A few more details and some rambling.

I just posted the major information yesterday -- I knew people were dying to know about our little girl! We all went to the appointment yesterday morning. It was at a perfect time for us to get out of the house -- 9:30. It was raining, but not badly when we got to the doctor's office. Joanna was wonderful as we were waiting. Mostly she just wanted to wander around. There is a long hallway that connects to the lobby but isn't the office part. She loved just walking up and down it. She wasn't too into the "movie" of New Baby. I'd brought some distractions, but she wasn't really into those either. Oh well. Matt wrangled her in the little ultrasound room for a while, then took her out to wander up and down the hallway some more. I was VERY impressed with my sonographer this time. With Joanna's first ultrasound, we had this lady who was either having a bad day or just didn't have a dynamic personality at all. It was like pulling teeth to get any information out of her. This time, the lady was very descriptive about the parts of the little one we were looking at and the measurements and everything. I felt comfortable asking her questions -- I felt very educated after the session. I must say I was a little shocked when she said "It looks like a girl." I think I had really psyched myself up for a boy. So I repeated, "girl, girl" out loud. After it sunk in I was ecstatic. I am so excited to have another little girl. In the past few weeks I've found myself watching sisters that I see out in public. I'm excited about dressing them alike (as long as they'll let me!), and I'm so glad they'll each have a sister. Even though Kathryn and I were ROTTEN to each other growing up, there's is nothing in the world like having a sister. The things that keeps me from being scared that these two will end up like Kathryn and me is that they'll be much closer together than we were, they have MATT AND ME as parents :), and Joanna seems so much more like Kathryn than me. I don't know why these things make me feel better, but they do. It was rough having a sister growing up. I like her okay now :) (I love you, Kathryn!), but I guess you just can't be mean to anyone like you can be mean to your siblings. Anyway, after the ultrasound appt, I saw the doctor, who basically ran in and said "The ultrasound looks great -- have any questions?" Nope, and home we came. We kept Matt for lunch, but then had to let him go back to work. Bummer being the bread-winner. :) Joanna and I finished the rest of our church work yesterday afternoon, so I am DONE for this week! Yea!! I can't wait 'till Mother's Day Out starts up for the fall!

It's a...

GIRL!
Oh, she was so cute on the little ultrasound TV! This is not her best shot, but you can see her little face, sort of. For her future modesty, I'm not posting the "girl parts" picture. You just have to trust me. :) I discovered the reason I've been feeling the kicking soooo low is because her feet are down, right there at my bladder (thanks, kiddo). She's laying on her belly, facing my back, using the placenta as a pillow. What a smart girl.

Randomness

• We have an ultrasound in just 15 hours! Hopefully, I'll be asleep most of the time 'till then. :)
• I had sooooo much trouble falling asleep last night. I think it's my old age, but occasionally I just can't fall asleep. I went out to the couch after forever of looking at the insides of my eyelids and watched a little gymnastics on the DVR. Well, that put me right out -- go figure! I had a little trouble falling back asleep in my bed, but I made it. I was actually not a complete zombie today. Yea!!
• Joanna slept a great 12 hours last night -- go girl! Unfortunately, she only took about a 30 minute nap today, though. Bummer. She's getting better at falling asleep, though. She doesn't seem to be fussing as long.
• I have been checking on Joanna every night in her little bed before we go to bed. Well last night I went in to find her on the floor. This was the first time! I had Matt pick her up and place her in the bed. He said she looked at him, then snuggled down into her pillow. She is soooooo cute!
• I have been feeling Fetus move around more and more every day. It seems really low to me -- I can't remember what it was like early on with Joanna. I know I wasn't really feeling her at this point; I didn't start feeling her until pretty late -- probably around 20-21 weeks. I remember with her that the placenta was on top or something, which meant that she had to move harder for me to feel her. And it was the first pregnancy; I always read that you tend to feel the second one sooner.
• I am so excited for the ultrasound/Dr.'s appt tomorrow. I know the baby is in there, moving around, but I'm excited to make sure things are all okay, and of course to see the little fetus on the big screen. I'm hoping for the nice clear shot between the legs. Boy? Girl? I don't care; I just want to know! I'm not looking forward to stepping on the scale at the doctor's appt. I can see the look in my doctor's eye... she's not going to be pleased. I can't really blame the baby -- I think it's more the chinese food and cookie dough. I can't help it -- I love to eat!
• I am enjoying wearing maternity clothes more and more. I still have a few "regular" clothes I can wear, but I do enjoy elastic waists. I'm still pretty small for all of my maternity clothes, but several nice thin friends have loaned me theirs, so I've got options! I'm thinking I'll be able to wear my clothes at the end of the pregnancy, but for now, those things swim on me! (Not a bad feeling, by the way.)
• I was able to get most of my Church work done today. Yea nursery! Joanna had fun playing with toys and kiddos, and I worked on my bulletins and Media Shout. I'm thinking one more trip up to the church tomorrow for an hour or so should do it for this week -- Yea! Now, my house is a mess, but we can't have it all...

