36 Weeks

Cutest thing ever

Lily made her singing debut today. The farm that we went to had a karaoke area for kids. While most of the kids were singing Hannah Montana or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with the music, Lily decided that she wanted to sing her "doctor song" acappella. Lily's Mee-maw and Great Grandma Murphy gave Lily a doctor doll that sings various little songs, and this is Lily's favorite. Needless to say, she was a huge hit with the crowd, and I was one proud mama.

Apple festival

Enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon. A view of St. Louis city & the Arch is over Carl's shoulder. Lily is focused on the cannon that is shooting pumpkins over the field next to her.

A better view of the city

Riding in the spinning apple. Lily loves to spin fast and laughs and laughs the entire time.

Taking to the friendly skies

No farm trip would be complete without feeding the animals...

...and riding the ponies!

Ambitious apple-picking

Move over Helen...our choice for the recipient of the golden apple

Enjoying her fruit pirate-style. Argh!

Lily & Jack at the Park

It's a...Boy!!!!

My friend Tori and her husband Charlie welcomed a little baby boy into the world this morning. I didn't get many details as the cell connection in the hosptial was not great. But, I believe he made his entrance just after 8:00 am, and his name is Leo Stephen! I am so, so excited!!!!!! For those keeping track, that makes the score 3 boys, 1 girl, and just one unknown left! Go boys!

Little Charlie

My friend, Kelly, just welcomed her new baby boy, Charlie, into the world three weeks ago. Today we got to see him for the first time at a girls' lunch with friends Janie and Molly (and Molly's son, Jack). Lily was very into the baby and wanted to help with changing and feeding him. She did a good job trying to be gentle and gave him little kisses on the head. Of course, it makes me all the more anxious to welcome our little boy into the world. It is fortunate that I have my friends' newborns to distract me in the meantime. My friend Critter welcomed a baby girl, Lydia, just last week, and I am super, super excited for my friend, Tori, who is set to have her c-section tomorrow!! I can't wait!!!

Big Sister Class!

Yesterday Lily went to her Big Sibling Class at the hospital where we are delivering. It was a very cute program. The kids got to watch a silly big sibling video, learn how to hold the baby and talk about some of the things that babies do and how they can help. We then took a tour of the recovery rooms where they will come to see the babies for the first time.

Lily has had no shortage of practice holding baby dolls; we'll see how she does with the real thing!

At the class, Lily traced her hand and compared it to the handprint of a baby to see how much she has grown. Also, she got a Big Sibling Certificate upon graduation from the class, so she's ready to go!

Here Lily is showing off her nifty big sibling backpack. We will be filling this with useful things for her trip to visit the baby in the hospital.

Strassenfest

After the Butterfly House, we headed to the Strassenfest, a German festival that was conveniently being held just down the street from the Butterfly House. As festivals go, this one was actually quite good. We had some good German/festival food including brats, very yummy potato pancakes, roasted corn and funnel cake. We then saw a mime/clown act that was so bad you couldn't help but laugh. Lily loved the baby animal petting area and the kiddie rides. After the fair, we headed to mom & dad's house to meet up with Angela & Zach who were in town taking care of some wedding details (only one month left in the countdown). There we were treated to some delicious BBQ and participated in some serious games of Euchre. Carl thought he was clever by beating me, but I got the last laugh when I made him walk home. jk :)

More Butterfly House

We went back to the Butterfly House on Saturday with our playgroup. They had craft activities in their "lab" classroom which were really nice.

Lily and her friend get an up-close look at a millipede.

Crafting away

More crafting

Weekend pics

On this rotation, Carl goes in to work most Sundays for a couple hours in order to preview his cases for Monday. Carl has been telling Lily that he has to go check on some things at work. This weekend, she finally said, "Can't you just remember, daddy?" :)

Since Carl was having problems with his car recently, Lily and I drove him to work this weekend and then hung out across the street at the Science Center.

Lily and I had never explored the outdoor area before. Here she is walking through the color mixing house.

Lily really enjoyed racing the blocks down the various friction boards and racing the balls on this roller coaster set up.

Inside, she explored the moon on her doon buggy.

Then she built a city out of legos.

Here she is in her "control center".

Carl joined us at the Science Center when he was finished working, and then we headed to the zoo for lunch and some good ol' family time.

