Waiting

39 weeks and we wait and wonder if this baby will decide to join us before next Thursday. Based on the exams from my recent dr appointments this baby is pretty cozy and I am not showing any signs of labor. So it seems March 3rd is the day. Which is good because it has given me more time to run last minute errands and get a few things done to get ready. But I have been stocking up on things like we are not going to leave the house for weeks. ha! Today I had to remind myself we are having a baby there is not a winter storm coming.

We are getting very excited and enjoying our last weekend as a family of 3. We are relaxing and enjoying this nice weather and plan to take James to the movies this afternoon to see Gnomeo and Juliet. I want him to do something fun before our family makes a big change. James seems to be getting very excited about meeting his new brother or sister. He definitely is well aware that there is a baby in my tummy and he loves to kiss the baby (or my tummy). He prefers to kiss it bare skin so in public I have to remind him that I am not lifting up my shirt for him to kiss the baby :) And believe it or not the photo below was taken with my new iphone...

This past week a friend of mine finished James' big brother shirt. I thought it turned out so cute and the coordinating little brother and little sister onesie's turned out great as well. I did not photo the onesies since it would reveal the names :) 

I worry about how James is going to react to the new addition and hope that I can continue to show him that my love for him is just the same as it has always been. He will always be my baby. But I have also realized that he continues grow and is becoming such a big boy. He goes to the bathroom with very little assistance, he dresses and undresses himself with very little assistance and he really helps around the house picking up his clothes and throwing things in the trash and now beginning to help his daddy in the yard. He loves to be helpful so I think he will love to help take care of his little brother/sister. 

36 Weeks

Seriously I cannot believe I am 36 weeks AND we have set an induction date for March 3rd unless this little one decides to join us before. That is exactly one month away!! We had an ultrasound this week to check on a few things, nothing too concerning, so I didn't complain about "seeing" this precious baby one more time before we meet him or her. The baby weighs approx 6lbs so should be around 8 or 8 1/2 pounds at birth, just like its big brother :) We tried to get a 3D sneak peek at its sweet face but he or she would not move its arm away from the front of its face. Had it there the entire time. The same arm was in the exact same spot last time we had an ultrasound. I am wondering if this baby is going to love having its arm by its forehead even after it is born which may make it difficult to swaddle him or her while sleeping. Swaddling was a life saver for sleeping when James was a newborn...

Again in less than 4 weeks we are going to have a new addition to our family and we will no longer be a family of 3. The time has passed so quickly with this pregnancy. When I first found out we were going to have another baby I was excited for the obvious reasons but also I was excited because I had this blog which I did not start until James was around 18 months. I thought it was going to so great to document this pregnancy with frequent pictures of my growing belly and all the crazy things that come with pregnancy. Well I have failed...I think I have a total of 4 or 5 pictures of my baby bump after 36 weeks. I am such a slacker and the time has just gotten away from me. Well here is a picture at 36 weeks...hopefully I can manage to post at least one more before it is gone.

I am actually measuring 38 weeks. I have consistently measured 2 weeks ahead the entire time and as I have documented before I have gotten several comments from several people I know and don't know about how big my belly is. And believe me at this point in the pregnancy there is no need to remind me. The sleepless nights, the out of breath moments, the exhaustion, maternity clothes not fitting quite as well as they did even a week ago remind me all the time. It almost makes you wonder how is it going to get any bigger??

I know this post is becoming lengthy and longer than I had planned but I did want to document a few of the funniest comments we have received in the last month.
1) Chad, James and I standing in line at Mary Ann's in Fairhope to order lunch one Saturday and this woman probably in her late 50's early 60's approached us and proceeds to rub her hands in James' hair because she loved it so much (I am already uncomfortable at this point) and then she proceeds to touch my stomach (now really uncomfortable!!) and says it is a girl isn't it. We explained that it is a surprise which she loved. So then she continues to ensure us that it is a girl and why she thinks so, very convincingly, basically based on the way I am carrying it. She seriously turned me around so she could take a look at my back side. Chad and I still a little skeptical because we are so sure it is a boy. The kicker is she reaches in her purse and gives us her card including her name and number and told us to call her once the baby is born to inform her that she was right. Hilarious. I have saved the card for future laughs however not planning to call this woman.

At this point she is not the first random person that has told us they thought it was a girl along with other family members. I really have discarded the family member thoughts only because I think they want to think it is a girl because they would like for it to be a girl :) Plus several of our friends lately have been having girls. So I start thinking maybe it is the year of the girls and maybe my gut feeling is wrong. I guess after you hear it so often you start to believe it too. Until I got the next comment which happened a few days after the one above.

2) I had an appointment to get my eyebrows waxed (you know trying to get all the important things knocked out before the baby arrives :)) and the woman waxing them for me of course makes a comment about me being pregnant. It really is hard not to notice. She says so you are having a boy I take it. So again I explained we didn't know. She proceeds to say oh you are having a boy. It is the way you are carrying it. In my head I am thinking really? because this other crazy woman thinks just the opposite based on the way I am carrying it. I wondered if she was going to want me to call her too to let her know, she didn't mention it. She is so confident that after I explained that I have a little boy at home she said that her daughter has 2 boys and loves it. And that I am going to really love a life with 2 boys...hilarious.

