Full of Personality

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a fun idea!  The blogger took a bunch of pictures in a 5 minute period to show how many different faces her child made in that short time.  Well, here's my attempt at doing the same thing! 

My family usually only gets to see Amelia in person two times a year, so they miss all the silly faces she makes on a regular basis. 

She just had to have all her favorite stuffed friends with her in her car: Dolly, Kitty, Frog, and Bear.

She is so funny!

She is so full of personality!  I couldn't believe all the silly faces she made in five minutes. 

The many faces of Amelia...

Fake Smile

Neutral

Happy

Surprised

Devious

Beyond Happy

Sweet Smile

Laugh Out Loud Smile

Excited

Silly Smile

Silly Smile

Just Chillin'

Bratty Smile ;0)

 She's sticking her tongue out at me!

Tunnel Fun

Did she just say butt??

Lego Giggles

Jimmy was just shaking her box of Legos and she loved the noise it made ;0)

Week 33

OMG!  I had a dream last night that I had Alex 6 weeks early.  It felt so real and when I woke up, I was confused.  I was so relieved when I realized it was just a dream.

I'm starting to wonder if the lack of swelling I'm having is due to the fact that I'm having a boy.  With Amelia, I was swollen ALL over and right now, I don't think I have any swelling at all.  My rings and shoes fit fine ;0) 

For a while, I thought the lack of swelling was due to the fact that it was winter (I had Amelia in the summer), but several pregnant friends having girls have been complaining about swelling up. It got me thinking that "baby boy" hormones might be different.  Hmmmm, I guess every pregnancy is different, but I'm still curious if gender has anything to do with it (at least in my case).

It's official, 1/3 of our WAM playgroup is now pregnant.  It's crazy, but cool since we are going through similar situations.  Once baby Alex arrives, it will be nice to have other little babies at playgroup too.  We are all due between January and April.

Because of my big belly, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping, but I know better than to complain.  I know once Alex is here, I'll only be able to sleep for a few hours at a time.  When I wake up in the middle of the night, I try not to move too much because it wakes him up!  His kicks and movements keep me from falling back to sleep. 

I also know that I say this every week, but it is getting so difficult to take care of Amelia.  The physical demands on my body are too much.  Amelia is so active that I'm never able to sit and relax for more than a few minutes before she's off and running again (or getting into trouble!).  I'm exhausted by the end of the day and can barely move.  I feel lots of pressure, growing pains, and my lower back aches.  The gestational diabetes diet and monitoring just adds to it.  Honestly, I feel cranky and hungry all the time, ha ha ha. 

Jimmy has been amazing.  I feel so badly for him because he has to put up with my crankiness ;0)  He has a super stressful job, works long hours, and then comes home to take care of Amelia and I.  Not only does he care for Amelia to give me a break, he cooks dinner, gives her a bath, and then puts her to bed.   I am so lucky to have Jimmy in my life ;0)  I love you Sir!!

Let the countdown begin: 50 days to go...  

Week 33

(Week 33 w/Amelia)

Playground Upgrade

They finally updated and built a new indoor play area at the mall accross the street.  They moved it to a better location and upgraded all the play things.  I think I was more excited about it than Amelia. 

Since it's just accross the street, we've been going at least once or twice a week since she started crawling.  It's been a great place to go when it's too hot or cold, or rainy outside.  Amelia can run around and release some energy! 

The best part is that there is a grocery store and Target atteched to the mall, so I can run errands very easily... and it's in a mall so I can shop or get something to eat as well.  Oh yeah, and my favorite bubble tea place is there too ;0)

It' only been upgraded since the week before Thanksgiving, but we've already had three play dates there!  Sorry about the blurry pictures.  I took them with my phone, so they are not that great.

Christmas Tree Helper

Our tradition is to put up the Christmas tree and decorations during Thanksgiving weekend.  This year, I had a little help with decorating tree!  Amelia was awesome ;0)  I was so worried she would destroy the tree!  She did very well and I think the cats gave me more trouble than she did.  She loved playing with the string of lights and understood the concept of hanging ornaments.

CLICK HERE to see our tree from last year!

Hanging her very first ornament!

She got really good at ornament hanging ;0)

The Lehman Family Christmas Tree 2011

Thanksgiving

We had a really mellow Thanksgiving this year, but it was perfect.  We hosted and had a few friends over for our Thanksgiving feast.  Of course, Jimmy did all the cooking.  He has grown into such an amazing cook and all the food he made was yummy. 

Jimmy roasted a 20 lb turkey using an Italian citrius recipie, Martha Stewart mashed potatoes, gravey (took him almost 3 hours to make it!), green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie.  Our friends brought stuffing, cranberry sauce, and an apple pie.  I think we had all the classic dishes covered!

