Spring has sprung
We’ve been fortunate to have some very lovely weather the past couple of weeks and we’ve tried to make the most of it by getting outside as much as possible. In addition to a garden/backyard makeover, we’ve also found some new fun activities for Hazel to do outside. With the warmer weather coming, we started looking for a water table for her to play with in the back yard. On a recent trip to Costco we found one and for quite a steal, too. I posted a few videos of Hazel playing with it in the previous entry, and I’ll post a few pictures below, too. She sure does love that thing! Last weekend it got up to almost 80 degrees and she played with it until her hands were pruney and her clothes were soaked- 3 hours later we had to beg her to come in and get out of the sun for a while! I think we will glad we got the water table when it starts getting really hot around here this summer. With the way our backyard is set up, we’ll be able to take the new baby out and hang out under the big umbrella while Hazel plays. We’ve planted quite an assortment of flowers, fruits and vegetables for the summer too- a raspberry bush, roses, assorted wild flowers, watermelons, tomatos, green beans and more herbs than I can even remember off the top of my head- the garden should be in good shape this year!
As I write this post I’m uploading the latest batch of pictures from the camera and realizing that the pictures I add here will make for an all-over-the-place kind of update, but that’s just fine with me- bear with me! You’ll also find some more pictures of Hazel’s finished room- we took a few more once we got her shelves and pictures up. She loves being in her big girl room, especially since she now has free reign to read as many books as she wants for as long as she wants as long as she eventually falls asleep. She loves books…maybe even more than her mama, which is saying something!
In other news, we got a rocking chair in the mail from Grammy and Grampy last week. Hazel uses it quite enthusiastically, rocking herself and various “babies” in her chair. She likes to say “Roooock, roooock, roooock” as she rocks. It’s also become her favorite tv watching spot- she loves that she can rock while she watches Elmo or Barney or Super Why… and when she pulls that chair up to the coffee table she’s really in heaven- snacks in reach, rocking in her chair, watching her show- talk about a happy kiddo!
I realize I haven’t posted much about duo recently, and that is not for lack of excitement. Thankfully all is going smoothly with this pregnancy, and while I may not post about it much, we are just as thrilled, excited and anxious to meet this little one as we were when we were expecting Hazel. It seems that having a toddler at home just makes little luxuries like sitting down at the computer to type out an update a bit less common! My last appointment was last week (I still have bruises on my arm to show for it!)- I am now in my third trimester with about 9 weeks left. I had my routine blood work, glucose test and rhogam shot done last week and everything went very well- no gestational diabetes, which is wonderful since I’ve been craving sweets with this one (with Hazel I craved salt, so this is new for me!). The baby is measuring right on target, putting our due date around the 30th of May. We learned two appointments ago that I am not a candidate for VBAC (unfortunately), because of the way my incision was done during Hazel’s delivery, and thus we will be scheduling a c-section for this baby. I have to say that I’m a bit bummed that I will be having another c-section as you can only safely have so many c-sections, and that does put a limit on the number of our own children we can have, but, in the end, I will be happy to have a healthy baby, no matter how he or she gets here! I am also looking forward to having a scheduled c-section this time, as I hear they are much easier to recover from, and are generally less traumatic than the craziness we experienced last time!!! I am so excited and curious to meet this new baby. I find myself wondering what the new baby will be like- will it be bald as an onion like Hazel, or will he or she have a head full of hair? Will we have a laid back, easy baby, or an up-all-night rambunctious one like baby’s big sister? Girl or boy? One thing, I do know, is that this baby better be ready for lots of love- Hazel is fascinated with babies right now (thanks in part to the sweet little baby Aunt Joanna and Uncle Matt sent her for Christmas)- and I know that she is going to love being a big sister. The only thing I really know about duo right now is that this baby moves like crazy! I can see my stomach shift around when duo moves- something I wasn’t able to see at all when I was pregnant with Hazel. The kicking is especially feisty after I’ve eaten something sweet (read: chocolate), maybe I’ll be able to capture this baby’s antics on video this week- in class on Tuesday night, the students in the front row saw my belly move. Yeah- it’s that crazy!
Our next appointment is April 5th- more updates on duo as we get them!
And now, for the pictures. We’ll start with Hazel’s room and end with the most recent shots from around the house/yard.
This pictures needs a disclaimer… Hazel gets grumpy when I make her wear hair bows- but she really needs to wear them because her hair gets in her eyes without them, so, here you see a cute, albeit grumpy, Hazel.
Oh! We get to go outside! = instant attitude adjustment
Icecream Time!
Yes, we let her eat icecream sometimes. But it’s only because she’s so good about eating her veggies!
Fridge Raiding
Uni has been growing steadily since our last appointment and is now supposed to weigh close to 3 pounds. This growth doesn’t surprise me one bit considering how hungry I’ve been lately. Almost every morning I wake up and the first thought that crosses my mind has something to do with what my choices are for breakfast that morning. My stomach literally growls at 7 am, something I’ve never experienced before in my life! Jered took this photo as evidence that a) we are practicing our parenting skills by showing off pictures of Uni on the fridge and b) I am wearing down the linoleum around the refrigerator door!
I’ve been really lucky in that most of my cravings have been nutritious- lately I’ve had a hankering for strawberries, almonds, milk, yogurt and various forms of protein. I was fully expecting to want cookies, ice cream, chips and other naughty foods, but other than the occasional indulgence it seems my body knows what and how much I need to grow a healthy baby without growing too much extra mom. Being pregnant is a surreal experience- the little person inside me is growing and all I have to do is get plenty of rest, take my multivitamin, avoid bungee jumping and eat a good breakfast!
We got a neat surprise in the mail last week from Jered’s Grammy and Grampy- once we charge the camera we’ll be sharing pictures of Uni’s first puppet with everyone. Check back later this week!
Filed under Feeding baby & Mom, Pregnancy by esther | Comment (0)Double Mac’s
Today was a Mac-filled day for us Benoits!
I spent the morning working on statistics homework and by the time it was time for me to leave for a meeting in Williamsburg I hadn’t had time to pack a lunch and decided to head to McDonalds for a little Big Mac’ing. I haven’t had a Big Mac in probably a year- and it was delicious. The idea of eating a Big Mac is a little disturbing to me seeing as I was a vegetarian for a few months before getting pregnant, but there was something about all that salty beefy goodness that just seemed right today. That being said, I don’t think I’ll be having another Big Mac for a long long time- I could almost feel my arteries tighten!
So what then is the other Mac I alluded to in the title of this post? Well, Jered was in charge of dinner tonight and he is in the process of creating his very own repertoire of dad foods. Tonight’s creation was called Monster Mac- a delicious mixture of mac’ n cheese, broccoli, peas and meatless meatballs. It was impressively orange and green and the meatballs looked like eyeballs. It’s sweet that Jered is already thinking of fun meals for our family 
Prenate DHA aka the biggest vitamins ever created
At our appointment Monday the nurse gave me some samples of some prescription vitamins that contain DHA and extra folic acid. I was written a prescription (which I have yet to have filled, still living on the free gigantic samples). The thing about these vitamins, they are huge! I can’t believe they make pills so big- each one measures almost an inch long and it’s a strange teal color. Thank goodness they’re coated! I take my monster pill every morning because of the benefits that the packaging claims:
Enhances Cognitive Development (who wouldn’t want that?)
Improves Visual Accuity (because I want an eagle-eyed baby)
May maximize fetal growth and development (grow baby grow!)
Enriches quality of breast milk (we drink organic, why shouldn’t the baby?)
May contribute to advancement of childhood mental development (how this is different from cognitive development I do not know)
Sounds pretty good, huh? Gotta go take my horse pill!
Mmmmm Sushi…
Ever since Jered told me I could have sushi I have been thinking about it. The funny thing about being pregnant is that when you think about a food enough you start to really want it. I don’t know if I’d call it a craving, but for lack of a better word…
So tonight (I had resisted all day) my mom and brother came over to drop off Jered’s birthday gift and card and they both started talking about sushi. That was all it took. A phone call was made to our favorite local sushi place and half an hour later I was at home eating an american dream roll and a spicy california roll. Delicious! Although they say it is safe to eat all sushi (because the fish is flash frozen and this kills bacteria) I wanted to play it safe so I got sushi that wasn’t raw- both rolls contained cooked shrimp and crab.
It really hit the spot!
Filed under Feeding baby & Mom by esther | Comment (0)Sushi baby?
Esther says that she has learned she can have sushi, that will make the next 9 months that much easier. She heard on the Pregtastic Podcast, which I have verified by this nytimes article by Stephen Shaw (via megnut)
“Why take any risk?” they ask. The medical establishment and the culture at large have twisted logic around to the point where any risk, no matter how infinitesimal, is too much. So powerful is this Puritanical impulse that, once a health objection is raised, however irrational the recommended behavior, it’s considered irresponsible to behave any other way.
You have no idea how happy that makes by baby’s momma.
Filed under Feeding baby & Mom, Pregnancy by Jered | Comment (0)