32 weeks

So I'm sucking it up, and posting a picture. I also thought I would do a little questionnaire to make this post a little interesting. It's almost November! We're definitely ready and can't wait to meet Ainsley!

How far along? 32 weeks... almost 33 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: 20 pounds

Maternity clothes? Oh yea... who isn't wearing maternity clothes at this point? I feel like my maternity clothes are even getting too small! I'm definitely sticking out more than I did with Ellie.

Stretch marks? Nope. Didn't get them with Ellie, hoping not to get them this time around either.

Sleep: Ha, rarely. The good nights of sleep have been long forgotten, I've experienced trouble sleeping since the beginning. It's definitely gotten worse and tylenol pm or benadryl don't seem to help! I can't wait for to snuggle up on my stomach and sleep soundly again.

Best moment this week: Hearing Ainsley's heartbeat, it just doesn't get better than that if you can't see her. I also had a moment when Ellie was talking with another little girl, they were sitting next to each other while I was waiting after I got my H1N1 shot (FINALLY!) and she grabbed her hand to hold. They were just too cute holding hands. Ellie's gonna love having a little sister (well most of the time, I hope).

Movement: ALL THE TIME! Ellie wasn't much of a mover, so this definitely is a different experience. I think Ainsley has even bruised my uterus from kicking so hard so many times.

Food cravings: Soda, does that count as food?

Gender: Its a GIRL!

Labor Signs: No, hopefully not for another 5 weeks at least.

Belly Button in or out? In, although the upper lip of it is sticking out. So you can definitely see my belly button through my shirt.

Wedding rings on or off? On, I think I couldn't wear them at this point with Ellie. Hopefully this time I can keep them on the whole time!

What I miss: SLEEP, especially however position I want. I also miss wearing my clothes, just never a fan of maternity clothes. I also miss not having mood swings!

What I am looking forward to: Meeting Ainsley! I can't wait to hold her, kiss her, and sing to her face. I also am so excited for Ellie to meet her and watch her interact with her baby sister.

Coke

If you didn't already know, Coke is my favorite (with Dr. Pepper very close behind). I definitely LOVE soda too, so praise the Lord for caffenine free Coke! Since I drink coke quite a bit, Ellie definitely knows what it is. We took a video of her with an empty can, she's so cute! Enjoy.

(sorry it's sideways, I forget that you can't flip a video... at least that I know of).

Pumpkin Patch

We had such a fun time at the pumpkin patch! We went to Green Level Gourd Pumpkin Patch last Friday afternoon and had the place basically to ourselves! They had chickens, pigs, donkeys, goats, a horse, lots of things for Ellie to play with/on, and pumpkins of course!

First we picked out a pumpkin, and then decorated it. Ellie got to choose her pumpkin.We then looked at all the animals (not going to post the pics of the animals, just of us).



Then we played in the spider tunnel, and mom & dad played cornhole against each other (I won, of course).


Then to prepare for the donkey ride (which we saved for one of the last things to do to make sure she had warmed up to the place), we rode some practice horses.

Mom & dad goofed off with the camera a little while Ellie played (just one of many, didn't want to bore you).

Finally it was time for the donkey ride. I had the camera in the wrong setting, so didn't get any good pictures (all blurred). Not like I really missed any shots though, because Ellie did not want to touch that donkey! It was pretty funny, but she definitely wouldn't get on donkey Sally. So sad...

We finished our time by going through the teensy corn maze. It was just Ellie's size!
So much fun you get to have with kids! We would've never done this without her in our life :)

Baby Sissy

Ellie showing us where her baby sister is and saying her sister's name:

Fun at the Fair

Ellie had her first trip to the Fair this past week. We went with some friends on Wednesday night, and then went again during the day as a family on Thursday. She really enjoyed just watching all the people and seeing the animals, the rides definitely were not her favorite thing. Here are just a few pictures from our adventure:

First ride, the Wiggly Worm:
(she didn't smile, but didn't cry either!)

Carosel, before it started moving:
after it started moving:
Although she was screaming to get off, we asked her if she wanted to ride it again and she said yes (which usually means yes because her answer to almost everything is no right now). We decided against riding again though.

Ellie and I "resting" from walking around:

Too funny not to post

So I know I need to update my blog, I'm working on that... we've had quite a bit of fun this week including going to the fair and to a pumpkin farm. I'll update soon :)

So now to this video that is way too funny not to post. I stole it from the girltalk blog, so if you read that blog, you've seen it. This is why it is necessary to marry a good speller:

Ainsley Ruth

That's baby girl #2's name! We finally have made our decision after many, many months of debates! So from now on we will refer to baby girl as Ainsley! We hope you like it.

So for an update on Ainsley and I:
I am now 30 weeks pregnant! Hoping for 7-10 more weeks until we welcome our sweet baby girl. She has been doing great, definitely a mover! For over a month I was experiencing pain from how hard she would press on my uterus when she was trying to "stretch". She moves a great deal more than Ellie, so I'm interested to see what she will be like when she arrives in this world. She is measuring perfectly and sounding (heartbeat) perfectly! The doctors are always so pleased with how well I'm doing. At 30 weeks, Ainsley should weigh around 3 lbs. and measure almost 16 inches! I would love to post a picture of my belly, but every time I hate the picture I take. So you'll just have to see it in person :)

How am I doing? I still have trouble sleeping at night, most nights I end up on the couch (I just can't kick around and move with Zach in the bed). Other than that minor issue, I'm doing fabulous! Some days the sleeplessness bothers me, but most of the time I still have tons of energy. I have been working out this pregnancy, unlike with Ellie, and I think that has a lot to do with how good I feel. I hope it will also help me recover quicker after the birth.

How am I feeling? I am so excited, more than words can describe! With Ellie the anticipation of the unknown and what was to come took away from the true joy of pregnancy (along with first year teaching and first year of marriage). With Ainsley, I'm loving every minute and thinking of all the wonderful things to come! I know there's a possibility she could be the opposite of Ellie and we could have a very difficult time, but the thoughts of seeing her, holding her, and watching Ellie and her grow together are so profound. Ellie does extremely well with us holding other kids/babies and interacting with other kids/babies, that I have no worries with introducing a sibling into the family. I think she is going to be so excited to have a playmate that she will hardly notice the time she is losing from mommy and daddy. (Although I do still think this could happen). Ainsley's arrival will only tell, these are just my thoughts. I also get very excited to be able to hold, cuddle and nurse Ainsley... where as with Ellie I didn't get to enjoy it fully mostly due to how boring it all seemed to me. I definitely know I won't be bored with a toddler in the house! It's hard to imagine if I can love Ainsley as much as I love Ellie, but I have heard that it is so amazing to see how your love expands instead of divides. I think we get this idea that we only have so much love to give, so our love must be divided. But this isn't the case, especially with our children.

I'm praying that I cherish every moment I have with Ellie before Ainsley arrives and experience all the joys of being pregnant and welcoming another child into the world. Oh how the Lord has blessed us beyond measure! Children... what a beautiful thing!

18 months!

(Ellie participating with me as I sing "If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it..")

Ellie is now 18 months old! I really can't believe how fast she has grown. It makes me sad to see her growing up but at the same time I absolutely love watching her develop her own personality. She is such a sweet, happy little toddler! I truly experience so much joy being her mommy and now do feel like I have the best job in the whole world! I can't wait to welcome our next baby girl into the family, Ellie is going to shower her with love and I can't even imagine how much my love will expand!

(Our big girl lifting her arms up shouting hooray!)

Here are her 18 month stats: 25% in weight at 22 lbs, 25% in height at 31 inches, and 75% in her head circumference! She is very consistent with her growth measurements, which means she is growing perfectly! Such a blessing to have such a healthy little girl.



What all Ellie can do now:
Where do I even begin? So much she can do now!

• Saying so many words, all animal sounds (still working on getting oink to sound right), putting together 2 word phrases like thank you, bless you, more please, want more, etc.
• Loves doing the motions to 'If you're happy and you know it', 'Wheels on the bus', and 'Itsy bitsy spider' (still doesn't sing with me though)
• finally loves to swing at the playground! (If you remember from the past, she used to hate the swing)
• climb stairs on her own, go down slides by herself, climb in chairs (her favorite)... at the playground I can mostly just stand back and watch her and she does wonderful
• very cautious and hardly ever is brave (which is great for mommy and daddy), however she isn't scared of many things either. very interesting combo...
• eats with spoon and fork (well at least tries)
• loves the word "no". If you ask her anything, usually her response will be "no"
• love pushing the stroller and helping mommy clean (can't wait for when she actually can help mommy!)
• LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to read books! Especially Elmo and Dora books.
• loves her milk, hates veggies
• mostly a good listener (I feel that we have been extremely blessed with a happy toddler who mostly tries to please her parents... we'll see how long this lasts)
• sleeps in her twin size bed great! 11 hours at night, 2-3 hours for nap most days! She's not excited about going to bed most nights, but we never have problems with her falling asleep (we might can count maybe 2-3 times in 3 months)!
  
