Not today either

My last blog post was Friday a week ago. Obviously, still no baby. Today is 11 days until my due date. I'm ready for baby. I keep telling her this but she's not listening. My mother-in-law says, she's a girl, she'll come when she's plenty ready.

This past week was pretty calm, with nothing exciting to blog about. At least no great pictures! Sunday we graduated from Financial Peace University. Yay! Our only debt is a fairly small student loan but we've made more headway on it these last few months than ever before. Our finances/budget are flowing smoother than before and we have a plan and goal. Very exciting.

Thursday was my doctor appointment. I measured only 1-1/2 cm. Unfortunately my visit caused a trip to the labor & delivery for some bleeding and 2-1/2 hours of very consistent contractions. Fortunately, baby is fine and (maybe unfortunately) contractions were false.

Friday, JC's dad & Sharon came into town and took us out for a very yummy Asian meal at Lidos. I ♥ Lidos. I made the boys pose for a picture before dinner.


After dinner, we went to their hotel and the boys swam for a little bit. The water was cold but I know they still had fun.




Cameron sported his Spider Man swim shorts and the new goggles Granny bought him. He seemed fearless now that he had goggles!


Brendan enjoyed swimming a few laps. He has been thinking about joining a swim team in the fall. Hopefully he can get some practice time in this summer.


Can you see the marks from the goggles? Didn't complain a bit about them, though. He sure likes doing what his brother does.

We have no big plans for the weekend, so Caitlin is welcome to come any day now. Bags are mostly packed, all major and most minor errands and chores are done. Contractions tease me everyday now but rarely are they consistent. I know it will be here before we know it, but it's quite a bit of anticipation to deal with.

Idle Confessions

I do not like to be idle. No, I am not good at it.

That is why the cabin trip was so good for me. There was nothing to do. Maybe I would do better at being idle if we had something good to watch on t.v. But with 3 channels, there really is nothing good on.

Today was errand day. -Tag agency to pay for the van tags -Dropped off a baby gift to the boy's PA (she's having a girl named Kate, 3 weeks after me!) -Target, just for fun -Thrift stores, just for fun -Library -Whataburger for lunch -Mardels -Crest and finally home. Five and a half hours of running around. Whew! That makes for one tired pregnant mamma.

So I put all our goodies away and sat on the couch for a whole 20 minutes. Then I got dinner ready. And I think I sat down for another 20 minutes!

JC & Cameron were outside this evening so I watered my gardens. This one is my most favorite!

I just LOVE my clematis. I also have some watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, basil and mint growing. I hope the fruit does well. What a fun treat that would be this summer!


JC started work on helping me reupholster the rocking chair Margaret gave me. It's in great condition except the seat was awfully lumpy and a bit ragged. (I didn't get a before picture of the chair...oops!)


Here it is without the seat.

It had springs but we switched it out for a board with foam.

Brendan visited a friend this evening, so Cameron was on his own for entertainment.

Here is the foam I used and the fabric I picked out.

I had never recovered or reupholstered anything before. But thanks to You Tube and blogs, there was lots of instruction out there for me.

And here is the finished chair...

Then I made a french toast casserole using this recipe as a base and quite a few changes!

But wait. The chair wasn't finished! I had enough fabric left over that I was going to make a pillow. But then it was the perfect size for a back cushion for the rocker. So, I whipped that up.

It was a day full of accomplishments. I'll pay the price tomorrow I'm sure. Maybe I'll stay in bed a little extra in the morning and read one of those books I picked up at the library. Yes, maybe I will.

19 days...

Park Time

Another day down. 20 days until my due date (yes, of course I'm counting!). We got a call this morning from Nate & Josie's mom inviting us to join them at the Route 66 park.

It was a beautiful morning and we had a great time hanging out and playing with friends. Nate & Josie brought bread and the kids had a blast feeding the geese and their little babies!

Nate & Cameron were impressed with Brendan's climbing abilities!

What fun times!

After a quick lunch, I had my doctor appointment. Baby seems to be doing well. I am dilated to 1 cm and I measured 38 cm today. I also lost 1 pound from last week. It has been painful to even walk today. I'll chalk that up to the last two days on my feet and hope that tomorrow is better!

We have lots of days with little plans so we'll see what else we can do to keep ourselves busy. Lots of opportunities for fun with the boys!

And JC's last day of teaching is tomorrow! I think we're celebrating Saturday with dinner out and a movie with the kids!

Celebrating Baby

The end of April and beginning of May was full of celebrating Baby Cait.

My sisters and mom threw a Baby Sprinkle for Caitlin. There was lots of yummy food, good friends and family to share in the celebrating!

It was a wonderful time and we received lots of wonderful gifts for Baby Girl.

Here's a great shot of "the guys"

And some dear homeschooling friends couldn't make it to the Sprinkle so they threw a little surprise shower for me!

It was wonderful to spend the morning with friends, again, celebrating Baby Cait (and eating good food!). She has received so much from so many wonderful friends and family members. We are forever grateful!

Isn't this just the best picture of Cami & me?!

Belly Size...

Here is a picture of me with Cameron. This was taken 9 days prior to his due date.

And here I am 21 days prior to Caitlin's due date.

I have felt smaller with this pregnancy but when I look at pictures, I seem at least as big.

Patiently waiting...kinda

Bedding - check
Clothes washed and put away - check
Car seat installed - check
Bags packed - mostly
Freezer meals made - check
House cleaned - check

Contractions come and go most days this week. But each day there seem to be more of them.

So, now it's a waiting game. Waiting, enjoying time with the boys. Anticipating meeting sweet, little Caitlin. It is not always a patient wait, but a wait nonetheless.

Today the boys and I headed to the zoo before Brendan's art lesson with Great Gramma. It rained before we arrived, it rained after we left. It was perfectly dry the entire time we were there.


The peacocks ran about freely and there seemed to be a lot of them.

We posed for my 37 week picture!

And I think this guy posed for me!!!

Red pandas are so cute! So are monkeys!

I'm always amazed at the colors in God's creations. So vibrant and beautiful!

I was quite surprised the Cam would hold a lorakeet. He did good! And no one got pooped on!

It was a wonderful day to spend waiting, enjoying the boys and all of God's creatures!

Tomorrow...who knows!

Mulberries!

Never noticed that the neighbor's tree that hangs over our backyard produces berries. Lots of them.

Brendan noticed. And thought they tasted good. Figured I should probably find out what they are!

Thanks to my smart friends and family on Facebook, we learned (quickly) that they are mulberries. Never had a mulberry before. I wasn't keen on the taste but Bren and Cam were.

So Brendan collected a bucket full of them and then requested pie.

Don't laugh at my lattice work. This is only my second pie ever AND there really wasn't enough dough for lattice work.

So, I made my second-ever homemade pie crust with mulberries. It was DELISH! Bren's ready for me to make another pie. We'll see!!!

Craft Time

Here was the inspiration (sorry, HL, I can do it cheaper!):


Here was my template:


And here's my creation! Thanks to JC for cutting out the board!

Isn't he cute?