Disney On Ice

For Christmas, my mom bought tickets for us to take Abby to Disney On Ice.  So, Friday, Cam's parents came over to watch Lexi, and we took Abby up to Salt Lake to see the show.



During intermission

 Abby was so enthralled with the show, she was not easily distracted.  We had bought a bucket of popcorn and she hardly ate a bite.



We didn't bring in our camera because we didn't think they wouldl be allowed, so we took the pictures with Cam's phone.  Look how Abby's head is strategically placed to hide my ginormous belly.

 Everytime a new character would come on the ice, I'd lean over and say "Look, Abby, it's Snow White (or whoever it was)" and she always replied "I know, Mom."  I guess I forgot I was speaking to the Disney expert.

After, we let her pick out a souviner to buy, and she picked out an Ariel figurine.  She's pretty much taken it with her everywhere she's gone since.

Deciding to be a family of 5

Anyone who knows me, knows I can be a bit indecisive. Grocery shopping takes me FOREVER. I have to think through every purchase, make sure it's exactly what I want or need. When it comes to bigger, life changing decisions, I tend to sit on the fence, looking at both options closely, having difficulty fully commiting to either side. Usually, I need some guidance or a push from Cameron. He's so practical, and can look at any situation from all angles. But a couple of times in life, it's been the spirit guiding and pushing me.
When I was pregnant with Lexi, many people may remember me saying over and over and over how we were going to be done having kids after Lexi was born.  Two seemed like the magic number for both Cameron and I.  So, I'm sure many people, as they've come to learn that we are expecting again, and so soon, are thinking 'What happened?' 

Several weeks after Lexi was born, it was really starting to sink in that this was going to be it.  No more being pregnant.  No more sleepy, cuddly newborn.  No more attempts at breastfeeding.  I would be wrapping up that phase of my life.  Up until that time, those thoughts always brought me more joy than sadness.  I was ready to reclaim my body and both Cam and I were ready to be done with sleepless nights.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I got the feeling that something wasn't right.  I kept thinking 'Are we really done?'  but about as quickly as the thought entered my mind, I'd shove it aside.  I really wanted this baby factory to be closed, for good.  Over several more weeks, this cycle of thinking repeated itself, but the more I tried to convince myself to stop these crazy thoughts of having a third kid, the more I became filled with overwhelming sadness.  I tried to tell myself that this was just a little bit of post-partum depression, I'd get over it, but deep down, I knew that wasn't right either.  There was a little spirit, that really wanted to come here and join our family.  Once I finally started to embrace the idea, I was filled with the spirit giving me such stong reassurance.  At the same time, all the sadness completely disapeared.  I had my answer, it wasn't post-partum depression or some random irrational thought, we were meant to be a family of five.

Pictures of the girls

A couple of weeks ago, Are and I get some pictures taken of the Piper, Abby and Lexi for Cam's mom's birthday.  We got them done at the mall.  Lexi still is shy of strangers, so it was a little difficult to capture a moment with her happy and smiling.

 

It was also difficult to get a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a 1 year old, all smiling, and looking at the camera.  I think they turned out pretty good.  We had a few coupons we put together, so we got a killer deal on the photo shoot.

Is it springtime yet?

This week, the temperatures climbed into the fifties, so I took Abby to the park to get some much needed play time.  Unfortunately, the wind picked up, so it didn't feel quite as warm as I had hoped.  Abby didn't seem to notice, and had a blast anyways.

She loves to take her "babies" down the slide on her lap.  This particular baby set us back a whole $1 at Walmart, and is her all time favorite companion. 

She's pretty fearless, and will climb anything.  I did have to do a little cropping on this pic, however, because her pants never stay up, and they were sitting a little low on her bum.  Nothing a little photo shop can't fix.

Finally busted out the camera again

This is Abby looking through a "telescope"

Lexi, WALKING!  She's become quite a pro, although it's still a little Frankenstien-ish

Since the switch to milk and a sippy cup, Lexi wasn't drinking very much.  She didn't find either the milk or the sippy that appealing.  One day I discovered that she LOVES drinking from a straw, so now all her "ba-ba's" are sippy's with straws.

Lexi's newest activity is to take everything out, then put everything back in.

Anytime I get the camera out, Abby turns into a little model.  These next pictures are just of her posing.

The classic picture of "you taking a picture of me"

She loves her little camera she got for Christmas.  It's full of pictures of Lexi, and lots of Abby's toys.

Another pose

This is the view of Lexi I see all day.  She always wants up onto my lap.

Lexi loves watching "Baby Einstein".  If it's been a rough day, and I need some piece while cooking dinner, I'll turn this on.  She will sit and watch it start to finish.  It's probably not the best that she already loves TV so much.

I realized a week or two ago that I haven't taken any pictures in quite a while.  So, it was time to dust off the camera, and takes some pictures of what the girls are up to.

An update

It seems like I haven't done many posts of what we've been doing lately, so I thought I'd through up a quick update of the whole family.

Me: 

• I'm still pregnant.  These last weeks seem to have just been crawling by.  I had a Dr appt this week and kind of have the C-section date set for May 16. 
• I got the go ahead to switch to a stronger heartburn medicine because the daily heartburn has been killing me, and nothing seems to fully take care of it.
• I pretty much have no appetite any more.  I rarely get hungry because I feel like my stomach is so squished.  At the Dr's when they measured me, I measure just the right size.  I said "Are you sure?  I feel like this baby is HUGE!"  I can feel him from my ribs, down to my bladder and I know my stomach is all squished.  How can he be taking up so much room ALREADY?
• The Dr also confirmed my suspicions that the tight knot/pinch that I've had in my lower back for the last couple months is indeed, the sciatic nerve being pinched.  I kept hoping that if I could find the right stretch or something, I could alleviate some of the pain, but I'm afraid the only time I'll be getting any relief is once the baby is born :( 
• Working out, which if you know me, you know how important this is to me, has become quite difficult because of the sciatic nerve pain.  I always know when I've over done it, because my back just totally seizes up, and becomes so tight.  I try to get in as much as I can, but it's difficult to work up the desire when I know I'll be in pain the rest of the day because of it.
• My favorite jeans are becoming difficult to button.  But so far, I've been to stubborn to admit that they don't fit anymore, so I still wear them, and just grimace every time I have to sit down.  My plan is to not put them in the dryer any more to see if that will give me another month or so of wearing them.  Pathetic, I know.  I should just put them away till after the baby is born, but that would be too easy.

Cam:

• He's loving his new work schedule, and new station.  Most days he's so busy, he doesn't even get a chance to call home.  Or if he does, the phone call is almost always cut short because he has a call come in.
• He's gearing up to be in another power lifting competition in April.    He's been trying to get in as many workouts as he can to get ready.  This one will be in Vegas, which means, road trip!

Abby:

• Started going to primary this January, and is loving her Sunbeams class, and learning all sorts of new primary songs.  It's kind of fun, because Cam and I teach in junior primary also, so we get to watch all the fun she has during Sharing Time.
• Dance is going good.  She's starting to learn a new dance for the recital that will be in May.  Unfortunately, it looks like the recital might be the same week as the baby is born.  But, we'll figure something out so she can still participate.

Lexi:

• She got her first ear infection this week.  She's had a cold, plus her molars are coming in, and then she came down with a fever on Monday.  I took her in on Tuesday, and they said she has an ear infection.  Today, she broke out in a rash, which I think is a reaction to the amoxicillan, so I'll keep an eye on that.  Hopefully, she will start to feel 100% again.
• She's really improving her walking.  She tries to walk whenever she can, but still has to improve her balance a little bit.
• She's learned to say "uh-oh".  Which also means she thinks its fun to drop everything, just so she can say "uh-oh".

That's pretty much what the last couple weeks have consisted of for us Monahan's.  I wanted to try to keep track of my progress of my New Year's goals, so I'll put that on this post as well.

• I've done really well at getting my fruits and veggies in everyday.  I still make a conscious effort to eat as many as possible.  I have, however, not really cut down on the soda, and I still have a hard time not devouring every piece of sugary goodness I see.  But I think I've cut out SOME sugar.  Baby steps.
• Budgeting has improved a ton.  I've switched to a "cash/envelope" system, which has made everything seem so much easier.
• I think I've managed to journal a little more, plus I have some ideas I want to try out. 
• All in all, I think I've done pretty well!

Abby's dance pictures

That was biggest smile she would offer up that morning. 

I got Abby's dance pictures from her recital this week.  Such a little cutie!