Thursday, November 20, 2008

New Due Date

I don't know why, but today my doctor moved my due date up one day! It was January 9, now it's January 8, 2009. I asked him if he was sure and he was. Fine by me. I have gained 20 pounds so far, which is probably a little more than I did with A & T by this point, but not too bad. To be honest, I really don't care, but it's the only way to keep track of the baby's growth at this point, so I'll take whatever excitement I can get!

We went Christmas shopping for the girls last night at Wal-Mart and it was really fun. We knew we wanted to get Avery a bike, but we weren't sure what size she would need. We tried the littlest bike, but her long legs were just too cramped, so we got down what looked like a huge bike (with training wheels) and she rode that thing around the Wal-Mart toy department like a pro! I could not get over how big she is. I just kept looking at her thinking "I have a child who can ride a bike!" That is crazy! So I took the girls to another section of Wal-Mart while Brian secretly bought the bike and put it in the back of our car. I can't wait to give it to her for Christmas. I am giddy with excitement!


Tatum loves to try to dress/undress herself now. This is how I found her when I went in to get her up from her nap the other day. The shirt is (was) a long-sleeve turtle-neck shirt, so go figure how she ended up with it like this!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Growing Pains

Yea, I'm officially huge. It's funny how all the sudden you go from feeling "cute" pregnant, to feeling big scary gorilla pregnant. It just happens overnight. One day your maternity clothes fit you just right and everyone tells you what a cute pregnant girl you are, then the next day, your maternity clothes are too tight and barely cover your huge belly and you must make a choice: either resort to moo-moo shirts (not attractive), your husband's t-shirts (not stylish) or you just squeeze yourself into those tight maternity clothes and focus on just keeping your belly covered. I've been opting for choice 3 lately, but i'm really wondering how much longer I can truly keep my belly covered. Anyway, I can hardly wait to meet this little girl. I have been praying that she will come early, not only because I want to meet her so bad, but also because I want to have as much time as possible with her at home and if she comes during the holidays, I will get "free" time with her before I have to go back to work. But I am glad the Lord has it under control and she will come when she is ready.

Last week, my mom took the girls to SA for a few days, which gave me a chance to get our house ready for the baby. We painted the nursery yellow (it has been pink since Avery was born - we needed a change!), and replaced the bedding and decor. I really like it. It is totally different, and it just makes me happy when I walk in there. Also, I moved Tatum's clothes, shoes & stuff completely into Avery's room, so they are officially sharing a room now. That meant I had to overhaul their closet and drawers so I could fit it all in their room, but it feels so good to have it done. It amazed me how productive I could be... really, I am in love with my kids, but it is just impossible to get much done with little ones around. There is absolutely no way I would've been able to get those huge projects done without two full days of undivided time to just focus and think about what I needed to do. There's nothing on the walls yet in our yellow room, I'm still looking for some cute picture frames and decorations that match, but here's some before and after pictures of the nursery:

before
after
before
after


I am so excited that my friend Jennifer is coming to visit on Friday. We met at A&M and made some great college memories together. I love that we may not see each other but once or twice a year, but we always pick up where we left off... she is a blessing from the Lord. She made my girls the cutest Thanksgiving t-shirts. Check out her blog and see the cute "turkey" shirts she made for Avery & Tatum. Can't wait to see you, Jen!

Only one week left of school until the Thanksgiving holidays! Brian's family in Midland is coming to Houston this year. His cousin has three kids, McKenzie, Kade & Kenadi, that my girls adore, so we are looking forward to catching up with them. Thankfully, our trip to SA this past weekend to pick up the girls was probably my last bit of traveling before the baby comes. It got pretty uncomfortable sitting in the car for 3 hours, and I've been having contractions occasionally so I really am happy that our families are coming to us this year, so that we don't feel bad about not traveling. My family is all coming here for Christmas, even Martin & Dominique are coming all the way from Michigan!!! We are thrilled to see them! We haven't seen them since last Thanksgiving, and I miss them! We have a lot to look forward to over the next couple months. Maybe the Lord will let our baby come a little early so she can meet her Uncle Martin & Aunt Nikki before they head back north! Wouldn't that be exciting!?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

sick puppy

Last week was the sickest i have been in at least 5 years. I can't describe how horrible I felt all week. Something just hit me, I don't know if it was walking pnuemonia or just a really really bad cold, but I was a miserable mess... coughing, hacking (and thus peeing in my pants) unmercifully, nose just out of control, sore throat, achy and tired, pretty much everything hurt. I slept in the recliner all week b/c I felt bad coughing all night and keeping Brian up. I only slept 2-3 hours/night all week. Anyway, I did finally go to the doctor and I know I haven't been that sick in 5 years b/c I had to update my address at the doctor's office ... they still had the address of the apartment we lived in before we bought our house 5 years ago! Anyway, thankfully there is a (very weak) antibiotic I was able to get and it has been helping, very slowly.

So here's some pictures from Halloween. We went to the fall festival at our church and the girls had a lot of fun. Avery was a blue Care Bear, and Tatum was a bunny rabbit. Not bad for $7 costumes from the resale store!!!

This is the back of my blue Care Bear (holding her blue Care Bear):
the petting zoo
tatum in the bounce house (notice her cute furry tail)
playing in the toddler room
cute little bunny rabbit
A & T last sunday after church

Really not much has been going on, since I've been sick, we've cancelled alot of things that we had planned to do. There was a Waterdeep/Derek Webb concert last night that I was crazy to go to in Bryan, but we ended up not going. I was really disappointed to miss it becasue I know Waterdeep probably won't be back around these parts for a long time, but you can only do so much when you're pregnant, and I am learning my limits.

I did go to church yesterday. I had missed the past two Sundays, and I really miss church when I don't get to go. It was so good to see all our friends in Sunday school, and one of our Sunday school teachers gave a really good message about not being a stumbling block to those around us. He said it's better to view yourself as the "weaker" one if you choose to refrain from some questionable activity, rather than allow yourself to be prideful in thinking you are better than those who do partake. I never thought about it that way, but I think subconciously I have been trying to do that, so I was glad to hear it put into words. I hate my own pride in the worst way, and I do want to rid myself of that horrible attitude and mindset that anything about me is better than anyone else.

"May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Gal. 6:14

Anyway, my mom is here this week to keep the girls while I'm at work, so it's been fun having her visit. She is planning to take the girls back to SA with her on Wednesday, so Brian & I are hoping to get some things done around the house... my main goal is to paint & decorate the nursery. The nesting instinct has kicked in and I am so excited to try to get our house under control before this baby gets here... only 8.5 weeks to go!