We screamed

For ice cream!! I bravely took both kiddos for free cone day at Ben & Jerry's yesterday and we had a great time. I was already out, so picked Miles up early from school, hoping to beat the crowd from the high school around the corner. We got there and there was a pretty good line, but manageable. I'd talked with Miles very seriously about staying with me since there would be a lot of people. But after only a minute or so someone handed me a "Go to the head of the line" pass! Seriously! I was not only going to get yummy deliciousness for free, but I got to skip about 40 people and get it NOW. Sweet!

We got the same flavors as the weekend (didn't want to be rude when skipping line and linger over the flavor selection). Miles really likes the Mango Mango sorbet. We sat inside and Audrey snoozed while we tasted each other's flavors and decided that they were both yummy. I'm so glad we got there when we did, as the line stretched out the door when we got to the table and stayed that way until we left. One thing I did learn is there's no limit to the number of cones. You can go back through the line as much as you want. Note to self for next year... start running now so I can handle several flavors not to mention handling two kiddos with ice cream.

the snoozer

If I didn't blog about anything else, I need to share that April 29 (Tuesday!) is free cone day at Ben & Jerry's. Wayne has already wondered aloud if he could go at lunch, then change his shirt and go back with us after Miles gets out of school. We went Saturday when YaYa and B came for a visit. Miles picked Mango Mango Sorbet and ate the entire thing with much flair. I tried Imagine Whirled Peace, which was quite yummy, although not on the post-natal diet plan.

I love this picture of Audrey... it's not that great of a photo, but it captures her right now. She's actually a pretty good sleeper! (I know, sorry Wayne, I just jinxed us for the next week). I've held off saying anything because I thought it was too good to be true, but we're getting some good nights - at least 5 hours then 3 more most nights, and she's thrown in a couple of 7 hour stretches once in a while. Now we're working on some structured daytime sleep... we're getting a little morning nap routine down, but the rest of the day is just haphazard. Here she was playing on an activity mat and just fell asleep. Love that little belly b! I read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child with Miles and think it really helped, so we'll be working on that with her soon. Thankfully we may get to skip the nighttime "cry it out" steps sine she goes down fairly well now. That could change when I stop the feeding-to-sleep routine!

And we did celebrate Earth Day last week, though a little late. I got some reusable bags and took them for a spin at Kroger on Friday. We fit what would have been 10-12 plastic bags very easily in 4 of mine, and they were so easy to carry! I guess I'll just leave them in the car and hopefully remember them every time. [Don't we look eco-friendly with our bags on the cork floor!] Too bad the bags are filled with processed food - that's Quik, there are eggos and even hot dogs in there. But one was filled with produce!!

We really have to work on Miles eating better. He has zero appetite anymore and all he wants to eat is nuggets - but not at home! He'll only eat McD's, Chick-fil-a or Wendy's. Seriously. At home it's PB&J and fruit of all kinds. We've just set forth a verbal "no nuggets out until you start eating what we have at home" rule. We'll see how long that sticks. Our other problem with how he eats is that he'll ask for something, we'll make it, then he'll refuse to eat it. Argh!! I'm wondering when this turns into the stage when he's eating us out of house and home. That can't be too far off, right?

7 weeks

It's hard to catch on "film" but we're getting lots of great smiles from Audrey these days. We'll have a little flirt-fest with each other and I don't want to ruin the fun by flashy-thinging her. She's 7 weeks old and is a real sweetheart. She absolutely lights up when she sees Miles, so I can't wait until they can play together a little better. He adores her too, the first thing out of his mouth in the morning is "Where's Audrey?" I'm sure that's out of concern for her, and not just to see if he gets all the extra space in our bed for a while. Back to her... she's starting to swat at her little mobile over her bouncy seat, but hates tummy time. She can hold her head up well when we hold her in our arms, but gets really frustrated trying to lift her head from flat on her belly. I remembered the mirror I used to hold for Miles and I think that is giving her a little more reason to look up - who is that cute baby over there? And check out that thick mane! It's really coming in and I affectionately refer to it as Kramer hair. Especially when freshly washed, it curls on top and sticks up until she sleeps on it.

