Baby Ellie

We're still waiting on her........

I thought since The Mommy gave me permission to......that I would go ahead and give you an update.  I don't really have an update so I thought I'd go ahead and give her blog a makeover in preparation of Baby Ellie's arrival.  The Mommy won't have internet connection but I will be sure to share any baby news as soon as it's available.  Keep The Mommy and Big Daddy in your prayers as this special day approaches.  

Auntie Lisa

It's official...

...I've never been more physically exhausted in all my life. More than once today I've said, "Dear God, please let me make it until nap time" only to have The Muffin say, "What did you say? Who are you talking to?". She has been so grumpy today. I tried to make our last real day here in town a little special by taking her to our local H.allmark store. She loves their huge Y.ankee Candle display and she refers to the store as "the candle store". She insists on sniffing of each one and making sure thatt each candle is in the correct spot. She loves the store, but is never ready to leave. I'd hoped to take her to our favorite greenhouse too, but I just couldn't do it.

My feet are megaginormous and they hurt so bad. My back is aching and I feel like I could just be a vegetable forever. I'm going to lay on the couch with my feet propped up and enjoy the quietness of nap time. After The Muffin is awake, I'm sure I'll find more stuff that I can pack for the big move tomorrow.

And on a totally different note, I bought my gift for having another one of Big Daddy's babies today! It's a V.era Brad.ley diaper bag! I justified the expense by reminding myself that I'll be trying to carry all of Baby Ellie's stuff, anything for The Muffin and my things while watching my girls. AND, the bag was a lot cheaper than the pearl earrings and necklace that Big Daddy gave me on the night of Muff's birth.

So long, until I have Internet access again!!

The end of our Spring semester

The Muffin and her future husband, Christopher.

The Muffin and her Kindermusik teacher, Ms. Myra.

Muff and her closest friend, Ayden.

The Muffin's favorite puppet, the mouse.

Two peas in a pod: Ayden & Muffin on the story blanket.

Our class clown and close friend, Erik.

The three girls that have started sticking together like glue: Ayden, Muffin & Eliza.

Staying and Moving

I have just returned from my weekly doctor's appointment and I actually had a nice visit with the male OB that made me furious a couple of weeks ago. This could have something to do with attending a birthday party with the OB that performed my c-section delivery with The Muffin. We talked about Muff's delivery, this pregnancy and that doctor. She's close friends with one of my close friends and she was very understanding of my complaints about the other OB.

Anyway, Baby Ellie likes Mommy's belly. She's staying put, or at least it seems that way for now. I haven't progressed any further...in three weeks. This is so much like when I was expecting Muff. My next appointment is next Thursday and it's with my midwife Rita. I'm going to talk to her about when to induce, if it comes to that. I'm sure they will want to strip my membranes (ouch, ouch, ouch) and try more "natural" ways of encouraging labor first. Whatever works best for Baby Ellie is what I'll do. Part of me just wants this baby out so that I can stop having my cervix checked. Seriously...it hurts. I didn't want to be induced, but I'm having issues with being an hour away from the hospital that I'll deliver in even though I try to make it seem like it's not that big of a deal when I'm asked. Plus, I'm not sure I can handle going into labor at home after what happened with The Muffin. Then again, I don't want to be induced because of what happened wit The muffin either. In the end, God will chose when Baby Ellie comes.

Now, for the moving part of the post.

We are planning our big move for Saturday and we'll hopefully be spending the night in our apartment. I managed to only cry twice about this yesterday. I'm thankful that we found a place to live without having to wait, but it is so hard to move into a little two-bedroom apartment with a teeny-tiny kitchen. We had dreamed about all of the things that we would be doing with our two girls in our house and in our neighborhood.

On a brighter note, The Muffin enjoyed picking out her new room. She was a little confused because there wasn't any furniture and she mistakenly chose the living room. We straightened that out and she likes her "very own room". She loves the playground and I'm actually looking forward to spending evenings out there with her and Big Daddy.

