the beautiful number 2

Two.  Yes, that beautiful number put a smile on my face this morning.  That's how many centimeters I'm dilated already!  I know it's way too early to have this baby (I'm not even 36 weeks yet!), but I tend to dilate early so I'm not too concerned.  

I do have to have an ultrasound next week though because the baby was measuring a little small.  Small?  Really?  Have you seen this belly?  Most people who have seen me lately assume I'm going to pop any minute or am already overdue!  I'm not too concerned about measuring small either.  With my girls I measured small the entire last trimester and had to have "emergency ultrasounds" at every appointment.  They were always fine.

The real bummer is that the doctor ordered that I have to avoid any "strenuous activity" and to "lay low."  Darn.  Just when I was really gearing up to run that marathon I've been training for.  Actually, I'm glad last night's big party is over so I don't have to feel guilty about getting ready for that.  It was a great success, by the way.  39 ladies came!  I'll be posting pictures of that sometime in the near future.  I'd do it now, but I really don't want to overdo myself.  It might be too stressful.  I'd hate to go into labor for uploading pictures.  ;)

9 years of bliss

Nine years ago today, I married the man of my dreams.  

And the best part is, he still is.

Happy Anniversary, Chad!

a week of sorrow and celebration

Sunday night the girls and I returned home from a 10 day stay with the folks in good ol' Oskaloosa while Chad was away in Pennsylvania with the youth group.  It was great to be back "home" with mom and dad again, but we really missed Chad!  

It was a crazy week too.  Lots of ups and downs.  My grandpa hasn't been doing well for a long time and was getting really bad by the time we arrived.  The girls and I went to visit him in the nursing home and Addie and Millie sang songs to him and "read" to him, which he really seemed to like.  He wanted to hold their hands a lot and get kisses from them.  He had a really hard time talking, but he kept calling Addie, "big girl" and pointed to my tummy and said "baby boy" several times.  It was really sweet.  He passed away last Thursday morning, which was really a blessing for him.  I know that he loved and trusted in Jesus and so I know he is now up in heaven with my grandma and his daughter (who died at age 3 of a brain tumor).  I can just imagine how wonderful of a reunion that must be!  While it is sad for us, and especially my mother who spent day after day with him, we know he's much better off now.

I also celebrated my 30th birthday last week.  I thought I would wake up that morning and feel dreadfully old and decrepit.  (Well, I did feel decrepit, but that's probably because I have a tummy the size of a prize-winning pumpkin and can't sleep comfortably in ANY position... I've actually resorted to sleeping in the recliner now.)  But I actually didn't feel that much older.  I think it helped that Chad turned 30 first, so he paved the way for me.  My mom made sure to give me a great birthday since Chad couldn't be there.  She surprised me with flowers, balloons and presents when I woke up and a great breakfast!  Addie got to decorate my cake.  She did a lovely job arranging letters all over the place.

Millie knows how to get every last drop of ice cream out of that bowl!

Maybe she learned it from Addie.

Or possibly from Mommy.

Here I am at about 35 weeks.

We also had fun putting the girls in the Pigtail Contest at the Osky fair.  And they both got first place!  (although there really wasn't much competition...)  Addie won first place last year too, so now she's the reigning champ.  Just try and beat us next year.  I dare you.

Adeline won for the Most Unique Pigtails.  

It took an hour and 45 minutes to get this crazy hair-do!

Emilia won fist prize for the Blondest Pigtails.  They look a little more like horns...

Here they are with their prize bags.

So, that was our week in Osky.   Now I have to gear up for my huge jewelry party Thursday night.  So far I have 38 guests coming!  I'm very happy about that, but I think I'm going to have to have it outside for the sake of room.  So now I'm desperately praying that it doesn't rain!  Otherwise I'll have to somehow cram all those ladies into my living room, and that didn't work so well last year with only 25 guests!  I'll let you know how it goes...

update

Chad is on his way to Pennsylvania... which means I'm not dilated!  That's a good thing, because I didn't want to have the baby this early!  We're not quite in the "safe zone" yet.  The doctor did say, however, that the head is definitely down, which is why I feel so low and uncomfortable.  The contractions I've been having can be a good thing - they're helping to strengthen my muscles to get them ready for the big day.  I'll need all the help I can get!

a scary comparison

This is me at 40 weeks with Emilia (my last baby):

Here I am at only 32 weeks with this baby:

This picture really doesn't do justice to how big I really am.  For example, the swimsuit I was able to wear with Millie for the entire summer (up to 40 weeks!) was already too small for my belly when I was only 31 weeks along this year.  Yikes.  I'm also beginning to run out of shirts that cover my belly completely, so I'm sorry if you start seeing me wear the same clothes over and over.  

