38 Weeks Pregnant!

The time has finally come! I check into the hospital tonight at 10:00 p.m. where they are going to give me some medicine around midnight to get me ready to be induced first thing in the morning. My doctor thinks I'll go into labor easily and that the delivery will be fairly easy like it was with Nathan. His prediction is that Charlotte should be here around 1:00 or 2:00 pm Monday afternoon! I just can't believe it!

Nathan acts like he is really excited and has been "playing" with Baby Charlotte a lot lately. He'll pretend like he has her in his hands and will tell me he's carrying her around and give her kisses. Sometimes she watches cartoons with him :) Normally he only plays sweetly with her but the other day, he got a little carried away :) My parents were over at our house eating dinner, and Nathan had his little hands cupped and came over to the table saying "Look everyone, I have Baby Charlotte." We all pretended to give her kisses and then he carried her away. All of a sudden Nathan says, "Ooops! I dropped Baby Charlotte on the floor!" And after that, a few more accidents have happened: Baby Charlotte has been run over by Thomas the Train, and has fallen off the couch a few times. Hopefully once he sees that she is a real baby, he'll be the protective big brother :)

Here are my last "pregnant" pictures! If you don't want to see my bare belly, don't go to the end! It's pretty shocking, but I want to remember how I looked :)

"Mommy's tummy is HUGE!"

And what's wild is that I think my stomach is bigger this time than with Nathan, but my doctor estimates that Charlotte will weigh 61/2 or 7 lbs, and Nathan weighed 8 lbs! Although I feel like I'm carrying a huge beach ball around, I have loved every minute of being pregnant and will miss feeling Charlotte rolling around inside. But I can't wait to see and hold her!!!

Mother's Day and Build-A-Bear

My little poser! We got up this morning and headed to church, and Nathan was in such a good mood!


He let me take as many pictures of him as I wanted and thought of his own positions :)

After church, we went to the mall to Build-A-Bear so that Nathan could make a stuffed animal for Baby Charlotte.

He picked out a heart for his doggy (he decided she'd like a dog better than a bear). Then he added a sound thing into the dog's paw. We recorded him saying "I love you Charlotte" It's the sweetest thing!

Now it's time to stuff the doggy...this part was a little loud and scared him at first.

And he took the new dog on a ride in this red car that he said was Lightning McQueen (from the CARS movie).

And last, Nathan picked out an outfit for the doggy...a princess dress that he said Charlotte would like...he said it looked like Cinderella :)

Charlotte is going to love her new doggy!

I can't believe that he gets to give it to her tomorrow! What a wonderful Mother's Day...being with my precious little boy and knowing I get to meet my baby girl tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day to Mama and Grandmother

Wayne and I celebrated Mother's Day with our moms on Saturday morning. They came over for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits! Too bad my dad couldn't make it...he was in a golf tournament, and I felt a little guilty enjoying his favorite meal without him :)


Nathan with Mama and Grandmother


"Mama do you like this picture of me?"


"And Grandmother you get one too!"

We gave them each the cutest picture of Nathan from his Easter photo shoot. When I get a chance I'll scan it to show everyone. It's a close up of his face and is so precious!


And here we are enjoying a yummy breakfast...even Nathan liked my eggs!


Three of the best mommies and 1 cute little boy!


Happy Mother's Day!

A Swing Set for Big Brother Nathan

Wayne and I have been wanting to get a swing set for Nathan for a while. At first we decided we'd get it for him for his birthday. Even though it's in August, we just thought we'd give it to him early. Then we decided it would be even better to give it to him before Charlotte is born, and tell him it's because he's going to be a big brother. So the pressure was on to pick out the right one AND try to have it finished before the baby comes! We picked it up two weeks ago, and Wayne has done an amazing job putting it together (yes, he has done the whole thing on his own!)


Mommy and Nathan relaxing while Daddy organizes the 5,000 parts!


"Daddy, this sure is a big job, but I'll be a good helper!"


Nathan was so excited to see all of the parts of his swing set. We spent the whole first day playing in the garage while Wayne made sense of all the boxes, screws, and parts.


Nathan trying out the glider


Nathan really was such a good little helper. Any time Wayne asked him to do something, he acted so grown up, and did whatever it was his Daddy asked.


Wayne gave him an extra tape measure, and if Wayne started to measure something, Nathan got his tape measure out and did the exact same thing. It was so sweet to watch.


