40 weeks...we meet again.

Well, my due date has come and is quickly going. Just like his sister, little guy is comfy as can be in there and seems to be in no hurry to come out and meet us all. I had my 40 week appointment on Wednesday and my doctor said I was 1 cm dilated.  Yeah, I was 1 cm dilated last week.  Big, whoop! I was able to work up until my due date yet again which apparently is no small feat.  I rode the elevator down with one of the heads of our office today.

He casually starts small talk, "So, when are you due? Is it coming up?"
"Today"
"You've got to be shitting me?!"

Well, then!  I then proceeded to take the stairs to my car.  Go me!  (Note, I am now waddling around the house so that confidence quickly caught up to me).

For now, we sit back, try to relax and just wait for our second little miracle to make his way into the world. Hopefully he does so on his own time, prior to next Wednesday.  If not, we have his eviction (er...induction) scheduled for Wednesday night.

Stay tuned, folks!

In the meantime, I'll also enjoy all the mama/Lill snuggles I can before I have to share myself.

Feeling spoiled

I'm 39 weeks along in this second pregnancy as of today. People keep asking if I'm "SO ready" and "so over being pregnant".  And then they look at me like I have 3 heads when I respond with "nah, I'm good with him staying in there and cooking longer...no rush!" While I understand being excited to meet the little guy (and, don't get me wrong, I definitely am!), I like the idea of him staying in there where he's warm and safe (and, quite frankly, a heck of a lot easier to take care of). What I like even more is the idea of me still sleeping through the night while he is in there. I realize I'm one of the lucky ones.  I've had, not one, but two great pregnancies.  Overall I'm still feeling well and able to get around just fine. I also have a lot of work to wrap up at the office before I'm out for three months. And, did I mention that I'm getting full nights of sleep? Lill has certainly spoiled us with her love of sleep. I am well aware that this is probably going to change with number 2 because what lady could have two easy pregnancies and two great sleepers?! The luckiest woman in the world, that's who.  I have been very blessed in this life and often feel like the luckiest woman in the world.  So, maybe I'll be that lady?!  Wishful thinking for another week or so, at least :-)

And for those interested, a bump picture from tonight.  BBB at 39 weeks.

Happy half birthday

Our baby girl, (who is going to be our big girl, soon!) hit another milestone in December...she's 18 months old! She's now closer to 2 years old than 1.  WHAAAT?! She is sweet as can be but also has quite the personality and opinions of her own. She makes us laugh constantly and makes new discoveries is learning new things by the day. She's slimming up and is now ON the chart for head size.  And, she's actually down to the 80th percentile of weight.  All her movin' and shakin' is catching up to her!

Things she likes...

Food: Olives, cereal bars ("BAAHR"), spicy food (Vietnamese, jalapeno cheese, etc.), eggs, avocado, any and all berries, MawMaw's homemade soup, whatever TayTay is having,

Activities: standing on my tower at the kitchen counter, playing with TayTay, MawMaw and PawPaw, grocery shopping with my own cart, showing off my baby brother's room and crib, brushing my teeth, helping mommy get dressed in the morning (picking out her bra, socks, and jewelry are my favorite jobs), doing laundry (putting items in and pressing the buttons), taking out the trash, working on my ABC's

Other: Minnie Mouse ("mimi"), dogs (laying next to, or on, them), socks (I must get this from Grandma Cyn), the movie Rio

A Very Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas in our home as a family of 3. This was the first year we didn't travel for the holidays and I must say, it was kind of nice. For the last ten years I've either traveled home from Chicago to Michigan, to St. Louis, or from St. Louis to Michigan the last two years. While I was definitely disappointed to miss Christmas back in the mitten this year; the Ferrier traditions, getting together with friends and family back there, etc. traveling while 36 weeks pregnant just didn't seem like the best idea. Plus, we have been looking forward to starting some new family traditions of our own and have Lilly wake up in her own home on Christmas morning (something I absolutely loved growing up).  Heck, I still loved waking up at my parents last year since it's what I've always known.

Christmas Eve in St. Louis is spent with the whole Taylor side of the fam. My MIL hosted and it was a great evening.  We managed to sneak in Christmas Eve service at church (one of my family traditions) before the festivities began. There's nothing like a little sing-a-long Hark the Herald Angels Sing to really make it feel like Christmas.

Lilly loves the pups

Cousins on Christmas Eve (Carter is hiding...)

Movies in bed with cousins in matching jammies...
this is what Christmas is all about :-)

Christmas morning we woke up in our own home, opened stockings, had a nice family breakfast and then opened some gifts. We also skyped with Grandma Cyn. We then headed back over to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's for Christmas morning and gift exchange with them and Carter and Taylor.  Unfortunately Kyle came down with a stomach bug and couldn't join us. We enjoyed more time with family after that with a stop by Corey's cousins place. Maw Maw and Paw Paw came over to our place for a nice little family dinner and then we called it a night.

She was more into sitting on the presents than opening them

Checking out her new kitchen from Santa!

Probably her favorite gift.  She'll play with this house all day everyday.
And she usually insists that PawPaw sit down and play with her.

Tay loving her ornament from Lilly..."Frosty!"

Carter's special ornament this year, to
always remember his first trip on the Polar Express
(note: MawMaw and PawPaw were less than thrilled
with Aunt Lo giving this boy a bell...oops!)

Taking a ride on Carter's new scooter

What, you and your cousins don't have matching everything?!?! :-)

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas with family. (Though I selfishly would have loved if some of the Ferrier's could have been here as well!)

'Tis the season

'Tis the season for family, lights, peppermint, cozy fires, snow and giving to others. As much as I appreciate the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm one of those people who just can't wait to get out the Christmas decorations (and keep them up for as long as possible). There's something so inviting and cozy about a decorated tree and mantel. Just the sight brings about many wonderful memories of holiday seasons past, my childhood, my early adulthood, etc. While I am all about traditions and I love the many traditions we had growing up, 'tis the time for creating new traditions and memories with our own little family. Here is a peak at some of them :-)

Trimming the tree: As I mentioned, I'm one of the crazy people who like to put the tree up before Thanksgiving. I've hosted Thanksgiving (and not Christmas) the past two years so it was a way to share it with guests.  So what if it was the wrong holiday. This year was extra special as Lilly got to help hang some ornaments...the unbreakable one's which are conveniently all located on the bottom three feet of the tree.

Adopt a family: I forgot to take a picture of Lill helping pick out some toys on our shopping excursion and the finished wrapped products. But, this is a tradition that Corey and I started as soon as we were a family of two. Lill now participates in the shopping and wrapping and little man will join us next year!

Breakfast with Santa: Many of the schools and churches around here hold fundraisers with breakfast, pictures with Santa, crafts, etc. We joined Kyle and Meredith and her family of their annual tradition. Corey used to do this growing up and we plan to make this an annual thing.

Kisses

Breakfast with Santa meant no morning nap...

Our no-meat eater loved the sausage more than
the pancakes. Go figure

Checking out one of the ornaments she made

Zoo Lights: We always used to enjoy the Lincoln Park Zoo lights with my parents when we lived in Chicago. This year we decided to check out the St. Louis zoo's version. Lill enjoyed checking out all the beautiful lights and kept asking for "more"

And then there is the ever popular visit with Santa: Better luck next year, folks!

Food Wars

Anyone who has had a toddler knows what food wars are. The inevitable battle over food; either what they eat, how much they eat, or how they eat. Or, if you're really lucky, a wonderful combination of all of the above. I always said I'd do anything I could to ensure my kids weren't 'picky eaters'. HA. Easier said than done. Just one of the many parenting lessons I've learned and look back on my pre-parenting self and laugh. Supposedly the French know what they're doing.  They're kids come out of the womb eating caviar, fancy cheese and "whatever mom and dad are eating".

I will say that Lill is actually a pretty good eater in that she's not horribly picky and has eaten (and enjoyed) things I probably didn't eat until I was in my 20's. That being said, she would eat fruit ALL. DAY. LONG.  Yes, fruit is good for you but you can't live on fruit alone. You also don't want to be the one on the receiving end of the dirty diaper of a fruit eater. She also loves snack food or, NACK, as she so fondly likes to refer to anything that comes out of our pantry. 

When the food wars begin, you find yourself getting creative and sneaky, coming up with ways to get veggies and extra nutrients into your toddler with a mind of their own. And so, here are two of our tips:

1) "Ice Cream" - what adults would call green smoothies. Spinach, avocado, plain yogurt, chia seeds and whatever fruit you choose...blend it all up and you have an afternoon snack that Lill can't get enough of.  We call it "ice cream" and she looks forward to helping Mom make it when she wakes up from her afternoon nap.  We get out the blender, she helps carry all the ingredients over to the counter and helps put all the ingredients in the blender. We then pour it into a fun cup with a straw and sit down to watch some Minnie Mouse while enjoying our delicious (and secretly healthy) treat.  Genius.

2) "Cheers" - I can't take credit for this one.  This is all Corey. We recently taught Lilly how to 'cheers' with her drink.  She thinks it's the greatest thing and will do it over and over.  She'll even cheers the wall or her chair. Whatever floats her boat!  Anyways, Corey got creative one night during the usual battle to get Lill to eat her dinner. Pick up a piece of food and tell Lill to cheers.  She proceeds to pick up a piece of your choosing, 'cheers' your food and then throw it in her mouth. Works like a charm. So far, every time!  

Enjoying our 'ice cream'

Oh, another trick is hummus.  She'll basically eat anything, so long as it can be dipped in hummus.  Or guacamole.

 

Good ol' Chicago

A few weekends ago we booked a last minute trip to Chicago. Corey had a meeting in our Chicago office on Monday so we decided to drive up Saturday morning and spend the weekend. We figured it might be our last chance for a visit for awhile realizing that traveling with two under two might defer 'just because' trips for the foreseeable future. Luckily my parents weren't yet sick of their travel schedule and made the last minute decision to drive and meet us. This trip we really got the Chicago feel...staying in a high-rise condo in the heart of downtown (Streeterville to be exact). Luckily Lill had gotten over her slight fear of elevators and, instead, loved riding them, waiting to see the light 'ding' and pressing every and any button that we would let her :-) While the trips are always too quick, we managed to get in some quality time with dear friends, with some of their kiddos, and with Grandma and Grandpa.  Sunday included a visit to Macy's State Street, meeting Santa and lunch at the Walnut Room under the big Christmas tree (a bit of a Ferrier gals tradition). Yet another wonderful visit to our favorite city.

Lill checking out the view of downtown and Lake Michigan

My college friend, Shelley, and her adorable son Valentine. (Not pictured: Shelby and her daughter Ella)

Visiting Santa and lunch at the Walnut Room