Hannah: 10 Months Old

Today, Hannah turns 10 months old. I just noticed that last month, I wrote that Hannah called both me and Brian "mama"... even though she said both "mama" and "dada." Now, if you ask her where Daddy is, she points to him and says "dada." She has even said "bye da" when he has walked out of the room & it looked like she waved goodbye, too. She's still standing up for a couple of seconds, but can't stay up very long on her own. Heidi was already walking before she turned 10 months, but Hannah's not ready yet. Hannah did start crawling before Heidi, though. I guess every child is different. Anyway, that was just a quick update on Hannah, since today is her 10-month birthday. :)

Strangers

Heidi had been almost rude to people who were friendly and would say hello to her when we were out shopping (when she's sitting in the shopping cart). She usually would just turn her head and ignore them. Sometimes, she would even make a kind of "Hm" noise and turn her head away, which was kind of rude. Of course I explained to her that she didn't need to be rude to people and I told her that it was okay to say hello back because I was there. She still wouldn't say hello back to people. It seems like it's usually the older men and women who like to say hello to the girls when we're out. I think she was just trying to "not talk to strangers." Since we read the Berenstain Bears book about strangers, she knows that she shouldn't talk to them.

About a week ago, I had Heidi and Hannah in a shopping cart in Fred Meyer and an older man said hello to Hannah as he walked by. I guess it bothered Heidi that he only said hello to Hannah and not her. "He didn't say hello to me!"... she said. After that, I noticed that Heidi tried to say hello or wave to a couple of people while we were shopping that day, which was quite a change from how she had been acting toward strangers in the store. I think she was just trying to get someone to notice her, too. Hannah had gotten attention earlier and she wanted it, too.

Hannah's Socks

I cannot keep socks on Hannah! She is constantly pulling them off as soon as I put them on. Tonight, though, I caught her trying to put a pair of Heidi's socks on her feet that she found on the ground (or at least it looked that way). She picked up Heidi's balled-up, dirty, used sock and kept hitting it onto the toes on her left foot. I just thought it was kind of funny. :)

Santa

We went to see Santa today. He was at the community building for our neighborhood. Heidi was really concerned last night about seeing Santa. Before she went to sleep, she asked me to "please don't tell Santa that I've been bad." She was very serious when she asked me this. Then we went to see Santa and she somehow got a little cut on her hand. To Heidi, a little cut is like the end of the world! We were sitting at the community bldg and she was eating her donut (they had donuts and juice for the kids, too) when she noticed it. She said "This is just the worst day of my life. I just want to go home."

I forgot to mention, Heidi asked Santa for a Mulan Barbie doll. I think Grandma Holly already got one to give to her for Christmas. Heidi keeps telling me that Mulan is her favorite princess (for right now anyway). It had been Jasmine... and before that it was Cinderella.

Santa also gave the girls a BIG coin. Hannah's was purple and Heidi's was gold. Heidi asked me what Hannah's said on it (because she noticed the letters on it) and I told her that it said "You've been caught being good." I told her it meant that Hannah must be on the nice list since he gave her that coin that said she was good. Then, she got a very serious, and kind of worried look on her face and asked me what her coin said... I think she was a little relieved when I told her that her coin also said that she had been "caught being good," so he must have put her on the nice list, too. She was really worried. She even told me that she didn't know if she would be on the nice list because she is sometimes mean to Hannah.

Then, as soon as we got home, we put two bandaids on her little cut (because it was on the palm of her hand, so she needed two to stick better). The bandaids were placed in a cross-like shape on her hand and she said "This looks like what they killed Jesus on." Then, I changed the girls clothes and we went to a primary activity at a place called the Jump Party Zone. Heidi had fun, but her bandaids kept coming off. She has been so paranoid lately about bleeding and she kept thinking that her little cut was going to bleed, but it never did. She also got a little bump on her cheek while jumping and bumping into someone... She thought that was going to bleed, too. Since Halloween, when she had a little scab on her nose that peeled off and bled a little, she has been so worried EVERY DAY that every little bump, itch, or scratch is going to bleed. We have gone through so many bandaids in the last couple of weeks, and not one of the times that she has used one has she really had any blood either. Anyway, this is just a quick update on what's going on with us. :)

Hannah: 9 Months Old

Today we had Hannah's 9-month check-up. She had one shot and cried for just a few seconds. She was smiling on our way out the door! She started doing the milk sign this past month, but she doesn't do it regularly. She usually says "miii mii mi mi mii mi mii" and puts her head to my chest to tell me she wants milk. She also calls both me and Brian "ma ma." She says "ma ma" and "da da," but she doesn't call Brian "da da." She has been pulling herself up and cruising for a long time now. Lately, she has been standing on her own for a couple of seconds before she grabs onto something again (or falls down). She also can feed herself with her pinchers. Brian is concerned that she's going to be a lefty because she usually feeds herself with her left hand. I've told him, though, that we have a while before she really shows which hand she will be using. Here's how she's growing:

Height: 29 1/2 inches long (95th%)

Weight: 21.3 pounds (90th%)

Head: 75th-90th%

Heidi's new vocabulary

Heidi has been saying "What the heck?" a lot lately. I don't know where she got that from. I was kind of shocked the other day when I heard her say it. Brian and I don't say it. She's also been using the word "devour" a lot lately, too, thanks to Word Girl. Word Girl is probably her favorite cartoon right now. She's learning new vocabulary words every time she watches it. She was going to be Word Girl for Halloween this year, but she changed her mind (and was Snow White instead). For her birthday, my mom and dad got Heidi a book called My Mom Is Ruining My Life. Since I read that book to her, she's been using that phrase too (My mom is ruining my life). Anyway, just thought I'd mention a few new words/phrases she's been using a lot lately.

Heidi's 4th Birthday Party

Heidi had a very princessy 4th birthday party last Saturday. We invited some of her friends (Ella, Sophie, Alicia, and Sienna). All of the girls wore princess gowns to the party. We also had the pink birthday tree out too!

We had princess music. The girls also decorated princess crowns. I even made a pink, strawberry princess cake with a Cinderella polly pocket doll on top. Heidi got lots of presents, including: 4 My Little Ponies, a Diamond Castle barbie doll, a unicorn Webkinz animal, a handmade cupcake purse w/a $10 gift certificate to go to McDonald's, coloring/sticker books, Polly Pockets, pajamas, dresses, new red sparkly shoes, and lots of other clothes (from grandparents).
We played a couple of princess games at our party. The first one that we played was a Snow White game. The girls had to find 7 hidden apples. One was poisonous (with a ribbon tied around the stem). The girl who found the poisonous apple was going to get the prize, but more than one girl found it at the same time, so everyone got a prize just for playing. The second game that we played was called Put Cinderella In Her Window. It's just like Pin The Tail On The Donkey, but instead, we had a poster of a castle and there were different princesses in the different windows of the castle. While blindfolded, the girls had to place their Cinderella stickers on the poster (trying to put Cinderella in her window, which was the only window without a princess on the poster). Heidi was the first one to play this game and she tried to move her sticker after she saw where she had put it. Grandma Sylvia played at the end to show the girls that it was okay to not have it perfectly placed where the window was. It was just a fun/silly game to play. The girls mostly had fun dancing to princess music.

At the end of the party, each girl got her own bag to take home with a princess Polly Pocket inside, a silly straw, and a princess gummi snack. I think they all had a good time at the party! :)

Frère Jacques

One day a while back when I was singing Frère Jacques to Hannah, Heidi got upset and said "That's my song." I guess she was upset because that was one of the songs I used to sing to her almost every night when she was a baby (and she's still a little jealous of her baby sister). Then, one night about a week ago... I asked her if she wanted to sing the Frère Jacques song before she went to bed and she said "No, that's a silly song." I guess she thought it was silly because the words don't make sense to her. I tried to explain to her that it sounds silly because the words are from another language... and other people from different parts of the world speak different languages, like Dora (who speaks Spanish). We always sing it in English after we sing it in French (the Brother John version). She still seemed to think it was too silly to sing and said she didn't want to sing it. Then, last night... I put Heidi to bed first and then went to Hannah's room to get her ready for bed. I started singing the Frère Jacques song to Hannah and Heidi heard me singing it in her room... and she got upset and wanted me to sing it to her. I guess she can't make up her mind about whether she wants me to sing it to her or not. I think she was just wanting me to sing it to her, though, because I was singing her song to Hannah again.

