Pregnancy sleep - 27 weeks

So, do you remember playing with these things as a kid? I've decided this is how to most accurately describe how I feel when laying in bed at night. I try to sleep on my side, but just like the weighted punching bag that bounces right back up, I seem to roll right over onto my back...as if there were an extra 5 kg weight in there affecting my center of gravity. In the third trimester, we will have to try the pillow wedge method to keep me from rolling at night!

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sleeping patterns

Perhaps hearing stories of his second cousin Jack, Micah has now decided that the best animals to take to bed with him are all of them. This is slightly disturbing to his parents who can't fathom how there is still room for him to sleep, but you will see from his delighted face that he has found a way. And loves it.

New sleep routine:
Read a few stories with Mom or Dad in the reading chair.
Attempt to carry as many animals as possible to the crib and ask (demand) that Mom & Dad bring the rest.
Arrange self amidst animals.
Tell Mom & Dad which blanket each of them should put on top of him and his animal posse.
Point to a cheek and say "Mom" = Mom, you need to give me a kiss here.
Point to a cheek and say "Dad" = Dad, you need to give me a kiss here.
Repeat.
Blow kisses to Mom & Dad.
Yell "Bye!" as they start to exit the room.

Christmas

 With all of the excitement of the past week and our last week of class for the month, I am just now getting to posting about Christmas. The above is the family service at church with all of the kids (except Micah) dressed like shepherds, angels, & wise men. Micah decided he was too cool for the shepherd costume Mom made out of a striped pillow case. He checked out the manger after the service was over.

 Christmas Eve we had two students spend the night. They are both here for a semester study-abroad. Micah enjoyed helping them open their stockings in the morning.

 He was of course delighted to open his own gifts as well. It was nice that the opening of the GREEN wrapping paper was as equally thrilling as seeing his own new toys. As he opened most of his gifts in front of grandparents on skype, Christmas morning was mostly about enjoying what the adults got. :) I know I'm an old married woman because I was most excited by the new stainless steel heavy-bottomed cooking pots Rick found for me.

 After a day of being lazy, eating monkey bread, egg casserole, veggies & hummus, watching The Santa Claus (Tim Allen), and chatting, we headed to the Hannah & Daniel's for Christmas dinner. Hannah cooked delicious Korean food - bulgogi, purple rice, kim chee, and a noodle dish that I didn't catch the name of. Micah happily provided the entertainment at the end of the evening by playing music on their Christmas village music box and showing everybody how to dance. He then caught some pre-bed practice rest with Daniel on their poof.

 Sunday, aka 'the day after', we enjoyed trying out the new toys - trains and trucks until we were just so exhausted we had to lay down to drive. (at 27 weeks prego, this is how I do most of my playing :) ).

PS - Where is the family Christmas photo?? Maybe if we leave our tree up long enough, Mom V can take a picture when she comes in April!

Much better activity...

 Last night we decorated sugar cookies to give to our neighbors and classmates. Micah surprised us all with his perseverance in painting the whole batch with Mom and Dad! Notice his intense concentration.

 Ten points to the best caption for the face below. Perhaps something like...all this hard work, and we don't get to eat any?

 Again....where is the cheesy smile for the camera? I think he is on to us and frustrating our plans to paparazzi his life. So grandparents, you'll just have to visit to get the real Micah in his silly state. ;-)

What's wrong with this picture??

Here is a quote from the baby center update I got on my 2 year 3 week old PRESCHOOLER (read: not toddler!) yesterday: "The little sponge following you around has big ears! So give her plenty to listen to. Research shows that preschoolers whose mothers talk often to them build bigger vocabularies. And kids with fathers who also frequently talk to them develop even larger vocabularies. (Moms tend to use more comforting and nurturing words drawn from the child's own world, while dads are more likely to talk about less-familiar interests, researchers say.)" 

 

Do you think a "less familiar interest" could possibly be zergs and terrans and other StarCraft words I should not know? Why does my child look so engrossed? and worse yet, gleeful (if such a word exists)?

That elusive Christmas photo...

Well,  I told Rick he had to chase Micah around the house with a red blanket hoping that we could capture Micah in his Christmas sweater with a smile. This is the closest we came...

 This is his clothing advertisement face...

 And this is an outtake...with the best smile of them all. Micah thought playing magic curtain with the backdrop was more fun than standing in front of it. What can you do?

Losing the belly button

Tomorrow we will be at 25 weeks in this pregnancy...and as of last weekend we are mourning the loss of my belly button. A friendly classmate asked me last week if I was going to have twins. She is single and thus I forgive her. I'm rediscovering the creativity needed to be pregnant. Here is how I have survived the first 1.5 trimesters....

1st trimester:

- I decided I would not do any house cleaning as the cleaning products made me extra nauseous.  This was Rick's favorite decree.
- As I was easily getting woozy on buses, I attempted to go against my people-pleasing nature and force my way into the last remaining seat on the bus. Even if an old man got on, I would let someone else offer him a seat. This took a lot of willpower..but I affirmed myself with the thought that I could only truly be responsible for one of us not passing out while standing.
- I bought lots of heavy groceries on grocery trips so I could justify taking a taxi up our hill instead of walking. :)
- I decided I would just not wash any pants. Without the benefit of a wash and a dryer, my pants would stretch with me. Supposedly. 

2nd trimester:
- I get to eat double portions of my favorite foods....and claim pregnancy nauseau for my less-than-favorite foods.
- I unbutton my coat when getting on the bus so people know I'm pregnant and freely offer me a seat.
- We've convinced Micah that only Dad should be rough-housed with for 'everyone's health'.
- I've decided I won't drink any liquids after 2pm so that I can sleep through the night. I have yet to follow this one.