still hiding

This little baby is giving us such trouble. He or She is still hiding. Maybe this means we can expect a shy, gentle, sweet little baby that colors and sits still to play with toys. There is probably no chance of that once the baby starts trying to imitate our sweet little Baby Girl. I just hope the baby moves before 32 weeks. I really don't want a manipulation--that sounds painful. Although labor sounds painful too, and that was not bad.

In fun news, we bought our double stroller. We took it out for a test today and it was so nice. We got the Maclaren Twin. It is a side by side stroller and I was concerned about fitting through doors, but never had any trouble at the mall. Baby girl of course wanted to continuously switch sides, but that will end once the new baby is beside her. I'm guessing we will need to wait about 4 months before we can actually use this stroller for both of them since it can't take an infant carrier, but that is not a problem because I will just sling the little one and keep using our single stroller. I just did not like the idea of the front and back seats. With most only one seat reclines and then once the baby in the back can kick, the one in the front will be frustrated with getting kicked, and I just don't see these as practical past the infant stage. Also, they are really difficult to steer. I like that the Peg Perego has a child tray, and the wheels seemed a bit bigger and less likely to get kicked since there are fewer in the back, but I have heard they fall apart easily. I have heard much better things about the Maclaren. I'll just buy some sort of activity bar for the front of the stroller.

We really only need a few things for the new baby--clothes if it is a boy, a bouncer because Baby Girl did not have one, I want a hotsling and a Maya wrap, and a bumbo--babies look so cute in these. Oh and I do want a new tummytime mat. I love the new rainforest Fischer Price one--and that is the bouncer we want too. We have everything else--we just need to set it all up again.

We need a few things for Baby Girl too-- a twin mattress for her new bed, a potty seat, a step stool for brushing teeth, and booster seat. She is quickly growing tired of her highchair, but she is too wiggly for the regular chair. Even when she is hungry and eating well, she moves around with such excitement that she has fallen out of her seat on occasion when I let her sit at the table for a meal. I can't believe she is getting so old.

I also bought some really cute outfits from Gymboree today. I love the new line. If you have a little girl, you need to check it out. We don't usually buy so much from one line, but we just could not resist--it all looked so cute. We of course had to wrestle her into the clothes in the store. At one point she was running loose in just a diaper. She did not get far, a sweet little 10-year-old girl helped us entertain her between outfit changes.

Well, I am up way too late. I must get to bed. But the laundry had not been put away in weeks, so I have been hanging and folding, and now I only have Baby Girl's clothes left to put away. We even carried up the rest of our summer clothes from the basement and put those away. I'm hoping to have the rest of the basement organized in the next two weeks.

Happy Memorial Day--a bit late

We hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday weekend. We attended a few parties and had a good time. Baby girl got to go swimming for the first time this season. Even though she went every day last summer, it was a bit of an adjustment getting in again this time. I had intended to take her a few times over the winter, but just never got it together to go, so now we need to make a big effort before heading off to Florida for Mark's conference. If I can't entertain her at the pool, the days will be very long. Sleeping in the hotel room watching Price is Right, Ellen and Oprah will not have the same appeal as it did last year when we went to Florida with Mark.

She did have one big fall this weekend. She was sitting in a little chair, reaching for pretzels on the table--never mind she already had about 5 in her hands, and the chair tipped forward, causing her to hit her head right on the metal outdoor table. I was sitting right behind her and as soon as I picked her up, her head was blue in the center. I placed her on my shoulder and then pulled her back to look again and a huge bump had already started to grow. My mom went to get my cell phone and another person went for ice. By the time they got back--less than a minute--she had already stopped crying and was searching for more pretzels. I called the doctor anyway, and just watched her the rest of the afternoon, but she seemed fine. Another mom there had a friend who is a nurse and the nurse suggested putting Vaseline on the bump to reduce bruising. It worked. The bump was nearly gone the next day and the bruise is fading quickly too. I have heard of this for cuts on the head, or witch hazel pads for stopping bruising, but maybe there is something to this too. I am always amazed at how fast babies heal.

Giving up on Flickr for the moment

So, since Mark is in charge of Flickr, I am giving up on it for the moment. Hopefully I'll get it together soon, but in the interim I have posted recent pics to Walgreens. Here is the link.

http://photo.walgreens.com/groups/hendersonfamily

Email me (ehenders@gmail.com) for a password if you want to see pics. You can even order them if you have a Walgreens. Once we get Flickr set up again, you'll be able to order from there too, through Target. They just announced the partnership this week.

We tried Picasa--googles image catalog system--wow--powerful, but a bit too much and somewhat confusing with the way we have our pics backed up and organized, so we are staying with Flickr.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. We are going to a barbeque, cleaning and hanging pictures--it will look like a real family lives here.

