Heidi's M&M's

Before we got here (Alabama/my parents' house), my mom and dad bought some red and green Christmasy m&m's to put in the candy dish in the living room. Every day, Heidi helps herself to them. She usually will say something like "I'm just going to get one mom..." or "I'm just going to get two mom...," but she usually ends up getting five or six instead. At least she is honest, though. When she comes out of the living room, she usually tells me how many she has gotten and sometimes shows me... and she's always right about the number she has actually gotten (which is usually five or six m&m's).

Went to the movies & Heidi got more surprises from Grandma and Grandpa while I was gone.

Last night, I went to the movies to see Twilight with my sister. I read all of the Twilight series books a while back and my sister had just finished reading them too... and since the movie just recently came out, my sister wanted to go see it... so I went with her. I thought the filming seemed a little low budget, but maybe they meant for it to be that way, so it would seem more real. The characters also didn't look exactly the way I pictured them in the book either. Oh well. It was an okay movie.

When I got home, Heidi was still awake and Grandma Holly and Grandpa George had given her another surprise while I was gone. She let me know as soon as I walked in the door! She had a new princess dress-up gown, a magic wand, princess slippers, and a princess crown. I guess she had also eaten a bunch of chocolate while I was gone, too. Heidi said that she had a fun night with Grandma and Grandpa.

My mom said that she pretended to be a princess all night and that my mom had to be the prince, who had to keep kissing her to wake her up.
I guess she was pretty worn out because she didn't even argue with me when I told her that we could only read one book before bed (instead of the usual two). My mom said that Heidi got the clock out while I was gone and said "three more minutes," which means she will be ready to go to bed in "three more minutes."

About a week ago, or so, I showed her the clock and told her that when the long hand was pointing all of the way down to the six (at 7:30pm), it is time to get ready for bed (so she will be ready for bed by around 8pm). So, she thinks when it's dark and the long hand is pointing all of the way down, it's time to get ready for bed.

My mom offered to put her to bed, but she said she would wait until her mommy got home... and she did. She went right to sleep with no complaints about having to go to bed.

Picture Day!

Heidi had her 3-year pictures taken today at Sears! It was kind of funny watching her pose today. She kept scrunching her shoulders up and putting her hands up to her mouth. After we were finished, she said she wanted to go back and do it again. I will put some pictures online later tonight! We're going to go to the store after we eat tonight with Grandma and Grandpa to find a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving (so we won't have to thaw one out).

A couple of pictures of Heidi on her birthday

Here are just a couple of pictures of Heidi on her birthday at Grandma Holly and Grandpa George's house. She turned 3 this year. I wrote about it in a previous blog, but am just now getting around to adding some pictures.

One was taken before she blew out her candles (the bottom picture). Just after she blew them out, she said "I wish for a puppy!" ... and she had a big smile on her face (the top picture). She has been wanting a puppy, but I keep telling her that we will have to wait until after Baby Hannah is born and grows up a little. I just don't want a baby and a puppy at the same time.

Destin Beach Pictures

Here are some pictures of Heidi enjoying the beautiful beach in Destin, Florida (mentioned in a blog below).

Build-A-Bear Picture

Here's a picture of Heidi with her ballerina bunny that she made (mentioned in a blog entry below).

Heidi's Haircut

When Heidi was about 21-months-old or so, I cut her hair for the first time. It was really kind of stringy and the back was longer than the sides, so I just cut about an inch and a half of the stringy part in the back (hoping that the sides would eventually meet up with the back).

Last night, I gave Heidi her second hair cut. I cut off about another inch and a half from the back and just a little (barely any) off of the sides because it has just been looking really messy and stringy. It is a lot closer to being all one length now. Now, I am just hoping that it will start to thicken a little.

Tomorrow morning, we are going to get her 3-year pictures taken at Sears. I hope she does okay. She used to do a pretty good job of smiling and posing for pictures, but lately, she has been giving fake smiles and looking down or away to some other place. I hope she does okay tomorrow!

Just Made My Blog Private

I just made my blog private today. I just thought it might be a good idea. When I first started this blog, Brian seemed a little hesitant about it being so open to the public... so I discovered the "permission" feature today and thought I would make it private. If I forgot to invite some people or don't have their email addresses, I hope they will send me an email, so I can add them.

Sunday with Grandpa George

This past Sunday, Heidi got to spend some quality time with Grandpa George. He took her to play at a park here in Enterprise. I guess she got to play with some kids there, which she hasn't been able to do very much since we left Fort Hood, TX. She really misses playing with other kids and talks about it a lot. They also fed some bread to the ducks in the pond at the park. After they left the park, Grandpa George stopped at a store on the way home to pick up some citrus flavored chapstick for Heidi. I guess the wind was blowing a lot while they were out at the park and she kept licking her lips... and they ended up getting pretty chapped while they were out. Heidi LOVES putting on chapstick, so that was another plus for Heidi that day!

Today (Monday), my mom found 5 or 6 lip kissing marks on the long mirror in the bathroom. When she asked where they came from, Heidi said "It was me!" I guess she had fun kissing the mirror after putting on some more chapstick (when no one was looking).

