Choo-Choo!

What up?

Macy's on State Street a.k.a. the old Marshall Fields

Macy's Christmas Tree

Today's Feature Attraction - the Adler Planetarium

Isaiah was so excited to see the Elmo and Big Bird movie at the planetarium today.

"This movie is going to be so cool! Elmo and Big Bird!"

How much would Mama and baby weigh on the moon?

27 pounds - not too bad!

Daddy and Isaiah in the news today!

Today was really tiring, but so much fun. Isaiah was so neat to watch at the planetarium movie. He was so excited to see Elmo and Big Bird on the 360 degree movie screen. After a slow going walk (I'm pregnant, remember?), we started our planetarium visit with lunch. The cafe there has very tasty and pretty reasonably priced food for a museum.

We made it back to the hotel around 5:00 and rested for about an hour, though none of us actually took a nap today. I had a Chicago specialty for dinner - an Italian beef sandwich from Portillo's. Yummy!!! We (very briefly) walked the Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave.), and now it has started snowing. The weather is not forecasting any significant amount, but it's good to be warm in the hotel.

It sounds like we'll be returning home to Appleton in a couple of days to quite a few fresh inches of snow. I've enjoyed winter so far, but even I have to admit that it's been nice to have 40 degree temps and a break from the snow.

I almost forgot - I should explain the title for today's blog entry. We walked along Wabash Ave. when we were returning from the planetarium. Along the entire stretch, is the rail line. Isaiah was so captivated by the trains! Every time one went by, he would bounce in his seat and shout, "Choo-choo!" with everything he had. It was so adorable! His friends John, Grace, and Henry from church would be so happy to hear how much he is getting into trains lately. Isaiah will have lots to tell them next time he sees them. :-)

- becky

Aquarium Madness

Traditional Vacation Picture

"I love Chicago!" Believe it or not, we taught Isaiah how to say Chicago. It is too cute!

There we are reflected in the egg!

Today's featured attraction - the Shedd Aquarium

The aquarium was packed today! We waited in line for over an hour to get in; we waited in line for about 30 minutes for lunch; we waited in line to use the bathroom; we waiting in line to see the fish. Ugh. Good thing it's a really super cool place and worth the wait.

The dolphins, whales, and penguins were "on vacation" because their exhibit is being renovated. That was kind of disappointing, but we did notice a lot of changes. The sharks at the Wild Reef have gotten much bigger, and there is a very scary new Anaconda snake at the Amazon exhibit! It's over 15 feet long and weighs around 100 pounds!

The double stroller has worked out GREAT on this trip. One seat for Isaiah, and one seat for our winter coats. No locker rental fee for us!

Daytime skyline

What a loooong day! No nap for Booper; he's been such a trooper!

Breakfast is included at our hotel, and lunch was very overpriced at the aquarium. Dinner was quite fun, though! We found a new place called Dick's Last Resort. After such a long day, it was really nice to eat somewhere fun, with tasty food (bbq ribs, chicken, buffalo wings, etc.), and only one block away from our hotel.

Tomorrow, we hope to visit the planetarium. There is a Sesame Street movie playing there that Isaiah will really enjoy.

- becky

Welcome Back to Chicago!

We made it - and without the navigator on the Blackberry. It pooped out on us just about the time we crossed into Illinois from Wisconsin. Telenav is based in Chicago, and we can't get the silly thing to work. Go figure.

Isaiah started vacation with a nap in the car.

Chicago skyline - beautiful sunset reflecting off the buildings as we arrived downtown.

The Sears Tower

"Wow! Car! Beep, beep!"

We enjoyed a very tasty dinner at The Weber Grill tonight. Tomorrow's agenda includes the Shedd Aquarium. We opted not to spend the money on the Hancock Observatory this year. We have a couple of days, so we might change our minds. We shall see.

- becky

Snow Banks

With warmer temperatures, drizzle, and a very dense fog, some of the snow has melted. I took these pictures on Christmas morning to give you an idea (if you're not in Appleton), what we've been dealing with this month.

Records are already breaking! Green Bay has gotten 39+ inches so far this month; the average is usually only 7 inches. CrAzY! This has been the snowiest December since the year 1887. Note that I mentioned 39+ inches so far. I believe more snow is on the way before January.

