3am. Beach trip highlights.

Yes, it is 3 am at my house.
I should be tired, but I'm not sleeping.
This baby is most active between 1-2am! Somtimes later.


I have a doctor's appointment at 10am.
Hopefully I wont be a total zombie.


I am somewhat nervous about my weight gain, because we ate allllll kinds of junk food during our vacation. It's difficult for me to watch the scale keep on rising.... I know that I'm pregnant, and that it's for a good cause, but it still kind of concerns me. I've always been careful about my weight, and it's just hard for me to let go of that.


The first 2 days of our trip were just perfect. Weather was great for playing on the beach/pool, splashing in the water, and flying kites, and Mike got plenty of use out of the hot tub. We all survivied the tropical storm that hit the NC coast last week. Even the house remained intact (minus one small piece of siding!), though the wind and rains got really rough. At times, it felt like we were sleeping in a boat instead of a house! We took some cool pictures and videos of the flooding and storm damage. Friday-Sunday were sunny again, but still not very warm.

Hannah was an incredibly well-behaved girl. She loved doing absolutely everything.... except playing in the sand (why does she hate getting dirty?!). Her favorite things to do were play mini-golf, which was a completely new experience for her, and eat ice cream.

I also got some quailty time with my SIL, which was really nice. We compared dating stories, engagement stories, weddings, and pregnancies. It was fun to hear things from her point of view, instead of just getting our husband's opinions. We also talked about what it will be like next year, with two new infants.

Later in the week, we got to hang out with another couple from college that we hadn't seen in years and years! It made us look forward to our college reunion even more - which is coming up in just two weeks!

We didn't get home until 11pm last night. I spent all of Monday unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to create order in our household again. Hannah needs a re-vamped bedtime; she's been staying up waaay too late for her own good!

To entertain you, here are some pictures from our trip:

Our Miracle Baby

You know that sunday school song about Noah and the ark? Well, it's been stuck in my head all day long!!!

"Who built the ark? Noah, Noah! Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark!"
I don't know why it keeps floating around in my head; I haven't heard it in years. But it's getting to be downright annoying!

Ironically, "Noah" was the boy name that we picked out during my first pregnancy. I still love it, but Mike isn't so convinced anymore.

When my mom was here last week, she looked at my tummy and said "Look how big you are already. You're not gonna last another three months, that's for sure. And I think it's a boy. You're carrying differently than you did with Hannah." When she looked at the ultrasound pictures, she also declared "I really think this baby is a boy." Even though every single picture is from the waist up.

Meanwhile, my bellybutton is teetering on the edge between "innie" and "outie" these days. It wont be too long before it just pops!

Mike said something really sweet the other day. We were comparing my first pregnancy with this one, talking about how clueless we were as first-time parents. And the nickname we gave to Hannah in utero, and as an infant, was "Baby Surprise". Well, in light of all the losses I went through last year, Mike dubbed this one "Baby Miracle". It was so sweet of him, to think of it like that. Because I know that this pregnancy truly is a miracle, an amazing gift from God! And I think that "Miracle Baby" is a much more fitting name than "number two" or "Baby H____" (our last name), or "acrobat" or "New Baby", which is what I've usually called him/her.

So, Miracle Baby, will you be a boy or a girl? Everyone wants to know!

Hannah really wants to have a baby sister.
I will be perfectly happy either way.
I'm just content in the fact that you and I are both healthy! :)


It's exciting, to think that we will be a family of four by the end of the year.

MOPS

We had our first MOPS meeting tonight. THREE New moms! I was very pleased and super-excited to make new friends. They all said they were incredibly grateful for the fellowship, and the chance to have some adult conversation.

Thank you Lord, for this great opportunity to reach families with young children.

Now I am exhausted, and after I take a shower, Im going to fall into bed.

Hannah is sick

Mom was visiting is this weekend. She drove home yesterday. When she arrived back in Maryland, there were over 30 people at her house for dinner, for my father's birthday!


My dad has drastically changed his diet and has stopped drinking alcohol altogether. I'm really impressed with the changes he's made. He really wants to stay healthy for a long time to come.


Hannah has been congested and coughing a LOT. No fever, she just sounds horrible. Yesterday, cold medicine helped. But she woke up several times last night, having trouble breathing in her sleep. Now she's wheezing! This morning, I let her lay in bed until 10:30am (hey, I was tired too!).
I'm having trouble getting her a doctor's appointment; we might have to wait until tomorrow. That's what I get for procrastinating. I hope it's not pneumonia!


Mike started taking sleeping pills a few days ago, because he just can't sleep more than a few hours at a time. I feel so bad for him. His work schedule is really wearing him down. He worked 2 overtime shifts this weekend. He has already worked eight days in a row, and he won't get another day off until we leave for our beach trip on Saturday! I think these shift changes are really burning him out.

Sept 11. Mom visiting.

When we left our house on Sept 11th, the radio announced a "moment of silence" and we noticed all the flags flying at half-mast. Hannah was curious. So this is how I explained September 11th to my three year old: "Today we are remembering something sad that happened a long time ago, before you were born."
That's was the best way I could think of telling her without getting too political or detailed. I'm sure that as Hannah gets older, she will understand more, and have more questions. But I think that is sufficient for now.

