Teaching me patience

So, this baby has decided not to arrive. I was due July 2, and so far this baby is 10 days late. To say that I have been anxiously waiting for this baby to come is an understatement. My last post was about waiting for this baby, so obviously that's about all that is going on in the Mik house these days.  Raising children is such a great (and often difficult) opportunity to practice virtues. I haven't even seen this baby's face yet, and already he (or she) is trying to help me practice some serious patience. Oh sweet little baby, I'm trying.

Baby Mik about 25 weeks ago

Belle arrived 10 days late, so maybe I should have expected this, but then Bug came early, so this time I was ready for an early baby. The Officer and I have been prepared, packed, and waiting for this little baby for over 3 weeks, so we are more than ready for this baby to meet us. Now I'm 10 days past due, and I'm scheduled to be induced Sunday night. It's definitely not a huge deal, but I had really hoped I wouldn't need to be induced. Induction usually makes for a longer and more painful labor, and I really didn't want another Belle marathon labor. In the end though, Belle and I both survived, and she was more than worth every second of it. If you happen to speak to me in the middle of the night when I'm awake to go to the bathroom for the 5th time, you will find a very discouraged and pretty uncomfortable Mama, who thought she would be holding a baby a few weeks ago. But today I am being patient (for now).

I am very aware that there are many women who never get to feel the sweet kicks of an unborn baby, so I'm grateful I still can enjoy those. My Doctor did a stress test on the baby on Wednesday, and everything looked great, but of course I was surrounded by other women having stress tests and ultrasounds because there are problems with their pregnancies. Again, grateful. I also have great friends and family who have been visiting me while I wait. Plus, 41+ weeks of sympathy from the Officer is nice. I can't complain about the foot massages, and he doesn't mind my complaints and laziness while we wait. Last night the Officer and I finally went out on a long overdue date night, so that helps a lady stay cheerful.  I'm not sure that I will ever have patience mastered, but I'm working on it, and this baby will come. Well, this baby is getting evicted on Monday, so my patience ends there :)

2 days overdue and enjoying fireworks with my family

The Waiting Time

I am 2 days away from my due date, so I'm assuming that I won't be pregnant much longer. Of course with Belle I went 10 days past my due date, so I guess I could still have 2 more weeks to go! Most of this pregnancy I thought this baby would come early, but I was obviously wrong about that ha. I'm okay with it though. I always like to soak up the last few days/weeks before our lives are turned upside down with a newborn. Of course, I am so excited to hold this little baby and see those tiny toes and fingers, but in the meantime I'm enjoying what life is like right now. I'm definitely enjoying my daily afternoon naps. Every day the girls take a solid 1.5 hour (or longer) nap together, and this Mommy does too. I'll miss my naps when I'm on a newborn schedule, but I will absolutely not miss the 39 weeks (and counting) of nausea. So, I'm making the most of the end of my pregnancy, but I know that nothing beats newborn snuggles.

39 weeks

I've mentioned before that I have some pregnancy procrastination issues, but this time I'm actually ready to have a baby. Bug came early, so I thought that might happen again. We have baby clothes out, the car seat and bassinet ready, and I am ready to meet this baby. Of course, tomorrow the Officer will be out of town, so I really hope the baby doesn't decide to make an appearance tomorrow. Anytime after that is okay though (and labor always happens according to our plans right???).

Bug with her version of a baby carrier

The girls are 100% ready to meet this baby. Bug tells me that she is going to give the baby pacifiers and toys and she might even share her stuffed animals with the baby. Belle is super excited to help take care of the baby, and I'm sure both of the girls are ready to stop hearing me say that I can't do things because I have "a big baby in my tummy". Today Belle told me that she was going to the hospital because the baby in her tummy was big enough to come out. Then she told me that Puppy had gotten big enough to come out and now he was a tiny baby. She spent the whole day taking care of her newborn Puppy. She wrapped him in a blanket all day, nursed him, Baptized him, put him the bouncy seat, and even told me that I needed to wash my hands before I held him because he was so little. Then she told Bug and me that we needed to leave her alone so she could rest after having a baby. Haha I'd say that girl has the whole newborn thing all figured out already.

Belle getting some practice with one of our sweet newborn friends :)

Here's to hoping that my next blog post will be filled with adorable pictures of my newborn!!!

Babymoon?

So I have heard of these things people go on called Babymoons.  I thought we should go on a little mini-vacation before this baby comes.  I think a babymoon is supposed to be a romantic get away just for Mom and Dad, but ours was a family vacation, and it was perfect. 

We live about 2 hours from the beach, so we packed up and headed to the beach with two very excited girls. We got an oceanfront hotel room for a night and spent 2 days hanging out on the beach. Every second was magical for my little toddlers. Neither of them had ever stayed in a hotel room, so they thought the hotel was just incredible. Belle got a huge comfy queen bed all to herself and looked like a little princess. Each ride on the elevator was just as exciting as the last, and getting to push the button for the floor was thrilling. These were all the little exciting things the girls loved in addition to the actual beach!

The beach was pure Heaven for them. I don't know why we haven't done this little trip more often. Both girls are at the perfect ages to enjoy a full day on the beach. Neither of them are at the crawling/eating sand stage, and they both did just fine staying on the beach all day and skipping naps (though I was shocked sleepy Bug was still walking at the end of the day). 

So like most little girls in 2014 Belle loves to sing "Let it go"(well her made-up version mashed together with "Do you want to build a snowman"), but she always sings it as loud as humanly possible. I've tried so many times to get her to sing it quietly, but she has informed me that Elsa sings it loudly in Frozen. The song is literally banned in my house before 8:30 am. So during the 2 hour car trip to the beach she was singing it at full volume, and mean Mom over here insisted that it stop. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Belle you can only sing in a nice quiet singing voice in the car."

Belle: "Mom, Elsa sings it loudly in Frozen."

Me: "I know she does, but that's because she is on a mountain, not in a car."

Belle: "Well I need to sing it loudly like Elsa does."

Me: "No. If Elsa were in a car I'm sure she'd sing quietly, and the next time you are on top of a mountain you can sing it as loudly as you want."

When I made that last statement the Officer gave me a little sideways glance from the driver's seat and questioned the promise I had just made to my 3-year-old about singing as loudly as she wants.

I shrugged and asked him how often are we ever on mountains, and the conversation with Belle ended. 

Fast forward a few hours and we were all happily sitting on the beach. The Officer and I were lounging in our beach chairs chatting about our beautiful day while the girls were digging a huge hole in the sand. All of a sudden Belle jumps on the pile of sand she has created from her digging and at the very top of her lungs for all the nice sunbathers to enjoy she screamed "LET IT GO! LET IT GO......." When I finished laughing hysterically I said, "Why are you screaming?!?!", and she very matter-of-factly pointed to the mound of sand she was standing on and said, "This is a mountain, so I can sing loudly". Touché my clever girl. Touché. 

We spent 2 wonderful days playing in the sand and jumping in the waves. I just love this age when they are happy to spend entire days on the beach with Mommy and Daddy. They found joy in every tiny detail of our trip, and I love seeing the world through their eyes. 

I couldn't possibly love these 3 people more =)

We've been back for two weeks, and of course every day they have pretended to be at the beach. They lay blankets down on the floor and pretend they are on the sand, and the kitchen is the ocean where they jump over waves. 

It wasn't quite the romantic get-away that you might think a Babymoon is supposed to be, but for us it was perfection.  I think it's pretty romantic to spend time with my husband watching our little children have two absolutely magical days. It's funny how vacations change when you're a parent :) Now we are ready to meet our little baby and add even more joy to our family!