It's the final count down!

As of tomorrow I am 36 weeks pregnant! That means the baby is full term and can come out anytime now! :)

I'm convinced the last 4 weeks of pregnancy are really the longest weeks. Once the doctor says, "Now that you're full term, we wouldn't stop your labor if the baby decided to come." So of course, in the back of my mind for 4 weeks I think the baby will come any day now... it's terrible false hope!

We still haven't solidified a name for the baby. We have decided not to push Gabriella into her big girl bed before the baby is born. So we'll be using a cradle that my sister is giving us until Gabs is ready. Which means the baby will be in our room or in the office for awhile.

I've outgrown some of my maternity clothes... which is always slightly annoying. My favorite outfits are skirts (which are all non-maternity) or sweats. I wear Jordan's shirts a lot because they don't make me feel like I'm suffocating.

This is my favorite outfit right now

(My cousin Hailey and me at my Grandma's memorial)

I downloaded a "contraction ap" for my phone, so for fun last night I was timing my braxton hicks. They were coming every 10 minutes and lasting for about 30 seconds - a minute. I only timed it for like 30 minutes because it was right before I went to bed, but I was surprised with how often they were coming. Monday night I was woken up from my sleep because of a strong contraction.

I'm also convinced that during the last few weeks of pregnancy I have the strangest dreams! Last night I dreamt the baby was kicking so hard I could see every detail of it's foot and all the way up to it's knee. Creepy!

Tonight we're preregistering and taking a tour of the hospital. I'm excited to see everything in person and get the registration out of the way. My bag is packed for the hospital, so after tonight we're ready to have this baby! :)

Why I LOVE being "momma"...

Sometimes motherhood can become overwhelming and you feel like you're at your wits end. Then there are other times when you are so in love and your heart overflows because you can't get enough of your children. It's easy to lose sight of the latter when you're feeling stressed out.

Sunday on our way to church we were listening to a Jesus Culture CD and I heard the littlest voice coming from the backseat singing the words to the song. Before Jayden was born God told us he would be a worshipper. He's super into music and learning to play instruments already. As we were listening to Jayden sing the lyrics to the song I started crying, maybe it's because I'm pregnant, but I think the real reason is because he's learning to love God even from a young age. I never experienced God until I was an young teenager, so it blesses my heart to watch my kids learn and grow in their relationship with God.

"You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you."

Psalm 8:2

A few weeks ago Jayden's Sunday school teacher brought his guitar to sing songs with the kids. After the service he told Jordan that Jayden was the only one who knew and would sing the words to the "B-I-B-L-E" song. We sing this song everyday in our house and even Gabriella sings along... although it sounds more like "e-i-e-i-e bible!" ha! I was so proud of him that he isn't afraid to sing out the praise of God!

As rambunctious and energetic as Jayden can be, he's also very sweet and loving. We were watching the Curious George movie a couple months ago and towards the end there is a sad part where George is going back to the jungle without his friend 'the man with the yellow hat'. I looked over at Jayden and he had big tears in his eyes. When I asked him what was wrong he just broke down crying. He does have a very sensitive spot in his heart that might not always show, but it's there.

Then there is Gabriella who the world is just in love with. It doesn't take much to fall in love with her. Not only is she very adorable, she's extremely sweet and calm. She's also an extremely nurturing child. Jordan will fall on the ground and pretend to be hurt and she'll rush over to him and kiss him and ask if he's okay... literally EVERY single time! One time he pretended to fall down the stairs and she started crying, working her way towards him until she could check on him to make sure he was okay. When I ask her where the baby is, she'll lift up my shirt and rub my belly give it hugs and kisses.

Gabri just has a way with people. There is something about her that people are drawn to. I believe she has a gift and will be able to reach many people because of it.

It's interesting watching my babies start to develop their personalities. I often think about their giftings and callings and where God will take them and how even now at 1 and 2 they are being shaped and molded for the rest of their lives. I want to be the best example of what it means to love God and serve Him, so that my children will WANT to follow in the same footsteps.

And the nesting begins...

A couple weekends ago we went shopping at Ross and Marshall's and while I was waiting for Jordan to find some new shorts I went looking through the baby section. I started looking through the newborn clothes and found some really cute stuff.. mostly girl stuff. It was then that I realized: A.) I'm starting to "nest" and B.) I REALLY wish I knew the gender of this baby so I CAN "nest".

