Natalie's Birthday, Cold Snap and More

In another video (ran out of memory and couldn't make it all on one), she admits that Daddy taught her.

Natalie loves Micah, despite his corrupting influence

Natalie finally got some cake to celebrate her birthday. She enjoyed eating, singing and opening presents while Grandma and Grandpa were over. 

Last week, we experienced the awful weather that went on everywhere. Here, Natalie looks out on the snow last Monday morning. None of it stuck, but it was coming down pretty impressively. Monday night the low was 7 degrees.

Then, on Tuesday, we woke up to no running water in the whole house. There was a frozen pipe somewhere in the main that leads to us and our neighbor's units. We suffered through and eventually went to spend the night at Micah's parents' house, but on the positive side- it was about time for me to rotate my emergency water supply. Here, Natalie helps me prepare to refill the bottles.

The hardest part about not having water? The hassle of flushing the toilet. It took 3-4 bottles each time.

And of course, the reason that Natalie is not wearing pants in any of these photos is that 2 weeks ago today we started a new potty training regiment. The 3-day method emphasizes the first three days, but then they recommend having the child wear nothing below the waist at home and only loose pants when leaving the house for 3 months to make sure the habit is well established. We have had a few ups and downs, but mostly ups in the past few days. Saturday and Sunday were completely accident-free. Woohoo! Today there was one inexcusable accident in the evening and then some issues earlier this afternoon. The poor girl pooped 7 times in 15 minutes; I was impressed that even half of it made it to the potty with diarrhea like that!

Natalie is happy for her new cookware. Thanks, Grandma! When we first opened this when it arrived in the mail, we were unsure if it was a toy or just some really cute, miniature pots and pans meant for making single servings of soup.

Little craft I did- I had old, rusty cookie sheets that needed retiring. Covered them in some cool fabric and viola- decorative trays. Perfect for collecting the assorted just that ends up on the table.

Natalie is more interested as of late in princesses and wearing tutus. She insisted on wearing this to church on Sunday and threw a fit when I tried to get her to wear a normal dress.

After our spending spree through the holidays, I am making an effort to get back on track with out monthly budget. I got a ton of great snack food this morning at Publix. Over $100 retail price, paid $14+tax. Haul included:

6 packs of Tena pads

2 pints sorbet

12 packs pudding

4 packs applecause

7 bags dried fruit and trailmix

3 bags frozen vegetable

1 pack yogurt

2 snapware bowls

1 bottle syrup

In other news, Nick does not stay with us any longer. Another volunteer asked if she could foster him because her current dogs and housing situation only allow her to foster calm, older dogs. I was planning on taking a break from fostering when the bebe was born, so we went ahead and decided to hand him over last week since the opportunity was right. He is now kicking back with some other grandpa dogs without living in constant terror of being sat on by Natalie.

For some reason, I've been getting a lot of questions lately about baby #2. I guess I haven't been broadcasting every detail, though I'm not really trying to keep private either. I just try not to think about the fact that in 4 months, I'll have 2 kids to handle. I'm just content to ignore the fact as much as possible... though it is becoming harder and harder lately.

I feel super duper pregnant. Like, at 24 weeks, I feel more cumbersome and uncomfortable than I ever did my entire previous pregnancy. Everyone says that it just feels harder because this time around I have a toddler to take care of. I'll buy that to some extent. I'll let Natalie take the blame for my chronic exhaustion and the pain in my lower back and shoulders. But I doubt having a toddler to chase this time around was the cause of my morning sickness symptoms being 10x worse. Or the reason that I have aversions to half the food I cook. Or the unbearable heartburn, which kindly descends each night around 9pm and lasts until 2am, regardless of what/when I have eaten last.

But by far the worst part is that I feel ginormous huge. I believe that this is a common feature of consecutive pregnancies because muscle memory causes abdominal muscles to relax and yadda yadda yadda. All that matters to me is that I can't breathe when I bend over, a bunch of my maternity clothes are already too small and there is no comfortable spot on my lap for Natalie that doesn't involve her elbow jabbing mercilessly into my gut. It's especially irritating because my pre-pregnancy weight is 10 pounds less than it was with Natalie and I've been exercising regularly (vs never when pregnant with Natalie) and yet I still feel way bigger. And I've still got so much longer to go. I already pee when I cough and can't get comfortable when sitting. How can this possibly get worse for 17 weeks?

