Wordless Wednesday: Impatient

Changing things up a bit...this isn't a photo of Kayla!

Me, not so patiently waiting for my nephew/niece to arrive...

And just because, here's a sneak peek of our professional family/maternity photos we had done a couple weeks ago. :)  (More to come.)

38 Week Update

Only 2 more weeks until my due date.  Honestly, I'm still not sure I'm ready to be a mom of 2 so I can wait... :)

• Baby is the size of a:  37 weeks: stalk of Swiss chard; 38 weeks: mini watermelon
• Total weight gain/loss: Holy water weight, I cannot wait to lose you.
• The bump: Pretty much steadied at this point.  I am measuring right on based on my due date so I'm starting to become extremely irritated with people telling me how big I am.  This never happened with Kayla and honestly, people need to be slapped.
• Symptoms:  Still swelling a lot in my ankles/feet.  My hands have been hurting a little bit too for a while now, kinda like I jammed all of my fingers.  Other than that, I'm actually feeling pretty good, better than I was a few weeks ago for sure. Hardly any back pain, likely thanks to Dr. Katie my chiropractor.  
• Anything making me queasy/nauseous:  Nope.  Just not feeling hungry for much of anything in particular.
• Sleep:  I wake up at least 3 times a night to pee usually at this point, which I can live with, it's the attempting to get out of our low bed that's really killing me.
• What I miss:  My stomach NOT itching.
• Wedding rings:  I'm sure I could get my band on and off with a struggle but I've been wearing it on my necklace I got from Na Hoku in Hawaii on our honeymoon.  I can't wait to be able to wear them again!
• Maternity clothes:  Always
• Labor signs: I didn't get checked last week because I kind of don't care as it really makes no difference.  A few of the Braxton-Hicks contractions are becoming more painful though.  And don't forget to enter the baby pool!!! :)
• Best Moments: Buying just a few items of clothing for the new baby to try to make myself more excited...and because we haven't really bought anything that is just for BH2.
• What I am looking forward to:  Seeing Kayla's reaction to the new baby.   
• Worries?:  I'm so worried having a new brother/sister will cause Kayla's personality to change even the slightest.  This would be a severely tragic event as she is absolutely the best, funniest, most amazing little person to spend time with.

38 Weeks with the Big Sister (realized I'm wearing the same shirt, hey I like aqua.):

Aunt Lauren's Baby Shower

At the end of July, we had a baby shower for Baby House, due to arrive 6 days before BH2.  Lauren isn't a big fan of being the center of attention so it was a little bit of a rough day.  But she should probably get used to it now since she'll be getting married next year as well. :)

It was a lovely shower put together with a little help from a bunch of people (Meg, Gigi, Lauren's best friend Suzie).  I was somewhat useless, besides providing the party entertainment...a.k.a. Kayla.  We had yummy food and appetizers, watched Lauren open presents and ate some delicious cake.

It's so nice living close to family again so that I get to see everyone more often.  A large portion of our relatives where there and it's so nice to meet the family we are gaining as well (Lauren's fiance Kevin's family).  I think Lauren got a lot of what she needed and a bunch of great books to read to Baby House.    I of course got her a starter cloth diapering stash (no I didn't force her into it, she was just interested.)

Here are a few photos I took, again, not my best work.  We positioned the new mom so the light source was coming from right behind her...really making photos not so great, but I think I got a few goods ones.

I can't wait to meet my new niece/nephew!

My beautiful sisters

Aunt Lauren's little helper.

It looks like she's saying "juice"

Dresses by Gigi - to match the table runner.

Tired of opening presents.

Sophie the giraffe

Party Guests

More guests (Kayla makes appearance a lot of places.)

Great Grandmas!

"Trash"

Cloth diapers and newborn essentials (according to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Justin)

Great Aunts

Bathing essentials

Coloring with Mrs. Jania and Gigi

The most important baby registry item - the car seat.

Yummy cake.

Mom to be cutting the cake.  I love this photo the most from the day!

Fourth of July

Almost 2 months later. :)

Normally, my family tradition on the Fourth is go to my grandma's house on the lake, spend the day with family, playing games and grilling.  Wake up early to lay down blankets across the street at the lake where the fireworks are.  Go to the parade if it's not unbearably hot.  Watch the awesome fireworks over the lake.

This year was very different, since my grandparents decided to downsize and moved just a couple weeks before the Fourth.  They sold their house on the lake and are living in an apartment in a neighboring town until my grandpa's "office" is turned into their new home.

My grandma, as usual, was on top of things and had rented the party room at their apartment complex ahead of time so we could still gather as a family.  We spent some time at the pool, watch Nathan's hotdog eating context, chatted with family, managed to get Kayla to take a nap.  AND my grandma ordered Portillo's catering.  It was delicious and nice and cool and relaxing.

We didn't get to see any fireworks (many towns had cancelled their parades and their fireworks due to the extreme heat and drought like conditions at the time) but that was ok.  It was still fun to be with my family.

Here are some photos I took from that day.  I have honestly been a very bad wannabe photographer.  I haven't taken many photos and the ones I have taken aren't that great, but here they are anyways. :)

"Swimming" to Aunt Meg

And speaking of swimming, here are a few photos I took this summer of our swimming lessons/splash pad excursions.

Looks like she takes after her daddy in some respects. :)  The is the ONLY photo I have of Kayla's first swimming lessons.

The Last Getaway

This weekend, we are on the road with a toddler to Ohio to visit with Justin's family and celebrate another new addition to the family.  I won't be writing since I won't have my computer, but I'm going to try to whip out a few posts Sunday and Monday.

Until then, here is an awesome video I took of Kayla to tide you over. :)

She just learned how to "say" her name.  It's so funny and cute and now she loves to say it since it makes me laugh.  I managed to catch a video.  And no I'm not bribing her with snacks, "mo" (more) is another favorite word of hers. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Winter

We didn't get to play in the snow last year, so Daddy and I planned early and got some awesome deals at R.E.I. last Spring.  We decided to try them out on Kayla this past weekend.

Getting ready for the Chicago winter: