Tired Baby

Nadia was having Eli withdrawals after only two days of being separated so we went to Kari's today for a play date with a group of other moms and their children. She had a really great time and as you can see she was so exhausted that she passed out in the car on the way home. I was very excited to see this because this is the first time that she has slept in the car since we took the paci away. Knock on wood...but we've had two nights of absolute silence after laying her down, no fussing and no crying. We can only pray that this is the turning point and we've moved on. However, naps are a little trickier. She's not crying but she sure likes to protest before going down.

A Swan Song

A Swan Song, well at least for a couple of months. We're sad to say that today was Eli's last day for 8 weeks while I go on my "maternity leave". Poor Nadia... she's not even aware of this and every day of the week, until Eli returns, she asks for Eli and looks out the window. Hopefully, we can arrange a few play dates during the break.

Camden Turns 3!

We can't believe it but Camden is now 3 years old. Time sure does fly by. Anyway, we wanted to post some photos of the party (there are more photos posted to our album-especially for the Prathers'). Camden loves Wheel of Fortune and Amy had the cute idea of making this a theme for his party. Amy found a cake online that was made to look like the wheel and so we got together and tried to replicate it. In the above photo we found Carson and Nadia alone, in the dark, playing under the bathroom sink. They are so cute together but we're going to have to keep a close eye on these two.

Crunch!

So Nadia had a play date with her friend Bella in Greenfield (about 40-45 minutes away) today. When I woke at 4 am and couldn't fall back to sleep, because there's absolutely no comfortable position at this point in the pregnancy, I knew the day was off to a bad start. Even on my way out the door something was telling me to just stay home (I had the same bad feeling I got when Jose came through our ceiling...I should have listened) but poor Nadia had been cooped up in the house for two days and I felt she really needed her play time with her friend. So we make it all the way to Greenfield, just a mile away from Missy and Bella's home, I was busy looking for a particular street and collided with an elderly man in a white truck. At first, it appeared that he had pulled out in front of me but when I got out I noticed that not only did he have a stop sign but so did I (darn, a 4-way stop and I completely missed it!). Anyway, the collision wasn't too bad despite the damage that the Honda sustained. Nadia didn't even cry but whimpered because of my scream when I realized what was happening. She was mostly intrigued by all the commotion, people and lights. An ambulance was called to the scene but I opted to stay put because I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled at 3 pm and Nadia seemed fine. My friend Missy picked us up and Nadia still got to play with Bella while we waited for Jose to come get us. The baby has been moving and the heartbeat is fine. I'm dilated to 3 cm and having many contractions so we'll see what happens next week.

Other News...

It's been 5 nights and 4 days since Nadia has seen her pacifiers. We pulled the plug Sunday evening and it was not pretty. She cried for an hour straight before passing out-we went in and tried to comfort her but she was so upset she vomited twice. I think I cried almost just as long and hard listening to my poor baby suffer. Each night has gotten slightly better with either shorter, hard crying/sobbing or long fussing spells. Wednesday night she seemed to have taken two steps back and it was painful listening to her cry so hard but tonight she was out in 15-20 minutes with mostly whining/fussing and a few minutes of crying. The ironic thing is that she's been awesome during the day without the paci even with naps and car trips. We debated the whole "cold turkey" approach but with Nadia it's all or nothing. She was so attached to the paci that she has tantrums/fits/breakdowns when we're out and she couldn't have it. Around the house, the paci had to be hidden or she would find it or ask for it. Without the paci, Nadia has been more even tempered, car rides are actually enjoyable and not a struggle, her eating has picked up, and so far she has slept every night completely through. The only thing that has changed for the worse, which should be temporary, is that while Nadia may be an early bird and occasionally have bouts of night awakenings she has always gone down without a fight. Putting her down (especially at night) has been a piece of cake. Now she has a hard time slowing down before naps and bedtime and obviously with all the fussing and crying doesn't want to go down without her paci. We know this should pass and we're hanging on. We really hate putting Nadia through this because we're okay with her having the paci until she's 2 but I'm glad we are because I cannot imagine attempting this with another child around the house or trying to keep a pacifier on hand for 2 children at all times. We're just praying that she will find comfort at bedtime without her paci soon.

Strawberry Shortcake Anyone?

These are just a few photos of Nadia at Nana and Papaw's playing with my Strawberry Shortcake dolls that my Grandma made for me when I was little. Of course, these dolls found there way to Noblesville after a weekend of playing with them.

Updates to Sonia's Room

We finally received our drapes on Thursday and I was able to hang them Saturday morning. Now we're just waiting for the ladybug valance to arrive but apparently it will not be in until late March. We also hung a couple of shelves to fill some wall space. I think we're as ready as we'll ever be, we even have the pack-n-play set up in our bedroom. So we decided that this will probably be the last weekend that Jose and I will have alone (child free). Therefore, Nadia spent a couple of nights with Nana and Papaw. We were able to go out to dinner with the Kueblers (who also found a babysitter) and Ebon. We enjoyed a night of hassle free dining and uninterrupted conversation, again something that may not take place for quite some time once little Sonia is here. It was refreshing and much needed, now we truly just wait for the baby.

Updated Photos

We had a few photos taken at JC Penny's last weeekend. We wanted to capture Nadia at 18 months but of course time flies and we ended up taking her at 19 months. I tried to post these earlier and didn't think that I could but thanks to Amy P. I realized there is a way.

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More Free Graphics at pYzam.com

A True Guitar Hero

Nadia has shown an interest in Daddy's Wii recetly and I'm not sure what to think about it...although, she does look pretty cute trying to play the oversized guitar. The hair is growing. I was able to pull it back in just one little pony tail the other day. She looks so different to us when the hair is up.

So, last Friday we had our first playgroup at our house. It was nice having the Moms and kids all over but Nadia wasn't as thrilled as I had hoped she would be. We know that Nadia is sensitive, tell her, "no," and she usually cries with hurt feelings but I had no idea that other kids could also push her sensitivity button so easily. There is this one adorable girl, Brooke, who is just a few months older than Nadia who really likes Nadia and doesn't leave her alone from the moment she sees her. Brooke loves to share a chair with Nadia when Nadia's already sitting in it, take away Nadia's pacifier so she can put it back in Nadia's mouth, and Brooke gives hug after hug that usually results in Nadia falling down. Brooke is so loving and just wanted to be where Nadia is but Nadia is quite frightened by her and cried whenever she got near. Needless to say, our playgroup was a long couple of hours with Nadia clinging to me whenever Brooke approached her. So now we hope that with each playgroup Nadia's backward personality learns to handle the stronger more forward type personalities. Also, we're looking to register Nadia into "pre-school" this fall to help further her social skills.;-)

Mommy's Little Helper

Nadia has been helping me clean around the house and cook the last couple of days. She baked pizzas using her oven and knowing that the oven is "hot" she was sure to use her oven mit. In the above photo she used the feather duster to dust everything/anything in the house.

Sonia's Room

Other than a couple of wall shelves and a wall photo frame, Sonia's room is finally completed. Now we can "rest" (if there is such a thing with a toddler running around) and wait for Sonia's arrival.

Tandem Biking?

Bounce Zone!

Amy and I took the kids to bounce off some energy. Of course I forgot my camera but thanks to Amy I have this photo to post. They have a toddler room but the kids wanted to visit the "BIG" room full of inflatables with tall ladders (too tall for them to climb) and huge slides. I was disappointed to learn that pregnant women are not allowed on any of the inflatables so poor Amy had to do all the work pushing the kids up the ladders and down the slides. Thank you Amy, Nadia had a great time.