WE ARE SO READY FOR JACK!

The title of this blog post pretty much sums up how I have been feeling for about 10 weeks now! But as the time is QUICKLY approaching I am hit with the reality that this weekend could have been our last weekend as a family of 3! I am nervous, a little scared and overall just ready to have baby Jack in my arms. When I went for my 38 week appointment last Thursday everything was "great:" I was only fingertip dilated, my blood pressure was great and his heart rate was wonderful. Dr. Phillips told me that the earliest they would induce would be at 39 weeks (tomorrow) and obviously we are not going to do that; I totally want to try and let my body do the work but it is definitley becoming more difficult by the day. (I am not a big fan of surprises or of waiting!) The longest she said she would let me go over my due date is 2 weeks and I have pretty much crossed that off the list! I have an appointment on Thursday again (which will also be my last day of work) and it is in the afternoon, so like I said before there is a possibility that blood pressure could be high and we could have a baby by Friday. (Maybe some running in place before she takes my blood pressure?!) We also had to move my appointment from the 11th to the 8th (Jack's actual due date) and so hopefully if he hasn't graced us with his presence by then then we can set a date for induction. Like I said, I really want to try and be patient with my body and let it go through due process, but it's more a peace of mind issue for me; I feel like anything can happen with him inside my body (i.e. Berkley's knot in her cord) and I just want to have him so that I can protect him. I know that sounds corny but it's the easiest way to explain some of the anxiety I am feeling! Also, the ladies here at work had a double shower for me and our principal who is due at the beginning of April last Wednesday. It was so sweet and Jack got plenty of essentials; THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! Anyway enough about my worrying and constant thinking, here are some pictures of Jack's room that we finished today (minus his initials that will go above his bed when I finish painting them). A HUGE thank you has to go out to my wonderful husband for shampooing and vacuuming all the rooms in our house; I can't explain how grateful I am! There are also some pictures of Miss Thang to keep you up-to-date on her! Have a great week! And I will post a belly shot of me at 39 weeks sometime this week.

Meadows

2/20/10...This was from Randi's shower last weekend. She was perfectly content just sitting as this table by herself!

2/26/10...This was Friday after we got home. She was in just a wonderful mood!

2/26/10...I love this picture of her!

2/26/10...Here she is trying to give bubba Jack some of her "moo juice!" She is going to be such a great big sister and I am so ready to see it in reality!

2/28/10...Jack's crib; of course the flowered clothing is not his! His initials will go above his bed in green, blue and brown.

2/28/10...His dresser and window. I love the little balls that I found at Hobby Lobby! I also love the fact that his dad can display his football helmet in his son's room! :)

2/28/10...Changing table. I also found the little sayings at Hobby Lobby and I just love that they are so inspirational!

2/28/10...Corner of the room with the jumperoo (a lifesaver with Berk) and the little wire sports things that I also found at Hobby Lobby!

37 Week Doctor Appointment

Well yesterday I had my 37-week appointment and once again, it was a waste of my morning in Lubbock! (Which is a good thing compared to the alternative!) Of course, when the appointment was scheduled for 8:40 and you don't see the doc until about 9:30 you are bound to get a little irritated right?! Well thankfully it DID NOT raise my blood pressure (110/71) and did little harm to Bubba Jack (his heart rate was 142 bpm). She did tell me that when she was listening to him that he did not like me laying on my back (I suppose his heart rate was going down but she didn't actually say that) and told me the best thing is to make sure and lay on my sides. (Which unfortuately is much more uncomfortable now because he tends to go with gravity and ball up on the side that I am laying on which equals little sleep!) I only gained 1 pound and my cervix is still closed! I actually told her to not even waste her time checking me because I knew there was nothing happening and it was a waste of time for her AND for me! So, overall he is is NO HURRY to join our chaotic life and that's ok! He can cook as long as he wants but hopefully won't get too big; I have to admit that Berk spoiled me by only being a 5 lb. 8 oz. baby and I don't know how I will react to a bigger one! (And everyone seems to think he WILL be bigger!) This weekend we have plenty to do; I need to get all my lesson plan stuff ready JUST IN CASE Mr. Jack decides he wants to grace us early and we also have tickets to the Tech vs. Texas game tomorrow afternoon along with Randi Beth's baby shower. Needless to say it will be a weekend of great family fun and hopefully not going into labor walking up the mile-long steps at United Spirit Arena! But anyway just thought I would let everyone know how the check up went! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Meadows

Changes Around Our Place

Well this weekend Thad was hard at work getting everything somewhat ready for Jack! I suppose it was a good thing because today (Monday), we had to go to labor and delivery to get monitored because my blood pressure was a little high! Thank goodness everything was fine by the time we got up there, but it definitley made for a long day! I am just going to leave you with that and the rest will be pictures (tons of them) so you can see the changes that have occurred and why I LOVE MY HUSBAND SO MUCH!

