Samantha: 30 Months, Week 3 {The Nutcracker, Sledding, and It's a BOY!}

Well, the busyness of this Christmas season has caught up with me, and I am now trying to write this blog post from a couple weeks ago, with very little recollection of what happened besides what events I have written down on my calendar.

It was a fairly busy week, which was probably good because I had my next ultrasound appointment on Friday morning and was eagerly awaiting this day for the last few weeks.  We were going to see our little baby again, and we were hopefully going to find out if we were having a boy or girl.  But anyways, I will get to that later in this post.

Monday morning we had a doctor and dentist appointment scheduled for Samantha, so we had to be out the door bright and early.  In fact, Samantha actually slept in pretty late that day, probably because we stayed out late going to Christmas at the Zoo on Sunday night.  We were almost about ready to wake her up to get her ready for her doctor's appointment, when she woke up on her own around 8:10.  We quickly got her dressed and ready, tried to give her a little breakfast, and were out the door for our appointment at 8:30.  We did not get to meet with our regular doctor since we had to reschedule our appointment, but we didn't have any major concerns or issues so we didn't think it mattered too much who we saw.  Her height was 36 3/4 inches which put her in the 50-75th percentile.  Her weight was 32 pounds which put her in the 75-90th percentile.  She got a nasal flu spray, and they said she was doing great developmentally.  It was ironic though because we were going to bring up the issue we were having with naps, but then found the solution of staying in her room for a few minutes after laying her down, so we didn't bring it up at all.  However, since I am writing this now two weeks out from the doctor's appointment, I know that our "magic" solution didn't last for too long, but oh, what a glorious couple of weeks that was when we figured out how to get her to nap calmly and quickly.

Right after Samantha's doctor's appointment, we had her dentist appointment, which was also fairly easy.  The dentist just looked in her mouth, counted her teeth, checked to make sure she didn't have any cavities, and told us to schedule an appointment next time for a cleaning in one of the big girl chairs.  Samantha was really good at both appointments and actually really seems to enjoy going.  Getting stickers and prizes are always a good incentive as well. :)

After our appointments we went to get Sadie to watch the rest of the day while her Daddy traveled for a job interview.  The next few days went by quickly with our normal routine of watching Sadie, going to the library, and going to BSF.  We also continued to have good napping with our method of staying in her room for five minutes after laying her down for her nap.

I did get a special treat this week since Sadie's Daddy, Jacob, was going out of town, Sadie's Mommy, Michelle, stayed at our house on Tuesday night and brought pizza to share.  She and I had a great time talking and sharing about what was going on in our lives.  I don't think I realized how long it had been since I sat down with a girl friend like this.  It's just different talking to a girl, rather than your husband, and it's something that my heart definitely needed.  Thank you Michelle!

It's been nice lately, too, because Ben has been able to get solid days of working in on campus, giving us more time to spend together in the evenings after Samantha goes to bed.  He no longer has to get to work as soon as she's in bed in order to stay on top of things, and I have really enjoyed having my husband back a few nights a week to hang out with, to talk to, or to watch a movie together.

Thursday was an exciting day and the beginning of an exciting weekend of Christmas activities.  We had gymnastics class in the morning, which of course Samantha loved.  She even got to play with one of her little friends after class.  They spent fifteen minutes or so running back and forth together and being silly.  It's great to see Samantha playing with others.  We definitely don't do that enough, and it's nice to give her the freedom to take the initiative in playing with others.

We were very glad that Samantha took a nap that Thursday afternoon because we had an exciting night planned.  We had tickets to see The Nutcracker at the IU Musical Arts Center.  Michelle gave us tickets as a Christmas present, and we were so excited to see what Samantha would think of the the ladies dressed in tutus and everyone dancing around.  We were grateful that we picked Thursday night to go because it was not busy at all.  In fact, we were in a section off to the right side where there was no one around us.  It was probably a good thing that we were a bit secluded because Samantha talked to us about what she saw and asked us questions throughout most of the performance.  We encouraged her to talk quietly, but she doesn't necessarily have control over the volume of her voice sometimes.

These aren't the greatest pictures, but we got a few pictures before the show started of Samantha standing in front of the giant nutcracker and the giant Christmas tree.

Once it was getting close to the ballet starting, we took Samantha into the auditorium, showed her our seats, and showed her where the orchestra sits to play the music for the ballet.  As you can see, we had no other people around us. :)  They were wonderful seats, and we didn't have to worry about anyone's big head in front of us blocking Samantha's view.

