Baby Update

Since I have hardly posted anything about the baby, I thought I would give a baby update. It's funny because when I was pregnant with Norah - our world totally revolved around being pregnant. Now, with 2 other children, I don't have a lot of time to think about being pregnant. If I am tired - it doesn't hit me until the girls are in bed. If I don't feel good - I don't have time to think about it.
Anyway, I am 27 weeks, but because I am having a c-section a week early, I really just have 12 weeks to go. What?! 12 weeks - where did my 2nd trimester go?
The baby is moving constantly - especially when I am in bed. I have started feeling what is probably hiccups. The girls are getting really excited about the baby. They both are constantly hugging my belly and talking to the baby.
Since we don't know what we are having, we really haven't narrowed down names at all. In fact, our lists keep getting longer and longer. We have about 6 boys names and maybe 10 girls names. Kevin doesn't really like to tell others our names so I won't list them here. Before Lucy was born we had a different name picked out for her, then about 3 days before my c-section, Kevin said he wasn't sold on the name, so we went back to the drawing board. We ended up with Lucy Mae. So even if we choose a name - it could still change.

The Mural!

Denise, Contessa, and my mom came to our house a couple of days before Will's birthday party. Denise and I have been talking about her painting a mural in the basement, but owning a successful business keeps her VERY busy!

As soon as they got to our house, Denise got busy painting. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of her actually painting.

We love it!! Thanks, Denise!

Here is the finished mural:

Weekend Recap . . .Finally!

We are still having some issues - but for now I can post a few pictures.

My nephew, Will, turned 2 last week (I can't believe it - it seems like he was just born!) so we went to the zoo to celebrate! It was CRAZY at the zoo because they were having Boo at the Zoo. The kids had a great time collecting candy and admiring all the animals. Seriously, I don't think we will ever tire of going to the zoo!!

Here are a few pics. . .just realized that somehow I didn't even get any of the birthday boy! I will have to try to get some of him from someone else.

Computer Problems

We are having some computer problems. I can check blogs, email, etc. but I can't upload pics nor can I find any of my pictures (Kevin did just back up the pics last week, thank goodness).

Much of what I have to blog about I have pictures to post. I think I will wait a couple of days to see if Kevin can get all this figured out.

Hopefully, more to come in a couple of days.

Lucy's Stories

The girls were arguing in the car today and I hear Lucy say, "Norah, you rude and I mad!"

Lake of the Ozarks

This weekend we went to the Lake with our small group from church.  Our church has a marriage retreat house on the lake for small groups to go for marriage enrichment.  We had a great time!!  At the moment we are the only ones with kids (although 2 other girls are pregnant) and the other couples were very kind to invite the girls to come with us.  We have only ever been to the lake in the summer so it was fun to go in the fall.  We were able to enjoy God's incredible creation as we looked across the lake at the leaves changing colors!  Beautiful!

Kevin and the girls on the dock from the house.

We had yummy food - we have excellent cooks in our group!  We went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park for a hike (Kelsey and I just went on the short one to the castle ruins).  The others went on a longer hike/trail down 316 steps (Kevin and Lucy ended up not making it - imagine that).  Norah wanted to keep going so she stayed with the rest of the group and walked ALL the way down and ALL the way back up.  I thought for sure Norah would need to be carried back up, but she toughed it out!!  We found out later that Norah told Jenny and Kristy some tall tales on the hike (like that she held a baby deer on her camping trip - what?)

Lucy seemed to think it was her job to entertain Dave and Kelsey by making up songs about "naked bodies" and "poopy diapers."  I'm sure she was just preparing them for becoming parents.

We ate a late lunch at Dog Days.  Our service wasn't great, but the view and the weather was great!!

We went miniature golfing after lunch.  Norah had a great time and did really well!  Lucy enjoyed walking on the bricks and dropping her ball into the hole.  The grown-ups all had a great time, too!  

The girls didn't have a nap so they were both very tired.  They were both in bed and asleep by 7:30 so the grown-ups could have a relaxing dinner without them.  We grilled out and had yummy sides.  We finished the evening with our own version of the Newlywed Game.   We laughed SO hard I thought Kelsey or I might go into labor right there!

Lucy woke Kevin at 5:30 this morning while the rest of us slept a little later.  After another yummy breakfast we packed up and headed out.

The girls did really well the whole weekend!  I was quite proud of them!  They had a blast with so much attention from all the grown-ups.  At one point Lucy asked if everyone was coming home with us.  And later she asked if "Mr. Aberle" was coming to our house.  

The girls are exhausted again - because they didn't nap on the way home and played outside for several hours once we got home.

We had a great time with everyone!  It was great to get to know everyone a little better!  We can't wait to go again!!

I guess being so well-behaved all weekend was a little much for Lucy.  Here she is on the way home.  She looks so pleasant, doesn't she?

Toddler Thursday Theme - Black and White Animals

Last week we had a VERY laid back week of school - since Lucy was sick.  Norah was fine - but Lucy wanted to be held a lot and that made it difficult to get anything done with Norah.  By Friday morning the girls were both asking to do school so we did a few things - but we will continue this week.  

Lucy matched animals to animal cards.  All the animals were black and white animals.

The girls drew with white chalk on black paper.  They seemed to also enjoy making smudges on their pictures after drawing.

We worked on making patterns - Norah enjoys and can finish pretty difficult patterns (ABC and ABAAB).  Lucy on the other hand, had no interest.  I tried just to get her to copy an AB pattern and she just wanted to put the white blocks together and the black ones together.

The girls made pandas with black and white circles.  This is Lucy's.  The picture of Norah's didn't turn out very well.

Oooh - a Clean Car

While Lucy was sleeping today, Norah and I went outside to clean out the car. Of course, Norah played on the front porch and in the garage while I cleaned. Seriously, I haven't cleaned out my car in FOREVER! It was nasty! There were crumbs from a pumpkin muffin left from pumpkin festival which was over a month ago! It totally makes Kevin sick and he usually cleans out my car for me, but he has been so busy recently that he hasn't had time.

After Lucy's nap we were going to run to the grocery and I said to Lucy, "Mommy cleaned out the car while you were napping."

Her response, "I can hardly beyeeve it!"

When I opened the car door for Lucy, she squeals, "Oooh! It's so cean!!"

Sad really - that my 2 year old is so excited to have a clean car!!

Sick Day Update

I took Lucy to the doctor today and she has an ear infection - which means the tubes are no longer in place. She seems to be over the tummy ache, but doesn't have much of an apetite.
She did wake up from her nap much happier than she has been all week. Hopefully, we are at the end of this bug.

Norah seems fine - other than the fact that I made her get a flu shot today. She "couldn't" move her arm all day today - you know, because of the flu shot.

A Sick Day*

We had to cancel our plans to go to the pumpkin farm with the Diehl's today. It was kind of a dreary morning anyway so we have rescheduled for a day next way. Lucy has a stomachache. I will spare you the yucky details, but she is pretty miserable. She didn't sleep well last night so she was EXTRA grumpy. She took a 2 1/2 hour nap over lunch and woke up happier - but still not feeling well. She has just wanted to be held and snuggle with her blankie most of the day. Unfortunately, we will have to miss our Bible study tomorrow - which Norah and I really enjoy, so we are bummed to miss it.
Hopefully, she gets over it soon and doesn't pass it onto someone else.

*Before bed Lucy was crying that her ear hurts - I guess we will be making a trip to the doctor tomorrow.  Just after dinner Norah said her tummy hurts - great!  Both girls were in bed and asleep by 7!  They obviously don't feel well.

A Few Funnies

Just thought I would share a few funny Norah stories.

First of all, she has decided she was her name to be spelled N-O-R-A.  She leaves off the H all the time - on purpose!  

She got a little frog tatoo somewhere this week and wanted me to put it on her.  She decided she wanted it on her left ankle because "that's where Daddy's is."  She also told me that she is going to take showers from now on because then it will stay on forever!  She thinks Kevin doesn't take baths because he doesn't want his tatoo to come off.  Ha!

Toddler Theme Thursday - Hands and Feet

We had a hard time getting going this morning with all the excitement in our community.  If you read Heather's blog (I seem to always reference your blog, Heather - but you are better about posting current happenings than I am), than you already know what went on this morning.  Kevin stuck around longer than normal this morning because traffic was back up all around our house for several hours due to police check points.  Because the news kept encouraging residents to stay in our houses with our doors locked - our outside activities were not going to happen.

By 10:30 the suspect was in custody and we were able to get on with our lives (I was glued to the TV all morning while the girls played/bickered downstairs.  

On to our theme:  hands and feet

We read Here are My Hands, God Made You Nose to Toes, and From Head to Toe - 3 favorites of mine and the girls!!

The weather is beautiful here so it was a perfect day for painting outside with feet.  We are running low on our paints so the girls used pink, purple, green and yellow - which don't look so great when smeared together.   Norah tried hard not to mix the colors - Lucy, on the other hand, tried hard to mix them all over her paper! 

Inside the house we played a hand and foot twister - the girls giggled the entire time!  I had cut out hands and feet the same colors that are on my color die.  I rolled the die and the girls had to put a hand or foot on a cutout of the same color.  Then I would roll the die again and the girls would put the opposite (hand or foot) on a cutout of that color.  This game was a great way to assess Lucy's knowledge of colors - she did great!  

We also practiced some of the gymnastics moves (the ones that involve using hands and feet to move) that Norah has learned over the past couple of years - crab walk, donkey kick, caterpillar walk, bear walk and monkey jumps.

That about sums it up for us today.  Check out Teaching Tinytots at Mommy School for other participants in this weeks toddler theme challenge. 

Camping

If you read Heather's blog, then you know we went camping this weekend (okay, Kevin and Norah camped. Lucy and I joined in on the daytime fun).  Those of you who know me well, know that I don't love camping, but I will go ocassionally because Kevin loves it.  We have probably camped 3 or 4 times in our 8 year marriage.  I have actually thought that God gave me little girls so I wouldn't have to camp very often - I know, dumb.  Kevin has reminded me SEVERAL times that growing up they camped with families who had girls.  I do love hiking, eating camping food, and roasting marshmallows - but I don't really like sleeping in a tent.  

Anyway, Kevin and Norah had a great time!!  As Heather said, the sun didn't come up at 5 - so Norah slept until 7 or so both mornings.  This is a way better time to camp than in the summer because the kids were able to get a normal night sleep and it wasn't hot!  I also think have Savannah there made a HUGE difference for Norah!  They play so well together and let's face it, there are just some things that are more fun with friends.

Lucy had fun while we were there - she didn't want to leave either night.  First thing Saturday morning Lucy was begging to go camping again!  She was concerned that the other kids might eat all the marshmallows.  

If you haven't checked out Heather's post - check it out.  Her pics are way better than mine!  Here are a few though.

Doing Nothing Monday

I am REALLY lacking motivation to do anything today!!  The girls are at MDO and I have a million things I could be doing - but I'm watching Rachel Ray and blogging instead!  We have our small group Bible study at our house tonight so I cleaned the kitchen well last night.  I need to straighten up the living room and vacuum, but I also should organize the girls summer clothes that I have put away - they are just thrown in a big box.  I also need to print off pictures from, oh - the last year or so to scrapbook!  I would love to get caught up before the baby comes - is it possible?

I am totally using the excuse that I'm pregnant - I need to take it easy, right? 

A Week in Review - Penguins!

So we actually spent over a week on penguins - only because last week was a rough week (not sucking fingers and having a garage sale). Norah's favorite activity was our science experiement.
She learned about a variety of penguins and where they live. She was surprised to learn that some penguins live in Southern Chile (her Aunt Denise is from Chile). She can identify Antarctica on the map and can name atleast 2 species of penguins living there.
Norah and Lucy pretended to be emperor penguins carrying an egg (beanbag) on their feet while they waddled around. I should have taken a video because they were hysterical!!
Norah is anxious to move onto kangaroos.

Cooking With Norah

I am a little behind on my cooking with Norah posts - so this will include 2 different things we have made.

Yesterday Norah and I made a yummy coffee cake called Blitz Kuchen - it is a recipe from my grandma and is very yummy. Part of the reason we made this was because it is more than just mixing ingredients together (like all the muffins we make). I showed Norah how to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Then we had to beat the egg whites and fold them in. Norah was quite fascinated with the whole process. 

Blitz Kuchen

Cream together:

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter or margerine

Add:

4 beaten egg yolks

2 1/2 c. flour, sifted

1/2 tsp. salt

3 heaping tsp. baking powder

Add:

1 c. milk

Fold in:

4 beaten egg whites (stiff peaks)

Pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch cake pan.  Sprinkle with walnuts and a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  

After baking Norah asked if she could help with the dishes! Umm, of course! She said, "We always have to clean up our mess in the kitchen when we cook." Good girl!

Another favorite at our house is pumpkin bread!  

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c sugar

2/3 c all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 cup canned pumpkin 

1/2 cup egg substitute

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In a bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients.  In another bowl, combine pumpkin, egg substitute, wather and oil; mix well.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in walnuts.

Pour into a 9x5x3-in loaf pan coated with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake at 350 for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

Thursday Toddler Theme - Bears

The theme for today is bears/Corduroy.  

We started our morning by playing bear hide and seek.  I hid the bears in the basement last night and then the girls sat on the step and I gave them clues using position words - under something, beside something, on something, etc.  Lucy went first - her bears were totally out in

 the open - I was just checking to see if she knows her position words.  Norah's were hidden very

 well so she really had to listen for her specific clues.  We may try this again tomorrow and I will let the girls give each other clues.

We read Corduroy and then did a button counting activity.  They both had a piece of construction paper that I had folded in half length-wise.  I drew 2 vertical lines on the paper making 3 squares.  I wrote a number in each square.  The girls had to cut (I still help Lucy a lot with her cutting - but she is doing really well!) on the black lines and then put the same number of buttons on the inside of the square as is written on top.  Lucy just had 1, 2, and 3.  Norah had 8, 11, 16.

Lucy sorted the bear counters - red, yellow, and blue.  Whenever anything is in a bowl, she likes to pretend to eat it.  So after she sorted, she stirred and "ate."

We read The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear.  I have the felt pieces to this story - the girls loved retelling the story with these. (So here is where I was going to post a link to the website where I got them - but I can't find them so click here to see some of the other felt storytelling kits.  I also have Corduroy - but I'm going to get that out tomorrow)

The last thing the girls did was paint bears.  I gave them brown and white paint in the same tray and they mixed to paint to make a lighter brown.

For more toddler bear activities click here.

A Minor Setback

Norah has done great not sucking her fingers. She doesn't argue at all about putting the gloves on at bedtime and has been able to fall asleep fairly quickly. I haven't noticed her sucking her fingers during the day at all. If she seems tired at rest time, I put the gloves on and she is fine with that. Today, however, I thought her blanket was up in the closet and she was in her room for rest time. She had just come into my room and I sent her back to her room for a little longer (if she isn't napping, she is usually drawing or playing quietly) and realized I hadn't put her blanket up and wasn't sure if Kevin had. I went to her room to check her and she had her blanket and was sucking her fingers!! I couldn't believe it! I told her if she was that tired then I needed to put her gloves on. After I did, she was asleep within minutes. Hopefully the minute or 2 she sucked her fingers wasn't enough to mess up the last 10 days - she really has done great!

We've given up on Lucy, though. I just think she is too young. I know that if she had a pacifier, we probably would have taken it away by now, but since I can't get rid of her fingers, I think it is different. She wasn't making much progress - everytime I take her gloves off she put her fingers in her mouth. During the day she was sucking them off and on. I think we have had 2 nights that she hasn't woken up. She is miserable and we are close to miserable with exhaustion. She had a full blown tantrum today at Bible study - her first EVER. I let her sleep today with gloves on. She fell asleep a little after 1 and is still asleep 2 hours later. I think we will try again with her in about a year.