New Year 2011 up to February

The new year began with a full piggy bank for Fischer, so we took him to the bank to start a savings account. Our favorite teller, Katie, invited him behind the scenes to watch the machine count and sort his change. $66 later, we were on our way :)
The pic of me below was taken at 32 weeks gestation. Getting ever-closer and even bigger to #2's debut! Still feeling good at this point--by this time with Fischer's pregnancy, I'd been having issues with swollen ankles and carpal tunnel in both wrists/hands for weeks! No such complaints this time around.

Mid-January we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Ken, Grace, Nathan, Frances, Josiah and Dane in Tomahawk. Fischer began our trip feeling good-natured.....

But as time on the road wore on...

He became more and more sleepy! He took a little nap in the car, and before we knew it, we were there!

Here's a great pic of (left to right) Joe, Nate, Frances, Josiah and Fischer (Dane was chillin' in his bucket).

And now our little family with me (nice round baby bump, too), Fischer, Josiah and Joe. It was hard to wrangle the boys in for a photo--they are like firecrackers when they get together :)

We're doing our best to prepare Fischer for his new sibling's arrival...he's got books about babies and nursing, he talks to and blows raspberries on my belly, he feels the baby move, the crib's been set up in his room for awhile...He's still just as snuggly as he's ever been, though. Now I already have to share my lap with both kids! :)

We also got together after Christmas with our friends Scott and Donna, who gave Fischer a play set that really got his imagination going. We listen to a song on a kid CD that Kristy made for us about planting carrot seeds--Fischer enjoyed pretending he was planting with this little farm set.

Here you can even see he's making motor sounds for the truck!

The middle of January, I had a routine dental visit scheduled. I brought Fischer (and neighbor girl Taylor) along so Fischer could see what the dentist was all about. It won't be long before he's going for regular visits, and they said he could come along (free of charge) to get acquainted.

He was so well-behaved, and there was plenty to satisfy his curiosity! He began in the dentist chair...

He laid back with a bib on to protect his clothes while Karen was putting her gloves on.

He felt really cool when he got to wear some special zebra sunglasses! He liked the light Karen used to see into his mouth.

He was ever so relaxed and cooperative while she examined his teeth and had him bite down and open wide so she could get a good look. He did great for Taylor in the waiting room, too, while I got my teeth cleaned, and he was just thrilled to get a new toothbrush at the end!

The pic below is at 34 weeks gestation. Really making some major growing progress! These are exciting times in Green Bay, with the Packers in the play-offs, and then on their way to the Super Bowl!

Late in January, we joined Fischer for a "Big Kids and Babies" class at the hospital, meant to help prepare kids for a new brother or sisiter. They asked us to bring along a doll or something for him to practice diapering. Here's Fischer, excited on our way there, holding his buddy Barry.

Even though Barry was along, Fischer wanted one of the dolls to practice diapering on. He and Papa did a great job!

After a corny video, the instructor took Fischer and the other 2 kids in the class for a tour of a hospital room "like the one Mom will stay in for a couple days when the baby's born." This was all fine and dandy, except in the video, when they spoke about Mom's hospital room, they pointed out the buttons on Mom's bed that make it go up and down (why would they do that?!?!)...needless to say, I didn't feel too bad when Fischer quickly found and pressed the nurse's call button! How could we scold him when he was checking out something the video had just pointed out for him!

After the room tour, we were going to visit a new baby (that had just been born), but Fischer was so excited, that we just told the instructor we'd meet the class back in the classroom.

When we got back in the classroom, Fischer spent a very focused and deliberate 10 minutes or so coloring a bib to give his new sibling as a gift. Each color represented some sort of food: purple "this is grape jelly," red "this is some strawberries here, and some ketchup here." So cute!!!

The last weekend in January, we traveled to Trempealeau to drop Fischer off with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bill for 2 weeks. Joe and I stayed overnight, and then said our farewells the next morning. It was VERY tough for me to leave Fischer, but he did great! I had provided Grandma with a mini-novel about what Fischer likes to eat and do, and his routines. He was taken very good care of, but being apart from him, especially so close to when the baby will come, was very tough on me.

This pregnancy, I've had a number of friends to "grow" with. My best friend Kristy (left side in this pic) is 7-8 weeks behind me, and our friend Jenny (right side in pic) is due just days before I am. Kristy's pregnant with her 3rd child, and Jenny with her second. There are also a number of moms at daycare who are growing right along with me (or had/will have their babies within a few weeks of mine). At one of our Wednesday coffee nights, we just had to have a photo taken of us "Belly Buddies." (I'm 35 weeks in this pic)

While Fischer was at Grandma's, it was very quiet at our house! Joe and I hardly knew what to do with ourselves! Joe took me out for an early Valentine's Day date. On February 3rd, we went to Appleton to see the musical "Wicked" at the Performing Arts Center. I had read the book, and Fischer's pretty much obsessed with The Wizard of Oz, so I was really looking forward to seeing it. It was a great show.

Before we went to the show, we stopped and had a nice dinner at Victoria's. Joe snapped this pic of me...

And here's the one I took of him...

Well, Fischer came home that weekend (thank goodness!). I feel I really need to spend as much time with him as possible before he has to share me with his new sibling. I missed him like crazy, and he hugged us so tight when he first came home!!!! Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bill wanted to get back on the road not long after they brought Fischer home, so as they prepared to take off, I asked Fischer to see them to the door with me because they were leaving. Fischer stood up and looked at me, put his arm straight out in a "stop" pose, and said to me very firmly, "DON'T GO." Other than the tight hug when we were reunited, this said to me how much he missed us :)

The pic below was taken at almost 36 weeks gestation, the Friday before the Packers won the Super Bowl. What a buzz there was in the whole town! You should've seen all the kids and teachers at daycare, too, dressed in their Packer clothes--so neat!! Baby's hinder is at the top of my belly (just the position s/he's supposed to be in). It's starting to protrude a bit now...

