Hero Up!

Every morning before heading to daycare and work, we watch the Super Hero Squad. I think Rocky enjoys having a kid who likes the super heros (even though Spider-Man is not part of the Super Hero Squad). The other night, we had the Fantastic Four movie on. Maggie decided that Johnny had the best powers and told me that she wants to be the "Fire Kid" and Mommy can be "Invisible Mom." Which I think would be great. I could watch her in action at daycare or Sunday School!! Then I asked what super powers Daddy would have. She decided he could be "Bolverine" (Wolverine). Probably because Daddy can make the "snick-snick" noise of Wolverine's claws.

Half Way There

Oh oh, livin' on a prayer! Sorry, jumped back to the 80s for a second.

We are half way through the pregnancy, which doesn't quite seem possible. Another early delivery and we are over half way there. I felt the baby for the first time last night -- or for the first time that I could really say "yes, that was the baby I felt" and not some random weird thing my stomach was doing or simply blood pulsing.

In 2 weeks, we have THE ultrasound. It is Rocky's choice this time around as to whether or not we find out and so far he is on the surprise boat. I really enjoyed not knowing last time, though many people gave us a hard time about it.

We have been at a stalemate as far as girl names. I created a list of possible names, crossing them off as they were nixed. Every once in a while, I'll ask Maggie if she had a baby sister what would her name be. I've gotten all sorts of "interesting" responses including "Ga-ga" and "Peaches", which she brought up while watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur. I've rather hoped that Maggie would come up with THE name. Well, the other night, Rocky asked her the same question. And Maggie said "Ummmm, Jessie" and continued playing with her dress up doll, who was dressed like a cowgirl (like Jessie in Toy Story 2). Why yes, we watch a lot of movies, why do you ask? Neither of us hates it and it is starting to grow on me. We would use Jessica as a given name. We'll see if it is still sticking with us 20 weeks from now . . .

Welcome to 1910!!

So, last night Rocky noticed Maggie had a pretty bad rash all over her body. Very similar to one she had 2 years ago. 2 years ago, we were convinced that she had chicken pox as she had some blisters on her face, but she didn't have a fever or really act sick. So we took her to the pediatrician. Who was stumped. Dr. Sorenson said it wasn't chicken pox, but didn't know what it was. So, on a hunch, she took a throat swab and discovered that Maggie had Scarlet Fever. Basically, group A strep, without the strep throat. She was put on antibiotics. The next day, Rocky started feeling sick and spent some time in SameDay Care getting a shot of penicillin and didn't get it too bad.

I took Maggie to the pediatrician today for the same rash. She was starting to get a little blister by her mouth by the time we got in. Dr Sauer was fairly certain she DIDN'T have scarlet fever, but to humor me, took a throat swab. He came back 10 minutes later with a "well, what do you know." He has never seen a child with scarlet fever that had no other symptoms. He recommended we have a throat swab done when we go in for Maggie's well child visit this fall to see if she may be a carrier for group A strep.

After Rocky took Maggie home, I called the OB's office and stumped them as well. Nurse Shelly actually had to check the CDC website to be sure that the baby nor I am at risk or at any higher risk. She's confident that as I'm healthy, there's no elevated risk for either of us. With Rocky's luck, he'll be the one to get it!!

It was fun playing "Stump the Medical Professional"

Old Man Winter Makes a Come Back in Billings

Rocky has shoveled 3 times in the last 24 hours.  We probably have close to a foot of snow.  And Maggie is just loving it!  I slept in a little this morning, so Maggie got to help Daddy shovel.  They were still at it when I got up:

The Zoo!

Maggie loves the zoo.  We all do.  We had such a cold December that we hadn’t been since Halloween.  Last Monday, daycare was closed for Martin Luther King Day, so I took the day off as well and Maggie & I enjoyed the zoo.

“Mom, that’s the biggest tiger I ever saw!”

“Come on, Mom!  We gotta catch up!”

Writing with Maggie

Tonight, Rocky had his first class of the semester, so Maggie came with me to choir.  I decided to take her out for supper and she chose McDonald’s.  They must have been out of the Chipmunk toys as they gave her a Barbie purse that turns into a writing pad.  So Maggie wrote her name and then asked me to show her how to write her church friend’s names (as we were going to church and she would hang out with Miles).  We wrote Miles, Chelsey, Olivia, Dylan, church, Daddy.  Then Maggie told me that she already knew how to write Mommy.

