The Perfect Due Date Except No Baby

Well, as I sit here on my last morning of "freedom" for a little while, I am filled with so many mixed emotions...nervous yet excited mainly. I cannot wait to meet Gwyn!!
My due date was Saturday and it turned out to be a terrific day even though I have been counting down to it for 40 weeks and still didn't get to meet my little girl! My in-laws took the boys and their cousin to the Dino exhibit and from the looks of things, they had a blast!

While they were gone Chris and I enjoyed a peaceful brunch at my favorite spot, J. Christopher's and then headed to pick out my pandora charm for Gwyn! Her birth stone is a peridot and since I love flowers I picked this one!

Then Chris surprised me and drove to Sears to tell me that after all my begging and pleading, he is getting me a treadmill! Might sound crazy to some, but to me it was the most exciting, best present I could have ever been told I was getting! I can't wait to hop on it!!

To top it all off, Saturday night one of our best friends' little sisters was getting married and we had been very sad at the thought of not being able to go, but as it turned out, we were able to party the night away. It was so much fun and a great way to spend our last night out before we head to the hospital tonight.

 I will keep you all posted!! :)

The Countdown and the Fruit

Well, what would you do the day before your due date?? I enjoyed a 6 mile bike ride on my beach cruiser and went to get a mani/pedi to celebrate the LONG 40 WEEKS!! :) It's almost time to see my little girls face and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! I have been thinking a lot lately about personalities and the quirky little things we are each born with. My boys truly could not be more opposite of each other and really they are a complete mix of me, Chris, and our extended family. Learning to relate to each other in family doesn't just come naturally, at least not for me. It is something that must be treated almost like a garden in a way. You have to weed it, water it, invest time and energy in order to reap any of the harvest. Our Christian walk is very much the same way. If we just pray a few times through the day, mention God in passing to friends and maybe even strangers, but don't really spend time in a relationship with him and learning His Word, the harvest won't be very plentiful. Some days I wonder how well I pass this little bit of knowledge along to my kids. I can get so frustrated over the littlest things and so aggravated by their God-given "quirks" that I begin to respond to them in a way that is for lack of a better word just hideous. I was reading a blog the other day and found her words completely worth sharing.
By Rhen at Yes, They Are All Mine
"Have you heard the expression, “it’s not just what you say, but how you say it”?

Several years ago, God brought that very thought into my heart.

Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue…  Proverbs 18:21

We moms can find ourselves overwhelmed, over-worked, over-tired, and sorely lacking in patience when we need it most. We must intentionally make a choice to respond with a voice that is far softer and gentler than the emotions we are holding back.  We must fight for every word that comes out of our mouths.

God has led me to “filter” every word through the fruit of the Spirit.  When I can feel the aggravation building up, when I start getting overwhelmed, I close my eyes, take a breath, and remember just how often God has dealt with me in love and patience when I know full well I deserved a good smack from Him.  Imagine how we could guide with our words, heal with our words, calm with our words, and encourage if we make them line up with the fruit of the Spirit.

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

No matter how much time and effort we put into teaching our children the proper ways of responding and reacting to what is going on around us, their greatest and best-learned lessons will be from watching what we do.  Isn’t that a sobering thought?"

This was just the reminder I needed that day and every single day! I know my patience will be worn thin in the coming weeks with little sleep and lots of change, but I am hoping I can remember the Fruit of the Spirit BEFORE I respond to my precious little men. Thought I would share my favorite pics of them from their birthdays!

Grady 5 days old!!

Davis meeting his big brother

Davis on his birthday!

Glutton for Punishment

Last week, I couldn't think of anything fun to do inside soooo, I took my 39 week pregnant self to Fort Pulaski with my little men on a day when the heat index was 111. Am I crazy? Maybe! But...they had a BLAST!! I have this strange tug on my heart right now because I know I only have one more week with them the way things are, yet I know that things will be great with our newest addition too. I loved seeing their little faces light up at all the cool discoveries at the fort and especially loved seeing them play their little hearts out with their cannons and soldiers when we got home. It was so precious!

The Game Plan

I have not been shy to mention on here before that I am quite the planner. I absolutely love being given a task and then being able to accomplish it knowing I will meet the expectations of those around me. I went to the doctor Tuesday and still not much is going on with little miss so...we made a game plan. I go back this Tuesday for one last ultrasound to check her size and if all goes well, then I will enjoy my weekend and celebrate my actual due date (the 4th) at a fabulous wedding we are invited to. Then on Monday August 6th at 5:00pm, we will check in for an induction and the plan is to have her Tuesday August 7th!! Now my hope and prayer is that none of that is necessary and I will get to experience going into labor on my own and the fun and excitement that goes along with it, but just in case, a game plan has been made and boy does that make this little planning mama happy!!
Her car seat is all ready to go with this adorable cover I ordered from Jacques Bebe Designs on Ebay, and her Vera Bradley diaper bag is here in all it's purple glory! I'm so ready to meet this little girl!!!

