I think she is confused

We are at that point in the pregnancy where it's a lot of fun for Jordan to talk to the baby and feel her move, which he does every day. Well, Suzi likes to do this too. Anytime she notices her daddy feeling the baby, she'll drop what she's doing to come over and take his hand off my belly and say "Noooo! Dat's my Ivey!" Heh. I tried to explain that yes, Ivey is her baby sister but she's also our daughter. All this time we were concerned about her being jealous of the baby, but it looks like she may be jealous of Jordan and me instead. Do you think she'll be disappointed after the birth when she finds out I'm the one who gets to breastfeed Ivey? Funny little girl. I'm glad she's so excited about her sister though.

Mama, where are the fish?

This was Suzi's question as we made our way through the Titanic exhibit at the aquarium yesterday. It was probably a bad idea to expect her to go through that, and Grandma and Grandpa ended up taking her out early. I don't know if I'd recommend it, especially to people with young kids. While it was interesting to see all those things that had been inside the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean, it was also depressing. Plus it made me glad we didn't attempt to take Suzi through King Tut, which was something we'd considered.

The rest of the day was good, even though it was crowded. I'd carefully planned for us to go on a school day, thinking there'd be fewer kids, but it seemed like all the schools planned their field trips for yesterday! That meant lots of unsupervised kids, some of them running around like wild animals. (My mom had to give one of them a piece of her mind when he was trying to injure the person coming down the slide in the play area--which would've been Suzi. After all those years of teaching, she's pretty scary, so the little jerk stopped and went about his business.) There also seemed to be a lot of school-age kids with their parents. Some of them were probably homeschooled. We also spotted what appeared to be Atlanta-area stay-at-home-moms who had invested in memberships with the idea of regularly bringing their kids to run wild while they chatted with their mommy friends over lunch. Grrr. Supervise your children! I tried not to get too aggravated with the kids, but I really am more irritable and sometimes unreasonable when I'm pregnant. It's just a fact of life.

But we had a good time anyway, and we got some good pictures (credit for all these goes to Jordy).










Baby Beluga and "Deepo" helped Suzi get a little nap in the car on the way home. Grandma wanted to be sure she didn't wake up with a sore neck. She fell asleep listening to her new Raffi CD (with Baby Beluga on it) that we bought her in the gift shop.

Video coming soon!

I think Suzi felt Ivey

This was yesterday, 29 weeks and 2 days. Ivey did a big flip-flop right under Suzi's sticky little hand during one of those rare moments when she was being still and waiting. She looked up at me all wide-eyed and smiled. That's an apple slice she's holding up to my belly, in case you were wondering. She was having a snack and, I don't know, maybe she wanted to share some with her baby sister.

12 weeks until we meet Ivey

Wanted to share this picture of Suzi. This half-sarong that I pulled out of the closet is one of her favorite toys, and she loves having it tied on her head!

At the appointment yesterday with the midwives, we found out that Ivey was head up. Of course, that is no big deal yet. She probably flips around a lot and Carey said there was absolutely no need to worry, but I would still prefer if she'd just get into position and stay there already. If she's anything like Jordan and me, she probably intends to get into the head-down position but is putting it off until the last minute. While we were talking yesterday at the appointment, she started poking something hard and round against the front of my belly. I was hoping it was her butt, but it was her head because it was really hard when we felt it. It was interesting feeling her round little head like that. I never got to do that with Suzi because it was always her butt. Jordan and I enjoy talking to Ivey and rubbing or poking her as she moves around. We can't really tell if it's arms or legs we're seeing, but it's still cute. I am getting more and more excited to meet her.

We discussed encapsulating my placenta at this appointment too. Some women take placenta pills to prevent postpartum depression and improve milk supply, and I had issues with both those things last time. Some people take it a step further and eat the placenta, but I don't really want to do that. We also want to do a placenta print but were afraid to contaminate it with paint before encapsulating. Carey suggested vegetable-based dyes as a safe alternative, so we might look into that. If not, many people do prints with the blood that's already on it. There's an article on mothering.com about all kinds of things you can do with your placenta. (I'd already heard about most of them from Julie at babywearing, though.) I wonder what my OB would've said if I'd told him I wanted to take the placenta home to consume or to use for arts and crafts.

I also want to make a belly bowl. Last time Jordan and I made a belly cast from a kit we bought, and it went rather well. This time we're going to do just my belly. Then we're going to paint it inside and out and put a blanket inside, and lay Ivey in it for a picture after she's born. I think my belly is a good shape for making a bowl.

28 weeks, 4 days. I am really loving this shirt I bought at LPP the other day. It just sort of minimizes everything.

See what I mean? I think it'll be in the week 40 rotation!

New favorite place to shop

Today Jordan and I went out in search of bigger maternity shirts (because I have a whole lot of belly). Normally when I need clothes I go to Goodwill or Helping Hands, but I've found that those places don't have a lot of maternity to choose from. That, or the maternity items are mixed in with the other stuff and I don't have the time or energy to go through it all. New maternity clothes are too expensive and I can't enjoy shopping when I have to pay retail.

