Interview with (16-Month-Old) Emily

Nathalieland: Hi Emily! Is it just me, or are the months really flying by?
Emily: It's just you. I don't really understand the concept of time.

N: Oh right. Did you have a nice Christmas?
E: Definitely! I saw tons of people, opened lots of presents, played with lots of new toys, and ate tons of good food. I couldn't ask for anything more.

N: I'm glad to hear that. Are you starting to get ready to become a big sister?
E: Yes I am! Whenever I ask Mommy to draw things for me I ask her to draw "Dada", "Mama", "Baby", and "Me". I also kiss my mommy's belly sometimes because she says there's a baby in there (and I saw an ad in a magazine of a little girl kissing her mommy's big belly so I thought I should start too).

N: How sweet Emily! Your mommy must love that. How are you sleeping this month?
E: I'm all over the place. Some nights I wake up a few times, other nights I sleep for 10-11 hours straight. Mom and dad have no idea what's going on!

N: I hear your great-grandmother ("Oma") is visiting this month! That must be fun.
E: Well, she always tries to hold me, touch me, or talk to me in a strange language. I'm not a fan of that. But! I hear she comes from the same place as the cuckoo clock -- that's pretty cool!

N: So you're still obsessed with cuckoo clocks?
E: Yes, but I also have a new obsession: BEES!! I point them out everywhere I see them (books, puzzles, toys, etc) and say the word "bee" all the time. They are the awesomest bug on the planet. Santa actually got me a fuzzy bee puppet for Christmas!

N: That's so nice, Emily. Other than "bee", have you learned any new words this month?
E:  Yep. My other new words this month are "me", "you", and tons of animals noises: "ba ba" for sheep, "moo moo" for cow, "ra ra" for cat, "oouf oouf" for dog, "bzzz" for bee, "ssss" for snake, and "caw caw" for crow (I just learned that one yesterday when I saw a picture of a crow).

N: That's impressive. What else is new?
E: I've learned how to say "no". Well, I can't say the word yet, but I wave my arms back and forth and Mommy and Daddy understand that that means no. Oh, and a few weeks ago I noticed that my pumpkins went missing... They were on the living room table and I used to play with them all.the.time. Now all I see are some Christmas bells. They're pretty cool too but I sure miss my pumpkins!

N: I'm sure they'll come back. In 10 months or so... You're looking great so I probably don't have to ask this, but how's eating going? What are some of your favourite foods?
E: I still love food and I'll eat almost anything Mommy and Daddy give me. If I had to pick my ultimate 5 favourite foods they would be: cheese, cheerios, strawberries, zucchini, and pasta. But please don't restrict me to just those -- there are so many more things I love!

N: Those are some healthy favourites! Gosh, Emily, you're such a smiley girl in all of your pictures. I hope you stay happy and keep on smilin'!
E: Will do.

Pregnancy Journal - 19 Weeks

Weight and Measurements
Pre-pregnancy weight: 105 lbs
Pre-pregnancy waist: 26 in.

18 Weeks: 111 lbs, 31 in.
19 Weeks: 112 lbs, 31 in.

Firsts
First anatomy ultrasound: December 23, 2010. I'm putting this in the "Firsts" category since we'll have to get another one ;).

Journal Entry
How I nurture my relationship with my partner...

This topic suggestion kinda makes me laugh. I can't really think of specific ways in which I "nurture" my relationship with Steve. We just live our daily lives together, are parents together, have fun together, and talk to and love each other. I couldn't ask for anything more! Ok, maybe breakfast in bed or something like that. [But wait, that's a way for him to nurture me, not the other way around...]. Steve says he's happy, so I guess I'm doing a good job!

Overall
An increased appetite, mood swings from the ultrasound fiasco, tiredness from the holidays, but happiness overall.

Pictures from Christmas Day

We had a lovely and relaxed Christmas Day. After waking up together and opening gifts, my parents came over for a bit so that we could check out what Santa left in our stockings. Then we spent the rest of the day with Steve's family, opening more presents, playing, and setting up for the next day (we were hosting a big turkey/ham dinner for Steve's extended family -- a group of 25 people!). Since we had a nice dinner on Christmas Eve and were planning the big dinner the next day, we just had pizza, veggies, fruit, and brownies on Christmas Day. A little nontraditional, but delicious nonetheless! :)

Emily playing with her new dollhouse

Holding the toilet, reaching for the baby in the bathtub

Me: "Does the baby want to go pee?" 

"ya"

I bought Emily a small table to go with the chairs we already have (Steve's chairs when he was young), but it looks like the chairs and table are still too big for her.

Some gifts Steve and I got each other

"Do you love all your presents?"

 

"Santa" always fills the stockings with awesome stuff!

Steve's family

I got our nephews matching shirts that say

"I'm the little brother" (baby brother arriving soon!)

"I'm the big brother" and

"I'm the biggest brother" 

Brownie time!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with love, family, and fun too!

Pictures from Christmas Eve

Our tree

Off to my parents'!

My family

Emily opening her only gift for the evening -- her Christmas pyjamas!

She slept (in them) during the rest of the gift-opening. 

 My sister and her fiancé will be getting married here next week!

(Practicing :))

Insane amount of gifts! We're spoiled every year.

The set-up for Christmas morning

Emily's big gift

Merry Christmas from Nathalieland!

To Be Determined...

Baby #2 did not cooperate today... So we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl. I know there are about a million worse things in life, but I'm still very sad about this! I was so ready to know. I need to know. One thing's for sure: I can't wait until the birth! We're going to try to schedule another ultrasound.

Apparently his/her legs were constantly shut together or, if they weren't, the back was arched in such a way that they couldn't tell. Also, they couldn't get a clear shot of the face because baby kept his/her hands over his/her face (see above). I guess Baby #2 is a shy little one!

Memory Lane: My Childhood Christmases

I was going to write the Memory Lane post "My Childhood Pets", but I thought this one would be more appropriate for this time of year :).

I have wonderful memories of Christmas as a child. Our family celebrated Christmas mostly on Christmas Eve. We would have a nice dinner, go to church, then open presents when we got home from church. After all the fun and excitement we would go to bed only to wake up the next morning and discover what Santa left in our stockings! I've never done "opening presents on Christmas morning" and was always confused by that in the movies! Ha.

I'm really excited about starting our own family traditions, using influences from my childhood as well as Steve's Christmases, and creating beautiful and lasting memories for our children.

Now onto some cherished photos...

My first visit with Santa did not go well

In the following years I warmed up a bit...

... and was big fan by the end.

Singing a solo part in "Le P'tit Renne au Nez Rouge" (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) 

I'm the girl in the center, dressed in pink, holding a wand and facing "Rudolph" (the guy in the black pants).

Visiting Grand-Maman at Christmas

Opening presents!

Me and my sister holding our New Kids on the Block dolls (I had Donnie, she had Joe)! Whoo!

Next up on Memory Lane: My Childhood Pets

Pregnancy Journal - 18 Weeks

Weight and Measurements
Pre-pregnancy weight: 105 lbs
Pre-pregnancy waist: 26 in.

17 Weeks: 109 lbs, 30 in.
18 Weeks: 111 lbs, 31 in.

Fun Fact
Baby #2 is 5.5 inches long (about the size of a sweet potato) and now has his/her own fingerprints! Also, just 3 more days until we get to find out boy/girl!!! I'll likely announce it on Dec 26, after we've told the families (oh, and you know, celebrated Christmas!).

Journal Entry
Dreams...

I've had two dreams so far about this pregnancy/baby. Just the other night I had a dream that I was giving birth on the floor in front of a bunch of women (like in the old days). One lady said "...and there's the head", and all of a sudden the baby was out. I replied "but I didn't feel anything!". It was a BOY!! I snuggled with my new baby for a little bit and then right away he started showing interest in nursing. This really was a dream because he nursed perfectly on that very first feed! I was so happy. I had an abundance of colostrum/milk and he went to town on all of it. Haha. Dream on, Nathalie!

At the beginning of this pregnancy I had an awful nightmare. I was lost in a bad neighbourhood and a group of people came up to me, pinned me down and each took turns punching me in the stomach. All I could think about was my baby! I think at the very end of the nightmare they started taking out knives, but luckily I woke up before anything else happened. It was terrible.

These dreams are nothing compared to the ones I had when I was pregnant with Emily. I had the craziest dreams ranging from breastfeeding our pet lizard, to having a baby that looked like a miniature sumo wrestler, to walking into the baby's room and seeing a grown man in the crib, to having my thesis supervisor be my doctor, ready to administer pitocin to bring on my labour while in Las Vegas! Crazy stuff.

Overall
I'm at the perfect point in my pregnancy where the sickness and tiredness are all gone, the belly is cute and round, and the uncomfortableness of the later months has yet to arrive. I haven't felt baby move much since the first time -- can't wait for it to really start!

Four Generations

I finally got the four-generations picture that I wanted to get when we were in Germany in May. My grandmother's here for the whole month (including a week in January, for my sister's wedding), so today we got together to take the big photo.

One thing that I noticed is that it would have been much easier to take the picture back when Emily was 8 months old. It was extremely difficult to have her happily sit still for the pictures. And forget a smile -- she never smiles for portraits. Our system for taking the pictures included Steve entertaining Emily until the last possible second (while I set up the picture), then handing Emily to me for a quick shot.

Here are the two best pictures. Unfortunately my grandmother is making a bit of a funny face in both of them, but at least they're not blurry or containing a fussy baby. I'm having a hard time deciding which one I think is best. Which one do you prefer?

Four Generations

My mom, me, my grandmother, and Emily 

Four Generations

Emily, me, my mom, my grandmother

My complaint about the second picture is that Emily's dress, which pulls the entire colour scheme together, is cut off. But am I being too picky?

And just for laughs, here's a picture that didn't make the cut :).

Where's Emily?

(à la Where's Waldo?)

Mixed Berry Muffins

Today's Wednesday Recipe was my pick: Mixed Berry Muffins. I love berries and berry-filled muffins so I decided to try this recipe from the Marie Claire Seasonal Kitchen cookbook. Although the muffins weren't spectacular, they were fun to make and I think that with a bit of tweaking they can taste as yummy as they look!

Topping the muffins with extra berries

Delicious-looking batter

Emily playing in the messy living room while Mommy bakes

Finished product

Here's the recipe: