a hair band and a sturdy zipper. No elastic waistbands yet, but my time is coming soon!

Peanut has all sorts of new tricks this week: he can squint, grimace, pee and even suck his thumb by now! He probably measures about 3 and a half inches--the size of a lemon--and weighs about an ounce and half. His hands and feet, about a half inch long each, are busy punching and kicking, but it will be a few weeks before we'll be able to feel his tiny movements.

My energy level continues to improve and life seems a lot less crazy now that I'm only needing one nap a day. That frees up time for nesting while Abby takes one of her naps! My clothes are all starting to fit a little tighter, a good sign that my body is doing what it's supposed to as my ribs expand to make room for my increased lung capacity and my waistline expands to accommodate this little person I'm growing.

We found out while helping out in the church nursery on Sunday that Abby isn't too bothered just yet by us holding other babies--unless they happen to be crying. She was fine with us playing with the other kids and letting her play on her own, until a fussy baby demanded my attention and our little girl suddenly became very very clingy, even trying to push the other little baby off of my lap! Please pray that as I spend time around other moms and their kids that Abby would have a smooth transition into being a big sister and that we would be able to find ways to spend quality time with both of our little miracles when the time comes.

A mighty fortress

There are a number of good reasons to order diapers online. The convenience of not having to lug huge boxes home from the store, for one. The great deals you can get by shopping in bulk and taking advantage of free shipping, for another. And most recently, we've discovered another great advantage: when your diapers arrive, they do so in this great big box, perfect for fort building, and just Abby's size. Now she has her very own space where she likes to play with her princess Legos.

**By the way, if you decide to order your diapers from diapers.com, be sure to use referral code ChristinaF when you check out and you'll get $5 off your first order.

Gettin' inked

Well...not really. But Abby enjoyed her kids' meal at California Tortilla so much that we couldn't resist saying yes to her first temporary tattoo.

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 13

We're thrilled to report that our most recent ultrasound showed a well-developed Peanut and no evidence of any remaining blood clots in my uterus! Praise God for His healing touch and for watching over our little one!

Peanut is about three inches long this week (medium shrimp-sized) and is moving, rolling, kicking and swinging her arms like crazy in her little womb. She was quite active throughout our ultrasound and showed off by flipping over twice for us. (She also did this funny little thing with her hands that looked like she was shaking tiny maracas...but you kinda had to be there...) The lobes of her brain and chambers of her tiny beating heart were clearly visible and she definitly looks like a little baby now--just very very tiny! Fingerprints have formed on her little fingers and her body is starting to catch up to her very large head, which we could see still makes up for about a third of her body size.

In mommy news, I've definitly felt the second trimester kick in. The tiredness is beginning to wear off and I'm down to just one nap a day now, and the nausea is almost a thing of the past. My energy level is getting back up to where it should be and my little baby bump is beginning to make it difficult to fit into my cute new jeans.

Thank you all for your many prayers for Peanut and for the complete healing of my uterus. We were thrilled to find out those prayers have been answered! Continue to pray for a healthy baby and a patient mommy as we wait just a few more weeks to find out if Abby's new sibling will be a little brother or a little sister.

How to keep an Abby busy...

In order to get at least the cold things put away after coming home from the grocery store (non-perishables can wait in the car until Dad gets home) I have what we call the Abby-safe cabinet. Full of Abby-approved items like plastic cups, plastic ice cube trays, old yogurt containers and a fine collection of cups from Moe's, everything in this particular cabinet has been inspected and found to have no sharp edges or pointy ends with which she could poke her eye out. I try to keep things neatly stacked to make the unstacking process all the more appealing. Unfortunately, this doesn't afford me nearly as much time as I would like, since Abby can create the kind of chaos you see above in less than three minutes. She shaves off a minute more when she actually climbs into the cabinet, which she did this week.

One Fuzzy Conundrum

I'm pretty sure our lunchtime activities would be heavily frowned upon by the American Society of Pediatrics. Somewhere in one of those stacks of parenting books that I no longer feel compelled to reference for every new stage of Abby's development, I remember reading something about choking hazards and cutting food into small pieces.

But allow me to explain my quandary. In this situation, we are dealing with two basic truths: Abby loves peaches and peaches are slippery. Which means, when I cut them into bite-size pieces, as much as she would love to eat them, poor little Abby simply cannot get a grip on this slick little fruit.

The solution, in my mind, is simple. Make the pieces big enough for her to pick up, and Abby will be able to feed herself the delicious peaches. (This way, only one of us gets sticky.) We'll add to our previous list one additional truth: Abby has no teeth. But Abby has solved this problem too. And so, for all the moms out there who are wondering how to feed their 11-month-olds peaches, I present you with the following easy steps from Abby's School of Peach-eating (or ASOP, for short):

1. Identify the slice of peach to be eaten, then lunge at it with both hands. This way, you double your chances for being able to pick it up on a first try.
2. Keeping a firm grip on the peach, turn it in all directions, perhaps even passing it from one hand to the other, carefully examining every surface of this particular slice.
3. Once you have determined that it is appropriate for eating, and before you squeeze all the juice out of it, gently take the hand holding the peach and shove both the entire slice of peach and your entire fist into your mouth.
4. Remove your fist, but keep it close by for shoving back in any stray pieces of peach that may try to fall out of your mouth.
5. Once the whole slice is securely in your mouth, try to resist mushing it up with your tongue or trying to break it into smaller pieces with your gums.
6. Now swallow it whole. And try not to gag.

There you have it. In six easy steps, you too could be eating peaches like a little baby pro. We're happy to report that using this easy ASOP method, Abby has successfully completed the eating of one whole peach almost every afternoon this week.

