Whaddaya know?! I'm back and it's not even next Monday yet! It was starting to look like a routine there for a while. I realized all I did yesterday was bitch and moan and I forgot to tell you how wonderful little Miss Megan was when she met Santa Claus for the first time last Friday! James took the whole day off, he scheduled it months ago, so we could go Christmas shopping as a family. We decided to drive all the way into Dallas and spend the day at Northpark. They have the best Santa. a huge model train display, puppet shows and lots of other Christmas stuff to see. I did some research online and found that Santa doesn't start seeing kids until 11:30 am and instead of standing in a long line for hours they start passing out numbers at 9:00 am. After rushing to get ready and hurrying up to wait on MIL to come to our house so we could leave ... we arrived at Santa's living room around 9:45. Our number was 86, which was estimated to be called sometime right after his 2:00 break. Boy did we have a long day ahead of us if Megan was going to get to see Santa! So, we dropped off my charm bracelet at James Avery to have my charms soldered (two have been temporarily attached since Mother's Day and I just got a new one from Megan for pre-Christmas) then we moved on to Northpark Christmas Experience #2 ... the model trains. The place was a madhouse. The stroller parking was full and we had to wait in line and there were rugrats running everywhere! It was really fun though, and we really like trains. Apparently Megan does too because she just beamed and giggled the whole time we were in there!

TRAINS ARE FUN!

After that, we headed around the bend to TGIFridays for lunch. Megan was such a trooper there and ate about two of my chicken fingers (yeah, I ordered what I wanted instead of what the gestational diet said I should order ... and it was so yummy) and a cereal bar and some french fries and some ranch and some honey mustard. She feasted!! We continued on our journey around the mall and happened upon a puppet show. We were upstairs but Megan could see through the glass wall and she laughed at the puppets singing and dancing. More fun for Miss Megan (while Daddy went into Macy's to check out the competition).

Puppet Show!

Megan watching the puppet show!

We stopped to visit the puppies and kitties at the SPCA mobile adoptions. They sure had some cute ones there and I hope they've all been adopted. Megan cried when we walked away from the puppies. She wanted to stay a while longer ... but then another puppet show caught her eye so she was happy again. She melted down a little while we were shopping in Dillard's. It was naptime so I can't blame her but she just couldn't fall asleep. I kept walking her in circles and trying to get her to give in ... and MIL kept standing in the way and playing peek-a-boo with her ... so no sleep. Outside Dillard's there was a really tall fountain and a few lighted Christmas trees that caught her attention. She LOVED watching the water shoot up into the air.

Watching the fountain with Daddy!

On we went down the last leg of the mall. They have a little pond area that had Santa's sleigh flying overhead. Megan just laughed at the lights. There were ducks and turtles in the pond and another fountain that entertained her for another 15 minutes or so. The turtles were up on the rocks "sunning" themselves under a heat lamp.

Looking at the turtles and ducks!!

It really was a great distraction as we waited that final hour to see when Megan would get to meet the Big Guy. There was a chance we would get in before his break so we went on to Santa's living room to wait it out. They stopped calling numbers at 70. So it was at least another 30 minutes for us. We did some more shopping and changed a diaper and headed back to see Santa. We were 6th in line after the break. THANK GOD! By this time it was 2:45 and Megan had not slept a wink since getting up at 7:45!! I couldn't believe how wonderful she was. She was sucking her fingers while we were in line and when we first plopped her on Santa's lap but he was able to pry her hand out and we actually got a smile!! WOOHOO! Amazingly, no stranger danger at all! I'm pretty sure she just didn't care who was holding her as long as a nap was coming soon!

Santa Who? I want a nap!

OHH! A camera!!!

So Megan endured a LONG 6 hour journey to meet Santa that included over-stimulation by trains, fried food, puppets, puppies and kitties, lights, fountains, ducks and turtles, and millions of other kids and she was an absolute trooper!! She lasted about 15 minutes in the car before she fell asleep for the rest of the trek home!! She wouldn't go down for a real nap once we got home so it had to be a really long day for her.

THEN, we started all over the next morning!! We had a birthday party at 9:00 Saturday so we had to get up and get going all over again. We let her sleep as long as she wanted and still made it to the party around 9:15 or so. It was at one of those indoor bounce house places but this one had a great toddler bouncy area and a little toddler play area (on solid ground) for the kiddos under 40". Megan had a BLAST, though we were a little nervous about the other kids running her over (and their snotty noses running all over the place too). :-) She even had some cake!!

In the toddler bouncy area!

Daddy put me on the slide and it was FUN!

After the party we stopped at the mall. My poor child ... back at the mall. We only made two stops once we were there though - Nordstrom for the Uggs and Pottery Barn Kids for something for Baby's room that they didn't even have! We had our little trooper home in time for lunch and a real nap though so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as Friday! That night, we made it to an early dinner at Chili's then stopped in at the Christmas stuff in the square in Frisco. They have a big light show that dances to music on the buildings there. We scooped the traffic, because we're cool like that, and found a parking spot so we could walk around. It was in the 60s so it was very pleasant outside. They have snow machines that sprayed flakes as you walked down the street and there was a model train display (MORE TRAINS) and a big tent with some shopping booths set up and Santa!! Starbuck's was there handing out free shots of hot chocolate too. Megan loved all the lights and watching the horse carriages go by. It was really fun and we were so happy we just happened to stop by but we didn't have the camera with us!! We all slept in a little on Sunday and didn't make it to Mass but it was a good day. It was warm enough outside to wear shorts and tee shirts. The dog got a much needed bath and we pulled the dead flowers out and raked the leaves.

So that's what we've been up to. Leading up to today! Can you say ICE!?!? It is freakin' COLD! We didn't make it out of the 20s today and there is still ice on the ground that fell last night. Not snow ... ICE. I had a doc appt today and had to brave the roads to get there. My mom came over to stay with Megan so it was just me out in this crap. It wasn't too bad out there and I was glad I was able to keep the appointment. SO ... pregnancy is going great. Baby weighs around 2 lbs 10 oz which is only in the 60th % so she's not huge. She's still a SHE. In fact, the ultrasound lady said if she is born a BOY she will come repaint the room and help me return stuff to the store! :-) We saw her open her mouth and stick out her tongue ... it was beautiful! She is still breech/transverse but doc says she has until 32 weeks to turn (I'm 27 weeks now) so chances are still good that she will. Saying a little prayer for that because I really don't want a c-section. I gained two pounds since my last appointment so my grand total weight gain so far is 3 pounds. My blood pressure was great. My fluid level is 17 and normal is (I think) 10-25 so we're good there. I complained about the pain in my pelvis and abdomen and she told me to get fitted for a support belt (aka - girdle) so we'll see if I do that or just suck it up. I go back in two weeks for the beginning of my weekly Biophysical Profiles and Non Stress Tests that my perinatologist ordered. Lots more doc appointments coming up! UGH! I have the test for iron next time too and the doc warned me that I could fail it since I've been on the gestational diet for so long. Great! I haven't experienced that one yet so lets make sure we squeeze it in!

OK - James went out to dinner tonight. I guess that's why I'm sitting at the computer just typing to anyone who'll listen. Megan is asleep and the house is somewhat clean so I figured it was a good time to blog.

BTW - I did my online chat with #%*$ McAfee and apparently I'm the ignorant idiot who allowed something malicious to infect my computer so I can have them remove the virus ... for an additional $90. right. because they don't already have too much of my money ... for no reason at all apparently. SO I think I'll be wiping out and rebuilding another computer this weekend. grrrrrr!