Mama, Baby and a Bun

This has to be the sweetest tushy in town!


All the time, Madee is so cute with my belly making poses and rubbing and kissing her sister in there. Of course, those are on days where the camera is too far away to get started in time, (those moments are fleeting) or they are bad hair and no make up days for Mommy.


So we set up a couple shots, and of course she wasn't really in the mood...but Charlie hung in there and got some cute ones.


We are at 34 weeks, and have started our weekly visits to the doctor for ultrasounds and non-stress tests. I don't think all ladies have to go through this in the end but I am considered "high-risk" due to last pregnancy's complications. Luckily, that high blood pressure has yet to rear it's ugly head, and the panic attacks have also stayed far away.


All in all, this has been a less stressful pregnancy - surprising, I know, what with the 15 motnh old and all...it is almost as if she makes it all better.


This belly is growing bigger and harder to navigate around by the day. Every night I go to sleep thinking, "I couldn't possibly get any bigger!" Then I wake up the next day thinking. "Well, I guess I could!"


I will be glad when Eden is alongside us instead of in between us all the time. It makes baby lifts and belly giggles a little more difficult with a big hump in the middle!


I am trying to slow down as much as possible - being out breath all the time helps - but I just want to appreciate this last few weeks of having Madee to myself. It is hard to imagine how our relationship will evolve, because what we have right now is so super special. I know that logically, I will never have this kind of one on one relationship with another baby.

I am confident I will have enough love to give what I give Madee, but it will never be the two of us like Madee and I have been...


In fact soon, it will be the 2 of them. I am so excited to see my girls together. When I see sisters that are close in age my heart just melts. It will be awesome to watch Madee show Eden how to do stuff. Madee has so much to teach her.


So these are the numbered days of our lives as a group of 3. Charlie and I feel so blessed with our family and are so excited to get our second one in on the fun. It is hard to imagine that we may be done making babies after such an intensive baby making couple of years - in fact, Almost half the time Charlie and I have known each other, I have been pregnant.

I think he is ready to get his non-nauseous, easier breathing, not quite so hormonal wife back.


Full body shot with head...a rarity!


There are things I will miss about being pregnant. Like how everything is just taken care of and all baby's needs are met, and for the most part, things are quieter. I won't miss the heaving and the struggling to stand from a laying or sitting position.

I will miss the feeling of her wiggling with fury in my abdomen. But mostly I will miss the unlimited ice cream...

Madee and Me at the beach for a picnic

Just some stuff...

My precious little bee. And boy does she have a stinger!

We had her 15 month check up today and going to the doctor has become like the most traumatic thing in my entire world.

Charlie has to come with me because first of all, it requires both of us to hold her down just to measure her length. She has such a fit right when the nurse comes in the door long before she even touches her.


It is the most brilliant display of self-defense I have ever seen from such a small person. When we are done I wait until she can't see me and I cry. It just kills me to see her so horrified like that.

So today after the doctor somebody got her first ice cream cone.


She doesn't really indicate "yes" but she sure knows how to shake her head "no".

And no. She doesn't want to go back to the doctor.


Here she is with her Elmo. She is warming up to him. They dance together and when he goes "night night" she drags him around the house.


Here we are on a better day.


This is Mad's favorite toy. She will chase you around the house with it because she likes to play it as a team. Sometimes it gets stuck on top of the fridge for a while when Mommy needs a break....


Little girls playing with books together. So cute.


Little girls playing at the playground together. Also so cute.


Little girls playing in the parking lot together. Adorables.


We spent a lot of time in the truck waiting for Dad to finish up at the Verizon Store. Don't worry she isn't really driving and we are parked so she isn't "Britney Spearsing" the back seat.


I just love her hair. do you see that little curl over her ear? Precious. It curls in spots behind her neck and over her ears sometimes. I want to just eat her she is so sweet.


Lots of times she has to hang on me like this.


And sometimes she just keeps on walking away from me no matter how much I verbally protest.


She is just talking up a storm these days. She has syllables down. Sometime the words "bottle", "buddy", "baby", "bubble", and "puzzle" sound the same.

She has a round of M and D words too - so if you look at her context, you totally know what she is saying.

"Uh oh", "Bless you", and 'Thank you" all sound the same too. She doesn't skip a beat with her thank you's and doesn't pass up an opportunity to bless you after a sneeze. What a sweetheart!


Seriously, she is such a great kid. At moments she is about 4 hands full (or more), but she is quite awesome nonetheless.

We couldn't be any luckier!

Mommy hearts Madee and Eden

Madee and I totally had the greatest day today. Lisa threw a shower for Eden and a playdate for Madee all in one good show! Not only were there some great new mommy friends for me to meet but there was all sorts of kids ranging in age from 6 months to 4 years, and some really good food.
I love watching Madee interact with her peers. I have a new appreciation for kids of different ages - it is so cool to watch the older ones show the little ones how to do stuff. And it is cool to see what development lies ahead.

