Swedish class, jokes, and more ...

emma has recently started attending a swedish class twice a month. yes, they actually have a swedish class for kids in atlanta! she's told us about some of the songs she's been singing there and some new friends she's made. i think it's a great opportunity for her to be exposed to the language and culture. how many american cities have swedish classes for adults, let alone one for kids!

emma's newest thing is telling jokes. most of the time, she tells jokes like "isabella on mommy's head" or "pappa fell in the grass". one day she told me that she was going to eat the sun. i said, " on my, that would be so hot." and, she looked at me and smiled and said, "that was just a joke." i told her the chicken crossing the road joke, so now she tells it ...'why did the chicken cross the road to get to the other side?" yes, she tells it as one run-on question/joke! cracks me up. and, now at the suggestion of babysitter marnie (or marn, as emma calls her) we've introduced knock-knock jokes to her. most of the time it's tree at the door when she does knock-knock. or, she gets confused about who's saying what part of the joke. it's too funny.

and, emma is enjoying her new teacher and class at weekday preschool. she comes home everyday and has circle time for isabella and i. she teaches us all sorts of new things, reads books to us, and sings songs with us. it's adorable.

Four months already!!

isabella is four months now. funny that i spent four months on bed rest ... but, this four months and the four months of bed rest somehow did not feel like the same amount of time!

anyways, we took isabella to the dr for her four-month checkup this week and she's doing great. she is now 15 lbs 11 oz and 25.5 inches long. she's in the 90th percentile for both height and weight ... much different than our little preemie emma who was in the 5th percentile. anyways, she's doing well ... rolling from her tummy to back, enjoying tummy time now, talking and laughing like crazy, and loving her toes. if she's laying in bed or on the floor, most of the time you will find her holding on to her toes. when she does it in her bed, she'll grab her toes and talk. then she lets her legs fall and does it again. after awhile, she ends up turned around in her crib! it's so cute. and, i think she is trying so hard to talk and laugh with emma now. there are times when she sees emma that she gets so excited. she starts talking and laughing so loudly, and her arms and legs start kicking all over. it's so funny. i wish i could get inside her mind to know what she's thinking and trying to tell emma.

Back from the Beach

we just recently got back from the beach. it was wonderful and the girls did great. isabella napped on the beach in a cute little tent we bought her. the front of it had a mesh cover that zipped open and closed, and it had another mesh opening in the back so air could go through it. and, emma couldn't get enough of the ocean and pool. before we left for the beach, she kept saying that she was not going to swim in the ocean. the day we arrived, we barely started setting down our towels and she was racing into the water! it was great ... and, of course, not long enough as usual. so true that we in the u.s. do not get enough vacation time. do you think we have enough vacation time?

anyways, next year, i would love to go for two weeks.

Change

i haven't shared anything for awhile, and i always have so much to say ... so here's the latest ....

we started a new school year at my preschool. my new teacher ms. kelly is really nice. i have some of my old friends and some new friends in my class. i got a prize on my first day with ms. kelly for being a "star rester" ... i laid on my towel when we were supposed to. that's a whole new thing for me. i've never gotten to rest on a towel on the floor at school. it's kind of funny, but we all get to do it.

isabella started going to my school now too. she's been going now for about 2.5 weeks. i think she likes it too, and all my teachers were excited for her to start coming to school with us. she goes to the baby room. mommy said i used to be in that room too. it looks like they have lots of fun things to play with and her teachers are nice. so, i think isabella will like it a lot.

i told mommy the other day that we were going to the hospital this week. i explained to mommy that we were going to change (meaning exchange) isabella for the four new babies that mommy is having. mommy's eyes got really big when i said four new babies ... i wonder why?? anyways, i told her that the new babies would all be three years old so that they could play with me.

what do you think about that? i think it sounds like a good plan. not sure mommy is going to go for that though. well, i have to get ready for bed. i'll share more again soon.

Two months!

i thought i would send a little update now that i'm two ... almost two and a half ... months old. i had my two-month checkup the other day. i am now 12 lbs 2 oz and 24 inches, and i've been growing out of some of my outfits already. over the past few months, i met my nana and my uncle dennis. i also met my aunt jen and uncle nik and my cousins lukas and jack. and my farmor and farfar visited us as well. i've had lots of fun meeting my relatives. they all like to hold me a lot and i enjoy that, and i have lots to tell them too with my coos and smiles.


i've been smiling and "talking" lots lately. i have so much to say to everyone. i've really been enjoying the bouncy seat that miss vicki and mr. micah are letting us borrow. i love to watch the lights and the animals on the bar, and the music is fun too. i get so excited when mommy turns it on. i am sleeping longer at night ... about 6 hours now.

i've been going to the pool with everyone. i get a good nap when we go there. i just sleep in the stroller. it's great. and, i've been getting to meet more of mommy and pappa's friends.

i'll update you all more again soon as i'm sure i'll have plenty more to say!!

New Pictures

our friend, ms. rachel, took some pictures of me and my big sister. mommy wanted to give some pictures of us to pappa for father's day. i thought it was pretty fun. i don't think my big sis wanted to have her picture taken with me, and then she was really worried about the bugs. i'm not sure what the fuss was ... ms. rachel and mommy kept telling her that the bugs only like adults. hmmm ... anyways, i wanted to share a few of the pictures that ms. rachel took.

Reflections on Bed Rest

now that isabella is 7 weeks old, we've celebrated her one month birthday (and soon she'll be two months!!), i thought i would share some thoughts and reflections i've had on bed rest.

ok, having to lay down for four months certainly isn't my idea of how i want to spend my pregnancy. i was so frustrated after having the surgery that i was put on bed rest sooner in this preganancy than with Emma. but, being on this side of things now, i see that the stitch did help, and i have to say that i much preferred this version of bed rest compared to what i did with emma. anyways, here are some of the positives for home bed rest vs. those for hospital bed rest. yes, i could actually think of a few positives from the hospital!

+'s for home bed rest
* the food
* my own bed
* being with my family
* mcdreamy, jack bauer, vh1's top 20 countdown, & ellen
* theme song ... "chasing cars" by snow patrol ... if i lay here, if i just lay here ... :)
* a beautiful little girl born at 38 weeks ... one day after my birthday (what a wonderful birthday present)

+'s for hospital bed rest
* daily massages from the physical therapists ... as long as your pain level was high enough (mine was always quite high! ;-) )
* seated showers ... i never thought i would say that, but when you are restricted in movement and you're pregnant, a seated shower helps ... especially to shave your legs!! :)
* the ice chips ... love those ice chips at the hospital!!
* ellen, oprah, & the dr. phil family
* a beautiful little girl born at 33 weeks ... which you would never know today! ... two days after Christmas (what an awesome Christmas present)

so, would i do it again? that's the question that everyone has been asking ... funny thing is that when i had emma, i absolutely insisted that there was no way i would ever get pregnant again! and, here we are with our second beautiful child. this time around, i find myself not saying no quite as quickly ... but, i'm not quick to say yes either!! tom says he couldn't bear to watch me lay down like that again (or maybe i just drove him so crazy with my requests and anxieties that he doesn't want to go through it again!! ;-) ) for now, though, i just want to enjoy my sweet girls and leave whatever is meant for the future in the future.