Water Table Action

A couple weeks ago, my mom got Zoe a pretty cool water table. Now that the weather is finally warming up, we were able to bring it out . Zoe loves water--swimming, puddles, washing her hands, you name it. So, naturally, the water table was an immediate hit. She spent just a little time splashing the water around in the actual water basin before figuring out that the real fun was throwing water all over the place--on herself, on me, on the sidewalk, on the grass, everywhere. We were both totally soaked, but she loved every minute of water table fun! Thanks, Mom!

New 'Do

Lunch at Qdoba after the cut...still kind of serious

The next day her hair had a stylin' side swipe...too cute!

Well, we finally made the move to get Zoe her first haircut. I have been so reluctant because it has taken so long for her hair to grow. But, after suffering through way too many rainy, cold days inside, it was time to get out for a new adventure. Sure, heading to Snippets may not be the most exciting outing, but it was something.

Zoe handled her haircut in typical Zoe-style: super serious the whole time. She basically vegged out to the Dora video and let the stylist do her thing. Not a single tear shed. Not a single smile cracked. Of course, when we left, Zoe went into full-on chatty mode talking all about her hair cut. We Skyped with my parents later in the day and she couldn't wait to show them her new 'do.

I kind of love her with this new hairstyle. She looks a little older and her hair is not quite as crazy...well, except after naptime when it is all kinds of wild. It also brings out more of her curls, which is pretty much the only thing that she gets from me.

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day celebration a couple weeks ago. We all woke up bright and early to head to the Y-Me Race at Your Pace down in Grant Park. We've done this race/walk a couple of times, but this year we had our biggest group. Lisa, Mike, Bonnie and Roger all came down donning plenty of pink. Jody and Bonnie did the 5K run--and they both kicked butt. Bonnie got first place in her age group and Jody was #172 out of the entire crowd. Totally impressive! I was not running this year since I have not been running throughout the pregnancy. So I waddled along in the 3-mile walk with Zoe, Lisa, Mike and Roger. It was a gorgeous morning and a lovely way to kick off Mother's Day.

After the race/walk, we all headed back to our new place and had a fun breakfast. By noon, we were all pretty pooped. After the family left, Jody, Zoe and I had a fun, relaxing day at the park and a long nap. Totally fun way to spend Mother's Day!

No Cake for Me

As I have been saying from the get-go, this pregnancy has been a lot different--and more difficult--than my first. And the difficulties continue...After scoring a few points too high on my regular 28-week glucose screening test, I had to take the 3-hour test. And last week, on my birthday no less, I found out I have gestational diabetes this time around. Of course, this news totally freaked me out. Diabetes has never been something I've worried about--I am a pretty healthy eater, I workout regularly and I don't have it in my family. The doctors say that it's a result of hormones being out of whack and that it's nothing that I did. But, I still can't help but feel like I've screwed up somehow.

I met with a specialist and a dietician yesterday and both of them made me feel a little better. While it is a serious condition and now puts me into that "high-risk" pregnancy group, the specialist said that my case is mild and that he was pretty confident we could get it under control by putting me on a special diet for the remainder of the pregnancy. Luckily, the doctors have all told me that in the majority of cases it goes away after I deliver the baby. So that's good news. The bad news: there are more risks to the baby--namely, having low blood sugar when he/she is born and being larger than a baby whose mom doesn't have gestational diabetes. Neither of these are certainties, but the risks are greater. I am trying to stay positive, but the hypochandriac in me is freaked. Having anxiety about how the baby is doing is a standard part of pregnancy for me, and this now adds another layer to it.

But, I am following this diet to the tee and hoping that it helps regulate things. That means no more chocolate and ice cream for me (so cruel to do to a pregnant lady!). That also meant no birthday cake on my birthday last week. I told Jody we could celebrate my birthday in October on my half birthday because too much of my actual birthday was spent being bummed out about the news.

Bump It

29 weeks!

Achoo...and Then Some

Sick Z getting some much-needed couch cuddle time with Daddy

So-long March 2011, we certainly won't miss you around the Schirel house! March was a rocky one for us thanks to an awful cold that none of us could shake. Zoe was sick for almost three weeks with a stuffy head, a nasty cough and more snot than you can imagine. Sorry for the visual! I quickly caught the cold from her, since I am a germ magnet in my pregnant state. I swear, if someone even glances at me as they sniffle, I catch whatever they've got going on. I think I have been cold-free for maybe 3 weeks of this entire pregnancy. Zoe and I were both pretty miserable girls for a couple weeks since neither of us could take any of the good heavy-duty cold meds. And, although Jody managed to avoid the bug for a while, he unfortunately caught it in the last week. He was pretty congested and miserable too, but by taking some meds he was able to function a little better than us. The only nice thing about being sick was that when Zoe gets sick, she's extra cuddly, which is always a plus. Since our little monkey girl is always on move, she's not much of a snuggler these days. So at least we got our cuddle fix during these long days/nights.

Oh yeah, and amid all this sickness, we were apartment hunting. We decided to rent for a year in large part because we wanted minimal stress. But, rental searching was way more stressful than we imagined...and going to check out places all over the city after work and on weekends with a sick, cranky kid in tow was not ideal. But, alas, we found a place and we've all finally managed to knock out this cold. So bring on April, bring on spring and maybe, just maybe, we can remain sniffle-free for a little while.

And We Have a Home

After way too much stress, we've decided to stay in the city for another year. We had been looking in the suburbs for a new home and really could not decide upon a town, a house or anything really. It was just too big of a decision that we did not want to make so quickly. Of course, the realization that Baby #2 is on his/her way in the next few months was enough to make Jody and I lose way too much sleep thinking about our future.

So, we've rented out our condo to a really nice couple, and we found a new place to rent in our same neighborhood that will give us more space. We're hoping that this will give us plenty of time to get used to our family of four and make a well-planned decision about a more permanent move. Personally, I am hoping that spending one more year in Chicago will be enough to make me a little more ready to move on. One of the biggest problems I had with our plan to move to the suburbs is that I didn't want to leave the city. Maybe it is the whole nesting thing, but I am just not ready. I love our life in the city. I love our friends here. I love our neighborhood and our neighbors. I love Jody's 10-minute commute to work. And I love the city itself. Yes, I know there are plenty of good things in the suburbs too--good schools, more space to live, a yard, neighborhood pools, new people (who must be nice, right?!). All of that sounds lovely, so we have that to look forward to. Just not quite yet.

We'll be moving out of here and into our new place May 1st, giving us about two months to get settled before Baby. Now it's time for to start sorting through and packing up 7 years of stuff that we've accumulated in this place and let the packing begin...