39 weeks

Here she is folks, ready to pop! The body is so unbelievable how it can grow and accommodate for a baby. I originally hated the idea of induction. I had a long, miserable experience with Mackenzie and so I was all for letting my body jump start itself this time. And then my doctor mentioned how she would induce me anytime after 39 weeks, especially because we had an ultrasound done at 38 weeks to check the position of my previously transverse baby and we found that she is now head down and perfect size to be born through my small pelvis. Knowing all looked good and the fact that I'm dilated to a 2, 50% effaced, and having multiple BH contractions every hour, I started contemplating induction in the case that I did go a week over. I really want my mom to be able to help with the baby and the thought of another month of pregnancy made me want to knock back a bottle of castor oil. So Keith and I started discussing it and I had it in my head to induce on the 9th if she wasn't here yet until Keith said "what about Labor day weekend?" Of course that weekend had crossed my mind but I wanted my body to have as much of a chance as going into labor on it's own as it could. But I can't describe the feelings I had when he mentioned the 2nd. It was a warm, enveloping peace prompting me that for some unknown reason, that date was exactly right. We both felt so good about it we didn't think about it again until Keith ran into a little conflict with his school schedule. Again as we discussed it though, the warm peace overcame me and let me know that we should stick with the earlier date. So there you have it, if she hasn't come by next Friday (day before she's due), we're forcing her out!

Showered with Love

I think we live in the most amazing ward. Everyone is so kind and welcoming and they love to throw a baby shower! I kind of resisted the idea because this is my 2nd girl and I really didn't need anything but I gave in for the sake of a girls night and the chance to be surrounded by women I love.

 Kristen was kind enough to lend us her house and Tia and Stephanie took care of the food and decorations.

L to R: Stephanie, me, Kristen, Tia

Gross picture of me but weren't the decorations cute! And the food was delicious

 

 Some of the beautiful ladies that were there:

 This was such a cute idea. Tia asked me what children's book I loved and didn't have. She then bought a big copy of it and put it on the entrance table for everyone to sign.

 Sweet little Emma makes me SO excited for another girl

 I love having pregnant friends who know exactly how you feel! Veronica on the left is due end of October with a girl and Sarah on the right is due with a boy beginning of November. My friend Amber is also due beginning of November but we didn't get a picture with her before she left. I love these girls!

 Baby girl was thoroughly spoiled with some amazing homemade blankets, and plenty of cute clothes and some essentials. Thank you everyone for your love!!!

Birthday Boy

I am the worst at documenting our birthdays. I took 4 whole pictures of Kenzie's 2nd Birthday and none of those were with her cake. This is the first birthday I have pictures of Keith. He doesn't like to make a big deal out of his birthday (or mine or any other holiday for that matter) but I think he liked being spoiled a little bit. We were lucky enough to have him home for a week long break the second week of August so he got to spend the whole day with us. We started off the day with presents- cards from our parents and his sister and some shorts and T-shirts from me. Lame gift I know, but it's what he wanted. I made him homemade pretzels using this recipe, and then a German chocolate cake using a family recipe that was delicious! That night we went to a baseball game. It was LDS night so we rode with some of our friends and had a blast. Plus, a guy in our ticket line gave us an extra ticket so we ended up paying only $6 and getting dinner because it was $1 hot dog and soda night. The next day, we went to Red Robin for his free Birthday burger and Thursday we had pizza, cake and ice cream with one of our favorite couples the Barratt's. All in all, I think he had a good birthday week!

What will probably be the last pregnancy post

I'm not planning on having the baby anytime soon, I just know I probably won't take the time to blog again. I still have lots of organizing and cleaning to do so I've got to prioritize my time! It's amazing to me how the belly can stretch out in the last trimester of pregnancy. I'm glad I actually documented it this time so I could see how amazing the whole process is. I'm feeling about how I think I should for being 35 weeks: Uncomfortable, tired, anxious, nervous, swollen, hot, heavy, irritated. Wanna know why I feel all of these things? I'm not getting much sleep these days between bathroom breaks, my sciatic nerve is driving me crazy, I've put on over 40 lbs. so that means my joints are hurting, I don't fit into my maternity clothes anymore, and the sweating is out of control because the humidity this summer has made being outside almost unbearable (my ring finger is up 3 full sizes). Despite the negative side of being about 9 months pregnant, there's lots of positives. Keith's really hit with the reality that a baby is coming, I can pull the pregnancy card whenever I want, people don't even remotely judge me for taking seconds they actually encourage it, I can fully blame my cranky mood on my hormones, and I am having dreams about this baby all of the time because I'm so excited to meet her. As frustrating as it can be to have the baby kick various organs inside of me and keep me up with her movement, I love feeling her and knowing it will be just a short time before I can snuggle her in my arms. I realize how lucky I am to have this opportunity to be pregnant again and know that every minute of these past nine months will be worth the sacrifice to bring one of God's children into our home.

27 weeks

29 weeks

33 weeks

35 weeks

Mackenzie the morning after she was born

Can't wait to meet you baby girl*!

*No name has been picked out, we have a list and we'll name her when we see her

4th of July

I've been in Idaho for the 4th before, but I'd never been to the parade or fireworks show. Both were so fun! The kids had a great time at the parade because there were a lot of bands and candy to catch.

My brother Caleb playing the drums with his high school band

 The fireworks show was wonderful. While it didn't come close to the theatrics of Thunder over Louisville, our seats were right under the fireworks and they were nonstop for almost an hour. We were so close, we ended up getting hit with a lot of firework debris. It was pretty funny to hear people shout out as they were pelted with a huge piece of cardboard.

Kenz watched for a few minutes with Kate and Taft, then hid under my blanket for the rest of it

Thanks for letting me steal all of your pictures Nycole!

 

 

 

Island Park

For the last 5 years, my family's made it a tradition to float the Snake River in Island Park. The first year was shortly before Keith and I got engaged.

My mom said we were obnoxious and lovey dovey on that trip.

 In 2008 I went without Keith because I was pregnant and thus no pictures were taken because he's the one who remembers to do things like that. I don't think we were able to go 2009 because we were in Kentucky.

2010: Kenzie seems so much smaller last year. She didn't really care for the tube then either.

And this year Keith had to miss out again. I did feel pretty guilty enjoying such a beautiful day while he was back in Kentucky studying for boards.

David with Paisley getting ready to raft.

She was in the tube with me for about 20 minutes. Then despite her crying, my family let me drop her off in the raft where she eventually calmed down and spent some one-on-one with my mom.

The scenery was gorgeous

My little bro Caleb- check out those abs!

Kate and Taft were brave and floated on their own for awhile

We saw a moose at the end

We capped off the perfect day with buffet at Craigo's aka Pizza Pie Cafe.

Gotta love that Oreo Pizza

Idaho

I have awesome sisters who were willing to drive me to and from Idaho and hang out with me while I was there. Mackenzie was doing a little better with the trip and liked having her cousins in the house all of the time.

Kate was so sweet and held Kenzie's hand as they went down the slide together

This is monumental. Mackenzie has NEVER liked swinging and for some reason she decided she was going to join in the fun and give it another go.

Taft is getting a great sense of humor and he's such a fun kid to be around.

The kids on Sunday

Paisley is the happiest little girl! Always clapping and smiling

To beat the heat, we set up a little sprinkler pad for the kids to play in

And set up a Buzz Lightyear sprinkler

Kate wasn't crazy about Mackenzie shadowing her all of the time and Mackenzie wasn't a fan of Paisley following her around so this picture made me laugh because they really did need space.

Nighttime is so much cooler in Idaho and Utah. The kids decided to play duck, duck, goose with Rachel, Caleb and my dad.

The kids all piled onto Uncle Caleb