38 Weeks!

So at this point, I'm almost 39 weeks.  Each day we have been waiting!  Every pain I am looking at the clock, and every phone call I make is received by "ARE YOU IN LABOR?!" on the other end.  We are all on the edge of our seats over here!  Except me, I am leaning back on the couch with a pillow behind me. ;)

I am constantly active and trying to walk out this baby, to no avail, so I gave up thinking any of that helps.  Only God knows when it will come, so I'm just ready.  This is officially the longest I have been pregnant!  Reilly came at 38 weeks, Reagan at 36. 

 So we have been keeping busy while we wait!  We went to the mall to walk around, and see Santa!!

 Sissy's looking like little elves all ready to go!  We were all up before 6, partially because Reilly wakes everyone up, partially because Mommy can't sleep at all anymore.  So by 8:30 we were fed, dressed, and ready to go to the mall.  We had all had breakfast at literally at 6 am, so by the time is was 10 am and the stores were opened, we were all ready for lunch.  I think we were getting stared at with our Auntie Anne's pretzels in the "morning".

 After we left the mall, Reilly was wondering why the baby wasn't here yet. :)  I keep telling her walking will help the baby come out, and the poor things is getting so anxious!

We have been reading a lot about the birth of Jesus recently, and she asked me today where the doctor was who took Jesus out of Mary's belly. :) She's very confused that this doctor was left out of all the pictures. Ha.

 (The sissah love...it kills me!)

So at the most recent doctor appointment, we found out that I am now 2 centimeters dilated, and 70% effaced!  I was very excited about that, thinking "Yay, progress!!"....and one whole week later, and here we still are!  This is craziness at this point.  I mean, really. 

As soon as we got to the mall, Reilly was saying, "What IS this place?!  I'm not so sure about this place!"  I guess we need to go to the mall more? Haha.

Reagan and Daddy waiting to see Santa...this was the last picture of Reagan smiling!  Poor thing was terrified of the big man. 

 

This little chick on the other hand, was SO pumped to see Santa!  Went right up onto his lap!  Never has this child showed any hesitation with meeting Santa, even as a baby. So funny, the difference between these two. 

Precious girl.  She looks just like her Aunt Mimi when she was little.  Lucky little girl if she grows up looking like her Meems! :)

We spent the rest of the day window shopping, browsing, shopping, having treats, sipping some Gingerbread Lattes and Peppermint Hot Chocolates, and smelling all the scents of Bath and Body Works. 

Here is Daddy showing Reilly how to "Cat Walk".

I am OBSESSED with these two.

This one pooped out with her Buddy in hand for our last few stores. :)

Then Reilly wanted to show us what  REAL "catwalk" was...

MEOW!

By the end of the day, I was dying of heat.  I had a sweater on over my tank top, and Ugg boots.  Which combined with my hormones was making me ridiculously warm, so I threw my hair up and took my sweater off...leaving me in  tank top and leggings looking like the most cliche pregnant woman EVER. Haha.

My girl and I, and little comfy baby.  When it was time to leave, Reilly was near tears because she wanted to go to more stores!  She is definitely my girl!

So today...another week, another doctor appointment!  Let's see what he has to say today.  Reilly had a conversation with God last week (she actually shushed me, and said she had to listen to God...).  She told me that God told her the baby was going to be born "in 10 days", which would be Thanksgiving.  Sorry family if that's true, that couldn't be a more inconvenient day for travel. Haha.  But on the up side, if that's true, our daughter is somewhat of a prophet! ;)

We also fully decorated for Christmas over a week ago, because why not?  Shopping has been done for weeks, decorating is now done...what else can we accomplish while we wait?  Plus we are just so excited for the season, I think Christmas deserves over a month of decorating and celebrating.

At this point, my irrationally hormonal pregnant mind is starting to believe I will still be pregnant for Christmas. Sighh. I am also at the point where sleep is so impossible, that having a newborn will actually allow me MORE sleep than I am getting now. Prayers for an easy delivery if you are thinking of us! 

The Sink Saga

 Here I go distracting myself with writing, since I am still not in labor... ;)


This is the sink that was in our house when we moved in.  Nice and big, we didn't think it was too bad.  Until we started using it.  Turns out, the double-bowl sink, combined with the short and very low faucet, made it pretty impossible to wash dishes.  Look at the sink and try to picture washing a giant pot.  Water only reaches one corner, must use the sprayer...and spray yourself and your whole kitchen.  Now picture trying to wash a large cookie sheet.  It must lay right on top of the separator in order to get soaked in water.  And then spills over down your cabinets.  See where I'm going here?  This sink/faucet combo just made dish washing MUCH more difficult than it had to be, and made the process process pretty miserable.

We thought about just replacing the faucet to save some money (which we had done in our old house as well), to something with a longer neck.  But then we realized that we didn't prefer the double bowl sink, and eventually would like to have one large single bowl.  So we decided to wait until we could do both at once.

 Another "before" picture of our sink.

(As I was taking "before" pictures, I head someone next to me saying "Chee! Chee!"  and then I turned and saw this face.)

 Anyway, bringing us to the saga.  We decided we wanted a granite composite sink, because we had seen it at a friend's house and loved it.  It is actually a little cheaper than the stainless steel, and we thought it looked awesome.  It is also so easy to care for, so we went for it.  We wanted black, and one large bowl that was nice and deep (at least 9 inches).  With these specifications, and where we live, we had to go online.  Long LONG story short, we had 2 SINKS delivered from Home Depot that came totally cracked.  Each time Hubby had to lug the sink back to the store to return it.  Thanks but no thanks Home Depot.

Then I went to another site, where there were very high ratings, many of which mentioned how well it was packed and what great condition it came in!  Awesome!  So my brother-in-laws came over to do the installation, and took the sink totally out of the packaging, and found a crack under the styrofoam.  THAT IS OUR THIRD BROKEN SINK.  Keep in mind, this process took WEEKS at this point.

So Hubby's brothers told us about a local plumbing store that has a showroom.  The boys had other things to fix at the house, so I went right there to see if they happened to have what we needed.  At this point, I just wanted a sink in!  I was willing to compromise if I had to.  But not really compromise, because we had been waiting so long for something that we would have forever!  Oh, was I ever torn driving into that plumbing supply store.  Good thing I had a latte in hand.

 Turns out, they had one!  The only difference was, the sink they had was brown instead of black (which we ended up loving).  I am so grateful to my brothers-in-law for staying to install it!!  The box wouldn't fit in my trunk, so the guy at the store took the sink out of the box and plopped it directly into my trunk.  I might have called him a genius.  Then I high-tailed it home, called Hubby and asked him to pick up some pizza, brought my plumbers some coffee, and sat down. PHEW.  Then we had to wait 24 hours to use it, in which I just stared at it and texted Hubby, saying, "It's been 18 hours. Don't you think it's dry?"
 
Every day since has been glorious in the land of dish washing.  Seriously, it is an enjoyable task now!  It's unbelievable what a difference a giant, deep sink makes in the ease of washing dishes.  I can SOAK my roasting pans a cookie sheets, WHILE WASHING A POT. 

And can we just talk about washing a little baby snuggly newborn angel in this beauty?

But probably my FAVORITE part about the sink...is that it never looks full.  Therefore, the kitchen always looks infinitely cleaner than ever before!  A clean empty sink is just the best.  Need proof that it never looks full?...

It had my largest pan and biggest mixing bowl in it for entire "after" photoshoot!!  Crazy right?!

So there you have the saga of the sink!  Which has a happy ending.  :)

p.s.  I'm still pregnant. ;)

Honestly...

1. I feel like this will be our biggest baby thus far (Hubby agrees).  I don't know why, just a gut feeling.  And the fact that the baby feels like it is taking my my ENTIRE abdomen, from my neck to...well..where it's going to come out.  Sorry.  The ninth month always requires brutal honesty

2. I have no prediction or feeling as to the gender.  I never do.  It actually strikes me as hilarious when people are super confident about what they think I am carrying.  "OH you are ALL boy!" ...Really?  I'm pretty sure it's still 50/50. Ha. I don't know why, when anyone acts like they know what I'm having, I always want to chuckle at the silliness of guessing (especially because most of the time, they are complete strangers).

