Counting down the days

Today we are now at 4 weeks until the big day. I went to see the doctor who would perform my c-section if I end up having one. She was semi-encouraging but not an entirely optimistic person. I'm very glad that my midwife is my main provider and she's just the backup. Both of the doctors do suggest the epidural this time around so that is probably going to be the plan. I did find out I was 1 cm dilated, 80% effaced and the baby's at -1 station. I was very surprised to find I was already dilating. It makes me excited and nervous! But I could stay at 1 cm for a few weeks without actually going into labor. I really want my mom to be here so I'm hoping that sweet Baboo will wait and still be a March baby. Like most mom's who are in their very last month of pregnancy I've been very uncomfortable. I don't get much sleep these days because I just can't get into a deep sleep. I have a lot of aches and pains that makes me excited for my pregnancy to end. I think if I could pick Baboo's birthday I would pick March 2nd. Mostly because of the very cool birthday he'd have of 3/2/10 (3-2-1-0 BLASTOFF). I think we've narrowed Baboo's real name down but we're going to wait until we meet him to make the final decision. I don't think I feel entirely ready for Baboo to get here but I'm so excited to meet the sweet baby that I've been dreaming about and carrying in the tummy for the past months.

Today is also Lily's half birthday. I can't believe I have a 3 and a half year old. And in 6 months I'll have 2 kids, one of which is 4! It's making me feel old. Lily has really grown up the past 6 months. She is doing so well with her potty training. She comes up with new actual understandable words every single day. I guess the hundreds of books I read her and the countless trips to the library's storytime have finally really payed off. She is quite a big girl. She has such a great deal of empathy which makes her such a sweet girl. I'm amazed at how well she shares for someone her age. She really enjoys playing with other kids. As a 3 1/2 year old her favorite things to do are to read and draw. She also loves playing with her trains. She loves to take her baby dolls out in her stroller. She has an endless supply of energy. She loves to run, jump, and dance. Lily is quite inventive and is always thinking of new games to play. She's so excited to be a big sister and I know that she's ready. So happy half birthday Lily! I love you so much!

Crazy

January has definitely been a month of craziness.

I started the spring semester at Weber. It started out a bit overwhelming and I seriously considered quitting after just a week. But now I've gotten myself into a bit of a routine and I'm feeling a lot better about it. I'm taking 2 classes, Human Biology and Nutrition all online. They are both proving themselves to be very interesting and I'm doing very well already. I'm trying to get ahead in both classes so that I can take a couple of weeks off when the baby is born.

We talked to our realtor about trying to put our house up for sale soon. Unfortunately with the way the economy is, we would come out of the deal still owing on our house. So we've decided that we're going to stay put here in Utah for another year or even two to our dismay. I'm really going to miss my family for the next year or even two. But I can't complain, we have a very nice house. It'll also give me some time to finish my degree.

This month Brian's work cut his hours down from 40 to 32. I have to admit, I was freaking out, because it was basically cutting our pay down $400 a month. It lasted only 2 weeks, and now he's back to full time. I have to say I am so relieved, especially since new babies are so expensive.

I like this picture of Brian all spiffed up for an interview. Thankfully still has his job though!

Lily has been a challenge this month. She's had some mean backtalk, like "You're a mean mama," and lots of "No!'s." Plus potty accident after potty accident. I would like to die, I get so frustrated, but she's still our sweet little girl and we love her so much. My mom always says kids are mean to us to make sure their parents still love them even when they're naughty. So, yes Lily I still love you when you're mean. You can start being nice again. I think when the weather warms up, it'll help out a lot. We really enjoy going outside everyday. I'm hoping she'll get it out of her system so she'll be back to being our little perfect angel by the time the baby gets here.

I love my spunky, sweet Lily

I'm 35 weeks pregnant now. I'm feeling very large and very tired. It's very hard to sleep because my big tummy makes my back hurt and I have to pee every 5 minutes. Baboo (he'll have a real name once he's born I promise) is growing perfectly and is even being a good boy and is in the downward position. Lily is so excited to meet "her baby" as she calls him. I'm in the deep throws of nesting. I can't get myself to quit. I've been organizing and getting rid of things. It's all I think about. I make long lists of what I have to do. I already know that I'm driving Brian crazy. But he still seems to have a lot of patience for me, which I appreciate. I'm ready to set everything up but there's still 4-5 weeks before he'll be here. So I'm trying to wait. I'm hoping sweet Baboo waits until my mom flies in on February 28th to arrive. I'm so excited to see her, and so excited she'll get to meet the sweet boy. She'll be staying at our house for 2 weeks! It's going to be great.

35 weeks pregnant (8 months)

It's going to be a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!
It's 2010 now and I have to say 2009 was a great year and I'm hoping 2010 will top it. 2009 had some major accomplishments for our family.
1. Brian and I finally got a real honeymoon to Denver, Colorado.
2. As a result of that honeymoon, we were pregnant with our 2nd child.
3. I started school again after a 4 year break, and got my first 4.0!
4. Lily is finally potty trained.
5. Our upgrades on our house paid off, with the most beautiful lawn on the block!

Some goals I have for 2010 are:
1. Get this baby outta me! :) Hopefully without a c-section.
2. Hopefully lose a majority of the baby weight, if not all of it.
3. Move to Tennessee! Get a better paying, and better benefited job for Brian.
4. Keep going to school as long as I'm in Utah.
5. Try to afford preschool for Lily.




I am 7 months pregnant now! 31 weeks! I only have two more months!

I am so excited and nervous too. I've been thinking a lot about labor and I'm pretty scared. I'm trying for a VBAC this time, so I really don't know what will happen. I had a c-section with Lily after about 20 hours of labor. I'm hoping for a much better result. I never quite got over feeling disappointed with my last labor experience so a VBAC is definitely the route I wanted to go. I've been working hard to not gain as much weight as I did last time I was pregnant, hoping that it helps out with the labor process. People are quick to remind me that a successful delivery is one with a healthy baby and mommy but I'd love to skip out on surgery. The recovery from a c-section is so long and painful. I remember being so jealous of the women I visited in the hospital after having a regular birth. They could get right out of bed without any pain. I was so jealous. So far my midwife and I have good expectations for a successful VBAC. But I'd go through a painful c-section if it means meeting my sweet little boy. And I would've of course gone through it again for Lily.
Happy New Year everyone! I pray everyone has a blessed year!

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

My little family had a great little Christmas. It was a little bittersweet with my family having just moved but we definitely made the most of it. We got all dressed up and went to a Christmas Eve service at Westminster Pres (where we were married). I guess because we don't make it to church very often it was incredibly special to see Lily's reactions to everything. She was a perfect angel during the service and loved every minute of it.

On Christmas morning, we woke Lily up to the sound of Brian's trainset going around the Christmas tree. She was ecstatic. There's something about a little 3 year old's reactions to the most simplest of things. She was excited the train was out, and so excited about all her new toys. Lily got a great baby care center from her Grammy. One of the gifts we got her was a new train set which I've never seen a more excited girl.


I worked hard and made homemade cinnamon rolls that morning. I'm pretty proud of myself. Everything was made from scratch. They were wonderful!

Then we went to Brian's parents house for dinner and more presents. Overall Christmas ended up being a special day for all of us.
Lily was exhausted and fell asleep in the car with her new toy.

Yes even me and Brian got presents that day also!

Christmas bells are ringing!

The Christmas Season is here and things are crazy and busy and a little sad. We have gotten piles of snow which has been a typical Utah winter (not one I'm crazy about). Brian, Lily, and I made a great snowman or actually in this case, snowwoman. It was Brian's idea to make her pregnant like me. It was quite entertaining. Lily loved it!
Speaking of pregnant. I'm about 30 weeks pregnant now. I'm really amazed I'll be holding my little boy in a little more than 2 months. We had another ultrasound and he's growing perfect. He already has some hair! I'm not a bit surprised because Lily had a ton when she was born. He weighs almost 3 pounds according to the ultrasound. I also took my Glucose Tolerance Test and everything came out completely normal. I feel very blessed that I have had such an easy pregnancy.

Well the very sad part about this Christmas is that my Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, and sister have now officially moved away to Rogersville, TN. We had a CRAZY week of packing them up and getting them into a moving truck to get on their way. They should arrive in Rogersville on Christmas Eve. It's pretty hard to not have them around anymore. We celebrated an early Christmas of food, Monopoly and presents. Brian and I are really hoping to join them in TN as soon as we can because we miss them!

3rd trimester here we come!

So now I'm officially 27 weeks along. 6 months pregnant! I'm now entering the 3rd trimester. So is it all down hill from here? I'm hoping. Everything has been going well for the pregnancy. I'm not loving the numbers on the scale but they are still less than last time I was pregnant which is something to be proud of. With the crazy amounts of snow that keep falling I am finding it hard to stay active but am doing my best to do something, workout videos, cleaning, and hopefully a walk soon when the freezer outside starts to warm up. I do feel like I'm growing so fast but I have enjoyed being pregnant so far. The woes of pregnancy haven't been too bad besides the occasional sleepless night, bad mood, back pain, and leg cramps. But I can't complain. I have a sweet little kicking boy who I can't wait to meet. I'm already nesting. I'm all ready to clean the house, put up the crib, and get out all the baby clothes but I'm making myself wait a bit longer. I do have some cute baby clothes but am so ready to go on a shopping spree for baby items. My next doctor's appointment is my glucose tolerance test, hopefully everything turns out fine with that. Brian and I have got to get crackin' on a name for this little boy otherwise he'll just end up being Baboo forever! I'm still loving Benjamin and Brian loves Mark. So we'll see where we go from there on the name subject.

I am now officially done with the fall semester! I'm so happy to have a 3 week break until next semester. I've worked hard and am hoping for some good grades. Hopefully spring semester is a breeze because I'll be having this baby right smack dab in the middle of the semester. I'm taking lower division freshman classes, nutrition, and human biology so I'm hoping for a low stress and workload.

My mom, dad, 2 brothers, and sister are moving to Rogersville, TN on December 19th, less than 2 weeks now. It's going to be hard to have them gone but I'm glad they are getting the chance to move. My dad will be the new pastor for the Presbyterian church. They'll be living less than an hour from most of my mom's family. Brian and I are hoping that 6 months or less from now we'll be able to sell our house and join them in the same area. We're hoping and praying it'll be possible!

Alright, you can stop growing, Lily

Lily has been going through this fabulous phase. I just can't believe how sweet she is. I told her the other day after a very sweet day, "Lily, don't grow up any more. I like you just the way you are." She responds with, "Mama, I'm gonna get this big," standing on her tippy toes and reaching her hands above her head. So I said, "Well if you have to grow up, just don't do it too fast, cause I like you the way you are." She is full of sweetness. Everyday I get to hear, "I love you Mama." She helps me do everything, from cooking, to sweeping, to cleaning up her toys. She makes me laugh with all her silliness. She says sorry, please, and thank you. I just want to cherish this amazing time in my life with her. I don't want her to grow up and someday not shower me with hugs and kisses. I love taking walks with her and talking about the things we see. I love to play with her in the yard and watch her imagination take flight. I love to take her to the park and see her run and climb. I love to watch her draw amazing pictures and dance until she's exhausted. I'm so excited to have another baby soon, but I really want to appreciate the time I get to spend with Lily and having just one child. Things are going to change fast and they'll never be the same again.
So Lily, try not to grow up too fast. And know that I love you forever and ever. You are my little girl, and the thing that makes life so worth it.