**** Written before Miss Callie was born.  Hopefully, I will post her birth story before she turns one. Ha! *****

In one of my last post, I said I wanted to remember both the good and the bad parts of pregnancy.  I’m a total list maker so here goes a whopper list:

• Seeing the second pink line appear on the pregnancy test, telling Ben I’m pregnant.
• Feeling nauseous in the first trimester, but also being ravenous at the same time (Callie).  Very weird feeling.
• Seeing the baby on the ultrasound for the first time and then seeing the tiny heart beat.  Breathtaking.
• Feeling the first delicate flutters of baby movement in my uterus.  I suppose it sort of feels like bubbles bursting.
• Round ligament pain on the sides of my abdomen as my uterus and baby grow.
• Feeling Mary James’ and Callie’s feet, bottom and head as they press against the wall of my uterus.
• Watching my belly jump as they kick and wiggle.  Now that Callie can hear in the womb she will kick and make a ruckus when Mary James is crying loudly.
• The baby jumping and kicking when Ben talks to her (Callie or MJ).
• The sharp, take your breath away pains after a particularly sharp kick.
• Callie’s bottom wedged right against my ribs.
• Ben’s face when he gets to feel the baby move.  He lights up like Christmas morning.
• Feeling the baby have hiccups.
• Finding out whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
• Feeling very off balance when I walk.
• I love how my body looks pregnant….I love the extra curves and the sweet belly bump.  Pregnancy is beautiful and miraculous and such a blessing.
• Hip and leg pain.  Not fun, but part of it.
• The weird feeling of Braxton-Hicks contractions.  The super hard, tightness that usually occurs in my lower belly.
• Not being able to eat a normal amount because I fill up so quickly
• Bending over normally and then remembering I’m pregnant and there is a large bump hindering my movement.  Tee hee.
• The anticipation of what the baby will look like.
• Mary James laying her head on my pregnant belly and kissing my belly…and then trying to smack pat my belly with a huge grin on her face.
• Heartburn….  From water.  Yeah…
• My belly button slowly disappearing and flattening out.
• Not being able to tie my shoes without great effort (~35 weeks pregnant)
• Callie is able to kick my ribs and punch or head butt my pelvic bones simultaneously…odd feeling
• Getting up to go to the bathroom anywhere from 2-5 times each night.
• The top of my belly getting a “pins and needles” feeling, sorta like it’s going to sleep as Callie presses her bottom upwards.  Evidently she’s stretching my skin and nerves. (37 weeks)
• My belly getting really tight and hard from a simple walk around the block (or down the hall) in the last few weeks of pregnancy.
• The Linea Nigra…also known as the strange brown line down the middle of my belly.
• Going to my Ob/Gyn appointments to see how Callie is growing…I love my doctor and the nurses!
• All the “Is this it?” moments at the end of pregnancy…especially with Miss Callie…I had been having regular contractions at night for the last few weeks.
• Trying to read Mary James her bedtime stories at night and her constantly wiggling to get comfortable as my baby belly grew and made it hard for her to lean against me.  She would eventually crawl down and up into Ben’s lap. 

So I haven’t written anything in FOR. EV. ER.  As my friend Rupa would say, “Whatevs.”

I’m currently 29 weeks pregnant.  YIKES!  Time has flown during this pregnancy.  I was warned this happens with subsequent pregnancies since you have already have a little person who needs care.  The pregnancy is going swimmingly, and I am so thankful baby and I are both healthy thus far.

Even though I was pregnant with Mary James a short 17 months ago, I seem to have forgotten certain things I felt physically and emotionally.  For example:

Me:  “Wow!  This baby sure does kick hard, so hard it really is painful.  She must be bigger than Mary James.”

Ben:  “Funny.  That’s what you said last time you were pregnant with Mary James.  I definitely remember some baby kicks being painful.”

Me:  “Really?  I totally remember her little kicks and being able to feel little feet when she would streeeeetch out, but I don’t remember this type of pain.”

It’s funny how quickly you forget.  Especially MJ’s first week home, it was a total blur.  Breastfeeding, no sleep, crying, lots and lots of crying (by me, not the baby) and the deepest feelings of love and protection for someone I barely knew.  I hope I can cherish the beginnings of the little baby girl in my belly; hopefully, having already taking care of new born will ease some of my insane neurosis so I can worry less and enjoy more.  I can hear Ben yelling “AMEN!”

I really do love being pregnant and hope to write a little more during the end of this pregnancy so I can remember the sweet moments while being pregnant.  Sure there are rough patches, and Ben would probably beg to differ on the whole “I love being pregnant…” comment.  He does get to hear all my grunts and sighs as I go to the bathroom for the fourth time at night, beg for him to rub my back or feet, and the fact that I’m so tired.  But really I do love it.

People keep asking if we are having more kids or if this will be the last.  Honestly, I don’t know. We’ll pray about it and see what God has planned for us.  So in case this is the last baby I ever carry in my womb I want to remember….the good and the bad.

So, I don’t forget I wanted to write down some of words Mary James is starting to say.  Not a thrilling blog post, but this is more for me and Mary James. 

Her first word was “Bye.”  Other favorite words at the moment (she’s 15 m0nths old):

Da-DI!

Mama

Lights   (She just learned one this due to all the Christmas lights, which she LOVES!)

Dog

Meoooow  (Her word for cat….we have a deaf cat and she has a very strange, LOUD meow)

Duck

Bug   (She seems to think any little thing in the floor is a bug.  This is probably due to the swarm of ladybugs that have moved in our house.)

Bell-buh (belly button) – MJ loves her belly button…its her favorite body part to “find” at the moment.

Ear

No  (For either NO! or nose)

Want down (quickly becoming a favorite) 

Want more

Milk

Juice

Spoon

Sock

Shoes

Baby

Of course, many of these words have a toddlerish spin on them.    Mary James is babbling up a storm as well, and will “talk” to anyone who will listen.  I just nod and say “uh huh” and ask questions to keep her going.  I can’t believe she’s already 15 months old!  Where has time gone?!

She went for her 15 month well-child visit yesterday and weighed 19 pounds and was 29 inches tall!  Still 10th percentile but HEALTHY!  And hey it’s not like genes have programmed her to be tall.  Most people in the family are average height, although one of my granddaddy’s, Ben’s grandpa and my grandma were all 5′ 4″ and below.  Short people rock!

Well, gotta go!  We’re headed to my mom’s to cook Christmas goodies!  Mmmm!

I disappeared from my blog for the past month.  I have a semi-decent excuse(s).

(1)  I started a new job.  Lame, lame.  I see you rolling your eyes.

(2)  I was in the trenches of the First Trimester = EXHAUSTION

(3)  My baby turned one…a true blessing but man can she book it now!

As for the new job it’s going great!  I’m helping people, get to use the gray lump in my skull AND I get to spend more time with my daughter!  Everything I could want in a job!

I’m currently 14 weeks pregnant, and we actually found out I was pregnant at around 4 weeks pregnant.  CRAZY!  Everything in my body was way off due to the fact I was still breastfeeding, but I had a “feeling” I might be pregnant.  I’m am so NOT a “feelings” type person but I guess there is something to motherly intuition after all.

I started my brand new job in the throes of the first trimester.  With Mary James my first trimester was a breeze…no nausea, some exhaustion, but overall relatively smooth.  This time around….wow….  I was nauseous ALL the time but with no vomiting (thank goodness!).  Did I mention I was exceptionally hungry AND nauseous?  Weird, weird, weird.

And the overwhelming, all encompassing, knock you out, giant bricks on your eyelids, exhaustion.  I felt like a narcoleptic…I came very close to passing out on my desk at work (nice impression for the first month of a new job, eh?).  I haven’t been that exhausted since vet school.

