Ask Nicely.

Abigail: "Daddy! I want THAT. NOW!"
{insert raised eyebrows from the parents}
Me: "Abigail, ask nicely."
{Pause}
Abigail: "Nicely."
{covered/swallowed laughter}
Abigail: {having a lightbulb moment} "Please, Daddy...PLEASE."

Note: We'll work on the demanding please soon.


ROFL. We've got a Little Miss Bossy in the making.

Also, this is what plays out when we {finally} get Ava asleep and laid down. If I haven't mentioned it here, Ava likes to be held A LOT, so getting her asleep in her crib (and staying asleep for any length of time) can be challenging.

At night it's getting better, because I've learned to make sure Abigail goes to bed first (and thus, avoiding the situation below.) But naptimes are another story...


{Me swaying/rocking Ava for 15-20 minutes. Finally get her asleep. Lay her down. Sigh of relief is released...she's staying asleep. Start to walk out of the room. See Abigail at the door...}

Abigail: "Ava sleeping?"
Me: "Yes, baby. Ava's sleeping. We need to go out and be quiet."
Abigail: "I want to see her"
Me: "Be very quiet."
Abigail: "'kay"
{creeps to crib...looks in...}
Abigail: "AVA! AVVVVVAAAAA!"
Me: (horror!) "Abigail! Shhhhhhhhh"
{crickets chirp}
Ava: WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Me: Start the entire process over.

Note: I have had to start telling Abigail no, because she ALWAYS does the screaming thing. It's alsmost like she's trying to do the loud whisper thing, but it comes out as a full out yell. Frustrating when you're sleep deprived...funny/cute when you're well rested.


And, photos:

Abigail is definitely her mother's daughter. Room is wrecked. Wearing a tutu. Photographing everyone. Yep, she's my child.

Ava snoozing away. Don't worry about her not being strapped in. We were not in the car.

Ring Around The Rosy

Near the end you'll hear her singing it by herself. She mixes it with Jesus Loves Me, so it goes something like this:

"Ring around the rosy, pocket...Jesus love me...I know. Jesus loves...around the rosy"

ROFL!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

If I haven't checked in on your blog in a while - I apologize. Time management is still a challenge for me these days!

OH - I need to find a baby picture/clip art/scribble in the same style as my header. I can't remember where I found those. If you see one, let me know where you saw it. I need to update my scribble family.

The Right Stuff

Barry got a musical Father's Day card that played a NKOTB song. Abigail liked it as much, if not more than Barry did.

See?

Opinions, Independence

Abigail is definitely my child in some ways. And in others, she is totally her daddy.

For example, one of her new favorite phrases - "I DO IT MYSELF!!" - came from me. There are home videos of me making that same declaration at her age.

This statement can be frustrating in the moment, but it also makes me smile. Whatever she's trying to do by herself...she usually can.

From her daddy, she got her temper. I've told you of her meltdowns before. In general, they are oscar worthy- but short. Barry is really laid back. If/when he gets made about something, it rarely lasts more than a few minutes. She got that from him.

Ava, bless her heart, I believe is going to have my temper. A slow burn, but once she gets going, it may last a while. Yes...already I can see this.

Abigail has strong opinions, too. About which shoes to wear (flip flops are the demand these days), how to wear her hair (she's preferring pony tails to bows), and what color everything from bows, hair bands, socks, shoes, and clothes must be ("NOT THAT ONE!").

I usually take this in stride (she's two, and a girl...which gives her the right to strong opinions, if you ask me.) and tend not to fight battles about clothes or shoes. (Unless it's to daycare, where she has to wear tennis shoes or she can't play on the playground.)

You wouldn't believe how she's morphed from toddler to little girl in the past few weeks. It's amazing. And bittersweet.

A couple of examples of "Style: According to Abigail":

This is a favorite look of hers. Bohemian Chic, don't you think? lol!

With this one she told me that she looked "SO Hollywood". It's a saying that she heard her cousin Delaney say. It fits.

Bonus pic...Ava relies on me for her style. This is what you call Casual Comfy.

I know this post was rambly. So sorry.

Adjustments

I don't really have a lot to post about. I just got both girls asleep (blissful sigh). So why am I not sleeping? I really must catch up on my bloggy friends. Or at least start catching up...

Abigail has been doing really well adjusting to life as a big sister. Of course, there have been some bumps in the road. She doesn't quite understand why she has to be gentle and easy with Ava. If Ava's in the swing, Abigail (I think) thinks "I like to go high, so Ava must too! Let me push her!". And she doesn't understand why I can't pick her up yet (or maybe it's why I can pick up Ava but not her).

The first few days were a little rough because Abigail wanted N.O.T.H.I.N.G. to do with me. She wouldn't let me read to her (as is our ritual). She didn't want to give me sugar. She didn't want to sit with me. This may have been harder on me than it was on her, because that had me in tears.

But that's getting better. Now she wants to sit beside me and watch Ava eat. She asks to see Mama when she's spending one-on-one time with Daddy or Nana/Grandpa. She even asks to see "baby sister". So that's progress, right?

And I'm learning that it takes more than twice the time to get two kids and myself ready than it did to just get me and Abigail ready.

I got my staples out Tuesday. Abigail asks to see my "boo-boo" and then empathizes with a groaning "OWIE". I had lost 13 pounds at that point. Which I was happily suprised of, since my weight gain this pregnancy was 14 pounds. Not that I didn't have some to lose before I got pregnant, but still.

We've seen Dr.J (the ped) three times this past week. And three times I felt SO rushed. I thought I started in plenty of time, but I guess not. This may be a challenge after maternity leave is up. Oh, who am I kidding? It WILL be.

Why did we see Dr.J three times you ask? Ava was jaundiced (Abigail was, too...I wonder about the cause. Is it because they were both itty-bitty babies? Is it me? Or just some fluke thing?). On Monday, her bili level was 14.

We picked up bili lights...which were SO much better than what we had with Abigail. With Abigail, it was like a baby-sized tanning bed that she laid on top of in this zip up onsie thing. With Ava, it was this light that you slipped into the back of her clothes. It even came with a battery pack, so you didn't have to be stationary, and you could hold her.

On Wednesday, it was down to 11. She didn't have to be on the lights 24 hours a day at that level. So we did natural light during the day and bili lights at night.

On Friday, it was a 9 and we got to return the lights. Yay!

So that's pretty much all that's been going on. Adjustments and learning life as 3 girls and a boy.

Some pictures:

May 26: last day of pregnancy. Forgive my hair, humidity and rainy weather are not good for this naturally curly hair. Just look at Abigail's cute "Cheese" face!


May 27: Ava getting checked out by Dr.J (left) and a nurse.

Tuesday: Abigail at VBS. Barry thinks this hat is ugly, but Abigail loves it (it was part of the theme). She wore it to town today. lol!

June 2: Ava and a smile. She has dimples...not sure where those came from...but they're cute!

We're Home!

I'm typing one-handed, so this will be quick...just wanted to let everyone know all went well.





Ava Belle was born at 8:51 a.m., weighing 5 pounds 15 ounces, measuring 19 inches!





Here's our first Family of Four picture:


I will try to catch up on everyone next week...right now we're going to go sit and rock...

Updates

First - the c-section will be at 9:00 in the morning! I tried to update earlier today (didn't find out the time until 2:15 today), but we have satelitte connection and the weather has been not great (which means my connection has been not great, either). Yay! I'll be back here after I'm home from the hospital.

Second - friends of ours decided they had too many battery operated vehicles for their children, so they asked us if we'd like the Barbie Jeep for Abigail (yeah!). She LOVES it. I wish I'd had the first time she saw it on film.

We had just eaten breakfast and she looked out the window and saw it. (She calls it a 4 wheeler instead of a jeep)

Abigail: 4 whee-la-LAH! (when she's excited, she adds an extra "la". lol!)
Abigail: Is it mine??!?
Me: It's yours.
Abigail: It's MINE???
Me: It's yours.
Abigail: MINE??
Me: It's yours.
Abigail: {scrambling out of the chair} I need my flip flops!
Me:You need your flip flops?
Abigail: Uh-huh! Go OUTside! My 4-whee-la-LAH!
Me: Okay, get your shoes.
Abigail: {bringing shoes} It's mine?
Me: Yes, baby, it's yours. Mr. L gave it to you.
Abigail: L gived it me?
Me: Yes ma'am. We'll have to tell him "thank you".
Abigail: THANK YOU, L!
{Outside}
Abigail: {opens the door and sits in it} It's mine??
Me: It's yours.
Abigail: My 4 whee-LAH?
Me: It's your 4 wheeler.

And on. For about 20 minutes (or more) she just couldn't believe it was actually hers. Now it's rained here every day for going on 2 weeks, so her outside play time has been limited. Thankfully, yesterday a good chunk of the day was sunny so she could play on it.

She tried to get the cat and dog to ride with her on it, but they declined.

She tried to get me to ride with her...but my rear end is entirely too big for that!