Our final weeks as a family of three...

It's almost time - October 1st is almost here...and as I type this, it's just a little over 24 hours away.  The day that will be our baby boy's birth day.  Back when we started this pregnancy journey in January, not many people, including doctors and me, thought I would make it to October.  This pregnancy was not easy, the ups and downs of being "high risk," the comfort of seeing your baby literally grow inside you on an ultrasound every few weeks coupled with the fear of what happened with Kinsley happening all over again, the scary weeks early-on and mid-pregnancy of continuous "spotting," the joy of passing the 34 / 35 / 36 / 37 / 38 week marks...and getting ready to leap with joy past the 39 week mark tomorrow.  I remember clearly that we thought for sure we would be having a mid-to-late September baby, and here we are, just shy of October 1st - our baby boy's birthday at 39 weeks and 1 day.  We have spent these final weeks as a family of 3 "nesting," cleaning, shopping, organizing, playing and celebrating as we prepare for Carter's arrival in less than 48 hours.  I don't think it has truly sunk in yet for me - and it probably won't until we are pulling into Northside Hospital on Monday morning.

I had my final "high risk" appointment yesterday, and received the following words from the doctor after my ultrasound: "Congratulations. You made it!  It looks like you and baby are ready for Monday's delivery."  Ahhhh, it was music to my ears.  Blood pressure good, placenta good, fluid levels good, Carter's heartbeat great & an active 147 bpm's, and they did a final mearsurement of his torso / head / arms / legs, estimating him to be somewhere around 8 lbs...hoping for a big boy!

I can't believe that he will be here so soon!  I will "introduce" him in the next blog post (who knows when that will be) - until then, here is a look at some of the "baby sprinkles" that we had for him over the past couple of weeks: a family shower at my parent's house and a work shower at our Head of School's home.  Unlike with Kinsley's unexpected early arrival, every blanket and item of clothing for Carter has been washed, folded, and put away; diapers are stocked; crib linens are clean and awaiting a new baby boy - we are certainly prepared this time around, including Kinsley, who is ready to become a big sister and ready to finally meet her new baby brother!

~ Baby Shower #1 ~

Love that smile - excited about the party for baby Carter! 

Family of three - not for much longer!

Giving baby Carter kisses....

...and hugs.

Me and my girl.

Another Nap Nanny!  (Since Kinsley's original one is still her favorite chair in the whole house).

Love this wreath that my mom made for Carter!  Can't wait to hang it in our house!

Maggie was exhausted from all of the activity! 

~ Baby Shower #2 ~

First pair of overalls. 

Having a tea party with Mickey and Minnie!

38 Weeks!

Having another tea party - Kinsley was in charge of pouring the Goldfish in cups - oops.

Another at 38 Weeks! 

Off to Build-A-Bear on Sunday night so Kinsley could build Carter a new teddy bear - and build herself, what else, but a monkey, who she appropriately named "George."  :)

Carousel ride on our last night out as a family of three...

She had a blast "riding the horsies!"

On the way home, and giving extra big hugs to the new bear and monkey that she built - one for her and one for her baby brother, who we finally get to meet TOMORROW!!!

2 1/2 years old...and 3 weeks to go!

We are hitting two big milestones this week:
1. We hit 36 weeks yesterday!  That's just 3 weeks shy of our scheduled due delivery date of Monday, 10/1!
2. Kinsley is turning 2 1/2 tomorrow!
So much to be thankful for!

We are making final preparations for the arrival of our sweet boy: moving Kinsley's carseat from the middle to behind the drivers seat and installing Carter's carseat behind the passenger seat, washing baby clothes/blankets/sheets/you-name-it, getting the baby swing/pack n play/bouncers out of storage and ready to be used once again, and "nesting" in general - and trying to get ahead of the curve when it comes to a clean house!  Other than feeling the general aches, pains and exhaustion of late pregnancy, I am feeling and doing good, as is Carter - all doctor's appointments are showing signs of a healthy mama and healthy baby at this point!  My weight gain, blood pressure, placenta, and fluid levels all look good, except for a slightly low iron level.  The doctor's orders?  Red meat and leafy greens.  So Philip took care of that last night by grilling me one of the best filet's I have ever had.  I ate every delicious bite while watching the UGA/Mizzou football game (which caused me intense heartburn during the first half - jeez)...and judging by the immense amount of fetal movement post-dinner, I would say that Carter enjoyed the steak as well!  :)  At our last high risk appt on Friday, they measured many of his body parts and estimated him to weigh 6 lbs 14 oz (which is in the 61st percentile) with 3 weeks to go!