More Birthday Pictures

Bribing with hugs and kisses

This morning after Heidi had breakfast, she was trying to get me to give her some candy that Brian bought a few months ago. Heidi calls it "O" candy because it's shaped like the letter "O."

Heidi: Mom, I'm still hungry.
Mom: You just had breakfast.
Heidi: My leg hurts Mom. Can I please have a piece of candy to feel it better?
Mom: No.
Heidi: Please Mom? How about if I give you a kiss. Then will you give me an "O" candy to feel my leg better?
Mom: No.
Heidi: How about if I hug your neck and give you a kiss. Then will you give me an "O" candy to feel it better?
Mom: No Heidi. Candy is not good for your body and you just had breakfast.

... I finally offered her some orange juice instead of candy and she seemed fine with that.

Heidi's Frog Prince Story

Tonight Heidi started telling me a story and I thought I might just write down what she was saying, so I grabbed a paper and pen and asked her to start over. Then, I copied it into her diary/journal. I thought I would put it in here too because I thought it was cute, especially when she said that the frog "turned into the prince of course." This is different from any frog prince story that I have ever heard... Here's Heidi's story:

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. The princess had a dad, and she woke up in the night and she saw the frog. The frog said ribbit. And she kissed him. And he turned into the prince of course. They wanted to get married. Then her dad woke up and saw her and the prince and he said "You can't marry this person." They thew him into the dungeon. "I love him!" And they got married. They kisseded. They loved each other and they had babies and they were happy. The end.

... This is not told in perfect English, but she is only a 3-year-old. I don't know how the princess got the prince out of the dungeon. I should have asked. She was just telling it so fast that I was just trying to get it all down. Anyway, I thought it was cute. :)

Heidi: "I shouldn't have not..."

Last night, I went to Fred Meyer with Heidi and Hannah to buy a few things to make chili with today. Heidi was in the basket part of the cart and Hannah was in her car seat (on the seat part of the cart). I guess Heidi was bored because when I went to put something in the cart, I noticed that there were a few places in the hambuger plastic where you could see that someone had been pushing his/her finger into the hamburger... and in the center of the package of hamburger, there was a hole where a finger had pushed its way all of the way to the bottom of the package. I got upset with Heidi and told her that we had to wash her hands when we got home. When I told her to make sure not to put her fingers in her mouth because she could get sick from touching the raw hamburger meat, she was really concerned and she held her finger out in a way to make sure that it wouldn't touch anything for the rest of the time in the store. She even asked me "Should I hold my finger this way (bent) or this way (straight)?" When we got out to the car, she said "Mom, I shouldn't have not touched the hamburger."

Our Day At The Park

Yesterday we went to the park. Here are some of the pictures. Sunset Park is just a couple of streets away from our house. You can even see Mt. Rainier from the park (and our house, too). Heidi was moving too fast for me to get a good picture of her while we were there. She played with two little girls and seemed to have fun.

Milk

Last night, I gave Heidi some chocolate milk (for a special treat) before she went to bed and she said to me... "Milk makes you get more bones. And chocolate milk makes you get even more! Right mom?" I just thought it was funny.

Play Food

We have a playroom upstairs, but to keep the play food from being mixed in with all of the other toys, we keep it in the formal living room (since we don't have formal living room furniture). Hannah loves crawling from the family room to the formal living room to play with the play food. I don't like for her to play with the wooden food because they usually have paint on them. I am a little worried about her putting them in her mouth (since most toys that have paint have been made in China... and some have been found to have lead). Her favorite play food to go after is the plastic corn cob. I took a picture of her today after she made it back into the play food again.

Brian shared his Root Beer with Hannah

Yesterday, we all went to Costco (Brian, Heidi, Hannah, and me). Before we left, we stopped to get something to eat for lunch on the way out. We got hot dogs and drinks (because they're so cheap). Brian kept trying to give Hannah his Barq's root beer to drink and I kept getting upset with him. I didn't want her to have all of that sugar or caffeine yet. She is only 7 months old. He said she probably couldn't get anything out of his straw anyway, but I was pretty sure that she could (because she is a breastfed baby). He gave her his cup anyway and she definitely DID get a big drink without any problem! Her eyes got big and I think she actually got a little TOO much. I think she liked it though and wanted more, so Brian kept giving her more (even when I was telling him not to). I think he just really wants to feed her.

Water: "It makes my tongue different"

We just had chicken soup for lunch. I asked Heidi if she wanted some water to drink with it, but she said "No, it makes my tongue different." I gave her some orange juice instead.

Another Day

Another day at our house... Hannah is napping and Heidi is downstairs coloring some pictures that I printed out from www.cartooncritters.com. She likes to cut the pictures out after she colors them and then her picture characters talk to each other. This entertains her for quite a while. Her voice seems to go up a little when she pretend plays, so it's kind of funny to listen to her. I'm glad that she can have so much fun with just paper, markers/crayons, and scissors! :)

Hannah's Pictures

We recently had Hannah's pictures RE-taken (because they weren't very good the first time Sears took them). I think we might have to stop using Sears. Hannah was tired the day we had these done because I couldn't get her to take a nap. Heidi kept going into the room and making loud noises. So, Hannah was extremely tired and it was difficult getting her to cooperate for these pictures. Her nose is red from crying and putting her face down on the ground so many times (which is what she does a lot now when she is tired and unhappy).

Heidi's School Day

Heidi had show-and-tell today at preschool. She brought her bunny rabbit that she calls Fluffy that she got for her birthday last year at Build-a-Bear. She sleeps with it every night and likes to hold it sometimes while watching movies. It had been quarantined in a plastic bag for just over 4 weeks after we had head lice in our house. We just took her out of quarantine Sunday night. Heidi also wrote in her diary/journal about her day at school today. Here's what she wrote:

• I went to school today. I learned the cookie song. It goes "Mommy stole the cookie from the cookie jar. Who me? It couldn't be." I painted a leaf red and orange and yellow. I learned "C." (She kept making the "K" sound while writing another line of scribbles.) We had popcorn and Tang. I didn't want a gumball. (They usually get one from the machine on their way out the door). I didn't want to. I saved my penny. Miss Cindy gave me my penny. Alicia was gone. Maybe she was at a vacation. Maybe she went on a vacation with Sophie (another girl from church). The end.

I think she has decided that she doesn't like gum. I think she doesn't like it because it is something that she is supposed to chew for a long time, unlike candy (that you can just chew and swallow).

Heidi is thankful for...

At the end of primary today (in church) the kids took turns saying what they were thankful for. It was interesting to hear what they were thankful for. They were thankful for things like: the sunshine, their family, their mom, their dad, their home, Jesus... When it was Heidi's turn, she said that she was thankful for her toys. I thought it was kind of cute and funny. She definitely Does enjoy her toys!

Hannah's Third Tooth

Hannah's third tooth broke through the gums today! Before her afternoon nap today, she had been gnawing on her fingers a lot. Then, I noticed after she woke up that there was a hole in her gums with the top of her new, white tooth to the left (her right) of her two, front, bottom teeth.

Heidi's Chicken

I managed to keep Heidi's peice of chicken WHITE tonight, so she actually WILLINGLY ate it! ... along with her rice and green beans! So, she got chocolate milk for a special treat! :)

* She usually refuses to eat her chicken if there's anything brown on it & she refuses to eat ANYTHING if it has a sauce of any kind (even ketchup).

Hannah's Well-baby Check-up

Today has been a busy day! I was up at 6-something this morning cutting Brian's hair before he went to work. Then, I played with the baby for a while. Heidi even woke up early (around 7 am) and we played in the playroom for a while...

