Ballerina and the Zoo

Yesterday mom and I went a few garage sales and got Kenna a few new dress up items. Since she went to Caroline's recital last weekend, she has been talking a lot about ballerinas. When she puts the dress on, she dances around the living room and tells us she is a ballerina. It is adorable. She even tries to mimic the hand and feet movements she saw the ballerinas doing. I think this means ballet class is in her future!

This morning, she again needed her ballerina dress on and was reading books to her baby. I had to sneak a picture. I knew if she saw me she would stop what she was doing!

Today was the Parkview employee picnic at the Zoo. We enjoyed Nelson's chicken, applesauce, macaroni and cheese, cookies and ice cream for lunch, then headed off to the zoo. They recently opened the new African Journey which was PACKED. It was so hot and the lines were outrageous for everything but overall we had a fun time. Kenna loved seeing the giraffes!

I like the new layout of the giraffe exhibit. Before the "remodel" you were pretty far away from the giraffes, but now they can come right up to the caged platform you are standing on. They also sell various food items that you can pass through the cage to the giraffes. In the backround of the pictures you can see the giraffe. It was actually closer to us than it looks. Poor Kenna was a bit disturbed about the giraffe eating. They put straw up in a basket hanging from a large pole for the giraffe to eat. Kenna was terrified that the giraffe was eating a bird's nest. It took all day and we still haven't convinced her that he was not eating the bird nest!

After the giraffe was done eating the "nest" he came over to us. Right up to the platform!! You can see his head, ear and neck in the middle of the picture~ he was probably close enough to touch. Kenna and two other kids were standing RIGHT THERE when he came over. I was surprised Kenna was not afraid of him. Of course they had no food, so the poor giraffe was disappointed, but I think some of the people behind us had plenty for him!

It was so very hot at the zoo that we really didn't stay long. We have a zoo pass so we can go back anytime for more zoo fun! We did ride the train, which Kenna loved. We saw turtles, ducks, geese, etc while on the train.

After the real train ride, there was some playing on the wooden train, then we headed to the car! We were beat! Tony pushed me (and Kenna) most of the time in the wheelchair. It was very nice of him, but I felt so bad because when Kenna didn't want to sit with me, he had to handle my wheelchair and Kenna running around. Next time we are definitely bringing some help with us!

34 week appt today!

I had my 34 week appt today. Things are still looking good with both cerclages still in place. My belly was measuring 35 weeks and the baby's heartrate was 146. Dr Schwartz will take the cerclages out at 36 weeks. So 2 weeks from today! He will do the procedure in the office, then check to make sure I'm not dilating. He said some people dilate right away, and in that case, I imagine he would send us to the hospital.

This afternoon, McKenna was cracking me up with her princess dress. She was dancing and signing all around the living room and kept asking me if I thought she was beautiful. Of course the answer was YES! She had her crown on upsidedown which just added to the cuteness of it all!

My belly

Today Kenna decided that she needed to decorate my belly with stickers. Unfortunately I have many stretch marks and she thought the "owies" on my belly needed stickers on them, although she did randomly place some too. (Princess stickers of course)

Then Kenna gave her "sister in mommy's belly" hugs and kisses". It was adorable. She is so sweet!!!!!

YEAH!!! We have officially made it to 34 weeks! I'm very happy! I have another appt on Wednesday of this week and hopefully things will continue to look good!

Below are some pictures of us at the splash park today. Tony was trying to get some work done and Kenna kept wanting him to play with her so we decided to get out of the house for a while. Kenna had a great time and made some new friends. I was able to sit on a picnic table in the shade after being in the sun for a while.

Forgot to post about appt

I forgot to post about my appt on Wednesday with Dr Schwartz. The cerclages are still in place and doing their job. He measured my belly and also obtained the baby's heart rate, although I forgot to ask what either measurement was. We were busy talking about the passing of Dr Lewis. Dr Schwartz is still sticking to the plan of taking the cerclages out after 36 weeks.

I go back to see him again in a week. Grow baby grow!

I'm also having a dilemma with clothes. I am quickly outgrowing my maternity clothes. Yesterday I attempted to find something "nice" to wear to the funeral home and had to go through many shirts before I found something that was long enough to cover my growing midsection!

Today I'm 33 weeks and 6 days. This is one day further than I made it with McKenna. We are officially over that hump, which was a goal of mine!

Lots of things....

