37 weeks and Maternity Photo Shoot

Our friend Dana from church is an awesome photographer!! You can view the rest of our maternity photo shoot on her site by clicking here: Dana Jo Photography She had contacted me this past weekend to see if Joey and I might be up for doing a little maternity photo shoot so she could try out her new camera and equipment. I was like, "heck yes I'll volunteer!" lol. I never really wanted to have maternity pictures taken professionally because I don't particularly care to remember myself this massive and not just in my stomach mind you but all over! After seeing these pictures; however, I was so happy that we did this. Dana did an amazing job and I would highly recommend her if you need any type of photo session done. Plus we got to enjoy a gorgeous afternoon at the lake! Thanks again Dana for blessing us with these pictures. They will always be a wonderful memory for us to look back on:).

37 weeks and a couple of days now. Full Term!! I had a super rough afternoon/night of contractions for about 8 hours yesterday and I was honestly thinking that I might be going into labor. That is a first for me! I was cramping up the wazoo and having one heat flash and dizzy spell after another over and over again. It was rough. The only reason I didn't call the doctor is because I have had so many days with intense Braxton Hicks contractions that I don't even know how to count them or keep track of them anymore. I guess listening to my instinct was right because they calmed down around 11 PM last night and here we are today, no baby:). lol. My body is just doing it's thang and getting prepared for labor. I think our little gal has had another small growth spurt because my skin feels like it's ripping at the seems now. No amount of lotion seems to ease that tearing sensation so let's hope it can hang in there another 3 weeks or the baby might just come spilling out. lol:) Joey and I are about as ready as we'll ever be to head over to the hospital should she decide to come early. We are both very excited to meet our little one any day now!

Baby #2 of 4

Isn't the little bumpkin adorable!! Below: the third mama Lindsay and her hubby Brian
Diana, me, Jennifer and Lindsay holding Raelyn. Lindsay is the one in labor as I type:)
Wes and Diana

I just got a text literally moments ago that the 3rd gal in our group of 4 is being induced as we speak!! Say a prayer if you could that her delivery goes smoothly and that her miracle baby is born healthy and strong! We can't wait to go visit them at the hospital hopefully sometime tomorrow! That being said, I figured I had better post the pictures of my visit to see baby #2 at the hospital on Saturday now since I will have another baby to post on very shortly:).

Evan and Jennifer welcomed their daughter into the world around 11:30 PM or so this past Saturday night. They named her Raelyn Austin Chaisson. I hope I am spelling that right. She has the most adorable tiny features and a ton of thick black hair:). She looks a lot like her mama from what I am hearing. She is the second tiny baby I have held in the past month and being that my little girl could be here any day now just made holding her so priceless. I couldn't stop staring at all her precious details and I even had a little conversation with her. lol. Congrats Jen and Evan. She is priceless!! I wish I had a better picture of the baby close up but, eventually we will be posting lots of pictures of our 4 babies together so hang tight:).

I will post a 37 week belly shot tomorrow. I don't think it's grown much since last week but, you might disagree:). Stay tuned for baby #3's arrival!!

Crafty Baby Goodies

I just had to show off the adorable homemade stuff that my friend Marisa sent me for our little girl (the black head band is for me though:). Marisa rocks it on her sewing machine and I don't think that is something I will ever be able to master. I don't have the patience for that kind of craft nor do I have the mathmatical mind to measure and cut things to precision. I absolutely loved these goodies when I opened the box; so unique, creative, girly and fun! She sent a cute cupcake quilt, some burp cloths, adorable onesies and a baby headband along with one for me which I LOVE. If you ever need some one of a kind baby stuff or cute headbands let me know and I'll get you in touch with Marisa:).

Coolest Stroller Ever (we think so)

Joey's brother Jeremy blessed us with this fantastic City Mini Jogger stroller last week. A friend of mine had highly recommended this stroller to me when I first got pregnant and I have had my eye on it ever since. It was a huge treat to see the box sitting on our door step and even cooler to see that it is every bit as awesome as I have heard. It is super light, super easy to fold and unfold, very compact and turns on a dime. I love it! Joey was so impressed with it that he wanted to go for a walk with it just for fun but, we decided that it would look kind of weird to be walking a stroller with no baby. lol. Can't wait to get our little girl in this thing and go for some long power walks this spring and summer! Thank you Uncle Jeremy. We absolutely love it and sure hope the baby does too:)!

36 Weeks ( late posting)

As you can tell by a picture post, we have our laptop back up and running all thanks to Joey and his awesome computer skills. Gosh I like my smart hubby! He is going to be gone at a 2 day fishing tournament this weekend so he made sure to have it fixed before he left cuz he knew I would need something to do. lol. Thanks babe! You are the best!!

So, here is the 36 week belly pic. My belly hasn't grown much in the past few weeks but, I think it's because our baby had an early growth spurt and then slowed down. My weight gain has been really slow over the past 3 weeks so that is where I am getting that idea from. lol. The doc. said that our little muffin probably weighs about 6.5 pounds right now which is the norm for someone who is 36 weeks pregnant. I finally settled on a pediatrician so that is done. Yeah! I went and bought a bunch of travel toiletries for the hospital stay so we are pretty much good to go. Yessssss! lol. The latest with the Braxton Hicks contractions is that when I have them I also get an intense heat flash and a killer dizzy spell that makes me see stars. I was watching a movie with Joey the other night and when I had my contraction I couldn't even see the TV and Joey said my face looked bright red like a cherry so I had to peel off some layers to cool down. Evidently the contraction pressure is causing the baby to pinch a nerve that is causing those symptoms according to the doc. Just under 4 weeks to go!! WooHoo!!

Thankful

I just hopped onto one of the photography blogs that you can link to from the side of my blog: Amelia Lyon and they had posted a ton of pictures from their recent trip to Haiti. The pictures are so riveting and beautiful but, the ones that struck me the most were the pictures that showed the doctors or parents who had just lost a child or a loved one lifting their hands towards Heaven and thanking God for the time they had shared with the person they loved and praising God in the face of the most horrible loss and disaster. I choked back huge sobs as I sat there staring at those pictures and my mind traveled to all the things that I can get so distracted by or wrapped up in here in the states where life is pretty posh for the most part. Sure, we don't all drive Ferarri's or live in beach side mansions overlooking Malibu but, we are still SO RICH and we have sooooo much to Praise God for and to be thankful for!

So, in light of that I wanted to take a minute to praise God! In good seasons and bad, God's love is so faithful and he never leaves us nor forsakes us!

Thank you Lord for...

This child that you have allowed us to conceive. We are so excited to be her parents and to love and care for her as long as we live. She is a priceless gift!

My wonderful husband who has brought so much love, joy, passion, excitement, laughter and adventure into my life. I thank you for every day I get to spend with him and pray that I never take him for granted!

My family (on both sides) who have been so supportive and consistent in my life through all the seasons I have weathered. I am incredibly blessed to have so many loving, giving, caring people around me.

My amazing friends! I am such a lucky gal to have so many ladies in my life that I can bounce things off of, complain to, laugh with and grow old with. You are each priceless to me!

My home, running water, indoor plumbing, showers, a microwave (hey, I'm pregnant!), a TV to veg. out in front of, clothes, food always in the fridge, blankets to keep me warm, a heater, an air conditioner, a cozy bed to sleep in, a computer to blog on, a mail box to get goodies in, a yard to play in and extra rooms to pack with junk!

My job and my husbands job that pay our bills and even provide us with little extras to go out on date nights and hang out with friends etc!

Our vehicles that get us from A to B and then some if we need them to! Joey has his dream truck finally which makes me so happy because he deserves it and I have a great SUV to accomodate our growing family:).

Freedom from religious persecution!!! I am so blessed to live in a country that offers it's citizens so much freedom, especially the freedom to worship as I please without being imprisoned or fearing for my life. Wow!

This list could really go on forever but, this will do for now:0. Thank you Jesus for everything! You are worthy of all of our praise!

Quick Little Update - and Birthday Shout Outs!!

First and foremost I would like to give a shout out to two of our awesome family members who just so happen to share the same birthday today. Daddy, Happy BIG 50th you young stud!!!! Jeremy Happy 25th you old man!!!! :). Hope you guys have a wonderful birthday today and hope you know how much Joey and I love you guys:). xoxo. I don't have a recent picture with us with Jeremy:(. Jeremy, next time you come out we need to get a good picture of all of us siblings together!!



So, turns out Joey will not be able to fix the laptop but, he found a company that he can send the parts to and hopefully they will be able to. I never realized how often I uploaded pictures until my computer was taken away from me! I have things I need to try and sell on Craigslist but, can't because I can't upload the pics, I have TONS of pictures to blog about but, can't. Oye. If this company can resolve the issue and we can get back up and running in no time. YEAH!! Blogging withdrawals are no fun. lol.

Joey is uber sick poor guy. It came on kinda slowly so we werent' sure how bad it would be but, he missed his fishing tournament Saturday, Church on Sunday and now work today. Poor baby:(. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brighter day for him:)

I went to lunch with my neighbor gal pals on Saturday and they blessed me with a gift certificate to a message place nearby. I have never had a message before and I am sooooo looking forward to using that gift certificate sometime after the baby is born to relax and unwind. Thank you ladies so much. That was so awesome of you all!

36 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I have belly pictures to post but, looks like they might be a tad late at the rate of which things are going. I am still split sleeping between my bed and the couch every night but, honestly I think my body has truly gotten accustomed to the 5ish hours a night that I get. I'm wiped out, exhausted by 7 PM everyday but, overall I seem to be adapting so Praise God for that:). Hopefully it will help with all the sleepless nights with an infant:). I have tons of Braxton Hicks contractions and they seem to get a bit stronger the closer I get to my due date. 4 weeks to go!! :)