So here we are 4 weeks out and the suspense is really starting to get to me but at the same time it really is so exciting. I have now gone back and forth between girl and boy that honestly I have no clue and it will be such a surprise either way. Some days I have regretted our decision not to find out (just for planning purposes) but all in all I think it is the best thing we could have done and I am so glad we are waiting!

We are the Champions!

The Auburn Tigers are officially the 2010 BCS National Champions!! At the beginning of this football season I never would have thought I would be typing those words by the end. CRAZY! And Auburn did it when Cam, the Heisman trophy winner and star quarterback, didn't have one of his best nights proving that our team is more than a one-man show. It is great to be an Auburn Tiger and I am so proud of how far the team has come. It was a season of up and downs but in the end it worked out for the best.

As mentioned in the previous post Chad made the trip to Arizona and James and I stayed behind. I would have loved to have been there with him and he would have never told me not to come but in the end I decided it was best that I sat this one out. I am so glad he got to experience such an amazing event in Auburn's history and got to share it with some of his closest friends and his brother, Chase. The excitement in his voice after the game was over made me so happy for him. It is something he can tell our children about and we have all kinds of memorabilia to show for it. He brought us back t-shirts, a hat, and a kids football for James. And even though I slightly doubted that he would actually take pictures since he is not one to break out the camera, he proved me wrong. AND he actually came back with one of my lucky shakers!! Here are some of his pics to document the trip.

The boys that made the trip  

Chad said the stadium was awesome and apparently is fairly new so there were plenty of restrooms and concession stands however they were not prepared for such a large crowd. A crowd that I must mention was 70/30 Auburn fans. This was the scene trying to enter the stadium. He said they stood in line for almost an hour. Security was heightened since the recent shooting in Tuscon, AZ that killed several people earlier that week.

If you look closely you can see the eagle flying...it was meant for Auburn to play in this game as that is one of our home game traditions and he said the crowd erupted. It gives me chills just thinking about it!

And this was the celebration after the big win and Wes Byrum's last second field goal to secure Auburn's victory. I can't imagine his mental state just before kicking that ball. I also thought about what his mother was going through just before.  

And this is what Toomer's Corner in Auburn looked like the morning after...

Wow! It was a fun season and we are glad Chad made it back safely and on time since the south experienced an unusual ice storm causing major flight delays and cancellations. It is now time to prepare for this little one...6 weeks and counting! 

It's Game Day!!

I can't believe it is finally here and the anticipation is killing me. I can't focus at work today and since we are too far south to have snow yes I am at work...boo!

Chad is in Arizona representing the "Scene" (thus access to tickets to take the pictures above). Needless to say we were a little bored and acting slightly cheesy by setting up the picture above. Ha! I am so glad he gets to go and be apart of such a big event in Auburn's history however I would be lying if I said I was not jealous and didn't pout a little the days before he left to go. My only request was for him to take pictures and take my lucky Auburn shakers. James and I will be shouting from home and cheering on our tigers. No matter the outcome tonight I am so proud of how far our team as come this year! I believe in Auburn and LOVE it!!

WAR EAGLE!!

Happy Birthday Chad!!

Yesterday we celebrated Chad's 31st birthday! Unfortunately he had to work while James and I were at home. I am working from home this week due to James day care being closed for the holidays. So James and I had a lot fun making a German chocolate cake for his birthday (his favorite). Now you will notice from the pics below I did use a box cake mix for the cake but that icing IS homemade :) James was such a big help especially with cleaning the mixing bowl and the mixer things. I know they say it is not safe to eat raw cake batter because of the eggs but I always did it as a kid and never got sick so I figured just a little taste or 2 wouldn't hurt! 

We met Chad for a great dinner at Stix where the man makes the fire according to James. It really was so much fun. When we got home we sang Happy Birthday as seen above and opened presents. However we did not eat the cake. Chad has been a little under the weather and James started running a fever yesterday afternoon so neither one wanted a piece of cake. It is still sitting in our fridge untouched :) However it may be our dinner tonight as the egg cooker is feeling worse today and hasn't made it out of the bed. My other child is still running a fever. This New Year's Eve night will be much different than last year for sure! I really hope they both get to feeling better soon. We finally have a weekend at home to ourselves and an extra day off work. I want Chad to be able to enjoy it and I am dying for adult conversation...being a stay at home mom with a sick husband to boot is tough! 

