Chefs Merkel

We've been trying to involve Stasa more in our household chores and tasks. She's actually better at folding clothes than Tom and if I give her a pile of her stuff she'll put it away in the right drawer or will hang it up by color in her closet.

Recently she hasn't been interested in eating dinner at all. No matter what we serve. So we've been having her be our dinner helper when we make dinner and BAM all of a sudden she's eating dinner and exclaiming how good it tastes. She's actually a good helper. She listens and is really interested in everything that goes on to make a meal. And now Lexi sees her eating dinner and actually eats some of her meals now. Success!


SO proud of her pizza.

26 Weeks Pregnant

I was struck down this week with a full day of horrible nausea. Like couldn't even be awake laying still without feeling ill nausea. So I spent most of Tuesday asleep and finally felt better when I woke up the next day. Honestly it would have been better had I just been able to actually get something out of my body instead of just having that sick feeling.

Today I spent more time than necessary getting my hour glucose test done. The lab was so disorganized and the staff had such bad manners that I ended up emailing the company a complaint. At least it's done. Hopefully I pass - mostly just so I don't have to sit for a three hour test.

In other news I feel like my belly is getting stretched out, but it's not really showing like it's grown that much.



I look tired in both because I am. LOL I'm not sleeping well and half of the time I end up falling asleep on the couch which means I wake up mid-sleep cycle and then can't go right back to sleep. And then my brain starts wandering and I end up thinking about how I got bit by a spider and then I start thinking about spiders and then I can't stop thinking about spiders and then I kiss going to sleep goodbye because there's no way I'm falling asleep now that I think there are spiders everywhere. ::sigh:: It's a vicious cycle.

25 Weeks Pregnant

Baby's doing well and is measuring on track. At my last appointment the baby's heart rate was 152 BPM and the stinker was kicking up a storm while Connie checked everything.

My next milestone is taking my glucose test. Yay. But seriously, I've never really hated the test and actually kind of like the drink. I need to also dig around in the papers I have from Lexi's delivery to make sure I received the DTaP shot before I was discharged. Honestly they could have asked me the day after I got the shot and I probably wouldn't have remembered. I mean, I had just had a baby. LOL But if I didn't get it I have to have it soon. Double yay. I *think* I'm not that behind in scanning in our paperwork, so I should have an electronic copy saved. If not, I'll have a ton of paper to dig through. Just the kick in the pants I need to get the rest of our stuff filed properly.

Sisters play...hard

It started out harmless enough with me pulling out some bigger clothes for each of the girls and them insisting on modeling them right away.
A new dress for Stasa and dance class clothes for Lexi


Then Stasa started building things with their new blocks only to have Lexi destroy it. But even still, Stasa just wanted to give her sister hugs. Big bear hugs.


And then the tunnel came out and I really regret not recording the giggles that came from inside the tunnel while they were crawling around in it.





While they're both super girly and love dressing up as princesses and dancing around and putting on lip gloss, they also get so much joy out of tackling each other and wrestling around and neither seems to get too upset when the other just sits or lays on top of her. Now we just need to start teaching them to be gentle around the baby.

Can not believe four years have flown by

Each year I say it and each year it's true. I can not believe another year has gone by and my little baby is growing up.

Today Stasa is four years old.

She's thoughtful and funny and frustrating and bossy and sweet and lovable and all girl. She loves pink and Ariel and dresses and skirts and sleeping without pajamas. She comes in our room in the middle of the night every now and then to ask for a kiss and then heads back to her own bed. She shares with her sister, even if it's her birthday and her special birthday balloons and individual cake. She's got quite the imagination and comes up with really wild stories, mostly about giant bunnies and tigers who come in her room at night and wreak havoc. She loves reading to herself and being read to. As loud as she is most of the time, she's really quite modest and shy when she sings. She loves being the teacher's helper at school (just like her mama) and comes home ready to help us with dinner prep and table setting.

We still check on her every night before we go to bed and wake her up together every morning. I'm always overwhelmed by the feeling of love I have for her and can't really remember life without her. Seeing her excitement about her birthday makes me enjoy it that much more. And I love that she's most excited about bringing goody bags to school. Happy birthday, Stasa!