As of tomorrow, we'll temporarily be without Internet service. (gasp!!) We're going to get an air card so that we'll be completely wireless and mobile. I'm just not sure when we'll get that taken care of. Auntie Lisa will be posting any big baby news or any new developments for me. If you start getting concerned about Baby Ellie's arrival, jump over to her blog and ask her what's going on.

I'll try to post something fun and exciting tomorrow.

FYI, we're up against a deadline

In my "former" life (a.k.a., before motherhood) I was a real estate broker. I know all about deadlines and contracts falling apart and not closing at the closing table. Even though things seem to be falling into place and going well with the sell of our house, I'm cautious.

As parents, Big Daddy and I want what's best for The Muffin and Baby Ellie. We have made lots of decisions based on them. If it were just the two of us, Big Daddy may have even stayed with his former employer because he loved the company that much. We would have faced an even more uncertain future just because we could have afforded to do so without hurting any little lives.

Over the past week, we have listened to countless people ask, "So are you going to wait and move after the baby comes?". It's sort of like the comments that people made because our house was for sale and I still tried to prepare the nursery by painting it and putting a crib in there. Both of these were sort of a no-brainers for us. We're up against a deadline, people! It's not exactly what we wanted to do, but it is definitely what we felt is best for our entire little family. We decided that being even partially settled into an apartment when Baby Ellie comes would be better than trying to move and care for a baby while I'm recovering and we're adjusting to life as a family of four. I hope this also gives The Muffin a little time to get used to her new room before she has to get used to her new baby sister, too. Poor Muffin is going through enough as it is. Big Daddy will be off work for two weeks when Baby Ellie is born and we want to spend this time as a family and hopefully, be able to do some fun stuff. We don't want to be moving and packing and unpacking our lives.

I guess I'd finally had enough yesterday. Let's just say I received a phone call. (You know who it was from.) She asked if we were going to stay in the house for "a couple of weeks after the baby was born to get settled". I explained (again) when the due date was, when the closing date was and that we had spent the past week packing up and that my mom and sister had spent the biggest part of their day on Saturday assisting us. Her suggestion was that I let "them" move us into the apartment while I'm in the hospital. I tried not to sound angry when I explained to her that "they" (my family-mom & dad, sister & brother-in-law) had done more than enough for us already and that I would not dream of asking more of them and I also wanted to unpack my own stuff because I wasn't lazy and could do it a lot easier now than I could do it while caring for Muff and a new baby. I also reminded her that they had let Big Daddy stay at their house and made room for me and The Muffin to come and visit and tried to do everything that they could to make all of this easier on us. AND, that they don't mind, don't try to get out of helping us after they've said that they would and are always ready to go above and beyond the call of their role as family. And that while I'm in the hospital with Big Daddy at my side we can rest easy knowing that The Muffin will be safe and happy with them. Not to mention that several times over the past few weeks we've left The Muffin with my family so that we could do something quick only to unexpectedly be gone for an hour or two. And who has kept The Muffin (overnight) for many of my doctor's appointments??

I have no problem doing the math. Baby Ellie is due on June 7, ten days away. Our house is scheduled to close on June 16. If Baby Ellie doesn't arrive on her own, my labor will most-likely be induced on June 11 or 12. I have to stay in the hospital for at least 48 hours because I'm GBS+. If I have to have a c-section assisted delivery, I'll be there at least one day longer.

If we'd had things our way all of this would have happened a month earlier or later. (Be careful what you pray for because it really will happen in God's time) Big Daddy has been away from us for most of each week since he started his new job on April 6. This has been emotionally hard on Muff and we need and want to be together as a family. People seem to think that she just goes on about her life while he's gone and picks up where we left off when he comes back. I can promise you that this isn't the case. The Muffin has shed many tears over her Daddy being gone and I've cried by her side so many times. Being together every evening works for us.

I guess all of this could have been summed up by saying people should "keep their opinions to themselves" or "mind their own business". I just felt like it needed an explanation.