When my Dr. examined me at 36 weeks, she said I was dilated to 1-2 centimeters, and my cervix had thinned to about 50% (effacement)--that's about where I was with Fischer a week before he was born.

The pic below is from Valentine's Day, when I was 37 weeks gestation, and considered "full term." Baby's butt continues to point my belly outwards, and I'm still feeling pretty good--though by this point, I'm feeling ready to be done!

For Valentine's Day, I got Fischer a Super Mario duffel bag bring to daycare--we're hard-core potty training now, and he needed something to bring extra pants, undies and socks in. He was very excited. And, so far, so good on the potty progress! The first few days, there was an accident here and there, and at home, too (definitely doesn't have the #2 figured out yet). He gets an M&M every time he pees on the toilet, and when he goes #2, he gets 5 M&M's (which he did once at daycare). The last few days, he's come home in the same pants/undies he wore to school--he's going potty for his teachers like a champ, and has even been waking up sometimes in the morning and often after his afternoon nap with a dry diaper! I certainly don't think we'll be diaper free in time for the baby, but we've got a pretty solid start. We're so proud of him!

A few days ago, Joe had Fischer help him plant some bean seeds (Fischer was so excited!).

Fischer took this planting job very seriously! And now, just a week and a half later, we're already seeing some sprouts!

This is the most recent photo of me, 38 weeks 3 days gestation. (compare to last week's prego pic above--what a difference a week makes!) When Dr. checked me on Monday, she said "Oh!" that my cervix had moved quite a bit forward since the previous checkup, and that I was at 2-3 centimeters dilation and about 70% effaced. On Tuesday evening, I felt as though something might be "happening," so I called my mom to be on her way (she had a 4-5 hour drive). I couldn't be certain that I was or wasn't in labor, but I sure didn't want her to miss it or rush to get here and have something happen.

Well, she's been here for several days, now, and no baby yet! I can relax because the drive's behind her, but I still felt a little silly that it was a false alarm...but how's a girl to know?! Grandma doesn't mind hanging out a little before and after the baby!

We're expecting another snow storm, apparently, this weekend. One of the moms at daycare told me that a lot of moms due around me delivered last weekend when we had a big storm (she works in the hospital)--probably due to the change in barometric pressure. We'll see if the storm brings our baby this weekend, or if I'll ask Dr. to "stir things up" when I see her Monday...

Thanksgiving and Christmas, 2010

Sorry the blog updates have been few and far between! Well, here goes!



The pic below is of me at 23 weeks gestation. Baby's really starting to pop out :)

For deer hunting and Thanksgiving this year, we had a couple of family gatherings to attend--luckily, they were both in Tomahawk! It was Fischer's first time staying at Grandpa Ken's house. We were unsure how he'd do, but he found plenty to occupy his curiosity (his fave was a pair of binoculars that he still insists on looking through backwards!). Fischer enjoyed sleeping between me and Joe at night, and was a great napper during the day, too. He also didn't mind having his clothes and/or diaper changed lying in front of the fireplace--toasty!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Nate, Frances, Josiah, Dane, Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bill at Nate and Frances' house. Although we normally split travel between Tomahawk for hunting and Trempealeau (near LaCrosse) for the dinner, it was VERY nice to have it in one place this year. We also enjoyed a nice meal with Grandpa Ken and Grace at Grace's house. We can't say we weren't well-fed during our visit!!!

The pic above is from the beginning of December, 26 weeks gestation. The belly's getting even rounder! I was still feeling great, though! Much healthier through this pregnancy than I was with Fischer's...

On December 16th, Bright Beginnings (where Joe and I both work, and Fischer attends) had their annual Holiday party and visit with Santa. This being our 10th anniversary year, we pulled out all the stops--we had a build-a-stuffed-friend room, make-your-own gingerbread house out of graham crackers, puppet show, gingerbread men and cocoa, roaming carollers, and MUCH more! Fischer and Joe had a ball.

You can see Fischer had NO problem warming up to Santa :) When we gave him his presents this year, we didn't make a big fuss about them being from Santa--in fact he thanked us for his gifts :) So whenever anyone asked him what Santa brought him, he said "a candycane," because that's what he got from Santa at his daycare visit!

The pic below is at 29 weeks gestation, just before Christmas. We're entering a growth spurt for sure!!

Christmas Eve, while Fischer ate supper, I placed the presents under our tree. We wanted to open his gifts that night, because we wanted to give him a chance to play with them until bedtime. The following morning, we went to Grandma D's and Grandpa Mike's to have Christmas with Joe's side of the family, and we didn't want Fischer to open his gifts from us at home only to wisk him away to Grandma's right away!

He really enjoyed opening gift after gift, and was saying, "Oh my gosh! What it is?" We got him a Mr. Potato Head, a Viewmaster (below), a flashlight, stickers, Lincoln Logs, and Magnetic Blocks.

Here's a family pic of us in front of the tree (the one I chose not to post has Fischer looking through his Viewmaster at the camera :) Baby's getting ever-bigger!

All-in-all we had a very nice, very relaxing time off around the holidays (compared to many others whose weekend was filled with travel). Merry Christmas!!