Sidenote: It has been nice to be at home this week and play with our new tech gifts from Christmas. We have really moved up in the world as far as technology goes...we got a flip video (thus the reason for the video added above), we got an iPad and a new MacBook Pro! Now if I could only figure out how to properly use all 3 :) 

Pregnancy Brain is Real

Pregnancy brain or momnesia is what some people relate to the many bouts of forgetfulness women may have while pregnant. Some people will argue that the pregnancy brain is a myth. Well I am here to testify that it is in fact real. I usually for the most part have it together. Here lately a few incidents are evidence that I in fact do not and I am starting to wonder if I should be left alone to care for my child. I have a list of a few examples below:

- One morning found a full sippy cup of milk in the cabinet under neath the kitchen sink right next to the Clorox clean up.
- Arrived at work and went to put my sandwich I had made at home in the refrigerator only to find that I had taken 2 slices of bread, spread mayo and mustard on each side, added a piece of cheese, and some how forgot to add the turkey.
- The same day I forgot the turkey, I went to instant message a friend at work to discuss another co-worker's inappropriate actions and actually typed the message to the co-worker I was writing about and hit enter. I went into panic mode. The co-worker was actually talking with someone else outside of my office so I quickly walked to her desk clicked on the message I had written and immediately closed it out so she  could not see it. I didn't really think through this response as she could have walked up as I was clicking on her computer and wonder what the heck I was doing. Fortunately that did not happen and I passed her on my way back to my office. She said a friendly hello and I said hi luckily she could not tell my heart was about to beat out of my chest.
- Reset my password to my work computer prior to leaving for the holidays and tried to log in this morning and I was totally at a loss as to what I had changed it too. I tried several combinations and nothing worked. This resulted in me calling our IT group to reset and then had to actually make a trip to the office in order for the password to reset.
- Over the holidays I completely left my cell phone in Birmingham and didn't realize it until we were in Montgomery. For 24+ hours I felt so out of touch with the world. Thank goodness for overnight mail and for my mom for using it. It arrived today still in tact...whew!

Is Christmas Really in 6 days??

It has been awhile I know. This post may be all over the place because you see I have been feeling a little like this lately...

It is the holidays and we have been busy I guess just like everyone else. During this holiday season we attended the SEC Championship game (WAR EAGLE!!), had Christmas with the Baldesare's, we have shopped, we have wrapped, we have decorated, we have been to a Christmas party, we have been to the doctor (reminder that we are having a baby in a few short months)...and the one thing I have not done is create a Christmas card. I feel like such a slacker when I open the Christmas cards we receive in the mail. They are all so great and I love receiving them. And every time I open one it makes me regret not sending one so I am making it a goal to work on a New Years card this year. So hopefully I can focus on that once Christmas is over.

So a little update on baby #2. I am now officially in the 3rd trimester. I can't believe it honestly. This pregnancy has gone by so fast and I cannot believe we only have 11 weeks left until we get to meet this precious little miracle growing inside of me. At my 28 week appointment we had an ultrasound and the baby weighs approx 2lbs 9 oz if it continues to grow at the same pace he or she will be approx 8 1/2 lbs at full term. James was 8 lb 7 oz so this one will probably be almost the same size even though it feels so much bigger than James did. I am measuring 30 weeks which doesn't necessarily mean we will have the baby earlier just that my baby bump is bigger :) And I definitely can tell. Sleeping at night is becoming more challenging and my energy level continues to decrease but other than that I cannot complain. Chad and I continue to think it is another boy and James insists he will have a little sister, not knowing really is so much fun and exciting despite the planner inside me dying to know so we can prepare accordingly. I do hope this baby doesn't decide to join us until my actual due date because I really need all of January and February to get things ready. I still have not purchased one thing for this little one and the nursery is not even close to being ready. Currently we call it our "wrapping room". Baby bump update at 29 weeks:

And Christmas. I am not going to lie I have been a completely stressed lately and at times a bit hormonal but I am finally starting to enjoy the holidays. We still have a couple of gifts to purchase and a few more to wrap but we have accomplished so much the last few days. James is really loving Christmas this year and has been so much fun to watch. He loves Christmas lights, Frosty the Snowman is his favorite Christmas show and song, and he loves Christmas trees. This year we even put a little tree in his room that he decorated himself. The ornaments are mainly concentrated in spots but he is so proud of it so I haven't touched it. He also insisted his tree have a star on top so of course we got one.

Yesterday we took him to see Santa. It went ok. He was all excited about it and couldn't wait to tell him that he wants a big blue dinosaur for Christmas but when we got close to him he became really shy and wouldn't let go of my arm. We convinced him it was ok enough for us to get a picture atleast there were not any tears. Here is the series of pics below.

And today we had breakfast at the Grand in Point Clear with Meme and Papop (they came in town this past weekend which was a huge help) and it was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Inside the dining area they had a Gingerbread house that is a replica of the hotel and property. It was so neat!

They also had a 20 foot tree that was stunning.

 

I wish I could decorate well. I try but our decorations our minimal. We do purchase a real tree every year and fortunately the past 2 years that experience did not turn into an argument. The first year we went together to pick one out was quite comical and I don't think Chad and I spoke to each other for several hours afterward. I just realized I do not have a picture of our entire tree. Next year we are going to need to lights on the outside of our house we decided.

It may be after Christmas before I have more updates so until then we wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas!