Active Baby!

Ryan is by far the most active baby I've carried. He is always moving! Even when we go to the OB's, she complains every time because he won't stay still get a nice, loud fetal heart rate. We hear him, but we also hear him moving away every time she tries to get a reading! It also took me no time at all to get a great, reactive test strip for the NST at Met last week. Ryan is crazy--when he's really moving, and I'm lying still, you can really see my belly jumping around! Here's a video of my belly jiggling when Ryan is active. The regular up and down movement is me breathing, but watch for the jerky bumps and jiggles.

Andrea saw what I was doing, and she wanted me to get a video of her "baby belly" moving, too.

I wish I could have had more time to share all the funny questions and comments I've gotten from Andrea during this pregnancy. I should have written them down somewhere; the stuff she comes up with sometimes is priceless! She's at the perfect age to be very excited and curious about our baby.

Christmas at Gram and Papa's

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Gram and Papa Gagnon's for our Christmas gathering with Daddy's immediate family. The kids were so excited to get together! Izzy called us from Gram's house at 3:00 and told Andrea to hurry up and come over!

The Kids

Andrea, Izzy, Hannah, and Kevin

We just thought the way Kevin was holding Gram's Christmas puppet was kind of funny.

Best Friends (I love this picture!)

Opening Gifts

Hannah had more fun carrying her presents around than opening them!

Andrea and Izzy are both totally into the girly/princess items this year.

Hannah opening her gift from us

Kevin putting his new tool set to good use--opening presents!

Kevin was feeling a bit rough (a cold), so he snuggled up with Papa, who gave him a hand opening his gifts.

Merry Christmas, Papa and Gram!

Play Time

Kevin and Hannah colouring together on Kevin's new colour/music toy

Kevin and Papa playing race cars



Uncle Tony is trying to set up Andrea's new Leapster hand-held game :))

the typical post-gift scene: parents and grandparents trying to unwrap/set up all the new toys for the kids!

Christmas Gathering at Our House

On Saturday evening, we had Mommy's brother and sister, and their families, and Grandpa Vic, over for a little Christmas gathering. It's the first time in years we've been able to have ALL of us together at the same time, although we try to get together at Aunt Donna's every year. Mommy made penne and salad for dinner, and we had cookies for dessert. Then, we exchanged our gifts, and had a nice visit together. We took the opportunity to get some group shots of our family, all together. :))

Kevin, Daddy, Grandpa Vic, Uncle Chuck, Brigitte, Tyler, Uncle Greg (in back), Caitlin, Andrea, and Aunt Donna

Brother and Sisters with our Families

The Kids

Being Silly!

C-Section Date

Dr. P. has scheduled my c-section for Tuesday, February 16, at 7:45 AM. At the rate I'm growing, the baby will probably be about 13 pounds by then . . . just kidding (I hope!).

You know the song, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas? Today, I had the following version running through my head: "I feel like a hippopotamus this Christmas; I don't know how the heck I'll make it through . . ." ;-)

At least I only have 2 weeks of work after the holidays, and then I'm on maternity leave. My last day of work is Friday, January 15, because I decided to leave at the end of the semester. Then, I'll have a few weeks to relax and get ready for Baby, which will be nice.

Baby Update--almost 30 Weeks!

On Thursday, I'll be 30 weeks pregnant. It is going by so fast! Today, I went to Met for my first third-trimester ultrasound and non-stress test for Baby. Everything looks great!

(I put in 2 sets of the same pics--one set is labeled, but hard to see on here). The top picture is of Baby with his fist by his face. It's so neat, you can see his chubby little fingers! The second image is a wider shot of his position. He's curled up in a ball, with his knees to his chest, and his feet and a hand up by his face. It must be getting cramped in there! The tech said he is head-down now, and very active. (I already knew THAT!)

It appears that I am going to have another BIG baby boy! He is already measuring 3 pounds, 15 ounces--almost 4 pounds, and I still have about 10 weeks to go! His heart rate and organs are perfect, and yes, he is clearly still a HE. :))

I have my next OB. appointment on Friday, and the doctor said she should have my c-section date scheduled by then. I am very excited to find out when Baby is planned to arrive!

Christmas Activities Begin . . .

DECORATING

On the last weekend of November, we started decorating the house for Christmas. Andrea volunteered to help Daddy put up the outside decorations and lights while Kevin had his nap. She had to come in a few times to warm up, but she enjoyed being a helper.



The kids are enjoying the seasonal specials that are constantly on TV. Here, you can see them sitting nicely together (with some of our Christmas decorations in the background) watching a Christmas cartoon.


The lights always look so much better at night. :))



CHRISTMAS PHOTO SESSION

In the first week of December, we went to the portrait studio and got the kids' annual Christmas photos. It went surprisingly well! Kevin only fussed a little bit, and we got some really cute pictures. The problem this time was the opposite of other times: the kids were having such a good time that we couldn't get them to settle down and look at the camera together at the same time. The photographer was tossing these fuzzy snowball props at the kids, and they thought it was a great joke!


ANDREA'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Andrea's daycare Christmas concert took place on the night of December 3. It was a little crazy because between the morning and afternoon kindergarten classes there were about 30 kids, and they never really had a chance to practice together. Still, all that mattered was that Andrea was SO excited, and of course, it's fun seeing her and her little friends up on stage. Here are a few videos from their performance:

KEVIN'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Kevin's daycare Christmas concert took place on the night of December 8. He and his toddler friends were too funny to watch on stage. We were curious to see how Kevin would react this year, as last year, he cried through the whole thing. However, this year, he was great! He was singing a bit, and doing some of the actions. The audience didn't bother him at all. His speech and physiotherapist both had seen him during practice, and had reported he was the one toddler who was really focused during practice, and knew all the words and actions! Well, he got a bit distracted on stage, but we were just happy that he was having fun up there this year. Here are a few videos from Kevin's performance:

After the show, the kids' favourite part (both nights) was the juice and cookies in the community room.
ANDREA'S JK SING-A-LONG AND CRAFT DAY

On Friday, December 11, Andrea had a special afternoon with her JK class at school. Gram and Papa Gagnon got to go to school with her for a special Christmas sing-a-long and craft day! The kids performed some Christmas carols for their visitors, and then they got to make a craft featuring the Three Wise Men with their visitors. Andrea's teacher told Gram and Papa that Andrea is her best singer, and leads the class when they sing! [Gram and Papa agreed that yes, Andrea's voice carries over the others. ;-)]

For her special day, Andrea wanted to wear Christmas colours, and her teacher requested a Christmas-themed hat. Well, Mommy just happened to have an elf hat from the dollar store on hand, and put together with a red and white outfit, it was quite festive!

(Andrea is into taking funny pictures right now. It's impossible to get a nice smile.)

(She also loves being on video.)

***

Here is the finished project she brought home from her craft day with Gram and Papa. Andrea wanted the Wise Men to be girls, so she could make them pretty! She also told me that only one is a Wise Man, and the others are Joseph and Mary. ;-)

"ELF YOURSELF"

Gram made a video on a website that takes pictures of her four grandchildren and makes them into break dancing elves. The kids LOVE it. We have to watch it a few times each day. Their reaction is so funny! I had to get a video of that, too.

COMING SOON . . .

Our "official" holiday season starts on Saturday, with our first family get-together here. I don't have the time to list the many activities we have coming up in the next two and a half weeks . . . I'll probably be on maternity leave before I get a chance to blog about it all!