It has been a week since I have posted but it seems like so much longer than that~

A few weeks ago, we went to our friend's Andrew and Kati's wedding. It was a great time. Kenna loved dancing with all the kids. She had a cute pink dress with flowers and looked like a little princess! She is so beautiful!


Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated Mom, Kari and Granny's birthdays. Andrew and Kenna had a great time driving the JEEP around the backyard. Kenna drove a while then let Andrew drive. When she was driving, she was much more interested in the "extras" of the JEEP instead of actually driving. Ha ha!

33 weeks! YEAH! I had to take a picture of what my belly looks like from my view. Ha ha!

This past weekend we went to Gma Dee's house in Ohio for Tony's cousin Tylers graduation party. It was a nice getaway weekend. Kenna did great. She is still wearing big girl panties and going potty on the potty. She didn't even have any accidents while we were gone. She also slept on the floor in our bedroom for the first time. This has been the first trip we haven't brought the pack n play with us. She really is too big for it, but it was nice to have her own "bed". She is so great at going to bed that it really wasn't a problem.

Kenna had a great time at the McCabe's watering flowers and the garden with Aunt Reeny. It was a beautiful day out. We ordered pizza and sat on the back porch at ate it. (I got a salad because the baby doesn't usually like pizza. I haven't been able to keep it down for months!)

I just love this picture McKenna looks so innocent!

After we got home from Ohio, Kenna decided our plants need watered too. Aunt Reeny helped her practice while we were still in Ohio, then she thought she was a pro 3 hours later when we arrived back home. She told Tony and I that she needed to water the rock too because it needed water to grow. It was hilarious!

Now the last bit of news. Dr Lewis, our beloved neonatologist in the NICU passed away on Tuesday morning. His health has been a bit shaky the last few years. I cannot begin to express how much he meant to me. He was an excellent teacher and cared beyond belief for those tiny NICU babies. He would pace next to babies not doing well until he could "fix" it. He was very generous and gave routinely to the Toys for Tots program and bought Christmas presents every Christmas for the babies in the NICU around the holiday. When I was pregnant with Kenna and staying with mom and dad, he would call me at home to check in. Once admitted, he would visit me every day he was at the hospital and sternly tell me "I do not want to take care of your baby!" It sounds mean as I type it, but I knew what he meant. He wanted me to stay pregnant with her as long as possible so he wouldn't have to take care of her. If he wasn't on call on the weekends, I would frequently get a call to my hospital room making sure I was still doing as I was told. I don't know if I ever saw him "cuddle" a baby but the first picture of him with Kenna is priceless. His expression is meaningful.

Wow, I just realized how much BETTER I was at journaling when I was pregnant with Kenna. Of course I had all the time in the world as I sat in my hospital bed, but still, it makes me feel bad.

Yesterday was my 32 week appt with Dr Schwartz. I have been contracting more this week, but he doesn't seem too concerned about it. Of course as the pregnancy progresses, it will be more common to contract more. Both cerclages are still in place so that is a good thing. Dr Schwartz gave me a refill of brethine while I was there. I explained that I'm not taking it every time I contract, just when they start to become too close together or very painful. He agreed with my regimen and thinks I'm using the medication appropriately.

The baby's heart rate was in the 160s this week, which is very slightly higher than normal but she was bouncing all around in there. I feel like she is moving all the time! She is either doing somersaults or hiccuping constantly! Yesterday she was flipping around in there and Kenna was able to see my belly move. It was cute. She loves to talk to the baby and feel her move. She is always asking if the baby is awake or if she is kicking.

Over the weekend we went camping at Missisinewea reservoir. It was a great little vacation. We have realized we are quickly outgrowing our camper. It only has 2 beds and bunk. The bunk is the area we use to store our clothes so then we are down to 2 beds. With the belly I have, Tony and I could not even share one bed in the camper so we had to sleep in separate beds while Kenna stayed with mom and dad. Kari, Tim and Andrew went camping as well. I think the kids had a great time. Dad took the boat down and took it out various times. Kenna loved the "boat ride" and was even talking about it this morning. She had a blast on the water!

Kenna is doing excellent going on the potty. She has been in big girl panties for well over a week and a half now, only wearing pullups at night and naptime. I'm so proud of her. I love not carrying a diaper bag everywhere, but can't get too used to it because it will start up again in less than 7 weeks when the baby is born!