Jaiden, day two of being alive!

FYI

Jaiden Menard arrived on the 20th December at 9.36pm weighing 8lb 13oz. Sorry it took so long to come back and tell you all! Pic to follow soon

Looks like

little bean may actually be getting ready to make an appearance.
And ow, i forgot that contractions hurt this much. Still bearable, so hanging on at home for a bit.

Nope

still waiting.

Tonight is operation 'eat curry' night.

And maybe some pineapple too.

Still in there!

Little bean's still in there.

Yesterday the braxton hicks kicked up a gear, but they stopped around bedtime, which was nice cos I got to have a good sleep! And so far today I haven't felt anything much.

We'll keep you posted!

Bump pics! (taken last night)

big sister to be

My little Sophie Lou is changing so fast. Last week saw the end of "So-see", which was her version of her name Sophie. She started saying Sophie, and that was that, the end of the So-see era. It's funny, but it made me a little bit sad, she's growing up so fast.

Since her birthday she's become so much chattier. She's speaking in sentences some of the time and thinking really hard about what she says. She doesn't always get the tense right, but then who does?! She's got taller too. Every time I look at her it seems she's grown again.

She's very excited about the arrival of Little Bean. She knows that she's going to be a sister! And that the baby's in mummy's belly. She knows Little Bean will drink mummy milk. She knows the name we've chosen for Little Bean, and has been known to drop it into her general chatter and conversation. Luckily, it's only Menard and I who know what that name is, and we're the only ones who have actually noticed her saying it!

The other day I asked her if she was her dolly's mummy. She said, "No, Sophie sister!".
My word, will her world change when little bean comes home, but I think on the whole she's going to love it. Just as long as she still gets plenty of snuggles and cuddles, and there won't be a problem with that, I'm happy to get my snuggles with her while she still wants to have them.

Goals revisited

Well, we're getting down to the final few weeks now. I have either 3 weeks 2 days or 4 weeks 4 days to my due date (depending on which one you take!). Of course, little bean will most likely ignore them both, and come in his own sweet time, but still, it's good to have some rough markers to aim for!

Time to look at the goals I set myself at the end of September and see how we're getting on...

Christmas
Write Christmas presents list (who we're buying for)
Buy Christmas presents (probably lots on amazon using my swagbucks money. Yay!)
Wrap and label presents and leave in an appropriate place that they won't get forgotten about!
Ok, so, most of the presents are bought. (Oi, Steve, hurry up and think of some things for your Christmas list, otherwise I'll have to come up with something myself, and you don't want my pregnancy-addled brain to be doing that! And there are some which will be photo based (Quick plug for our business - EM Photographic Services) that will be taken once little bean is here.

Clothes
Wash and sort the clothes we've recently been given
Get out the clothes we already have and wash and sort them
Decide on the system for storing clothes etc in this house
Sort through Sophia's clothes and weed out what's too small. Put away/give away. Check she's got adequate winter clothing for the time being.
Look at my clothes and check I've got adequate for being pregnant as the weather gets colder. Buy some long trousers and more underwear! Including new nursing bras.
Well I've washed one load of new baby clothes, and the ones from my mum's loft are in the basket, waiting to be done next. Still not certain on the system for storing them, but I have some ideas.
I've been through Sophia's clothes and put some away to store and some to be given away. Think she's got enough clothes for the time being now.
I found a pair of trousers in my wardrobe, so that'll help me survive the cold weather.
I've got some new knickers that come up over the bump and don't drive me mad! Nursing bras will be purchased in the next week or two.


House General
Autumn deep clean to have an approximate level of clean to start off before the baby arrives!
Eat up current contents and defrost both freezers.
Buy/cook to fill up freezers with useful things.
Think the cleaning thing will be ongoing. I'll add to that cleaning the car inside and out.

I defrosted one of the freezers, still want to do the other one.

Need to cook and shop once the freezer is defrosted.


Parent's House

Go up in the loft (or send my daddy!) to locate all the baby stuff we stashed up there - including changing unit, moses basket, sling, play mats....

My parents went up and found the 0-3 month storage box of clothes, the rest is yet to come down. Actually, they also took down the cradle/moses basket we slept in when we were little, but this needs a clean and some surface repairs as well as a new mattress.

BuyNew
breastpump

Breastfeeding pillow

Projector (Sophia's had a sad demise this week)

Bought a pillow, putting the pump purchase on hold for now. Making do with the nightlight on the baby monitor for now, though we do plan to get a new projector at some point.

Sophia's birthday
This came and went, and the cake was made (see a couple of posts back for pictures). All that had to be done was done. And I wasn't too exhausted afterwards.

Other
Anything else I think of!

Uh, lots of other things, I'm sure, but nothing that's springing to mind this second. I'll post this and follow up with a new to-do post soon.

quick update

Life lately has been one big yawn. Not that it's been boring, but that it's been tiring. I'm reaching the end of the pregnancy now (about 6 weeks or so to go now) and I'm feeling it. Pregnant life with Miss 2 year old is more tiring than being pregnant with her! We're surviving by taking naps together when we can, and with the help of my in laws and my parents too.

I'm planning to be back soon, but if I'm not, don't worry. We're doing ok :)

Maka Pakka cake! (and little bean bump!)

Quick catch up

Today is one of those chill out sorts of days. I'm hoping for a nap this afternoon, although of course that requires Sophia taking one too! (or me taking her round to see Nan and Grandad)

Little bean's kicking away like anything at the moment. Think he's having a good day. We had to do the glucose tolerance test yesterday. Sophia stayed overnight with Nana and Grandad so that I didn't have to worry about getting her up early and getting us both ready and me to the hospital for 8.30am. I quite enjoyed just sitting reading for two hours, although I'm not sure I'm want to do that everyday! I'm seeing the midwife on Thursday, so should get the results then.

I had a telling off from Sophia this morning! I had put my feet up or her chair. She came over and pushed them off and then put on her sternest face, wiggled her finger at me and said "Leave it!". That's me told then.

Saturday

I might have been in here more often this week, but for the fact that for 3 of the last 4 days Sophia and I have both napped for a couple of hours in the afternoon! Yep, I've decided, or maybe my body has, that it's got to that point of this pregnancy where naps are totally the way forward, especially while Sophia's still a willing participant in that plan.

So I think for the next week the plan will be as follows - by all means schedule to our hearts content for morning activities, but afternoons need to be sacred nap time! Well at least half the week anyway!

Things are moving along around here. Little bean's kicking like crazy, and oh yes, that's a bump for sure now! Sophia's getting so chatty now, although I don't always understand all the words she uses. And on that note I'm going to end this post cos she's come to try and help me type...!

The joy of siblings

Earlier Sophia was cuddling up to me as she gradually woke up from her afternoon nap (It's confusing when you wake up somewhere different to where you were when you went to sleep!). Little bean decided he was unimpressed and decided to kick her as hard as he could.
Clearly sibling rivalry starts early!

Scan tomorrow

Tomorrow I have my twenty (ish) week scan. (I say ish cos I think it's twenty one and a bit, but it's all relative. Little Bean will come when he's ready!)

We are hoping that little bean will behave and we'll be able to see what we're having - meaning boy or girl, rather than dog/cat/human/alien. Although we're hoping to find out, and we'll almost certainly tell a few people, we're not planning to make it generally known, at any rate, we're not planning to broadcast it online. In which case I hope you'll excuse me if I continue to refer to little bean as 'he'. That just seems natural somehow, and whatever news we hear tomorrow, little bean will henceforth be known as a boy online until he or she makes an official appearance in December.

Hope that all makes sense!

Footballer in the making?

Little bean has been kicking me like crazy this afternoon. This morning he* kicked his sister when she sat on my lap. I can see that there will be plenty more arguments over lap space as the bump gets bigger.
("Lap?" and "ank oo" are recent additions to Sophia's vocabulary. Lap? is a question cos she's asking if she can come up on mine or daddy's lap, usually when we're sat at the table eating dinner. Ank oo is clearly 'thank you')

*'He' because this pregnancy is so different to when I was pregnant with Sophia that surely this one is a boy?!

Little bean update

Pretty sure I felt little bean move for the first time today. Very excited :)