Destin Beach & Build-A-Bear

This past Saturday, we drove down to Destin and walked on the beach for a while. It was a little cool, so we did not plan on going swimming... but I guess Heidi was planning on getting wet anyway. Before we even got out of the car, she pulled her pants up over her knees to make sure that her pants wouldn't get wet. She had been wanting to go to the beach for a long time. When we lived in Texas, I kept telling her that she would have to wait until sometime when we went to go visit Grandma Holly and Grandpa George... and they would take us to the beach. She finally got to go! She seemed to have fun dipping her hands and toes in the water, walking on the beach, and drawing in the white sand. Destin, Florida has the most beautiful beaches (in my opinion)!

After our visit to the beach, we went to the Build-A-Bear workshop in Destin! Heidi's Great Grandma Bradford, who lives in Maryland, sent her some money for her birthday that we used to go to Build-A-Bear with. Heidi has been wanting to go, so she finally got her chance. She made a really cute bunny rabbit that she named Fluffy. She picked a ballerina costume (with slippers and a bow) to put on her bunny. Her bunny giggles when you squeeze it. Heidi giggles, too. Now she can pretend to do her ballet (which she often does around the house) with her ballerina bunny. She takes her bunny to bed with her to cuddle with it every night. It was really cute watching her rub the little, red heart on her tummy and her head... and bouncing up and down with it... and dancing with it a little before she got to place the heart into her bunny before it was sewn up.

After we left the Build-A-Bear workshop, we also went shopping in the outlets for a little while. My dad (Grandpa George) was holding the cardboard box house that held her new ballerina bunny for a little while, as we shopped, but when Heidi noticed that he was holding her box... she got upset and said that he couldn't hold her bunny... that "he's killing it." I have NO idea how she got that idea! He was just holding it. I guess she just didn't want him to hold it, so I had to hold the bunny. Later, when we got in the car to go home, she told me that I could hold it if I made sure that I didn't hurt her. I guess she is just being really protective of her new bunny???

Overall, it was a fun day in Destin. It took us a little over an hour and a half to get back home to Grandma and Grandpa's house... and Heidi got to go to sleep with her new bunny, Fluffy. :)

Heidi Wants To Go To School

Heidi has been pretending a lot lately that she is in school. She usually tells me and my mom to get our books and follow her into the big room because it's school time... and then if we follow her, either Heidi or I have to be the teacher. We do things like counting, practicing sign language, reading nursery rhymes or other books, doing exercises, playing Simon Says, or just doing whatever the teacher says the student/s have to do.

Heidi just turned three this past Sunday (November 16th). Even if I could afford to send her to preschool right now (which we can't really do right now because we are temporarily jobless and homeless), she probably can't even go to a 3-year-old preschool program until she is almost 4-years-old because of her birth date, unfortunately. I think she wants to go to school and would probably do great in a 3-year-old program right now, but I guess we will just have to wait... Poor me! I guess Heidi will want to keep pretending to play school with me (or Grandma... or anyone else who will play) for another year or two... until I can eventually get her into some kind of a preschool program.

I remember when I was 3-years-old, I really wanted to go to school! I started going to a 3-year-old preschool program at Fort Rucker Elementary School. I remember my first day of school... I really wanted to ride the big, yellow school bus like my older neighbor kids, who got on the bus a couple of houses away from mine across the street. I remember standing out on my driveway wanting to get on the bus, but it just drove right past me and went over to the place where all of the big kids were waiting a couple of houses away. My mom drove me to school that day. Then, when we got there, my mom said that I told her to go after she took me to my classroom. I was ready to go to school without her. I also remember that there were little telephones on the wall on the left side of the room after I walked into the classroom. I guess I must not have started school on the same day as everyone else in the room because everyone in the room who knew their phone number in the classroom had a telephone with his/her name on it up on the wall. I just knew that I wanted my telephone up on the wall, so I went home and learned my phone number right away, so I could have mine up on the wall too! I can still remember it too... it was 598-8758. I hope Heidi will be as eager to go to school as I was... and it seems like right now, she is. :)

Stinky Poo Poo Head

Heidi has been calling people "Stinky Poo Poo Head" a lot lately. I don't know where she got it from, but I have tried telling her that it is not nice to call people mean names... and that it can hurt someone's feelings if you call a person a mean name. I think she thinks it's funny. Maybe it's just because she's three...

Glucose Test Results

I finally got my glucose test results back from the test that I took last Friday... The clinic called late this afternoon and told me that I passed the blood glucose tests that I had last week. I am really glad that I won't have to worry about having gestational diabetes! :)

Heidi's Birthday Parties

For Heidi's birthday, she got some Little People sets for her third birthday this past Sunday from Grandma Holly and Grandpa George. She got the Twirl and Dance Castle, Royal Tea Party Set, Royal Carriage, and a prince that comes with a frog (I guess so the princess can kiss a frog and he can turn into a prince). Heidi has really been enjoying playing with her new Little People. With all of the sets combined, there are 3 princesses, 2 princes, a frog, and a white puppy. She plays with them a LOT since she has gotten them. She also makes up the most interesting names for the different people. Here are some of the names she has used so far (a couple of them are normal):

Cassius
Toopsie
Tanksie
Grace
Heidi
Tacksis
Loyla

I guess she is just being creative with her naming of the Little People.