I've been perfectly content with our decision to wait and find out the gender once the baby is born... up until recently. Now, with less than 6 weeks to go, I'm feeling slightly unprepared! We don't have a name picked out, Gabriella is still sleeping in the crib, we don't have the baby's room organized (mostly because the baby's big sister is still in that room...), etc. Jordan is absolutely convinced this baby is a girl... he won't really even talk about boy names or boy things because he's so sure of himself. (For the record: Jordan has predicted the gender of our first two children and been correct both times)

I did go through Gabriella's newborn clothes this past weekend and realized there were like 10 onesies that she never even wore! I picked out a few things just in case the baby is a girl and so far I only have one boy outfit in case it's a boy. And with those outfits I started packing my hospital bag! I realize I still have over 5 weeks before my due date, but I might as well get that out of the way now. Since this is my third time around I know what I want to take and so I might as well get in the bag. :)

I had my 34 week appointment last Friday. I have officially hit the 30 pound mark. If I keep gaining only one pound a week I'll have gained 35/6ish pounds. So I'm pretty pleased with myself so far. I was nervous I'd put on a lot of weight since I'm not walking as much as I did with Gabri, I guess chasing around two toddlers all day is helping. My next appointment is at 36 weeks and then I'll be visiting my dr. every week until the baby is born. I was surprised to find out that they'll start checking to see if I've dilated or if my cervix is thinning at 36 weeks, since my last doctor didn't check until 38 weeks. I'm really interested to see if I have started dilating yet. The baby has really dropped this last week. I am feeling the pressure of the baby's head in my pelvic area a lot more. I'm hoping that could be a sign of going into labor early... but I doubt it!

Last night Jordan and I started discussing what our "PLAN" is for if I go into labor naturally. My biggest concern is that he's going to be at work and I'm going to go into labor and have both the kids with me... by myself. I have some pretty awesome neighbors that would gladly help me out with anything I need... but what if they're off on a camping trip in the mountains?! Since they did plan this trip for the week of my due date...eh hem!! (just kidding, Tirz!) We live 20 miles away from the hospital and unless we take the toll road it takes 30 minutes to get there... I do NOT want to have to make that drive while in labor! I'm already cranky in the car when I'm having braxton hicks, and those aren't even painful most of the time!

Having a new baby is so scary because of all the unknowns. I wonder how Gabriella will deal with not being the baby anymore. I wonder how Jayden will handle having another baby in the house. Will I be able to breastfeed this baby with as much success as I had with Gabriella? How long it will take before I start getting sleep again? Will having 3 children all under the age of 3 be too much for me to handle? I've been learning to trust God in the area of motherhood. Everyday I wake up and I say, "God is my help and my strength", otherwise I might lose it at any given moment. I will just have to trust Him that this baby will come at the perfect time and no matter what the situation is, He's with me.

BOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been looking up tutorials on youtube and google on how to make a cute fabric bow for a while, but I have never been satisfied with the tutorials... so I never attempted to make any of them.

Yesterday while the kids were napping I was checking my google reader and saw THIS amazing tutorial on how to make bows from scraps of fabric.

Since I'm a huge fan of See Kate Sew I knew this would be a good tutorial!

I spent the majority of nap time experimenting with the different sizes of bows. I did 6 x 12, 4 x 8, 3 x 6 and 2 x 4. The smallest looks really cute in Gabriella's hair when she's wearing pig tails! I'll have to take a picture of her tomorrow and post it later.

Here are the 3 biggest bows I made.

The 6 x 12 bow is large and would be cute on a bag or something. The 3 x 6 is a nice size for wearing in my hair. On the 4 x 8 I tried to sew along the edge to give it a neat look, but I'm still learning how to use the sewing machine, so it's a little scary up close! :) This project did once again reestablish the fact that my husband is still better at using the sewing machine than I am. haha!

I will be making lots more of these bows! I'm so excited that I FINALLY know how to do it!!!

Facing Death

Back in November I wrote this blog about my Grandma Jean. For the past 7 months she's been living with my Uncle and his family so he could take care of her. This past Sunday I got a call from my dad saying that my Grandma was in a coma and they didn't expect her to come out of it. I went over and stayed with her for about an hour Sunday afternoon. It was really hard to see her so gray and pale. Since my grandma was a "do not resuscitate" patient there was nothing we could do for her. The last few days have been extremely hard knowing that death was right around the corner.

