Hitchin' On

Fancy (and very serious)

2012-02-13T01:59:00.000-08:00

Ellie is already sharing with baby Katie... sort of. We explained in a very serious tone that this is as close as she can put her necklaces to her little sister. We're working hard on teaching her limits around Katie, such as no poking in the face, covering with blankets or putting the wrong toys nearby. Ellie is trying to be sweet, but it's a little scary having such a fragile baby around our outgoing toddler. I guess Katie will learn survival skills early :)

How are we doing

2012-02-12T09:46:00.001-08:00

So many well-wishing friends and family members have been checking in to ask how we are doing as a family of four. The simple answer is: We're doing pretty well. A bit tired, but happy and healthy and blessed.

But the more detailed answer would include our frustrations, fatigue and follies from the past week -- even as we ride out the wave of new baby bliss and continue to adore our toddler. I feel like I'm in the breastfeeding version of marathon training. My supply is low, again, this second time around. But thankfully I know more than I did when Ellie was first born, and I've been throwing everything I have into getting the supply to keep up with Katie's growing needs. Nine days in and so far (*knock on wood) we haven't had to give her any formula. To accomplish this, I am working with a lactation consultant and closely monitoring my output along with Katie's growth to make sure her nutritional needs are being met. My "homework" from the specialist is pumping with every feeding to get additional milk for Katie and condition my body into making a larger supply. This means every feeding takes at least an hour, by the time I've nursed and then pumped and then fed Katie the extra in a bottle. And since I have to feed her every 2-2.5 hours round the clock, I don't have much more than an hour between any of her feedings. It's intense, but SO worth it to me to make breastfeeding work. It's already going so much better this time than it did with Ellie. I'm really hoping if I power through the next few weeks I'll be able to cut back on pumping time... but we'll see how it goes.
Since my days are largely spent attached to Katie or a machine, Brian has had to take on a lot more daddy duties with Ellie. And he's doing the lion's share of the cooking, cleaning and errand-running. Really anything that comes up is more Brian's domain these days. I'm SO grateful that he's been super supportive of the extra breastfeeding efforts and making it possible for me to work so hard on it without letting much slip with Ellie or the house.

On the sleep front, Brian and I have been spoiled for a few nights now with Katie snoozing for long stretches (at least for a baby). I'm only allowed to go one stretch longer than 3 hours between feedings, but the past 2 nights I've had to wake Katie up after waking up myself to find it had been four hours since we heard from her! It's amazing how restful that amount of sleep feels to a new parent -- and it totally freaks us out not to hear from Katie for so long!

Even though things are hard right now, I still stick to my simple answer that things are overall good with the Schneiderheimers. All of the time spent nursing Katie is work, but also such a joy. Whenever I hold her close I am filled with the overwhelming new parent emotions of wanting to do anything in the world to protect her and help her grow. I'd forgotten how intense those emotions are, especially at the beginning. And Brian is enjoying the dedicated time with Ellie. She's testing our patience quite often these days with tantrums and disregard for our instructions. We're not sure how much of that is the age and how much is due to the second child we've introduced into her world, but either way we're trying hard to get her behavior more in line. I'll admit to a breakdown at the dinner table a few nights ago as Ellie threw a fit, Brian and I shouted and Katie somehow slept peacefully nearby. I mostly blame my tiredness and post-natal hormones, but seeing mom break down in tears stopped Ellie in her tracks and put her on her best behavior for the rest of the evening. But I don't want to repeat that scene again. We need fewer tears in our house these days, not more from mommy.

Ellie still melts our hearts a dozen times a day with a sweet phrase or a hug and kiss. And we're even more blown away by how big Ellie seems now that tiny Katie is in the picture. Here's hoping both girls continue to thrive and amaze us on a daily basis... just don't grow too fast, darlings.

Rewind: hospital stay

2012-02-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

For some reason I'm way behind in posting these photos...
Here's a few more from during our stay in the hospital last weekend. Katie slept in her cart in the nursery for some of the time, while mom and dad snagged sleep during the nights.
And I was beyond thrilled when Ellie finally came to visit Saturday and I got to see her. My two girls!

Here's the obligatory "leaving the hospital" shot from Sunday night. I think our smiles here do a pretty good job of hiding the terror of leaving the hospital support system. But, actually, it was really nice to get home -- especially to Ellie.
The time apart was hard on everyone, but we're so grateful that both grandmas could come into town and help ease the burden. My mom stayed through the whole week after and pitched in a ton at our house, with laundry, dishes, cooking and taking Ellie for some outings. It was a huge help, and it allowed Brian to go back to work for a couple days so he can spread out his leave time over a longer span. For the next month or so he'll be able to take off Monday and Fridays (with paid paternity leave time) and only leave me solo for three days each week. I'm still nervous about how I'll cover all the bases with both girls, but parents do it all the time... right?

Good thing...

2012-02-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

...we left the tags on the "little brother" shirt.

Family shot

2012-02-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Our first attempt at a family picture of four netted a few tears, a few smiles and almost open eyes from the newest family member.

Katie's big day

2012-02-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

I have to share the story of Katie's arrival while it's still somewhat fresh in my head... although my head is anything but fresh these days as we're a week into new babyhood. But here's my tale of Feb. 3, 2012.

Brian and I checked into the hospital at 7:30 a.m. and got paperwork out of the way. They showed us to Room G4 of the women's center wing at St. Elizabeth East. I spent nearly every minute of the next three days in this room, except for a few walks through the hallways. Around 9:30, Dr. George came in and did an exam (to find I was only 2 cm!)... I thought after the week of cramping and pains I would have more of a head start on this labor, but no such luck. Pitocin started mid-morning and then it was all about the waiting game. By early afternoon I'd progressed to 4 cm and the nurses started to arrange for my visit for the anesthesiologist -- for the epidural. They'd ramped up my pitocin slowly during the day to avoid putting too much strain on the baby and also to make sure I didn't get too uncomfortable (from heavier contractions) before the epidural.
When the doc came in to do the epidural, Brian talked his way into getting to watch the procedure. While Brian had a blast learning all about how to put a needle into someone's spine, I winced through the pain and reminded myself of the greater good we were aiming for. Once the epidural took effect, I felt amazing.
As the pitocin continued to do it's work, I was instructed to rest up for delivery... which seemed to still be far away.
When I was only at 5 cm around 6 p.m, Dr. George said it would be safe for Brian to go home and help with Ellie's bedtime and still make it back in time. She said it would still be hours before baby's arrival. I was starting to wonder if we'd have a Feb. 4th birthday!
Brian left the hospital around 6:30 and within 5 minutes I noticed a change in my pain levels and contractions. At first I wasn't sure if the contractions were getting stronger or if the pain meds were wearing off. I called the nurse and then she called the anesthesiologist to give me a booster through the epidural. He got that done by 7 or so, but I was dealing with a lot of pain. My mom helped me bear through the contraction pains, but as they got closer and closer together she called Brian and suggested he not linger at home. (She told him he didn't have to rush, mostly to keep him from driving like a maniac on his return to the hospital... but I was thinking: get your butt back here!)
In another few minutes I was starting to feel a ton of pressure. A check from the nurse revealed I was at 10 cm and ready to push. My mom made another phone call to Brian and reported he was halfway back to the hospital. I believe he broke several laws from that point on in the trip and he later described a screeching turn into the parking lot (hard to do in our minivan) and a sprint through the hospital to my room.
When he walked in I was already sobbing from the pain, nerves and adrenaline. I was in position to push and more than ready when Brian took my hand. The next 15 minutes (or less?) are a blur, but I remember a few things:

My epidural couldn't keep up with the contractions and I was in a lot of pain. A LOT. I'm glad I got the epidural, and would recommend it to other expectant moms, but I guess every tool in pain management has its limits. Thankfully the delivery process was fast.

Brian was strong and supportive and helped me tremendously to get through it.

After two rounds of intense pushing the baby's head was partway out. On the next one the head was fully out, and the next one pushed the shoulders through... and out SHE came.

Brian proudly announced: "It's a girl!" and got to cut the cord while I cried and laughed and cried some more from everything that had just happened.

Our baby girl, Katie, was in my arms a minute later. I'll never forget seeing this precious angel for the first time and getting to hold her on my chest, examine her perfect face, her tiny fingers and full head of hair. Too amazing for words to really capture that moment, but I tear up just thinking about it.

I think Katie's delivery story, with all of the ending drama, fits perfectly with the twists and turns we encountered through the pregnancy. Everything from the boy/girl mystery to her crazy activity level in utero to the last-minute rush of delivery tells me we have got a spitfire on our hands with this girl. I love that. And I am so thankful for the "happy ending" we're blessed with, since pregnancy and delivery outcomes are always full of worries and risks. Katherine Elizabeth Wallheimer is healthy and beautiful. She's already transformed our lives. Our new family of four seems as natural as anything. And Brian and I are so grateful for our daughters.

Three days

2012-02-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

It's been an amazing first three (full) days with our newest angel, Katie.
Brian and I brought her home late Sunday, just after half-time of the Super Bowl, and then we all had a fairly sleepless night. But that's OK. Katie is getting adjusted to her new surroundings -- and they (Ellie and the dogs) are getting used to her, too. She's eating like a champ, making lots of dirty diapers and even getting some long stretches of sleep in (at least during the daytime hours). We are totally blown away by this tiny, beautiful creature.
Here are a couple more shots from the past few days.
Katie just after the nurses finished cleaning her up.
A hand shot that the nurse suggested we do, to show just how tiny our new baby girl is!
And here are the grandmas helping Ellie enjoy her big sister cake during the "party" the hospital helped arrange to help ease the new sibling transition. The cake even earned Katie a kiss from her big sis.

Welcome, Katie!

2012-02-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to share a few first photos of our beautiful second daughter, Katherine "Katie" Elizabeth Wallheimer. Born just before 8 p.m. on Feb. 3, she was 6 lbs, 15 oz and 18.5 inches long. I'll share more stories and pictures soon. But thanks for all of the love and support from everyone!
Ellie got to meet her little sister this morning.
Our daughters... still sounds weird to say, but we couldn't be more thrilled!

30 months

2012-02-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

Brian and I are in the hospital waiting on the arrival of baby sister or brother, but we need to mark Ellie's 30-month birthday. We can't believe our little girl is already 2-and-a-half years old!
Where to start? Ellie is such a big girl these days.
When we asked her where we were going today, she immediately chimed in that we were going to the hospital and that the baby would be coming while we were there. I don't think she fully understands the whole sibling part yet (and that this little baby will be coming home with us permanently), but she's very sweet when she talks about her baby brother or sister.
She talks SO much and SO well. Her teachers say she's one of the only kids in her classroom that they can actually have conversations with. And she's definitely not afraid to tell us what she thinks about everything... especially when it's in contrast to what we're telling her to do. But that's OK, some of the time.
Potty training continues to go well. She's a good eater, for the most part. We like that she will try a lot of different foods and eats pretty healthy, but Ellie's stubbornness makes some meals quite challenging. It also makes getting dressed or getting out of the house take forever. But I see the trait paying off, too, in her persistence to do things herself, learn new activities and always stay on the go. I love her imagination and excitement to try new stuff. What fun we have!
Lastly, Ellie has mastered the act of melting mom and dad's hearts. She will say things to us in such a sweet tone of voice, or in a rhetorical question, that cracks us up.
She'll say: "I'm not going nite-nite" and then laugh a little, as if that will talk us out of bedtime.
Or, just the other day, she turned to daddy at bath time and said, "Daddy, you want to take a bath with me?" in a tone that suggested he'd been angling for just that. Not surprisingly, he was quickly talked into donning his swim trunks and splashing around in the tub with her for about a half hour.
It's hard to believe that 30 months ago we were in the hospital still waiting on Ellie's arrival. She was so little and so helpless and so tender. Now she's just tender -- and a million other traits. We love you, Ellie!
(p.s. Ellie is wearing her apron and an old one of mine that I found in a box of childhood stuff... we haven't changed her name to Dorothy. Also, we weren't letting her play with the drill that you see in the background of the pic... oops.)

Ready or not

2012-02-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

Hopefully we're ready, with less than 24 hours until we go to the hospital!
Got the baby's downstairs bedroom all set up. With crib, Pooh painting and stocked shelves...
Freezer is stuffed with soups, sauces, casseroles and muffins. We will not run out of carbs in the next month.Oh, and I'm big. Can't wait to welcome this little one to the world tomorrow. Please say some prayers for a smooth delivery and healthy baby!

Artist at work

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ellie is enjoying the art station she got for Christmas, which is a combo easel and drawing desk. She's really enjoying playing with the magnetic letters and white board crayons... and then transforming her studio into a desk for coloring books and other "projects."
Mom and dad enjoy that it occupies her attention for some lengthier spans of time, so we can work on cooking or other stuff around the house. Fun for everyone?

Done

2012-01-31T16:57:00.000-08:00

We hit a major milestone in our house this week. The completion of our downstairs bathroom remodel!!!
Even though Ellie and I pitched in a little, most of the credit for this project goes to Brian (and our friend Dusty). We're SO excited to have the work complete, especially before the baby comes. It's been a long and frustrating road — as every rehab project we undertake seems to be — but I love the result.
OK, so the bathroom is still too small to capture any decent overview pics... but trust me that before the project there was no tile, a leaky shower, different sink, and outdated electrical and plumbing options. SOOOO proud of all of Brian's hard work!

Week 39 and more

2012-01-31T09:33:00.001-08:00

Here in this 39th week there's not too much new to report. I could go on for awhile about my current lack if comfort — between cramps and pressure, frequent trips to the bathroom, the impossibility of getting comfortable to sleep at night and the anxiety of waiting for Friday. But I'll spare you all too much griping. I like to save most of that for Brian anyway :)
This is the update from experts for this week:
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

I've also been thinking about how different this pregnancy has been than my first. The most noticeable is my size. I've actually gained about the same amount of weight in each pregnancy, but since I started smaller this pregnancy I'm finishing out smaller. It's amazing the difference that's made in being able to do things, like tying my shoes! And, in general, I've carried the baby lower in this pregnancy than in my first. That's caused additional bladder pressure throughout, but I did avoid a lot of the lung crowding (feet in my ribs and other shortness of breath issues) that I had during the first pregnancy.

Emotionally and mentally this pregnancy has been a lot different. I know more this time around, which has been of some comfort. I didn't freak out at every small symptom or over analyze (too much) when my monthly stats for the pregnancy didn't match the standards. Every pregnancy is different. This pregnancy I've experienced much more of the "nesting" instinct. In the past few weeks I've filled our freezer to capacity with meals and snacks. It's a little ridiculous, to be honest, but I'm sure we'll appreciate the ready-made meals in the coming weeks. I'm not sure why I am more frantic this time about being prepared before baby No. 2 comes, but at least the cooking and baking makes me feel better.
I am getting increasingly nervous as labor draws near because I know more this time about how hard it can be. I didn't expect it to be easy last time... but there's still no way to prepare yourself fully from reading books or hearing stories from others. It's such an intense experience, and while I'm ecstatic to be within days of the payoff... I'm worried about getting from here to there.
But nerves are normal. Brian is doing a great job in trying to keep me calm. And, dare I say, we're feeling somewhere close to "ready" for this whole adventure to start for the second time!

Play dates!

2012-01-30T07:28:00.000-08:00

Ellie was a social butterfly this past weekend, with play dates on Saturday and Sunday!
Here she is checking out Hattie's chalkboard (above), and getting some serious Ring around the Rosie action going with the kids over at Karah and Kevin's house. Even though their "Rosie" dance was a little unorthodox, Hattie and Ellie definitely had the falling down part nailed. I was tired just watching them jump around and then collapse on the floor a dozen times in a row. Such fun!
On Sunday, our friends Lia and Mike watched Ellie for a few hours while we went to a show at Purdue. It was nice to get out for a "last hurrah" before baby comes... and it was even better to see these pictures later and know how much fun Ellie had with her friend Colin!
Here she is getting ready to catch Colin as he went down the slide. And (below) these two are totally rapt by an episode of Dora that Ellie talked the group into watching.
A little doctor's checkup never hurt anyone...
And, of course, Lego towers had to be built. Glad to see these two having so much fun!
Thanks again to the Hansons!

Moose puppy

2012-01-28T16:56:00.000-08:00

As I was working on organizing baby stuff this past week, I came across the moose costume we bought for Radar a few years back for Halloween. We decided Muzzy needed a turn playing dress-up, so here's Muzzy the Moose. Always good for a smile :)

Waiting game

2012-01-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

One week out from the arrival of Baby No. 2! I always like to add "or less" to that statement, but I don't know how likely it is that I'll go into labor early. I was only dilated a little over 1 cm at my doctor's check this morning, so I've got a ways to go... but given how late in the game we are, I'm definitely ready for our little one to arrive. Unlike with my first pregnancy, I've had some serious bouts of contractions this past week. Nothing regular or concerning, just the body getting ready for the main event. We'll keep you all posted!

Here's the Week 38: Leek update...
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

P.S. Ellie had gray eyes until she was over a year old, so I'm very interested to see those peepers on our new little guy or gal :)

2012-01-25T04:53:00.000-08:00

The sledding continued this past weekend when we got a "big" (for Indiana) snowfall. The snow was wiped out by a thunderstorm (!) on Sunday night, but now there's some coming down again... so maybe daddy and Ellie can get some more hillside fun in again soon.

Here are a couple videos of the brave sledding duo.

Water park

2012-01-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

We took Brian — er, Ellie — to a local indoor water park this past weekend. Yes, the outing was technically meant for Ellie to get her swimming fix... But Brian loves him some water slides :)
Of course, Ellie was a big fan of the shallow water activities. We visited a facility attached to one of the hotel's in town. And while the admission rate was a little steep, we figured it would be fun to try out and give our fish-baby some time in the water. Ellie had a blast playing in the water, even though it was pretty cold and her lips were turning purple after awhile! She still didn't want to get out. But finally Brian took her in to the hot tub area to swim, which luckily wasn't too hot for her to spend a little time in, and she thawed out (as did Brian!)These two had a blast! I mostly stayed on deck, since I don't have a suit that fits right now and didn't want to pay another full adult admission to the park.... But I did dip my feet in the hot tub for a few minutes while B+E were in there, and it was wonderful :)

Potty training tales

2012-01-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

I've been afraid to post about all of the success we've had so far in Ellie's potty training... because I don't want to jinx it! But Ellie is doing awesome. Around Christmastime we realized that she'd plateaued with the pull-ups we were using. She would go on the potty sometimes, but often she'd refuse to even try. We knew it was a risk to switch to big-girl underwear, but we decided to go for it. Ellie was excited to pick out Dora and Minnie Mouse underwear. And in the three weeks she's been wearing them we've had just a handful of accidents. What a big girl! We're still using diapers at night, and that will probably last a while, but the decrease in diaper changes during the day is amazing :)
And I don't mean to make it sound like this has been easy. Ellie is plenty stubborn and sometimes refuses to go even when it's been hours since her last potty visit. During those times I usually make her sit with me near the potty and wait -- no toys, no games, just waiting it out until she admits she has to go.
The most comical accident she's had so far happened at school this past week. We've talked plenty with her about how she has to tell her teachers when she needs to go to the potty. When we asked her after this accident why she didn't tell anyone she had to go, Ellie told us she did inform someone. Unfortunately, the person she told was Olivia -- one of her 2-year-old classmates. Oops.

Me and my gal

2012-01-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Just a fun shot of me and Ellie on the teeter-totter at the park before we got all this snowy, rainy and windy weather. Cheese!

Zoo animal party

2012-01-20T01:32:00.000-08:00

Ellie went to her friend Sydney's birthday party last weekend. It was very cool. Her parents held it at Lafayette parks facility where the nearby zoo could send four animals for the kids to learn about and even pet! Brave Ellie touched all of them -- a snake, lizard, hedgehog and armadillo.

