40 and 2

I didn't sleep well last night, I had a really hard time getting comfortable. There were a few moments I was hopeful that my body would decide to just kick in and push out a baby. But no such luck. The majority of the day I was pretty uncomfortable, unless I was just sitting and relaxing. Craig was home today which was wonderful! We all went out to breakfast together and then Craig put in some good work to get our upstairs closer to done. This afternoon we took a little trip to get some ice cream, yum. This afternoon Kylie told me when she needed to go to the potty, so we rushed to the bathroom upstairs and she went #2 in the potty! Yay! She was so proud of herself. Then she insisted that she was done, I wiped her off then before we even walked out of the bathroom, she stood there naked and went pee. So close. She did this same thing yesterday, she seems to understand that poop belongs in the potty, but not so much the pee part. So we went straight to the bath. We decided to not try and potty train her before the new baby was born just in case she was going to regress back to diapers, I'm so glad because I can't imagine trying to chase her around and make sure she doesn't have accidents while I am feeling so uncomfortable. We figure she will let us know when she is ready and at that point it will be easy.


While I was nursing Kylie to sleep I could feel ALL the new baby's small parts moving around. The baby was moving SO much and I could feel little hands and feet all over the place. I think the back is now completely against my back, ahhh, so I am trying to encourage the baby to rotate again. Tomorrow is Melissa's birthday and our last chance for a May birthday so we are hoping for the best, but not holding our breath.

Not much more to say, here are a few photos from yesterday...

Good night
-Natalie

 Rainbow with Minni Mouse, wow.

 Kylie riding on Patrick the Pony.

 Just after writing this post :o)

40 weeks and 1 day

Kylie and I had a busy day :o)
Coffee and play time with Tabitha, Portia and Nico this morning. Story time at the library. A walk to Olive Market to hang out with Melissa and Anna. Back to Ama and Papa's for lunch and a nap for Kylie. I came home and rested for a bit then headed back when Kylie woke up. We played at Ama and Papas for a bit longer then headed down to market night. Kylie got a rainbow painted on her face (photo to come), rode on a pony named Patrick and ate lots of strawberries. It was a fun trip. Melissa, Anna and Martin when with us and Melissa walked next to her during the pony ride, thanks Auntie Marta! We headed home and threw together a quick dinner before daddy got home.

It was a busy day with lots of walking, my belly has been really tight all day. I can't tell if it is early labor type contraction tight, or just tight from being up walking on a hot day where I probably didn't drink enough water. After we ate dinner my back (between my shoulder blades) was really aching. I spent some time sitting on the floor leaning over the couch, it felt great to just let my belly hang and relieve some of the stress. I actually feel really good when I am lying flat on my back (even though it is one of those things you are not supposed to do), the challenge is that when I lay like that I can feel the baby move to a more posterior position (meaning its back falls closer to my back). That is not a good position to be in for labor at all. So then I try to flip over and do some pelvic rocks and see if I can get the baby to swing back forward.

Kylie was very sweet this evening, we were waiting for Craig to come home, we were just resting on our bed and I started rubbing my tummy. Kylie asked "you ok mommy? you having a con-trap-in?" I told her my tummy was just feeling tight then she leaned forward and kissed my belly. She put her hands on my tummy and says "I feel the baby moving, here's its head, foot, eye, hand..." then she starts to push on my tummy, "push, push, push I help you push the baby out, ok mommy?" So sweet and helpful, if only it was that easy. I think reading that Hello Baby book is really helping because a little later she told me that I might scream and yell when I am making the baby come out, she sure seems to get it, I just hope we can find a way for her to be involved without it being overwhelming for her. She is so sensitive and observant, she was quite concerned when I was resting on the couch and kept asking if I was ok and if my back was still hurting, seeing me so uncomfortable might be to much for her to manage, but we will just have to play it by ear.

Yesterday my midwife Karen delivered her 1,000th baby! She is such an amazing woman. I had no idea how close we were to being the 1,000th, but now we get to be 1,001 :o) She is truly a gift to the birth community, I feel so blessed to have her as my midwife.

Once again it is time for bed, Craig is finally taking a few days off, he has been working like a crazy man trying to get us ahead a little. I will be so happy to have him home, I think I will be able to relax a little more and that might be what my body needs in order to go in to labor. But we will see, I am starting to get to that uncomfortable place where I am looking forward to the hard work of labor. I think that is how it was meant to work, you get to a point where you invite the hard work and the pain because you are willing to do anything to get the baby out :o) I am not quite all the way there, but a few more days like today and I will be more then ready to do whatever I have to :o)

Good night
-Natalie

I wanted a photo for today, Craig was sleeping on the couch so I propped his phone up and woke him long enough to push the button, lol, it's not great but it gets the job done. 

Happy Due Date!

40 weeks this little one has been cooking and it looks like it could continue to cook maybe one or two more :o) I had a couple contractions today, but once again, nothing that feels like labor. I have had a couple strong contractions tonight, but not consistent. Right now the baby has very strong hiccups which shake my whole belly.

Kylie and I had a fun day today... it started with Mother's Breastfeeding Circle. We had a wonderful group of women show up to the group this morning, I hope they all continue to come, they are such a support to each other and simply wonderful mothers. After group, Kylie and I enjoyed another lunch date with Kerry, Olivia, Amy and Julia. We went to Olive Market and Kylie enjoyed giving both babies hugs and kisses, she is so sweet and gentle with them. Then we headed home, Kylie took a nap while I had a wonderful conversation with some good friends Thad and Michelle. They are expecting their first beautiful baby any day now too. I am so excited for them, and who knows, maybe they will be birthday buddies :o) When Kylie woke up we headed out for ice cream, yep, pregnant woman on a hot day, I wanted ice cream. Kylie was very excited and enjoyed picking out her strawberry fro-yo with three yummy toppings. After our treat we headed to KidSwap to find Kylie some new flip flops. I talked to her last night about how we lost one of her flip flops while we were walking and now we would need to go get another new pair. She actually took it really well and was very excited about going to get a new pair today. Thank goodness the consignment store had one pair in her size and she loved them. So for $1 we got a new pair of flippies and she is a happy girls again.

We stopped by Ama and Papa's house on the way home and got to see Marta and her good friends Anna and Martin. Kylie showed off her flip flops and sang and danced for everyone. We had a good little visit until it was time for Kylie and I to head to Portia's house. Tabitha invited us over for home-made pizza tonight, yum!!!! We got there and Portia and Kylie "helped" put the toppings on the pizza and about 10 minutes later we were enjoying a delicious dinner. Tabitha and Darin moved in around September last year and we have simply fallen in love with them and their kids. They are wonderful neighbors and during the past few weeks especially, they have had Kylie and I over for dinner, brought me coffee and offered much needed support. I need to find a good way of saying thank you, they are wonderful neighbors and I am so glad they happened to move in down the street!

After dinner we headed home, Kylie got some much needed play time with her daddy and I enjoyed putting my feet up for a bit. Now it is bed time. While I have been writing I have had 2 more contractions, not super strong, but stringer then before. I am going to go drink a big glass of water and head to bed. If I end up awake with contractions I will be sure to get on and write some more. But for now I am hoping to get some good sleep. Craig has worked the last 5 days in a row and was suposed to be off for the next week, but he is planning to go in tomorrow just to get an extra day in before the baby comes. Oh and one more exciting moment. Kylie slept in her little bed all night last night. She woke once saying she was thirsty and asking for water, we brought her water and she then asked for a bottle with milk. Gave her that and she drank a little and fell back to sleep. She slept until 7am in her own bed!!! It was awesome. I actually got up and started to get ready for the day before she even woke up and when she did, she was so proud of herself for sleeping in her own bed, yay. We will see what happens tonight, and I'm sure when the baby comes she will want to sleep with us all the time, but I enjoyed having a little more space to myself last night (trying to soak it in considering it will be the last time for another 2 years).

Good night for now :o)
-Natalie  

Kylie on our walk downtown two days ago, all three babies came with us, good thing we lost the flip flop and not a baby :o) 

39 weeks and 6 days

Today was another busy day...

We had our apt with Karen, everything is good with the baby and me, yay. I gained about 4 lbs over the past week, I guess our big dinner out last night showed up on the scale today ;o) Baby's heartbeat is 130-140's, good position, good fluid and moving well.

There is so much more to say about today, but I am tired, Kylie is already asleep and I am ready to join her. No imminent signs of labor but I will keep you all posted if anything changes.

More to come tomorrow :o)
Natalie

Downtown adventure

Kylie and I had an adventurous morning. We headed downtown for a walk with Tabitha, Portia, Nico, Kerry and baby Olivia. The weather was wonderful when we started our walk, but the walk home was a little hot. We headed to Augie's and enjoyed sitting under a tree with the little ones while the big girls ran around. Kylie has been having a hard time sharing her toys so we got an opportunity to work on that a little today :o) She was so excited to see Olivia and of course Nico. I am getting more and more excited for her to meet our new baby, I think she will be such a good big sister.

When we got home I noticed only one of her flip flops in the strolled, ahhhhhh. She doesn't know it yet, I can't imagine how I am going to tell her that we lost one of her favorite shoes, she is going to have a full melt-down. I went back and drove our walking path tonight and didn't see it, I might try to walk it tomorrow and look one more time. Kylie is so obsessed with her shoes, she cries when she grow out of a pair and can't get it on anymore, she will change her shoes 2-3 times before we leave the house and 9 times out of 10 she is frantically looking for her flip flops. The other day she said "sometimes I call my flip flops, flippies. And sometimes I call my flippies, flips." She then referred to them as her "flips" for the rest of the day. Anyway, wish me luck on either finding the flip or explaining it to my passionate daughter.

I went to my last prenatal yoga class tonight. Last because I feel like this baby might come before next Monday and because as of June, Breathe is no longer going to be open. The space is being taken over by a local midwife, who is still planning to teach prenatal yoga, but my plan was to simply finish out my classes with Julie and be done for now. I will miss Breathe so much! It was such a peaceful, sacred space where I could go and be replenished. With this pregnancy, I felt like my yoga time was special time for me and this new baby, and I loved it! Julie is an amazing teacher with the most pure and beautiful energy, I will miss seeing her every week, but I know we will keep in touch.

My parents decided to have a Kylie sleep over at their house tonight. They have had her over at least one every 1-2 weeks and they want to keep up the routine since she might have to spend some time over there when I am in labor. I thought Craig might be working until 1am tonight, so I was planning on a lonely night at home. But Craig was able to get off around 8:30 and we went out to dinner!!! It was wonderful! We tried the new place in downtown called Darby's. The food was really good. We enjoyed a relaxed meal with real conversation (which doesn't happen at home because Kylie literally says "hey stop talking to each other guys!" all the time). We talked about potential baby names, nothing set in stone, but it is nice to at least have a few ideas.

Off to bed now, it is always a mixed emotion night when Kylie is not here. I miss her and often wake up multiple times looking or listening for her, but at the same time I will get more comfortable sleep considering I will not have a toddler latched on for half the night :o)

Good night,
Natalie

39 weeks 4 days and going strong.

There was a moment last night where I thought Uncle Kyle might get a birthday buddy today, but no such luck. The baby is happy as can be, still moving all the time, and when I listen to it's heartbeat with my stethoscope is it between 130-140, perfect. My mom has been like a magic fairy lately, coming over and just going through my house on a mission to spring clean. This morning she showed up and hung a window upstairs that she had taken home and cleaned, sanded and repainted (it looks great!), she went through another part of my kitchen and completely organized my food pantry. Amazing! With all her help, I have been able to keep up on the other parts of the house, and this afternoon I went grocery shopping and stocked up the house. I got home and caught up on all the laundry and dished and the house is still clean! For the first time (maybe ever) I am feeling a sense of pride in my wonderful home and finally feeling like it is a place I want to spend time, thank you mom! Of course this is just in time for the new baby to come and everything to fall apart again, but I am enjoying feeling on top of it, even if it is only for a few days :o)

Kylie, Papa and I walked downtown to the Festival of Arts, it was a good time. I ran in to a few friends (I love that Redlands is a somewhat small town), ate a yummy lunch, listened to some good music, looked at beautiful art and Kylie got a butterfly painted on her arm. This evening Kylie and I had a wonderful dinner with Tabitha, Darin, Portia and Nico. They came over for a little play time and brought some delicious fish to share. I hope we can continue to do "family dinners" when the new baby arrives, it is so fun to enjoy a meal all together.

Craig came home tonight and entertained Kylie, gave her a bath and let me have about 30 min to just sit with my feet up and eat some ice cream. It was a wonderful little break. I know he is exhausted when he gets home from a 13 hour day, but he is such a wonderful husband and daddy, he always has time and energy for us.

No contractions so far tonight, but you never know. My back has been a little uncomfortable but the worst part right now is the occasional heart burn. I never had any acid reflux/heart burn feeling with Kylie, ever. But over the past week or so I have had it with this baby, so uncomfortable. I keep forgetting to buy something to help since it usually happens at night when I am to lazy to go out and get anything. I feel like this baby is low like Kylie was, I am still only measuring 34cm at my last apt (39 weeks) so I don't know why I am so uncomfortable. But what can you do, at least that is all I have to complain about :o)

I had two more strangers tell me they thought the baby was a boy. That seems to be the general consensus again this time around. But as soon as I tell them "this is exactly how I carried my daughter," they usually say "oh, well maybe it's another girl." Most people also tell me how low I look, like the baby has really dropped, but today a woman asked if I was 8 months along and still waiting for the baby to drop. It's so interesting how much people think they know from simply looking at you.

Well it's time for bed, I will write more if things start to happen tonight, but I have a feeling I will probably just get some good sleep :o)
-Natalie

Mish's birthday lunch, tacos, yum!

 Kylie enjoyed pretending to catch everyone as they came down the slide.

 When her mommy went inside to cut the cake, the birthday girl thought it was a good idea to hang out on the table, silly girl.

 Oh and dance on the table.

 Ummmm cake!!

Happy Birthday to Mish...but not the new baby.

My mom came over again this morning and we tackled the kitchen, cleaned out almost every little corner, threw a lot away and organized the rest. Yay, another space ready!
Then Kylie and I went next door to celebrate Mish's 2nd birthday (I will add some photos from the party tomorrow). It was fun, we had tacos and birthday cake and the girls all enjoyed playing outside on this beautiful day. This afternoon I got a visit from my good friend Janisha and her little girl Alana. Janisha is also expecting, she is 33 weeks along with a little boy. We are so excited to be having our second so close together, I am hoping we get to spend more time together once she goes on maternity leave (just remembered that I have not filled out my maternity leave paperwork yet, oops). We headed to my parents for a wonderful dinner with Melissa and Renae (my mom's friend and one of Kylie's favorite people). Craig joined us when he got off work, just in time to hear us singing happy birthday to Mish before we ate some left over cake that Renae brought over. Yep, that's what I said, singing happy birthday to Mish, we ended up singing to her twice during our evening even though she was not there. The second time involved candles, lights out and the whole 9 yards, upon Kylie's request of course. She loved it, she enjoyed the singing more Mish much more then she enjoyed us singing for her on her birthday, silly girl.

We came home and I had a couple nice strong contractions, for a brief moment I thought it could be the start of something. But nope. It took me some time to put Kylie down, during that time I didn't contract (even though Kylie is nursing constantly, which I keep thinking might help) and the baby rotated to an OP position (it's back running along side my back, sunny side up) not a good position to have the baby in for labor. So now I am spending time on my hands and knees, trying to get the baby to rotate back. Craig just started another crazy stretch of working days, 5 in a row including today. We are hoping he can get all these work days in before he takes a few days off for the baby, but we will see.
Good night for now :o)
-Natalie

Two wonderful evenings in a row, I am truly blessed :o)

Last night I enjoyed an amazing evening with a wonderful group of women. I lost my planner about a month ago, so when Kathie text me to remind me about the Season's Within meeting I immediately checked the calendar to make sure I could attend. It was a truly beautiful evening with delicious food, peaceful atmosphere and incredible company. And to top it off they did a Mother's Blessing for me! It was a magical experience. I feel like it was exactly what I needed to feel like I am read for this baby to come. The love and positive energy that was poured out on me was tangible. Thank you to all the beautiful women who were part of this amazing experience, I didn't realize how much I needed it.

Here is a photo of me during the blessing, different blessings were said to different body parts and at this moment my breasts were being blessed to provide wonderful nourishment to this new baby.

Today was another fun filled day. More organizing and cleaning of the house, quick lunch date as a family before Craig went in to pick up an additional 6 hours (1-7:30pm). Then the best part of the day...I picked Craig up from work and we went out dancing!!!!!! I miss dancing SO much! My soul needs me to move and tonight I got a chance to feed that part of me. I have not been to the BI in about 6 weeks (I think) and it was so amazing to be back on the dance floor, and with my husband to make it even more amazing!!!!! We enjoyed a couple hours of good music, good company and lots of dancing. It's amazing to me to feel so uncomfortable (even when I am just walking), but once I got dancing I felt so good. It felt good to sing and sweat a little I really do think dance is one of the best exercises there is. So now it is bed time, I am emotionally feeling good and tonight my body feels rejuvenated too. I am loving being pregnant, not ready for it to be over, but starting to accept that we are getting close to the end of this chapter and getting more and more excited about the next part.

Good night
-Natalie

Maternity Photos!

Jess did an amazing job with our maternity photos, here is the link to her blog where she posted a preview :o)
http://jessrobertson.com/2014/05/prospect-park-maternity-session-redlands-lifestyle-photographer/

Also I just finished my last Grow Our Own Lactation Class! 9 months and a whole bunch of assignments later I am feeling more knowledgeable and excited about helping mommies with breastfeeding. I am so glad this little one stayed in long enough for me to complete my final, one more thing checked off the "before baby" list :o) Next up...massage...my back is killing me :o) 

39 weeks today!

Kylie and I had a fun filled busy day. We started our day at breastfeeding group enjoying the company of a couple wonderful women. Then we headed to a lunch date with Amy, Julia, Kerry and Olivia (wishing we would have thought to take a photo all together). It was a yummy lunch with great conversation, Kylie even got to hold baby Olivia for a little bit, she loved it. Then we headed home, Kylie napped while I continued working on the house. My mom and dad helped out again and we were able to get the laundry room cleaned out and organized, yay! I managed to have dinner on the table when Craig got home and Kylie asleep at a somewhat reasonable time, success!

Here are a few photos from the past two days...
Yesterday at our apt. 

 Kylie running around naked after her bath.

 This is how I put Kylie to sleep every night, my big belly, Kylie and me all cuddled in a little twin that is folded up on one side and on the floor. It might look comfy, but you should see me try to sneak out once she is asleep, there is a lot of huffing and puffing :o)

 39 week belly, grow baby grow!

Appointment with Karen today...

We had another appointment with Karen today. It was weird when she said that the next time she sees us could be at our house, I still have moments where I forget how close we really are. On one hand I am so glad I didn't deliver weeks ago when I was having some contractions, that now I am feeling like "bring it on, I'm ready and so glad we made it full term." And on the other hand I am still loving being pregnant, although I am more uncomfortable this time around, I still feel good. I am not sure how ready I am to go through labor (mentally), I don't feel like I have prepared like I did with Kylie, and I am very worried about how much life will change once the baby is here. Then I find myself acting like I have weeks to go, and that there is no way this baby will come before sometime in June. But that is one of the fun and exciting parts of this adventure, only this little baby knows its birthday :o)

Our appointment went really well, my vitals are great, baby is great, still measuring only 34cm, but I never measured more then that with Kylie and she was obviously growing well and big when she was born, so Karen is not at all concerned. Kylie is getting really good at listening to the babies heart beat with the Doppler, she smiles so big when she holds it to my belly and hears the heart beat. She also enjoys pretending to measure my tummy, she is so sweet. I keep thinking I should make her a little "midwife" kit, she has a Dr. kit, but I think she would enjoy having a measuring tape and pretend Doppler.

I have had a few more contractions tonight, it's probably because we finally got the house feeling put back together. My parents came over today and helped me rearrange and clean. The house is looking and feeling so much better. The play room is coming together, Kylie loves is and wanted to spend most of the day up there. There are still a few things that need to be done, but as of right now things are feeling better then they have for a couple weeks.

Going to bed, hoping to get some good sleep, last night Kylie slept in her own bed without waking up until 6am (at that time she came and nursed and slept until 7:30), it was a minor miracle. I am not counting on the same thing tonight but it would be awesome to get another good night of sleep before I stop sleeping again for the next two years :o) 

Good night- Natalie

The new carpet is in! 38 weeks 5 days!

Carpet day! It is all in and looking great! The team that came to work on it this morning was very fast, they had the whole job done in about 3 hours, wow! For lunch Kylie and I joined my friend Autumn, her kids and a couple beautiful pregnant mama's for a delicious lunch to talk about birth. It was wonderful, I love having a chance to share my passion with other women :o) This afternoon my dad came over and installed new screens on the upstairs windows so we wont have any little people falling out, thank you dad! And my mom helped me start to move the office desk and book shelves back in, it is looking great. I got to attend yoga again tonight. I hope I still have one more class next week, it is sad to me to think that this could have been my last class. Julie is selling Breathe and will not be teaching prenatal yoga anymore :o( I took her class with Kylie and have really enjoyed taking the class again with this baby. I feel like it is the one time a week that I get to devote my time and attention to this new baby without any distraction and I love it. Julie is done teaching in June, so I hope we can get one more class in!


Our stairs before with the casino red carpet, yuck!

Our freshly painted upstairs with the old carpet.

Mid-project

The old stuff on its way out.

New carpet!

New stairs!

And landing too!

Kylie was so excited, she squealed and ran around in circles for about 15 minutes. She kept saying, "this my new play room!"

More rearranging and moving back in to the upstairs tomorrow, I am excited!

-Natalie
P.S. Kylie picked out her own outfit today, it's hard to see, but she has a blue and white stripped skirt, purple stripped leggins, her black and white polka dot Mini Mouse shirt with red tutu and her blue tank top over it. When we left the house she also had grey socks and her blue dress shoes. Kids can pull of anything! Gotta love it!

Fun day for Mommy!

We went to church this morning, often I spend the entire time with Kylie in the nursery, but today I got to enjoy the service while Craig played with Kylie in the nursery, relaxing moment #1. After church, Undi, Tabitha and I went on a "mom's date." We headed to Carolyn's Cafe for some delicious coffee cake and brunch. It was an hour wait for a table (when they told us 30 min) but looking back it was nice to be forced to have a little more time to ourselves. I am so lucky to live on a street with two amazing women, relaxing moment #2. After brunch, Tabitha and I went to get mani/pedi's at my favorite nail salon. Although my original thought was to do something creative on my nails with blue and pink, in honor of the upcoming baby, I ended up with pink and white polka dots. Totally cute and they will be super appropriate if this little one ends up being a girl, relaxing moment #3. Then we headed to Michael's craft store so I could buy some fake flowers. Shopping with another adult and not a two-year-old, relaxing moment #4. When I got home Kylie was napping, Craig was working hard on the upstairs and I was able to spend a little time putting together a little flower headpiece for Kylie and gather our clothes for our maternity photos.

We met my good friend (and amazing photographer) Jess at Prospect Park and spent about 1.5 hours taking maternity photos. It was fun to be on the other side of the lens, I have not had my photo taken since newborn photos with Kylie and now that I have been practicing my own photography, it was really fun to have some photos taken. We wore white and dark blue. The inspiration was this cute little dress I found for Kylie at a consignment store and a pair of the sweetest dark blue shoes (also from the consignment store). She wore the dress and had the shoes on, but as soon as we got in the car she saw another pair of shoes (jean material with sparkly toes) and she insisted on wearing them. So we said yes, assuming we would be able to change her in to the other shoes as some point (considering they were what we baised everything else on), but it never happened. I must of asked her 4 times to switch her shoes and a very loud, screaming "NOOOOOOOOOO" was the only response I got. But none-the-less I'm sure we got some good photos and I can't wait to see them.

I have had a handful of slightly stronger contractions this evening, but nothing to write home about. The carpet is going in tomorrow, right now Craig is upstairs putting in new "peel and stick" flooring. He has been working SO hard to get the upstairs space ready, it looks great!!! He goes to work again tomorrow then teaches clinicals on Tuesday. We are hoping he gets some rest soon, tonight he said he needed at least one good nights rest before the baby comes, I hope he gets more then that :o) Also just want to say "thank you" to my amazing husband for being so supportive of my "mommy day," I really needed the recharge before the baby comes. I hope I can give him the same kind of break soon, he deserves it more then anyone I know!
Just now having another little contraction, stay in baby! Just one more week please :o)

My fun nails!

Kylie and I being goofy with Photo Booth yesterday. 

More to come soon :o)
-Natalie

More painting today

Baby stayed put another day, yay. Craig spent the majority of his day (and is currently still up there) in our upstairs painting. It is looking amazing! I helped out for a little bit this morning, but once it got hot I headed down stairs and "nested" for a while. My mom came over and helped me get our guest room ready with all our birth stuff, birth box and cameras. She also made a much needed trip to donate piles of clothes and shoes we have been trying to get rid of. I cleaned the kitchen this afternoon and now feel like I at least have a couple places to labor when the time comes.

Kylie had a good day. She spent time with her grandparents this morning and again for a brief time this afternoon. She has been spending more and more time playing by herself. She sits and reads stories, "mother's" her baby dolls and plays with her doll house in her bedroom. We got to Skype with our Portorville family today for a while, it was wonderful. Kylie told them some good stories and actually carried on a conversation with them, she is growing up too fast. Tonight we read her Big Sister books and Hello Baby (a descriptive book about a baby that is born at home with a midwife). In the middle of the book Kylie tells me that she is going to be the one to catch our new baby when it comes out of mommy. She was so excited and proud of her idea, she must have told me about 4 times "mommy, I catch the new baby when it comes out, just like midwife." Melts my heart. Who knows, depending on how my labor goes she might just be able to be there if I deliver in the water and she could totally help "catch" the baby as it comes out.

One more quick note... I had the pleasure of taking Emily's maternity photos this afternoon, we got some great pictures of her beautiful belly and sweet little boy Liam.

Time for bed before my wonderful husband gets mad that I am still awake :o)
-Natalie

Made it past the full moon!

Kylie came on a full moon almost two weeks after her due date, so there was some thought that this past full moon might bring the baby out. But we made it, yay! I am slowly working through my list of things to do before the baby comes and every day is like a little gift of time :o)

Here are a few photos from recently...

Some of the wonderful women that come to the Mother's Brestfeeding Circle

 Giants game in San Diego with the Johnson crew last month.

 The Redlands Bicycle Classic.

 Daddy got a new blender for his birthday and Kylie loves it when he makes smoothies!

 Baking a birthday cake for daddy.

 Kylie likes to have her own baby in her tummy too!

Black shirt-35.1 weeks
White shirt-37 weeks

Goofy girl sporting her Easter stickers.

Thank you Auntie Liz for making me my own ring sling for my baby.

Spending time with her favorite little guy, Niko.

Above photo, a few days ago we knocked down the wall upstairs and started painting, we love how much more open the room is now.
Below-Tired and upset Kylie and 38week belly

This morning Kylie decided to sport her new hat (backwards), messy buns, a polka dot shirt, striped skirt and flower shoes on our walk to Olive Market, I love her style!

38 weeks :o)

I wrote this yesterday and forgot to publish it, oops...

I had another apt with Karen today. Kylie and I went to it together, Craig stayed here to work on his "nesting" project. Everything went well at the apt, baby sounds great, lots of good fluid and everything is on track. I have had a handful of contractions but nothing strong or consistent. Tomorrow and Thursday are the full moon, I am really hoping this baby doesn't decide to come meet us on the full moon, I am not feeling ready. I have a very long list of things I would like to get done, including maternity photos which we plan to take on Sunday. Just tonight my dad and his friend Patrick, came over and helped Craig knock down one of the walls in our upstairs. The project started because Melissa moved out and this was a good opportunity to re-carpet up there, if we were going to re-carpet, we needed to paint, if we are going to paint we might as well make the room the way we want it. Hence full demolition tonight, the wall is now gone and Craig has tomorrow off, so he is on a mission to get as much done as possible. We would like to have carpet put in on Saturday, but who knows. This is all assuming I am not in labor, stay in baby, stay in!!!!

Kylie has been a little more emotional lately, she senses the changes that are happening and wants to nurse all the time. She wants me to hold her and is constantly wanting to be as close to me as possible. I am trying to soak in every minute with her while she is still an "only child," things will change a lot when the new baby is here and I hope we can smoothly transition. I am increasing more uncomfortable, especially my back. Today I feel like my belly grew, I feel like I am looking like I am about ready to pop, but as the same time hoping I have a couple more weeks for this little one to continue to grow.

Tabitha, Undi and I are planning a little "mom's morning out" this coming Saturday. We are hoping to go get breakfast and maybe a mani/pedi while the dads get together and watch the kids. I am really looking forward to it.

This past Sunday we attended the YMCA Youth Circus for Portia's second birthday. It was so much fun! Kylie watched almost the whole thing, she was very entertained and since then she has been doing her own tricks all around the house. Kids can start to participate when they are 3 years old so it might be something we try out next year.

I took some newborn photos for Kerry of baby Olivia last week. She was not a big fan, but we got some good ones anyway.

Kylie has been telling very elaborate stories lately, she gets going and her hands are all over the place and her intonation is changing, it is so cute! On multiple occasions I have tried to capture some video, but she always catches me and says "no pictures mom." She has also learned how to eat edamame very well. She can get the seed out of the pod then tosses the empty shell into the discard bowl. It is funny to watch such a little person eat something that seems so grown-up. Kylie still sings all the time, she has started to expand her music choices in the car, she now requests The Sound of Music, Raffi and her CD from music class last year. At home she likes to sing Mary Poppins songs and Part of their World from The Little Mermaid. She is an amazing little girl, Craig and I often just look at each other and smile, we wonder how we got the pleasure of being her parents, we are truly lucky.

-Natalie

Happy Birthday Portia!

 Birthday Tea Party in the backyard.

 With real tea!!

 This was our one attempt to get them all looking the same way for a photo, not such an easy task.

 They got to play on the jungle gym too!

 Kylie said she wanted to be dressed up for the party, so of course she chose to wear her puffiest dress and all three of her tutus and don't forget the big purple flower! She knows how to dress for a party :o)

 The ball pit was another fun activity, Mish looked like she could have slept there, silly girl.