Samantha did a really good job and at first was just enthralled by the decorations on the stage, the kid dancers that are in the party scene at the beginning of the ballet, and the beautiful costumes.  She sat there in her own seat, staring at the ballerinas, almost like she was afraid to take her eyes off them for fear that she may miss something.  After quite a while of sitting like that, she wanted to come sit on my lap, which was wonderful.  I will always cuddle with my little girl whenever she is willing.  She would ask me questions like, "What are the boys doing?"  "Where are the princesses going?"  "Why do they keep going in and out?"  With a few pointers here and there, Samantha really followed the basic story line of the ballet.  She knew that the boys were jealous of Clara getting the nutcracker doll, she knew they were having a Christmas party, and she knew that Clara was having a dream.  Most of that, without any of our help.  At intermission, Samantha was trying to stand on one leg and spin around like the ballerinas.

During the second act, Samantha got a little antsy, especially since it was past her bedtime, but she continued to do a really good job.  She stood for awhile and sat on Daddy's lap for awhile, continuing to ask questions about what was going on whenever she needed clarification.  Our night ended perfectly with a light fluffy snow falling from the sky and beginning to coat the ground as we walked out of the auditorium after the ballet.  

I think the best indication that Samantha enjoyed herself immensely was when Daddy was putting her to bed that night, and she said, "I am going to bed, and I am going to have a dream like Clara."  Then, probably for the next week, Samantha would ask us many, many times a day, "What is your favorite part of the Nutcracker?"  Daddy and I would always try to come up with a different response each time (although we were asked this question so many times that we had to cycle back through our responses).  Samantha would always answer, "My favorite part of the Nutcracker was when the boys snatched the nutcracker from Clara and broke it."  We are already making plans to see The Nutcracker again next year, if we are still living in Bloomington at Christmastime.  :)

There was a huge snowstorm in the forecast for Thursday night into Friday, but you never know how much snow is actually going to fall.  Well, this is what we woke up to on Friday morning.

The snow was so beautiful, and it continued to fall all day.  At the end of the snowstorm, we had around nine inches of snow total.  As soon as Samantha woke up, we brought her into our bedroom and showed her this view out our window.  She was shocked and amazed.  It hasn't snowed this much in Bloomington since she was born, and she wouldn't have any recollection of it anyways.  I know a lot of people hate snow, but I love it.  I don't think winter/Christmas would be the same without it.  I remember even as a kid being so excited if we woke up Christmas morning with fluffy, white snow covering the ground.  I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas is the theme song of my Christmas season.

We then had an exciting morning because we were off to Mommy's doctor for our ultrasound appointment to find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  I was so afraid that the office would be closed due to the bad weather, but luckily, we made it to the office okay, and they were staying open until 11:30 that day.  We had to wait quite a while as they were a bit backed up due to the weather, but had a great checkup and ultrasound.  We knew we wanted to find out the gender of our baby, and it was so wonderful because the first shot we got was like our baby was sitting on top of the ultrasound camera.  We got a very clear shot of what was between the legs, finding out that we are having a BOY!!!  We would have been excited either way, but of course, we are really excited that we now have one of each, a girl and a boy.

There was nothing better than watching our little baby boy move around on that screen.  Especially after experiencing a miscarriage in March, seeing our little boy healthy, strong, moving, with a strong heartbeat, I just about melted.  There's nothing that makes you treasure life more than experiencing the loss of one.  We are so grateful to God for blessing my body with a healthy pregnancy, and even though we don't understand his purposes, we trust his timing and Sovereign plan for our lives and the lives of our children.  We have decided to name him Aedan and are using the traditional Irish spelling of the name, rather than the Americanized spelling.  Ben and I met in Ireland during a study abroad semester our sophomore year of college, and after we got married and decided to have kids, we also decided that we would use an Irish first or middle name for each of our children, to carry on the legacy of where we first met and where our love began.  Samantha's middle name is Colleen, and now our little boy's name is Aedan.  I am already smitten with him and love feeling his movements within my womb.  It was hard to stop smiling and get back to our normal day after this appointment in the morning.  I can't wait to meet our son.

The rest of our Friday was spent hanging out at home, playing, listening to Christmas music, and watching the snow fall outside.  It was amazing how much snow we were getting.  Samantha wanted to go out and play in it so badly, but we told her it would be better to wait until the next day since it still was falling so rapidly.

Saturday morning we decided to make our first batch of Christmas cookies.  We have a special recipe from Ben's Grandpa's Aunt, and it makes the most delicious, soft sugar cookies I've ever tasted.  Samantha helped choose which cookie cutters to use, cut the dough into shapes, and also helped to decorate them with sprinkles.  We put the sprinkles into little dishes, and I showed her how to use her pincer fingers to pick up a few sprinkles, making it easier to get on the cookie.  She did a really good job with decorating.  I was thinking we would go through a lot of sprinkles, with most of them missing the cookie, but she actually erred on side of not putting enough sprinkles on sometimes.  She enjoyed herself, and it was a fun activity to do as a family.  Plus, we got to reap the benefits of cookie making by getting to taste them.  We all had Christmas cookies for a snack that morning.

Oh yeah, we also made buckeyes on Friday night after we put Samantha to sleep, which were also a part of our snack, hence the very chocolaty mouth on Samantha.

What is the best way to burn off energy from a sugary snack of buckeyes and sugar cookies?  Why, playing in the snow and sledding, of course!  We got Samantha all bundled up and ready for her first venture outside after our nine inches of snow.

We decided to go out to the little valley in our apartment complex and try to sled.  Daddy is not the biggest fan of sledding, but he was a trooper for Samantha and me.  He carried her through the snow on his shoulders until we found a good place to try to sled down.

As you can see in the video below, Samantha's first time down the hill was fairly slow, and she tipped over at the end because of how deep and fresh the snow was.  She smiled and laughed the whole way down though.

After we got our little path carved out in the snow with the sled, it was smooth sailing for our little girl.  I would catch her at the bottom and help her halfway up the hill, at which point Daddy would take over, get her to the top of the hill, situated on her sled, and ready to go down again.

Samantha had a blast!  If I weren't pregnant, I would have been going down the hill with her.  I love sledding and playing in the freshly fallen snow.  We probably played outside in the snow for a good forty-five minutes or so, much longer than I anticipated due to the cold and depth of the snow.  I think she would have sledded for quite a bit longer, but the more times she went down the hill, the faster her sled would go on the slick snow path we had created.  One time Daddy slowed her sled down when she reached the bottom of the hill, but Samantha protested and didn't want him to stop her early.  So the next time, he didn't stop her sled early, and she hit a small bump in the snow, causing her sled to jump off the ground a bit and giving her a face full of snow.  She got a little upset about the snow being in her face and then was done sledding for the day.  However, despite getting snow in her face, she was already talking about going sledding again sometime the very next day.

After returning to our home and taking off our wet, snowy clothes, Samantha got right back to playing while we made lunch.  One of her favorite activities lately is to line things up: cars, people, anything she can get her hands on.  This was quite the impressive line up she created on the floor.

After Samantha woke up from her nap on Saturday afternoon, we decided to drive up to Greenwood for dinner and a trip to Babies 'R Us.  Now that we know we are having a boy, we have to start accumulating boy things.  We have bins and bins of girl clothes, but nothing for a boy.  We decided it would be easiest to just register for a few things like a bedding set, burp rags, and some clothes, so that way if people wanted to buy anything for Aedan for Christmas, they would have a little more direction on what we needed/wanted.  Samantha was pretty excited to go to a baby store and even helped choose a few special pajamas and outfits for Aedan to wear.  I don't know if I will have another baby shower since this is not our first child, but it's hard because we are having a boy and don't have some things that we need for him.  I feel like it's kind of a generational gap.  Most older women wouldn't think to have a baby shower for any baby besides the first one, whereas younger women (at least many that I know) have baby showers for second and even third babies, particularly if they are a different gender than what you already have.  The showers are obviously not as big, but it is still nice to receive some gifts to start you off.  It was exciting and nerve-wracking to be walking around a baby store, registering again.  

Now that we know we are having a boy, it feels a little more real.  I am beyond excited, but also a bit nervous about what it will be like to be a mother of two, what it will be like to balance the needs of both Samantha and Aedan, what it will be like to nurse again and to be up throughout the night again in addition to dealing with a three year old during the day, what it will be like to love both my children equally and completely.  (I love Samantha so much, and I already love Aedan so much, that sometimes it seems impossible to be able to have enough love for both of them.)  There are some things that will be easier because we have already been through it once, but at the same time, we know that each pregnancy, labor, delivery, and baby are different.  Going from none to one is a huge change, but I think going from one to two is also a huge change.  However, we are ready for it, and I am so excited to be able to stay home and have the opportunity to love on both my children throughout the day.