Friends

Lily with her new gal pal

Today we had a playdate with one of the new WUMCHA members and her daughter who is turning four in October. We had met them at a previous playgroup at Faust Park, and the girls took to each other immediately. When they had to part after knowing each other for all of an hour and a half, there was such drama and sadness (along with copious hugging and kissing) that we knew we had to get them together again soon.

So they came over to our house today. A good part of the time was spent building dams, building castles and knocking them down, singing, playing hide and seek or tag, giggling and hiding under the covers after going on bear hunts, making a circus with the play animals, running from the monster (Terra or her friend's little brother), and chatting over a snack.

The other part of the time was pure drama - all from Lily's end. If her friend tried to tell Lily how to do something or told her not to do something, she just did not react well. In one instance, Lily went to her room, slammed and locked the door and screamed that she wanted everyone out of her house and didn't want anyone playing with her toys. While they were playing with blocks, Lily told her friend that they were going to be "mean girls". When I told her that we don't even pretend to be mean, she looked at her friend and said, "Let's not talk to her" (referring to me). As they were leaving, Lily climbed into her friend's van and picked something up. Her friend told Lily that it wasn't hers, and Lily responded by saying that she knew that and if her friend said it again, she would be in jail.

I don't even know where to begin with all of this. I was so embarrassed that my daughter acted this way while her friend was absolutely as nice as could be. I had to call Carl immediately and hash it out a bit. We discussed several things starting with some territorial issues that have come up with the baby on the way - she already made and posted a "Keep Out" sign on her door in anticipation of the baby's arrival (this is from a Max & Ruby episode, by the way). Also, it was 1:30 by the time her friend left so they had been playing together for 3 hours, and Lily woke up early this morning so I know that there was some tiredness there. In addition, we recently went to a playgroup where another little girl was mean to Lily so there was some modeling there, and I know it really affected her because she still talks about it. But all these factors really just add up to excuses for poor behavior, and I'm not into excuses.

Although Lily's behavior is mostly wonderful, she has a sensitivity issue that causes her to react really badly sometimes. She gets her "feelings hurt" (as she says) when another child (and sometimes even an adult) tries to tell her how to do something or corrects her in any way. I swear it's as though she views these things as insulting to her intelligence, and she has no patience for it. It's ironic that this comes the day after we had a preschool screening done, and she excelled - in a big way - in every single area (including social skills) to the point that the screener said that she just had to write in the report that Lily is a "teacher's dream". I couldn't help but wonder what she would think of Lily's nightmarish behaviors today.

When considering all of this, part of me feels incredibly guilty because I think that maybe her behavior with peers has declined since taking her out of school. Maybe because she does not have to share or function in a group setting on a daily basis, she is losing these skills. The other part of me thinks maybe I'm blowing this way out of proportion. Maybe she just had a bad day for whatever reason. We all have those days, right? Or maybe she's just a typical three-year-old girl who needs guidance and direction when it comes to social behavior. Luckily, her friend's mom took it all in stride and didn't seem put off at all. She even offered to host the next playdate.

All I do know is that Lily tends to make friends very easily and is usually very sweet and kind and caring. I just want her to continue to able to make and keep friends by being a good friend. Unfortunately, I know that this is only going to get worse as she gets older and relationships become much more complex, especially among young girls. I just want to get her going down the right path now so she makes good decisions in the future.

Lily will see her friend again tomorrow at a Monkey Joe's playgroup meeting so we'll see if the neutral territory makes any difference. Truthfully I know that, in part, I want this to work out because it is hard to find a girl Lily's age that is so nice, whose mom I really like, and stays at home as well. Cut me a break, Lily! :)

Nesting

I have definitely entered the nesting phase of pregnancy and have been checking little things off my list left and right. I even made Lily's 4-year-old check-up appointment today because I'm worried that I will be too much of a scatterbrain after the baby arrives. I've already registered on-line at our hospital and am currently getting the paperwork to have our cord blood donated. Everything is ready to go. Carseat and the pack-and-play are ready to go (just waiting a bit longer to set them up). I know that it is still early, but I don't want to be caught unprepared.

I've made an addition to the blog as well. Under "Blog Watch" to the right is "Baby Links". The "Hospital Photos" link goes to the newborn photos section at our hospital's website. This will be the place to go to see the first pictures of Baby Boy Deetz. They seem to post the pictures of the babies by the evening of the day after they are born (e.g. if the baby is born on the 24th, pictures should be posted by the evening of the 25th).

