There is a hilarious new fad in our household right now.
“Shake-a-booty” is just what it sounds like… bend your knees a bit, stick your rear-end out a little, tuck your elbows in… and wiggle your behind while you pump your arms a bit. This little move started during one of the many “dance party” events in our living room where the kids showcase their latest dance moves to random music selections. It was Reed that coined the move first and even gave it the name. We died laughing, and when you give that strong of a reaction to something, the kids are going to do it over and over and over.
Now that little move has transpired to bath time.
When either kid is getting ready for bath (ie: stripping naked in the bathroom while I am getting the bath water ready), they proceed to go streaking through the house and “Shake-a-booty” in front of Mommy, who is usually in the living room. It is absolutely hilarious to see Alison get so excited after I get her diaper off to look up at me and say (in a mischievous tone), “Shake-a-booty” before she darts out of the bathroom. The next thing I hear is Julie busting out laughing and giggling as they run back to the bathroom.
I suppose I should write a little something about little one. It’s so hard to keep up with pregnancy posts while I have 2 toddlers to talk about. Such is the life of the third child I guess.
I’m 18 weeks along already and have made the switch to maternity jeans. I put my regular jeans on before church on Sunday and while yes I can still zip them up…I dont’ need to wear them anymore. So comfy maternity pants it is!
5 short months from this week we will meet this little guy/girl. Seems like the time is truly flying by this time.
I have felt little one move for many many weeks (probably since around week 11 or 12) but just this week I’m starting to feel movement every day. That is my favorite part about being pregnant. I love the little love taps that only he/she and I feel.
As usual, I don’t really have anything fun to share except one thing. I think I have my first pregnancy craving ever. Toffee. If someone places toffee anywhere near me I am incapable of not eating it. And if it is homemade you can forget it. My afternoon snack is often one dove dark chocolate. This week I decided to change it up and buy some dark chocolate with toffee bits inside. Every day this week I have eaten 4 or 5 of those suckers. What is my problem?? Once I start I literally can’t stop. If anyone wants to play a cruel joke on the large pregnant lady trying not to gain too much weight this time around…send me a huge bag of toffee.
We have our 20 week sonogram on January 31st and I’m really praying for a healthy report. As I get older with each pregnancy (duh) I get more and more nervous each time we have this sonogram. I know I’m being dramatic, but I’m just hoping everything looks healthy for this little one.
*For the record I really don’t know if I think baby is a boy or a girl. However, when I picture our family I always picture Little One being a girl. Take that for what’s worth (which isn’t much).
Reed is a stubborn boy like most 3-year-olds are, but there is one fight that we have had each and every day for the good part of a year. Ever since Reed started to care what he was wearing, we have had to do everything possible to get him dressed: yelling, spanking, bribery, time-out, good-cop bad-cop, pinning, double-team… you name it. It doesn’t matter what we are dressing for either, so it is not just for the “church clothes”.
Recently, he’s grown big enough for jeans that need a belt. So we got him a real belt and he quickly learned to put it on by himself. He started wearing boots as well, and those were easy for him to pull on and off by himself. For a little while this smoothed the fight, but he still was reliant on us for other parts of his wardrobe, as well as what was appropriate to wear.
Last Sunday morning, I forget how the situation started, but Reed said that he was going to get dressed. Julie and I were astonished and we promptly supported his initiative. He went to his room and got himself completely dressed by himself!
Now, our typical rules for (boy) church clothes are no shorts and shirt must have a collar. Reed came out wearing jeans, boots and a long-sleeve t-shirt. When he marched into our bathroom with me to show his Mother what he had done, I quickly downplayed any clothing criteria, and opted for the proud moment. Reed was beaming from ear-to-ear from our praise.
Our routine in the morning now is that I sit in his room while he picks out his clothes, and then I leave while he gets dressed. I only offer advice on the weather, but otherwise it is up to him.
Oh my sweet, sassy little girl. How are you already 2 years old? First of all, your personality turned 2 about a week ago. All of a sudden you went from my sweet compliant happy baby…to a toddler who loves to tell me ‘no’ (still with the sassy smile) and not give me kisses. I can handle all of it, but you HAVE to stop holding out on the kisses!!!