Countdown time

2012-01-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Doctor told us at this morning's appointment that she's scheduled to induce me on Feb. 3. Just two more weeks until we get to meet our newest little mystery baby! And it's pretty cool that our babies' birthdays will now be Aug. 3 and Feb. 3.
Despite fighting a cold and having to work late nights at work this week, I'm feeling OK in this 37th week. I didn't gain any weight between my last two doctor's visits and I'm so glad to see that number on the scale tapering off. I've been growing like gangbusters, but the weight plateau near the end is normal and usually just means some of the amniotic fluid is taking its leave. I know baby boy or girl in there is feeling cramped because the kicks/pushes I'd been feeling are much different now. It's more like a body shift or nudge now when I feel the baby move. (It still thrills me, though less-so in the middle of the night when I'm trying to fall back asleep...)
I also found out today that my test for Group B strep was positive, which just means that I'll have to get some IV antibiotics in the hospital before the birth to prevent passing an infection onto the baby. Doc said it's not from anything I did or didn't do in the pregnancy, just one of those things. I'm taking comfort in the fact that a friend recently dealt with the same thing during the birth of her daughter and said it was no big deal. Can't add any stress to my life right now... just have to keep my eye on the prize!

Here's the latest update from the experts -- we'll see if Baby #2 follows suit with Ellie and has lots of black hair to start only to turn into a total blondie.

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Sledding!

2012-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Given the thunderstorm and 50-degree days we've had since this past weekend... the sledding pics seem a bit dated, but I'm so glad Brian and Ellie got a few runs in while there was still white stuff on the ground here. They had so much fun!

And I was happy to tag along as the official photog on this trip, but maybe Ellie and I will be able to sled later this winter. Hope everyone enjoyed the snow while it lasted :)

Surprise!

2012-01-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

Our ultrasound appointment today had plenty of drama. Luckily none surrounding the baby's health... our almost-6-pound baby is doing great and expected to continue growing like a weed!
But after months of wondering whether we were having a boy or a girl... and then hearing during an ultrasound appointment late last year that it was a boy... we're now being told it's probably a GIRL. Our doc said she's sure that the look she got last time indicated boy parts, but she's also convinced by the pictures from this latest ultrasound that it appears to be a girl. So all she would say on record Thursday was: It's a baby. Looks like we're having a surprise after all!!
We're both thrilled either way. However, I do need to reorganize some of the baby stuff I pulled out and take Ellie's old girl clothes out of storage (and get some back from a friend I lent them to, in case we wind up needing them soon). But none of this is a big deal. We're just thrilled to see our baby and hear good things from the doctor.
Given the baby's size, my doctor is leaning toward inducing me to deliver a week early again. This means our baby will probably arrive sometime at the very end of January or the first few days of February. Three weeks!! We'll know more about the timing after next week's appointment.
For now, I'm happy to share these humorous pics from the ultrasound. This baby is very active and liked hiding his or her face from the tech, so we didn't get the great shots that we did during Ellie's ultrasounds.
This was the best face shot, despite the "get out of my face" look the baby is giving us!

These next two show the cute little hand, and how the stinker likes to cover his/her face!And, finally, here's the Week 36 update:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Hard at work

2012-01-12T01:13:00.000-08:00

Our friend Dusty pitched in his tools and expertise on Sunday to help Brian wrap up our downstairs bathroom remodel. The project started last April... and we're really hoping to wrap it up before the baby arrives! The molding is all in place now, and Dusty also replaced an outdated outlet. So we've just got some "minor" detail jobs to do and a drain to place in the shower before this room is fully functional again. Ellie was eager to lend a hand, which the boys let her do when nothing dangerous was going on. Good thing she got a new tool set for Xmas!

And doesn't she look great in Dusty's work boots?

Funny co-workers

2012-01-11T11:55:00.001-08:00

One said to me this afternoon, "Don't take this the wrong way, but you can really tell now that you're pregnant."

And another told me about seeing the college student intern sitting at my desk the other day and thinking at first that it was me with a much shorter haircut. His assumption was based on a) his desk is all the way across the room, so he didn't get a good look, and b) she had food spread out across the desk like I always do these days.

Yes, both of these co-workers are male.

Airplane

2012-01-11T04:04:00.000-08:00

A little something fun for your Wednesday. Ellie flying :)

Potty training

2012-01-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

We took a big step today in Ellie's potty training. She is wearing big girl underwear for the first time!
She got to pick them out at the store herself last night, and not surprisingly we wound up with a pack of Dora's adorned ones. Brian got her ready for school this morning and reported a very excited girl when it came to putting on the pants... but then she told him about 2 minutes later that she'd peed in them. Oops. Brian got her cleaned up and tried not to have her feel too bad about it, but explained that she needs to warn daddy or mommy or her teachers before going in her pants. He sent her into daycare with extra underwear and pants, and I fully expected to pick up a bunch of dirty items along with Ellie when I got her at lunchtime today. Imagine my surprise when I found no bagged-up clothing items in her cubby! She apparently did great going on the potty at school this morning. She went again for me before nap when we got home... but I decided to put a diaper on for nap just in case. (Glad I did since it was very wet when she woke up.) Now we'll see how the afternoon progresses back in big girl pants.
I'm so proud of our Ellie!

Celery Bog

2012-01-10T01:40:00.000-08:00

Ellie and I took advantage of more spring-like weather this past weekend by catching up with my friend Amy and her daughter, Sydney, at the Celery Bog nature center over in West Lafayette. We took a slow, somewhat muddy walk along some of the trails and got to check out ducks and "gooses." Ellie was thrilled. Sydney just turned 5, but she was patient with Ellie and very sweet showing her the sights and teaching her about her binoculars and net and a bat house (!) along one of the trails.

Holding hands :)

Lazy weekend morning

2012-01-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Most of our Saturday morning was spent playing puzzles with Ellie, while the dogs rested on the nearby chair and observed.
We also found time to try out some of Ellie's hair clips. She wanted to wear them all at once!

The coming changes...

2012-01-08T03:09:00.000-08:00

I have been all over the board these past couple weeks. My work schedule was off for a week and then I actually got to be off for a whole week, and home with Ellie. We had so much fun together on some mini-adventures. We went exotic places like the downtown library for toddler time (stories AND a craft), the fabric store and even a "new" park yesterday (pictures to come). Almost every day she's been home with me Ellie has said at some point, "Mommy, I don't have to go to school today," phrased partly as a question and a demand. That had me wondering how she feels about the place we've been sending here almost every week for the past 29 months... but my mommy guilt was also put aside somewhat when I would see her get bored with me during the days and start to try to engage her dolls or the dogs into whatever make-believe scenario she was currently engaged in. I think the interaction with other kids has been great for her at daycare, especially as she's gotten older... But there are so many gems of her personality that Brian and I miss by not being around her all the time. I guess that's just one of the balancing acts of parenthood.
I've been trying to figure out how to write about my amazement with Ellie these days, but I'm having a hard time with it. Our toddler is growing into a precocious, creative, sensitive, hilarious and (at times) demanding little girl.
This past week I've caught her consoling one of her toys, a block with a duck inside it, by saying: "Oh, the duck is sad. He misses his momma and daddy. It's OK, little duck. We'll find them soon." Heart strings, right?! I know part of this is from a "Dora" storyline, but the voice and attitude she has while playing these games totally amazes me and melts my heart.
Of course, there are also dozens of times during the day when she totally frustrates me. She definitely knows most of the time what she is or isn't allowed to do... but that doesn't stop her from heading in the wrong direction frequently. And I'll catch her giving me looks to see if I'm noticing her bad behavior, and then wait until the last possible second (usually after I've finished my warning count of 1-2-3) to abandon whatever she's doing wrong. I'm sure my mom will smile reading this and thinking about the times I presented exactly the same "challenges" growing up.

But even when I have to scold Ellie or implement a dreaded "time out," all I usually want to do is scoop her up and gives hugs and kisses. I'm still in awe of the love I have for this child and the fact that it seems to get bigger every day of her life. I didn't know I was capable of such total devotion until she entered our world. Now I find myself sometimes overwhelmed with the idea of either splitting that love between two children or shortchanging one. Don't get me wrong, I've always wanted Ellie to have a sibling... but now that the hour is upon us I can't help feeling a little guilty and sad about the changes coming. She won't be our only one anymore, and I know this transition will be hard on her in some ways. Of course, having grown up with plenty of siblings (and plenty of love from my mom and dad), I know that the dynamic will ultimately balance out and she'll have more than enough attention over the years from her parents, brother and all of the extended family. But I still feel bad about how this will all seem to Ellie at the beginning when suddenly mom can't always free up two hands for her... and this baby brother goes from a theoretical lump in mom's belly to a real, screaming baby around "her" house 24/7.

I don't doubt, however, that Ellie is doing great so far thanks to -- or in spite of? ;) -- the hard work Brian and I put in as parents. That much is clear. And it gives me a whole lot of confidence (despite what this rambling post my otherwise indicate) as we head into babyhood all over again.

Outdoor adventures

2012-01-07T05:31:00.000-08:00

A week ago we decided to take Ellie and the dogs for a walk, and we almost froze in the sleety rain and wind during our brief stint outdoors. (Although Radar did cooperate pretty well while Ellie held his leash. Only one near-escape!)On Friday, I took Ellie over to the park in just a sweatshirt! Can't believe the springtime weather we are having in early January. The park was mobbed, and we had a ton of fun on the swings and slides.

And the wagon turned into more of a toy than a mode of transportation. Great to get some fresh air and exercise!

