Yes, I know. I owe quite an update. And trust me, there is much to share. But I have hit the third trimester. . . and budget season at work. Apparently, that is not a good combination. Anyway, we have uploaded some new pictures, including our 4D ultrasound we did today. The pictures didn’t come out as clear as we would have liked, but they are clear enough to see that the darn thing looks just like Daddy. . . again. I give up. Tater 2 was not very cooperative. He/she (nope, we still didn’t find out) had his/her face shoved right up into the placenta. (I will finish this using male pronouns. . . don’t read too much into it.) So for most of the shots his nose is flattened. That was just the beginning of our woes. Then, he got a foot up by his face and an arm over his head. Seriously, I’m pretty sure he was just trying to hide from us. We have the entire session on video. Pretty cool. You can see him sucking and practice breathing and swallowing with the most adorable little mouth. At the end of our time, you can actually see that he pokes himself in the eye with a big toe. . . and grimaces. He gets that from his dad.
We have moved our album from Google to Smug Mug so it will be different. We did not move everything over so we left the link to the old one. . . at least for now. The new stuff is in Mallory – 2 Years Old, 4th of July 2009, The Playset, Our 4th Anniversary, Swimming Lessons, Hanging with Uncle Matt and Aunt Lauren, and Pregnancy 2. I will try to blog soon. Promise.
****When I wrote this I was still in the process of uploading everything. Because we are new to Smug Mug and not quite efficient yet, I don’t think that they will all get uploaded tonight. Just check back later. Sorry.****

Well, Kylie made it back from Rhode Island in one piece (whew). But now I know why the house seemed so quiet…because it WAS. :) She came in Tuesday night at 12:45 and plopped down on our bed with a big sigh as if to say, “I’m exhausted!” All I could muster was, “No, no, no. . . I love you, I’m glad your home, but it’s almost 1:00 am. . . I am not having a conversation right now. Talk to you tomorrow.” (Of course, I spouted this off on my way to the bathroom for my now routine middle-of-the-night pee.) Now, for those of you that are thinking I’m cold or unloving, let me explain. I got a text from her at 9:15 saying that her friend Trevor that she was riding with had just gotten a speeding ticket. She included that it was a good thing they were already in town so it would be easy for him to take care of it. 9:15. . . 12:45. . . Let me continue the timeline. That put them about 30 minutes from Trevor’s house. At 10:45, I got another text stating that she was leaving Trevor’s to get her car from Michael’s house. That leg of the journey should have taken an hour, tops. She rolled in at 12:45. The sympathy meter topped out somewhere around 11:45. Here’s another bit of info. On the morning that they set out for Rhode Island, she left the house at 4:30 or 5:00. . . IN THE MORNING. However, on the way home, they slept in. Last night, I said, “I’m glad to have you home.” She said, “I’m glad to be home.” No, you’re not. . . but I understand. :) She’s growing up.
We’re at 25 weeks now. I looked at blogs from Mallory to see when I started swelling. I found it. If you go to March 2007 and read the one called “25 Weeks”. Did I mention that I’m at 25 weeks? :) Nothing huge yet, but they are swelling a little. I’m keeping an eye on them. I forget if I have explained this already, but my placenta is on the front. It’s not rare, just differernt. The only drawback is that it cushions the kicks and movements, more for Johnathan than me. He has tried several times to feel Tater Two move, but s/he just goes still when Daddy places his hand on Mommy’s belly. I noticed yesterday that I could see my belly move. So last night, we were sitting in bed, and T2 started moving. Johnathan finally got to feel it. That’s always a special moment. I think there is always a little disappointment until he gets to share in the experience.
Recently, my boss had a departmental get-together at his home. There was an understanding that he had a pool and that it was open for us to use if we wished. Well, I have long held to be the belief that co-workers and bathing suits don’t mix. I determined that way back when I was a size 2. . . and I am not about to change my mind now that I’m maternity sized (whatever size that is). That being said, I did not pack a bathing suit, etc. for Mallory. Johnathan and I weren’t getting in the water; therefore, neither was she. . . or so I thought. It was all we could do to keep the child out of the pool. There were times when we were standing on the stairs in the pool clutching one arm while she “wallered” as much as possible, imploring us to let go. The good news was that I had a change of clothes for her. The bad news was that she was in for such a long time that her regular diaper started deteriorating (never let someone tell you that a swimming diaper isn’t necessary). We had to drag her out and wrap her in a borrowed towel kicking and screaming. . . until she realized she was cold. (She is so cute coming out of the shower or tub or pool saying “Cold, cold, cold”. Of course, that also offers a perfect snuggle opportunity.)
Our neighborhood pool is going to open fairly soon (either that or hell is going to freeze over. . . we’re taking bets on which will happen first). Our developer, while a nice man with great ideas, lacks a little in execution. The kiddie pool is mere feet from the deep end of the pool rather than the shallow end. Brilliant! So in the interest of keeping our child alive, based on the story above, I decided that swimming lessons were necessary for Mallory’s survival. We go Monday – Thursday for 2 weeks. That’s eight 30-minute lessons. We finished week one today. It’s just Mallory and a 10-month –old in the class. The first day, the teacher said, “Just hold her and bounce up and down to get her use to the water.” Whatever. Within 10 minutes I was getting, “Let go, mommy.” Ummmm. . . no. The teacher said, “If she let’s go, what are you going to hold on to?” Okay. . . she’s 2. She got about 4 or 5 words of that sentence and still doesn’t care what you said. We’ve tried singing a mock-Barney song (“the kids in the pool go splash, splash, splash. . . ). Yeah, not into that. . . me or Mallory. We’ve tried kicking while holding on to a noodle. “No noodle.” Tried a kick board. “No kick board.” Blow bubbles? “No bubbles.” All she likes to do is jump from the side of the pool. No kicks, no moving arms, no nothing. Just “More jump, mommy.” On the second day, I had to get out of the pool 3 times to chase her down. Yesterday, the teacher said to the other mother that “No” is the favorite word of 2-year-olds. The mother said to her baby, “We’re not going to learn that word, are we?” Ah (sigh), we’re all so naïve so early on. All I could do was chuckle to myself. Good luck with that! lol Finally, I think we have found a game we can both live with though. Yesterday, Mallory grabbed a rubber duck and threw it in the pool. I said, “Do you want to go get the duck?!” “Yes!” with a big smile. So she jumped in, and I got her to kick all the way to the duck, reach out for it and kick all the way back to the side. Victory is mine! Bwahahahahah! My next goal is to get Daddy to show up to take video and/or participate. (This is when you guys comment and give him crap about it. . . got it?)
Part of the “fun” (yes, it’s in quotes to denote sarcasm) of going to swim lessons, is changing into and out of the bathing suits. Surprisingly, Mallory has actually been really good during this process. I change her first, then I put on my oh-so-flattering maternity suit. Other women in the locker room probably think I’m nuts because I talk to her the entire time. All I know is that I must keep my child engaged or she’ll find something else to do. . . that I probably won’t like. To be quite honest, I have a terrible fear of having to chase her out of the locker room (the doors stay propped open) with only half of my bathing suit on. Hopefully, that is a blog you’ll never have to read. Anyway, there are things that happen every time. Like she just has to throw away her diaper once it’s off. “Yucky diaper, mommy. Trash.” Okay. Let’s take care of that and get it off of your agenda so we can move on. After lessons, she digs through her diaper bag until she finds a fruit snack. That occupies her while I change out of my wet bathing suit. Another routine part of this process is me going to the bathroom. . . of course. Well, daycare has been working with Mallory going to the potty. She finally did the other day. Yay! Apparently, they make a really big deal out of that. So yesterday, we went into a stall for mommy to potty. As usual, she was watching my every move, very interested in what was going on. While I was in progress, she said, “Mommy pee! Yay, mommy! Yay!” and started clapping like crazy. All I can picture is other women in the bathroom snickering. Thank you. . . thank you very much.