*These are the pictures from the other day when Berk helped me fix the cookies for my class! She is quite the little helper! (And don't worry that spoon DID NOT go back into the cookie batter!)

2/10/10...Thinking about licking the spoon....

...and going in for the kill!

I can see Gran with a helper in the future!

She is the biggest girl ever! And forget trying to help her do anything!

2/11/10...This is what Webster thought of all the stuff we came home with Thursday after my doctor's appointment! You think he knows changes are a-comin?

2/13/10...Berkley trying out her newest thing!

And she is quite good at it!

****The first change-we (Thad) rearranged the bedroom and we bought a new desk so that it wouldn't be in Jack's room****

****And now for the assembly of Jack's furniture! With the help of Berkley Tate, of course!****

Please disregard the disarray of everything! I wasjust so happy to get it all done! I will post again once things are in their place!

***Oh yes and me and Jack at 37 weeks!***

36 Week Doc Visit

Well yesterday Thad and I drove to Lubbock (once again in snowy weather) and went for our 36-week appointment. Everything is looking perfect for Mr. Jack's arrival and he seems to be in absolutely NO HURRY: his heart rate was in the 120s and 130s, my blood pressure was 112/72 and I gained another 3 pounds. Everything was good and she went ahead and started the "best" part of all pregnancies in checking me and he was still high which is not at all surprising to me and Thad. Just like big sis, who I was only dilated to a 1 with when I was induced (just two days prior to her due date) he will probably be right on time! I go every week now which is good but I am keeping my hopes to a minimum as far as the progress that happens for those visits! But hopefully that means I will actually have a FULL three weeks to finish getting stuff ready for a sub! But that is about it; Thad is off today and Monday so hopefully we will pictures of Jack's room to post soon and I need to post pictures of Miss Thang helping me bake cookies the other day but I don't have the memory card right now. (And of course a belly picture will be posted soon.) Anyway hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to have some fun outside?!

Meadows

Some Berkley Pictures

Well this weekend was a very relaxing one once again. Thad did get the guest room furniture all taken apart and then taken to the storage unit (except for the desk with the computer). We ordered the computer desk to go in our bedroom (which hasn't come in yet) and we got Jack's furniture yesterday so Thad will have another busy weekend of putting together! (Luckily he is taking Thursday and Friday off and then also has Monday off!)

(This is the picture of the crib, changing table and combo unit)

We go to the doctor on Thursday for our 36-week appointment and then from here on we will go every week. I took the whole day off so that we will be able to get the rest of the "essentials" for Jack: i.e. a mattress for his crib, his playpen, a new Boppy cover that isn't so girly and all the other great stuff! We are taking "maternity" pictures on Sunday with Pamra but I am hoping it will more of a cute family shoot with my big ol' belly instead of a full-blown maternity shoot. (Have you seen some of the maternity pictures people do?! WOW! Those ladies are far more courageous than I would ever be!) But all in all we are just hustling and bustling about trying to make room for this wonderful addition that is so close we can already smell that sweet smell of more Dreft and baby lotion! Last night we were all sitting in the living room and for some odd reason Berkley actually wanted to sit STILL for some time and let Thad and her read a book. She brought him Noah's Ark and it was so amazing to watch the two of them share the book. I don't mean to brag, but the little girl is a smarty pants: Thad would ask her where an animal was and she would (9 out of 10 times) pick out that animal on the first try. He would then ask her where Noah was and she would always turn back to the cover and point him out! It is so amazing how their brains work at this age and how much she takes in! There are so many examples of how much she watches and learns that it is hard to list them all. Her best is the iPhone though: Sara, Corey and Randi all have iPhones and Berkley knows EXACTLY which ones are theirs. She will inevitably get theirs anytime they are around and try to slide the thing to unlock it. She will also get mine and THad's phones and try to do the same but to no avail. Sara lets her play games on her phone with animal sounds and all and it is amazing to see how quickly she catches things! I think an iPod Touch might be in her future! Anyway here are some pictures from last night and I will get a belly picture up sometime this week. Hope everyone has a great week and stays warm!
Meadows

2/8/10...This is Berk when she doesn't get to get on the couch and climb around like a hoodlum and nearly send me into labor......

2/8/10...And then two seconds later, this is Berk showing us how she typically is....

2/8/10...And then here she is after she goes over to the love seat and proceeds to get what she set out to get in the first place!

2/8/10...They are both just a little bit smitten with each other!

2/8/10...A calm minute with dad!

2/8/10...I swear the girl just might be a doctor!

2/8/10...She had to try out her skills on both of us!

2/8/10...My blue-eyed baby! I hope that Jack's eyes are blue also though I bet they will be brown like hid dad's!

2/8/10...Reading their book!

OOPS! Belated 34 Week Post

Well I guess my mind was going a hundred miles a minute when I posted the other post and I thought I would do my doctor's visit update with that, but I forgot! (Blame it on the pregnancy brain!) At my appointment last Thursday; after it taking me 1 1/2 hours to get to Lubbock driving 30-40 mph on ICE and then braving the blizzard that was in Lubbock, everything looked great. He is measuring right on for his gestational age and his heart beat was 131 bpm. and he is head down! I gained another 5 pounds and was told that I really needed to start eating more "nutritional" snacks. ("After all the more weight you gain, the bigger the baby and the harder the recovery," says Dr. Phillips and I am quick to remind her that I gained 52 lbs. with Berk and she only weighed 5 lbs.8 oz. and I actually have some ground to cover in the next few weeks to match her weight gain!) But all in all everything was wonderful, still good blood pressure and only minimal swelling so that is very good. She says that she wouldn't be surprised if I go into labor a week or so early since I went full term with Berk (totally normal with the first) and that the second baby usually comes a little bit earlier! Although as Thad and I were talking last night, it was kind of nice to just be told to go to the hospital and get checked in and they would start labor instead of thinking about all the possibilities of WHEN and HOW labor could start! (I.E. in the grocery store your water breaks or while you are up giving a lesson to four year olds you "pee" your pants!) But oh the joys the imagination can bring when thinking about the birth of your wee one! :) I have had a lot of anxiety here lately with all of the births going off-course around here and I shared those with her and she just told me that I needed to pray for "peace, not patience" when thinking about little Jack's birth! I have laid out some of the stuff that I will take with me to the hospital IN CASE he decides to come early but mostly it is just haphazardly put places and I would have to rummage to complete a bag at this point! (Oh yeah and not to mention Thad's stuff and a bag for Berkley, but that is neither here nor there!) The pain seems to be becoming tolerable on certain occasions but it is still there and I am just focusing on the end of the road and the journey to get back to a pain free and somewhat "normal" body and Jack is here. (Though your body is never really "normal" after childbirth and I know that for a while the pain will probably be worse than what I am experiencing now, but at least I will have that sweet baby to hold and help ease the pain!) Anyway I think that is about it! We completed our taxes yesterday and boy am I excited that we bought our house last year! Anyway hope everyone stays warm and dry throughout the week and the weekend! We will be enjoying another stress free and uneventful weekend at the house watching the Super Bowl on Sunday!

Meadows

Weekend Filled with Nothingness

Well this weekend we had a fun-filled few days of nothingness except cleaning and reorganizing! Saturday Thad rearranged our bedroom to get ready for a computer desk and Jack's play pen (on top on doing the floors, kitchen and most of the laundry-I love him!) and then Sunday he organized the garage while I finished laundry and started getting Jack's stuff clean; oh yeah and corraled Miss Thang! Saturday night we went to the Sky View (the drive-in movie in Lamesa) to watch The Blind Side thinking that surely Miss Thang would be OK and could handle sitting through a movie in the comfort of our own car; well we were WRONG! After eating her grilled cheese and french fries from Sonic she realized that she might be in her seat for a while and wasn't too thrilled about it. So we took her out of her seat and passed her back and forth until the back and forth was enough for both of us, and poor Jack had taken enough beating from his sister's wollering that we put her back in her seat! Well silly me, I forgot her pacifier and well, she wasn't too thrilled about sitting there and just "watching" a movie so she decided to throw a fit and I mean a ROYAL FIT! But all in all it was a good experience and next time we will know to leave her at Gran and Pops'! But Jack's clothes are washed except for the surplus that Gran got him on Saturday and we will be paying a visit to Babies R' Us next week after my doctor's visit to get him a few more necessary items! But all in all our weekend was very relaxing, just what we needed and we are looking forward to relaxing in the few to come before life gets real hectic! Have a great week!

Meadows

1/30/10...At the Sky View trying to keep Miss Thang occupied with ANYTHING! (This just so happened to be the french fry out of her Wacky Pack from Sonic!)

1/31/10...Front view of 34 weeks 6 days pregnant

1/31/10...And the ever-so-protruding side view at 34 weeks 6 days!