I mentioned in my post last week about forgetting how little Sarah was when she was born so I looked back at her baby pictures. Here are some that give you a perspective on just how little she was. These were taken a few days after we came home from the hospital.
Nap time with Daddy.
Rooting on Daddy's nose.
Here's Pinky (her favorite bear) when he was brand new. He is only about 8 inches tall.
So the nesting is still in full swing. I took a break for a few days after my crazy cleaning spree on last week but yesterday it started all over again. I woke up and decided I needed to clean all the baseboards and door frames in my house. It took me well over an hour to do. I even cleaned on the top of the door frames where no one can see just because I knew it was dirty. Kevin has been very supportive through this whole thing. Whenever I get in one of these moods he asks what he can do to help. Of course in my mind no one can ever get things as clean as I can so I smile and say he doesn't need to do anything. He never says it out loud but I know he thinks I'm going crazy.
I have five weeks left before I deliver and the nesting instinct is in full force. The drive for everything to be clean before the baby comes is almost obsessive and has taken over my life. Everywhere I look things are not clean enough for me. This past week not only have I done an extra thorough job on all my regular cleaning chores but I also spent most of Monday scrubbing the kitchen cabinets inside and out. Tuesday I pulled out all my baby clothes and washed and dried them. Wednesday I folded all the baby clothes and put them away. As I was folding them I was taken back at how small the clothes were. Sarah was only 6lbs 2oz when she was born and we had to buy a bunch of preemie clothes for her to wear because she was swimming in the newborn size clothes. I don't think we will need the preemie clothes with this baby but you never know. Anyways, it really made me stop and think about how fast you forget things as your children grow up. Especially when they are newborns. This is also a blessing because you forget how hard it is when they are first born. All the sleepless nights, the feedings on end and everything you give up. Of course it is all worth it and more but it's nice to forget the painful details, that way we want to have more kids later on.
So back to the nesting thing. I also went out and bought newborn diapers...how cute are they! I still have so much cleaning to do before this baby comes and I am trying to take it slow but that's very hard for me to do when it is such a driving force. My next cleaning project will be to clean all the door frames in the house (I just know there is lots of dust sitting on top of them) and scrub the baby's room top to bottom. I hope this drive slows down as I get things done but I'm sure it will never be as clean as I want it to be.
I am definitely ready, at least physically, for this baby to come. Things are getting so much more uncomfortable especially sleep. I usually stay awake until 11 or so at night because it's just getting so difficult. I can't see my feet anymore which is a sad thing for me because I love to paint my toenails. I think I will have to get a pedicure soon so my toes will look pretty during the delivery...not that I will care about that when the time comes but maybe it will make me feel better afterwards...ha ha! Also, this baby thinks she still has all the room in the world to move around when she doesn't. She still turns sideways sometimes which gets quite painful and even when she is head down she likes to dig into my pelvis and stick her butt out...ouch!
Despite all this complaining I am really excited for this new little one to come into our lives. I know she will be a great blessing to our family and will bring so much joy to us. I also know Sarah is going to be the best big sister. She talks about the baby all the time and loves to hug and kiss my tummy and tell the baby she loves her. We are still working on a name and have one in mind that I think we are going to go with but just can't make the final commitment to it yet. I think we will make the decision when we actually see the baby. We'll let you know!
A few weeks ago I introduced Sarah to Spaghetti O's. Normally she uses a spoon or fork to eat but she couldn't get the Spaghetti O's to her mouth fast enough so she started shoveling with her hands.
I think you get the point...they were a big hit!!!
Sarah decided to give up naps about six weeks ago. I fought tooth and nail with her over taking them but finally had to accept that she was going to give them up no matter what. This was a hard thing for me to accept because I am nearing the end of my pregnancy and desperately need the rest in the afternoons. The first week of giving up naps was hard for Sarah as well. She kept falling asleep at the dinner table. The first time she did this it freaked me out a little because she had never done it before and it was like watching a drunk try to eat. I watched as her eyes got really heavy and glossy. She kept trying to eat dinner but couldn't quite get the food to her mouth. Then she tried to take a drink and completely missed the mark. Finally she just passed out...at 5:30pm. I walked her upstairs, put her pajamas on and tucked her in bed. She stayed asleep through the whole process.
My brother, Brian lives about 20 minutes from us. One of his hobbies is flying kites...the serious ones. Anyways, Sarah adores Uncle Brian and always mentions his kites when we talk about him. A few weeks ago he came over for a visit and we went kite flying while he was over.
Sarah with "U.B."
Setting up the kite with U.B. and Daddy
Look how big the kite is compared to Sarah!
Watching the action
Trying to control the kite...it gets pretty strong at times!
We love it when U.B. comes over. Thanks for the fun!
One of our favorite pastimes is Geocaching. What is Geocaching you ask? Basically it's "treasure hunting" with a GPS. Here is the official site which has a great explanation on their home page. The traditional cache is usually some sort of camouflaged container that has a log to sign saying you found it and little toys that you can take if you put something in to replace it. The caches are found in playgrounds, neighborhoods, national parks, anywhere people feel like placing them.
Anyways Kevin and I have been doing this for about five years now and we were hooked right away. It really gets you out and about and you see so many cool places that you never would have seen otherwise. We took Sarah on her first cache experience when she was about four months old. After that we took a long break from geocaching and just started it back up again a few months ago. Again we took Sarah and she had a blast! Of course she was actually old enough to enjoy it.
Sarah finding the cache. It was a camouflaged ammo box.
Daddy opening the cache.
Sarah checking out the loot while Daddy signs the log book.
Sarah finding another cache, this one was in the hallow trunk of a fallen tree.
We had a great time geocaching together and have gone many times since with Sarah. She loves it and gets so excited when we ask her if she wants to go geocaching.
Kevin really came through for Valentine's Day this year. He surprised me by taking me to the opera. It was a first time for both of us and we really enjoyed it. We saw a French opera called The Pearl Fishers. It's a love triangle story about two men who have sworn never to love a particular woman who had come between their friendship in the past. One of them goes back on his word and falls in love with the woman.
Sarah is such a sweetheart and we are so blessed to have her for a daughter. Although it's fun to see her learning new things it's still hard to see her grow up. I wish I could keep her a little girl forever.
