i'm an auntie!

1 down. 1 to go.

my sister-in-law kelsey had her baby girl on June 22 at 12:52PM and i officially became an AUNT for the first time!!

kels did great and aizley is one perfect lil' girl. i could spend hours sitting there holding her. i can't wait for her cousin to join her in this world and watch them grow up so close in age! family get togethers will be so much fun!

my camera was dusted off and has been used constantly ever since she arrived - love her!

i've longed for you, july.

tomorrow is july 1, 2014. i've been waiting for july since, well, november. november 3 to be exact - the day we found out we would be expecting baby #2. it seems that july came fast and the time in-between november and july dragged - all at the same time. i'm sure those of you who have kids know exactly what i'm talking about. nevertheless, we are ready for baby, i think.     are you ever ready? for the past 10 weekends i feel like i've been tackling to-do lists of things i just have to get done before baby: clean the house X 100 finish the nursery buy g bday and anniversary gifts before july (just in case i don't have time after) reupholster furniture prepare birth announcement - ready for photo drop-in (still not done) go through b's old clothes clean out basement     .... the list goes on....     many of these things are done - many of them are not, but i think i'm okay with that. i'm okay with this baby coming and things not being PERFECTLY planned. it's so different preparing for #2 than for #1. #1 was easy.... if i deep-cleaned the house it stayed like that for more than the next 10 minutes.     sigh.     now i worry more about banks. what's banks going to do when i'm in labor - will he be okay? will he be in a good mood/happy to see us when baby arrives? how are we going to handle two?  what if this baby isn't a great sleeper like banks, doesn't eat well like banks?   .... so much for thinking people don't compare their kids.... i already am and i don't even know if i'm comparing a boy to a boy or a boy to a girl. i'm sure i'll love them just the same, compared or not. we've been dilated to 2cm for the past 2 weeks and will go back to the dr. on the day we enter week #38 (wednesday). the day after we'll celebrate g's 30th birthday, the 4th of july, the week after our 6th wedding anniversary and then we're almost to d-day.  the anticipation of finding out where this babe's birthday will fall in-between all of the other july excitement is KILLING ME.    my etsy favorites are ready to purchase as soon as baby comes folder #1 - pink/coral galore folder #2 - 1 item ( sad, I know)   i'm finding out quickly that if a girl happens to join our family i'll be broke as a joke. and when i think about 'what i want' i truly have no preference. there are 1,000 reasons i would love a girl and a 1,000 more i think a boy would be best, which is why i LOVE not finding out the sex of the baby. and i wonder what baby will look like.... like b? small or BIG like b? will labor be long and steady like last time or will it be short, quick and unexpected? will i go into labor at home again or at work? will  my water break, or will that first REAL contraction be the only sign?   so much anticipation - KILLING ME (again), but i cannot wait to see what unfolds THIS MONTH! so,welcome July. I know you will be a month to remember and the day of this month we remember forever is the unknown, but we cannot wait to know that magic number!    

READY TO BE A BIG BROTHER

BABY K2 - YOUR COUSIN IS READY TO MEET YOU!

37 WEEKS

37 WEEKS & DONUT DAY WITH B

full-term.

i've never thought of myself as one with poor memory, in fact, garrett asks me all the time how i remember things like what he wore 6 years ago to the day, or the crazy things that happened in high school. i don't remember being this anxious for baby #1. i feel like it's the first time all over again. i'm excited, nervous, anxious, freaking out, and a ball of emotions.   this time though, i'm more worried about banks. is he going to be okay during labor? is he going to like the baby? how will be react at their first meeting? will be still love me the same? will he cry? will he smile? will he have a sister? a brother? so many questions to be answered in the next month, or so.  i've prepared myself for a late baby. doctors had given me two different due dates with banks - November 17 and November 27. He ended up being born on November 29, so either way, he was late. this go around, I'm prepared to have baby k#2 anytime AFTER July 17. although, after yesterday's appointment, I can't help but get my hopes up! 60% effaced, -3, almost 2cm dilated and head down. whoa. yes, i know.... this really doesn't mean anything, but the fact that I'm just now 36 weeks and there is some sort of sign that baby is coming just excites me like no other.  for 8 months it feels like it will be FOREVER before the baby comes and there is so much time to get all of the items on our checklist, checked. and now, i'm not so sure that everything will be checked.  after the dr. left the room, g asked why he didn't tell us our effacement and station position. I said he did. 
G - "he did? all i heard was almost 2cm and i couldn't believe it, so i guess i didn't hear anything else!" i think it's safe to say we're both excited. the heartbeat was 134 this go around, and I'm still convinced this baby is a boy. still.... a boy without a confirmed name. holy stress.
i can't get over how weird it is to think that any given minute i could be in labor.... and to have this feeling for much more than 3 more weeks would just be brutal and wrong, but i keep reminding myself how everything just simply 'worked out' last time i went into labor and that it happens when it's supposed to. even if i was past my due date. i've been trying to save a little energy each day after i remind myself how much energy i used up during the 17 hours of natural labor last time. it's almost like 'trying' to prepare for a marathon that you don't know the start time or date for - odd. i'm also struggling with the fact that b will no longer be the only child. i'm ecstatic to add another member to our family, but i'm nervous about how banks will react, how i'll really feel (probably overwhelmed) when the baby arrives and how i will adjust to 'sharing love' and 'sharing time'. for now, i'm completely savoring every moment with banks and loving his sweetness and i'm sure that we will all fall completely in love with baby#2 as soon has he/she is born, but i can't help but worry more about this baby being born than i was with banks. funny.. because you would think that it would feel totally natural being the 'second time around'.
right now we are praying for a healthy baby and would prefer it to be born between Sunday after 3PM and before a Friday at 3PM. why? because we have an awesome opportunity to donate free cord blood. i had checked into doing this with banks, but never found somewhere that would do it for free. to save the cord blood for your own family's use is expensive, but donating it to an agency for anyone to use, can be completely free. that's what we're doing and i'm kind of weirdly really excited about it. of course the baby needs to be healthy and the amount of blood collected has a minimum, otherwise it cannot be accepted and the baby must be born between the times listed above for the blood to be able to be picked up and shipped. if you are pregnant and are between your 28th and 34th week you can also do this! i highly recommend it as i've heard of cord blood cells saving several friends' and friends' family member's lives. so cool. we are using  Life Force Cryo Banks -http://www.lifeforcecryobanks.com.
in other awesome news - i'll officially be an aunt this week! kelsey is almost 5 days past her due date and her doctor has scheduled an induction date for monday, so we're excited for baby A to join the world this week! praying everything goes smoothly and baby A and mama are healthy throughout the birth.
also an AWESOME update on a story i shared through our blog earlier about the Topping Twins - you can read about their story here and continue to pray for their family. miracles do happen thanks to  Him.

36 weeks

six to go. maybe more. maybe less.

i started this post the day i was 34 weeks.... now i'm closer to 35.  i think it's safe to say that time is flying by and that baby k #2 will be here before we know it - which i'm totally a-ok with. 
.... in the meantime we're waiting for our first niece to be born... kelsey is due in 9 days!....
our trip to south carolina was great.i felt great the whole time and no complaints of extra tiredness or aching due to the traveling. so i thought. i went back to work monday and i've been exhausted ever since and my back is KILLING me. sitting in an office chair all day probably doesn't help much, and frankly our hotel's mattress was apparently much better than our's at home. 
on tuesday i visited the dr for our 34 week appt., but saw a nurse practitioner due to our dr.'s european vacation - ahhhh. that'd be nice.
heart rate jumped to 152 after it had been in the 130's and low 140's the last couple of appointments. my weight had no problem taking a big leap either.
i keep trying to compare these pregnancies, but i truly cannot tell much a difference. i have gained a little less weight with this one and feel less swollen than i did with banks. the heart rates are all over the place and are throwing me for a loop. my face is a disaster, as it was with banks - those dang brown, birth-mark like spots are showing up everywhere! make-up is a must.

i keep reading about Banks' updates at 34-36 weeks trying to come up with a comparison. you can read that post HERE.
for now, i'm still going with boy. that dang boy with no set name..... still.

mom came over this weekend and we visited the farmer's market, got a few more things for the baby's room and then i cleaned for HOURS. i went through all of banks' baby stuff and pulled out what we need for baby k 2. i ended up washing  a few boy newborn outfits, a few neutral outfits, all of the blankets, swaddling blankets and burp cloths. it's starting to feel so real! 

banks' take home outfit - feels like YESTERDAY.

B absolutely LOVES to be in the baby's room... a little too much. he picked this elephant out for the baby's crib when we visited babies r us this weekend.

we also decided to buy a comfortable glider for the nursery ( ouch to the wallet ) and put the wooden chair in our bedroom.
after a week's research and deliberation we settled on this beauty. it looks brown, but is actually a medium grey. i can't wait to add a pillow with a pop of color - a bright coral or a aqua blue?

so here's to week 34... coming and going.... 

back home with banks.

we've been back home for 5 days since vacation and i feel like i have 100 stories to tell. let's just say this kid has a mind of his own and keeps us on our toes. although he's as cute as can be, and makes me smile and laugh (usually when I shouldn't be laughing), he has been 'in the corner' ever since we got home.

the other night we were eating mcdonalds (gross, i know) out on the deck and banks wasn't eating. he went on and on about the neighbor mowing. be loves to mow. he's obsessed, but the real mowers scare him. he kept asking if the mower was going to get him....(of course it wasn't), but since b wouldn't eat, I said if he ate his chicken nuggets, the mower wouldn't get him.

b stuffed a nugget in his mouth - so much that he chewed that sucker for 5 minutes before swallowing. he then was teasing hadley with a nugget. we all know that giving hadley anything but a tiny piece of food is a no-go after his near-death experience with banks' apple, so we tell banks ALL OF THE TIME not to give hadley food. 

2 seconds later, hadley takes the nugget. I asked B why he would do that after i told him not to, his answer:

"The mower was going to get Hadley if he didn't eat a nugget."

Seriously?

................................

B is for bossy.

He's definitely not afraid to tell you what to do. 

Sit here. Scoot over. Get my milk. Put my milk back. Pick up my blanket. Don't do that. Dont' touch me. Don't kiss me. Kiss my foot. Kiss my ouchie. SO BOSSY. Of course, we answer with "what do you say?"

We get a please, and then usually proceed with the task.

The other night, miserable and hot, we went downstairs to watch TV. B left his cup upstairs and as soon as I was comfortable on the couch, I hear:

"Go get my cup, mama."

I asked him if he had two feet. He answered, yes. Then you can go get it. You can walk upstairs and get your cup, Banks.

He argued.. No, mama, no, you go get it. I told him I wasn't going to get it, that he could do it himself.

"Why? Did your leg fall off, mom?"

SO BOSSY.

.......................

after swimming lessons went so well i was determined to keep banks in some sort of organized activity. it was something he could look forward to every week, meet new people and hopefully have some fun.

so, we signed up for soccer. 8 weeks of soccer. once a week, again something to look forward to. I told G he would have to step up his game for soccer, as I swam at 30 weeks pregnant. blah... there was no way i was running around at 34+ weeks pregnant in the heat. he agreed.

neither garrett or I played competitive soccer. i know barely anything about the sport, other than that it's long, sometimes boring to watch, the scores are usually low and that got nailed in the face with a soccer ball in 5th grade and never signed up for the sport again.

his bff, Bode, is also signed up, but was out on vacation.... let's just say that I'm hoping he will bring more interest to soccer lessons in the next few weeks.

 first 5 minutes....

 ....not so sure about joining the group....

 ..... 34 week pregnant mother steps in after a meltdown.....

 ....... and he's off....

..... to the playground....

 

 I'm not sure who had a bigger meltdown... B or his father. I don't think he's accepting that B may not be good at something very well. Okay, so he's probably fine at soccer, but he just was NOT INTERESTED... at all.... he'd much rather play on the playground. Although, when the kid with the shin guards, soccer shoes and shiny soccer ball showed up late, B was all about his gear - so maybe we just need new gear??

Garrett said he's not going back (needless to say, he was mortified)  so I guess it's up to mom to get the kid involved.... we'll see how this goes.

when we got home, the kid got his new lefty golf clubs out and hit the ball across the yard - i'm totally fine with him playing a low impact sport that could make him millions while looking slick in golf clothes. that's my boy.

... and then he requested to watch tennis before bed...

maybe, soccer just isn't our sport.

However, the post-soccer ice cream was fabulous and the donuts the day after were even better.

Food is awesome.

HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!