Jennifer’s

Yesterday, Isabella, Dean, and I were able to spend the day together.  We dropped off my parents at the airport and then proceeded to run a few errands.  One such errand took us to Buffalo Exchange where the Halloween decor was in full force.

As we waited for the clerk to pass judgment look through my clothes and decide which ones to buy, Isabella became fascinated with the various arachnids scattered throughout the store.  She was very curious as to why they would choose to decorate with spiders, so I explained that it isn’t uncommon for stores to start promoting holidays that are months away.  She thought that was silly since Halloween isn’t for another two months, but clearly the overall message was not lost on her as she began to worry about what she, brother, Mommy and Daddy were going to be for Halloween.

When we got home, Halloween costumes were still on the forefront of her mind, so we decided to play Halloween for a bit.  We, of course, could not leave Dean out of the fun!  Isabella had a blast, while Dean did not appreciate being stuffed into a costume that while for 6-9 months is quickly becoming too small.  He did, however, like being held by his big sister and may have tried to nurse her before falling asleep still decked out as a vegetable.

Good heavens; they are cute kids!

Let’s take a quick moment to review just how HUGE I was just a few months ago:

(37 weeks pregnant:  BLAH!)

(40 weeks: Induction day.  Can you see the RELIEF?)

It’s been nearly three months since Dean’s birth, which means its been six weeks since I was released to resume all normal activities, which let’s be honest the only activity I really cared about was a return to exercise.  Call me vain, but after gaining 30 lbs and being so miserable at the end I was ready to whip this mound of flesh into some semblance of shape.

I gained the same amount of weight this time around as I did with Isabella, but, for me at least, this pregnancy’s weight did not pile on nor did it come off in the same way as the first.  Perhaps those differences can be attributed to age, gender of the baby, my fitness level before and during the pregnancy, stress, or the unknown, but all I know is I sprinted home from my six week’s post-partum appointment and promptly popped in Gillian Michael’s No More Trouble Zones and never looked back.

I also downloaded the Couch to 5k app and have been faithfully following the 3 day/week running program.  I had been running during this pregnancy, but at 36 weeks I was told to cease all unnecessary activity, so when it came time to start running again I thought it wise to start out slowly.  Six weeks later I know this was a really smart decision as I’ve not suffered any injuries and have been able to easily follow the program.  I dare to say it’s been a little easy since I already have years of running under my belt, but I like that I am injury free, am getting stronger, and most importantly, I love being able to cue up the music, turn on the app and Nike+, and mindlessly run while someone else dictates what I am doing and for how long. 

 In fact, I wish someone would create a marathon training app that would do the same thing.  Not that I am in any kind of shape to run another marathon yet, but I’ve got my eyes set on one late spring of 2011 or mid fall of 2011.  (It all depends on if I can talk Melissa to run Chicago with me! )

The other thing factoring into my get “hot” again pursuit is the fact that I am successfully breastfeeding this time around.  Everything I’ve read says it is okay to exercise regularly, but I think I am still a tad trepidatious about exercising as rigorously as I would like on a regular basis.  If I felt truly free to exercise as I wish I would probably be at my pre-pregnancy weight by now instead of 5lbs away.  Those 5lbs have been lingering for a few weeks now, so I suspect that a few of them, at least, are settled in my milk jugs and won’t disappear until the little one stops suckling at the teat.

I also want to try Gillian Michael’s Making the Cut diet and exercise program, but I fear the diet will mess with my milk supply.  It’s not  so much a “diet” in the sense of really restricting calories as it is a “diet” that helps you eat for your metabolic type with the purpose of helping you shed fat to showcase the muscles beneath.  For my metabolic type I would still consume 1200 calories, which I’m not even sure I actually consume on a daily basis, so it isn’t like I would be starving myself, but I would hate for nursing to end because of my vanity so I am being responsible and holding off on this part of O.G.H.A. until Dean is weened.

But really, who cares about any of this, if there aren’t some before and work in progress shots.  Please bare in mind that no miracles have been performed in the six weeks since I began exercising again, but nonethless I think you can see that some small change is being made.

Before:

(This is a few days after my six week appointment.  Isabella and I were playing princess.  That look of displeasure is less about playing dress up and more about the dismal state of affairs that was my gut.)

Work in Progress:

(I guess that goofy expression in the first work in progress picture is my way of saying what did you expect, it’s only been six weeks!  I know the arm shots are silly, especially given I really don’t have muscular arms, but I wanted some sort of documentation of how they look now so I can compare them after I do Making the Cut.  Plus, this wouldn’t really be a great blog post if there weren’t some pretentious pictures!)

Dean’s been smiling for real for the last week or so, but given that the Woolsey is strong in this one we’ve had difficulty turning the smiles into a photo op.  The other day I managed to capture a few with my phone, thus the poor quality.  We do actually own a really nice digital camera, but why would we use it when we can capture Dean’s life with poor quality?  Regardless, this kid is cute and rather looks like an old man with a bad piece:

This time around I was hoping to go into labor myself, but alas it was not to be for us.  At about 37 weeks I suddenly measured about a week and a half ahead of schedule, which made my doctor pause and speculate that Dean was going to be a bigger baby.  (At that point she guessed that he was about 7 lbs 5 oz.)  She was willing to let me finish out the school year if Dean didn’t come before then, but she didn’t want me to go any longer than that so we scheduled an induction for the 22nd, the day after my due date.  Even though I dreaded another long, drawn out induction I was glad to hear there was going to be an end to things!

Saturday, May 22nd, I woke up not feeling 100%.  I sat around for a bit, played with Isabella, and then turned her over to Grams and Sir and went upstairs to sleep off the funk I was feeling.  At about 9:30 the hospital called to say they were ready for me to come to start the induction.  Fortunately, I had packed my bag a few days prior so all we needed to do to get ready was jump through the shower and say goodbye to Isabella.  Let me just say now that telling her goodbye was extremely hard to do.  Normally, when we leave her with Grams and Sir she doesn’t even blink an eye about our departure, but this time she knew something was different and that when we returned her world was going to be completely altered!  Consequently, she was sobbing as was I.  In fact, I spent the bigger part of the drive to the hospital crying.  Part of my sadness was that I thought I would not be able to see her again until we brought Dean home.  The last time I had been to the hospital was to visit Brian’s cousin after she gave birth and at that time they were not allowing kids under 12 in patient rooms.  I knew we would be there for at least two days, and it upset me greatly to think of her wondering where I was that entire time.

We arrived at the hospital around 11:30, got checked in right away, and were whisked off to the induction room.  After some general questions, getting things set up, and a visit from my doctor who explained that she had a patient in labor at another hospital (where she was actually on call that weekend) but things were going quickly so she expected to be able to come back in time to deliver me, the induction began.  With Isabella I had to go through three rounds of the gels, which took over six hours itself, but this time I came into the hospital at 3 centimeters, so Dr. J said I would probably only need one gel, two at most. I was really hoping that things would proceed much more quickly this time around, but not so fast that Dr. J wouldn’t make it back.    She knew I was concerned about having to deliver with a doctor I had never met, so she assured me I was in good hands with the nurse who had been assigned to me.  It turns out she is the nurse that Dr. J hand picked for her own son’s delivery.  She told me that Sherri, my nurse, was a no nonsense kind of nurse.  She would stay calm no matter the situation and would be a great support throughout, which made me feel better about things and as labor progressed Sherri proved herself to be exactly as Dr. J described her.

(Seriously, could I be any fatter? All fashions and accessories courtesy of Thunderbird Hospital.)

After the gel was administered, I had to stay in bed for about 30 minutes and then I had to walk around for an hour.  My instructions were to walk for the majority of the time unless I started to feel terrible or started to bleed. There really are few places one can walk in a hospital for an ENTIRE HOUR without retracing your steps a THOUSAND and ONE times.  We toured the gift shop, the cafeteria, the lobby, and the halls for about 25 minutes and then a wave of uncomfortableness hit me.  I found a bathroom and noted that I was beginning to bleed, so we headed back up to the maternity floor, notified my nurse, and headed to the room.  We walked around for a bit longer after resting, but I was feeling really crampy and just wanted to get back to the room.  (I know some people like to move around during labor, but for me it is far better to be in bed so I can focus on getting through the pain.)