Poor Miles has been running a fever today. It started before bed last night and continued all day today. But despite being sick, we had one of the best days together in a long time. It was close to a zero-fussy day, and he didn't try to swindle treats and TV time out of me, even though we were home all day. I started pulling the Disney books off the shelf to read, a big step because the stories can be really long. We started with the Three Little Pigs, which I don't think is in the book club anymore. We also tried Pinocchio and 101 Dalmations. I hope I can find Mickey and the Beanstalk at McKay, because one of his favorite Little Einstein episodes right now is about the giant up the beanstalk.

More fun stuff from Miles - he's totally into his tools. He insists on wearing jeans so he can wear all of his tools around the house. He especially loves these carpenter jeans because of the loop on the side. He refers to them as his "hooker" jeans. When we had the guys here working on the kitchen he would ask them if they had hookers. That got some good reactions! I've gotten him to call a belt-loop by the proper name, but that loop on the side remains a hooker until I can come up with a better name for it.

We're using tools for a higher purpose now too - bribery. We got him the jackhammer he earned by wearing the cute suit and shoes for Uncle Kyle's wedding. Now we have a chainsaw up on the shelf just waiting for a poop on the potty. We also got a big set of tools to dole out for more achievements like staying dry all day, telling me when he has to go, etc. The incentives haven't worked yet, but I need to start making him try to go hourly. I guess it can be my Earth-Day resolution - get the oldest out of diapers!!

A wedding weekend

I could just take the easy way out and tell you to read Tiffany's blog, but I won't (you should read it anyway!). I'll try to recap as briefly as can be, mostly since Audrey is stirring and we'll have to run and pick up Miles soon.

Thursday: We're lucky to have family in Nashville which lets us break up a looong drive, although it does add days to the trip. Miles loves playing with YaYa & B and we also got to visit his cousins and see their fantastic new home. We made it to Memphis Thursday afternoon, just beating some torrential rain coming.

Mom hosted a BBQ dinner for the family, so everyone got to see Miles and meet Audrey in a somewhat relaxed environment. Kyle and his buddies were heading out for the bachelor party, so brave Megan spent an entire evening alone with the future in-laws!! Extended-family in-laws at that!! Wayne joined Kyle for the bachelor festivities, which included a Barbecue Crawl. Much like the better known pub crawl, their BBQ crawl had them hopping around Memphis, trying out some of the best ribs around.

Friday: Since all the family would already be in town, we took the opportunity to have Audrey baptized just before the wedding rehearsal. It was a really special event - both of my grandmothers were able to attend (they're 92 & 91); both of my godparents were there; and all 14 family members from 3 generations who have worn the baptismal gown were there! I just realized that, we should have taken a picture to mark the occasion. Miles wondered why there weren't ducks in the baptismal font.

The rehearsal was next followed by an excellent dinner at Currents at the River Inn. As Tiffany described, all the cousins were again seated at the "kids" table, and I think Kyle wished he and Megan could've joined us back there for the usual antics. No, Miles & Audrey weren't subjected to our craziness. YaYa & B graciously came over to keep the kids in the hotel while we were all occupied with wedding festivities.

Saturday: In the morning, Miles introduced Ellie to big-kid toys like Rocket. Later in the evening we had to promise Miles more big-kid toys, specifically a jackhammer(!), to wrangle him into the evening's finery. (We haven't delivered yet, but possibly will tonight if we can manage family dinner out.)

Okay, this is getting long....

The wedding was beautiful. Miles told me Megan was dressed as a princess several times, and got his shy-smile going whenever he was with the bridesmaids. But he was NOT shy with Tatum, the flower girl! She was a feisty one, and they were chasing each other all around in the dressing hall of the church. I was afraid of what could happen going down the aisle. But as they turned the corner to the narthex, they were suddenly subdued. The organ music, singing and the crowd must have overwhelmed them into calmness. I'm not sure about Tatum, but Miles remained in the church for the entire ceremony & photos after.

The evening was getting late so even though the reception hall was in the same block as the hotel, we dropped the kiddos off and headed back out. We missed their first dance, but it was to Al Green's Love & Happiness. We were there for the arrival of the getaway vehicle. A little background here: Kyle called a couple of weeks ago and said he had a problem. He was supposed to arrange for the car, perhaps a nice Town Car or Bentley, but had let the task slide. Now it is prom season and all that was available was a stretch Hummer. I told him if she would be expecting a Bentley and a Hummer pulled up, she might be a tad peeved and he should fess up. He did, thank goodness, because it would have taken much more explaining to overcome the fact that it was a banana yellow stretch hummer. Oh yes. At least by this point they could laugh together as husband and wife. And climb onto the yellow seats and ride off into the night.