With only 13 possible names after our baby name clues game, family and friends have started placing bets on the baby's name as well. I have to say, this has been a lot of fun. And, I think I'm just as excited to reveal the name as others are to know it! For those who haven't put the clues together to narrow it down, the 13 possibilities are:

Michael
William
Christopher
Matthew
Christian
Benjamin
Nicholas
Brandon
Brayden
Cameron
Charles
Nathaniel
Dominic

Just as a side note, all these names were not being considered - it's just the list that resulted from the clues. My sisters have bet on Nathaniel, my brother-in-law Tim thinks that it is Brayden, my mom has claimed Charles and my dad thinks that it is Cameron. Ingrid had 3 names picked out last time we talked. I'm not sure if I ever saw what my sister-in-law Susie and niece Courtney picked, but I love to see what everyone thinks!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend from start to end. It started off with my sister, Suzanne, and her two girls, Mary and Katie, arriving Friday afternoon. We met them for some fishing and dinner at mom & dad's and then went to an open-air Beatles concert in New Town that evening. Jeff, Susie, Nick, and Abby joined us for the concert. All the kids had so much fun. They ran and danced and played and just had the best time together.

On Saturday morning, Carl, Lily and I went to Meramec Caverns to do some exploring. It was a great experience, and I love taking Lily to some of the unique places that Missouri has to offer. Pictures from that trip will be on Lily's "school" blog, Learning with Lily, since the reason for the adventure was to support our Earth Science week. After exploring the caverns, we headed out to mom & dad's again so that Lily could spend more time with Mary & Katie. Once again, the girls played so well together.

On Sunday, we spent day 3 with family at mom & dad's. My brother & family came back out, and we all enjoyed some good BBQ together. The girls worked on Angela's wedding invitations while the guys watched the game. Once again, the kids played, played, played. They then headed out to the park and played some more. It would have been hard to get Lily to leave her cousins that evening. Fortunately, she fell asleep while watching a movie with the kids. We put her in the car, drove home, and put her straight into bed where she slept for 14 hours straight!!! Carl and I enjoyed a movie night together which was just bliss.

Yesterday Carl had to go into work for a couple of hours to preview some cases, but otherwise we spent a lazy day together including a picnic lunch in the backyard. Good times.

Unfortunately, in all these good times, I only took a few pictures this weekend and those were of our unusual catch on Friday. Dad hooked this fish that Lily & I reeled in. We had never seen a fish like this before, so dad had to call a few buddies over to try to determine what it was. No one knew so Suzanne and I ended up looking it up on the internet and found out what it was. Below are the pictures of our mystery fish. For any fishing experts out there, I thought that I would give you the chance to guess what it is before posting the answer. I have to say, it was one ugly fish.

The big catch

"You ugly, you ugly, you're momma say you ugly, huh" (Anyone know which movie that is from?)



Take a gander at the fish's TEETH and tongue. Yuck!

Today I had yet another doctor's appointment. Everything still looks good. Blood pressure is maintaining nicely according to them. I have started swelling in my legs/ankles/feet. Acid reflux is in full effect, and finding a comfortable position at night is starting to become a bit of a challenge. All pretty normal stuff for this stage in the game. In three weeks, my doctor will start to check for dilation, effacement, etc. I don't know what to expect. If you recall, with Lily, we had zero dilation and effacement right up to the point when I was induced AFTER my due date. I'm hoping that things will be different this time around. I'd really like to have the baby BEFORE my due date this time, but then again, who doesn't? It will be tricky since Angela's wedding is 4 days before my due date.

Although we are certainly getting closer to the due date, it still feels sooo far away. Luckily, I have several friends having babies (there are five of us to be exact) between September and October to keep me distracted. Congratulations to Kelly who welcomed little Charlie to the world last week! We are anxiously awaiting little ones to arrive mid-September, late September, mid-October, and then our own little bundle of joy late October. 'Tis the season of babies!

It takes a village...or at least a family

Awhile back, I decided that I would like Lily to have her own computer with games for children on it. This became a family mission, and many people are to thank for this actually coming to fruition. First, Ryan revamped a used PC unit - many thanks to him!! Ingrid donated a monitor and a mouse. Carl got an unwanted keyboard from the IT department at work. Carl's dad brought us speakers. My mom and dad got Lily a rockin' computer desk as an early birthday present. I then bought some used children's computer games from a resell-it shop. This endeavor was about as pieced together as it could get, but it really came together in a great way, and we are so thankful to everyone for their contributions! Lily loves it, and her computer skills are soaring!