Belly shot

2012-01-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

For those curious, here's what the baby boy looks like these days in momma's belly.
We get another ultrasound next Thursday, and I can't wait to get some more up-close-and-personal pics of the baby :)

Week 35: Honeydew

2012-01-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

From the experts this week:

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Man, they aren't kidding when they talk about the cramped quarters in my belly by this week. Whenever baby boy really starts to get moving, we can see huge lumps of feet, knees, elbows and baby bum bulge out from my stomach. I think it kind of creeps Brian out :)
I've losing steam in these final weeks but trying to take it easy where I can. I have the week off from work but have spent much of it chasing after Ellie. That's OK, though, because I'm trying to soak up as much dedicated Ellie-time in these next few weeks as I can since my hands will be really full when baby arrives. I'm anticipating (and dreading) a tough transition period for our little girl when she has to share mom and dad with the new baby. But I'm counting on the support of family and friends to help get us through.
Thanks so much for all of the offers of help that have already come in. We're truly blessed to be surrounded by so many caring people.

Chicken and old friends

2012-01-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

I think we should offer this one to Chick-fil-A for their next ad campaign :) We met up there Monday with our friends Ben and Janet (and sons Micah and Isaac) while they stopped in town to visit family for the holidays. The kids had a lot of fun together eating chicken and fries, and then playing in the kids area. And that meant some quality catch-up time for the adults.
Great to see you all!

Christmas pics

2011-12-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

We had a really great trip down to the St. Louis area for Christmas weekend and packed it full of visits with family and friends. Christmas Day was spent at grandma and grandpa's house where we all feasted.
The spoiling of Ellie continued as she raked in wonderful gifts from so many people. Thanks to ALL!
Ellie reciprocated by serving up some delicious "watermelon juice" with her new toy tea set. She even shared some with cousin Tyler.
And Ellie was happy to pitch in to help anyone nearby who was opening a present. So thoughtful.
We got a visit in with Brian's dad and sister, Sarah. It was great to see you guys!

And much of the rest of the weekend was spent horsing around at Brian's mom's house — where one of Ellie's favorite things to do is find a phone and pretend to call "paw-paw." This was the safest phone in the house for her to play with because the buttons get stuck and prevent her from actually calling someone!She got some quality play time in with both her grandma and her grandpa — and she misses you guys already!

Week 34 con't

2011-12-30T16:45:00.001-08:00

The doctor's visit today helped me put aside fears about showing signs of pre-term labor. She said the baby is definitely head-down already and the pressure from his weight is probably what's causing me so much discomfort. Apparently this is quite common in second and subsequent pregnancies. She checked and made sure I wasn't dilated at all yet (I'm not) and found that my stomach is still measuring normal, as is baby boy's heart rate. All good news.
Only bad news was that there's not much I can do to ease the pains. Tylenol is OK to take but hasn't helped much so far. I'm also supposed to try to find a supportive belly band to help counter some of the gravity of my growing belly. And she said to spend less time on my feet... which isn't too easy to do with a toddler running around and work and trying to get the place ready for baby boy. I'm going to do the best I can, I guess. But I'm not good at sitting around, especially when I keep coming up with things to add to the "to-do" list in my head. I have a hard time letting go of the idea that I can do too much all the time, but I guess the time has come for more delegating to Brian. He's actually insisting on it... so who am I to argue?
The doc also said I should quit running, although walking is still OK. I guess the 667 miles I logged running this year is going to have to do! (I'm pretty proud of that stat since it's higher than my 2010 total and this year included almost 8 pregnant months!)
Anyhow, things are fine and the discomfort I can deal with as long as I know it's not a sign that something's really wrong.

Week 34: Cantaloupe

2011-12-29T08:03:00.000-08:00

Whew... this week has kicked my butt. We had a great holiday weekend — pictures to come — but when we got back into town on Tuesday I still had a 4-day work week ahead of me. I'm working the night shifts through Saturday. I don't mind working NYE since I wouldn't be going out anyway, but staying awake at the office has become a challenge for me. I am totally exhausted and have been dealing with some ongoing pain (of varying degrees) in my lower abdomen for most of the week. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to get things checked out, but it sounds like it might be from the baby moving down into the birth canal a bit early. Whatever he's doing in there it's certainly uncomfortable for me! But, of course, all worth it in the end. I just want to make sure the pains, fatigue and chest pressure I've been feeling are all still in the "normal" range of pregnancy woes and not a sign of something wrong.

On a less-whiny note... here's the update from the experts this week:
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Go Packers!

2011-12-25T01:32:00.000-08:00

Along with enjoying the holiday today, we'll be cheering on the Packers in tonight's game. Ellie has become one of the team's youngest fans this season. Glad we're raising her right :)
Here's hoping for a Christmas "W"!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend! Merry Christmas from the Wallheimers!
Ellie got another early taste of Christmas this past week when we exchanged gifts as a trio.
Hard to say what her favorite was of the stuff from mom and dad and Santa, but this shopping cart was a big winner!

Artist at work

2011-12-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

While Brian painted the downstairs bedroom, which will be used for baby boy for the first few months (until he and Ellie start sharing a room), Ellie created some paintings of her own. Such concentration!

Week 33: Pineapple

2011-12-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

Everything checked out great again at this week's doctor's appointment. I have one more two-week appointment and then they will be spaced just a week apart for the rest of the pregnancy. It's getting so close! Dr. George decided to schedule another ultrasound in Week 36 to check on baby boy's size. If he's measuring big then we might talk about another early delivery for me. I'm fine to welcome our little one out sooner, but am prepared to go with whatever doc thinks is best.
The baby got his first Christmas presents over the weekend — some Green Bay Packers bottles and pacifiers from Aunt Jen and Uncle Dan! So cute :)

Here's the update this week from the experts:
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

White (early) Christmas

2011-12-21T04:24:00.000-08:00

We got snow in Rockford on Saturday, the day that my family celebrated our early Christmas at my mom's house. It was less than an inch of snow but made everything very beautiful and festive. Ellie enjoyed "helping" shovel.
And we went for a walk in the white stuff.

My camera battery was dying, so I didn't get shots of the present opening at my moms. Ellie was very spoiled by my siblings and mom... SO many great gifts. Here she is giving her new Cookie Monster toy a hug and kiss during the drive home — this one's a double-winner because Cookie Monster actually eats the toy cookies he came with, and he has a backpack just like Dora. We're also super excited for Ellie's new art easel, tons of art supplies, a new Packers pillow pet, puzzles, books and other toys. Did I mention that she's a very lucky girl?
Merry Christmas to all the Schneiders (and Lewises and other extended family we won't get to connect with this year)! And we can't wait to see all of the St. Louis family this weekend!

Discovery Center

2011-12-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

While up in Rockford this past weekend for my mom's birthday and an early Xmas celebration with most of the siblings, we got a chance to take Ellie to the Discovery Center museum. This place is amazing, with two floors of exhibits designed for kids of all different ages. I can't believe how much cooler it is than when I was young — and I was pretty impressed by it then!
Ellie definitely enjoyed the bubble stations and the train tracks.
But the water play tables were her favorite! Shocker :)

And here she is cheesing it up for the camera with mom, who could barely fit in the train seat...

More fun with food

2011-12-16T01:41:00.000-08:00

I got a shot of the aftermath from our latest round of chocolate-dipped pretzels. At least this time I was smart enough to take Ellie's shirt off first. She's pretty happy from having just consumed 3 pretzels for every 1 that made it on the tray!

Week 32: Jicama

2011-12-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

Eight weeks to go! I'm excited about the milestone and hoping that everything goes smoothly in this homestretch. Please keep my friend Mary in your thoughts and prayers as she deals with some complications in her pregnancy and is on bedrest. She's due a couple weeks before me but was just diagnosed with preeclampsia.
I've been feeling pretty good, just get out of breath easier because baby boy is sitting high in my belly right now and restricting my lung capacity. He's staying super active even if I'm slowing down a bit!

From the experts:
By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Parent-teacher conference

2011-12-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Brian and I went in this morning for a meeting with the head teacher in Ellie's room. She got a glowing report during the conference! And it was really helpful for us to get feedback from Dena and to ask some questions. We asked about whether it's time to take Ellie's potty training endeavors to the next step, and Dena said the teachers there would work with her today to see how she did on a half-hour schedule of trying the potty. Brian and I have faced much resistance at home when we try to get Ellie to go first thing in the morning and right after nap. She only wants to use the potty when it's her idea... but she's smart enough and aware enough to realize when she has to go. In fact, she often announces it! So now we just need to keep up the positive reinforcement, I guess. It's a work in progress but not something we're stressing about too much. She's got time.
It was nice to hear from Dena how advanced Ellie seems in her language skills. We don't have any other kids around regularly to compare her to, but we've certainly been impressed by the way she picks up on stories and songs and just about everything we say. Sounds like we're not the only ones :)
Hopefully this is the first of very positive parent-teacher conferences we have!

Hmmm...

2011-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

I'm familiar with losing socks in the laundry... but this was the first time I saw a load that added feet!

Brrr!

2011-12-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

Ellie really wanted to visit the park this week... so Brian and I bundled her up for a quick trip over there. Temps were only in the upper 20s, so she we kept her on the move and then scurried back home!

Week 31: Oranges

2011-12-09T04:28:00.000-08:00

Another week and another positive review at the doctor's office. It seems our little guy is growing fine and has a strong heartbeat. While my weight is up more than I'd like, my blood pressure is fine and no one seems concerned at the doctor's office. I think I'm just one of those women who gains a lot with pregnancy. I'll definitely be up more than the recommended 30 pounds when this is all said and done since I'm already up 29! But I'm still exercising and eating well... so, oh well?
The doc said to make sure I'm monitoring for daily movements from this point on. This little guy is so active that I can't imagine that being an issue!

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Privacy!

2011-12-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Ellie has been making progress on potty training. She uses the potty almost every day at least once (usually to go pee and then earn a sucker as a reward). And she even went poopy on the potty today for the second time ever! Sorry about the details and verbage... but it's just easier to talk about it in Ellie-speak.
I couldn't resist getting a pic of Ellie the other day when she insisted on needing a book while she tried to go pee.
But I was quickly sent packing by an indignant Ellie!