Chad left for Pennsylvania this morning on a trip with the youth group.  I have a doctor's appointment in a few minutes and I'm going to see if the doctor will check me to make sure it's safe for him to be that far away.  I'm sure it is, but I've had a lot of intense contractions this week and have dropped considerably.  I noticed it especially one morning when I sat down and felt my belly on my lap.  Now that's a strange feeling!  Plus, I also noticed that I had the urge to pee every 15 minutes although there would only be a few drops in my bladder.  That's really frustrating - when you have to go sooo badly and you finally sit down and pee, but you don't get the relief that you were expecting.  And I know I'm really waddling now.  I just can't seem to make my legs function like normal when walking.  The harder I try, the worse it looks.  I'm sorry if this sounds like complaining - I'm really not complaining, I know what a blessing it is to be pregnant.  I'm merely stating the facts of my current life.

I'd better head off to the doctor's office.  Hopefully I won't be calling Chad and telling him to get out at the next rest stop.  I doubt that will happen.  I'm sure this is all completely normal with a third baby.

dancing queen

Nana and Papa B. came all the way up from New Orleans to visit with us last week.  Well, when I say "us," I mostly mean Addie and Millie of course!  We had a great time with them and got a lot of stuff done too!  Chad and his dad pulled out all of the overgrown evergreen trees and bushes behind our house and built steps coming off the back of our deck.  And Chad's mom painted over all the purple on the wall in the nursery with blue, so it'll be ready for the baby boy!  That was a HUGE blessing!  I was definitely not looking 

forward to that task, although my dear friend Abby had offered to come and help.  But now I don't have to think about it anymore!  Thanks, Elaine!

The girls were super excited about all the dress up clothes Nana brought up for them.  Below is a video of my dancing queen in some of her new outfits.  You'll notice a few times she catches a glimpse of herself in her vanity mirror and can't look away.  She's mesmerized by her own cuteness.  But my favorite part is when her toe gets stuck in the fringe of her flapper dress.  Good thing she's not old enough to be embarrassed that I'm posting this.  She loves this video!

All dressed up!

Wearing their matching patriotic dresses from Nana.

Waiting for the fireworks to begin.  It was the chilliest 4th of July we've had in a LONG time!

Snuggling with Nana

Reading with Papa

On their last day here we went to Union Park to ride the carousel.

A rainy day picnic

Catching raindrops on their tongues.

lucky me

Ten years ago from this past 4th of July, I had one of the most important conversations in my life.  It went like this:

Him: So, what do you think about us?

Me: I like it.

Him:   Me too.

Me:   But what about the whole Michigan-Iowa thing?

Him:   I don't think it'll be a problem.

Me:   Good, me either.

And the rest is history.  

I don't think I had any idea that night as we lay there on the beach watching the fireworks that ten years later I would be pregnant with this gorgeous guy's third baby.  Lucky me.  God has truly blessed us.  And in just a few weeks we'll be celebrating 9 years of marriage!  Wow.  It really does seem like just a few weeks ago that we were having the above conversation.  Makes me realize just how quickly life does fly by and how I need to make sure I'm using every minute I can to be in God's will and be making a difference here on this earth.  

I guess I'd better get off the computer then, huh?  :)

our wisconsin vacation

I'm finally getting these vacation pictures up - only a week late!  At the bottom of this post is a Smilebox scrapbook of our week at the house we got with our friends on the Fox River in Wisconsin.  However, I've been waiting and waiting for ONE of our friends' pictures... (I won't say who, but her name rhymes with Lawn Beagle) *eh hem*, but I've decided to go ahead and post this with the pictures we have.  So if there aren't as many pics of one of the families, hopefully you'll understand.   And below are a few pictures of us visiting Chad's brother Mark in Madison the night before we met our friends.  Enjoy!

The girls love their Uncle Mark!