After the first gel things progressed enough that Sherri decided not to do the second gel and move me into the labor and delivery room.  At this point we contacted my parents to give them an update and to let them know they could bring Isabella up to see us.  (It turns out the age restriction had been lifted and she could visit us in labor and delivery and later in my hospital room, so I was pretty anxious to see her for a bit before things started to get really tough.)

(Isabella on her way to visit us!)

We were moved into the labor room around 2:00. I was strapped to the monitor so the nurse could begin to monitor my contractions, but nothing was showing up on the monitor, which was weird because I was definitely experiencing some contractions.  Five monitors later Sherri finally found a monitor that worked and as it showed, I was experiencing some pretty big contractions, so things were moving along nicely.  My parents and Isabella showed up during this time, so we visited for an hour or so before Dr. J reappeared to check me and break my water.  She then said she would  hang out a bit to see how things went.  Soon after she broke my water the contractions became more intense, so I told my parents to leave with Isabella because I didn’t want her to see me in pain.

(Isabella giving Mommy and Baby Brother love one last time before he’s born!)

At that point it was just Brian and me in the room.  We put on some Beatles and both tried to rest/relax as best as we could because it was obvious those moments were fleeting.  Sherri came back in about thirty minutes later to check on my pain level.  I told her it was definitely increasing: about a seven on the 10 point scale.  She did a quick check and said I was about 7 or 8 cm.  During this, a new nurse came in and introduced herself as the nurse who was going to take over as it was time for a duty change in the shift schedule.  Sherri looked at her, looked at me, and the said, “I’m not going anywhere.  I am seeing her through this.  Who decided we needed to switch right now?  You just go to where they assigned me and take over there.  I’m staying put.”  I could have kissed Sherri on the lips right then!  With Isabella I had three different nurses because things took so long to progress.  It turns out all three were amazing and all three came in at just the right time during each point of labor, but this time the shift was happening so close to the end and I had already bonded really well with Sherri that I was in a bit of panic about losing her right before the real action began.

( About 7-8 cm here; thus, the concentration.)

The nurse obviously recognized that Sherri wasn’t going anywhere, so she left us to it.  Sherri helped me to the restroom for one last time and back into bed, and with the next contraction I looked at Brian and said, “I need to push.”  He told Sherri, who thankfully was still in the room.  She asked me if I was serious and all I could do was nod because I was concentrating on not pushing until she told me I could.  She immediately went into action setting up the table and paging Dr. J who appeared in what seemed like seconds.  Sherri informed her I was ready to push, so Dr. J checked me and I was at 10 cm.  To help put things in perspective for you it had been less than five minutes since Sherri checked me and I was at 7-8 cm, so it was obvious the last parts of labor were going to be fast and furious.  As Sherri continued to get things set up Brian and Dr. J each grabbed a hand and let me squeeze the holy heck out of them through the next contraction.  Bless Brian’s heart, he even managed to mop my brow with a cold cloth, which was just about the sweetest, most caring gesture.

By the next contraction things were set up, Dr. J was in position, and I was finally able to push.   Dr. J reminded me my goal was to push three times for a count of ten each time and then the pushing began.  During the first round of ten she commented that baby Dean had a lot of hair and by the third round of pushing she told me to just keep pushing past ten because he was almost out.  A few more seconds of pushing and we had a baby boy!

(Mere seconds after Dean was born!)

I immediately felt a huge wave of relief come over me.  I was so thankful that labor went quickly and with no complications and that both Dr. J and Sherri had been on hand,  but most of all I was just thankful to be done being pregnant, to finally meet Dean, and to move on to this next phase of our lives.

During all of that Brian managed to quickly text my parents that I was ready to deliver.  My mom thought he was joking because that had left the hospital about 40 minutes prior.  They had taken Isabella to dinner, so they finished eating and made their way back up to see their grandson.  Dean and I got cleaned up and anticipated a move to our room, but we ended up waiting in the labor room for a couple hours while the hospital cleaned rooms on the maternity ward.  The nurses kept apologizing, but it was actually better to be in the labor room because it is so roomy.  My parents and Isabella came in to see us, so we were able to get some great family pics in the first hours of Dean’s life.  Isabella was immediately smitten with Baby Brother.  She kept squealing, “He’s SO cute!  Where are his teeth?”

(Grams and Dean)

(Sir and Dean)

(Family of FOUR!)

Dr. J and Sherri came back in to check on me and to comment on how well I did during labor.  Sherri paid me a major compliment; she said that I made natural childbirth look easy and that I should teach the natural childbirth classes at the hospital.  I know the doctor and nurses will say just about anything to encourage you during labor, but given I had already produced the goods, I was really appreciative of their comments.  Going through labor, natural or otherwise, is nothing short of some very hard, intense physical work; it’s always nice to hear that you came through something like that and impressed people who see women labor day in and day out.

After being moved to our room, Brian, Dean, and I settled in for the night.  Our room was tucked back in a corner of the ward, so we had little interruptions.  At first the nurses came in pretty frequently to check on us and my pain, but once they realized we were really doing fine and that I wasn’t taking any Tylenol or Motrin or requesting ice packs for my nether region they sort of left us to our own devices with the exception of the mandatory checks of our vitals or newborn screening stuff.  Dean slept really well in the hospital, so I was able to get some rest.  Brian slept in a rather uncomfortable bed/chair the first night, so he was pretty much out of it the next morning.  We stayed another night in the hospital, which was again, a decent night’s rest for me, but at that point I was over being in the hospital and just wanted to get home to my bed, my shower, and our lives.

And so it’s been three weeks since Dean’s birth.  He really is a good baby.  He cries when he’s hungry, before he poops, and when he needs to be changed.  He is still in that eat, sleep, and poop mode, but he is definitely more alert for far longer with each day.  He is ever bit as strong as Isabella was as a baby; he too held up his head from day one!  He is a far better eater than she ever was, though.  Nursing is going really well this time around, which is a blessing as much as it is a curse.  I am glad it’s working out, but it sure stinks being the only one who can feed him.  I am pumping from time to time, but HOLY MOSES that thing makes me want to curl up in fetal position.  Nothing like feeling like a cow being milked for 15-20 minutes!

The good news is he eats a lot during the day and only one-two times at night.  He generally eats one last time around 11:30 and then sleeps until about 4;30-5:00 at which point he eats for a few minutes and then sleeps for another three-four hours.  Each night finds him going a tad longer between feedings; he had his longest stretch of sleep the other night.  He went 6 1/2 hours before he wanted a quick snack and then he slept another three hours! (There is something to be said for big, fat babies!)

Once he gets his wonky arms under control and can get to his thumb (he tries so hard right now) I think he will make it even longer at night (fingers crossed)!

Isabella’s room decor has been in a transition phase for well, what feels like FOREVER now.¬† We moved her to a big kid bed several months ago, bought some new sheets, and have been using an old, full sized down comforter ever since.¬† The kid hasn’t complained, but after facing the starkness of that white, bulky mass each morning I am ready for some cheerfulness to be restored to her otherwise adorable room.

The problem is I am paralyzed by making the decision of which bedding to go with…I know, I know, such problems I face.¬† I have gone back and forth between budget options (Target) and a more indulgent purchase (PBK, Land of Nod) and after reading many, many reviews have finally settled upon spending a little more on quality bedding that will last her several years to come.¬† (Plus, let’s face it, while Target does many things well you can’t beat the adorable girl bedding at PBK.)

Besides, we totally went the budget route with the majority of her room so far.  Her bed and dresser were a total steal from Costco because we were willing to take the floor displays and even managed to get them to come down another $100 on the set because of slight damage.  Her curtains and bookcase were purchased at Target during a sale and the letters spelling out her name came from Michaels and were lovingly painted by her mother and father.  I also painted an imitation of a painting I wanted for her room that was about $200 at PBK.

That decision past me, I have narrowed the options down to three from PBK and one from Land of Nod.  This is where you come in: below you will find pictures of the options.  In the comments tell me which you prefer and why.

I guess before we get to that, though, a little more information about what is currently in her room would be helpful so you can make a more informed recommendation:

An ivory twin bed w/trundle and tall dresser similar to these:

Green, faux silk panels similar to these w/ white blinds instead of sheer panels:

A dollhouse bookcase similar to this (Isabella’s is pink):

Pink letters spelling her name.

Dot Anywhere chair (exact color, but I am open to a new slipcover as her’s is pretty dingy despite multiple washes):

Lighting:

Pottery Barn Kids Options:

1) Madison

2) Brooke

3) Kelsey

Land of Nod Option:

1) Bedding of Roses

Again, please let me know in the comments which you prefer and why…keeping in mind that these are not listed in any sort of preferential order on my part AND that I am open to changing the color of her curtains, chair, and letters of her name.

Cardigan: Gap; Black Shirt: Old Navy Maternity; White Skinny Jeans: Gap Maternity; Black Sandals: Target)

 

I have EXACTLY two weeks left…not that I am counting down the days, hours, or seconds.¬† The days of misery have returned:¬† acid reflux plagues me daily and nightly, my ankles are starting to swell at the end of the day¬†(thank you stupid AZ 96 degree weather in May), and I literally feel like I am going to explode if this baby gets any bigger.

Speaking of large, at my doctor appointment this week she took one look at my gut and said, “Wow; he’s really grown this past week!”, which is exactly what my husband said, albeit not so nicely, when he announced, “There has been a MASSIVE amount of expansion this week!”¬† And before you think I am all nuts about weight gain and growth during pregnancy, as my husband does, I get that I am supposed to gain weight and I get that most importantly the baby is too.¬† Trust me, I gain weight as evidenced by my large tummy and the fact that I have already had a big, strong, healthy baby.¬† (Isabella weighed in at just shy of 8 lbs at birth and totally shocked the nurse who gave her her first bath by holding up her own head and looking all around the room.)¬† But, it’s still a little disconcerting to have another 14 days of growth for both¬†me and the¬†baby to endure.

It’s even more disconcerting when the doctor measured my tummy and said, “Hmm..” and gave¬†me a half smile.¬† Turns out that I went from measuring right on track to a full week and a half ahead in the course of seven days.¬† Thankfully, that didn’t equate to an enormous weight gain for me, but it did for Baby Brother.¬† The doctor estimates he weighs about 7 lbs 5 oz right now, so do the math of a weight gain of 1/2-1 lb per week and you will understand her “hmm…”.¬†

We discussed options and settled upon letting things go for the next two weeks.¬† If he comes on his own that’s great, but if he is stubborn like Isabella, and all signs indicate he is (I’m still only 1-2 centimeters and 50% effaced and he has not dropped), then she will induce on the 21st.¬† I was really hoping to avoid another induction, but I am also so extremely miserable (I spent a car ride last night silently crying because of how uncomfortable I was just sitting there) that I cannot imagine going a day longer than necessary.¬† If not for financial reasons I would have allowed the induction to occur this week!

All I can pray for at this point is that this big bruiser is as well proportioned as his sister.

(Cardigan Marc by Marc Jacobs; Shirt Gap; Jeans Gap Maternity)

I am now at the point of the pregnancy where the doctor appointments are every two weeks.  Seriously, where has the time gone?  I remember thinking it took FOREVER to reach this point with Isabella and now it seems like I blinked and a giant gut grew in mere seconds!

I’m still feeling really good.¬† Isabella and I go on daily walks/runs.¬† I wish I could say I was still running a full three miles, but a few weeks ago my right shin started bothering me (Could the extra weight protruding from my front have thrown my gate off?).¬† I took a week off from running to rest it and ever since I’ve been sort of nursing it back.¬† Now I am down to “intervals” of running and walking, so I think I am probably getting two miles of a decent run in each time.¬†

I’m right on track with weight gain, but for some reason I just feel all around LARGER with this baby.¬† It doesn’t help when my two-year-old says, “Mommy won’t fit in the tub.”¬† (It’s a GARDEN TUB; I’m not that LARGE…yet) or when a co-worker says, “You know, you don’t look half bad for a pregnant lady.”

Part of my overall feelings of “fatness”stem from experience.¬† With Isabella I didn’t know what to expect during pregnancy or after, but now I know that despite my best efforts and wishes my body won’t immediately snap back into shape.¬† I am hoping eating well and exercising daily now will help me then, but with two little ones to care for I know that taking the time for myself will be even harder.¬† Nonetheless, I have big plans for “Operation Get Hot…Again”.¬† (As if I were ever really that HOT!)¬† Part of those plans involve having my husband buy me a killer outfit once I am back in¬†”fighting” shape.¬† Of course, he doesn’t know that yet…

Dear Isabella,

You attended your first marketing ploy Disney Princess party a while back.¬† You nearly lost your mind when I mentioned the Princess party as that week’s reward for getting all your magnets on your responsibility chart.¬† Each night as you dutifully reviewed your responsibilities for the day and placed the correct magnet in its spot you proudly proclaimed, “At the end of the week I’ll get all my magnets and then I am going to a PRINCESS PARTY!¬† I am so excited; I cannot wait!”

The party was a tad overwhelming as hoards of little girls, in various princess garb, descended upon the store and the two brave employees who ran the party.¬† True to your nature, you sort of stood back, took it all in, and decided it just wasn’t worth the fuss and pushing to vie for stickers that were going to come to you if you just waited patiently.¬† Most of the little girls were actually really nice and patient just like you, but the parents were an entirely different story.¬† You would have thought the little jewel stickers were real rubies and emeralds or that if they just pushed their kid far enough forward she might, in fact, become a true princess.

One of the most exciting parts of the last two months has been your growing interest in and success with POTTY TRAINING.¬† You’ve consistently gone at school for quite a while now, spending your day in pull-ups and your naps dry.¬† At home it has been hit or miss until recently…now we find you sans pants and diaper or pull-up sitting on the potty patiently waiting to go potty while other times you’ll stop whatever we are doing, announce your need to go potty, and then take off running to the potty seat.¬† You are so proud of this new skill and always tell us, “Oh, you are SO proud of me, Mommy/Daddy!”¬† You love nothing more than putting on a new pull-up and then helping us dump the potty in the toilet, flushing it, and yelling, “That’s a lot of potty!¬† Bye, potty!”¬† We are still working on the poop phase of potty training, but you’ve had several successes in that area of late, so our fingers remain crossed that you will have this all down by the time baby brother shows up in May!¬† (I shudder at the thought of two in diapers.)

Speaking of baby brother, you are extremely excited about the idea of being a big sister. One day you announced, “Mommy, don’t you think it will be so much fun to have a baby brother?¬† Maybe we can take him to the park sometime!¬† That will be a great idea!”¬† You are also very keen on the idea of taking him swimming.¬† When I asked you what color swimsuit you wanted you said pink and that baby brother wanted pink, too.¬† A few minutes, and about twenty conversations later, you said, “Mommy, I actually think baby brother would want a blue bathing suit.”

You love talking to my tummy to see if baby brother will move and you love giving my belly button kisses because you have determined this is where the baby resides.¬† If only that were true; I wouldn’t have had to endure your big, fat tummy comment nor would I suffer the roundhouses to the ribs every night!

Ever since learning about baby brother you have taken a keen interest in ALL things baby.¬† You acknowledge every.single.baby we see in public with a squealing, “Look at that baby, Mommy.¬† (S)he is so cute!”¬† You’ve started asking a lot of questions about babies too.¬† You want to know what they like to drink, eat, play with, and read.¬† When asked those same questions your responses were, “Milk, cereal, soccer balls, and Charlie and Lola.”¬† You are quite confident that babies cry a lot and when asked why you said, “I don’t know.¬† They shouldn’t cry because they are always with their mommies.”

