First half of April 2011

Bubbles are a big hit in the tub. Katie likes to put them on her face and pose. I asked Elayna why she didn't have a "beard" also, and they both said, "She does, it's pink and really long." Silly girls.

I registered Katie for Kindergarten on April 1st. She had to get some immunization shots the day before, and that was traumatic. She only cried a little though. On the way home, she said something like, "I don't know why I have to get shots. They hurt." I felt so bad. I tried to explain what diseases are, and why we do immunizations, but I'm not sure she understood. At least she knows there is a reason, and not that I just want her to hurt.

Katie isn't taking naps hardly at all anymore. (she hasn't taken many naps since last fall, when preschool started) She is learning "sight words" on flashcards that she can memorize what they look like, then recognize them upon sight, instead of sounding them out each time. At first, we both really struggled with it. I wanted her to sound it out each time, and she just didn't understand the concept. After crying to my mom about it one day, ("Katie will never learn, she hates it, I hate it, I don't know how to help her, will she ever figure it out?" etc...) Mom explained that "is" (the word I started to teach her) doesn't mean anything to Katie. It is just 2 random letters together, and even sounding it out each time doesn't help. Mom suggested teaching some other words first, and having Katie write them down, or draw pictures with them.

Now, Katie will trace each flashcard onto her paper, write the word in the box on her paper, and write the letters of each word below itself on the actual flashcard. She is obviously a person that learns by writing it down. When I flash through the cards, she will look at her paper to see what the word it. It is very interesting. Mom also suggested having Katie read the words in a sentence, and that has helped a lot also. So now, it is not an awful chore that we both hate. It is a fun learning experience, and Katie looks forward to it each day. (We work on them right after Elayna goes down for her nap.)

Katie is growing fast also. When she got her well child checkup before Kindergarten Registration, the doctor said she was in the 75% for her height and weight. She could do all the requested activities the doctor asked about.-- Jump with both feet, balance on one leg, how high can you count, do you know your colors, does she do imaginary play, etc.--
She also passed with flying colors the assessment the school did. Lynette DeGraffenried is my aunt, and she is the one that interviewed Katie. Lynette asked her about colors, what each letter and number was, what shapes were on the paper, what sounds each letter made, and Katie did really great. It seems a little crazy that she will be in Kindergarten in the fall, but she is ready.


After eating some chocolate, and their fingers were all dirty:


This is how my cute Elayna reads books, 90% of the time. Book on the couch, legs crossed as she casually leans against the couch. I think it is adorable:
Elayna loves Princesses at the moment. Especially Snow White. I think I read the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at least 3-4 times a day. She loves being outside, and coloring. She hasn't worn diapers at all for about a month, if not more. She still has accidents, but she can stay dry most days, and she will now go by herself if she decides she needs to. Ryan and I take turns waking her up at night (okay, mostly Ryan does it, but I help sometimes too, since I'm up going to the bathroom also) so she sleeps in underwear also. She is doing really well with potty training.

Elayna talks really well, and a lot. She loves being around Katie so much. She copies most of what Katie does, and they play so well together. Most mornings they will be awake, playing in their bedroom, before I realize they are awake. Sometimes I'll come out and say, "Let's eat breakfast" and they will ask if they can play more before we eat. Of course, they fight about stuff, but most of the time they really love being around each other.


Here I am at 35 weeks:
Everything is going well. The due date, as I've calculated it, should be about the 9th of May. My doctor says it will be closer to the 13th. I'm sure she will come when she wants, and we will both be wrong. :)

Not much going on. Basically just waiting for the baby to come. I haven't really started nesting yet, but I'm trying to get stuff done. Most of the time just having a meal ready when Ryan comes home from work can seem like a big accomplishment. I feel really tired, and don't want to move much. Katie and Elayna play with friends (mostly Abby and Gracie) most of the time, and I do stuff around the house. I really don't just lay around all day. I've got some of my roses trimmed, and my quilt is almost finished. I need to put a border around it, and find someone that will machine quilt it for me, then I'll post pictures of it. I'm pretty proud of it.

Ryan is sleeping better. He seems more rested. He will get his thyroid levels checked at the end of the month, and the doctor will adjust the medication if necessary.

March 2011

My belly at 30 weeks:

Everything is going well with the pregnancy. I've had some Braxton Hicks (fake) contractions, and some back pain, but they are usually worse when I have over extended myself. So I'm trying to slow down, and take breaks in between chores and such. It is a good reminder to slow down and take time with the girls also. On my good days, I set the timer. 20 minutes for me to work, 10 minutes to read/play with the girls. It seems to work well.

On March 12, we were at my parent's house, and the kids were playing outside. The adults were downstairs talking. We saw Katie coming toward the door with her hand over her forehead. When she came in and moved her hand, there was a huge goosebump with a really white spot in the middle of it. It was right over her right eye. I got scared, especially when Dad said I might need to take her to the doctor to have the blood taken out of the bump. We ran upstairs, and saw Mom in the kitchen. I told her what Dad had said, so she said she would watch Elayna, and we should call her.
Well, long story short, Ryan and I called my brother Mike, and he said that we probably didn't need to go to the emergency room to have it checked. (I guess there was some confusion between Dad and Mom about whether it needed to be looked at by a doctor, or not) We stopped at McDonald's and got a cup of ice. (yeah, we should have had ice on it from the beginning, but we didn't. We'll know better for next time.)
This is a side view of her head about 2 hours after Abby and her hit their heads together on the trampoline. (It was an accident of course, and Abby only had a red mark. Strange.)
The picture doesn't show that the bump is about the size of a silver dollar. It looked so huge! Thankfully, the swelling went down significantly after we put ice on it, and in the morning, there was a slight red mark there. Throughout the week, it turned green, and she had a green bruise on her eyebrow also. I'm just grateful she is okay.


The girls were playing in the front on March 9th. They were having so much fun dancing on the driveway:
Plus, they are so adorable with their sunglasses and happy smiles!


Ryan had a date with Katie this month. They ate at a Chinese restaurant, then went downstairs and played chess. I guess Katie wanted to learn, since Ryan has been teaching and playing chess with Katie's older cousins. Ryan says she understood and remembered how most of the pieces moved, and they had fun.

Elayna and I had our date also. We went and ordered some pizza, and wandered around Walmart while it was cooking. Then we got the pizza and took it home to eat. We played one board game, then it was time for Elayna to go to sleep.

Oh, and the weather was awful, again. It was snowing, and windy, and cold. Hopefully next month we will have better luck with the weather. We are really enjoying having this one on one time with the girls. It will be more complicated when the baby gets here. I'm not sure how we will work that out....

Ryan has had some problems with his Thyroid. We decided at the end of last year to have his thyroid ablated (killed) because it was over reacting. It is easier to treat hypOthyroidism, rather than hypERthyroidism, I guess. (Hyper is over reacting. Hypo is under reacting) So now he will be on thyroid medicine the rest of his life. The hyperthyroid was dangerous to his health, and we feel that this was a good decision.
The strangest part of it all, to me, is that Ryan is cold all the time now. And since I'm pregnant, I'm always warm. That is so completely backwards from most of our marriage! It is just odd to see Ryan with long sleeves on, and huddled under blankets, while I feel it is too warm.
Thankfully, the medicine should get his metabolism all straightened out, and we should be back at the same temperature within the next couple of months.

Ryan is also on a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. This makes it so he doesn't snore at night. Actually, the main reason is so he will keep breathing while he sleeps. Apparently his brain forgets to remind him to breathe, and his tongue can fall into his airway while he sleeps, so it is good to have the air constantly flowing into him. It is strange, because he has to wear a mask at night, but I sleep lots better (the machine doesn't make any noise, and his snoring used to be really loud). I also don't have to worry about whether he is breathing or not, which is nice.

Just being cute, holding each other on the couch:

Katie and Elayna got their dentist checkups. They both held really still, and did just what the hygienist and dentist asked them. Katie and Elayna's teeth looked really good, and neither one had any cavities. Yay!