So many words, so little time.

I used to keep track of what words Jeanne was learning and when, but she is learning them so quickly I can't keep up.

I know that this week she has added tube, door, birdie, neck, and mitten.

Possible gits for Jeanne (more books added)

Books:
Alphabet or Heads by Matthew Van Fleet (we have tails)
Sesame Street 'My storytime carry along collection' (6 books)
Books by Nancy E. Shaw (we have sheep in a jeep) Sheep Blast off, Sheep out to eat etc
The Hat by Jan Brett
My first Fairy Tales by Tomie Depaola
My first Songs by Tomie Depaola

Clothes, 24 months

Bath toys / bath crayons / Bubble Bath
Beeswax crayons: beeswax crayons
Play cooking set natural cook set (less than $15)  fruit set

Large piece puzzles

Please, no electronic toys or anything that requires batteries

Thank you all!

Nesting already

Being pregnant is not my favorite thing.  The aches, the bloating, the first trimester exhaustion (and demon personality).  During the second semester, you start to grow a real belly, realizing that the belly you had during the first trimester was just bloat and food you've been shoveling down your gullet, this is baby.

Then you can feel the baby move.  The firs few times are amazing, and make you smile.  Then a month later, it starts to get annoying when someone is kicking the crap out of your ribs when your trying to go to sleep.

The third trimester is just a period where you are either waddling you way to the bathroom, or thinking about how the hell this thing is going to come out of you.

Clearly, I am not one of those women who get a pregnancy glow and love being pregnant.  Once the baby is born though, watch out, here come the machine gun kisses!

I am 21 weeks pregnant, half way through.

I've already retrieved most boxes from the garage that contain Jeanne's old clothes and getting the gender neutral clothes out and washing them.  We have NO NEED of any clothes sized 0-3 months.  Probably even longer, but that depends on the size of this baby.

I've started a blanket for baby #2.  It's actually a crochet pattern, ripple, sage and chocolate.  The needle I've used is a bit too small I think, but hubbers recommended I not switch to larger needle, oh well.

OK, I think that's enough about me.  Now, should this pregnant lady have a turkey sandwich for breakfast or pumpkin pie.... perhaps.... hmm, perhaps both.

Thanksgiving Day

Jeanne, Hubbers and I are winding down, but we have had a really fun, food filled day.  We didn't really plan the whole meal, we basically knew we wanted roasted veggies and the typical Turkey day foods.

Hubbers and I took turns playing with Jeanne, cooking and keeping up with the dishes.  We have so little counter top space (less than in MA somehow), it was imperative to stay on top of the dishes and clear off out island constantly.  Amazingly, with all the cooking my kitchen is cleaner, than it is on a normal day.

Breakfast included Western omelets and lemon poppy seed bread (recipe from new cookbook from mum).

Thanksgiving dinner included Turkey breast with sausage stuffing, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes with gravy (which was difficult, as those free range birds don't have a whole lotta fat, but hubbers got it done!), homemade cranberry sauce by mummy (I loved the cranberry sauce, but hubbers thought it was too tart). 

Dessert was pumpkin pie, and rice krispe treats for Jeanne (made with brown rice cereal), but Jeanne didn't like them, hubbers did though!  She did like the pumpkin pie, and really who doesn't?

Here are random photos and videos of Jeanne:

Below: We're at the playground on a rare cool day and enjoying the rustle of the leaves.
Fall Fun November 18th

Jeanne missed her afternoon nap, and by them time we got in the car the sun was blinding her.  Sunglasses made her much more comfortable!

Below:  Jeanne won't let daddy get too far away, she wants to keep feeding him.
Stay close daddy.


I'll try to post again in a couple of days.
I hope you all had fantastic days with friends and family, I know I did.

Also, thanks to my family for skypeing with us, it was good to see everyone!

Turkey Day

I am trying very hard not to be too sad to not see my family tomorrow, but instead am focusing on starting our own Turkey day fun here.  Although I know I will miss out on some AMAZING food, and great hugs, I DO have my own gourmet chef here, and he gives great hugs too!

We got a turkey breast (3.5 pounder) not a whole turkey, since even this pregger mum doesn't think I can eat that much food!  Turnips, carrots and parsnips will be glazed and roasted.  Yukon potatoes will be smashed to smithereens and roasted garlic mushed with all the yummy butter to make us smile.  Fresh cranberry sauce is in the pot right now, making the whole house smell like a cinnamon wonderland!  Handmade stuffing is planned with just a little farm fresh sage pork sausage from a local farm.  And to finish, a lemon poppy seed tart!


I hope your thanksgiving is as yummy, warm, and love filled!
Hugs and love to all my family in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Missouri, Florida and Connecticut!

We're flying on a jet plane!

Looks like the three is us will be making out way north for the end of December!  Yea!  Thanks mom!

If you haven't heard yet...

The ultrasound appointment showed that my growing fetus looks normal and all is well, and we are expecting a boy!

Now we just have to figure out a name....

I would love to show you the awesome images that were taken, since, amazingly enough they gave us a CD with some of the images.  Except, the US tech seemed to have chosen all the blurry, non-obvious images, including the very clear image of two legs and exterior genitals.

Random thoughts

I've been meaning to post some thoughts/comments lately, but haven't had a chance to.  Here is a random walk through my mind.

