September 2004 Archives

My apologies ahead of time to everyone in regards to Maddie's birthday party invitations. This week has been riddled not only with visitors and meetings, a scanner that caught fire, 2 printers that suddenly ran out of ink and wouldn't print at all, but we also just got a flat tire and realized that our spare is flat as well. Needless to say, the days leading up to Maddie's party have been a bit stressful.

So, in my attempts to avoid having anyone get the invitation in the mail too late, I will be emailing them. This, after I struggled for days to print them, only to realize they wouldn't get to their destinations in time by now. Maybe I'll have my act together by her 2nd birthday or Jelly Bean's first.

Anyway, check your email soon. We can't wait to see everyone and hope you can make it!

More on Maddie's recent progress and new pictures on Snapfish soon.

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I finally got the pics from the ultrasound scanned and posted. Check them out by clicking on the link to the left.

Other than that, I should be telling you about how Maddie's walking now (she looks like a monkey), or how she actually peed on the pottie last week (three times). Or maybe I should tell you how our weekend with Rob's brother in town went (fun, but exhausting), or how we enjoyed the Yellow Daisy festival and Japan Fest recently (very much, thanks).

But truth be told, I'm pooped thanks to a rough night last night. Maddie's top teeth are coming in, so she's back to waking up every fifteen minutes.

I'll tell you all the fun stuff later. I'm going to bed now. *yawn*
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Okay, I don't think I'm spoiling much by telling you since everyone seems to know already.

The McLochlin family will be having another girl! Yes, Maddie will have a little sister come this February. We're all still in shock from the ultrasound and from finding out. As I mentioned before, I thought for sure that Jelly Bean was a boy since this pregnancy has been so drastically different from Maddie's (craving bacon vs. fresh fruit, etc.) I guess that just shows how different these two little girls will be in the end anyway. Bill and I are thrilled, not only for ourselves (we know about having a little girl!) but also for Maddie. It will be great for her to have a little sister, especially one so close in age. We just hope that they'll be great friends.

I have to extend a huge thank you to my loving, adorable husband. He really did not want to find out the sex in the ultrasound, but caved in to my pleas. Although I feel bad that the surprise is ruined for him, I am so happy to have found out. For some reason, when I was pregnant with Maddie I felt an instant bond with her from the moment that we found out I was pregnant. It took Bill a little longer to realize the reality of it all, ultimately at her ultrasound. With this baby, it was the reverse for us. I just couldn't fathom that I was pregnant again. Like I mentioned earlier, half the time I'd forget that I was pregnant. But the ultrasound made it all so real for me. I can't explain, but in that moment I suddenly realized I was having another baby and I would be a mother of two! I think I spent all day on Thursday after the u/s muttering to myself, "Oh my gosh, we're having a baby." That's how real it suddenly became for me.

Speaking of the u/s, it was wonderful to see our little girl. At first, the technician couldn't see anything as she had both knees drawn up and BOTH hands covering her privates. We did get to see her squirm a little, though, and she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue a few times. Later, she played with her fingers near her mouth. She was so content sitting where she was that the technician couldn't get a good measurement of her spine, so I was allowed to get up and walk around a bit and use the restroom to hopefully get her moving. It worked and we returned to the u/s with a full-on view of our little girl. Afterwards, the tech allowed me a few moments to get redressed before we left. In our shock, though we didn't realize it, Bill and I sat there and talked for almost 10 minutes. It finally took the tech knocking on the door to remind us that another mother was waiting patiently for HER u/s before we left. :)

Even though the surprise about the sex of Jelly Bean is over, I do still feel anticipation for so many other things. What will this little girl be like? Will she look like Maddie? What will her personality and temperment be? Will she have lots of hair like Maddie or be bald? Will she look more like me or Bill? I'm so curious as I've already noticed a marked difference in their personalities in utero. Maddie kicked constantly, very hard, and wouldn't keep still for her u/s. Jelly Bean is just the opposite, content to rumble a little at night, and just wanted to lie back and relax during her u/s.