We have so many pictures framed, and many empty frames that have not been put up in years, so it will be so great to get our house together. On the first floor we only have one room left to paint, and then we move on to the bedrooms upstairs. We have the designs picked out for the baby's room (well, two designs at this point--one girl, one boy) And we have decided on a design for Baby Girl's room too. I can't wait to get started. And we are going with the same green for our bedroom. So the hard part is done for us, the painting will be eaiser than the selection of design. Look for pics sometime in july.

Baby Girl gets a tricycle

I never really planned on getting her one this year. She has a little ride on princess toy that she loves and rides it all around the house. We bring it outside too now that the weather is nice. However, she loves to get on the neighborhood kids' tricycles and bikes when we are all outside.

So I figured I would go tricycle shopping. She got a cute little radio flyer tricycle that is purple, pink and white. I was looking for something more gender neutral, so it could be used for a boy and girl, but no such luck. I can't believe all the character bikes now.

We bought her a little Disney Princess helmet and it came with knee pads and elbow pads. And it is a good thing it came with those. She started out great. We pushed her and she knows right where to put her feet and how to hold on. Then the grandparents show up, and granddad pushed her down the driveway hill without holding on. So, of course she fell over-even though the hill has a tiny incline, she's 19 months-she can't steer or stop- and her love affair with her new tricycle ended in that second outing. We even caught it all on tape. After 10 minutes outside and placing her baby doll on the bike she was more interested in getting back on, but she quickly got off. So we will see if this toy stays or gets put away until next summer. No telling at this point if she was bored, or just did not like it anymore. I'm thinking she will like it again, and be out riding it all this weekend.

Boy or Girl??

We are still waiting to find out. The little baby is proving to be less cooperative than Baby Girl. This one is breech, sideways and legs crossed. Baby Girl was head down and ready to go from my ultrasound at 20 weeks. Of course she was still 8 days late. Bonus--I get another ultrasound through insurance because the tech could not get good spine, lip or heart pics. Everything looked good from what they saw, so that is always nice to hear.

So, you should be getting our moving announcement cards in the mail soon. We took that picture in January and I had the cards in February, but yeah--printing the labels took forever. So, I made it just in time before stamps went up, which was a good thing because they were already stamped and I did not want to spend the time to put extra postage on all of them.

We've been busy lately with the good weather. We've been to the Zoo, Grant's Farm, lots of parks, and Mo. Botanical Gardens. I gave Mark a GPS system for his birthday, so we are planning on starting GEO CASHING. Should be fun and get us out exploring the city.

Baby Girl is growing so tall. She is over 100% in height for her age. She is quite the active little one. She loves Little Gym and now swings from the even and uneven bars. She also discovered the fun of jumping a few weeks ago. so now rather than jumping from one object to another, she jumps on the ground, much safer. She is starting to recognize her letters. We play with a puzzle and she can pick out specific letters when asked, so that is fun to watch. She also picks up new signs every day. I love the baby sign language.

I'm almost caught up posting our pics up online and when I do we will be providing a link.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Nature Walk at Powder Valley

Baby girl and I went to Powder Valley for the Parents As Teachers Stroll with Me event. We had a wonderful time. They had 5 stations set up--songs and rhymes, viewing station, bubble on the blanket, parachute play, and a nature craft. The nature craft was adorable. She made her first real craft project. (pictures to come) We of course are getting it a frame and hanging it in the office. It was such a simple idea for a various group of ages. I was suprised at how calm the area was and how all of the children were enjoying the craft.

We have had a great year with Parents as Teachers. It is really unfortunate that this program is not available to all families in the US. We have loved every minute of it. We are looking forward to next year's events and repeating favorites with the new baby.

She had her 18 month visit last week and she is certainly her daddy's little girl. Aside from looking just like him, she has his height--over the 100% for her age. She is doing very well with everything and sounds like she will be talking any day now. She has lots of signs and learns new ones as soon as she is shown, so communicating is not too difficult.

A day at Purina Farms

Today baby girl and I went to Purina Farms with some other moms and children. The Easter village was too cute. Baby girl loved looking at the little pigs, bunnies, chicks, and dogs. She of course thought all of the cows and horses were dogs, and would say woof, woof to them. Then when we got to the dog area she was so happy. She kept running from dog to dog sticking her hand and face up to the kennels so they could kiss her. She also gave out many kisses to the dogs that were out with the handlers. She must have really had a lot to say, because she talked to one of the employees off and on for a good 20 minutes. I am so happy I have been able to do these things with her. We have such a good time and the day really flew by. We got there at 10 and did not leave until after 1. She only had one brief period of crying, and then passed out on the ride home. I did take a few pics and if I ever get our Flicr account linked here, you'll find the pics under the April 2007 folder. If you have not been to Purina Farms, I certainly suggest making a visit. It is very child friendly and free, so it is worth the drive.