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 12

Peanut's working out his reflexes this week and rumor has it that if I poke my belly, he'll squirm in response now. (Although his little movements are still to slight for me to feel.) He's about two inches long now--the size of a lime--and weighs just half an ounce, but is busy opening and closing his fingers, curling his toes, clenching his eye muscles and making sucking motions with his tiny mouth.

He's beginning to look more human now with his eyes and ears finally in their rightful places on his little head. Also this week, his brain synapses are furiously forming and his nerve cells are multiplying like crazy!

I'm continuing my two-nap-a-day trend and am well past feeling guilty about it. I don't feel like I'm doing much, but Justin keeps reminding me that my body is running a marathon, and I'm doing it while chasing a baby around for much of the day. So this mom-to-be takes her cues from little Abby and when she goes down for a nap, so do I! Some nausea medication--a welcome gift from my wonderful doctor--is doing wonders for improving my appetite and my disposition, and I'm happy to report that I'm gaining weight again.

Please continue to pray for complete healing of the blood clots in my uterus and healthy development for little Peanut. We'll get another update next week on how things are progressing and are trusting God for positive results!

Hi, My Name is Mr. Bubbles

As if our nightly splash fest wasn't fun enough, now we've added another level of excitement to Abby's bathtime and welcomed Mr. Bubbles into the family with open arms. It took Abby a few minutes to get used to the foamy white soap creeping up around her, but once she got over her initial terror, she settled right in and quite enjoyed watching ducks pop up to the surface from seemingly out of nowhere. And to say she was a little disappointed to see all those bubbles go down, down the drain would be an understatement.

Never a dull moment at our house...

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 11

Peanut's little body is almost fully formed now, but with lots of growing left to do. She's probably about an inch and a half long (about the size of a fig) and is busy kicking and stretching, though her movements are too slight for me to feel yet. Her tiny fists are opening and closing, and many of her bones are beginning to harden. Her diaphragm is forming now, so those tiny baby hiccups that plagued her older sister could be starting soon!

Meanwhile, in mommy news, the fact that no two pregnancies are alike is making itself very evident in this second pregnancy. Two naps a day is standard now, and if I skip one I'm pretty much dead on my feet by the time dinner rolls around. Our most recent visit to the doctor showed that I've actually lost a little bit of weight, and the doctor accurately guessed that my fairly severe all-day-long sickness and nausea is to blame for my poor eating habits. She told me that first trimester weight loss doesn't concern her, but did advise this "skinny momma" to find something I like and eat lots of it until the morning sickness stage passes. So our fridge is now well stocked with fruit salad, pasta salad and peach flavored jell-o.

Please continue to pray for complete healing of the blood clots in my uterus and for continued healthy development for our little Peanut!

O.G.D.D.D.P.

We have a friend who predicts due dates. Not guesses, mind you. Predicts. With something like 99.7 percent accuracy. (I may or may not be making that up.) But seriously, in the time we knew him--the time that overlapped with our membership at a very fertile church--Gary was right almost 100 percent of the time. Heck, he even got Abby's due date right!

So when we found out we had another one on the way, Justin's first move was, of course, to contact our friend the Due Date Predictor to find out what kind of plans we should be making.

Our Official Gary Dyksterhouse Due Date Prediction for little Peanut is mid-afternoon on Wednesday, January 28. (Coincidentally, this is the due date the doctor bumped us up to at our last appointment...Gary must have some sort of agreement with the healthcare profession to disclose his predictions. I mean, if more people were aware of their O.G.D.D.D.P., it would significantly cut down on the number of false alarms the labor and delivery department at the hospital would have to deal with.)

Adventures in Folly

SUBTITLE: Pretty much the best beach vacation ever.
A week at the beach, a best friend since kindergarten, two adorable little girls, and a babysitter who happens to be a professional photographer... Yeah, it was pretty much the perfect beach vacation. So next year, when my buddy Megan calls me up and asks if I want to join her family at the beach again (hint, hint, Meggie...) we will most certainly be replying in the affirmative.

Folly Beach, by the way, just may be my new favorite beach location. Just minutes from downtown Charleston, which is one of the prettiest cities I've ever browsed for souvenirs and eaten ice cream in, this beach seems mostly undiscovered by the masses, and is years behind the more popular and therefore more crowded, more touristy beaches. Of course, having a 24-hour-a-day babysitter may have influenced my opinion a little, since it was so easy for us to get out for an adults-only double date one night and walk the quarter mile pier kid-free.

Thanks for a great trip, Almons! Abby had a great time with her buddy Neely, and we're already looking forward to next year!

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 10

Peanut hits his first major milestone this week, transitioning from the embryonic to the fetal stage. At just about an inch long (the size of a kumquat) and weighing less than a quarter of an ounce, his little body gearing up for some major growth now. His kidneys, intestines, brain and liver are starting to develop and function, and his yolk sac is disappearing.

The webbed hands and feet we saw last week are a thing of the past now, replaced by tiny fingers and toes, complete with itty bitty developing fingernails! He may be tiny now, but Peanut will more than double in size over the next couple of weeks!

The doctor is continuing to monitor the blood clots in my uterus. Reports from the most recent ultrasound show that one is half the size it was 10 days prior, while the other has doubled in size. That means more rest and taking it easy for me--a plan that Abby is having trouble getting on board with--and a follow-up ultrasound in a few weeks to see how things are progressing. The good news is that the clots do not interfere at all with Peanut's development!

Please continue to pray for complete healing for these two areas of concern, and for healthy development of our little one!