Family of Four

I realize I have some work to do on this blog!  I'm no longer just Tenley's mommy, I'm now Paisley's too!!  I'm back at work now after six weeks off and it's nice to be back into our "normal" routine.  Although my new normal now involves feedings every three hours during the night.  All in all, Paisley is such a good baby. She's easy and sweet and laid back.  Tenley is a great big sister (it took some adjusting of course!) and likes to show you how we change diapers and feed her.  It's been fun to see Tenley take on this role and she's growing up so quickly right before our eyes.

Because this blog tends to be more for myself, and I just don't want to forget these moments- here's something Tenley said the other day that had us laughing.  On my way to the sitter's one morning Tenley explained to me that she doesn't like naps, but that she takes them upstairs at Iva's.  I asked her if her bed was upstairs and she said "yes, in the barn."  "you take naps in the barn?!" I said.  "Yes, I do."  "Tenley I don't think Miss Iva makes you take naps in the barn, that's not true."  "It's true Mama."  So when we got to Iva's I told her to tell Iva what she had told me.  She stated the facts for her- she sleeps in the barn.  Iva laughed and told Tenley that she wouldn't last two minutes out there with the horses!  Tenley tipped her head back and laughed like she had made such a funny joke.  What a character she is!

I'm hoping to get some pictures up soon!

38 Weeks.

How far Along:  38 weeks, 1 day.
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  -5.
Maternity clothes:  All maternity clothes
Best Moment this week:  I told Tenley this morning that tomorrow she's going to get to go with us to my appointment to check on baby!  I explained how she would hear the heartbeat.  She said "And then baby come out??"  I wish sweet girl.  I said, "No, not yet- but soon.  Tomorrow you'll just hear the baby."  She started crying and said "no...baby come out now please!!"  We have mutual feelings about this.
Movement:  Lots of movements, fewer rolls since baby is running out of room.
Food Craving:  Ice.
What I miss:  Being comfortable.
Sleep:  Never consistent, I'm usually up around 4am for an hour or two.
Symptoms: Still lots of heartburn.
Size of Baby:  Pumpkin!
Doctor's Update: Last Wednesday morning we went to the hospital with consistent contractions and mostly because I wasn't feeling the baby move.  We were monitored for awhile and after knowing that everything was just fine, they checked me.  At my appointment last Tuesday I was 1 cm dilated.  At the hospital on Wednesday I was 3!  So progress was definitely made.  The contractions have stopped though for the most part, so tomorrow at my appointment I'm not sure if there will be much progress.  I'm hoping for some!  We are definitely ready to welcome our sweet little one into our family!

Hi.  Still here.  Still pregnant.  We went to the hospital Wednesday morning with contractions.  I had been up since 4:30 with contractions pretty consistently every 10 minutes for about two hours.  Better safe than sorry so we went despite the fact that I kept saying "they are just going to send me home".  I'm glad we ended up going, we were only there for a couple hours, but after they checked me we found out that I'm not at 3 cm!  I progressed 2 cm overnight!  Now I'm kind of at a standstill.  I'm having random contractions, but nothing strong.  I know I could walk around for weeks at 3 cm so I'm trying to get my mind off of when this baby will come!  Yesterday I did some nesting.  Cleaned out the fridge, freezer and pantry.  I made some breakfast burritos to freeze for the mornings, made two dinners to get us through the rest of this week and cleaned the house.  I was successful at getting my mind off of the delivery, but I woke up this morning around 4am wondering when it would happen again!  All in God's perfect timing I keep telling myself.  And ideally, I would like to make it past the 7th since that's our Christmas Banquet for work that I plan.  So the 8th would be great :)

Tenley seems to be adjusting well and realizing that there is a change coming.  We have the carseat in the car and she had a lot of questions about that at first!  We went from arguing that it wasn't "hers" anymore to now she's begging that the baby would come and sit by her.  Progress!  She'll be a great big sister.

I go back to the doctor on Tuesday and we'll see if I've made any more progress.  I'm trying to think that I haven't in my mind, so that I'm not disappointed.  We are just ready to meet this little one!

Maternity Pictures!

I have to be honest, I've never been a big fan of maternity pictures.  Something about them always seems so awkward to me.  But, I knew I would regret not getting them this time around because I wanted to remember Tenley at this age while I am pregnant.  So we headed out this past weekend with our beautiful photographer, Lindsey.  If anyone can make me appreciate maternity pictures, it's Lindsey.  She did such a great job.  Here's our sneak peek!

I love them and am so excited to display a few in the house!  Before we know it, baby #2 will be here!  I'm 35 weeks now and feeling more sore than ever!  Baby is ready to make an appearance!  We would love for you to continue to pray for the health of our baby and the changes that this will bring to our family, especially Tenley!

 I can't explain to you how happy I am that we were able to capture these moments with Tenley.  I realized this morning as I was looking through her 2 year pictures that her world is about to change so dramatically with the birth of baby #2.  These precious moments with just our sweet girl are something we treasure.  We know that this new addition will make our family feel more complete, we've always dreamed of having two children.  But we've definitely enjoyed the last two years with just Tenley as well!  Thank you to Lindsey Mast of Lindsey Marie Photography for capturing every expression!

31 Weeks

How far Along:  31 weeks, 1 day.
Total Weight Gain/Loss:  -4.
Maternity clothes:  All maternity clothes
Best Moment this week:  Last week we were able to see our little one with an ultrasound.
Movement:  BIG movements and rolls!  We have another active little one!
Food Craving:  Slushies.
What I miss:  SLEEP.
Sleep:  Comes in waves.  I'm very, very sore, so changing positions at night is awful but necessary.
Symptoms: Lots of heartburn.
Size of Baby:  Pineapple!
Doctor's Update: Everything looks great and our due date of December 16th looks to be pretty accurate from what I've been measuring.

30 week Update

Good Morning!  I can't even begin to believe that I'm at 30 weeks...almost 31.  This pregnancy continues to go faster than I would like!  I look at Tenley sometimes and think "oh sweet girl, your world is about to be rocked."  But I know she'll handle the change with ease.  She's already handled several moves so well.  I know she adapts well.  We've been asking her if she wants a brother or sister and up until yesterday she said "No." to both.  But yesterday she smiled big and said "a sister!"  So that's her vote.  Of course Daddy is still holding out for a boy, but really we're just happy to add a healthy child to our family.  Whatever gender that might be!  Do you have any guesses?

I had an appointment and ultrasound yesterday.  I had to have another ultrasound, because I continue to lose weight.  They wanted to make sure that baby was growing appropriately.  I was never concerned until I sat in the waiting room thinking about all the possibilities.  But God's will prevails - always.  Everything checked out great.  Baby is approximately 3 lbs. which is slightly above average for this point in my pregnancy.  The Dr. said if she had to guess she would say we are NOT going to have another 9 lb. baby!  That was music to my ears.  But I know that there is no way of really knowing that.  So I won't hold my breath!  It was amazing to see our little one moving around during the ultrasound while feeling every movement and kick.  I'd never had an ultrasound this late in a pregnancy before, so it was so interesting.  We could even see some hair!  Tenley wasn't born with much hair, but from the looks of it this baby has more!

We're still looking at a due date of December 16th.  So this Christmas baby will be here before we know it! Thank you for your continued prayers as our family grows!