Happy St. Patrick's Day

Not to be outdone by her little sister, Veda wanted to get a little blog face time today. Since it was 85+ degrees in LA today, Veda got to break out her new green skirt for St. Paddy's Day - one of Kathy's big Craiglist finds - a Charlie Sheen kids original (that still cracks me up saying it).

While at the baby sitters, Veda ventured to the park where she got to feed the ducks ritz crackers. Apparently Veda had to eat half of each cracker before feeding them to the ducks...probably just making sure they were safe & edible for the ducks...safety first.

Adele Ryan Laabs

Born at 1:12pm PST. She is a healthy 7lb 1oz baby girl, measuring 20 inches (about 1lb and 1 inch smaller than her big sister when she was born). Kathy is recovering very well. Adele already had a little snack, but mom isn't allowed to for a few hours (and even then it will just be ice chips).

Contractions!!!

It really hasn't hit me yet that we will have a new member of our family tomorrow. I've been having contractions every 10 minutes since about 8pm last night. I was sure that we were going to have to take a midnight run to the hospital so we stayed up late getting everything ready. But alas - we are still here - the Dr. checked me this morning and things are definately progressing but not quickly enough for him to be worried. So we will keep our sights set on tomorrow and I will continue to spend the rest of the day cleaning up to-do items that I've let sit for months. Also - I mentioned that I made enchiladas yesterday. I've never made them in my life yet I decided that this 2 hour project should take place days before I give birth. Hummm.

Check Check Check

Well I've done about all I can do to prepare for the big day. Tomorrow I'll finish up my to-do list for work, attend one last Dr. Apt, head to the hospital for my pre-op blood work, and greet my parents when they arrive. Today I've made enchiladas, ran to the store, arranged flowers, washed windows, Todd washed my car, laundry, final packing for the hospital and maybe my last blog post before the baby is born. Check back here on Tuesday around 3 pacific time. Hopefully Todd will have the announcement posted by then. Just wish I could be sure Veda is going to handle my absence ok. She has become pretty needy of me lately.

I'm all ready for the return home with the baby though. Bought Veda a new baby stoller of her own to push around and also a water table. We will break out the fun the day I get back.

This is a pic of Veda at Toddler Time at the library last week. I won't be taking her again any time soon. 40 kids about her age running around while their parents try to get them to pay attention to the poor woman reading the books. We gave up early on and went exploring on our own.

Sunny Days

The weather has turned a corner. No more rainy weekends. It has actually been a really crapy winter by California standards. Of course it would have to turn nice days before my week of fun in the hospital bed. At least the nice weather will make things easier on Nana and Bull who will be busy busy with V. Todd informed me today that he looks forward to laying by the pool next week. Huh?

Daycare smiles

We had lots of tears this morning when Dad dropped her off but luckily she has turned a corner. I love that Jenn sends me pics of her having fun throughout the day. It's just like doggy daycare back in Iowa City where you can go online and watch your dogs running around on the cybercam.

Cool Like Dad

Todd left his hat laying around and Veda picked it up and put it on... backwards like Dad does. Cute.

Daycare Bus

I've been on a call since 5am this morning and it's now 12:30 with a couple hours to go. My team is meeting back in Columbus (EST) and obviously I couldn't be there with them so I'm calling instead. I will do the same tomorrow. Todd has had to take over morning duty and got her dressed and took her to daycare this morning. She was confused with the mix-up... wonder how she'll feel when Todd and I aren't around next week? Oh and we are on break - I'm not blogging on the call!

Bump Report 1 Week to Go

I had a Dr's appt yesterday and he reported that nothing is happening. Which is good. Dr. Silverman is leaving town for the week so I don't want any surprises. Plus I have plenty to do before my parents get here. As you can see I'm bursting - hard to breath, move, sleep, etc...

Dear Aunt Diane

My Aunt Diane (my mother's sister) passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer. She will be missed. She was a strong personality and left many impressions on our lives.

I can't help but think of some of my favorite Di moments. Like when she went out on the town with me and my friends when I was in my early 20's - I'll spare you the specifics but know that she made us all look like amatures at the bar and had my Mom on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

There was the time that I was in DC on business and she drove up from Maryland to stay with me at my fancy hotel. I met her in the lobby and she was carrying a huge black garbage bag full of her things. She looked like a homeless person. She just shrugged her shoulders and said she couldn't find her suitcase. She never did care what anyone else thought. I of course was mortified as we walked through the lobby to the elevators.

A couple of years ago when I was pregnant with Veda we were all visiting my Grandfather in North Carolina. We were staying at a hotel where we discovered they had an ant infestation and they had recently sprayed the hotel rooms. Di went crazy on the staff and demanded to talk to the extermination company herself. She would not stop until she made it clear that spraying a hotel room where a pregnant woman would be sleeping was unacceptable. This was of course no surprise to us... we were glad to have her do our dirty work because I can guarantee you my parents would have just let it go without much fuss. Instead we got a discount on our rooms and a basket of goodies sent to our room (which the ants enjoyed very much;).

My wedding. I was in my room getting ready for the big event when Diane stormed to report that she overheard some girls at the pool saying they were going to "crash" the wedding. She was ready to call security and have them thrown off the property. Of course my response was "the more the merrier" but she was eager for some drama so I don't think she was satisfied with my response;)

For those of us who knew and love her there is no end to the stories and moments that made her turly unique and one of a kind. She was also a very generous and loyal (to her family and close friends) woman. I know she is at peace and looking after us. She told me last week that she would "meet" the new baby before we would and she would look after her. I'm sure they are getting aquainted right now;)

Jammin' in the Acadia

Veda LOVES to hang out in the car. We've been cleaning and rearranging the garage the past couple of weeks to make room for the extra bed we now have and a few more strollers and baby things. We just throw Veda in the car and she has the time of her life climbing from the front to back and back to front while we are hard at work. Her favorite is playing "Mom" in the driver's seat.

Happy Birthday Beeeeeeeeej

We celebrated BJ's birthday (as well as my own) at BJ and Melissa's tonight. The girls were like little birds begging for nibbles of the strawberries Melissa was using to garnish the super delicious birthday cake she made from scratch. For the first time ever Veda sat on her own in a chair at the dinner table and I have to say she gets a passing grade.

Dress up

I let Veda play with my jewelry drawer this morning. She had loads of fun putting things over her head and on her wrists and ankles - yes - ankles. One of my beaded bracelets bit the dust and ended up in a million pieces on the bathroom floor but I really don't care - totally worth the 30 minutes of entertainment it provided.

Push Gift

I think the idea of a push gift is pretty silly but I'm not going to reject one of course. When I was pregnant with Veda Todd bought me a new Michael Kors watch to keep track of my "hees and my haws." This time around we are buying a King size bed to accomodate the extra bodies that will gather for Saturday morning cartoons! The bed arrives Friday - earlier than I had expected. It just occured to me that I don't have a mattress pad or sheets for a King size and that I'll need to go those asap. Do I dare try a trip to Ross with Veda before Todd gets home? I'm wondering if my pregnant body can handle the physical endurance required to chase a toddler around the store. I've been avoiding errands as much as I can but I don't think this one can wait.

Put to Work

A few pics from day two at daycare taken by Jenn on her I phone. Veda had a breakdown close to nap time so I picked her up a little early today. I figured we would need to ease into this. She was fine when I dropped her off this morning though. She sure looks busy!

Veda's First Day of "School"

I dropped Veda off this morning without incident. She was so busy with the play kitchen that she would barely look at me when I said goodbye. I didn't cry and haven't even really thought much about it. Jennifer (from daycare who is Ella's mom - not Jack's mom) sent me these pics of Veda partying it up. I think Daycare will be on my next favorite things post.

Hi Baby Jack

Jennifer and Jack brought me birthday lunch today AND Coldstone Ice Cream  - they know me so well! Veda hasn't spent much time around little ones so I was eager to see how receptive she would be to Jack's presence in her territory. She didn't show any signs of jealousy and actually seemed to want to "play" with him which was a relief and hopefully a sign of things to come.

