okay, seriously....

So baby still is not here... but the good news is it is Friday... and according to Faith, the all-knowing-soon-to-be-big-sister, "Baby is coming today." For some reason, when we were talking on Monday, Faith was insistent the Baby was coming Friday. Last night we inquired again...[please keep in mind our 2 1/2 yr old does not yet 'grasp' the concept of 'days of the week' she may say days, but not in order, nor does she really get it unless we are telling her what day it is] so, back to last night...

Faith is in her 'jamas' getting ready to brush her teeth and we ask..

"Faith when is the baby coming"

"Tomorrow" - she says like we are so annoying

"Friday" - she clarifies as if we were confused

we will see....

updates:had our doctor appointment on Wednesday & he pretty much explained that if I was any further I would be in labor, so it really is just a matter of time. He won't let me go more than a week past our due date, so this is the 'plan' per say...

I go back Monday to see him and he is going to try something my NC OB/GYN did before I had Faith...warning***details following*** basically he is going to naturally try to kick start things by messing with some of the membranes. It worked with Faith, it's natural and we will see. Hopefully it brings baby into the world on his/her own over the next few days. The next step is going to schedule a 'natural' induction pitocin-free[hopeflly] for Thursday morning. Thursday because it is the latest day possible to schedule this sort of thing and we want to give him/her a chance to arrive on his/her own.

Personally, we are praying hard for the baby to come without our 'planning.' Pregnancy is one of those beautiful mysteries of life when you truly get to let things happen in God's time and be patient. We were so blessed with Faith, arriving on her due date, my water breaking (which only occurs in about 10% of women), labor being under 8 hours, and not having to use any pain meds.... all credit to God for those things....we are just praying for similar blessings this time around. We know God's plan is Perfect and we are open to it, we are just praying we are blessed with another successful arrival of #2, medication free, healthy & happy. God is good and God is great, we have faith He will provide for us all we need to bring baby#2 into this world.... hopefully soon.

Happy Friday everyone...

Faith is finally on board....

with the concept of a baby brother.

so for the longest time she has argued that 'it is NOT a baby brother' and when asked she volunteers it is a sister. well yesterday everything changed.

my mom was walking Target with me, and by walking I mean we were pacing around all the toy aisle in an attempt to put my in labor and check off some of my weekly shopping lists, and she was entertaining Faith by taking her up and down all the toy aisle... fascinating since that can take HOURS ;)

however, when they walked down the first 'boy-focused' aisle full of dragons and cars and trucks, my mom made the one comment that changed Faith's entire perspective....

Mom: "Faith see all the neat toys you can have if you have a baby brother."

Faith: eyes get all big, mouth opens up really wide "Mommy, I want a baby brother!"

Me: "You want a baby brother?"

Faith: "Ya. we get lots of neat toys, like a dragon and another dragon."

Me: "let's call Daddy and tell him, okay"

Faith: "okay"

awesome. next we headed to Tom Thumb for the last of our groceries... Faith climbed into one of the carts that has the car attached to the front, they only had the doubles so there existed two steering wheels.

Faith:"When baby brother come out, he ride with me and we drive"

seriously. we are on board with both genders now, yay for toys. ;)

Now that I am in my last, yes, LAST week of pregnancy, it is nice to know that no matter what we have, Faith will be super excited. Doctor's appointment is tomorrow... :)

Baby Still Inside.... updates & organization

Doctor appointment yesterday confirmed I was measuring 3 weeks ahead (41) so as doc said 'baby is still finding good room to grow' I am at 3cm, almost 4cm so we are super close...

when we were pregnant with munchkin, we went out for a good steak dinner the night before I was due and low and behold, my water broke at 7am the next morning.

so....

even though I am due February 9th, we are headed out to Bob's Steak & Chop House tonight, a little earlier than last time, with the hopes that it brings good luck :)

the reality is that we all know this little one will arrive whenever God has planned, so no matter what we do, he/she will come whenever they are supposed to

on a total side note I am super excited because for Christmas my mom's friend's son(Trey) made me this :

and it is now officially mounted on the wall.... ahhhh, I am in love. The design itself is from Pottery Barn, but Trey replicated it perfectly and I am in organizational heaven. He is currently working on designing a built-in (media/storage) for our upstairs game room.... a long term project, and we are thrilled! If anyone is interested in their own Wrapping Station let me know. He is amazing and his work is fabulous. Once I get mine all organized I will take a picture and post it. It is perfectly located downstairs in our over-sized laundry room, which makes year-round present wrapping super easy and convenient.

Baby Still Inside.... BELLY SHOTS

38 weeks 1 day, today

baby still inside

got pictures of our belly shots by Diana Busch Photography

Here are my favorites - you should feel blessed, no one ever got to see my belly this pregnant except doctors & David - so here it is for all the world to see

& my personal favorite of our children

:)

Updates....