I think once your kid is a toddler it is best for us Moms to stick together. Toddlerhood is just not something any Mommy should have to face alone. We need Mommies who have been there or who are there so we know that it isn't something we are doing wrong and it isn't anything personal and, in fact, it isn't usually even about us at all but we have to carry the weight of it anyway becasue that is what Mommies do.



It is hard being a baby. And as hard/emotional/exhausting as it is to be a Mommy, at least I have the cognition of knowing that this will soon pass, perhaps even at bedtime, and I can prepare myself for the challenges of the next day.

Madee just doesn't even have that consolation, she only knows those overwhelming feelings as she is feeling them, and she doesn't even know that they will stop and there will be giggles and fun in her future. I am now a firm believer that her job is harder than mine.

I am so excited for the things she has to learn and the things she has to teach her sister and who knows who else. She is such an amazing kid and she teaches me new stuff all the time - about the world, about her, about myself. (that statement makes me flash to her standing on Jaime's coffee table today, pulling up her skirt and showing some diaper as she danced to Prince - hysterical - and I don't know where she gets that. We don't even have a coffee table!)

Opening presents for Eden today, I realized how unprepared I am in comparison to when Madee was coming. Her room isn't started, her clothes aren't ready, my bag isn't packed - I just don't have anything ready for her. (Mostly because I am so busy with Madee!) And yet, I really am more ready for her because of Madee - because I am already a Mom.

I am so excited for her to be here to take her wild little place in the whirling dervish of our family. It is going to be a sweet exhausting challenge to watch another little Van derven girl sprout wings and fly...

32 1/2 weeks...

So really only 6 1/2 to go...

I love this tank top from my pre-mommy days, and pulled it out for this shoot. Not only does it fit really cute for showing belly, but Eden might have been a little later coming if it hadn't been for Jack...he kind of helped her get here!

So the doctor says we are shooting for the week before her due date. That's why the 6 1/2 week ETA.

We also had an ultrasound last week, and although she is supposed to be spending the next several weeks fattening up, she doesn't need it. She is already a round chunky baby! She looked just like her sister, only smashed up a bit - she is running out of room in there!

As of last Thursday, she was 4 lbs 7 oz - roughly a pound heavier than the average baby at that week of development. And I am only 10 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight, so she is half of it. She is gaining 1/2 lb a week, so she will be a good size baby! I can tell because she has taken up residence on my sciatic nerve, which makes it hard to chase her sister!

Anyway, it is getting harder to move gracefully or stand up from being seated on the ground and harder to lug Madee around and harder to sleep and harder to deal with all the hormonal mood tornadoes, but it is nice to have the end in sight.


Speaking of sister...she loves to climb into this chair.


She gets very enthralled with her programs, and loves to sing along. She sings "Ba-Pa Ba-Pa" along with the backpack song from Dora.

She will try to say almost anything you say to her, and I am amazed at how fast she is learning her language skills. I have also been reading all about toddlers, and have a methodical approach to many of her behaviors, and that has created some much needed peace in our household.


We have a lot of successful communication, which cuts down on the tantrums and frustration that she was going through. It is amazing how she is such a big independent girl one minute and then needs to be held like a baby the next.

Her life is so interesting and so precious to me. It means a lot to me that I get to be here for almost every minute of it. I am the luckiest lady she knows...


I can't believe how much she has grown in the last 15 months, and I can't believe we are about to start it all over again. It is very exciting to be a new person's Mom (and sister!) I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Mad's new face

Ask her what her favorite food is...she'll let you know it is see-food!

Easter Happenings...

Rare Mr. Easter Bunny siting...he makes us coffee!


A candid look at an Easter awakening...

Madee's loot

Cutest bunny ever


She found out pretty quickly that there were jellybeans in the eggs - not only does it sound cool when shaken, it tastes great when opened!

New toy for baseball season! Madee needs some Brewers gear!


Playing with Dad

Snuggle bunny.


Dad made bunny shaped pancakes! (freehand, no less!)


Sweet Easter kisses come from those lips!

The festivities begin! BFFs on the wagon train to the Big Easter Egg Hunt!

Madee found a golfball - I guess we should have practiced!

Eggs open faster if you bite them!


While the other kids were actually grabbing as many eggs as possible, Madee only cared about what was inside. Her method? Find an egg, open it, eat jellybeans, move on to next egg...


Lila had practice at school - she's pretty fast at grabbing eggs.


Madee running about grabbing eggs.


Oops - no wasting jellybeans!


Beans beans the magical fruit!

In action at the hunt...

We had such a good time! Thank you Mr. Easter Bunny! Bok! Bok!