22 weeks

Yep, it's official I'm huge. One of my co-workers asked if I was having twins.... not just the largest Pleimann baby ever!

Random Abby Stories

The Elephant vs The Alligator

Abby has recently decided she needs a pillow at night. Since we haven't gotten a full size pillow for her yet, she's been using the decorative pillows on the rocking chair. Almost every night she lays down, tests the pillow on her bed from the night before. Then she either is set for the night or asks for "alligator" or "elephant" and of course the image has to be facing up to leave a nice imprint on her face.

Where will the Baby sleep?

The other day when Abby and I were playing with her baby dolls in her room when I asked her where Baby Booger was going to sleep. Abby looked around and pointed to her crib, and said right here. I said that's very nice of you, but where are you going to sleep? She laughed and said "Living room." I laughed and told her she doesn't have to sleep in the living room, that she would be getting a new room, and she just looked at me like I was crazy.... this from the girl who wants to sleep in the living room.

Roll call

This morning I overslept and by the time I got Abby to daycare they were sitting down to breakfast. She asked me to take her potty before I left. The bathroom is connected to the classroom so we could still hear what was going on in the room. Ms. Amanda was taking roll call. When taking roll she asked "Where's Matthew?" and looks around and all the kids look and that kid says "Matthew here." I could tell Abby was very distracted listening for her name, and Ms. Amanda stretched so as we were coming out she asked where Abby was. Abby was so excited. It was probably one of the easiest drop offs I had in a while. It made running late worth it.

Cleaning the sink

So after Abby went potty and washed her hands she grabbed a paper towel and wiped her hands. Then she preceded to wipe down all around the sink, that wasn't wet. Ms. Amanda and Ms. Claire must do this after the kids because both Dave and I have seen Abby do it. It's so cute.

The Baby Name

So, Peggy and I have been thinkin....maybe we'll share the baby's name with you. So, take a look at the video to find Abby telling you the baby's name.





HA! You didn't think we were really going to tell you, did you? You see, in order for Abby not to give away the baby name, we decided to teach her to say booger. So, yes, you can try all you want to get it out of her, but she's just going to tell you booger! In fact, we don't even have a boy's name picked out yet!

Baby #2

Can you see his/her eyes? The baby is off to the left side, the baby's mouth is wide open. Already talking just like his/her sister.

Friday we had our 20 week ultrasound. Yes we could have found out the sex but we didn't. And the doctor didn't ruin the surprise. She did tell us she had a run of boys that day, which has Dave determined that this one is a boy. The child is already a fighter, kicking and waving during the ultrasound. The doctor kept having to turn the monitor away because the baby was moving so much and she was afraid we'd know if it was a boy or girl. This is a side view of the baby's head and one arm up waving at the camera.

So far everything looks good, the baby is measuring big, at 13oz, versus the 9-10oz it should be but the doctor said it wasn't big enough to be concerned. A picture of the kiddos spine.

The puking seems to have slowed down, the few times it happens it seems to be stress induced. The doctor did recommend I take it easy, not stressing at work, ha. I work in news, we carry 13 hours of live broadcast everyday, its hard not to stress. I started contracting with Abby at 28 weeks, I'm hoping that doesn't happen again.

All By Herself

For the first time today, Abby went to the potty all by herself. She pulled down her pants, went (she's back on the little potty now....not sure why, but that's what she wants), and pulled them up. All without our help! Hooray!

We even got to the point tonight where we just asked her to go to the bathroom. She went in there without any other input from us and did her business.

When we walked in there, she was busy pulling her pants up. The only problem? She pooped! Whoops! She now knows that if she poops, she needs to let us know before pulling up her pants!

Hooray Abby!

There's hope after all!!!!

We are so hopeful and excited tonight! The last week has been a whirlwind.

We had an open house on Sunday. We had eight different groups come through, which we were very excited about! For the few weeks before that, we only had one showing or so a week, and things really seemed to be slowing down.

Then, on tuesday, we had another showing. The lady on that showing asked when she would be able to close on the house.....certainly a good sign! But, apparently she was considering a couple other houses as well.

On thursday, Peggy got a call about a showing at 2:30. ARGH! The house was pretty clean, but nowhere near clean enough for a showing. Luckily, I have STUCO 5th hour, then lunch, and then my conference hour. So, I was able to leave for a couple of hours to get the house cleaned up and the dog over to mom and dad's house. It was a huge hassle, but any showing is a huge hassle. You just have to keep telling yourself that "this could be the one!" That's what gets you through.