24 Weeks Pregnant

Although this week was longer work-wise than the past few it still seemed to fly by. Or maybe that's just me being positive because it's now Friday. One of the problems I've been having lately is what to wear to work. I'm down to one whole pair of work pants that both fit and flatter my figure. I have a few other work maternity pants, but they're from previous pregnancies when I was bigger/heavier and they don't fit quite right, so I'm still on the hunt for the perfect maternity pant for work. The other problem is I've run out of bras that fit properly and I'm too cheap to go out and buy new ones that I'll only wear for a few months. Instead I'll just keep making it work.

And since my bras aren't fitting quite right I assumed they had somehow caused me to have an ingrown hair or some sort of something on my back where the strap falls. After a few days of pain and watching this thing grow in size I went to the doctor and found out it was an infected spider bite. Awesome. Yet another reason I hate spiders. And Tom was busy DEFENDING the spider, being all "the poor thing was just defending itself because you probably tried rolling over on it." Um, what? How about you be on my side instead of the spider's? Stupid spider. Now I'm on an antibiotic for the next week and am treating the pain with hot compresses and a heating pad.

My next appointment is next Thursday and then I have one more monthly appointment after that before I go to biweekly visits. And by the time I start biweekly appointments, my friend Anne will have her new baby to snuggle.

23 Weeks Pregnant

Another week down. The baby is getting more and more active and I'm pretty sure it prefers to lay transverse with it's head on my right side. I kind of can't wait for when my belly becomes misshapen by the big baby butt sticking out. Although I know I won't enjoy having the baby stick its feet up in my ribs.

My next appointment is later this month and it'll be business as usual: pee in a cup, blood pressure check, weight check, fundus height measurement, and heartbeat. The baby's heart rate has been in the 140s and 150s each time they've checked and the old wives tale says that a lower heart rate means it's a boy, but who knows. I have absolutely no feeling either way, which is kind of funny. I remember when I was pregnant with Stasa I would have dreams that we brought the baby home and still didn't know what we had because we never changed the diaper. It's like even my subconscious didn't have a gut feeling either way.

Lexi's big girl room

We've been working on Lexi's big girl room for awhile, just taking our time because, well, we had time to kill. She's been sleeping on a cot at daycare, so we thought it shouldn't be too much of a transition to move her out of the crib. We finally finished the room the weekend before the end of the year and officially moved her in New Year's Eve. ::knock on wood:: She's been doing great - doesn't cry, doesn't get out of bed, just rearranges her friends and blankets and falls asleep. And stays asleep until morning. We're hoping she doesn't become a bedtime rebel like Stasa. Hoping, praying, begging, pleading.

So, back to the room itself. We had the room painted in a light buttery yellow. I love how light and bright it is in the middle of the day and like our other kid rooms, it's a color that could be for any kid, not your typical pink or purple princess room.





Here's a breakdown of what's in the room.
Bed: This End Up hand-me-down top bunk with both rails, similar
We have both twins that convert to bunk beds, but decided to use just one of the two and to keep both footboards on the bed so we could use the built in bed rails until she's ready to sleep without them.

Bureau: IKEA Malm 6-drawer

Nightstand: IKEA Malm Chest with 2 drawers

Curtains: sheers purchased years ago and hemmed by me; striped fabric from IKEA and sewn by me

Lamps: IKEA from a couple of years ago, similar

Stuffed animal storage: Target

Pillows: all handmade by me with quilting fabrics from Joann Fabric

Rocking chair: bought for ~$5 at a local yard sale and painted by me

Artwork: book covers DIY project: just print out your favorite children's book jackets or pages and frame; gold framed art: Uncle Vince's used paint palettes; birth print (on bureau): DIY with birth stats and framed by me

Things we still need to do:

• Install ceiling fan (we'll probably do this closer to the spring)
• Install wooden blinds
• Clear out the closet, install a closet system, and bring in the rest of her clothes
• Hang last piece of artwork from Uncle Vince

New Year's belly