Baby Update

Just a little baby update for all of you. I am doing really well in general. It is about 6 weeks to my due date (April 23). Not long! And we're really busy all through March so it will come quickly. I sure am ready to not be pregnant anymore. I feel really pretty healthy. Still don't know the baby's gender (yeah!) and names are settled. I just need to unpack a few boxes left in the den from moving (yes, a year ago) and hang things up on the walls in there. Then all of our inside big jobs are done, and I can let myself get baby stuff out. I'm getting a little anxious. The baby still moves a lot, but it is getting less wild in there as the baby gets bigger and has less room to move around. I'm also starting to get a little apprehensive about labor. I'm a little worried it will be long and of course painful, or too quick, like Elise's birth. I think that once I know I'm in labor I'll be racing for the hospital doors. Let us not forget that Elise almost could have been born in McDonald's drive through! In about 7 weeks it will all be over and we'll have a precious baby!

Did YOU see the "lunar" eclipse?

Well, there was a lunar eclipse a couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night. We forgot to go out and look at it. The next day when I picked JJ up from school, he indignantly asked me "Why didn't I get to see the MOONER ECLIPSE?" I had to really try not to laugh out loud. They still say cute stuff even at 5! Just had to share that - it was classic.

Elise's cast

Well, I am in Troy and playing around on my Dad's computer, which has some picture of my kids on it. I am trying to put a picture on here. Let's see if it works! Here is Elise back in Sept. with her cast. See an August post (I think) for the story of her broken arm. She was so proud of that "fiberglass cast."

Huckleberry Finn

We have a new kitten! We got him about 4 weeks ago from the Humane Sociey. Stu did end up being very ill with feline leukemia and had to be put to sleep. That was very sad and the kids wanted a new kitty right away to make them happy again. I thought that was a good idea, and sooner rather than later to have things settled again by the time the baby arrives. We named our kitty Huckleberry Finn (because we live on Sawyer St.). He has many nicknames already. I call him Little Huck, mostly, and JJ calls him Hockey Puck. He is a very good kitten. Bella is still not too happy with him, but it gets better every day. He sleeps well at night and is a good eater. Yeah, it is almost like having a very self-reliant baby in some ways. He needs to learn not to jump onto the table or climb the back of my robe. Elise likes to carry him around in a a little tote bag she has, and JJ loves playing with him with string. He is buff colored, a very pretty kitty.

And Baby Makes 5

Just in case you haven't heard, we are going to have a baby! I am now 5 months pregnant, and am due April 23. Things were pretty rough during Sept. and Oct. (hence no blogging), but I am feeling pretty normal now. Actually, as I am typing this, I can feel the baby moving! I have been feeling it for about 2 weeks now, and Jonathan and Elise have felt it too. JJ hasn't sat still enough yet to concentrate on what he's feeling:). I am looking very pregnant already - seems to be my style. We won't be finding out the gender of the baby, as that is the greatest suprise in life to me. The suspense has even helped pull me through the last stages of labor. JJ and Elise are very excited and talk about the baby all the time. Elise wants to name it Leila (a name I had considered for a while, but nixed) and JJ wants to name it Forest Fire Fighter (because I told him liked the name Forrest). At this point our girl name is Claire and the only boy name Jonathan likes is Seth. I like Dashiell (Dash) or Forrest, but Jonathan can't seem to like anything out of the ordinary. This all may change with time, but that's where we are now.
Nothing else very exciting is going on now, except that our cat Stu is very ill. I hope he pulls through, but he may have to be put down. He's been with us since a year after we were married.
Keep posted for more "baby" updates!

Little Fishy

Elise started swimming lessons on Thursday! She loved it. I wasn't sure how she was going to do because she can freeze up in situations where she feels insecure. But she was so excited from watching JJ and wanting to do everything that he does that she did great. She is in a 4-year-old class and it the youngest/littlest on there. She just turned four and the rest of the kids have been 4 and are a year ahead of her school-wise. She did great though. They all sit on the side of the pool with their floaties on (Elise was sooooo excited to get to wear floaties) and the teacher takes two at a time across the shallow end learning to doggie paddle. They also used kick boards to learn to kick across the pool. Elise was the most timid in the water, but her teacher Mr. Dave is great and just let her take her time and kept her from turning and heading into the deep end! Elise did the best during the last 5 minutes when they get free time. She had the floaties on and got a pool noodle and held it in front and under her armpits and was able to kick and swim all by herself to the other side. I think she did it 7 times. Mr. Dave had her slide into the pool on her own a couple of times and the first time she dunked under the water and came up with huge eyes and mouth in a big O, which quickly turned to a grin. Oh, and she looks so cute in her surf suit I found on-line, which is this all in one swimsuit that has shorts and long sleeves - pink and purple of course. It is hard to find a decent swim suit in October!

#2 in the Broken Bone Club

Believe it or not, JJ now has a broken arm! I guess he thought it was his turn to get all that attention. It was bout 2 weeks ago when Jonathan took him golfing. JJ was running down a hill and tripped and landed on his hands and rolled. The doctor wasn't sure if it was broken or not so we had to wait a week with this horrible, monstrous splint on. Then it was decided it was broken, so he has a cast from his palm to his elbow. All his classmates signed it and I could tell he loved being the center of attention! He gets his cast off Oct. 31. Mom has been helping a lot more with his violin playing now that he has only one hand to use. So JJ holds his violin with his chin, bows with his right hand, and mom plays the left-hand finger part. So together we can play the whole Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song as a duet! JJ has a long lesson on Monday with all the other little kids who are at his stage of playing. There will be 6 kids in the 3 to 6-year-old group. Should be entertaining! Elise is chomping at the bit to start music lessons, so I hope to have things (i.e. money:-) ready to start her in January.