Congrats Kyle and Megan!!! We love you!!

UPDATE: Okay, I was just showing Miles the photos on this post and he said "That's Megan, she's a princess." Sweet. Then he said, "Where are her boobies?" Oh man, we've got some social graces to work on.

Mr. and Mrs.

Over the weekend we traveled to Memphis to celebrate the marriage of my brother, Kyle, and Megan. It was a fantastic weekend, everyone had so much fun and Audrey got to meet all of her family at one time! I think most of my blog readers were there and it was so nice to meet many of you in person. I'm still sorting through the pictures (and we're pretty tired from the drive) so I'll blog in more detail later. But here's our handsome boy getting ready for his ring bearer duties.

Miles's Wish List

Miles is taking after his daddy. Wayne used to sit and dream with the Sears catalog (didn't we all?), making out a big wish list. Miles loves perusing the Thomas the Train catalog. Check out his picks...

Happy One Month Birthday!!

Today is Audrey's one month birthday. She gave us the best gift... she slept for a 5 hour then a 4 hour stretch last night! I almost feel fully rested. Ha! Of course Miles was awake for 3 of the last 4 hours, so not as rested as I could be.

The poor thing spent her birthday unceremoniously strapped in the carseat running errands. We went back down to Wayne's office so I could do a little more filing and she met several friends who work in the building. Then we all had lunch before going to my dress fitting for Kyle and Megan's wedding next weekend. I had to get measured while pregnant, so it was pretty off in sizing. The lady I went to was so great and said it would be ready in plenty of time. Then it was off to Kroger before swooping in to pick up Miles just before the skies opened up. Whew!



Miles has been a fantastic big brother. He's so loving with her, but we are seeing some tantrums that I'm sure are related to the new baby. It's also the age, his teachers say all the kids are asserting their independence. We hear a lot of, "No, I do it!" Like yesterday at the park when he wanted to push Audrey in the stroller. The whole way. He did a pretty good job with only minimal steering adjustments from me. And then he was a real sweetheart and gave me this beautiful flower!!

Audrey has changed a lot just in this week. She outgrew one of the padding liners around her head in the car seat. After the big sleep last night she stayed awake for almost 2 hours, looking around and playing. She's becoming more vocal! Lots of coos and squeals. And Wayne and I both think we've seen smiles that are maybe not just gas. Our little girl is growing up. She's already telling her friends "Call me!".. check it out!

the negotiator

How much do you love my boy's stylin' jammies selection last night? Hand-me-down Madagascar shirt, Rocket jammie bottoms, and fighter plane galoshes, but on the wrong feet. Love him! He definitely knows what he wants (clothes, food, activity du jour) and may possibly throw a small fit if he doesn't get it. Okay, that mostly happens at bed and meal time when fatigue and hunger have set in. But since our day consists of 3 meals and 2 "bed" times, it can happen more than we'd like! When said fit starts to happen (say at the dinner table when he flips over his plate full of food - oh yes!) we've given up on a time-out chair. No, we go with full banishment to his bedroom. I don't even care if he's playing while in there, he knows he stays in there until he's in the mood to be nice. I'm sure this tactic won't work much longer (as I learn from those going before me). But I need to clarify, he's normally a fantastic kid and very susceptible to our reverse psychology efforts. But he's gaining on us!

Right now he's back in the bathroom negotiating with Wayne about potty time. Miles' Aunt Elizabeth told me that the promise of power tools convinced Evan to become potty trained, so we set forth that when Miles poopies on the potty, he will earn some new power tools for his tool kit. He knows when he needs to go, because he races back to his room and slams the door for some "private time". So we figure we'll just follow him and remind him of the deal for power tools. He's back there now discussing with Wayne the idea that just a pee-pee gets power tools too. Sorry, smarty, we already know you can pee on the potty! In milestone tracking, he woke up with a dry diaper for the first time ever today. Huge! Guess I need to get off my duff and get that boy trained. This "new baby" excuse can only get me so far, right?