Turkey 20 lbs, Amelia 17 lbs

The bows in her hair lasted about one hour, ha ha ha.  I took these pics before our guests arrived.

I told her to give the turkey a kiss... she bit his beak

I asked her where her "bee-bo" (belly button) was

Setting up for a tea party

January 16

I had a prenatal appointment today and we had a long discussion about my upcoming due date.  After considering all options and discussing the risks, we ultimately decided that a scheduled c-section is the best option. 

My c-section is scheduled for Monday, January 16, 2012... Martin Luther King Day!  They had originally wanted to schedule me for January 13, but that was Friday the 13th, so suggested I could do it on Monday instead.

My mom's birthday is January 10 and my mother-in-law's is the 20.  My parents' wedding anniversary is January 7, so January is a month of special days in both our families.

Most of my family and friends don't think I'll make it that far because Amelia came two weeks early... I guess only time will tell! 

Just 52 days (or less!) to go until we get to meet Alex...

Big Sister Training

One of my friends has a newborn son and a two-year-old daughter.  Her husband is also in the Army and works at Walter Reed, so our situations are very similar.  She brought the kids over for a play date on Friday. 

As expected, Amelia had a little trouble sharing some of her toys with the two-year-old.  With the exception of a few meltdowns, they both got along well.  In the end they were chasing each other around the apartment and having a good time. 

This was her first introduction to a newborn baby, so I was eager to see her reaction.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how much interest she had in the baby!  At first, she kept her distance and wouldn't come too close to the baby unless we motioned for her to come.  After a while, she just "hoovered" over the baby and watched him eat and sleep.

We taught her how to touch the baby gently and she was able to rub his head and pat his back in the most loving and gentle way.  I got a little teary eyed and watching her interact with the newborn baby.  It eased a lot of my anxiety and stress about how she would react to her own baby brother. 

So, I've come to the conclusion that Amelia makes a much better big sister, than a little sister, ha ha ha.  We have another play date scheduled so we'll see if Amelia reacts the same way again... *fingers crossed*

Week 32

Eight Months... OH MY!

I had my first Charlie Horse last night.  Definitely not a fun pregnancy symptom!  My calf muscle actually still hurts and feels sore.  Argh!

I also started the gestational diabetes diet and have been finger pricking myself four times a day to monitor my sugar levels.  It's definitely a lot more difficult to be on a strict meal plan and have needles around Amelia.  I've cut down most carbs and sugar from my diet and I have to eat every two hours to keep my levels stable.  I keep sugar-free jello in the fridge in case I have a craving for sweets... it's been helping a lot ;0) 

Alex is definitely positioned very differently that Amelia.  He is all up in my ribs!  Amelia's movements were always down low, but this guy kicks up a storm in my ribs and sides... sometimes it even hurts!  I don't mind too much because that means he's active and healthy in there.

I've really gotten serious about getting things ready for baby Alex.  I want to have everything set up and ready by mid-December.  I also told Jimmy that I want the Christmas tree and all the decorations put away the day after Christmas, ha ha ha.  I don't want to risk the chance that I won't have time to get the house together before our little man makes his debut.

Week 32

(Week 32 w/Amelia)

I didn't have the heart to crop out my little Amelia out of the picture ;0)

Sick Days

Amelia has gotten sick for the first time in her short life :(  She's on antibiotics and has been feeeling miserable.  You can just tell that she is not her happy self and it breaks my heart.  I feel so helpless.

We've cleared our schedule for the week and have been hanging out at home.  She has been relaxing, napping a lot... and I even let her watch a little TV (but just a little bit!).  I am hoping she feels better by the end of the week. 



We had just gotten back from the doctor.  She wanted a snack, both her shoes off, one sock on, and a "pretty" around her neck. 

She was hot and sweaty, so we took her pants off... she was so miserable :(

Relaxing in her new tent.  I put her chair in there and she loved it.  She just sat in there with her stuffed friends and books and relaxed.  I also think she looks super cute in her pink track suit, ha ha ha.

Starting to perk up a little, yay!



The Usual Suspects

Amelia has several stuffed friends she's attached to.  She usually needs to have at least one of these guys within sight, near her, or held by her at all times. She likes to rub the different soft textures with her fingers. Don't even try nap time or bedtime without her homies in the crib!  

I know we're not very creative with names, but we wanted to keep it simple so she could learn the words.

"Bear"

A gift from Nana for her first Valentine's Day

*She loves to rub his ears and the embriodery on his feet*

"Frog"

Baby shower gift from Nana

*She rubs the silk on the inside and the embriodered letters*

"Dolly"

First birthday gift from Nana

*She rubs and grabs the two broken straps (on the back of the doll)*

"Kitty"

First birthday gift from me

*She rubs Kitty's hands, ears, and bow*

"Lion"

One of the attachments from her infant play mat

*She rubs his feet*