pregnancy. pregnancy. and more pregnancy.

yes, that's me. yes, that's my belly (like 10 minutes ago, actually). yes, it's still growing (maybe i should take a new picture so we can compare before/after and see how big of a change there was? i feel like i'm growing that fast these days).

so this week i graduated to full-term status.
i definitely am full. as in, there's no more room. as in, no more room in the inn. as in, every time little miss baby girl sticks her bum up in the air, my belly expands on the right side until i think that it can't possibly stretch any more. ouuuch. (but cute to imagine..all snuggled on her tummy sticking her bum right up in the air).

doc says i'm dilated to about a 2 (not quite but almost) which is amazing because i didn't even dilate to 1/2 a centimeter with Ellie. she also says that i'm measuring about a week ahead, too. but we all know that either thing means...not much. i'm still here. i'm still pregnant. no show yet, no all-night parties yet, no poop fireworks yet...just waiting. and quite frankly, i'm ok with that. really, i am.

you see, last time, we were super on the ball.
we had the room all set.
like allllllll set. every drawer filled to the brim. every picture hung perfectly. wow.
dinners made.
house organized.
clothes all washed.
every nook and cranny of the house cleaned.
fridge stocked.
sub-plans written...4 weeks before Ellie even came...
Hospital bag packed...5 weeks before Ellie even came...
yadda yadda yadda.

this time, i feel like a major slacker. colonel slacker, even.
yes, we've painted the room. redone the dresser. put up the crib! and yesterday, i finally even finished washing the newborn baby clothes, blankets, & accessories. (go me...i hate laundry).
but i have a mile-long to-do list...including:
buy a crib mattress.
finish sewing baby bedding.
clean pantry/stock fridge.
pack Hospital bag.
organize garage/closet of baby room.
and lots of other things that are probably only important to me...

so, yes, it's ok baby girl is sittin' snug as a bug and holdin' on tight.
because even though i'm thrilled to strip this alien body off in the near future, i am thrilled to have a little more time to get things in order, fill up my "fun", "sleep", "Ellie" & "Mike" canteens, and try to imagine what life as 4 will be like. though it's pretty surreal right now.

i've done a lot of pondering over pregnancy the last few days...especially as i realize that we really are in the final days...which is mind boggling! it's made me realize things have been really different this time around:

• can you say fatiiiigue?- it could be attributed to the fact that i'm very anemic this time, taking double doses of iron...but even with that double dose, i'm so beyond tired, which is really out of character for me. i usually consider myself a very high-energy person. but not this pregnancy. whoa. i'm a lazy butthead.
• while i still love cherries, this time around my favorite fruit has been watermelon...by far. for most of June and July, M was out of town...often, he'd leave on Sunday night, i'd buy a watermelon on Monday, and finish the whole thing, on my own (Ellie is NOT a watermelon fan...at all)...by Wednesday. i'd then be in the debate: should i buy another one so that M could have some when he gets home, too? (translation: should i buy another one so that M could have a bite and I could have another watermelon...because it's the only thing that sounds good right now). so Thursday was often spent buying another watermelon and chopping it up...and only eating half of it, so that at least half would be left for M. and i'd eat the leftovers by Saturday. (p.s. have you ever squeezed lemon juice over watermelon? if not, try it. it's diiviiinnnee).
• i've definitely had less swelling this time...i'm still wearing my toe ring and my wedding ring, which were both looonnng gone by this point with Ellie. i think part of the reason was i was teaching/on my feet all day long last time. i don't know what the other part of the reason is...because it has been bloody hot here the last couple of weeks and i am DYIIING. thank goodness it was a mild summer. i don't know how i would have survived otherwise.
• this time, prenatal vitamins are still my worst enemy...causing nausea and barfia whenever i take one. thank goodness for flinstones gummie vitamins.
• last time, i was puking at the end again. i'm so grateful to have dodged that bullet (at least for now). that was pretty stinkin' miserable.
• i've been having waaayyy more contractions this time. like, whoa. and even back contractions. whoa. very different experience from last time.
• we still can't agree upon a name. seriously. last time, we were pretty set on Ellie by this point. we still wanted to meet her to make sure she didn't look like a Hilda or Bertha or something totally random, but we were pretty certain she'd be Ellie. this time, i'm still set on Roxy and M is still set that it's a dog's name. (whatever. lame.). we'll see who wins in the delivery room.
• it's been so fun to have Ellie around to share pregnancy with. she is so funny about it-- and often lifts her shirt up to say, "ouch! the baby in my tummy hurts!" i don't know where she heard that from... :)

