Just look at this face

This look basically describes Natalie of late. So cute, and so grumpy sometimes. She is having a bit of trouble with patience lately. I am just hoping it's the terrible twos and not how she actually will be! She can't seem to make up her mind, and when she does, she wants it her way only. Yesterday, when we went to see Paul Revere's house in Boston, she couldn't decide whether she wanted to ride in her stroller, or walk along side it. But the very second she changed her mind about it (which was about 10 times over the course of a mile), she wanted it right NOW. Like, "I get in da stroller!" (Imagine a toddler screaming and crying and writhing around). We try to calmly tell her that all she has to do is ask- she doesn't need to cry or raise her voice. All she needs to say is, "Daddy, may I please get in the stroller now?" Of course, she immediately looks up at us with those big blue eyes, smiles and says, "Daddy may I please get in the stroller now?" Why of course, since you asked so nicely! But inevitably, a few minutes later, we hear her scream, "I get out and walk!" UGH. She is like a little Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde lately! We can't decide if it's just the terrible twos, or if the combination of ear tubes this week, a new baby on the way, and potty training is what is causing the ruckus.

Good news... tonight I just spotted her lower left 2-year-old molar coming in! Hooray! I am hopeful this is a big source of the crankiness. (In addition to the above mentioned things). I didn't see one on the lower left side and didn't push my luck trying to see the upper gums. "Maybe tomorrow", as Natalie says.

Cory and Brie are getting married!

Good news people... my brother finally asked his girlfriend of 3 years, Brianna, to marry him! This happened on the eve of their move from Tampa to Charleston, SC. What a crazy week for them! My mom said the ring was bee-you-tee-ful, so I can't wait to see pictures! He proposed to her on Bayshore Blvd, (I think) when they went out for a final walk before they finished packing up for Charleston. It sounded like she had no idea it was coming, which is always the best way to do it.

I can't believe my brother is getting married. That is so funny. To me, he's still my little 10-year-old brother. Whoa, we are totally adults now! :-)

Natalie's tube surgery

Natalie's tube surgery went way better than expected! The doctors and nurses at Newton Wellesley were so good and very pediatric oriented. I'm sure they've dealt with fussy kids before, but I seriously think mine is the fussiest when it comes to doctors. When we got there, we immediately went back to pre-op where she was weighed and measured. She did great during this. Normally at the regular pediatrician visits, she cries and screams, even during this part. But she got to stand on a real scale, and be measured against a wall, which is different than at the pediatrician. Plus, I got to do these things with her, rather than have the nurse do it. She just observed and that didn't bother Natalie. The child life specialist also came back with toys and stickers, which Natalie loves. I was really concerned about her hating the gas mask and they were so clever with it... they rubbed strawberry Lip Smackers on the inside so she would take a deep breath. Plus, they let her cover it with stickers, which she thought was fun. She didn't want to take the strawberry flavored Tylenol, but they said that wasn't a problem... they just put a Tylenol suppository in her while she was under! Genius! Todd went back with her and she didn't cry at all until they put the mask on her (which we expected) but Todd said within 15 seconds she was already drowsy. He said she didn't even thrash around (like she normally would). Within 30 seconds, she was out. This is a picture of Todd in his awesome spacesuit. He had to wear it to go into the surgery room. The whole thing took about 10 minutes (not even enough time for us to finish a discussion about Nicole Richie and who she is baby mama to - Todd had never heard of him). We went back to recovery and she was sleeping (for about 20-30 more minutes). When she woke up, she was a bit groggy and cried a bit that her right ear hurt. She also said her tummy hurt, but that was probably because she hadn't eaten breakfast and it was already around 10 or so. They brought her some crackers and graham crackers and water. She would periodically cry a bit, but it wasn't bad at all. We asked the nurse if it would be okay to go to Panera and get her a bagel, and she said that would be fine. When we asked Natalie if she wanted to go to Panera, she perked right up! By the time we got out to the car, she was almost back to normal. She ate a lot of her bagel and we even went to Target after breakfast.

