Not Fun...

Being pregnant and sick, that is.

Every year, when school starts back in September, I find myself catching cold after cold from my students. But not this year. Not one. I figured it was all those extra vitamins (thanks, baby). I've been so happy about that, and surprised. So it's been a blessing to make it until February before getting any kind of sickness, but why now? A week away from my due date? Anyway, what's really made this cold rough is that I lost my voice completely for a couple of days (it's still not fully returned), and that coincided with Eliana experiencing some temporary hearing loss from an ear infection. Poor girl. "What? What did you say?"...over and over again. And me, with no voice. I'm starting to see the funny side of that now as we're slowly feeling better, but it sure made for a frustrating and tiring week! This picture is of Eliana putting her ear up to her toy so she can hear what sound the letter makes. The toy's really not quiet!

38 Weeks and Bike-Riding

I had some doubts whether that was really a good idea, but I'm not one to worry, and the weather was great today, 60's, so I took the opportunity to get some much needed exercise. It felt so good to get outside and take Eliana for a bike ride to the park, and we both had fun. I've had a bit more aches, pains and swelling with this pregnancy than I did with Eliana, and I'm sure some of that can be attributed to my being three years older and my body having gone through all of this once before, but I bet even more of it is that I have been terribly lazy, in an exercise-sense, throughout this pregnancy. The more I can sit and put my feet up the better! I've regretted that. I was still going to the gym and jogging during the first 7 or 8 months of being pregnant with Ellie. My gym-attendance became non-existent after Eliana was born, and I've never made it back. I've stayed pretty active in other ways (not hard with an active toddler), but I haven't made any effort to exercise during this pregnancy. I'm a little worried about how that will effect my labor/delivery and recovery (meaning when I'll get back into my old clothes!). I guess I'll just wait and see...

I'm Almost 37 Weeks...

...and my friend from childhood, Karen, is only about 3 weeks behind me. Here we are a few days ago. I have so many friends who are pregnant, or just recently delivered, that I feel like I'm part of another baby-boom!

This past week I finally quit procrastinating and got some paper work done for my maternity leave from school and pre-admission for the hospital. I had to go to the hospital to drop off a form and had a cute moment with Eliana: She knew where we were as soon as I drove up and started talking about how she was born at the hospital and the baby will be born here too, etc, when she suddenly stopped mid-sentence, got a very thoughtful and concerned look on her face, and said, "Wait a minute...is it February?" I had to laugh. In that moment she thought we were at the hospital to have the baby. It was very cute.

I keep getting the baby-name-question, though we're still no closer to actually deciding. From the beginning it's been between Jude and Luke, and we've more recently added Eli or Elijah to the list, but all through the pregnancy Eliana has been seriously adamant that the baby be named Luke. I've kept thinking she'll get over it as we keep trying to convince her that it's probably not going to be Luke, but she's insistent. Naming the baby boy that came with her doll house 'Luke' didn't help, because in her opinion, there can be two Lukes. More recently she's turned more manipulative about it, and it might be working. Instead of just insisting on Luke with a bit of an attitude, she's turned to more sadly begging, "But Mommy, I just really want to name my baby Luke". Eliana just might end up being the one to name the baby...

Not wanting to let go of Christmas...

Typical Virginia Beach Snow Day...

...NO SNOW! I don't understand why they do this...call a snow day before a single flake has fallen. I didn't have to work today anyway, so it didn't matter to me, except for the needless 5:45am phone call informing me schools were closed. I didn't have the energy at that time to get out of bed to peer out the window at the beautiful blanket of snow, and I figured I could see it in a few more hours when Eliana woke me up. Well, at 9am, when I finally did get out of bed (thanks, Ellie!), there of course wasn't a single flurry in the air or on the ground, and there hasn't been since. Not a one. Gotta love it.

We're still alive!

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Do I have any readers left? ;) I've had computer and camera issues that are finally all solved, so...I'm back. I'll try to stay!

Here's a bit of a flash back that I've been meaning to post since Thanksgiving...how time flies!
Eliana and her pumpkin at age one, two, and three:

Late November we spent a great day with our friends, the Odermans and Morgans.




Christmas time was a lot of fun. Eliana's been having a lot of fun with the doll house we gave her. We had a nice visit to New Jersey to visit family the week after Christmas. Eliana had a bit of a rough trip up there, though - threw up twice, and that was a new experience for the poor girl. She apologized for "spilling out". We were worried she had come down with something and envisioned everyone staying at the grandparents' house coming down with it (deja vu), but it seems it was just motion sickness. Thankfully we didn't have a recurrence on the way home!




I'll post again soon, I promise! Baby Boy's doing well, and I'm getting really big! I'll have someone take a picture I can post soon. A little late, but Happy New Year!

Eliana's favorite Christmas Carol...

"Silent Good Night"