Where has the time gone?

I realize it has been a while since my last post and even longer for a post with pictures; I apologize and hope you all can forgive me.

I still can't believe it is October, and the middle of October at that. We have done so much since my last post. Let's see, what all has happened. I have had my Pink Eye flair up three more times since the end of September. I am thinking I may have an allergy to the type of mascara I am using, so I haven't been using it. This is seems to be working, so I need to try another brand soon to rule out it out.

What else? Oh, Jonathon's birthday was last Tuesday. He had the opportunity to watch the Mavericks pre-season game on the floor, but passed it up to spend his birthday at home. Isn't he sweet? He left work early that day and picked Olivia up from Mrs. Mary's house, came home, and they baked his cake together. I know, I know, I am a horrible wife and had my husband bake his own cake. I feel terrible about it but the previous night, I was not feeling well and went to bed super early and didn't have time. Plus, he really enjoyed making it with Olivia and she had a blast, too.

We have already been to the pumpkin patch this year. Olivia loves pumpkins and calls them, "punkins" and even knows they are orange in color, and will tell you after she points out the pumpkins. She had a blast at the patch but did not want to leave the pumpkin bounce house. She could have spent all day there, and probably would have, if it hadn't been 91 degrees outside. Jonathon and I were extremely hot and ready to go after an hour and a half. The best part about this pumpkin patch is everything is completely free, except for drinks and food. They have great back drops for photo opportunities, but it helps when your child likes to stand still and you don't have an ancient digital camera, evidence is at the end of the post.

This past weekend was Drew's 2nd birthday party. Drew is Jonathon's cousin and Olivia's second cousin. Olivia is 11 weeks older than Drew and Claire will be 8 weeks older than Drew's little brother. Drew had a Halloween Costume Party and the kids had a blast. Olivia was originally supposed to go as a monkey but absolutely refused, I mean refused, to wear the costume. She freaked out when we even pulled the costume out, so we had to go another route. I figured we had to get a costume that was as close to normal clothing as possible. When I went looking for another costume, I went with the intention to find a cheerleader costume because I thought she would like the pom-poms, but fortunately, I came across a Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz movie, costume and decided to go with it. It came with the dress and bows for her hair, and I had to buy a basket and the red shoes. I stumbled across the shoes at Target and they are great! They had a basket at the costume shop for $15 but I went to Joann's, bought the basket and the red gingham print fabric to go inside of it for $2.69...much better deal. She wasn't thrilled at first with putting the costume on, but once I did her hair, put her shoes on, and gave her the basket to carry, she was a happy camper. She is absolutely adorable and received lots of compliments.

I took 31 1/2 week pictures earlier this evening, but I hated the way I looked in them, so I will be doing retakes tomorrow night and posting. For the most part, the pregnancy is going great. I am still battling heart burn so I can't wait for that to go away. My iron is a little low so I have to take an iron supplement every other day, but I take it when I remember. I am still not sleeping well at night. The first few hours are great, bu then I wake up hot, toss and turn, and do this until it is time to get up. I have tried Tylenol PM but that doesn't help either. I guess this is my body's way of preparing for no sleep with Claire arrives. Which, is in 7 1/2 weeks...this pregnancy is going by wicked fast; I can't believe it.

We are in the process of transitioning Olivia from her crib to a big girl bed. I have ordered her bedding and it should be here any day. As soon as it is here, we will get her room painted, furniture in it, and have her moved in by the beginning of November. She is ready to move, but I think I am holding off as long as possible because it means my baby isn't a baby any more; she is a big girl.

We are taking our last trip as a family of 3 at the end of October. We are driving up to Indiana for a week and a half. Don't worry, I have already gotten the ok from doctor to go. We are breaking up the trip up so I won't be too uncomfortable and Jonathon won't be too worn out. We are going to Jonesboro first to see Silas, Lauren and Ty for a day. Then, we are heading to Illinois to see Jonathon's great grandma for a day. Then, we are off to Anderson for a full week. We are planning on seeing a lot of family, relaxing, taking it easy, and Jonathon wants to cook while we are there, too. On the way back, we are stopping in Searcy to visit Jonathon's aunt and then coming home.

