Baby time!

Tomorrow is the big day....baby girl Dean should be arriving sometime after my induction starts at 7:00am. After my doctor's appointment last week, my doctor decided inducing me was the best way to go. I was dilated at that point to 2+cm, which is a good start...and I measured at 40 weeks. Hopefully this will prevent the baby from being overdue and as big as Caleb was (almost 10 pounds!).


All weekend I was hoping to just go into labor and not have to go through with the induction...but no such luck. I guess I'm not meant to have babies early!! Marshall's dad and stepmom were in town to visit from North Dakota, but baby girl didn't want to cooperate and meet them early...we still had a nice visit. Caleb enjoyed spending time with them...they went to the movies and he went swimming a few times at their hotel. He's not afraid of the water anymore, he didn't want to get out this time! I didn't take any pictures during their visit...camera has been packed now in the hospital bag.

Baby's room is all ready to go now, thanks to Auntie Dua for decorating help and our new rug, too, from Grandma and Grandpa. Caleb is very excited...I hope he'll be excited once the baby is home, too. I am very nervous knowing what is coming tomorrow...I'm praying everything goes smoothly and our transition to a family of four will be an easy one! It's hard to really imagine life with 2 kids...our lives have changed so much since having Caleb. I'm just trying to enjoy my last day of pregnancy now...stay tuned for more updates once the baby is here.

Children's Museum

On New Year's Day we took Caleb to the Children's Museum...they have a special Dinosaur exhibit there that we figured he'd enjoy. He loves all the activities there and did like the dinosaurs...but they were pretty scary! Some of them moved and made noise and he wasn't convinced they weren't real. He got a dinosaur book for Christmas and he's really into pointing out the names of certain dinosaurs...T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegasaurous and Velociraptor are his favorites.

Merry Christmas!

This year was by far the most fun with Caleb at Christmastime. He was just so excited about everything. Christmas Eve we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner..and Marshall and I gave Caleb our gifts that night. At bedtime, we told him Santa would be coming soon and we needed to be asleep before that happened...he was so concerned about us making too much noise! It was the quickest bedtime we've ever had! In the morning, Marshall and I had to wake him up after 7:00...we stood outside his door and he sat up in bed with the biggest eyes..."Mommy, Daddy?" We said, "It's Christmas!!" and he ran out to check on Santa's cookies. Sure enough, they were gone..so we ran downstairs to check out the stockings. Caleb shouted "Santa was here!!!!" We brought the stockings upstairs to open..(Mommy and Daddy even got a present from Santa) and then Caleb opened his presents under the tree. He wanted to spend a lot of time playing, of course...but we had to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's to open gifts there. Starting Christmas Eve, we were getting hit with a huge snowstorm...so we had to battle that as well Christmas morning...we got stuck trying to get out of our street (it hadn't been plowed yet!) but Marshall was able to get us on the road (after taking over the keys from me!). We spent some time at my parents' with Joey, Stephanie and Laura, opening gifts and having breakfast. It was a fun morning...Christmas is always my favorite holiday! We ran back home for awhile to get ready for Christmas dinner and then spent the day back at my parents' with my mom's side of the family. It was a nice day, like always!


Caleb got a lot of fun presents and has spent a lot of time since then playing with new things...I had the week off after Christmas so we were able to just hang out at home. I really wanted that time alone with Caleb, before baby arrives. We worked on potty training (success FINALLY!) and spent time with Grandma, since she was home too!

Laura's birthday...19????

How did my baby sister get to be 19 years old already? Seems not possible...but yet we celebrated Laura's 19th birthday on December 11th. I remember the day of her birth so well...my mom was induced so we all were up early and headed to the hospital at something like 6:00am. Grandma Kolvig was with Joey and I in the waiting room and Auntie Louise came as well. We waited all morning and no news...Grandma's tooth was bothering her so she decided she had time to quickly run over to the dentist. Of course when she left, the doctor came out of the room and told us "well, I was wrong!" He had been predicting a boy. Laura Jean was born at 11:27am that Tuesday morning in December! Joey, Louise and I got to go in and see Mom, Dad and baby Laura...I remember thinking how funny she looked all covered in white goop (because she was induced early), she hadn't been cleaned off yet. My Dad was in shock for the next few days, saying "I can't believe it's a girl!" Joey and I were in shock without my mom around for a few days...but we all survived and I couldn't imagine our lives without our little button, Laura.


This year we all went out for dinner at Old Chicago, Caleb surprised us all by ordering right from the waitress a pizza with pepperoni and black olives. She couldn't believe a 3 year old would request such a pizza but he loves it. We had ice cream cake afterwards and "Dua" opened her gifts...Caleb has always loved birthdays so of course he was all excited to help with presents and the cake.

Sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's

Caleb had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's in December...he LOVES to be there and had a great time spending the night. He always sleeps in Dua's room, on the floor...with his sleeping bag sometimes and always his blankie and friends. The next morning Grandma and Grandpa took Caleb to a train depot for a special Christmas train event (with their friends and grandkids, too). Caleb had his first real train ride and got to play with trains, too. It was very exciting...Grandma and Grandpa reported he was just in a daze (similar to Chuck E Cheese!). Nearly a month later he still talks about this day!

Baking cookies

I am going to try to get caught up here and post some pictures from Christmas...before it's March! Like every year, we made Christmas cookies at Grandma's house with my sister, brother and sister-in-law. I didn't do much but observe...Caleb, however, loves to help bake and had a great time. The roll-out cookies are his favorite, I think.

Changes...

We did some changes around the house recently in preparation for baby girl's arrival. Caleb's toddler bed was converted back into a crib and we moved the twin bed upstairs to Caleb's room. He couldn't wait to go to sleep that night in his new bed! He loves it. We moved the toy room downstairs and Marshall was busy painting the baby's room (with Caleb's help) and ripping up carpet. We also got a new dresser (thank you to Grandma and Grandpa in North Dakota!) and Caleb got a new bookcase (thank you to Ma and Pa!). We've decorated the baby's room a little more but I've included some pictures here of the room, in progress...and Caleb's new bed, too!


We are pretty much all ready for baby girl to arrive...I'm just about 37 weeks along, which is considered full term. I'm really hoping for the baby to arrive this week or next, I don't want to be overdue again like with Caleb OR have another almost 10 pound baby! Hopefully I'll hear that I'm making some progress at my doctor's appointment tomorrow. Caleb is anxious for his sister to come, too...I've been telling him this entire time she would come after Christmas...so now it's after Christmas and he wants to know when she'll be here!! We have such funny conversations about the baby...he's asked me "what are we going to do with her?" and "will she just pop out of your belly?" He talks about all the 'helpful' things he will do with his sister, too. Let's hope he really is that helpful!

December...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We had a busy month in December! Caleb loved Christmas decorations this year and had fun putting up our tree and helping hang ornaments. We had a countdown to Christmas door hanger for him....each night in December you take a candy off the countdown, ending with Christmas Eve. We had these when I was kid, too. Caleb thought it was pretty cool. Caleb also enjoyed opening his gifts from Grandma and Grandpa in North Dakota...we got those in the mail before Christmas (pictures below!)


My mom, sister and I took Caleb to see Santa this year at Andover Floral...you can make an appointment and skip the huge lines at the mall (what a relief!). Caleb was not a fan of Santa in real life! He would barely stand next to him and wouldn't smile or anything for a picture...but he did let Santa read a book. That was it..no talking, either! Maybe next year!