Kaiyah is a growing girl!

We're so amazed by Kaiyah every day! She's so much fun and changing all of the time. Her language is really taking off and she's making her opinions well known. I would say that she's definitely entering the next stage of growth: Terrible 2's. :O) Kaiyah loves, loves, loves to be outside and will ask to go out (and throw fits when we don't comply) from the minute she wakes. We love her so much and can't wait to see how she continues to grow and develop, especially as a big sister. Here are some recent pictures:


We got out our pool for the first time. It was so cold that Chris and I couldn't be in it, but Kaiyah had a great time. We had to add warm water so we could participate too! :)

Our cute girl! She's getting so big.

A fun new game that Kaiyah made up: pretending to sleep in the car. She thinks it's really funny.

We went hiking at Old Man's Cave. It was a good time and Kaiyah really enjoyed seeing all of the waterfalls and throwing rocks in the water.

Only days now...

So, here we are. Less than a week until my due date. Things are good and we're quickly moving toward baby #2's arrival. Dru and Laura welcomed their daughter, Evelyn on Tuesday morning. My mom is now able to come for our baby's birth. I've been having lots of contractions, even to the point of wondering if I was in early labor today. Here's some pics taken tonight. We'll let you know if something happens in the next few days!

Week Thirty-Nine
*The lanugo has mostly disappeared, but you'll probably find a bit on her shoulders, arms and legs and in those protected little bodily creases. It will vanish completely on its own in time.
*His lungs are maturing and surfactant production is increasing and fully prepared to take on the outside world!
*Your baby doesn't have much room to move and certainly mom agrees! Did you imagine 8 months ago that this wee one would be able to hook a toe in your ribs while elbowing your bladder? She certainly has grown!
*His body continues laying on the fat stores that will help regulate his body temperature after birth. In addition to normal fat, he is accumulating a special "brown" fat in the nape of his neck, between his shoulders and around organs. Brown fat cells are important for thermogenesis (generating heat) during his first weeks.
*Your infant's weight is around 7.25 pounds (3288gm) and length is 19.9 inches (50.7cm).

Getting ready for Baby

So, I had a huge list of things to do around here since we moved in January/February. And the list just got longer when I included the things that needed done to get ready for baby. One of the big things I needed to do was the "nursery". Basically, the baby will be sleeping in the office for a while until Kaiyah moves to her big bed and baby sleeps thru the night. Then they will share a room. So, I needed to have a bed and such ready. Chris' mom came at the beginning of April and lovingly and graciously served us by helping us with that project. She brought us a "mini crib" she found and made bedding for it. (She also washed all of our windows and screens for us- WOW!) So, the room is ready: crib, curtains, and changing table are in place and ready to go. We didn't do much since it's only a temporary dwelling, but it looks cute none-the-less. (Thanks to Amy Kline for letting us borrow the nursery gear.)

Another thing I needed to do was to grocery shop. I only go once a month (besides small trips for milk, etc), so it's a big deal. This time I bought enough for us to get thru May. It was crazy. What you see in the picture doesn't include the trip to the meat market. It took me a while to get all of that put away! :)

All that to say, the list is getting shorter and the time is winding down. I've only a few things left to do and they're not major. Now we've just got to wait!

Latest sewing project

Well, as most of you know, I cloth diaper and I've wanted to buy some wetbags to use while away from the house. Basically, a wetbag is a waterproof bag that you can put wet things into without fear of the wetness escaping (and in this case the smell). After some time, I decided I would just make some. So, this was my first attempt. I've never put in a zipper, so it took me forever long. I'm ok happy with how it turned out, but need to learn more about how to put in zippers and sew on PUL to make the process go a little faster/smoother. I think it took me a couple of hours to make total, where I think that I could do it in about 40 minutes. Seriously it was that easy if you know what you are doing. Regardless, I turned out a functional and not unattractive product, so I'm content. :)

Only 2 more weeks!!!

(These pics are about a week old...)

