Guess What!

I've been so inconsistent with this blog, I won't be surprised if no one reads this.  But surprise--we moved!  We left Houston on June 1 and arrived in Kaysville, Utah, on June 3.  We've been here with my Watts grandparents since then, and we'll be moving to Wendover at the end of the month.  Josh will be teaching third grade at Anna Smith Elementary there.  It'll be a big change, living in a town of 5800 people (between Wendover, UT, and West Wendover, NV).  But I'm actually pretty excited.  People there love living there, and those I have talked to say that people get together a lot.  I would much rather have a game night than go out on the town anyways!  We're going to give it a year or two and see how we like it. 

So that's our biggest news.  Cora turns 3 soon, and is super smart and adorable.  She knows most of her letter sounds, and we're starting to show her how to string sounds together.  Esther is 5 1/2 months, and can sit up, but not roll over.  For a while, she had no interest in rolling over, but now she's working on it. She sits up really well, though!

I'll post pictures when we move.  I just wanted to give a little update.

Happy Easter!

Cora loves holding and hugging her baby sister.  I just have to remind her not to lean her weight on Esther when she hugs her.

Playing on the floor together.

Work those neck muscles!

I took these three today.  Isn't she getting so big?  Her 2 month appointment is on Monday, so we'll get to find out how much she weighs now.  I'm excited!  

She likes this baby gym in small doses.  She'll lay there for a while and look at the toys, then get bored and cry to be picked up.  She loves her bouncy chair, though.  It has a seahorse and starfish hanging over it, and she will stare at them for ages.  She'll be happy in the bouncy chair for 15 minutes at a time, which is a big deal for a 2 month old.

It's Cora and the Esther bunny!

(I was so proud of myself for thinking of that!  I will probably have to take a picture like this every Easter.)

(Doesn't Cora look so grown up?  Holy cow!)

Friends ask me on occasion how I'm adjusting to having two kids.  Honestly, it has barely felt like a transition.  Maybe it's because I had either Josh or his mom (and sometimes both) at home with me until Esther was 3 1/2 weeks old.  Maybe it's because Esther sleeps so well in general.  Maybe it's because I can easily ignore a messy house (most of the time).  Maybe it's because Cora hasn't been jealous (much) or regressed at all.  Getting out of the house is complicated, though.  Cora walks down the stairs, and I bring Esther down in her car seat.  We store the stroller in the entry way, which makes it a tight squeeze.  I have to maneuver Esther around it to open the door.  Then I leave her and Cora on the porch (Cora is almost always very good about staying put) and get the stroller out and down the porch steps and set up.  Then I get Cora buckled in, put our bags underneath, and put Esther's seat in the back part of the stroller.  Then we're off.  

So, happy Easter, everyone!  Enjoy the pictures!  Remember our Savior and what He did for you.

Recent pictures and smiles!

After my belated post of Esther's early pictures, I thought I should add some more recent ones.  And at the end is a video of her smiling!

First bath at home!  Feb. 14

Cora wanted to help.

So tiny!  She sucked her fists all the time when she was brand new, then stopped for a while and has started doing it again.  Feb. 15

Cora loves her baby sister!  (And her pink polka-dot underwear) March 8

March 9, one month old

"I get to hold her!"

Such a cute picture.  Too bad the ugly cardboard box is there!

Josh's parents came to visit for Esther's blessing on Sunday, March 11.  The day before, we went to the Memorial City Mall to see "The Lorax" and have lunch.  Cora and I got to ride the double-decker carousel! She was excited about the zebra (one of her current favorite animals), but going up and down right next to the railing of the second level proved too much for her, so during the ride we moved to one of the stationary horses on the inside.  Still really cool to be up  high.

Isn't she adorable?

Family pictures by our friend Christine Ricks

I really like this one.  I made it bigger so you can fully appreciate our bizarre expressions.  This was not posed.  Well, Josh was posing.  I have absolutely no idea why I am sticking my tongue out.

And, here is the video of Esther smiling!

Baby Esther arrived!

I uploaded all the pictures for this post 2 days after Esther was born, and never posted it.  I think I was planning to write the whole birth story with it.  Whoops.  Better late than never, I guess!

Right after she was born.

This technically isn't how much she weighed at the moment of birth.  She peed and pooped in the infant warmer before they got a chance to weigh her.  

"I'm so glad to finally see you!  Now you can't kick my ribs anymore!"

Cora was soo excited to come see us at the hospital.  She didn't seem baffled by Esther.  Josh told me that as they were coming to our room, she said, "Baby Sister out of Mama's tummy."  I guess all the talking and reading about babies worked!

Daddy and his girls!

A rare moment when her eyes were open

Cora wanted to hold her right away.  Esther is unwrapped because Cora wanted to see her "little tiny fingers and little tiny toes."  When reading books about babies, I had told Cora that Esther would have little tiny fingers and toes and hands and nose, etc.

Cora wanted to share her toys.

And one picture of just Cora, so she's not jealous.  I made her a snake out of playdough, and she turned it into a smiley face.  She has a very active imagination.  She brings her fingers together like she's holding the handle of a teacup, and it becomes a drink of juice.  The other day she fed my Visiting Teacher imaginary pizza and peas.  And I love listening to her play by herself.  Her toys talk to each other now, and it's hilarious.  I have to try to get a video sometime.  She can also quote several of her favorite books from memory, which we also want to record.  We need to do that soon.

The waiting game . . .