Ah, the wee one. She's turning a month old this week! She had a big week, meeting Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Shay and cousins Evan & Kate. Kate was just dying to hold her over and over, which made Miles want to as well - he hadn't yet, if you can believe it! She's been taking it pretty easy on us most of the time, although last night she threw us a curve ball, staying basically awake until almost 2, ouch. For us cool kids who were already on the 9 p.m. bedtime schedule, that one really hurt. But when she does finally sleep at night, we've been getting a good 4 hour stretch, sometimes twice in a row, so can't complain too much. And we're just loving how much more awake and alert she is during the day. We're getting some good time staring into those big blue eyes. But hopefully tonight they will close for the night at around 11. Pretty please, sugar pie?

Ol' Blue Eyes

I may have to give up the weekly shot of sweet Audrey, at least for a few weeks. Besides being a couple of days late taking it, she is not a huge fan of the pose. Could have something to do with the lack of neck strength causing her to slump onto the bear every time. Then she just gets mad, "mommy, what in the world are you trying to make me do?" So this week's photo looked a lot like last week's: mad face and punching fists. I did lay her down on her belly, which she didn't mind too much. So I'll try to get the shot next week, but may just wait until she has a little more head control. But check out those blue eyes! And her hair has gotten redder as it grows.

Speaking of hair, she had her first salon visit today. She (take a wild guess...) slept in the carrier while I got a much overdue cut. But she was the attraction of the day there. Seems that 5 employees are pregnant, and the rest must have the baby bug because she was never without an audience cooing, watching her REM-cycle eye flutters.

And the last little tidbit.. we had her 3 week check-up yesterday. Sweet little Audrey weighs 10 lbs. 2 oz.!! She's already outgrowing some sleepers and onesies. Time to break out the new spring wardrobe!

Oh, and Raven (the one who took this gorgeous photo of Audrey) has entered a blog banner design contest on TypePad, so please go vote for her cute little owl!

A wild goose chase

Some of the time lately has felt like a wild goose chase. Like when trying to get two kiddos ready to go somewhere and Miles refuses to go potty, change diaper, get dressed, eat his snack, eat the snack that he asked for 2 seconds earlier, take the orange cup (not the green cup), leave the huge toy behind. Then he finally gets ready and it's Audrey's turn to have a blowout diaper (they usually sound worse than they look), spit up on her shirt, need to sit down to eat, then take 15 minutes to burp. So I've been learning that if we want to meet daddy for lunch at 11, we need to be awake and going by, oh, 6:45 a.m. :)

But Miles did go on an actual wild goose chase this weekend! We were partying with Mary Kate for her 3rd birthday a the cutest little zoo I'd never heard of before. They had donkey rides (Miles rode Cocoa, who had to poop while Miles was riding him), emus, camels, sheep, goats, even a kangaroo and a couple of zonkeys. No, not a typo, zonkeys. Miles LOVED it. He ran, skipped and bounded all over the place, but never once did I see him just plain walking. He was way too excited for a boring walk around the zoo.

Little missy was in attendance at the party, but she slept through all the excitement. She did have a big day Tuesday when she went to work with daddy. Well, actually she went to work with mommy too. I had to do a little end of 2007 clean up in the files (yes, I know 2007 has been over for a while) so we spent a couple of hours hanging out with Wayne. He was so excited to give her first lesson in the merits of excess cash flow and high returns on capital employed. Yes, she slept through most of this visit too.

Oh yes, happy Easter to all! Audrey made her debut at the 9 a.m. mass, sleeping in the Baby Bjorn the entire time (are you sensing a theme?). Miles and Audrey had a visit from the Easter Bunny too! He left eggs scattered all around our yard. They also had another visit, YaYa and B came in town and joined us for Easter services. Then following a quick stop for some hot fresh Krispy Kremes, they headed back home with Miles in tow. It is his spring break so he's spending a few nights with them and visiting his cousins. And mommy and daddy are planning on relaxing and enjoying some down time. Oh wait, we have a 3 week old baby. Never mind. At least I will be able to follow the "sleep when they sleep" advice for a day or so. At least I'll try too, it will be pretty tempting to "be productive" in that downtime. Maybe I'll be able to blog a little more? Or start scrap booking her baby album! Yes!!

quick update...

Two weeks! Definitely some change from last week's photo. While she was still slumpy onto the bear, she was much more, um, reactive, to being posed there. She had some good strong kicks and punches going. Thankfully Raven got some gorgeous shots of her on Sunday, so we have this time documented in a much better way.

We're all hanging in there! Our first day of mommy, Miles and Audrey went pretty well. I did have to whip out the Little Einsteins on Demand at the end of the day, and Wayne came home for lunch, but overall we did well and I survived. We had painters here that day or it probably would have been easier. Convincing Miles to stay put in the room with me while I fed Audrey took some creative thinking, but now that it's just us and we can be anywhere in the house it's better. The hard part today was keeping Miles from coughing all over her. Yes, the men of the house both have head colds and so far the ladies have steered clear. I've tried telling Miles that his big boy germs are just too strong for the baby, so he has to stay away from her. Not the easiest to sell when he just wants to be a sweet big brother and give her the pacifier!

Oh and the picture may give away the rest of Erin's story (read about her crazy week!!!) but we did make it to Cracker Barrel with the kids this weekend. Audrey slept through the whole thing but Miles and Eileen hammed it up for each other. Both of them were covered in anything sticky from the table: jam, syrup, mac n' cheese

On to some kitchen updates! We're done but for a few cosmetics: back splash, knobs on cabinets, and the breakfast area (table, cushion & lighting). It's fantastic and we love it!!! Here are the before & afters:

One week down

In addition to my photo-a-day goal (which I've been doing, just haven't organized February yet), I thought it would be fun to track Audrey's growth through the year like Heather Ann is doing with her son. We even have the exact same bear to use! It's the cutest, softest bear from Old Navy. In fact Miles has 2 of these bears - both named "Brown Bear" - which he has to sleep with every night. They are no longer soft and fluffy, but like the Velveteen Rabbit, they are both loved very much.

The photo "shoot" was hysterical. I don't know if Heather tried a one week shot, but most of the shots are of her sliding over onto the bear. I did several of her on her belly, but to see the change I wanted to have her sitting up. Then the poor thing sneezed and went face first onto the chair, so we called a wrap on that session!

We've all been enjoying having YaYa here this week helping out - especially Mommy!! While Miles has been a fantastic big brother, I think it's been great for him to get adjusted to the idea of sharing mommy while still having another person around to play with. YaYa has to leave tomorrow, so Friday will be the big First Day of me, Miles and Audrey together all day. I know it seems to Miles that I'm always feeding her, which means always holding her, but at least I'll be able to do that wherever he is, his room, the playroom, wherever.

Speaking of the big boy, he has 3 of his 2nd molars coming in!!! Only one more and he'll have all of his baby teeth.

Off to sleep now. Audrey's been a real champ on the feedings, taking them closer together during the day and spacing them out at night. I think we even had one 4 hour stretch - which means about 3 hours straight of sleep for me by the time I get her changed, fed, burped, swaddled and back to drowsy sleep. Just praying that she keeps extending those night sleeps!!

Hanging out

Here are a few more shots from Miss Audrey's arrival. I also added more to the Shutterfly link at the right (or click here). I haven't uploaded January or February, but hey, I know what you really want to see!

Miles is doing great with Audrey so far. He wants to be around her all the time and has the sweetest grin on his face when he says "baby sister!" I guess calling her that for all these months is a hard habit to break, but he's starting to get used to calling her Audrey. We'll have to work on some other names in the house too, as "daddy!" has now become "Wayne!" screamed throughout the house. At least he hasn't tried to call me Nicole yet. Although he did call me Aunt Nicole once...

We're on our own tonight. PawPaw and Mimi headed back home this morning. They made it safely despite the 6(!) inches of snow predicted for Memphis. For the last few nights I've been getting up to feed the Sweet Pea and then calling Mimi down to burp and rock her back to sleep. I think she was fairly easy to get back down... guess I'll learn in the next several hours. Hope I have the same touch Mimi did... we got a couple of 3 hour stretches between feedings last night, which seems like an eternity when she'd been doing 90 minutes to 2 hours all day. But at least she's eating well. And I need a new nickname - Pamela would be appropriate - and theme music by Kelis.

Found a song named Audrey by Dave Brubeck. Got to have that jazz connection to Miles! Click here to listen.

Off to sleep while I can... tomorrow YaYa comes over to help out for the first part of the week. Not sure I'm ready for a full day home alone with both kiddos. That would require mucho nap time for mommy!

Overdue...

Overdue seems to be the theme for all things Audrey, but I am overdue on letting you see our beautiful angel!! Of course we've been a tad bit busy, so sitting down to blog has taken a way-back seat to sleeping, eating, etc.

She's doing great... slept a lot the first night home and is now waking up a bit more to eat. We learned our lesson and used the hospital nursery as much as we could at night - take heed new-moms-to-be: they will bring them back to eat and you will sleep MUCH better!!

This photo is day 3, first full day at home. We had 2 big outings!! First was to the pediatrician where she had a great check-up. She'd already regained almost all the weight she lost, so we don't have to go back for 3 weeks. Our next outing was a very short walk to enjoy the gorgeous weather. We weren't the only ones loving the sunshine. We ran into Audrey's first boyfriend, Fenn, who lives next door. He's almost three months old. Then we saw the mommy-to-be across the street and learned she's having a boy this summer! Our little street is becoming baby-central. We also passed several other neighbors who were excited to see that Audrey had finally joined us.

Anyway, think that's about all the blogging I have in me now. Miles is a bundle of energy and is still figuring out this "share the mommy" thing. Could be an interesting next few weeks.

She's here!

Announcing the arrival of Audrey McLean!!! I know, I know, Audrey wasn't even in the poll. That's why we had the disclaimer in there. The name came up last week and we really started liking it. We asked Miles about it and he was sold instantly. Evelyn was his fave by far, but as soon as we added Audrey, there was no wavering. "I like Auuuuuuu-drey," he says.

Anyway, we were scheduled for induction Monday but I started having contractions Sunday. By the evening they were getting pretty strong, so we went on in. By 5 a.m. when they would have started the induction meds, I was already 5cm! So I got my epidural and rested through a few hours of contractions until it was time.

She took a little more work than Miles, but not too bad. We started pushing at 9 and after about 4 contractions decided to wait about 15 minutes to try again. That time it took about 3 contractions and she was here at 9:50 a.m. We quickly learned why she took a little more effort that her brother - she's 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20.5 inches long! He was 7 lbs. 11 oz and 20in. That extra week of cooking gave her a slight weight advantage. It also gave her time to grow in a thick head of dark brown (reddish?) hair and some fingernails! Girlfriend needs a french manicure!!

She's doing very well, snoozing away on daddy's chest while I type. We're on wi-fi from the hospital and didn't bring our camera cord, so no photos yet. Soon, I promise (as if there's any doubt.)

A new first for Miles

So if you haven't thought about it in a while (or don't have a toddler) it is really difficult to master holding up two (or three) fingers on one hand. When Miles turned two we had to teach him to hold up the index finger on each hand and say "I'm Two!". Lately he's been working on the one handed 2 and 3, even explaining the mechanics to Wayne: "Hold down dis finger with th' thumb. No daddy, like dis!"

Now he's practicing all sorts of counting and demonstrating his skill. This morning while watching Saturday morning cartoons in bed with us I hear, "hey Mommy, hey mommy, what dis?"

I raise my head from my pillow and try hard to tell him he's holding up one finger, while not laughing too hard. My son is flipping me the bird at 7:15 a.m.

Day 286... and counting

Yep, still here. Hopefully the suspense of my not posting yesterday didn't get anyone too excited!!

Checked in with the OB this morning and lost count of how many nurses, sonographers, receptionists and doctors asked me if I were still pregnant. YES!!!!!!! I!!!!!!!!! AM!!!!!!!!!

But not for much longer! We scheduled to go in Monday at 5:30 to be induced, if nothing happens over the weekend. I had dilated a whopping 1 cm since Tuesday, so who knows, I could be on a roll. They stripped my membranes to see if that helps move things on, but it's no guarantee. We did learn that the OB on call all weekend is the same who delivered Miles - we loved her, so happy about that. And if we make it to Monday, the OB on that day is the cool one who told me to get a massage - she should be great too.

