treat please

diedre, the hippo, dressed up with david, the construction worker

here was our trick or treating group.
diedre would say "treat please" and seemed to enjoy her time out. it was too much walking for me and i was in rough shape that night.

cozy

she likes to wear this tea cozy sometimes...

37 weeks pregnant

there it is folks! my biiiig belly! the doctor's not giving any hints about if this one is coming early. he says baby's in a great position and hopefully won't shift around posterior. i'm measuing 35cm which means the baby is very low down and in position--yay!

if anyone is interested, here is what i looked like at 37 weeks pregnant with diedre

i'm getting really excited about going into labour, even though i'm totally scared of the pain, i'm just really really hoping baby will be anterior and it will be a "breeze" like dr. says. ha ha. i plan to try to go without drugs again (although, i'm kind of open to the gas, as its something to do if the pain is really bad--although it was not a pain reliever per se with diedre. dr. said often women find it did not work for first pregnancies but subsequent pregnancies, it did).

unfortunately i got my results back for Strep B and its positive, which means, i will have to be on an IV during my labor. i HATE IVs (they hurt my bony hands). dr. said if i come in there at 6 or 7 cms dialated that we will have to skip the whole IV and he'll be there to catch the baby (apparently they need at least 4 hours of labour to administer two doses of antibiotics through the IV, if i'm that far dialated, there won't be time for two doses which means it would be ineffective anyway).

other than that, i'm feeling very huge and having a hard time walking around or rather sitting and then standing again...my doctor advised me to "not worry" about exercising but to eat well and drink lots of water (uh...doesn't he know its halloween time = lots of candy??). i need to remember that these are the weeks where i gained 4 to 7lbs PER WEEk when i was preg with diedre, so i need to weigh my cravings carefully and not give in to them every day...several times a day...maybe i should keep track on my other blog so that i have a bit of embarassing accountability...hmmm...

i think i gave diedre her "last bath" today. it hurts way too much to crouch down and try to reach over our large tub. so hopefully derek can take over the baths (most likely showers until after the 31st, because he's too busy in the suite to give her a real bath).

i'm totally nesting, but i can't do much since i can't move furniture and thats my main desire right now...mom & joanna are scheduled to come over saturday to help move some stuff around for me. hopefully it works with 4 little ones running around. i guess we could close the kids up in diedre's room with heather while i commandeer the room swap (what do you think about that heather?)

i keep thinking i should pack my hospital bag and diedre's overnight bag but then i think there's so much else to do, that i do almost nothing...if i only had a maid or something for a week, i could get so much done. things that i REALLY want done that would not be a priority to derek but would make me feel much more organized. i wonder what life would be like if i had been more organized all this time...hmmm...oh well, no sense wondering now.

next week my mom has a surgery that could either turn out minor (in and out in a day) or fairly intrusive (several days in hospital) so that is another thing on our minds and hearts. we will be in town that day for a doctor's appointment so we will probably hang around to visit her later on.

then the next day our new renters officially move in. goodness, things sure are happening these days!

i better get to bed. i drank more coffee than i should have today so i think thats probably why i'm still up...but man, am i in a good mood!

g'nite

progress

cutest little helper!

progress is being made on the suite

the "new" bathroom

kitchen has new tiles 

fall play date

diedre and i went to visit Grandma while she took care of miles for the day.

grandma initiated all the leaf throwing

diedre is removing the leaves from Grandma's hair

diedre tries to get mommy

several VIDEOS: playing with leaves
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR

giggling cousins

VIDEO: miles is hilarious

ahh snack time

hanging out in the suite

diedre and i go down to play in the suite while daddy does the renos (thats why there's a toilet in the background...its brand new, never been used, honest).

video of diedre having fun

princess party

our friends had a princess themed party for their daughters 2nd birthday. diedre made a bee line for her favorite toy: baby!

here she is interacting with the birthday girl.

checking out another toy

watching pin the bird on the princess game

sticking the bird on the game

waiting her turn to hit the pinata

trying to hit it with two hockey sticks--pretty coordinated!

video of diedre and the pinata (her first try)

kissy face & renovations

diedre looking very pleased with herself

she went and sat on the potty and blew me a kiss! silly girl

derek's been hard at work in the suite, here is the tile that will be in the kitchen, bathroom and hallway.

ripped out/gutted bathroom and my superstar husband who's been working himself ragged to reinstall a properly functioning bathroom/laundry room. Grandpa Gagne and Derek have been getting together as much as possible to work on the room. Grandpa has the wiring and plumbing skills to teach Derek. we are so thankful for his expertise and willingness to take the long drive out here to help us out. we are aiming for November 1st.

proud mom moment

yesterday this younger boy was trying to play with everything diedre touched and it was really frustrating her. he stole her purse and i heard her say "mine please, mine please." which i thought was great! she ws politely (although frantically) asking for her purse back--not that the boy relented or anything.

i guess shes learning! yay!