On the way home from a midwife appointment in Greenville a few months ago, I spotted Little Pampered People. I asked Jordan to pull over and he groaned. We've been there three times so far and it takes me about an hour each time to get out. When you first go in it looks like a swanky boutique. There's a boys' room and a girls' room full of new baby and toddler clothes, but keep going. They also have at least one room full to the brim with See Kai Run, Robeez, Vincent, and other wonderful brands of shoes. (Of course, those cost about $50/pair--ouch.) But then there's the consignment! Another room for the boys and one for the girls. I haven't even had a chance to look at all that stuff. The best part is downstairs where they have gear, furniture, toys, and consignment maternity. All of it's reasonable, but they have one rack that's either 50% or 70% off. Most of the maternity clothes I've bought for this pregnancy have come from there, and some of the stuff is new with tags. Today I found some shirts that hang promisingly low under my belly. I think they may last me until August!

I also got these baby clothes today, and I'm so proud of the deal I got that I took a picture. They were on the $1 rack because they're fall/winter things, so I got them all for $15. If you decide to go shopping, don't expect to find any good girl stuff from newborn - 3T on the $1 rack. I pretty much cleaned it out.

And it wasn't on the $1 rack, but I got this newborn set for Ivey. It has cupcakes on it.

They also had a Maya Wrap Ring Sling (medium, color #37) for $35 and an unpadded denim blue one in a medium for $30. I resisted because I already have one, but if you're looking for one I think that's a pretty good deal.

Anyway, if you're in the Greenville area you may want to stop by this place. They even have a playroom with a baby gate across the door to make it easy for your husband to watch your kid while you shop. It sure beats chasing a toddler around Motherhood at the mall! The lady who worked there was so nice and I accidentally kept her about 15 minutes late. Oops :-( It'll serve me right if someone does that to me at Jennie G's this Saturday.

Nothing like a good walking buddy

After weeks of guilt over the fact that I'm not getting out to walk enough, I've finally found the solution: a good walking buddy who will get up early with me every morning and hold me accountable. She never says she forgot, and she doesn't whine about wanting to sleep five minutes longer. She doesn't scream and cry about how she'd rather play in the backyard.

The only downside is that she poops in the neighbors' yards and I have to pick it up with an inside-out plastic bag. Oh well--no one's perfect! And at least this ensures we won't have a dog poop minefield in the backyard. She looks like she could really mess a bad guy up with those crooked teeth sticking out. And I bet she would, too.

Yes, I am a most virtuous dog...

Pride cometh before you find the book right where you left it

First of all, I borrowed this book from a friend and was really enjoying it. I kept it on the end table in our living room and read it whenever I had time. I had several other books I was reading too, though, so it was taking me a while to finish. Then it got lost. When I tried to remember the last time I had it, I decided it was right before Jordan's parents came to visit. "I left it right here on this table!" I insisted. "It's been there for weeks!" Just before they arrived, Jordan had done a lot of straightening up in the living room, so it only made sense that he must have moved it somewhere. He agreed it was possible, but that he didn't remember putting it anywhere.

I was ticked. How dare he move my book and not even have the courtesy to put it in a normal place! I kept bringing it up, too. Talking about how worried I was about finding the book. Wondering out loud where on earth he might have put it since it wasn't on any of the bookshelves, which it stands to reason is a sensible place to put a book. I even went as far as to ask why he felt it was necessary to move the book, and if he was worried someone would see it. Ridiculous!

So today at work I started thinking maybe I'd just order a new book and admit I'd lost (I mean, that my husband had lost) the one I borrowed. There were several different ones available on several different sites, though, and I was unsure exactly which would be the best to get. So I decided I would just do whatever I had to do this afternoon to find the book. I prayed for God to please help me find it.

When I got home I searched the van (again), the hall closet, and on top of the china cabinet. Then I looked down and saw a yellow laundry hamper with some Whole Foods bags in the side pocket. It was the hamper I took to the consignment sale. And while I waited in line that day, what was I reading but... the book. Which was in the side pocket behind the bags. I was so happy to have found it that I didn't mind calling Jordan to apologize. He just sweetly said "it's okay." Just like I knew he would. It's one of my favorite things about him.

P.S. I've been really lacking in pictures lately (our camera broke so we got a new one and I'm still not quite used to it), so here are a couple of belly shots. I am getting all kinds of fun comments on my belly. A couple of days ago the courier at work said "it seems like you get bigger every time I see you!" I also had, from a woman who'd just had a baby herself, "and it's just one baby?" The worst was a lady who asked my due date and then said "I feel so sorry for you!" (Um, thanks but I've never been happier?) I have been getting more exercise this time and am eating healthier, so I really didn't think this would happen again! I have to say, though, that several people have asked how far along I am and then said "really, well, you look great!" (I love you. There should be more people like you in the world.) My favorite thing about the big belly stage is that the baby moves a lot. I just love feeling that! Jordan pokes Ivey and Ivey pokes back, just like her big sister did in utero.

4/22. 25 weeks, 2 days. Told Jordan not to take picture.

Today. 26 weeks, 4 days. I really don't think it's that huge of a belly.