We got another ultrasound while we were there. They wanted to check the amniotic fluid level, which was great. They also wanted to see her move around a bit, but again she was napping. Stubborn little thing wouldn't wake up for anything! Maybe that's a good thing - she'll be sleeping through the night in a month. (Hope I didn't just jinx myself). They ended up pulling out this buzzer cattle prod thing to try to annoy her awake. That finally worked and she's been up punching me in the bladder ever since. Thanks, sweetie!!

Snow!

I won't even say it, but since I'm blogging, you know what I'm NOT doing at this time!!

But I had to share that we got snow today!! Miles has seen snowflakes maybe 3 other times in his 2.5 years, but this is the first time any accumulated. I made him some pancakes and tried to use the snowflake mold, but after the first one the really didn't turn out.

We had to get out and play right after breakfast because it started melting pretty soon. But Miles was singing Frosty the Snowman and had a blast just shuffling through it, watching the dogs go crazy running around.

Tune in tomorrow, maybe there will be some more excitement....????

Still pregnant... (how many days will I have to use this title?)

I can't complain too much at being 2.5 days late. Since both Ellie and Eileen were 9 days late, I don't deserve much sympathy from their mommies. I can complain about my day at the O.B. office, sheesh! The doctor in the office is also the on-call doctor for the hospital and they just had an onslaught of deliveries and emergency surgeries. So while waiting, the nurse hooked me up for a non-stress test. Basically they strap some sensors to my belly and chart the baby's heart rate and activity for 20-30 minutes. It would also track contractions, if I were having any! Since my appointment was before lunch, the test measured her heart rate but she was asleep, so there wasn't much activity. They had us leave to get lunch and come back to do it again.

The second time she was more active, so she passed the non-stress test (yay!). I however didn't do so hot on the "how are we progressing" test. I'm not dilating and am only slightly effaced. So since I'm generally doing well & the baby is fine, they don't want to push induction. I guess if my body's not ready, there's a greater chance I'd end up having a C-section. So we'll head back to the doctor on Friday and see what's happening.

Unless something happens between now and then, which is a total possibility. With Miles I went from zero to "he's here" in less than 2 days. And it is expected to snow tonight, so when better for me to need to rush to the hospital?

UPDATE: day 281

KNOXVILLE, TN. As of 1:30 pm February 25, Miss E. is still staging her live-in. Experts believed that her protest wouldn't go past February 24. Unfortunately it appears she has supplies to let her go for two more weeks if left to herself. The authorities at Women's Care Group, however, state that they will not let this protest go beyond the end of this week. If she refuses to appear they will step in.

Observers speculate to the reason behind her refusal to leave. Some site the fact that she, as of yet, has no official name - although there are some very strong contenders. Others comment that maybe she knows mom's singing will only get worse when not muffled by placenta and amniotic fluid. The reasons unknown, we all must wait until she decides she is ready to appear.

More news to follow as this situation develops...

Okay, so I recycled that news brief from when Miles was being stubborn in August 2005. But the evening after I sent that e-mail I started contracting, so maybe this will trigger something later today! If not, we go see the OB in the morning and we'll at least schedule something in case she really decides to hold out. So that leaves the decision: do you choose February 29th for a birthday? I'd think it would be pretty cool and special! I looked up some famous Feb 29th babies and they include Ja Rule, Tony Robbins and Dinah Shore. So it's no Elvis (me), but a little more relatable than Yasser Arafat (Miles).

Since we're been waiting around, PopPop has been able to finish the floor installation! We used cork flooring and are very happy with the look and feel of it. And the carpenters got the bench built, which Miles LOVES. Still not painted, but you get the idea. We'll have a cushion made to fit the seat, but we tested out some sofa cushions for comfort. The wall colors are below - the kitchen will be the sort of Robins' Egg Blue (actually named Woodlawn Blue) below and the walls in the adjoining den will be Monroe Bisque. I'll eventually get some full shots of the finished kitchen up, but I hesitate to do so now. I've stuck 1st grade -style labels (trash, plates, silverware) on all the cabinet doors so that the grandparents (and Wayne) know where everything is! So when those come down and the backsplash is in we'll be ready for some final shots.

(no we didn't clone Miles in real life, just digitally. One of him is all the fun we can handle right now!)