Also, we're breaking tradition in both the McLochlin and Nastoff families. Never before have two girls been born in a row. With only 3 girls out of 10 grandkids on Bill's side, it seems that we'll be making up for the lack of the X chromosome.

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Well, we went to the ultrasound, and we now know the sex of baby number two! Yes, I caved in and let Alecia find out. I wish I hadn't, but YOU try saying no to a teary-eyed pregnant woman.

Anyway, I would've posted it on here earlier, but Hurricane Ivan took away our power all afternoon and evening, so I couldn't use the computer (and we had to go out to eat and then hang out at Barnes & Noble until everyone was tired enough to sleep).

I could post the sex now, but since everyone seems to have forgotten we even had the appointment, I guess I'll keep it a secret until someone asks.

Feel free to call if you really want to know, or check back here tomorrow, when I'll post the ultrasound pictures and an update (as well as some new pics of Maddie).
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We're going to our ultrasound today, and since we're doing it at the "super powerful ultrasound center," there's a good chance we could see a penis. Or not! Exciting, huh? If we don't see definitive proof either way, however, the debate will continue about whether or not to find out the sex. Alecia wants to, I don't. And since she can't keep a secret, we can't just let her know without me finding out as well.

Anyway, we'll post whatever we see on this site. In the meantime, to keep you busy if you check in to see how things went, here are some random pictures that Alecia took of Maddie the other day. I don't know if Alecia was playing with the camera's settings, experimenting with the lighting, or just wanted a couple dozen pictures of Maddie's dirty face and puffy feet. But here they are, for your viewing pleasure: click here
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It's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd let everyone know how we're doing.

We're great.

Just kidding. I'll try to give a little more detail. :) The McLochlin household is doing just dandy. Maddie keeps us laughing all the time now. She's such a performer and knows when she's being watched. She's into pointing now too, letting us know what she wants or where she wants to go.

Jelly Bean is doing great as well. What started out as little flutters have evolved into full on movement happening every night as soon as I get into bed. Just like Maddie! (What is it with these kids? Don't they like sleep?) Bill has even felt the little guy/girl move, which didn't happen with Maddie until I was over 7 months along. Speaking of guy/girl, our ultrasound is next week. We're both excited about seeing the little one again, and I have to admit that I'm even considering finding out the sex. I keep changing my mind daily. On one hand, I want to keep it a surprise like it was with Maddie. It was such a thrill to go into the delivery room and then hear them announce "It's a...!" On the other hand, I feel like I never really got to prepare fully for Maddie's arrival as far as buying cute little things or decorating her room. And there just wasn't time or energy after she was born. Also, there are honestly some days that I forget that I'm pregnant at all, since I'm chasing Maddie away from the dog water bowls all day long. I feel like this kid is already getting the short end of things. If I knew the sex, I could really prepare for the little guy/gal. For reasons I won't really go into right now, (and for which Bill makes fun of me) I'm going to stake my claim that I think Jelly Bean is a boy. Only time, or the ultrasound if you're lucky, will tell.

Speaking of Jelly Bean, I am so incredibly excited for the little one to be here. I was thinking the other day about the first 2 weeks after Maddie was born and how unbelievably thankful I am for all the family help we had then. We thought we wanted to "do it all ourselves" but didn't realize just what we were getting into. I barely remember that first week that she was born other than walking around in a daze and taking a nap or a shower whenever someone told me too. It was all such a fog and took me a while for it all to sink in, even though I'd had 9 months to prepare. This time around I'm looking forward not only to the added confidence in my mothering skills but to, hopefully, being in the moment a little more. Watching Maddie approach 1 soon has made me realize just how fast it all went and how much I'll want to hold onto this 2nd one as a baby for much longer.

Other than that, all is well with Bill and I. We've both been busy with work stuff and are looking forward to the plethora of weekend festivals coming up in the next few weeks. This weekend is Yellow Daisy Festival and the Taste of Smyrna Fest just for starters. MMMM! Fair food!!!

Hope everyone else has a good weekend as well!
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Some new pics have been posted in the Snapfish August folder from this past weekend at my mom's. Check them out when you get a chance.

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