Here is Baby Boy H.'s tiny left foot. The baby is estimated at a weight of 14 oz. right now; boy, they grow a LOT in the next 20 weeks!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Next Baby Hemsley
We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday, and thankfully, all went well. The baby looks fine in all regards, and blood tests they had done on me turned out with reassuring results. James was confident that this would be the case, but I spent a lot of time worrying about it--needlessly, I guess!
Anyway, we decided to find out the sex of the baby. I wanted to wait (sort of) but James didn't--he says it's a surprise now as much as it is when the baby is born. I knew it wouldn't work to have him know and me not know, so we found out. What do you think we are having?
Turns out Norah's intuition was right; every time we asked her whether I was having a boy or girl baby, she gave the same response. She always said, "You are having a boy baby, and I am having a girl baby!" She is correct (partly!). We are having a boy baby!
So, now I need to put aside my list of beautiful girl names and look more closely at the (much shorter) list of acceptable boys' names. James will rule some out, no doubt, and then we will have a few contenders. Of course, that will remain top secret until the birth date!
Here is a photo of Baby Boy H. in the womb. About 20 weeks gestation. He was moving all around during the ultrasound; it was neat to see!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Some things I have to get written down...
I have been writing down some funny (to James and I, anyway) things that Norah has been saying these past few weeks. Here they are:
"I'm 2, Daddy's 3, and Mommy's 4!"
"Hobby Yobby (Hobby Lobby) is a WONDERFUL place to go!"
One day, James said to Norah, "Norah, do you want me to put you in your princess chair for dinner?" and she looked at him and said, "That's not a princess chair, it's a high chair."
"Oh Cwap!" [Oh, crap!] when she dropped some spaghetti in her lap the other night. I guess I need to watch what I say a little more closely.....
"Don't be bossy!" [When I tell her (and don't ask politely) what to do...]
I wrote this in an earlier post, but I will say it again,
"Baby Jesus, if you go peepee in the potty, you get 2 candies AND you can watch a "Baby Einstein!"
There are so many more, and I will try to write them down as they occur, but she is an entertaining girl to say the least!
"I'm 2, Daddy's 3, and Mommy's 4!"
"Hobby Yobby (Hobby Lobby) is a WONDERFUL place to go!"
One day, James said to Norah, "Norah, do you want me to put you in your princess chair for dinner?" and she looked at him and said, "That's not a princess chair, it's a high chair."
"Oh Cwap!" [Oh, crap!] when she dropped some spaghetti in her lap the other night. I guess I need to watch what I say a little more closely.....
"Don't be bossy!" [When I tell her (and don't ask politely) what to do...]
I wrote this in an earlier post, but I will say it again,
"Baby Jesus, if you go peepee in the potty, you get 2 candies AND you can watch a "Baby Einstein!"
There are so many more, and I will try to write them down as they occur, but she is an entertaining girl to say the least!
Okay, now I am just bored!
This is one of the last photos we took. She was at the end of her rope in terms of patience. I was trying everything to get her to laugh, but this is the expression I got!
Ha!
To get a "natural smile" out of Norah, I usually tell her to laugh, and then take the photo right when she is done laughing. I guess I snapped it a little too soon in this one!
Christmas Dress!
We took about 30 photos of her in her Christmas dress, and only about 2 turned out! Here she is in her "beautiful dress," as she calls it!
Have I mentioned that it is difficult to get a non-blurry photo of a 2-year-old, who won't sit still for even 2 seconds? I am glad I got at least one!
Maybe I can fit in the house, too!
Norah loves her Little People House (thanks, Neighbors, for giving us your old toys!!!). She plays with it daily. Here, I came across her sitting "in" the house. I thought it was too funny!
The Purple Monkey 2
Here are Norah and her new purple monkey. Norah's favorite color is purple. Did you know that her eyes are purple, too? That is what she says, anyway!
The Purple Monkey
Our friend Mindi is a big knitter, and she made Norah a purple monkey for Christmas! Norah loved it! Here is a video of Norah opening the gift from Mindi.
They have PENGUINS in the Middle East?
Here is Baby Jesus' friend the penguin and Baby Jesus in another scene created by Norah.
Since I told her that Baby Jesus needs to stay by his mommy and daddy, she takes ALL The figures around the house and puts them in different places. Here they are on her picnic table. The penguin is an honorary member of the Nativity Scene. And so is the farmer; you can see his yellow hat.
Did you know they had tractor trailers back then?
Norah made this post-modern scene a couple of days ago. Her tractor-trailer backed up to the barn and must have hit the angel (who again had fallen and had not been helped up!). Baby Jesus is in the manger, with sheep milling around.
Here are some things I have heard her say to Baby Jesus:
"If you go peepee in the potty, you will get two candies AND you can watch a "Baby Einsteins!""
"Why are you crying? TIme for a nap?"
