22 Weeks Pregnant

Apparently my baby is now about 11" long and just about a pound, which I can definitely feel. This baby has been hosting regular dance-a-thons every day. I'm loving all of the movement and the fact that everything feels good - no sciatic pain right now, thank goodness.

Coming up:
24 week appointment
Gestational diabetes test (always so fun)
GBS test (even MORE fun)

I've been thinking about whether I'm going to do DIY maternity pictures this time. I only did the weekly bump pictures with Lexi and kind of wish I had prettier belly pictures to look back on. I have plenty of time to decide since I wouldn't do the pictures until I'm at least 30+ weeks. I think I could probably also get Tom on board with helping me out so I'm not running around to set up the shot.

Our Christmas

The girls actually slept in a bit on Christmas morning, well technically Stasa woke up around 3:00 am, but I pulled her into our bed so we could all sleep a bit longer. She finally woke us all up around 7:00 am and then I heard Lexi chirping and jumping in her bed. The girls were both so excited when they peeked downstairs and saw that Santa had brought presents.



Stasa had all of her presents open in under 20 minutes. Lexi was the opposite and opened each gift by ripping tiny pieces of paper off of each one. Then after the gift was open, she wanted to play with it. It took a lot of convincing to put the toys aside so she could finish opening her gifts. Once they tore through everything, we gave them their stockings so we could sit and open our gifts (and I could actually enjoy my coffee). I got Tom some Redskins books and Masaad Ayoob books as well as all of the Redskins Super Bowls on DVD AND something I'm sure I won't enjoy: North and South, a civil war mini-series starring Patrick Swayze. Tom surprised me with a new camera lens (18mm to 135mm), something I've been wanting for a long time to let me get wider shots of the girls playing. Plus it's super helpful with two very active girls who are always on the move - I can stay where I am and keep snapping by just zooming in or out. I still love my 50mm and that will always by my preferred lens for low light situations and portraits. But I do love the versatility the 18-135 lens offers. Tom also got me two new charms for my Pandora bracelet: a tiny baby carriage and a snowman (from Santa).

Stasa's favorite gift? The Ariel purse she's been asking for every day for the past six months. But she also loved her new Ariel underwear.




Lexi's favorite? I'm pretty sure it's this hand-me-down Raggedy Andy doll, who she calls Sandy. She carries him around everywhere now and he's a regular friend at bedtime. Mimi gave both girls new sheets with their names embroidered on the pillowcases. I so want Stasa's new microfiber sheets - they're so soft and warm. They also got little fairy figurines from Mimi. Those fairies have been "flitter-flitter-flying" all over our house since Tuesday night. And apparently they live in the Christmas tree. YiaYia gave the girls beautiful dresses for Christmas which they wore for dinner with the family.


My heart was full that day. The holidays are a million times more fun with kids. They really bring back the magic and excitement.

Merry Christmas!

21 Weeks Pregnant

And a shot from last night's holiday party - I convinced Tom to put on the glasses. :)

The big ultrasound

You know your baby loves you when it's already flipping you off in the womb. This little one did not want to cooperate at all. Every time the tech would get a clear picture and freeze the screen I would feel the baby flip  over. It took the tech a lifetime just to get all of the shots of the heart that she needed. Which is kind of my favorite part - I love seeing all four chambers of the heart. It's so super cool. And the heart rate was at 150. This baby just keeps us guessing on the sex. Which of course we didn't find out. Now we won't see our little nugget again until he or she decides it's "d" day.

Love that Baby Merks kept hiding its face.



Little kicking legs.


And a traditional profile.

Mr. Socks

Our little elf has been having a bit of fun lately. He made a mess in the kitchen with the salt shaker, then spied on the girls' rooms from the upstairs intake vent, rode Lexi's lion on top of our television, and last night grew wings and is flying in our living room.