Carter - the best shot of him we could get at the last appt - being bashful for the "camera" with his hands over his face.  (I prefer to think that he was just waving to his mama!)

And speaking of 3 weeks to go, big sister Kinsley is getting very excited...she will hold up her 3 fingers and say "3 weeks!" when you ask her how much longer until we get to meet baby Carter!  We got the double stroller out this past week and she climbed right into "her spot" and put her baby doll where Carter will sit.  She's getting very good at counting and holding up the correct fingers!  She can count to 13, but leaving out 4 and 5...all the time...I don't know what she has against those two numbers?  But she just loves to skip from 3 to 6.  And she loves counting with her hands over her eyes when it comes time for her favorite game: Hide & Seek.   Here are some other things that she loves doing at 2 1/2:

• singing her ABC's (omitting letters here and there, of course)
• singing, in general...she tends to know the ending words to verses of various songs and makes up the words in between 
• her favorite songs to sing right now: If Your Happy and You Know It (she's got the "clap your hands / stomp your feet / say Amen" part down to a science!); Ring Around the Rosie;  the intro song to Curious George; the "Time For Your Check-up" song from Doc McStuffins; and a "night-night babyyyy, sweep-tight babyyyy" lullabye that she made-up for her baby dolls
• Painting and playing with play-doh
• Having tea parties
• Playing pretend that she is shopping for, cooking, or serving food
• Taking care of her baby dolls...although she has been known to hurl them across the floor at times...yikes! 
• Playing with soccer balls, her softball / softball glove, or her cheerleading pom-poms
• Riding her rah-rah or bicycle (tricycle) - which she is now pedaling!
• Anything at a park - swinging, sliding, climbing, etc.
• Swimming at the pool or at the lake - where she also loves riding on the boat.  (On Labor Day weekend, she swam in the beautiful pool at the Kelleher's lakehouse for THREE hours!  With one snack break!  She was a little fish!)
• Going to school
• Running through the sprinklers in the yard - while fully-clothed
• Watching Curious George - he is still holding the #1 spot as "favorite"
• Helping mommy around the house - cook, water plants, "fold" laundry, and empty the dishwasher
• Being tickled :)
• Playing with phones...home phones and cell phones...anything except for her plastic "toddler" play-phones, of course :)
• Touching her index finger to her chin when she is hungry for a snack and saying "Mommy, I want something else"
• Saying "please" and "thank you" consistently
• Giving "big hugs" or "group hugs"
• Asking "mommy, hold you" or "mommy cuddle"...and seriouly, how can I say no when she asks?

Believe me, she still has her "toddler moments" and occasional meltdowns, but we are very lucky that she does not go to time-out very often...we are blessed to have a very sweet and caring little girl who just wants nothing more than to play and share most of the time!

"College Game Day" Spirit Wear day at school last week - Kinsley and mommy in our UGA shirts! 

Daddy - come on, I am ready to drive! (Don't worry, her life jacket was right next to her - she had just eaten lunch and we were in parked)... 

Post-boat-nap sleepy face...and resting on mommy's tummy. 

Happy in the driver's seat with daddy! 

Sound asleep on the way to the lake for Labor Day weekend! 

Kinsley and daddy on the mule, just 4-wheelin' it around the lake!   

I walked into the family room to find that she had climbed on top of the couch and into "her seat" in the double stroller...just giving it a test ride.

Ready to cheer on Marist at her first game of the season!

Meeting the Eagle....

Ummm, the introduction didn't go so well...she kept her  eye on that Eagle for the rest of the night...

See that face?  She is eyeing that Eagle...

Quick family shot on the sidelines before the game!

Silly girl being silly!

Again, that face is due to the Eagle standing just to her right...so funny...

Happy with her papa!

Family photo!
Can't believe that there will be yet ANOTHER baby in our family photos in just a few short weeks!!!

(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!