I woke up this morning with a text from my uncle saying that she had passed away.

During the last 7 months I took my kids every other week to visit Grandma. I'm so thankful that we've had these last several months to spend with her. The last time I saw my grandma conscious was my wedding anniversary. My cousin was babysitting the kids while Jordan and I went to a wedding. When we picked up the kids I went in to visit with Grandma before we rushed off to the reception and I remember her telling me that the kids came in to see her and she seemed so happy to be able to see her great grandkids.

I've never lost a grandparent before, so it makes it extremely hard being the one I'm closest to. Please pray for my family over the next few days if you think about it. It's been a rough journey for us and it doesn't seem to matter how "prepared" we were for the inevitable, it still hit like a ton of bricks.

5-A-Day Books Week 2.

I did really well the first week of the 5-A-Day book challenge. The second week hasn't gone as well... mostly because I can't get Gabriella away from "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear" book. She insists on reading it at least once a day. Since strawberries are in season we eat them almost everyday and she's always quoting parts of the book while she eats them. Every time we sit down to read our new set of books she goes and grabs the strawberry book and brings it to me. It's hard to say no to that. :)

So the books I choose for week 2 are

The first day we read The Foot Book Jayden started quoting it while we were driving in the car. I was amazed at how quickly he picked it up. His other favorite this week is Jump Frog Jump. He actually told me tonight that it's his favorite book. Another book he quotes really well is Miss Mary Mack. I used to do the hand clapping game singing miss mary mack when I was in elementary school, so when Jordan brought this book home I was really excited to teach it to the kids. Jayden has the first 3 or 4 pages memorized and Gabriella loves it as well. She calls it "Mack" and can pick it out off the book shelf and bring it to me.

We didn't sit down everyday and read all five books, but we read at least one of them a day. I love this challenge because I really see how it effects my kids and how much they enjoy it as well. I think I'm going to try and find more of the classic Dr. Seuss books at the thrift store this weekend since The Foot Book was such a big hit!

The other thing I love about this challenge is reading to my kids the books that I grew up reading or having read to me. I hope as they get older they'll have a deep love and appreciation for reading.

Pregnancy Woes

During my first pregnancy I complained all the time to my doctor about my pregnancy woes. I was retaining a LOT of water and super uncomfortable. I was experiencing heartburn for the first time. I gained too much weight. I had a big baby in my rib cage. You get the idea. After every complaint my doctor would say, "Well, you're pregnant." I used to get really annoyed because she never had children, so she had no idea what is was like to be pregnant. (I honestly had a very easy pregnancy with no complications.)

(about 36 weeks with Jayden)

You'd think I'd really love being pregnant with how I got pregnant again only 5 months after delivering Jayden. It was amazing to me how different I was with my second pregnancy. I didn't have the same swelling. I didn't gain as much weight. But I was still dealing with the normal pregnancy side effects. I realized that complaining wasn't going to get me anywhere. You just have to deal with these little changes for a few months and then you pop out a baby.

(My sister 6 months with my niece and me 34ish weeks with Gabriella)

Now that I'm (almost) 32 weeks pregnant with No. 3 I only complain to my husband. He's very sweet and does well with having a pregnant wife. I've done pretty well on my weight so far and if I continue to gain only 1 pound a week, then I'll only have gained 35 pounds by the end. I don't have swelling in my hands and feet. I'm still short waisted with little room for baby to go. I do get heartburn which causes nausea. But I've figured out how to deal with these things and it's only temporary.

I feel like a pro at being pregnant and having kids. My doctor's appointments are fairly boring because I always know what to expect, of course the only non-boring part is hearing the beautiful heartbeat of the baby.

With every pregnancy, every labor and delivery and every baby being different, I can't help but spend my free time thinking about what this baby will look like and act like. I wonder if I'll be able to breastfeed for a full year. I wonder how the kids will adjust to their new sibling and having to share mommy and daddy even more. I wonder how long it will take for the baby to sleep through the night. I only have 4 weeks until I'm full term and I keep telling the baby it is more than welcome to come early. :)