So, I went back to school and finished out the day. But, it was exhausting! On my way home, I was two minutes away from the house at 4:40. Peggy called, we had another showing at 5:00. What?!? We've never been given such short notice (they're supposed to give at least an hour). Oh well, the house was already clean, it just changed our dinner plans. So, I pulled up to the house at about 4:45, and the people were already in front of our house! ARGH! So, I threw the dog in the backyard, and got Abby out. I asked them, and sure enough, they were here for the showing. They were a young couple (reminded me of Peggy and I a few years ago) and very appreciative that they could come on such short notice. So, I took Abby and Proton to the park. On my way out, I saw that the realtor and another car (appeared to be parents) showed up.

When we got home, I realized that the 2:30 and 5:00 showings were the same people! HOORAY!!!!! They liked the house so much, that they brought one set of parents to see it. Another good sign!

Our realtor talked to them later on and figured out that they wanted to bring the other set of parents through, but probably not until Monday.

Well, this morning, we got a call for a showing at 5:00. And it was them! Hooray! I had to work up at school in the morning, but got home by 12:00 and started cleaning. I spent almost three hours on the yard (raking all the leaves and acorns, cutting the grass, trimming plants, etc.). The next two hours were spent cleaning the house. It looks AMAZING. We've never had such an immaculate house.

So, we went over to my mom and dad's. When we got back at 6:05, they were still there! Not only that, but there was a caravan of cars in front of our house! Five cars in all! Woah! So, we drove by the house. They were all gathered in the living room sitting on the couches. Writing an offer maybe???? We don't know yet, but are surely hoping! We'll see either tonight or tomorrow.

Other positive signs....it looks like they investigated everything! They moved blinds up and down, opened the toilet, turned on the hot water in the kitchen, etc. They were here for over an hour, which is another good sign I think.

So, here's to hoping for an offer tonight or tomorrow! We've been trying not to get our hopes up over anything, because we have been so close to an offer three other times so far. But, this one feels different. Hopefully it all works out.

Birthday Weekend

This past weekend, Bobo stayed with us. It was the Welcome Weekend at Sally's school and it was the weekend before my birthday and a week before Sally's.

Saturday Bobo, Abby and I got up early and headed to Fulton to hangout with Sally. Her sorority had a silent auction and a bbq.

Equestrian is a huge program at the school and there was a show going on. Abby was so excited, the rest of us knew she would freak out if she got close to the horses but she kept telling us "Abby ride" and "Abby pet."

Of course as soon as we got close to this guy, Abby quickly changed her mind. She stayed far away with her head buried in Bobo's chest.

Abby did enjoy watching the girls ride. Thank goodness Auntie Sally is so tall. After a morning of William Woods we brought Sally back to St. Louis with us for some more family fun. Including some bike riding!

On Sunday we had an open house so we were busy cleaning and getting the house organized but we did take some time to hit up Stuckmeyer's Farm in Fenton for a pumpkin.

With a little help from Mommy, Abby found the perfect pumpkin! I think it weighs more than her.

The best part of the day.... A tractor show!

What you can't read under the McCormick is that it says "International Harvester" one of Dave's favorite country songs.

Abby talked to one of the farmers, I believe she may have told him she liked his "pink" tractor... still working on colors at our house.

The closest thing I got to a group shot... Auntie Sally, Bobo, Grandma Nancy, Abby and Dave is on the other side of Bobo.

Stuckmeyer's also has a great play area that is free! So we stopped for a few minutes after finding a pumpkin.

Abby told us she wanted to ride the horsey but of course this is as close as she would get. So we skipped the ride this year and will try again next year. This is also a look at my 20 week belly, and the heartburn begins!

And some family photos...

Once home we ran around getting the house ready for the open house, and then we spent the afternoon at a friends house. Later that night we hung out in the backyard... Abby is looking so old in some of these pictures.

And the night isn't complete until Abby has spent some time on the swing set. Yes, she can almost climb the entire way up the rock wall on her own.

The most perfect picture of happiness.

And some serious spider hunting with Bobo, the girl has no fear of the 8 legged creatures.

Plus a little game of baseball....