36 weeks

well, we've reached the milestone that probably scared me the most: reaching the point at which noah was born.  i can officially say that i am more pregnant now that i have ever been before, and our little one seems to be perfectly content hanging out for a little bit longer until she's at least full-term (37 weeks).  while there were no appointments this week, and not much else new to report, this is actually really big news for me!  i feel like i can finally rest easy knowing that our little girl will be full-term, and she can now show up whenever she feels like it and we will be able to deliver at the birthing center.
now if only we can convince her to stay in there until we close on the new house....

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~15 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes from last week

sleep: no real changes, still a challenge to roll over and not wake up.

best moment this week: making it to, and past, 36 weeks!

cravings: wendy's frostys... but i haven't gotten one :(

what i miss:  flexibility, this belly makes it hard to move around

what i'm looking forward to: meeting this healthy little one!

weekly wisdom: trust God's timing :)

milestones: more pregnant than ever before! 

july: things are heating up!

what a whirlwind of a month!  with so much going on around here lately i'm not sure i can adequately capture everything, but i'll do my best!
to start, our sweet noah is now 17 months old.  how is he nearly 1 1/2 years old?!  it seems like overnight he has grown into a full-blown independent boy, wanting to do things for himself and communicating with us so well that sometimes i'm surprised at his vocabulary and comprehension. he has added several new words to his daily use in the last few weeks and continues to add to the list every day (because he now repeats *everything*), so i know i'm leaving some off but here are a few: me, dance, couch, mess, box, hat, milk, please, and office.  he's also continuing to add animal sounds to the mix and can correctly identify the sounds for a rooster, cow, pig, duck, and dog.  he can also now show you where his mouth, hands and eyes are when asked.  and this past week he started saying phrases, too, his favorite being "made a mess" that sounds something like "mayd-mesh."  he is quick to tell us now when something is messy by using this phrase -- whether it's because he's dumped blocks on the floor, spilled a drop of milk on his high chair tray, or because the cartoon character on TV spilled toys on the ground.
our sweet little boy has also become exceptionally good at giving kisses on request, especially before we leave or before bedtime.  the other morning i was going to bed after a shift at work and matt told noah i was going "night night."  noah ran and grabbed a book from his room, asked to be put "up" on the bed then proceeded to read to me (as only a toddler can), before he gave me kisses and waved good bye as he told me "night night."  talk about melting my heart!  matt says he is going to be a heartbreaker, and i might have to agree.  the other day after lunch noah walked up to me and asked me to dance, then pointed at the ipod player.  how can you refuse that?!

other skills noah has mastered this past month include climbing on and off anything he possibly can, especially the rocking chair in his room, and brushing his teeth.  and i am continually amazed at how much he understands about this world around him.  the other day he was playing with an old software CD that was going to be thrown away while i was doing something in the office.  after a while, he disappeared out of the room and i heard him in the living room so i went to investigate.  i found him sitting on the floor by the DVD player attempting to put the CD in it!  i didn't think he realized that was even what that was for since we hardly ever watch TV, and even less often watch movies (he's probably seen 3 his whole life!).

noah also got to enjoy lots of other firsts while his grandpa king and jacquie and jacquie's son josh came to visit at the beginning of the month.  we enjoyed spending the week with them while matt was off work and had fun going to the dallas world aquarium, the plano 4th of july parade, and taking noah swimming for the first time.  noah also got a foul ball from his grandpa that he caught during the 8th inning of the ranger's game!

 in even more news this month, we finally found a house we like!  on july 13th, matt and i "just went to look" at a house that had recently been listed.  i figured we would go, see it, decide it wasn't right for some reason or another (like all the others), and then we could stop searching for houses for the next few months until after we had had this baby and things had "settled down" some. of course, as luck or fate or chance would have it we walked in and realized that it was practically perfect for us.  we ended up putting in an offer and are now set to close in a little less than a month!  and yes, that does mean that we are closing the week i am due... so we'll see how that all turns out! in the meantime prayers are appreciated as we juggle work, childcare, pregnancy and all the things involved with buying a house and moving!

