Today we went somewhere very fun for the first time!  Lydia went to get her first real haircut!  Grammy has trimmed her bangs for her several times, and that worked well for awhile, but now it’s time to get a full haircut.  We went to a cute kids’ place near our house.  She watched Elmo on TV, sat in a cute blue car, and ate a snack.  She did very well!   

Here’s the before picture… The back has grown pretty long.  When I look at pictures from just one year ago, I’m amazed by how fast her hair has grown!  She has always had sweet little curls on the bottom, but lately they’ve turned into a stringy mess more often than not.  So, they trimmed the bottom about an inch and a half, and then blended the sides in a bit, and trimmed her bangs.  The bangs were the greatest need… they’ve been in her eyes for weeks, and I’ve been trying to clip them back with bows.

And after… (A good “after” pic was hard to get… she wouldn’t sit still for Daddy to take a good one.)

 

Now she’s ready for pictures with her new baby sister!  (When she FINALLY decides to make her grand appearance!)

It’s time to catch up a bit!  Needless to say, we’ve been pretty busy lately preparing for the holidays, Molly’s arrival, finishing up work for the year and what seems like a million other things.  A couple of weeks ago we had a really nice dinner over at Aunt Kelly and Uncle Joshua’s house with Grammy and Poppy.  Lydia had a blast playing with her cousin Liam.  She adores him!  Then last week we had a really nice dinner over at Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike’s house with Omi and Opa and other extended family who was in town.

I can’t believe baby Molly hasn’t arrived yet!  I am SO EAGER to meet her, and growing very impatient!  I’m 2 centimeters dilated at this point, so…any day now!

Meanwhile, Lydia has been having a lot of fun.  She has visited the playground at the Mall a few times, and loves it there.  It scares her Mommy – there are a lot of bigger kids there jumping from slide to slide and playing really rough around her.  She manages to stay out of harm’s way though. 

Lydia’s Daddy taught her how to type her name on the computer!  She knows all of her letters, so it’s just a matter of telling her to press the L, then the Y, etc. 

Christmas was really nice.  I wasn’t sure if we’d make to that point with the baby coming soon, but I’m glad we didn’t miss the special time with our families.  Lydia was eager and the little stinker opened many of the presents BEFORE Christmas (which I had to re-wrap).  She loves opening presents! 

For Christmas Eve, we went over to Grammy and Poppy’s house with Aunt Kelly, Uncle Joshua and cousin Liam.  Liam and Lydia played very well together, and had a blast tearing into all of the presents.  Literally all of them – we let them open ours, too.  I got a very special present that night too! Oliver bought me a beautiful necklace with 3 diamonds representing Lydia, Molly and Oliver.  (which is something I’ve been asking for!  Well I didn’t ask for diamonds… I just asked for a simple little silver necklace to represent the girls.  He totally surprised me!  The necklace is very simple (which is my taste) and the diamonds are sweet and just the right size.  I love it!  Thank you, Oliver!

 

Lydia and Liam playing with the Nativity scene.

Lydia and Liam each got a pillow pet from one another!

They made a huge mess with all of the paper, and had a lot of fun doing it!

On Christmas Day we went to Omi and Opa’s house with Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike, cousin Warner, Great Uncle Gene and Aunt Tana.  Lydia got to open even more presents!  She had lots of fun. 

 

Lydia really liked Omi’s Christmas cookies!  (That’s Oliver’s Uncle Gene with her.)

Uncle Mike and cousin Warner.  (Warner is going to be a big brother soon!  His Mommy (Aunt Katie) is due in early March. 

On Christmas morning, Lydia opened a few presents at our house (from Santa!).  She had just had a bath and didn’t want to get dressed, so she was only in a diaper… Who needs clothes to open presents?

Lydia got so many presents for Christmas!  She is truly blessed!  She was surrounded by all of the people who love her so much and had a great 3rd Christmas. 

