Samantha: 32 Months, Week 3 {Napping, Nail Painting, and Cousin Time}

I don't know if it is because I am pregnant, but it seems like life tires me out a lot more lately.  Maybe I've reached that point in my third trimester where my energy has left me, but after my parents being here this weekend, even though it was relaxing and we just hung out and played at home, I felt exhausted at the start of the week.  Now that I am 28 weeks pregnant, I am feeling everything more.  Chasing Samantha around tires me out more.  Bending over to help her put her shoes on and sitting down on the floor to play, are no longer easy tasks with my ever growing stomach.  However, on the flip side of that is the fact that I feel Aedan move around a lot.  Not as much during the day when I am up moving around, but whenever I sit down and relax, particularly at night and at bedtime, he makes his appearance known, and I love it.  I love to feel that connection to him even now.  I am getting more and more excited each day as April 23 approaches, and I can't wait to meet out little boy and become a family of four.

On Monday, even though schools had a two hour delay due to snow and cold temperatures, Samantha's gymnastics class still met.  They had just recently changed the rule regarding delays because so many classes were being cancelled, so I'm glad I checked the website.  There was only one other little girl there besides Samantha, so we went through the obstacle course, bar, and balance beam very quickly, giving them lots of free time at the end.

Sometimes I feel like I write too much about napping, but I guess when you are a stay at home mom with a two and half year old who is transitioning out of naps, but still needs them on most days, napping is a pretty big deal.  On Monday, she did not take a nap again, even though she begged to go upstairs to take a nap after lunch.  She can be laying her head on the table practically falling asleep at lunch, but that doesn't mean she will have enough sense to stay in her bed and actually let herself fall asleep.  The biggest problem we've been having lately is that she has been tired and cranky in the evenings on days that she doesn't nap.  She will hurt herself more and will wander around like a little lost child most of the evening, intermixed with episodes of crying outbursts for no apparent reason.  Several times lately, Ben and I have discussed putting the railing back on her bed to turn it back into a crib, just to see if that has any impact on her napping.  However, we don't think she would like that very much; plus, at some point we have to go through this transition, and it is better doing it now before Aedan comes along.

On Wednesday, after several days, of not napping and having a hard time at night, I decided to try and fight the battle of getting her to stay in her bed at nap time, rather than letting her get out the minute we leave the room.  After following our normal routine, I stood outside Samantha's bedroom door, and anytime I heard her get out of bed, I would go back in her room and put her back in bed.  I had to keep this up for quite awhile, but eventually I won the battle and got her to stay in bed.  Apparently, she decided to let herself fall asleep, and she took a nice, long nap.  I love watching her sleep.  I also love that when she falls asleep (at least at nap time), she'll fall asleep on her back, with her blankie (that she now calls Blank) somewhere close by her head, and the covers pulled all the way up.  She looks so comfortable in her bed.  She also looks both so small and so big at the same time.

I was very glad that I got Samantha to stay in her bed, and even more excited that she actually took a nap and was well rested that night.  So, we decided to celebrate by dropping Sadie off with Michelle, going out to eat at Five Guys, and then walking around Target and getting a special snack of peanut butter M&Ms.

Now if we could only repeat those results again, right?  I thought to myself, well maybe I just need to win the battle a few days in a row of keeping her in her bed, and then maybe she will stay in bed during nap time and sleep more often instead of getting out and playing.  However, Thursday nap was a different story.  On Wednesday, I finally got her to stay in her bed before she talked to herself until she fell asleep.  On Thursday, I couldn't keep her in her bed.  The second I would close the door, she would be up trying to play or get a book.  I followed the same approach and would put her back in her bed, over and over and over again.  But after an hour and a half of doing this, making her very upset and crying several times, and causing much frustration and rising anger on my part, I decided fighting her on this is just not worth it.  I didn't like being the bad guy.  She wasn't napping and certainly wasn't getting any rest with how upset the whole situation was making her.  I wasn't getting anything done and wasn't taking time to rest myself that afternoon since I was going in her room every minute, it felt like.  I was hoping that battle wouldn't be as hard since Wednesday went relatively easy, but that was not the case.  It's so hard to know what the right solution is, and it's so easy, as a mother, to doubt the decisions I make.  I always let "What ifs" take over my mind instead of making a decision that I think is best for my daughter and not second guessing myself.  Needless to say, Thursday night I was not feeling like I won any "mother of the day" award, and I was determined to not have our time in the afternoon become a battle of the wills.  I want to enjoy this time I have with just my little Samantha, when I get her all to myself and she gets me all to herself before Aedan is born.

We had been communicating with Aunt Jeni about a good weekend to get the girls together in Upland before Aedan is born, and she mentioned this weekend as a possibility.  At first we said we wouldn't be able to go because Ben was scheduled for a campus visit/interview at Grove City College on Sunday/Monday and would have to make the drive out there.  However, we didn't want to miss this opportunity and were able to make arrangements for Samantha and I to get back down to Bloomington, so we decided to travel to Upland for the weekend.