Catching up

I think I'm just going to ramble for a bit, then let you look at some pictures. The bed thing has continued to go well. She really didn't want to go down today for nap. I actually had to go in and take away a noisy toy from her. I sure didn't want to hear "The music train is on the tracks..." one more time, and I was pretty sure it wasn't soothing her to sleep. Her naps have not been great lately, but that's pretty standard when Joanna is sick. I feel like she's getting over it, though (more on that in a sec). She's been sleeping pretty normally at night, having a little more trouble than usual getting to sleep (wouldn't you, if you suddenly had a million distractions and things you could get into that you couldn't before?). She actually slept late this morning -- past 8:00! Consequently, so did I!!!!! I know my days of that are numbered, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts, for sure. Back to Joanna's cold: I feel like it hit full-blown cold status on Saturday, before that I would've believed it was allergies. She seems to be cleared up today, but she was still grouchy. Sunday was one of those days when I REALLY would have liked to be able to let Joanna enjoy the nursery. Alas, I could not. It was our senior pastor's last Sunday to preach and also our little friend Emma's baptism, so we couldn't just play hooky. So off to the sanctuary we went. I am really proud of Joanna, I must say. It is really really hard to sit still and be quiet when you are almost 1 1/2. We wandered around before the service, then sat down and played with some of the stuff in the children's folder. Joanna played with pipe cleaners, colors, stickers, stencils, and pamphlets. The stuff is really for older kids, but it worked out okay for us, too. We also brought snacks, water, and lunch. She did pretty good eating her lunch on my lap. I figured it was lunch time anyway, so instead of her being antsy AND hungry, I fed her in the pew. She held it together through most of the service, just falling apart toward the end of the sermon. So we left. Then that evening we had a farewell reception up at the church for Rev. Joe and his family, which of course Joanna got to attend. I didn't feel like she was sick enough she couldn't be around people; she was just sick enough not to be getting her germy snot on toys and other babies. Having said that, if you held/looked at/played with Joanna this weekend and now have a cold, I'm really sorry, and I will make you some chicken soup. She did really well at the reception, too. We were in the gym which has a lot of exits, and there were a TON of people, so I couldn't just let her run wild, but we had fun.

A new development: Joanna is sitting with us at the table. What a big girl! For a while she was just way too messy for this, but recently she has started to reign it in a bit. I'm thinking of putting away the dining room rug for a while though. That way I can just sweep up after meals. Our first rose in a while. I think it's been too hot for them, but with the rain it has been a little cooler, later.
We got some ivory toddler sheets for Joanna's bed:
They're very soft and very cute. I love the way the bed looks all made up with the quilt. Add some babies:
And the cutest baby of all:
We were just practicing here, for actual night, she slept with her head at the bottom, the quilt all bundled underneath her. She's cute, that's for sure.

She has started this new thing where she shrugs her shoulders when you ask her something and she doesn't know. I'll go, "Joanna, where's your shoes (or whatever)?" and she'll shrug her shoulders and turn her hands up. I'm going to have to try to get a picture. It is really really cute. Today we've been very into playing with stickers. It's lucky I have like 5 million sitting in a drawer (I was a teacher.), because she loves to have me peel them off so she can stick 'em all over herself and my nose. We're working on the ability to peel the stickers herself.

My cute little girl and my wonderful husband.

Right now, as I type, Joanna is having a "snap" (snuggle-nap) on her Daddy in the rocking chair. She had a proper one in the bed, too, but she's finishing up on Matt. So instead of getting his hair cut, which is what he's been wanting to do for like 3 weeks or something, my husband is rocking Joanna so she will get some good rest. Wonderful, right? Get this, he also let me go by myself to a one year old birthday party today while he stayed with sick Joanna. Fabulous, right? And, they even went and got the oil changed in the car. I'm a lucky girl.

Joanna has come down with a little cold, it seems. It started with a little cough, then came a runny nose and some congestion. She woke up this morning very goopy, so no party for this little girl. Fetus and I had a fun time, though! Our friend Bella had a ladybug party today, complete with a ladybug outfit and ladybug cupcakes. Too cute! My favorite thing to do to wrap presents is to wrap in brown paper, then paint the outside with something festive. Today I painted little ladybugs all over with a giant one on the back. I know it only lasts for a few minutes before it gets ripped to shreds, but the painting is very fun and cathartic for me, and I think they always turn out so cute! I think I'm going to have to use a bag for the gift next weekend; maybe I can find a brown or white bag so I can still decorate it. Although I have managed to wrap some very interesting shapes in paper so far.