"OK buddy, first we're going to do this, and then we're going to do that."


"No, I think we need to do it my way...let me see those directions."


"Wait a minute, this isn't making sense...there aren't any fun pictures."


"So I'm just going to play with these goggles I found in Daddy's tool box,"


"And ride my 4-wheeler. Daddy, let me know when you're finished."

During the first week, Wayne worked on the swing set in the garage every night after work. He assembled it in steps (rock wall, roof, ladder, parts of the frame, etc...)with the idea that he'd put the base of it together in the yard during the weekend and then attach all of the other parts he had been working on.

Parts 2 and 3 are after this entry.

Swing Set Part 2

So last weekend, Wayne started the actual building of it in our backyard. On Saturday morning, I took Nathan to my parents' house so that Wayne could work on it on his own for a while. Nathan is a good helper, but also slows things down a little :) We had one glitch in the weekend though, both Nathan and Wayne were getting over colds. Wayne is such a trooper though, even though he wasn't feeling his best, he still worked on his little boy's swing set...what a good daddy!



When Nathan came home, he was so excited to see this in the yard!


He immediately wanted me to help him get all of his "tools" together so that he could help Daddy. Wayne bought a new drill and gave Nathan is old one. He took off the drill part so that Nathan could push the button and still play with it without getting hurt...so clever!


Nathan "drilled" holes all over the swing set, and he kept saying he was Handy Manny, Bob the Builder, and Widget (all of the cartoon characters he knows that have tools).


And then he got his toy chain saw out!


And here he is with his hammer and nails...


What handy man hasn't smashed his finger with a hammer...sorry Nathan, but it comes with the job :)


Daddy and Nathan installing the floors! It's coming together!

Swingset Part 3

On Sunday morning, Nathan and Daddy woke up bright and early. As soon as Nathan woke up, he wanted to get his shoes on to go outside!


Daddy finished the ladder, and Nathan couldn't wait to try it out.


Nathan kept pretending he was in his castle :)


And Wayne also finished the rock wall! I honestly could not believe how much he was able to do. Plus, he didn't get too stressed out about it :) I tried not to pressure him too much...all I said was "As long as it's finished before Charlotte gets here, I'll be happy."


The roof is finished and so is the main "fort" area. All that's left to do is attach the slide and swings. Nathan even ate his lunch on his little stool. He also likes to play "grocery store." He and I will take turns being the clerk and customer :) He sells me peanut butter sandwiches, grapes, cars, trains, puppies, you name it! And the price is always really reasonable...$700 dollars :)


Here is the back and side. The swings are going to be attached on the right side and the slide will be on the side by the pool. Charlotte will be here in 5 days, so Wayne better get to work! I can't wait to show you the end result!

Planting Flowers with Grandmother

I've said it before, but I'll say it again...I have the best mother-in-law ever! Last week, Helen came over and planted tons of flowers for me! I have been wanting to spruce up the front of my house, but the idea of planting flowers when I'm about to have a baby did not appeal to me :) So Helen quickly volunteered to be my landscaper. She came over one afternoon to watch Nathan while I went flower shopping. I had the best time picking everything out...I just hope I can keep them alive!


Nathan was so excited to help Grandmother! He had his own shovel, and would dig in the dirt right along with her.


Here he is searching for worms :) Whenever he would find one, he would get so excited!


While Grandmother was digging the holes, Nathan kept saying, "You can do it Grandmother! I so proud of you!" Then he would put the soil into his own flower pot and pretend he was planting his own flowers.


I love how Nathan likes to pose! I told him Mommy wanted to take a picture of him planting flowers, and he said, "OK, I get my chair and I be right back." And he politely went over to Grandmother and told her he needed her chair (which she was sitting on at the time) He brought it over to me, pulled his flower pot in front of him, and then smiled for me :) At least he did return the stool to Grandmother when we were finished taking pictures.

After working hard in the front yard, they moved to the back yard the next day. And here is the end result...

These are 3 Knockout Rose Bushes in the front left corner.

Pink Begonias on both sides of the walkway by the front door.

And 3 of these purple plants (I can't remember the names of them) with Pentas in between. The flowers on the Pentas have just started coming out and they are so cute! They are red, white, and pink.

Thank you so much Helen! These pictures don't do it justice...it really looks great!