Maya-isms

I know I've said this before, but having toddlers is a pretty hilarious experience.  Charlotte is just now becoming really verbal, so that in and of itself cracks Michael and I up every night (her talkative self comes out after Maya goes to bed, when she has a chance to get a word in!).  Daily, Maya is trying to figure out the world and her place in it, and often she is trapped in-between concrete thinking and make-believe.  I keep meaning to write down all of the funny things they say because I know that, before too long, these days of toddler hilarity will be replaced with more understanding and eventually they will know much more than me (and that is said with only partial sarcasm!).  Here are some of the latest gems:

Maya has been really curious about driving lately, and will ask me a million questions about other cars on the road, why I have my hands on the wheel, why we're stopping, why I'm turning or not turning, etc.  She is pretty obsessed with the curb and how it prevents us from driving up on the sidewalk, into peoples' yards, and the like.  These questions and conversations are not prompted by any in particular event (and I assure you I have never driven on the sidewalk, into a yard, or into trees!)

 Maya ~ Mommy, don't drive into the trees, then the car would be broken and we'd have to get a new one!

Me ~ Well, that's not exactly how it works...

Maya ~ Oh, well we'd have to recycle this car and *then* get a new one.

When Maya was sick, she talked a lot about how God would help make her better.

"He'll just go to the store and get me some medicine."

I had to explain that that isn't exactly how it works!

Driving to the store the other day:

Maya ~ Mommy, your belly isn't big.  I think the baby is somewhere else?

Me ~ Somewhere else?  Where did the baby go?

Maya ~ Um, just, lower.

(I ended the conversation here! :))

Maya, running out of her room:

"Mommy!  There's a pretend moose in my room!  Can you please ask him to not scare me?"

Maya no longer lets me help her pick out her clothes, so the outfits that she sports are often very interesting.  The other day, when it was about 35 degrees outside (seriously???  WHERE ARE YOU SPRING???) Maya bounded out of her room in a sleeveless dress and capri leggings.  I told her that her outfit was ok, but that she'd have to wear a sweater with it.  

"I don't need a sweater Mommy.  Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Um, careful that she doesn't get frostbite?  Silly thing.

And from Charlotte :)  Maya was interrogating me about who moved the toys off of her dresser.  I told her that I didn't remember doing it, but that it was possible.  Maya was adamant that she didn't move them.  Charlotte piped in:

"Maybe Daddy just move them.  Sometimes Daddy just do that."

I love that she is starting to be involved in our conversations :)  Her favorite words right now are "sometimes" and "just"

Tonight, Michael and I were watching the "Honey Badger" youtube video (not safe for kids/work ~ lots of swearing so be warned).  Charlotte saw it on Michael's phone (oops) and said, 

"Mommy, that animal craaaaazy!"

And now of course, pictures :)

We celebrated Easter with Penny (Michael's mom) this past weekend, and the Easter Bunny brought Maya a "big girl" bike.  Ya'll, it's pink.  And covered in princesses.  It's pretty much perfect for her!  Obviously it is her favorite thing ever (and don't worry, the Easter Bunny, when he comes to our house, is bringing her a bike helmet).

Maya wasn't in the room when I took this picture...this was her only opportunity to check it out :)

They also hunted for Easter eggs, and Maya stored some in the bag on the front of her bike.

Along with Easter eggs, Penny the Easter Bunny hid Pez dispensers.  As you can see, Charlotte was mainly interested in those!

Little Miss also got a doctor kit.  Both girls LOVE it and spend a lot of the day pretending to be sick and making each other better.

Charlotte was happy to just run around and play with her little yellow car.

We went to the Palm Sunday service at my mom's church.  I tried to get a picture of the girlies in their beautiful dresses (thanks, Penny!), but they were too busy playing to look at the camera.  This is the best I could do!

Next time, egg dying and glitter!

Night!

Remodeling, Uncle Patrick, and SPRING!!!

