Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Wisconsin visitors

We were lucky enough to have Lori, Ellie and Carla come and visit for the weekend. Ella and Ellie had a blast playing together. They did really well sharing and eating meals at the little table together. We will gladly have them back any time, it was so much fun. Hopefully we will be able to have a Wisconsin play date before Greta arrives.



Sunday, January 25, 2009

Glasses - pair #4

Ella got glasses in May 2008, since then we have had to replace them quite a few times. Most recently it seemed like the frame broke because of normal wear and tear (and Ella likes to put them on herself, so they may get a little more abuse than normal). Luckily we had not yet filled the warranty on the lenses, so we just got her a replacement pair of frames and lenses. It makes a world of difference and she was really excited to wear them.


Night time wear

We recently started putting Ella in undershirts (at least that is what they were called when I was forced to wear them growing up). We put them underneath shirts and sometimes she wears them to bed underneath her pajamas. We thought that these pics captured just how cute she looks in them.



Sunday, January 18, 2009

Bound to happen...

Well, with temperatures hitting -15° during the morning rides to school, a cold was about to hit someone in this family. Ella seems to be dealing with it now and mama is really hoping not to catch it (though sniffles have already started). Papa seems to be immune to everything, which is great news and typically means that he doesn't catch the illness when we do.

Ella got her monthly communication report from school. Every day we receive one that says what activities they did that day, what she ate (or didn't eat mostly), napping and diaper/potty usage. Once a month we get an overall reports that discussing the progress that she is making in some areas, where she struggles and who she spent the most time playing with this month. The teachers wrote a really cute note under potty training section that said :
"Ella is doing a great job on the potty. Every time she pees on the potty, she flushes it and celebrates by clapping her hands and saying 'I did it'."

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Big girl panties

This morning Ella woke up and went pee pee on the potty, so I asked her if she wanted to wear her "big girl panties" today. She said yes and we started with a pair that had Dora on them. Approximately 30 seconds later, she wet them and did not like how it felt. She came right over to me to tell me that she peed in them and she wanted them off. The second pair she picked out had Elmo on them. She wore them all morning and until nap time without an accident. We would ask her where she is supposed to go pee pee and she would tell us "in the potty". We sang songs about it and put her on the potty often. For nap time I decided to put her in a pull up, but she wanted her big girl panties on also.

It's just the first day, but I think that it's been a successful start. Here are some pictures of her wearing her new big girl panties and her snow boots (she had to have the boots on), and one with her Dora slippers on:





Tuesday, January 6, 2009

28 week check-up

Today I am officially 29 weeks pregnant, but had my 28 week appointment. I had to re-schedule it due to Ella's glasses breaking and having to get in to see her eye doctor. They did the glucose blood test today. If I pass, everything is ok. If I don't pass, I have to return for the three hour test to screen for gestational diabetes. I failed the one hour test when I was pregnant with Ella, but passed the three hour. So I am kind of preparing myself for three hours of blood draw!

I saw Dr. Michael today and he assured me that the baby is head down, which is great news. I have been feeling a lot of pressure under my right rib cage and kicks very low in my belly. I guess that just means she is stretching out and punching me as often as possible. He measured me belly and I am 29 weeks, but measuring 32 weeks. Which means that I go in for an ultrasound this coming Thursday to see if I have the same high fluid condition that sent me to the high-risk OB with my last pregnancy. I am hoping that little Greta isn't getting too big because that will significantly lower my option for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).

I have officially entered the third trimester, which means that I start seeing the doctors and midwives every two weeks. According to babycenter.com the baby is currently measuring approximately 2 1/2 pounds and is just over 15 inches long!

Here is a belly pic taken over the weekend:

Friday, January 2, 2009

Christmas pictures

With such a great Christmas, came some really great pictures. Ella enjoyed opening gifts and even enjoyed posing for pictures. She kept saying "one more" b/c she wanted Opa to take another picture of her.

Here she is on Christmas Day opening gifts:



Here is a picture on Christmas Eve with her two cousins, Bri and Morgan. She LOVED playing with them, especially "Simon Says"

Here is a family picture from Christmas Eve: