Back To Ms. Suzi

I was hoping to spare Alexandra the repeat torture, but i just don't see any way around it.

We took a dip in the pool over the weekend, and I checked to see if Alex remembered any of what she learned the summer before about floating on her back, and holding onto the side of the pool wall..

Nope.

The panic in Alex's eyes when I tried to hold her as she floated on her back -- too much ... for me to witness at least.

She's going to have to get refresher lessons on survival floating/swimming.

It was torture last summer, watching Alex FREAK OUT every day for 6 WEEKS of lessons with her instructor, Ms. Suzi.

In the end, despite all the dramatics -- Alex WAS able to flip onto her back and float ...

Flipping back and forth, Alex actually made it to the side of the pool wall, and could hang on -- while still screaming bloody murder. lol..

Fortunately, a refresher course means just a couple of weeks (hopefully) of torture ... but better that than the ultimate nightmare which could happen.. 

Swim Safe ISR with Suzi Taylor

Ah, The Memories Being Made

I honestly don't know how I'da made it through this pregnancy without my little honey-bunny Alexandra.

At 2-years-old, she is keeping my spirits up and giving my abs a workout from laughing so hard.

For example, she thinks it's hysterical to yell back at those annoying TV commercials that feel like they're yelling at viewers.

"MIKE SHAD!!!" she screams when she hears that catchy, overplayed car lot theme music.

"BRANDON GETS UM.."  she sings when she sees the dog on the bug-buster commercials.

I was waiting for Alex to start with the "MORGAN AND MORGAN, FOR THE PEOPLE" -- but apparently their presentation's a little too bland for her .. hahaha!

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Alexandra and I were sitting on the couch the other evening with my college-age stepdaughter -- just hanging out ...

But Alex was especially feisty, jumping around and slamming her body against her older sister...

I knew if it kept on Alex would hurt herself or something .. but before i could tell her for the ump-teenth time to "stop it please!"  ... Alex had already flung her head back, hitting her sister in the glasses -- which were on her sister's face.

Oooooooouuuuuwwwwwwccchhhhh!

I'm frantically asking my stepdaughter if she's ok, as a red mark grows around her eye, and Alex yells out, "I'M OKAY!  I'M OKAY!" 

Great, thanks for letting us know .. lol.

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So there we are, Alexandra and I ... cruisin' down the road to run errands and for ONCE Alex is totally chillin' out in her car seat, enjoying looking out her window while munching on a snack.

Suddenly the silence is broken by Alex excitedly yelling, "COSS, MOMMY -- COSS!!!"

I had no clue what she was saying .. and she kept hitting her hands together, despite the fact she had her snack cup in one, and water bottle in the other.

"COSS, COSS!  BACK THERE, COSS, MOMMY!"

I said, "I'm sorry baby, I don't understand what you're saying to me."

Alex finally says, "CHURCH!! COSS! COSS!"

A lightbulb went off in my head.

Alex was so excited she recognized a CROSS on a home we passed by.. and she was trying to signal to me with her hands, because I had shown her in church how to cross her fingers to look like a cross.

I wanted to cry as it hit me (again) -- what a HUGE responsibility, teaching a child.

My Hair Is A Bird's Nest

My first pregnancy -- my hair couldn't have been more thick and luxurious.

I was like a commercial for some expensive shampoo and conditioner!
It grew soooo long.

This time?

Ppfft!

I try to get it under control.  Forget it.  Every day I'm forced to pin it up -- on TV .. running to the store .. doing chores ... yawner.

Not so thick ... not manageable at all.

The up side -- with all the luxuriousness the first time around, I had hair growing everywhere.
The worst was my sideburns -- ugh.  If i had let them loose, i coulda braided them.

Not this time.

Hmmm.  Sideburns, or manageable hair .... that's a toughie.

Baby's BIG !

Well ... bigger than his/her older sister at least.

Another check up with the doctor and sonogram measuring tools estimate my 2nd baby is nearly 4 pounds at the end of the 7th month.

That puts him/her in the 55th percentile in weight.
That's also about how much Alexadra weighed when she was born!  (4 lbs, 10 oz)

No wonder i look and feel twice as big this time around.  lol.

Baby's head is still pointed downward -- so i figure those are his/her feet i feel fluttering up around the base of my ribs  (graphic, huh?)

And now that baby can swivel his/her head, sharp pangs against my bladder and whatever else is down there make it difficult to get comfortable in extremes: moving from a long drive in the car, to walking ... or from sitting upright to lying down for the night.

Pleasant, right?

Lola's Still With Us

Yep.

We just couldn't let her go.

All the medicines we though were helping ease the pain of her hip dysplasia -- haven't really helped.

So we've cut back on the meds, and Lola's still chasing squirrels and feral cats all day long ... just with a little limp.   :(

She's seem very happy so we'll pray she survives -- Alexandra, that is.

The baby LOVES to do her best to torture Lola...

Alex chases her .. tiptoes up to Lola then screams at the top of her lungs .. Alex pushes her high chair around the kitchen and living room, following Lola who scrambles to get out of the way...

My husband and I run to rescue Lola when we realize what's happening. Other times Lola will lie there and take Alex trying to feed her plastic donuts from her toddler kitchen.

When she's had enough -- Lola just runs to, and scratches the snot out of the door to GET OOOOOUUUUT!  lol...

Poor Lola.  She's such a great sport.

I Am Eating Like a Fiend!

Even this second time around my husband cannot get over how much I'm eating during my pregnancy.

And believe it or not, I'm not enjoying eating every few hours -- it's become a chore.

I feel like a junkie at work.
With certain co-workers I know who will be passing by food on their travels at certain times -- It's gotten to the point where they just automatically call me at their "appointed times" to see if I'd like them to pick me up something... lol....

At least I'm eating healthy, depending on how you feel about eating meat.   :)

I'm not big on eating red meat.

This pregnancy though -- i just can get enough of it.  Meat in general; any kind.
I try to eat chicken and fish.. we had pork tenderloin last night (thank youuu, hubby!) .. steak on the grill last weekend -- you name it, i'm chowin' down on it.

I don't understand it. I wanted nothing to do with red meat during my 1st pregnancy.

Hopefully my meat craze will end after the baby's born.

Hubby's pork tenderloin w/raisin and pineapple dressing -- YUM!

Peanut-A vs. Peanut-B

As time ticks away and our 2nd baby's birth creeps closer... all kinds of questions are flooding our brains --

Will my husband and I ever "see" each other again with a 2nd child in the mix?
How do we make this a smooth transition for our first born?
Do we go with a prepaid college plan, or education IRA?

What's interesting, is the question my husband asked me yesterday -- that kinda caught me off guard.

"Do you think you might ignore Alexandra because of the new baby?"

I was surprise, because I was thinking just the opposite:  My fear of resentment toward the new baby because of time he or she takes away from Alex.

I don't know why I'm afraid of that ... I have no intention of loving one child more than the other, and definitely want to give equal attention to both... which (now that I'm "saying it out loud") is probably impossible because Alex is pretty self-sufficient, aaaand a baby is, of course, not.

I'm giving myself a false sense of hope we will all adjust splendidly to our new arrival, by making it Alex and my project to fix up her new room!

Yep -- the 3 of us went searching for a "big girl" bed this past weekend -- so many cool set ups out there now!   And these stores are pretty proud (too proud) of their product!  Sheesh.  A little more $$ and hubby and I could get a brand new bed.

Terrible 2s? - NAH!

There is nothing terrible about being 2!


Sure, Alexandra has her moments when she's frustrated and reverts to crying instead of "using her words" to tell me what's wrong ... but overall, I am having a blast watching her grow and learn!


At 2-years-old, Alex has got her word combinations down!  "Daddy home?"  "Follow me, mommy!"  "That's amazing." -- i think she got that one from her Mickey Mouse DVDs (Daisy Duck is very trendy)


Alex is so intuitive -- and obsevant!
I was messing around with my husband, snapping a dish towel at him while following him around the kitchen... lol...
When my last towel-snap really hit hubby hard on his back leaving a nice red mark, we laughed as he shunned my pity hugs... but Alex was watching us like a psychologist behind a 2-way mirror.


"Daddy, you have boo-boo?!"  "Daddy, you sad ?!???"


Great.  lol... the baby thinks I'm a daddy abuser.


Whomever said kids' brains are like sponge, wasn't kidding. 


Alex knows her entire alphabet, upper and lower case ....
She can count to 20 (after a little help with the numbers 17 and 19  :).... 
She can name every character affiliated with The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (including Claribel the cow's dog, Bella)
The little peanut even remembers names of people she hasn't seen in 6 months! -- Fascinating.


I think that last little observation is what's going to push my own mom in Jersey to sign up on Skype!  FINALLY.

30 Weeks And Counting !

Wow!  It's been a while since I've written ... and I'm FREAKING OUT.


Just returned from my now bi-monthly visit to my OBGYN...


I though if a woman had a C-section for her 1st pregnancy, she had to have one for her 2nd ... lowering the risk of ripping and hemorrhaging from the incision which could lethally endanger mom and newborn.


Nope.


Well, yes -- that can happen.


However unbeknownst to me, the chance of blood pouring from my abdomen uncontrollably during labor and delivery the 2nd time around because I had a C-section the 1st time    (sorry -- the translation of a freaked-out brain) ... is only --

 1-percent.

(Pppft!   Whatevs.   It can happen.)

So, imagine me be-bopping into the doc's office, wondering when we're going to schedule my 2nd C-section, and the doc says, "Oh. We can schedule one if you want to...."


Heh?????


Suddenly my brain is instantly spinning --
"ok, let's schedule one... a week before I"m due?!?! .... wait ... what if i start labor before that? ... are ambulances equipped to handle C-section incision rips?!?! ... what if no one's around and i have to drive myself to the hospital... ***GASP*** ... will i even have the strength to call 9-1-1 ???"


 .... sigh......   I'm ok ....


Really.


Usually what I do in these instances is take a nap and save the worrying for some other time. Lol.


Let's see --
I'm 30 weeks pregnant, and twice as big this 2nd time around.


My little Alexandra (baby #1) was born at 37 weeks.


HAHAH!  Whew.  Hope I make it that long!  Not sure how much more my body can stretch!

Ah, well...  zzzzzzzzzzz.....





PEANUT #2 !