On Saturday morning we went to the Madison Farmer's Market and  had some slushies to cool us off.

Eating some gooood Wisconsin cheese- and it squeaks!

Visiting the capitol building

And here is our vacation scrapbook:

my little grievances

I have run into several things that really annoyed me this week.  I don't think it's just the pregnancy.  Who knows... maybe it is, or maybe it's a combination of my hormonal self and coming back to the "real world" after a great week away with friends (which I promise to post pictures of as soon as I make the effort to edit them).  Anyways, here are a few things that have set me off this week.  I hope you don't get annoyed with me for griping, but I see this as my therapy. And let me tell you, it's much better than the other option (which may or may not include carrying lethal weapons in my purse... actually I've thought about carrying a water gun in my purse and giving those who annoy me a good squirt in the face).

Let me spell this first one out for you... W.A.L.M.A.R.T.  Hate it.  You make think "hate" is a strong word, but that's also why it's a perfect word for how I feel about this store.  I had to endure this atrocity twice this week, when usually I manage to avoid it for a month or two at a time. What's so bad about it?  Let me count the ways...

1. Crappy carts.  Not a great way to start a trip to a store you dread anyways.  I had the girls with me and tried to put them into one of those big carts with the 2 kid seats.  There were 3 carts lined up, so started with the first one.  Get Addie all situated and realize Millie's strap is broken.  No problem, I go on to the second cart.  Once again, Addie gets in just fine and when I'm almost done buckling in Millie, I realize that once again, the strap is broken.  I'm starting to get a little irritated, but am thankful that there's one last cart.  This time, I get Millie all strapped in and breathe a sigh of relief, when Addie lets me know that her strap is broken.  ARGH!  But with no carts left, Addie just had to hang on for dear life and try to keep her little bottom up in that high seat.  I think her gluts are all the better for it.
   
2. Bad placement of items.  Seriously bad.  So bad that the associate couldn't even help me.  When I first asked her where to find the alarm clocks, she gave me this look like I was an idiot.  "Uh, they're by the clocks," she said like she was talking to a half-wit.  "Well, that is where one would THINK they should be, isn't it," I replied, "but of course I've checked there, and I've checked by the alarm radios and pretty much every other home furnishings aisle and trust me, they're not there."  So we journeyed around the store together until we finally found them in some random aisle that was completely unrelated to clocks or housewares.  Seriously stupid.  I mean, do you WANT anyone to by your alarm clocks, because they're certainly never going to be able to find them.
3. The people.  And I'm not talking about the associates (although some of them could use a squirt in the face), but the other shoppers there.  Yes, shoppers can be annoying anywhere, but somehow the majority seem to migrate to Walmart.  Especially the ones with bad, dirty kids.  Like a lady I ran into today whose son and daughter were hysterically screaming for who knows what, so to console them, she says, "Hey, look at that huge BRATZ doll!  If you stop screaming, I'll buy you that one to add to your collection."  Great parenting.  Which leads me to my next annoyance of the week...

BRATZ dolls.  I mean, have you seen these things?  If not, check out the above picture of a very typical Bratz doll.  Great idea.  I mean, who doesn't think it's a great idea to give your daughter a doll that shows her how to dress like a prostitute and have a bad attitude before she's even out of diapers?  It's not like they don't get enough of that from the media, let's go ahead and give them dolls that promote it too.  Super.

And my last annoyance of the week, and you've heard this one before from me... BAD GARAGE SALES!!!  I won't rehash all my pet peeves about garage sales, but I'll just tell you that the one I went to today was actually more expensive than buying brand new at a store.  Not kidding.  For example, they had a plastic kids shopping cart there for $10, and I actually bought the same one several years ago on sale at Target for $8!  Then, they had clothes marked like they were brand new too - like Gymboree sweaters for $14!  CRAZY!  Just wait until they go on clearance and get them for cheaper.   Then when I left the sale, they asked, "Didn't you find anything for your baby?"  There were sooo many things I wanted to say, but instead I just smiled politely and said, "Oh, they just weren't the right size."  That took a lot of self control.  Especially from this pregnant mama.

So, now that I've grieved you all with my annoyances, I actually do feel much better.  Thank you.  Maybe I can leave the water gun at home the next time I venture out.  I promise my next blog will be much happier and have some fun pics of our vacation.