Now that I am out of the first trimester, I’m feeling much more normal.  We have shared the great baby news with family and friends which makes it even more exciting!  Ben and I are absolutely THRILLED about baby Murray number two who is due on Tax Day (April 15, 2010)!!

WOW!  Where has the past year gone???  (Not to mention the last month of my horrible lack of blogging.)  *Ahem*

My baby girl turned one at the end of August.  What a blessing she has been to our family.  It has definitely been the BEST YEAR YET!!!  Here are some pics of her first birthday party!

August 29, 2008…less than 24 hours old.

August 29, 2009….what a difference ONE year makes!!

Birthday cake…YUM!

Mary James’ cake…the child LOVES kitty cats!  Wonder where that came from?

Yippee for cake and ice cream (thanks Grandaddy)!

Daddy and MJ

Investigating her new hippo!

Happy Birthday “May J”!!!

Months that is.  I cannot believe my baby is eleven months old today.  …..  Which inevitably means she’ll be a year old next month.  Crazy mad math skills here, huh?  My algebra teacher would be so proud.

But seriously, I actually got teary eyed when I realized that today was the 28th.  And don’t get me wrong I am so unbelievably thankful that Mary James is healthy, growing normally and happy.  Period.  What blessings God has given us.

Back to the growing up part…  Watching her cruise around, pet the cats, giggle, raise the lid to the toilet (yeah that’s a new trick!), I can’t fathom that a WHOLE year has almost passed.  Is there some unwritten rule?  Time must rapidly pass by when a baby enters the picture?

There must be a switch in heaven that flips time to lightening speed the second the umbilical cord is cut.  And yeah I’m sure it has to do with how busy you are with a baby.  However, I was pull-your-hair out crazy busy in vet school but that didn’t seem to blow by at the speed of light.  What gives?

I’m going to be a blubbering mess when she enters kindergarten.  My poor child. 

Look for a photo and maybe video montage for Mary James’ first birthday next month.

Yesterday Mary James had her first visit to the optometrist.  My eye doctor (way easier to type than optometrist) does free eye exams for babies under a year.  Watching her try to examine my daughter’s eyes reminded me of examining a poodle with eye probelems.  Except for the fact that my daughter didn’t lunge visciously at the doctor.  Nor did MJ growl or pee on the table.  Okay maybe it was a LOT different.

Mary James was being quite agreeable until her eyes were dilated and then an exam was attempted.  Not happening.  The doc has a 2 year old daughter, so we were mom talkin’.  I had just finished telling the doc how MJ likes to shake her head “NO!!!!!” when she doesn’t like something, which is kinda cute now….but terrifies me when I think of her independent spirit attached to a voice and an active body, ready to fling itself to the floor for tantrums.

As the doctor turned her exam light back on, the stubborn head shaking began.  Her doc looked at me and said “Erin, it’s like she’s a 2 year old in a 10 month old body!”  Yeah…..I know.  I am SO in for it — and SO deserve it!    She got her personality from some where…

Did I mention I had to entertain her for around 4 minutes with my eyes closed?  Fun!  I had been having some pain and irritation in my left eye, which turned out to be abrasions on my cornea due to KCS (Keratoconjunctivitis sicca) or dry eye.  Before the official diagnosis, they performed a Schirmer Tear Test, which tests the production of tears.  Looks something like this:

Okay so basically you have two strips of thick paper stuck under your eyelids and you have to keep your eyes closed for 3-5 mintues.  I accomplished this feat while tending to a now cranky, tired, 10 month old baby.  Mary James wanted to “walk” around the room, and demonstrated her desire by violently wiggling, throwing herself backwards and screaming to get down.  Walking = holding her hands as she navigates.  So, I basically walked her in a circle.  With my eyes CLOSED.  I also walked her into a coffee table.  Oops!

The good news is Mary James’ eyes/vision are normal.  The fantabulous news????  She doesn’t go back for THREE years!  Oh and I’m now taking Restasis for my dry, crunchy eyeballs.  Sure hope it helps!

Protecting our eyes with shades!

Mary James may be petite (she’s around 10-15 % in height and weight), but man can she eat!  She started refusing baby food around nine and half months.  Oh and did I mention she has learned to shake her head “NO” when she doesn’t want something???   Yeah…so that’s fun.

When she discovered that she could shovel food into her mouth much faster than I could, spoon feeding went out the window.  Unless that spoon is carrying precious cargo in the form of guacamole or ice cream!  The child will eat ANYTHING!   (Including non-edibles: cat food, cat hair, dog hair, people hair, fuzz in general).  Gasp!

At Mary James’ nine month appointment, I asked her pediatrician what she should be eating.  He said “Honestly Erin?  My son ate whatever was on our plate.”  I told him I knew peanut butter and honey were off limits until a year of age, but was there anything else?  He replied, “Egg whites and citrus fruit.  Albumin in the egg and oil in the rinds of citrus fruits can cause possible allergic reactions.”  OOPS!  She had already eaten quite a few eggs, lemons and mandarin oranges by this point.  Thank goodness she didn’t have any allergic reactions.

I know her appetite and non-picky palate will not last forever so I am savoring these moments.  And of course, documenting them for the future.   You know…so I can say “Well you loved it when you where a baby!?!”  Which has never helped me to eat squash mom–thanks though.

I honestly cannot think of a food she has tried that she didn’t eat and like.  Some first bites get a “What tha…” look but she promptly opens her mouth for more.

Foods Mary James eats:

FYI:  All of these “finger foods” are soft and diced into very small pieces.

Broccoli

Avocado (Guacamole)

Peas

Beans

Tomato

Carrots

Potato (Sweet and Idaho)

Squash

Zucchini

GREEN BEANS

Corn

Edamame

Cheese

Eggs (Evidently you’re not supposed to feed egg whites until 1 year of age due to possible Albumin allergies.)

Rice

Pasta

Wheat toast

Chicken

Turkey

BBQ

Roast

PEACHES

Strawberries

Cherries

Blueberries

Watermelon

Cantelope

Honey Dew

Lemon (Citrus fruits are also on the DO NOT FEED list…again oops!)

Mandarin oranges

Mmmm…Broccoli!

Maybe eating a bunch of different fruits and veggies while pregnant/breastfeeding has helped.  Who knows?

I LOVE summertime!!  Now that I am teaching I have the summers off, and man do I feel totally spoiled!  There is nothing better than getting to spend time with my daughter.  What a blessing!  Thank you God!

Before the family came over on July 4th, Mary James and I played in the backyard for awhile.  She loved splashing around in her pool and of course tried to eat the grass.  I captured a few pictures with her hat on before she realized it was on her head and yanked it off.   I especially love the last photo…my little Southern Belle!

Want more picture fun?   Check out Wordless Wednesday or Seven Clown Circus!

As a new mom, sometimes it seems like each milestone brings me back to the unknown.  I know babies are supposed to crawl, and then cruise and walk.  My daughter had been trying a few days to crawl, started crawling and then immediately started pulling up on EVERYTHING.  And even trying to climb things.  Don’t get me wrong I not complaining at all.  I’m thrilled!!!

But, I also feel like I don’t have a clue as to what I’m doing.  Again.  Welcome to Motherhood, right?  I can be sitting next to, holding on to her, and she still manages to bump her head?!?  My mother-in-law was like “Honey, just wait, until she comes in with a skinned knee.”  Wait, she’s going to get HURT?  Really, I knew this would happen, just not how I would feel.  So, I’ve pretty much been non-existent on my blog in the past week trying to readjust to my role as the mother to a newly mobile little girl.

And thanking God for the blessing He’s given me!

Want more Wordless fun?

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