38 1/2

Ok so I'll be 39 weeks on Monday. Here is the update. :)

I am carrying super low but I am not terribly uncomfortable and haven't had the swelling in the legs, etc. yet. Praise God!!

I am measuring only 36 weeks (because this little guy has dropped) and actually lost a pound this past week. My midwife told me that my babe is done cookin though, and any weight at this point will just go onto me- so no worries with the weight thing! I've only gained between 20-22 pounds so this little dude has been pretty good to me!

I am dilated only to 1 cm and am not totally thinned out yet, but getting closer. But she had to "maneuver around the baby's head" to check me today at my appointment, so he's in a good place down there!

I am getting a massage on Sunday afternoon with hopes to induce this labor and get the contractions a bit more consistent. THEN, Monday morning I am going into the midwives again to get re-checked and get things movin a bit. Not sure if anyone knows what "stripping the membranes" means, but I sure do. My OB did that to me when I was prego with Ellie and I went into active labor 8-12 hours later!! My midwife said she will "do that" on Monday morning when she checks me. Ahhhh!

Soooo, it could be sometime next week that this baby comes!

We are excited to meet this precious bundle. Please be praying!!!

She likes my smile!!

Ellie and I were just sittin in our chairs out on the driveway. I was holding my hair in a ponytail off of my neck and noticed El kept glancing at me. I kindly asked her why she was looking at me. She said, "Well mom, I like it when your hair is back in a ponytail because I can see your face better. Also mama, I like the smile you have on your face right now. I love it when you smile, it makes me happy."

She melted me.

A few minutes later we were listening to a Bible Story on CD. It was Noah's ark. She asked me where Jesus was if He wasn't on the ark and I explained that He hadn't been born yet. She paused. (Wheels were turnin in there). She asked, "Well then how did God talk to Noah and other people back then if He wasn't alive in Jesus yet?" Wow- good question El. I tried to explain how God communicated with people before Jesus was born. I think she was intrigued...
I'm intrigued by HER.

Lastly, a video El took of herself and the robot she made this morning. She's quite proud. HaHa, she said she wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Soooo, when her babysitter showed up with bags of recycle-ables to create a MASTERPIECE, you could say she was pumped. :)

finally the Hilton Head pics

Easter morning once again!

great question

"Mommy, if everybody gets here as a baby in someone's belly, then how did the first person get in this city?" (She meant world).

"Great question Ellie! You're wondering how the first person got put on this earth, huh? You know the story of Adam and Eve, right?"

"Yes mommy, I know. But if Adam was the first person, how did he get here if he wasn't a baby?"

"Well babe, this is a picture of how awesome God is. He created everything and he put the first person on this earth. No one can really understand what that was like, but when you think about it, it's pretty amazing, isn't it? You're right El, it takes a mommy and a daddy to have a baby, but God put Adam here all by himself. Isn't that pretty awesome?" (Meanwhile thinking to myself: For REAL? How and why is she pondering this right now. Not something a 5 year old typically pontificates after preschool on Monday afternoon. What am I supposed to say? Am I explaining it right? Ahhh!!)

"OK thanks Mom, I understand. Now I'm STARVING! I wish I could have some of Nana's egg salad right now."

The Big Race

So last weekend we signed Ellie up for her FIRST race. Granted, it was an incredibly last minute decision as Ryan and her were just at the Glass City Marathon Expo checking things out. BUT of course Ryan realized that he had failed to enter his own daughter in the kids' version of the race that he had done so much planning and organizing for here in Toledo. To him, that was just not acceptable. :)
Soooo, because she had on her good running shoes, he signed her up 45 min. before the race began. She was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt (it WAS a chilly day) but oh well, she was gonna run and they were both pumped. I got the phone call with 30 minutes to spare. I happened to be in the bathtub, so I jumped out, woke Emma up from her nap and flew over to UT's campus. I found a parking spot, which happened to be WAAY too far away. BECAUSE...I ended up having to throw Emma on my back, grab the cameras, and run, yes RUN (33 weeks pregnant) across campus to make it in time. I wasn't gonna miss this race. And I didn't!

She was so adorable. They stretched, did some warming-up exercises (Ellie needs some help with her push-ups. I'm not even going to put in writing on here what it looked like she was doing). Ha! But then the race began and El was off. She stayed right at the front and was more focused and determined than I ever thought a 5 year old would be in an event like this. I don't think she really knew that she was in a race, she just RAN (not even all that hard or fast...just ran because we told her to run and follow the guys in the yellow shirts). I loved it. Ryan, Ems, and I had a blast watching her. We all clapped and cheered as she crossed the finish line. Enjoy the pics!

First a few videos!!

Here's to some Hilton Head fun. :)

WOW it's been awhile

I haven't posted in forever. I have good seasons and bad seasons with this blog. Ahhh!

We've had a busy and a great month. Towards the end of March, Ryan and I were blessed to be able to get away to Chicago for two nights. It was SUCH a treat. We had a great couple of days together, were blessed to be able to stay downtown right in the heart of the city, and we got to SLEEP IN!!! We loved our little trip with each other and we ate a LOT of food. :)

Our fam also just got back from Hilton Head last Friday; probably the best family vacation we've had together. PICTURES will be posted very soon, I promise. (The hard part is that we are not living at home right now so the chord I need to connect my camera to a computer is MIA. We are having our bathroom remodeled soooo we have been living at my parent's house. But only a few more days before we're back home. Yahoo!!

Even though I was 30 weeks pregnant while on vacation (and NOT small), I felt great. The car ride was a little rough because of my compressed bladder and restless legs, but I made it. HeHe. :) The girls had an absolute blast; they are at such good ages for a trip like that. Ellie can ride her two wheeler bike all over creation, they both loved playing in the sand (they played Tinkerbell and pretended the sand was pixie dust), they're at great ages for eating out at restaurants, and they slept wonderfully. Emma was in a big girl bed all week and did great with that--never an issue of her getting out once. That is a HUGE difference from what we experienced with Ellie so we're thinking that maybe we'll do the whole big girl bed thing soon with her now that we're home.

I'm a little freaked about moving her to a big girl bed AND moving her into Ellie's room all at the same time. If anyone has input on that, please share. This baby boy is coming in 2 months and I have to figure this out!!! The "nursery" is still fully Emma's room. Hmmmm....