Cupcake

It was trick-or-treat night in Hilliard tonight so we celebrated Halloween a little early. Taya was a cupcake this year and she looked adorable. One lady even said it was the best costume of the night. Considering there were TONS of kids in the neighborhood, that's quite a compliment! It was fun to be in a neighborhood full of kids. People here sit out on the front step (some even had tables set up) so you don't have to ring the door bell. Others who have kids just left a bowl of candy on the step so you can get a piece of candy and move along. We ended up doing that so I could go with Taya and Ethan. They 'survived' longer than I did. It was about 45 degrees and I don't have a heavy coat that fits so I wasn't properly dressed. Taya and daddy had fun though and she scored quite a lot of candy for a 2 year old.

Tomorrow is Taya's Halloween party at 'school'. I'm excited to be able to go since I don't have to work. More picture to follow :).

Animals, stories, Grammy, and 35 weeks pregnant

Whoa. I'm sorry it has been a few weeks since I've posted a blog. We have been doing lots of fun things and I have actually managed to take a few pictures, but sitting down at the computer for a block of time is a luxury. In the past few weeks we have managed to attend story time a few times (including a special night one for Halloween), take many walks to the park, go to the zoo, have a playdate at the mall play area (too rainy for the park), host our first football get-together as Ohioans, and have Grammy visit. All the while I am continuing to grow and as I type this I only have about 4 weeks left (if all goes well). Below is a picture time-line of the past few weeks.

This is the only picture out of order (it should go after the next one). Notice Taya with her fingers in her mouth? The following week she told me "mommy, I have new tooth". I said "you have a new tooth?" and she says "yep". So I looked back and her top left molar was poking through. She is now working on the right side.
Also, her friend, Jackson, is pictured on the right. We met him, his 5 month old brother, Henry, and of course his mom, Jessica, at story time. We also met them at the mall for a play date one Friday morning. They had fun seeing the animals.
Taya's first trip to the Columbus Zoo.

The first stop...The polar bears!

We were able to go down below the polar bear's swimming pool and watch them. It was pretty neat.

Polar bear...

Up next, the elephants! Taya loves elephants and there was a BABY elephant!

Jessica was nice enough to wrangle Taya for me a few times since it's getting harder for me to hold her (and chase her).

Then Jackson wanted to show Taya the tiger.

We finished the morning in the aquarium then had a picnic lunch before we headed home.

Taya still likes to wear my shoes. She thought she might want her own pair of Uggs but we found some that are even better (pictures further down).

We hosted a few of Ethan's friends from work for the Nebraska v. Texas game (yes, it was disappointing) but we had a fun time. Taya was really happy to have company and show off.

L-R: Ethan, Taya, Chris, and Dan (Ethan's boss).

Dan was the first to arrive and Taya immediately made him read her stories. Later she would chuck a hard toy right at him, starting a game of catch.

Mona, another of Ethan's co-workers, has a 9 month old named Samantha. Taya was pretty interested in playing with her but didn't want to share her toys. She was pretty good though.

I had just told Taya to be careful of Sam's eyes. Taya likes to touch baby faces but points out the different body parts which usually ends up with an eye poke.

Special Story Time was on Wednesday evening. It's at the Dublin Library where we go for usual story time. They had 30 minutes of more mild "ghost stories" for toddlers then they were going to start telling scarier stories. We met with another friend, Donovan, and his parents, Jennifer and Andrew. Taya got a candy bracelet from someone and she thought that was pretty cool.

Roughly 35 weeks. This was taken before we left for the doctor.

Wt=147.5 lbs

BP=102/62 (yay, it's back to normal)

Baby's heartrate=142-145 ("perfect" says Dr. Hammett)

This was taken yesterday. It's funny how a different angle and different shirt can make me look smaller. We had some photos taken at Target to capture my belly bump. I also got the chance to get my hair done while Grammy watched Taya :).

Taya's new boots!