FOUR weeks or so to go

my pregnancy newsletter mentioned a few things worth noting:

most woman say they feel like the baby is going to fall out at this point: AGREE! i am soooo uncomfortable now. my belly is so heavy and the pressure from walking, sitting, driving is terrible. even lying down hurts sometimes if i'm not turned exactly perfect, ugh.

you may not feel as hungry as you have been: disagree...i've been eating way more this past week...maybe i'm trying to make up for my slow weight gain...i guess i better be careful, now is the time when water retention may occur and i was silly and baked lots of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies (i gained 7 lbs in one week when i was pregnant with diedre, the same week that i ate lots of pb cookies!).

baby is over 6lbs now and nearly 19 inches long!

one week until the baby is considered full term--pretty exciting! could be any day now...although its really not that likely that baby will arrive early. we'll have to wait and see.

i was not having a good morning today, diedre has been consistently waking at 5.30am and i was feeling pretty annoyed by it..although i don't go get her until 6am, i'm still fully awake the whole time...i read other mom's blogs who have newborns sleeping in later than that! bah! oh well, she is such a terrific kid, i can't fault her that she likes to hang out with me, even if its still dark out---but i am really jealous of the parents of kids who sleep 12 hours!!! diedre sleeps 10 hours at the most, but lately, regardless of her bedtime, she is waking at 5.30am! poor me :(

i told derek that on my next sleep-in day (usually saturday or sunday depending on his weekend schedule) i would really like it if he went to get her up and just leave me alone to sleep. most of my sleep-in days don't begin like that; he will go get her, but bring her to bed with us for milk (and she plays with my hair) and then after an hour or so moves on to the living room for me to sleep. so really i'm awake for an hour and a half or so before i get to start sleeping in. i do the same thing on most mornings with her when i'm "on duty" but derek likes it. i just don't find it relaxing when i'm supposed to be getting a break.

its too bad that the night we stayed in the hotel i slept so horribly. that was my one chance and it just totally didn't work out sleep wise. i got up way more than i do at home, there was so much noise and just general discomfort i guess.

i have also discovered we must have fleas at home, i have SOOOO many bites all over. its very annoying and painful (well, after i scratch) so i have tried treating both pets, we'll see if the bites slow down soon. i sure hope so!

another thing thats been difficult is carrying diedre. my belly is very large, my hips are joined to my belly, so its hard to hip carry her. also, it requires the use of side-abs, which are not operating as per usual, so its tough all around. she required carrying several times today because she was misbehaving/unhappy in public. it was tough to deal with the squirminess, i was almost at the point of saying "i'm never going out again!" i pretty much have to hold her like a football, kind of horizontal, she doesn't like it so much.

i've been going to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group. i went last year and diedre only went into the nursery maybe once or twice without a fuss. otherwise, she hated it. she would work herself into an hysterical crying frenzy. the careworkers would not come get me but i would sense that it was happening and go check, and there she would be totally gasping for air and upset. i hate seeing her like that. i don't think its necessary to let her get to that stage. it was very stressful and not much of a break for me (except for the spa day, that must have been the time she went in ok...it was so nice...).

anyway, today was TERRIBLE. i just couldn't cope with it. i kept thinking "what am i going to do when i have the baby? if diedre won't go into the nursery care, i'll have both kids in the meeting with me and it will just be a big hassle." so at this point, after a terrible experience yet again, i am considering not going anymore.

its only twice a month, but the level of frustration for me and just seeing diedre so unhappy to be there, makes me think its just not worth it. she does fine in the nursery at church, but there's something about this group that she just doesn't do well with. she puttered around the meeting room for awhile and was fine, but then started getting a little fussy so i tried her in the class. totally didn't work. not even fish crackers would persuade her! now thats serious ;P

she does great at playgroups, but i'm there in the same room as her, not that she clings to me, but she plays really well when i'm around. i think that environment, although its not a true "break" from her, is better for my peace of mind. it fulfills my desire for coffee and chatting with other moms, while getting to oversee my daughter having fun.