still, there have been so many sames as last time, too.

sames:

• both my girls are MOVERS! they love to roll, push, jitter, stretch, and whatever else they can do in the womb. man, i have very wiggly fetuses.
• i have loved fruit again. so refreshing. 
• both times, i was pretty dang sick for the first half- and then felt relatively good for the second half.
• i have the craziest sweet tooth EVER. like i want to eat milk duds and frozen yogurt and cheesecake all. day. long.
• when i sit down, my belly rests on my legs. it's kind of cool and kind of annoying. cool because then i have this perfect little tray to rest things on. annoying because who wants something resting on their legs when they're trying to take a load off while sitting down?
• both babies love to kick my belly button. what's up with that? it does NOT feel good.
• still not a fan of maternity clothes. mostly pants. please, someone out make some decent maternity pants for shorties that don't cost a gazillion dollars.
• got lots of stretch marks last time, and tons more this time. i guess my skin doesn't handle all those bum-stretches very well :)
• the excitement to meet a new little person is the same. i couldn't even fathom what it would be like to be a parent last time, and i still have that kind of wonder and anticipation that makes my heart skip a beat this time. i can't believe we're going to meet a new little human so soon and welcome her into our family. of course i'm freaked out a little bit-- but i know it will be wonderful- and i can't wait for my heart to grow, to watch M's heart grow, and to see Ellie's heart grow as we welcome this little girl into our lives.

so, last time, i was a week late.
who knows what will happen this time.
hopefully i won't need to whip out my old tricks....
but just in case, (and not to be redundant or anything) here's our little "how to induce labor" video that we made with our friends, the Blodgetts, about 5 days past my due date with Ellie. it actually still makes me laugh to watch it. and M still laughs when he watches it too (maybe we think we're funnier than we really are? i mean, we are big dorks.). but maybe, just maybe it will give you a little laugh too.

p.s. i was huuuggeee. like seriously- notice my huge tummy when i'm sitting on the couch..especially toward the end. it makes my back hurt just looking at it.



p.s.s. and yes, of course, i will keep you posted when the real show begins! can't wait! (or can i?)....

xoxo

tiny dancer.

Ellie had her first dance class today.
snap, it was cute.
so so so sooooo cute.
some of my favorite moments:

galloping like horsies (chasse-ing with her lil friend Kate):
:

spinning and twirling at any and every moment possible:

twirling with hula-hoops:

 

 constant tip-toe-ing wherever she went:

giggling non-stop out of sheer dancing joy:

fellow dancers giving each other pep talks:

and more giggling and smiling...following non-stop dance-talk the rest of the day:

 

 

i can't believe how fast Ellie is changing and developing into the little person she'll always be. 

i'm so lucky to be her mama and be there for all these fun, beautiful moments of her little life.

how i love my little tiny dancer!

xoxo

the longest Disneyland post there ever was.

Disneyland.
it just gets better and better every time we go.
as a kid i remember being in awe of the place.
as a teenager, i remember going for family trips and high school trips and feeling like, "i wonder why i don't feel too old for this kiddie place? i can't get enough!"
as a newlywed, i remember going a few times and thinking, "this is just the most romantic place on earth."
but as a parent-
nothing can compare.
it's like you get to re-discover it all over again.
and do things that you felt like a dork doing before you had kids.
like meeting characters.
waiting for-ev-er on a curb just so you have the best seats for a silly musical parade.
buying souveniers like balloons and stuffed animals.
etc, etc, etc.
and because we loved it so much, and Ellie was so angelic and adorable, and because 2 days just wasn't enough...we bought annual passes.
yes, i can now be considered a Disneyland Fanatic.
welcome to the club, self.

of course i have like a gazillion pictures that just can't go without being shared...so, hold on to your hats, and get scrollin'- & enjoy some of our favorite Disneyland moments.

anticipating the day on the train from the parking garage- Ellie was squealing out of excitement. literally.

arriving at the park- we all could NOT wipe these silly grins off of our faces:

Ellie kept referring to the castle as her temple. who's going to wanna burst that bubble? not me, folks. not me.

the first thing Ellie wanted to do was ride "sea world"-- i could not for the life of me understand what she meant. then after her talking about "the boat" and the "kids singing" i figured out she was talking about "it's a small world." so, off to the creepy children musical ride we went. (yes, i think this was her fave).

this was pretty much her expression the whole time:

and so we rode it multiple times in those two days, in different styles. kissy face style:

daring, put-your-hands-in-the-air style:

and sing a long the whole dang time style (since after riding it once, it's impossible to not know every single last word of that dang song).

much to my excitement, we enjoyed many rides this time around. Ellie was never a huge fan of rides before this trip-- but this time we had some classic ride moments.
like on Dumbo (multiple times):

 

 several different carousel rides:

 

even by my mom:

riding the teacups till i thought my belly was going to fall off:

 

 

driving cars on Autopia (Ellie felt like a champ doing this):

 

oh and did i say It's A Small World was Ellie's favorite ride? i take that back. Winnie the Pooh's ride was BY FAR her favorite ride. how random? i think it was especially because she rode on it so many times with Gammy:

 

we also did quirky attractions like the Toy Story ride (though we were very disappointed the new Toy Story ride was closed for rennovations. lame.)- and while Ellie is pretty obsessed with Toy Story (especially Toy Story 2) she was a little freaked out by the three-eyed aliens and Zurg and his evilness.

and then my mom insisted that we go to the Tiki Room. which i think i had done once long long ago-- and which i won't do again for a long long time. what a bizarre, weird experience. i especially like the sound of the machine-birds' beaks snapping back and forth. classy. luckily, Ellie is easily amused. and thought it was pretty awesome to see birds singing and talking. i, on the other hand, wanted to run for the door the minute it started. now, i have never personally been to Hawaii, but that is NOT what i imagine it to be like. AT ALL. still, it was funny. especially since my mom was cracking up the whole time at it's weirdness/awkwardness. and it's one redeeming quality was the delicious pineapple ice-cream we got to devour while we waited for the weird Tiki Gods to talk to us. (please tell me i haven't offended one of you because the Tiki Room is your fave...?)

are you bored yet? because i'm not even half way done. feel free to stop here :) (but if you do, be aware that you are going to miss out on the cutest little Ellie Snow White you ever saw...yes, that statement is a little biased. because this post is written by her mama. but i hope you've gotten used to my biases by now).

the best part to me was when we dressed Ellie up in her Snow White dress to meet the princess. oh my gosh. she looked A-DORABLE...

  

and she actually did pretty well waiting in line....but i was grateful to have M there to take her away to do some rides while i braved the hour wait to finally see what princess we'd get to meet (isn't that weird? they don't tell you who you're waiting in line for...it could be anywhere from 1-3 princesses...and you have no idea who...i kept crossing my fingers Snow White would be there- since that is obviously Ellie's favorite): 

when it was finally our turn, we were so excited to see Tiana first. Ellie LOVES the Princess and the Frog- especially how Naveen and Tiana kiss- so naturally, she planted a wet one right on Tiana's cheek (i wonder if it grosses these ladies out to have little grubby kids' lips and hands all over them all day?)

Ellie was so AMAZED to see Ariel there. she loves the Little Mermaid, too.

and i think she felt the need to show Ariel her stuff- so she started pretending to fly. silly Ellie. Ariel was very nice and looked convincingly amazed:

Ellie seemed most starry-eyed over meeting Belle. i dont' know why? she was all shy and nervous- but then talked about her and her "yellow dress" for the rest of the day.

so at the time, i was way excited because we got to meet some really adorable princesses- but i was also sliggghtly disappointed- because i reaaallly wanted Ellie to get to meet Snow White.

well, not too much later, we were walking by "Ellie's Temple" again....and guess who we spotted!? 

You guessed it! SNOW WHITE! and guess who was with her? Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella! i told Ellie we could meet them, but we had to wait in line (which was only like 5 or 6 people long!) she kept saying to me, "Where is them?"

 

and then finally it was our turn. oh man, our little Ellie was so twitterpated, it's not even funny.

Snow White was so cute and nice to her- she just kept talking to Ellie, and admiring her dress-- i wanted to run up and squeeze her to death for making the encounter so memorable for Ellie.:

 and the rest of the princesses were equally adorable, too. Cinderella kept commenting on Ellie's red sparkly shoes (which Ellie was definitely proud of), and i think Ellie truly felt like one of them. it made me wish i could dress up like a princess for a day and make some little 2-year-old's life complete :)

afterward, Ellie could talk about nothing else. she was so happy and jittery! so, her Prince Charming came and swept her away:

and we went to the wishing well, where Ellie continued to be "Ellie Snow White" and she sang and sang and sang "I'm Wishing, I'm Wishing" over and over again.

 oh gosh it was cute.

while there, we definitely met other characters too- who made Ellie equally starry-eyed.

there was Mickey:

  

and Minnie:

 and Donald:

and Pluto:

 

and Goofy (who she was mysteriously a little creeped out by?)

but i think her very most favorite person of all to meet was "Poppins" (Mary Poppins). you see, we waited in line to meet her- even though we knew she had to leave to get ready for a parade she was in...i just wanted Ellie to be able to give her a hug (what a persistent annoying mom, i know). well, Mary Poppins was so sweet, she asked Ellie (in her most british accent) if she would "care to go for a stroll." Ellie seriously still talks about how she went on a walk with Poppins.

even the parts where we stopped to take breaks were a blast.
Ellie was just so happy.
whether we were at a fountain looking at the water:

stopping at random cars to take a pretend spin:

taking a random photo-op in front of Ellie's favorite letter, O:

 

huggin' and kissin her favorite Aunt Mimi, who came and partied with us each night:

 

trying to get swords out of stones:

dancin' her little booty off wherever there was music (which means, wherever we went):

 

giggling all day long with Gammy (who came both days to play with us and go on rides, and even buy us yummy treats sometimes!)

and getting to spend all day, every day with daddy- which hasn't happened for a long, long time.

it was a lovely, enjoyable, tantrum free (seriously) 2 days...ones that slipped away from us all-too quickly. it was wonderful to be there with my little family, my mama, my sista-- and with the magicalness that lurks around every corner.

 

and of course, i have to leave you with this:

(except for the fact that Ellie asks to go back to Disneyland, every day, multiple times a day. and i'm not even joking....quite frankly, i wish i could go back every day, multiple times a day too!)

now, believe it or not, that's like only 1/2 of the pictures i took. but i'm all sweaty after doing this post (what with holding my hot lap-top on my lap, and my personal little heater that is my basketball belly these days). AND, because i couldn't figure out the new blogger picture uploader too well (i blame it on my lame-pregnancy-brain...which will turn into my Lame-Post-pregnancy brain soon) it has taken me Ellie's entire nap time (a good 2 hours), so i'm going to call it quits here. if you made it this far, congratulations. you can come to my house to pick up a gold star Mon- Fri 9 am - 5 am.

xoxo