Then, we went to Hannah's 6-month well-baby check-up. She's 7 months old now. We're a little behind on check-ups. Here's how she's growing:

Height: 28 inches (95th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs 3 oz (90th percentile)
Head: 17 1/2 inches

She's been crawling for a while now and cruises around furniture. Yesterday, she kept trying to get up at the table between Heidi and her friend Alicia (who was over playing). She just wanted to be up at the table with the big girls. It is also hard to keep her hands out of our food! She soooooo badly wants to eat. I haven't really given her much, though. I have given her some mushed up banana a few times and we tried some really watery rice cereal a couple of nights ago (made with breastmilk). The doctor told me that I need to start feeding her some foods now, but I don't know... I think she's okay. She's healthy and growing really well on just breastmilk. I may boil some carrots and mush them up for her... We will see. Heidi was a lot older before I gave her anything but breastmilk and she is fine.

After our appointment, we went to Costco in Puyallup (since we were already in Bonney Lake for the appoitnment) and bought some Huggies diapers. They are So Expensive! ... but they were cheaper than the Kirkland/Costco brand... and cheaper than what I would pay at Fred Meyer... and we Have to have them. Anyway, that was our day. Hannah is napping now and Heidi is watching her FAVORITE show (Word Girl, on PBS).

Heidi's Second Day at School

Today was Heidi's second day at school. She picked a red, tie-died shirt that the Vaughns made for her and her brand new butterfly/rainbow jeans to wear today... and a silver, sparkly barrette.

At school today, the learned about the letter Aa, the color yellow, and the 5 senses. I got there a little early today and saw some of the lesson on the 5 senses. I think Ms. Cindy is a good teacher. She handles the children really well and her class was fun, too. They got to try to guess what was in a paper bag by listening to her make noises (w/o seeing what was inside), by feeling (w/o looking), by tasting, by smelling and tasting(with their eyes closed). They also colored some objects that were supposed to be yellow, like a banana, a sunshine, and I can't remember what else. She also had a piece of paper with some silver glitter in the shape of the letter A with some pictures of things that begin with that letter. I guess they glued the pictures on to this paper. I'm trying to decide if I should make a book with all of the decorated letter papers that she brings home or if I should just hang them on the side of the fridge for a while. Maybe I should just ask Heidi what she wants to do with them.

At her last class meeting... before she left, she got a green gumball at the gumball machine, today when the teacher gave her a penny to put into the machine, Heidi told her teacher that she wanted a pink one this time. Her teacher told her that it is always a surprise (the color), so she should only try it if she wants a surprise. Heidi tried it and she didn't get pink, but she DID get a surprise... she got TWO gumballs instead of one (one orange and the other white). She seemed happy anyway (even though it wasn't pink).

Hannah can climb the stairs

Yesterday, Hannah found the stairs and started to climb up them. She went up about 5 stairs before I picked her up. We are going to put a gate in front of the stairs now.

Heidi's First Day at School

Yesterday, Heidi went to her first day at preschool. A lady from church does preschool in her home, so that's where Heidi is going. She was so excited and seemed to have a good day. She picked out a pretty, stripey dress to wear for her first day. There were also only 2 boys out of a class of ten 3 1/2 to 4 year olds. She made a paper doll that she made to look like herself (colored blonde hair, googly eyes, red dress, drew smile & nose). They also weighed the children and wrote her height and weight on her paperdoll. She is 41 inches tall and weighs 40 lbs. She also wrote in her diary/journal about her day:

• I'm gonna write about school. Jumping on a trampoline and making paper dolls. It looks like me. I mean it is me. It has yellow hair. I singed the snowman song. We had cookies. The weather. Stripey dress. I weared my heart necklace. The teacher gave me a penny and I put it in the gumball machine. Green. I wanted pink. Maybe next time. There was a lot of girls. The end.

(She writes her squiggly lines in her diary/journal and I make notes of what she says as she writes... and then I later translate under what she wrote or on the next page. I always put exactly what she says, so it's not always written in perfect English.)

Lice

On August the 25th, I was getting ready to take Heidi to see a free movie at the theater in Auburn. When I was parting her hair to put her hair into pig tails, I saw two little bugs crawling on her scalp where I had just parted her hair. I immediately got goose bumps and was totally grossed out. I had NEVER seen lice before. We never had it in our house growing up, which I guess is pretty good (considering that we had three girls). We were planning on going to the movies with the Vaughns, so I called and cancelled our movie plans and went right away to the store to buy something to get rid of the lice. I also talked to the pediatric clinic that I have been taking the girls to, and they said that if I get it, that I would have to stop breastfeeding the baby. Before I used the special lice/nit combs that I bought on Heidi, I thought I would comb them through my hair to check myself really quick... and I found one bug! I was again totally grossed out! I was also REALLY upset because I didn't want to have to stop breastfeeding the baby. I tried to pump some milk, but only got 5 ounces that evening (because I was also feeding Hannah that day). So... I had to treat my hair too... and Hannah went the recommended 48 hours w/o breastmilk (because, according to the clinic, it is a pesticide and can cause neurological damage in babies). Hannah went through the 5 ounces that I pumped that next morning and I fed her a little bit of mushed up banana (her first food). She was really NOT happy and wanted some milk, so I had to walk down to the store in our neighborhood and buy some formula for her to use. That was a really exhausting week! I was up soooo late so many nights trying to vacuum and make sure everything was clean, washed in hot water, bagged up in plastic bags (stuffed animals/dolls), and make sure all combs/brushes were sanitized. That was such an awful time that I hope we NEVER, EVER have lice in our home again!

Hannah is on the move...

Hannah seems to have a more coordinated crawl now. Before, she was doing kind of an inchworm crawl, but now she can move her opposite arms and legs the way she is supposed to. She goes a little slower when she crawls the right way. She still sometimes uses her inchworm crawl if she wants to get across the room really fast. She is also pulling herself up to the coffee table and the couch a lot now.

Heidi & Hannah: Opposites Again

Since Heidi was a baby, she has always been afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Even now, she is three years old and she still runs out of the way when a vacuum cleaner is near (and sometimes jumps up onto the couch to get away from it).

Hannah, however, seems to follow me around when I am vacuuming. She shows no fear of it. We have two totally opposite girls in so many ways.

Hannah can pinch to pick-up things!

Hannah is using her index finger and her thumb to pick little things up off of the ground now. Earlier this week, she picked up a couple of small scraps of paper (from the edges) using her index finger and thumb. Today, she picked up a piece of cereal that Heidi dropped. Another milestone, I guess.

We need to babyproof!

Hannah is 6 months old and has been pulling herself up lately. Today, she has even found the wall outlets. She keeps going over to them and hitting them with her hands. We need to start baby proofing!

Heidi's still missing the "army house"

Today, Heidi and I were sitting on the couch watching Sesame Street (which she has not really been interested in watching for a while), when we saw a cowgirl type of character in one of the little scenes. She was from Texas. I said something to Heidi like "She's from Texas. Do you remember when we lived in Texas? In the army house at Fort Hood?" She suddenly got a very serious look on her face and said in a very serious tone "I'm not going to talk about that." She still misses her old "army house."

Sometimes she asks me if a new family is living in it right now. And sometimes she tells me that she wants to go home. I think she means that she wants to go back to the "army house" at Fort Hood. That is the first house she remembers living in (even though it was really her second).

Some of the silly things Heidi says...

Saturday morning when I asked Heidi what she wanted for breakfast, she told me that she wasn't hungry. She went upstairs and played for a while. Eventually, she came downstairs and said "My tummy keeps growling. I told him to stop, but he wouldn't."

Heidi also told me Saturday night "I'm too tired to go to sleep."

Heidi is trying to make my grandpa come back...

Yesterday, Heidi asked me "Mommy, when did your grampa die?" I told her that my grandpa died before she was born. (Actually both of them had already died before she was born, but I didn't know which one she meant. Maybe she doesn't even know that I have two grandpas.) Then, she didn't say or ask anything more about him.

Today, Heidi told me that she was going to play a song on the Fisher Price baby grand piano that would make my grandpa come back. She said that she would have to "do it all night and all day, so it will be hard work." Then, she sat down at the piano and started playing a song and was singing "I want my mommy's grampa to come back right now..." She eventually was distracted when she saw something good come on tv.

