family of four

After waking with contractions around midnight, Scott and I headed to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning today. And at 5:13 a.m., our baby boy made his way into the world.

Andrew Scott weighed in at 8lbs, 7 ounces and is 22 inches long. He's got a curious birthmark on his belly and is quite accustomed to sleeping peacefully through all sorts of chaos.

We have been so blessed!

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:3

baby update

There's a baby coming soon.

On Thursday morning at 6 a.m., Scott and I will be checking into the hospital for a scheduled induction.

I'm feeling slightly defeated, yet almost relieved. There's a plan in place. I can exhale and relax knowing that my discomfort will soon be over, that our family can be involved, that we will meet the newest addition to our family very soon.

I'm still a bit emotional when it comes to Morgan, however. Tomorrow feels somewhat final... my last day as a mom to just one. I tried explaining my tears to Scott, comparing it to Morgan at age 13 weeks when I returned to work. It's a time in my life I'll never have back again. I can't stop forward momentum, but I still struggle with it. Isn't that strange? I've been longing for this baby, and yet I'm wishing the clock would tick a bit slower.

We'll spend the day around the house. Doing everything we normally might... caring for the baby dolls, playing with the house and farm, maybe some coloring, enjoying Sesame Street, and making sure Morgan's favorite Big Bird participates in it all.

Until Thursday...

lions and tigers and boredom... oh my.

I gotta say, I love having a laptop.

I'm the supportive wife, enduring a night of sports on the couch next to Scott. Although a little admission here... I did manage to negotiate in some HGTV with my buttery popcorn.

Scott's take? "The enduring wife watching sports? Watching a laptop screen is more like it!"

We're doing our best to stay busy as we wait; it's not going very well. We intentionally hadn't made plans, and now trying to enjoy this down time is hard.

40 weeks

As of yesterday's appointment, the OB says my body is nearly complete in it's preparations for birth. So why do I feel like I could be pregnant for several more days?

Things seem promising according to the stats, but yet I'm just not sure anymore if our baby boy is going to make his appearance anymore this weekend. I'm 3.5 centimeters dilated and the baby is low, low, low. I was offered an induction for Monday, but declined and scheduled another appointment for Tuesday instead. With our baby (shockingly) average in size, there's no need. I have minimal swelling and perfect blood pressure.

I do have my share of aches and pains, but not the kind that land a pregnant woman in the hospital. Every step I take is most uncomfortable on my abdominal muscles. Sleeping with my pillow wedged into my gut is fabulous, but being horizontal puts pressure on my head, almost like a sinus headache.

Nonetheless we walked this evening. As quickly as I could. Hoping to bring on some sort of signal that the end is around the corner.

Our key players are standing by. Every phone call I make starts with, "Don't get excited." The timing for a weekend baby is perfect for all involved, both our baby-sitters and hospital-goers.

Come on, Baby Boy. We're ready to say hello, face to face.

birthday boy

Not to be put on the back burner (although, I'm sure he'd prefer it that way)...
Happy Birthday, Scott!

Above all, love each other deeply.
1 Peter 4:8

You make that so easy! Happy 35 years to my hubby!

not yet

Much to my surprise, I'm still pregnant. I never imagined that would be the case, but we are still on baby watch around here. Even with my due date approaching this Friday, I just assumed... early with Morgan, early with Baby #2. Not so. Or at least not by the margin that I had anticipated - there's still time to beat the due date.

But I have had a peaceful sense of calm since Sunday night. Maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's God whispering into my ear (or maybe I will eat my words!), but I truly don't anticipate any baby arrival until this weekend.

Life continues as usual. Everything within my control is complete. There's nothing else to do but wait.

last supper

This afternoon we were running a couple last minute errands, and decided that going out to dinner would be a fine idea. It's one of those sticky hot days, mommy doesn't feel up to cooking, and it's just way too easy to have someone else serve us! So we stopped into our local Chili's on the way home.

While the food and service weren't anything extra special, our time together as a family definitely was. I sat across from Scott and Morgan, and watched the way she would rub his back or link her arm through his. Propped up on her booster seat, her head met the perfect part of his arm to lay her head, and occasionally she would take advantage of that. She was making us laugh with her random observations, and making us proud as she flashed smiles and cleaned her plate. This was a special treat for us, and it was so apparent as Morgan would sip water through her straw and beam with pride after every gulp.

As we walked out into the bright sunshine, all adorned in our sunglasses, I mentioned to Scott that this would probably be the last time we ate out as a family of three. We each took one of Morgan's little hands and at her command, swung her in the air all the way to the car.

I'm feeling bittersweet tonight. All I know about parenting is based on the last two years with Morgan, and it's so hard to imagine that someday, the majority of our memories will be as an entire unit, not just as a family of three. The experiences we've shared with her have been amazing, and while we are excited about the anticipation of our newest arrival, our family dynamic is about to change. It's hard for me to fathom right now as this small slice of time in our lives is about to slip away.