Also, the other day, I couldn't find Baby Jesus, and it turned out she had taken him, a penguin, and a farmer from her Little People sets on a joyride around the house. We found him inside the trailer you see here, in her room, next to the crib. I told her that Baby Jesus likes to stay by his mommy and daddy!
Another little-known scene
Here is another take (by Norah) on the events of Christmas Eve, 2000 years ago! Again, no one appears to have been overly concerned about the poor angel!
The ever-changing Creche
Norah loved playing with our Nativity scene this winter. We didn't put Baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas morning, but that didn't stop her from playing with the other figures present. Oma got some good photos of some of Norah's "scenes" of that most wonderful night!
In this first one, The angel has fallen down, and only Mary and Joseph seem to be concerned.
Norah loves her Christmas tree, too!
Here is a little video of Norah showing us the Christmas tree. She loves to turn it on and off for us each day--there is a switch on the power strip that glows orange--too tempting for a 2-year-old!
Making Cookies with Oma and Grandpa
We made Christmas cookies a few days before Christmas, and Norah had a blast--until we tried decorating them, and she wouldn't let us move the ones she had decorated to a plate to dry. Then we had tears, screams, and tantrums unimaginable. But, here she is before the waterworks started.
By the way, I haven't suggested decorating cookies since!
By the way, I haven't suggested decorating cookies since!
Norah loves the Nutcracker!
We took Norah to her first ballet, a local performance of "The Nutcracker." She loved it, and has been obsessed ever since. Oma and Grandpa had to listen to Norah discuss the Nutcracker and watch her dance to the Nutcracker music during their visit, and here is a (somewhat lengthy) video of her showing her best dance moves.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Norah Dances in her new dress
As seen in the previous photo, Oma made Norah a sparkly pink ballerina skirt. Here is a video of Norah dancing in the skirt.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Princess Ballerina Skirt!
Oma found the time (I don't know how--see previous posts on all the stuff I had them work on...) to make a twirly ballerina skirt for Norah for Christmas! Norah really liked it once she got over the novelty. She twirled around and around and around all morning! Thank you to Oma!
Making Snowballs...
...but NOT throwing them at nearby people's faces! (We had to teach her that lesson.)
First Snowfall (after the blizzard passed)
Norah and Daddy went out in the snow to play on the first warm day after the blizzzard. Norah had a good time making snowballs, but they couldn't make their snowman because the snow wasn't sticky enough.
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker ornament helped us keep her attention while we snapped photos. Here she is trying to hang it back up on the tree...
Christmas Photo
Norah patiently posed by the tree while I took about 30 pictures for a possible Christmas photo (it is difficult to get a good photo of a wiggly toddler!!!!!). Here's one many of you might see in your Christmas Cards (coming soon in the mail!).
Grandpa and Oma visit
Grandpa and Oma made it to IC just before the dreaded "Blizzard of '09" hit our doorstep! We were trapped inside for about 2 days before they plowed our street, so we had a lot of together time!
Thank you to Oma and Grandpa for all the projects they suffered through while trapped in my house, including (but not limited to):
Making a Play house for Norah in the cubby under the stairs
Re-hanging a counter that had been removed by some repairmen
Painting our hand-me-down nightstands
Cleaning lady bugs out of our light fixtures (we always have tons of lady bugs in the fall...)
Replacing the globe on our new bathroom fixture
Choosing photos for and hanging frames in the bathroom
Fixing the futon
Fixing our toilet so it re-fills automatically
Finishing the doorframe between the finished and unfinished basement
Troubleshooting a broken spotlight in our basement
and much much more!
(boy am I a taskmaster or what?)
Oma and Grandpa still had time to browse the internet, convince Chiara (but not James....) of the wonders of Google's Picasa program, enjoy meals with us, make Christmas cookies, play with Norah, watch Little Einsteins and Sesame Street with Norah, read books and magazines, look through recipes, dance with Norah to the Nutcracker, sing Norah's "Baby Jesus" song, watch Norah in her first Christmas Pageant, and on and on. What a great visit!
Nonna's Porch
While Ethan's favorite book at Nonna's house is undoubtedly "Elmo Loves You," Norah's favorite book at Nonna's house is, "Nonna's Porch." Here they are enjoying a private reading by Nonna herself!
Fred and Lena
Here are the kids sitting with the Garden's benefactors, Fred and Lena Meijer (or bronze statues of them anyway...).
Meijer Gardens, Day 2
Nonna and Jeri took Norah, Bree, and Ethan back to the Gardens the next day. Here they are posing by the elephant!
Norah and a trolley
She was so fascinated by the trolleys; they would go back and forth on the same track, but she reacted like it was the first time she had seen them every time they came her way!
The train to end all trains!
The Meijer Gardens had a beautiful train set up inside. It was elevated and spanned two rooms! There were also 3 little trolleys that went around "old Grand Rapids" at toddler-level. Norah couldn't get enough of this train, and we stayed there for a good 30 minutes before I had to drag her away!
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