It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood...

I have the BEST neighbors. This afternoon the ladies took me out for an early dinner at Yolanda's. Mexican twice in one week is like a dream come true. Tom played babysitter and took Veda on a grand tour of all three parks in the area. Then back to Kathy and Tom's where a few more joined us for homemade cake, ice cream and  presents. It was a baby shower/birthday party so I was showered with lots of gifts... enough to make me feel bad but incredibly grateful for living near wonderful people that look out for us. I have a lunch date lined up with Jennifer tomorrow and will celebrate with BJ and Melissa later in the week. It's shaping up to be a good 34th.

Grocery Shopping

It was raining all day yesterday and Veda never made it out of her Pjs. We even made a trip to the store in our Pjs and rain boots. I didn't even try to get her in the cart this time and just let her follow us around which was fine until she found the tomatoes. She LOVES tomatoes.

Joe

Joe was here visting last weekend. Veda took off with his unopen beer and after sucking on the cold can for awhile she proceeded to feed the beer to her babies and elmo. Everybody got a little brew ha ha love.

Bump Report

Bean #2 is still turning and twisting. Last week at the Dr. he told me the baby had flipped and was head down. I think she flipped back. I'm hoping she runs out of room soon and just stays put because I get light-headed when she moves around too much.

Who's the Pregnant One?

It was take out food and a movie night at the Laabs household.  Kathy was craving Mexican and I basically hate onions.  So, I had a bucket of the old stand by, KFC.  Mmmm, delicious...it did leave me wondering...who's the pregnant one?

Craigslist Score

Just needed to brag about my latest find on Criaglist. I've been having trouble finding used and inexpensive clothes Veda's size at garage sales or on Craigslist. I think she's getting to the age where kids wear their clothes longer so they get worn out. Anyway I found a lady selling brand new clothes (tags still on) from Charlie Sheen's line called Sheen Kidz. She had three racks of girls clothing - most Veda's size and she was selling everything for $2 a piece and original prices were $20 a piece on average. I bought 25 items and they are SUPER cute. Apparently he has three stores (2 located in the LA area) and they had a huge inventory reduction... she went and told them she would buy everything they had left over after the sale. Considering these were the left overs I can't imagine how great the other stuff was.

A fun project for this not so crafty Mom?

I made rice krispy treats last night and it got me thinking about the popcorn balls Mom used to make when we were little. Same idea but with popcorn and food coloring and you roll them into big balls. Such a treat. Other crowd favorites were the bologna and peanut butter sandwiches Dad would make us smothered in butter... toasted too. Sounds really gross and bad for you but surpirsingly delicious. I know there were other favorites but I can't think of them right now. I do remember that we always seemed to have tuna and Miracle Whip on hand which was a favorite of mine for lunch and we always bought our orange juice frozen in concentrate... made for quick and easy orange julius. Someday I will put together a "cookbook" of favorite foods from my (and Todd's) childhood for Veda and her sister. That would be a fun gift I think and fun to try to recreate some of the specialities.

Confession

I think I'm a pretty smart girl. I know I am. Every once in awhile the most obvious facts escape me. Todd and I had a healthy argument the other day about the size of a centimeter. I've managed to get through the past 30 plus years with the belief that there are 10 centimeters in an inch. I hope Veda doesn't ask for help with her homework any time soon.

Countdown to Daycare

Veda and I joined the playdate yesterday at the new babysitter's. I think she's going to like it there. Jenn has the place fully stocked with a dress-up area, a play kitchen and shopping area, a doctors office, etc... Veda had sensory overload and I will never have to buy her another toy because she will get to play with everything there.

Blogger Block

My mind is a void right now so I dipped into the archives and pulled these cute photos of Veda and cousin Savannah at pizza a few weeks back. These two are going to be trouble together no doubt!

Paaaartay!

Our neighbor Teaguen turned four and we celebrated with our friends Drew and Mia. Teaguen - or "T" as Veda calls him - wasn't too jazzed that Veda wanted to help open gifts, eat off his plate and play with his toys.