happy halloween!

We've been home from the hospital for 2 days now and are doing well.  I'm meaning to do a couple baby posts, but napping when she does kind of canceled that plan for now.  I took photos of Asher in his Halloween costume last week since I wasn't sure what state I'd be in today - I'm glad I did!  I'll get some pictures of Hadley in her little outfit and post those soon too.

Thanks for all your congratulations!  We are so excited to have 2 kids!!

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I've never been huge on Halloween in general, but I have to admit - having a little one to dress up is so much fun!  Asher's love of neigh-neighs is no secret, so this was the perfect costume for his 3rd Halloween.

Meet our adorable cowboy and his trusty steed!

Oh my goodness, he melts me.  :-)

And I know it's not just me.  When I was taking these photos one of our neighbors who was driving by actually stopped her car to call out how cute he was.  ha!

Mommy, can we go please.  My bucket needs filling.  And neigh-neigh agrees.

Love, love, love him...

and his crossed hooves...

and tail.  :-)

Time to hit the hay trough of candy, friends.  Happy Halloween!

our ladybug has arrived!

Drew, Asher, and I are excited to share that our baby girl is here!

Hadley Fern

 

Hadley arrived this morning, 10/27/12, at 4:44. She weighs 6 pounds, 13 ounces and is 20" long. She seems so tiny!

Her birth was a crazy adventure that I'm still processing - more on the whole story soon. For now, here a couple photos from our first day together.

 

Asher came to visit but was very uninterested in the baby sister. That's ok by me - we'll have plenty of time at home to get them acquainted.

{although how he ignored this adorable thumb sucking girl, I have no idea}

 

Her Daddy is especially smitten.

 

 

We are truly blessed beyond measure. :-)

 

{phone dump friday}

No baby.  Again.  ha ha - I really am trying to be patient.  I know firsthand just how much easier life is with the baby on the inside, rather than making demands to high heaven on the outside, but still.  I'd like to meet her one of these days.  :-)

On Wednesday Asher and I went to vote!  There is early voting here and that seemed like the perfect solution for someone who will have a newborn on Election Day.  Turns out lots of people thought it was a perfect solution for their life as well because the line was loooong.

There was also the little matter of a mommy/toddler miscommunication.  I told Asher several times that we were going to vote and how it's such a great privilege for us to choose our leaders, etc.  Well...apparently every time I said "voting" he heard "boating".  When we finally got through the line and there were NO boats he was one disappointed little guy.

At least I brought snacks.

I typed up a few instructions/information about Asher for A's grandparents who will be watching him when I go to the hospital to have the baby.  5 pages seems like a bit of overkill, but I really want the mundane things of life to go on as normally as possible for him.  Plus, if it was me watching a toddler I'd want to know everything!

When Drew's parents were visiting they decided that it would be a good idea to get Asher's birthday gift a few months early to make life more fun for him - and easier for me - so during nap time one day Drew and his Dad set up Asher's new trampoline!

It's so perfect that it fits in our finished attic space.  Asher has been jumping non-stop and I know it will be a great energy release for him during the cold winter months.  For those who are wondering, it's this one.  Thank you, thank you - we all love it!!

On Sunday, Drew and his parents took A to the state fair {I wasn't feeling up to all the walking around} - love this photo of my farmer and his prize winner.  ha!

Happy weekend, friends!

getting presents

Asher is starting to understand what presents are.  Drew's parents have been visiting us this week {and hoping ladybug would come out to meet them while they were here - ha!} and they brought Asher a few special somethings to open up.

Captain hoodie insisted on eating breakfast outside this morning, so he was still a little bundled up when it was time to open his gifts.  I just love him with the hood up - too cute.  Anyway...

Asher!  What is it?

Keep working... {this took awhile}

A scooter - hurray!

After a quick spin around the living room Asher scooted outside to practice a little more.  He prefers to be pushed along, but we're working on getting him to move 100% under his own steam.

Thanks Grandma and Papa - Asher loves his scooter!

wordless wednesday {now he's ready}

Grandma Linda and Papa Gene came with a gift for Asher when they visited over the past few days.

Part 1 of his present is something we're all excited about... :-)

bugaboo {39 weeks}

We made it!  One weekly post more than I squeezed in with Asher.  I've been having a lot of contractions over the past few days and feel like we're moving in the right direction towards meeting this little lady.

Drew thought this photo was pretty funny and captioned it "Mama's had enough."

He's kind of right - ha!  Do you like how my belly is poking out from the bottom of my shirt?  Um, yeah that's the norm now.  I'm pretty much out of clothes that will keep me covered.

I love being pregnant, but once I reach this point where I'm more uncomfortable than ever it starts to get tiring.  I'm also getting SO excited to meet, hold, and snuggle this baby.

Love that you can see my popped out belly button here.  It's a turkey timer all the way!  ha!

