December Family Update

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope yours were great!  We traveled over Christmas down to Lake Charles, LA, where my mom and stepdad live.  We spent a few days there and celebrated Isabelle's second birthday with all of my family. 

Both sets of my parents were there, along with all of my six brothers and sisters. Isabelle loved hearing the huge crowd sing "Happy Birthday" to her.



We had a great Christmas with my family, and then on Christmas day, we headed to Gonzales, LA to celebrate with Damian's extended family and spend a couple of days with them.

 We enjoyed the chance to catch up, and then we had to drive back home.  Damian's parents drove in from St. Louis and they spent several days at our house, celebrating Christmas and helping us get ready for the baby.

Baby Preparations
Damian has been working on refinishing a dresser for Isabelle's room, so he and his dad finished that up.  Over the weekend, Damian and I were able to get Isabelle's new room set up for her and we moved her into her new double bed on Saturday night.  She did well, other than slipping through the bed rail and falling onto the floor sometime during the night!  Damian found her asleep on the floor at 4:30 am!  We bought one new rail and will buy another as soon as Wal-Mart gets another rail in.  Last night, she slept great and didn't fall out of bed.  I had a hard time watching her reach this milestone, however.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to keep her my baby forever. 

Pregnancy
I'm feeling much better.  Fatigue isn't nearly as bad as it was a month ago.  I'm having much more energy and I'm motivated to get things done.  I think I'm approaching the nesting phase!  I still get sick--that part of pregnancy has never changed, other than a few weeks of reprieve back in October.  But I only lose a meal about once a week, so it's very manageable.  I've been reading books on parenting boys as well as re-reading the latest edition of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.  Clearly, a new baby is about all I'm thinking about right now. 

New Series
As I have time over the next few weeks, I'm going to blog a new series called Oh Baby!  I'll share our baby preparations with you, my thoughts on some of what I'm reading, and I'll seek advice from you as well.  Those of you who have been there before can laugh with or at me as I navigate going from one baby to two.  I'll also try to answer some of your questions.  I'm frequently asked why in the world I'm having another c-section, so I'll give you the scoop at some point over the course of this series.  Of course, as always, blogging will come behind the household chores, caring for my toddler, and getting much-needed rest as I prepare for a few weeks of sleepless nights.