Mommy's Helper

On Christmas Eve, Malloy and I had to make some cookies for Santa. I happen to know that his favorite kind of cookie is peanut butter with a Hershey kiss on top. Malloy's job was to unwrap the kisses.

She was also responsible for rolling the balls of dough in sugar before they went on the cookie sheet.

I think my little helper may have sampled a few Hershey kisses to make sure they tasted okay.

More from the Christmas Program

One of the dads at Malloy's preschool has a great camera and knows how to use it. These are some shots he got of Malloy belting out her Christmas songs in the K-3 program. I can't explain what is going on with her collar in these pictures. She must have decided she liked the look of having the front flipped up!

Christmas Program

This morning we had Malloy's K-3 Christmas Program. All of the kids did a great job, but I must admit that I was REALLY impressed with Malloy. She sang all of the songs, did the hand motions, and was a great little performer. We got lots of compliments after the show on what a great job she did.

Christmas Pageant

Malloy was a lamb in today's Christmas pageant at church.

She is on the right, but in the back so it's hard to see her.

After the show, she poses with Eliza, who played Mary.

They Call it "Nesting"

The count down is on, yet the nursery has been in a state of disarray for several weeks. There were two assembled cribs and even recently completed bedding, but there were also piles of clothes and baby stuff everywhere. The closet was full of Malloy's clothes that she had outgrown. While it looked like it was close to being ready - it was really a disaster.

So the "nesting" began this weekend!

"What is Nesting?

Nesting is the term used to refer to an expectant mother's instinct which gives her a surge of energy which prompts her to clean and do various chores around her home. Nesting usually arises as the mother nears her due date.

What Do Some Women Do When They Are Nesting?

Each woman will nest in a way that is unique to them. Below is a list of possible things a nesting mother do.

• Clean out the cabinets
• Mop the floor
• Rearrange furniture
• Clean out closets
• Clean a child’s nursery meticulously
• Steam clean upholstery and carpets
• Clean the bathroom
• Stock the kitchen with food
• Cook

While these may seem like normal household chores, when a woman is nesting, she will probably carry out the tasks more meticulously and persistently than usual.

I copied that definition from a website, and I while I did not experience a "burst of energy", I did clean out some closets, rearrange furniture, and meticulously clean the nursery this weekend. I also had to clean out two hall closets to accommodate all of the clothes and shoes that have been handed down to Malloy or that are going to be handed down to Baby Girl. This left me wondering whether I was about to go into premature labor from all of the lifting, bending, squatting and carrying. After getting the room 95% complete, the nesting instinct took me on a 9:00 pm run to Walmart and Target (for more nesting supplies) where I seriously considered using one of those motorized wheelchairs. I was worn out!

Now, I can officially say that the nursery and closet (not necessarily the people living in the house) are ready for the twins. The blankets and preemie clothing have been washed, the beds are made, and we even have some diapers.

We have lots of pink and blue clothes. All of Malloy's hand-me-downs for baby sister have been sorted, labeled and stored.

Let me tell you - I cannot wait to get all of these clothes out of my house as soon as these babies outgrow them!

We have two cribs and a place to feed the babies

Below is Baby Boy's crib. This was Malloy's bedding. Since we didn't find out if she was a boy or a girl, I went for something neutral the first time around.

Below is Baby Girl's crib. When I had the second set of bedding made, I was going to go for an exact copy of the original bedding. However, since I know there will be a little girl sleeping here, it is a little more "girly" with ruffles, polka dot bows and a different bed skirt.

On to Christmas

Thanksgiving was great, but we're on to Christmas already! It was actually my birthday on Thanksgiving and I received a new camera, so I have been experimenting with it this weekend. I know it has a million features that I haven't even begun to figure out, but it also works great right out of the box in "auto" mode.

Here is a picture of Malloy with her new obsession - the nativity set. I think Kyle and I received this as a wedding gift and we put it out a few times over the years, but it was stored away in a closet and I located it last year while we were moving. Then, I stored it away in our new house and couldn't find it last year either. Fortunately (for Malloy), I found it again! It has already provided hours of entertainment for her. She has a Dora doll house, a Loving Family doll house, and a Fisher Price nativity set, but this one tops them all. Our set only included Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the angel so we decided to start a yearly tradition of adding animals and people. Friday, we purchased the wise men on the camels and they have been a big hit. They are made of a plastic resin and therefore are not too easily broken.

On Thanksgiving Day, Malloy's grandmother wanted to take a Christmas card photo with all of her children and grandchildren. She specifically requested that they wear "Christmas" clothing. I know we will look back at other pictures from the day and wonder why Malloy was wearing green and red on Turkey Day.

Malloy is modeling how pretty her hair can be if she will allow me to blow it dry, let alone, brush it. I am contemplating taking her to see the new Rapunzel movie "Tangled" in hopes that it might encourage more cooperation during the dreaded daily hair brushing.

All decked out in Christmas clothes for our Thanksgiving lunch.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Malloy's preschool held it's annual Santa's Workshop fundraiser this weekend. The theme was "Cowboy Christmas" and they offered pictures with Santa (with a Cowboy backdrop). Her class also performed a few Christmas songs and there were items for sale and a silent auction. Malloy did not hesitate to tell Santa what she wanted - a Dorothy doll (as in the Wizard of Oz) and an American Girl doll. I hope she can stay on Santa's nice list until December 25!

Costume Carnival

Malloy's preschool had a costume carnival today. All of the kids were in their Halloween costumes and we went from station to station doing different activities.

One of the stations was cookie decorating. As you can see, Malloy made sure to pour plenty of sprinkles on her cookie.

We had a little hayride.

Her friend, Adrienne, was also dressed as Dorothy.

I think the parents enjoyed watching them "bob" for donuts. It was pretty hilarious!