Joanna is doing very well in her little bed. Unfortunately, this bed switch coincided with the cold, so she hasn't been sleeping quite as well as usual. I'm pretty sure (and hoping) it has to do with the cold and not the toddler bed. Every night after she falls asleep I've been going in and peeking at her. Last night she was snoring so peacefully. Night before last she was actually trying to sleep across the bed (side to side) instead of the long way. She doesn't exactly fit across like that. She tends to be all over the bed; I don't think she moves much when she's asleep (I don't actually know, though), I think it's mostly when she's trying to fall asleep. I ordered her a set of "toddler sheets" which consists of a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, and a pillow case. They are VERY hard to find in the stores, unless you want Dora or the Little Mermaid. Which I do not. So I found some neutral solids online that I'm hoping will match her quilt okay. As it gets cooler, I'm going to work on the whole blanket and pillow thing. I know it will take some adjusting, and she may just have to get a little older, but I think she will like sleeping on a pillow covered up by her little quilt. When we start shopping around for New Baby's bedding, I'm going to try find some for Joanna too that coordinates. It'll be easier if they're both girls, but I can envision some very cute boy/girl combos, too! I actually have found quite a few sites online for toddler bedding, but haven't found much in the stores. I'm not interested in character (Elmo, princesses, etc.) bedding, I'd really like patterns or something a little... I don't know what... "babyish," I guess -- like butterflies or animals or nature scenes or something. So if anybody knows of an actual store that sells toddler bedding and has a selection, leave a comment! I realize I have rambled on and on and on about virtually nothing. And I have left you with no Joanna pictures. I think I'm going to go clean the kitchen now.

Update

She slept the whole night, waking a just little earlier than usual this morning. She did not fall out of the bed and was there waiting for me when I went to get her up.

I did not exactly see this coming.

And yet, it came. Let me backtrack a little for you -- attempt to bring you into Jessica's thought processes. So, Joanna's going to be about 22 months when New Baby is born, and we've done some thinking about whether to get another crib or get a toddler bed. A couple of months ago, we were loaned a crib to use. I was feeling comfortable with the idea of having both kiddos in cribs for a while. Obviously Joanna will have her room to herself for a little while, even after the baby is born -- Matt and I will have a roommate. Whenever we're ready (or New Baby is ready), Joanna will get a roommate. I was thinking they'd both be in cribs, since I didn't figure Joanna was going to need out of her crib anytime soon. She's shown no interest in climbing out, and she's sure not going to be potty training anytime soon. Then a few days ago, a friend called and offered us her son's toddler bed, which he no longer needed. Of course we said, "Yes, we'll take it!" thinking we'd store it for a while. Last night Matt and I got to talking and he suggested maybe going ahead and setting the bed up to see what Joanna thought. I thought I would eventually do that. Then today I got it in my head to unload the bed from the car and put it together. Joanna was a very big help. From the moment I put the mattress in, and she figured out what this strange contraption was, she's been in love. She wanted to play with her babies in there, lay there, read in there. So, on a whim I decided to try putting her down for her nap in the bed. It was mostly because I could tell she REALLY wanted to sleep in the little toddler bed and wanted nothing to do with her crib. I wouldn't have thought the would be the case. It's not that she loves her crib or anything, I just had no idea she would be obsessed with this little bed. I would have liked to have stayed by her and patted her back as she fell asleep, but Joanna and I just don't groove like that. So I went through our usual naptime motions, then layed her in the little bed. She usually takes about 5-15 minutes of fussing/crying to fall asleep at any given time. I was curious how she would handle the freedom. It was definitely 15 minutes this time; she took a little longer than usual to settle down and fall asleep. I figured I would hear her knock on the door and say, "hewo," like she does when she closes herself in there, but also I really had this feeling that I would open the door and find her asleep in the bed. I don't know why, exactly. I was right. I got my camera ready, flash off, and opened the door after I was sure she was asleep. I had to see what she was up to. Here's what I found:

Can you believe it?!!! I'm pretty sure she got up and wandered the room before settling down, but she did! She got back in the bed and snuggled down! Tonight didn't go quite as smoothly, but it did go. She needed a little more than 30 minutes to settle down this time. Maybe it was because Daddy was home, and she knew we were going to party without her. Maybe it was because it's so dark in there now. Who knows? She didn't cry hard for 30 minutes, we could just her in there fussing a little every now and again. I went in after I was sure she was asleep and found her laying perfectly in the middle of the bed, sleeping peacefully. I'm amazed at that child. For now we have both the crib and the bed in her room, and we'll likely keep it that way, even though we won't need the crib 'til next year. I'm not really interested in dismantling/storing/remantling the bed. We'll see. It's definitely a little tight in there.

So I must admit that I'm slightly worried that she's going to fall out of the bed. I don't feel like she'll hurt herself; it's a really short drop. I'm just sure it won't be fun waking up to a fall out of bed. And my mother is scaring me with the story of my 2 year old sister falling out of the big bed and BREAKING HER COLLARBONE. These are fortunately different circumstances, thank you very much Gran. But since we decided so quickly to do this bed thing, I didn't exactly get around to checking out bed rails. Um.... ooops. Bad mommy? Well, maybe. We'll see. I'll try to post in the morning about her night.