Advent Celebration

This evening Carly and my mom joined me at church for our Family Advent Celebration. I organized the 5 craft ornament projects for a Church's Family Tree and was really excited about Carly making the easier crafts.

During the celebration Carly worked intensely on coloring a paper plate angel and tortilla ornaments. Her favorite craft was making "twinkles." These stars were tongue depressors glued together that Carly was able to decorate with foam sticker stars and glitter.

I assumed Carly and my mom would only be present for the first 30 minutes of festivities. Carly completed a full hour of crafts, with the occasional snack break. During the storytelling portion of the evening my mom's goal was just to keep Carly working quietly and not disturb the other children listening to the story. However, Carly realized that many of the other children had gathered around our Pastor. So, she hopped down from her chair and joined them on the floor. Following story time she continued with her crafts. She was finally willing to leave after majority of the other children had gone home for their bath and bedtime routines.

Run, Baby Run!

Baby Orr #2 (18 weeks) and I ran our first race together today! The idea of working out to stay healthy was not enough motivation for 6 am wake ups during this pregnancy. Sleep seemed to regularly trump the idea of an early morning run when my alarm sounded. I decided signing up for a race would be the perfect motivation. My search for a 5K found a turkey trot in Charleston, SC. The timing worked well with our Thanksgiving plans and I even had Julia for a running partner during the race. So at 9am, Julia, Baby Orr #2, and I took off on our first 5Ks. Julia and I ran the entire race together until our separate sprints to the finish line and finished with the pace of 10:04 minutes/mile.

** When Julia and I returned from our race, Carly "raced" us up and down the hall way. Maybe I should have signed her up for the 25 meter kid run for children 4 and under.**

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Blue

Carly knows her colors; however, she does not verbalize her knowledge. Today she was busy in her chair painting. When she is working on her art I asked her what color she wanted to use next, hoping she will actually verbally answer me. Well, today she said the word "blue." Best of all, she continued to use the word correctly through the rest of her afternoon and evening! Even showing off her new word for David!

Pre-Lunch Reading

This morning while I was fixing lunch Carly found a some pre-lunch reading. When I walked in on her, she said, "Bible" and looked quite proud of herself. She continued to babble as she turned the pages.



*I give full credit to Carly's recognition of the Bible to her wonderful Sunday School teachers.

16 Week Visit

Today I went to the doctor for my 16 week appointment. I am officially 16 weeks and 4 days. My blood pressure and weight gain were normal, and the baby's heart beat measured at 150 beats per minute. This measurement was read at a very active time for the baby. He/She kept moving away from the doppler probe as the nurse was trying to get a reading. While it was frustrating for her, it allowed me to hear the heart beat for an extended length of time!

Priceless

David and I left Carly this weekend in Columbia with my parents, so that we could visit and tour the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Prior to our departure from Columbia we went for lunch at one of our favorite, local fast food places in Columbia. My dad treated everyone with dessert after our meal, but Carly wasn't too interested in sharing with her daddy. She did (thankfully) openly share with her Grammie (and mommy on occasion).

Maternity Clothes

Well, I'm in full blow maternity clothing now. David and I left for Asheville this morning, and I quickly realized that riding from our home to my parents' home and then to Asheville wasn't going to be too comfortable in my non-maternity jeans. So, began the fun of trying on my maternity clothes and repacking for our trip. After this short delay we were off on our trip, with me in maternity clothes.

Fire Station Tour

Today Carly and I went on tour of a neighboring town's fire station with one of her playgroups. There was a brief talk about fire safety, that was directed more to the moms since the kid audience was 2 and under. After this brief discussion we walked through the fire station to see their biggest fire truck and to see a fire fighter dress in his full gear. Carly was very interested in the truck and everything in the garage, until the fire fighter put on his full gear. Then Carly was DONE! She was climbing up my leg as quickly as she could and refused to come down for quite some time. She was eventually talked back down to the ground by the offering of a fire fighter's hat and sticker. However, she was no longer getting within 3 feet of the fire truck.

Setting the Table

Carly has really gotten into helping me set the table each evening before dinner. Tonight she set the entire table (except for the cutting board and large salad bowl located in the center of the table).

Movement

I can officially feel the baby move!!! Earlier this morning David poked my belly and I felt a swishing feeling. His poke was a little high for it to have moved the baby, so I attributed it to my insides just kind of moving around thanks to his poke. Well, I sat down just a few moments ago to check my email and I felt a few flicks at my waist band. Since I am still in non-maternity pants, the waist band on my low(ish) waisted jeans is exactly around where my uterus is. (My baby bump actually is everything that is being pushed up due to the expanding uterus, and not the baby.)

Reality is that these flicks that I was feeling (and am still feeling) are a lot more than the baby flicking. He/she must be having a dance party to Carly's nap time singing. And unfortunately, I'm not sure David will be able to feel them quite yet - although I see him reading a Dr. Seuss story (or two) tonight to this baby just in case. But the baby is moving, which helps me trust that everything is okay and developing on schedule. All of which makes the waiting game until our next doctor's appointment just a little bit easier.

Clothing

Tonight (14 weeks & 6 days) was my first time putting on an article of maternity wear for this pregnancy. I admit that certain clothes have not fit me in a few weeks, and I have put on comfy pants shortly after dinner a few evenings. However, I have been able to piece together outfits since my belly began to show. Tonight we were heading out of Mexican with some friends and I wasn't comfortable with the length of my non-maternity shirt (or any other in my closet), especially since I assumed the bump would grow with the addition of my dinner. So out to dinner we went, with me in a maternity shirt. Baby Orr #2 may not need to be covered up with maternity clothing all of the time yet, but that moment is coming... very, very soon.

Happy Halloween

Carly's Halloween calendar wasn't quite as full this year as last, but we did have a great time. Our neighborhood gathers each year for a pizza party prior to everyone going off to Trick or Treat. After getting back to our house, Carly was more interested in handing out candy to other Trick or Treaters. So, she and David sat on the porch together giving out candy to all of the children. She did go visit a few homes, to one of which she actually took candy to.

Here are more of our Halloween photos!