The nesting has been out of control around here.  I keep wanting to do the weirdest jobs - cleaning out the garage, wiping down the baseboards, and scrubbing all the ceiling fans.  Don't look at my coffee table because I haven't dusted in awhile, but the garage is squeaky clean.  Crazy mama.

This week baby is the size of a watermelon.  Sheesh - that sounds big.  Me and my lady parts are very grateful she's not also shaped like a watermelon.  :-)

How far along: 39 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: 25 pounds

Maternity clothes: yes, but even those aren't up to the task

Stretch marks: lucky yet again

Belly button: way, way out

Sleep: not so great

Baby movement: still pretty busy!

Gender: lady baby

Food cravings: crushed ice {is ice a food? either way, I can't get enough - still}

Food aversions: nothing really, but I'm not super hungry either

What I miss: laying down/walking/sitting/standing without getting really uncomfortable

Looking forward to: meeting this little lady soon!

Best moment this week: prepping my nest

Milestones: baby is one week further full term!

the pumpkin farm

I actually wrote this a few weeks ago...and got a little delayed in posting.  No baby yet, but I feel like she could come any day.  Updates, of course, when things start to happen!

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With the baby bug due to arrive anytime in the next 2 weeks I've been feeling a little pressured to get most of our fall bucket list checked off earlier, rather than later, in the season.  One of the things I was most looking forward to was taking Asher to a pumpkin patch.

There's just something about toddlers and pumpkins that go together.  Maybe it's how adorable they are trying to carry a giant, round pumpkin across a field.  Or maybe it's how they get super excited by the sheer multitude of melons to choose from!  ha!

You know what happens when you go to the pumpkin farm in early October in North Carolina?  Sometimes it's hot.  Like in the 80s hot.  Not very fall-ish to me, but we worked with what we were given and had a lot of fun regardless.  However, you will notice that we're all wearing shorts and tank tops.  A first in the pumpkin patch for me.  :-)

I don't know about you, but I'm used to visiting a simple field of pumpkins - maybe taking a hayride out to the fields - but then browsing for the perfect melon and calling it a day.  This farm was so much more!

Asher loved it!

The first thing we ran into was a bounce house, so, of course, Ash was sold on the visit from step one.

My lucky boy has a wonderful Grammy who was willing to get into this corn pit play area with him.  He was a little hesitant at first, but once she showed him how it's a lot like a big sandbox A loved it.  I've never seen anything like this before - very creative, pumpkin farm.

There were also quite a few animals on the farm.  We couldn't get as close as Asher would have liked, but he still got a kick out of watching and talking to them.

And I got a kick out of A's duck boots.  I hope he never grows out of them - they might be one of my favorite things ever.  :-)

While we were waiting for our hayride to the pumpkin fields the boys discovered this hay jumping barn.  I got itchy just looking at it - ha!

Asher wants to thank his Grammy and PopPop for coming to the farm with us.  Maybe he and PopPop can dress alike next year too.  :-)

Can't wait to see how little sister likes the pumpkin farm as an almost 1 year old next year - ahh!

{phone dump friday}

No baby this Friday.  Maybe for the next phone dump!  I had an OB appointment yesterday and found out I'm just about 3cm dilated already and 60% effaced.  She could come anytime! {or hang tight for another week...there's no way to tell}.  We are pretty much all ready for her, though.  I even installed the infant carrier in mini.  Holy carseats, Batman!

After seeing the picture I posted to FB my college friend Emily mentioned how jealous her Steelers fan hubby was of Asher's awesome t-shirt.  So...I had to make her little girl one too.  :-)

I wish I could have made the football bigger so there would be more Steelers fabric showing, but I didn't want it to take over her whole little chest - ha!

The other day I told Asher it was time to get dressed and heard in reply, "I'm in my bin Mommy."  Apparently he was far too busy to change just then.  This boy.

Last weekend A was a little under the weather, so we cancelled our state fair plans in exchange for a closer-to-home trip to the park.  Asher didn't mind in the least and had a great time!  It's not often that Daddy is able to come playing, so that was a huge bonus.

Speaking of Daddy and playing, A has found his new favorite thing - riding on shoulders.  Fast.  I about had a heart attack when I saw them tearing around the yard, but I know Drew would never let him fall off.  Some things are just for Daddies to do, I guess!

We went to play group this week and found Asher's birthday gift.  The family whose house we played at had the perfect sized trampoline out back.  It was big enough to give a good bounce, but not SO big - you know?  Ash jumped and jumped, then came home and took a 3 hour nap.  I was sold.

In an attempt to get ahead I started on some Christmas gifts for Asher's teachers this week.  I think they are going to be so cute!

This morning A and I met up with our neighborhood playgroup at a bouncing place.  We'd never been to this one before but it was awesome.  Asher jumped and jumped {can you tell he likes to bounce?? ha!} - I think we'll be back this winter.

Happy weekend, friends!