…it’s been a while. Things have been busy around here. And I’m just tired. So there.
First, I’ll let you know that I have uploaded some new stuff. New stuff in Mallory – 2 Years Old. And an album for Johnathan’s Garage Project. He put down an epoxy floor, painted the cement blocks black and installed an edging called “cove base”. It really looks good…for a garage. But it’s definite proof that Johnathan cares a heck of a lot more about the garage than I do. And he’s not done.
There is also a Trip to the Vineyard album with pictures of when we went to a local vineyard. All of our neighbors were going last year, but we just never got around to it. Leigh called me in April wanting to know if we were interested in going. It only took us until June to finally get there. It was wonderful, and we plan to do it again as often as possible (when the weather cools off). They have live entertainment. There are a lot of picnic tables, but we chose to lay out blankets and have a picnic. You can do a tasting tour or just relax. Oddly enough, it’s really family-oriented. Kids running around everywhere. Brady and Mallory wore themselves out.
Now, for some updates. Kylie and I made a trip to her college orientation. It was nice for her to get to see a lot of other freshmen, meet some people and stay in the dorm that she will actually live in. We were there for two days. The first day was just a lot of “hey, here’s a lot of information about the school.” She is very pumped about the outdoor “adventures”. There is a whole program where they offer whitewater rafting trips, scuba diving certification, sky diving, etc. It will be hard for her to balance that with school work. The second day was all about registration. She found the whole process to be frustrating. They didn’t have her latest ACT score, so she couldn’t get the math class she wanted. (That’s something that she’s still trying to get straightened out.) When we met for lunch, she was complaining that they wouldn’t just lay it out and tell her what classes to take. I said, “That’s part of growing up. They give you options and you make the decisions.” She asked if I could go with her to register. I said, “No. It’s part of growing up. You have to figure this out.” Honestly, we had already been told that we couldn’t help. But she needed to deal with that. It was so interesting to see the tug of war. She’s so ready to be on her own, but so not ready to be independent. She is in Rhode Island right now. Michael’s dad lives there (beach house…nice, huh?) so four of them drove up there. It just hit me today that, in total, we only have about 4 weeks left with her before she goes off to college. When she comes back from RI, she’ll be here for 3 weeks before going to a week long church camp. Then, she’s only here for one week before moving into the dorm (provided she can get the math thing worked out…long story). It’s just going so fast. And I’m full of so many conflicting emotions about it. It’s really hard to know how I feel.
Sometimes I guess it’s good that I don’t blog like I did with Mallory. If so, I would have had people in a panic about 3 weeks ago. I had some stomach issues for about 4 days. I was starting to feel better, but I noticed I was having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. They aren’t uncommon and weren’t bothering me (I had been having them for a few days), but I thought I was having too many so I called my doctor. They sent me home to put my feet up and drink lots of fluids. They suspected mild dehydration. And they were right. But the panicking thought of potential bed rest just stressed me out and started the stomach issues again so I was sick for another 3 or 4 days. Johnathan was wonderful. Since my doctor told me to rest, keep my feet up as much as possible over the weekend and drink lots of water, my wonderful husband did everything that weekend. It was really hard on me. I can relax but not while others around me are busy…especially when they are busy doing MY job. I behaved myself as much as possible on my husband-enforced bed rest. I’m doing much better now. Still having the Braxton Hicks but not nearly like I was. I went to the doctor last week. She checked to make sure that my cervix was fine, verifying that the contractions are non-productive. I can tell a difference if I don’t drink enough so I stay conscious of that. I’m watching the ankles and trying to take it easy (hard to do with a 2-year-old). Everything else checked out fine…oh, and the heart rate was 130. :)
I’m having some major conflicting feelings. I have always wanted 2 children. No more. No less. But now I have come to this point. What if this is another girl? Will we try for a boy? Don’t get me wrong. I would be thrilled with another girl. But it would also be nice to have a boy. So if this one is a boy, we’re done, right? But if it’s a girl, we’ll talk about it, right? I saw myself in the mirror last night…my growing belly stretching my t-shirt really tight…and all I could think was how sad I was that this may be my last pregnancy.
Last weekend, Johnathan and I took facilitator training for the marrriage class we took back in the fall. Now, we are certifiable…I mean, certified. It was all day Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 until 7:00. Mallory went to stay at Mimi’s. We figured it would be a good test to see if she was ready for trips without us. We were close enough that we could go if there was a meltdown. Well, she did absolutely fine. She even talked to us on the phone. I thought that might upset her, but nope. “Hi, mommy…I yu you…nigh nigh….bye bye, mommy.” And that was that. Did I get my feelings hurt? Nah. Besides, the reception we got when we finally saw her on Sunday would have overcome that. She was so excited she actually squealed. And if she was any bigger, she would have knocked me over when she tackled me.
I’ll leave you with this adorable story. A couple of weeks ago, Johnathan was out working in the yard while I was making dinner. Mallory was in the kitchen with her stick horse. The horse bumped me with his nose. The next thing I heard was, “No bite…time out.” I finished what I was doing and walked into the dining room (where we usually do time out). The horse was in a chair in the corner, and the beach ball was in another chair. Mallory “the mom” said, “Time out, guys”, turned her back on them, walked off and crossed her arms. Just like mommy.

