We were first introduced to the Nick Jr. children’s program Yo Gabba Gabba on a flight to Tucson at Christmas. A couple had saved a few episodes on their iPad for their 22 month-old son to watch during the flight. They happened to sit in front of us and London saw the show through the cracks between the seats. Before long, she was standing on her seat and looking over the seat.
From there, I would time to time turn the show on, in hopes London could be occupied for a few minutes so I could run upstairs to see to some laundry, run to the bathroom or get some dishes done. It wasn’t until recently that she would sit through an entire episode. And when she did start to sit and be focused on the program for a straight 25 minutes, I have to admit, I loved it – this is especially true when I need to get some dishes completed.
And the 25 minutes of quiet is great for when Cameron and I both need to relax a little after a long day of work before switching into parent and dinner-time more.
The only issue is now if the TV is on, London is asking for “Dabba Dabba” as she calls it. She will literally go get the remote and bring it to you. And she won’t do anything else if the TV is on, unless I turn on music. Which means, even watching the evening news can be a challenge in our house these days. And I’m a little concerned that London isn’t as interested in books as she used to be, particularly when we are downstairs.
I hate that we are using TV as a crutch already but we can’t let her run loose in the yard alone, at least not yet and the stories of neighbors finding snakes in their yards makes me wonder if I ever will feel comfortable with that.
The other problem is, Yo Gabba Gabba is the only show that will keep her attention for this length of time. We’ve tried Mickey’s Clubhouse and Sesame Street, but neither has had the same effect – although she does recognize when she sees Mickey or Minnie on TV by saying Mouse. I wonder what it is about Gabba that keeps her attention that the others lack.
Thankfully, the weather has remained beautiful in the evenings, so to divert London’s attention, we go outside where she throws a few balls around, runs around the patio and plays in her water table. I fear the fall and winter when it gets dark by the time we are home.
~ Sarah
Happy belated Mother’s Day! I hope all you Mother’s had a wonderful day doing exactly what you wanted to be doing. My Mother’s Day was more of a Mother’s Weekend, which in some ways started Thursday night.
On Wednesday I had worked an open house for my company down in Modesto. On the way home, I’d picked up some fresh strawberries to make a fresh strawberry pie that I was craving. The problem was the open house and being on my feet all day, not to mention the heat in Modesto, left me tired Thursday. And while I normally love to bake, I wasn’t looking forward to it Thursday night as all I wanted to do was sit. Lucky for me, Cameron took control and had made the pies for me. The house smelled so yummy when London and I got home.
Friday I got home early thanks to a work open house in West Sacramento – I made it home just in time for a migraine to hit and took a 3 hour nap which alleviated the situation. When I picked London up from day care, a cute flower card and photo flip book was waiting for me, London’s Mother’s day gift to me : ). Cameron and I had discussed earlier in the week that this was likely the only way I’d receive a card or gift from London.
Saturday began early for all three of us as we headed to Cal Expo to participate in the Komen Race for the Cure. This had been my request for the weekend – to participate in the walk with my family. The best part – I still fit in the small T-shirt I had registered for before I knew I was pregnant! Cameron and I had fun talking and people watching as we power-walked our way through the crowds. While attendance was down for the event thanks to the Planned Parenthood issues from January, there were still 18,000-20,000 people out there. London was happy once we set out on the walk – waiting is definitely not her forte.
Back at home, Cameron made me homemade waffles which I topped with melted butter, light cool whip and strawberry pie filling. Yummy! This is also when I discovered Cameron though Saturday was Mother’s Day. Worked for me. We all were worn out by London’s nap time, so we all took a nap until my dad arrived for the weekend. He was stopping in on his way to Chico where he will be working for the next couple of weeks. He got to get London up from her nap when she awoke. London was quite excited to have her Grandpa come to her rescue.
We were still tuckered from our walk and Dad was tired from driving so life in our house was pretty bland that evening outside the Chili Verde Cameron made for dinner. And Mother’s Day itself was pretty low key as well. We skyped with my mom in the morning to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and tell her we wished she was there with us as well. My dad also took London for a long walk while Cameron and I set to complete the demolition in the front room. This would be a slow, all day process and at one point, Cameron looked more like a ghost than a person, he was so covered in a fine white dust after sawing out some drywall in the ceiling!
We completed the day barbequing with Matt & Lynde. We also pulled out London’s water table after she began playing in the dog water bowl outside – which led to her going between her water table and the dog bowl! She was soaked and needed a warm bath before dinner was ready. We all dined on some delicious steaks, bbq’d corn on the cob, mexican salad and garlic bread. And I spend the rest of the evening working on London’s stocking, instead of worrying about the dishes. Of course I have those waiting for me tonight! At least I can say I am a mere few hours from completing her stocking! About time, considering I have another one to start and this will be London’s 3rd Christmas!