At the birthday party on Sunday, she had home made pizza, chocolate cake, and chocolate ice cream. In addition to all of the Little People sets, she also got a couple of coloring books (Strawberry Shortcake & Winnie the Pooh) and a Tinkerbell Color Wonder set from her Aunt Blair, and a couple of outfits with some matching swirly barrettes from Grandma Holly and Grandpa George. Her Great Aunt Linda also sent her a pretty, sparkly snow globe and a heart-shaped necklace with her name on it.

Oh yeah, Grandma Holly also gave Heidi some princess hair to play dress-up with. It is a piece of synthetic hair that is long, brown, and curly. You can twist it around a pony tail and pretend that you have long, luxurious princess hair. When Heidi opened that present up, she held it up for everyone to see and said "This is scary hair!" She is afraid of it and doesn't really want anything to do with it. I put it in my hair and wore it for a while to see if she would maybe get more used to it and see that it wasn't so scary afterall, but she's still afraid of it.

She also had two other parties! She had three parties for her third birthday this year!

On the Thursday before her birthday, she had a hot dog birthday lunch at her Grandpa Bob's house. At that party, she had cherry chip cupcakes. Grandpa Bob and Karen gave her a pretty head band with little people across the top of it that they picked up while they were on their cruise through central America... and they also gave her a $20 bill that we put into Heidi's savings account. Her Great Grandma Vesta gave her a pretty blue dress and a $5 bill... and Howard (Grandma Vesta's boyfriend) gave her a $5 bill. Brian and I gave her a Sleeping Beauty barbie (with a beautiful, sparkly, pink dress).

On the Friday before her birthday, she had a pizza birthday party at Grandma Sylvia's house. We also had cupcakes with sprinkles on top and she got to open even more presents. Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Steve gave Heidi a pretty dress, a Muppet Baby book, and some really cute, pink rain boots with Hello Kitties on the toes (which she REALLY needs in Washington). Brian and I gave her the new Tinkerbell movie at that party.

So... Heidi got a LOT of presents this year for her birthday!

Before each party, she kept asking me if all of her friends were going to come over. I kept having to tell her that we can't have friends over this year for your birthday. She seemed really sad every time I had to tell her that there weren't going to be any kids coming over to play at her birthday parties. She really likes playing with other kids.

When I asked her what she wanted for her bithday a while back... she said she wanted a pink dolly, a dress, pizza, and hot dogs... so even though she didn't have any friends over, I think she got everything she was hoping for at her parties. She's still enjoying playing with all of her presents! :)

Failed My Glucose Test Today

This morning, I went into the lab next to my OB doctor's office to take my blood glucose test. I got there about 8:03am this morning, so parking was SO much easier than it usually is there. I had to drink a really sweet orange flavored drink... and then an hour later, they took a blood test.

This afternoon at about 4pm or so, the doctor's office called me with the results. I guess I did not do well on the glucose test, so they want me to fast tonight from 8pm to 8am, with only sips of water if needed. Then, I will go in at 8am and have a fasting blood glucose test taken. I guess then, I will have to drink DOUBLE the amount of the super sweet sugar drink that I drank today... and have another blood test at 9am, 10am, and 11am! I don't want to sit in the lab ALL morning, but I guess I will have to. I really don't like needles very much either! I am a big wimp!

Oh yeah, they also told me that I'm anemic. She asked me if I've been taking my prenatal vitamins everyday... and I really do take them religiously every night. She recommended that I start eating more red meats and said that they would give me a list of foods that I should try eating more when I go back to the office. I guess I will have to take an iron pill in addition to my prenatal vitamin.

I really hope tomorrow's blood sugar testing goes okay because I really don't want to have to worry about having gestational diabetes... on top of worrying about a tumor (which I'm hoping won't grow too quickly while I'm pregnant).

Halloween

Heidi went trick-or-treating as Cinderella this year with the Vaughn kids. Above are some pictures that Jenny took. I have a lot more pictures (that I've been taking since we left Fort Hood), but can't download them onto a computer... We're going to wait until we have a home someday, I guess.

Heidi's costume was a little big in the shoulders, but she can grow into it. You can see the Vaughn kids and some of the other neighborhood kids in these pictures. Heidi had fun that night. She got a little scared when she saw some scary masks (on people who were handing out candy).

Today, Heidi was eating a lollipop that had some bubble gum in the middle. She hadn't ever had bubble gum before, so I told her (when she bit into the gum part) that it was not a kind of candy that she could eat and swallow, but that it was bubble gum... and you can't swallow bubble gum. You just have to keep chewing it and then throw it in the trash when you are finished, but she didn't seem to get it. I knew she had swallowed it after a few chews and I asked her if she swallowed it:

Mom: Did you swallow the bubble gum?

Heidi: No.

Mom: Is it still in your mouth then?

Heidi: No.

She had swallowed it... Oh well... I might just have to wait a while to give her bubble gum (since she doesn't seem to understand yet how it works).