Before Samantha was born, I made curtains for her room, and after looking around online again for curtains for Aedan's room, I again decided that it would more cost effective to make them again, rather than buying them.  Plus, we had a lot more freedom in color and pattern.  We went to Jo-Ann Fabrics on Thursday night to pick out fabric so that I could use Ben's mom's sewing machine while we were in Upland for the weekend.  We found almost the same exact type of fabric as what I used for Samantha's curtains except the tones are blues and browns rather than pinks and greens.

I will have to post another picture later of what the curtains look like completed, hanging in our little boy's room.

Friday morning I had another doctor's appointment.  Ben and Samantha came with me, but it was just a short check of the baby's heartbeat and how my measurements are.  The doctor asked if I was feeling movement every day, which I do, and now I am on the every two week schedule for my doctor's visits.  It's kind of strange to think about really how fast that time will go.  It's such a different feeling this time around.  Last time everything was new and scary.  I would spend my evenings getting things ready and reading books and articles on the internet about what to expect in childbirth and the first few days you bring the baby home.  Now, since I have done it before, I'm not totally scared about labor and delivery, and I'm not quite so petrified about breastfeeding since I successfully breastfed Samantha until almost 18 months.  But there are still so many unknowns.  What will labor and delivery be like with Aedan?  What will his personality be like?  Will breastfeeding be as easy with him?  How will it be as a family of four?  How will Samantha adjust to having a little baby around, hearing him cry, having more attention taken away from her?  These are all questions that swarm around in my mind on a regular basis.

Anyways, after my doctor's appointment, we went back to our apartment complex to pay our rent and sign some papers, then went back to our apartment to pick up Roscoe and have Samantha go to the bathroom before we hit the road for Upland.  Samantha had woken up a little too early that morning, knew we were going to Grandpa and Grandma's house after my appointment, and was really upset when we made her go back in our apartment to go to the bathroom.  She didn't understand what we were doing and didn't want to be going back home.  Once we finally calmed her down and explained to her what we needed her to do, we were ready to hit the road.  Our trip went smoothly, much better than the last time we drove to Grandpa and Grandma's house and our two hour trip took over four hours.

When we got there Friday afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma were still at work, and we had eaten lunch in the car, so we let Samantha play for a little while and then attempted to get her to take a nap.  We brought both her pack and play and her sleeping bag, deciding that if she took a nap in the pack and play, then we would try the sleeping bag at night.  Like we expected, she did not nap, it was just too exciting being at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  That evening, Grandma brought home a pizza from Papa Murphy's, and Aunt Jeni and Alaina arrived for dinner as well.  The girls even got to sit together at the little plastic table that we gave them once we rearranged our downstairs play area to make room for the easel.  I think Samantha felt a little too disconnected from the conversation at the adult's table, though, because she kept getting up and down from her seat to come and talk to us.  Alaina is all business when she eats.  For Samantha, however, it is a social occasion for sure.  We always comment that Samantha would fit in well in Europe where eating is more of a social event, one to be enjoyed around the table for a couple hours at a time.

Ever since we moved Samantha to her big girl bed, we also transitioned out of using pull-ups since she was staying dry all night, every night.  We haven't had any problems with this so far.  However, we also have a rule that Samantha's last drink of the night is at dinnertime, that way her bladder can be empty by the time she goes to bed at night, and we have to worry less about her waking up during the night needing to go to the bathroom.  When your with grandparents though, things are just not the same as at home, and we're pretty sure she had a drink late in the evening before bed.  Well, a little after 6:00 a.m., Samantha started stirring in her pack and play.  (We knew this because we were sharing a room with her.)  We told her it was WAY too early to be getting up, especially since she hadn't napped yesterday and went to bed a little later than we usually would put her to bed on days she didn't nap.  She continued to wiggle around and talk to herself for awhile.  Then, out of the blue, she started crying, saying she had wet the bed.  She hadn't given us any indication that she needed to go to the bathroom.  This was not the most pleasant way to start off our Saturday morning.  Luckily, it seemed like she must have been sitting on her pillow when she had her accident, because most of the wetness was contained to her blanket and pillow.  I didn't feel anything on the mattress that was a part of the pack and play, which I was grateful for, because I wasn't sure how we would get that clean.  Daddy took her to the bathroom to see if she needed to go anymore and changed her into new underwear and pajamas, while I worked on removing the wet blankets and pillow and replacing them with others in the linen closet and bedroom.  We put Samantha back to bed, telling her she needed to try and go back to sleep; however, at that point she had already woken up enough that sleeping was out of the question.  We tried for about a half an hour, and then Daddy graciously offered to take her out of the room around 7:00, allowing me to stay in bed and get some extra shut eye.  What a wonderful husband I have!

