Cady's Sticker Chart

Today, I decided to finally make Cadence a sticker chore chart. It's almost more of a reminder to me since it has things like "sitting on the potty" after each meal and "brushing teeth". She loves it and is looking for ways to earn stickers. She made her bed, cleared her plate after each meal, brushed her teeth twice, went potty, put away all her toys before bed, fed Muki.... I'm loving it. It also was enough incentive for her to go potty when she needed to since she's been holding all her potty to either prove she can go when SHE wants to go or she doesn't want to stop what she's doing.
I got to design my own chore chart online at http://www.dltk-cards.com/chart/
for free and it even has Dora on it. Now I need to buy more stickers at the rate she's using them. I just hope that she doesn't get bored with this too soon.
She was also so busy helping me and doing chores that she didn't watch any TV today!!! It's so easy to turn it on when I need some peace and quiet but I was able to paint that whole wall of stripes with her in the room playing.

Cady's Tummy Trouble

As some of you may know, Cady has had a lot of trouble with (whisper)... being clogged up. I took her to the doctor about 3 weeks ago and she had me try giving her pear juice. This didn't work because by now it's become so painful to go that she holds it. Two weeks later we went back and the doctor wanted to draw some blood. That was not fun. They poked her in both arms and couldn't get any blood. She has rolly veins like me:(. Poor baby. The icecream made it better along with the Curious George Band-Aid. Well, the doctor had me pick up a prescription laxative and also wants me to have Cady sit on the potty after each meal to learn to recognize her natural urges. So far, so good and hopefully we won't have to try to get anymore blood. Trauma!

Working on the Nursery

I saw my midwife again on Friday and Chase has dropped way down. She said it was uncommon for a second baby to drop so early. She said she doubted very much that I would make it to 40 weeks. With the news that the baby could practically come anytime, I have a renewed desire to finish the baby's room ASAP. I painted the base color yesterday and the stripes today. The bedskirt and curtain were finished last week. I plan to put a little black shelf trim on top of the stripes, paint little orange lines in between the tan ones and stamp blades of grass growing out of the shelf trim. Should be cute. I also set up the bassinet in our room.
A friend from church gave me a big bag of baby clothes today and as Cady and I went through them, she decided to try some on. It was cute. She told me they were her baby brother's clothes. She seems very adjusted to the idea. She's going to be a great big sister.

Won't be long?

Today I had a check up with the midwives. They say that the baby has dropped very low which may mean that I'm getting ready to deliver. They did say that they didn't think I'd make it to my due date. Hopefully we can hold on until at least the 17th when Josh gets home or maybe the 19th when mom gets in. So, I'm trying to get the baby's room done. I wish I would have gotten the painting out of the way. I finished the cribskirt, put the crib together and finished the valance. It needs the quilt, crib sheets, the walls painted and a few accessories and it will be ready. This involves shopping a little which involves waddling around. I feel like if I walk around too much I might go into labor. Maybe that's just because it's the end of the day. Ughhh, my back hurts and I'm peeing every 10 minutes but I can breath and sleeping was more comfortable last night. I need to get pictures of me pregnant before the baby comes. Hopefully I can find a clean shirt to wear in a picture. I keep dropping stuff on myself. Oh, I forgot. I got a pedicure and they painted my nails blue for the baby. If you haven't had a pedicure, I highly recommend it. Go to a place that has massaging spa chairs. It's surprisingly affordable.

Doggy Dentist

Ughhhh...animals are expensive. Muki needed her teeth cleaned so they didn't rot out of her head. Her breath was horrible. $200 dollars and a few teeth pulled later...she won't let me see how they look. Hopefully, this helps with the death breath. She had to go under anesthesia and she got a mole on her leg removed. I've read that pugs have the same number of teeth in their head as pitbulls. It's not pretty. Hopefully she'll look as good as this pug.

The Boot

Today we were driving 70mph down the highway from Lampasas back to Copperas Cove. Cady's window was down but little did I know, she was "flying" her boot out the window. Well, of course, at 70 mph she lost her grip and through my rearview mirror I saw it go tumbling down the center lane. She was very upset and at first I told her we wouldn't be able to find it again but I really like those boots too so I turned around and drove down the center lane until I found the boot. This child! She's something else!

Little Scare

Today, I started spotting a little and thought I hadn't felt the baby move enough so I went and saw my midwife. My midwife, Jan, is great! She checked me over and everything seems fine. I'm not dilated yet. The baby's pretty low and she thinks I might deliver earlier than my due date but hopefully not for at least 2 more weeks. I can't have a home birth unless I'm 37 weeks. I'll be starting my 36th week on Thursday. I do hope he waits longer than that to come though because Josh will be traveling until the 17th and my mom won't fly in until the 19th.
I thank God for my church family. They're so supportive and caring and I don't know what I'd do without them. So many friends have offered to help with Cady and whatever I need.
The bad news is I have to take it easy. It's for the best I'm sure because my back and sciatic nerve are acting up really badly but I'll miss aerobics. I had been going 3 times a week. I hate holding still. Oh well. I have to enjoy it while I still can, they tell me.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is Mom's birthday... She's aged very gracefully I think. I won't post her age. 1-because that's rude and 2-because I'm always off by a year.

I wish I could have been there to help her celebrate and that I would have had the forethought to send her something really special but my PDA failed me. It did not remind me 7 days in advance like it was supposed to.

My mom is the most special person, not because she's my mom but because she just is...the most special person. Those of you who know her, know what I mean. I couldn't have asked for a better mom and when I need inspiration, I think about my mom and the graceful way she handles life.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, Cady went to a party at Mrs. Green's, her preschool teacher, and exchanged Valentine's with her classmates. I wonder how much longer she'll let me put ribbons in her hair. She loved the hearts I stamped on her face.

Muki

Most days you can find Muki on Josh's Big Man Recliner snoozing. In fact, Cady and I are sitting in it right now and poor Muki doesn't know where to go with herself. The only reason she gets up is if people have food or she has to go out.

Cady's First Dollhouse

Found a killer deal on a dollhouse today that I couldn't pass up. This is one of Cady's favorite things to play with in nursery at church so I got her one of her own.

Baby Registry

Although we have most of the things we need for baby that I kept from Cadence, there are a few things that I've registered for on target.com. Feel free to check it out. There are some adorable accessories for Chase's room in the jungle theme.

Chase's Room

I will soon be starting to work on Chase's room, Cady's old room that she has agreed to give to her little brother. He will have a cool jungle theme. Here's a picture of the way I want to paint his room. I can't get a picture of the fabric to upload.

Cadence's Room

This border is the inspiration for Cadence's Room. My vision is a garden room with lots of butterflies, bugs, flowers and sky. She doesn't care--she just likes playing underneath the loft.

Cady's New Bed

In an effort to make room for our baby arriving in March, we have moved Cady across the hall. She has slept three nights in her "big girl" bed. I drew up some plans of the bed I wanted and Josh built it. It's darling. The room is not finished yet but when she gets a dresser and some bookcases it will be so cute. She needed the room with the walk-in closet anyway. The girl has a lot of clothes.