Today we went to Lydia's school for her Christmas program! Each class dressed as a different part of the story of the birth of Jesus. Shepherds, wise men, barn animals, etc. Lydia's class dressed as sheep. They were the second class to perform. I must admit, I underestimated Lydia. I didn't think she would "perform" and do the hand motions, but she did a great job! I think most of the kids in the 2-3 year old classes weren't sure what to think about the full audience of adults in front of them with cameras, so at times they were a little wide-eyed and unsure what to do. So again, I was especially proud of Lydia when she did some of the hand motions and stood still for the entire song that her class performed. She was SOOOOO cute up there! She didn't do everything she was supposed to do, but she did more than I expected her to do! Oliver got a great video of her on our movie camera, and I took some stills and short videos with our regular camera for the blog.

Lydia's Omi came to see her Christmas program too!

This morning Oliver and I went to the Doctor to check in on baby Molly. I'm 36 weeks along, and her weight is estimated at 6 lbs. 8 ounces. She's in the right position and she's doing great! I am SO READY for her to arrive. I need to be patient...but I am so ready to meet her (and to not be pregnant anymore!).

How was your Thanksgiving? Lydia's was great! Grammy and Poppy came over to our house. Grammy made a perfect turkey, gravy, stuffing and pumpkin pie, and I made green beans, roasted harvest vegetables, creamed spinach (Omi's recipe), and acorn squash. Lydia enjoyed having her grandparents over to her house, and it was a really nice day. Meanwhile, Omi and Opa called her from Germany to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving! She was happy to hear from them.

We made a decision not to put the Christmas tree up this year because it's so much work, and with Molly coming, it just seemed like a big endeavor. And putting it away after Christmas could be a big chore with a new baby and lots to do. But, on Saturday Oliver decided to put the tree up! That made Lydia and I happy. Especially Lydia - she LOVES the Christmas tree!! We decorated a bit otherwise but we're keeping it to a minimum this year.

This weekend I decided to try to organize Lydia's toys and create a new play space for the girls. Lydia's toys are everywhere. They're relatively organized in containers, but they're everywhere. She doesn't really play with most of them anymore. She prefers to make up games of her own, or to play with Oliver and I. Upstairs we have a fairly large space behind our couch that is perfect for a play area. Here's the beginning of the new play space...

It's a start anyway. There are still a lot of toys to organize, not to mention Lydia's books (she has a LOT of books).

I mentioned in my last blog that Lydia transitioned to her toddler bed. She has done GREAT! The first night was tough, but not because she was upset about the change... She wasn't bothered at all by the change from crib to bed. In fact, I think she was pretty excited about it! But, there were 2 issues.

1) She was used to moving around a LOT in her bed. Every corner, every side, every angle. and 2) She discovered she could get herself up...anytime she wanted to.

Oliver left the bumper on, since we know she sleeps up against the slats a lot. Might as well help her be comfy. Molly won't need the bumper for awhile.

The first night started out fine. We did our usual bedtime routine, prayed, put her in bed and said "Night-night, I love you." No problem. She went to sleep. About 3 hours later, I woke up and heard Lydia crying. She doesn't usually wake up at all during the night. I waited about 5-10 minutes to see if she would stop and put herself back to sleep. But she didn't stop... And then it hit me. She might be on the floor!! I went upstairs and peeked in her room, and sure enough...poor little thing had fallen out of her bed and was on the floor totally unsure of what had happened or what to do about it. I knew she wasn't hurt (I could tell by the type of cry, of course), so I just picked her up and calmed her down, sang, prayed and put her back in bed. She was upset about that... The trauma of the abrupt disturbance during her sleep had her now feeling super sensitive of the "Mommy, don't leave me" kind. After comforting her some more, I left the room. She cried. I laid down upstairs in the living room to wait until she went to sleep. I was worried she was going to fall off the bed again and knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until she was out. She cried and wimpered and finally was quiet. After about 10 minutes I figured she was asleep, but then heard her giggle and hum and...could that be her dancing in her room? Sure enough, the little stinker had gotten up and was playing in her room. So, I went in and said in a stern but sweet voice "Lydia, it's time for night-night." I put her in bed, said I love you and left. I waited upstairs to see what she'd do, and sure enough...after 15 minutes or so she was back up and playing in her room. I went in and this time didn't say anything to her. I just put her in bed, kissed her and left. She stayed in bed! Good girl. Again, I was still concerned about her falling out of her bed again, knowing how much she moves from end to end during the night. So, I waited until she fell asleep. Just as I was sure she was asleep and was starting to head downstairs to bed, I heard a thud. A thud! So sad! She had fallen out of bed again. She cried, so I went in to make sure she wasn't hurt, and helped her get back to sleep. By this time it was after 2 AM and she managed to stay safely asleep in bed until almost 7 AM. Phew!

