37 weeks!

week 37! still trucking along and now feeling very relaxed that this sweet baby boy can show up whenever he thinks he's ready -- we are ready for him!  i'm a little sad to say that this pregnancy has seemed harder for me than my first two.  i'm sure a lot of that has to do with my exhaustion on some days from continuing to work my FT night schedule, the fact that matt has a weird schedule too, and trying to keep up with our other two kiddos.  i feel like this baby is much larger than the others were and that might be the reason that after working for 12 hours i will actually have some swelling in my feet (which, again, i never had before).  i also just feel so much bigger this time around, despite not having gained any more weight with this pregnancy than i did with the others.  i guess we'll just have to wait and see how big this little boy actually is when he decides on a birthday for himself ;)

according to pregnancy sources, he currently weighs around 6 1/3 lbs and measures somewhere around 19 inches long.  and we still haven't decided on a name for him yet.  we have several top pics but continue to struggle with something that *clicks* for this baby boy.  i guess we still have time...

maternity quiz

sleep: i'm having weird dreams, one of those pregnancy things that doesn't really make sense.  i can't recall any of them right now, but i'll wake up and think, "well, that was weird!"

best moment this week: spending time with my women's group at church for our last official meeting and time with family to celebrate jared's birthday

 what i miss: still just missing my flexibility, this big belly makes it difficult to do some things these days ;) 

what i'm looking forward to: maternity leave!  seriously, i am ready to hold this sweet child and not have to show up to work 3 times/week :D

weekly wisdom:  even though i'm probably a little more ready for this pregnancy to end than i was with my previous pregnancies, i am willing to trust God's timing for this sweet boy.  i know that the Lord already knows when his birthday will be -- and what his name is! 

milestones: 37 weeks! 

36 weeks

we have made it to 36 weeks (and counting)! and as a bonus, this week was also mother's day so i was able to enjoy time with my three sweet kiddos -- even if the youngest is still in utero.  i also got the chance to dress the family up and take maternity photos with my baby bump.  in other good news, we are officially past the point i was at when i delivered with noah, and there seem to be no signs that this sweet boy will arrive before he is full-term.  yay!
baby boy is now about 6 lbs and 18.5 inches long per the websites and such, and he continues to be very active and remain head-down.  now we just wait for him to decide he's ready for a birthday!

maternity quiz
sleep: no notable changes
best moment this week: mother's day! 
what i miss: i feel like any flexibility i had in my abdomen is *completely* gone.  this kid will surprise me if he weighs less than his siblings. 
what i'm looking forward to: week 37, because then i *know* we can deliver at the birthing center :)
weekly wisdom:  continue to enjoy it while i can... and my husband has told me to take advantage of being "the pregnant one" at work.
milestones: creeping on up to full-term!  and happy we got the maternity photos taken care of, i was a little worried he might show up before we had them done!

35 weeks!

We're nearing the end of this pregnancy, where has the time gone!?  Nothing particularly special to report this week.  We did attempt to get some yardwork done on Friday, which would have gone better but we were juggling the physical labor required to trim bushes, pull weeds, plant new flowers, and spread bark mulch with having to entertain and monitor our very active 3-year old and almost 2-year old.  It was a little tricky.  We got the front yard pretty much done (Yippee!) and it looks great, but the backyard still needs some attention.  I did pretty well for doing that much moving and planting and lifting at 35 weeks, but I woke up the next morning all stiff and with the low-back/sciatic pain that pregnant women are so prone to.  Dangit! I took some tylenol and it seemed to clear it right up, but I had to take some more before I went to work that night.  No real problems since then, and it doesn't seem to have thrown me into early labor (Yippee again!).
Approximate weight for baby boy this week is 5.25 lbs and length of about 18 inches -- roughly the size of a cantaloupe!

maternity quiz
sleep: no notable changes
best moment this week: knowing that i can still do some manual labor in the yard at 35 weeks -- makes me feel a bit like a super woman.  raawr! ;)
what i miss: the cooler/less humid air!  just this week after all that yardwork and my 12 hour shifts i've started seeing a tiny bit of swelling in my ankles and fingers :/  i've noticed it's only bed after i've been at work for a few days in a row and/or it's really warm or humid.  i've never had swelling during a pregnancy before! 
what i'm looking forward to: two weeks from now when i'm full-term!  i will be much more relaxed!
weekly wisdom: every day we are a little bit closer to full-term!  also, just because the other two King babies arrived early doesn't mean this one will! (I'm a little worried that I'll be disappointed if this baby waits until 40 weeks to show up, because that's not was I've been conditioned to expect from my kids!) The plus side of a 40 week delivery?  He would have a birthday in June, which would stand out on my side of the family.  The only June birthday currently is his Aunt Heather's!
milestones: Hopefully he won't arrive in the next week or two, but if he did he's likely to not need much in the way of interventions! Way to go, baby boy!

april happenings

It's been a pretty standard month, and we are continuing to make preparations for our sweet baby boy and scheduling our lives around OB appointments, full-time jobs, and two very active kiddos.  Sam did have a little fever at the beginning of the month that made us adopt a slower pace for a couple days, but other than that everyone is healthy and happy.  We spent this month playing outside more, celebrating Uncle Ray and Aunt Sarah's birthdays, celebrating Easter, and spending time on Wednesdays with the Childers kiddos.  I can't remember if I've mentioned already that for this whole spring semester my sister's kids have been spending Wednesdays with us for their homeschooling.  It makes for very long days because I work every Monday and Tuesday night, then spend the whole day awake with 5 kids.  However, it's actually easier to be awake with more kids around than with just my two.  Plus, it means I get to have dinner with my sister and her family in the middle of every week, which has been a pretty awesome bonus. All that being said, between the pregnancy and our crazy schedule, I'm really looking forward to getting more rest on my maternity leave!

Since I've already included some of the cute things the kids said/did this month in my maternity posts, I only have a few funny things from this month from my facebook mommy journaling:

4/28/14

Yesterday, my husband was wearing this shirt that my brother brought back from Hawaii. Noah noticed it and asked Matt what the guy's name was. "I don't know, what do you think his name is?"

Noah thought for a minute before giving his response. I expected him to give a name of a friend or family member. .. nope.
He replied, "Nipples."

I lost it!

4/19/14

Me: Noah, please finish putting your cars away. You forgot one over there.
Noah: mom, this isn't a car. .. It's a CAMARO.

4/17/14

Noah isms in the last 24 hours:
1) He brought me a toy and said, "The question is, how do we get all this stuff to fit in here?"

2) Matt was asking me how to cook something and asked, "what do you cook it on?" Noah responded for me, "Mommy cooks it on Fridays! "

3) Sammy got upset and Noah slapped his hands over his eyes and said, "I just can't watch her cry!"

Love that kid, but where does he get this stuff?

 Here are a few more pictures from this month:

getting good and dirty in the sandbox -- you can't even see all the sand in her hair!

running a fever :(

and fever snuggles with mommy

playtime during homeschool hours

a picture of the rare blood moon -- I got to see it at work on April 15th!

Sam let me braid her hair for the first time :) 

Noah thought he should try on Sam's little hat

I can't tell if this means she's enjoying her new bed or not...

 Celebrating April birthdays:

the birthday guy & girl with their kiddos and desserts

Sam enjoying some cake from the party....

....maybe a little too much!

enjoying some time outside

the reason our computer is now locked....

in preparation for baby: we moved Noah into a big kid booster seat (so Sam can use Noah's car seat and the baby can use Sam's infant carrier seat).

Noah trying out the new seat :)

34 weeks

34 weeks and getting closer to meeting this boy all the time!  My schedule continues to be demanding, but I work with understanding co-workers who understand my need to eat and take bathroom breaks frequently ;)  The kids are a little less understanding, but this week I think Noah has really started to understand the whole "we're having a baby" concept.  He now frequently tells me that "Your tummy is big, mommy! You've got a baby in there!"  I think it helps that we've already had two of our close friends deliver their babies and Noah has had the chance to meet the newborns (Yay for baby Alexander and baby Ellie!).  I'm not sure how Sam will respond, but she seems to do well when we are around our friends' babies.
The cutest thing this week was that I was telling Noah that we are getting ready to go to another appointment (tomorrow) and Noah was excited.  He tells me that "We are going to see the midwife at the birthday center for the mommy and baby to get a check up."  When he was talking to Matt about it, Matt told him that he wasn't going to be able to go because he had to work.  Noah protested and told him, "NO, daddy! It's our turn to see the midwife! You can't go to work!"  Awww, sweet boy wants the whole family there :)
Weekly stats: baby weighs around 4.75 lbs and is about 18 inches long!

maternity quiz
sleep: no notable changes
best moment this week: The conversation between Matt and Noah described above and getting to spend time with our friends and their babies on Friday! 
cravings: chipotle! steak burrito bowls are excellent!
what i miss: sleeping on my stomach
what i'm looking forward to: planning on getting some yard work done so i can sit back and enjoy the outside this summer while i'm nursing a baby every 3 hours.  i'm not looking forward to the work, per-se, but the end result should be nice! 
weekly wisdom: relax, and trust God.  he knit this baby together in my womb, and he is ultimately in control of when he arrives and how the labor/delivery/etc goes 
milestones: we're getting closer and closer to not requiring a NICU stay if this baby boy decides to show up early ;)

Easter 2014

We celebrated Easter in the usual fashion -- food, candy, drinks, and partying at my mom & dad's house.  Everyone had a great time and the weather cooperated for an outdoor Easter egg hunt.  It was especially fun to watch the kids this year, since both were old enough to chase down some eggs.   It's a little crazy to think that by this time next year we will have another one wanting to collect Easter eggs! I hope everyone had a Happy Easter! 

Jared mixes up some margaritas

Hanging out before the egg hunt

Someone learned to blow bubbles while waiting to hunt eggs...

he thought it was totally hilarious :)

Noah was extra prepared!

The Proctor kiddos with their game faces on ;)

The egg hunters

Ready, set, GO!

Quality time with Papa John and Daddy

trying out some of the candy

It's exhausting to be a parent during any holiday...