Real 31 week pics

So here I am at 31 weeks.  Really folks - this is getting a little scary.  How big can one belly get?  At least I know I probably wont give birth to a malnourished baby.  

That's right folks!  Andy is 32!  Can you believe it?  He says he had a pretty good birthday this year.  It all started Saturday night - when I took Andy out on a date.  This was no ordinary date though - it was our second official date since Stella was born.  The Saturday before we had left Stella with a babysitter for the first time to go on a date.  Can you believe it took us that long to really leave her with a babysitter?  We actually did a lot better than expected.  We did not talk about Stella the whole time, and we felt bad for the people we saw with babies or toddlers in tow.  Stella also did very well.  She played and played and enjoyed herself the entire time.  Not even one tear was shed.  So we gave it a second try for Andy's birthday.  Once again, no problem.  This time, Stella was even put to bed without us.  This was a first - and she did just fine.  This was definately a relief considering we will have to have a little stay in the hospital here in a couple of months - and I will be much less worried now that I know she is o.k.  Anyway, so back to the birthday... we went out for some asian cuisine, which has kind of become a little tradition for Andy's birthday.  My gift for Andy was a watch.  Then, Sunday, after church, Andy had some time to play ball with his number one girl.  I'm not sure which one of them enjoys there time together more.     

For dinner, we had the Rozmus family over, and Rod and Zoe cooked up some fantastic food.  We had ham, and sour cream potatoes, and green bean casserole, and seven layer salad, and cake.  Andy also scored some sweet gifts.  He got a lot of cooking supplies, and a book, some clothes, and some cash.  Stella got a gift too.  Karen wanted to make sure she didn't feel left out.

I made Andy a cake that I hoped would make him not miss home so much.  I decorated it to look like the rocky mountains.  It's not the best cake ever, but what can I say...I am no professional.

Burned

A couple of weeks ago Stella, Andy, and I were in the lobby of an Apartment complex.  There was a fireplace, the kind with glass fronts, and I thought nothing of it.  Im my Grandma's house, where we used to live, there was a similar fireplace, and we used to sit against it to get warm.  It never got really really hot - not hot enough to burn you.  The fireplace in the lobby however, got really hot - but I didn't expect it.  Stella was running from me over towards Andy, and her hand swiped against the glass covering, and then she darted away from it and started to cry - sounding very hurt.  I went running towards the bathroom, but they were down a hallway - so Andy yelled at me to come over to the kitchenette  sink... where he was headed.  We had her hand under cold water for about 15 minutes, and then wrapped it up with some burn ointment and antibacterial creme.  She stopped crying after a while, but wouldn't move her hand.  She held it completely still - it was so sad but so sweet.  We continued to put "whole skin" on it every day, and kept it wrapped up for about a week, and it is doing so well.  You can barely tell anything ever happened to it now.  Poor little girl.  It is so sad when your baby is hurting, and there is nothing you can do to make anything better.  

Here she is the night it happened.  She really was such a little trooper. 

The day after - all blistered up.  

Three or four days after - (can't remember) starting to peel off and heal.  

Belly

Here I am (or was, I should say) at 28 weeks.  I am now at 31.  Looks like I am a little behind - but who can blame me.  Posting a picture of my ever enlarging belly for the world to see isn't exactly a priority these days.  I am getting ever huge-er it seems.  At my last Dr.s apt., I measured two weeks ahead - or big.  Great.  Thats always exciting.  I am especially worried because I always measured small with Stella.  Unfortunately thats not the case this time.  I am also much more uncomfortable this time around.  I can't bend as easily, and I have more frequent braxton hicks contractions.  I am just hoping now that I will stay healthily pregnant so that I will be able to make my sister's wedding on Dec. 27th in California.  So far the Dr's say I am fine to go as long as I tote my medical records with me.  I sure hope it stays that way - because it would break my heart to miss it.  Oh - and please excuse the laundry etc. in the background of the picture;).  And pictures of Andy's birthday and Stella's poor little injury to come... stay tuned.  

A little late...

Beware: Long post.  

Stella loved celebrating Halloween this year. She was in love with her costume, which of course made me very happy. I was pretty sure she wouldn't end up wearing the headband, but instead, I had a hard time ever getting it off of her. She was a little confused at the whole candy thing at first - but she got the hang of it real quickly. All during our trunk or treat, she held onto her pumpkin basket, and wouldn't let anyone take the orange sucker from her hand. She started eating it wrapper and all at one point, so I had to be a meanie and take it away, but she did get her fill of sugar. We had a hard time keeping her away from it for about a week afterwards. She would stand in front of her pumpkin and just yell, "MOM", over and over again, and then cry when I wouldn't give in and let her eat her little heart out.

This is Stella with one of the girls I used to have as a beehive.  

Stella and her punk rock friend Claire.

On Halloween, we only took Stella to three houses, but she loved it, and knew exactly what to do.  She would stand on the doorstep, and just hold her little pink pumpkin, waiting patiently for her treat.  After the first door, she tried to run in the house, but after that no other escapes were attempted.

Sorry about how blurry this picture is.  I think it shows her excitement so well - so I had to post it.

At this house, she grabbed a piece of candy, and then reached in for more.  Little thief!