You continue to learn new and amazing things every day.¬† You now know how to spell yellow and box, know part of your address, and when to and not to call 911.¬† As you love to tell us, “911 isn’t for fun; it’s only for emergencies! If someone has a gun, run away and call 911!”¬† You can recite nearly any book we put in front of you whether you’ve heard it once or a thousand times.¬† You are amazingly good at looking at context clues to fill in the blanks for the parts you don’t have committed to memory yet.¬† We recently bought a set of Princess and the Frog books and I had read through the four books once to you prior to you “reading” them nearly word for word to your dolls.¬† You can recognize lots of letters and their sounds and are very, very interested in what everything says.¬† It really doesn’t matter what the object is, if there is printed text you point to it and ask, “What does that say?” You wait for us to tell you, study the words, repeat them, and then move onto the next line of text.¬† I can remember doing the same as a kid (okay, even now I do it); if there are words on something I want to read them and try them out…you never know when something cleverly written will turn up.¬† I hope and pray your love of books now translates into a continued love of reading and words throughout your life.¬† There are so many good books I cannot wait to share with you and many more that we have to discover together!

You are beginning to understand the concept of time and days of the week.¬† You started out by saying “lasterday” for yesterday but within a couple of days you had the correct version down.¬† Not only do you know the names for the days of the week, but you are shockingly good at nailing down what day of the week it actually is or on what day of the week something in the past happened! This skill alone puts you light years ahead of most of the high school kids I teach!

There is no easy transition into these next paragraphs as they are simply a list of things you’ve said that I want to remember:

One night while snuggling I yelled out, “Brian” a few times to try to get Daddy to come into your room to say goodnight.¬† After a couple good yells with no response from Daddy, you looked at me and said, “Huh.¬† I don’t think he heard you!”¬† I yelled one more time, to which you told me, “He’s in the office, remember?¬† Be quiet, Mommy!”

Another night, after a day that held a rather unlike Izzy fit, you told me, “I was a bad girl, Mommy.¬† Maybe I will do better next year.¬† I will be happy again, Mommy.”

In our continuing task of teaching you manners (thank you is second nature to you, but asking please of Mom and Dad seems to evade you 50% of the time…could this be part of that self-centered toddler world view?) we don’t acknowledge your requests until they are accompanied by a please.¬†¬†¬† Most of the time you catch on and say please but every so often you like to remind us of our true position in the household.¬† You’re a HUGE fan of cereal and so asked Daddy for more after eating a bowl.¬† Daddy asked, “More what?”¬† You said, “More cereal.”¬† Daddy responded, “More cereal what?”¬† You then retorted, “More cereal in my mouth!” and stared him down until he had to look away for fear of letting you know he was laughing!

After a long day of school, playing, and maintaining the busy life of a toddler you told me, “Goodnight, dear.¬† Turn off the light.”¬† Once the light was out, you sighed deeply and said, “Oh, what a day!”

Like most toddlers, and men, you tend to have selective hearing, so I often ask you, “What happens when you don’t listen?”¬† One time, upon being asked that, you said, “I get spanked.”¬† I asked if you liked to be spanked.¬† You said, “Not a lot of times.”¬† Another time that I asked if you remembered what happens when you don’t listen you said, “Not exactly…”

Lest you or your future therapist think we only beat you, remember that we use time outs as well, which for all your wailing and carrying on during your 2 1/2 minute respite you would think we were beating you like a red-headed step-child.¬† After a time out for not helping to clean up I asked what was going to happen when you got out.¬† You looked at me and the pile of toys and said, “I’m going to have to go back to time out.¬† I cannot pick up ALL of those toys.”