Week 38 & Packing Up Our Lives

It's week 38! Our Baby Ellie is officially fully-baked and could come at anytime...although I'm hoping she'll stay toasty in the oven for at least one more week! I actually have a picture of me, The Muffin and my Ellie-Belly, but I'm too lazy to go downstairs and retrieve it from the camera.
***Updated to add that for some reason, I can't get he pictures out of the camera***

We had such a busy weekend! My mom, sister and Callie came on Saturday and helped us pack up our lives. They took a load of stuff that will be stored at my parents' house as well as The Muffin's play house. All of my fall/winter clothes are now packed and I'm hoping that we will be in a new house before I need them. My mom and sister now realize just how much stuff you have to pack when you're moving everything! After they left, we napped and then went to a birthday party. It was a very long day.

Sunday was supposed to be our last regular Sunday at church. We were going to let everyone know of the recent developments in our lives. Instead, we were surprised about 3:30 Sunday morning when The Muffin woke up with a fever and then started throwing up. I think she's sick of all of this moving stuff. Her sickness lasted until bedtime. Big Daddy and I took turns sitting with her and I did three loads of laundry. One of our Sunday school classmates called to see if we'd had Baby Ellie. When I told her all about what was going on she offered to keep The Muffin, help us pack our bring us food. We once again realized why we love our church and are so heartbroken that we'll be church-shopping soon.

Yesterday, we were up early to do more packing. Big Daddy and his brother moved everything in our storage building to our storage unit. The Muffin and I went to our last Kindermusik class and then met Big Daddy at Nana & Pawpaw's. Big Daddy and I took my SUV to unload it and then drove around to look at houses and met with the builder that we've been talking to. He's supposed to get back with us on some home sites and house plans this week. Pray he comes up with something great! We used my mom as babysitter again while we were gone. The Muffin loves staying with Nana and is going to really enjoy being close to her extended family.

The Muffin and I are hanging out around the house today. I may take her to visit the greenhouse one last time. I've got a few things to do, but I was able to accomplish a lot last night and I want to try and give her a little extra attention. We'll be taking a load of baby necessities to the apartment tomorrow. I'll be signing the lease and sanitizing it so that everything will be move in-ready on Saturday. The home inspection and pest inspection on our house will also be tomorrow. As a former real estate broker, I'm hoping that these two things go well too.

On Saturday, my mom & dad, sister & brother-in-law, their trucks, a U-Haul, Bubba, Callie and The Muff along with me and Big Daddy will be doing our big move. Please pray that everything goes well and that we're able to get everything moved at one time. After that, I'll be doing my final clean of our first house. (sniff, sniff) I hope and pray that everything will be finished by the first of the week so that we can focus only on The Muffin and Baby Ellie's arrival.

Just in case you are keeping track, we'll have stuff in storage at my mom and dad's and a storage unit, as well as in storage at the apartment. That explains just one of the reasons we didn't just hire a professional mover. We'll be living with only the bare minimum of our belongings since we'll hopefully be moving into a new home soon.

Let the moving begin!

After we get into a new home, I'm officially never moving again.

I've been busy packing up non-essential items all morning with a break to go to Muff's doctor's appointment and to the grocery store. My mom and sister are coming tomorrow to help pack up more stuff and we should be moving a load of things into our storage unit on Monday. Next Saturday will be the big move when we take the majority of our stuff either to the apartment or to put into storage. I managed to take a load of things to my mom and dad's on Tuesday, so we have our belongings scattered everywhere. And I'm tired and 9 months pregnant to top it all off.

I think all of this should explain where I've been, where I am and where I'll be for at least the next couple of weeks...unless Baby Ellie decides to make an early appearance. Then I'll be in the hospital or caring for my two sweet girls with Big Daddy by my side.

I'm getting SO excited about welcoming Baby Ellie and being able to spend two whole weeks adjusting to life as a family of four. Having to move right now has definitely put a lot of strain and pressure on us with our due date (June7) so close. That's my big stress now...moving and delivering a baby smack dab in the middle of it all while trying to make sure that The Muffin is adjusting to all of the changes. But, I'm trying to take comfort in the fact that I get Big Daddy for two weeks after Ellie's birth and every night after that and I'll be so close to my mom, dad, sister and other family.
Big things are happening!!