A new chapter is about to begin. Ready or not.

39 weeks

I am blogging this evening from the sofa on our new laptop! This is fun! And most definitely the way to go when you're 39 weeks pregnant. Today was most uncomfortable, but still tolerable. And thankfully, we have the weekend ahead of us to go easy on things.

As of Thursday's appointment, I'm well on my way to having a baby, doc says. And in the back of my mind, I keep remembering the timeline I had with Morgan. If this baby shows up the same time she did, I'll be in the hospital sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. I wish it was that easy to pinpoint.

So we're still here. And while I'd love to meet this baby, I told Scott that I am pretty confident he'll be heading to work on Monday morning. Mother's intuition? We'll see!

powerless...but not for long!

Around 9pm last night as a huge storm was rolling in (and as Scott was in the middle of finishing the shower door project), we lost our power. I was hopeful that when the lights flickered, we'd be okay, but it didn't quite work out that way.

Thanks to Scott's gracious parents and their mighty generator, we've been able to keep some necessities running like the fridge, the basement freezer and some fans. No, getting online isn't a necessity, but something to help pass the time and keep up abreast of the lastest news and weather.

The predicted restoration, according to our power company, isn't expected until 11pm Tuesday night. Nothing like loosing power (and air conditioning) during the hottest stretch of days of the entire summer!

UPDATE - 3:35 pm... I'm thrilled to report that we are LIVE with electricity!!! Halleluiah! Why would the power company string us along to believe we were in for a miserable 48 hours? Who knows. But there are three, make that four, very happy campers in this household this afternoon.

38 weeks

The countdown is on. I'm anxious to meet this little peanut of ours. I've noticed over the last several weeks the difference in belly size between my two pregnancies. Morgan, while an early arrival, was still 8 lbs, 11 ounces. And my belly showed it. This time? The recent ultrasound results suggest our baby boy is in the 60th percentile - perfectly average, but not a giant by any stretch of the imagination. That surprises me considering we're such a tall family. So I'm more than curious to see what kind of stats our guy has on delivery day.

a five year union

Last weekend Scott and I were discussing what kinds of things we should pack in a bag for the hospital. After all, we're just a couple weeks away and you can never be too prepared, right? Funny thing happened, though. We started talking about how much we overpacked when we were there for Morgan.

Somehow we decided to pull out our "vintage" camcorder (a wedding present, ironically) to research the hospital stay from just two years ago. As Scott sat on the sofa, I worked the camera through the television and we were taken back to March of 2007 where we verified that, indeed, we did bring way too much to the hospital.

After being so emotionally drawn into the past, we popped in another tape - Sarah and Doug's wedding footage. Then, several of our home tours (aka Rachel videotapes the house in silence to document all the changes and updates). The other night, we stumbled across video from our first Christmas as a married couple and then a vacation road trip taken in that first year of marriage.

We looked good. Skinny. We were happy, goofy idiots. Childless, with nothing better to do than roll tape.

It's hard to imagine our life together back then, but seeing ourselves like that was refreshing. We had different priorities. I had cute hair all the time. With highlights. Scott would wash the Jeep by hand. Drying every door jamb, polishing every wheel.

What fun we had as newlyweds. The time of our lives when the biggest challenge was picking sofa fabric. Ha.

And yet, I don't find myself missing those days. In the same way that I no longer miss a carefree college lifestyle, or even the freedom to just pick up and go, I have moved beyond that.

With each passing year comes more depth to our marraige. More experiences, more memories, more fullness. Maybe we're still on the climb. Maybe we're still on the high of adventure with each new layer that becomes our history. But it feels good to have someone's hand along every step of the way. Because it isn't always one foot in front of the other. Sometimes there's a slip and fall. A misunderstanding about who will lead. Or which path to take.

Five years ago today, documented on our wedding video, my Grandma B. said something I'll never forget... you're with your spouse longer than any other family member. You leave your parents. Your children leave you. And yet still by your side through a majority of your life is your husband or wife.

I'm so happy that we have each other. And that standing, side by side, we'll always be us. Happy anniversary, babe.

On our honeymoon in August of 2004, camcorder in hand.

37 weeks

Well, things are moving right along in this home stretch. There is progress, according to my doctor. I was five days early with Morgan and am hoping for the same with this little guy, especially considering I'm following all of the same physical characteristics.

Aside from a major deep clean of the house, we're doing all of the little things we can now... thinking about packing a bag, making sure there's batteries in the camera, installing the car seat, washing the Boppy and making sure we have newborn diapers on hand.

Today is one of those prep days. I have energy and motivation, and a teammate in entertaining Morgan. She and Scott have already been on a bike ride, played "My Ball" out back and spent lots of time swinging.

Feels good to be making progress on all fronts!