Post-vacation three-day weekend

It was nice to enjoy a three-day weekend after returning from Florida.  Did I mention that when we got back at 11:30pm on Thursday night, our neighbors Paula & Tom (well, Tom, I'm sure) had snowblown our driveway, sidewalk, and front walk??  That was an awesome welcome-home present, since we had received more snow while we were gone!

Friday was a "getting-back-to-normal day" - I had lunch with Rick & Lori from Lauth, we hung out at home, and then that night Mel & I met a lot of family members for a February birthday celebration in Thorntown.  Mel was thrilled to see Molly after talking about her all week, and she enjoyed playing with her cousins Lily and Bella (Wyatt was a little too cool to play with the girls).  That night, after a bit of struggle getting Melanie to bed, she again slept through the night in her new bed with no problems.  When I told her it was bedtime, she went straight in and laid down, but it was just a matter of getting her to stay there...but we're working on it.

Saturday we had Gymboree, and Melanie fell asleep on the way home (mid lunch, I might add).  She continued her nap once we got home, and we hung out at home again, playing and staying entertained by Mel's stories and antics.  She now loves playing in her new room and making cookies.  Saturday night wasn't the best sleep-in-the-new room night; we were up three times with her.  This is why we're doing this before the baby comes :)

Sunday we got an early start at the Children's Museum; we ended up buying a membership, which I knew I wanted to do at some point.  She had a great time playing in the Playscape area, and we rode the carousel twice.  She did NOT want to ride on the horses, but we sat on a bench as a warm-up to the real thing.   Apparently she was pretty exhausted from the museum trip, because once again she fell asleep mid-snack in the car.

Big Girl Bed

Before we left for Florida, Jeff painted Melanie's "big girl room" and we got it all ready for her.  I thought that after being away from her crib/room for four nights in Florida, it might be a good transition time to her new room and bed.  On our trip home from Florida, Mel fell asleep on the flight, and didn't wake up when we got home - so she went straight into her new bed (unbeknownst to her!) and slept until 7:30am the following day!  We're currently on Night Two of the big-girl bed (she's there now), so we'll see how this continues....

Fun in the Sun

Despite unseasonably-chilly temps in Englewood, Florida for our trip (February 14-18), here are the top things we did while we were there that we could NOT have done if we were in Indiana that same week:

1.  Jeff played golf

2.  I took a nap on the screened-in porch

3.  We took three trips to the beach

4.  We went on a boat ride

5.  We saw dolphins from the boat and from the pier behind my parents' condo

6.  We ate lunch outdoors

7.  Mel played at the park a few times

8.  Mel "played" putt-putt

9.  We had date night while Mel hung out with Gigi & Poppy (this counts since we could not have done this while we were in Indiana and they were in Florida!)

All in all, I believe it was a successful trip!

First boat trip

On Wednesday of our trip to Florida, we boated over to a restaurant for lunch!  Larry & Diana Forrester's house is right across the street from where my parents were staying, and so we were lucky to see them a lot while we were there.  We cooked several dinners on the Big Green Egg (Jeff's ultimate grill dream), and then they took us for the boat ride.  We even saw dolphins on our boat trip!  Larry & Diana have a black Lab named Boiler, and, as we know, Melanie is not a big fan of dogs.  The catchphrase of the week was "Boiler is asleep" - Mel's answer any time we asked her if she wanted to go see him.  She even came out with a full sentence - "I don't want to see Boiler." 

First trip to the beach

Our first full day in Florida, the guys played golf while the girls explored the beach. This was Melanie's third plane trip (her sixth non-Indiana state visited), but it was her first trip to the beach! She really wanted nothing to do with the sand ON the beach, but I captured her first touch of the sand on the playground. And her first wipe-off of the sand on the playground :) By her second trip, the following day, she had warmed up and enjoyed the beach - and walking in the sand on the beach AND the playground - more.

Fun with Gigi & Poppy

When we arrived in Sarasota, Melanie was beyond ecstatic to see Gigi & Poppy waiting for her at the airport!  She JUMPED out of her stroller and barrelled down the hallway to greet them with open arms.  While she was a bit confused to see them without Molly, she enjoyed having them all to herself for the week!  She had LOTS of stories to tell them, and was drop-down exhausted by the end of each day (as were they, I'm sure!) 

Updates on both babies

Standard OB appointment today.  After today, we move to having appointments every two weeks!  I can't believe I'm that far along!  Today was the glucola test (for gestational diabetes) where I drink the fun sugary drink and sit there for an hour, then they draw blood.  During my hour wait was my actual appointment, and I've gained about 20 pounds, the baby's heart rate was 147, and Dr. Kenley gave me clearance (with an official note and everything) to fly on Sunday.  I shared with him my ankle woes; two Fridays ago, I fell at a restaurant, and my ankle seems to be progressively getting worse instead of better!  I saw my primary care doc this past Monday, but she was hesitant to do x-rays, and diagnosed me with a sprain.  Icing, wraps, and "staying off of it" (yeah right) isn't really helping, so Dr. Kenley ordered x-rays today.  Hopefully I'll find out yet this week what's going on with the crazy ankle.  In the meantime, I have a temporary handicap parking pass so I can park closer to my work!  I promise I won't abuse this power.

Melanie continues to have quite the mind of her own.  Last night after her bath, she refused to put her pajamas on, and wanted to pick out her own outfit.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of her masterpiece.  First, she was very upset (as she was this morning) that the shorts that were on the floor were NOT a shirt.  She was insistent she wanted to wear them as a shirt.  So she ended up in brown sweatpants that have an orange basketball and the number 33 on them, with a pink (too small) "I love Grandma" shirt.  The things this girl comes up with to say are a hoot.  The other day, she was climbing up on the couch, just talking to herself, having a great old time.  I heard her say "Don't worry...." - the catchphrase that Daddy taught her.  She's finally nodding when she agrees or wants to say yes.  She has now taken to spitting on the baby anytime she wants to "talk" to him.  I can't really discipline her for this, since I know it's not done in malice; I'm just concerned that she will spit on him once he's here.  Oh, who am I kidding - if that's the worst she does to him, I guess we're all right!  I got out the stuff to make cookies on Sunday, and she started throwing a fit; I couldn't figure out what she wanted.  Well, she wanted to stand on the chair and "help," like she did last time.  Silly Mommy!  That same day, she threw a fit because she wanted me to shower.  Really, she had an ulterior motive, she wanted to play with her toys that are in the bathroom.  But she just kept screaming "SHOWER!"  So my plans of staying in my pajamas all day were interrupted by a shower - then I got right back into (clean) pajamas and didn't leave the house all day.