You love your brother more than anything. If Reed does it, you are definitely going to do it too. This is not such a great thing for Mom and Dad since Reed is quite a punk. You can also hold your own against him. He plays pretty rough with you and you usually take it and then give him a swift kick in the leg…or bottom…or arm, really whatever is closest. I don’t want you two to fight, but it is strangely making you love each other more.
You absolutely love to make us laugh. You are into putting on Daddy’s hat and Mommy’s shoes (even the heels, yikes!) and walking around to make us laugh. We need to take more video of your little voice and the funny things you say, because you.are.funny. You also love to tell us when something is funny. Everything is either ‘very’ hot, or ‘very’ cold or ‘very’ funny. You love the word ‘very’. Cracks me up.
Other than your brother I would have to say that Duke and Yaya are your favorite people. You like to make a phone out of all sorts of things…shoes, blocks, toy phones, my phone, etc. The person you ALWAYS call is Yaya. After you talk to Yaya you always ask for Duke.
At the doctor on Friday we got your 2 year stats. You are in the 40th percentile in both height and weight. Still a skinny little 25 pounds, and 33 3/8 inches. If the rule of thumb is right you will be around 5ft, 6in as a grownup.
You love Elmo and Pooh bear, and pink and purple. Basically I think you just love to talk. Anything you can identify and talk about you will do so.
You love anything with carbs and sugar. Enjoy it now little one! The only thing we have a hard time getting you to eat is vegetables. You do a great job with meat and fruit and dairy and bread (of course). I have to say your favorite food are probably scrambled eggs and ‘squishy’ yogurt. It could be a whole lot worse…
You FINALLY sleep well. You are trying to give up your afternoon nap, but we aren’t going to let that happen just yet. Thankfully you sleep really well at night and wake up happy and sweet.
I’m afraid you really are ready to start potty training. We need to find a long weekend that we can devote to being at home and then get started on that process. Reed is your biggest cheerleader about potty training. For whatever reason he really wants you to use the potty.
All in all…I love you little girl. I was so nervous about having a girl after the crazy sisters I have (I was never the crazy one, just had to make sure that was clear!) but you are truly a gift. I can’t imagine my life without you and I dearly love watching you grow up.
This past Spring, we had a sweet potato on our kitchen counter that had sprouted, so Julie chopped it into thirds and threw them into an empty space in our raised-bed garden. We literally did NOTHING else except to run the sprinklers on our normal one-day-a-week ration schedule.
When the vines started to look very healthy in early Fall, our curiosity peaked and I looked online to study how/when to harvest, should we have a crop. The info I found said to wait until after the first freeze, when the leaves of the vine are darker. So, in mid-December, we had our first steady cold spell that included a few freeze warnings. Sure enough, the leaves began to darken even more than they had, so I jumped at the opportunity to dig up what possible crop we had.
We could already see the tops of several potatoes bulging through the surface, so I knew we would have a few, but I was pleasantly surprised when we dug up 2-dozen or so sweet potatoes in varying sizes.
Christmas was lovely. Truly a wonderful day filled with WAY too many presents and lots of fun family time. I won’t bore you with a bunch of commentary, all we really want to see are pictures, right?
**That first picture is of our family lighting the advent candle at church. We were truly honored to be invited to perform such an important role in the Christmas advent season. Thank you for offering this opportunity Pastor Laurinda.
*Reed was in 7th heaven when Mark took him out on stage to welcome the congregation to the 11:00 service. I couldn’t wipe the smile off his face until nap time.
Thanksgiving was pretty unevenful for the Baldwins this year…except that we got to share the news of baby #3 with all of our family. It was truly a gift to be able to share the news in person with most of our family in the same weekend.
Wednesday afternoon we loaded up the kids and headed for Victoria, TX. Randy’s grandmother lives there and go to Victoria for either Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve every year. It is about a 3 hour trip, so this year we decided to spring for a hotel room in Victoria Wednesday night to break up the driving. And wow. It was a fantastic decision!! We had a great day eating good food with family and playing outside. It felt more like Easter weather than Thanksgiving weather, but I’m not complaining!
Saturday morning we had brunch with my grandmother and family while Randy went to the UTSA/SWT football game with his sisters. We all had a great day. Sunday was the end of the festivities and we spent it at Randy’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. All around a great weekend. Pictures are below.