Trying to get all of the girls in her class to pose for a picture was a little challenging. There were two Dorothys, three Cinderellas (one not pictured), a Sleeping Beauty, and a butterfly.

McBabies

I have had a special request for some ultrasound pictures from one of my faithful readers. It's not that I don't have any to post - I have tons of pictures! I have probably had at least 10 ultrasounds. For the most part, I just don't think that you can tell what anything is in the pictures unless you have a trained ultrasound technician explaining it to you. It is always fun to see the babies in action when I go to the doctors office, to listen to their heartbeats, and have the ultrasound tech explain what they are doing and how they are positioned. As of my last appointment, both were breach and Baby B's head was up near my ribs - no wonder I have felt a pain in my rib every night! Baby B (girl) is also usually not cooperative for the ultrasound. She is moving around whey they are trying to get a good heartrate reading or she is turning her face away when they try to give me a good shot of her face. Baby A seems to always be turned just how they want him. I wonder if this is any indication of how they will be behave once they arrive!

Both of these pictures (the 3D ones) are of Baby A.

He was just hanging out with his little hands by his face, practically posing for us.

The next picture is a profile shot of Baby A and the one at the bottom is of Baby B.

I don't think these pictures are too exciting, but I will be sure to post more if I get some good ones. I think I will get some 3D ones of both babies (if B will cooperate) at my next appointment. The ultrasound tech warned me that 3D pictures of babies taken really early are not very cute because the babies don't have much fat on them. The 3D ones above of Baby A were taken over a month ago when he was pretty scrawny. Hopefully next time they'll be a little plumper and more "human" looking.

Dress Rehearsal for Halloween

The Halloween costume arrived today and Malloy wanted to try it out right away. I even had to fix her hair like Dorothy for the full effect. After she got the costume on and we acted out some scenes from the movie, we had to watch "The Wizard of Oz" while in costume.

Of course we had to order Toto in the basket. The costume wouldn't be complete without it.
The Dorothy braids with ribbons. Upon further review of the movie, I have realized that Dorothy doesn't actually have braids, but a more complicated twist that ends in a big ringlet curl. I don't think Malloy has enough hair for the actual hairstyle and she is pretty content with the braids.

Visit from the Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy paid us a visit last night. It was a little sooner than I would have liked, but the dentist said the tooth had to go. You might recall that Malloy fell and hit her teeth on the bathtub last November. We went to the dentist and it seemed like everything was going to be okay. Her two front teeth turned slightly grey, but it wasn't too noticable. We even went back to the dentist last spring and everything still looked good. A couple of weeks ago, we went in for a cleaning and they told me that one of Malloy's front teeth had developed an abscess and would have to be pulled. You can imagine how I felt about the fact that my sweet little 3 year old was going to be a snaggletooth until her permanent tooth grows in (around age 5-6). I explored all the options, and unfortunately, there aren't any good ones for fake teeth for toddlers. My dentist said if she had lost all four front teeth (yikes!) they can make false teeth, but when it is just one tooth it is really difficult to attach and it usually looks really obviously like a fake tooth. A friend of mine who is an orthodontist offered to make a fake tooth on a retainer for "special occassions" and pictures. I might just take him up on the offer. Again, the drawback is that she would outgrow it every 6 months or so. You can't trust a teenager to keep track of a retainer so I don't think giving one to a 3 year old would be a great option either. Fortunately, we just had some professional pictures taken and her school pictures were last week too.

I know that the pending tooth extraction was much more stressful for me than Malloy. She had to take penicillin for 10 days which was traumatic for both of us - she is a REALLY uncooperative medicine taker. Then, leading up to the appointment I was very anxious about how she would react to the sedation and whether it would be painful. She handled it like a champ. The hardest part was not letting her eat or drink anything before her 9:30 appointment. When we got to the dentist office, she eagerly followed the hygienist to the back of the office and Kyle and I were left wondering and waiting in the lobby. They came out several times and said she was doing great and talking up a storm. She was telling the dentist about how there are "no boys allowed" on the playground when she is playing. They gave her "silly juice" (Versed) and laughing gas (Nitrous) and then a couple of "bubbles" (injections of Novocain) in her gums. Apparently she didn't even know they gave her shots and continued talking throughout the injections and the actual extraction. The tooth was a little loose from the injury and the dentist told me she just wiggled and pulled it right out. When they were done, Kyle went back and got her and she picked out some prizes and got her tooth in a little pink tooth shaped box. She was running her tongue over the spot where her tooth was, but I am not sure she knew that it was missing from her mouth.

She was a little loopy from the drugs, so I took a video of her once we got home. She was, for the most part, cooperative but a little bit mean when she didn't get what she wanted. At one point, she couldn't get her Barbie to sit down and she was yelling at it and biting it. She also tried to bite me when she didn't have her way, but after a late afternoon nap she was back to her old self.

Above, a picture of Malloy with her tooth fairy pillow before bed.

Road Trip to Starkville

Malloy and Kyle took a little Daddy-Daughter road trip this weekend. They went to Starkville, MS to see the Georgia Bulldogs play the Miss. State Bulldogs. I think the game was a total disaster from a football standpoint, but both Kyle and Malloy had a good time. I must admit that I was a little nervous before they embarked on their trip. I was grateful for 24 hours to myself but skeptical about what kind of traveling companion Malloy would be for the 5 1/2 hour drive.

Kyle said they spent most of their time along the Georgia sideline watching the cheerleaders, Hairy Dawg and Russ. Malloy brought her "ear muffs" to protect her sensitive ears from the din of the cow bells.

She was very excited about the red pom pons that the cheerleaders pass out to the fans. When she came home, she performed many of her cheers for me.

Russ (the temporary Uga substitute)

Hairy Dawg