Thanksgiving Pictures

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving with the Pumpkin this year. On Thanksgiving day we were at Dave's folks' with my family also in attendance. On Black Friday we were at Dave's Grandma's house where we were also joined by the rest of his family and his aunt and uncle. Sylvia was such a trooper both days and stayed in really great spirits.

Here she is enjoying her Thanksgiving dinner. It was much better than last year's yucky soy formula!

And this is just a really cute shot of her with Uncle Joe. Sometimes she's not too sure around him. I think it is because he is an auto mechanic and often smells of oil and motor fumes. But she did great with him on Thursday!

Here we are at Great Grandma's decorating the tree. Sylvia loved the beaded garland!

With Great Aunt Suanne.

With Grandma and Grumpy in front of the clock, the traditional spot for family pictures to be taken.

And getting her first listen to music from an MP3 player, thanks to Uncle Brian!

In medical news: Today I go in for what will hopefully be my last ultrasound this pregnancy. I am expecting all to look well, but it will still be nice (and a bit of a relief) to hear it come from the doctor. I also have another prenatal appointment afterward. I am not expecting any surprises at this visit. Hopefully it will be a ho-hum medical day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a blessed and wonderful day full of good food, friends and family.

At our family gathering this afternoon, Dave and I shared Lovebug's name. We felt it was a good time as both of our families were together and we know her name, like Sylvia's, will not be changing before her arrival in February. Also like Sylvia, we knew her name from the day we knew we were expecting. She has always been our little Veda Katherine Ertman Trowbridge.

Katherine is in honor of Dave's younger sister who passed away many years ago. She may not be with us in body but she is certainly with us in spirit and we wanted to acknowledge how important she is to our family. Katherine is a beautiful name that will now be part of two beautiful souls.

Parade Day and Baby Shower

Last Saturday was the Santa Parade in Grand Rapids. We took Sylvia last year (you can look in the archives if you want and see how much she has grown and changed in the last year!). This year we met some friends of ours, including Sylvia's "friend," Alexis. I cannot believe how much these girls loved the parade. The biggest hit was the "doggies." Sylvia was just ecstatic by all the dogs she saw. She kept pointing and shrieking "dog, dog!!!"

Despite her love for dogs, she did not appreciate having one on top of her head and soon the hat was thrown from the stroller.

These are both dads in action. It was very difficult to get the girls to smile and pay attention to the camera (first time ever for the Pumpkin!) because there was just too much to see!

This is an attempt at a family picture. We did get a better one, but that one is being used for the Christmas cards.

Saturday also saw Sylvia and I going to my folks' house for my sister's baby shower. Stepher is due in the middle of January and she and Joe are expecting a baby boy. My dad is thrilled. He always wanted a son, never got one, and then his first grandchild was another girl. And as Dave and I probably won't be giving him any grandsons, it's a good thing that Stephanie and Joe are!

Here she is showing off the cardigan I made for my coming nephew. Sadly, the sun caused quite the glare but in the picture below you can get a better idea of what it looks like (in addition, you get a glimpse of Sylvia's Christmas present):

Stepher is doing a Snoopy theme in the nursery, so I also knit this washcloth. It was actually meant to only be an experiment but it turned out cute enough that I added it to her present.

Even the Little Pumpkin contributed a gift. The night before I took her into her playroom and explained that tomorrow Auntie Stephy was having her baby shower and did she want to pick out a toy to give to her for the baby. I kid you not, this girl went through her entire toybox, touched nearly everything, and then she presented me with these two items-- and only these two items. I hope her cousin will enjoy them!

And the Pumpkin is beginning to not only get into everything but is also placing items in new locations. Yesterday I found my hairbrush in my gift bag drawer in our closet. I know a cat didn't do that!

In other news, I passed my glucose test! I was told to call back for more details, if I wanted. But I figure they can tell me anything else when I go in for my next appointment on Monday. My guess is that I came back real borderline again, and will be reminded to eat my protein.

We also want to wish everyone a truly happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for-- and in the list is included all of my friends and family who have become my "devoted" readers.

Babies, Prenatal News & Albus' Return

Babies, babies, babies! This past weekend was full of babies. This is Sylvia with our "nephew," Jack. Jack is a very big boy. He is over eight months younger than Sylvia but already weighs the same as her. (Although, Sylvia has a number of inches on him in height.) The carseat she is sitting in is her cousin, Jethro's. She loved to sit in this seat. She also likes to sit in the bouncy seat that Jack is in as well. This girl would love one of those foam toddler armchairs. When I'm reclining on the couch--which I tend to do more and more these days as the pains of pregnancy become greater--she will crawl over and want me to lift her onto the couch as well. Then she crawls to the other end and reclines just like Mama!
This picture cracks me up.

These two little men are Jethro and Jack. Jethro is only two weeks older than Jack and it was really fun to watch two babies so close in age "interract." This same night Sylvia took two teeny, tiny steps. I am with her nearly 24/7, so of course I missed it! Dave, my mom and Heather saw. I guess it was almost more of an accidental "walk," but she still did manage to accomplish something close to walking. Perhaps we will see even greater strides toward the ambulatory direction.

Jonathan and Heather (and Jethro, of course!) left very early this morning. We said our goodbyes shortly after 2:00 a.m. They left behind their air mattress for our care for the next three years. Dave dragged the mattress into the living room and then let Sylvia play on it. She loved it! I didn't have my camera on the right settings when I took these pictures, but I still think they are pretty fun.

Today I had one of those "big" prenatal appointments. The great news: My blood pressure was fantastic. I mean, really, really fantastic. It was 122/64. The good news is that my hemoglobin count came back good. Nice to know that the iron levels are appropriate. I "failed" both of these things last year at this same appointment so I was really nervous this year. Dave came with me, which was really nice. The bad news: I failed the glucose screening. I failed last year too and had to take the three hour hospital screening. It was an awful experience for me. I got so sick and they make you sit in a waiting room with the most uncomfortable chairs. By about ninety minutes into it I pulled another chair in front of me, propped my legs up on it and passed out. I know people thought I was terribly rude, but I really truly couldn't help it. I was just so sick. And so, yes, I get to repeat this joy Friday morning. Oh, goody!

In other news, we have a surgery date set for Lovebug's birth. I am incredibly nervous. My due date is February 20 and my surgery is scheduled for February 18. Yikes! I am terrified of going into labor and then having to endure labor and then push forever to only be told in the end that I need another emergency c-section. Some interesting information: For women who are full term and go into labor spontaneously, 96% will deliver vaginally. For women who have had one previous c-section, reach full term and go into labor spontaneously, there is over a 30% chance that another c-section will be needed. I really, really, really just want the c-section and not have to take the risks of a vaginal birth.

And do you recognize this cat? This is Albus. He is a cat we took in last year. He was very sickly and weighed almost nothing when we brought him into our home. We took care of him and gave him some love and he blossomed. This past spring he decided that he kind of liked being outdoors, so we booted him out. Then the cold weather began to come. Suddenly he was trying to get back into the house at every opportunity. We are softies. We just didn't think it was fair that this poor cat had a miserable life before meeting us, then gets to enjoy a wonderful winter indoors and then gets kicked back outside to endure another winter.

He came running inside Saturday night and Dave had to really chase him down to throw him back out. At that point we let him know that once Jonathan and Heather left he could return to the indoors. And so, this morning he re-entered our home. He is thrilled, absolutely thrilled. The other cats are adjusting. They know who he is and don't have a huge problem with him, but he can be kind of annoying. He is so affectionate with all of them and has no concept of personal space. He will even sit on top of them and think nothing of it!

Family Week

The relatives are here! My cousin, Jonathan, and his wife, Heather, and their five month old son, Jethro, arrived this past Saturday afternoon. We love having this time with them, especially when we probably won't see them for another three years. Jonathan is a Captain in the Army and they leave directly from our house on Monday for Korea for three years.

Jethro is a little cutie:

Sylvia is quite interested in Jethro and is pretty sweet with him, but she has her moments. We are also seeing some jealousy issues first hand. For example: Jethro was on a blanket in our living room. Everyone was around him and watching him. As soon as his mommy removed him from the blanket, Sylvia quickly plopped herself on it and lied down. Things could be interesting in about twelve weeks!
This is Sylvia sitting in my old rocking chair at my parent's house. Sylvia actually has Dave's old rocker in her bedroom and this one will be Lovebug's, but it was so cute to watch her in it with her book. I always thought that this was the chair that attacked me when I was about 18 months old, but my dad informed me yesterday that he is pretty sure it was his old rocker that inflicted the head wound and subsequent stitches. (By the way, the whole incident was caught on video tape!)
And this is simply Sylvia being Sylvia, a ham. This girl loves to pose for the camera and when she sees one come out she really starts putting on the charm.
Remember that Moses Basket that Sylvia had after she was first born? She slept in it for the first couple months of her life. Since that time it has served as a stuffed animal home in her bedroom. Today she crawled over (no, we're not walking yet) and pulled out several of the stuffies and then plopped herself in it. It was just too cute.
And did you happen to notice in that last picture that her eyes were free of hair? This morning her Oma and I held her down and managed to snip those bangs. I have tried to do this myself a couple of times before, but she has never let me get anywhere near her with scissors. Between my mom and I, though, we did manage to accomplish this little trim. This makes her first haircut. No pictures. No saved clipped hair. Just a memory.