So, we have already done a lot and we have so much more planned. I hope I can keep up and we are able to do everything we have planned. For some of you, I will be seeing you real soon, 12 days I believe. Below are the pictures I promised and be on the look out later this week for 32 week shots; I hope I like them enough to post :)

I can't believe it.

I woke up this morning with double pink eye; can you believe that? Isn't pink eye something you get when you are a kid? I have no idea how I even got pink eye.

Yesterday, I was going to take 29 week photos, but since the pink eye started in my left eye yesterday, I didn't want to take pictures with an ugly eye. So, I will take pictures once my eyes start looking better. I am going to the doctor later today so I am hoping they can give me some antibiotics that start working immediately.

Now that I have reached the beginning of the third trimester, I start going to my doctor every two weeks. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. When I was pregnant with Olivia, I only made it to one of the every two week appointments before I was put on hospital bed rest. The last appointment I had at the doctor's office with Olivia was not pleasant. It was an Ultrasound to check on the position of my Placenta and while they were checking, Olivia's head was in the way and they could not get her to move. By the end of the appointment, I had one Tech pushing up on my belly and another Tech performing the Ultrasound, and not on my belly if you know what I mean (I sure hope you do because I don't want to explain it). I am just excited to make it to this point and continue to pray for a complication-free pregnancy. I can't believe Claire will be here in just 9 short weeks. AAAAHHH!

So, check back later this week for updated photos. Hopefully my eyes will start looking better soon so I can take them.

We have a name!

Yes, you read right. After much discussion, Jonathon and I have finally decided on a name for our baby girl. Drum roll please..........................
Claire Evelyn will make her debut December 4th, 2008.
We both really like the name Claire but every middle name we came up with sounded better as the first name and Claire as the middle. Evelyn is the name of Olivia and Claire's great-great grandmother on Jonathon's side and we wanted to honor her. She is an incredible lady. She lives in Illinois, is 96 and still drives herself to where she needs to go. She lives by herself and keeps up with her daily chores and still writes us handwritten letters for our birthdays. She really truly is an awesome lady and we couldn't think of a better way to honor her than naming our little girl after her.
So, there you have it. We are very excited to meet Little Claire (as a nickname, we will probably call her Claire Bear--how original, huh?)and can't wait to welcome her to our family.

25 Weeks and counting

I know, I know, I promised 24 week belly shots last week, but I forgot to take them...my bad. Anyway, I have taken 25 week shots, but now I am 26 weeks pregnant (I started this post Sunday and finished today) so this should give you a good idea of how huge I am. My doctor says everything looks great, but I feel like a beached whale, and I still have three months to go.

I hope all of you had a great Labor Day Weekend. We didn't do too much around here. Saturday, we ran a bunch of errands and had some friends over. The boys took the kids to the local fish store while us pregnant ladies went and got pedicures. It was so much fun to go with a friend and talk and laugh (we both giggled when they started scrubbing our feet). This is only my third pedicure, but I totally love them and plan on going more often, especially as I get bigger and can't bend over to paint my own toe nails. Plus, I want to have pretty toes on the operating table come December 4th.

Sunday, we just hung around the house since Jonathon and Olivia both had runny noses and light congestion. After being cooped up in the house for what seemed like an eternity, we went to the mall and browsed. Since it was getting close to Olivia's bed time, we decided to take her to the play land and wear herself out. We came home, had dinner, gave her a bath and she went to bed and was out like a light. Ever since we got rid of the pacifier, she has been staying up in her bed for up to two hours after we put her down. During the two hour span, she is playing and talking and eventually falls asleep.

Today, both of them still had runny noses and congestion, although Jonathon added a head ache and sore throat, so we stayed home until dinner. Today at Chic-Fil-A if you wore any NFL team shirt, you got a 3-piece chicken strip box for free. So, all three of us piled on the Colts shirts and headed up there. When we first arrived, nobody else was wearing anything NFL related and I was nervous that I had heard the ad wrong, but when we got up to the counter and saw the ad, I knew we were all good. Eventually, others showed up sporting shirts, jerseys and hats, but most of them wore Cowboys stuff. I did see a guy wearing a Bears jersey, though.