A Few Pictures

And that's why I'm tired

So...I'm pooped and I have at least 6 hours before I'm off duty, as in Muff goes to bed. We have a pediatrician appointment in an hour and I have to get all of Muff's paperwork updated, as well as try to fill out forms for a baby that hasn't been born yet. The latter totally confuses me because I try to fill out the forms as they request, but I'm not sure of her birth date and stuff and I just get confused. Then to top it all off I'll have to go over the whole move-thing and figure out when Baby Ellie needs to start seeing her new pediatrician. You know, the one that I have yet to call?
I've spent the past two hours or so packing stuff that needs to be in climate-controlled storage, a.k.a. our little two bedroom apartment. We'll be in a two bedroom because that's all that was immediately available. We are planning to live with the bare necessities and use some of the extra space for storing our off-season clothes and pictures and things. Baby Ellie will have to share a room with her Mommy and Daddy. I guess it will be convenient, but not exactly what we had planned for our little baby. The Muffin will probably be living the best of all of us. She'll be closer to her Nana & Pawpaw, cousin Callie and a playground. Her room will be much like it is now and she gets to keep all of her toys out of storage. Big Daddy and I really hope to have permanent housing fast. We are trying not to put too much on our plates right now, so we may not make a permanent decision on building or buying until Baby Ellie is here and settled. I'm not planning to decorate at all, so my focus will be on taking care of my two girls and helping The Muffin get used to all of the changes the best we can.
I've only moved a couple of times my entire life. Needless to say, with one child here and another on the way, I have more stuff now than I did back then.

What's your best moving advice or tip??

Baby Belly-Week 37

Does it get any cheesier than this??? As you can tell, I'm without my handy dandy photo editing software and I had to post the picture as-is. I'm sure there's great editing software on Big Daddy's laptop, but I'm short on patience and time.
Well, it's week 37 and Baby Ellie is officially full term! She's directly on my bladder, I promise. She still kicks like crazy and does crazy tricks in there. My back pain is pretty much absent, but I have very strong Braxton Hicks contractions several times a day. This weeks doctor's appointment will be on Thursday, so we'll see how things are progressing..

The Muffin and I have a big day today. We have Kindermusik this morning and her three year check-up is this afternoon. All of our in-between time will be busy with running errands and packing. We have accepted an offer on our house, so we are going to try and be settled into an apartment in...two weeks. Two. Weeks. With. A. Baby. On. The. Way. I'm officially hoping that Baby Ellie bakes in the oven until her due date. After lots of consideration and discussion, we decided to bust our butts and try to be settled in an apartment an hour away when I go into labor just so that Baby Ellie can come "home" to some sort of order. We are heartbroken that she will not be able to live (outside of my belly) in our house and sleep in the room that I've prepared for her. She will definitely be stopping by to visit our house as soon as she's discharged from the hospital, though. We have neighbors that she needs to meet.
Please, please, please pray that everything goes okay with the whole selling process. As a former real estate broker, I've sat at the closing table too many times trying to make a deal work to think that we're in the clear. Also pray that our marriage survives!! All of this stress is really hard on us!
On a brighter note, The Muffin will be attending preschool in the fall at the same church that both Bubba & Callie went to. We're going by there this week to look around and register her for her class!
Then, on a sad note, Big Daddy and I will have to find a new church for our little family. This has been one of the hardest parts of planning the move. I wanted our little Ellie to be able to stay in the nursery with the nice ladies at our present church and hoped that she would fall in love with them just the way that Muff has fallen in love with Ms. Bell. Of course, Big Daddy and I do NOT want to leave this church for our own selfish reasons too. Big Daddy realy wants to drive the hour each Sunday, but leaving at 7:45 so that we could be at church in time for the early service with a three year old and a newborn doesn't sound like fun to me.

Pray, pray, pray.