• loves stuffed animals and soft things (blankets, towels, washcloths, clothes, anything)! She'll just lay them on the floor and lay down, so cute!
• loves to color (except for at restaurants??)
• has 11 teeth!
• can identify body parts (head, eyes, ear, mouth, nose, tongue, shoulders, toes, arm, leg, hand, tummy)
• loves to spin around and dance, I think she definitely will be a little dancer (a little side note: her favorite song still is boom boom pow)
  

I'm sure there is more, but those are the biggies. I love, love, love this age!

Eating by Myself!

As I try to transition Ellie into eating more and more like a big girl, I find it so much fun! Ellie is very adamant about eating by herself! She no longer wants mommy or daddy to help, she wants to use the fork or spoon on her own! So as I am trying to no longer just set food on her tray, but put it in a bowl or plate, this experience is much more frequent. It's very funny to watch as she learns what to do, I find so much joy in it because it's so funny how kids act! The other night we shot a video of her eating all by herself, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

Presence of God

It's easy to get caught up in distracting ourselves from what we really need or searching for what we need in other things. I no longer am searching for what I need, because I know and have experienced that Christ has everything I need to satisfy, however I do distract myself or try to satisfy that need with other things. It's funny how that works and how easy it seems to do. The book I am reading through a second time with the Women's Bible Study at my church, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World", had a great example of this:

Joanna Weaver, the author, tells a story of her pastor's wife, Teri Myers. Teri was preparing a four course meal for some company she was having over that night, and had been so busy that she forgot to eat lunch. A few hours before her guests were supposed to arrive, Teri decided to eat a couple Snickers bars to tide her over until dinner. Well, the Snickers did the trick and gave her energy to finish up the final preparations. At dinner however, Teri could barely eat a few bites, she no longer was hungry. She had prepared this amazing dinner and couldn't even eat it!

Ok, so the hunger here is a little different than the hunger or desire that I was talking about, but it definitely is similar. Weaver writes:

"We were designed to be close to God. Just as our bodies hunger and thirst for food and drink, our spirits hunger and thirst for his presence. But just as it's possible to bloat our bodies with empty calories, we can find ways to pacify our spiritual cravings without really getting the nourishment we need. We can fill up with spiritual Snickers bars while all the time our spirits are withering for want of real food.

If you're having a little trouble feeling close to God-- or even wanting to draw close-- you might want to consider what activities you are using to fill the empty places of your life. What's taking the edge off of your for him?"

The pastor of my church, J.D. Greear, is teaching on the presence of God over the next few months. This past Sunday he answered what exactly the presence of God is and how we can get the presence of God. He stated that "presence is the point of Christianity." We tend to make or even feel like Christianity is about doing, doing, doing, however what Christianity is really about is finding the presence of God. Feeling a sense of His great love, His power, His grace, experiencing who He really is...

I think the Lord is definitely trying to speak to me here, getting somewhat of the same message twice in one week! I distract myself with many things, some good and some bad, but my conviction is that what I need to focus most importantly on is being close to God and that being close to God doesn't mean doing the right things, it means experiencing His presence, having that intimacy with Him! Sometimes it seems impossible to do enough, be good enough, be godly enough... It's a relief to know that it has nothing to do with what I need to do, but what Christ has done. Although I've known that nothing I do changes God's faithfulness, it doesn't change the fact that I fail to experience what my relationship with him is all about. Just as I need to lessen distractions and take time to spend with my husband to have a good relationship, I need to do the same with God. Having that intimate relationship is more than just doing the right things, it's about the experience and feelings I have with the other person. So I'm going to work on and pray for that earnest desire to have that intimate relationship with Christ and experience His presence!

Animal Sounds

Cute video for your entertainment: