Maddie the Great

She has become obsessed with getting into my makeup already, and says, "Hmmm, let's see" as she peers into the depths of my makeup bag. On this particular morning, she decided that Teddy needed a make over! The blush and lipstick go great with Teddy's color, don't you think?

There aren't too many kids in our subdivision to play with, so we have to pretend sometimes. And only the best of friends get Maddie-kisses.

These cat and dog bowling pins are her favorite toys at the moment. Her favorite is the polka dot puppy ("Poka-dot puppy"). She lines them up in different patterns, stuffs them into her "pocket" (she doesn't have anything with pockets, so they go into the back of her diaper), and...takes them for walks in the baby stroller.


On November 1st, I decided it was high time to put up the tree (I was proud that I waited that long; please reference last year's November blog posts). Maddie LOVES it and cried when I had to turn the lights off. She even added her own, errrr, ornament...

Because every tree needs a Ni-Hao Kai-Lan key ring?

She was very proud of herself for helping to decorate. I was very proud that she even thought to put it on there!

11 Week Check Up

Our Peanut!

"Actual Size" Pretty cool, huh??

Well, everything looks great! Baby was sleeping so we didn't get to see him/her moving (so different than Maddies's ultrasounds ~ she NEVER sat still for any of our scans!). Our little one measures 11wks 2days and is 2 inches from head to rump. We let the doctor know that we decided against the VBAC, so in January I'll be getting scheduled for my C-section (probably around May 20th). I go to a specialist in a week or two for what is called a nuchal translucency ultrasound and to get my blood drawn, all to check for Down's syndrome and spina bifida. I'm hoping that we'll be able to tell by then whether this is a little man or little lady (I'm really impatient to find out!). We'll see, I guess :)

I have felt pretty well, no vomiting or anything. I've had a few days where it came pretty close! As long as I eat every few hours, I feel fine. I've been having cramps from my ligaments stretching and they. really. hurt! I didn't get them until later with Maddie, but the doctor said it's normal to get them earlier with subsequent pregnancies. I also think I have felt itty-bitty flutters (only twice in the last few days), but I can't be sure. It feels exactly the way I felt with Maddie's early movement and I felt her earlier than normal, too (around 13-14wks). Those big, unmistakable kicks and movements are coming soon, though!

Happy Halloween, 2009!

All About Pumpkins

Sugar Land Town Center hosted a pumpkin patch on Friday where the first 250 kids could pick out a free (organic) pumpkin and decorate it. Thank you to Auntie Becky and Pauly for getting there early and saving us a spot!

Waiting to get in the gate!

Looking for that perfect pumpkin (and throwing the dud pumpkins down).

Ah-HA! Got one!

Posing for Aunt Becky's camera...and catching the eye of the

Sugar Land magazine photographer.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't keep the pose he wanted.

Finally decorating that little orange fellow.

Then, it was off to get some food and a milkshake! Pumpkin picking is hungry work. Thankfully, there are only a few Halloween activities left...I think we're all pumpkined out.

Dewberry Farm Pumpkin Patch

First things first: goat feeding and the petting zoo!

Waiting for the hayride to pick us up and take us to the pumpkins! (The bestest grandpa ever stood in line for us to save a spot...it was really busy.)

Maddie and mommy on the hayride; lots of fun!

Scoping out good pumpkins with daddy. She ended up finding the

tiniest pumpkin in the whole patch to take home.

And, of course, belly photo #1 of Pumpkin #2.

Autumn

Well, we are all off to the pumpkin patch tomorrow! Maddie's been talking about it all week long. This morning when we woke up, I said, "Maddie, tomorrow is Saturday. Do you remember where we're going on Saturday?" She lit up with a huge grin and screeched, "Punkin patch!! Momo, gwampa, daddy, mommy"! I can hardly wait for her to have fun there and to get some good pictures, as well (which reminds me, I'd better charge the camera batteries now while I'm thinking about it).

Everything else in Rittmann land is going pretty well. I'm gearing up for the holidays already, planning to put up the tree the weekend after Halloween. I've got my Christmas budget so I'm just awaiting everyone's lists (hint hint, y'all). I think Maddie already has every toy under the sun, so I'm not sure what to get her this year. All the toys she has are for 18 months and under and the next level is for 3 years and up ~ which all have choking hazard parts. Time to do some Toys R' Us research, I guess.

Baby Rittmann #2 is busy growing in my belly. Thankfully it hasn't been too bad. No vomiting (knock on wood!), but I've had a few days that came close. Mostly I'm just exhausted (interesting to be so tired and try to keep Maddie's day fun). My belly is already big even though I haven't gained but 2lbs. I'm excited for our next appointment on November 5th and am dying to know if this is a boy or girl (I'm calling boy), but I'll only be 11 weeks at that visit so I doubt they'll be able to see any 'parts'. I'll probably have to wait until Christmas or the new year to find out! For now, I'm just content that we've made it two months without any problems. He/she is about the size of a kidney bean now (from the looks of my tummy, you'd think baby is football-size!). I think I've decided just to go ahead with a repeat c-section and avoid little complications like, oh, death or horrible scarring. Scheduling the delivery will put me around 38 weeks (only 30 weeks from now!) and will be easier now that I know what to expect.

Anyhow, I'll get lots of photos tomorrow and will post them as soon as I can!

Happy autumn, everyone.

Early October

Tasty tomato from Gramma K's garden.





Walking the beach at Lake St. Clair.

Michigan was a wonderful trip. Good colder weather, better company...unfortunately, Maddie is the worst sleeper on the planet, so I spent most days sleep deprived and cranky. I also managed to forget that I had a camera with me, so I didn't get very many pictures. I have some cute ones of Maddie and her great grandparents, but I don't know if they'd feel comfortable if I posted their picture here.

Back here at home, things are getting back to normal. She's sleeping better, eating better (well, except for the mountain of miniature marshmallows at lunch!), and her tantrums are less frequent. Next weekend is pumpkin patch weekend, so we're pretty excited. Maybe it will cool down outside so that it at least will feel like the holidays are right around the corner!

Anyhow, this is some video captured this afternoon.