The good news... That was only the first night. She hasn't fallen out of bed since that last fall, and she quickly learned to sleep properly with her head at one end (the end with the guard rail) and her feet at the other. She stays that way all night now. It's funny what a couple of falls will teach you. She now comes downstairs by herself in the morning (which is cute except that it's EARLIER than it used to be). The second she wakes up, she gets herself up and we hear her running around upstairs. I get up and turn the downstairs light on so she can safely make her way down, and I go back to bed until she comes to our room to find us. At first I was super concerned about the stairs at night, but we have a fairly bright night light on the stairs that is sufficient. So, if she did get up while it was dark out (which is typical now in the winter) she can see to come down and I don't have to worry about her falling down the stairs.

So, that was a long story, I know... We're so happy the transition only took one night and she has adjusted to her big girl bed. She really likes it and we keep reinforcing that she gets a big girl bed because she's not a baby. When the baby comes, the baby will sleep in a crib and Lydia will help us take care of her. She always smiles when I say that.

We had a great long weekend, but somehow only managed to take about 5 pictures! So, we'll have to catch up with more pictures soon.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
An update on Baby Molly...

I am 34 weeks pregnant, and on track for my due date of Jan. 5th. Yesterday's sonogram measurements estimated Molly's weight at 5lbs. 9 oz.! Wow! We're getting so excited to meet her! She'll fit right in, and will be a perfect happy addition to our lives!

We talk to Lydia often about the baby in Mommy's tummy who is coming to play with her soon. She's definitely aware of what I'm saying and always smiles, but I'm sure she doesn't quite get it at this point. She knows the room across the hall from her room has been transformed, though, and I can't wait to see her reaction when we get the crib in there.

I've been working to organize her closet and sort through Lydia's hand-me-downs, and meanwhile, Oliver painted her bedroom! It looks exactly as we imagined, and he did a perfect job! I'm not sure if the pictures will accurately show the colors... The ceiling is an aquamarine color, and the walls are a light shade of khaki.




Here's the view from Molly's window.

And a belly shot for ya...

In other news, Oliver transitioned Lydia's crib to its next stage, so Lydia now sleeps in a toddler bed! Also known as her "big girl bed." We told her that cribs are for babies - like the one in Mommy's tummy - and that she's not a baby...she's a big girl! She didn't question her new bed at all - she loves to climb up into it all by herself! The first night was rough though... Let's just say she's a mover in bed, and it didn't bode well for her that suddenly she was missing a railing! We'll take some pictures of her bed this weekend, and soon we'll tell you all about her first night in her new bed.

Pretty soon Lydia's blog will be transformed to become Lydia and Molly's blog! Stay tuned!

Today is Veteran's Day, which means Lydia's Mommy and Daddy had the day off from work! Lydia's school was open, however, so off she went to learn and play, while Oliver and I stayed home to get some things done. Oliver painted the ceiling in the baby's room, and it looks great! The wall will be a different color, so he'll tackle that another day. Then we need to move the crib and the rocking chair in there, and put things on her bookshelves, and...well, basically we need to everything. This will be the room's 3rd identity since we've owned the house. First it was a weight room (pre-wife, of course... Oliver had this massive weight set that was in there. We sold it within our first year of marriage, and got a gym membership instead. We made the room into an office for the computer desk and other random stuff. Now, the computer and all of the junk we had in the closet has found a new home in the guest room and Molly will take over! Molly's room is identical to Lydia's, but with a different style window. They'll be just across the hall from one another. Anyway, back to Veteran's Day, Lydia had a great day at school, and after I picked her up we went to Old Navy and bought a coat for the upcoming cold weather. Then we came home and played outside for awhile. Lydia is always so happy outside! Although it took 50 pictures to find success, I managed to capture some very happy faces today. Generally she's moving so fast we can't catch 'em!

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