I just love her!

Just felt the need to express how much I admore my darling little angel, Charlotte. I had no idea I could love anyone this much (sorry Dave, it is just different). She is, at the age of almost 2, sometimes exasperating but sometimes so adorable I just want to get a spoon and eat her up! She is currently in her crib shouting "big sister!" She really likes the "I'm a big sister" book her Oma got her and I let her take it bed with her today. I might have to go in and remove it. I don't know if she'll nap with all that excitement!

I feel sort of bad that when Henry comes, her little world will fall apart in a way. No more of all the attention being just on her! But it will be a special time for her and Daddy and a chance to develop a special relationship with Henry. That will hopefully last. And I know that in a few years, they will play together and I'll be so glad they have each other.

In the meantime, I want to just appreciate all I can about THIS moment. The feeling of Henry kicking and rolling like a rock-n-roll star inside me. THe joy of her smile when I get her each morning. Watching how much she and her daddy love each other and make each other giggle. Cuddling up just the two of us (and a giant belly) to read stories. Her calling the cat "stupid dumb-dumb" (wonder where she got that?) and ordering him around, though he rarely follows her orders. And now that she sometimes call us "kate" and "Dave" I even love that!

But for now, I'm off to relax, we had a tiring day at the zoo and my feet are swollen a bit and my back is tired. So I'll lie down and get back to reading my book about why TV and Videogames are so horrible for children. I need encouragement to keep me from plopping her in front of the tv when I'M tired.

Charlotte Dancing

This video was taken August 30, so it is a little old. She had recently discovered the joys of jumping. Enjoy.

An amazing experience!

When I was pregnant for Charlotte, I ordered a belly casting kit from the internet. It was only about $20 and included plaster and strips to make a cast for your big belly. Then you can paint it or whatever.

But it never came, at least, not before Charlotte did!

So this time, I wanted to make sure I got it done. I thought maybe I'd just do it myself and asked my brother, an artist, where to get plaster. He talked to his good friend John and found out that there are some hazards to trying to do this yourself, the plaster heats up, people can pass out, you can get chemical burns. Ugh. Maybe I'll just order the kit.

But I talked with John and he SO graciously offered to do it for me at half cost. this is really great, because it isn't cheap. Without the "family discount" it would run at least $250 for this. The plaster alone is about $60 and it takes hours of work, sanding, finishing, etc. He was kind enough to give us half off. But this is way better than those internet kits and totally worth it!!

So today I went to John's studio in Muskegon and Grandma watched Charlotte. John has been doing plaster casting for about 30 years and he showed me some samples of his work:
He also showed me some from a pregnant model:

But I liked the ones that were more of a profile:

So I decided to try that. The way it works is pretty simple. Get naked (don't worry, I have no modesty) and cover yourself liberally with petroleum jelly. This keeps your skin and hair from sticking in the plaster. Make sure the pubic area is slicked, you don't want this to become a brazillian. Then he fills the tub with plaster. There are cinder blocks around the edge and there are towels on them:

Then plaster is poured in and you lay in it. I'll spare you the picture of what I looked like after lying it (it is, of course, nude) and just show you what the cast looks like:
This is the negative.
Here are some closer up pictures of it.
John waits for it dry, then pours more plaster in it to create a positive. Then he sands and finishes it. You can paint it or cover it in rice paper for a translucent shell. you can hand it on a wall or put a post into it for a free standing thing. I have no idea what we'll do, but I'm so glad I did it! What an experience and now the beauty of pregnancy is captured, for me, at least!

For my Boo-boo

Charlotte helps wash my car. She is great at the details!

I was thinking about how my blogging has fallen off and I realized that I needed to do it again. Mostly this is for Charlotte. Since I don't make scrapbooks or save stuff or do anything like that, this is the best "baby book" that Charlotte can hope for from me. I also went back and re-read posts of Charlotte pregnancy and it was really nice.

So there is alot to update and I won't even attempt to fill in everything. I'll say that Charlotte and Dave and I had a great summer. It was pretty packed. Somehow we found a way to be busy everyday. We had our weekly playgroup, we crashed other playgroups, we had park dates, we went to Frederick Meijer Garden, we went to swim lessons, and we just played in the yard and with the pool and sandbox. It has been tons of fun.

I have watched Charlotte just explode in communications!After our vacation with the Courvilles and DiGennaros she picked up tons of words. She cracks me up, the things she says now. I pointed to Dave and asked what we call him and she said "Daddy" and then I said what if we need something, then what do we say? She screamed "Dave!". It made Dave and I just roll with laughter. I hadn't even coached her to say it, she just did.

We made some attempts at potty training, but I don't think we're quite ready. She shows lots of signs. She tells me after she goes, she wants to be changed, she gets the diapers, she goes to the changing table, she is fascinated with watching others go, she loves to sit on her potty, and she takes off and puts on pants. What she does not do is tell me BEFORE she has to go. So we pretty much peed and pooped all over the house for a few days. Which wasn't too much of an issue, it was mostly on the wood floor. And some in the yard, which is no problem.

Mostly I just found it difficult when I'd catch her mid-pee and try to haul a thirty pound urinating child into the bathroom with my big old belly and waddle trying to move quickly and not succeeding! This pregnancy is WAY harder while chasing Charlotte. I had no idea how easy it was to be pregnant and "work". Now this, what I do with CJ all day, is real work. Bending, lifting, holding, chasing, etc. Plus my lap is steadily disappearing. She has to sit on my knee and she still tries to wiggle back into my lap and that puts alot of pressure on my belly. Which already has plenty of pressure!

I'm basically the same weight and shape as I was when I gave birth to Charlotte. And i still have 6-8 weeks?! We'll see. Dr. Murphy said that I would be more likely to go early again since I had Charlotte early, but there is no guarantee. I keep talking to women who had their first child three weeks early, then the next was two weeks late!

I think I lost my mucas plug a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn't mean anything. In fact, I might be dilated right now, but again, that doesn't mean anything. I am carrying much lower, of course. If I have another, it'll be waving out under my skirt!

I'm tired and my back is really sore about two hours after I get up. I wake up and feel good, but I'll go grocery shopping and just be beat. But I don't have that crazy pelvic pain that I had with CJ. Oh, Henry is head down which is good. Unless he gets all nutty and turns that means hopefully we'll be able to avoid a C-section. But peeing is really a problem. He must be just pressed right against my ureter because I can't pee more than a tiny trickle at a time. Very unsatisfying.