Grandsons, Sons, Fathers, Grandfathers

Yesterday, for Father's Day, we went to church in the morning then headed to my grandparents house in the afternoon. They live about an hour and a half south of us. My parents and brother met us there, too. It was great to be able to see my parents because I didn't think I would see them until I go into labor. 

We spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoyed a yummy dinner before heading back home. While we were there, we took a picture of my grandpa, dad, and brother. Hopefully my brother gets married and has kids soon so that we can get a 4 generation picture!

We also took a picture to include my two handsome guys

I am so blessed to have a great dad, and to have a fantastic husband who is a great daddy to our kids. We had a nice, relaxing day and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

In-laws and Cherry Picking!

My in-laws just returned from an Alaskan cruise and on their drive back down the coast, they stopped by our house for a night. Jax was SO excited to see them and show them our "new house". It was the first time they had been able to visit us here.

 Grammy and Jax... being a stinker, of course.

They got him this cool hat, sunglasses and "pirate" necklace on their vacation.

After dinner, we went to Cold Stone and Jax had to wear all of his cool new gear. 

He was quite the sight :) 

Jax came into our room at 330am and asked if he could go wake up Grampy and Grammy. Ha! I took him back to bed, then at 6 he came back and asked again. Ryan had to get up anyway, so I let Jax go downstairs and jump on their bed to wake them up.

 We went to a local diner for breakfast, then headed to some 

nearby orchards to go cherry picking. 

Everything was already picked over on all the low branches, 

so Jax couldn't reach anything.

  Grampy was nice enough to climb way up on the ladder and 

get a bunch for all of us to take home.

We found some that were low enough for Jax to reach if he was lifted up. 

On our way out we found a tree that had some that were still out of reach, but a little lower than the others. I let Grammy take Jax up on the ladder and he had a blast! The kid has no fear. He was turning and reaching and stretching to get everything that was nearby. 

He would drop them down to the bucket and say "picked by Jax the farmer!". 

Haha! He is too funny. 

 He was very proud of his accomplishments and we ended up with a tummy full of cherries plus lots to take home and enjoy. 

I am so blessed to have fantastic in-laws and Jax is a lucky guy to have 2 sets of amazing grandparents. Their visit was short, but very fun and it was great to spend some time with them after not seeing them for awhile. They went back home and now are on standby until I go into labor!

37 Weeks... Full Term!

I am officially full term this week! 

(Just don't remind me that Jax didn't come for 5 more weeks from this point. Ha!) 

I can't believe we are down to a matter of days until Lexi arrives. I have said this before, but I am so beyond ready for her to be here. It's not even that I don't want to be pregnant anymore... although that will be nice too. It's more about just wanting to hold her in my arms instead of in my tummy. I am ready for no sleep, cold dinners, and diaper bags full of stuff wherever we go. 

This week has been good. I ended up not having my 37 week appointment today, but I go back on Tuesday. I'm really hoping for some progress. Some of my Braxton-Hicks are pretty uncomfortable, so I hope that's a good sign! I've been trying to walk more, bounce on my birth ball, drink red raspberry leaf tea and have Ryan massage my ankles. I know that none of these things are guarantees to bring on labor, but I figure that they can't hurt!

Here is my picture from this week.
(Ignore my roots... my photo editing made them look much worse than they really are!)

And here is the comparison with Jax. Ugh.

Overall, I have plenty of energy and I feel really good. The heat is getting yucky, but it hasn't been too terrible. It's much better than when I was overdue with Jax in North Carolina and the humidity was slowly trying to kill me! I'm just praying the major heat wave stays away until after she's born. I can handle it much better if I can snuggle with my sweet girl!

Randoms

These days we are just passing time, waiting for Lexi to get here. We don't have anything planned over the next few weeks. We've just been playing with friends and running errands, trying not to get too bored. Here are some recent pictures of our life.

Jax loves to take pictures of himself with my phone. He was sitting on my lap and I was making him laugh. I love his little face so much!

I pulled out the rest of the baby gear and washed all the covers for everything. This line of baby junk made me giggle.

After putting things in the wash, I came out to find Jax just hanging out in the baby car seat. I laughed and asked him what he was doing, and he said "Look how cute I am!". HA!

I text this picture to my mom a few days ago. I managed maneuver my 9-months-pregnant body enough to paint my toes. (Why do pedicures have to be so expensive?!) I just had to take small breaks to breath ;)

Daddy/son snuggle time at Nana and Boppa's house last weekend. See Mojo all snuggled up with them?

We try to be outside a lot since the weather is nice, so we got some finger paints and spent some time on the patio painting pictures.

Jax thought his messy hands were pretty cool.

Happy Wednesday!

3 year check up!

Jax had his 3 year well child check up on Friday. It was his first time seeing his new doctor here in California and we loved her! She was great with him and super open and talkative with us. I'm really pleased with her and I'm glad we found someone that we like so that Lexi can see her too. 

I thought this tiny blood pressure cuff was so adorable! I told him it was measuring his big muscles and he thought that was pretty cool. 

  They also had him do an eye chart, which he passed with flying colors. Some of the pictures were SO tiny, I was impressed! My small boy weighed 29.7 pounds (28th percentile) and measured exactly 3 feet tall (12th percentile). The doctor was happy with his BMI, though. He's right where he needs to be. 

The day was extra great because he didn't have to get any shots! I had been warning him and prepping him for the "little poke", but apparently 3-year-olds don't need any shots. Next year he will have his last 3 shots, besides random boosters in future years, so that won't be fun. But it's a whole year from now... so who really cares?!

Overall, everything went great and I just can't believe how big and grown-up my little boy is. He's such an amazing little guy and I know that this next year will be full of trials, but also full of new and exciting things!

36 Weeks!

Only 4 weeks left! 28 days! I can't believe that I am officially "full term" next week. It's so exciting, but I keep reminding myself that Jax didn't come for almost 5 weeks after I was "full term" with him. Let's all pray that Little Miss decides to come much sooner than that!

I had another prenatal appointment yesterday. It was super quick and uneventful. Lexi measured right on track and her heartbeat sounded great. My doctor said "Now we just wait!". So that's what I'm doing. However, it's consuming my thoughts. I feel like all I think about these days is going into labor. Please pray it happens sooner than later!

Speaking of praying... here is a little updated prayer list for the next few weeks.

~~That I will go into labor on my own (hopefully a little early)

~~That I will be able to labor at home for as long as possible

~~That things will progress quickly 

~~That I will be able to relax and concentrate on a natural labor, without letting my previous birth experience scare me

~~That the doctors won't pressure me with a "timeline" of how things need 

to progress in my labor

~~That I will have a safe, natural VBAC

Thanks for keeping me in your prayers, friends!

Here is my picture this week

I got talked into still doing a comparison of my pregnancies. So here ya go...

I still can't believe how disgusting different I looked with Jax. My face, my arms, my belly, everything. So thankful that I'm within "normal weight gain" this time!

I don't have an appointment next week because of scheduling issues, but I'll be going back the following Tuesday. Hopefully there will be some good progress by then!

Her Nursery!

Things are finally (almost) done with Lexi's nursery. Bedding is made, clothes are washed and hung/folded, diapers and wipes are in place, and bows/headbands are ready and waiting to be placed on our sweet girl's head. Overall I'm happy with everything. I still have one wall that I don't quite know what to do with (see below). And it's hard because we are in a rental, so it really limits what we can do in terms of decorating. However, I think we've done a good job with what we've got. It's simple, but girly!

My mom and I made the crib skirt and bumper. The wall decal is from Buy Buy Baby.

I am so in love with the fabric and how it all turned out. It was hard, but totally worth it! 

This bow holder was the first thing I made for her and it was the first thing in her nursery. I think I'm going to have to add another ribbon to each side so it can hold more bows! 

(See those circle mirrors leaning against the wall? There are 3 of them and I think we are going to hang them on the wall, off-set from each other. I'm not sure I love the idea, but I'm at a loss. Any of you decorating folks care to weigh in??)

And we couldn't skip a little closet sneak peek. I actually still have a pile of clothes that needs hanging, but I'm out of hangers!

The nursery is done, both of our bags are packed... 

I am SO ready for her to be in my arms!

Racecar Party!

We had Jax's birthday party on Saturday at my parents' house. He chose a racecar theme months ago and I've slowly been prepping things for it since then. Everything turned out so great and Jax had a blast! We did lots of swimming, eating, playing, and relaxing. Jax asked to open his present every 5 seconds. Patience is hard for a 3-year-old! 

Here are some of the party details-

~~FOOD~~

 I decided to do individual servings of everything. We had sliders, mini weenies wrapped in crescent rolls, individual crudites cups with dip, individual pasta salad cups, and a mini fruit pizza bar. 

I made chocolate and vanilla cupcakes instead of a larger cake. 

We served lemonade, water, and tea. 

~~DECOR~~

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest. Hang balloons upside down from a string to make balloon garland... no helium required! 

Ryan made a race track out of painters tape on the ground

 I ordered these printables from Etsy. They turned out so cute!

Favors buckets with chalk, bubbles and candy 

~~FUN STUFF~~

On his actual birthday, we surprised him with a balloon-filled room when he woke up

We went to church then headed to Mimi's for brunch

After brunch, we packed up and drove back home. It was such a great weekend and I can't believe it's already over! Now we are just counting down the days until Lexi gets here!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Three years ago today I was going through this disaster. It was both the very worst and very best day of my life.

Three years later, I am SO blessed to be this guy's mommy. He is the light of my life!

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, JAX ALAN!! We love you more than you know!

35 Weeks!

Just about one short month left until Lexi gets here! After being at my parents' house for 2 weeks, I was dying to get home and unload all the goodies from my baby shower. I spent Monday doing lots of (pink!) laundry, cleaning, organizing and decorating. Except for a few random decorations and little things, Lexi's nursery is ready for her!

I am feeling really good overall, and am so happy/thankful that I've gained so much less weight with this pregnancy. Yes, I get really sore at night. Yes, I have a hard time moving around as easily. Yes, I get hot and tired faster. BUT, I feel and look so much better than I did with Jax at this point and I am so glad for that.

I had my prenatal appointment yesterday (Thursday) morning. Everything went really well! My OB did an ultrasound to check her position (HEAD DOWN!!!) and to measure her. Ultrasounds can be off by about a 1/2 pound either way, but she measured at 5 pounds 9 ounces, so that's exciting! We discussed scheduling a csection for about 2-2.5 weeks after I'm due, just in case it becomes necessary. Ryan and I feel comfortable doing that, but we obviously are assuming it won't even matter. I'm already 1cm dilated and a bit effaced, so I'm pretty sure Lexi girl won't be over two weeks late.

Here I am this morning (just before leaving to Fresno for Jax's birthday weekend!)

I'm not even going to show you the comparison from Jax's pregnancy because

 I looked dis.gus.ting. God bless my husband for still loving me through that ;)

I start weekly appointments from here on out!