Baking babes

2011-12-07T01:32:00.000-08:00

I've enlisted Ellie in some of my recent baking/treat-making endeavors. It's something fun we can do together now that the weather's not so nice for daily trips to the park. Plus, I love the idea of fueling her baking spirit from a young age. I love the memories I have from growing up of baking with my mom and sister.
Of course, when Ellie helps in the kitchen these days it's actually more of a hindrance. There's definitely more mess to clean up at the end of the process... but that's what rags and vacuums are for, right?
Here's Ellie helping me mix up a recent batch of chocolate chip banana muffins. They're a household favorite!
I discovered another kid-friendly treat option the other day. I melted some chocolate chips (4 oz.) and peanut butter (1/4 c.) and let Ellie help me dip mini pretzel sticks in it, put them on parchment paper and into the freezer. After dipping and placing dutifully for a few minutes, Ellie discovered that she could "accidentally" dip her fingers in the chocolate and then have to lick it off. Smart girl! So there was a lot of the chocolate mixture dripped onto the table and Ellie by the end of the process, but it was worth the clean-up to have that fun — and get to eat the pretzels later!

'Nastics

2011-12-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple videos I caught at Ellie's latest gymnastics -- or, as she calls it: 'nastics -- class. She's not quite ready for the Olympic team yet... but maybe in a few years.

Festive weekend

2011-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

We had a Christmasy weekend spent putting up and decorating our tree, cheering Brian and our friend Amy on at the Reindeer Relay, and visiting the Dickens Christmas festival in downtown Lafayette.
Ellie's technique was to put 50 percent of the ornaments on just two of the tree branches... so mom and dad had to help redistribute when she wasn't looking. But she had a great time decorating and keeps asking when we get to do another tree.
Brian and Amy did great in the Reindeer 10K Relay run over on Purdue's cross-country course. It was super sloppy thanks to all the rain we've gotten recently. Ellie also enjoyed running in the mud and wearing daddy's jacket.
The highlight of our trip downtown (at least for Ellie) was the orange sucker stick she got from the candy shop. It was fun to see some carolers, performers doing scenes from A Christmas Carol on the street and hit up a couple of the shops.
And Ellie got to do the honor of putting the star atop our tree! What a big girl.

Babysitting

2011-12-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

Ellie and Brian and I spent some time Friday night at our friend Colin's house. We babysat while his parents went to a work holiday party, and we all had fun!
Brian was able to quickly diffuse the situation when Colin realized both his parents were gone by offering a horsey ride around the living room. I think he enjoyed the practice for boy-parenting :)
And Colin even shared some of his pudding snacks with Ellie. What a gentleman. Cute to watch these two get a little better at playing and interacting with each other... even though there was still a fair share of toy grabbing and shouting. But, in all, a fun Friday evening for the toddlers and parents.

One (uno) more

2011-12-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a short video I caught of Ellie and Alora reviewing their counting in Spanish during the Thanksgiving break. So studious.

Rest of the fun

2011-12-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

The rest of the holiday weekend was filled with more fun, family activities. A dozen of us went to see the new Muppet movie on Friday afternoon. It was Ellie's first movie! And she did... OK. Ellie definitely enjoyed the candy and excitement of the outing more than the actual feature. She and I had to flee the theater a couple times during the show when her loud talking and general antsy behavior started to get disruptive. But we all still had fun :)
On Friday morning I recruited willing family members for the first Schneider's Stuffed Shuffle. We ran a 5K course starting and ending at my mom's house. (Brian would have run if he hadn't been up most of Thanksgiving night with a stomach virus... but instead he kept time at the finish and passed out Gatorade.) Since we've got some speedsters in the family — i.e. Ben and Candice — the race winner was decided not by who finished first but rather who guessed closest to their actual finish time. Candice won with a guess that was only about 20 seconds off. I finished last, but faster than my projected time. Ellie participated in the race as part of the walking contingent, which included my mom, Aunts Pat and Jacki, sister-in-law Sandy, niece Alora and nephews Mason and Jay.
It was a really good time and hopefully we'll continue the tradition at future holidays.
(From left: Cousin Alex, siblings — Candice, Ben, me, Maggie and Chris)

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

We all had a great Thanksgiving up in Rockford this year. Ellie was a huge fan of daddy's turkey (the 24-pound beast he made using a new, special brine recipe) and the chocolate chip pie! Her only disappointment, somewhat humorously, was when she took a bite of the sweet potato casserole thinking it was hummus and came away disgusted. Our little weirdo apparently wanted hummus instead of the sugary, buttery potatoes.
She had a lot of fun during the evening playing peek-a-boo with cousin Izzy and Aunt Pat...
And tracing hands on her new Aqua doodle with Izzy and Eliot, among other games.
We've started a new generation of the obligatory "cousins" stairway photo at the holidays, too. Here's the clan from this year with a smiles shot...
... and a goofy one!

Week 30: Cabbage

2011-11-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of updates on the blog! I have a bunch of stuff to add on here as soon as I have time to get pics uploaded onto the computer. In addition to the Thanksgiving weekend craziness, Brian and Ellie and I have all battled illness in the past week. Brian had some sort of stomach bug, which I got to a lesser degree a few days later. And poor Ellie was diagnosed with an ear infection and strep throat earlier this week. I didn't know that toddlers sometimes get a chest rash as a symptom of strep... that is, until the daycare workers on Tuesday called to say that she had one! She's doing much better now that she's been on antibiotics for a few days and is enjoying the extra episodes of "Dora" that her sick time bought her :)

In baby news, we're still absorbing and celebrating the BOY news we got from last week's ultrasound. The name search is officially underway... which may provide for some argument fodder over the next couple months, although we've found several that we both like. (And, no, we're not going to advertise the name possibilities on here since we've learned from the past that there are too many opinions out there.)
I'm not sure Ellie understands the whole baby brother concept yet, but she's enjoying telling people. She spent five minutes at the dinner table the other day yelling to the dogs: "It's a brother!" And she inherited an "I'm a big sister" book (along with dozens of other books — yay!) from her cousins in Nebraska, so we've been enjoying adding to her reading rotation.
Our little man continues to grow and kick and tumble around in my belly. It's a lot of fun feeling all of the movement, even though some of those jabs are starting to hurt. He's getting muscle, apparently. And since he's moving upward these days, my breath is getting shorter. Just a quarter of the way left to go, though!

Here's the week's update:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after he's born, he'll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means he can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Week 29 and Thankfulness

2011-11-24T05:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!
We've got more than our share to give thanks for this year, and we're thinking of all of our loved ones today — near and far. We got a second look at the baby this week and our doctor told us the sex! We thought we'd let Ellie share the news and some advice she has for her sibling.

We're all SO excited about the news and can't wait to meet this little one! So thankful today and every day this baby gets closer to arrival.

Most importantly, the doctor said everything looks good with the baby and my pregnancy so far. Here's the update for this week:
Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Victory dance

2011-11-23T03:43:00.000-08:00

It's no "double-check discount" move, but Ellie seems to have come up with her own touchdown celebration dance. Here's hoping she gets to use it in helping the Packers celebrate a lot of TDs in the Thanksgiving game!

Going running

2011-11-21T05:33:00.000-08:00

Ellie wants to do anything and everything that Brian and I do these days. One of her favorite's is "going running," which she decides to do quite frequently. Here's a couple shots of her getting on the gear she deems necessary for these outings. In the top one she gets points for the running shirt and digging out Brian's headphones.
In this one, however, she got her baby dressed (including sneakers) but forgot her own pants :)

Library trip

2011-11-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

Ellie's gone to a few story hours at the downtown library in recent weeks. Brian took her one weekend and I took her (AND her baby) this past Saturday. She's very excited to visit the library, but she doesn't always last long during the actual story time. The librarian there does a great job and picks out five or six books to share. Ellie's threshold is about one book, at least in this setting, so we usually wind up somewhere else in the children's section of the library looking at books and toys on our own. Here are a couple shots of her pre-story time when sitting was still an option and she got to check out the moving sculpture, which she calls "the birdies."

Week 28: Chinese cabbage

2011-11-17T03:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the third trimester! I was psyched to hit that milestone this week, even though I know it means a lot more discomfort is headed my way. In these last three months we'll watch my basketball belly grow to the size of a watermelon — which I didn't totally believe in the first pregnancy until it actually happened. As you can see from the new family picture I put up here, I've already grown quite a bit.
The average weight gain this last trimester is 11 pounds. I'm already up about 20 from my starting weight, so I'm definitely going to try not to go beyond that gain... but the baby may have other ideas. My mom (at 5-foot-4 and about 120 pounds) said she always put on more weight than recommended during her five pregnancies, and instead of worrying about it she just got really good at giving the doctor a dirty look if he gave her a hard time about it. We grow babies big in my family, with my siblings and I each weighing between 9.5 and 10 pounds at birth.
All that being said, even though I'm scaling back on running at this point in the pregnancy I'm hoping to stay active with walking and yoga and chasing Ellie around.

Here's what the experts have to say this week:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Severe weather, close quarters

2011-11-16T01:39:00.000-08:00

We had some crazy weather in Lafayette on Monday. The day started with thunderstorms (weird enough for November) and the winds picked up through the day until a tornado watch was issued in the afternoon. I arrived at Ellie's day care just as the warning sirens started going off. I was initially relieved to be out of my vehicle and in the building, and I was happy to actually have eyes on Ellie in that situation. However, once I'd arrived I was there for the long haul since they wouldn't let me or Ellie leave until the tornado risk was gone. The 30-minute warning was extended to last more than an hour... and we all had to spend it in the very small bathroom of Ellie's day car classroom. That's right, it was 75 minutes spent in this 8x8 bathroom with 10 toddlers, three teachers and two other parents. Oh, and the teachers decided to close the door at some point to keep the kids from escaping... but that meant the temperature slowly climbed to about 100 degrees (or at least it felt like it). Wow, were we happy to get cut loose when the all-clear was issued. I happened to have my camera with and got a couple shots of the mayhem.