Johnathan just blogged so I’m just going to tell you about the pictures and videos that have been uploaded. There are some new ones in Mallory – 23 Months. Then, I added folders for Kylie’s Grad Party, Kylie’s Baccalaureate, Kylie’s Grad Banquet at the church, Mallory’s 2nd Birthday, Kylie’s Graduation, Michael’s Grad Party, Miranda’s Wedding and Tater Two’s Ultrasound. Told ya it was a busy month. Now, there are only two things in Kylie’s graduation folder. We took two cameras to that – the one we normally use and one that we thought would work better from far away. The battery ran out on the one we normally use, and I don’t know how to take pictures off of the other one, so I will have to enlist Johnathan’s help…and he has been quite busy with the garage this weekend. I’ll let you know when that happens.

Love to all! Enjoy!

Angie last wrote about our May… There were a lot of great things that happened in May (Kylie graduated, Mallory turned 2, Miranda got married) but the combination of it all was almost too much… almost. We found ourselves counting down the events or “checking them off our lists.” We survived though, and I’m probably being naive to be looking forward to the summer, where I THINK we will have less to do. During the summer we only meet for small group once a month for fellowship and the Sunday school class that we teach is on break. There are no Wednesday nights either, though we both took a break from that this year with Mallory. Just this weekend, we had “nothing” to do. . . so I filled it with a garage project which has left me moaning from all the bending over I did scrubbing and re-scrubbing the floor so I could put down an epoxy coating (www.epoxy-coat.com). It’s drying now… then I have to move everything back into the garage… oh what fun. Sometime during the summer we also want to finish the screened in porch (I think I almost have Angie talked into a TV out there), put in a patio (possibly with a Koi pond), close in the underside of the deck, put up a play set for Mallory, re-stain the deck, re-caulk the windows, seal the driveway and get someone to look at our foundation… those are just my projects. We also are going to help Matt and Lauren put up a fence and possibly build a shed in the back of their house… how many weekends are in a summer?

Kylie’s graduation went great, oh, except for the part where her chair was gone. :) We watched her walk in and then saw her look confused. Kylie usually handles situations like this very well and doesn’t get embarrassed easily. We saw her walk to the far side of the floor, then back again, then to the far side once more and then back again. Seems her card was missing and the teachers on either side kept telling her to go to the other side. She finally told the teacher on the first side to move over and get another chair. He almost refused until she said (I imagine through gritted teeth) “This is MY graduation”… he complied. We took her a piece of paper with her name on it as this is how they keep up with the order, but just as I got there, her card showed up… interesting. Some other kids were missing their name cards, so they used the paper.

After graduation we went to Buca Di Beppo for lunch, which was great. Then we dropped Dad, his friend Darlene, and Faye at the house before hitting a couple of the grad parties for Kylie’s friends. The first one was for Trevor and the second was for Michael… ah yes Michael… Kylie’s boyfriend. I was so happy that she almost went the entire year without a boyfriend. One less thing to shoot, I mean worry about. But she had liked Michael for a while, and he really does seem like a good guy and a nice kid. We’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with him and we like him a lot. He treats Kylie well and he actually even came over today to help me paint. I’m glad she has found a guy that she likes who respects her and makes her happy. We’ll see how it goes over the long hall… she’s headed to Chattanooga and he’s going to Univ. of Kentucky… at least for a semester he says.

Angie is uploading some pictures/videos from his grad party. They have a big hill in their front yard, and they set up about 80 feet of plastic and created a “red neck slip and slide” complete with a sprinkler and a bottle of Dawn at the top. The kids loved it, and we loved watching them roll off the end of it and into the grass. Unfortunately for you, we forgot our bathing suits.

Mallory’s birthday was great. We had most of the family over and a few friends. It worked out well that graduation and Mal’s birthday were close so that family could travel and hit both in the same trip. She’s two now and acting every bit of it. I give her a hard time, but she really is a good kid. But she definitely has a little bit of attitude when she doesn’t get her way. . . she must get that from her mom. She got a lot of gifts for her birthday… all of which we’ll eventually have to find somewhere to put. Mom and Barry gave her a water table which she just loves. Angie is uploading some video I believe which shows her playing with it. She has figured out how to be sly or sneaky… which is funny. I was sitting next to her while she played in the water table, and then she filled up a cup, cut her eyes at me in a devilish way, and then threw the water at me… It was hilarious. Mallory also danced with Brady… her future husband. Angie is uploading that video as well. Priceless.

