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The Start of School

We were all so looking forward to school starting this year. Aby is very excited about being in 1st Grade, and Mac is going to be going to school two days a week. Every year since Pre-K we take a picture on the front porch.

Here she is with her spot in the hallway.

Ready to get started on her morning work!!!


Mac on her first day!! It's so hard to believe that in just a few short years McKinley will be joining Aby in the walk across the field for Kindergarten. But we won't talk about that ;)

32 more days, or 35 weeks

I can't believe how quickly the last 4 weeks have flown by. It's so hard to believe that we only have about 4-5 weeks left and then our lives will change so drastically once again. I was holding my breath as I got to and passed week 34 (when I had Aby), and now this week is almost over and once it is this will be the longest I've ever been pregnant. It's like uncharted territory =)

Last week I had a great Dr. appointment. There had been no changes whatsoever in dilation. I'm really thinking these shots are working. Of course Dr. Spears did say that if for any reason I did start dilating and go into labor that they wouldn't stop me, and we obviously know the probability of her being able to go home instead of a hospital stay is pretty high. That's obviously not what we want, but is encouraging. She did take a guess at how much she is weighing, and she thinks that she is about 5 1/2 lbs. (about the size of a honeydew melon) Mac wasn't much bigger than that, so if I can go a few more weeks, then I'll have a "giant" baby. =) Ok, giant for me!!!!

I'm dealing with some insomnia. I do have a pregnancy app that has chat forums that I read when I can't fall asleep. It's kind of fun to read what other women are thinking who are in my shoes. Caedance is still one busy little girl. It's still amazing to watch my stomach roll around. But at the same time can be painful as she seems to try and push some body part out of my sides =)

The girls have really started asking when she's going to come live with us. And their faces light up when I tell them it won't be long now. They are over the moon excited to meet her and they always talk about what color eyes and hair she will have. Aby and McKinley look so different, that I can't even imagine what Caedy will look like.

I start weekly appointments this week, so hopefully we will get good news again. I'd really like to wait until the first week of September. This is actually possible since I have 2 shots left, and can possibly get one more after that. I actually think it be really cool for her to be born on the 10th. Then her bday would be 9-10-11. We definitely wouldn't have issues remembering her birth date.

Everything seems to be in place. The nursery is ready, all bags are packed, the only thing left to do is put the car seat in the car. So, for now we will wait "patiently". Luckily there are other activities to keep us busy and our minds from too much thinking =)

Tales of August

It seems as if the whole summer has been a whirl wind, but August has really flown by. We have been super busy with Dr. Appointments, play dates, preparing for school, and all the exciting construction going on at church. This post is about a few of our activities thus far in August.

Aby wanted to have some friends over for a play date. So, we invited about 4 girls over. They started out with a tea party.

Then moved onto makeup. I was actually impressed with the application of each girls makeup.

Then they moved on to dress up and a fashion show. They each had a song and dance they performed. These girls are so sweet.

We have another sweet friend whose mom knows how to put feathers in hair. We've been trying to get with her for most of the summer in order to get our feathers. It finally worked out a few weeks ago. All three of us had some put in, but Mac was asleep when I took this picture.

Chris has been working some looooooong hours these past few weeks. And because of his hard work the new addition to our church is looking amazing. We did manage to squeeze in a date night this past Saturday night. It was MUCH needed, and I really enjoyed just hanging out with him and having him all to myself (also wondering if it's the last true date night we'll have before Caedy is born). We started off the evening by going and buying him a new wedding ring. In July he somehow got poison ivy between his ring finger and middle finger. So, I told him to take his ring off, which he did, and he put it in his pocket. That was the last time we saw his wedding ring. So, the poison ivy finally healed and we went shopping. He picked out a completely different style then the original. His original compliments my ring well. It was platinum with a row of diamonds. This one is bulky and beefier looking and made out of Tungsten. He can basically beat it up and nothing will happen to it. It's a very cool ring, and while I am a tad sad about the original being lost, this new one is very Chris as well. We then went to eat dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was wonderful to be able to complete a thought and just focus on what was going on between Chris and I. With how busy Chris has been it was more like a catch up conversation. But I enjoyed every minute of it. After supper we went to the Yogo Bowl for frozen yogurt, then off to see Planet of the Apes. I wasn't sure if I'd like this movie, but I Loved it. They made me fall in LOVE with the monkeys. I definitely recommend it. I also am very thankful for Chris' parents. They came down and took the girls to the park and then to supper and got the girls all ready for bed for us. Our girls are so lucky to have 4 grandparents who cherish them and love spending time with them.

