25 days...

According to my pregnancy ticker, I have 25 days left, or about 3 and a half weeks until baby girl arrives. I'v been meaning to take a belly pic for weeks now and post it, but keep forgetting. Everyone told me that that's what happens with your second child when you're busy chasing the first. I remember being pregnant with E and taking a belly picture every Sunday and writing weekly posts. I can't tell you how fast this pregnancy has gone by. We had an ultrasound last week and baby girl (it's still a girl, I had the u/s tech double check) is head down, ready to go and weighing in at about 6 lbs. It was good to see her sweet face again. It's changed from the last time we saw her at 23 weeks, much chubbier. She actually looks cramped in there. I'm feeling well considering how far along I am. My hips are starting to hurt at night and when I walk and I can tell she's dropped because I get pelvic cramps often. I'm seeing my OB every week now. Today was my first weekly exam and I'm not dilated at all so doc seems to think baby girl will be here closer to my due date, as opposed to being early. Last weekend I got all the little girls things unpacked, washed, organized and put away, which feels good. We still need to dig out the pack-n-play and pumpkin seat, however. We met with our Doula yesterday. She's a friend of mine and has offered to assist with the birth. I'm actually looking forward to having her there with me to keep me calm and focused. We still haven't decided on a name, but that seems to be the most popular question we get from family, friends and even strangers. My girl friends threw a shower for baby girl a couple weeks ago. We had a lovely brunch without kids and they were so generous to share so many adorable baby girl things with me. I'm going to miss all of my amazing friends when we move. The reality of the move is starting to sink in. Actually, Dr. M is going down to AL to look at properties this week. I'm confident he will find a great place for the 4 of us and anxious to have that piece of the move taken care of. I feel like everything will fall into place once we've found a home. I've actually been feeling really anxious lately (I hate anxiety). Anxious about the move, packing, having a new baby and leaving all of my friends. I can't express how much I'm going to miss my friends whom I love so much. I'm excited about living in AL, but not the whole moving part. I'm sure we'll look back at this part of our life years from now and comment about how far we've come and that we can't believe we made it through all of this, but the hard part is living through the reality of it all. I know in the end it will only make us stronger. I'm so grateful for our little boy who makes me smile, laugh and feel so loved every day. I can imagine having two will only double that feeling...which I'm looking forward to.

Mother's Day!

I'm a lucky mom. My boys are so good to me. My second official mother's day was wonderful. It was an unseasonably warm, sunny day. We started the day with breakfast, cards, flowers and a gift at home. Then quickly got ready to meet our friends (Megan, Jamie, Alys & Bryony) at the Zoo. It was packed due to the beautiful weather, I assume. We played at the children's zoo, petted the goats, went down the slides and even played in the splash area. We saw elephants, zebras, lions, alligators and even monkeys. We were home by early afternoon, in time for all of us to take a much needed nap from our long weekend. We stayed home the rest of the afternoon and simply relaxed. It was a wonderful day with my beautiful family, whom I love so much.

Me and E at the zoo!

Dr. M and E at the zoo

"Karma: what goes around, comes around....wear your necklace as a reminder to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving..." My gift!

My flowers

Good Friends

With our upcoming move and baby girl on her way, we've had a lot of visitors stopping by. It's so great to see old friends. Especially the kind that though it's been months or years since you've seen them, you can start right where you left off last time. Last weekend my dear childhood friend, Mars, came to visit for the first time since we've lived here. E loved her silly nature and so did I. She stayed the weekend with us while we shopped, chatted and giggled, just like the old days. This Friday our friends Lynne and Serhan came to visit on their way home. We played board games, ate good food and drank great beer and talked, just like the old days in Lawrence. Our KU friends Kristy and Jeff were in town this weekend as well, visiting their parents and invited us over for a BBQ yesterday to watch the Kentucky Derby. They wore hats, drank mint juleps and even placed bets on horses. It had been years since we'd seen them and were honored to meet their 11 week old baby girl, Alice. Our mutual KU friends, Jamie and Megan and their two beautiful daughters, were also at the BBQ (hadn't seen them in years either or met their youngest daughter who's E age). It was a beautiful evening to BBQ and get caught up. It's so fun to see all of us age and our families grow yet it feels like we're right back at KU when we all get together. We are lucky to have such amazing friends whom we continue to keep in touch with. I'm already anxious for our next visit...

E with Alys and Bryony

E snuggling with Aunt Mars

Easter

Easter Sunday this year was an unseasonably cool, rainy day so we spent the morning inside with good friends and food. Our friends have little boys about 6 months older than E but all of them have so much fun running around playing together. We enjoyed spending time together with everyone over a wonderful brunch while watching the boys hunt for easter eggs (E's first egg hunt).

20 Months!

Our little boy is growing up quickly. He's making decisions, telling us what he wants and doesn't want and looking more and more grown up. His vocabulary is constantly expanding (though hard to understand at times). The other day he got his pacifier and blankie out of his room and came up to me and said "nap time" while pointing to his room. He's also good at letting us know when he's getting ready to or has just "made a stinky" diaper, which I hear is the first step to potty training (yay!). Some days I feel like he's growing before our eyes - he eats so much some of his meals are big enough for me. He still loves watching Super WHY! every morning and his WHY! stuffed doll is definitely his favorite toy (the blue buckethead is close second). He still shows no signs of stranger anxiety and loves saying hi to everyone at the store. He's a very outgoing, social guy who loves new people and new adventures. Definitely an extrovert like his parents. Though swim lessons have ended we continue to go to Gymboree Play classes once a week, which he loves. Now that the weather is warming up we've been meting friends at the park or just walking around the block. He's such an amazing person and we love watching him grow.

At the park

At Gymboree

First time to McDonald's