Halloween Pics

This is going to be my second attempt to add pics....let's see how it goes.

The first one is Will the Sock Monkey.

The second is Abbie the Mermaid with Ronald McDonald.

More later. Off to move furniture to the basement. It's DONE!

New Word

Today after Preschool I asked Abbie my normal stream of questions:
What did you do today?
Played.
With who?
Alayna.
Who was the candle snuffer?
Lonnie. Miss Crystal calls him Lonnie Bo Bonnie....she laughs.
Who was the calendar helper?
Me. Miss Crystal put a turkey on my head....she laughs.
What month is it?
November.
What day of the week is it?
Tuesday.
Did you talk about Thanksgiving?
Yep. Miss Mary Jo brought in a cornucopia.

I laughed. What a word to hear from a 3 year old....pronounced absolutely correct. Just struck me as funny.

Andy's Birthday Gift

Andy's birthday was Saturday. On Thursday, I took Abbie & Will shopping to get him a present. While we sat and ate our lunch, I asked Abbie what she wanted to get him.
Here were her thoughts:
A car, she said. Nope, he already has one.
A truck. No, not a truck either.
I don't know.

I intervened. I asked her to think of things daddy liked.
She sat and ate some more fries.

I know, she said. Let's get him Star Wars: The Clown (Clone) Wars movie. She was so proud of herself! (He recently has introduced her to Star Wars. She loves it. She likes that her daddy watched it when he was little).

Great thinking Abbie! That's what you can get him. Secretly, I knew he was planning on getting this for her. Perfect for the two of them to bond over.

We kept eating. She piped up again.

And I want to get him a Star Wars Potato Head. Remember we saw them at the store, she asked. (We had just seen them not to long ago at Kohls).

I laughed, on the inside of course. How cute! Okay, we'll get him one of those too.

So to Target and Kohls we went. I can't forget to mention the card she picked out as well. She chose a Transformer one. Another one of dad's old favorite toys. After that, we went home and baked him a cake...chocolate with no icing. We wrapped his presents with construction paper and she decorated the paper.

By the time Andy got home from work, the girl was busting at the seams. She was so excited to give him her presents. I don't think he had time to say hi to her before she took him the presents. She stood right next to him while he opened them. It was so incredibly cute! Needless to say, he loved them. They immediately played with Darth Vader Potato Head......or Dark Mater as she calls it!

Too Cute

We have been staying at my mom's since Friday night. Andy is out on campaign. Each day Abbie has picked her outfit out. Yesterday was a pretty interesting combo!!
So this morning she comes out in jeans, tennis shoes, and..............
her "Vote For My Better Tomorrow" shirt!!! How appropriate! Of course this led to a talk about the importance of election day and what it means. Don't forget to vote today!

The Candle Snuffer and Will's First Story

Let's start with Abbie....
Lately she has really been in to calling us the names of objects. She thinks it is absolutely hilarious. For instance, "You're a bed!" "You're a chair!" You get the picture. Last week she was going through this game with me, and said "Mom, You're a Candle Snuffer!" That's it! I busted up laughing. I asked her again what she called me, yep, she said it again....candle snuffer!
My next question to her was how in the world she knew the term candle snuffer and what did it mean? She defined it correctly and told me that Miss Crystal told her. She wouldn't provide any more info...most likely because Andy and I were laughing. It's just not a term you expect to hear a 3 year old use! A quick email to her teacher explained where this came from. During Devotion Time at school they light candles, afterwards the kids take turns putting the candles out....I.E. They are termed the candle snuffers. Apparently this is the most coveted job at school. Who knew?
Will has told his first story, and is still telling it a month later. During a visit to Nono & Nona's (Andy's parents) Will had an encounter with one of the horses. Andy and Will were giving the horse treats when one of them got his lips to close to Will's fingers. The horse didn't bite him, but it scared Will. His story goes like this.....all with a whiny voice......Fingers, (He holds up his fingers) Horsey, Bite, Bo. Bo was the horse who "bit" him. For a week he had a variation that went like this, Fingers, Shirt, Horsey, Bite, Bo. He was convinced Bo "bit" his shirt too. So there is his first story.....For the record, he still wants to see the horses every time we go to their house. He must not be that traumatized.
Which reminds me of Abbie's first story. Hers went like this......Snow, White, Eat, Nona, No, Yellow. Then a phone call to Paula from me. Abbie & Nona had played in the snow a bit, Nona gave her a bite of the snow, apparently told her not to eat the yellow snow. And that was her first story.

10 Week Appt.

We went to the doctor today for my 10 week check. We should have been able to hear the heart, but did not have any luck. Apparently I have a tilted uterus, though that never affected hearing Abbie & Will's heartbeat.
Dr. Gildner ordered an ultrasound just to be safe. We're happy to report that Baby #3's heart was beating away. The child put on quite a show for us flailing and kicking around. Looks like all is well. Abbie really hoped that Dr. Gildner was going to take the baby out today. Oh, how I wish! Back in 4 weeks.

It's Been Awhile...

So, I have really been slacking on the posts. I have to admit, though, that not much has been going on in the Manar home.
Abbie learned fire safety at preschool. She has been having "fires" in her play kitchen. She knows to stop, drop, and roll. She will tell you how to get out if the door is hot. She even told me not to go back inside for any toys, that you can get new ones. Looks like we are ready for any fires!
She has been teaching Will some of the songs she sings in school. He is particularly good with the hand motions. It is amazing how much he adores her. Whenever we drop her off at school he asks for Abbie for at least a half hour after.
Will went for his 18 month check up, though he is really 19 months. He had 1 shot, and has to return at the end of the month for his flu shot. He weighed in at 26 lbs 10 oz this time. He was 331/2 inches. His vocabulary is really exploding. Abbie got her flu "mist" in her nose. She actually cooperated and did really well. It probably helped that Nono was with us.
We are ready for Halloween. Will is going to be a sock monkey...just like his own favorite sock monkey. Abbie is going to be a mermaid. She is concerned that her hair isn't red like Ariel's.
I go to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup. We should get to hear the heart. I already have a fairly good bump. Yes, I know, and only 10 weeks.
That's all for now....

She is Learning

Abbie has been going to Preschool since the beginning of September. She goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours each time. The preschool is through our church, so along with the fundamentals of preschool education, she also learns bible lessons. Today she got out one of her children's bible story books. She opened to a picture of Noah's Ark. She asked me if I knew who Noah was. I told her to tell me. She said he built an ark and let animals on, a girl and boy animal each.
Upon further flipping through the book she also showed me Adam. It is nice to know that she really is learning in the short time she is at school.

More Yuckiness....

Yesterday we made it a family fun hour on the bathroom floor. Abbie & Will thought it was necessary to join me. Luckily, they didn't have to witness me vomiting. It was a close call. Abbie was right there next to me, asking me if I didn't feel good, if I was going to puke, and finally why the new baby was being so mean to me. She said "that baby needs to stop!"
Apparently last night before bed she also asked Andy when her other mommy.....the nice mommy.....was going to be back.
Bless her little heart, and everyone else who has to deal with me, but I think we have a bit more to go.
On a more positive note, I did call the doctor today and request some anti-nausea medicine. Hopefully this well help some.

My Belly

Abbie has been looking at the ultrasound picture. I showed her the tiny blip that is the baby.
She immediately wanted to know why the baby didn't have a face. I had to explain that the baby is too little for us to see a face yet. She was curious about all the "stuff" in the picture.
I was explaining to her that it was a picture of my belly and the "home" in my belly where the baby stays until he/she is big enough to come out. She looked at the black and white pic, and asked why my belly was gray? She told me my belly should be pink with sparkles on it. Then she asked to see my belly to make sure it wasn't gray. Not sure about the pink, sparkly belly. Who knows?

In For A LONG Ride

Today was my first Doctor appointment. Going by my 1st day of my last period I should be 9 weeks pregnant. I told the doctor I wasn't sure how accurate this was for a few reasons:
1. I had been taking pregnancy tests as soon as my period was late in mid August. They had all been negative. However, I wasn't sure if they really had been negative or if I wasn't reading them close enough since my last positive test was on its way to the trash as what I THOUGHT was negative.
2. I found it odd that I was just now starting to feel sick. Typically this happens for me right at the beginning of my pregnancy. This wasn't jiving with the whole 9 weeks bit.
So, combining those 2 factors, I was beginning to wonder if maybe I was more like 6 weeks preggo. That would explain why the line was so faint in the positive test. I would have JUST been pregnant.
Long story short, the doc couldn't get a heartbeat. Not a huge deal this early on, but I asked for a sonogram to better determine where I was in this trimester. External sonogram, no luck. This simply wasn't looking good for a 9 week preggo. Internal sonogram, yep there is the sac, yep there is a teeny tiny blob that measures.......6 weeks!
I knew I had been feeling too good to be true. Totally made sense with the recent nausea. I'm glad everything is well with the little one so far, but 6 weeks???? When you have been thinking you're 9 weeks????? GRRRR!!! Due date went from April 23rd to May 17th.
That's all I can muster up for now.

Stripey is Found!

Stripey, our cat, has been missing since sometime yesterday. We weren't really sure the last time we saw him. Abbie & Will are notorious for letting Stripey out. This is a bit of an issue since Stripey has no front claws and is not meant to be outside. Lately, when he has escaped, he hasn't made it very far before he comes running to the door. Even if he is in hiding briefly, a few good shakes of his treats, and he is running for the door.

Last night he simply could not be found. I was pretty sure we would never see him again. To be honest, I felt too sick to even worry about him. Though, it did cross my mind a few times that my cat was running defenseless outside.

Tonight, around 6:30, Andy was going to get me a Sprite and some laffy taffy (cravings, yes) when he opened his trunk for some odd reason. Stripey was sleeping in the trunk! I believe he is a bit traumatized! A lot of meowing and aimless wandering since he has been inside. My poor kitty! We have no idea how or when he got inside Andy's trunk. It had to be sometime Saturday afternoon.

Good thing Stripey is going to live with my mom and dad soon. I think he needs a home with a bit more TLC for the furry "kids."

Apple Orchard

Today we went to the Apple Orchard with Abbie's Preschool. She had a blast. She picked a lot of red apples and threw a few green in for good measure. She also liked looking at the BIG pumpkins! Her class will go to a pumpkin patch next month. Will came along too. He had fun running around with all the big kids. He managed to pick an apple or two as well. I forgot my camera. Our friend Whitney snapped a few pics. I'll share these when I get them. The nausea is starting to come in waves. This is the part I dread.....I have started popping my preggo drops. They seem to subside some of the nausea. I go to the doctor Monday so I'll keep everyone up to date. Let's all pray that miraculously I am much farther along than I think!
Oh, and Abbie has decided she might like twins! I think I'm going to cut off Jon & Kate Plus 8 watching. I don't need her to get any other ideas!

Question of the Day...

From Abbie of course.
The pressing question today was "Where is my baby sister going to pee?" "Is she going to have to pee on the floor?"
Nooooo, she'll wear diapers. Not sure where this one came from!

Catcher?

Today, as usual, Abbie asked if her baby sister was still in my belly. I gave her my normal response, "Yes the new baby is still in my belly, and the new baby will be there for a long time until he/she is big enough to come out."

Abbie asked, "And then she'll fall out?" "Will she get hurt?"

I told her that the doctor will catch the baby. She decided that she wanted to be the one to catch the baby when he/she falls out!

Oh, if only the birthing process was that easy!!!

Abbie's Grand Plan

Since telling Abbie we were going to have a new baby, she has been super excited.

Her first plan included a baby for everyone....1 for her, 1 for Will, and 1 each for her dolls Erica Chada, Ching Pow, and Ching Pow's sister....yes these are her dolls names.

That's a whole post in itself.

Anyway, daily she has asked me if the new baby is still in my stomach. Tonight she asked again. Then she told me that when her new SISTER comes, she wants to share a room with her. She then proceeded to tell me that her new SISTER can sleep behind her, she'll sleep in the front, and she will NEVER let her fall out of the bed.

How I hope this new found love continues after the new baby is born......brother or sister!

The Missing Fish??

Last year for Christmas Abbie got a fish aquarium from her Aunt Katy. Shortly after, we took her to pick out her fish. Because it is a small tank, she could only have 3 pretty small fish. I don't recall what kind they are. There were 2 neon pink fish and one neon yellow. The yellow quickly became Lemonhead. One of the pink ones became Obama...Abbie is a huge Obama fan. The final pink one became Cupcake with the help of our good friend Molly.

For the last month or 2, one of the pink ones has been missing. Abbie really hadn't noticed. Last night Andy finally cleaned the tank, and Abbie addressed why there were only 2. Without even missing a beat, she asked where Cupcake went. So, it looks like Obama lives on! I wonder how she could tell them apart?

Still In Shock

Most may know by now, but for those far away family and friends, Andy and I are expecting Manar #3.

Yes, you read that right.

We truly are insane.

We just found out Friday night. The FOUR pregnancy tests have confirmed the news.

I'm not so sure why I'm shocked. We had been kicking around the idea since mid-July.

I think I'm just still letting it sink in.

Especially since the first test I took Friday, I was sure read negative....that is until 2 hours later as it was headed to the trash can that I spotted the tiniest of lines.

Seriously they were so faint. I even called Whitney over for a third reading opinion!

It might have something to do with the $1 Dollar General test...yes $1.

Rest assured, the $4 was much more user friendly on the eyes.

Anyway, by my calculations I should be around 6-7 weeks. I'm calling the Doc tomorrow. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime I'll take any prayers for a sickness free pregnancy.

I caved...

Well, I did it.

I finally caved and made a blog.

My cousin, Nicki, is always bugging me to start one--so here I am.

I guess this is as good of a time as any considering I'm just never going to get to those scrapbooks...or baby books for that matter!

So here is my attempt to keep you up to date on the fascinating days in the Manar household.

Be patient with me. I'm not sure how dedicated I'll be to putting posts up. My goal is to at least record some of the crazy things the 2 younger Manar's do!

Get ready for a good read!