Here are some pictures from our playtime in the morning with Aunt Jeni, Alaina, Grandpa, and Grandma:

The girls also did a lot of dancing.  They like to play the little player piano ornament that Grandma keeps out on her piano downstairs, even though it plays Christmas songs.  Samantha and Alaina will take turns pushing the button to play a new song and then dance around the living room.

After having quite a long morning of playing, and both girls waking up far too early, they were fading pretty quickly by 11:00.  It was the perfect opportunity to snuggle with Grandma and watch a show.  I don't think Samantha moved a muscle the whole time.

After lunch, it certainly was time for a good nap for both girls.  Since Samantha had woken up so early that morning, she actually took a nap in her pack and play that afternoon, which we were very grateful for.  She certainly needed it.  

While Samantha napped, I worked on finishing the curtains for Aedan's room.  It is through projects like this that I realize how much I enjoy being creative, and I especially enjoy sewing.  Some day when we have a house and hopefully some more space, I'd like to get a sewing machine and experiment more with making things by hand.

That evening, before dinner, Samantha got a real treat.  Aunt Jeni brought nail polish with her to paint the girls' nails, and Samantha had never gotten her nails painted before.  It has been on my list of things to do with her, but we just haven't done it yet.  I didn't know how it would go, whether Samantha would sit still enough or resist the urge to touch her nails while it was still wet, but she was so excited and entertained by the whole process that she really did a good job.  Aunt Jeni went back and forth, doing one nail for Samantha and then one nail for Alaina.

 Samantha was pretty excited about having gold, sparkly fingernails.

 Here are both girls posing with their newly painted nails.

 And next up were the toes.  They decided to go with purple nail polish for the toes instead of doing gold sparkles for both.

Since Samantha took a nap on Saturday, we let her try out her first night in her princess sleeping bag that she got for Christmas.  We got her all set up next to the bed in our room, and she was very excited about it.  She sat in her sleeping bag as I read her her bedtime stories, and we just waited to see how it would go with falling asleep in a new place.  After a few minutes, she started crying, so I went up there to see what was wrong.  Her sleeping bag had gotten a little crooked and unzipped, so I helped her get re-situated and tucked her back into her sleeping bag.  Then, a little while after that, she started crying again, a lot harder this time.  I thought maybe she had rolled over and knocked her arm on something underneath the bed.  However, when Ben came back downstairs, he told me that she said, "I don't want to be in the sleeping bag.  I want to sleep in the pack and play."  He said, "Are you sure?  Because once we switch you there, we're not going to switch you back to the sleeping bag."  She was sure.  The sleeping bag was just too much for her that night.  I think she just wiggles around too much and at the same time is too particular about how things are.  She doesn't like when the sleeping bag gets twisted or bunched up.  Once she was tucked into the pack and play, she fell right asleep.  We'll have to try it again sometime because eventually we will need the pack and play for Aedan to sleep in, but for now we are just fine with her sleeping in the pack and play, if that makes her more comfortable.

We had a much better, more peaceful sleep on Saturday night, which is good because Sunday ended up being a very hectic, crazy day.  Daddy left for his interview/campus visit at Grove City on Sunday morning.  Then, just as we were on our way out the door to church, he called saying the check engine light turned on in our Santa Fe and that the car was shaking a bit when he drove faster than forty miles an hour.  He wasn't sure what to do, but didn't want to drive too far without knowing what the problem was.  So, he turned back around and met us at church so he could use Grandpa and Grandma's car instead.  Luckily, he left early enough that day that he still had a good buffer zone and would likely get to Grove City on time.

After church, Samantha and I went out to lunch with Aunt Jeni and Alaina before they headed back home.  Samantha and I then went back to church to get Grandpa and Grandma so they could drive with us back to their house, in case we had any car trouble along the way.  We had to decide what to do pretty quickly because it was already Samantha's nap time, and she was very tired and already very confused about what was going on.  Grandma decided to drive Samantha and I back down to Bloomington in their truck.  Samantha's car seat barely fit in the back seat with all of our stuff, but it worked.  I hoped that she would nap in the car, but also could see her not calming down enough since she is in the truck with Grandma driving.  Luckily, she did fall asleep for about fifty minutes, at least giving her enough energy to get through the night.  Grandma helped us carry all our stuff in the house and then headed back home herself.

It was definitely a bit weird being at home without Daddy.  The house was much quieter, and it just felt like something was missing.  He is so involved with us on the weekend and in the evening, that it was strange not having him here.  Samantha was glad to be home and to play.  I was anxious to hear from Daddy and hear how his dinner with the department went.  It is exciting for him to have this opportunity to interview and to get to know this school, whether it turns into a job or not.  But I'll have more on that in the next post.