Baby Tomorrow!

So after months of hoping I would be able to avoid a second c-section, I will have a c-section tomorrow morning at 10:45.  So, here comes #3!  Now it is time to focus on this little one's life, instead of just the birth.  Let the fun begin.  Also, let me sleep well tonight, for probably the last time in a while! 

Common Baby!

Due date has come and gone, #3 has not made an appearance.  Apparently this little one has taken my requests to not arrive early a little too seriously. But now we are ready!  Eric is off until November 7th, mom is here to help take care of Karissa and Kaylee, the baby's room is ready, our bags are packed, baby names are picked out, grass in the back yard is planted and starting to come up, basement is clean and organized, trees in the front yard are trimmed.  It is time! 

What I should be doing is enjoying these last few days I have to relax a little before the baby comes.  But it feels a little bit like I am fully prepared for a marathon only to have it postponed day after day!  Anyway, I guess I will just go put my feet up, read a magazine, watch a little tv and try to get a full nights sleep because it will all change very soon!  We will keep you posted! 

Watch what you say!

Kaylee and Karissa are at the age when they will say pretty much anything they hear, which is very fun, but requires a little caution.  So one day when Karissa burped, I said to her oh, you burped.  So Kaylee had a wonderful time for the next 5 minutes saying "Burp" followed by hysterical laughter from both of them.  I wonder if they even knew what they were saying and why it was funny, but it kept them occupied in the car for awhile.  Now if they hear Eric burp they love to say "Daddy burp" (I of course never burp, so "mommy burp" doesn't apply here!)

So two days ago Kaylee picked up the book "Water for Elephants" from my nightstand.  She brought it to Eric and said "read book."  Since it's a novel, it is a pretty boring book for a 19 month old, but Eric gave it a shot.  Luckily it includes pictures of different circus scenes at the beginning of each chapter, so it kept Kaylee's interest for a little while.  All was good as they looked at pictures of tents, trains and elephants, until they came to the picture before chapter 11...a topless woman.  So Eric's surprised response...Oh!  Boobies!  Kaylee's next new word?  Boobies.  (pretty easy one to say for a toddler)  Our reaction?  Hysterical laughter, Karissa's reaction?  "Boobies!" 

39 weeks tomorrow!

Predictions anyone?  I am 39 weeks, baby is head down and my due date is October 22nd.  Is it a boy or girl?  When will he or she arrive and how much will the baby weigh?  Doctor is predicting a 7 and 1/2 pound baby.  Let us know!!

Odds and ends

I took a tour of the ob department at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville today.  Lets just say check me in!  First of all the hospital opened their new building about 2 months ago, so everything is up to date and beautiful.  Huge labor and delivery suites, huge maternity rooms, quiet floors.  You pretty much feel like you are walking into a hotel.  Of course at most hotels you don't expect to go into labor!  (The hotel staff probably would prefer it that way.)  So I feel lucky to be delivering at this hospital, whenever that may be.  Predictions anyone?

As for Karissa and Kaylee, we may have hit a small milestone, for 3 days they have let me brush their teeth without screaming.  (they were the screamers, not me!!)  Of course, this requires me to pin them on their backs on the bed and practically sit on them, but now they seem to think it is kind of funny rather than pure torture. They have also found it fun to "paint" the walls with their toothbrushes which requires me to have to wash the wall after said painting episodes. After watching this for a day or two, Karissa will now walk to the kitchen, get the hand towel that is hanging on the oven door, come back to the bedroom and wipe the wall.  I think I will have her observe me scrubbing the tile floor in the shower just to see what happens!!  Maybe I will have a little housekeeper in no time. 

Anyway, we are trying to squeeze in a few more outings before the baby comes, hopefully a pumpkin patch and a halloween party!   

38 weeks!

38 weeks today.  Full term!  Doctor says it is likely I will carry this child right to my due date.  That is a very good thing because we aren't quite ready!!  My due date is October 22nd. Eric stops work on the 19th, and Mom will get here on the 20th. My parents are out of the country until the 13th of October, so if the baby did come early, it would be tough to reach them.  Also, Eric is working as hard as he can to get the yard in order so we can plant grass and maybe have a yard we can all enjoy this fall.  Hopefully only about 8-10 more hours of pulling up weeds, cutting down stumps and raking and it will be ready. 

Otherwise, the baby's room is ready, van has been vacuumed out, basement is cleaned up and we have hopefully found a wonderful babysitter/helper for after the baby arrives!!  All is falling into place. 
Oh, and I had a dream last night that we are having a girl....we will see!  Anyone care to guess arrival date or gender?
Now we have to remember to install the carseat!!

The Twin Bond

As any parent of twins knows, raising two children who are the same age is often challenging.  Raising any child is challenging, but two cranky, fussy, messy, overtired 19 month olds can be very tough.  Trying to hold said children at the same time on top of a 9 month pregnant belly is a bit ridiculous and quite comical if you try to picture it!  (I try not too!)  But hopefully these are the moments we will forget as time moves on.  What I hope we will always remember is the bond they share.  Recently we have seen more evidence of this and it is so much fun to watch.

For instance, Karissa always makes sure that when I am getting her sippy cup ready, I am also getting one ready for Kaylee.  When we take walks if Karissa gets ahead of Kaylee she will stop and turn around and say "Kaykee" and wait until Kaylee catches up.  This past summer I had taken them to a park and they lost sight of each other for a few minutes. When they met up agan, they ran towards each other, gave each other hugs and both fell over. This morning Kaylee woke up before Karissa, so we got her out of bed and brought her in to snuggle with us in our room.  Kaylee immediately ran back to her bedroom get Karissa. Today, when the girls were in the jogger and Karissa was crying, Kaylee put her hand on Karissa's knee to comfort her. Tonight at dinner, they had a great time entertaining each other by sticking grapes out of their mouths and trying to eat the same piece of spaghetti. 

Of course they are not perfect and we must also live through the moments when they are stealing toys away, pulling hair and trying to push each other off my lap, but we know that in another moment or two if we are lucky we might get another glimpse of that twin bond.