Micah claims that I don't look that big. But this conversation from last week was telling...
Me: "My belly is huge"
Micah: "How big should you be by this point?"
Me: "Well, you saw Heidi today. She's due 3 weeks before me."
Micah: "I didn't even notice she was pregnant."
Me: "Exactly."

Natalie 2.0

Today is Natalie's 2nd birthday!

Even though we're waiting a few days to celebrate, I thought that I would share some tidbits about her growth and development. At 2 years old, Natalie:

• Is finally starting to lose her big ol' baby belly
• Is very active and curious and will not stop grabbing at absolutely everything
• Has enough hair to do pigtails (even if each pigtail only has 7 hairs in it....)
• Can reach all uncovered horizontal surfaces in the house
• Counts to 10, plus a few extra numbers beyond that, like 18, eleven-teen and schfourteen-teen
• Identifies and names all rainbow colors, black, white and brown
• Identifies and names shapes like a circle, square, and triangle
• Identifies and names most letters of the alphabet in capitol, about 30% in lower-case
• Injures Micah in the groin region about once every 5 hours
• Likes princesses; Rapunzel is her favorite
• Is happy when she gets to skip a nap but still really needs one or she's a melting mess
• Refuses to sit in a shopping cart
• Likes to swim
• Enjoys coloring, painting and playing with playdoh
• Wants her toenails painted but still lacks the restraint to not touch them while they are wet
• Engages in imaginary play- usually preparing pretend food and making us eat it
• Talks embarrassingly loudly in church; still has no concept of whispering
• Wakes up 5-10 times at night
• Is developing a sense of humor; tells us when we are being funny and informs us that she is funny
• Likes to snuggle
• Eats everything. And enjoys most of it. But apparently not wasabi....

Christmas

We had a lovely Christmas. My mom and brother got to come for a few days and we enjoyed hanging out. It was Paco's first time to Atlanta, but we didn't venture out much. They went to see the Hobbit one afternoon while I stayed with Natalie and we had a few great meals. My mom and I got to go shopping at the mall (took me almost 4 hours to find 2 shirts, 1 pair of pants, a skirt that don't make me look hugely fat). Micah and I even got to go out on a hot date while Natalie stayed with Grandma and Uncle Paco-we went to home depot and then ate at longhorn steakhouse. Woohoo!

Here are a bunch of pictures of present opening on Christmas morning, mainly for the benefit of the gift givers who weren't there...

Natalie opens up this giant present from Aunt Chere

Micah got me a new Yoga mat! It came with a strap and block, and even a dvd with a few short workouts led by a guy with a braid wearing nothing but a speedo. Alright!

Loving our new hats from Paco

Cookbook from Dad. Now Paco can learn a few... you know... AMERICAN dishes.

Natalie had a blast and really got the hang of opening presents.

Micah got me new measuring cups and spoons! This is so awesome. I cook and bake so much, but I'm so cheap I've just been getting by without most of my set (which have become broken or lost). Now I don't have to use a Robitussin medicine cup for measuring teaspoons! 

 Natalie was intrigued by the lacing beads from Aunt Darlene. I was ecstatic over the waffle iron she got me.

Eating pumpkin spice waffles the day after Christmas. Micah usually is much more good-looking in the morning that this photo suggests. Paco, too.

And another fun acquisition- this is what we got at Home Depot on our date. Finally! Shelves to organize our food storage! We don't have a kitchen pantry and our cupboards are pretty small. Previously, all of our pantry food was stored in 2 massive 45-gallon plastic tote buckets and stacked in the 2'x3' space under our HVAC unit. This shelf takes up less floor space than one of the totes, and easily holds all of our stuff with room to grow. And it's 1.73 billion times easier to get out what I need.

Now with the HVAC closet emptied, I can finally stow the vacuum somewhere out of site! It's also great overflow space for our increasing collection of kitchen appliances- the waffle maker, a deep fryer, a mini-smoker, and a casserole dish with temperature regulating carrier are just a few of the things that we've added this season.

 And, a moment of cuteness.
Tonight, I looked over from the kitchen and saw Natalie had climbed up to the table, where I had a candle burning. I was worried about her touching it, but she was just sitting there, calmly looking at it with her arms folded. When I asked what she was doing, she said, "thinking". Hahaha.

Tomorrow is Natalie's birthday. We will wait a few days to celebrate. Tomorrow will be day 3 of the 3-day potty training method, so maybe on Thursday or Friday we will celebrate. We plan to take her to see Frozen at the movie theaters- Micah has shown her the song, "Let it Go" and she loves it. We'll see how tomorrow goes and decide weather she's ready to leave the house!

Flu

The flu has reached the Jenkins household.

I began on Saturday morning with Micah. He was complaining of symptoms like headache and fatigue, so I wrote it off thinking that he just hadn't gotten enough sleep (a condition whose symptoms I am infinitely familiar with). But by that night he had a fever and decided not to come to church on Sunday (which was a bummer, since he was supposed to be in 3 choir numbers and a duet for Sacrament meeting that day). Monday morning he went to the hospital at 3am because he measured his temperature at 104.5 (it was 103.1 at intake. Still high, but I suspect our thermometer is not very accurate). He was dehydrated so they gave him IV fluids and took an xray to make sure his lungs were clear and sent him home with a bunch of prescriptions. Aside from pain relievers and nausea medicine, he was prescribed tamiflu, a medication for treating the flu that is experiencing a nation-wide shortage (which surprised me, since I have hardly heard of anyone getting the flu this year), so I got to call pharmacies all over town to find one that still had it in stock. So around Monday, Natalie was starting to get a little crazy, which I mainly attributed to not sleeping. She refuses to go to sleep at night and was up past 10pm on Saturday and then was up in the middle of the night Sunday to take Micah to the ER. Combined with short naps and constantly waking up through the night as usual, I assumed that she was just a sleepy grouch monster. But then she started to run a fever and have diarrhea and refuse to eat anything, so she had clearly contracted it. The past few days have been watch-TV-and-drink-fluids type days. Yesterday we gave Natalie too much milk before her nap (since she's not eating anything, she needs sustenance from something!) and when she got into her bed, she threw up all over Micah. It was a good thing that he was there to catch the majority of it on his chest and stomach, as it barely got on her bedding, pillows and stuffed animals. Now those would have been harder to clean up.Micah is pretty much better, though he still has a lingering cough. Natalie's fever is gone, but she still refuses to eat anything (except for candy and ice cream, which she begs for constantly) and is very unhappy that we no longer leave the TV on all day long for her. As I type, she is downstairs screaming and crying and throwing a tantrum repeating over and over "Natalie watch TV!!!!!!"

Here she is zoned out on the couch the other morning clutching her sippy cup of gatorade watching Winnie the Pooh

I am surprised that I didn't come down with it (knock on wood) since I didn't get a flu shot and have been sleeping with and tending to flu victims for several days. I attribute my success to several factors: 1) Good hygiene practices 2) Good luck 3) Good respiratory health from all the awesome old-person-yoga classes I've been attending. It's a good thing, too. My brother an Mom are coming over in 5 days, so that will give us plenty of time to declare our home germ-free.

Yesterday, I had the 20 week ultrasound. When my Dr. asked, "Do you want to know what it is?" my first thought was "Um... A human, I hope?" Turns out, I was right. There is a human growing inside me. The baby appears to have two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, four heart chambers and one vagina. Which is good, since this child will receive nothing but pink hand-me-downs. And bad, as Micah will probably one day insist on having more children so that he can have a son. 

Today, I got to go to the dentist for the first time in 5 years. I was just getting a basic exam, but of course they told me that I am in need of a deep cleaning that costs about $900. I told them I would have to wait until I have dental insurance and they warned me not to wait very long or all of my teeth will fall out. Which sounds truly lame. Fortunately, thanks to my vigorous brushing, I do not have any cavities. Unfortunately, I am experiencing early gum recession due to brushing too vigorously. Dang it! I just can't win with this whole teeth thing!

I've done a bit of holiday baking, but I'm finding it difficult to get much done in the kitchen these days as Natalie demands to sit on the counter at all times (often when I'm not even in the kitchen doing anything). I try to give her constructive things to help with (e.g. pour the cup of flour in, separate the muffin liners) but she always ends up getting into stuff on the counters and then I have to put her down and she throws a massive hissy. And no one likes being around a massive hissy-thrower.