Because adding a third child to our family in August isn't enough, Michael and I (crazy as ever) are planning on moving into a new-to-us house ~ ack! ~ in a little over 3 weeks.  We are impossibly excited at the idea of more space (inside and out) for the girlies to run around, a really nice neighborhood for walking and bike riding, the super cool playground that is almost visible from the house, the elementary school within walking distance, and a million other little details that would bore everyone here but that Michael and I keep discussing as if our new house is a magical place full of wonder.  Maya is excited because she and Charlotte will have their very own room that is PURPLE and their very own bathroom (to share with anyone else at our house ;)) that is PINK.  Charlotte has no idea what is going on, but has loved opening and closing all the doors and cupboards throughout the house and running circles around the living room, dining room and kitchen.  The new house is only about a 5 minute drive from where we live currently, which is nice as the actual moving process will be less stressful than if we had to move everything in one trip.

I keep reminding myself that when we moved into the house we are in now, I was much more pregnant (with Maya) than I will be this time.  But then I also remember that this time I have 2 toddlers to take care of in the midst of it all :)  Like I said ~ crazy.  But, since we aren't masochists, our current house will not go on the market until our tasmanian devils children are firmly planted in our new place.  We've been spending the last few weeks doing all of the projects that have been on our "to do" list for the past 3 years ~ our house is starting to look great!  If you know someone who is looking for a 3 bedroom with a park practically in the back yard in NE Ohio, point 'em our way!

The nice weather has been so great, and we've been taking full advantage of the sun and (relative) warmth to wear out the kids and clean up our yard!  Last weekend, Uncle Patrick came to visit which was super fun.  He watched the girlies for us so that Michael and I could go on a double date with Sierra and Walter and we were out so late that we almost got kicked out of Starbuck's ~ 10pm, I know we're so exciting ;)

This weekend we are going to Michael's mom's house to celebrate Easter, and Maya is really excited to "plant eggs in the yard and then go pick them" :)

Now, pictures...

Hard at work finishing the baseboards!

 

Her curls are really starting to come out with the higher humidity!  Also, if you can't tell from the scratches on her face, she is quite the adventurous one!

 

The tulips are trying their darndest to bloom!

 

Our attempt to teach Charlotte where the "you must hold hands with Mommy or Daddy" zone begins.  Maya gets very stressed out if the cones blow around with the wind :)

   

She *insisted* on the mittens.  Now every time we get ready to go outside, she says, "I not wear glubs this time".

Maya "helping"

 

Oh, We're Half Way The-ere

Who-oah, livin on a prayer...

Loooooooong post ahead...story but no pictures ~ sorry!  Maybe tomorrow I'll try to scan some from the ultrasound :)

So this past Friday marked the half-way point of my pregnancy with Baby #3, who is as-of-yet unnamed.  For the record though we are NOT naming him or her Jad, Awesome Danger, Buh-Buh, Tree, Little Tree, Little Baby Tree, or The Other Charlotte.  Michael, Charlotte, and Maya have all been kicked out of the "name the baby" committee :)

(Random story that will make sense in the end)

When Charlotte was about 4 months old we discovered that she had a small hole in her ventricular septum (called, creatively, a Ventricular Septal Defect, or VSD).  We met with a cardiologist, had an ultrasound done of her heart, were told it would almost certainly close on its own, and by her 9 month check-up the murmur that had alerted the pediatrician to the issue initially was gone (prayers answered!).  VSDs are typically not serious defects, and are the most common type of congenital heart defect.  It was nervewracking at the time, but after we met with the cardiologist I rarely thought about it anymore.

Now fast-forward to 4 weeks ago :)

I met with my back-up midwife and, in going over my history, she asked (assuming the answer would be no) if either of the girls had any heart defects.  It almost didn't even occur to me to tell her about Charlotte's!  But, I did, and because of that she recommended that we meet with a pediatric cardiologist to have a fetal echo done to make sure there were no structural abnormalities in the baby's heart.  At first I declined, which likely will not surprise those who know me well, but after reading more, talking to friends, and really praying about it I decided to go ahead and schedule the test, along with an anatomy ultrasound (the "big" ultrasound that most pregnant women have at 20 weeks), another test we had initially declined.  Because of my history with Charlotte, and because we are planning on having this baby at home, we agreed that it was best to go ahead with the tests to ensure there were no major surprises at birth.

