Circle of Life

Alli has been asking about death for about 6 months now.  It started when she learned about our yellow lab Mufasa and how he died when she was in my belly.  Our response to her about death involved plenty of discussions about the circle of life.  I told her that even though someone dies, they live on in the hearts of the people that they loved.  Like Mufasa, we still talk about him, have great memories of him, and therefore he is alive within our hearts.  But we also had to go through the fact that everyone dies.  That’s just how it goes.  She didn’t want mommy or daddy to die, and I told her it would be quite a while before we did.  But, we had her, to carry on for us.  And someday, she would have children and they would carry on our memories as well.  That’s the circle of life.

So one day in the shower, she mentions that when she is a mommy, and she has a baby in her belly, she will name the baby Jenny so that I will come back.  And if it’s a boy, she will name the baby Kim so he will come back.  Awwww!  So sweet!  I told her that was a great idea, and she was quite proud of herself. 

Across the Grain

Today was our monthly checkup.  I’m at 21 weeks, have gained 7 lbs total, and have a beautiful, healthy baby in my belly.  This baby however, has decided to lay “across the grain”, which makes my life a little less comfortable.  The head is at my right, with its back facing downward, and feet curled up just to the left of my belly button.  The doctor said there is more room up and down than across, but the baby still has plenty of room to move around.  The only time the doctors get concerned with the way the baby is facing is at week 36 - the head must be facing downward.  Hopefully, this is not foreshadowing of this baby’s personality – always across the grain!

Alli the Fish

Today I decided we needed to go swimming after I picked Alli up from Marcie’s.  I told her that Mommy wanted to go swimming, so she was all for it.  As I was loading her in the car, I told her that by the end of the summer, I wanted her to be able to swim from one end of the pool to the other.  She didn’t say much, and I thought that was a great goal for this summer.

Once changed into swimsuits, she jumped right in to the “big” pool (as opposed to the “little” pool, which is really our hot tub) with her duck floatie around her waist.  I was a little slower at getting in, but eventually did a little dive off the second step to get acclimated to the water.  And then we proceeded to swim down to the other end of the pool – me following her with her duck.  We got down to the other end, and she took off the duck to jump back and forth on the bar stools.  I had turned around for just a few seconds to check on the dog (isn’t that how it always happens) and when I turned back, Alli was 2 feet away from the stools treading water.  I grabbed her duck and swam over to hand it to her. 

Alli:  “Leave me alone, I can do this.” 

Mommy:  “Swim to the side and use the wall.” 

Alil:  “No Mommy.  I can do this.”

She was moving forward (slowly) while treading water, and hten taking deep breaths and swimming underwater, coming up and treading while eaking forward some more, and eventually made it to the other end of the pool.  Wow!!!  I was so proud of her!!!  After that, she did it 5 or 6 more times – and one time left the duckie on the steps and swam out to the barstools (on her back) and then back to the steps.  I was very excited.  Our little fishy!!

Layering Queen

Alli's preschool program for the last day of school was today.  I asked her to pick out a dress to wear.  Now, she had worn all her prettier dresses earlier in the week, but there were still a few that I thought were quite nice that she might pick.  No only was I surprised by the dress, but the layers.  See the picture below, and keep in mind it's 100 degrees here.

Alli's 4th Birthday Party

UPDATE: Here are photos from the party.  Or you can just click on the "Photos" links at the top of the page.

What a splash!  We held Alli's 4th birthday party at the Fountain Hills Splash Pad.  It was a great day for it - 95 degrees.  The water was cold, but that didn't stop the kids from being in it pretty much the whole time.  Okay, they did get out to eat and do the cake.  

Goody bags were buckets with some water balls in them, so the kids had extra fun - filling up buckets of water and dumping them over their heads.  Hilarious!  

Alli was joined by 16 kids, and Kim and I were joined by about 12 adults.  :)  Special thanks to Mike Kingery and Bob LeBlanc (Pepe) for manning the grill to feed the hungry brood, the Christensens who drove an hour (from Maricopa) to attend, and the Walker's who are obviously raising their youngest (4 weeks now) to be quite the party animal - all so Adeleine could attend.

We had a great time, and were so happy to see all our friends.  Thanks to everyone for making it such a great party!  Alli definitely had a great time!!!

 

Pillow Fight

Yesterday morning, Alli and I had a tiff. I don't even remember what it was about. I'm sure I just said no for something. Anyway, Alli was upset and went to the living room, picked up a pillow, and then came into the kitchen where I was doing dishes. She whacked my butt with the pillow, let it fall to the floor, and then proceeded to go to the living room to get another pillow. So I asked "are you trying to lose a toy?". (if she hits, she loses a toy to a naughty box). She just said "I didn't hit you!". Ah "symmantics, huh?". So I stopped dishes, went to the living room, grabbed a pillow, and whacked her her in the back. She fell to the ground, started fake crying and was going to start complaining when I jumped in and said "I didn't hit you!".

She was at a loss. You could tell that she understood if she argued that point, then I might take a toy. She didn't know what to do, which made me laugh. Of course that annoyed her so she grabbed another pillow.

Yep, pillow fight ensued. And it was fun!!

16-1/2 weeks.

Today was picture day for the baby.  Our Ob/Gyn does an ultra-sound every visit.  This is great for us, to be able to see the baby every month and visibly see that it is developing normally.  Once again, we asked to keep the sex a surprise.  The doctor took a while to get down to the legs, and almost had us close our eyes to get there, just in case we were able to tell the sex by accident.  :)  But we got to see all the way down to legs and feet.

We are 16-1/2 weeks along in the pregnancy.  And this week, I've been able to feel movement.  I'm surprised I can feel anything so early - with Alli it was something like 21 weeks before I could feel movement.  But my belly is quite a bit bigger, so maybe it just "knows" what to feel.  ??   Doesn't really matter.  It's just very reassuring to be to feel movement.  Yay!

 

Big Surprise, Coming this Fall!

Yay!  Alli is going to be a big sister!  Baby Guerrette is due October 9.  The whole family is excited about the new addition.

 

And for fun, I'll share some great quotes from Alli.

 

At week 9, before we would tell anyone...

Alli:  "Mommy, why is your belly getting so big?"

Mommy:  "I think it was something I ate."

Alli:  "I don't think so.  I think there's a baby in your belly."

??  How could she tell!?!?!

 

When we told her about the baby...

Mommy:  "Alli, you're going to be a big sister."

Alli: "Oh!  I've always wanted a big sister!"  ;)

 

One morning while getting ready for school/work...

Alli:  "Mommy, can the baby see?"

Mommy:  "No, its eyes are closed and its dark anyway."

Alli:  "Why is it dark?"

Mommy:  "Because there are no lights in Mommy's belly."

Alli:  "Maybe we can poke some holes so the light will get in."  ;)

 

One morning while Mommy and Alli were showering together...

Alli:  "Mommy, your butt's getting bigger too."

Mommy:  "Gee, thanks...."

 

 

And every day for an entire week after we told her...

Alli:  "I can't believe there's a baby in your belly!"

Busted!

Bagheera likes to eat Alli's leftover scraps from the floor and chair. This morning, he didn't make the best choice for his angle of attack. Our neighbor Steve, and I managed to get his head out, with a little head twisting. Baggy's tail was wagging like crazy after he was freed from his self imprisonment.

Alli's Balancing Act

Doing Pingu puzzles and balancing on the blue ball.