Our big girl

Allie has had a very big month! The day after we returned from NJ (December 6th) Allie was being ridiculous about her binky after her nap. We couldn't handle the whining and finally Adam walked over gave her the binky and told her to throw it in the trash. That night she took over an hour and a half to go to bed. The next day at nap she asked for it, but was asleep within a half hour. The times were shortened everyday until finally there wasn't a fight. Don't get me wrong, nap time most days she whines because she thinks she doesn't need them anymore. However 2-3 hours later, Im sure she feels much better after sleeping that long. She has not had a binky since that Sunday at her nap and we haven't looked back. Sometimes she asks for it and we remind her she put it in the trash and thats the end of it. That was one huge obstable out of the way before the baby comes. We also slowly started working on potty training when we got back. We moved her potty in her room so she could get used to sitting on it etc (plus our bathroom is tooooo small for it). One night she got mad at us (as usual) and closed her bedroom door. A few minutes later she was yelling and Adam went in and she had peed on the potty all on her own. So we started introducing panties slowly and phasing out diapers. The next day she pooped on the potty twice and I was so excited. She did well for a few days and then regressed a little and was pooping in her panties and having 3-4 accidents a day. As Christmas got closer she started getting better with it. She was having major poop issues, but thats because she was having trouble going and would go whenever she could actually go. I realized this was from her not eating enough fruits over the holidays with all we had going on and shes doing SO much better with it now. She hasn't had a poopie accident since my parents were here and that was over a week ago. She had a pee pee accident on NYE at our friends house, but she was patiently waiting with her pants down in front of their potty and I didn't hear her yelling and she couldn't hold it any longer. Poor thing! She is still sleeping at night in pull ups, but most mornings she wakes up dry and gets on her potty before I even go in to get her out of bed. We haven't ventured out of the house in panties yet, but she is going to start wearing them to school tomorrow. Her teacher was really impressed with the difference in her during her school break. Not only is her potty training going well, but she is saying so many more words and her teacher was going on and on about how smart she is for her age. I definately think school is playing a big role in that! She came up to me yesterday and said "Hi! Nice to meet you, I Allie" and shook my hand. Her no thanks transformed into no thank you and please sounds much more like it should. Its absolutely amazing! Shes becoming such a big girl, if I weren't bursting with pride (haha) I would probably be sad!

Baby and life updates :)

Ok well finally time for a baby update! I am FINALLY feeling better. Im still tired, but I rarely nap anymore, just some quiet laying down and I am good to go. I haven't had a headache in weeks, my sinuses have finally cleared up and I am finally back to working out. My belly is slowly growing. Some days I look more pregnant than others. However, Im only 18 weeks, so just give me some time! I go to the doctors next week. I have my 20 week ultrasound on January 12th and we MIGHT find out what the baby is. I have my check up on January 14th, Im not excited to get in trouble for most likely gaining too much weight over the holidays. Im curious, because both my German doctor and NJ doctor never once commented on my weight. Ever since they found out Allie was 9 lbs they must think I was just a super unhealthy fatty during my pregnancy. My family just has big babies, its what we do. Anyway, Ive felt a couple little movements here and there, but its not everyday yet and its not very strong either. I still forget Im pregnant about 95% of the time. Ive started doing prenatal pilates and I like it. Ive always been unflexible, but today I definately realized I need to stretch and do pilates a whole lot more!
We found out about Adam's new unit's training schedule. He will be on block leave right around the time the baby is born. So now we need to figure out how they will work his leave since he is supposed to get 10 days off paternal leave. We also found out he will be in California for the whole month of August. We were hoping block leave would be in July so we could go home and have the baby Christened as well as have Allie's 3rd birthday party. Instead I will go back to NJ for two weeks with the kids in August to celebrate mine and Allie's birthdays. We decided to delay the Christening until his predeployment leave. He missed Allie's and I don't want him missing this one too. So at least everyone will meet the baby by August and then see us again in the fall. Adam may deploy early 2011, so I will most likely head back to NJ depending on living arrangements. I don't want to give up our house here since we will still have one year left in the Army when he returns. Well I think thats it for now!