I think she is confused about death and seems to have a fascination with the subject of death right now.

Heidi's diary entry about the boy who threw the sand in her eyes...

Heidi wrote a diary entry about the boy who threw the sand in her eyes last Saturday. She made a lot of it up (about how the boy's mom reacted).

Heidi's Diary Entry: "We went to the beach yesterday and a boy threw sand in my eyes and his mom said "Stop that right now or else you will get a spanking. Stop that pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease. Stop or else you can't get special treats that I get from the store. Yes. No more treats from the store 'cause you can't be my son anymore. That's it. Good-bye. That's it. Stop following me. The end."

Then she wrote a little more: "Today I went to the doctor 'cause a boy threw sand in and made my eyes and it hurted. The doctor made my eyes glow. The doctor said "Get some medicine in your eye." She gave me a patch. The scratch on my cornea... it hurted. The sun hurted. The end. I was covering my head with a blanket this morning 'cause the sun hurted my eyes."

** I usually write down what she is saying while she makes her zig zaggy lines in her diary. What I have written is exactly what she said. I think it is funny how she made the mother of the boy say "you can't be my son anymore... stop following me." She made all of that up. :)

Heidi's Corneal Abrasion

Saturday, we went to the beach part of Lake Washington at Gene Coulon Memorial Park. While we were there, a little boy threw a bunch of sand in Heidi's eyes when she was down at the water area playing in the sand. I tried flushing it out with a cup of water, but she just screamed and cried for a while anyway. By that night, her eye was really red and swollen, and I started to worry that it might be serious. Sunday morning, I took her to a clinic that was open in Puyallup and after looking at her eye, the doctor (whose name was also Heidi) told us that she had a corneal abrasion. She gave Heidi some numbing eye drops that made her feel better right away. She had been in a lot of pain and could not stand light. When she woke up that morning, she brought a blanket downstairs with her to keep over her head because even the little bit of light that came into our living room with the blinds down was hurting her eyes. We started putting eye drops in her eyes with an antibiotic and she looks So much better today (Monday). The swelling is gone and the redness is mostly gone. I took her back (as the doctor suggested) to have it checked again today (to make sure it wasn't getting worse and to make sure it wasn't going to ulcerate)... and she seemed pleased with how it has already starting to heal. She seems to be feeling Sooo much better now! :)

Hannah and the piano

I recently unpacked the Fisher Price baby grand piano that my mom and dad gave to Heidi for Christmas a couple of years ago. It didn't have batteries, but Hannah kept trying to play with it. I guess she was drawn to the colorful keys. Brian picked up some c-batteries today at Costco, so I put them in earlier today. I sat Hannah down in front of the piano and she had the best time playing with it! She played and played with the keys and kept turning the pages. It kept her attention for a really long time! She seems to have a pretty long attention span. Hannah does sometimes talk and make noises, but she usually likes to study things and is usually a pretty quiet baby. :)

Hannah is discovering her freedom to go where she wants now.

For the past couple of days, Hannah has been following me into the kitchen when I go to empty the dishwasher or get Heidi a snack. Yesterday, I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Hannah had crawled into the kitchen looking for me, I guess. She crawled all of the way into the kitchen and was just crying... I think because she couldn't find me. Whenever she does follow me into the kitchen, she usually pulls on my pants and hits my feet with her hands.

Today when I was making lunch, Hannah followed me into the kitchen again (as usual) and she discovered her first kitchen drawer. She had fun opening and closing it for a while. Then, she moved on to the sliding glass door that goes to the backyard. When she got over to it, she just looked and looked at the backyard for a while through the window. She is starting to move around and discover new things on her own now!

Heidi: "I'm changing Hannah into a mean witch."

Heidi has been pretending to change Brian and me into a prince and a princess today, but she said that she was going to change Hannah into a mean witch.

Sometimes Heidi says that she doesn't want a little sister anymore. I think she is still trying to adjust. Even though she says she doesn't want Hannah, I know that she still loves her because she tries to hug and kiss her so many times every day. Heidi's hugs are more like tackles, and her kisses usually push Hannah over. Sometimes Hannah tries to move away from Heidi when she sees her moving in for a hug or a kiss. :)

Hannah's Well-Baby Appointment

Hannah is 5 months old now, but had her 4-month well-baby appointment today. The doctor seemed surprised at how well she is sitting up without support and seems to have pretty good balance now. She doesn't look like she just started sitting up this past week.

Hannah also says "ma ma ma ma" and "bup bup bup" (and other noises sometimes, too).

Here's how she's growing:

Height: 27.75" (97th%)
Weight: 18 lbs 9 oz. (95th %)
Head: 17.25" (90th%)

She had one oral immunization and two shots in her legs. She didn't even cry for the first shot, but cried for maybe 2 seconds on her second one. She was so good! :)

Heidi's Diary

Heidi has been talking about diaries so much lately (and pretending that she has one) that I thought I would buy her one! We were at Fred Meyer today and I bought a composition notebook on sale for 50 cents for her to use as a diary. When we got home, she was SO excited that she really had her very own diary. She told me exactly what to write in it, so I wrote what she told me to say word for word. She also wrote some zig zaggy lines that go left to right across the page that look kind of like she meant for them to be sentences. She told me what they said, so I translated what she wrote in my handwriting just above/below what she wrote. Here's her first entry:

My mom bought my book and no boys are allowed to read it.

No boys allowed! This is Heidi's secret diary. No Boys! If a boy tries to get my diary, I'll say "Don't grab my diary!" Only girls can read my diary.

I played at the park today and Hannah played with the piano (a toy piano). We drove to Fred Meyer. I played in the play area. Mommy went shopping.

A sticker from Fred Meyer... (sticker is stuck to the page here)

No boys can read my diary. Trevor can't read my diary because he's a lousy boy.

Then, she drew a picture of a girl on the back of today's entry and said "This is a girl. She doesn't like boys."

I accidentally colored on her Mom

Today Heidi asked me if she could color on her Little Bo Peep doll with a magenta colored crayon. I told her "No, we don't color on our dolls." Then, I went into the kitchen to clean up a little, so I wasn't watching to see what she was doing. A couple of minutes later, Heidi said "Oops. I accidentally colored on her Mom." I told her that it could not have been an accident because she asked me if she could do it before she did it. I said this to her in kind of a mean, firm voice and her lip started to quiver like she was about to cry. She knew what she was doing.

Hannah: Chasing Toy Rings

Hannah has been having fun playing with the ringsthat go to the Fisher Price stacking toy lately. She likes to pick them up, drop them, watch them roll, and go after them... and then the cycle just keeps repeating itself. This entertains her for a little while. She can move pretty far across the room just going after the toy ring. I think the orange one must be her favorite because that's the one she seems to play with the most.

Hannah's Second Tooth

Hannah's second tooth broke through the gums yesterday (Friday). She now has two bottom front teeth. She's also getting even better at sitting up for longer periods of time.

Hannah: Sitting Up

Hannah has been trying to get into the sitting position for a little while now. She tries to cross her back legs and push up with her arms, but she just doesn't move her arms back enough yet to get herself into position to sit up on her own yet. She was getting Soooooo frustrated last night trying to get up into position, so I helped her. I sat her up on her IKEA playmat and I was surprised at how long she could actually sit there before losing her balance. She had both arms stretched out on each side. She still needs some practice, but she can sit on her own for 10 - 15 seconds at a time (it varies) before she loses her balance.

Cottage Cheese?

Sometimes when Hannah spits up, I guess it kind of looks like cottage cheese when it comes out... so sometimes Heidi will say "Ewww... Mom, it looks like Hannah has cottage cheese coming out of her mouth." This afternoon, though, when Hannah spit up, Heidi said "Mom, I want some cottage cheese." Kind of gross, huh?

Hannah's First Tooth

Saturday, Hannah's first tooth finally started breaking through her gums. It is her bottom, left (our right), front tooth. She has been teething and drooling since she was 3 months old, so I guess it's about time.

She has also learned how to stick her tongue out and make a spitting/PLLL noise in the last couple of days.

Heidi is already planning her birthday party (4 months early)

Heidi keeps telling me today that we need to plan her birthday party. It is July now and her birthday isn't until November... but I thought it would be fun to find out what she wants. Her is a list of exactly what she is telling me that she wants for her birthday party. I am amazed that she even thought of milk, pizza, and music. I tried to put her exact wording on her list of things she wanted...

• polka pink muffins with hearts on top (that's a color we found at the store that Heidi wants to paint her room with. I think she wants heart sprinkles on top)
• princess castle cake that is white (heidi saw a castle cake in the grocery store a week or two ago, but that cake was pink)
• sparkly magic wands to put on top of the muffins
• First I will have to blow out the cake and then we can eat the muffins.
• milk
• pepperoni pizza
• things to put on the wall because for birthday parties you need things to put on the wall
• jump ropes
• the pokey music (she means the hokey pokey song)
• we need to make birthday party hats ... how you make 'em is you just put everything on them like hearts (I think I would rather just buy some than make them, but I think she means that she would like to decorate them)
• We need a pink thing on the table (a table cloth?)
• invitations for: Ella, Carson, Walisha (Alicia), Sophie, & Heather... not Carson, he moveded (I guess she changed her mind about Carson because he moved, but he didn't move very far... just to the other side of the neighborhood)
• And all of the people need to bring me a present.

When I asked her what kinds of presents she wants, she said:

• princess presents
• a cuddly toy sheep... Ella needs to give me a cuddly toy sheep
• Walisha (Alicia) to give me a butterfly cuddly toy
• Heather to give me a pencil
• Sophie can give me to pick a flower and give it to me, alright mom?
• And Grandma Holly needs to come too and she can give me a polly pocket
• And Grandma Sylvia can give me a big Winnie the Pooh
• And Grandma Holly gives me a small Winnie the Pooh

* I didn't know that she was going to tell me what each person was supposed to bring to her birthday party. I thought I was just going to get a wish list. She is so silly sometimes.

Heidi's concert & A little something about Hannah too...

I thought maybe I should write something really quick about Hannah too (since I have written so much about Heidi lately). Hannah is still working on crawling. She gets on all 4's with her tummy off of the ground and moves her legs, but her arms aren't coodinated enough yet to work along with her legs. I think sometimes she is trying to stand up (which she wants to do all of the time when I hold her). Today, she was on all fours (hands and FEET, with her bottom up in the air), and she stuck one leg up in the air behind her (I think in an effort to stand up, but it didn't work).

Hannah also likes trying to pick things off of her clothes (if she is wearing something with pictures printed on it). Today she is wearing a cute, white outfit with little watermelons all over it. She keeps trying to pick the watermelons off of it.

Hannah also has been studying Heidi a lot lately. She laughs when her sister dances or sings in front of her. One day not long ago, Heidi gave us a concert. She said that she was "Princess Rhianna," and she danced/sang for us. At the end of her concert, Heidi told us that if we wanted to see more of Princess Rhianna, "Just go to PrincessRhianna.com." I think she gets that from tv (you know when they tell you to go to something.com at the end of different shows to see something more).

Heidi loves crafts!

Heidi, lately, has really been into crafts. She is always making cards for me and likes to punch things out of paper with my scrapbooking punches and glue the little pictures (of things like: frogs, fish, stars, hearts, butterflies, etc.) onto paper. Today, she made me a card with her letter "H" for Heidi and she drew me a big brownie inside of the card. She usually draws polka dots on the outside of the card (along with a picture of something). I think it would be fun to get her some glitter, so we can make shapes/swirlies with glue and pour glitter on top to make pretty pictures.

Heidi: Adjusting

I think Heidi is still having some adjustment issues...

For one thing, Heidi doesn't seem to like this house as much as "the army house," as she calls it. I guess that was the first home that she can remember living in (even though it was really her second). She ran up to her room and was crying yesterday. I asked her why she was crying and she told me that she missed the army house. The house we lived in while we were in Texas was sooo much smaller (maybe 1200 sq ft, with 3 bedrooms), while this one that we have now is much bigger (3400 sq ft, with 5 bedrooms + 1 huge bonus/toy room). I guess she misses it anyway...

She also has been getting upset when I hold Hannah. She tells me to put Hannah down, so that I can hold her... or to take Hannah off of my lap, so she can sit on my lap. I think her feelings get hurt a lot when I don't just put Hannah down to give her the attention she is wanting.

Maybe she misses "the army house" because most of the time that we lived there, it was just her and me... there was no baby sister to compete with... and her Daddy wasn't even there most of the time that we lived there (as he was in Iraq for 15 months). She was just used to having all of my attention... pretty much all of the time. I guess she is just having some problems adjusting.

... We've also kind of been moving for a long time (from August 1008 - May/June 2009). In those 9 months or so, we moved around between 4 different homes until Brian found a job and we finally found a home to buy. We didn't even have our funiture during that time, so Heidi has had kind of a rough past year. Hopefully she will soon adjust to her new life and get used to her new home.

Park Days & Free Lunch!

Last Wednesday (a week ago), I took Heidi & Hannah to the splash park and a free kids concert at Les Gove Park in Auburn. Heidi had fun. We went with her friend Alicia (who is only 8 days older than Heidi and was actually born on Heidi's due date). Heidi actually calls her "Walicia." Alicia's baby sister was born only 3 days after Hannah, too. We all met at the parks and had a fun day last week. We were going to go again yesterday (Wed), but Heidi was so grouchy and kept yelling at me about how she did not want to get dressed and she did not want to go play with anyone today. She was just So Extremely grouchy! ... so I had to call Alicia's mom and tell her that we could not make it. I tried getting her dressed and tried getting her to go because I thought she might need to get out and might feel better once we got out, but she was just so grouchy that we ended up staying home.

She has started nap time again, too (because of her grouchiness). Yesterday afternoon when I put her down, I told her that she didn't have to go to sleep, but she had to stay in her bed for at least half an hour. After she had been in there for about 20 minutes or so, I went to her door to listen (to hear what she was doing). She must have just been really bored. She was just saying the names of all of her cousins "Audrey, Austin, Genevieve, Megan..." and then she moved on to just random words, like "flowers, trees..." At least she had some quiet time. I think we need to go back to doing nap/rest time every day again.

Monday of this week, we also went to a playgroup meeting at Cedar Lanes park in Auburn with a bunch of the kids/parents from church. While we were there, I kept seeing kids lining up on the side of the park. I couldn't figure out what they were lining up for. It just just a line to nothing. I asked one of the moms that was there with our group if she knew what they were doing and she said that Auburn City Schools provides free lunches for kids ages 1 - 18 at about 20 of the parks around Auburn every day. I couldn't believe it! It is supposed to be for the kids who normally get free lunches, who might not get to eat a lunch if one was not given to them through this program. One of the moms there said that we should use it even if we don't need it because it it isn't used, they may take it away... so Heidi got a free lunch that day. They even had 3 main course choices! Heidi had a corn dog (which is one of her favorite foods), grapes, peaches in a cup, and chocolate milk.

Hannah is crawling at 4 months

Hannah has been kind of creeping/scooting her body along by using her arms and legs, but her tummy has been down on the ground... but she has gradually been getting better at it... and yesterday, she started getting her tummy up off of the ground when she does it, so I think it is considered more of a crawl now. She gets up on her hands and knees and kind of rocks back and forth a few times and then a knee moves forward... and then rocks back and forth a few more times before her other knee moves forward. She's not moving very fast, but I think this is the beginnging of her crawling.

Heidi was 6 months old when she started. It seems like as soon as she discovered how to do it, she was almost immediately a Fast crawler. She never creeped or scooted either. She had been cruising around the furniture and trying to walk for a couple of months before she crawled. I almost thought she was going to walk before she crawled.

Heidi's Claritin

Last April, Heidi started coughing a lot and having a lot of post nasal drip (that I could often hear her making gulping noises to try to get rid of). I finally took her to see a doctor (I think at the end of May) because it just wasn't going away. The doctor said that she probably has allergies and that I should give her some Claritin. I only give her 1/2 tsp at night before she goes to bed (which is when her coughing is the worst). After using the Claritin for a couple/few weeks, her coughing seemed to pretty much go away, so I stopped giving it to her. Then, her coughing and post nasal drip came back again. Sometimes she coughs so much that it sounds like she is going to vomit (from all of the post nasal drip, I guess). Anyway, I had to start her back on the Claritin again. I didn't want to keep giving it to her if I didn't have to. We just ran out of the small bottle that I bought, so I'm going to buy some more today. Poor Heidi. I was hoping that whatever was causing her allergies had maybe gone away since it was now summer, but I guess not.

Hannah's schedule

Hannah seems to be napping pretty regulary now. She usually takes a morning nap (after she's been up 2 - 3 hours) around 10am or so. This one is probably her shortest nap of the day. Then she has another one around noonish (about 3 hours or so later). She usually has a pretty good noonish nap... and when she wakes up, she's probably good for another 3 hours or so before she needs another nap in the late afternoon. She's been going to bed around the same time as Heidi, too... which can range anywhere from 8pm - 9pm. Brian usually leaves work sometime after 6pm, so it takes him probably close to an hour to get home with all of the Seattle work traffic... so we usually don't eat supper until after 7pm... so sometimes Heidi gets to bed a little later than I would like for her to.

Anyway, I guess this is probably not very interesting to most people... just felt like writing about our schedule.

Can I have your pink shoes when you die, Mom?

Heidi, lately, has seemed to have a little obsession with death. She keeps asking questions about it and keeps telling me that she doesn't want to die yet... and that she doesn't want to grow up. She has asked me questions about when are her grandmas going to die... and when am I going to die.... and where we go when we die. She has told me that she doesn't want to die and go to see Jesus. My mom said that when I was her age I had an obsession with death for a while after I saw Charlotte (the spider from the movie Charlotte's Web) die. She said that I cried and cried after she died. I guess Heidi is just going through that stage now where she is just learning about what death means. She brings the topic up almost every day lately. Yesterday, though... I thought it was funny when we were just playing upstairs in the playroom (and not even talking about anything that had to do with the subject of death)... She asked me "Can I have your pink shoes when you die, Mom?" We both have matching pink crocks (the cheap fake ones from Target). I don't think she is going to really want them 50 - 70 years or so from now (which is about when I might actually die).

Heidi's Commercials

Heidi has really been getting excited about some of the commercials she has seen on tv lately. Since the switch-over to digital tv, she has been watching more commercials. Brian reprogrammed the tv to try to see if we could get more channels and we get a new channel called qubo now that has cartoons all day long... but there are also lots of commercials (most of which are for things most kids would probably not usually be interested in). Heidi gets really excited when she sees some of these commercials.

A couple of Sundays ago, I was in my bathroom getting ready for church and Heidi came in and asked me if I had any gold. After I told her that I did, she said that I could just put it in a bag... mail it in... and get my money. She had just seen one of those gold commercials. She gets so excited when that one comes on... "Mom, the gold one is on again! Come here mom... the gold one is on!" ... like I really NEED to see it.

There's another commercial about a flat iron that comes on. One day she asked me if I wanted this flat iron they were advertising. "It's only $19.99!" She tells me. "Don't you want to straighten your curly hair mom?" My hair, though, is about as straight as you can get it. When I told her no, she said she wanted to straighten her curly hair.

There are a couple of others she calls me in to see... the cozy commercial (the blanket with arms) and the big cupcake commercial. It's amazing how most of these commercials always advertise things that are either $19.99 or $19.95. Heidi is always telling me how much things are. She tells me "How Cool" things are that are advertised... and says "it's only $19.99."

One day she called me into watch a commercial about make-up. I guess it was kind of neat because it showed a before and after picture of someone and how they changed after having make-up put on. She said to me "Mom, you HAVE to come see this... it's SO COOL... and it's only $19.99!"

Just thought I'd write a quick note about Heidi's recent fascination with commercials. :)

Hannah is getting around!

Hannah is four months old and growing up so fast!

I can't keep Hannah on a blanket anymore. I used to lay her down and she would be content just playing with whatever toys were around her, but for the past two weeks, she's been getting better and better at what I guess is called creeping. She pushes herself along with her arms, legs, and feet. It's almost like a crawl, but her tummy is still on the ground, so I guess that is still considered a creep. She goes all over the place.

She also likes to talk... making loud, nonsense noises all of the time... and it is so cute when she giggles.

Hannah is also a great sleeper. Last night, I put her to bed around 9pm or so and she slept until about 6am. I fed her and she went back to sleep until about 9:45 am! She normally takes naps about every 3 hours or so throughout the day. She is also such a calm baby and hardly cries (which is very different from how Heidi was as a baby).

Just thought I'd do a quick update on how Hannah is doing (since I usually just write about Heidi).

... Heidi is saying to me "Can you please come downstairs with me Mommy because I feel bad without you and I love you, so can you please come downstairs with me?"... so I guess that is all for now.

Heidi bought me lunch with her card...

If you read my last post, then you know that Heidi was wanting me to take her to eat lunch at McDonald's one day and she said that she would pay with her "card" that looked kind of like a credit card, but it had a picture of Ariel the mermaid on it... Well, Grandma Holly and Grandpa George got a McDonald's gift card and sent it to Heidi so she could really take me to eat lunch there and pay for it herself. She was so excited to go and pay for it with her card. She got her usual chicken nuggets (with no sauce), french fries, and chocolate milk. We still have a little money left on it, so I guess we will have to go back another day too, so she can pay for lunch again.

In her picture, you can see that she has a bandaid on her head. I guess she had a little scratch on her head and she thought she needed a bandaid to make it better. She wore that bandaid for a couple of days (until I told her she had to take it off... and that she couldn't wear it to church).

Silly Heidi

The upstairs part of our house is all carpeted, but the floors downstairs are all wood. This morning Heidi woke up and walked down the stairs. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she said "Where did the rest of the carpet go? We need to get a red carpet for down here." I don't know why she would want RED carpet. That's probably the worst color anyone could have in their house (for carpet).

Then, just a little while ago, she just brought her baby Cabbage Patch Doll over to me (the one she named Melody) and told me that her doll is allergic to tongues sticking out at her. I just thought that was kind of funny, so thought I'd write about it in my blog. :)

Now, Heidi wants to go eat lunch at McDonald's. I told her that I don't have any money to go buy lunch at McDonald's.... so she said "But I will pay for the food at McDonald's.... I have a card right here." She held up a card that is about the same size as a credit card that she got in a Happy Meal toy a long time ago with a picture of Ariel on it. I think it came with a princess wand that lights up when you press a button. It does look kind of like a credit card. She just doesn't understand that they won't take that for payment. It would be nice, though... Oh well, I guess today is going to be another peanut butter sandwich day! :)

I'm adding to the blog that I wrote earlier today because on our way to the grocery store this afternoon, Heidi saw a McDonald's...

Heidi: Look Mom, there's McDonald's
Mom: I see
Heidi: How do we get money mom?
Mom: Daddy goes to work everyday and works hard to earn money that we use to pay for our house and food and other things
Heidi: Someday when I get married, my husband is going to go to work and give me money to go to McDonald's

I just had to add that to what I wrote earlier today. I thought it was funny...

Honeynut Cheerios

This morning, Heidi was eating her cereal dry, as usual. It was Honeynut cheerios. She always eats her cereal dry and drinks her milk from her cup. Hannah and I sat next to her while she was having her breakfast this morning. Hannah was seriously studying Heidi as she ate today. She also kept leaning toward her bowl of cereal. I think she was wanting a closer look. I'm not giving her any for a while, though (she's only 3 months old)... so she will have to wait to see what they taste like. Heidi was at least 9.5 - 10 months old before I even gave her her first taste of baby cereal. The only reason I finally started with her at that point was because Brian was wanting to feed her... and he was about to leave for Iraq, so I broke down and bought some baby cereal and we started feeding her some other things, like carrots and other vegetables. I went to some La Leche League meetings before I had Heidi, and according to them, it is actually okay to give babies nothing but breastmilk until they are a whole year old. I guess we probably won't make it to a year with Hannah either. A couple of days ago, Heidi already gave Hannah a lick of her blue raspberry popsicle. Hannah made a sour face. :)

SPLASH Park!

Today, we went to the splash park in Auburn. It has been a really pretty, sunny day today. Perfect weather! At the park, there are several places where water shoots out of the ground for a few minutes before they turn off... and then water shoots out of other holes in the ground. There are also all kinds of colorful things sticking out of the ground that shoot water everywhere. Heidi had fun and didn't really want to leave the park, but I can only sit in the sun for so long. We will have to start making trips to the splash park more often... it is free. I took some pictures while we were there, but I don't have what I need to load them on to this laptop, so we will have to wait until we get the computer unpacked and find the cord that attaches the camera to the computer.

Our day at the library

Today we went to the Auburn library. When we got there, we found a really neat splash park right next to the library that is FREE! I didn't want Heidi to get back into the car with wet jeans, so I told her we would go back tomorrow when she was wearing something else. She REALLY wanted to go.

We were at the library for a couple of hours. It was kind of tough to find anything I was interested in reading because they didn't have any of the books that I had on my list of books I was hoping to find there... and Heidi kept complaining that the books she picked out were too heavy to carry (she had 3 big books)... and the baby was a little fussy. Hannah is usually pretty calm. I think she was probably hungry and tired. She eventually fell asleep. I got Brian a couple of cd books for his daily trips to Seattle, too. Anyway, that was the highlight of our day. I guess it's not that interesting.

Our girls are getting pretty Big!

I took the girls to their dr appts in Bonney Lake today. They both needed immunizations. Heidi only got one and didn't complain a bit. As soon as the nurse pulled the needle out of her leg, she stood up and asked for a lollipop and a sticker. She has always been so good with shots! Hannah, on the other hand, really cried a lot. She had to have three shots and one oral immunization. She cried for a while. I gave her some tylenol as soon as we got home. I don't think she's been feeling very well this evening since we got back. She felt like she had a little but of a temperature.

Our girls are definitely healthy little girls:

Heidi
Age: 3 1/2 years
Height: 41 inches (95th %)
Weight: 38 lbs (75th %)

Hannah
Age: 3 months + 17 days
Height: 25 in (95th %)
Weight: 16.1 lbs (97th %)
Head: 16.5 in (75-90th %)

Any ideas?

I first started my blog when Brian went to Iraq, as a way of writing little notes of things we were doing and how Heidi was growing while Brian was gone. I guess now that we have another child, the name of my blog "MyTimeWithHeidi" should probably change. Any cute blog name ideas?

In our new house and back online!

We finally found a house and moved in a couple of weeks ago. Today, we finally had the internet turned on, so I am able to give a quick update. The house that we bought is in Auburn, WA. The walls are not in the best shape, but with a little paint/patching up here and there, it will look a lot better. The house is pretty big (3400 sq ft), so that's really nice. It has 5 bedrooms + a good-sized bonus room (that does have a closet, so I guess it could actually be considered a 6th bedroom). I'll try to put some pictures on here when we get our other computer unpacked and load some pictures onto it. The previous owners took the dishwasher, fridge, and built-in microwave oven. The house was advertised as having stainless steel appliances, but when we got it, it only had the oven. Oh well... we already bought a fridge (I guess they don't usually come with the house anyway), but we still have to buy a microwave and a dishwasher. We are just glad to finally have a home again. Our things were packed up in Texas last August... and it is now June.

Heidi is also making some new friends and Hannah is really growing FAST! Hannah started rolling over about a week before she turned 3 months old (May 14th). Now, she is rolling over all of the time! Tomorrow, I'm taking both girls for check-ups with their new doctor. Heidi has been coughing since April and Hannah never had her 2-mo well-baby check-up/immuniztions.

Hannah: 3 1/2 weeks old

We had another doctor's appointment yesterday. Hannah was 3 1/2 weeks old. We had to have the second PKU test done and another blood test to make sure she isn't getting too anemic from the antibodies my body started making to attack her system when I was pregnant with her (because of our blood incompatability).

She is in the 95th percentile for her height and weight right now!

Height: 22 3/4 inches
Weight: 11 lbs 6 oz

We were also in a car accident the day before yesterday. Someone hit my car when I was driving to Ben and Jenny's house in Maple Valley for a Saint Patrick's Day dinner. The EMT's checked Hannah out and said that she seemed to look okay, but that I could take her into the ER that night or tomorrow if I thought I needed to. I just had her dr check her out at her appt and he said that everything seemed to be okay with her... so I was glad.

She is definitely growing really well though! The doctor said "You must have fabulous breast milk because she is growing really well." She has really been getting chubby lately. He said she is in proportion, though... and that she is not really that chubby. He said that she's just going to be a tall girl.

Blood Incompatability

When Hannah was born, they took a sample of her blood and my blood and they found that while I was pregnant with her, I started producing antibodies to attack her blood. I have type O+ and she has type B+. I guess this is pretty uncommon. They said that if I have another baby, they will have to monitor it more closely while I am pregnant. Hannah had a blood test taken yesterday at her one-week follow-up appointment. If my antibodies continue to attack her blood, she may have to have a blood transfusion... They are going to take another blood test from her in two weeks to compare and see what's going on. I really hope she doesn't have to go through that. If she does, though, at least Brian and his mom can donate blood for her to use, so we won't have to worry so much about hepatitis or anything like that. I hope she will be okay...

Hannah: One-week-old

Today, I took Hannah in for a follow-up appointment... and she Really Grew this first week!

Birth Weight: 8 lbs 14 oz
Weight at 1 week: 9 lbs 5 oz

Birth Length: 21 3/4 inches
Length at 1 week: 22 1/2 inches

Hannah Grace Picture - 9 Hours Old

Last Thursday morning at about 1:20am when I was laying in bed trying to sleep, I felt something that felt kind of like a pop "down there." I wasn't sure if my water had broken or if it was something else that I don't want to describe on here (in case I might gross somebody out). I also started shaking a lot (from adrenaline, I guess)... and I think that's about when I probably started having some mild contractions. I went into the hospital to be checked out at 7:30am, but they sent me home to rest...

I had been having contractions all day and they were getting pretty intense as the day went on. Brian was supposed to go to a meeting down in Portland Friday with work, so I was hoping I could at least wait until Friday evening to go into the hospital (so he could be there when she was born).

As the day went on, I started to worry that I might not make it to Friday evening. My contactions had gotten to about 2 minutes apart... so I called the hospital to see if they thought I should go back in yet, but the doctor that I talked to (Dr. Kellert, who was also the same doctor who sent me home that morning) said to me "Well, you should know if you are in labor or not since this is your second baby." But I really wasn't sure if I was to the point that I needed to be admitted or not yet. She really was not very friendly and was even a little on the rude side... and told me that maybe I should stay home and rest if I am not in labor yet. I just didn't know for sure if I was. I was induced with my last baby and the experience was totally different. (This was at about 8 - 9 pm)

Anyway, I decided yhat I would try to relax... and was going to try to go to bed... but then when I just decided that I couldn't relax, Sylvia took me to the hospital. It was kind of hard getting in the door because my contractions were probably about a minute apart by this point. (This was at about 10 pm).

When I made it to the front desk, I told them that I thought I needed to be checked because I might be starting labor. I wasn't even sure if I had dialated. The previous morning, I was only dialated to 1/2 cm. The lady at the desk said "I don't think we even need to check you... we're going to go ahead and get you into a birthing room... I can tell by looking at you that you are in labor."

They immediately got me into a room and checked to see if I had dialated... and she said that I was at a 7 and fully efaced. I was just worried that they were going to tell me that I was only at a 1 or 2 and think I was just being a wimp... and send me home again... but, they immediately called the dr and anesthesiologist and told them they needed to get there NOW. Sylvia called Brian (who was going to sleep down in the apartment on the other side of Seattle, which is two hours away) and told him to get up here. I guess he was only slightly understanding what she was saying... but he got in the car and was up here in two hours... JUST in time for the pushing!

