Nine Months

I am 36 weeks today and I am OVER being pregnant!!! I feel ready for Gabbie to arrive and am getting super excited to meet her. Although, I am very nervous about being a mom of two. It's scary to think about balancing my time and attention between both girls and making sure that both have all of their needs met. I know it will happen, but the transition is a bit overwhelming... In just one short week I will be considered full-term and she can come any time after that. I want her to stay put until at least June 1st. For some reason I really have my heart set on a June baby! We will see what God has in mind... He knows the plans He has for us. Whatever that plan is I know it will be perfect.

Gabbie's Baby Shower

I had a family/friends baby shower for Gabbie today. It was great to get together with loved ones and celebrate the upcoming birth of our new baby girl. She got lots of great gifts- especially clothes and diapers!!! Both will definitely come in handy! I am finally starting to feel ready for arrival. Four weeks to go... The count-down is on!

Eight Months

So, I'm almost nine months pregnant and obviously a little behind in getting my monthly update posted. Nevertheless, here is a picture of me at about 8.5 months.

My baby related growth started out a little on the slow side this time, compared with my growth from Mollie's pregnancy, but made up for lost time this past month. At 33 weeks I had an every-other-week doctor check up and was unhappily surprised with a weight gain of six pounds! I was pretty depressed about it, because I had been doing so well. Right after that appointment I started noticing a lot more swelling, which instantly made me nervous about developing toxemia again. But so far, it has just been a little bit of swelling and no high blood pressure. I am very thankful for that!

Also, I was put on full bedrest at 35 weeks with Mollie, due to the toxemia, and just had to take off my wedding ring today at 35 weeks, 1 day with Gabbie. So, although I have gained more weight than I would have liked, I still am in way better shape than I was with Mollie.

Our good friends just had their second baby this week, which has made Gabbie's impending arrival quite a bit more real to both Jeremie and me. It put me into full-on nesting mode, because I don't feel ready at all!!! I have a super long list of things I want/need to get done before she arrives. Obviously, none of it really needs to be done, but I am pregnant and really feel like it does! :) My goal is to be completely ready in the next three weeks so I can relax about being prepared for the last couple of weeks, just in case she makes her appearance early. We will see what happens! :)

Mollie and Me

Here are two of my favorite pictures taken recently. My friend, Lisa, took a few maternity pics the other week and I ended up loving the ones of Mollie and me together best. She is such an amazing little girl. Can't wait to meet Gabbie and get to know and love her just like I love the girl I already have. I truly feel so blessed to be given the chance to be the mommy of two girls. I couldn't ask for more!

Spring Fair in Review

Here are some of our pictures from Mollie's first and second trips to the Spring Fair. I think I love this tradition so much because it was our first real outing as a family after Mollie was born. I just remember feeling so much joy that day and going each year totally brings back those wonderful memories!

The one of the three babies is one of the first pictures ever taken of Mollie and her cousins, Josh and Peyton. Such a sweet memory, too! The one of me changing Mollie was the first time she ever peed all over a changing table. I don't know why, but it was hilarious to me at the time. The one of Mollie and Jeremie and me won't make Jeremie too happy... It was when we were both still carrying all of our "baby weight". :)

Spring Fair 2010

This was our third annual trip to the Spring Fair. Before Mollie was born I had never been. We took her when she was just eight days old and have taken her back each year since. It has become a family tradition I look forward to every Spring. Mollie was super excited about it, too. She loved seeing the animals, especially the pigs which were stinkier than normal, if you can believe that! And she got to go on rides for the first time at the Fair. We only bought a few tickets, but maybe the scanners weren't working right because she never ran out of them! We finally told her that she was going on one more and then we gave the remaining three away. She even got to go on her first solo ride! Without us, she went on cars, motorcycles, and boats. She also got to go on the slide and carousel with Daddy. Naturally, at eight months pregnant, I didn't go on any! I made it through just over three hours there, but am feeling the effects as I type. That is a lot of walking for 32 weeks along. We also loved our fair food- yummy burgers, krusty pups, fries, and scones, of course! Such a beautiful day for a fun family outing. Can't wait to do it again this Fall with both our girls!

Mollie's Birthday Party

We hosted Mollie's birthday party at our house today. It took me two days of cleaning and one day of setting up to be ready for it. At almost eight months pregnant I can't get as much accomplished as I usually can, so this was a lot of work for me! Next year we plan to have Mollie's party at a kid's venue... Don't think that I'm up for this again any time soon! :)

Mollie got a TON of wonderful gifts from so many friends and family members who came. My dad even got her a swing set! It will definitely come in handy entertaining Mollie this summer when I'm tied up with a newborn!

We so appreciate all the people who came to celebrate our little girl. She has so many people to be thankful for, because they love her so much.