It's All About Dad!

The one thing I love most about having sons is watching them emulate their daddy! It seems right now that every single day their desire is to be "exactly like daddy!" It is so cute to see them transition into little men and copy cat almost every move Chris makes. I had to share some pics because lately it has been No Girls Allowed quite a bit around here.  I don't mind one bit because if their hearts turn out like their daddy's, I know they will be wonderful men who will make two lucky little ladies very happy.

We watched the Home Run Derby the other night and it inspired Grady to want to go out and hit some balls. Now if we could just make him understand that you don't do everything perfect every single time, we would be good to go. :) Davis took some hits too off the tee and practiced his catcher skills. It was hot, but they had fun. I only stopped by to snap a few shots and then hit the road for a nice quiet bike ride. It was a win, win kind of morning!

I had not been to the library since I was in college but since Grady will be heading to kindergarten and does love to read books with us, I figured it was time to get a library card again. We have been having so much fun reading new books each night and usually I do the reading at least with Grady but this night it just had to be dad. As you can see Grady thinks he is so big now that he even wears boxers and a white t-shirt "just like dad" to sleep in. Precious!

The boys had been hounding Chris to take them fishing so he used his Bass Pro gift card to get them little men fishing poles and away they went to the Gun Club on Saturday. Nothing was caught but memories were definitely made. Both of them had so much fun telling me all about fishing with Dad. 

 Last but not least, we both took the boys by our friend Ken's fire station on Saturday. We didn't tell them where we were going just that we had a surprise. When we pulled up, you would have thought it was Christmas! They loved "driving" the trucks and pretending to answer fire calls. Davis is convinced that is exactly what he wants to be when he grows up and I am A okay with that because I truly do believe firemen are unsung heroes of our cities. 

I am sure the boys will enjoy plenty more daddy time in the weeks to come while mom gets used to having a newborn again, but I know one thing for sure...they won't mind at all!!!!!

Surprise Surprise!!

Today I went back to the doctor for another check and surprise, surprise still nothing going on at all! So with 17 days to go, it looks like we are in it for the long/short haul. :) After a day filled with mixed emotions, I went to a friends' baby shower tonight and while I was out, my absolutely amazing, kind, generous, caring, creative husband was preparing the most awesome surprise that I have had in a long long time. He turned our master closet in the cottage into a full fledged nursery!! He even went and found lavender curtains to make it like the lavender walls I have always dreamed of having. I literally burst into tears, and not just because of the crazy hormones rushing through my body, but because I have been blessed enough to marry a man who cares about the little things that he knows will brighten my day/month/year! I am just astounded that he could do all this 1)without me knowing at all and 2)in two short hours! It is so precious and makes it so much more real. I can't wait for our little girl to get to know her daddy. She has no idea the blessing that is waiting for her. He truly is a man that loves his family and wants the very best for us and I love him to the moon and back. 

37 Weeks!!!!

Every pregnant girls dream...full term! I am so excited that we will meet our little girl in 3 weeks or less! I wish I had cute little lavender walled nursery pictures to show you, but that will all have to wait. God is teaching me so much through all this and giving me such a focus for what really matters instead of filling my time and attention with the things that are just for fun. I am thankful and am trying to savor the moments. Chris and I are pretty sure that this will be our last little baby and knowing that makes me appreciate this pregnancy that much more. As I watched the fireworks on July 4th, I could feel her moving around and she had the hiccups. I wish I could remember that feeling forever. I really do love being pregnant because it is a time when you can just let your body relax a little, and the very best part of all is feeling the baby move inside you. It amazes me every time and makes me wonder how in the world people can go through this life and not believe in God. I love not having to hold your stomach in all the time and the sweet things people say when they see your tummy growing. I will miss my sleep that I still am blessed enough to get and I will miss walking and feeling no guilt over not running a single step. I definitely will be glad to be able to tie my shoes easily again and sleep on my tummy, but to think I won't get to experience all this again is definitely bitter sweet. I have all her little gowns washed and the car seat, stroller, and bassinet all washed and ready to go. It's getting quite exciting over here and the countdown is on!!!