Really Long Update

36 Weeks

It's crazy for me to even type this, but as of today, I'm 36 weeks pregnant!  Praise the Lord!  I don't feel as big as I thought I would; however, my mom and youngest brother were here for a couple of days this week and the pictures my mom took proved to me that I look bigger than I feel/think I do.  But that's okay!  Because my little girl is still on the inside growing!!!!!!

C-Section

My c-section is scheduled for less than three weeks from today, and I can hardly believe it!  I've definitely been feeling the need in the last couple of weeks especially to get everything wrapped up and ready for her to come.  Nothing was ready when Elise was born (for obvious reasons) so I've had somewhat of a hard time getting into the mindset that I actually get to prepare for Evelyn's arrival.  Part of me feels like it's "normal" to not have anything ready and that I'll have time while Evelyn is hospitalized (and I'm home) to finish up.  The concept of actually getting to take her home when I go home is so new!

First Visitor

We plan to have Elise be the first visitor in the hospital after Evelyn is born.  I hadn't even thought of it being possible for Elise to come meet her sister until someone mentioned that they could picture how cute it will be when Kit brings Elise in to meet her little sister.  From that moment on, I've been hooked on the idea of my mom bringing Elise to the hospital, Kit meeting them in the hallway and then Kit and Elise coming in the hospital room where Evelyn and I are waiting.  Then all three of us having some cuddle time!  My cousin and his wife just had their second daughter (about 15 months after their first as well) and have posted the cutest pictures of their two girls that just make me that much more excited to meet Evelyn and introduce her to Elise!

Hiccups

About a week and a half ago I started feeling Evelyn hiccup!  I don't recall ever feeling Elise hiccup, at least not this distinctly.  It's such an amazing experience.  My youngest brother, Jonny, even got to see them from the outside when we were in the car running errands on Tuesday.

Elise

Our first born has been developing immensely lately!  She's saying all sorts of words, getting better at saying words she's had in her vocabulary for a while, waving, standing on her own, crawling like a maniac, learning to take toys in and out of various objects (and how to open and close the lid of her cookie jar toy on command thanks to her Uncle Jonny), continuing to give mommy (or whatever bigger person is around her) the various pieces of dust/dirt/leaves/etc she finds on the ground, eating pretty much everything we give her and so much more!

We decided to go ahead and simply put her in the Pack'N'Play (since the crib is in Evelyn's room) for all sleep for another couple of months.  She just wasn't quite ready to be in the toddler bed, already had one big transition with moving to a new room and was continuously very tired and fussy.  So we'll plan to try again once she's walking and once she's gotten used to having Evelyn around.  She does love her sleep though, and makes it very clear when she's ready for to take a nap or go to bed at night.  She fusses, crawls to you or to her bedroom door (which has a gate on it to keep Coco from getting into her stuffed animals) and sometimes even starts saying, "Ny, ny, ny, ny," (aka "night, night").  It's pretty darn cute.

She also loves bath time.  The other night I got all of her bath supplies set up with her in my arms and then took her into her bedroom to take off her diaper since it was poopy.  When she's wet, I just take off her diaper in the bathroom and put her straight in the bath so that's what she's more used to.  She started sobbing when we left the bathroom because she was so excited about her bath.  Her favorite thing to do in the bath is splash, which we just get a huge kick out of.  She's also not averse to having water in her eyes.  Ever since she gained control of her hands, she hasn't wanted me to block the shampoo rinse water from getting in her face.  Not much goes that way anyway since I use a cup to rinse, but she'd rather get her face wet than have me block the water.

We plan to get her a small little firm plastic pool for the backyard this summer so that Kit can give her "swim lessons" (aka have a blast splashing in the pool).  He actually used to teach swim lessons back in his lifeguard/swim team/water polo days and is really excited about how much she loves the water!  And she has an adorable little swimsuit to wear so I'll be sure to get lots of photos!

Photos

Speaking of photos, I haven't been taking nearly as many lately, but here are some to get you by!

For Kit's birthday at the beginning of April, I surprised him with a day trip to the beach.  We had left Elise for the second time ever (first time with his parents) at our house the night before and then she went to their house while we went to the beach.  She had a blast, especially with their two cats, and we enjoyed spending a few hours (we got all that we wanted to do done rather quickly and I found myself very exhausted due to all the walking around while pregnant) at our favorite beach spot - Cannon Beach. 

The weather was perfect!  Super cold and rainy!  We didn't quite dress as well for the rain as we should have (and Kit didn't bring a hat), but it was still fun!

Unrelated to my random face in this picture, that day was the first time I had attempted to put on shoes in months since I've been wearing my Tevas for most of this pregnancy (and can't fit into shoes at this point).  Kit and I had a good laugh when I had to have him come over and help me loosen my shoelaces (and tie my shoes) so that I could actually get my feet into my Converse Allstars.  I haven't tried wearing shoes since.

Not the best picture, but for Kit's birthday, Elise and I put her bows in our hair and she had little pigtails (in the back...completely unnoticeable in this picture).

Playing with an old water polo ball.

Playing with Coco's bone while looking sneaky.

Happy as a clam with Coco's bone and one of his key toys.

Showing off the cute dress her grandma made her from fabric she's had for 20+ years.

Playing with the musical turtle that her nana bought her for her birthday.

Simply being cute and giggly!

The little storage system we got for Elise's toys and books in her big girl room.  (I put the green paper on the squares that have backs and love how it turned out.)

Eating her first whole slice of pizza.  She'd had it chopped up for her before but not whole.

After moving to her highchair to enjoy the pizza slice.

Not sure what she had eaten here, but she had it all over her hair.

Gotta love how messy she sometimes gets when she eats!

Huge laughs while being tickled upside down by daddy.

Showing off her cottage cheese goatee.  Cottage cheese is one of her all time favorite foods.

Showing off her cool sunglasses.  We keep this pair in the car, and I almost always put them on her after I buckle her in.  By the time I close the car door, she's usually taken them off.