Comparison Pics

My sister Tara asked for some comparison pics of my three girls. So here ya go! Do you think she looks more like Annie, Kalia, or a mix between? (Most people around here are saying Annie...)

ELLA








KALIA



ANNIE

Ella Audrey Bigler

Ella Audrey Bigler

born Apr 1, 2011
1:16 a.m.

8 lbs
20 inches

Well, I am going to start typing up the birth story, but until then, here's the story of how we came up with her name. I typed this about two weeks ago, so it's basically ready to go.

We started making lists of names early on, because we've always had a hard time finding a name that we both like (for a girl. Boy name...easier for us.)

Samuel had three requirements for a name- he wanted a name that was meaningful and invoked a sense of honor (or something like that.) And he didn't want the name to be so trendy/popular that she was like, the fourth one in her class every year. He also doesn't like "out there" names (you know, creative type of names.)

As for me, I just wanted it to sound cute with Bigler, and also with "Kalia and Annie and ...."
But it was hard because he tends to like older names, like people from my generation. Those names are just out of style now, ya know? I tried to tell him that.

We tried biblical names, since those are cool and "honorable", and we considered Hannah, since she was the mother of the prophet Samuel, and she's awesome. Then I realized it would be too hard to have a Hannah AND an Annie in the same family. They'd probably both end up being known as Hannie. So I pushed a little for the name Emma, since I think very highly of Emma Smith...but Samuel just wasn't sure.

I had my friend and her sister make me a list. It was a way cute list. Samuel picked "Lily" as his favorite name from that list, and I liked it okay too, but didn't know if it felt right.

I put out a request on facebook, promising anyone who could provide us with the name we would use-- a free pie from the famous Karen Esplin. She makes the best pies EVER, and she has like, 25 amazing ones to choose from.

There were 53 comments on that post, and most of them offered at least 4-5 names. So we had another big list of potentials to consider. Lily was on the list several times, and so was this other name- two people Brooke W. and Lindsey F. mentioned the name Ella, but at the time, even though we liked it, it didn't ring any bells for us.

So we made another list, and tried family names as middle names (Grace and Pearl are two family names on my side that would work...) I tried to convince Samuel that she should be named Mariah. For no other reason than the fact that I thought Mariah Bigler sounded cute. I even ordered a box of diapers from Amazon in that name, to see how I liked it.

But I just kept feeling like we were MISSING something. Like I needed to keep searching, cause I had either overlooked it, or just hadn't found it yet. And Samuel feels strongly enough about naming a child that we started praying for inspiration to know what to call this little one.

And then one day, Kalia and Annie started talking about their little sister ELLA.

And I mean, talking about her as if they already knew that was her name, as if they already knew her. It was so random. They haven't seen any TV shows, books, or movies with that name...they only know of Cinderella. Then one night Annie prayed for her friend Ella "when she comes out" (of my belly). It was so sweet. And I just wondered where on earth that had come from. So I mentioned it to Samuel. And he thought it was interesting. Like, maybe they were given a little glimpse of something on the other side of the veil? We weren't sure. Thought it might just be a phase.

Then we were at dinner at his parents house, and I told them that Kalia and Annie were referring to their sister by the name Ella. And then Samuel's dad, who is the 8th of 11 children, smiled and said, "Hey, that's my mother's name!" I was kind of shocked because Samuel thought his Grandma's name was RUTH- he was so little when this grandma passed that he didn't remember much about her. It turns out that Ruth was his Great-Grandma. So his dad clarifies that his mother's name was Elivra, but everybody called her Ella- and she was known to everyone as Ella Audrey Bigler.

And it all kind of started to come together in my mind. I have never met this Grandma Ella Bigler, but her son and his siblings are some of the sweetest, most Christlike people I have ever met in my life, and I just knew that it must have been an incredible woman that raised those children. Samuel and I started thinking more and more about the name, and considering it as a name for the baby. It just sorta felt right. About a week ago I was able to talk to his dad and uncle about Grandma Ella, and it confirmed what I was guessing. The woman was amazing. She raised 10 of her own children, plus adopted an 11th. She was a nurse and took care of many many people throughout her life, often for free. (And Samuel is becoming a nurse! So that's cool too!) and she was a "Rock" in the church- the first to offer service to anyone in need. (Sounds just like Samuel and his dad.) His uncle, as he told me this, had tears streaming down his face as he said that medically, she died from a "tired and overworked" heart- but that he knew that it was even more so a description of her spiritually.

I can't wait to meet this lady someday. It's so cool to think that my kids probably knew her well before they came to earth. And maybe she's even been helping this little baby get prepared for earth life. One night when I was sitting on the couch, thinking about things, I asked my large belly/baby if she knew her Grandma Ella. And I got a good hard kick. So I asked if she wanted to have the same name, and I got another good kick.

Pretty convincing, if you ask me. Kalia...Annie...and Ella. I think I like it.

We have never named a baby BEFORE we've seen her face, so I was hesitant to totally commit to the name, but now I am sure it's right. And that's my cool story of how we found the name for little baby Ella Bigler.

Birth story and more pictures to come soon.
:)

I'm on a RAGING RAMPAGE!!!!

Oh my goodness. Some crazy person has taken over my body and I don't know who she is.

So today I am just emotional. Raging. I really don't know what's going on. After that nice, feel-good post last week about my gratitude, well, now I'm just going nuts.

Today was rough. I am still tired and barely have a voice. I still can't taste or smell anything. But the cough and sinus problems are slowly going away. Very slowly.

The real problem is that my girls are making monster messes. I am trying SO hard to keep this little basement all clean, (and maybe this is adding to the aggravation) but they keep making these huge disasters, the kind that are so big that I have to clean it myself, rather than supervise them as they do it, to take responsibility for their actions of course!

I had a baby shower to go to today- for my sister-in-law. So I turned on Nick Jr. for my girls and hopped in the shower and started my full one hour "get ready" routine. But I was only about 15 minutes into said routine (getting out of the shower) when I exit the bathroom only to find ALL the couch cushions piled on the floor, surrounded by a package of shredded and crumbling hamburger buns...oh the crumbs...they were EVERYWHERE, including in between the couch sectional cracks, etc, and all over the entire living room. There were even a few chewed up pieces of bread on the carpet.

I flew off the handle and just started SCREAMING at them in my hoarse voice. And rather than cry and wilt away, they seemed to think it was FUNNY (was I naked? or halfway covered in a towel? Yes, probably.) and this just made me even more mad. I made them go to time out, which they ran to giggling, and just sat there together having fun. Which just makes me even more angry. Why is my screaming charade not working? I scream louder, scream more, threaten to leave them at home (although they can clearly see that I am not ready to go ANYWHERE), and plus I obviously can't follow up on that threat, but still, they are not responding at all like I was hoping. I finally get them to pick up some of the bigger chunks of bread, but only by continuing my screaming.

The whole time I'm doing it though, I was like, why am I screaming like this? And why can't I stop? It was kind of bizarre. I was running late at this point and had to go finish getting ready. I almost broke down and cried in the bathroom, why, I can't say exactly, but I was just overwhelmed with frustration and...hormones.

We left the house in a rush, and the mess for later. We got home late and I put the girls in the bath, while I proceeded to vacuum the cushions, the cracks, the rug, etc. I hear the girls laughing in the tub, and not splashing TOO much, so I don't check on them for a good 10 minutes.

And, incident #2: This is the third time in TWO days I have had Annie get into my makeup. The first time it was cute/funny, and I took a pic of her before I wiped it off and gently reminded her not to use mommy's makeup. But the second time, not so funny, and the third, well...I couldn't take it anymore. And this time Kalia joined in on the fun, and she knows better.

The screaming begins again. I JUST finish cleaning up one huge mess, I'm tired and irritable, and NOW...this:
Mascara and Lipstain....everywhere. Almost looks like a horror movie at first. Oh, and Annie had mascara all over her face AGAIN. Yeah. Just what I want to do is get down and dirty and scrub the entire tub and shower. See that black ring around the tub? Nice. I'm considering leaving it til Thursday when my mom gets here.

So, there I went screaming again about messes, and WHY are they making more messes for me to clean up? Blah blah blah. Crazy psycho mom. The whole time it was almost like I couldn't close my mouth. It was so weird.

I marched them to their bedroom, put their pajamas on, and had the lights out in 2 minutes. Straight to sleep. No stories, scriptures, or even prayers. They went to sleep with me being angry.

I feel awful.
What is wrong with me?
I vowed not to yell again after the crumbs/couch incident, but I couldn't even make it the rest of the day.

But what is UP with them becoming such little disaster queens, right before the baby comes? I know I've been lucky for the last year to be able to leave them alone for a few minutes and not have this problem. Are they subconsciously doing this because they know some changes are coming? Or it's just a coincidence? Or they secretly like to watch me flying off the handle?

I wish I could say I'm about to go into labor and thus, the hormonal shift...but I don't really think that's the case.

I just needed to vent. Hopefully I will look back and laugh. Tonight I just want to cry.
So that's my story for tonight.
The End.

Change of Heart

It seems like I have a change of heart right before my babies are born. Change as in...
I start to realize how UNGRATEFUL I sound. I realize how lucky and blessed I am.
And lately, I have had a change of heart about wanting Baby Girl to come early.

First of all, that "dry chest cough" that I had (that was making me pee my pants all day) did not get better-- it got worse. Quite a bit worse. It has turned into a total of 4 weeks being sick. I have spent many days in bed, trying to rest and get better. And the sickness just keeps moving around. When I start to feel better, it migrates up to my head, or throat, and it all starts again.

I don't know what is up with this "Super Bug" because it is so resistant to everything that I've done to fight it- including a priesthood blessing. And my house is getting dirtier (not cleaner) and my laundry is piling up-- the exact opposite of what I hoped to bring a new baby home too. Plus, after all these weeks, Kalia and Annie just caught whatever I have, and they have had fevers and coughs and sore throats. DEFINITELY don't want the baby to come yet!!

I finally realized that there was maybe a lesson to learn here and had the thought to put our names on the prayer rolls of several temples (also the names of my sister's kids- she had her baby last Wednesday, and her kids are sick too.) And my dad also offered to have a family fast. And I definitely think he was inspired as I remembered Matthew 17:21- you know, the story where the disciples couldn't understand why they couldn't cast the evil spirit out of someone- and Jesus taught them that some things only "goeth out with prayer AND fasting." Kind of like this sickness that WILL NOT LEAVE.

So now there are lots of prayers (and people fasting, yesterday) offered in our behalf, and I am sure that we will get better quickly. I am so relieved to have that extra power added to what we've been trying to do on our own for weeks. I am starting to feel a lot better and even get a few things done in preparation for the baby.

I was dilated 1 cm as of last Thursday, and 50% effaced. I am having hard Braxton Hicks contractions, but who knows what it all means. Just that the time is getting close. My mom is flying in on March 31st. I would love to have the baby that night. I loved having an induction date last time, but the anticipation and excitement of not knowing exactly when she'll come is kind of fun too. And it's helping that I'm not in a hurry for that day. It's helping a LOT.

In other good news, I stopped gaining weight. In fact, I was 4 lbs less than that last Red Lobster/10 lb weight gain appointment. So that was nice. And I haven't been really hungry (I can't smell or taste right now) so my eating is tapering off-- and I'm trying to eat a TON of fruit and drink gallons of water. But I'm not so worried about my weight anymore.

That's what my change of heart is about. I was reading a pregnancy book and I read a cheesy line about "loving your uterus and being grateful to your body" I kind of snickered...and then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

Here I have been so critical of my body and my belly size and my weight gain, and yet when I stop to think about it, my body has been so good to me these last 9 months. Aside from all the throwing up (which stopped at 14 weeks, so can I really complain?) I have had 3 extremely healthy pregnancies. I have never even spotted once, in 3 pregnancies. I don't have to go on bed rest. My blood pressure stays low throughout. No toxemia, pre-eclampsia, or placenta previa. I don't even have heartburn. And then my babies come big and healthy and able to nurse well and...SERIOUSLY, HAS ANYONE ELSE BEEN IRRITATED WITH MY BAD ATTITUDE? I have decided that I do "love my uterus" and I really, really appreciate that my body is able to carry and deliver strong healthy babies. So if I have to gain a lot of weight to do all that, SO BE IT. So I've even started...well...talking to my body...and my uterus...and thanking it. Weird maybe. But it's pretty amazing what is going on in there. All those organs and hormones working together and creating a little person, all the while keeping me alive. Awesome.

I just don't know why I have been so ungrateful. I apologize to everyone who's had to listen to me complain. I know that the older I get, the pregnancies will probably bet harder, I will eventually experience complications and probably a miscarriage, and maybe more, but here I am at 38 weeks....14 days to go, and feeling quite comfortable- not too miserable, and not in any real hurry to have the pregnancy end.

So yeah. Change of heart. I feel kind of humbled and wanted to make sure I wrote this down.

I don't know if it's the change of heart or if I'm really not as big, but I don't feel as huge as I normally do at this stage. One more week and we'll do the traditional bare bellied sports bra pic but here's just a belly shot. (I measured 37 cm at almost 38 weeks.)

25 Days Left

I am counting down in days now. No more of this "weeks" stuff. That sounds too far away. Days. Away. Here's a few things I'm feeling at 25 days til the due date.

Oh my Aching (lower) back. My belly is getting heavy.

The feet, hands, and face are really swelling. To quote Samuel, "This is when the real metamorphasis happens." Thanks babe. (And so I will post another belly picture, but at this point there's not much you can say except agree that I'm getting very large. It's okay. Just don't say anything. Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't pull my bangs back like that.) I will show you the belly from both sides, because one side always looks bigger and so I always omit that side when I post pictures. :)

I am getting rid of a chest cough. It's at the stage where it's a dry cough, but I am hacking really really hard. You know what this means. I keep wetting my pants basically. Joy of joys.

We didn't really have a name that felt right...until Kalia and Annie got involved. It's kind of a cool story, and I will save it for later, but we MIGHT have found the right name. That would be such a relief! (And hint, it is a cute name, but not once had we ever added it to our "list of possibilities.")

My sister-in-law had her baby on Friday night. We went to the hospital on Sunday to visit. He was beautiful and so tiny and my girls wanted to hold him the entire time. I had to fight them for a turn. And that's when I realized what I should expect when we bring our baby girl home. I didn't expect them to be quite so INTERESTED in this little person in my belly. Guess it's good to know in advance so I'm not blindsided by it.

Even though I have been telling them about their sister, and they have felt her kick many times.

Her car seat is already in the car. We've been trying out 4 different places of where she will fit best, and where she can sit that will allow Kalia to buckle herself in and out- one less thing for me to do.

It's the same car seat that Kalia and Annie came home from the hospital in, but my awesome friend KRISTI sewed me a gorgeous and brand new car seat cover. Isn't it adorable?

I am waddling.

Never, EVER go to your OB doctors appointment right after you went to lunch at Red Lobster. Not only did I eat soup, salad, 4 cheese biscuits, and then 1/4 of my pasta, I drank 5 full glasses of water. Then I had to get weighed, and I weighed SIX pounds more than I had when I checked earlier that morning. My doctor asked me if I REALLY gained 10 lbs in one month and I said no but my chart said otherwise. I even made the nurse weigh me twice. And both times it showed that ugly 10 lb weight gain. I was aghast. I blame it entirely on Red Lobster.

My next appointment is on St. Patty's day and I can finally get "checked". I hope the last 5 months of Braxton Hicks contractions will at least have me dilated to a 1. Is that too much to ask?

Wouldn't it be great if I could weigh LESS at that appointment than I did at the one two weeks prior?

Do I talk too much about my weight? Sorry. It bugs me, yes, but not enough to actually DIET while PREGNANT! Heaven forbid! Bring on the donuts. I will be dieting enough after the baby is born.

Speaking of donuts, we have a LOT of them around here, because they are Annie's treat of choice when she poops on the potty. And since that happens almost once a day, maybe every other day, there are a lot of donuts around here.

I love the maple bars.

I am doing okay sleeping at night, besides getting up to pee. We sleep with our window open and a big fan blowing the cold air into the room. I love it. But it takes me FOREVER to fall asleep at night, and FOREVER to wake myself up fully in the morning. I wish my fatigue would get itself in order and let me fall asleep earlier at night.

My huge protruding belly finally paid off at Stake Conference when an usher came (2 minutes after the meeting started) and recruited me off the HARD METAL CHAIRS (all the way in the back, up on the stage) and paraded us up to the front to the "Reserved Seating". It was such a good meeting, and so much better up in the front. Kalia and Annie were much better behaved than they would have been otherwise. And my tailbone was extremely grateful. (I took those pics up above right after Stake Conference. So the swelling +waddling + belly must have done the trick.)

I am getting scared. I am not going to be induced. If I go all the way to my due date, I will probably have another 9 lb baby. My last 9 lb baby was so stuck in my pelvis, they couldn't even attempt to get her out with a vacuum or forceps. What if I can't get her out? Trying not to worry...trying not to worry.

That's all for now.

Blurb Delivers

My blog books arrived today! Six years of my life, now fully documented. It took up so much time, I am so glad to have this done and out of the way. It was a new years resolution (check!) and probably the only one I ended up keeping. I didn't do anything fancy, in fact I kept it as simple as possible, and put as many pictures in as possible (not just ones from my blog- I went through all our pictures to make sure everything I wanted was in there.) And thanks to a tip from my sister, I made the pictures as big as possible too. I love how the books turned out. The colors are great, and even though I didn't upgrade to premium paper, I was really happy with the thickness of the pages. Here's a peek inside my two (280 page) books.
.

Front covers. I wanted pure pictures on both the front and back.

Here are the backs:
And a few more pages inside:


What a treasure! Now when I'm asked "what would you rescue if your house was on fire?" or something like that, I have a better answer.

On a random side note, I love this picture. Annie is about 80% of the way potty trained. Just taking it slow and at her pace. If she didn't want to be potty trained, I didn't want to force her right before a new sibling arrives. She will probably still regress, but oh well. Lately she's been really gung-ho about wearing panties. And putting them on herself, of course. A private blog is about the only place to share this little gem.

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Here are the winners of the giveaway! Did you win?

Shantal
Meili
Jaesi
Tara
Krystal
Jamey
Jamie
Pam
Emily
Michelle (both Michelles)
Tammy
Misti
Emma
Kat

YES, you read that right. EVERY person is getting an Amazon coupon.
I've never done a giveaway before. I had totally planned to give away the two coupons, done by random drawing, etc. But then all of you started leaving comments about how helpful it would be if you won-- and it was tugging on my heart strings! I knew I couldn't really RIG the results, actually, I knew that I COULD, but that wouldn't exactly be ethical, plus, how could I narrow it down? At least half of you have (or will have) two kids in diapers!

So, I found myself wishing that everyone could have a coupon. And I figured out how to make it happen. Basically I went to Babies R Us and got 13 more free magazines (the free subscriptions I mentioned above) and now- everyone is a winner. I did find that the latest edition of Baby Talk magazine has $10 off coupons to the Amazon Baby Store- so it's good on everything in the store. With Amazon Mom, you have free shipping with Amazon Prime, so you can get COMPLETELY free items like blankets, bottles, pacifiers, etc. Also, you can stack the $10 off coupon with the 20% off coupons, in fact, you can stack a code that starts with YT (20% off) with a code that starts with YJ (20% off) PLUS the $10 off coupon. If you do that on a huge economy size box of diapers, your total will be $3.00 or LESS. BUT, like I said, they won't let you use more than one $10 off coupon PER amazon.com account (but you could technically create others with different email addresses.)

Having said that, WINNERS (that would be all of you who left a comment above) please email me ASAP at heatheresplin@yahoo.com and I then I can EMAIL you the code to use right away. It expires 2/28/11 so make sure you use it quick!

I love you all blog readers and friends.
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Valentines Day!

BEST DIAPER DEALS EVER! + a GIVEAWAY!!!

1. Diapers on Amazon.com
First, you either need to get your hands on a coupon like this. You could buy it on ebay, or subscribe to Parents Magazine, or Parenting Magazine, or get a FREE subscription of American Baby or Baby Talk Magazine. (HERE and HERE)
In the past it has been 20% off Diapers at Amazon.com but I'm also starting to see $10 off any purchase in the Baby Store at Amazon.com, but you can only use that coupon once per account.

2. Go to Amazon.com and sign up for Amazon Mom- it gives you an extra 15% off of diapers and also, 3 free months (more months free if you make an order) of Amazon Prime, which gives you free shipping on lots of stuff with no minimum order (perfect for the $10 baby coupon- you can basically get $10 stuff FREE with no shipping if you have those coupons + Amazon Prime). More info on Amazon Mom or sign-up HERE.

3. Search for big (economy packs) of diapers like Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, and a few others like Seventh Generation or Fisher Price. The important part is that they will be eligible for SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE, which qualifies your order for 15% MORE off of your diaper order.
Subscribe and save means you sign up for them to deliver your order once every 1,2,3, or 6 months. I always click on "once every 6 months" because you will cancel this subscription after your order comes (so that you can use another coupon in the future.) You will also get an EMAIL before they send you another subscribe and save order, so that can remind you to cancel if you forget. You will know if the diapers are eligible for Subscribe and Save if you see that option on the right hand side (or you can filter your search on the left hand side.) The box looks like this:
4. Okay, are you doing this math with me? 20% + 15% + 15% off = 50% off!!! That means you can get a huge box of Pampers (size 4 is 176 diapers) for $20 BUCKS!!! THAT'S ELEVEN CENTS PER DIAPER LADIES!!! plus you get free shipping- your diapers will be there like, 2 days later at your doorstep. If you get Luvs diapers, it's like, $17!!!, or even something like this:


All right, many of you already knew all about THAT stuff, so here's the other great part. I'm doing my first ever GIVEAWAY!!! WOOHOO!!!

I have TWO extra 20% coupons to give to two lucky winners. All you have to do is leave a comment. Deadline to enter is Saturday, February 12th!!

January

How is this month over already? Have I really not blogged all month?
A summary of what's been happening in JANUARY 2011:

*The winter is passing WAY too quickly. It's absolutely heaven outside every day- 75 degrees and sunny. I am already dreading the summer and wishing time would just slow down.

*I am spending HOURS every day working on getting my blog turned into books. It's long overdue, and it was one of my New Years Resolutions. I'm doing that instead of blogging these days! It's so time consuming, but I can't wait to get them. I am doing two huge ones (280 pages each) of my blog over the last 6 years, plus a wedding album, plus one for my mom's blog. I bought Groupons to pay for them, and I only have 22 days to finish. Almost done!

*Speaking of weddings...yesterday we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I can't believe it's already been 5 years. We were going to splurge and go on a cruise until I realized there was no way anyone was going to let me on a cruise ship with this big belly. I guess we'll just go out to dinner today. We are really bad about making a big deal about our anniversary...BUT, we do get to do staycations and over night getaways almost once a month (thanks to my great in laws and to Expedia. Another post on how to get free hotel stays...coming soon.) So I don't feel deprived. Here's one of my new favorite pictures that's going in the wedding album. I never even noticed this picture before.

*My parents drove 8 hours to visit us. We loved having them here. We had a great weekend with them, and my girls loved having Grandma and Grandpa all to themselves. And they left us better than they found us: With lots of new food storage, and with both my girls staying in bed all through the night. My mom made that happen with a GUM bribe that has continued in the two weeks since they've left. I didn't think it was possible...but I am feeling a lot more rested. (So far no gum in hair or on carpet...I am not expecting that to last. But hopefully the new night habits will.) THANKS MOM!!!!! Here's a few pics from their visit:

Off to church...we were all wearing black and white...unplanned...It was fun to have both Grandmas (and Grandpas) over for Sunday dinner.

*Samuel is taking one class this semester, along with working. Biology! He has to go at the pace of the nursing program he's in- and since he already has his bachelors degree, he doesn't need all the other classes they are taking right now. So of course I helped him find his textbook for $65 instead of $157 that the bookstore was charging. Half.com baby. It's kinda fun to see him as a student.

*Pregnancy is going great. Baby Girl moved out of her rib-cartilage-tearing position, and most of my pain in gone and I am somehow managing to sleep through the night without having to get up to go the bathroom too!!! So I am EXTREMELY grateful for these positive changes. December was an exhausting and painful month, but January is going MUCH better.

*A lot of strangers are asking when I'm due. I've decided to just answer "Two weeks" instead of two months. That usually scores me a few compliments, instead of looks of pity.

*After gaining 7 pounds in December, I didn't step on the scale for 30 days (out of discouragement/depression). Maybe my new years resolution to "eat healthier" has helped, but I finally braved the scale this morning...only 2 pounds this month! What a relief for someone like me who packs the pounds on.

*We are still hunting for baby girl names. I just don't feel super connected to anything. I got a ton of great suggestions on facebook, and last night I finally ran them by Samuel, and we have a big list to choose from again. We'll probably end up taking the narrowed down list (of 5-10 names?) to the hospital and figure it out when we see her.

