Pregnancy, Party, and Snow!

Today marks 29 weeks of pregnancy for me! Can you believe it? I can't!!! This little guy will probably be here in about 9 weeks! WOW! Do I have to even say that I cannot wait!? I think I am ready for the sleepless nights, breastfeeding woes, and the joys of bringing home a new baby. Well, actually we are nowhere near ready. We haven't made much of any progress to Ben's room yet. We still have to install the sliding glass door in the den, and get moving on moving all the junk out of his room into the den. We don't have much time! I just want to get it done! As far as how I have been feeling....Ben is kicking up a storm in there, often hurting me with his strong kicks. I can't believe how much more active he is that Madelyn was. I am enjoying it though, for the most part. I have been having quite a bit of heartburn, but nothing that a few Tums can't help. I go back to the Dr. the first week of March, and then I start going every two weeks! I know the time from here on out is going to fly.

I think Madi has a little bit more of an understanding of Ben and his soon to be arrival. Without me mentioning anything she says "Bum" and lifts up my shirt. She sees clothes for him and she says "Bum". So she definitely knows something is up with "Bum".

I mentioned a while back that Gregg had sprained his ankle while jogging. He still is not 100% with it yet. He can jog on it a little, but he still complains that it hurts at times. It's been 9 weeks since he did it, and we both thought it would be better by now, but it's not!

So far Madelyn has taken 3 naps in her big girl bed. Most days when I put her in it for a nap, she wants to play in it, and doesn't settle down for a nap, and she ends up taking a nap in her crib. Today I am lucky that she is sleeping in it though! We have not tried any nighttime sleeping in it yet. I want to have a good monthsworth of naps in it before we try nighttime. It looks as though we will be borrowing a crib for a few months for Ben until Madi is out of her crib. I don't want to rush anything. As far as potty training is going-- she went on the potty I think about 5 times and then totally lost interest. So I put it away. I just got it out a couple days ago again, and she seems to have a little bit of interest, but has not done anything on it yet. I think we will hold off for a while, unless she really seems ready. I think trying in the fall would be best, because by that time, we will all be accustomed to having a new baby in the house, and she might be ready by then. So we'll see!

On February 11, my dad turned 60, so on the 9th, my mom and siblings threw him a surprise birthday party. The whole weekend turned out great! He was very surprised all the way up until he walked in the door! My entire family was together for the party, and it was great to see all my siblings and their spouses together. Here are the girls before the party started. It was difficult to keep them entertained while we tried to get ready. They have so much fun when they are together!

Ouch! They bonked heads!

Awwww!

SURPRISE!!!

Back row: My brother, Evan, and his wife Sarah, Gregg and I, my sister, Amy, Chloe, and Amy's husband, Darryl, and my brother, Nathan.

Bottom row: My cousin's daughter, Ashlynn, and her twin brother, Caleb is on my dad's lap. Then Madelyn, my dad, Nathan's wife, Mary, and my mom.

The rest of these pictures are just random pics. I just love Madelyn's hair, and after every bath, I blow dry it and brush it. She isn't afraid of the hairdryer, but I have to distract and entertain her with toys and books to get her to sit still.

Here she is before her bath the other day. She loves the scale!

All of these pictures are from today. We got about 5 inches of snow last night and today, and we went out and played for about 50 minutes. She LOVES the snow, and I love taking her out in it!

We made snow angels. Can you see them?

Mmmmm!

Blog addiction

I recently found a blog about a family that lives in North Carolina. Just to give you a rundown--
The blog is written by a dad and husband, Nathan. His wife, Tricia, is about a month older than me and has Cystic Fibrosis. She was in the process of planning for a double lung transplant, when they found out they were pregnant. Their baby, Gywneth, was born January 8, at a little over 24 weeks gestation. I have been checking up on them at least a half a dozen times a day, and I guess you could say I am addicted to their blog! Nate and Tricia are both born again Christians, and their story has made a huge impact on my life. There are pictures of the three of them on Nate's blog : www.cfhusband.blogspot.com. Check it out, and remember to pray for them. They are an amazing family with an amazing testimony!

Slumbering Sweetly...

...in her big girl bed! Right now Madi is asleep in her big girl bed for the very first time. I put her down in it yesterday for naptime, but she only wanted to play. I think my mistake yesterday was not giving her a few minutes to explore the bed rail before putting her in the bed to sleep. Right before I put her down for her nap today, I explained that she was going to take a nap in her big girl bed, and that if she got up I would put her in her crib for her nap. I checked on her every 2-3 minutes at first just to make sure she was behaving. And the last time I checked on her, she was sound asleep. She is just so precious. I am hoping this nap lasts as long as her naps usually do-- around 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I almost wanted to cry when I was taking these pictures. What a little miracle she is, and how much she has blessed our lives. Thank you, God, so much for this gift you gave to us. We couldn't love her more!