The Invisible Box

Last night, after watching an episode of "Phineas and Ferb", Maggie & Daddy played the "invisible box" game. They would point at each other and say "Zap! You're in an invisible box!" A little later, while Maggie was sitting beside me, Daddy put us both in an invisible box and the conversation went a little like this:

D "Zap! I put you and Mommy in an invisible box!"
M "Oh, no! I know, I'll make an invisible door!"
D "I put an invisible lock on the invisible door."
M "Hmm. I know! I have an invisible key to unlock the door!"
D "But there's an invisible dog outside. And he won't let you get out."
M "I have an invisible treat for the dog. And he won't get me."
D "I put an invisible dinosaur outside!"
M "I will get on his head and he will let us down."

Grandma & Grandpa's visit

Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Mike are here, so here are few chunks of "wisdom" from Maggie:

• "Grandma can't play Grandpa Mike games because she's too short." "Grandpa is this tall and I am this tall."
• "I need to babysit the puppies." (she told Daddy this at an auction sale she went to with Grandpa Mike and Daddy. They had 1 month old dauschaund puppies.) "I just need to take one home." (they did not come home with a puppy, but Maggie was happy to just tell us about them)
• Maggie has been telling us the story of "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears." The other night, she got to the part where Goldilocks broke into the Bears' house and she started talking about Goldilocks breaking into our house. "She better not take my carrots!"
• Grandma and Grandpa took Maggie to McDonald's for lunch today. Grandma wasn't sure how to get there. Maggie told her "Grandma, we just follow the road."
• Then she went on to tell Grandma about the "Wizard of Oz" and the Yellow Brick Road, "but I don't know where the Yellow Brick Road is!"

Baby 2.1 update

Back from the OB and nothing to report. Which is rather nice. The baby was not cooperative when we tried to find the heartbeat and kept moving away from the doppler anytime it got close. We did eventually get a heartbeat count of 152. My blood pressure is still nice and low and my weight loss seems to have tapered off a bit. By my count, I'm down another 2-3 pounds from the last visit (but I'm also doing my weighing with the Wii and using the -2 pounds for the weight of my clothing :) ), but as I'm overweight, it's not a concern.

I've been having some pain over the weekend, but is all normal and I have been given permission to take Tylenol (which I have) and use heat. The nurse said I probably pulled it rolling over or walking and as the uterus is growing, it takes a while to "heal."

Next up is another ultrasound, at which time we can probably find out the sex. It is Rocky's choice, but so far he has said he doesn't want to find out -- which is fine by me. I enjoy the guessing and the surprise!

A comparison

2005, about 20 weeks pregnant with Maggie

2010, 17 weeks pregnant (taken last Tuesday)

Apparently, even 4 year olds make resolutions

When I took Maggie to day care this morning, I noticed a hand-made book on their book shelves. Curious, I picked it up. It is titled "Our New Year's Resolutions." All the kids in Maggie's class made resolutions for 2010. And yes, it is just as adorable as you would think. They drew pictures to represent their resolutions as well and Miss Carly wrote what their actual resolution is. Most of the kids resolved to "sleep better" or to "be a better friend." One little boy's resolution is to "not throw balls" and Maggie explained that he had been throwing balls at the other kids. Maggie's resolution, however, was definitely unique. Maggie has resolved to "run really fast in her pink running shoes."

What happens when you tell a 4 year old to Smile

The Traditional Family Photo

When Rocky and I got married, well, actually even before that, we have sent out a photo Christmas card.  Before we had Maggie, the dogs were always included.  Prior to moving to Montana, we attempted to include the dogs two years, with not so good results – though we did get one nice full family photo with Nala and Otis and it’s currently hanging in my office.  When we moved to Montana and Rocky started working at the Gazette we found they had a family Holiday party each year and took family photos – professional quality, home done price!  Unfortunately, we are unable to bring the dogs, which is good and bad. 

This year, Maggie had such a great picture with Santa, we, well Rocky knew that WAS the Christmas card.  A 4 year old snuggled up to Santa?  I couldn’t argue too much.

Well, we FINALLY got the family photos from the set this year and the photographer picked out a nice photo, touched it up and it is ready for uploading to Kodak Gallery, printing and framing.  But THIS is my favorite and I think it truly captures all of us.