Baby Boy Montgomery!

Our Maternity Pics- By Brittany Saxe- Our Lovely-Talented Neighbor!

I had my first, of hopefully not too many more weekly appointments, yesterday.  At 35 weeks, my OB doesn't routinely check to see if you're dilated.  They save that pleasure for your 36 week check up... But after I told the nurse that I have Braxton-Hicks contracts often throughout the day and I had two while I was laying to have my belly measured and baby's heart-rate dopplered, Dr. Mini thought we may want to if there was any progress...

I measured 32 weeks... small but consistent throughout.  Baby Boy's heart-rate was right at 130, which it's been consistently and I am 1 cm dilated.  

Dr. Mini was not at all concerned about the 'practice' contractions or their frequency.  She said it's just baby and my body practicing for the big event.  Practice makes perfect- so we'll hope for a great labor and delivery!  

She joked saying, "Next week, I'll bet, you're two and the following week three or four and then you'll be ready to go!"  I laughed and asked her if she's predicting 3 weeks and she said, "Educated guess, but you could also be 1 cm until the first of October!"  Let's hope it's just long enough for our little man to get everything fat and healthy...That's the most important thing.  Oh, well...and maybe long enough for his Mommy and Daddy to come up with a name!!!!!  We are still bouncing around but haven't landed on anything!  Suggestions are welcome!!!!!

Seriously!!!!  HELP!

Annabelle has a few ideas... 

Yep, Twinkle Toes!!  Hey, at least it's an idea!  Better than Mommy and Daddy can do at this point.  There have been many others that she's suggested, but the one she mentioned today is just TOO funny not to share...  It was:

SEMEN!!!

She was saying 'sea' 'man', however, she says it quickly and so of course it sounds like the other version.  LOL!  

Well, Buddy...  What do you think?  Twinkle Toes or 'Sea'man'???  Good thing she doesn't make the final call!!!

One thing is for certain... She's going to be the best big sister and is very excited to meet her new brother.  

Melts My Heart

AB and Daddy came out after her bath because she wanted to practice baseball!  AB isn't A: one to care about baseball and B: listen to instructions (especially from her Mommy and Daddy)  Tonight she proved me wrong!  (& yes, those are Christmas PJs...  Hey they still fit and are very cozy...lol)

 The stance...

 The proper grip...

 Watch the ball...

 :-)

The swing!  The rest is history!!!

Reds Fever

Yesterday, we took Great Grandma to one of her favorite places!  GABP!!!  It was a fun day watching the Reds.  Annabelle even got into the act of cheering, but mostly eating all of the yummy treats you can find at the ballpark.

It was a beautiful day & my hubby found us the best seats which just added to the fun and excitement.  Annabelle's favorite part of the game, I would say, was The Wave, but she understood that we were rooting on the Reds and not the Cubs!

"We don't want the blue hats to hit the ball!  NO!"

Daddy, thanks for a wonderful day.  I know it's a day that we'll never forget.  :-)

Caught YOU!

Annabelle has a great imagination.  It is so fun when she falls deep into her imagination and doesn't even remember that I'm near by.  This happened on Friday afternoon, a beautiful afternoon.  I was sitting on the patio working on pictures and AB had her Barbie Dolls on the deck.  After about 45 minutes of dialog, I got up and went in for my camera.  I had to be sneaky but she was in deep and completely unaware.  

"I am imagination.  I can see what the eyes cannot see.  I can hear what the ears cannot hear.  I can feel what the heart cannot feel." `Peger Nivio Zarlenga

 "Teacher's talent is flower jumping.  Watch students and then you can try."

 "Rupunzel, what is your talent?  Brushing your hair!  What a wonderful talent!  Show us!"

 "Cool trick, cool trick!"

 "Sahara what is your special talent?"

 "Now it's time for us to watch Snow White"

"Try it, Snow White, I know you can do it!"

Our Family/Baby Brother's Growth Scan

Annabelle drew this picture this afternoon and has asked me to put it in baby brother's nursery.  She said, "So he can know his family."  It made my heart melt.  It is really fun sharing this pregnancy with her.  She's just big enough...  Speaking of big enough... Baby Boy Montgomery (yep, still haven't picked a name...) had his growth scan today.  We were so excited to get a glimpse of the little guy and that's really all we got!  I had grand plans of scanning our U.S. pictures and posting them, however, the kiddo was moving so much we didn't get a good shot!!!  lol- the best we got was a picture of his little arm and hand.  Dr. Mini did the scan so we were able to ask her questions as she measured.  She feels no cause for concern.  He measured to weigh 4 lbs 10 oz at 33 weeks. His main job at this point is to grow.  Dr. Mini said the last four weeks he'll gain about 1/2 a pound each week!  That's not including these next few weeks!  She measured fluid levels and those all looked great.  We even got to see him practicing his breathing motion.  This, Dr. Mini explained, was something very reassuring, because it means that he's thriving.  She said that he may even be a little ahead of the game, because he's doing it a bit early.  :-)  So even if we didn't get a good picture of the little man, just knowing that he's doing well and growing strong was the real reward.  It was fun to see him, even if it was just a glimpse.

Thank you, Ms. Beth

Tonight we had our last private lesson with Ms. Beth, our favorite life guard at Reed Rd Water Park.  When we got there I would say that AB could swim under water for short periods of time.  I now think she can SWIM!!!  Here are two new videos from our 1/2 lesson tonight!  GO AB!!!!!

August Update

  continued to have a good summer!  Annabelle successfully finished level 2 swimming lessons!  She can swim underwater for periods of time.  Nick and I are really proud of her progress!  On the last day of class they got to jump off the diving board.  Annabelle was reluctant.  I told her she didn't have to do it, but after watching almost all of her classmates, one of the life guards talked her into it.

Baby Boy Montgomery still doesn't have a name but we continue to work on it!  lol- At my last appointment I measured about 3 cm small again so we're going to have a growth scan on the 16th to make sure we're a-ok.  I'm really not worried because he's very active.  I'm assuming that he's maybe in a different position or just using his space wisely! ;-)  I will certainly upload pictures after our appointment.  I'm excited to get a peek!  The nursery is coming along at a steady pace.  We have just a few more projects to do before I'll feel ready to snap some pictures.  I'm excited to get it completed but unlike with Annabelle I can sort of pace myself...  I think I finished her room early in the fall before her arrival in January!  I felt like I had to use my summer wisely...  With this guy I just try to do one or two things everyday...Even if it's just planning.  We're also hoping to take some belly shots this week.  Nick and I really want some of my belly and Annabelle.  I saw one really cute idea for a family shot online so we'll see if anyone at the park would be willing to snap it for us.  

We're getting excited to meet our little guy.  It's hard to believe I only have about 7 more weeks!!

Annabelle picked out a new hat and necklace at the consignment shop when we were dropping off some of Daddy's shirts.  Here is the outfit she put together!  I loved it so much I had to get some pictures! 

We were getting ready to ride our bike down to the park!  Seriously can't get enough of this little personality!

 Rainy day activity!  Yaya gave us some things that she'd kept from when her boys were growing up.  We decided to give the dinosaur puzzle a try!  Annabelle loves dinosaurs so she was excited to take the 100 piece challenge.  We worked on it together as a family and completed it!  Way to stick with it AB!

 Here is AB using some paints that we made homemade.  The recipe came from Pinterest.  It worked pretty well!  She wanted to paint some rocks and acorns she'd found at the park.  Always looking for a project!  Just like her Mommy!