Taya with her Grammy. It's crazy to think Grammy will be back in about 3 weeks; I'm hoping she arrives before baby Mann #2 gets here, eeek!

I have been having lots of contractions this past week or so. I've had two noticable ones that reminded me of the day I had Taya...I got very hot, blurry vision, flushed, and I could feel the muscles contract all the way around my abdomen. They were both on rather busy days at work so I drank a bunch of water and tried to rest (as well as I could at work). Since then it seems I have quite a few contractions during the day. I'm thinking my cervix should be loosening up quite nicely so I can have a quick and easy labor just as I did with Taya. I'm getting a little anxious to meet this little one and find out the gender, but I'm realizing I have a little more "mental preparation" to do before I'm really READY. Continue to keep me (and Ethan, Taya, and baby) in your prayers.

God Bless!

Hhhmmm, October already?!

Happy Birthday!

Hello family and friends. It's beginning to feel a lot like fall which I am loving. It's so much more enjoyable to be outside. We've had a busy beginning to the month. We were blessed to have Ethan's mom (Omi) and sister (Aunt Erin) for a visit this past weekend. I realize that I didn't get a single picture of Taya with either of them but she enjoyed showing off for them and bossing them around. It was also Ethan's 28th birthday on Oct. 3. It really doesn't seem like it should have been here already. That means mine is soon to follow and then we'll have a special "birth day" a few weeks after mine.

Mostly everything is going smoothly and normally around here. We're really enjoying football and plan to have friends over for the NU/Texas game. It will be the first get-together we've hosted since moving to Ohio so I'm excited to fix some food.

I'd also like to put a shout out for Danny Woodhead...now playing for the New England Patriots. We will always cheer for whatever team Danny plays for and it's pretty awesome to see him playing with such a great team. He's already scored 2 touchdowns and has only played for them for 2 weeks. GO PATRIOTS (and still Colts!) :).

Being cheesy at dinner.

We still love our Nima, she just gets a little less attention from mom lately.

Another favorite...cuddles at night time. Taya is laying on the baby and hugging her lamby. Taya loves to hug the baby (my belly) and talk to it. I wonder what she will think of a real baby; I wonder what the baby will think of Taya...?

What's this? Cake!?! Let's have a bite...

Ok so far...

Hey guys, this is GoOd!

Just chillaxin', watchin' some Mickey Mouse

Look at that face

Trying for a family picture. Taya has to wrestle dad-o.

One with everyone looking, well besides Nima, instead we just got her tail.

It's been hat weather the past several days. I love those curls sticking out.

You guessed it, I had a doctor appointment today (ever notice how I post a new pic when I have new stats?). I took these using the automatic timer so they're not the best.

33 weeks

Wt=145.8 lbs

BP=130/60

Baby's HR=142 bpm

Measuring 33 cm

So I saw a new doctor at the practice I go to. She asked me if I was about 32 weeks and I said yes, I guess so (even though what I think doesn't match what the doctors have estimated). Anyway, she measured me and says "actually you're measuring about 33 weeks". I laughed and told her that's really how far I thought I was. I told her it was the same with Taya, that my dates didn't match the midwives. She asked if Taya was born a week early and I said yes, exactly one week. So I'm remaining firm that I'm right; I'm still guessing November 22 as my due date.

Also my systolic blood pressure (the top number) is gradually going up the past month. I asked the doctor and she said right now they're not concerned since I'm not having any other signs of preeclampsia but that we'll pay close attention. I have had no swelling or bleeding, no regular contractions, no cramps, and my urine protein and sugar were fine.

Ethan and I don't feel we have a lot to do before baby. My main thing is finding a double stroller that I like. My mom is coming in 2 weeks so we might wash up some baby clothes and blankets and sort through some of Taya's clothes she's outgrowing. I also need to decide what I'm going to do as far as splitting up Taya's furniture to share with baby (like the changing table we never use) and try to do a deep clean on the house. Otherwise, baby Mann #2, we're ready for you!!!

God Bless!