I have NO reason to be impatient for this baby, since Cora was 10 days late, but I have been.  Ever since I hit 37 weeks, there has been this sneaky little voice in the back of my brain that says, "You're considered full term now!  Any day!"  Yeah, right.  I'm about as dilated as I was when I went to the hospital with Cora (1cm)--and I was induced.  There is no reason that I should think I'm going to be early.  The doctor did do an early ultrasound, so this due date should be more accurate than Cora's, but that doesn't mean early.  I alternate between thinking this baby is just about to come, and worrying what I'm going to do if she's late.  My doctor doesn't want to go much past my due date, but I'd rather not be induced again.  I just need to stop trying to be in control of this process, because it is completely beyond my control.  One positive sign, though:  I had contractions for about 4 hours last Tuesday night.  We kept thinking maybe this was it, but they varied in spacing from 5-20 minutes apart and didn't get any stronger.  (Real labor contractions will become stronger and more regular over time.)  But at least my body is doing something.  That's comforting.  I don't remember many contractions from when I was pregnant with Cora, but Josh said I did have some.  It's funny what details he remembers that I don't, and vice versa.  I was kinda glad I wasn't actually in labor, because I had three events this past weekend that I didn't want to miss, one of which being my own baby shower.

I think we are ready for her to come, as far as logistics go.  The hospital bags are packed.  I ordered a double stroller and a new car seat today.  I kept the car seat that we used for Cora, which a friend had given us; however, when I took the cover off to wash it, Cora had a blast picking apart the styrofoam padding, so now we don't trust it.  We had debated getting a new one anyways, since one of the straps tended to loosen.  As luck would have it, Target.com is having a baby gear sale this very week, so we were able to get both the seat and the stroller for 15% off, plus we had gift cards.  The car seat can latch into the stroller, which I think will be very nice.

We have a babysitter for Cora, and plans for what to do if I go into labor while Josh is at school (He has his phone on all the time now, and if I can't get ahold of him on that, I have the phone numbers of his principal and all the other fourth grade teachers so I can get someone to have him call me).  I realized last week when I dropped Josh off so I could have the car to go to my doctor's appointment that we hadn't even thought about what we would do if I happened to go into labor on a day when I had the car.  In all my planning ahead, it had never occurred to me.  But we do have a plan now.  The friend who is watching Cora said she could pick Josh up if that happened.  The odds are low, but I know it would have happened if I hadn't planned for it.  Josh thinks I'm probably going to have the baby at night, since that's when I most often have contractions.  But we can also make an argument for it happening while he's at school, because then it would be least convenient.  :D

Cora is taking a nap today (hallelujah!), which is why I can spend so much time writing.  She's becoming clingier than she used to, and can be very demanding--"Mom, come play with me.  Come play with me now!" At least she knows how to express her needs.  And I'm glad she asks me to play with her, because when she doesn't, I tend to play with her less than I should.

And now, I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and get some more scrapbooking done.  I had hopes of catching up on Cora's before this baby came, but I opted to finish our wedding scrapbook instead (after 3 1/2 years . . .).  I'm at April 2010, so just a tiny bit behind . . .

Christmas and ultrasound

Here are some pictures from our Christmas with Josh's family, and Tuesday's ultrasound!

Cora and Isabelle making music together

Dog Pile!

Cora LOOOOOOVED the snow.  Even now, she'll ask to go play in the snow whenever she sees a picture or video of it.  I have to try to explain that Houston doesn't get snow.

Cora, Thomas, and Benjamin making a gingerbread train (with some help).  They had a blast!

Opening presents Christmas morning!  We got her some play food, a play kitchen, and I made her an apron.  She loves playing kitchen now.  My mom got her a bunch of plastic animals that she also loves.  She likes to line them up or take a couple with her to the potty and play for a long time.

By the way, she's potty trained!  We started January 2nd because she was really excited about the underwear we gave her for Christmas.  I just put in her in a shirt and underwear for a couple of days (using a Pull-Up when we went anywhere) and sat her on the potty every hour or so.  She went through 5 pairs of underwear the first day, but only 2 or 3 for the next few days, and now she rarely has an accident!  Yay!  I'm enjoying a few diaper-free weeks until Baby Sister comes!

After the 26th, it was just us, Anna, and Rachel's family at Josh's parents.  We went to the City of Rocks, which is a bunch of huge boulders in the middle of a valley.  I never did find out how exactly they formed.  Here's Grandpa "saving" Cora from a rock.

Josh liked seeing how high he could climb.

Family picture!  You can't see Baby Sister, but she's there too!

Cora and Thomas had SO much fun together.  I got a great video of them chasing Josh around the living room that I'll have to post later.  I love Cora's face in this picture.

Cora didn't want to leave!  We all had a great time.

Here's a picture from last night. 37 weeks and 41 inches around at the belly button.  That's what the smaller writing says.  I should have just used a full sheet of paper.  The baby's due February 7th!  Here are some ultrasounds from yesterday.

I think this is a profile picture of the baby's head and shoulder.  I'm not positive.

This is her face!  You can pretty clearly see an eye and her nose.  Her mouth is open.  The image on the ultrasound machine screen was much clearer.  I am getting soooo excited to see her!

This is looking down on her head.  The doctor said she weighs about 6 1/2 pounds and is in the perfect position for birth, though still very high in my abdomen.  My cervix has softened some, but I haven't dilated at all.  I was only dilated about 1 cm when I went to the hospital to be induced with Cora.  I'm excited for this baby to come, but I hope she waits until after my baby shower on the 28th. :)  Because my doctor dated this pregnancy so early (at 7 weeks), she is pretty confident in the due date and doesn't want me to go over. I really don't want to be induced this time, but I decided (with my doctor's encouragement) that the risks of going too late are more important than my desire to avoid being induced, especially since I had such a (relatively) good experience last time.  So I probably won't have this baby much later than February 7th.  I'm still holding out hope for earlier, though.  We'll keep you all posted!