And now we fast-forward to today :)

I'll spare you the suspense and start by saying that the baby is perfectly perfect and healthy, baby's heart is awesome and currently doing everything that it is supposed to do, and we have nothing to worry about.  Well, except for adding a 3rd child to our family and suddenly being out-numbered...but we were already expecting that :)

But, as Michael put it today after our appointment, "well that was a lot more stressful than it needed to be!"  The day started with the hospital not having the "order" for my echo.  I was a little confused as I had gotten confirmation calls from both my midwife's office AND the hospital, along with an appointment reminder from the hospital.  Along with all that, I wasn't the one to set up the test!  Since I was already at the cardiologist's office, they let me use the phone (no cell phones allowed) to call my midwife's office to see if they could please fax it over immediately!  Fortunately (despite the office being closed on Wednesdays) they were able to locate the proper paperwork and fax it over ~ phew!  Because I wasn't already stressed and nervous going into the appointment!

When we went back to the exam room, the technician got my info and then set up the machine, and the doctor came in to do the echo.  For at least 45 minutes he was totally silent.  He took tons of pictures of the baby's heart, as well as a few of the brain, abdomen and legs, but didn't.say.anything.  At all.  It was... nerve-wracking.  Then, all of a sudden there is a knock at the door, and another doctor comes in.  At this point Michael and I were pretty confused, as we had *thought* the first doctor told us he was Dr. Patel (the cardiologist with whom I had the appointment) but then the second doctor also told us he was Dr. Patel.  Turns out the first doctor's name was Peter...we should have known he wasn't Dr. Patel in that he was (Michael's words again) "very Caucasian".  The real Dr. Patel sat down, reviewed all of the pictures and videos (over 100) in complete silence, then proceeded to repeat about half of the echo.  Though we both held it together, Michael and I were both freaking out a little bit.  Why weren't they talking???  Why did he repeat the pictures???  Did Dr. Patel #1 (aka Peter) push some button that made the real Dr. Patel come in???  WHAT WAS GOING ON???

The doctor finally finished up, and then solemnly told me he'd turn on the lights and then we could "talk".  I'm surprised I wasn't crying at this point.  He started by telling us, in a very somber and unenthusiastic tone, that the good news is that the baby's heart looks perfect (emphasis on heart important).  He proceeded to tell us about all the chambers, what each one does, how the blood flows in and out, what the different valves do, the function of the placenta, and how the baby's lungs transition upon birth to breathing rather than receiving oxygen through the umbilical cord.  Throughout the whole talk, he would say things such as, "in most babies, what we expect to see is..." or "usually what we find is..." or "now what we want is..."  After each of these ominous statements, he would follow up with, "and that's what we found in your baby, too"  It was very up-and-down.  As the talk went on, I was waiting for the other shoe to fall.  He'd made a pretty big emphasis on the fact that the heart was ok, but his tone was very suggestive of the fact that there was some "bad news" to go along with the good news.  But, there wasn't.  I mean, yay and I'm super happy that we have a healthy baby who is perfectly on track in terms of growth and development, but holy roller coaster!  Michael and I were both exhausted after that appointment!  Fortunately we've been joking about it all afternoon, and it made the anatomy ultrasound much more fun (the fact that the technician was upbeat and explained everything we were seeing helped, too!).

After seeing the baby on the screen, I am much more relaxed and feel like I am able to take on the rest of the pregnancy in a state of less-stress (I'd say no-stress, but that's just not who I am! :)).  Our birth plans are more solid now ~ yay! ~ and I'm so excited for August so we can meet the newest member of our family!