All in all, it was just what I wanted and needed for the weekend after several busy and upcoming busy weekends. The only rough part was saying by to my dad this morning. The second London saw him this morning she ran in to get a hug. She will be a bit disappointed to discover Grandpa is gone when we get home this evening.
~ Sarah
Monday was my birthday (I know not really a “weekend day” but in a way, it felt like one – you’ll see!). The day started off with me getting to sleep in little! That’s because we had a prenatal appoint at 9 AM. This also meant that London got to sleep in which made for a happy toddler the morning of my birthday. It’s also always fun when Cameron and I both get to take her into day care.
Not much to report with Baby– all is well and going according to nature’s plan. You have the rest of the update in today’s Baby Bump Update any way.
After the appointment I headed into work as planned only to learn that someone had stolen a length of copper pipe in Rio Linda that had brought down almost all our operations, including internet! My only option to get anything done was to head back home, which I did. I did what I could from home, but without access to email, it made it a bit difficult. My boss and I laughed that this was her birthday present to me.
Since I now didn’t need to leave work late and battle traffic (considering I was already home), Cameron and I decided to take Lynde up on her offer to watch London so Cameron and I could go out to dinner. I was craving sushi and wanted to try a new sushi restaurant up in Folsom, so that is exactly where Cameron and I headed.
Before arriving at the restaurant, we walked through a new home décor store in the Palladio shopping center, Kirkland’s. There was a ton of things I could have spent money on and most fit with our décor theme at home. Cameron and I expected the place to be pretty pricey and we were quite surprised that it wasn’t. We saw several paintings we are now considering for the entrance wall across from where the French doors to Cameron’s new office will be. We were good though and refrained from spending any money there.
From there we walked hand in hand to the sushi restaurant, Blue Nami. We both commented on how weird it was to be holding each other’s hands since we normally have London in between us, holding on to one of our fingers!
Blue Nami was hopping for a Monday night, but we were seated quickly and attended to just as quickly for beverages. We quickly learned that it was Happy Hour and a full page in the menu of Sushi was 50 percent off! We ended up ordering two $4 appetizers (Gyoza for me and Calamari rings for Cameron) and 6 rolls of sushi. All of it was delicious, minus one roll. That roll had garlic, basil, avocado, cream cheese and cashews – a mixture I thought I would love, but found the basil overwhelming. Oh well.
Cameron and I both agreed it’s our new sushi restaurant, especially during Happy Hour. Of course, we couldn’t get too adventurous with the roll selections given that raw fish is a bit of a no-no when pregnant. Stupid potential mercury and parasite issues. I stuck to my favorite Avocado/Cucumber rolls (which I was craving) and a sesame chicken/cream cheese roll (very yummy), though I did convince Cameron to split a spicy tuna/cucumber roll with me so I did get a little taste of the good stuff. What was nice is the avocado/cucumber roll looked to be the size of two rolls so I definitely filled up. And it was all very well priced given Happy Hour – which ended at 8 PM, the time we were leaving.
We will definitely be going back – especially as we eyed all the delicious, fish filled creations the people at the next table ordered. So much to explore in one restaurant! And finally a sushi place we really liked near home! The last place Cameron liked this well as while visiting my parents in Tucson.
But I have to say the best part of the night was coming home to discover Lynde had picked up all of London’s toys in the family room! It was so nice to sit down with a sushi-stuffed belly in a clean room!
After Lynde headed home, Cameron and I settled in to watch a movie of my choice using our free movie pass via AT&T U-Verse (Cameron got it for complaining about something, which was set right and they gave us the pass as a thank you for understanding).
I chose “The Descendents” with George Clooney. It was a more serious movie than I had thought it was, though I didn’t exactly know the story line. Let’s just say it centered around death and infidelity. But the movie did a good job of throwing in a sense of humor when it was getting too serious, and Cameron and I laughed out loud several times. The movie also sparked a good conversation between the two of us about how we’d react if either of us cheated on the other.
In the end, I’d say the movie and discussion it created brought us closer together. We don’t watch new movies very often (we just don’t have the time or desire to spend money on what we see as a gamble of whether it will be good or not) and we watch even less movies that spark conversation like this one did between us. It may sound strange to say, but it topped off an already great birthday. Well, that and the snuggles I got from Tulley toward the end of the movie when she was trying to tell us it was bed time.
~ Sarah
Sorry for the delay - I was never on a computer yesterday between work, errands and demolition still going on in our house. The good news is our home laptop is fixed so I'll be able to start posting pictures with my posts again!
How far along: 15 weeks
What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: An Orange
Average Size: 4 inches, 2.5 oz.
What’s going on with Baby’s development: All four limbs have functioning joints and legs are now longer than the arms.
Total weight gain: 9 lbs. The doctor says my weight gain is good and healthy for where I am in the pregnancy so far. I hope to keep the weight gain to a minimum as best I can. Won’t know again until our next appointment June 4.
