Cecelia Elise is now 7!!!

I can't believe I now have a 7 year old and we will be starting all over with a newborn in less than a week! We decided to not do anything big this year for Cece's B-Day. We just didn't know if I would be pregnant still, have a newborn, or worse case scenario, be in labor or still in the hospital. So we just planned a BBQ with the Culver family. It was a really fun evening hanging out with family. Aaron's dad brought over Cecelia's favorite: BBQ ribs, along with all the other delicious food, we all had our filling. Cece picked out a pink champagne birthday cake from the Cake Gallery and we enjoyed that with ice-cream. Afterwards when opening presents, Cecelia was surprised with tickets from her Grandma and Papa to the Selena Gomez concert. They also bought tickets for Kiley and their cousin Alayna so that Cece could bring them with her. The girls are all really excited for this. The concert is going to be the night before Kiley goes back to Colorado:( Cece always misses Kiley so much when she goes home at the end of the summer. For as much as the girls bicker, they spend even more time enjoying each other's company and playing like sisters.

Splash Park

We decided to go to the splash park one evening. The girls had a blast but there were so many kids there (apparently a lot of other parents had the same idea I did). We decided to take Stanley with us on this particular evening because it has been so hot out he can't go for many walks and we have been spending a lot of time at the pool lately and he obviously can't go, nor would he be interested in swimming. Anyways, ALL the kids there wanted to pet him and Stanley is such a laid back dog that he really doesn't want all the attention. Even after I asked the other kids to give him a break, they were relentless. I had to actually put him on my lap for a while because I couldn't watch the girls and watch him get petted by a million kids at the same time. He's such a sweet boy but I guess he's just more of an indoor dog this summer. I'm sure he is as excited for fall (so that he can get back out and go for walks) as we are for it to cool down too.

38 Week Appointment

I'm now dilated to 3 and 75% effaced. Still making progress...albeit little by little every week. So I've decided on an elective induction. The baby's birthdate will be Thur. Aug. 4th (if not before then). Although based on how favorable or "ripe" my cervix was when she checked me, she said she would be surprised if I made it to be induced. Although I'm still planning on going to work tonight and tomorrow:) I'm due the 7th which is a Monday but I really can't take being pregnant for a second longer than I have to and I don't want to waste any of my maternity leave sitting around waiting for the baby to come. I'm so excited to meet the newest member of our family and see what she looks! The girls will be going to my sister Nikki's house all day and staying the night while I'm being induced. She is having my niece Mercedes's 10th birthday slumber party this night and so the girls are going to go to the party. We will play it by ear, but I assume that if I have the baby during the day or in the early evening, Aaron will go pick up the girls so they can spend some time up at the hospital with their new sister. Then he will probably take them back to the pary. We have decided that he doesn't need to stay the night up at the hospital with me. The girls need him and he will be there for the majority of the day anyways and can't really do much at night anyways since I will be breastfeeding... and since I know that this is going to to be a learning curve for me I'm okay with having those night time hours alone with the baby to work on this skill. God knows we both will need to learn how to do this:)

Summer Fun

I love our lazy summer days by the pool. I love being a nurse and having 4 days off every week, this is especially true in the summer time when I want to be around as much as possible for the kids. These girls have such an imagination. This was the "boat" they made. So glad we actually found a floaty though. We had to search for one, Wal-mart and Target were all sold out and we actually had to call around to find one. This one was only $3.50 at Dollar General. We had called Ace Hardware and were going to buy one from there but I was told they were $10 bucks and was hesitant to pay that much for a plain floaty, so when we arrived at Ace I decided to walk next door first to Dollar General and see if they had one for cheaper. Thank goodness I did. Saved myself a few bucks:) A lady at the pool today actually asked me where I found our floaty because she had searched too and everywhere was sold out.

School starts back up in only 26 days. I'm ambivalent about this. I love our relaxing summer days spent at the pool and enjoying all the fun summer has to offer but I also like the structure of the school year. Watching Cecelia learn so much. Quiet evenings at home reading, early bed time, gymnastics and swimming lessons. This year I'm especially excited for fall to get here because we move into the new house at the end of October. We went up to Cecelia's new school and got her enrolled today. It was an easy form to fill out since she will still be in the same district but just at a new school within the district. She is very excited for this new change. We have so many big changes in our life in the next few months. New baby, new house, new school. This year has been full of so many exciting and fun changes. I can't wait for this next chapter of our life:)

37 week ob appointment

Absolutely no change from last weeks appointment! Still dilated to 2 and 60% effaced. Seriously? I walked around the zoo in the heat really hoping that my efforts would not be in vain! Am I going to be pregnant forever? LOL! I'm still fine working, I do just fine when I'm there. However it's taking a toll on my body the next day when I work. So I'm starting to get very excited for maternity leave. I found my first stretch mark on my stomach last week. Actually, since I can't see the underside of my stomach that well, Aaron was the one who spotted them first. O.K. I can handle the stretch marks on my butt and hips, but on my stomach? The party is over...time to get out kiddo:) Just kidding! Kind of

Summer Fun

Since I only work 3 days a week, it often seems that my mission in life to get the most out of my 4 days off every week. Especially in the summer time. When both girls are home, and if they are sitting doing nothing for more than an hour they are complaining about being bored! Kids have soooo much energy!!! So I had Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday off and then went back to work Monday evening. Thursday night was a laid back night. The girls and I spent the day cleaning the house (I nest for at least 1 of my days off lately). Friday we had Cecelia's annual well-child visit and then we both had our annual eye exams. They the girls and I went shopping at Old Navy and I picked them each up a few things. Then we enjoyed dinner at Cecelia's favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse. She just loves the place primarily for their rolls and the peanuts...as well as the fact that you get to throw the peanut shells on the ground. She thinks its the coolest thing to do and encouraged Kiley to follow along as well. then that night there was a baseball game, fireworks display, and country concert at the new Werner park. Every year Aaron's mom's work (Werner enterprises) hosts this type of event for it's employees. The concert was the best part! The girls loved seeing Heidi Newfield. Aaron took them down on the ball field for the concert because... well only because Cecelia demanded to go, but it turned out they got really close and it really wasn't too crowded at all down there. After watching them from the stadium for a few minutes, I decided it appeared safe enough for a 9 month pregnant women to venture down too. Then Saturday we went garage sale hunting in the morning with my friend Karissa and then went to her pool to lay out for a few hours. Sunday I pushed myself to the limit. First church in the morning, then a quick fast food bite and we headed down to the zoo to meet my mom and step dad. It was probably 100 degrees out but my parents really wanted to spend some time with the girls and I wanted to see the zoo too. So we decided that we should stick mainly to the indoor exhibits...the jungle, butterfly pavilion, aquarium and desert. Then the girls "had to" go to the petting zoo. So we walked down to the petting zoo...in 100 degree heat with humidity which made it feel like it was 113. Come to find out Cecelia wanted a petting zoo like her great grandma has...she was frustrated that they only had goats to pet and the bunnies were caged and could not be petted:( We were also hoping to get ice-cream by the dairy exhibit next to the petting zoo and were disappointed to find out it was closed. So we took the tram up to the main gate and left the zoo and headed to Zestos so the girls could get cookie dough blizzards. When we got home I convinced the girls to strip down and get in their bathing suits with me and hose our sweat off outside in the ice-cold hose water. They were hesitant until I assured them that I was going to do it too. Oh, I love those girls. They are so cute (when they aren't arguing and I'm having to be a referee that is). Then Sunday night we met Aaron's parents and sister at Pizza Ranch for dinner in Council Bluffs. Aaron and I have been meaning to go there for sometime and since Aaron has been going in at 10 A.M. for work and getting off by 6:00 we figured we should enjoy being able to go out to dinner like this. My night ended with Aaron and I trying to enjoy our Sunday night shows through some pretty rough contraction. For about an hour and 15 minutes I was having contractions every 3-7 minutes and they were lasting about 2 minutes in duration. I really thought that it was gonna be the night...and then we laid down for bed ( I was laying down on the couch the whole time this was happening mind you) they stopped! How disappointing:( I really want to meet this baby already! However as we laid in bed talking that night we suddenly realized that we need to get very serious at picking a name...we have 3 names picked out and we know that middle name is definitely going to be Camille. However we love all 3 first names and I think we are just going to have to meet her before we can decide for sure...or maybe it will be even harder once we meet her. Then today (Monday), the girls were treated to pancakes for breakfast, then we went to the grocery store to get food (these kids eat me out of house and home) and then I took them to the pool for a little over 2 hours. It was so hot out again today though, that just being there for that short amount of time really took it out of the kids. They looked exhausted on the drive home and I encouraged them to watch a movie after their bath. So they rested and watch Despicable Me. Now I'm working tonight (yes, as I blog I'm getting paid...Did I mention I love working overnights). I have an OB appointment tomorrow and the next 3 days off work again. What shall I find for the girls to do this week? Till tomorrow...

Well the weekly ob visits have started. I'm ambivilant about these. On the one hand I was dying to know if I had made any progress yet, and on the other hand, it's never fun to get checked. I am dilated to only 2 but I am 50-60% effaced, baby's head is down, but I'm still at -2 station. Some progress. I just imagined this whole pregnancy, that I would go into labor early. After this appointment I have come to the conclusion that I may go closer to 39-40 weeks...and have to work at getting this kid out. She apparently feels like a pretty good sized baby and based on my last ultrasound, plus the Doctors experience at feeling babies inside the womb, she has stated that we are looking at a 7-8 lb baby. I'm excited to meet this little princess but also am realizing that they are ALOT easier to take care of inside the womb than when they come out. It's all in God's hands:) Everything always works out just the way it is supposed to.

36 weeks

36 weeks pregnant and so ready to be done. I love the angle for the picture...it's taken by my little 46 inch photographer, i.e. Cecelia. I figured that I should get this picture since I'm not really sure how much longer I'll make it. Someone once told me that you will have your baby when you can't stand to be pregnant any longer...well that day is coming very quickly. My hips hurt so bad from her head being engaged and I feel like an old person...I walk very slowly and it takes me forever to get up without help:(

On a lighter note, we have been enjoying this past week of Kiley being home. Lots of swimming. Which is great because I realized that my halter top style bathing suit was going to give me terrible tan lines for Rachel's wedding that I'm in, in September. I had to buy a bandeau style top and try to get rid of my tan lines before I have this kiddo because I know I won't be making it to the pool with the rest of the family much after the baby comes:( Aaron is planning to take at least 2 weeks off of work(he has a ridiculous amount of sick, comp, and personal time that he might as well use), so we plan on me staying at home with the baby and him taking the older girls out of the house and entertaining them so they don't have to be cooped up in the house.

The waddle

Yep, I officially waddle now. The baby not only flipped out of the breach position and into vertex but she also "dropped" or became engaged in my pelvis. Ouch!!! Every single step hurts. Apparently, this can happen weeks before you actually give birth:( Which means at this point it could be another month for me!!! Next week I start seeing my doctor weekly and getting checked. I am anxious to find out if all these aches and pains and discomforts from contractions are doing any dilating and effacing. I am miserable:(((( I don't remember waddling with Cecelia at all...