In other news, I recently bought some pomegranates. I really enjoy pomegranates. My earliest memory of them involved going in to my dad as he was away in some room watching a football game and being amazed by the simultaneous beauty and hideousness of this strange fruit that he was ripping into chunks and gnawing away at to get to the hundreds of little sacs of edible fruit. I have since taken for granted that this is how pomegranates are properly eaten. And thus, I do not eat them often because it takes at least 30 minutes and usually makes a big mess of staining juice all over hands, clothes, furniture and floor. Before we got out the pomegranates this year, I looked up some methods online. And, lo an behold, there are many superior methods. This one in particular seemed fast and easy, so we tried it.

It took a few minutes, but then we had a fabulous bowl of pomegranate kernels to eat. Amazing. I could even feed them to Natalie one at a time on the couch without fear of a massive mess.

The Big One

Yesterday, I got asked the big question. You know, the one that parents across the world dread. I was caught off guard because I figured that it would be years before I had to come up with an appropriate answer. No, not "Where do babies come from?", nothing so trivial.

"What happened to the dinosaurs?"

And, no, it wasn't Natalie asking. It was Micah.

Smart Trade

Our friend's baby came over for a little while this week. I had her in the kitchen watching me get some food ready. Yes, I put children up on the counter- in a bumbo seat nonetheless. I am an unsafe parent. 

So anyway, the baby started whining and drooling and putting everything in her mouth, so I offered her a cold teething ring. Then Natalie woke up from her nap and came down to join us. She was a little irritated seeing her little buddy there with her teething ring, so she picked up a pack of kleenex from the counter and gave it to the baby and took the teething ring. Silly little stinker.

Thanksgiving!

Last week, we got to enjoy a fun trip up to Wilmington, NC to celebrate Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get my camera out very much. This one pretty much sums up Natalie's feelings about long drives.

We got to do a lot of fun things, but most importantly, Natalie got some time with her grandma and grandpa, as well as Paco and Gabby.

And pumpkin, of course.

We exchanged a few presents since some of us won't be seeing one another around Christmas. Natalie got a couple of fabulous toys, including a set of awesome dinosaurs that I have already stepped on twice. They are pointy and they hurt! But Natalie loves them and is having fun learning their different names. Some of them she knows from a book already, but some are new names. Like the dilophosaurus, aka that scary one with the neck flaps from Jurassic park. 

We saw Catching Fire, which was exciting. I liked it better than the first, but I still couldn't get over the fact that I don't like most of the lead actors. They're not horrible, I just feel like they don't fit the part well. Also, when Katniss screams, it's so annoying I want to punch her in the kidney. 

Micah took me on a date while Paco babysat one night. We shopped a bit (it was small business Saturday, afterall) before getting dinner at front street brewery. I had the most amazing pulled chicken nachos and Micah had their ribs again. I guess they're pretty good there? Then we took a carriage ride and looked at all the cute little historic downtown houses that are fun to look at but, seriously- who lives there?! I could not believe the prices of some of them. I am definitely not a urbanite at heart.Tiny old houses really close together make me shudder. I am currently reading a really interesting book about homes and the psychology of how we use them and how they affect us (Title: House Thinking). I am dreaming more and more of one day being in a house. Last month, we talked about the possibility of one day living in a more rural area. I always thought that Micah would have to get a job in a big city, since that's where engineering companies are, but apparently there are many national labs in the middle of nowhere that he could end up working at. I'm definitely not ready to assume farm life in the middle of nowhere, but I could definitely handle a big yard with a garden and a few chickens. That's all I really want. But anyway. Back to Thanksgiving.

I made cronuts. I had been dreaming of it ever since I read what they are. And they sounded amazing. The consensus after making them: eh, they're alright. Not much better than a donut. If I was one who waited in line for an hour to get one from the Manhattan bakery that sells them, I would be upset.

Also, I made texas roadhouse rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, but I left them in the fridge overnight between rises. They tasted amazing. From what I've read, allowing the yeast to develop over a longer period of time brings out more flavor. I'm pretty sure that's what we experienced and I may refrigerate dough more often! Especially since it allows you to make the dough whenever you feel like it (within a few days).

Those were most of our highlights. Hopefully I come up with some more pictures to show you all how cute Natalie is getting.