More to come from him soon, I'm sure. ;)

Almost 20 Weeks

19 Weeks Pregnant

Nineteen weeks! I still have all of one pair of work maternity pants that fit, but rediscovered a couple of pants I wore pre-Weight Watchers that fit comfortably with my Bella Band, so those should get me through until I can find more work pants that fit and that I actually like. Looks like I'll continue my hunt for clothes this weekend.

Missing my mama today

Debra Carper Wood, 52, of Prince George passed away December 6, 2007 after a 20 month long courageous battle with cancer. She was the daughter of the late Newton Robert and Ruth Lee Dunn Carper. Mrs. Wood was preceded in death by a brother Gary Eugene Carper and her grandparents Dan R. McClenney `Daddy Mac` and Gladys Stales McClenney `Mimi`. She was member of Christ and Grace Episcopal Church in Petersburg. She is survived by her husband David Wood, children Kari Lee Merkel and husband, Thomas of Washington D.C., Corporal Christopher Ryan Taves of Korea, and Joshua Burdett Wood of Prince George, Va. , brothers Newton Robert Carper, II of Norfolk, Va., Randall Keith Carper of Portsmouth, Va. Dan Richard Carper of Florida. A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 1:00 pm at Christ and Grace Episcopal Church, 1545 S. Sycamore Street, Petersburg with The Reverend David Teschner officiating. The family will receive family and friends following the service. Arrangements provided by the E. Alvin Small Funeral Home and Crematory, 3935 S. Crater Road, Petersburg. 

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It's been five years and yet it still feels like I talked to her yesterday. There are days I come into the office and as the morning goes by I feel like I'm missing something and realize I didn't get a phone call from my mom. I hate that she wasn't around to experience all of my pregnancies and births and that she's not here to see how wonderful her grandbabies are. I hate that my girls don't know who she is, even though I tell them. It hurts every time Stasa asks where my mommy is. I just hate that she's gone.



We didn't always have the best relationship and there were more times than I can remember where I exclaimed how she "ruined my life" for the silliest things, like not letting me sleepover at my friend's house on a school night. But she loved me no matter what and loved Tom and always doted on us when we visited. I take comfort in knowing that she's still with me and I see it every day when I look in the mirror and when I look at Stasa. I love you, Mom.

Letters from Santa

That sneaky Santa has been keeping an eye on the big girl in our house and has been sending her letters to remind her that he's watching and checking in with Mr. Socks, our elf. She loved her first letter and asked me to re-read to her multiple times. I think she'll be happy when she comes home and sees that Mr. Socks brought back another letter.

Speaking of Mr. Socks, we haven't done anything super fun or creative with him yet, although the other night we had him zipline down to the living room and this morning he wrote a nice note on their easel. We need to think of more fun things for him to do, but it's hard to find a lot of places out of the girls' reach for Mr. Socks to hang. Although today he's pretty low and just sitting on top of the easel and Stasa told Lexi that we can't touch him because he'll lose his magic. I think she really believes in him and I love that so much.

18 Weeks, 4 Days

18 Weeks Pregnant

The only new update is that Tom felt the baby kick for the first time this past weekend. And so did Stasa although she only felt it once since she kept wiggling around. We go in for our ultrasound two weeks from today! Let the countdown to fun begin.

Oh and I'm on the hunt for maternity tights and H&M Mama work pants. Why they're only selling casual pants right now is beyond me.

17 Weeks Pregnant

This is a little belated since I'm technically 17 weeks 4 days pregnant, but oh well. This morning I really felt the baby kick for the first time while I was cuddling with Lexi. It's like the baby knew she was laying on me and felt the need to say hi. I'm really looking forward to big kicks that Stasa will be able to feel. She's so excited about the new baby and tells everyone about "her" (because of course it's going to be a girl, why on earth would she ever have a baby brother?!).

In other news, I've finally broken out my maternity clothes, although I still have to wear some of the pants with my bella band to keep them up. The belly's not quite big enough to fill them, but too big to squeeze into my regular pants. I realized that I'm smaller this time than I was with Stasa and Lexi - all thanks to doing Weight Watchers, so I need smaller maternity pants and skirts. Such a drag that I *have* to go shopping. ;)

Thanksgiving weekend and holiday picture outtakes

Our Thanksgiving was nice. We went to Tom's parents' house for the day and I didn't have to do a thing beyond play with the kids and take a nap. Tough life, right? I was hell bent on getting Lexi to take a nap and she just doesn't do well at other people's houses, so I put on classical music on my phone and rocked her until I thought my arms were going to fall off. At least it worked, although I'm not sure how much longer I can get away with that.




The girls didn't eat much of their Thanksgiving dinner, which isn't that surprising since they hardly ever eat a lot now-a-days. Lexi did eat all of her broccoli, some of her potatoes, and a ton of cranberry sauce ("MY PINK!", she kept calling it).

The day after Thanksgiving I attempted round two of Christmas card photos. The girls were less than cooperative, but after much bribing I finally ended up with a handful of shots I wanted to use. Here are some of the outtakes.

We had just started and already she was over it:


I would love to know who taught her this "smile"



And just when I got one of them to smile the other decided they were done:



God forbid your sister decide to lean in to cuddle:


Like I said, at least I ended up with a handful of shots. Still worth it, but now I'm thinking it's going to be next to impossible to get any of the cute sibling pictures I want once the new baby is here. I am looking forward to a subject that can't run away from the camera. Moving on...

Saturday we went over to Aunt Peggy's house to visit with everyone. The girls had way too much fun playing in the leaves in their yard. I'd forgotten just how many leaves they get before winter and how exhausting it is raking them up. Again and again and again.




It was worth it though to see how happy they were to run through them and jump in them. After awhile we got cold, so we came inside for hot chocolate, popcorn, and foot warming by the fire.


The girls are lucky to have so many family members nearby and get so excited when they get to see them. The holiday weekend was doubly special since they got to see almost everyone and were a little bit spoiled by both YiaYia and Mimi.

Today on the Lexi channel...

16 Weeks Pregnant

Well technically 16 weeks and 3 days, but who's really counting?

I went for my monthly check-up this morning and listened to the Merklet's heartbeat for quite some time. The heart rate stayed in the 140s and the doctor told me the baby was a kicker. Every looks good so far.

I haven't felt any movement yet, but I'm sure I will over the next few weeks. My next appointment is right before Christmas and before that I'll have my big ultrasound and will have more pictures of the tiniest Merklet.

Playing without us

I love the age the girls are at right now. I know I probably say that all.the.time, but it really is great because now they're able to play with each other most of the time, which allows us to do other things like make dinner without interruptions or ::gasp:: go to the bathroom all by ourselves.

Of course there are times when they annoy each other, but for the most part they're pretty good about sorting those things out on their own without our interference. And then there are other times when Stasa just needs alone time and when she does, she'll go in her room by herself for a bit and comes out when she's ready to play with Lexi again.

Last weekend while Tom and I worked on and cleaned the cars, the girls played with their trucks in the pine needles and dirt and were quite happy.




Our trucks were picked up secondhand and are a little rusted and beat up, but after we sand and paint them they'll look better, although really the girls couldn't care less about the aesthetics of the trucks.

Then last night they both climbed up in their chairs at the dining room table and quietly played with stickers and then crayons while Tom made dinner. Stasa was being so loving and giving Lexi stickers to put in her sticker notebook. And the other day Stasa announced to us that Lexi was her very best friend. I can only hope that they'll always be best friends.

Almost four months

Goofballs

The girls and I had a pretty good day last Sunday while Tom and Matt went to the game. We played around the house in our pajamas and finally got dressed and out of the house after nap.

My silly weirdos:






In the midst of all of the silliness, they painted some farm animals and a barn I made out of old file folders.



More silliness at the park:




And after the park we all decided we needed a treat, so we went to "the ice cream store" to get ice cream for the girls and hot chocolate for me. Stasa looked through all of the ice cream options and finally settled on one of the pink ones and then Lexi picked the same.