Still waiting!

Isla's new swing.....she LOVES the fleece pjs and refuses to take them off most days (hence her top). It's only when we wash it that she doesn't put up a struggle.
Big Tummies....

TummiesSunday nap time...Isla NEVER falls asleep on anyone's lap, so this was a monumental moment. She slept for over 2 hours on daddy.
Isla has discovered (thanks to daddy) YouTube and Sesame Street clips. Sesame Street isn't on over here, but she has a CD from the States so it's great fun to watch Elmo and Ernie.



No, no baby still...we're tired of waiting and are wondering if this child is ever going to make an appearance! The consultants say it is smaller than Isla was and so there is no need to induce Kenna or do anything to deliver it now......so despite what Kenna thinks, we continue to wait.

The Blackford Highland Games was yesterday. Unfortunately it was the worst weather we've had in about a month. We took off in the morning and went shopping with Grannie for garden furniture and then came back and had a leisurely afternoon at the house (well, minus some kids who decided to have their yelling/screaming match down our driveway--Kenna went out and told them to get out of our yard, which must be an American phrase as it seemed to baffle them...perhaps if I'd had a shotgun with me and yelled it Southern style they would have gotten the message quicker!) It POURED last night too which saved us from the usual kids being loud in the street after they get out of the pub.

Today it was a family walk, Sunday naps, and then Daddy and Isla time. They found some rhubarb growing by the burn and Daddy made rhubarb crumble and custard, then the cleaned up the greenhouse and replanted some plants, chopped up sticks in the corner of the garden and hung up Isla's swing that Auntie Claire gave her for Christmas.

We just continue to wait now.....

Still no Baby

We have had some nice weather. This was last Friday. Isla has taken to choosing her own clothes and it was so warm she could actually wear a summer dress. She's also trying to show her (non) ability to roll her tongue that Emily tried to teach her. The flowers in the backyard are out!

For those who are wanting to know, there is still no sign of Baby Troup coming along.
This week we've had two midwives appointments and a scan. The baby is supposedly smaller than Isla was and so there is no reason they claim to induce. The Health Board policy is 40 weeks plus 12 days (5th of June)....so we wait. I was supposed to have a membrane sweep on Monday but the baby was too high to do that even.

I have tried mowing Grannie's lawn for 3 hours on the riding mower (including going really fast down the bumpy hill), helping round up sheep (and climbing fences), walking every morning, the birthing ball and anything else I could think of, but with no luck. The most annoying part is the hours and hours of contractions that don't seem to be doing anything (except making me grumpy). Isla has even tried yelling through my belly button "Hey baby! Time to come out and play!"

So we just continue to wait....not very patiently or happily, but there is really no other option. Now it's just time to try and live our lives again and reschedule appointments, after all the things we'd put on hold thinking we'd have a baby this week. It's really quite frustrating and disheartening.

May

Ah, pregnancy....this vest won't fit in another 2 days...(see bottom picture for vest off) And yes, the drying rack for nappies is out again!
Last night this lorry decided to park in front of our house for the driver to sleep...Is it a sign???? :)
Isla in her Patsy Cline dress with new Sunday Shoes from Emily. She has taken to dressing herself. Some days the outcome is better than others! We had to go buy a birthday present for her friend Emily and of course, no trip is ever complete to Early Learning Centre without bubbles...
Isla isn't so keen on having her picture taken these days, but despite the look on her face, was pretty happy she had enough hair to have THREE ponytails...two on the sides and one in back. This is HUGE news for her as everything decent she eats (eggs, noodles, etc) we tell her is to make her ponytails grow.
Mum and Daddy went to a Gamekeeper's Celidh and Isla got to go spend the night at Neighbour Anne's (complete with Piglet and a huge suitcase. Isla is a bit obsessed with suitcases after Emily let her carry hers through Edinburgh airport). She didn't need a full carry on, but thought it was a great novelty to pack and carry one.
Charlie, in a VERY typical Charlie/Terrier pose. She's a saint of a dog somedays.....other days not so much.
Isla poking the bubbles on the lawn. She and Charlie have great fun doing this for hours at a time.
Yup, that's all me...a very pregnant looking Kenna...just back from my morning walk of the hills above town with the dogs. My hair isn't grey. I did highlights as I couldn't dye it being pregnant and was tired of it.

We're still waiting for Baby to arrive.

Isla seems to have moved into the Terrible Twos with a vengance! Today she was throwing rocks at the front window, eating crayons--and then drooling them onto mum's hand (despite not having done that since she was about 7 months old), teasing the dogs and pinching mum. All tons of fun. We're hoping she grows out of this soon.

She has however, quite humourously, decided to try and "deal" with the dogs by giving them lectures. I found her yesterday in the kitchen with Charlie and Kiwi sitting in front of her as she lectured them that they would be getting no more treats unless they said "thank you" and today when Charlie wouldn't give her the tennis ball she'd been playing fetch with Cassie with, she very convincingly told Charlie "please" and then "Jesus said to share"....Charlie wasn't impressed with either of these fascinating facts and instead Isla just took the ball when Charlie happened to take her eye off it for a second.

It was super nice today and Isla enjoyed running around the backyard less than fully clothed and eating a picnic for lunch. We did have to stop her fun when she removed her nappy and decided she needed to go pee on the grass like the dogs. (see first paragraph!) It was one of those days when I've asked "why are we having a second child?" Thank goodness Eva and her mum were home and agreed to go on a nice long walk around town with us. 1 and a half hours later we got home with an even more tired Isla who wanted something to eat, then it was bath time and down for bed before 7pm! HOORAH!!!!

We did laugh last week when in mum's attempt to get Isla to sleep she told her it was 8:00. EVERY one knows that "Wee Willie Winkie Runs through the town, upstairs, downstairs in his dressing gown, rapping at the windows, crying at the locks, 'Is Isla Troup in her bed? for now it's 8 o'clock??" Well, everyone except for Daddy who turned around and looked at the clock and got a very confused look on his face and almost said "no, it's not" until he was kicked under the table. Isla, when she's tired, will tell you it's 8 o'clock--it's her way of saying "bedtime." However, no one had ever told this to Alisdair and he was left feeling quite out of the loop by our "code." Now that's he's clued in, it makes much more sense, but it was slightly funny. (or perhaps you had to be there).

The weather has been beautiful for the past two days and it's been great to get outside. We've gotten tons of laundry done and been to the poola a few times too. Isla is loving her swimming lessons still and is great about putting her face in the water. She is a natural snorkler, so we just need to find a nice place in the UK to take her for summer holiday where she can see fish under water.....

We've been walking dogs at Gannie's again and on Saturday Alisdair and she were in the rearing field when some very young (like 48 hour old) phesant chicks came up to her. There were 4 of them and one stood right on her wellie. Being Isla she tried to touch it, but it thought she was trying to feed it and went for her finger. She thought it was great fun and has looked for them again all week!

There are four ladies in Blackford who are all due within a month of each other. Three of us are due the same week. Two have had boys and just two of us left to go now. In walking Isla and the dogs today a lady in the park (who I know) yelled "if you're still pregnant, you're not walking fast enough!" Ah, Scottish love....

Quick Update

No real news this week since I last wrote.

Isla's new favourite CD is Burl Ives ("the man") and she constantly wants to hear "the bucket song" (There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole). It's funny how much she adores her music CDs and can sing along to most of them now.

Wednesday we went back for swimming lessons. She still retrieves her rubber ducky in her mouth and acts like Cassie when she comes back with it, but she really enjoys the water so we'll keep taking her as long as mum is able.

We've been trying to get things together for the new baby and in an attempt to order some stuff on line, mum let Isla play with Charlie for awhile, unsupervised. Isla was eventually found upstairs with Charlie in "a monkey cage" (aka a laundry basket), Isla had given her a bath with shampoo she found in the bathroom and every book she owns was all over the floor. They had a great time however from the laughter that mum heard over the baby monitor. Charlie immediately ran downstairs upon being discovered. Isla just thinks Charlie is her best friend and sees no problem with harrassing her in anyway. God bless Charlie is all I can say!

She's had a great time this week walking Grannie's dogs and picking up all the clay pigeons in the rearing field, carrying them back to the kennels and then stomping on them to break them. (Dad taught her the physics that it's easier to turn them over so they are "bowls"...they crush better...ah, the magic of daddy wisdom). He also humoured her on a family walk and carried around the enormous walking sticks she kept finding us as well as collecting lots of larch cones for her to take home (Charlie has a thing for stealing cones in the backyard and she gets very angry with her).

Saturday and Sunday she's had a great time palling around with Daddy and today we went up the Sma' Glen to Colin and Gill's house so Alisdair could go fishing (he caught a pike) and Isla could play with Iona and Emma. She had a wonderful time as the girls are 7 and 3 and have rabbits, dogs and their dad is a gamekeeper (so things like playing in the back of the pick up truck, wrestling with springer spaniels, and dead rabbits in the yard aren't at all shocking). Isla loved being treated like a doll (including being put in the baby pram). Then we went down to see Grannie, Claire and Uncle Michael for tea. A busy day but nice weather and good to have some family time.