Angie is halfway through her pregnancy, and we went to the doctor for the ultrasound. We are still choosing not to know whether it’s a boy or a girl. We’re not really sorry if that disappoints anyone, but we’ll pretend we are if that helps. Because we didn’t find out with Mallory, we should be pretty prepared for whatever God sends our way. We do know that it’s only one, so there won’t be any TV series started about us, fortunately or unfortunately. The ultrasound was neat, and we got some really good pictures of our little one’s hands. We saw 2 arms and 2 legs, and 10 fingers and 10 toes. That was all good. We did see a heart, brain, brain stem, nose bone, kidneys, stomach, bladder, leg bones, and arm bones… it’s amazing what they look for and what they can see.

I think that about catches us up. Ah… one more thing… Mallory got new tubes in her ears… which is a good thing. One of her tubes fell out and she had 3 ear infections in a month. The surgery went without a hitch and she’s been clear since. The wonders of medicine…

Ok… that’s enough for now… I imagine the next installment will be from Angie, which probably means that it will be more entertaining. I’m really just the clean-up guy stepping in to help out when we get behind. It’s all good though… the pay’s ok but the benefits can’t be beat. We wish everyone well and hope to see you all soon.

First things first, I uploaded some new stuff. Kylie’s 2009 folder has lacrosse and two proms. Mallory now has a 23 Months folder. I also created one for Barry’s birthday and one for Mother’s Day. Enjoy!
I got about a paragraph into this blog before I realized that it needed a little bit of set up. See, no one in my house, except for me, can seem to remember anything. Nothing. Zip. Nada. If you want to know what the Brandon family is doing on May 23rd, don’t ask Johnathan…or even Kylie (although that is the day that she will actually graduate from high school). You must ask me. My brain retains the catalog of events for the entire family. Call it a gift…or a curse. I call it “enabling”. Whatever you deem it to be, it is my burden. However, there are occasions where I feel a tremendous amount of pressure because of this. If something gets missed, whether it was my event or not, I feel responsible. It’s my job to remember these things. Some months ago, I was completely stressed out over this. I can’t exactly remember the details of the situation, but I was fed up. I accused my family of purposely being lazy and not even trying to keep up with dates and times and schedules because they knew I would do it (I’m still not convinced that this isn’t entirely true). I decided that I would create a calendar and post it on the refrigerator. Monthly, I update the calendar with the activities that I am aware of and stick it up there. If they don’t check, not my fault. I have at least transferred some of the responsibility. So far, it has worked pretty well…provided they actually add things to the calendar that I have not been told. (God did not grant me ESP.)
A couple of weeks ago, I started planning for Kylie’s graduation. I realized that I had thought about, even talked about, throwing a party…but I had done nothing to kick off the effort. (I’m using my standard excuse for now…I’m pregnant) During this process, I was trying to figure out where things would fit in, when family members were coming to town, etc. It was all very hard to keep straight in my mind, so I pulled out the Brandon Family Calendar for 2009. Imagine my surprise…no, that word doesn’t do it justice…umm…what’s a good word for “I totally freaked out”?…anyway, I found that between May 1 and May 27th, we only had 5 days that didn’t have something written in. I am not exaggerating. Then, when I put it on the fridge, Kylie pointed to something and said, “Oh, is that the senior banquet at church?” Oh, snap. NO!! It’s not. When is that? On one of our “free” nights? Great. Now, we’re down to four. Spectacular.
As of today, we have made it through our first two crazy weekends. This weekend alone we have had dinner with some friends at their house, a college graduation party about an hour away and Mother’s Day. Next weekend is Kylie’s party and her baccalaureate. Then, the next week is the fun one. Mallory gets new tubes put in and Johnathan has a board meeting on Monday. We have small group on Tuesday. Family starts arriving in town on Wednesday, and we have the senior banquet at church. On Thursday, we’re taking the entire group to dinner for Kylie’s graduation. On Friday, we will have a family gathering for Mallory’s birthday. Saturday, will be Kylie’s graduation and possibly attend a party for one of her friends. Then, it will be all tied up on Sunday with a wedding about 4 1/2 hours away. Good thing that is a long weekend (Memorial Day). We’ll need that day of rest. I am soooo looking forward to this month being over. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited about all of the activities, and I wouldn’t miss any of them. I just wish we could spread them out more.
My Mother’s Day has been fabulous! We had coffee on the screened-in patio. With our new furniture, we can actually enjoy the great outdoors (that’s where we are right now). Johnathan fixed breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. It was great. I got an iTunes gift card (more 80’s music..woo hoo!), a half day at a spa that includes a one hour massage, manicure, pedicure and lunch, some candles, a beautiful necklace and Skittles. :) Of course, for Mother’s Day, there is sometimes a really sentimental gift. This year, it was a new bag to carry my bible and notebook to church. It was Donna’s idea (he did give his mother the credit). She searched for a scripture about hands and embroidered it on the front. Then, Johnathan helped Mallory put hand prints all over it. It’s adorable. There is a picture of it on the web album (Mother’s Day 2009).
As far as the pregnancy goes, I am feeling great! I love being out of the first trimester. I’m still tired, but that’s just due to activity overload and lack of sleep. I no longer have that “I’m so tired I hurt” feeling. AND no more nausea! Woo hoo! This pregnancy is very different from the last one. I crave salty not sweet. Vegetables not candy. And I haven’t found any aversions yet. I am still very much enjoying my coffee. :)
We did have a little scare the other day. Johnathan and I were in a rush to get out of the house to go to work. I had on heels (probably my first mistake). Johnathan took Mallory out and put her in the car. I set the alarm and headed down the garage stairs. You know, how things happen in slow motion sometimes? Well, I caught my heel on the first step, and it was all over. There are only about 6 steps, so I didn’t have far to go. All I could focus on was the garage floor that was coming toward me…while Johnathan was yelling, “Honey! Honey! Honey!” I hit my shin on the stairs before my knees hit the concrete. I got my right hand out in front of me, but with only one hand to break my fall, I was off balance when I landed, which made me fall to the side and hit my shoulder. The good news was that I didn’t hit my belly or my any part of my torso. And other than a scrape on my shin, some nice bruises, a very sore right arm and shoulder and some initial anxiety, I’m fine. More importantly, the baby is fine. I have even felt a couple of flutters since the fall.
Mallory has reached the two year old stage. Everything is “mine” and she is pushing the limit on what she can get away with. Sometimes she listens. Sometimes she doesn’t. We are trying our best to be consistent so learns where the line is. But she does step over it from time to time (she’s in time out right now). No major incidents yet. We’re surviving.
I can’t find that I blogged about our new baby monitor so I’ll briefly fill you in. We had a video monitor. Nothing fancy, but it served the purpose…until the people across the street got the same one. No big deal. We just changed the channel (only two were available, so you know). Then, they had another baby and added another camera…using the same channel that we did. Our reception became sporadic. To top it off, our neighbors got one too. That was the final straw that rendered ours absolutely useless. Finally, I had it and went out to buy a digital. It’s wonderful. I love it! And I can actually see my child again.
There is a minor debate in our house over whether or not we need to close Mallory’s door for her to go to sleep. I think she goes to sleep faster that way…but it’s only my opinion. One night last week, Johnathan had put her to bed. Thirty minutes later, she was still awake. When Kylie came home, Mallory heard noise downstairs. While I was watching the monitor, she stood up. Then, she started trying to throw her blankets overboard. Just for kicks, I decided to yell up at her to see what she would do. In a gruff voice, I said, “Mallory.” Her head popped up like, “Uh oh!”. I said, “You need to lay down and go to sleep.” Honestly, the child dove onto her belly and covered up with her blanket. Bwahahahah! Ah, the power. :)