last week was the first MOPS of the season and she did badly in the 1-2 year old room so i tried her out in the infant room because there were some ladies in there that she is comfortable with. it was great. i actually got to listen and be a part of the group. i found out today that those nice ladies only go once per month. i just don't think its going to work out that great this year. they offered that in january she could go into the 2 year old room (better toys, crafts, more appropriate for her age now) but i just don't know if i can wait that long, or if it would be okay to start up again in january maybe.

derek is downstairs laying tile in the kitchen. i'm hoping to show the suite on friday night. hopefully people will be wowed by the laminate and tile and ignore the fact that there's no bathroom (ha ha). i'm confident that it will all be done by november 1st.

upstairs, i'm trying not to stress about the room switcheroo that i cannot do by myself since i can't move beds, dressers and couches :D i guess it will have to wait for derek (who is totally busy with the suite until November 1st) unless some friends want to come by to help me. i have one willing person so far, but i know she can't move those things by herself either.

i really want diedre to get accustomed to her new room before baby comes (even though baby will stay in the bassinet in our room for 3 months, most likely). i would like baby's room available to use for baby's naps and all the baby stuff i need to clean and get out of storage. even just having the infant car seat, bouncy seat, swing, bassinet all in there for deidre to poke around at until baby comes. to become comfortable with all those things. we'll have to see how that goes too :D

ok, enough of an update. goodnight!
xo 

budding artist

derek was teaching our girl a few things on the guitar.

so cute! my family is so cute :D i love 'em 

Grandma Mellenger becomes a senior citizen :)

Grandma is very excited about starting to get her pension :) we went to a very nice birthday tea party for her. very yummy cheesecake (her favourite).

diedre dressed up (day after surgery :( poor kid) in a perfect tea party outfit (one that Grandma Mellenger bought for her when she was an infant).

our little tomboy, had to try on some cool shoes--Daddy's! 

totally tubular

diedre's ear tube surgery went well with no complications--just as we'd prayed for! she did so good waiting around for surgery even though she hadn't eaten or drank anything for close to 15 hours!!!

she did not do as great in recovery (probably from waking up without either of us around--she has separation anxiety when we leave her with people who are in no way hurting her, so i'm sure, being left with people who poke needles in you would be very upsetting!).

she definitely seemed to be experiencing pain from the IV in her hand and the shot for pain in her leg. it took her quite awhile to calm down and for the painkillers to kick in.

it was pretty sad for us but i just tried to cuddle and comfort her, eventually she fell asleep. i think she wanted to get away from all the nurses too (too many strangers).

she slept all the way home and was doing much better when she was back in her regular environment. it was pretty exciting to see her smile again, then she got really silly and fun, it must have been all that juice!
here's our little post-op trooper. she sure is loving apple juice. i don't buy juice regularly. she has apple juice at McDonald's every couple weeks but other than that its at friend's or grandma's houses. she drank almost 1 litre of apple juice this afternoon!


she's not a huge fan of ear drops but she loves her tylenol :D
i hope she sleeps really well tonight so she can heal up quickly.

it was really interesting to compare stories with the other two parents who were there. one boy was around 15 months and had had fluid in his ears for six months with no draining. he was way behind in his development because he couldn't hear (he didn't talk or walk either).
the other boy was a twin who was developmentally behind his brother. he had fluid but had never actually had an infection.
then there's diedre who's development does not seem delayed at all, but has had many painful infections over the last 9 months.

thanks for your prayers and support!
xo
amanda 

35 weeks pregnant

my belly feels very heavy. my pregnancy newsletter says the baby is over 5 lbs and 18 inches long! it is very active and does some great gymnastic presentations for us :) i'm feeling pretty good energy wise but we have alot going on that is tiring.

we are still hoping to rent our suite, but the 1st of October came and went and so we were planning on the 15th but when derek got down in the suite to reno the bathroom, he found mold and rotten 2x4s in the lower walls. he has decided to gut the whole room and start from scratch. Grandpa Gagne is being such a big help as he knows plubming and wiring. its a real mess down there (as far as plumbing and wiring goes) so it will be so great to fix it up all new.

i'm getting pretty scared about labour now! ha ha...eep

also, diedre is getting tubes put in her ears on Friday October 13 at 8.15am. Please pray for her that she will recover well from the G.A. and the procedure.

thank you
xo
amanda 

up and eatin'

the big girl wanted to eat sitting on a big person chair