Now, both Jonathon and Olivia are on Allergy and Cold medicine, so I am hoping it helps. I just hope I don't get it.

Let's see, anything else happen...oh, Olivia had her 2 year checkup on Friday. She weighs 23 pounds 9 ounces, and has moved from the 5th to 10th percentile for her weight :) She is 34 3/4" tall, which puts her in the 75th percentile for height. Does anybody else see a career in modeling or is it just me? :) The doctor said everything looks and sounds great and Olivia is right on track.

Recently, Olivia has shown signs of toilet training so we went out Friday night and bought her a potty. It is so cute and girly; I will have to take a picture of it and post. It is hot pink, lime green and white and she picked it out, with my help of course. We also bought our first pack of Pull Ups and big girl panties, too. I bought a book about potty training this evening and bought her a book to read about the potty while she is only on the potty. So far she understands the process, except for using the potty.

If you look on the sidebar, you will notice I have taken down the baby's name ticker. I did this because Jonathon and I (more me than Jonathon, he is trying to keep his hormonal wife happy) have decided we are going to rename baby girl. I was blog stalking earlier this week and came across three or four blogs and they all had little girls named Emma. Then, when we were at the play ground last week, there was a little girl named Emma there and I thought to myself, "When she gets in school I don't want her to have to be called Emma S.", so we are changing her name. I have voted for Claire McKenzie and Jonathon likes Abigail Grace. So what do you think? You will not hurt my feelings if you like Jonathon's name better than mine. I like both names, but of course, I like mine better than his :)

So, please leave comments about the names. We both really like Emma Claire, but you remember when we were all in school how many Sarah's, Melissa's, and Jennifer's there were and we had to call them Sarah P. or Melissa D. or Jennifer T. I just couldn't do that to my daughter. I mean, when she goes to school, she could very well have another classmate with her name, but the odds of that happening are smaller with another name than Emma.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

I'm an Aunt!

No, Leigh did not have a baby...she is way too young.

I guess I should say I am a psuedo-Aunt. My friend, Robin, who's link to her blog is listed under my friends, had her baby boy around 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time today! She ended up having to have a C-Section because the baby was breached. He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 9.5 ounces, the biggest one so far. She said he has his own nose, but he definitely has Gavin's lips :)

She was really tired when we were talking on the phone so we didn't talk for too long. I don't want to reveal his name because I know some people who read my blog also read hers and I want her to share that, but I will say, it is a cute name. I will also let her share the birth story, but know it was an unplanned C-Section, as most are, right?

Congratulations James and Robin; I can't wait to meet Baby Boy this October :)

Emma Update

Yesterday, I had my 24-week appointment with an Ultrasound. If you remember, four weeks ago, when we found out the sex of the baby, she was like a little Mexican Jumping Bean and they were not able to get a good look at her face, so this was a continuation of that Ultrasound. I am happy to report, so far so good. She was very cooperative this appointment, I think she was sleeping, and the Tech was able to look at everything without much prodding. Her heartbeat is 160, which it has been around that number the whole pregnancy, and she weighs 1 pound 11 ounces. I'm not sure if she is bigger than she is supposed to be, but I do know she has gained a whole pound in 4 weeks :) We were able to get a couple of 3-D images, but due to lack of a scanner, I cannot get show them to you. It was funny to look at her because she was laying with one leg up by her face the whole entire time; I think we have a future gymnast on our hands. While talking to my doctor, I mentioned that I have been having a lot of heartburn (the other day I took 6 Tums throughout the day to try and relieve the pain) and he told me to start taking Pepcid AC and if I didn't see an improvement, we would have to go another way. So, I am hoping the Pepcid works because heartburn sucks :(

I don't know how many of you watch the TV Show, "Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" but I watch it every week. Anyway, a couple of episodes ago, Tori gave birth to their baby girl via C-Section. As a gift, her husband, Dean, gave her a Designer Hospital Gown and I have wanted one since I saw that episode. I immediately found the company that Dean used, and others too, and showed it to Jonathon. We talked, and he said I could get a couple for when I am in the hospital recovering from my C-Section on December 4th. So, anyway, I asked my doctor yesterday if he thought that would be ok, and he asked me if I watched Tori and Dean's show and I said, "Yes", and then asked him, "Do you?" and he said, "Oh yeah!" Jonathon and I started laughing because when he said he closed his eyes and had this look on his face like, "of course, doesn't everybody". My doctor said when he schedules my C-Section he will ask the Charge Nurse if it would be ok, but he didn't see a problem with it. Then he said he was going to go home and tell his wife :).

