38 weeks (tomorrow)

Hard to believe that as of tomorrow we "officially" have 2 weeks till we meet our son.  I saw my doctor yesterday for my weekly check up.  I was partially shocked, but kinda had a feeling that I was, but my doctor checked me and I am 2 cm dilated.  Now I know it's not much, but I've never had labor before, and this week I've definitely felt signs of labor.  My doctor has high hopes baby will come soon, so we shall see :)  I'm hoping that he'll at least make his debut by sometime next week.  I REALLY want my doctor to deliver him, and he is out of town the week I'm actually due.  

We are ready for little man's arrival!  House is clean, nursery is ready, bags are packed, batteries are charged, everyone is excited!  Yesterday we finally took his car seat out of the box and put it in the van.  Big sis has the back row to herself.  She never complained, which surprised me.  I feel like she's so far from me now :(  Seems weird to see a car with 3 car seats. lol 

3

The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

As I sit here thinking and anticipating the arrival of our 3rd child, I am hit with excitement and some nervousness.  I have been terrified these past 9 months of being a mom of 3.  I am scared I can't do it. I'm scared I'm gonna lose my mind. lol

I am reminded of these past 9 months.  I still remember sitting and looking at a positive pregnancy test in shock!  I spent weeks agonizing over how we weren't ready for it, how I wanted baby sister to stay my baby... I kept quoting Provers 16:9 over and over... Reminding myself that it is not up to me, that God has a plan.  I began focusing on accepting His plan for our family.  It wasn't until we were 12 weeks that I "fell in love" with my unborn child.  After thinking I miscarried in the bathroom of a restaurant, the drive to the ER was the longest drive of my life.  Sitting there, being poked and prodded and unsure if I was still carrying a sweet baby was the hardest wait.  I had shed a few tears on the way there, but couldn't bring myself to cry because I knew if I started, I wouldn't stop.  It wasn't until the ultrasound tech flipped the screen to show me the most beautiful baby, with a strong heartbeat, sucking his hand that I LOST it, and I mean, lost it!  I sobbed and thanked God for sparing my baby.  I will never forget seeing that sweet baby that day.  5 weeks later I was back in the ER with the flu, scared something bad would happen.  Once again, God spared our son.

Now I sit here, days or couple weeks from meeting this sweet boy, and excitement fills our home.  Yes I'm nervous... Yes I'm scared I'm going to be more exhausted than I've ever been.  Scared of handling 3 kids.  But I have to trust God has blessed us with our 3 children for a reason.  Each child has come in HIS time, and we have always been deliriously happy.  I know it'll be hard at times, but I also know that this is God's plan for us and I can't wait to see what He has in store for our boy and our family!

cuddles

Memorial day we spent all day at my inlaws house, the girls swam a lot.  Baby girl skipped her nap.  Now side note here, big sis stopped napping at 2, so I'm so not used to having a good sleeper.  Baby sis naps 3 hours a day. lol  Anyways, she crashed on the way home, and when we got home, I picked her up from her carseat and then just cuddled with her.  I was having a hard time breathing with her on my belly, so after enjoying her sweet sleepy cuddles for a while, I handed her off to daddy, who also got to enjoy her cuddles. 

Sitting with her like this reminded me of our early days with her.  She's always been so cuddly and I've always loved just holding her.  I don't know how many of these moments we'll get once baby boy arrives.
One of the reasons I had a hard time accepting this pregnancy is b/c I wasn't ready for my baby girl to no longer be the baby in the house.  I think it'll be a huge adjustment for all of us... But we're all excited for his arrival and I know once he's here we'll all be wondering what we did w/out him. :)

37.3 weeks

Today I sit on the couch, feeling somewhat miserable.  I've had some nausea the past few days, but today it's pretty bad.  I was in the middle of cleaning when it hit me.  I've been trying to get the house ready, just in case ;)  I have gotten more and more uncomfortable these past few days.  I'm really trying to "enjoy" these last few weeks, as I'll never get to experience this again.  But man it's hard!  Everything hurts, everything aches, nausea, exhaustion... Not to add the anxiety/nerves/excitement over meeting my son!  Add the stress of having to leave my other 2 babies for 2-3 days.. AAHHHH  I have to keep reminding myself that God's in control, baby boy will come in GOD's timing, not mine.  And everything will work out according to HIS plan.

As far as the pregnancy, nothing has changed.  I've had some random contractions, pain, and such, but nothing else.  My hospital bag is packed and in the car.  We have somewhat of a plan for the girls if I should go into labor.  Nursery is ready, baby clothes washed, bassinet in my room is ready! Now all we need is a baby ;)

Business casual

Some new things for baby boy made by an excited and tired mama! :)

I saw my doctor yesterday.  I was hoping there was some movement in the direction of labor, but alas I was wrong.  With the way I had been feeling, I really thought he'd be coming soon.  But nothing's happening.  I was a little disappointed, but I know it's for the best.  I'll be 37 weeks on Saturday, so he still needs time to grow.  I'm just growing impatient.  I have never felt so uncomfortable.  

Now I'm stressed out with everything.  Stressed about his arrival, stressed about leaving my sweet girls.  I hate leaving them :(  I know it'll all work out, I just hate the not knowing.  I get stressed very easily. lol 

Everything's ready for him.  His room is done, other than some last minute decorations daddy still needs to make.  His bassinet is ready in my room.  Laundry's been washed.  Hospital bag is packed!  Now we just wait....  I'll try to be patient.  But it's hard to with all the pain, discomfort, not being able to breathe or sleep.... I'm trying to "enjoy" these last few weeks.  I'm just ready to have him in my arms! 

Getting Ready

This has been a busy week for us of getting ready for baby boy's arrival.  Because none of us think I'll make it to 40 weeks, we are working hard to be ready just in case.  There are certain things I want to get done for him, it may seem silly to some, but I like sewing and embroidering, so I've been hard at work these past couple of days making him some cute onesies. :)

I just finished these shirts last night.  I love how they came out! :)  Can't wait to see the kids wearing them. 

I'll have to post pictures of his room later, it's pretty much done, just need some last minute finishing touches.  Here's his crib.  The nursery theme is Jaws (yes like the movie) and so we painted the crib like the Orca boat in the movie and I love the chevron bumpers.. It's "waves" :)

Taken at 36.5 weeks, I was feeling pretty miserable that day and momentarily thought we wouldn't make it through the night w/out going into labor.  So I wore that "let me out" shirt in his honor ;)  So far he's staying put.  

I see my doctor my check up later today so we'll see how things are.  As of now we have 3 weeks till his scheduled arrival!  

36.5 weeks!

Taken at 35 weeks

Today I'm 36.5 weeks.  It is CRAZY how close we are to the end, how fast this has gone by.   This pregnancy has been super hard on me both physically and emotionally.  Maybe I don't handle things as well as others.  But the amount of pain I'm in leaves me extremely limited.  I then feel guilty for not taking proper care of the house or being able to be with the kids more... But I know it's just a season.  Soon our boy will be here and we'll be dealing with a new sort of crazy....

 At 36 weeks sleep is almost impossible.  I've been able to get 5 hours straight a few nights, which is nice.  Which is weird b/c I need 8+ hours. lol  But lately I've been waking up every 2 hours, so getting 5 hours has been nice.  Baby boy has been so active and definitely running out of room.  He is so wiggly and turns my belly to jelly when he moves.  I can feel his little arms and legs wiggling.. Such a sweet and sometimes uncomfortable feeling.  Even with all the difficulties of the pregnancy, I love watching my belly grow, love feeling baby kicks.  But I am also looking forward to meeting my son and holding him for the first time.  The girls are so excited and can't wait to hold their baby brother.  It's so cute to hear them talk about him.

So thankful for the way God's growing our family.  Hard to believe that we will soon have 3 kids.  

Soccer Season

Last night ended our soccer season.  They had an awards ceremony where all the kids got a trophy.  Big sis was so excited to get her very first trophy.
A few months ago we debated on what to do with her as far as some activity.  We chose soccer for several reasons, the main one being that I wanted her outdoors and to be physically active.  The first few practices and games were a little rough.  She didn't want to be in the field and complained about being tired.  But by the end of the season, she was on fire!  Running, stealing the ball, scoring goals.  I'm so thankful for everyone involved in it and so proud of how well my girl did in her first soccer season!!!!

We're all so proud of our girl :)

Showing us her trophy.  So proud!!!! 

Graduation Weekend

This weekend we had a small graduation celebration for our big girl.  She graduated Kindergarten!  I can hardly believe my big girl will start 1st grade next year!  I'm so proud of her, she's done so well!

Her favorite subject is math and art.  She would color and create books all day long.  She says when she grows up she wants to be a movie maker.  That child is SO much like her daddy.  She's also doing so well with reading.  We started out slow with reading b/c she was discouraged, but she's grown so much and her reading has improved so much!  We plan on focusing on reading this summer and hopefully she'll show more improvement.  

We had the graduation at my family's restaurant.  Because we're a homeschool group, there were only 3 graduates, but it was perfect and our little graduates were so excited and proud!

Getting her all ready 

Seriously so proud of my girl!  I can hardly believe my baby girl is a Kindergarten graduate!  Where has time gone?! 

My little beauty! :)  I got to curl her hair.  I'm so blessed to be her mother. 

walking in... Each mom walked her graduate in.  

The daddy's handed each of their graduate their diploma.  Love her face here, she's so proud! 

So thankful for hubby's support in our homeschool journey.  So thankful for my family!  And yes, here I am in all my 36 week glory ;) 

Sweet sisters... Love how much baby sis loves her big sis. 

So thankful to have gotten to celebrate my girl.  She's so excited and we are so proud of her accomplishments! 

still getting ready....

This week we've been hard at work getting everything ready for baby boy.  I think we've been painting baby furniture for 2-3 weeks.  At this point we've had the dresser and changing table done for a week.  But the crib is taking a while.  Yesterday was the first day we were able to go outside to paint the crib.  I THINK (I'm almost scared to say it) that we're done.  Either today or tomorrow when hubby gets home, we'll put the crib together, hang some stuff on wall and then we should be done.  AAHHH  There's some art work that daddy needs to do for the wall, but hopefully that shouldn't take him long. 

 Can I just say how SICK and tired I am of painting!?  

This week I ordered a few last things for the baby.  One of the things we struggled with getting was his diaper bag.  Big sis had a pretty pink diaper bag specially made by a friend.  Baby sis had a zebra print/pink diaper bag from auntie Viv, made by someone on etsy.  I wanted that same lady to make baby boy a diaper bag but hubby said he "suffered" through 2 girly diaper bags and wanted a backpack this time.  So I went on a search and found this Jeep backpack that I loved.  We got in the mail yesterday and it's so much nicer and bigger than I thought.  I'm still unsure about how I feel about the backpack, but I really wanted daddy to have choices with this baby since I took over with the girls. lol 

We're almost ready for baby boy and are anxious to meet him :) 

Mother's Day 2014

I might be the only person who doesn't really care about Mother's day.  In fact I had forgotten about it until I saw a commercial for it.  Then I realized I needed to do something for our moms. lol  I told hubby not to get me anything.  I've been busy with baby stuff and I just really didn't care to worry about mother's day.  I want to be appreciated and loved every day, not just 1 day of the year...

When it comes to mother's day, I want 1 thing, to relax... :)

This mother's day was simple but perfect.  We went to church, after sleeping in.  Then came home, had lunch, I napped... The girls did NOT cooperate for a picture with mommy :(  Then we had planned on going to the beach but it started raining, so we ended up at our family's restaurant for dinner.

The day before, big sis had realized it was mother's day, so she really wanted to do something special for mama.  So the girls and daddy went shopping.  Sunday morrning I got my gift.  They picked this fun Disney board game that we play together.  I love when the girls pick out my gifts, they get so excited and so proud!  Daddy had gotten me a keychain with our last name on it in Chinese.  Why Chinese?  It is a celebration and reminder of our future baby.  We really feel called to adopt someday soon, and we'd be adopting from China.  It's something we've been praying for a long time and we hope we'll be able to do it someday.  Getting the keychain was a bit emotional b/c it reminded me that we will have a daughter out there someday!  Big sis is so excited and has been telling everyone that we'll have another baby soon. lol  It's exciting to be able to teach our children about adoption.

For other news, baby brother's room is almost done.  His crib is still being painted, but should be done tomorrow.  So hopefully by the weekend everything will be put together.  I can't wait!  His laundry is all done.  I think we still need to buy him some clothes, but he hopefully has enough for now.  We have been blessed with some cute clothes!
We are nervous/anxious/excited to meet our boy!  We have about 4 weeks, which isn't long at all..

more progress...

These past few days I've spent getting other stuff ready for baby boy's arrival.  I did his laundry, which really only took 2 loads lol  He doesn't have a whole lot.  I spent time online shopping trying to find the best deals.  Yesterday I placed a Target order and bought some things in the store, like his little bathtub and newborn diapers and some newborn gowns. :)  I also placed an amazon order for some other things. 

The picture above is of his closet.  Other than some onesies in his dresser, that is all he has for 0-6 months.  Super cute stuff, but not a whole lot.  So mama will have to do some shopping here and there. It's all good.  I'm sure he'll have enough.  Almost all of the above were gifts, so I am super thankful and cannot wait till he's wearing them!  We are blessed for sure!  

Right now his room is getting ready.  The crib has 1 more day of painting left.  I can't wait to have it all set up! Very exciting.  

For other news, as of today I am 35 weeks.  I keep saying this, but it really is surreal.  I have 4-5 weeks left.  It's just CRAZY!  I keep trying to enjoy this time, it's my last few weeks as a mama of 2.  It's also the last few weeks I get to enjoy my preggo belly.  This pregnancy has kicked my butt, and the bigger I get, the worse I feel.  I'm in constant pain and discomfort.  I can't sleep, my feet and ankles constantly swell and more.  It's been hard, but so worth it! I can't wait to meet little man! 

PROGRESS

When we discovered we were expecting again, it came as a big shock!  We had gotten rid of EVERYTHING!  Except baby clothes, which I've now gotten rid of b/c we no longer need girl stuff.  Anyways, someone in our church gave us a changing table a few weeks ago.  Now, I didn't really want one, but hubby did.  And free was an answer to prayers.  Because the crib and dresser were cherry, I knew we'd have to paint this table to match.  Which a few weeks ago daddy decided to paint all 3 pieces of furniture black, white and red.  

The before picture of the changing table.  I will have to post before pics of dresser and crib later... 

It's taken a LOT longer to get all this furniture painted than we anticipated.  Nona and I have been painting like crazy.  Daddy helped a bit with the table, but for the most part I did the table myself.  This past Monday I finished both the table and dresser and am still paying for it.  Swollen ankles/feet, back pain, and so much more are the results of me working nonstop to get this stuff done.  But it's worth it, it looks beautiful and now only the crib is left.  I'm not sure how much of the crib is left to do, I started it, but being 34+ weeks pregnant and painting on my feet for hours at a time was not working out, so I've left the crib for daddy to finish. ;)

 Here are the 2 finished pieces in his room!  The room needs some major organization, but we're getting closer!  I love the black and white :) 

Last night I went through our gifts and started doing his laundry.  It was kinda weird to see boy clothes in my dryer. lol  SO not used to it, but it's exciting.  Can't wait to get his clothes in his dresser and closet.

I also saw my doctor yesterday for my check up.  34 weeks and counting.  Next time I see him I'll be 36 weeks and he said after that it's just a waiting game of when/if I'll go into labor :)  Which we're all hoping for b/c he will be out of town the week I'm actually due. Can't believe how close we are to meeting our little man.  

34 weeks!

This weekend marked our 34 week mark.  We're still working on his room, hoping to finish this weekend/ early next week.  Painting his furniture has taken longer than we anticipated.  I can't paint everyday b/c it wears me out so I've gone slow.  Nona has been here a few days to help, but for some reason it's just taken us longer.  his decorations are ready to go on the wall, his bedding is done, it's just a matter of getting his furniture done.  I can't wait to have it all finished and ready for our boy!  

This weekend some sweet friends threw me a shower.  We had it at Mimi's and it was so nice!  It was great to sit and relax with friends and see how much our boy is loved. 

Here I am arriving.  

The amazing cake says "you're gonna need a bigger boat" which of course is a line from the movie Jaws :) 

One of the hostesses and my amazing friend Kimberly hand stitched this burp cloth.  I told her he will never be allowed to spit up on it.  It's beautiful! 

 She also made this stuffed shark.  Isn't he the cutest!?  I named him Brody after Chief Brody from the movie Jaws. 

My other hostess and amazing friend Michele knows me all too well.  She gave me the most amazing chocolates.  

I have the most amazing friends who put my shower together and it was awesome.  I'm so thankful to have people in my life who share the excitement for our newest arrival! 

countdown mode!

It's May.  MAY!!! How did this happen!? lol May is the last full month before baby joins our family.  He isn't due till mid June, but you just never know, he could arrive anytime in June... So I'm freaking out a smidge thinking of how fast time has flewn and this is the last month of us as a family of 4!

This week I took it easy in the beginning of the week, but decided to make small to do lists each day to see if I could accomplish more things.  Setting small goals seems to work.  One of my goals is to do 1 load of laundry per day so I'm not behind.  That one I still have good days and bad. lol  And part of my daily goal has been to do something for baby's room.  yesterday I finished his valance.  It looks SO cute and was so quick to do!  Today I appliqued his blanket I'm making.  Sounds simple, but took me over an hour.  One of the reasons being I had issues with my machine, but that part's done and later today I'll sew it together.  Nona (mother in law) made the crib skirt and bumper.  I haven't seen it yet, but I "designed" it so I can't wait to see it!!!

The biggest project for his room is the painting of his furniture.  Daddy really wanted a Jaws room.  Then he came up with a color scheme for the furniture.  He really wanted red, white and black.  Which are the colors of the main boat in the movie Jaws. lol  I'm 1/2way done w/ the changing table and almost done w/ dresser.  I am hoping to finish those pieces today.  Then work on the crib over the weekend.  The crib is def more time consuming, which I think I'll leave it to daddy.  We'll see.  I originally wasn't even planning on painting his furniture, and when daddy decided to paint I told him he was on his own. lol  But so far I've been doing all the painting.  I do enjoy it more than he does, it's just more exhausting for me and I tend to over do it...

Hopefully next week we'll be able to be done and his room will be all set up!

His blanket :)