Kilps' Christmas '08

Twas the night before Christmas Eve. . .
Bella and Mommy - just settled down for a long winter's nap. I can't seem to make it through the day without napping. My energy levels are at an all time low. Poor Bella has been fighting a cold and is currently healing from an ear infection. We had a few rough nights this week that culminated with her crying in the middle of the night that her ear hurt. She described it as "a bug bit me in my ear." I took her to the doctor the next morning and, sure enough, the ear in pain was infected (the other ear is perfectly fine). Nothing that a little Amoxicillin and ear drops can't help.

Naptime is over and Bella has decided that my belly would make a great desk for her computer.
Christmas Eve. . .
My pretty girl all dressed up. She wore her flower girl dress again. This time, she couldn't wait to put it on (unlike the morning of the wedding when we pretty much had to force her into it). All morning she kept asking if she could put her dress on and I kept telling her to wait until later in the evening because I didn't want her to get it dirty. When it came time to finally get dressed, she was so excited! She even let me put her hair in pigtails - which is so rare. When she was all ready, she raced to the full length mirror in the hallway so that she could admire herself. She even posed for some photos in front of the tree - also very rare.I am now sporting "puffy pregnant lady face". I don't notice it as much when I looke in the mirror - but it's hard to mistake when I see the photos. . . After church and just before bedtime, we let Bella open up one gift.Dora pajamas!!!All ready for bed!Here's our tree all lit up with the presents underneath! The big gift this year was this Radio Flyer wagon. It was actually a combined gift for Bella and Jellybean. Besides the wagon, we got Bella some books and puzzles and filled her stocking with socks, underwear, bubble bath, etc. Jellybean also got a book, wipes, and some bath soap. Beyond that, all of the other gifts were from family and church members.

Christmas Morning!

I didn't take a picture of it, but we lit our final candle on our Advent wreath after singing 'Joy to the World'. We want Bella to always be mindful of why we truly celebrate Christmas. It was a proud moment for me at the doctor's office when the doctor asked Bella what Santa was going to bring her and she said that we'll open presents because it's Jesus' birthday. I think she's getting it.

Opening up one of her presents.Another little thing we stuck in her stocking was this window chalk. We had to take a break from gift opening for a while so that she could play with this and some of her other toys.

Here she is standing in front of the new wagon!She couldn't wait to take it for a spin. And, do you like her crazy hair! We wasted no time with making ourselves presentable that morning!

Kristen took this little family photo for us. As you can see, I also did not waste any time with making myself presentable either. :)

We took another break from gift opening to eat breakfast. In fact, one might say that we're in another break as we speak since there are still some unopened gifts under our tree. Bella just gets really excited about everything she opens. She likes to spend time playing with it before moving on to something else. I'm fine with that - it kind of stretches out the holiday a bit. Anyway, here is Andy serving up his big breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausage, english muffins, hash browns, and orange juice. Very yummy! After breakfast, we decided to bundle up a bit and take that wagon for a spin!At that point, Bella was more interested in running around playing with Auntie Kristen. And yes, she is dressed up as a princess again. She loves those princess dresses!

Later on, we feasted on a Christmas dinner, played games, and worked on a puzzle (currently still under construction). It was a very Merry Christmas!

Now. . . we just continue to wait for the baby! If all goes as it is supposed to, this baby will be here no later than the 31st! We're almost there!

Baby Update

We had another doctor appt. today. Still no progress. At our previous appointment, the doctor said he'd put us in the schedule for a c-section on the Dec. 29th. Upon checking that over today, we learned that the hospital is booked for the 29th. We are now scheduled for December 31st, if I don't go into labor before then. That gives me two more days to see if my body/this baby will cooperate. No matter what, there should be a baby here in 9 days. While I'd love for this Jellybean to come soon, I think it might be nicer for him/her to have a birthday after Christmas - something to look forward to after such a big holiday. . . instead of having a birthday crammed in before or during all the Christmas festivities. So. . . we just wait. I'll do my best to keep everyone posted when things get moving over here.

Anticipating. . .

Beginning on the first Sunday of Advent (which also happened to be Bella's birthday) we've been lighting an Advent wreath at home. Each candle represents one week in Advent and the red candle in the middle is the Christ candle that we will light on Christmas morning. After lighting that first candle, it really hit me how close we were to having this baby. Each candle that was lit represented not only how how many weeks left until Christmas but also how many weeks until our baby's arrival. Tonight, we lit the fourth candle. By the time we light the red one, we'll have passed my due date (Dec. 24th).

For being just shy of 40 weeks pregnant, I'm doing pretty well. The anticipation has definitely reached an all time high. We can't wait to meet this little one and to find out of Jellybean is a boy or a girl. Of course, this baby doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get here. As of my last appointment, I haven't made much progress labor-wise. I go in again tomorrow for another check. That's my last appointment. Because of my previous c-section, I can't go past one week overdue and they won't induce me - it's an automatic repeat c-section. They currently have me on the schedule for a c-section on December 29th, if I haven't gone into labor on my own before them. That gives me one week. I'd really like to try and labor on my own since I never had that experience with Bella. Mostly, though, I just want a safe delivery for me and the baby and whatever way that happens to be, I'm going to be OK with it.

This is me today: 39 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Onto other things:

At my Moms' Club Christmas party, we did an activity similar to Build-a-Bear. Each kid had a Christmas toy to stuff and name. Bella picked a gingerbread toy. (And you'll notice that we were playing dress-up again that morning, which explains Bella's Sleeping Beauty attire. She didn't want to take it off). In goes the stuffing. Before closing her up, we had to put this little star inside. We named her 'Ginger'. There's a birth certificate and everything. And here is Bella with the finished product.We also made some Christmas cookies earlier in the week. Once Bella got hold of that rolling pin, it was hard to get it away from her. Bella and Auntie Kristen decorating the baked cookies. Kristen arrived in town on Tuesday and has been such a big help. It's so nice having her here!Deep concentration as Bella decides where the frosting should go. Our finished cookies! Can you tell which ones Bella decorated?Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! (and that we have some baby news to share soon!)

Jellybean's room and Christmas program

Other than one finishing touch, the baby's room is complete. Everything is set up, clothes are washed, and diapers are ready. I forgot to take before and after photos of this room, but it was pretty much a blank slate. When we moved here, we never really unpacked into this room because it was our hope that we'd use it as a nursery at some point. Here we are! Now that we are using it, our house feels that much bigger. Bella and I love to come in here during the day. I'll sit in the glider and she will look through Jellybean's books. It's really a pretty relaxing place to spend time.

The furniture in here is pretty much a mish mash of things. The crib was a hand-me-down that Bella also used. The changing table is another hand-me-down from a different family. We found the white dresser and night stand sitting out on a curb (can't beat that price)! And a lot of things I've been putting together over the past few months. (A close look at the curtains will reveal how inept I am at sewing in a straight line).

Here is a view of the room from the hallway. A few steps into the roomI'm thinking that we'll probably move the little swing downstairs eventually, but for now it'll stay here.The final touch to this room will be the baby's name above the crib. We obviously can't do that part yet since we don't know if Jellybean is a boy or girl.Here are a few of the finishing touches that I made:

The Family WallUltrasound Photo with Psalm 139: 13-18Hanging Frame (will fill with more photos when baby arrives)Growth Chart (hung on closet door)Today at church was the children's Christmas program. It was so cute! Bella did a little recitation, sung with her beginner's class, and then was a sheep for the Christmas story. I was able to get a few pictures, but really wish I would have brought my video camera to tape her singing. She did a great job! I managed to have a pretty productive scrapbooking week. Here are some of the layouts I did:

HALLOWEEN '08

ANTICIPATINGFLOWER GIRL

BELLA AT THREE

BELLA'S THIRD BIRTHDAYOur dental appointments went really well! Bella was awesome and so brave! I went back with her for her exam and cleaning. She didn't cry or get freaked out and was really excited to get a new toothbrush, floss, stickers, and bouncy ball! Guess I was worried about nothing!

My sister, Kristen, is coming into town on Tuesday! She'll be here for the next few weeks! We're all so excited to see her!

A very full week. . .

The big event of our week was definitely Bella's birthday; but before I get into those pics, I thought I'd share a couple from our Christmas decorating which we did the day before her birthday. Bella did her fair share of decorating - focusing mainly on the red globes. She would put them on and take them off over and over.

This was the look she settled on!It was fun to see her get so into it. The house is all decorated now and I love it! My favorite time is in the evening when the only lights on in the living room come from the Christmas tree. So pretty!

OK, onto Bella's birthday! We had a jam packed day of activity. After church, we had some friends come over who have a little girl about a year younger than Bella. We ate pizza and cake and opened a few presents. Here's Bella sporting her new hat and gloves!The birthday girl with her cake. Cake decorating is definitely not one of my talents. I have no idea how to decorate with frosting and have it look nice so I just grabbed some ribbon and let that be it. Bella didn't seem to mind.

We got this birthday girl hat for her first birthday though she didn't want to wear it then or last year. This year she actually sought it out and put in on herself. I think she liked being the "birthday girl"!

After many attempts to blow out the candle by herself. . . . . . Daddy stepped in to help her out. She gave it a good effort though!Opening up one of our gifts to her - the Sleeping Beauty dvd. She's really into Disney characters and princesses lately. Time to eat cake! We also got her the Minnie Mouse plate that she's eating off of here.

After cake time, we headed off to a kid play place called Kid Junction. They have big slides, rides, and lots of pretend play areas: post office, pizza shop, grocery store, etc. Bella loved it! Here she is in the slide area.

The play restaurant was definitely a highlight. Bella took great care to make some delicious meals!There was also a dress-up stage area.My camera battery died after this. I should probably invest in a back-up one. Thankfully, we still got lots of pics from Bella's big day. When we got home, Bella opened up some more presents and then we popped some popcorn and watched Sleeping Beauty. All in all, a very fun birthday!

Later in the week, Bella and I put together a little gingerbread house. She's been looking forward to this ever since she saw the box earlier in the week. I thought she'd need a little more assistance from me, but once we got the actual house up, she decorated it all by herself. Notice the Snow White outfit. Like I said, she's really into princesses lately.

Here's the finished house! I have it proudly displayed in the dining room.

That same day, I had another doctor appt. Baby is doing well - the heartbeat was in the 160s! I still haven't progressed any, but the baby is very low. My doctor mentioned that my belly was measuring a little small, so he ordered another ultrasound which I scheduled for the next day. I wasn't too concerned at first, but as the day went on I felt a little bit of worry slip in. The possibility of a slight problem was enough to get us to do things we hadn't done yet: pack my hospital bag, pack the baby's bag, install the carseat, wash some clothes, etc. I am happy to say that we are ready for this baby now and everything is looking good! Baby is measuring right on track. We also finished the baby's room this week, though I haven't taken any pictures of it yet. Stay tuned!

On Thursday, Bella had her 3 year well visit. Here are her stats:

weight: 31 lbs. (50th percentile)

height: 31.75 in. (50th percentile)

We have a healthy, average girl. Looks like she is slowing down in her height as she used to be in the 90th percentile for that. I really didn't think that would last too long anyway. Bella did great at this appointment. She got a doctor kit for her birthday and has been really into checking our heartbeats, blood pressure, ears, etc. so she was totally prepared and even a little eager when it came time for the doc to examine her. Some things he had her do were identify colors, jump, hop on one foot, and draw a circle. She passed everything! Next visit is in a year!

Friday evening, our township had its first annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Andy was asked to do the invocation. Here is the mayor handing him the microphone.

Bella all bundled up. It was a very chilly night.Good thing we came prepared with some hot chocolate!This week, we have dental appointments coming up. I'm really not looking forward to it as Bella was fairly traumatized the last time we took her to the dentist. Here's to hoping that this one goes much better. And of course, I'll have another baby appt. Between all my appts., the extra ultrasound visit, Bella's well visit, now the dentist. . . I feel like I've been living at the doctor's office.

Next week, I'll be sure to post pics of the baby's room!