yikes.

What a day! This was after a long day of sickness at the Shmidt house. We love our banana popsicles!

Boy, it's getting time to say hello to baby!

I am not usually a complainer. I have been called a hypochondriac by my lovely sister, Jessie, but not a complainer. But, I really can't take being prego anymore. I mean, it's really hard right now to juggle a family when all I want to do is curl up in my bed by 4 p.m.

Maybe it's because I didn't get a nap today or because I hit the early thanksgiving day sales, but I am just pooped. Running and keeping up with a 23-month old when you are almost 38 weeks pregnant can be difficult.

And I am really irritable (just ask brandon). So yes, I am "that complaining pregnant woman" that everyone rolls their eyes at. But, not getting sleep, constant pain from the baby kicking my ribs, heartburn, acid reflux, tiredness, leg cramps, crazy hormones, hot spots on the belly and other things to random to name are getting to me.

I guess I am used to being blessed with good health and to have chronic pain (mostly at night) is new. I really don't know how people in chronic pain cope.

I realize how much of a blessing this baby is though, we really wanted Ava to have a sister and sophia is on her way dec. 8. Thank goodness!

I just have to keep muttering to myself, "Dec. 8."

Tickling the ivories!

Here is Ava and Ethan showing their mozart skills.

37 week appointment

What's up baby girl?
I have been posting my appointment information on the blog site, but forgot to do it for last Wednesday. So here goes the recap.

"No, I am not on the way to the hospital."

That's my usual phone greeting, especially when I have to call people early morning/late evening.

I thought I would be having Sophia already, but it's nice that she has more time to gain weight and get really chubby. If you didn't read before, I had started having contractions 10 minutes apart for about 5 hours three Sundays ago so I had to go get checked out at L&D.

Anyways, the nurse practitioner said I am still 2 cm dilated and 60 percent effaced. So, I have been walking around a lot, eating spicy food and trying to rest up for the big day. I am also getting scheduled to go in to have Sophia Dec. 8.

I was pulling for an early induction time with the nurse so that I wouldn't have to go 30-plus hours with no food. They have times from 6 a.m. to 9 .m. and you aren't allowed to eat anything 12 hours or so before you deliver. So, if you are scheduled for 9 p.m., it's a really long day.

With Ava, we lucked out and got 7 a.m.

We are excited too because our friends Rick and Kate will be in town and may get to see Sophia! They moved to Seatttle from Columbus and were our El Vaquero buddies.

Anyways, if you think about it this week, please pray that I will be able to get lots of rest and that Ava will sleep well in her new bed. She has been getting up about three times a night because she just switched to a big girl bed. And she is getting up at 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. or even 8 a.m. So, I have to go to bed early as well!

food cravings

Radishes are so yum
Radishes are seriously good. I have been craving them lately and wondered why. Usually, my cravings include foods that help me get certain vitamins that the baby needs so I went to my handy dandy web site that I love, http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and saw that radishes are really high on the fullness factor (4.5) and that they have tons of magnesium, calcium and Riboflavin (see below). One cup has only has 19 calories (i never eat one cup)! I think though, must of my cravings include carbs.

I usually eat radishes with some kosher salt and olives and cheddar cheese.

Radishes
The good: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Magnesium, Copper and Manganese, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Folate and Potassium.

The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.

Other cravings include, pineapples (said to induce labor), salsa and chips, banana popsicles, yoo-hoo (weird), and chocolate chip cookies.

Ava with her bunny about two weeks ago. She was sick, and we wanted her to get lots of rest. I thought she looked so cute all bundled up with her bunny that she loves to take everywhere. She usually takes it to the doctors office with me. She did so well with the headphones and mini tv. Of course, she was watching Dora.

Ava loves to get this bags out from the cabinet and play with them.

Ava got this sucker from the Aunts and was loving it! Aunt Rita and Ava.

Momma and Poppa Kuhns with Ava. Ava seems chill, but minutes before she was screaming and running all over the house!