Finally!! We heard Tater Two’s heartbeat today. I know this is our second, but it was still pretty cool. The heart rate was 143 (I looked back…Mallory’s was 156…any bets on the gender??). Johnathan said, “Sounds like a boy.” Dr. E just smiled and said, “Actually, it’s on the borderline between a boy and a girl…if you believe in that.” Next time we’ll have the ultrasound. But before you ask – no, we have not changed our minds about finding out. :)
Mallory has officially made it through the transition period. “They” say it takes about 2 weeks, and “they” are right. The first week, pretty much all of the drop-offs were unfun. She never bawled. It was a silent cry…with a very sad face. She would poke her lip out really far. Just heartbreaking. But as I promised, I didn’t cry in front of her after the first day. By the time I got to work and looked at the web cam, she was fine. There was only one day where I saw her receiving comfort from Miss “Mantha” (her new favorite teacher). But 30 minutes later she was eating breakfast just fine for the rest of the day.
At the beginning of the second week, she knew where she was from the parking lot and wasn’t thrilled about it. But there were no tears that day. And every day got a little better. Johnathan took her 2 or 3 times, which I think helped tremendously. That made it more of her “new place”, not just mommy being mean. :) She still won’t walk into the school, but she wasn’t always big on that at her last daycare.
Today, the drop off was fine. It was no worse than at the old school…so oddly, that’s actually encouraging. She is even talking now. For the first week and a half, Miss “Mantha” was the only one who heard a words…but there still weren’t very many of them being used. Now, apparently, she is a little chatterbox. :) That’s my girl.

…but we’ll get to that in a minute.
First, I updated pictures. New pictures in Mallory – 22 Months and Kylie 2009. New folders for Easter.
As I pointed out in my last post, Dad and Kathy were in town. They had Mallory for three days. Yes, she is spoiled. “Katnanny” is really hard to say, so she calls her “KaKaKuh”. Then, she starts saying “Poppa” and you can’t get her to shut up. But it sure is cute. It was sad to say goodbye to them this morning.
Little Bit had a big weekend. On Saturday, we had a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. It was chillier than we anticipated, but I think the kids had fun. Mallory has gotten so bashful, that when we tried to get her to stand up to get ready for the hunt, she started playing opossum. The child closed her eyes, arched her back and went completely limp. It was a good thing that Johnathan had one hand and I had the other or she could have cracked her skull on the pavement. As you’ll see in the pictures, we finally were able to coerce her into picking up eggs (all it took was opening one up to find jelly beans inside). Unfortunately, by that time, most of them were gone. But our neighbor, who coordinated the day, was wise to keep some to the side for just that occasion. Rest assured, Mallory left with plenty of eggs.
After that, we went to pick Kylie up at the airport. She had a really good time visiting her family. You can tell in her voice and demeanor when she talks to them or about them that she is really excited to be back in touch with them. And Mallory was happy to see her. Funny story. The normal course of action on a weekday is that Johnathan gets Mallory up, and they knock on Kylie’s door to wake her up before coming downstairs. At one point during the week, Johnathan had Mallory and they were about halfway down the stairs when Mallory started saying “up..up”. Johnathan had no idea what she was talking about so he said, “Show me.” She pointed upstairs. He “followed the finger” and she pointed to Kylie’s door. She wanted to wake up Kai. :) Too cute. I think she was very disappointed that Kylie wasn’t there.
On Sunday, Mallory woke up crying so I raced upstairs…forgetting all about the Easter Bunny’s overnight visit. As soon as we stepped out onto the catwalk, Mallory pointed at the living room table and said, “What’s that?” She ate chocolate and a candy necklace. Soon she was all sugared up and ready for church. :) Kathy’s kids and grandkids came with us to church. It was so nice to have a great, big family presence. Then, we met our small group for a potluck Easter dinner. This time Mallory was all geared up. She knew exactly what to do with the eggs. :) We ate, hunted eggs and girlfriend played hard. Her big sis had her on the slide and the swings. She chased a cat and played in gravel. No rest for the weary…and no nap. She crashed in the car about a mile into the ride home (her daddy was trying to get home before Tiger and Phil finished the 18th…haha). She only slept for about 45 minutes and then she was off and running again. Just from all of the excitement of the day, and Poppa and Katnanny still in the house, she went to bed over an hour late (note a hint of foreshadowing).
Now, to the real drama…
Johnathan left for New York early this morning for an overnight trip. Normally, he gets Mallory up around 6:15, but that’s after she has been awake and playing in her crib for a while. I went to her room at 6:30 this morning and had to wake the child from the dead. She was no where near being ready to get up. But it was her first day at her new school. I wanted to be there early enough to spend a few minutes before leaving her in a room full of total strangers (guilt? me? what gives you that idea?) Her teachers don’t get in until 9:00. So I dropped her off in a different classroom with different teachers than we met last week. Of course, she stayed latched to my leg…even as I walked across the room to get a book. The teacher told me to let her know when I was ready. (Me? Ready? Okay, let’s try tomorrow.) I said, “You can go ahead and pick her up. She’s not going to get any better.” Well, the minute she touched her, Mallory arched her back, went limp and got tears in her eyes. Of course, I lost it. I had big tears filling up my eyes. Then, another teacher handed me a “First Day Survival Kit”. That was so touching, I cried even more. It had a little note on the outside. On the inside, there was a pack of tissues…with a note, a green tea bag…with a note…and a little bag of Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses…with a note. So sweet of them to think of the parents like that (pretty sure I’m going to love this school). I put the tissues to immediate use. I went across the room so Mallory wouldn’t see me crying. I don’t think I fooled her at all. Finally, I just had to go say goodbye. I kissed her on her head and said bye. As I walked away, she had this pitiful look on her face. Her lip was poked out, and she had tears running down her cheeks. I was miserable, but I had to go. That was best for both of us. I handed in our paperwork and cried in the lobby. When I left, I could see on the classroom monitor that the teacher was still holding her. They told me to call as many times as I needed to. Big mistake. :)
So I called about an hour and a half later. They said she was doing fine. The teacher that I handed her over to this morning said that she stopped crying as soon as I left. She had even eaten her morning snack really well. The director and I tried to get my web cam access set up so I could see for myself. Stupid firewalls. We never could get it right, so I decided to stop by there when I went out to grab lunch. She was sleeping (with another child screaming right next to her…I’ll never understand how they do that). I walked in and stood over her. She looked so peaceful. They told me that she was doing well…up until lunch time. She had a complete meltdown and didn’t eat anything. Miss Samantha (Mallory’s new favorite teacher) said she thought she was just tired (go figure). When they were out on the playground, she would go play…then hang on to Samantha’s leg…then go play…then hang on to Samantha’s leg. :) She ate her entire afternoon snack (cupcakes, cheese and crackers). Poor kid was starving. When I got there to pick her up, she was playing with Samantha and a little girl…and she was fine. She was very happy to see me. But she wasn’t ridiculously clingy. She just wanted my keys. That tells me that she was okay. No trauma. This probably won’t even make the top 10 in the list of things that she’ll cover with her therapist years from now. I was the one with the issue. I had more trouble with this one today than the first time I dropped her off at 3 months old. The difference is that at 3 months old, she has no knowledge of her environment. Now, she does. And she has an opinion. Tomorrow, I promise to do better. If I’m not upset, then she probably won’t be either. It’s hard to keep a stiff upper lip when your mom is a basket case. :)

