Sandy

Today's post is all about Sandy. I love my little girl and, although I am very excited to have another one, I also worry about making sure Sandy still gets the attention she needs. I think she will love her baby sister, but I also think I need to make extra effort to make sure she still gets time, attention, and love from me. After all, she didn't choose to add a baby to our home and, really, she's still practically a baby herself.

First, a couple of funny stories from this morning. This morning, Sandy brought me a piece of hard candy. "Purple! Purple!" she kept saying. It was, indeed, purple. I realized that Sandy knows the color purple very well, much better than she knows any of her other colors. Any guesses what my favorite color is? I think I am more likely to point out purple things than anything else because I like it so much.

Then, I was eating a miniature snickers bar (I know, I know, both of today's stories involve candy. Really, we eat healthy stuff at our house, too!) and Sandy came over and held out her hand. "Please," I prompted her. "Please," she repeated. I bit the candy bar in half and gave her half. "Thank you," I prompted. "Your welcome!" she said. Hey, what can I say? Manners are a work in progress at our house!

Sandy is such a big helper. I've been trying to wash the insides of my windows, and I left a bucket of window washing fluid and a squeegee in the kitchen. I came in to find this:

She had a blast "mopping" the floor.

Sandy is such a big helper! When she takes a bath, she neatly stacks the bath toys before she asks to get out. That did take some prompting - every time she'd ask to get out, I'd have her hand me the toys and help her stack them up. Now, I don't even have to remind her.

She's also started clearing her place after we eat. I've never prompted her to do that, so I guess she just noticed Bill and I doing it. When she is finished eating, she will carefully carry her dishes, silverware, and glass (one at a time) over to the sink and push them in. What a big helper!

She loves to be outside! Every day she wants to get her shoes on first thing and to "go" somewhere. If she is upset, a walk down the street will almost always calm her down. This morning we woke up to snow:
Not what I like to see at the end of April! We had to take a quick trip to the library to satisfy Sandy's desire to go. She insisted on wearing sandals, so we couldn't go for a walk. The snow was still coming down, so I didn't really want to go for a walk anyways.

Yesterday, Sandy had some friends come over to play. We pushed the couches and some chairs together and built a giant fort. I think that was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. The kids had so much fun climbing around, under, and through their fort! I really enjoyed watching them play!

39 Weeks Update

I had my 39 week check up today. I am 3 centimeters dilated, 80 percent effaced, and the doctor said Abby's head is down and really low, even lower than last week. He said I looked like I could go into labor any minute - but he's had patients hang on like that for a couple of weeks, so there is just really no way to know when she'll come. If I haven't had her by my next appointment (May 3), he'd like to set a date for later that week to induce me. So, we should have this little girl here by Mother's Day!

This morning Sandy wanted to wear my boots. I couldn't believe she could walk in them, but she managed!

Friday, we took Sandy out on a date with us to Trolley Square. We stopped at Pottery Barn Kids and she had a blast playing with the floor models. I'll have to remember that for a rainy day...


They had strollers, dolls, and a dollhouse out. She didn't want to go, but I gave her a 1-minute warning before we left and she came without a fuss. I am loving this new stage where she is easier to reason with!


This next picture shows why I rarely shower by myself anymore.
Bill was watching Sandy last week and decided to take a shower. While he was in the shower, Sandy filled the tub in the other bathroom with her toys and decorated it with a highlighter. The highlighter wiped off pretty easily with baby wipes (Sandy cleaned it up herself with some prompting). This is why I usually pull Sandy into the shower with me and let her play with bath toys while I shower!

I am very grateful, but surprised that Sandy has become a better napper over the last month or so. She's always gone down for naps pretty well, but she rarely slept over an hour. The pediatrician said that was just her body's cycle and it was fine. She's been down to one nap for awhile. Over the last month or so, though, she's started taking a 2 to 2.5 hour nap. It's fantastic! And she'll even let me transfer her to her bed if she falls asleep in her car seat - for a long time, if she fell asleep in the car, that was it for the day's nap! I don't know what has made the difference--maybe she is going through a growth spurt or something--but I hope it lasts a long time!!

38 Weeks Update

I am 38 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. I saw my OB today and I am 2 1/2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Abby's head is down and very low, she's in a great position! So she could come anytime, which means that I really need to get moving so I'm ready!

We dropped off a bag for Sandy at Jaydene's house today, so at least she'll have everything she needs while I'm in the hospital. That is a huge relief! I also bought the few things we wanted to get for Abby: a baby bjorn carrier, a double stroller, and a bassinet that will fit in our bedroom. Sandy has been having lots of fun with the new baby items. She keeps rolling the bassinet into her room and filling it with baby dolls.

Now I just need to clean my house, catch up on laundry, pack hospital bags, and tie up a few loose ends for Primary. I need a big dose of of motivation to get it all done, though. My sister had her baby last week -- she was due May 4, 2 days after me, but she was induced because her blood pressure was high. She has a healthy, 7-pound baby boy and she's doing well. I thought her having her baby would really get me motivated for Abby to come, but really all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch and reading a book and eating ice cream. I don't remember having so little energy at the end of my pregnancy with Sandy, but I guess I wasn't chasing a toddler around then.

Babies R Us Vent

Sandy sleeping in the Babies R Us parking lot

Today I drove to the nearest Babies R Us (in Fort Union) to use a gift card I'd been given. There are only a couple of things we need for Abby, but I am undecided on brands/styles/etc. and was hoping to talk to someone that could help me understand some of the differences in products. Sandy fell asleep on the way there, but since I'm never out that way and didn't have time to wait for her to wake up, I picked her up and went in anyway

It's like pulling teeth to get anyone in there to help. I dealt with three different people as I was wandering around looking for different things. None of them seemed really familiar with the store and where to go -- and none of them knew a thing about the products.

So I was frustrated and didn't end up getting anything on my list. But I wanted to use my gift certificate since I'd driven all the way out there so I grabbed something and went up to pay. The cashier scanned the gift card and said, "Oh, I guess our system isn't working. We can't take any gift cards."

I explained I'd driven out of my way and asked if she had a way to manually call it in or something.... She said she didn't, so I told her I didn't want to get my item after all. Then I asked if they had a customer service number so that I could call and complain about them not being able to take gift cards. She said she didn't and, when I insisted, called a manager who took his time getting there. He told me to call the main number, wouldn't even write it down for me (I am 37 weeks pregnant and was carrying Sandy who was sleeping), and was extremely rude. I called the customer service number and let them know what happened.

I was so mad I just about pitched my gift card out the window as I was driving off because I certainly don't plan on ever going into that store again. Although, a friend pointed out I can go online and at least get something with the gift card.

Seriously!! Walmart has better customer service than this!

Is Babies R Us generally this bad or is it just the one in Fort Union? I've only been in Babies R Us a few other times -- and only once was it a store other than Fort Union. I've never been impressed - which is why I didn't register there when I was pregnant with Sandy - but certainly today took bad customer service to a new level.

Update: I did get a very nice phone call from someone in the corporate office following up on my complaint. She also sent me an apology letter and a $5 gift card.

Sunday Walk

We went on a nice Sunday afternoon walk. Sandy enjoyed riding in her stroller for awhile, then wanted to get out and walk. She put her hands in her pocket and stumbled, falling right onto the cement. Can you see her fat lip? Poor thing, it is so swollen it is making her hard to understand when she talks.

Update on Abby

I went to the OB today and I am dilated to 2 centimeters and 50 percent effaced. I brushed off the doctor when he cautioned me that my delivery could still be a couple of weeks out -- explaining that I was that far along with Sandy 3 weeks before I was induced with her -- so then he got concerned I wouldn't be ready if she came and emphasized that she could come any day. I explained we'd be fine if she did, but I am not getting my hopes up after going late last time.

I am very excited for Abby to arrive! But I am planning on a May baby, not an April baby. Luckily I still feel pretty good. I guess she'll just come when she comes and we'll manage whenever that is.

Happy Easter!

Sandy wore her Easter dress on March 28 since there was no church Easter Sunday. I took this snapshot on our walk to church in front of our neighbor's house.

Bill tried to get some Easter pictures of Sandy on April 1 but she was pretty wiggly so most of them didn't turn out.

Sandy & Sage

Sage

Today we did a small Easter egg hunt in the basement for Sandy. She really enjoyed finding the eggs!