Even more photos from Thanksgiving!

Becca, Ava, mom and I before Aunt Chris's

Aunt Cindy wiping down the piano after Ava got her little sucker hands all over the ivories.

Aunt Chris holding Charlotte.

Becca making her famous seven seas dressing. yum.

Thanksgiving II

Here are some more pictures from Thanksgiving. Mom and baby Charlotte getting in some cuddle time.

Becca and Kelly

Amber and Sammy playing with some of the toys Aunt Rita brought.

Ava and Ethan played the piano the whole time.

Angie, Darry and Sammy, with Ethan playing

Happy Thanksgiving!

Baby Charlotte and Kelly were stylin at Thanksgiving! Charlie is 2 months already.

Aunt Becca and Ava were hanging out at mom's before Thanksgiving. Becca made a killer salad for Thanksgiving.

Such a cute fam! Ha. This was before thanksgiving at mom and dad's. Ava was wearing the cutest cable knit dress I got at Once Upon A Child. I found a matching cable knit outfit for Sophia in case she made her debut early.

Ava and I were matching in our white sweaters for Thanksgiving. It's getting harder to hold Ava because I have no lap anymore with baby Sophia.

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated with my family as we had to stick close to home since I am 37 weeks pregnant. We had a really great Thanksgiving. I went shopping early on Thanksgiving with my mom, Kelly and her mom, snagging one of the last(!) shopping carts in the store, even though it was only 6:50 am. So crazy.

Anyways, I got some really great items on sale. We are almost finished with Christmas shopping even though it's so hard to stop shopping for Ava! I could shop for her presents forever! There is so much stuff that you can get toddlers. Sophia will be only two weeks old so I am going to just get her a couple of things like a stuffed doggie from Ava and a pink fuzzy blanket from Carters. Becca got her the cutest little santa outfit for Christmas that I can't wait to see on her.

After a two-hour shopping blitz, I came home starved and made a huge brunch for Brandon, Ava and I. You will laugh when you read everything I made!

• potato pancakes with parmasean
  
• toast with strawberry jelly
  
• strawberries and bananas
  
• oatmeal with raisins


• yummy scrambled eggs with hot pepper cheese

And the sad thing is, after eating this, I was hungry two hours later! The doctor said the baby is fully grown and now she is just packing on the baby fat. I guess! I have been so hungry lately.

So, after our huge brunch warmup for the big 3 p.m. meal, we crashed and napped until 12:30 p.m. and then got ready and headed to my parents. We got to visit for awhile before going to Aunt Chris and Uncle Juniors in Westerville. They always do such a great job and Aunt Chris always sets out her nice china and silverware and makes everyone feel really welcome.

We literally had mounds and mounds of food to eat. Sadly, I only had one plate, but everything was so good! Ava really devoured the homemade noodles (note to self: get that recipe) and Grandma's pumpkin pie and mom's gravy and turkey were yum!

I think the highlight of the day was just watching all of the little cousins start to bond and play. It was really sweet to see how life just continues on and on and how we are really apart of something bigger than just ourselves. I know it sounds mushy, but it was really neat to know that your life is connected to family and friends.

We didn't get to see Brandon's family for Thanksgiving or some of my sisters, so we wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. You guys are always in our thoughts!

We love you and wish you happy holidays!

Ava the explorer

Help us...

Our little girl, Ava, is officially in love with Dora the Explorer. She loves the cartoon, she says, "D-D-D-D-DORA!", loves to wear her little Dora underpants over her diapers, loves to eat Dora snacks, loves the tacky WalMart Dora boots (no, i put my foot down on those), and loves anything Dora. She goes into a comatose state when Dora is on.

She was spending the night at my parents the other night and Becca went to get her as she had woken up at 3 a.m.

What do you think she shouted at Becca?

"DORA!"

Really? The first thing I would say at 3 a.m. is, "goodnight!" So, we are feeding her Dora habit with library videos. What will happen when there are no more? I guess we will have to keep watching the same episodes over and over.

Nickelodeon is so smart. They must be making millions off of America's toddlers!

36.5 weeks

36.5 weeks
I like to add the .5 to the top subject as it helps me feel like we are getting somewhere in this pregnancy. On Monday, I will be 37 weeks and full term. yeah baby! can you say let's go, go go to the hospital and meet sophia! We are doing good - fluid is fine and baby is weighing around 6 lbs.

I am pretty excited to meet sophia since we got to have her checked out last night on an ultrasound and saw her chubby little cheeks. She was nestled really tightly in my belly, and we both realized why I have been yelling, "Ouch!" a lot--her femur (i didn't know this, the technician told us) is hitting my ribs along with her feet.

She looked so cozy and beautiful though and it really reminded me of Psalm 139:13: "For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb." She is such a little miracle and yet it doesn't seem real that she will be here soon. Brandon said he thought it would seem real for me because it didn't seem real to him. But, nope I can't imagine how much our lives will change!

I keep on picturing how everything will take place and then don't want to because I realize that only sets you up for disappointment. So, if we go on thanksgiving day or if we go in the middle of the night, I am psyching myself to be ready for anything.

Another great verse that really encourages me is Phil. 4:11-13:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13 ESV

35 week check up

35 weeks and dropping
I had my 35 week checkup today. It seemed to go well. I am about 1 cm dialated and 50 percent effaced. The nurse also said Sophia has dropped and that she could feel the baby (boys, sorry if TMI, but you are reading a prego blog).

It was really nice to have Brandon with me at the doctors because he helped with Ava. She loves going and likes to make the sound of the blood pressure taker thingy. She goes, "S" "S" "S." She also loves to try to get into the biohazard trash can. She was so cute in her little pink tights and pink outfit. She gave sophia lots of kisses, while we were listening to the heartbeat and was watching me the whole time.

Today she got a sucker and I got a flu shot. I think she got the better deal.

Surprise! Playgroup shower

Ava and I started going to a playgroup on Mondays and really love playing with everyone and talking to all of the moms. The ladies in our playgroup recently had a surpise shower for us. We got to Christine's house and found out! I have never had a surprise shower so I was really taken aback. Anyways, there are pics below, but they are small because I got them off of shutterfly.

It was so sweet and nice. Christine made some yum chili and we had cupcakes and dip and a cute pink cake. Thanks guys for making sophia so welcome!

Sugar cookies

Sugar cookies are easy to roll if they are well chilled. Simply wrap them in plastic wrap and pop in the freezer to take away the stress of the holidays. You can decorate them at Christmas! Sugar cookies last 3 months in the freezer.

The bane of my existence

I was getting antsy about not having enough time to do everything in december like make cookies. Sugar cookies have been the very bane of my existence. They have turned me off to baking, kept me from joining cookie exchanges and well, even made me cry. He. he. Yes, Brandon came home one night last year to me crying because I was so frustrated at the stupid dough.

Usually, my mom whips up her batch of sugar cookies and the girls make them. It's usually a very longggg night because it takes forever to ice 100-plus cookies. So, I have been watching martha's daytime show and other shows and finally took the leap again.

Well, it worked! The only tip that worked for me was to 1. work the dough in small batches and 2. make sure it's really well chilled.

fun with family

Grammy and Grandpa Shmidt at wesley's second birthday.

Aunt Shearon and Emily.

Grandpa, Brandon and Ava.

Mindy

Costume fun

Brandon and Ava at Vineyard Columbus' harvest bash

Little butterfly (ava) with Tigger (cousin Wesley).

Brandon, Ava and me at Homestead Park for Wesley's second birthday. It was 70-plus degrees in November!

Ava still chomping on her giraffe at harvest bash. This is my warhol pumpkin picture.
Costume fun

Last week was a crazy busy week. I took some cute photos of Ava in her butterfly outfit that she wore three times in one week! She had a great time at her playgroup party, our church's harvest bash party and at Wesley's second birthday party.