Doctor Appointment Updates:

Dilated 2cm

Baby has dropped

Weight estimated @ 8 lbs 9oz today

there is still room to grow…

Next appt 1/28

news

No, I am not in labor

Yes, I am exhausted

No, I am not stiiillll teaching hip hop – sorry kiddos, ill be back post-baby

Yes, I have a doc appt Thursday

No, I have no maternal intuition regarding if this one is a he or a she

Yes, faith does

No, we have not completely checked off our to-do list

Yes, we are working on it

No, there are no more ‘important’ things to check off

Yes, I feel ‘stress-free;

No, I have not yet found enough to keep me busy

Yes, I did manage to have a professional take ‘belly shots

No, I do not yet have them to share with you

Yes, I promise to share them as soon as I can

No, I have not yet run out of posts

Yes, I am contemplating working on scrapbooks to ‘fill’ the time, in hopes that right in the middle of the huge mess I will have to make to have tornado scrapbook sessions I will go into labor

No, I don’t really believe that will work

J

BABY POOL STATS...

haha for anyone who knows my husband... to no surprise I just received an e-mail from him with the following:

Current stats on guesses

# of guesses: 21

Gender: Boy (16/21)

Avg. weight: 9 lbs. 2 oz

Avg. length: 20.8"

Avg due date: February 3, 4:28 AM

goodness I love that man of mine

Baby Pool

Take a guess, take a gamble.... let us know what you think it is!

Guess Here

Enter the game name as TexasBabyMartin, or follow the link on the left side of the blog.

Nesting...

yes, that is right, I am in FULL-BLOWN NESTING MODE... Okay so most of you know I am pretty much on the top of things, I have lists, I get things done, I plan ahead, I organize, etc. However, almost 36 weeks pregnant it is like I go into Super-Christine mode. I have been really relaxed and not stressing over Baby#2's arrival. It has been nice to take the laid-back approach since we aren't decorating the nursery until after her/his arrival. However, it dawned on my just how much prep I needed to do, regardless of the gender... duh, I mean I do need some basic supplies and I do need to prep some basic things and I do need to have something for Baby#2 to wear in the first week of his/her life. Geez, what was I thinking. Hopefully Faith will be right and it will be another girl, that way I can stop feeling a little guilty and just assume it was a maternal instinct to not have a lot of cloths around. :)

Anyway, here is my list. It is from a 3-sheet spreadsheet design I have. I have posted it under Google Documents so David can help me check things off. I will keep you all updated on my progress. Next Doctor visit is the 14th & we will see just how far/if I am progressing. Based on my last pregnancy, I am sure things are moving in the right direction, Kiddo is sitting pretty low & doing a great job of keeping me just mildly uncomfortable. :)

this should be titled:

THINGS WE BETTER GET DONE SOON SO I DON'T GO INTO LABOR STRESSING OVER THEM AND IF WE DON'T GET THEM DONE SOON I MAY HAVE TO PULL AN ALL NIGHT CLEAN SESSION AND ACT CRAZY TRYING TO GET THEM DONE....soon...please....

call Father Postell

set up pack-n-play

buy basic baby supplies for room: see other list

buy take home outfits for boy & girl

wash take home outfits

wash baby stuff/bedding,etc

check/clean breast pump & supplies

disinfect other baby items

deposit checks

write last (2) thank-you's

wash Zack's old bedding & store

drop off old ink cartridges at STAPLES

mount double towel rack in bathroom

shred/file last month of papers built up

update budget/quicken stuff

update quicken w/receipts/account stuff

cord blood talk/registry

clean fridge H2O drain

cancel Sears credit card

pay State Farm

set up free Sears check-up on fridge/washer/dryer

vacuum/clean master bed/bath

clean kitchen

sweep/mop/clean floors

put Christmas stuff up in attic

vacuum stairs/baby room

scoop poop

purchase lamp for Faith's room to replace lamp which goes in baby room

pack my bag:see list

pack diaper bag

pack Faith bag

install car seat bases

20 weeks & counting... BIG GIRL BED :)

Last week we had our 20wk appointment and were so exited at the chance to 'see' if God was going to show us the gender without us really asking or looking specifically for. Our hopes were to be staring up at the large monitor and simply getting a 'peek' at what God is creating so beautifully inside of me. The images were so clear we were both secretly so excited at the chance... then the nurse says"let me turn off the screen so I am sure not to show you anything." darn it. oh well, we cannot believe how amazing Baby looks and we really can't wait to meet him/her. I am measuring a week ahead and the baby is 4oz larger than most at the size, weighing a whole pound already. Not surprised. I am sure he/she will be measuring large, just like Faith did and who knows, they do say #2 comes in bigger...

that is the umbilical cord for all wondering....

profile

big foot

With the half way point officially met and passed we decided it was about time to get the Big Girl bed up and ready... here are a few pictures of that process. We originally had the bed on the same wall as her crib, but the double side rails didn't fit (odd they would make them so you can't put 2 up on 1 bed) so we moved to another corner. One day we will add a big girl dresser and night stand, but for now the bed will do. She was super excited to sleep in it and I even had a hard time getting her out of it in the morning. :)

David working hard at set-up on the original location

it's true, it's true... we are expecting #2!!!

So if you haven't already heard or asked or found out.... we are expecting baby #2 on February 9th.  Yay!!!

To answer a few questions...

No-we will not find out the gender - it was too much fun to watch you all squirm when we did this with #1,Faith

No-we will not discuss name options

Several people think that is strange and here is our view point : a baby brings such joy that we don't mind waiting to see if he/she is our precious miracle. Yes, I love to prepare and and plan and paint and decorate, but I can easily wait for all that fun. As for names, we like to keep that to ourselves to avoid the 'opinions' everyone else might have. Let's face it, when he/she is born, you will all love him/her so much that his/her name won't really matter, right? So come on the ride with us... again...

Faith is very excited and likes to remind me there is a baby in there (pointing to my stomach)

At week 10 ... Bambino is about the size of a prune, or really the average 10wk is, but who knows, we will confirm size at week 12! At week 8, Bambino was dancing and showing off on the ultrasound so my guess is we are in for a high energy bundle already!