We made it to 38 weeks! I can hardly believe it. Things felt so different 10 weeks ago when I was put on bedrest. I was stressed, anxious, scared, and felt so helpless. We made it through, however, and now I'm actually wanting Madeline to come out! There have been 2 days in the last 2 weeks that I thought I was about to go into full blown labor, but nothing ever happened. I've been having contractions, about 2 an hour, for the last 6 weeks. I thought for sure I would not make it past 37 weeks, but I was wrong! Madeline is now about 7 lbs (we think) and is very low! My doctor is allowing me to be induced this Friday at 5am, so that's the plan! It's such a relief to know the end is near. The unknown we've experienced the last few weeks has really taken a toll on our family. Greg and I have been stressed and anxious, which has caused Morgan to act out. Bless her heart, she senses all these changes and just doesn't know how to handle them. This caused her to become very defiant towards us and she began throwing tantrums, which she has rarely done before. With our current stress level and low amount of patience, our home turned into the perfect storm! We made it through, however, and with alot of prayer and apologies to one another, we are all doing better.
We have also been potty training throughout all of this, which added to the stress. It is going pretty well. Our main problem is that Morgan does not want to stop playing, watching her show (or anything else she deems important) to go to the potty. So many times she waits until it's too late and then has an accident. I am getting better at watching for cues so that I'm not nagging her all day long about going. I'm sure she will regress a little bit once the baby is born, but that's OK. We'll figure it all out before she heads to kindergarten!
Aside from the craziness of all this, we celebrated the holidays and then Morgan's 3rd birthday! I can't believe my baby is 3. She is turning into a little girl before our eyes. She has become so independent. There are many things she insists on doing herself, and has become quite particular about how she wants things done. She has this huge bath routine that involves Greg's carrying her "like a bowling ball" and then performing a dance in front of the bathroom mirror. We then must toss her pajamas, bears, blanket, etc. to her from across the room. Lately she's insisted on taking her bath in the dark with a flashlight and we all must whisper so we "don't wake up the animals". Now that I see this stuff in writing, it sounds like we allow all sorts of things just to keep the peace. Lately, that has kind of been the case. We have always had a bath/bedtime routine to help with transitions at night, but now we've created an inflexible monster! Bathtime has been such a battle, however, that it's a time of night we've lightened up a little bit, but not too much! We don't allow her to do all the things she thinks of! I know it's a phase and we'll be on to another phase soon.
The things Morgan says these days just crack me up. She absorbs everything she hears and alot of it comes back out in the correct context! For instance, we were headed to the bathroom for her to go potty, which of course she wanted to do by herself. She turned around, pushed me back with her hands, and said, "Mommy, you are discarded!" My mouth fell open and I chose to laugh instead of being offended by the comment! Yesterday, we were talking about monsters for some reason. I said, "I'm not afraid of monsters." Morgan replied, "I am afraid of monsters, but I'm not afraid of butterflies anymore. I'm fond of butterflies!" I couldn't believe she used the word "fond". It's not a word we use alot in our household! I know she picks up things off the tv and at school. It just amazes me how her little brain holds onto them and then spits them back out! She is loving school right now. She knows all of her letters and loves to go to music class. In fact, she reprimanded me today because I said "Hey, Morgan" instead of "Excuse me, Morgan", which she has been taught to say at school to her teachers!
Here are pictures from the last few months-
Telling Santa she wants "special prizes" for Christmas
At church the Sunday before Christmas
Reading books with Daddy on Christmas Eve
Playing her new piano with cousin Brandon
Morgan was excited to go to school on her birthday!
Morgan loved standing on the chair while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her!
Daddy brought flowers for his birthday girl!
Celebrating her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese
