38 Weeks and MOVING!

I'm so close!!! If you don't like to read about bodies getting ready for labor you should definitely skip the next little bit...At my Dr appt this week I was 2-3cm dialated, over 60% effaced and measuring a week big. This is great news because he's a good size, but he's not ginormous and a C-Section is not necessary (well not necessary based on his size, anything could happen when I get ready to deliver, so please just keep your fingers crossed for me)  She's pretty sure he's already 8 lbs. She can tell he's a big boy. Raya was 6 lbs 11oz, so if he's 8 lbs already, he's a big boy. She asked if I wanted to be induced around the 3rd or 4th, but I don't. If I'm still pregnant as of Jan 10th, I'll ask to be induced that night so I can have him on his due date (which I would love!)...but I'd like to let him come when he wants, however, his lease is up Jan 11th, so he's gotta be out by then :) I'm super uncomfortable and tired of not being able to do anything for myself, so I'm ready, to say the least.

38 weeks!

We started moving on Monday. I love our new place! Its perfect for us. I've been so picky about the condition of the place, but I have to keep reminding myself that its a rental. Ah, lovely rentals. But the place has a community pool which I'm so excited about! AND we have our own washer and dryer IN our house. All in all, its 100 times better than the place we were in. So as annoying as it was to move out and as stressful as it is trying to get unpacked and ready for this boy when I can literally do Nothing, I'm glad we're here! So swim parties at my place! Start booking your plane tickets for the summer :)

20 Months - Raya Recently

Ms. Raya- It's crazy to think that this is the age you'll be when your brother comes. Next time I write your monthly update your little brother will be here!

Just when I think you're at the funnest age you get even funner!!!! (yes I know I said funner, but guess what, spell check didn't say it was wrong and everyone in Arkansas uses it :) You truly know how to be funny and you make me laugh all day long. Seriously, how did I get a 20month old comedian?! You have tons of words. Everyday its a new one. You are definitely able to communicate using your words. You've also said a couple phrases. When you were in the tub the other night you pointed to my belly and said "Mama's belly." And on Christmas you were jumping on your trampoline and waved "Bye, See You." I have that one on video! Oh, and your all time favorite saying "Oh, No!" I have that on video too. You say it with so much emphasis and expression. It's hilarious. You get sweeter and sweeter every day. Christmas morning you went around to everyone in the room and gave us all kisses. Pretty sure no one needed any presents after that :) Watching you open presents was so much fun. This was your first Christmas that you actually enjoyed opening presents and you were more interested in what was inside the wrapping paper where as last year all you cared about was the paper. We started the "25 Days till Christmas" countdown and you LOVED that. You knew where I kept all the presents, so at some point in the day you'd point to where they were and then go sit in front of the Christmas tree and wait for me to bring you one.

Size wise...lets see...you're probably close to 25lbs. I think you are 34 or 35inches tall. You are almost out of your size 6 shoes. I think you'll be able to wear them for one more month and then you'll be in size 7. You are way too long for your 12 month clothes, so I'd say you're officially out of that size. You still wear all of your 18month clothes and fit about all of your 24month clothes.

If anyone mentions anything about going outside you go to the room and get your shoes and bring them out to us. Instead of saying "outside" you say "shoes." You'll look at me and say "shoes" a couple times and that's my que that you want to go outside. You also tell us when you want to watch "Wow Wow Wubbzy." That's your favorite show right now and when you want to watch it you'll grab the remote and point it at the TV and say "Wow Wow, Wow Wow."

You are an absolute cuddle bug. You still love to play with hair and if I need you to go to sleep all I really have to do is give you your pacifier and let you play with my hair. You sleep until at least 8:30, and when you do wake up you'll lay in bed and cuddle until we get up. THANK YOU! Matter of fact, this morning you slept in with us until 10! Who does that? I guess you know we're going to be sleep deprived soon, so you're giving us all we can get now. I will totally buy you a car when you're 16 just for that.

And one of the funniest things (and possibly disappointing, you be the judge) Whenever we bring in Take Out food, you must smell it or know the bags because as soon as we walk in the door you say, with such excitement, "Ohhhh, mmmmmm!!!" You've yet to be so excited and say the same thing to any of the meals I've brought out to you from the kitchen. I've got to work on that :)

Everyday I am amazed by you. I know I am the luckiest girl in the world. It's impossible to have a bad day when I have a kid like you. Thank you for making my life so great!

Love you!!!!

Love, Mom

Family/Maternity Pics + 36 weeks

We FINALLY got them done :) I was getting a little anxious (ok, totally freaking out) that baby boy would come before we could get these done! There;s probably at least 10 pictures I love. The family ones turned out great. I would've liked a few more maternity ones with the family, but Raya was SO over it. And really, who needs more than 10 good ones? Usually Tara (my brother's girlfriend) does our pictures, but she had a lot on her plate these last few weeks, so I randomly found another photographer in the baby section on Craigslist. I was looking for baby furniture and saw her ad. That's the exact same way I found the lady that did our family pictures when Raya was 3 months old. Originally we had scheduled to do them last weekend, but we had to cancel...then due to my lovely pregnancy issues Gentry had the afternoon off to help me and she was free to do pictures. It worked out perfectly. And we got everything done in under an hour, which was amazing because I was wearing heels and by the 30 minute marker I was as over it as Raya ;)
Some of my favorites:

I have all my favorite in my Facebook album: Family/Maternity Session

I'm also 36 weeks pregnant! Yah, like LESS than a month and he'll be here! I'm excited for many reasons....
1. I finally get to see him! Definitely my favorite reason.
2. He'll be outta my belly. Very close to being my favorite reason ;)
I went to the chiropractor this week because I was in so much pain. On Wednesday I really thought I was going to have to sit in the car with Raya until Gentry got home-in 6 hours- because I didn't think I could get her out of the car seat and into the house. I really could not walk. Worst pain ever! I sat in the parking lot at Big Lots and cried. Lol. Partly because I was in pain and partly because I was so frustrated! So I promptly got online and did some researched and decided to make an appt with the chiropractor. He told me I had 7 ribs out of place on each side. Awesome. He believed that was mostly from baby boy moving and pushing. I believe it. He also said my hips/pelvic bone were very much separated. This is why I was in so much pain. And I can totally feel it! My hips click and just feel so lose. If that means that my chances of having this baby "fall out" while I'm, say, walking to take the trash  out I will be totally fine with that. So he did some adjusting. The next day I was still in pain, but today I've felt at least 50% better. And I will take it! I saw my baby doctor Friday and she said its up to me and how much pain I can take. If its unbearable she can induce me-which I'm not interested in. At 38 weeks she'll do an ultrasound and measure him because if he's big and my hips are completely separated there's a chance I'd have to have a C-Section- another thing I'm not interested in :) I really want to deliver this baby! The recovery from a natural birth is much better than a c-section, especially when there's a toddler and newborn involved. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that he's not too big and my hips cooperate.
3. I never really loved working out, but now that I've been in a situation that actually keeps me from working out I really miss it. So I'm hoping when he gets here I'll be able to start walking and working out again! I've become very thankful for what my body has allowed me to do and proud of what my body can and has done.
4. I want to see what he looks like! This is probably THE BEST surprise life can give you. That moment when you know you're about to see your baby, and then you do and they look nothing like you thought they would. Can't wait!!!
So now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't want to come when the full moon is in full effect (which is Dec 21.) I'm actually keeping my fingers crossed that he stays put until at least Janurary. Wish me luck!!!

happy holidays

Many Memories Snowflake Christmas Card

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Baby Boy Shower!

35 weeks!

I had a very sweet shower...which I like to call a sprinkle :)  At Raya's baby shower I definitely got showered! And I registered for all gender neutral baby items so that I could use them for baby #2. Good thing I did! I would've been so annoyed if I were to be having another girl because I LOVED the girly play pens and car seats. It took all I had not to register for them. So really, for this little guy I don't need much... boy clothes and diapers and then some big ticket items like a double stroller. Which I FINALLY picked out. Pretty sure I spent more time picking out a double stroller than deciding which colleges I should apply to. Lovely.
 So the shower was great! The decorations and theme were soooo cute! My Mom, Mary and Tara (brother's girlfriend) threw the shower. And big thanks to my brother that was in town and help set up!!! And thanks to Baby Daddy for cleaning up :) I'd love to decorate his room like the shower theme- turquoise, brown and giraffe print. It was such a perfect Saturday afternoon and such a sweet way to celebrate this little boy's arrival! I got some very cute little outfits and blankets. Just what I needed! And I'm actually really starting to like blue. Maybe not baby blue, but teal and turquoise and bright blue :) We went to Babies R Us last night with a gift certificate from the shower to get a few more things. There was this super cute leopard blanket that looked very manly. Couldn't I use that for him? It was like a natural looking leopard print. And it was dark brown. Gentry didn't say "No!" soooo, maybe?

LOVE this theme!

If you ever read the interview I did for my friend's website called Donut Soup, the girl she interviewed right after me (Souper #6 to be exact ;) makes Cakes...So I asked if she'd have time to do one for my shower and this is what she did. Are you serious!?!?!! It's so perfect.

Me and Cathleen-she's my bff that writes the Donut Soup blog

And my other favorite thing about the shower was the Diaper Cake!!!! For those of you that aren't quite familiar with that phrase, its a "cake" made of diapers. So each later is diapers stacked together. My friend Megan MADE THIS!!!! Yah, I know. She's so talented. Is making a Diaper Cake enough to be a Donut Souper ;) I was so excited when I saw it. Matter of fact, I still have it completely intact. Haha. How do you disassemble something so cute?!

Me and Meg- The Diaper Caker Maker

It was so perfect! It started raining right before and the first thought that went through my head "What the heck! I'm wearing brand new wedge boots that will totally sink into the wet grass. What are we going to do?" The shower was scheduled to be in the backyard, so I'm pretty sure I should've been thinking about other things. Hehe. But everything worked out perfectly!

Thanks for everyone that was able to make it out or was kind enough to mail us something. Love you all!
For all the Baby Shower pictures: Baby Boy Shower!

Chubby Baby's a comin!

Just a little Saturday night bloggin. You know you're jealous ;)

We had a 3D ultrasound this morning. Those are always so fun!!! I'm amazed by what you can see with those machines. The tech told us that he's already really chubby.  I could see his chubby cheeks and at certain angles you could see he also has a couple chins. So cute. She also said he has really long legs. Like almost double the size of legs she usually sees at this point. Um, am I birthing a 2 year old?! She thought I was farther along than I thought, but since I am FOR SURE about when I got pregnant, it can only mean this kid is a big one! She could also see that he has hair and confirmed for the 3rd time that he is a He. She said he's sitting right up against my stomach wall, which is why I can feel his body so well. It was so great to have her explain what I was feeling...like where his legs were and his feet. The things I feel are distinctly different parts of his body, so I loved learning which parts they were! I have 3 dates that I'd love for him to be born on because I think they'd be cool birth dates. They are today: 12/11/10, 1/1/11 or his due date 1/11/11. I mean I'm giving him THREE options, work with me kid! So its looking like today isn't going to happen, so I really hope he at least stays put until after Christmas. Oh and my newest freak out: the next full moon. So I'd never heard about the whole "Full moon and going into labor" theory until last week. I remember my nurse talking about it when I was having Raya, but I never thought about it again. The next full moon is Dec. 21st, exactly 3 weeks before my due date, and my dad's birthday. At that point I would be 37 weeks along, which is full term, and fair game for him to come. THE 21sT!!!! Yah, that freaks me out. That's like in 10 days. So keep your fingers crossed (and I'll keep my legs crossed) that he waits at least one more week after that :) 

This is his chubby face!