Can you tell...

2011-11-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

That Ellie was excited to take a bus ride across town to visit daddy at work last week?
And here's a short video I got of her playing (and leaving some food on the ground for birds) at the bus stop downtown.

Go daddy!

2011-11-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Ellie and I got to cheer Brian on to a major personal best time in his half marathon this past weekend. He blew away his previous record by 10:30!! So awesome. I've been so proud of his hard work over the past few months as he trained for this race. He picked a training program that was so challenging that he had to spend a month training just to start the training. A little crazy, yes... but he stuck with it, and it totally paid off. Now Ellie and I are looking forward to weeks ahead of us where Brian/daddy doesn't have to fit in a run every single day!
Ellie and I drove out to the 9.5-mile mark on the race course and offered Brian some mid-race encouragement. Ellie is still cheering "Go daddy" and "go runners!"
So proud of daddy at the finish line :)

Playdate

2011-11-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we visited Colin and Lia all the way over in West Lafayette. It's crazy that we can't find more times to get Colin and Ellie together, even living in the same town, but they had fun once we made it happen! Colin doesn't look too pleased here about Ellie hoarding in on his chair, but he was a great sport about sharing his toys, and even a cup of milk, with Ellie — or, Lellie, as he likes to call her.
The highlight of the trip was sitting in the Hanson's large ottoman/toy bin. Good stuff.

More smartness

2011-11-11T03:55:00.000-08:00

Here's Ellie showing off her knowledge of colors... in Spanish. I didn't even know the words for half of these but she's schooled me.

Week 27: Cauliflower

2011-11-10T03:58:00.000-08:00

We had a checkup with Dr. George today and got great marks for my growing belly and the baby's strong heartbeat. I explained to her that this past month has been up and down for me — with some weird stuff, like the leg rash and headaches, along with lower back pain. She reassured me that things look good. I've been feeling pains in my lower abdomen that I don't remember from last time, but the doc said it's likely from carrying the second pregnancy different than the first. Since my abdominal muscles were changed by carrying Ellie, this baby will sit lower and I'll feel the pangs in new spots. It's nice to get reassurance from someone with an MD. And, as I've said, I continue to be reassured by the baby's activity. There's so much kicking and moving going on in there! Dr. George predicts it's a boy since the baby's been giving me some trouble :)

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

Head turning

2011-11-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

One of Ellie's latest traits is her need to get our attention often and audibly. It's sort of cute, at times, but the constant "Mommy, Mommy!" can get frustrating when I'm trying to have a phone conversation or even get a complete sentence out during a dinner conversation with Brian. The best is when I stop what I'm doing and ask, "Yes, Ellie?" and she falls silent and quickly tries to think of something to tell me. Other times I have to laugh when the object of urgent interruption is something critical like saying: "Mommy, you're eating peas." Yes, I know. And if Brian and I are carrying her when she comes up with one of these urgent messages, Ellie will physically grab our cheeks to turn our faces toward her and make sure she has full attention.

I was excited to see this article title "Why 2-year-olds interrupt" appear in the emails I get from babycenter.com
But as I read through to the advice on what to do to improve the situation, I found that they were basically telling me to wait until she's 3 and hope it gets better then. Sigh. Good thing she's cute. Here's the article for any other parents who are interested.

You're on the phone with a colleague when your child tugs on your sleeve and bleats, "Mommy...Mommy!...MOMMY!!"

When will he learn not to interrupt? Unfortunately, it will be a while — a 2-year-old thinks that the world and everything in it (including you) exist for his benefit. In addition, his short-term memory isn't well developed, which means that his impulse to say things right now, before he forgets, actually has a physiological basis. As a result, the very concept of interrupting makes no sense to your child. He can't grasp that other people and activities sometimes require your attention or capture your interest. When you focus on something other than him for a moment, he might actually perceive it as a threat.

Tolerating a 2-year-old who cuts in every time you're chatting with a friend or scheduling an appointment is exasperating, but if you keep his worldview in mind, you'll realize that he's not purposefully trying to irritate you. Don't worry, though, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. By the time he's 3 or 4, your child's short-term memory will be more developed, and he'll begin to understand what an interruption is and what you mean when you say, "Mommy's busy right now." So look forward to the time when he'll be able to hold that thought (for a couple of minutes, anyway).

Lullaby Moon "reading"

2011-11-09T03:28:00.001-08:00

Ellie caught us off guard recently when she started reading along with the book "Lullaby Moon" during the evening's story time. She does this with some other books — most notably her fave Where the Wild Things Are — but we haven't read this book to her as many times and didn't realize just how fast she can absorb these words/stories.

Revived

2011-11-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the words of encouragement from everyone! I'm feeling better after a weekend filled with a mix of work and play. I'm trying to take a more organized approach right now, hitting the list-making hard to make myself feel like I've got a plan for getting everything done from dinner plans for the week to shopping plans for the holiday season. Yay lists :)
And I had a cathartic closet raid this weekend, too. Just pulling out a bunch of the too-small clothes and shoving them into a bag for now made me feel better (not having to look at them longingly) and made room for some more maternity stuff I unearthed in the process.

On the Ellie front... our little girl had a sick day this past Thursday. She woke up just after 4 a.m. puking and didn't let up for several hours. Luckily the bug seemed to work it's way out of her system that morning and didn't linger. Here's a shot Brian got of Ellie taking a short morning nap on the couch while he stayed home with her.

But here are more shots of her that same evening when she rallied enough to want to attend her gymnastics class. This was just her second week, but she had a lot of fun. The class is a little bit of a free-for-all because of the age of the students (all 36 months and younger) and the busyness of the gym. It seems like a good experience for her, though, and should be a helpful way to burn some energy each week as the weather turns colder.

p.s. Her wet shirt front visible in the last photo isn't from a sweaty workout session... it's from playing in the drinking fountain, which may actually be her favorite part of the class.

Week 26: Cucumber

2011-11-02T09:33:00.001-07:00

(Warning: Lots of complaining in this post.) I'm definitely dragging this week, and I feel like an emotional mess most days. Between work stress and the achy back, hip pain, food cravings and awkwardness of pregnancy I am not too fun to be around... as I'm sure Brian can attest to. I'm trying to figure out places to cut out some stress right now because I'm getting burnt out, but there's not a lot of wiggle room between the full-time job, full-time parenting and full-time trying-not-to-let-the-house-fall-into-shambles. And speaking of a lack of wiggle room, my wardrobe is getting tighter and the outfits are much less fun to assemble in the morning. Some of my shoes already aren't fitting because of my feet growing/swelling, and for pants I either have to choose between uncomfortably tight waistbands or elastic ones that start to sag down any time I start walking around. And I don't know what's going on with my hormone levels right now, but I feeling like bursting into tears at least a couple times a day. I love getting to visit my uncle and grandma in Nashville, but it's also hard to be around my dad's family without thinking more than usual of him and getting mad/sad about all of the wonderful parts of my life (and Ellie's) that he's not here to share.

Wow, I wasn't kidding when I said I had a lot of complaining to do. Sorry. At least I offered fair warning.
Of course, as I write this I'm eating an apple (trying to balance out my Halloween candy consumption of late) and the baby is responding by jumping around excitedly inside my belly. It's hard to argue with that. I'm now reminding myself that life is good, the baby seems to be doing great — growing like crazy and not purposely trying to make me feel like crud at times. Time for a deep breath and some input from the experts for this week:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Visit to Nashville

2011-11-01T04:21:00.000-07:00

We trekked down to Nashville (TN) this past weekend to visit Uncle Carl, Aunt Carol and Grandma Schneider. While Ellie had a tough time with some of the travel and sleeping in a new place, we had a pretty great trip. Brian was psyched to be with other Cardinals fans for his team's World Series victory on Friday night! And we ate like kings at Carol and Carl's place all weekend. So nice to get to see them now that we live within driving distance :)

When we stopped in to see grandma on Sunday morning we decided to sing a few kids songs that both she and Ellie knew. The photo is of us doing "twinkle, twinkle little star" and there's a short video clip of "rock-a-bye baby."

And here's Carol reading Ellie one of her bedtime stories. Thanks again for having us!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

Trick-or-treat? Here's a collection of our Halloween photos.

(Wish we were visiting our old neighbors at this house... but the new one's are very nice, too.)

We decided markers were safer than knives for the pumpkin decorating this year.

I think she was crashing from her first sugar high of the day in this one. Ellie and I picked up Brian a little early from work and went over to this bridge opening event in West Lafayette, where there was a costume parade. Ellie was the cutest ladybug there!

But this shot really captures her initial impression of Halloween...

Until she found out about the candy!It was a beautiful day and a great Halloween, even though it ended with a major meltdown from the little one. She didn't think it was fair when we took away her Tootsie Pop at bed time — and hunkered down for some serious tooth-brushing. But I know our froggie-ladybug had a great day overall.

Week 25: Rutabaga

2011-10-27T04:28:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report this week on the baby front... I'm just getting bigger all the time, feeling some really strong kicks and starting to slow down. I've still got a couple weeks before I hit the third trimester, but the second trimester "honeymoon" energy is already wearing off. I'm glad to have a couple prenatal yoga workout dvds to help keep my hips and leg muscles loose. But the tiredness — and crankiness — I had early in the pregnancy is starting to creep in again. Getting up for work at 5 a.m. probably isn't helping...
Here's some happier news from the experts this week:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Leaf jumping

2011-10-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Brian built up a pile of leaves for Ellie in the back yard on Sunday afternoon and she was in heaven.

I had to work that day but I was happy to stop home for a few minutes and join in the leaf fun!

Boo at the Zoo

2011-10-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

This year we finally got Ellie down to the annual Boo at the Zoo event, in the park a block away from our house. I was amazed at the scope of the shindig. The admission price included access to about 15 different activity areas, haunted train rides and kiddie rides... and you even got a free pumpkin to take home! Given the "late" start — close to Ellie's bedtime — we didn't make it to nearly half of the stuff involved, but Ellie had a great time. We let her choose between the frog and ladybug costumes we have in her size, and she chose "ribbit." The costume is a bit short on her so the head piece doesn't fit great. When she pulled it off mom insisted she wear a hat because it was pretty chilly that night.
Ellie did some bowling and was thrilled to get a candy treat afterward.
She rode the helicopters and the horse and buggy ride. You'll notice a very cute Elmo in the cart behind her. He was very upset to get off the ride when it was over and started crying, which prompted Ellie to worry all night that "Elmo's sad!" We had to keep reassuring her that he was happy now.
A cute shot of the walk to the park with daddy!
And a shot with mom as we tried to make it look like we were wearing the floating witches hats... not sure we succeeded...
And here's an action shot of our very adamant froggie girl:

Sugar Babies

2011-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

That headline on today's Indy Star really caught my eye, and the story did not disappoint. The author looked into some of the causes behind a recent study showing that one in five children between the ages of 2 and 5 nationwide are overweight or obese (according to the Institute of Medicine). Here's a link to the story and I'd highly recommend the read. Some of the info in there about how much sugar is in drinks given to kids — fairly normal stuff like juice, too — is alarming and enlightening.

I've been thinking about Ellie's diet (meaning her food intake, not any special diet she's on...) a lot lately. She's clearly got a sweet tooth like her mommy, and as I've indulged my pregnancy food cravings in recent months there's been a lot more of the sugary stuff around the house that Ellie makes special requests for. One favorite of hers is "I want cereal with treats and milk. But no milk" ... and then she proceeds to eat all of the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms we give her and leave the rest. This is only a sometimes treat, mind you, but she also gets candy for going on the potty and desserts on the nights when we have them at home. At school, too, I've arrived to pick her up during afternoon snack and often find the toddlers all surrounding a table eating cookies. None of these things are the end of the world, but I know from my own weight struggles over the years that there has to be balance. That's why I'm happy we only give Ellie milk or water to drink at home. We also encourage a lot of healthy snacks and meals. Some of her favorites are hummus, peas, corn, apples, bananas, oranges, pretzels, Cheerios, raisins and even tofu! (Note to other parents: To get Ellie to like tofu our winning recipe is cutting it into sticks, breading it with panko or other breadcrumbs and lightly pan-frying it. We let her dip it in marinara sauce and Ellie is in heaven.)

I don't want to make it sound like all Ellie eats is super healthy stuff. Breakfasts on weekends are our house basically revolve around syrup... waffles, pancakes, or my creation this morning: french toast made from leftover homemade cinnamon raisin bread. And Ellie manages to dip each bite of her food about five times in the syrup before starting the process over again. But I think we strike a decent balance with offering a side of fruit at breakfast and then keeping lunch and dinner on the healthier side. That also helps me keep my own diet from going off the deep end! I'm proud of Ellie for trying new foods all the time and often choosing the healthiest option on the plate — and then requesting seconds. I hope we're helping her build a good foundation of smart eating choices... to balance out the times when we give in to her hard-to-resist requests for "treats."

Laundry

2011-10-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is Ellie's version of "helping" fold laundry... usually the pieces that end up on her head or strewn around the room come directly from the already-folded pile. I have to admit, her way is a lot more fun...

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

A church right near our house sets up a pretty cool pumpkin patch every year and we wandered over to it last weekend. Ellie had run moving the baby pumpkins from one bin to another... while a very cute older kid who helps out at the patch monitored Ellie's activities to make sure she didn't mix up the sizes of pumpkins in each basket. This sweet girl also kept offering Ellie nice-shaped pumpkins, as we encouraged our toddler to pick one out to take home. But Ellie just kept picking them up and dumping them back down again. I finally got her to settle on one by whisking her over to the checkout as soon as she had one firmly in her grasp. We also bought a small green and gold gourd that Brian found... Go Packers!
And here's one of Ellie and mom exercising our cheesy smiles for the camera. Ellie's forced grin is too funny :)

Baking

2011-10-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

Cooler temps and fall weather always makes me want to bake. After bringing home a haul of apples from our Michigan trip, I had no choice. In the past week I've made applesauce, apple muffins and apple pie... I thought all of them turned out great but Ellie did not. Our weirdo little girl doesn't like cooked apple chunks so she made gagging noises when trying each of my baked products. Gee, thanks. I guess I can't complain because Ellie will eat veggies and fruit in most forms... but I hope she comes around to mom's baked treats at some point!

Brian and I also got on a bread-making kick recently. We've turned out yummy loaves of honey wheat, rosemary and cinnamon raisin bread so far. I still can't believe how easy it is to do with my mom's old breadmaker machine. We literally just dump the ingredients in and then pull out a loaf a few hours later. Ellie likes the rosemary bread dipped in olive oil! That's her Italian blood, I suppose.
I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with new bread recipes, and we're looking forward to using the machine for pizza and other dough recipes. Such fun :)

Week 24: Corn

2011-10-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

Baby is as long as an ear of corn now. Also, my uterus has grown to the size of a soccer ball and moved higher in my belly. I can believe that!
The race on Saturday really wiped me out and I was really hurting that night and much of Sunday. But after a long night of sleep I felt much better. I've been battling some severe headaches and had a rash suddenly appear on my legs late last week. From what I've read the rash is likely caused by pregnancy hormones and will go away after delivery (but maybe not before then)... I'm glad the summer shorts weather is behind us. I'm keeping an eye on the headaches since they could be a symptom of something worse, but so far I think they're under control.
Again this week I'm grateful for all of the kicks and dance moves I can feel from baby #2! Those jabs reassure me that things are OK inside, even if I'm starting to feel a bit yuckier out here. Enough complaining though... on to what the experts have to say this week:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Racing and grandma visit

2011-10-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went down to Indianapolis on Friday night so we could run in a half marathon there early Saturday. His mom was nice enough to come up to Lafayette to watch Ellie while we were gone -- though I don't think she was too put out by the dedicated time with her granddaughter :)
We all had adventures, mostly good.
Brian and I got a great deal through Priceline and stayed at the Crown Plaza hotel in the historic train station in downtown Indy. When checking in we asked about getting a late check-out on Saturday, to ensure we'd have enough time for much-needed showers at the race. The lady said it would cost us $35 unless we signed up to become Priority members. When we found out that was free (well, except for signing over the right for endless emails from them) we went the "priority" route and then got out room upgraded for free, two drink tickets to the bar and access to a guest lounge with free snacks and drinks! Brian and I are pretty easily impressed, so we were ecstatic. Now that we're priority members we also like to think that we're kind of a big deal...

After a huge dinner out Friday night we ran a great race on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect (except for the wind heading in certain directions) and the course wound through Fort Harrison State Park where the fall colors were amazing. I went into the race with a goal of running under 2 hours and 15 minutes... but around mile 6 we realized we were on pace to break 2:10 if we stepped it up just a little. So we did and crossed the line just under 2:09. I was thrilled! (Though I apparently was also exhausted and emotional because I immediately burst into tears like I did after finishing my last pregnant race. I blame the hormones!)

(This photo was post-race, though I'm still smiling! Had to get a shot by the conductor statue because he was checking his watch... just like we did about a thousand times during the race.)

After the race I was hurting a bit more than I'd anticipated, so we canceled plans to stay in Indy the rest of the day and go to a dinner theater show that night. We'll reschedule! Instead we stopped at Trader Joes and then got home just after Ellie woke up from her nap. I was amazed at how much I missed our little girl even with being gone for just 24 hours.

On the Ellie/grandma end, the highlights of the weekend were time spent cuddling on the couch while watching Elmo, a trip out to the toy store and to get waffles at IHOP, bath time with extra splashing and TWO trips to the park. Brian's mom said Ellie did great in our absence, even though our gal got a little sad on Friday night when she realized mommy and daddy wouldn't be back before her bedtime. But I was so proud to hear that Ellie went down for nite-nite and Saturday's nap with very little struggle.
Everyone had a great weekend. Thanks again grandma Linda for the visit!

Messes and more

2011-10-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

Poor Ellie spent a good portion of Thursday puking... which meant mom, dad and her teachers at daycare spent a good amount of time cleaning up the mess. She didn't have any other symptoms (like fever, etc), so even though it happened four times Thursday we didn't go to the doctor. When Brian and I started to feel sick, too, but thankfully without any actual vomiting, we got suspicious about food poisoning. I think that's our ultimate self-diagnosis... since the wave of sickness seems to be past us now in less than a 24-hour period. Ellie was doing a whole lot better by Thursday night. She kept all of her food down in the late afternoon and evening, and she only had one truly disgusting diaper. (Sorry for the details... but, hey, at least you're just reading about it and not changing it!)
Hopefully Ellie is completely better today and can enjoy a visit from grandma. Brian's mom is coming to stay with her tonight while we go down to Indianapolis for a half marathon we're running early Saturday. Pictures and stories from the weekend to come!

On a side note, now that the weather is turning cool again we can bring Ellie's new rain boots out again. We got them about a month ago but she's only worn them a couple times because of the temps. How adorable are they?!

Fairy princess

2011-10-13T05:51:00.000-07:00

Ellie and I were playing dress-up one afternoon this week when she suddenly decided it was time to visit the park. I figured, what the heck? She looks cute, and Halloween is just around the corner... so I set off with a fairy princess to the park. She was initially wearing some very large, plastic heels that came with this fairy costume... but they weren't great for walking, so we switched to her sandals. Luckily they still matched her wings, headband and wand. A girl is nothing without her accessories, right?

Week 23: Mango

2011-10-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

As you can see, the bump is quite obvious these days. I was actually surprised when I saw this picture at how subtle it looks... because from my vantage point the belly looks and feels huge already. But I know there's plenty more to come!
The baby is a moving and dancing machine. In fact, it took a while to pin him/her down at the doctor's office yesterday when we were trying to listen to the heartbeat. But once we caught up with baby we heard that glorious thump-thump and got perfect marks for the checkup. (For those keeping tabs, the heartbeat measured in the 140s this month.) Here's what the experts have to say...

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Park pandemonium

2011-10-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

The Wallheimers spent this past weekend park-hopping around Lafayette and West Lafayette. It was fun to explore some of the different spots. Plenty more parks to go, but I think we're finally seeing an end this week to the 80-degree weather we've had down here in Lafayette. As the fall weather finally settles in I'm sure we'll still be out and about but will have to bundle up a bit more. Enjoy the pics!

Haircut

2011-10-11T01:16:00.000-07:00

Ellie got a full haircut this past weekend, instead of just a bang trim like we've been doing. Her hair was getting pretty shaggy in the back so we got just a little cut off to keep it looking nice. The salon pulled out this special duck chair for her! She was a champ.
And as a reward mommy took her across the street to Meijer for a ride on the 1-cent mechanical horse. Now she wants her hair cut every day, I think :)

Discoveries

2011-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

In my haste to get pictures from last week's vacation up on here, I didn't take the time to properly recap our vacation adventures. With a whole week off work and plenty to do, Brian and Ellie and I covered a lot of ground. But beyond the activities and travel, I was so thankful for the gift of time we had together as a family. We know our lives are going to get a bit more hectic in about four months. So we made the most of this opportunity to enjoy some time together as our family of three. And we also made some discoveries about Ellie, since our time with her wasn't interrupted by trips to daycare. Here are a few highlights.

She can count to 10 in Spanish! We know they practice colors in both English and Spanish at daycare, so I guess it makes sense that they do numbers, too... but, still, impressive for a 2-year-old.
She can read a lot of the book Where the Wild Things Are with or without the book in front of her. Ellie is big on reading books herself these days, which usually just means flipping through the pages really fast and then declaring "the end" when she closes the book. But with her favorite book — referred to just as "Max" — Ellie will read lines like "night Max wolf suit mischief one kind... and 'nother... Mother called wild thing... Max eat you up." It's so fun to watch, but she won't do it upon request because she gets shy.
She also won't do this one on request, but Ellie can sing a couple verses of her favorite bedtime song "Hush little baby." Generally she just recycles the "mommy buy you diamond ring" verse, however, so we can see she's a toddler with expensive tastes already :)
Ellie can — and loves to — eat whole apples. She got into the cabinet where we stored our recent 30-pound haul of apples from the orchard trip and pulled one out for herself the other day. Luckily she got one that is slightly sweet and not a super-tart baking apple.
Speaking of eating, Ellie is testing our limits big time in trying to get treats and sweets... and the vacation week certainly didn't help, considering all of the ice cream, donuts and other unhealthy fare we indulged in. Beyond the occasional tantrums and arguments we have with Ellie on this front, she's developed this very cute way of asking for a treat. But recently she asks for a treat and if we seem to be considering the request she'll immediately amend her demands and ask for five! Not sure how she arrived at this new favorite number, but we haven't given in to any of the "five treats" requests yet... so maybe she'll lower her expectations soon.
She refers to all bugs as bees. Ellie alerted me to a spider crawling across the kitchen floor the other day by shouting "no, bee!" Luckily the spider was small enough that I was brave enough to kill it without calling in reinforcements (i.e. Brian).
Her imagination is running wild. Ellie comes up with pretend roles all on her own and we'll hear her acting things out with her baby dolls or the dogs or whatever object is closest. The other day she slung on her toy purse and yelled out "See you later, mommy. Bye-bye. I got swing." Good thing she hasn't mastered getting out the door on her own yet...

And on the marriage front, this past week of vacation helped Brian and I rediscover some simple joys in spending time together. In recent months we've been edgy and short with each other on numerous occasions, largely because of the stress that goes along with full-time jobs, parenting and trying to figure out family finances. And I have no illusions that our bickering is behind us forever... But this last week helped up reconnect. We laughed and cuddled on the couch for movie time and held hands and basically remembered how lucky we are to have each other and our kids and our families. Removing work stress from our lives for even a few days helped us both recharge and refocus. Hopefully we can hold on to some of this calm happiness as we return to our hectic schedules.

One more

2011-10-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

On our last stretch of driving through Indiana we stopped at Fair Oaks Farm, a huge dairy farm just off I-65, and got a break from the car ... and some ice cream. We didn't go through all of the exhibits and activities there because of the high ticket prices, but we will some day when we have more time to spend. It was a fun stop.
The rest of our vacation week has been a blend of work and play. We've had a ton of projects and chores "in the works" at our house for months now, and we finally put some of them to bed. We have new front steps railings installed, our garage is cleaned and organized, our oak room has been transformed from dumping ground into playroom for Ellie, and the downstairs bathroom remodeling project is... well, closer to being done.
Just to show that I'm not purely working Brian (and myself) to the bone, we've gotten out for some fun time, too. (Although Ellie thoroughly enjoyed helping us empty out the garage. Her part involved moving very small items and then playing with everything we dumped in the yard.) We've been to two parks in the past two days and shopped yesterday afternoon for Ellie's Halloween costume. She's going to be the cutest ladybug ever!
And, last but not least, all is going well with baby #2. As I wrap up Week 22, the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash and I'm feeling good -- and round :) He/she is kicking and moving so much these days, and those nudges and flutters are amazing to feel. Here's the latest:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Michigan travels (part 2)

2011-10-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

From our time in Grand Haven!
I caught this shot of Ellie being sweet and holding Baby Charlie's hand. Charlie, Amanda and Ben's almost-5-month-old, was a doll and Ellie was a bit infatuated. She also was a bit jealous when Brian or I would hold him... but she's going to have to get used to sharing us a bit, so this was a great experience for her.
She loved sharing his play mat and even invited her babies and frog in, too.

Amanda (Hallermann, as she'll always be known to me...) went down the slide with both Ellie and her dog, Eddie!

And Ben got roped into pushing Ellie during one of her marathon swinging sessions. We had so much fun visiting these guys and hope to make it back to Michigan soon!

Michigan travels (part 1)

2011-10-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of pics from our visit to Michigan this past weekend. We did a combo trip to visit our former Lafayette neighbors (and friends!) in Traverse City, and we stopped on the way up and back in Grand Haven to see some rugby friends of mine from college.

These pics are from Sleeping Bear Dunes where we visited one evening at sunset.

Here's the old crew from next door on Park Avenue: Ben and Janet with sons Micah (left) and Isaac (right).

And the whole gang!

Ellie did really great during the travel time. We tried to time most driving during her naptimes, and she took advantage of it :)

We also hit a fabulous apple orchard while in Traverse City. It had a petting zoo, hayrides, a yummy restaurant and, of course, tons of apples for picking. Ellie ate 4 apples while we were there!

Family shot at the orchard

Chomp!

And here are a few pictures of Ellie and the boys playing back at the Whipple homestead. Even though she's been having trouble with sharing recently, Ellie did pretty good while surrounded by Isaac and Micah's toys. She especially loved their tool set and trains... we may have to get her some.

Week 21: Carrot

2011-09-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

As my belly continues to grow — and I continue to bump into things forgetting that it's there — it's nice to note that I'm more than halfway through the pregnancy. Baby is moving a ton these days, kicking and punching from the inside... probably in preparation for its dealings with Ellie :) Our toddler hasn't quite learned what it means to be gentle with her toy babies, as she's constantly throwing them and dropping them on their heads. She also keeps forgetting when mommy asks her to be careful around the belly, so the baby is likely practicing its defensive maneuvers these days for when Ellie steps on or digs her elbow into my belly.

Here's this week's baby update from the experts:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

Turning 30

2011-09-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I had a great birthday weekend, starting off early this past Wednesday when Ellie and caught the bus over to Purdue to check out this free show on the union lawn. The performers, called Australia's Strange Fruit, did their routine from atop 25-foot poles. Pretty impressive.
Brian, Ellie and I got a pizza and picnicked on the lawn during the show. It was so fun!

*p.s. loving the cheesy "grin" that Ellie gives these days when we ask her to smile for the camera :)

I didn't get more pics from the rest of the weekend but we filled it with: trips to the park, a visit to a new West Lafayette children's store where Ellie got to see Elmo (a 6-foot-tall, kinda freaky version of him...) and a night out for mom and dad. Turning 30 isn't so bad with all this fun stuff going on!

Italian Fest weekend

2011-09-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Ellie attended her first Collinsville Italian Fest this past weekend. The festival was a staple in Brian's childhood, so this trip was a big deal. She had a blast at the parade and both Ellie and mom are enjoying all of the candy that she collected during the event. :) We did discover what a nightmare it is trying to navigate the crowded streets of a festival with a toddler, who insisted on walking on her own, tried to eat random things off the ground, etc. I don't think it would've been any easier with a stroller. Next time we're there we'll have to pick a less busy time of day. But the food was awesome once we got to it!

Ellie also got to enjoy some ice cream cake to celebrate mom's and grandma's birthdays -- both coming up later this week.

And she spent some time at the park with grandpa and grandma. The swings were her favorite... surprise, surprise.

And the best part of the weekend was the four of us (Ellie, too!) completing the Italian Fest 5K race on Saturday morning. It was only Linda's second 5K and she ran the whole thing AND shaved 3 minutes off her time. We are so proud of her!

Sick bay

2011-09-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

I'll get new pics from this past weekend up later today, but just a quick post to say that Ellie is sick. It's probably a cold of some sort but her fever has been high since Monday afternoon :(
Last night she was up a couple times, which gave us the opportunity to get some more Tylenol in her. The second time she woke up, around 3 a.m., I think she was a little delirious from the fever because she kept babbling the whole time and stringing random thoughts together. Poor baby girl. Hopefully she kicks this soon, but for today it looks like Brian will be taking some sick time to keep her home from daycare.

Week 20: Banana

2011-09-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Halfway there! I'm thrilled to be marking the 20th week of the pregnancy and to be feeling good :) Here's the latest info from the experts:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Where's your?

2011-09-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Ellie showing off her knowledge of body parts... and her affinity for poking mommy's growing belly.