Look What Nora Can Do!

I kind of wanted to make a list of things that Nora has learned how to do so that when she's older and has kids of her own she can see how much trouble sweet she was. I wanted to do it at a year, but never got around to it... So at 13 1/2 months, Nora can...

- point at a puppy/ dog and say "PU-pe"
- say "be-be" when she sees a baby (she has been very gentle and nice to babies thus far, and I'm hoping it continues when her little brother arrives)
- say "mama," "dada," "gmpa," "abby" (or "addy," we're not really sure which) and babble ALOT
- makes a new noise that I can't even replicate (no idea where or how she came up with it, but she really thinks its fun to make!)
- walk
- climb upstairs and she's starting to walk downstairs (like an adult!) when she's holding onto something or someone
- climb from the kneeler in church onto the pew
- bring you the stuffed Tigger grandma bought her, when you ask "Where's Tigger?"
- "bounce" by bending her knees when asked "What does Tigger do?" or "Can you bounce?"
- dance by stomping her feet to any one of her toys that makes music
- give dolly or Momma (or anyone/ thing) a hug or kiss when asked (and sometime when not asked) :)
- point to her nose when asked "Where's Nora's nose?"
- point to someone else's nose when asked
- point to your eyes and say "hi-e"
- point to her eyes when asked
- show the sign for eat when asked if she wants to eat
- go to her highchair when asked "Where do we go to eat?"
- go to the gate going upstairs for bedtime or naps, diaper changes, or just when told "Let's go upstairs"
- go to the gate going to the main floor when told "We're going downstairs"
- say "hi" and wave
- wave bye-bye
- wave bye-bye to Daddy when we I tell her we are leaving (making sure he sees her and waves back), then goes to the gate to go to the basement
- point to things she wants when asked, "What do you want?" (mostly food, but sometimes other things)
- try to put lids on containers (never the right ones though!)
- run to the garage door from the car, walk over the door threshold (with a hand from Momma), and run over to the stairs to climb up before I can even put down the diaper bag
- walk backwards until she feels a "chair" (like grandma's front step) and sits down
- shut drawers or cabinets when told to "shut" (then claps because she did a good job)
- put things "in" or "on" other things when asked to (drawers, shelves, etc.)
- pulls things our then *sometimes* puts them away again
- use a spoon to put things in her mouth (but someone has to put something on the spoon for her)

Lots to Cover!

So it's been quite a while since I've written a post about this pregnancy with Ender, so I'll try to keep it short, but I'll try to remember everything.

We had an ultrasound on August 22, and were able to find out the gender (right before the City Wide Garage Sale! I'll talk about clothes in another post). We had Krista (our ultrasound tech) put it in an envelope, and I gave it to my friend, Amanda, who blew up either pink or blue balloons for us, and put them in a cute box that she decorated.

Then we were able to open the box up and see the BLUE balloons fly to heaven for Danielle to see. Here's another sneak-peek of our baby boy from the ultrasound!

BEAUTIFUL! :) Love seeing this!

The note from Krista with the proof!

You have read a couple times in the "What I'm excited about/looking forward to" part that I wanted to know if I still had placenta previa. Well, we found out the answer to that at the ultrasound as well. The placenta is still covering my cervix by 4.21 cm. Krista seemed doubtful that it would move enough to avoid a c-section by the time I deliver, so the thought of it doing it again haunted me for several days. I posted in a mom's group on Facebook that I needed prayers for peace of mind, and hopefully that the placenta moved. My mind was eased a little from their prayers and supportive comments. But, I think after our appointment with Dr. Tumaneng last Tuesday, I felt better about it, and started to accept it as the likely outcome. I asked her quite a few questions... She thought there was still a chance for it to move, but I also wanted to prepare myself for another c-section, so I told her that I wanted Adam to be in the room with me when they did the spinal. She said that most anesthesiologists at Woodwinds don't mind, but if or when the time comes to schedule the c-section, that they would make sure to put a note on my chart about it. There's still a couple other things I want out of a c-section birth with this baby (especially since he is healthy and all), and some that the doula I had with Nora, Ashley of Gaia Birth, brought up as well, such as being able to hold him and breast feed him while they stitch me up. With Danielle, I was okay with not being able to do that, since I knew, for her, it would be best to get her hooked up to her new lifelines.

I've been going back and forth on whether or not we want to use Ashley, or really a doula at all, this time. I am 100% happy that we had her for Nora. I felt that having that extra support made my VBAC successful. This time, if I VBAC, I think I want to just have Adam there. He was wonderful support, and I think Ashley helped guide him a lot of the times, but I think he learned a lot and can probably do it on his own. If I have a c-section, then I guess we've "been there, done that" too. Of course, this time there's quite a few things I want to do differently, but I feel like, after having Danni, and feeling like I didn't have a voice with some things, and finding that with Nora, I was in control, that this time, I would be able to make it the best c-section that I can have (even if it's not my ideal birth situation).

How far along?: 22 weeks 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: Well, after our Duluth vacation, the State Fair, and the cabin on Labor Day, I was up about 12 pounds, but now that I'm back to eating normally, it's right around 11 pounds.
The Bump: While I don't feel super big, when I look at my belly pictures, I see that I actually am!

22 weeks 2 days

What I’m excited about/looking forward to: The consignment sale at the State Fair grounds! I'm excited to find lots of cute boys' clothes (and maybe a few things for Nora too)!
Maternity Clothes: While I had to wear my maternity shorts, because my regular ones weren't fitting, now that it's getting cooler, I have few pairs of regular capris that I can still wear (though some are elastic waist-ed... maybe that's cheating in this category! lol) Maternity tops I haven't even touched yet, but I'm getting low on tops that are long enough to cover my belly!
Symptoms: Keeping my tummy happy is always a "symptom" and, I know I've posted about it before, but with this one I seem to have a lot more lower back pain. Maybe it's from holding Nora, or maybe it's where the placenta is with the previa... either way, back rubs are good!
Belly Button in or out?: Yep, all the way out! At least this one didn't actually kick it out!
Food Cravings/Aversions: We were talking about split pea and ham soup the other day (mom's homemade stuff!), and it sounds pretty good to me! (Could be the fall weather too though!)
What I miss: Not having my belly get in the way maybe? It's difficult to bathe Nora, and doing the dishes is starting to get tough.
Milestones: I guess he's on a somewhat regular schedule for sleeping, and being awake. That sounds about right with the movements I'm feeling All. The. Time. :)

Nora's Thank You Notes

Almost a month after her party, I finally made Nora's thank you notes and had my little one-year-old sit down and write them. ;) I couldn't decide how I liked them best, so I made a couple variations. Since the gifts were for Nora (not me), I wrote them as if she were writing them. I thought it might be fun for her family to see what she thought of the toys and money that she got. I think next year I will try to have her write an "N" or her name, depending on what she can do at the time. But at this point, if she's holding a crayon, she thinks it looks tasty, and it ends up in her mouth. :-/