Too Cute

I just have to record this for memory sake (which is failing me more and more the bigger I get). Mallory is talking all the time and most of what she says is spot on.... but there are a few of her sayings that are unique and just about the cutest thing(s) ever... some of my favorites are:
Thomas: TaTa
Grandpa: Papop
Pillow: Plo-plo
Yes: Yah (but with a Swedish accent, and at the top of her lungs)
And my favorite....
Lap: Plop (it's so cute, she'll pat her legs, or my legs or Sonny's legs and say 'book plop' meaning that she wants you to sit down so that she can sit on your lap and read her a book). When you then ask her 'do you want to sit on my/Sonny's/daddy's lap and read a book' she'll yell "Yah!" It's all too cute. I know that all too quickly all these words are going to turn into the real words and I am going to be sad. Sigh.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Mallory goes through HUGE mood swings when it comes to her Daddy… there are days when she wants NOTHING to do with him. Don’t look at me, don’t play with me, don’t talk to me and don’t even think about touching me! Poor Matthew will come home from work and she’ll take one look at him and say ‘NO,’ through herself on the floor and start hitting her head. (Strange child). Matthew’s good about it though and doesn’t seem to take it to heart (like I would) and practically forces her to play with him! Then there are days when he’s the first thing she asks for when she wakes up, wants to snuggle him, and passes out kisses to him just because. It’s cute… on those days she can’t get enough of him. He needs to read her every story, watch her play and be the one to pull the blocks down. I love when she tries to mimic things that he does, like lying on the floor, using the wall as a foot rest, working in the garage or turning on the Christmas lights. They have a very cute relationship…and sometimes I’m a little jealous.

29 (and a half) Weeks

Our little BB is now around 3 pounds and 15 ½ inches long (making him/her about the size of a 1 1/8 inch Craftsman style Open-End Wrench). Doesn’t everyone have a 15 ½ inch wrench lying around their garage? BB should be within 3-4 inches of its birth length but may still TRIPLE in weight! Which means that each week it’ll gain about ½ a pound (and I’ll gain about a pound… but at least only half of that weight will be ON me). Heck, the placenta alone is about 15 oz right now (isn’t that nuts? I’m basically caring around a POUND of placenta???? Strange). Our bodies are amazing! Mom told me about a shirt that she saw… it said “I grow humans. What’s your super power?” Cute, huh? Any way…our sweet little BB is now practicing breathing lots and lots and its brain can start to regulate its own temperature, so all the soft lanugo (hair) will start to fall out now. BB is going to be storing white fat from now on. White fat is the energy supplying fat. Prior to this week it was storing brown fat which is primarily for temperature regulation. If BB was born this week he/she would have a 90% survival rate… despite the fact there are still (supposedly) 11 more weeks of cookin’ to do.

5 Wonderful Years

Yesterday, Matthew and I celebrated 5 years of marital bliss! It’s funny how quickly time seems to fly, while at the same time feeling like forever! (I guess the fact that we have been dating/together for a total of 13 years makes the 5 of actual marriage seem longer)… in a good way. So much has happened/changed for us in those 5 years, let’s recap: We get married in my 2nd year of vet school, we go to Tahiti on our honeymoon, and we have to come home (sad). He lives in Santa Rosa with his pops and I live in Woodland. For a year and a half HE dives to see me just about every weekend (not great on the gas tank of his truck or our pocket-book). I graduate, we go to Alaska to celebrate, I move in with him and Pops and we all live there together for a year (one big happy family). I work in Petaluma as a large animal vet (as I study to pass the test…. Stupid test) :), we start house hunting, fall in love with a little house in Santa Rosa and buy it (even though we don’t know if I passed the test or if I’ll have a job… since I stopped the large animal thing). We move in, I pass the test, I get a job in Healdsburg working on small animals. We take some amazing vacations (Utila: get scuba certified, Hawaii: Dad turns 60), buy a new car and then we have a baby… Mallory Rose! WOW! Wonderful, life changing, craziness! I go back to work, and then suddenly don’t have a job! Ahgggggg! Matthew is a rock, supportive and bringing in ALL the bacon! Mallory grows, takes her first step (I actually got to see it happen, because I wasn’t working… sooooo happy to be there for it)! I find work, to celebrate we go to the Bahamas… a little too much ‘celebrating’ occurs and B.B. joins the picture. I learn to work on birds, snakes, rodents and hold down the hospital as my boss battles cancer, Matthew gets ‘yanked’ around at work… but sticks it out and we get ready for our life to change again (in a matter of weeks)!!! What an adventure!
I love you dearly my sweet husband. You are my best friend, my rock, my stallion (TMI, I know). You bring a smile to my face and joy to my heart every single day. Thank you for all you do for me and our family. I love you and can’t wait to see what the next 5, 10, 20, 60… years will bring. xoxox

Oh Christmas Tree

Mallory is in LOVE with our Christmas tree! Almost every morning since picking it out, she give it a hug or a kiss. She calls it her “Tee”. She is great with the lights and ornaments and only once has she pulled on them too hard. She loves to gather her books and toys together and read to them under the tree, it’s so cute. She is such a good little girl, we are soooooo lucky.

28 and 31

7 months down… 2-2 ½ to go! Our little B.B is now about 15 inches long (about the size of an average piece of fire wood (at least here in our garage). This week it will hopefully settle into a nice head-down position and stay there until ‘D-day’. It’s spending most of its time pluming up, and now has 2-3% body fat. Its bone marrow is producing red blood cells, so with all that new/extra blood racing though both of us, I have another thing to blame for the weight. J Things are going well though… I have found a heating pad at night helps a little with the sciatica issue… but that’ll go away as soon as BBs born!!!! One of the b-day gifts from my parents was a massage, so I think I’ll see if the masseuse can work on that back-issue area. Yeah I had a birthday, I am now 31! It was a wonderful, quiet, 2 day celebration (I’ll blog about it soon).

Baby Dr. Apt

I had another baby doctor appointment today... All is wonderful. My uterus is measuring spot on (27.5 cm) and have gained a (gulp) 'appropriate' amount of weight (24.5 pounds.... uuuhhhhgggggg) and just to keep us guessing B.B's heart rate was higher then its ever been at 147 bpm. Hmmmmmm. (Oh, and the insane hiccups that were happening, aren't. It's maybe every other day now. So once again.... hmmmmmm). We brought Mallory with us and she had a fun time too... though she freaked out a little when the midwife went to raise the table and she couldn't see me. So poor Loren had to keep it low and do everything bending over. She liked listening to the heart beat (since it sounded like a galloping horse) but wouldn't even think about letting the doppler close to her 'baby' belly. I also got some good ideas about treating the horrible lower back pain/sciatica that I have had with this pregnancy, so that should be nice. I only have one more 'normal' appointment left and then I start coming in every 2 weeks...Wow, this baby is actually going to be hear really soon. I go through waves of wanting to hold and snuggle BB right now and freaking out thinking there is now way we are ready (mentally, financially, emotionally, physically....) for another baby. Guess it's coming if I'm ready or not, huh?! :)

27 Weeks

Week 27 has already come! It's nutty to me that in 13 weeks or less (God willing) I'll be holding little B.B.! Time is flying (I know I must say that each week... sorry). Any way I have now entered into the THIRD and FINAL trimester and if B.B. was born today he/she would have a minimum of a 85% chance of survival. B.B is now around 2 pounds and is 14.5 inches long (about the size of or wound up extension cord). Its little head is about 2.5 inches in diameter and its little eye lids now frequently blink. B.B has all of his/her eye lashes and eye brows and the little one will start to smile (especially during R.E.M.) this week.