Thursday was a looong day, I was running on just four hours of sleep, and we were babysitting for almost ten hours. Then Mike left his wallet at home, and at 7pm, when we were exhausted and hadnt even eaten dinner yet, we had to drive out to the ambulance base and deliver it to him. Then my mother drove down from Maryland, and got to our house just as we finished dinner.... at 9pm. Ugh.
I was so wiped out. I was just so drained that all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and cry until I fell asleep. But moms don't get to do things like that until everything else is finished and the kids are asleep.

We are having so much fun with YoMa here!

Tomorrow we have nursery duty at church, then lunch and a planning meeting for Awana, which starts next week. My MOPS group starts on Tuesday; I'm excited because I know that I wont be the only one there this time! Yay! Thank You God for mommy friends!

Nicole

Pictures, arguments about diapers.

My two favorite people!!!



For comparison: 14 weeks pregnant



20 weeks pregnant.



25 weeks pregnant:
Can you tell that Hannah took this picture?
She also shoved the "New Baby" book into my hands!
I'm not kidding!



Mike and I had a fight this afternoon about diapers. Yes, diapers. It might sound really stupid. But I was thinking of using cloth diapers (even for Hannah, at nighttime, not just for New Baby!), and Mike said "absolutely not." Didnt even want to hear my opinion. Just plain "No." I thought it would save money in the long run, he was worried about has been sweet, extra laundry (which he never does!) and electricity costs ("it would ruin our dryer! It costs too much.").
It felt like he was telling me "Your ideas are stupid and worthless." Of course, he didnt say anything close to that, but that's what it felt like.
We agreed to disagree for now... but it hurt me, the way he just dismissed it like that.

I've been incredibly tired this week. Hannah has been sweet, but she is still quite a demanding little girl. And sometimes she just makes things more difficult than they need to be. Example: Yesterday we went for a walk, and Hannah had to stop every 5-10 steps to adjust her baby doll's blanket, or clothes, buckle and unbuckle the baby, re-velcro her shoe, fix her sock, collect rocks, pick a flower, ect, ect, ect! It drove me CRAZY! Sometimes it's really difficult for me not to lose my temper and get frustrated with her. Even if she is a great kid.

Silly Hannah moments. More pictures.

More activities coming up very soon. I'll be babysitting a few more hours a week, starting now, since The Mom is actually teaching her college class again.
We are getting ready for MOPS and AWANA to start next week.

Plus we're really looking forward to our beach vacation, which begins Sept 21st! Mike is counting down the days.... Poor guy, he's been sleeping terribly, and having lots of stress/busyness at work. I felt proud that I made him dinner tonight, from stratch, (ncluding dessert! how rare!) and had it all ready when he got home at 7pm. We almost never get to eat meals at the same time, so it was really nice to do that today.

Today Hannah and I looked at pictures from our OBX trip in Feb 2007, which she doesnt remember, but it was neat to show her that area. She is excited to visit Jockey's Ridge (she says "Jockey Bridge" instead), and she also called it Sand Mountain, which was very cute.

It seems like Hannah never stops moving these days. Even while eating, she's kicking her feet, twisting in her chair, clapping hands, singing ABC's, and running over to tend to her "crying" baby doll. It drives me crazy, though I try not to get frustrated.

Hannah has been having a blast hearing her name on the news lately. Every time she hears anyone say "Hurricane" or "Tropical Storm Hanna", she instantly perks up. She thinks its hilarious that news reporters and weathermen are mentioning "her." Hah.

Another funny Hannah moment that I have to share: While grocery shopping on Thursday, Hannah asked me about the baby in my belly, then pointed to her father and asked, as loudly as she could in her sweet little voice: "Daddy, do you have a baby growing in your BIG TUMMY, too?"
Poor Mike was totally embarrassed!
But it WAS funny.

PICTURES! :)
Nicole's Pregnant Belly: 23 weeks



Nicole's Pregnant Belly: 24 weeks
Not the greatest angle. And why is it that women always, somehow, look bigger than they truly are in a bathing suit?!



Silly Hannah, relaxing at my parents house



Hannah and my dad playing around, the day after he got home from the hospital.
He really is no different than before - and we are so thankful!




I havent uploaded any new pictures from September yet. Actually, I dont know if Ive TAKEN any pictures since we've been to Maryland! Hmmm, I'll have to work on that. I've been seriously slacking with my photos. I havent even gotten any scrapbooking done in at least a month. But Hannah sure has been making more crafts lately (it's about the only constructive thing I can get her to do during these rain days). Today she strung together enough beads to make necklaces for her entire Sunday School class. We actually ran out of beads, and had string left over!! That never happens.

Im slowly making Hannah's bedtime a little earlier, because she doesnt seem to be getting quite enough sleep. She always wakes up before I do in the mornings, and is super-tired by mid-afternoon, though she won't take naps. Tonight it was lights-out at 9:20 instead of 9:30. We'll see if that helps. Maybe I just need to be more firm about instituting "quiet times" for her in the afternoons, I don't know.

Here we are, home again.

We got home from Maryland last night. Had to babysit for 2 hours, and all the kids were cranky. We'll be with them all day tomorrow.

My dad is doing just fine. He actually went to the gym with my mom yesterday, just to walk on a treadmill and lift 10 lb weights (due to dr's restcrictions). But he's feeling prefectly fine, and to look at him, you'd never know that there was anything wrong with him last week.

Lately, a lot of people have been mentioning homeschooling to me. Mike completely supports this idea. Ive been doing some online research and I really dont think it will be too hard.