Vanessa's Circus

The four-year-old classes at Vanessa's preschool recently put on a circus act for the parents. Her class featured the "Strongmen and Tightrope Walkers," and the other class was the "Circus Animals." Vanessa was so very excited to show what she'd been practicing at school, and it was fun to watch how animated and focused she was during the whole act. I also couldn't believe how grown up my little Vanessa looks. She's growing so fast!

Here are a few clips. The first is the tightrope walk. Matt and I can't help but enjoy the acting she does in this:

I included this clip for two reasons, the first, of course, being Vanessa's focus (I can tell she just wanted to do everything perfectly), and the second being the sweet synthesizer music that reminds me of the soundtrack on the movie Rad.

This last one was just another cute clip. Enjoy!

After the program, with a big smile on her face, Vanessa's teacher said to me, "You've got quite a little actress." Yup, good way to put it. I think Vanessa enjoys the limelight and I can't wait to see her get into next year's programs!

1st of many projects

This is our sweet 70s style hutch before.

A couple of cans of spray paint later...and some black boogers (I didn't have a dust mask), this is how it turned out.

Lisa has gone through about 30 different decorative plates and hasn't found any she has liked, but I'm sure when she does decide, they will make a good addition.

My Destiny

See below...

It's a girl!

Well, we are three for three! We had the ultrasound, and before the sonographer confirmed, we could tell it was a girl. Guess I can go buy one of those cute newborn sundresses now! Vanessa and Nicole are very excited to get a little sister. Their name picks (currently): "McKenna" (Vanessa's choice) and "Sara" (Nicole's choice...which I forgot to mention is what she named her CPAP mask and just about any girl doll).

Here's our little peanut, with her (left) hand by her face. I think the odd-shaped thing in the foreground is part of the placenta. She looks like she's snuggling. (Oh and yes, some of these are the 4D shots. Nice to get them for free!)


Some of the face is clouded in this one, but you can see her hands quite clearly.

Another good face shot. Any ideas on who she looks like?

The telling shot.

Her profile. I love her little nose.

And her tiny foot. At one point you could see both, but she decided to move around.

Now we just need a name. Picking a girl name the first time was hard, and it hasn't gotten easier. Any suggestions?

CPAP

We got Nicole's CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine)!....Okay, okay, so we got it at Spring Break, but we're still pretty happy about it. Here's what the whole deal looks like:

In case you can't tell from that picture, the machine itself is about the size of a toddler's shoebox. A LOT smaller than her good ole' oxygen concentrator and much quieter (Vanessa's happy about that!). Here she is sportin' the new look:

She adjusted right away to the mask, but the force of air out of that tube was a little scary. Still, trooper that she is, Nicole allowed us to put it on her (complete with a sugar bribe) after the third or fourth night and has been happy as a clam ever since.

You would not believe the transition in her daytime mood. Right before we got the CPAP, Nicole was ornery and upset pretty frequently throughout each day. Once she got through a full night with the air pressure, she was all smiles, and she kept saying, "I love you, Daddy," "I love you, Mommy." It was so nice to see her feeling so good and sleeping so peacefully.

Our one snag in the works is that our insurance granted coverage for the CPAP on a probationary basis. There's a card in the machine that records data during her sleep and if, after 3 months, it shows the information the insurance is looking for, they will approve coverage indefinitely. We hope somehow the data reflects the positive effects we've seen! In the meantime, we're content to let Nicole enjoy real sleep!

I wanna be a cowgirl...

We found cute pink cowgirl boots for Vanessa for an awesome deal! It helps that she wears the smallest of the "big girl" sizes. This was how she wanted to pose (complete with self-chosen outfit). Saddle up!

Niccoli's New 'Do

To relieve the long absence from blogging, here' s a peek at Nicole's hairdo now. I had hoped to get a more posed picture when her hair has first been done, but well, me and procrastination have been best of friends lately! We do like the 'do and think it fits her personality pretty well. Guess the "Vanessa Salon" prompted a great idea!