De Ja Vu

I swear it was like being in the doctor's office pregnant with Allie all over again. Everything is going wonderfully. Baby is growing fine and heart rate is perfect. He is snug as a bug but has dropped into position. And then it comes. "but now what about this blood pressure?" Yep, it was high. It started creeping up last visit and just continues to creep on up. I can't say that I was disappointed though. The words that followed were, "I am going to try to get your surgery bumped up a week." Hallelujiah. I don't know for sure if this can be done but I sure do hope so! My Dr. told me to take it easy, then he said,"but you can't really stay off your feet can you?" He understand having a two year old all too well:) I remember everyone telling me to get on the couch when I was expecting Allie. I have been hearing those same things from loving family and friends this time. I promise I will try to rest as much as possible!
There is one thing missing this time though. My wonderful friend Amanda Mizell cooked me a fabulous meal the night that they put me on moderate bed rest with Allie and we ate off of it for three nights. She had to up and move away so I will not be enjoying her scrumptuous cooking this time. I so enjoyed it last time though Amanda!! And my sweet mother came to keep me company until my induction so that I wouldn't go crazy and she was with me the whole step of the way. I miss you this time mama!

My Sweet Husband and My Big Girl

Michael is so incredibly good to me. We had such a long weekend that by yesterday morning I was wore slap out!! We were blessed to participate in a wonderful annual meeting at Cool Springs this weekend and Michael preached yesterday at Mt. Zion so from Friday night to Sunday morning we were pretty busy around here. If I wasn't on the verge of giving birth I am sure that I would be able to keep up with my preaching husband a little bit better but yesterday I ached from head to toe. I envy the women that say they never felt better when they were pregnant because I cannot say that at all. I am not complaining though, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to carry my son to full term. Well, Michael could see that I was tired so this morning he woke up and straightened up some and swept and vacuumed for me. After that long weekend for him he still had it in him to help his little (or should I say big) pregnant wife out this morning. Goodness I love that man!!

Allie has become quite the big girl. She spent the night away from home for the first time Friday night with Mimi and Grandpa and did just fine without me. Mimi said she sang herself to sleep and didn't ask for us the first time. She even stayed with them for the majority of the day Saturday and is already asking when she can go spend the night with Mimi again. I am so thankful because I have worried about how she would take having to stay away from home once little man comes. She also wants to use the bathroom by herself these days. She goes to the bathroom, closes the door, puts her potty insert in the potty climbs up and does her business. If I go in there to check on her she puts her hand up like "not done yet, get out of here please." I cannot believe she is getting so growny!!!

Arts and Crafts

I have been trying to keep Alliebug from wanting to go outside because it is just too stinkin' hot!!! It's hot enough without being 8 1/2 months prego! I try to only let her watch about an hour of TV in the morning while I clean up which means mommy has to turn into a toddler at about nine o'clock to entertain my little munchkin. We have been reading and building castles and coloring and today we did a little art work. Now granted, I am one of the least creative people on this universe and my art skills are at best questionable. But Allie is 2, so she doesn't know this about her mommy. She thinks that everything that I do is great. I love that about her. She praises me while Michael snickers in the background at my rendition of spongebob. Well today was colors and shapes day. She knows basically all of her colors and shapes but it doesn't hurt to "bring them to remembrance" as the Apostle Paul says right!!

Aliie's two new favorite sayings are:

"et me tow jew" or "let me show you". I don't know how to do anything right so she has to kindly show me the correct way of doing things.

"what 'bout it" when I am telling her not to do something. In fact, she is telling me that right now. I am trying to keep her from dumping suncreen all over herself and when I tell her not to she simply says "what 'bout it." Now she is saying "can mommy talk to me that way." O Lordy, give me patience and strength!!

And now I know why I get looked at like I am a creature from another planet when I venture out in public. I wanted to see just how big my belly is since no one seems to think I will possibly be able to carry Joshua another day and, drum roll please.....

This isn't even a complete side profile. I won't scare you that bad:)

Update

Hello readers. I just thought I would give you an update on our little world around here. Today was Michael's official first day back to work. It has actually been a lot better than what I thought. Allie and I have played played played and stayed busy. We are so thankful for the awesome summer that we have been blessed to share that it hardly seems right to complain that Michael had to go back. It just makes us all look forward to next summer!!

These days Allie enjoys telling me just how big I am. It seems like every time I sit down in a chair or try to squeeze through a tight spot Allie says, "mama too big." People are constantly asking me "wow it's any day now huh?" Instead of saying, "no I have about four weeks left" and getting looked at like I have two heads I just say, "yep, any day now."

These pictures are precious. Allie couldn't wake up the other day and fell back asleep sitting by Michael in his chair.

Allie finally started eating cereal in milk, which makes breakfast time a whole lot easier. She has never really liked it before, but has decided that she now does since I told her that big girls eat their cereal with milk. Now mom, I know what you will be thinking when you see these pictures. "I can't believe she gives that baby Trix cereal. That's just full of sugar." Well, you are right about that, but you have to look at it from my point of view. Trix is packed with vitamins, and extremely educational. With each bite I tell Allie all of the colors that she is eating or ask her what colors they are. So you see, Trix are overall a very good thing!!! And look at that big ole smile on your precious granddaughter's face. Now do you really want me to deprive her of such childhood pleasures?

This however would be the "scowling" look that we have been getting from Allie as of late. I knew the sassiness was coming. I mean, I am the queen of sassiness. Well, let's just say she inherited this lovely trait from me and uses it quite often! I have to turn around and smile sometimes because I see myself so much in her. However, I work on my attitude everyday, thus we are working on Allie's! Overall though, she is really a sweet precious child and we love all of the time we get to spend with her.
I am hoping beyond hope that next week when I go to the Doctor he will tell me that we are bumping my c-section up a week. I remember with Allie that even though I was extremely sleep deprived after she was born, I felt so much better physically and mentally once I recovered from my surgery than when I did the last couple of months of being pregnant. I wish I were one of those people who "never felt better" but I would just be lying if I said that!

Correction

I feel like a reporter who has to bow their head in shame while telling the nation, "I reported false news, I made a mistake." Well folks, I have done just that and so a correction on one of my previous posts must be made. My dear sweet mother called me and told me that she did not say, " you are not a mother until you have two children," but rather, "you are not really a parent until you have two children." There is a BIG difference there. You are most definitely a mother wether you have one or ten, but parenting just becomes a little more difficult as your brood grows. My mom would know, there are six of us. She said she got that off of a Bill Cosby Himself (which is hilarious by the way). He made the comment that parenting doesn't really begin until after two come along and her and my dad got a kick out of that. So anywho, my mom DID NOT SAY that you are not a mother with only one child. In fact, I have a sister with just one daughter and she is an absolutely wonderful mother, but I think she would admit that she did get to skip over a bunch of issues without a sibling around!

Joshua and I are still plugging along. Allie is doing wonderful. She felt Joshua move really good yesterday and she started scratching my belly saying she wanted to get him out. She would hug my stomach and say, "Jo-ua, my baby bwoter." Talk about making your heart melt!! Michael and I had a day to ourselves yesterday and had a wonderful time soaking in the quiet before our little man comes along. We are ready for it though, so ready!

Whoo Whee!!

That is my motto these days. Along with, Phew, My Goodness, I have to sit down, etc etc. I forgot what it took to get ready for a little buger. I also forgot about the uncontrollable "nesting" urges that mothers-to-be experience. I have been a little tornado around here trying to get things done, and poor Michael has been dragged into my madness! That's OK though. Four and a half weeks to go and everything is pretty much done. His bassinet is ready. The pack n play has been converted to a changing table. Four loads of little laundry have been done. Burp clothes and the diaper bag have been purchased. The baby bed is now out of Allie's room (which caused me to cry uncontrollably because I kept on imagining her reaching for me when she was my baby!) and in what will be Joshua's room in a few months. The carpet has been shampooed (thank you honey). I could go on and on. So now maybe just maybe you understand why I haven't blogged recently. After a few words of "encouragement" from my mom and friends I decided I better get back on here though! I am doing really good. I am READY to see Joshua and hold him and squeeze him and kiss his little face off! I am also ready to see how Allie will react to him. I am trying to soak up as much alone time with her as I can because I know that our girlie days will be over in just a few weeks. It makes me really sad, but I am ready for this new "phase" in my life. My mom used to tell me that you don't really know what being a mom is until you have two hooligans to look after. Well, I am about to know and I am so ready. I know it's going to be hard. I know sleepless nights await me and uncontrollable crying will soon cause me to clasp my hands over my ears and beg God to make it stop. But all in all, I absolutely love the "newborn" stage and I haven't quit loving any of the "stages" children go through. I just love being a mommy and I can't wait to have to opportunity to mother my son! Thank you God for such awesome priveledges. What an incredible gift to us from our Maker. May we never forget to thank Him, and may we never stop realizing that all good gifts come from HIM!

Allie is not going to know what to do when her daddy goes back to work next week. That's right, NEXT WEEK! We have had such an awesome summer together and we will miss him terribly. Here are some pictures he took of her. See how she just lights up for her daddy!

Wonderful Time!

I don't have much time but I wanted to let everyone know we are back from vacation and had an awesome time. We actually got back on Monday but have still been in vacation mode so I just haven't posted this week. Allie loved the beach and enjoyed seeing my family.

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and everything is going wonderfully with Joshua. He is measuring right on schedule and everything is great with me so far. I still haven't gained any more weight which doesn't bother me one bit! I am loving my diabetic diet for that reason alone. I asked my doctor if it is ok that I am not gaining any weight and he said, "well you've gained 30 pounds! I don't think you have anything to worry about." That is my doctor for you. I love that man because he is so personal and makes you feel like a friend when you are there! My c-section date is tenatively planned for August 25th unless my body starts getting ready sooner. I am so excited. It seems so real now that we have a date.