Fetal Echocardiogram and Ladybugs

Yesterday was the fetal echocardiogram. The video is of a very healthy heart in a very healthy developing baby girl! The echo came back looking great, as did the growth and anatomy scan. We are now done with the high-risk doctors this pregnancy! I do need one more sonogram in about seven or eight more weeks. Pulmonary stenosis (Dave's heart defect) is something that can develop later in pregnancy, so we will have one last scan to verify that Lovebug's heart still looks great. IF something should develop it would be very minor and "easy" to fix. This is such a change from last year-- a healthy, normal pregnancy?!?!? WOW!!!
This last picture is actually very funny. Lovebug has never let us see her face. In this shot you are looking at the back of her head and her little arm is extended up and her hand is by her face. She was "shooing" us away! That little stinker!And Ladybugs: Sylvia was an adorable little ladybug for Halloween. It was very low-key this year. I was sick with the flu, but Dave dressed her up for me and then took her to Uncle Phil and Aunt Keeley's. She was too darling and she actually tolerated the costume very well.

And I haven't mentioned the animals in a while. They are doing very well and get along great, as you can see in the picture. Only one little pistol is in our midst, Olivia. She is great with the people but not so wonderful with the other cats. She is especially mean to Orange (the one on the far left in the picture). This is rather funny, as Orange is her mother! Sylvia loves her kitties and they actually do pretty well with her. I wonder what they will think when we bring yet another little person into our house!

My Birthday

Hello. My name is Sylvia, but I am often called the Little Pumpkin. A couple of weeks ago my mama and daddy woke me up one morning and said, "Happy Birthday!" They told me that I had been born one year ago and that today was a celebration of my first year of life. I have no idea what that means, but let me tell you about all the really neat things that happened that day.

First, some really cool people came over. My aunts and uncles and friends. And you know what? They were all here to see me! My Grumpy even played with me. He's a pretty neat old guy.

And you know who else came? My Oma! I cannot believe that my Oma was here. I love her a lot.

Then my mama and daddy told me that they had a very special book to read to me. I love books, so I was really excited. It was a really nifty book. It had pieces that popped off the pages and everything! Sadly, my mama said I couldn't keep the book. She said it was special. But don't worry, I got bunches of books later that afternoon!

This was the cake that my Auntie Stephie made me. Do you see that really big cupcake in the middle? I thought that one was mine, but I was wrong. Turns out, mine was the itty bitty one sitting next to the big one. Bummer.Okay. Then this next part was kind of strange. There were all these boxes wrapped in paper. It was really colorful and pretty paper but I don't know why they came that way. But Mama and Daddy helped me. Turns out, when you take that paper off there is some pretty cool stuff inside!

I got lots of books for my birthday, but this one concerns me a little bit. Does anybody know what this means?

Oh, and this toy is SO cool! My friend, Alexis, gave it to me. (That's her in the picture.) This is my Elmo Truck. It makes noise and music and the best part is that I can push it around the house!Then this present had me a little confused. First, I thought the pretty blue bow on top was the gift. I was pretty happy with it, but Daddy said there was more.

He opened the box and this thing was inside! I had no idea what I was supposed to do with her. But then I figured it out.

I eat her face!

My Oma found this neat rocking horse for me. I can't ride him by myself yet, but I am really eager to learn how.

And then this present was a very special present from my mommy. She made it for me. Do you know what it was?

It was a little teddy bear!

Now, if you thought all that other stuff was cool, just wait until you hear what happens next. My mama came over with my cake! I had never had this stuff before, but boy . . .

It is REALLY GOOD STUFF!

I ate the entire cake in only a couple of minutes and then I tried to clean off the crumbs from my tray. I wanted more. A lot more.

But I couldn't have anymore. Instead, Mama came over and washed me off.

So, that is what a birthday is all about. I hope that all of you get to have one of these things too. They are pretty great!