yee haw! and a couple random pictures...

Today was "Western Day" at preschool, Maggie was so excited to wear her hat and boots to school.  I'm not sure her boots were comfortable (she hasn't had them on in months) but once they were on, there was no way to talk her out of them.  We also figured out this morning while getting dressed, it's time to go get Maggie some new jeans...we tried on 3 pairs and while we found one that worked, they weren't very roomy and barely long enough.  Now that she goes potty by herself at preschool, she pretty much wears sweatpants every day, so it's been awhile since we went through her jeans.  It's hard to believe that any child that belongs to Arnie and I would be so tall....but I guess we're off to buy some 4T pants.

Great Aunt Joyce (GAJ) made Grandma and Maggie matching cookie dresses (aprons).  Unfortunately, when they wore them on Tuesday they weren't making cookies (baby potato loves cookies).  Maggie loves steak, she refuses to eat ground beef, we can call it steak, put cheese on it, hide it in spaghetti sauce, it doesn't matter, she'll find it.  So she and grandma we're in fact making steak...I wonder if you can have high cholesterol at 3?

Realxin' on the way home from Omaha.  Those long legs come in handy for picking on daddy in the car, she can almost reach his ears with her toes.



The spuds a growin'...

We just finished our doctors appointments to check up on baby potato.  Thankfully, she has grown.  Her body still hasn't caught up with her head and legs, but it's in much better shape then it was 3 weeks ago (and honestly when you look at her daddy & especially her uncle Evan, I'm not sure there bodies ever caught up with their heads, so maybe its genetic.)  I guess she just needed a little time at the beach.  As long as everything else keeps going well, we will remeasure her in 3 weeks and go from there.  For today we're very thankful for her improvements and appreciative of all the prayer and support. God answers prayer!

I think that ultrasound pictures are a little hard to understand and I can't always see what the technician says is there, but I thought I would share a profile of Miss Potato anyway, I tried to label it to make it a little easier. She wouldn't move her hand out from in front of her face...I'm pretty sure she was saying "Seriously Mom, I grew like you asked me to, now leave me alone and let me sleep!"

Saturday morning Maggie gets to go to Big Sister class at the hospital, she's excited to see where Potato will be born and we're grateful for the opportunity to familiarize her with the building, rooms, etc.

big girl ponytail...

Yesterday when we were getting ready for church Maggie said, "Mom, today I want a big girl ponytail." I tried one ponytail on the top of her head and she looked in the mirror and said, "No Mom, a big girl ponytail." So with the help of lots of hairspray and a couple of extra barrettes, she got to have her "big girl ponytail".  After her hair was done, to her satisfaction, she woke up her dad to tell him that she was in fact "the cutest thing ever." 

We went to a Superbowl Party at Miss Lauren's house (her mom, dad, sisters and brother live there too, but I'm not sure Maggie notices that.)  Maggie was SO excited.  The Orwig's are BIG Steelers fans so last week Lauren brought Maggie a Steelers shirt and some socks, I'm pretty sure she likes the hand-me-downs that come from their house better then anything new I come home with. 

 

Tomorrow is baby Potato day, she's been dancing around like crazy all morning, I hope that means she's growing a whole bunch and trying to get comfortable in her cramped quarters.  We'll know soon, keep the prayers coming.

Getting ready for Potato...

Today has been "Get Ready for Potato Day!" at our house.  Arnie and Maggie put the crib back together and we cleaned out all the 'junk' that has collected in the unused nursery.  I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and found new homes for all the stored away bottles, pacifiers, bibs, etc.  It's starting to look like a baby might live here someday soon. 

Maggie decided she needed to give me a lesson in putting baby Potato's pajamas on, so after baby chocolate milk had a clean diaper (because apparently she'd pooped her imaginary one) this is the lesson I got... 

 

While we're saying alot of prayers and hoping Potato keeps "cooking" for several more weeks there is a chance she'll have to be delivered earlier then we planned.  We go to Omaha Tuesday morning for an Ultrasound and some measurements and then my doctor and a perinatal specialist will make a decision.  I've been feeling good but at last check Potato wasn't growing exactly like she should be.  If she's not getting the nutrients and energy she needs in my belly, it might be best for her to be delivered and given them in an incubator.  They've assured us that her brain is developed and while she would need some special care and an extended stay in the NICU, she would likely develop/recover completely from this deficit.  Please say a few prayers for us, and maybe an extra one for Miss Maggie. She is so excited to be a big sister and to meet Potato, but this could all prove to be a little scary and very confusing for her.  I'm still holding out hope for my St Patrick's Day baby...We'll keep you posted on what we find out....

ice skating??

Yesterday afternoon Maggie came running into my office and said, "Mommy, come watch I can ice skate in the playroom!!!"  When I went to look, here's what I found :)

by the way, playing dress-up has all of the sudden become a BIG activity at our house this week.  I'm actually amazed that she has clothes on in this picture.  She's been stripping off her clothes, usually she's just wearing some bright color tutu, a pair of rain boots, a few necklaces and a hat of some sort.  So far daddy has refused to put on a tutu, but I think we're wearing him down :)

She is mine!!!

Almost daily, and surely several times a week, someone sees us in public and comments on how much Maggie looks like her daddy.  And they're right, she does look alot like him...I've kind of resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to teach her to act like me, so people know I was involved in her creation.  BUT while we were snowed in at mom and dad's I found a few pictures that cause me to think twice....what do you think????

our first baby turns 6!!

Last week while we were on vacation, Reagan turned 6!  I can't believe we've had her that long.  Arnie flew to New York to pick her up Easter weekend 2005...and we've been smitten with her ever since.  Arnie and Maggie both think that she is their dog, but really she's my dog :)  We couldn't ask for a better companion.  She doesn't adore her little sister the way we had hoped, but she's very protective of her and tolerates her well. 

A couple of weeks ago Maggie put a leash on Reagan and attempted to pull her around the house...it actually ended up more like Reagan taking Maggie for a walk, but if Reagan wanted she could have just knocked Maggie over and run off.  At least they were playing together. 

And...today Reagan allowed Maggie to put a party hat on her.  Maggie remembered that we had talked about it being Reagan's birthday last week and we had the party hats from Grandpa's Birthday so she had a little celebration with Hannah and Reagan.  Complete with birthday hugs and kisses. 

The picture of Reagan with the coat....Yesterday it was time for Maggie to go someplace and I told her to get her coat on...she ran to me and said "Mom, Reagan took my coat and she won't give it back!"  I wonder how many things she will find to blame on her sister.


The party hats were originally for Grandpa's Birthday...Maggie's been talking for several days about party hats and she couldn't wait to pick some out at the store for Grandpa's birthday dinner.  I'm pretty sure her sweet little face is the only thing that would ever convince my dad to wear a party hat.  Maggie and Grandma made grandpa a cake, chocolate of course.

We were planning on heading back to Norfolk this morning but the weather just wasn't cooperating.  Boy is it nasty here.  Hopefully tomorrow morning.... Poor Maggie is really missing school, the list of things that we need to take care of at home is ever growing and I can't wait to see the progress on the studio, it sounds like it's almost ready. 


On Sunday afternoon Alex & Ellie came to play.  The kids had such a good time and I'm glad they are so close already.  Alex always brings lots of fun toys...this time Maggie's favorite was a nerf shotgun.  I didn't think I would ever here my sweet little girl say, "I need to load some shells."  I guess we'll chalk it up to Alex being from Council Bluffs :) 

I'm glad Ellie will soon have Potato (and Ben & JetSki's baby) because I'm not sure she'll be able to keep up with these 2 crazies.