Precious Moments

To start this post, I just want to say that Peyton had a terrible night last night. She only wanted Mommy and even though Daddy tried, she kept sobbing uncontrollably until I was with her. I'm not sure if it was a bad dream, being horribly over-tired, or a combination of both. Fortunately, once I brought her into bed with us, she felt secure enough to finally drift off to sleep - with a hand on my cheek to make sure I was still there. :) I woke up around 3:30 after Kurt said, "Kendall. She just pooped." Hmmmm... maybe that was part of the problem, too.

He took and changed her (love that guy!) and I chuckled as I heard her inform him (via the baby monitor) that she now wanted to be in her crib. Funny kid... but that whole incident - and the resulting lack of sleep on her part - has led to a blogging opportunity that hasn't been experienced in ages.

So... here I go. :)

It's strange - because I've been acutely aware over the past few weeks that she will only be this little for a little while longer. The other night I got up around 2:30 am and went into her room just because. My head said, "Let her sleep." but my heart said, "Pick her up and cuddle her because soon she'll be too big." I scooped her up and she mumbled, "Mommy?" then snuggled into my shoulder. We rocked for about 15 minutes before she sat up, rubbed her eyes and said, "Love you, Mommy. Crib?" :) When I left the room, she called out that she loved me again with a sweet smile before she rolled over and went back to sleep. I don't consider myself that impulsive (but don't ask Kurt his opinion, okay?) but that was a moment I will not regret following my impulses. I'm still smiling because of it.

She continues to impress me at swimming lessons. She even touched the bottom of the pool today (with my help) and doesn't cough or gasp at all when we dunk - which is a fair amount. Gotta keep up with the 3 and 4 year olds! (lol!) I know she won't "pass" this year - they have to be able to stand on the bottom of the pool without assist... but it's been a real delight to spend this time with her. Today, she spontaneously started clapping and saying, "Yaaaayyy!" for all the other little kids when they dunked - and after a while, a few of the older kids looked at her and started clapping too. :) I hope she doesn't lose that sense of enjoyment - the one that is so often hampered by self-consciousness and "what will people think of me?" issues.

In the mornings, and after her naps she says, "Morning Mommy!" and then proceeds to say, "Hi Bebe Sissa!" and waits until my belly is close enough to hug and kiss. Occasionally, she'll also whisper, "love you" but I'm not sure if it is to me or her Bebe Sissa. Either way, it's adorable and melts my heart. She's also very tender to her dolls. If I come in after her nap and they're still 'sleeping', she says, "Shhhhh..." and points to the one cuddled up beside her all wrapped in her blankets. I don't know where she gets it. I was not a doll girl, and I'm pretty sure her Daddy was not a doll-boy. But she does have such a tender heart at times, and I'm looking forward to seeing her with the Baby. :)

One other thing to report on: She has turned into such a girlie-girl! :)
(I'm using my best valley-girl accent - imagine it, and it will make that last statement so much better, I promise.)

She loves to get her hair done and look in the mirror - or put on a dress and twirl and dance. We wore our matching Hawaii dresses yesterday to swimming lessons and before we left she almost made herself fall down from saying, "Spin, Mommy!" and doing just that herself to watch her dress flare out. She also will come up to me when I have my hair and/or makeup done and said, "Oh.... pretty, Mommy!" My own personal cheering squad! :)

The other day after she was admiring my polished toes, I asked her if she wanted to paint her toenails. She jumped up, yelled, "Okay!" and tore out of the room. I followed her as she ran to my bathroom, opened the cupboard and pulled out the bag of nail polishes. She walked past me towards the living room with matter-of-fact, "Come here, Mommy." (lol!) After being shown all her options, she choose a bright-pink corral colour - and has been walking around since then looking at her toes saying, "Oh! Pink! Pretty."

.

Anything for beauty...that's my girl! ;-D

Sometimes my heart could break with thankfulness for this child God has given us. She is a delight - and I am humbled that she is mine to look after and love. For those of you who follow our family's happenings and keep us in your prayers: thank you. We're in a really good place right now and I have no doubt it is because of all that support and love.

Okay! I hear a little voice calling me so I guess that blog time - ahem - nap time is over.
Talk to you soon, friends! :)

July = Swimming Lessons!

Peyton and I are doing the Mommy-'n-Tots swimming lessons at Shellbrook pool. (She's a 'sea-turtle'.)

It's kinda strange to be there with my own child (two of them present - truth be told!) when it was the very place I felt I was going to die many mornings doing those horrible "tread-water" torture sessions. :)

Although she is the youngest in her class, I have to say my girl is doing pretty well! She's pretty brave - doesn't cling to me too much, and has (even after only 2 days) started blowing bubbles, going underwater, and singing the swimming-lesson songs in the bathtub at night. :) "Motorboat, motorboat!" is great because she gets to kick her legs and splash us a ton and it's all in the name of "learning". (lol!)

I'm so happy to get to spend this time with her before it isn't just "us" anymore. :)

Kurt was actually able to come with us on the first day and take some pictures - thanks, my love! :)

Poll Closed (You're Welcome)

Okay, I'm satisfied. That was great!
Especially if you haven't (or don't often) commented before - I really appreciated it. :)

I have to say I was thinking the same as most (64.1%) of you: a boy for sure.

It took me a while to reconfigure my picture of the future when the technician said, "Well... I don't see any obvious boy-parts."

Huh?

Both Kurt and I looked at each other and were like, "Really? Three girls?" (I laughed when I read your response, Amber! :-D)

But yeppers - Baby Manz III is - in all likelihood - a girl.

The lady was 90% sure (I like to ask), so I guess there is a 10% chance that she isn't a girl... but we are 21 weeks along - so if there were boy-parts there they'd probably show up. In addition, she showed us an area that was probably girl-part-ish. So we're pretty convinced.

So now Peyton is telling people she's having a "Bebe sisser". I'll try to get it on video and post it one of these days - it's pretty cute!

Thanks for guessing, everyone. :)

What Do You See?

Can anyone else see a new layout?
There should be pictures of a wheat-field in the background.
When I look at my older posts they come up - but I'm thinking the poll messed things up.
I am SOOOO not a techno-geek.

I LOVE Polls!

So - we had the ultrasound on Tuesday. Our goal (after making sure he/she was healthy) was to find out whether he/she is a he or a she!

Even if you already know - go ahead and add your answer. I'll post the true result after a satisfying number of guesses. (Bah-ha-ha! I feel like Ryan Seacrest!)

BTW: if you want to leave a comment telling me who you are which answer you picked, I'd love to know who thinks what! :)

World Cup Switcheroo

For anyone concerned about the current state of my marriage: I've thrown my hat into the Germany ring now that both England and Ghana have been eliminated.

Kurt is thrilled - and a wise man to not cackle and rub his hands together. ;)

Go Deutschland.

(enthusiastic enough, Kurtie, my love?)

Halfway There

19 weeks!
The nice thing about a planned induction at 38 weeks is that I'm a week ahead of the regular 'halfway' point. :)
I'm already using 3 pillows under my legs at night... bring on the chubby ankles, baby!