3. The back and rib pain that I am currently experiencing is borderline worse than labor.  Now hear me out.  Labor is the worst. pain. ever.  But, there is an end in sight.  I am constantly in a state of extreme soreness/bruised ribs/aching/none of these words adequately describe the pain, and realistically I am only 36 weeks along and this could continue for WEEKS.  Day and night.  Laying down doesn't bring relief.  See where I'm going here?  I currently desire a pain that I know to be the worst I have ever felt, in order to end this pain, because at least I KNOW that the baby is quickly on it's way.  End of complaining.

4.  I don't feel like I will go for 4 more weeks... I think it will be (hope it will be) this week.  I am basing this on a few very scientific facts.  First, this is how my body felt right before labor with both my other girls.  Hopefully this is some sort of pattern.  Second, I think God loves me too much to make me live 4 more weeks in such pain.  Sounds legit, right? So really, I'm just arbitrarily hoping that I'm right.

5. 11/11 would be a cool birthday!  As would 11/12/13!  I mean, right?

6 . Every so often, in between hoping I go into labor soon, I feel the baby kicking and moving like a little ninja-ballet dancing-gymnast, and I get overcome with a fear that I have to push this baby out.  Like really soon.  And I start getting flashes of this day and this day.  And I feel bits of panic that take deep breathes to get rid of.  Then I pray and push it out of brain and pretend it will be really easy.  Instead of the truth, which is that it's completely unpredictable.  Praying, more praying.

7. Every time I feel an abdominal pain, I get REALLY excited and giddy.  Pregnancy hormones are so weird.

8. Yesterday was raining, so we had family day going food shopping and walking laps around Home Depot.  It's Reilly and Daddy's favorite store. :)  We looked at all the Christmas decorations, Daddy went to get us coffee and some Dunkin treats while we walked and walked.  And yet...still no labor. 

9.  I am grateful for every day that my baby is inside me and it's lungs are getting stronger, until the final moment when God decides it's ready.  (But I will be especially grateful if that day is today.)  ;)

Thank you for listening.  Who feels bad for my husband and what he has been putting up with lately? :)

In the meantime...we are waiting!

Unbelievable

You would think that being pregnant with my third baby, (THIRD? What?! Who am I? When did that happen?) that the whole idea of pregnancy would become somewhat normal.  That I would be used to it, accustomed to certain feelings, confident in what to expect.  To a certain extent, I am definitely more confident in certain things.  But largely this pregnancy, I am baffled at how unbelievable it all still is to me.  Truly unbelievable.  I think the people around me are more used to me being pregnant than I am.  I know that makes no sense.  But it really is true - I don't get used to it.  It always, every day, every second, feels like a strange, crazy, amazing miracle.  Every time the baby moves, every SINGLE time, I can not fathom that there is a human being inside me.  In the quiet times when I am in horrible (I wish I could sugar coat it - it's really horrible) pain in the really early hours of the morning, I pray for our baby and think about this plan that God had for bringing children into this world.  His plan was to grow humans inside other humans.  I mean, I know it's been happening since literally forever, but really?!  How crazy is that?  All of this comes and hits you and overcomes you when you are in labor and you hear this cry of a human for the first time that one split second ago, was not even in the room.  That a few hours ago, was silent inside your body.  A few months ago, was a thought and a prayer.  And then, they live.  They breathe.  They cry and walk and love.

Unbelievable.  I don't think we should ever get used to it.

Teaching Thankfulness

 I am so excited for November this year.  I love LOVE Thanksgiving, I always have (it was the one holiday we always hosted at our house, and that makes it have such a special place in my heart and memory). But this year we have Baby coming this month, and seem to have started Christmas spirit in our house earlier than ever!  Which is really just joyful, if you ask me.  It's never too early.  I think having a 3 year old in the house brings Christmas celebrations extra early.  She doesn't know the adult-logic of "you have to wait until after Thanksgiving to start getting excited for Christmas".  So she has asked to watch the movies (some of which have been watched all year long!), asking about the decorations, about Santa.  Which has lead us to talk about the Baby who was born that day.


But before we dive head first into Christmas (who are we kidding, we tagged our tree yesterday ;)), I am focusing the girls a little more on Thanksgiving first.  Not so much the pilgrims-and-indians story, but more so the idea of reflection and thanking God in all circumstances, for all things.  I try to have the girls pray as often as possible, always focusing on thankfulness (because I think it's an easier concept for their little brains to focus on in prayer, rather than asking for things they "want").  We try to pray in the mornings, at night, at meals, and whenever we get in trouble (to ask God for help to do better next time).

 (Sidenote about the pumpkin carving...Reilly was TERRIFIED of what was inside the pumpkin, before she even saw it.  She kept running down the hallway and squealing when Hubby would open it up.  It was so funny.)

We started a Thankful Book this month, where we are thanking God for one specific things each day.  Whatever Reilly picks goes in the book for that day!  It could get interesting. :)

 This morning, before the beans woke up, Reilly was laying in bed with me and I asked if she wanted to pray.  She said no. Ha. So I prayed, and she listened.  I thanked God for all different things, and asked him to bless our day and to help us today.  Then, she started talking too.

 "Thank you God for my dolls.  Thank you for my father.  Thank you for everything and everything and always being with us.  Thank you for our new fans and our lights. (We recently got new ceiling fans and ceiling lights in the bedrooms. She loves them.)  Thank you for not making me scared of school anymore.  And please make sure that after Thanksgiving, it's always Christmas."
 

 (I am thankful for moments like this one.)

 Their sweet faces when they saw our Jack-o-Lantern all lit up for the first time.

There isn't instructions on how to instill these concepts into kids, or how to teach them.  We are trying our best to teach what we were taught, and are still learning.  I know the best I could do is pray every day for them and their guidance.

I am excited for this season of thankfulness, which I'm happy is just beginning.  And I'm even happier to share with my little family.

Leopard is the New Black

 Just ask Reagan, as she casually has her lunch in her leopard flats.  She has apparently seen people sitting and resting on their hand like this, but did not notice that her elbow has to be on the table in order for this to work. :)  Her sister sits like this a lot at the table.  Little copycat of her Sissy.

 

 I think it'll catch on, Rea.  It's quite adorable. ;)

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

 This year, Reilly chose her Halloween costume way back in the summer. She wanted to be Wendy Darling.  I just love that she wanted to be an old fashioned character, and not one of her many beloved princesses that you would expect her to be.  She's so unpredictable, our girl.  But Wendy Darling was definitely her dream costume.

 Here she is breaking into "WE CAN FLY, WE CAN FLY!" at 6:45 am before she and Daddy left for school.  She got to have Pixie Dust in her hair and everything!  Now, tracking down a Wendy Darling costume..not so easy.  Let's just say, it's actually a custom handmade Amish nightgown that took 7 1/2 weeks to ship.  But it came, and she was thrilled!

 Her cutie little pre-school class going trick-or-treating!  I sent Daddy with the camera to capture the fun. :)

 Reilly and her friends!

Here is my attempt at getting a picture of the two peanuts in costume.  :)  Reagan was Tink!  I just loved their costumes this year.

 I have no idea what was happening here. 

 Okay, here is where they went up on stage and burst into their "We Can Fly" song once again.  Complete with dancing. :)

 Yay, smiles!  We were waiting until it was time to go trick-or-treating if you can't tell by the excitement. :)

 Mama bundled us even though we soon found out it was almost 60 degrees outside.  It looked very damp!  And my body temperature is ALWAYS hot so for most of the day, I thought it was just me who was warm. Until I saw the temperature in my car. Then the gloves and headbands came off. :)

 They are holding the exact buckets that my siblings and I used when we were little. :)

 Reagan looks quite stylish in her winter gear, I must say.

 Lovey girls. <3 p="">
Trick or treating was SO much fun.  We took it very easy since Mama has been bed resting (although, the only reason I went at all was because I got a good report from the doctor on Tuesday! Yay!).  We walked slowly, and avoided hills. :) My water bottle didn't leave my hand the whole time, and even so I kept feeling contractions.  It's crazy how much my body reacts to the activity...so glad I have been taking it easy, or I'm convinced this baby would be here already.

The whole time we were walking around, Reilly would ask "Are we still trick-or treating?!"  It was so funny.  Reagan loved it too, she kept saying "Tuck-a-tee!"  We ended by going down Main St. and trick or treating at the shops, and then picking up pizza for dinner.  We had so much fun.

Here is my first babygirl at 8:15 after waiting up for the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin special. :)  She passed out, after watching a few minutes of the movie and giggling because "baby is kicking my cheek"!

This was one of my favorite Halloween's...both of them were really able to anticipate it and enjoy every part of it.  And now it's pretty much Christmas season!! :)