Well, of course that is the approximate time frame. Who knows when this baby will decide to come. We're hoping to make it thru next Monday, as that's the day for the state math test for Chris' students. He will need to go to work thru Monday to make sure his students are ready, so I'd like to wait to have the baby until that's over. (As if it's really up to me at all!) We still don't have any solid boy names and our girl names are only half formed. I guess we should really be thinking more about that than we are! Ha! Otherwise, we're ready for baby to start impacting our lives from outside the womb. I've been crossing stuff off my list and only have a couple more (non-necessity) things to do. Mostly, I just want to finish unpacking and settling the house so that I don't have to think about those things again. Just need to clean up the basement at this point. I had it all together and then tore it apart again getting our spring stuff out. And I have a few cloth diaper things to make too. It's all going to get done at some point, either before or after baby. My mom is in Indiana awaiting the arrival of Dru and Laura's little girl and is going to try to come out here for our baby's birth and then later for a few weeks to help when Chris returns to work. Dad may even make a trip out here too!

As for me, I've been feeling OK, but am getting consistently less comfortable on a daily basis. Baby is growing bigger and bigger and is definitely on the tail end of having any extra room in my belly. Sleep is always an intersting prospect. I can't do it for very long or very comfortably and have been consistently waking up somewhere around 5-6am and staying up. It's amazing how the Lord preps our bodies for lack of sleep after the baby by training us before hand. That way it's not such a shock to our systems. And 5 hour stretches of sleep seem like heaven!

Anyway, here's what's happening inside me this week:

Week Thirty-Eight
*If he is the "average baby," he weights 6.8 pounds (3083gm)and is 19.6 inches (49.8cm) long.
*Have you noticed she hiccups a lot? Because there is no air around her, those breathing exercises cause amniotic fluid to get into her windpipe. The result? Hiccups!
*Your child's intestines are accumulating lots of meconium. Meconium takes on the role of being your baby's first bowel movement -- removing the waste that has accumulated.
*He may have a full head of hair now -- an inch or more long! Don't be surprised if it's an unexpected color. Some blond couples have dark haired babies; some dark haired couples have red-haired babies; some couples have babies with only peach fuzz! It may just persuade you to take a closer look at your family tree!
*Circumference of head and abdomen are about the same size for your baby. No wonder it's so hard to get a t-shirt over a newborn's head!

quick update...

It's been a while since I posted, so I wanted to let you know that I'm still pregnant, Kaiyah is still cute, and Chris is still teaching. I'll get some other posts up soon with pictures and such, including ones of our new van. In other random news, our Tracer was broken into last night. I don't think that they got anything valuable, but broke the 2 back vents to get in, so we will have a $100 deductible to cover the glass repair. Ugh. What a way to start the morning. :)

Week 36!

Here we are, only 4 weeks to go until baby's due date! The little crib is set up, curtains are hung, diapers are out, and clothes are in the drawer. We just need to come up with a couple of names and start getting ready for labor and delivery. I had a doctor's appointment today and everything is fine. I'm going every week now until the baby comes. Also, I had some pics ready to upload, but I accidently deleted ALL the pictures from my camera! I am so disgusted. There were like 3 weeks of pics on there! Some great ones of Kaiyah and Columbus in the spring too! Ugh. So, I"ll just have to take some more and post them later. Here's some info on baby though:

Week Thirty-Six
*Your baby is almost ready and most likely, so are you! The only organ still to mature is the lungs. While certainly you are both growing anxious to meet, remember that each day (up to 42 weeks), that your little one stays within your womb will multiply his chances to breathe on his own.
*If he hasn't already, this week your baby may drop into the birth canal. While breathing for mom becomes easier, walking may be the exact opposite! If he's not your first baby, this "lightening" may not occur until right before labor.
*Fat is dimpling your baby's elbows and knees, and forming creases in the neck and wrists.
*His skin is growing smooth and, shall we say it, "baby" soft.
*His gums are very rigid. It won't be many months before you'll see his teeth.
*She has a fully developed pair of kidneys and her liver has begun processing some waste products.
*Your child's average size is now 18.66 inches (47.4cm) and 5.78 pounds (2622 g). Between now and birth she will gain about an ounce a day!