I really like North Carolina.  I do not miss Massachusetts (although would have liked to have a more traditional fall).  I find NC far more welcoming and open than Boston.  It could be that I am living relatively near Universities (about 20 minutes away, but there are no dorms or cheap college bars around here), but I don't know.

I am happy that, so far, it seems I can safe and fun things for Jeanne, and when she turns 18 months, more educational activities for her to do.

I knew moving here would mean being far away from my family, but now that the fantastic feast holidays are coming, I am feeling it even more.  I am already missing my Aunt's homemade pumpkin pie, my Uncle's gravy, and my Aunt's exquisite  holiday decor.  The housing market being what it is, our Mass home isn't selling, and making it home for the holiday's will be hard.  We are going to try to make it.

I knew leaving with my Master's degree would be something that filled me with relief and haunt me forever for all the time I invested in my research, in the home and just plain driving.  I didn't realize how much I would miss my friends Marla and Christian. 

I didn't plan on explaining to Jeanne what it meant to be pregnant, or that there was a baby within me, as I believed the concept to be to difficult for a 17 month old.  At some point, probably while she was kicking me in play, I told her not to hurt the baby.  This seemed to stick with her, and now, with no real prodding from me, she has started patting my belly and saying 'baby', lifting my shirt to uncover my belly, then resting her head on my belly and giving me a kiss and saying 'baby'.  When I put her in her highchair and buckle her in, she leans forward, hugs my belly, says 'baby' and smiles.  This is all super adorable and I wish I could believe she understood what she was saying and doing.  Either way, I now make sure we always get books about being a big sister from the library.  Just for her to hear more often, and hear stories about babies.
 
I think that's good enough for now.

I have an ultrasound appointment this Wednesday to make sure the internal anatomy is all normal in baby #2, and hopefully find out the sex too.  Hubbers is away, and won't be home until Wednesday night, so you won't find out here until Thursday.  Stay tuned!

Loving one at a time

Jeanne is very particular about when and how she will spend time with someone.  If she has chosen you ('up, up, up, up'), then you are the only person she will let pick her up, she will only read with you, only hold your hand while crossing the street.  This was very obvious when Granmommy was here this past weekend.  Since she hadn't seen her favorite person in a while, only Granmommy would do.  Hubbers nor I could get any hugs or kisses, she didn't want to play with us, and most certainly wouldn't let her grandmother out of her sight!  This was both very adorable and off-putting at the same time. 

I know I spend all day every day with Jeanne, but I still didn't like that she wouldn't even want me to change her diaper. 

Hubbers and I were very, very worried about how Jeanne would react after Granmommy left.  I did not want her to breakdown in tears and not allow hubbers or I to console her after missing her Granmommy.  But, after we dropped my mother off at the airport, Jeanne got to say 'bye-bye', gave two kisses and waved.  As we pulled away, all was fine.  Jeanne loved and hugged hubbers and I all night long, almost as if she missed us as much as we missed her.

There must be a way to show her she can get and give love from more than one person at a time.... Hmm...

We all loved my mothers visit, and wish it could have been longer.

Thanks Mom, for all your help, and all the love time you give our daughter.

I am doing something wrong.

I have been trying to get Jeanne to sleep in her bed all night long.  In the recent past, we would bring her into our bed after her first waking.  Sleeping with Jeanne the first 12 months was really quite nice.  I loved having her little body snuggle deeply into me, being able to rub her back, listen to her breathe and know she was OK.  Sometimes I would wake up to her snuggled into her fathers arm.
  But now, at 17 months ( and really since she was about 12-13 months) she is bigger, longer, and quite the bed hog, not to mention a very light sleeper.  She kicks me all night, I don't mean she moves a bit.  I mean she kicks, really hard, constantly until she falls asleep, which is taking longer and longer these days.  It doesn't help that she refuses to sleep parallel with us, but must be perpendicular.

I have been trying to go into her room, and either rock her or lie on the futon with her until she falls asleep, but she seems onto me, and does her level best to stay awake.  Now, instead of her sleeping on her own more, I do one of two things.
1) stand and rock her for until she falls asleep, which takes about 20-30 minutes a shot, and she wakes 3-5 times a night (up from one)
2) I 'sleep' with her on the futon.  Which really means I don't sleep because I am still lying with Jeanne, and she is still kicking me (always in the stomach, if I put my back to her, she crawls over me to get to my stomach, which is PREGNANT).  Not to mention I am no longer sleeping in my own bed.  I try to move her to her bed once he is asleep, but again, it takes a long time, and she sometimes wakes and 'protests' and the process has to start all over again.

This morning, I brought Jeanne to hubbers at 6 for her morning sippy cup of 'milk' and went to lie back down on the futon.  Only, I was too hungry to go back to sleep.  I had been awake too long through the night and needed to get something in my stomach.

I am doing something wrong.

A(nother) Walk in the Woods

The crew enjoyed a raw fall like day here in North Carolina and took a walk in the woods.  I love how close this park is to us.  It allows us to get outside and away from commercialism quite quickly, and Jeanne just loves to pick up rocks along the way.

That is, when she walks anyway.  But I like feeling her close anyway, and I get random hugs along the way.

A rare photo of us both.

Peek a boo!

It's all work, I tell you, we do NOT have fun in the family!

Two of my three favorite people.

Earlier this weekend

A pair of cuddle bunnies on Saturday morning.

October 20th, Jeanne and I went to the Natural History Museum.

I found it rather difficult to rangle a toddle, keep the stroller and take photos, so you only get to see her eat lunch.  ;)