So this is it. The 13th week. The last week of the first trimester. Hopefully, that will signify an end to the morning sickness and extreme fatigue. The morning sickness has been worse this week. I went on a junior high trip over the weekend, and at some point on Saturday, I started feeling really bad. It hasn’t stopped since. I don’t know if I just wore myself down or what. But I have been especially sick and haven’t had much of an appetite. I’m still eating, but I don’t look forward to it. I just can’t think of anything that sounds good…except Chex Mix.
I took Mallory to meet her new teachers and classmates. She was less than thrilled. She was met by one little girl with a nice smack to the face. No harm done. But later on, when Mallory finally let me walk away from her, the little girl walked up and pushed her down. Mallory made a real “I’m going to cry” face, but she never did. She just kind of rolled around on the floor for a minute. I told the teachers that Mallory has been known to defend herself. They said that was fine. They have been warned. :)
It’s still a little sad for me to move her next week. I know she will adjust…eventually. I have just seen so many new kids in her classroom sit and cry for days until they “adjust”. I hate putting my child through that. The good news, or bad news, is that the new school has web cam access so I can watch her to see how she’s doing. But come what may, she’s moving on Monday. What makes it even worse is that I took her by her current school today while everyone was outside playing (Poppa and Katnanny had been sporting her around town). All of the kids came running up to the fence saying “Mal Mal!” That’s what they call her. It was like they were all excited to see her. Breaks my heart.
Kylie is still visiting family. We have heard from her a couple of times. She has a lot of catching up to do with them.
I have uploaded some pictures. As promised, I created a 2009 folder for Kylie. I added to Mallory, 20-22 months.
Enjoy…I’m going to bed.