Tonight Aby had the opportunity to go to a sleepover with the same girls from above. So, I had Miss Mac all to myself. It was definitely a fun night. She wanted to watch a Tinkerbell movie and eat popcorn. So, we did that and I happen to look out the window and noticed it was raining. We both got really excited and went to the front porch to watch it. It rained and thundered for maybe 10-15 minutes, but it was very nice to sit and enjoy. Mac got out the umbrella and played in the rain. When it stopped and Mac was all cold and wet, we came inside to finish the movie. I definitely enjoyed my night with McKinley. And it also made me think about the fact that I'm not going to have many, if any, more nights where I get to hang out with just her. Aby will have lots more opportunities to spend the night places while pretty soon we will always have another sweet little girl hanging around too.

It's been a wonderful summer. It's hard to believe that this coming week we'll be going to Meet the Teacher Night for 1st grade, starting weekly dr. appointments, and anticipating the opening of the new children's rooms at church and using the brand new stage. I'm sure the next few posts will be mostly about the beginning of school and the birth of our third child, but for now I want to relish and take in every last moment of summer.

Over the Rainbow

I love celebrating my kiddos birthday. This year McKinley started out wanting a PINK party, but then switched to a Rainbow party. Every birthday I pull out the Special Birthday Cupcake. I find a little trinket and hide it somewhere in the house.

Here it is hidden.

It didn't take her too long to find it!

I found the cutest rainbow necklace at the Childrens Place. It quickly became her hottest accessory.

My Sweet 3 year old.

This year Chris was in Colorado on Mac's actual birthday, so when he got home we pulled out her birthday present. She is very much into baby dolls. So, we got her a baby center. She LOVES it.

We had a small birthday party at my mom's house. We invited family and Mac's BFF, Addison. We had cake, pizza, and did a little swimming.

This cake was made by a very special friend of mine, and was super yummy!!! Thanks Stephanie, Mac LOVED it!!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating our sweet Lil Mac!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday

I Love my BFF

There is nothing more special than finding a precious BFF at an early age. Both of my girls (and even Caedance will have instant BFF's) are very fortunate to have super sweet Best Friends. My BFF, Lisa and I made these shirts for our business, Sprinkles & Frosting and I just had to share how the the photo shoot turned out with these two girls. They are just adorable. (If I do say so myself)

Don't you just want to put them in your pocket and take them home with you?? They are just that stinkin Cute =)

Terriffic Threes!!

I cannot believe that I am writing another birthday blog for McKinley. It has been one quick year. This little girl is definitely a joy to have and to be around. She lights up a room with her fun personality. She is just happy to be wherever she is. McKinley does take a little bit to warm up to situations, but once she is confident she bounces all over the place. McKinley loves books and babies. She will spend long periods of time pulling books off her shelf and "reading" to herself. She also likes to retell a story to me by looking at the pictures. Her prized possessions are her baby dolls. She likes taking them with her everywhere. She enjoys pretending to take them to the doctor or putting them to bed. Her most favorite person is Abigayle. She adores her!!

Here are a few pictures that tell of her last year.

Hamming it up during our family pictures.

First Day of School

Decorating her pumpkin for Halloween.

Getting her Whoo Hair done.

Our resident Copy Cat!

Being adventurous with Daddy.

