Baby update

I had my 34 week appointment with my midwife this week along with my last ultrasound to be sure the placenta has totally moved out of the way of my cervix to make way for baby's grand exit. It was interesting to watch an ultrasound at this stage of the pregnancy because the baby was so big. At times it was neat to catch glimpses of fat little body parts like legs and arms (and we double checked -- no doubt that she's a girl as well!) that are so well-developed now, but it was a lot harder to decipher things since the screen can only show so much at a time. Still we got a nice little glimpse at her tiny face, and the tech even concluded that she could see that she has hair already. With the heartburn I've been having, I wasn't shocked. The measurements and estimations put her due date on the exact same date again, October 20, and weighed her in at an estimation of 5 lbs 6 ounces already! My weekly email for this week said the average fetus is about 4.75 pounds right now, so maybe we're going to have a big baby girl on our hands!

Fall Fest weekend... Plan B

The annual Fall Fest came upon us Labor Day weekend, and I did my best to prepare. I bought the ride tickets in advance (because I can't resist a discount) and kept the day clear on the ol' calendar. And then the weather forecasts came out: rain, rain, rain. Hm.   Abby came to see us, who we missed greatly, Friday night and she surprised us with chicken to grill. Unfortunately, the chicken caught on fire and forced us to Plan B our night. Since it wasn't raining at the night, I suggested we seize the night and head up to the festival instead to use some ride tickets and get dinner there. Things weren't the picture-perfect images I had envisioned, as the air was so humid you couldn't breathe and my fearless toddler decided to fear the rides with an unexplainable intensity. But we made the most of it, got our dinner, had a success spin on the carrousel, and headed back home for the evening.

On Saturday Grandma and Papa Kershaw decided to come up to see us, and Aunt Molly, Uncle Adam, Alex, and Amelia decided last minute to join them.  This worked out well since the forecasts didn't lie and we had boring ol' rainy weather for almost the entire day and Fall Fest was completely shut down. The kids had a great time chasing each other around and all of us adults thoroughly enjoyed stuffing our faces with too much  Happy Joes pizza.

On Sunday the events got changed around, postponed, and cancelled enough to where it wasn't going to jive with the rest of our day to watch the parade and such. So, we decided to hang up our tickets for next year and spend more time with Uncle Eric, Grandma, and Grandpa. It turned out to be a fabulous day as well, filled with cat chasing and bad movies.

So our Labor Day weekend did not follow any of the plans set forth for it. But it was a pretty great one anyway. And who knows, maybe next year the idea of the Ferris Wheel won't make Evalee shriek in terror.

Me and my dear friend Becky, one week apart in due dates. If it's a boy, I expect him to take her to prom.

Waiting for our sister and fall to arrive

That's what I feel like we've been doing lately.  Every time the weather started to give us a little mercy in these last couple of weeks, a couple of 88 or 90 degree days would sneak themselves in and bring back to humidity and misery. Despite my best efforts, I've found myself swelling up in the ankles and fingers and my body aching from lugging this big ol' belly around in the heat. Perhaps it's because my muslces are more worn out this time, the position the baby is in, the fact that it's summer instead of spring, or all of the above, but I am having a much harder time getting through this last stretch of it this time. Every time I have to bend to pick something up or put something on, my moves are calculated and planned. I've even taken to using the broom to push things close together to maximize the efficiency of each bend. I know. It's a pathetic that is in a league of its own.  Today was the first day that was *cold* all day long, and it was truly fabulous. I was on cloud nine all through school, delighting in listening to the kids complain about the open window and asking to get sweatshirts from their lockers. They could layer all they wanted, I was going to continue to relish in my goosebumps and ability to think clearly.

Another thing that has made this pregnancy different than my first is the heartburn. I've been getting really bad heartburn pretty regularly for the last month or so.  Luckily, I've been able to keep it mostly at bay by taking a liquid antacid before bed religiously regardless of how I'm feeling or what I've eaten. But even then, there are a few nights here and there where I am up for several hours at a time trying to calm it down and get comfortable again. If the old wives' tale is true on that one, I'm expecting a daughter with flowing locks of hair like Rapunzel to come forth next month.

Despite my small miseries from day to day, I am trying really hard to relish in watching Evalee continue to grow and change and not take anything for granted. She is starting to talk in sentences more and more frequently, use her imagination to play, and even start conversations with you about things she did or saw that day. She has started singing her ABCs often when she's playing or when we're in the car, and she gets A-G and L-Z 100% accurately and pretty clearly every time. She likes to repeat the song over and over and see how fast she can get through all the letters. 

She has shown a new surge of interest in using the potty and has even successfully used the potty a few times over the last week or so. She's been in love with the movie Wall E for about a month now, and the Pixar pack of underwear Grandma bought her had a pair with Eve on them in it. She requests to wear her Eve underwear quite often, but she loves them so much she doesn't want to pull them down to go on the potty. So, poor Eve has taken her fair share of accidents and Evalee has had her fair share of hard cries when we don't let her continue to wear the wet underwear. We're hoping the tragedy of this occurrence is what eventually teaches her to keep them dry.

She has also been such a big girl at bed time ever since I went back to work. We moved her bedtime up a half hour and started putting her to bed when she's still awake, and she's been doing a great job of falling asleep by herself. It seems silly, but it's truly amazing how much that extra half hour to ourselves makes a difference in our night.

Because of the fact that I can't lift her in and out of the bathtub or do a lot of the things I wish I could with her after work, we've been spending lots of time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. With the start of football season comes a loss of Daddy time on Friday nights as he works his normal day shift and then another few hours of over time to shoot football for The Score. This has been thrilling for Evalee, since it means more time with her beloved cat, which we have decided to name Blackie. She talks about Blackie almost every day, even when there are no plans in the near future to see her, and showers her with love (often times a tad too much) as soon as we arrive in the driveway. Blackie must not totally hate it because she sticks to Evalee's side and follows her as she runs around the yard and plays in all her usual spots. It's the dawning of a special friendship, I suppose. She'll be so excited to start seeing her a couple times a week once Grandma starts her new hours at work so she can watch her and her sister. I just hope the cold weather doesn't drive her away!

There are only about 5 weeks left of this pregnancy and 22 more days of school left for me until next year. There are so many things to do before both of these countdowns run out, but somehow  I know it'll all come together in the end!