Happy 5th Birthday Brianna

This weekend we were lucky enough to celebrate cousin Brianna's 5th birthday at Morkes Chocolate Shop. The kids got to make a chocolate pizza, chocolate molded candies and chocolate covered pretzels all before enjoying pizza and cake. Ella had a great time and we are all still enjoying the treats she got to take home!

Here is a picture of the girls making their chocolate pizzas (and Ella also discovered she really enjoys white chocolate):



Here is the birthday girl Brianna making her chocolate covered pretzels:



Here is Ella getting ready to dip her pretzels:


Here is a group shot of the party room:

Little Ballerina

Ella's school recently told us that she spends her entire day with a tu-tu on. As soon as she goes into her classroom in the morning, she puts it on and will literally wear it over her clothes for the rest of the day. We decided to buy her one for her to wear around the house, and she loves it. She even had to put it on over her jammies (along with her new shoes):

40 weeks!!!!

So, tomorrow I am officially 40 weeks pregnant. I went to the doctor today for the results of my blood test, a blood pressure check and a non stress test for the baby. The non stress test looked good and the results of the blood test came back fine. Also, my blood pressure was down (though still considered borderline-high) and there was protein in my urine again. This means that I am still on watch for preeclampsia, but that my doctor is going to let me continue to wait and hopefully go into labor on my own. I am scheduled for a c-section on Wednesday April 1st unless this little girl decides to arrive before then. I still have to go back on Thursday to turn in a 24 hour urine collection and another bp check and nst, but I am very happy that the doctor is letting me wait this one out a bit longer. Baby is still very high up, so I'm really needing this baby to drop so that I can go into labor on my own.

I will continue to update if anything changes.

Dora hat

Well, today Ella decided to boycott nap time. She was definitely tired, but instead of staying in her bed, she just kept getting into things in her room. Papa let Mama take an hour nap first and then Ella and I went out to the store so that Papa could get a little nap in. We are trying to build up as much rest as possible so that we are completely ready for new baby's arrival (which I'm really hoping happens sooner than later!).

While shopping Ella was a very good girl and we got her a new Dora hat. Lately she is very interested in putting a "pretty" in her hair. This includes pony tails, pig tails, barretts and headbands. So naturally, she can't go a single minute without her new hat on already.

38 week appointment

This morning was my 38 week appointment and because Papa had to work, Ella came with me. Unfortunately my blood pressure has been going up the past few appointments and today it was the highest it has been so far. Because of that, the doctor had the nurse draw blood for a pregnancy-induced hypertension blood work-up. I have to go back on Monday for the results of the blood work and also so that they can check my blood pressure again (and to give them a 24 hour urine sample). I am supposed to be taking it easy the next few days. No running errands alone or carrying Ella, and just get as much rest time as possible. If the outcome is in fact preeclampsia, then I will most likely have to schedule a c-section since they will not induce for a VBAC. I am also 1 centimeter dilated right now, but the baby is still very high up.

Ella did great at the doctor appointment. She sat in the chair for about 40 minutes eating her bagel and singing songs. She showed the midwife the baby in her belly and looked very surprised when she heard the baby's heartbeat. At one point while I was laying down she looked at me and said "Mama, get up."

Singing Backyardigans with baby

Ella got her little baby and stroller for X-mas from her cousins in the Feliciano-side Christmas exchange. She loves to put the baby in and out of the stroller and take her for a walk. I think it makes for good practice when her new sister is born and the weather gets nice enough to walk outside! Additionally, Ella has taken an interest again in "The Backyardigans". She used to watch it when she was younger and couldn't talk b/c the colors in that show are very bright and you can't help but stop everything to watch. She doesn't watch it too often so she is still learning the words to the theme song, but she tries to sing along every time. I think her love for singing may come from Mama, but her tendency to be off-key may be from Papa :)

First bike ride of 2009

Though it is no where near warm enough to spend extended periods of time outside, we thought it would be nice to quickly get for a few minutes for Ella to ride her bike. She was really excited to ride and did a really good job. We only spent about 10 minutes out there before she was ready to come back in, but we were able to capture a picture and a video.

Gianna's 3rd birthday party

Happy Birthday to Gianna! We helped Gianna celebrate her third birthday at her party in Schaumburg. I thought it might be fun to go swimming, but none of my maternity suits fit at this point and I wasn't about to buy one this late in the game! So Papa was ready and willing to enjoy the party and play in the water with her.

Ella was a bit hesitant at first, but she had a great time. She kept wanting to get out and say hi to me and then go back into the water. Since she can't be submerged under water (b/c of her tubes), we decided to keep her glasses on her to swim so that she could see while she was playing.You sure can tell that Ella is growing and losing that baby weight from these pictures.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Martin

This weekend we celebrated Grandpa Martin's 60th birthday with a big family dinner. We had about 17 people in total and it was great. With all the cooking and watching the girls and cleaning, we did not get many pictures. However, we did get a few cute pictures of Ella with her cousins Brianna and Morgan enjoying their birthday cupcakes. Ella really enjoys playing with them and we they are so well behaved that we enjoy having them over anytime!