Enjoying beautiful Bluebonnets.

Being silly with best bud A.

Being Coy

Little Fashionista

Cosmetologist in training??

Being bashful with Bryn

Goofing off

More silliness during School pictures

My sweet McKinley!!! Your personality has really blossomed this last year. You were a girl of few words, and once your sister went to kindergarten you decided you either had to talk for yourself, or could finally get a word in. You were a joy to potty train. Once you were ready it was so easy and it was quickly mastered. You love playing with friends and are also perfectly content playing by yourself. You are a small girl in statue but have a giant personality. You are a girl who loves routine, especially at bedtime. You love reading books and saying prayers each night. You also think it's hilarious when you get into a fit of giggles. You've turned into quite the little shopper. You like going from store to store doing some major shopping. We love you dearly and thank God for you every day. I look forward to see how He continues to grow you into a Godly young lady.

59 more days or 31 weeks

This week Miss Caedance is the size of 4 navel oranges. And let me tell you I believe it. She is one active little girl. She is starting to not only keep me awake at night, but when I do finally go to sleep she wakes me up. I guess she's just preparing me =) According to my pregnancy app she is not only gaining weight, but putting on fat! That is extremely exciting to me. I LOVE fat babies, and yet I've never had a fat baby before. I love the ones that have the sumo wrestler look. You know where you can't see where the wrists and arms begin or end. We generally have long skinny babies. There is nothing wrong with them either, but a girl can hope for a little chunk.

I did go to the Doctor last week. The previous appointment she asked me if I felt as though my shots were helping. I didn't quite know how to answer that. How would I know if they were doing their job? She said that some women notice fewer Braxton Hicks. I wish this was the case for me. I don't have a ton of them, but they do happen about 3-4 times throughout the day. And of course they always go right over the fibroid cyst I have. That is super uncomfortable. Because Chris was leaving for Colorado she went ahead and checked for dilation. I have started dilating, but am only at 1cm right now. She said this did not concern her. There was no other signs of progress, so we'll see how I am at my next appointment (which is next week). She was so calm about this that I didn't feel like I needed to worry. And at this time last pregnancy I was already dilated to a 3. So, I'm clinging to that lack of progress =) The only disappointing thing that she said no to was we had thought about going to the beach with Chris' family next week. She was not to excited about this since I would only be a week or so away from when I had Aby. I was bummed, but did think about how uncomfortable the long drive to South Padre would actually be. So, we'll just plan on doing that next year.

This pregnancy has actually been neat because I know so many women who are pregnant too. There are 5 women on my street that will have fall babies. It's been neat to have a look into other pregnancies and how similar and different we all are.

Here I am with my close friend, Angela. She just had her sweet baby H yesterday. She of course is one beautiful little girl. I cannot wait to meet and hold her. I have to say that there has never been a time that I have been more jealous of Angela then right this second. =) This is definitely a catch 22. This is the last time I'll get to experience the lovely parts of being pregnant, but at the same time I am ready to be finished. If anything the delivery of baby H makes me realize that I really don't have that much longer. This is very exciting and "scary" at the same time.

Here I am with another one of my preggo buddies. Ali and I go waaaaay back. We are due within days of each other. It has been fun getting random texts from her and sending my own to her about how it's going. We finally got to meet up just a few weeks ago. She is having a sweet baby boy. I can't wait to see what his cute little face and personality will be like.

Despite the heat I'm feeling pretty good. This past weekend I put some loose ends of the nursery together and gathered a few more things that we were needing to complete our baby stash. I feel good about where we are, we are more than prepared. I just have bags to pack. And it may sound neurotic since I still have at least 7 weeks left til I'm full term, but I do that early so I'm not caught off guard. With Aby I wasn't prepared for a week long stay in the hospital, and I swore to never have that issue again. I've also felt the need to have everything set up and ready so I have nothing to worry about and can focus on moving into fall activities (such as school starting) and just hanging out with my 2 big girls!!!