You are growing up so quickly, Isabella.¬† Every time I turn around you seem taller, less babyish, smarter, funnier, kinder, and independent.¬† You are turning into a little girl and frankly, I think it inhumane that you don’t slow down a bit.¬† I love watching you grasp and master more and more complex mental and physical tasks, but I do wish that was coupled with the days of snuggling you for hours on end.¬† Then your world consisted of only me and now your world consists of, “Mom, did you see that?” as you run between me and whatever cool thing you are doing or have just discovered.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

The other morning Isabella took one glance at me and loudly proclaimed, “Oh, Mommy.¬† You have a big, fat tummy!”¬† Of course, when pressed she was able to identify the source of the big, fat tummy:¬† “It’s because you have a baby brother in your tummy.¬† He’s so cute!”¬†

At 7 1/2 months pregnant I suppose I do, indeed, have a rather large, protruding gut.  I am still very comfortable, can exercise, and am still able to wear non-maternity shirts (sizing up is key), so I am always caught a tad off -guard when someone remarks about the fact that I am finally really showing or I catch a glimpse in the mirror at the burgeoning baby growth.  Sadly, I must admit I am larger than I think I am or feel I am.  

This has never been made more clear to me than on a recent lunch trip to Quiznos.¬† I ordered a small sandwich, but the guy behind the counter took one look at my gut and¬†tried the fine art¬†of the up-sell .¬† “Well…we actually have three sizes of sandwiches: small, regular, and large.”¬† To which I replied, “True, but I want the small, please.”¬† His retort: “The small is only about this big” as he held out his fingers to give me a visual just in case I was totally clueless about the minuscule sandwich with which I was going to try to satisfy my big, fat tummy.¬† I, obviously, stuck to my guns about the sandwich size, but when I sat down to eat I realized so had the sandwich boy: he gave me the regular size version of what I ordered, which was, just as I knew it would be, way too much food for me, pregnant or otherwise.

And so finally, here are some pictures of the aforementioned big, fat tummy.  Sadly, these pics taken with my iPhone (in my classroom) are the first official belly shots of this pregnancy.  The Woolseys are dealing with A LOT of stuff right now, which is really a poor excuse for not taking photos but alas it is what it is.

(Cardigan: Loft; Shirt: Loft; Skinny jeans: Gap maternity; Shoes: Gap kids)

Back in June Isabella came down with a nasty something or other that left her eyes goopy and her nose runny.¬† Within a day Brian contracted the funk and a few days later I, too, was suffering.¬† A couple weeks later all seemed well in the Woolsey domicile…until the grossness once more made its rounds through all three of us.¬† And so it has gone off and on for the better part of seven months now.¬†

People, we are tired of congestion, sore throats, runny noses, headaches, fevers, body aches, and general malaise.¬† Just about the time we think we’ve all good and recovered someone’s eyes start watering or a throat starts to feel scratchy or ears start to tingle and there is a collective groan because we know that all too soon every last one of us will be sick AGAIN!

Isabella has been presenting with a 102 degree temp off and on for about two weeks now.  Sometimes it hits in the morning and other times she makes it through the day only to collapse into a fevery, sleepy pile on my lap. 

¬†We’ve spent a great deal of time lounging about the last few weeks in hopes of making a recovery.¬† She’s been diagnosed with croup and took a steroid for a few days, which only resulted in creating a major disdain for all things medicinal in a child who, up until this point, has always taken medicine like we were offering her candy.¬† The fever has been gone for just under a week now but the barking cough still persists.

It was rather sad to watch her battle through this latest round of ickiness.¬† She wanted so desperately to do normal toddler things, but she¬†just couldn’t¬†muster up the energy to follow through.¬† One morning she got up, took a sip of milk, and asked to be held.¬† She proceeded to sleep another two hours on me with the occasional brave attempt to sit up and stay awake.¬†

 

One of the days she seemed to be doing better she requested a park trip.¬† Knowing that we could use some fresh air and a break from the house I quickly threw her in the BOB and headed out.¬† Once we got to the park all she wanted was to be held…for about an hour before she would agree to head home.¬† This is totally out of character for Isabella; the park is her domain.¬† The girl lives for the swing and the freedom to run up and down hills and pick flowers.¬† For her to see all of that and still choose my lap means she was really hurting.

She has started to feel better this week, which I think is in large part due to the fact that her Grams took one look at her on iChat and booked the next flight out of IN!  Isabella has started eating and drinking better, which was becoming a real concern over the last two weeks, and has had the energy to actually play and be a toddler for the past two days.  

Do I dare say it?  She might be on the mend!