I was pretty disappointed when I heard that I was going to have Dr Kellert deliver my baby. That was the same dr who sent me home that morning and the same dr who was a little rude on the phone with me just a couple of hours earlier.

I was also worried that I was not going to be able to get an epidural because I was already at a 7! I guess the dr did not even call the anesthesiologist right away. We kept waiting for one to show up, but nobody ever came... and a nurse called the dr again to find out what was going on... and I guess one hadn't even been called yet!!! One of the nurses said something like "somebody needs to be told about this..." because we should have had someone in there by then to give me an epidural.

Soon after, a girl came in and said that she had to give me something that was fast acting. I was already dialated to a 9 by then... (my water broke and kind of exploded across the room when she went to see how far I was dialated) and soon after, Brian came in... I started pushing... had to push for about 3 hours... and finally, at 3:29am, Baby Hannah was born... sunny-side-up (so she was really difficult to push out).

When her head came out, they told me to stop pushing because the cord was wrapped around her neck twice. Luckily, it was a long cord and they were able to unwrap it pretty quickly... and then the rest of her was born.

Brian was back on the road at 4am to make it in time for the meeting in Portland... and back on the road up to Bellingham that evening to spend time with us in the hospital.

I hope the baby doesn't come when Brian is down in Portland

It is now Thursday night. Brian is going down to Portland, OR for a meeting tomorrow with work. I have been having some pretty intense achiness today in my lower back and lower belly area. I hope I can wait until he gets up here tomorrow evening to have the baby!

I was in the hospital this morning and they checked me out (because I wasn't sure if my water had broken). I guess I've been having contractions... they just told me to go home and rest and come back tomorrow... so I'm going back tomorrow sometime.

1/2 cm Dialated...

I had another appointment today with my OB. I guess I am now dialated a whole 1/2 cm. The doctor says that I have a short window of time that he thinks I could have a chance of having the baby w/o having to worry about a c-section (because she is getting pretty big). He said that by feeling my tummy right now, she feels like she is around 9 pounds right now. He doesn't think she is a 10-pounder yet, but he has scheduled for me to go into the hospital on Friday to be induced (if I have not already had her by then). I will probably go in sometime in the evening, which is good because Brian will be down in Portland, Oregon all day in a meeting and won't make it back up to Bellingham until Friday night sometime... so he can just come up to the hospital when he gets up here. My mom is also flying in on Saturday, which is when I'll probably end up having the baby. I hope everything works out okay... and I REAAAAAALLY hope I don't have to have a c-section!!!

Heidi and I have been sick this week and I had told her that if she is still sick when I have the baby, she won't be able to come in and see me. They'll have to take me whether I'm sick or not if I go into labor, but I don't think they want sick children visiting. She seems to have understood this when I explained it to her. This morning when I was getting her ready to go to my dr's appt with me, I told her that she was going to see the doctor with me today, so he could check on the baby... She said to me something like "But I can't go to the hospital if I'm still sick." I'm glad she understands and I hope she won't get too upset if she can't go see me... I told her today was just a dr's appt, though, so it was okay and that she could go with me. She did pretty well sitting in the chair waiting in the office. As her special treat for being good, she got to eat a special cookie with pink frosting and little hearts on top.

Still no baby...

Well, I am officially past due now... and still no baby... and now, Heidi and I are sick, so I am hoping I can get over whatever I have before I have to go into labor. I don't want to be achey and have to blow my nose every 10 minutes or so while I'm pushing... and I REAALLY don't want to give whatever I have to a brand new baby! :( I have another appointment with my OB tomorrow, so we will see what he says.

"That looks like orange juice, Mom!"

Well, today I had another appointment with my OB doctor. I was hoping this would be the last appointment... but I guess it is not...

When I walked into the office, I went right away to the bathroom to give a urine sample (as usual). Heidi was with me again (like last week), and just like last week... after I peed in the cup, she said in a really loud voice (that I'm sure everyone in the lobby could hear) she said "That looks like orange juice, Mom!"

Then, when I went into the appointment, I told her that if she was really good and sat really still in her chair while the doctor was checking on the baby in my tummy, she would get a special treat. She was great... didn't even try to get out of the chair and didn't even make a sound! So, She got a chocolate heart candy and a cookie when we got back to Grandma Sylvia's house (where we're staying).

The doctor checked to see if I was dialated today. He said that my cervix is softened, but not dialated... and he Really would like for me to have this baby This Weekend if possible... because she is going to be a Big baby, but he doesn't want to try to induce me yet because my cervix is not favorable. I guess it could be even harder to deliver a baby if I am not even dialated (even with the meds they give you to induce the birth)... so I'm going back next week. He Really wants me to try to have it at least by next week because he said she's probably going to be pretty big, and if she is 10 pounds, it might be more difficult to deliver. I REEEEAAAAALLY don't want to end up having to have a c-section!!!!! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens.

He also said that the baby is still in position. I guess the two big lumps across my belly the other day were the baby's bottom and the tumor (which has gotten pretty big). Her head is still down, though, so that's good!

Baby's Position

The baby had moved into position (head down), where it should be in preparation for childbirth a long time ago, but the past couple of days, I've been wondering if she has moved. Today and yesterday, it looks like I have two huge lumps on the sides of my big, pregnant belly. I hope it is just her bottom and her legs (or maybe it is even the tumor). I hope her head is still in the down position... because if I have the baby this weekend, I DON'T want a c-section!!!

Might have a baby in a little over a week!

I had another doctor's appointment today. The baby is getting pretty big, so I might go in to be induced next week on Thursday/Friday the 12th/13th. It would be nice to have the baby next Friday because Brian is working down in Seattle, while I'm staying up here in Bellingham... If I had the baby on a Friday, it would be easier for him to be able to have a few days to spend with us at the hospital. He just started his new job recently... and I don't want him to try to ask for too much time off (since he is JUST starting). Also, Brian's mom would have the whole weekend off from work to watch Heidi while I'm in the hospital...

"Let's just pretend I'm two..."

Yesterday, Heidi was getting pretty grouchy, so I told her she had to have 3 minutes of calm-down time now (since she's now three). It used to be more like 2 minutes of time-out when she was 2. When I told her she had to sit quietly for 3 minutes of calm-down time since she's three now, she said to me "Let's just pretend I'm two... Pleeeeeaaase?"

New Job, Apartment, Quick Update...

A few weeks ago, Brian finally got a job with Kroger as a project manager over construction/remodeling of some of the Fred Meyer/QFC/Kroger grocery stores in the Seattle area. He started his new job today. I hope he will like it! We have also rented an apartment/condo in Renton, WA until we can find something more permanent. We are renting month-to-month from Brian's step-brother, Sterling. We put an offer in on a cute house just down the road from Ben and Jenny (Ben is a childhood friend of Brian's) in Maple Valley, but I don't know how much of a chance we have of actually getting this home because the lady who owns it owes three different banks money for it... so it may be difficult... and it may be a while before we even hear anything about it.

Anyway, I am due in just a few weeks, so I am going to stay up here in Bellingham until the baby is born. Brian will stay in the apartment in Renton through the week while he is working and come up to stay with us here in Bellingham on the weekends. I like the doctor I have here and don't want to have to deal with switching doctors this late in the pregnancy, so I thought it would be best to just keep the same doctor I've been seeing.

Heidi is wanting my attention, so I guess that's all for now. Just a quick update! :)

First Day In Primary

Heidi turned 3 in November, so yesterday was her first day in primary. She is now officially a Sunbeam! She seemed a little shy when we dropped her off, which is kind of unusal for her (as she is usually pretty outgoing). When I picked her up at the end of church, one of the primary teachers told me that she told her that her name was Princess Heidi! Heidi is one of the youngest kids they have in Sunbeams. They have another little boy who is also a November baby and the lady said that he said his name was Spiderman.