as always, more pictures are here:

2012-07-13

a little bit of my day

this is the sweet, chatty guy i get to spend my days with:

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35 weeks

our sweet little girl has been more and more active lately...or, more likely, she's increasingly more squished up in my uterus and i'm able to notice her movements more and more.  while she's always been very active, lately she's been moving enough to make me jump if she catches me off guard!  matt loves to feel her moving, and even noah has gotten a chance to feel her kicking -- although i don't think he really understands what's going on.  he's very affectionate towards my growing tummy, though, even giving it kisses and spending some snuggle time with me by resting his head on my stomach.  he loves to point out my "belly" and "belly button" and will routinely attempt to lift my shirt up to get a better look.

and, of course, at this point with noah i was only 1 week away from delivering, even though i had no idea at the time.  i've been trying to do everything i can to "take it easy" to prevent any chances of pre-term labor or having my water break.  so far, so good!  i'm less nervous than i was a few weeks ago, but i don't think i'll really be able to relax until we are past 37 weeks.  and while i'm trying to take it easy, we went and found a house this week that *seems* absolutely perfect.  we did place a contract on it and have spent the last several days negotiating terms, planning our finances, and scheduling inspections and such.  not really conducive to more rest, but there hasn't been any heavy lifting involved. although, we are scheduled to close the same week i'm due.... guess we'll have to wait and see what our little girl has planned for her arrival date!
and in other baby news, we did have maternity pictures made this week with leah luquette.  i haven't seen them yet (we just took them yesterday), but i am very excited about how they turned out.  we had to meet early in the morning so we could do them outside before it got too hot.  i met leah at 7:30am at prairie creek park in richardson and we did some pics of just me before the guys showed up around 8am for some family pics.  by the time we left at 9am the temp had already crept up 10 degrees and it was humid and gross outside.  ick!  as soon as i have the pics from leah, i will post them for all to see :)
we also got to celebrate our sweet little girl with a baby shower hosted by my wonderful friends crystal and melissa.  it was a *lot* of fun and we got some great things to prepare for this new king. thanks for hosting, ladies! and thanks to everyone who attended!

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~13 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes from last week, but my shirts seem to be getting smaller...

sleep: more difficult than ever now...i wake up pretty much every time i roll over and it's quite warm during the summer in texas!

best moment this week: celebrating our newest little on with a baby shower!

cravings: nothing so far this week

what i miss: my normal lung volume.  i feel like it takes very little to get out of breath these days!

what i'm looking forward to: making it to full term

weekly wisdom: trust God's timing :)

milestones: the last of our two-week appointments, after our next one we start going weekly!

baby girl shower

on july 15th, my wonderful friends crystal and melissa threw me a baby shower.  not only was the whole thing done beautifully, it was really a lot of fun!  instead of games, we made onesies for baby girl king to wear which was tons of fun!  we also enjoyed some really tasty treats and i got to enjoy having a lot of my favorite people all in one place.  in short, it was probably the best baby shower i've ever been to, and i was lucky to be the guest of honor.  i am so thankful to be blessed with such sweet friends!

the tasty food!

 party goers

time for presents

noah shows off his baby sister's new toy

 one of the many adorable hats made by my friend chris

working on onesies

sarah one (by vote) for best onesie!

everyone showing off the new wardrobe we created :)

my hostesses, attempting to make a "heart" on my baby bump

 ...not so successful, but highly entertaining!

 now they got it!

thank you to everyone who came to celebrate this new life with us, and thank you especially to crystal and melissa for hosting such a great shin-dig!

34 weeks

another week closer...
our sweet little one is moving and kicking all the time, sometimes to the point that i have to tell her to slow down!  i can tell she is running out of space in there, and sometimes i wonder what it will feel like to go beyond 36 weeks this time around.  i never got overly big or uncomfortable with noah, and it was still cool outside.  i'm curious, and slightly fearful, of what it will feel like to potentially be 42 weeks pregnant at the end of a texas summer.  fortunately, this summer has been *mild* compared to last summer so far, and i am thankful daily for air conditioning and ceiling fans.  i am certain there are people that think i'm crazy for wanting to be "big pregnant" in august in texas, but i'd much rather have that than a NICU stay or a preterm baby!

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~12 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes from last week 

sleep: i've started waking up to turn over, i can't just roll anymore - it takes some effort!  also, had a *horrible* charlie horse wake me from sleep the other day.  that wasn't any fun at all!

best moment this week: getting back to a regular schedule around here

cravings: nothing so far this week

what i miss: stomach sleeping

what i'm looking forward to: a baby shower and another appointment next week

weekly wisdom: it's hot outside, but not as hot as it could be!

milestones: another week down! a little more than 3 weeks to full-term :)

"mess"

noah did a pretty good job eating his yogurt... until he realized how much fun it was to make a mess.  he also recently learned the word "mess" so he made sure to tell me what he had done, too.

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33 weeks

happy 4th of july!

another busy week around the king household!  this week we were visited by matt's dad and jacquie, along with jacquie's son josh.  we did a lot of fun things, including going swimming at their hotel, which was a first for noah and a first for this preggers!  because my last pregnancy was mostly during the cold months i never went swimming when i was pregnant last time, but this year i put on my two-piece and enjoyed the water.  it's true -- it really does feel great to swim when you are pregnant and i highly recommend it! we also went to the city of plano independence day parade, celebrated 4th of july with my family, and headed to the dallas world aquarium.  lots of activities for someone in their 8th month, but they were all great and it wasn't ridiculously hot this week.  in fact, it even rained some (in july? in texas?!)! i am so thankful that i am not one of the unlucky few who have to be on bedrest during my pregnancy and can go out and enjoy doing all these things!  it was also nice to have matt home from work this week and get to spend some fun family time together.

 swimming time!

 in all my pregnant-swimsuit glory.

not my ideal muscular physique, but i love that baby bump!

and how could you not? i mean, i'm making a person!

showing off my two kiddos...

knowing it will never be this easy to carry them both again ;)

we also went for another appointment this week and got great news all around.  the usual measurements were all reassuring, and my wonderful midwife counseled me regarding my fears of preterm labor.  the best news?  she told me that i shouldn't be doing any vacuuming or mopping right now and to basically take it as easy as possible.  and yes, matt was in the room for this counsel ;)  now, if you know me, you know that i can't just sit around. besides the fact that i like a clean house (which is a struggle with a 16 month old and a big, hairy dog) i also work in a busy ER.  so, i'll have to encourage my husband to take over the vacuuming for at least the next few weeks and give in to my coworkers pleas to stop pushing stretchers and wheelchairs around the department (as much as possible, at least).   i will struggle with it sometimes, but overall it sounds good to me :)

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~12 lbs

maternity clothes: some of my smaller maternity shirts (that were for early on) are getting too small! my wardrobe is rapidly decreasing in size (both literal size and quantity!)

sleep: no bad dreams, and lots of good sleep thanks to matt being off work!

best moment this week: fun activities all around: swimming, eating out, dallas world aquarium, parades! 

cravings: not really, enjoyed lots of tasty meals and treats this week (thanks, steve!!)

what i miss: my lap! reading stories to noah at naptime and bedtime is getting harder every week.  he can still sit up there with no problem, but it's kind of uncomfortable for me since i have one squirmy kid looking at books on my lap and another in my uterus trying to kick her brother off my lap.  aren't they too young to be shoving each other?!

what i'm looking forward to: next month! we are due next month!

weekly wisdom: take advantage of having just one kid to throw in the car, one kid's schedule to work around, one bottom to diaper, and a kiddo who sleeps through the night...it's all about to change (again!)

milestones: another week closer to full-term!