Whats crazy about this point in my pregnancy is seeing expiration dates at the grocery store that are AFTER my due date. Well, except for Kraft Macaroni. That doesn't expire until he's starting kindergarten. Don't know why I think that's so cool (or freaky, depending on the day) but I do! Its just so funny thinking, "Wow, if I don't finish this, I'll be throwing it away WITH my baby boy." HAHA. I'm so weird. I'm definitely in the stage of "Hmm, next time I have to do this he could be here." You know, the important things like getting my nails done, getting my hair done, taking a shower. But seriously, taking a shower is so exhausting! I really use to miss getting dressed up and doing my makeup, but now the thought of just getting in the shower makes me tired. I have to sit down to put my makeup on! I mean, dare I say it, but I hate the idea of going shopping. With all that said, I really truly am getting more and more excited every day that he's going to be here!!!! I CAN'T wait to see his little chubby face and have a little newborn to snuggle.

Thanksgiving in Texas

We always have such a good time in Texas. Love that place :) I probably wouldn't suggest traveling when you're 34 weeks pregnant, but the great part was Raya basically had a buddy (one of her grandparents) all day long, so I was able to rest more than I ever could when I am home with her by myself on a regular day. Raya loves her some Grandparents! She knew exactly who all of them were when she saw them. We only get to see all the Texas Grandparents a couple times a year, but we do skype pretty often, so I was interested to see if she'd make that connection, and she sure did. My Dad and Alan (Grandpa and PawPaw) live in Dallas and Gentry's parents (Grandmaw and PawPaw) live in Texarkana. We flew into Dallas and drove the 2.5hours to Texarkana later that night, spent the first half of our trip there and the second half back in Dallas. I didn't check the forecast right before we left, so I had an entire suitcase full of clothes to keep me warm...and the first few days we were there it was sunny and 70degrees. So I was one HOT girl ;) I don't think it actually got cold until Thanksgiving Day, which was half way through our trip, so I had to get some sandals because all I had were fur boots.

I had to wear Gentry's sandals to Target to get my own pair

And I was surprised at how royally pissed off that made me. LOL. I guess the combination of being excited for cold winter weather and being in the biggest stage of pregnancy made me slightly sensitive. Haha. I remember Gentry coming into the room after running out to the car our first morning in Texarkana. He looked at what I was wearing and, as gently as he could, told me I might want to change because it "wasn't really super cold out." And by "wasn't really super cold" he meant "it was very warm and you're going to sweat if you wear that outside." But because he is a smart man, and for the same reasons you don't startle a grizzly bear, he tried to deliver the new weather report as nice and easy as possible. When I went to check for myself I was so annoyed, but when I got back to the room Gentry was cracking up and really that's all I could do too.

Note to People that HATE turbulence...stay away from the Denver airport!!! I've never cried on a flight...but I did on this one. I know, I'm ridiculous, and I researched it when I got home and basically turbulence isn't going to bring the plane down, BUT, I didn't know that before my flight and I was pretty sure I was going to be driving from Denver to Dallas after our first flight. LORD!

Raya traveled really well on the way there. She slept at least half of each flight...the flights home were different because she couldn't really get comfortable. But all in all she traveled great!

Gentry's parents got Raya a Barbie Car that she LOVED. I was wondering how you teach an 18month old to differentiate between a gas pedal and a break pedal, but lucky for her (and me) it only has a gas pedal. The car only moves if she presses the pedal and as soon as she lets her foot off it stops (oh and did I mention the fastest it can go is 2.5mph, so even my waddling butt could catch it if all else failed ;)
Here's just a couple of the pictures:

She thought she was in a parade

I also uploaded a video on youtube of her driving. It was soooo funny. She had no interest in learning to steer, or really, even keeping her hands on the wheel. The video is here: Raya and her Ride

The true meaning of Southern Comfort

We headed to Dallas Thanksgiving morning. 

My step-sister and her husband were there, along with some other family and friends. They have a son, Christopher, who is exactly 6 weeks older than Raya. It was fun to watch them play together. 

This Thanksgiving there's 2 grandkids,
but by next Thanksgiving there will be 4!!!

She loves playing with her Uncle Bryce (my brother) and for some reason she loves waking him up. The last couple of times he's been home he's fallen asleep while she's around and she thinks it hilarious to wake him up.

Lovin on her Grandpa

So I'm pretty sure on Thanksgiving baby boy "dropped." By the end of the day he felt alot lower and it was pretty painful to walk. The whole time we were in Texas we didn't do much because I really couldn't walk for too long. By Thanksgiving I was as done as the turkey. I REFUSED to say I was ready for him to come because I could not take it if he came while we were in Texas. As cool as it would be to have a baby born in CA and the other one born in TX, I would have absolutely freaked thinking about all the logistics that would involve. So I just took it as easy as I could. And sweetly talked him into staying put ;) He's still very active. I think I got two videos of him moving, we'll see how well they upload. For the women out there that are working full time jobs and standing all day long and experiencing the same thing I am, I BOW DOWN to you! This is getting tough...like painfully tough, and chasing a 1.5 yr old around makes it intense, but at least YoGabbaGabba and Sesame Street have my back.

First family picture for the 2010 Holiday Season

I'm 34 weeks pregnant here.

All bundled up. It was FINALLY cold ;)

She went to the Dallas Zoo with her Grandpas. It was her first time at the Zoo. I need to get some more pictures from my dad. This is the one he sent me while they were there. She LOVES carousels. My Dad told me she had fun. She was more interested in running around and climbing than the actual animals. But she clearly had a good time because she took a super long nap when she got home.

Headed to the airport. Can't believe vacation is over.

If you're interested in seeing more of our trip, you can see all of our Thanksgiving pictures here: Thanksgiving in Texas

19 Months! Raya Recently

Sweet Girl, you're 19 months! Well you were a week ago :) But we were on Vay-cay so I didn't get a chance to blog about my favorite thing in the whole wide world. Your vocabulary has about doubled. I'd guess you have about 30 or 40 words. Some you can only say the first few letters of, but we get the idea. I'm starting to wonder if having 2 parents with different "accents" effects how you try and say things. Lol. I mean I know your Dad is only from Texas, BUT, me and him say things very differently. For example, I say "Seven" and your Dad says "Se-um" (and I just spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to spell out the way he says it.) But its like "Seven" but with a silent "v" and it ends with an "m."

OK, back to you! You are about 34 inches, and just under 24lbs. You are wearing all kinds of sizes in clothes. You fit into a good amount of your 12month clothes, all of your 18month clothes and I can get you 24month or 2T shirts and leggings (note to Grandparents, buy size 24month or bigger now). The hardest thing right now is finding jeans for you. A size 18month fits you in the waist, but are high waters on you and a size 24month fall of your waist but the legs are perfect length. You wear a 6.5 shoe. Some of your size 6 shoes don't fit, and some do. I started buying you size 7 because I'm guessing you'll be in those in the next month or so.

You are as funny as can be. You laugh at yourself and often laugh so hard that you get the hiccups. This has happened to you since you were a baby. But I've been told that your Grandpa (my Dad) gets the hiccups when he laughs really hard too, so maybe you get that from him. You have NO fear. You think its hilarious to fake people out by pretending you're going to jump off of something. You'll climb anything you can. You are very coordinated. When we are at the park you get so excited its like you kick into 5th gear and just can't seem to climb the play structure fast enough. Your brain still moves faster than your little body can, so I have to occasionally "spot" you. You know you're suppose to sit down when you get to the top of the slide, but sometimes you think its funny to try and walk down the slide. Of course you only try this on the highest slides. Thanks. There's plenty of nights that I go to bed and think "One more day without any stitches required!" And people tell me to "Get ready for a boy." Yah right! Those boys have nothin on you ;)

Watching you grow is so bitter sweet. Just when I think you're at the funnest age, it gets even better. I look back at your "baby" pictures and can't believe you're already a toddler! There's so many times I think "Please stop growing and just stay this age," and then you do something new and I'm amazed by you and so proud of you and get excited to watch you grow. I'm the luckiest Mom!
Love you Baby Girl!
Xoxo, Mom