After my appointment, Jonathon and I got lunch together and enjoyed spending some alone time before he had to go to work. My Sister-In-Law, Alison, was very kind and volunteered to take Olivia to the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday so I could have a day to myself. I was giddy, but didn't know what to do. My appointment was at 9:45 and by the time we finished, got lunch and came back home, it was 11:30. So, after Jonathon left, I watched a couple of shows I had recorded, and then went and ran some errands. I went to the bank, Kohls-to get Jonathon some new jeans, and then went to get a manicure. When I walked in the door, they asked me what I would like and told them and then the lady took one look at my toe nails and said, "Do you want a pedicure too?" I said, "Oh, why not." It was great. This was only my second pedicure ever and like fourth manicure and it was great. I got a pedicure that was specifically for tired, achy, swollen feet and it was great. They put a peppermint scrub on my lower legs and it felt so good. The peppermint felt incredible. It felt like I had a constant cooling sensation on my lower legs the rest of the afternoon.

Last night, Alison watched Olivia for Jonathon and I so we could have a date night. We went to the local movie theater to watch Cirque Du Soleil show Delirium on the big screen. While it wasn't my favorite Cirque show, it was good. This particular show featured a lot more singing and less acrobats than I like. Afterwards, we went and got dinner and were home before 10.

Jonathon and I have a busy weekend planned: tonight he is working on both cars, changing the Transmission fluid in the Expedition and changing the oil in both cars. Tomorrow, I am going to attend a breastfeeding class in the morning and then go and do my Fantasy Football Draft tomorrow afternoon for my pool at work. Then, we are having some friends over for dinner, which will be great. Tamra is pregnant too and due mid-September so it will be great to talk about pregnancy related stuff :) Sunday, we have church and then another Fantasy Football Draft in the early afternoon. I am on a mission to find a football shaped cupcake pan this afternoon. We will also be taking 24-week belly shots, so be on the look out for those sometime this weekend.

Pictures of Olivia's 2nd Birthday Party!

Here are the pictures I promised. Sorry I am late in posting them, but I finally got all of the photos from both of our photographers and of course, one of them has a really awesome camera and the files are too large for Blogger to post, so I had to "settle".
The party was awesome! It lasted for a little over an hour and a half and everyone had a blast. We had it at the local pool and it is an awesome pool because it is geared toward the toddler crowd, which was awesome because that was our whole guest list, practically :) As each guest arrived, I handed them a party favor, which was a bucket with their name on it, filled with toys that they could play with at the pool. Each child got the same toys in their bucket so there would be no fighting.
After about an hour of playing, we sang, "Happy Birthday" to Olivia and everyone got a cupcake. The weather on this particular day was scorching, 107 degrees to be exact, and the cake started melting immediately after I pulled it out of the pool's refrigerator. Needless to say, each kid was covered in colored frosting, but they loved it.
We decided to open the gifts at home and record on our video camera. Once Jonathon has a minute to look at our video camera software, I will try to post the video, but no promises. I can tell you that all the gifts that had tissue paper were her favorite. She took every single sheet of tissue paper and spread it out across our living room floor like they were blankets. It was really cute to watch her do this, but frustrating too, since it took longer to open presents and clean up.
I would have posted pictures with her friends, but I did not have their parents permission at the time I posted this and I didn't want anyone to feel I violated their privacy.
So enjoy!
(Apparently, Blogger didn't place the pictures where I thought they would go, so for the slide pictures, start at the bottom and work your way up...sorry about that)