Uh oh...

Only 19 months old, and already I have to worry about Russell having girls in his bed!



We hosted playgroup today, and Russell and Eliza had the best time playing in his crib. They were laughing, dancing, and rolling around.

Just don't get too comfortable, Eliza! ;)

2 Cribs

We finally did it; we finally started working on Meredith's room. On Saturday, Jason assembled the hand-me-down crib we got from his cousins for Russell, and moved Russell's crib into Meredith's room.

We are giving Meredith all of Russell's furniture since his dresser has the changing table part (which she will need), and the hand-me-down crib may need to be passed on in a year or so - so it makes more sense for Russell to have it. And obviously we will need the glider in Meredith's room.

We are slowly transitioning Russell into this new (to him) furniture. We made a big deal about him getting a new crib, so he was actually really excited about it.

Here he is waking up from his nap today:



And here is Meredith's crib!



I started laughing yesterday while we were driving. Jason said, "What's so funny?" I said, "We have two cribs! We're going to have two babies!" Sometimes it seems very surreal.


And one more picture, this of Russell and me after church today:

Friday Update

I'm 28 weeks pregnant! Not sure when exactly the 3rd trimester starts, but I know I'm in it now - yay!



Pregnancy Highlights:
Size of baby: should be about the size of a Chinese cabbage (according to BabyCenter.com)
Movement: I can feel her kicking, squirming, and now can see her body parts move across my belly :)
What I miss: sleeping on my stomach and back, bending over without trouble, and holding Russell in certain ways on my lap (he misses this too!)
Cravings: nothing specific, just hungry a lot
Best Moment This Week: got to see a healthy little Meredith on our ultrasound last night!


Because of measuring too small, we had an ultrasound last night. She looks completely healthy and the fluid levels are normal - so apparently I will just carry small like I did with Russell.

Speaking of Russell:



This was before today's nap. He just sat quietly with Scout (the stuffed animal dog) for at least 5 minutes. Very unusual, and so cute!

Dr's Appointment and Name

I had the glucose test this morning. Yuck. I know some women actually like to drink that stuff, but not me! It tastes like over-sugared Kool-Aid, and I've never liked Kool-Aid. I wonder why they can't just let you eat a pound of chocolate instead? :)

I also had the normal measure-and-listen appointment while I was there. I had thought that I was measuring the way I'm supposed to, but apparently I'm measuring 3-4 cm too small, just like I did with Russell. Since I've been through it before, I'm not concerned. But they still want me to come back next week to get re-measured, and if I'm still too small, I'll have another ultrasound.

Sweet baby girl's heart rate is "strong" (said the doctor), and she is active as ever - even kicked the doctor while he was measuring :)

I've decided it's time to go ahead and put her name up here! I've told a lot of people in person, so it's probably anti-climatic anyway:

Meredith Claire

Jason and I have strict "naming criteria," and this fit all of them. Plus, it's a beautiful name :)

A Different Children's Museum

For one of Russell's Christmas presents, Pops and Mimi gave us reciprocal memberships to children's museums all over the country. So today, instead of going to the children's museum we always go to, we went to one in a nearby city.

Russell had 2 favorite parts:

1) The museum was having a Fancy Nancy party this morning. Yes, Fancy Nancy. I thought it was hilarious that he loved that party. I think it worried Jason a little ;) Actually, we both know why he loved that party: there was music to dance to, a stage to climb on, and a disco ball.

Here he is, in total awe of the lights and music:

Next photo: you can see there was one other little boy in there. Also, you can see the "runway" they set up - Russell loved that too (because of the big mirror and lights):

2) Second favorite thing was, of course, the parking lot. He just loves cars. He stood at this window for a while just looking at the parked cars.

Russell definitely had fun, but I think our children's museum is a little more geared toward toddlers. Anyway, this one will still be a fun and different thing to do occasionally.

Wordless Wednesday

New Year's Eve 2010

New Year's Eve is usually such a "no-kids" kind of holiday. Everything starts way past when they should be in bed. I decided to solve this problem by hosting a New Year's Eve open house. It was early - 4 to 6:30 - but we didn't care. Last year, I don't think we did anything for New Year's. This was really fun, a chance to get our friends together, and a chance for me to host a party in our new house!

I didn't really decorate, but did make a banner and some hors d'oeuvres:

I was most proud of the cake pops!! I followed Bakerella's basic recipe and they turned out so cute. But they took FOREVER to make, so I probably won't make them again for a long, long time.

We had (I think) around 20 people here - kids included. I was concerned it would seem too crowded but it was wonderful, and I think I could have invited a few more people without it being too much. I'll know for next time!

We got to have friends and family here, since my brother Jef and my parents came into town! It was really nice to have them here to help with Russell while I was cooking and cleaning and getting ready for the party...and of course, so I could socialize a bit during the party.

I think there were 7 kids under 3 here (plus 2 baking in mommies' bellies :)). They were all so good and played really well - not too many sharing problems. I left out some goldfish and apple cinnamon cheerios, which probably helped with their moods ;)

A picture with almost all the playgroup moms - this was a first! We are always chasing kids and never get in the photos!

We had such a great time, and yet everyone was gone and everything cleaned up HOURS before the ball dropped :) Such is life with small children, I suppose! Happy 2011 everyone - may it be the best year yet!