They gave us antibiotic drops to give her twice a day for 10 days, and that hasn't been really easy, but we've bribed her with an M&M each time, and even though she cries when we give her the drops, it's pretty short lived. We let her watch Dora or an Elmo DVD. It usually stops the tears. Thankfully, Friday is the last day of those. Maureen (her daycare provider) has been kind enough to give her one dose right before her nap, so at least for the rest of the week, we only need to give her one dose ourselves!

31 week update

Not much to report here. I had my 31 week appointment today. Baby G is measuring right on target. Blood pressure is good, and I had my regular flu shot. Got all of my paperwork for my short term disability AND the hospital pre-admittance paperwork ready for submittal. Check me out, I'm a house. I'm not even going to tell you how much I weigh, but I have never seen numbers on a scale like that! And I have 9 weeks left? I'm on target to gain about 35 pounds. I realize this is within the normal limits range, but I don't like it. I only gained 22 with Natalie. And she was almost 8 of it! So unless I've got a 20 pound turkey coming out of me in a few weeks, I'm gonna have to befriend Weight Watchers!

Natalie has her tubes put in tomorrow morning. I know things will go fine, but I'm worried about her freaking out. She hates doctors and doesn't want anything in her face (uh oh, beware the gas mask!) or anyone holding her down. Only one parent can go back with her, so my wonderful husband kindly volunteered. I suppose it wouldn't do any good to anyone if I went back there and she was kicking and screaming. I'm pregnant for crying out loud! But we both get to be there when she wakes up. We'll keep you posted!

Baby Bailey Update

Baby Bailey is doing really well. I had an appointment for an ultrasound at 29 weeks, and he was already approximately 3 lbs 3 ounces. Well that pretty much rules out any chance of having Trisomy 18! He's a big boy! They were pretty sure his brain cysts were gone, but he wasn't cooperating very well and she was having a hard time seeing that area "just right." But she said from what she saw, she didn't think they were there anymore. If he doesn't have Trisomy 18, then it doesn't matter if they are there or not, because they don't mean anything. So that is good news! I met with a new doctor, Dr. Clark, and I really like her. We don't get to pick who delivers (it's whoever happens to be working that day), but so far, I've liked all of the doctors that I've seen. There are only 5, and I only have one more to see. I now start going to my appointments every 2 weeks. So my next appointment is on Tuesday, September 1st, then again on my birthday, the 15th. Can't wait!

Natalie has her tubes put in on September 2nd, so next week is going to be a busy week for us. Hopefully everything will go well. Only one parent gets to go back into surgery with her. There are no IV's, thank goodness, but they do use a mask to put them under. I'm pretty sure she'll hate that and fight it like mad. Yesterday at lunch, Natalie said, "I don't like to go to the doctor." Yeah baby, we know.

Trip to Seattle

Todd and I recently took a trip to Seattle! We had never been out there, and Todd had to go out there for a work training, I decided to join him for a visit to a new city/state and to see our friends Kern and Dorothy. K&D are Todd's friends from his school days in Wilmington, and now live out there in scenic Bellevue, WA. We arrived on separate flights on a Friday, and I returned home on Tuesday. Todd came back 2 days later on Thursday. My mom was awesome enough to come up and watch Natalie for that time. The day before we left, Natalie started sneezing a lot (which only means one thing: cold---ear infection!). God must have been with us, because although she had a runny nose for most of the time, she never did get an ear infection (this might be the first time ever). We had a great time in Seattle. We went out to 88 Keys for some dueling piano fun Friday evening. Saturday, we went to the Rock and Roll Museum, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (did you know there was such a place?), and to the Space Needle. While the views were great, we couldn't see Mount Rainier due to cloud cover. Then we went to an awesome Italian restaurant called Pasta Freska. There are no menus, and they just keep bringing you more and more food. I would label this place, "Italitan tapas." Each dish comes in fairly small portions and no one seems to get the same thing. Sometimes Dorothy and I got the same thing, while Todd and Kern got something different. They also brought a Montepulciano wine that Kern and Todd drank (and I also had a sip of- it was YUM!). I enjoyed a strawberry lemonade!

Sunday we headed out to Safeco Field for the Mariners/Yankees game. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures in the 70s. It was fun to see the Yankees get beat by the Mariners. :-) Afterward, we went back to Dorothy and Kern's to grill out some yummy steaks and a delicious potato dish. Oh and let's not forget game night and ice cream (if you haven't ever tried Ben and Jerry's cinnamon bun or marzipan ice cream, you are really missing out. Might be my new faves!).

Monday, we went to Pike Place Market and then for a drive out in the Cascades to Snoqualmie Falls and through Snoqualmie Pass. They always have to use tire chains through Snoqualmie Pass (well, at least according to The Weather Channel!) and I'm a weather geek, so I wanted to drive through there. They don't use chains on the tires in Massachusetts because it rips up the asphault. Pike Place Market was really fun. We got to see them toss fish, and were there as they cut the cake for Pike Place Market's 102nd birthday! We also ate lots of yummy food as we strolled around. It was another nice day- sun and maybe a few degrees warmer than the day before.

Tuesday I had to come home, but it was so good to see my baby girl! I really missed her and I swear she got even smarter when I was gone. I feel like I've missed her a lot this summer, between work trips to North Carolina, fun trips to Seattle, and her spending time with her grandparents down in Plymouth while her daycare was closed. But it's good to be home with her now!

Pictures from Plymouth

Here are a few pictures from our trip down to Plymouth. The first is the entire Bailey clan - Todd and his two sisters and brother, wives, husbands and all of the kids. Standing, L to R: Madison, Kathleen, Gordie, Helen, Gordon, Colleen, Todd, Natalie, Steve, Megan, Jeanne, and Hannah. Front row, L to R: Seth, Lauren, Carole, Warren, and Ryan. The other picture was just too cute not to post. My lovely daughter Natalie and her cousin (and my Godson!) Seth at the East Bay Grille for Warren and Carole's surprise 50th wedding anniversary dinner. Good times were had by all, and probably some serious heartburn too!

Off Color Jokes

Unbeknownst to Natalie, she made two off color funnies yesterday. For dinner, she had strawberries, Yo Baby yogurt, cold grilled chicken (she loved it cold) and made an attempt at jambalaya with sausage but it was too spicy for her, so Todd cut up some string cheese for her. Natalie could see him doing this, and said, "Daddy cut the cheese!"

Then later, when she was in the bathtub, I decided to get some last minute cleaning of her bedroom in. My mom is coming for a visit so I wanted to make sure things were straightened up. I wanted to swiffer Natalie's room, but have to do it when she's in the bathtub because she LOVES to swiffer and always wants to help. So nice of her, but I just didn't have time for that last evening. So as I was cleaning underneath her dresser and armoire, I was banging around with the swiffer stick, and Natalie was asking daddy about the noise. She tends to still confuse her 5 W's sometimes, and last night was no exception. She said to Daddy, "Who's Mommy banging?" Cleverly, Daddy responded, "Hopefully only Daddy!" HA HA HA!

27 Weeks, and other news

Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks. Not much else to say about that, except I'm getting BIG. He's gonna be a big boy.

Natalie had her ENT appointment this morning. It got postponed from yesterday because the doctor got called into emergency surgery. So we went to the doctor and Natalie kept saying, "We go to Mommy's doctor!" because the last time we went to a doctor, it was mine. So we had to explain to her that this was Natalie's doctor! She was fine until we had to go back and meet with the audiologist. She had a hearing test that involved sitting in a room on daddy's lap and hearing whistle type noises and watching some battery powered bears clap and make noise. (Kind of reminded me of Chuck E Cheese's!). She cried a little bit during that but basically sat quietly on daddy's lap with her hands over her ears. (It's like she knew we were there for her ears...). She didn't really want to participate, so all he could tell us was that he was sure she could hear, although he couldn't be 100% sure she could hear out of both ears because she "wasn't playing his game." ha ha. She is way too smart for her age and far too aware of everything going on around her for that.

Then the poor audiologist had to blow a little air into her ears with a special machine to see if there was fluid in her middle ear. He said her right ear was great, but the left ear was not as clear. Natalie of course, screamed and cried the whole time, and even threw up a bit again. Thankfully it wasn't much, and we came prepared with wipes, tissues, and a change of clothes!

Next was the visit with the actual doctor, who was very nice and recommended that she have tubes put in. (Well duh, we knew that!). He had to take a quick glance in her ears, and of course, that set her off again. Unbelievable. I've never known a kid to have THAT much doctor anxiety. Especially when none of what they did was painful to her. She just really hates being poked and prodded, especially by strangers, and most especially by male strangers!

So anyway, given what you just read... September 2nd should be a real adventure. That is when she is getting her tubes. It's on a Wednesday, and we definitely could use the prayers for patience and calmness! (For all 3 of us!). The surgery itself only takes a few minutes, but they have to put her under a light anesthetic so she doesn't squirm (and you KNOW she would!). It's getting the anesthetic in her that worries me... it's going to be seriously traumatic for all of us, but will be SO much better in the long run once she stops getting these ear infections!

Sorry, I've been away...

Sorry, I've been away for 2 weeks in the month of July on business in North Carolina. I actually really enjoy the work I do down there, but missed my girl and my guy terribly. I go down for the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program scoping meetings. They have them every year, and we visit different counties (this year, 16 in all) to assess whether their recently-produced FEMA flood maps are performing accurately, and to see if they have any new needs for the maps. It's fun to meet with the communities, and the people I work with from the State of NC are just awesome. I bought a pair of maternity jeans when I was down there that were about 5 inches too long and one of the guys even hemmed them for me! (He does a lot of costume production, so he knows his way around a sewing machine). It was awesome!!! I also got to enjoy a nice pedicure one evening, dinner out with my friend Lisa a few times, and dinner with Emma and Kriss (see the post from May about their wedding in Florida). They live in Wilmington, and I got to spend a night down there and have dinner with them. Very enjoyable! I haven't laughed that hard in a while!

But now I'm back and not going away on business for the rest of the year (to which Todd says, "THANK GOODNESS!"). Natalie got another ear infection the first week I was gone (July 12-17). Poor Todd. And of course, poor Natalie. We have an appointment on August 5th to meet with the ENT for her tube consultation. We can't WAIT. Then I came home for a week, but Natalie's daycare was closed for vacation, so I spent Monday at home with her and went to my 24 week appointment (even though I was really almost 25 weeks). Todd was home with her on Tuesday and my in-laws came Tuesday afternoon to spend the night and take Natalie back to Plymouth with them on Wednesday. I missed her like crazy, but I got a lot of things done. Todd and I went to dinner at British Beer Company and then to see the Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies. AND we managed to get home by 9:30, which was great. I also got the house cleaned, Natalie's clothes sorted and organized (you have to do this every once in a while because they grow out of them so quickly), and about 5 loads of laundry done. On the 24th, Todd and I went to the Red Sox-Orioles game. The Sox won (thankfully) 3-1, and Brad Penny got the win. I wore a t-shirt that said "Future Sox Fan" around my belly. I was like a rock star, people were constantly telling me how cute it was. Aunt Betty got it for me, so I have to thank her for that. It was a big hit!

Then we went to Maine the following morning for Gordie's 50th birthday party. (For those who don't know, he is my brother-in-law... Todd's sister Helen's husband). They have a lake house up there that is awesome, and Gordie has done most (if not all) of the work on the house himself over the last 10 years. It's so cool. Natalie had a good time running around the place and playing on the porch-like swings. (They had 2!) We spent the night in a local motel (in Sanford, ME) where Katharine Hepburn used to stay! On our way back to Boston Sunday morning, we stopped at Bunker Hill to waste some time before Todd was going to drop me off at Logan to head back to North Carolina. They did a revolutionary war rifle demonstration that was really cool. We want to go back when we have a little more time.

Since I came back from North Carolina, we went to Natalie's 2nd cousin Joshua's 2nd birthday party this past Saturday. It was SO much fun and Natalie could not stop talking about going to "Joshua's house." She painted little wooden cars, did an egg hunt, ate cake and ice cream and played with balloons. On Sunday, we went to Mandy and OB's house in Haverhill for their open house. Their new house is so awesome, and even has a little chalkboard wall in the living room that Natalie really liked. Her friend Annabelle was there too, so they had so much fun together again.

Up next: Atlanta this weekend for my friend Stacie's baby shower, time spent with the Maryland Bailey's (as they are coming up here for their annual summer visit), and we're off to Seattle in a couple of weeks! FUN!!!