Roses, Hospitals and Cookies - Oh My!

Whew - look at me getting a Valentine's Day post in while it's STILL FEBRUARY - amazing.

I'm not much of a Valentine's Day person - I don't despise the holiday or anything - but I don't care much for it. It seems like a lot of pressure for no good reason. Also - roses - who came up with that? Because here's what happens: I get roses, I have to find a vase, cut the stems, figure out how much food to put in there etc, all the while avoiding THORNS. These flowers have thorns people - they are not warm, fuzzy flowers. Then a week later the roses look awful and I need to now extricate them from the vase without losing a finger. Also - thorns and trash bags do not get along. Roses are beautiful and all - but I prefer them on the bush!

OK wow - so rant over. Having a toddler around makes Valentine's Day much more fun though. Ever since the Christmas Cookie extravaganza Lily's been wanting to make cookies again. She'll turn to us and say: "Make cookies? I get my hands dirty again?" How can one resist such a request? So Valentine's Day provided the perfect excuse to make more sugar cookies!

The day before, our friends Lisa, Sofia and Rick came over and we rolled out the dough and cut out the shapes. Sadly I didn't get any pictures that night - we also ran out of time and didn't get to frost them. The plan was that we'd do it the next day.

Well Saturday came and I woke up bleeding. Not really what you want to see when you're 26(ish) weeks pregnant. After a requisite freak-out in which I blamed myself for anything that might be going wrong, I talked to my doctor. She suggested tuning in to see if baby was moving and if not going to L&D right away, or if s/he was moving just meeting her there around noon. Thankfully Baby Koi is a mover and shaker and let me know that things were probably okay pretty quickly. I sat around for awhile and then decided I might as well worry in L&D hooked up to a fetal monitor instead of in my living room. So off I went. Of course having Lily at home meant that I was on my own for this little adventure, at least for the initial assessment.

To make a long story, short, I got there, got hooked up to the fetal monitor and soon found out everything with Baby K was just fine. They had a bit of trouble holding onto his heartbeat because this baby is just ALL over the place. But otherwise, no issues. My doctor theorized that I had a UTI and sent me home with antibiotics. Since I'm writing this post weeks later I can also tell you that the cultures came back negative for infection, so now she's thinking maybe it was a kidney stone. I'm hoping that it WAS a kidney stone and I managed to get rid of it without any pain. My other concern is that there's still a stone in there waiting to cause me some serious discomfort. So fingers crossed. Ah how I LOVE pregnancy. I had no idea that kidney stones are yet another thing that pregnant woman are more likely to experience. Lovely.

So five hours and one really terrible lunch later I returned home. Gordon and Lily had picked me up some scary lovely roses earlier in the day and supplies for a great dinner. Lily and I finally got down to the business of frosting those cookies from the night before We had a great time - and Gordon managed to snap some pics too:

The artist hard at work

Can you tell we share DNA?

So THIS is why the frosting bowls were empty!

Yummy!

Proudly displaying the finished product

Cookie crumbs everywhere

Our Valentine's day celebration ended with a lovely meal of surf and turf: scallops (my favorite) and some great beef. Then we munched on the cookies. Gordon totally made up for the horrible hospital lunch I had been given earlier that day and gave me all the things I want for Valentine's Day: family, love and yumminess. We hope yours was fun too!

On the Losing End....

I'm beginning to worry that I really don't stand a chance against Lily. I mean I've tried - and I think that in general I've been pretty good at not being a total pushover. She's pretty good about limits (so far): she sits at the table through a meal, is somewhat polite (please and thank yous), knows that sharing is good and really tries, and goes to bed without a huge fit. But lately, she's been engaging in these little power struggles with me. Just me. Not Gordon.

The first/strangest example was the whole hair/hat thing. Clearly it was a control issue of some kind. But as she's graduated from a few words here and there to full on conversations she's evolved her tactics. Case in point: tonight.

Gordon and I are in her room reading stories. Today was a pretty full day: music class, container store trip, lunch at a pizzeria, followed by a nap during which we reorganized her playroom (more on that with pictures as soon as they are off the camera). Her nap went extra long, so we let her stay up a bit longer in the evening. I was tired from our day, so she and Gordon colored while I lay down for a bit.

After potty and cleanup and sponge bath it was story time. So I went in there and read her some books. Then we told her "one more story". She went and got 3 - and refused to pick one. I kept telling her, "no, pick one". So eventually she carried two of the books over to Gordon to try him out. He repeated the same thing "choose one story Lily." I then reiterated that sentiment as well. She turned around, looked at me and said: "No Mommy, don't talk to me". Then she reached for my hand and pulled to get me to stand up. She walked me to the door, opened the door, pushed me gently out and said "Go sleep Mommy". The door closed shut behind me.

I stood there a minute - wondering what to do. Then bolted into the bathroom and burst into hysterics. Poor Gordon - he wasn't sure if I was laughing or crying. I tried so hard not to show my amusement in front of her - but ugh - hard! Gordon read her ONE more story and then came to get me to sing her a final song. When I went in she was in bed with the same two books she had wanted me to read earlier. She picked up But Not the Hippopotamus which features a hippo hiding behind a tree on the cover. She then turned to me

Lily: "What's that guy doing Mommy"?
Me: "I don't know Lily, it's time for bed"
Lily: "Let's find out!" (opens the book to page one)

This time I couldn't stop myself from collapsing in laughter. We didn't read the book, but I don't feel like I came out on top here either. Any tips? I fear I don't stand a chance.

Lily 2, Mom 0

Dear Baby Koi,

As of yesterday you and I have been together for 25 weeks (well really a couple of weeks less I guess, but let's just stick with the LMP method for accounting purposes). The beginning was really pretty great. You went SO much easier on me than your sister did - I really appreciate those easy first weeks. You've definitely earned one get out of jail free card to use during your teen years.

But I have to ask, what's going on now? What did I do? Are you feeling the need to stake your place in the family now? Sort of a little "hey! I'm here! and coming! don't forget!"? If so, I get that - I do. I know I've been pretty preoccupied and not paying attention to this whole pregnancy thing. I mean I can't even get our butts to pre-natal yoga on a regular basis (and it's ACROSS THE STREET!). But really, is the incessant heartburn, sciatica and rib pain all in one week really necessary? If I promise to pay more attention will you ease up a bit? I know I have a short torso and all but there MUST be a way for you to fit in there without pushing my ribs out through my back? What if you just shift your legs a little to the right or something? And the heartburn! Does that mean you're going to appear with a full head of hair like your sister did? I can't really complain about that - it's pretty cute. But ugh, suddenly eating dinner and then doing some downward dog is NOT a good combination.

I know I've been somewhat remiss in my duties when it comes to prepping your sister. I hope you didn't hear her carrying on about "HER FOOD!" and "HER MILK!" the night I casually mentioned how nice it'll be to have four of us at the dinner table. I promise that we will work on the whole sharing concept over the next 3 1/2 months to prepare for your arrival. Please don't be too intimidated by her. I know she seems like a tough cookie, but I'm positive you two are going to get along just great. She will love you fiercely - just as your Dad and I already do. Honestly, if I had to pick someone to have on my side - I'd go with Lily any day.

So even though it may seem like I'm having a hard time imaging how you'll fit into our little family unit - that's not quite the problem. I think I worry more about fitting us all into our little(ish) condo. But not to worry! The Container Store is having its annual Elfa sale and your Dad and I are all over that. There will be space here for you, I promise. And even though you may hear me talk a lot about how caring for a baby again scares the bejeezus out of me, you should know that I am very very excited to meet you. I know we'll figure it out together - you, me, Lily and your Dad.  And besides, I've got like 3 more months to remember how that latch on the SnugRide car seat works.  I'm sure I'll figure it out in time!  There's lots of room in our home and love in our hearts for you - and we can't wait to share it all.

Love,

Your Mother

P.S. I thought it was pretty funny when you decided to come down with a case of the hiccups during the CLV load relief presentation last week.   Were you getting a little bored too?  Thanks for providing a more fun distraction!