*I am SO BABY HUNGRY! For a newborn! It's making it hard to wait the last 9 weeks. I don't care that all they do is eat and cry. I love that tiny curl-in-a-ball-on-your-chest stage and wish it lasted longer. (Found this picture while working on book #1. This is Kalia:)

*I really feel the need to just get everything ready for the baby now, not because I think she'll be early, but because I really don't want to stress about anything the last month. So the newborn clothes are out, washed, and put away, I bought new burp cloths and a new bouncy chair, and I have a new kind of bottle to try. I also ordered some stuff off of Amazon with all these awesome coupons that keep coming in magazines (deserves it's own post....maybe later ok?) So I have milk storage bags, nursing pads, and one brand new baby blanket. Everything else for this baby is stuff I already have. I guess that's the beauty of having 3 girls in a row! My friend is recovering our car seat for us. I am SO excited to see it since i have no idea what it's going to look like. At least that will feel like new.

*I want Samuel to be able to feed her once a day, so she never refuses a bottle. I'm hoping to get a breast pump from WIC, since I don't have one. Fingers crossed.

*I've bought a bunch of different kinds of newborn diapers, and stocked up on my favorite Huggies Wipes. I'm so sad that my favorite newborn diapers (Pampers Swaddlers) switched to Dry Max. I hate Dry Max. If I find a package of the old version, I buy them. I'm also trying Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive (no Dry Max) to see if they'll do. Also a few generic brands. Anyone have a good newborn diaper that worked for them? I'll try that too.

*My biggest fear with this baby is that she'll have food allergies too, like Annie did. (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let her not have them...) Let me remind you that Samuel and I do not have any food allergies that we are aware of, so we don't know why Annie has them.

*Speaking of Annie, she is doing the same thing Kalia did when I was about this far along-- and that's getting clingy and sad when I leave her (like in nursery.) We've been talking about Baby Sister coming to our family for a long time, but all of a sudden these little kids just start to SENSE it, you know? I am just not sure how Annie's going to like sharing my attention. She's always been a mama's girl. She also has to sit on time out every day for hitting Kalia- maybe I should call it swatting...still though. It has to stop. This could be a bad combo.

*Finally, a funny story about Kalia and her (past) binky addiction. We were in Babies R Us the other day trying to find the perfect way to spend a gift card. I wheeled Kalia past the binky section (it was more like a 100 foot WALL of pacifiers) and it was like all the sparks in her body started flying. She was so in awe of all those binkies. She wanted me to wheel her close enough just so she could touch them. After a few minutes I wheeled her away, and we were all the way across the store when she said to me, "Ok Mom, here's your choices. Take me back to the binkies, or let me get out of the cart." Oh man, I still laugh outloud over that one. One, that she was "giving me choices" or two, that she was still obsessing over the binky wall, and plotting a way to get back to them. I took her back (since there was no way I was going to let her run loose in that huge store) and I promised her that another day I would let her pick out a new binky for Baby Sister (probably from somewhere that's a little cheaper.

*One more cute story from the other day- Kalia is really into Disney Princesses and movies and dressing up right now, and she's started to grasp the concept of "getting married." She saw the wedding album I was working on and said, "You and Daddy get married!" Which was cute, but the funny part was that the other day at the park she grabbed Annie's hand and they started running together, and Kalia said, "Annie, we're married! Call me 'Hon'. "

Good times. :)

Kalia's favorite princess dress:
I straightened her hair a little bit with a flat iron. It's getting long.

Kalia and the Monkey Bars

Just put this on facebook, but this is Kalia crossing the monkey bars. I didn't know she could do it, but I love how she is usually pretty brave and will just try stuff and figure things out as she goes.

More Christmas Catch Up

These are mostly just pictures of some recent events...

Nana and Papa (Samuel's parents) came over to help the girls make Gingerbread Men.

Ew...glad nobody noticed that my hair was dipping in the frosting.

Gingerbread houses:

Looks like these pictures are all out of order, but that's okay. This what a Gingerbread house looks like when you let the kids do it themselves. They loved their little creation though, and Kalia asked if she could sleep with it in her room. :)




Annie had a short fascination with hairbows...as in, she wanted to wear lots of them at once. :)