Maternity clothes: Yep
Stretch marks: No new ones still
Sleep: Getting up once a night to use the restroom. Not supposed to sleep on my back any longer, which is hard at times and the body pillow is a must to keep me from sleeping on my belly – woke up the other night with my tummy hurting cause I’d been sleeping on it!
Best moment of this last week: Getting all the supplies needed to enclose the front room for Cameron’s office! We even took down the drywall under the stairs. Progress is being made.
Miss anything: Wine, Corona
Movement: None yet and probably not for a little while still.
Food cravings: Still watermelon. I also sent Cameron out to Walgreens at 9:15 PM the other night for either vanilla ice cream with chocolate and caramel mixed in or a vanilla bar dipped in chocolate. He found a vanilla ice cream bar dipped in both caramel and chocolate – sooo yummy!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: Yep.
Gender: Unknown – 5 weeks to go!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: Half-way out
Wedding rings on or off: Just my engagement ring on
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and starting to feel more energized
Looking forward to in the next week: Getting farther on the office renovation and seeing my dad this weekend. Still working on London’s stocking but getting closer to being finished. My ultimate goal is to have it completed by the 20-week ultrasound on June 12.
We saw the doctor again Monday morning. Nothing much to report. The doctor said that I was still within a healthy range for weight gain and was pleased to hear that I was getting my energy back. I measured exactly where I should be for how far along I am and we heard the baby’s strong heart beat, which always puts me at ease after a long time between appointments and before I can feel baby kicking.
Other than that, we just discussed my labor and delivery with London versus expectations with this one being a planned c-section. The doctor said it will definitely be better than last time around given the circumstances. As he said, all they can do is better. He did warn me that I could still shake a bit afterward though likely not to the severity I did with London. He was definitely fine with my request to have a shot of demerol on stand-by if I need it – last time I needed it and it took the nurse WAAAAY TOOO LOOOONG to get it for me so I could relax, and more importantly, breathe!
Our next appoint with the OB is June 4th and we also received paperwork for the 20-week Ultrasound, which is now scheduled for June 12th. This is when we get to learn the gender of this kiddo and will be able to start calling it something other than “it” or “baby”. Can hardly wait!
~ Sarah
Friday night we celebrated Cinco de Mayo a little early by heading to our favorite Mexican restaurant with Matt & Lynde for dinner. And we discovered we may be closer to potty training with London than we thought. She’s beginning to say “dirty” before she has soiled her diaper! Yippee is all I can say – it would be awesome to have her out of diapers by the time baby arrives.
The poor girl also likes to do her business in private, which was not possible at the dinner table while strapped into the high chair. We could not help but laugh as London covered her eyes with her hands for the privacy she required as she worked through her business. The best/worst part was when she let out a little sigh of relief! Poor girl and Cameron – I was still mid-meal so he had the pleasure of taking London to the car to take care of her and the diaper.
Saturday was our busy weekend day. It started with London’s last Swim Lesson. I made sure to take some more photos and video before the camera battery died. Hopefully, my posts will include more photos again soon. Cameron called HP about our laptop on Friday and we are now awaiting the arrival of a new hard drive, which is suspected as being the root cause to our computer issues.
After swim lessons, we headed home for a quick refresher before heading up to Biggs to celebrate Cameron’s stepdad, Joe’s birthday with most of the family. Unfortunately, it was also a very windy day and given I was/am still recovering from my allergy attack from Reno the previous weekend, I refused to go outside.
The wind did not stop the kids though. Vicki had rented a bounce house for the afternoon, so the kids bounced between that and the trampoline all day. Even London bounced to her heart’s content most of the day (under adult supervision of course).
On our way home, we made an impromptu stop to the see Moes again. This time we were able to stay longer than 10 minutes, which was much better. Eventually, London decided it was time to go – she kept grabbing our hands and walking us to the door while saying “bye bye” to Moe and Nicole. She did impress us with her big sister skills though – she was quite attentive to Moe & Nicole’s 5-week-old, Conner’s needs, trying to bring him all his pacifiers. Nicole even let London place one in Conner’s mouth – she was quite gentle. She’s going to make such a good big sister!
We were spent by Saturday night and crashed early.
Sunday was a day at home, but not a quiet one. I spent much of the morning/day picking up the house up while Cameron tended to the yard. Mid-morning we all headed to Lowe’s to buy the supplies we need to build the walls for Cameron’s new office. This trip required two cars as once the truck was loaded up with all the drywall and wood, there was no room for London or I. I wish I’d gotten a picture of the truck all loaded it up - it was quite a sight and required some slow, careful driving. Good thing Lowe’s isn’t too far away from home.
And, that evening Cameron began the demolition! The wall under the stairs is now currently missing its drywall and tonight I believe he plans to remove the drywall in the ceiling and window walls where he needs to construct the door wall. Pretty exciting! Now if we could just keep the cats out from under the stairs! We’ll need to be careful when we drywall this wall back up that no cat is under there!
This post is getting long so stay tuned for what we did for my Birthday on Monday!
~ Sarah