Our driveway

Pulling up to the house

Along Kensington Drive

Home Sweet Home (sorry the picture is crooked)

- becky

Baby #2 Update #2

Looks like today was not my last ultrasound after all.

My doctor read the ultrasound after we left her office today, and she's scheduled another one in 2 weeks to check the size of the baby again. Ironically enough, the baby is on the small side. It's size is only in the 17th percentile right now. I'll be having more intensive monitoring at the hospital once each week until I deliver to keep an eye on things.

The nurse tells us, "Not to worry!" My doctor is on the conservative side, which I see as a good thing. I'm very comforted by the fact that she keeps such a close eye on me.

I would appreciate some extra prayers, though. And I was worried about a BIG baby because of the diabetes.

- becky

Baby #2 Update

This morning was my final ultrasound. Because of my gestational diabetes, the doctor wanted to check the size of the baby.

Everything is looking GREAT! Even the ultrasound technician remarked that I must have my diabetes well-controlled. The baby is weighing in around 5 1/2 pounds right now. My due date is only 3 1/2 weeks away, and my doctor feels that I will go earlier than January 20th. This relieves my worries of having a large baby. Thank goodness! After Isaiah (3 lbs. 2 oz.), this baby is already going to feel like giving birth to a 3 month old!

I gained back the pound that I had lost between my last two appointments. My weight gain is holding steady at only 12 pounds. Woo-hoo! Baby is still growing, so I can celebrate this! There is an up-side to gestational diabetes! :-)

I am 1-2 centimeters dilated and 75% effaced. If I go long enough where I need to be induced, we are talking about the week before my due date now. My doctor will be out of town the entire week that my due date falls. I really like her, so I would like to at least try for her to be the delivery doc. The other part of me does not want to be induced and leave everything in God's hands.

Tim tells me I'm overplanning. I know he's right. This baby is going to come when God has it already determined.

Let's just hope God doesn't have plans for our baby to be born in Chicago. We had plans to go for New Year's. After the appointment today, we're trying to switch everything around to leave earlier in the week and return by January 1st. Hotel rates looks just as good and the weather looks even better, so that's probably what will happen. Be on the look-out for Chicago pictures on our blog!

- becky

Merry Christmas!

Family Tradition - Every year, we have a family picture taken at the front of the church.

My mom made the maternity vest that I am wearing when my sister was pregnant with Holly. Love it! It is so comfortable!

Happy birthday, Jesus!

- becky

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas really snuck up on me this year. It could be because today is the first day of Christmas break. Maybe it's all the snow that we've gotten. Then again it could be the fact that the baby will be here in less than a month!

On the news last night, we saw a report about people going to church on Christmas Eve more so than Christmas Day. This is certainly an obvious trend. This year, I'll be going to 3:00 and 5:00 services today. Tim will stay for the 7:00, but Isaiah and I will come home. It will be Booper's dinner time, and I'm afraid that he will be cranky enough because we have to skip his nap. Tim would like for us to go to the candlelight service at 11:00 tonight. If Isaiah were older and we could sleep in tomorrow I wouldn't mind, but we've decided not to go this year. Tim is preaching for the 9:00 service tomorrow, so Isaiah and I will be going for that in the morning.

I can certainly understand people going to Christmas Eve service instead of Christmas Day. After all, I usually do that myself. But, it is interesting. Shouldn't we focus on Jesus's birth on Christmas Day and not the day before? After all, we don't celebrate our own birthday on the day before.

It's snowing again today. This round of white is still a part of Winter Storm Faith. I find the name very appropriate for a Christmas Eve storm.

Have a blessed Christmas. Stay warm, and stay safe.

- becky

The Hamper-Tent

So this morning, here is what Tim woke up to find...

Sorry it's a fuzzy picture. It was taken with a cell phone.

We're planning to get Isaiah a (just his size) table and chairs set for Christmas, but I can see that we'll probably be getting him a play tent in the near future.

- becky

Mysterious Package

Check out the mysterious package that I keep finding under my Christmas tree...

That's not just a smile or regular look of concentration, if you know what I mean... Isaiah's working on a special "package" in his pants.

- becky

Two Hundred!

Welcome to the 200th post on The Seabaugh Family Blog!

Even though yesterday was my 2nd snow day of the year, it was such a busy day that I did not have an opportunity to post. It was a much better snow day than the one before. This time, Isaiah was NOT sick. However, he didn't take a nap either. He was a little whiny when it got to be close to bedtime, but he wasn't as much a bear as I thought he would be.

I spent most of the day wrapping Christmas presents and preparing packages to mail to our family and friends. After breakfast this morning, I got back to wrapping and packaging. I finished just after 1:00 this afternoon, and we loaded the six packages and ourselves into the car. We arrived at PostNet to send everything off, and they closed about 30 minuted before we arrived. It figures. Tim and Isaiah will send everything off on Monday, so we're hoping everything will still arrive in time for Christmas. I am so bummed; I really tried this year. It seemed like every evening I had an opportunity to finish the Christmas shopping, it was snowing and the roads were not good for driving.

When we got home from our failed shipping expedition, we let Isaiah walk around in the snow for a bit. He was so excited!

Check out the adorable boots! They were given to Isaiah from my friend Maggie's son Drew.

"I can help Daddy clear the driveway! When do I get to use the snowblower???"

"Snow! Yea! But there's so much of it, and it's only December. Will it ever stop?!?!"

- becky

Look At That!

I didn't realize my belly was as big as it is until I saw a picture of myself. I've posted it here on my blog to replace my 26 week picture. Baby sure has grown a lot in 9 weeks!

It's nice to be pregnant in the winter. It's like having an internal furnace. This can be helpful when you have to pump gas and the wind chill is 21 degrees BELOW ZERO!

- becky

Busy Times

I can't believe Christmas is next week already! This is such a busy time of year.

I made one stop on my way home and was able to check someone off my list for Christmas gifts. (I love you, Dad!) I intended to finish my shopping tonight, but it is just TOO COLD! Now that I know the weather forecast for tomorrow - possible 3-5 inches of snow - I regret not getting the shopping done. We have play group at church tomorrow, so we're all going to go after that. Tim and Isaiah will drop me off at each stop, I'll run in to make the purchases, and hopefully all will be finished in record time.

Wednesday night is advent service and choir/youth at church. I have to leave work early that day for an OB check, too. I have to be prepared for a sub on Thursday because I will be attending a workshop in Neenah. Positive - don't have to drive to Denmark and more snow is predicted. Negative - the lady subbing for me is really, really bad. She doesn't follow the lesson plans that I leave and it really throws off the rest of my week. I'm thinking of leaving her a very direct note this time - AKA a nasty-gram. Tim has church in the evening. Friday we're back to church again for a Young Adult (new name - 3 CHEERS) Christmas dinner. Sometime before then I need to make sure we pick up a few groceries. You see, we bought eggs on Saturday, but then left them in the car overnight. Oops! At least it's so cold out that they didn't stink up the car. Imagine doing that while living in Florida! Yuck!

On top of all of these errands, I have a really long To Do List right now, and it seems to be growing longer and longer each day. I've got a few more Christmas cards and thank you cards for Isaiah's 2nd birthday to get out, and we ran out of stamps. We've got Christmas presents to wrap and FIVE packages to mail for family and friends out of town. Did I mention that my first paper is still not finished??? I've read the book, but I just need to complete the paper.

Ugh. I can do all of this, can't I?!?!

Tim and I worked on the baby's room a bit last night. It's time to shift all of Isaiah's stuff to his room and be sure the infant stuff is washed up and ready to go. I've also thought about getting my bag packed for the hospital.

Add it to the list of things to do. At least I'm not doing any baking until after Christmas. No way am I making cookies with gestational diabetes!

- becky

Feeling Better

The past 24 hours have been pretty rough, but I'm finally starting to feel better. Sleep was very rough last night. I had horrible chills and woke up every hour. Waking up was an okay thing because I could drink plenty of water through the night. The baby needed that! I feel really bad for Tim. He has been such a trooper helping with Isaiah, the laundry, and the meals this weekend. My shivering woke him up at one point last night, and he was really sweet to hunt down extra blankets for me.

The worst part about this 24 hour bug is worrying about the baby. I don't want my being sick to affect my pregnancy. Everything is great, though, so no worries.

I'm sure my headache will go away eventually. Speaking of that, I think it's time for another dose of Tylenol.

Stay healthy,
becky

Lovely

I have a fever. 101.4. Lovely.

Isaiah gave me his yucky cold. We share everything in this house. We even share our germs.

- becky

Snow Day!

Well, the call came at about 5:45 this morning. Yippee!!! I had gotten up 15 minutes before and saw my district listed on the TV, so I already knew. I was just settling back in bed, but the phone call was certainly welcome. We rolled out of bed about 8:30 this morning. It was so nice to sleep in today.

Deep Snow on the Deck

Tim worked so hard on the driveway and sidewalks this morning, only to have the plow come through as he was finishing...

Isaiah's reading teacher mommy is so proud of his love for books!

I'm very glad to be home today. Isaiah has had quite the runny nose, and is just not feeling himself today. He's very cuddly today, which I love. We watched Finding Nemo (his new favorite), and he even let me rock him to sleep for his nap. If you know how independent Isaiah is, this is quite unusual. He's been putting himself to sleep for a looooong time now. Let's hope he teaches his new brother or sister this very important skill...

Stay warm, and stay off the roads! School is closed for a reason, people.

- becky

Weather Channel

There's a dude from the Weather Channel in Green Bay tonight. Not a good sign for us... TWC people only go where the worst of the weather is found.

- becky

Time to Decorate

I decorated the tree yesterday!

This is the best clarity I could get from a picture. Isaiah was "helping" me, which is code for bumping into me EVERY time I took a picture.

Sticking with tradition, I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Elf while I did my decorating. These are two of my favorite Christmas movies. I also like A Muppet Christmas Carol and Ebbie (a Lifetime movie with Susan Lucci). I'll probably watch both of these while I wrap Christmas presents.

Merry Christmas!

- becky

Brush 'em, Brush 'em, Brush 'em

- becky

Snoring Boy

Every Thursday night, Tim and I watch Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares together. Isaiah decided to crawl up on the couch and watch with us. Well, it didn't take long, and...

...Isaiah fell asleep on his daddy's lap.

Snoring Boy - Sounds like he's cutting down a forest, doesn't it?!?!

I'm sure he'll thank us for this video when we show it to his high school prom date.

- becky

The Last of the Appointments

I saw my OB doctor today, and all is well with the baby. My next appointment is in two weeks, and then I'll be going weekly after that. We have one more ultrasound at 36 weeks to check the baby's growth. The doctor just wants to be sure everything is okay due to the gestational diabetes. From 37 weeks on, I'll have a non-stress test each week in addition to my appointment. This is essentially a monitor to check on the baby for 20-30 minutes at a time.

All of my remaining appointments were scheduled today. I am so excited to meet our baby, but I am so hoping to deliver close to my due date. I'm due on January 20th, but wouldn't it be neat to have the baby on January 21st? Then Isaiah and the baby would be exactly 2 years and 2 months apart.

Tim and I still have not come to a final decision on the baby's name yet. While it is fun not knowing the baby's gender, it makes deciding on a name twice as difficult. Oh, well. I'm sure we'll make a decision. We have many names 'on the table', we just need to decide.

- becky

What's the Point?

Last night at Scrap-and-Craft we had a conversation about blogging.

Why blog?

1.) People are nosy and enjoy reading about other people's lives.
2.) I like to keep family and friends updated.
3.) It's a great way to vent, even though it is done publicly.
4.) No one can tell me what to say. I can speak my mind!
5.) Blogging pictures of my little guy is much appreciated by family and friends that don't see him very often.
6.) It almost reminds me of a digital scrapbook.
7.) I enjoy going back to read what was going on in our family life a few months ago. (If only I had been blogging when Isaiah was born!)
8.) It's FUN!

I'm sure there are many more good reasons to blog. If you haven't tried it, you should. If you do blog, you should blog more often. I care about you and want to know what's on your mind.

Like I said - it's fun. Where else can you talk about nothing and people actually listen to you?

- becky