Charlie has a rooom!

It's reassuring to know that if Charlie was born today that he'd have a room to call his own...not that he's going to sleep in it for a couple of months. It still needs a few things: a dresser, an ottoman, a table, a lamp, fluffy stuff to make it feel cozy, some floating shelfs, wall hangings, maybe a rug. I must say Chris did an outstanding job painting the room. Good Job, Hun! The color is cute too, although it washes out a bit with the camera flash.

Naturally, Maudie thought we were setting up the room for her. After I got the sheet on the mattress, she went into her room to fetch her blanket and pillow. I tried the best I could to explain to her who's bed it was, but I don't know if it sank in. Then when she was downstairs Chris moved the green rocking chair from her room into his and moved the wicker rocker from the spare room into hers. She noticed the switch-a-roo just now when I put her to bed. I'm not sure how she's going to handle that one. She still wants to "baby bye" (translation- rock a bye baby) occasionally before she crawls into bed and she loves that chair. Plus I think a square shaped, chocolate brown chair would look super cute in Charlie's room.

A few things that I ordered off etsy for Charlie's room

Pinwheel Mobile for above the crib made by mamax2

Set of 7 prints made by mamax2

Today was the last day my Etsy shop was open until after my maternity leave.... I really need a break if for nothing else but to catch up on some stuff I've been meaning to do. I need to make Charlie a hospital kimono, a blanket and maybe a 'little bro, big sis" shirt for the kids.

Just in case anyone cares how I'm doing....

I had a regular doctor appointment with my totally handsome OB/GYN on Monday. I think he puts Dr.McDreamy (Grey's Anatomy) to shame...mostly because he's actually a doctor and it doesn't hurt that he's smoking hot. He's totally metro-sexual and if I hadn't seen photos of his gorgeous wife and five gorgeous kids in uber-hip office, I'd swear he was gay. Anywhoooo, (I'm getting a little off topic here) everything was good with the exception of my blood pressure, which was a tad high. Dr. McHotty said it was nothing and he'll have his nurse check it next week to make sure. On Tuesday I got a headache, which returned on Wednesday to the point that I had Chris take me home an hour after I got to work. I surely thought is was the end....preeclampsia was beginning to rear her ugly head.

Well today (Thurs) I still had the headache, so I called and got an appointment with the NP and got some blood drawn. Turns out everything is absolutely fine, my BP is back down, my labs are 'stone cold normal' and the stress-test they did on baby Charlie was great. They measured plenty of movement, with normal heart acceleration (which shows he's getting enough oxygen from the placenta). I do have a little protein in my urine, but it's nothing to worry about at this point. Except the fact that I still have a friggin' headache....better not be a tumor (right, Chris?...no sympathy).

Here's a little clip of my OB/GYN from YouTube...I like to turn down the volume and pretend he's whispering sweet nothings in my ear. Just tune out the part about 'clothes on' and 'my wife.' Lord, please don't ever let him find this blog.... I'd be so embarrassed! It's bad enough he's up close and personal with all my mommy parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK9Ern_D_JY

Kids say the darndest things...

With each passing day Maudie is becoming much more verbal...and much more entertaining. She's actually learning to get her point across and her train-of-thought brings me to stitches. Here are a few stories that I would like to share with you.

As I was tucking her into bed on Saturday night, she climbed into bed and laid flat on her back waiting for me to cover her up and plop a kiss on her cheek. She normally crawls in the other way so I asked her if she wanted to flip on her tummy before I tucked her in (to avoid the dreaded shifting blanket dilemma). This was her response as she turned to face the wall: "No mommy, on my elbow." Translation: she wanted to sleep on her side.

It rained here all weekend and Maudie and I did not leave the house. She was such a good girl all weekend and I was craving some ice-cream so we jumped in the car and cruised thru the McDonalds and got a couple of McFlurries. I told her we had to wait until we got home to eat them....if she was a good girl. This was her response in her sweetest voice: "Happy Birthday, Mommy." My birthday is in October, I guess it was the nicest thing she could think of.

Last week I was picking up Maudie from the babysitter and I was stitting on the floor with her and Jack (Kristeen's 8-month boy), whom she adores. She was showering him with hugs and kisses and playing peek-a-boo with him to make him chuckle. I said to her, "Do you love Jack?" She quickly reponded, "Yeeeaaahhh, marry him."

We've also been working on the concept of 'names', specifically that her name is Maudie Lynn Heideman. She has it down pretty well. Then we learned that daddy's name is Chris Heideman.... now when she needs his attention she yells, "CHRIS!". She couldn't have picked that up from me!?! My name is still Mommy Heideman.

Design Star

Well, the big plan for the weekend is to paint and setup Charlie's room. We got the bedding in the mail a little over a week ago and have been him-hawing over a color to paint the walls. I don't know why this is such an agonizing task for me....I guess it goes with the indecisive personality. If it wasn't for my sisters Maudie's nursery would've never been painted. Too bad we moved and she still has white walls in the new house.
Chris picked orange, which I love. I'm just not sure what shade to pick...thank goodness Maudie is here to help me out. Lets pray that she's got Susan's decorating gene.

Zoo Day

Chris and I have taken Maudie to the zoo on the first nice weekend of the year since she was a newborn....a 3-year tradition (impressive, I know). This year Maudie's Uncle, 4 cousins, great Aunt Janet and great Uncle Mike joined us. It was a beautiful day and the kids really enjoyed the fresh air...us adults enjoyed watching the kids and seeing them sleep like a log on the way home.
We followed the first zoo trip of the year with the first grill-out of the season. Isn't it funny how the first Brat off the grill always tastes like music in your mouth. Then by August you think..."Brats again?"
Not much else to report this week. Mya turned 3 so we had a little party at the Berendes household. Mommy's got a nasty cold and barley has enough energy to get thru a work day, yet cant sleep at night because dear old Charlie is resting on all my organs (and bones and nerves). Only 6 weeks left....

2007, 2008, & 2009

Mock Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

So, I was finally able to convince Chris that we need to upgrade our car to better suit our family. Two kids with car seats, two dogs and a trunk full of luggage does not fit well in a compact cross-over. So, we pulled the trigger this week and bought a mini-van. Yup, here it is....a full size, bad-ass, soccer mom van. We swore we'd never do it, but it was the only variable missing in our 2.5 kid, picket fence, suburban life equation. I must say so far it's a pretty sweet ride...pimped out with all power doors, windows and seats, a navigation system, leather seats, stow and go, etc..

Here's a photo of the (light blue) van I talked Chris

into buying

Here is a photo of the purse I keep his testicles in

Easter Recap

This is a photo blog of Easter weekend at Grandma & Grandpa Holden's

Pit-stop in LaCrosse,WI

Almost there....Chocolate will keep me quiet
Maudie's so in love with her cousin Maeva

All that country air sure can wear a girl out...cozy 3.5 hour nap in Grandma's bed

Coloring Easter Eggs

Soaking off some of the egg dye....red hands will distract from the Easter dress
The search is over for the basket

Bunny's ears...low melting point

Easter Egg hunt

No Hondu! You're not getting any of my peanut butter eggs!

After the kite ended up in the tree, Maudie ran inside....to afraid of what else might happen to her kite.

The One Thing She Got From Me...

My poor child was blessed with the misfortune of curly hair. Yes, I realize now that I'm 31 that curly hair is a good thing in most cases. And it's so adorable on little girls.....AFTER we tame the morning bed head. I had to post this photo to show you what she wakes up to almost every morning. Poor thing is never going to be able to wake-up and go. Just like her mommy.

A Day to Myself

Jennie's birthday is coming up next week and since we're heading back to the Holden Farm for Easter, Chris took Maudie and the dogs up to Horicon for the weekend. Maudie was so excited to go bye-bye to Grandma's house she sat with her shoes and backpack on for an hour before Chris got home from work. A great time was had by all, from what I understand.
Meanwhile, back at home I was able to get a few things checked off my to-do list. First and foremost, I took a 3-hour nap. It was glorious...no guilt, no interruptions. After my nap, I decided to do the taxes....nothing like putting things off until the last minute. They took me about 4 hours, but I was kindly rewarded with a refund. Yeah!! After dinner and a bubble bath, I spent the next 3 hours cleaning the house. It's amazing how much more energy you have when you don't have to chase a 2-year old around the house. I didn't sleep to well...I never do when Chris is gone. But I did get to sleep in, which was AWESOME! After awaking and thumbing thru the Sunday paper I went downtown for a coffee, came home and hit the sewing machine.
I was able to finish Maudie's sheets and blanket before they came home around 1ish. The sheet set is a green with white polka dots. The blanket is two layer of incredibly soft minky (pink on one side, brown on the other) with a polka dot binding around it...all made by hand. This is how I imagined Maudie would react to my new creations: "A new blanket! Oh, you are the best Mommy in the world. Let's go make my toddler bed so I can take a nice long nap!" Instead this is how it played out..."No, Mom! I don't want it" No matter how many times I put the blanket on her bed she tore it off and threw it out her door. How rude. Apparently she doesn't take to change well. The little turd. After refusing a nap I took her down stairs with me so that she could 'help' me make her bed spread. Maybe if she had a hand in it, she'd let me put it on her bed. I made it with a lotus flower print on one side and pink chenille on the other. I have it admit it's pretty adorable, and she was pretty proud. She let me put it on, I'll let you know if she actually sleeps in it. The only thing left is a couple of throw pillows which I plan to monogram with appliques.

A Clean Bill of Health

Would you believe that there is only three of this in this family and we had 4 doctor appointments today. Chris was responsible for two of them and Maudie and I had regular checkups. We all passed with a clean bill of health.
Chris got his little sleep apnea machine this morning, which is nice. Maybe now I'll get some rest and his ribs will heal from me constantly poking him to roll over. Of course, this will limit the number of impromptu midnight make-out sessions....but that never happened before the machine. In all honesty, it's a pretty cool little machine and I think it will help Chris get a better night's sleep.
Charlie is doing well....he's growing right on schedule. All my lab tests look good and my blood pressure is perfect. I hope it can remain that way. The only thing the doctor mentioned is that I may be a bit hypoglycemic based on when and how I feel when I'm tired (shaky). I just have to eat a little through out the day so that I don't have dips in my blood sugar. Probably wouldn't hurt to slow down a bit too.
Maudie is also doing great. She is 28.5 pounds and 35 inches tall which puts her at the 69% for weight and 76% for height. She has a tiny head at 47 cm (34%)....doesn't get that from her dad. She is at or has exceeded all the 2 year-old milestones. Yeah, she's pretty much the smartest kid ever. She only had to get one shot this time and she took it pretty well. She only kicked the nurse in the chest once, causing the nurse to completely miss the injection site with the band-aide. After the shot we got to pick out a brand new helmet for this summer's biking adventures. She was less thrilled than I was.