Toohig Tidbits: Early April (“BC”–Before Cressey)

Last family dinner on Sunday, April 3rd, at Mellow Mushroom

At registration this year, we signed HG up for the birthday library book club. She got to choose her book, a chapter book about kitty cats, and she was so excited her name would be in it in the library forever.

The temps are staying in the high 60s and low 70s, and since all of my maternity clothes are long sleeved, I am HOT. I finally dug through mine from HG’s pregnancy and found this short sleeved one which saved me!

Crazy Linda’s Brain Freeze is open for HG’s first sno cone of 2016!

Can you tell her mama is about to have a baby (this is April 6th) and is too tired to care anymore? Why not have cookies for breakfast sitting on the bar?

GD took her to school one morning and got her tickled over spelling words. While the two of us were playing in the driveway with a ball after school one day, she didn't want me to lean over to pick it up because I might do like GD's puppy from childhood who fell over when he drank water because his head was so big- but my tummy was so big. LOL!

We have started an addiction. Every day HG wants a sno cone, so we headed to Jerry’s on the 6th.

Since HG was planning on spending the night of the 7th at Spiffer and GD’s so that she can be ready to come on to the hospital on the 8th, we had our last after-dinner cuddle on the couch before we have another Toohig lady snuggling with us (outside of utero, of course). She slept in my bed that night, and when she woke up, the first words out of her mouth were, "Now tell me what sweet treats you want me to bring you in the hospital."

On Thursday the 7th, I stayed home from work and followed my mama’s instructions to just lay in the bed in the morning. It was really hard to forget all the things I needed to be doing around the house, but I kept reminding myself how long it would be before I’d be alone in a quiet house again! Momo and Blue enjoyed the slow morning too. After I picked up HG from school, Spiffer and GD came over to pick her up, and they headed to Seafood Junction for dinner with Bubba. After all the anxiety I had had about leaving HG for the last time as an only child, I had to ask her to come back to give me a hug and kiss as she ran to their car. It was no big deal to her- I think God knew what I needed!

During the day on Thursday, a thought hit me like a brick. All these years, I felt like my joy had been stolen after each time I started my period, I got a negative pregnancy test, or a transfer was unsuccessful. It dawned on me that perhaps God was putting all of that lost joy in a box, and now he was letting me open the box and let joy flow unendingly. I cried most of the rest of the day as I thought about that metaphorical box opening and spreading joy far and wide.

“The Bump” Photo Shoot

In early March, we met with our fabulous photographer friend, Cassie Bousson, at the Brooks Museum to get some family pics with our Cressey bump. I wanted to highlight HG’s place as our first baby girl and also her role as a soon-to-be big sister, and I think Cassie did a great job of capturing just that.

Toohig Tidbits: Late March

We were on the interstate, and as I passed a car, she started screaming, "Boo! Booooo!" I looked over to see State stickers on the car, and she said, "Those people vote for Mississippi State!"

As she got out of the car one morning at school, she complained about how tight the space between the door and doorframe was as she tried to pull her backpack through. "It's like I'm trying to drag a dog out of a doghouse!"

I was showing her some highlights from different singers’ turns on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke show (Justin Bieber, Stevie Wonder, New Direction, Rod Stewart, etc.). She was not impressed and asked, “Why isn't Taylor {Swift} on here?!”

We stopped at Walgreens to get milk one night, and HG wanted to go in with John. He put her to work (“you carry what you drink”), and I caught this gem on their way out.

On Better Monday, the girls were still out of school, so the Tansey twins decided to celebrate their birthday that afternoon with a scavenger hunt in a ZEBRA LIMO! Grandma dropped HG off at their house, and I was planning on picking her up at the end of the party. Grandma just had to call me to convey HG’s excitement when that limo pulled up- so cute! As the parents waited on the curb for the girls to come back, the limo pulled up with girls yelling out both windows and the music bumping. HG bounded out of the limo, handed me a plastic champagne flute (with remnants of Pirate Booty), and kept running to the backyard. Well, okay! Gotta watch out for these Catholic school girls!

Spiffer and GD gave HG some silly string in her Easter basket, so they came over one afternoon after school to make good on their promise to put it to good use (outside and away from the house, Mama’s rules). HG hasn’t stopped talking about how much fun it was. (Mama watched from inside the kitchen window.)

GD picked HG up from school one day, and she wanted to go to his office to play. They found rolly pollies, she frollicked in some blossoms, and she pressed her face up to the mirrored glass to find someone inside looking back at her!

And she makes fun of me for sticking my tongue out to concentrate!

HG made a 103 on her last math test, and look at these bonus points she earned with ‘up and down math.’ I just can’t get over how quickly she’s picking up new things.

Mrs. Barksdale is expecting a baby too, and she had her gender reveal party at school this past week. The girls were supposed to wear a uniform the color of their gender guess, and of course, all but three of them wore pink. They were surprised to find out that Barksdale Baby #2 is going to be a BOY!

Poor kitty

As John pointed out, we will become a family of four BEFORE our milk expires. WHOA!

We celebrated Ann Maxwell’s 7th birthday (where did the time go?!) with a roller skating party. HG hadn’t been on skates in a while and was a little nervous about it, but once we got there, she took off with the little helper thing and didn’t look back. She and Ann Maxwell were even dancing in the middle of the rink by the end of the party!

We struggled to get a pic of the two of them. If only we could combine these two pics!

Dancing girl

“Watch how fast I can go, Mama!”

She passed Mrs. Barksdale’s shoe tying test on Friday, so we celebrated with a treat trip to Target. (She chose a turtle Tiny Pets.) On the way out, she had to have a sit on one of the Target balls. This never gets old to her for some reason.

At the park in GD and Spiffer’s neighborhood, she went straight for the monkey bars. She can’t get enough of them now that she’s mastered them!

One Last Cressey Update Before She Arrives

After years of dreaming about what it would be like to be a family of four, we are within one week of meeting face-to-face the little miracle that will cause that dream and prayer to come true. She is scheduled to arrive via a c-section on Friday, April 8th, at 7:30 a.m., if she doesn’t decide to make an appearance earlier.

I am a bit paranoid/nervous since I’ve a) never been this pregnant and b) never felt a contraction, so I really feel like I’m flying blind. I’ve had my last doctor’s appointment (Friday, April 1st, at 38 weeks 4 days), so I’m watching my blood pressure like a hawk and paying attention to every little pang or cramp. I had a really long night the night before my appointment with some sharp pains on my lower right side, but Dr. Neblett wasn’t worried a bit (thought it could have been round ligament pain or something muscular). He said my blood pressure was great and well within normal range and that he’d see me bright and early on Friday morning. AHHH! Thankfully, she is a very, very active baby and keeps kicking me (or hiccuping) to let me know she's doing just fine and enjoying her stay. Despite the amount of hair she has, I have had very little heartburn until this last week. Now, I feel the burn every night when I lay down (and some other random times throughout the day), but a pillow or two (and some Zantac) help make it bearable.

Helen Grace is convinced every day is going to be Cressey’s birthday, and she is so adamant that it makes me on edge all day! She knows exactly how many days are left until the 8th and talks to my belly to tell Cressey how excited she is for her to be here. She’s still convinced she will be the first person to hold her. Not sure how many other {polite} ways we can tell her to get in line behind Mama and Daddy, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!

HG still gets excited to open her sister’s presents.

Easter weekend (March 26th)- 37 weeks 5 days (photo cred to HG)

Last Dr. Neblett appointment (April 1st)- 38 weeks 4 days

At this ultrasound appointment, I got to see a little sneak peak of her sweet face, to see her yawn several times, and to watch her practice breathing, but I didn’t get to see how much she weighed. I’m guessing a little over 8 pounds. My amniotic fluid index was down just a little bit (9 cm to last time’s 10 cm), but it was still well within normal range. My total weight gain is still around 25-30 pounds, thanks to this dang, limiting GD diet. I had to wait over two hours this time when Dr. Neblett had to leave to deliver a baby (which I obviously have no room to complain about), so after I finally left, I rewarded myself with a chocolate milkshake. I will sometimes have a drag or two of HG’s, but this time, I savored the entire thing to myself and it was WONDERFUL.

Saturday night, Spiffer and GD offered to keep HG overnight, and John organized a last date night for us at Mesquite. We had a great, long meal (with a ridiculously delicious chocolate dessert) and enjoyed catching up on our week and dreaming about what this coming week/weekend will look like. Now that John’s quarter end has passed and I have gotten my hair done and a last massage squeezed in, Cressey is free to come anytime. We are joyously awaiting the blessing of becoming a family of four- at long last!

Sunday brought the installation of Cressey's car seat (and a lot of debate between the three of us over where the two kiddos will sit in the backseat). For some reason, having this in the car has made it feel more real to all of us. HG is still wanting to move her booster over to the center to be next to Cressey. We'll see if she still feels that way this time next week!