35 Week Appointment

I had the dreaded exam today. I only say dreaded because it was a physical exam. Who likes those? It went really well and I was pleased to find out that I am already dilated to 1cm and 50% effaced. I know that is by no means an indication that she will come early, but I didn't start to dilate with Hayden until I was 36 weeks and by 40 weeks had made no changes. I am hoping that this time around I will progress much faster. I FEEL like I will have her early, but who knows? My OB did say that moms that feel so strongly that their child will come early are usually right.

I have been having some braxton hicks and she has been so low for a few weeks now. Either way, we scheduled a birthday party for January 11, 2010 if she is not here before then. I simply pray that all goes well, there are no complications and that she is healthy. Plus I would like to be somewhat close to the hospital when and if I do go into labor on my own. Given the chances that Craig will probably be out of town, I really do not look forward to driving myself over an hour to the hospital! Wish me luck, PLEASE.

You Know How To Whistle, Don't You?

You just put your lips together and say "woo hoo". At least that's how Hayden does it. I am afraid that I am going to have a problem on my hands when Hayden gets older. I can already hear the phone ringing at all hours just to find out it's not for us, but actually little girls calling for Hayden. It happened to my sister-in-law with my oldest nephew and I suppose it will be the same for me too.

One foreshadowing of the events to come happened today. Keep in mind he has always flirted with anyone of the female species from waitresses to grandmas in the grocery store. He's seemed mesmerized when he saw a group of older girls laughing and giggling. He's even glad to hug our friend's daughters. So, today we went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A. He sat in a booth, next to me, facing another mom with her daughter. This little girl was so cute. She had red curly hair pinned up with a purple gingham bow and was wearing a yellow jacket. She reminded me of Shirley Temple right down to the cute little smile.

There was one empty booth between us. The little girl had her back to us and the mom was facing me. Hayden stands up in the booth and whistles. Or more accurately, says "woo hoo" not once, not twice, but three times! At first I didn't realize what he was saying until she turned around and her mom started laughing. I just grinned and blushed I'm sure. I was wondering what her mom was thinking. My son was cat-calling her daughter! Oh, what's a mom to do?

I think it's setting in...

I have been talking more and more to Hayden about sister. I think it's really starting to sink in with him that there is SOMEONE in my belly. A few nights ago I was sitting on the couch and was talking to Hayden about Reagan. He came over and placed his little hands on my belly and started talking to her. He was telling her all about Momo, BB, Aunt Suzi, Uncle Chris and the boys coming to see him on Thanksgiving. It was so cute! We call her "Sister", but of course it comes out as "Sisser". He says her name with an East Texas drawl: Raaaygiiiinn! He told her to "come soon, play monster trucks!" He has even stopped getting in her bed and has started calling it sister's bed. That's a definite improvement!

I love it. I had no idea how much I would enjoy these times. It is going by too fast and before I know it, they will be fighting and complaining about each other. I will have to think back to these sweet moments and remember that there was a time that he looked forward to having a baby sister.

6 weeks!

Six weeks from today is when I have chosen to have my induction. So, in six weeks or less I will become the mother of two children. That's just 42 days! I don't know how I'm going to handle a child going through the terrible 2's and a newborn. I remember when Hayden was little he slept alot so I am hoping that this little one will be a good sleeper too.

I have anxiety that I will not have enough time for Hayden and that he will be jealous of his sister. I don't want him to resent her or feel neglected in any way. I haven't really pushed potty training since he is only slightly showing interest and since I don't want him to regress when she gets here. Oh, so much is going through my head right now. I hope I can handle it. I hope I am up to the task.

31 weeks!

Reagan Elizabeth

I had my 31 week check up this morning. Things are looking good. I begged for another ultrasound in the hopes that we could get better images of our little girl than when she was 20 weeks. Plus, since Craig missed the 20 week scan I was hoping they would have pity on us and fit us into the sonographer's schedule. We waited for quite a while for her to fit us in, but they ended up doing a complete scan to get all her measurements! I was just hoping for a couple of pictures of her face. Many of her pictures have either her leg or her arm up by her forehead. I'm sure it's getting pretty cramped in there. We did get to see her swallowing and moving her mouth! It was so great!

My fluids are good and she is measuring in the 50% for each measurement, but the machine averaged her overall size is about 75%. It estimated her weight at 4.3 pounds. If this keeps up, she will be as big as Hayden was! I will definitely have to watch my eating. That's going to be hard considering Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. At least I can probably stick to my new year's resolution to lose at least 30 pounds next year! In fact, I will probably reach that goal pretty quickly! Ha! It's the weight after that that I want to lose. I hope it comes off quickly too.

As of right now, we are planning an induction for January 11. Only 8 more weeks to go! I can't believe how fast it has gone by and I know it will only go more quickly as we get into the busy time. I can't wait to meet our little girl.

Reagan's Goodies

I have the best friend! My college roommate, Holly, is always thinking of me. Today I got a package from her with goodies for Reagan. She wasn't able to make it to the shower last week so she sent her present to the house. So, of course, I have to show all the goodies off!

Burp cloths too pretty for spit up!

The cutest bib ever!

A soft, pretty blanket

A Great Bag! I can fit everything in there!

I decided to set up my camera and tried to be creative. I really need to work on my photography skills and get some more equipment. I think it turned out really cute and I LOVE black and white photography.

The Scarecrow

My Mother-in-Law started a tradition with Hayden on his first Halloween. She plops Hayden down in front of this cute bucket and allows him to dig to his heart's content. Last night was his third Halloween and so here is a progression of three years of candy joy!

Now, being a fan of the Wizard of Oz, I have always wanted to dress up as Dorothy. I didn't get to this year since I'm big as a house that landed on a witch, so I did the next best thing. I dressed Hayden as one of my favorite characters. I even got face paint. I was afraid that he wouldn't let us paint his face and I was right. I did manage to get one of his mostly painted face before he smeared it all off.

We went to Mineola where my Sister and Brother-in-law live. They have a great downtown area where all the shops hand out candy. I feel safe about taking him there and he gets a TON of loot. More loot than I would prefer him to have, but he's happy so I guess I am happy too.

The Train was coming.

What's a scarecrow without Dorothy?

This is the first year that I had to cut him off. While I was talking with my Mother-in-Law, this is what Hayden was doing. He had so much candy the bag was straining under the load. He cried for 15 minutes in the truck before he finally fell asleep. I have now witnessed first hand the effects of a sugar high and crash!