(Almost) 34 Weeks!

It's hard to believe that we were on our way to Northside hospital at just about this point in our pregnancy with Kinsley...we'll be 34 weeks this Sunday!  Yes, 34 weeks (when the abruption occurred) and 35 weeks (when we delivered Kinsley) have been major milestones for us to get by ever since finding out we were pregnant back in January.  And now here (almost) we are! But the good news is that Carter and I are both doing great - our 34 week high-risk appt today confirmed good movement, head-down position, and strong heartbeat for him...and healthy placenta, normal blood pressure, good weight gain, and strong fluid levels for me!  And while we cannot wait to meet our little guy, we are just going to relish these next 5 weeks that Carter is staying put and continuing to grow and get stronger - and I am not taking one of those precious days for granted.

Just days shy of 34 weeks!

A 3-D image of Carter's right leg, bent at the knee, and his sweet right foot (with the toes of his left foot crossed behind).  It looks like he's getting big and space is getting tight in there!

Profile shot - it's hard to see, but the U/S tech thought that it looked like he was sucking his thumb.

And it looks like somebody else is getting excited about the arrival of her little brother!

She loves seeing the weekly ultrasound pictures of her baby brother!

Getting lots of practice for when Carter gets here - playing with her baby dolls on the doll-size playmate and swing.

Making sure that the baby bouncer still works as good as it did when she was a baby!   

And until Carter gets here to play with her, Kinsley is making the most of hanging out with her best buddy, Hunter!

"Tea party" time with Hunter.

"Accessorizing" Hunter with stickers. 

Hunter returning the favor by giving Kinsley kisses. 

Reading with Hunter.

Silly girl giving us her "Cheeeeese!" face while playing in the sprinklers at Beebe and Papa's.

Kinsley loves taking pictures with our old digital camera!

Our budding photographer - love that smile!

The girls on the last day of soccer class!

Big smile for completing her first summer soccer session!

August so far!

We officially start back to school tomorrow!  Which means summer is officially coming to an end.  Bittersweet...but we have an exciting Fall ahead of us - personally, Fall is my favorite time of year (college football, changing leaves, cooler weather, pumpkin lattes...) and of course it will only be made sweeter this year with the much-anticipated arrival of baby Carter!

We are in the midst of week 32, which means I have started twice-a-week (yes, twice a week) monitoring (due to being high-risk from my previous placental abruption occurring at 34 weeks with Kinsley) with my OB for NST's or "non stress tests" on Mon or Tues each week, and then a visit to my High-Risk doctor for ultrasounds on Thurs or Fri each week.  It's a lot to fit into a schedule, especially with a 2 year old and a full time job, but it is all worth it to just know that we are in good hands and have lots of doctors' eyes on us throughout the next 6 1/2 weeks.  We'll hit 33 weeks this coming Sunday, which will be only 6 weeks out from our scheduled c-section at 39 weeks on Monday, October 1st at 11:15am!   Our first NST was this past Tuesday, and Carter gave the doctors exactly what they were looking for on the fetal heart rate monitor - lots of movement and a good heartbeat - no signs of "baby stress."  I have an ultrasound this Friday, and we will keep up this same back and forth schedule until baby boy arrives!

Work has been busy over the summer, as we look to launch our school's first campaign for a new building. But we have also been working since February to create and launch the school's new and improved website.  It was bascially myself and 2 other people doing this, and wow, was it a LOT of work.  But finally, we are going live tonight: www.ndacademy.org.

And Miss Kinsley has not missed a beat - she loves that everyone is finally coming back to school tomorrow.  Instead of being the youngest in her "toddler class," she is now the second oldest in her class of four kids.  I am so blessed to be able take her to school with me, and she loves every minute of it there.  She is turning into a social butterfly before our eyes - wherever we go, she wants to know if "people" - as in "lots of people" - will be there.  She will go up to total kid-strangers (as long as they are "her size" / age) and just start talking to them and try to play.  Park.  Pool.  Wherever.  She is definitely going to be an extrovert!

Here are a couple of photos from August so far!

Spending an entire weekend day on the lake - a day which started out unseasonably cool in the 60's - and we took full advantage of it!

Very proud of daddy's big "award" with Yard of the Month.

Daddy-daughter date to Bass Pro Shop after soccer class last Saturday! 

The newest "model" on the school's new website for NDA Spirit Wear.  Too cute!