Warming Up

 Baby

I haven't taken many baby bump pictures this pregnancy, as my mother has reminded me. So here is a 37-week-old baby bump so I don't miss how huge I have gotten. It's hard to want to take pictures when I feel so bloated and I don't dress up very often. I barely wear makeup unless I'm going to church so I get self-conscious about pictures, they say you get a pregnancy glow, but I don't feel like I did. With 3 weeks to go, we are all getting pretty excited and impatient to meet him so I wonder if he will arrive before the due date or keep us all waiting. I personally would welcome him sometime this week...being born during week 37 isn't too early right??

Claire

Her week at school was good and we got a progress report on her reading that says her testing this past month was much better which means she was probably paying attention this time. We are still reading every day and keeping her practicing, but now I know to focus on reading comprehension most. I found some new books in a community library at a park about a subject she likes and we practiced by having her just listen to what I read on one page then let her look at the pictures and try to tell me what just happened in the story. Shay can be distracting sometimes and makes it hard for her, but she did well for a 6-year-old I think. As our snowmen melted this past week, she was sad our baby was all gone but said mommy looked scary. It does remind me of an alien looking right up at our bedroom window in the picture, but now it is nothing but a 3-inch tall pile as of the end of today. 

Shay

We did some painting as an activity this week and she looked cute in her hat and tie-dye shirt as she was painting so I snapped a picture. She looked like a little artist! I was working on a little project that I was given by someone for Christmas and she painted Princess Aurora. I'm glad she asked to paint because I did need to get that project done eventually and now I can use it for next Christmas. I'm having fun seeing her be excited to do her schoolwork every day and seeing how much she knows already. It's hard to tell her she needs to not do her homework without me, but sometimes I find some of the pages completed already. She is getting impatient for her birthday and telling me it is taking forever for it to get here, probably because she keeps getting reminded that Nana and Grandpa Cox are coming to visit for it!

Counting Down a Month!

 Claire

She has a new obsession with Chris's computer game and always wants to "help" when he plays and even plays a level on her own! She has learned the basics and can win one of the practice levels where the enemy only attacks you if you attack first. I can tell part of Chris doesn't like it because it interrupts him when he is trying to relax after a long day at work with a quick game, but it's a little cute how much Claire loves her daddy. The weekend is her favorite because he is home and can play games, go outside to build snowmen, and cuddle while watching TV with her. She had a total of 3 days off this week with two snow days and didn't think they were as fun especially since she is excited she gets to read a book from home to her class. It is one of those baby Usborne books called "That's Not My Bunny" and she can read the whole thing because she has memorized the long words. Unfortunately, we got a report card saying she is still behind in reading for her grade level, but I think she has progressed so much! She has officially upgraded to a booster seat now and can buckle and unbuckle without me needing to help so she can get in and out for school at drop-off...she's growing up so fast! And yet she probably should have been able to be in a booster seat a year ago because she's so small!

Shay

She has been very helpful as I've been collecting the last few things I needed to be fully ready for baby to come and she gets excited to bring them in. She loves doing her homework and we are sprinting through it so quickly! I feel like she is going to be well prepared to start Kindergarten and where I was worried about Claire knowing enough when she started. I'm making plans to help her pronounce sounds better and she is receptive when I'm correcting her in something she is saying, but I wonder how she will do when we are focusing on a sound a day. Last time fizzled out because she got frustrated so I'm trying to gather pictures that all start with the same sound for our work each day. I also may need to find a playgroup so she can have more time socializing with friends than just when we go to church. Shay's big job while helping build snowmen yesterday was picking the rocks that we used for the faces and helping me get the sticks. While we were up there she found the ice that she had earlier kicked from our chain drain to use as hair for mommy snowman! I think the girls like our little baby snowman the best because they really want me to have this baby already.

Baby

We are getting so close to having our baby join us outside of my belly! The girls are extra excited because they got a new cousin this past weekend and now Claire wants to know how many days I have left. Officially at 4 weeks until the due date and since I had inductions for both of my girls I don't know if I should expect him to come early or late. All I know is that I'm super uncomfortable and very ready for him so if he came tomorrow I would be okay with that! Not really...my midwife is going to be coming to help us be ready for the arrival date by bringing a few delivery essentials soon, but once she's done that I will say I'm ready.  Not having a baby shower for him was a little of a disappointment for me because I would have liked to get to know more people around here to celebrate my first boy, but I went to a girl's night this week and enjoyed that so much! I hope to get my identity back and not just be known as the pregnant one, most of my conversations are about how I'm feeling because I look so big.

Let It Snow!

 Claire

The first snow day of the year happened this week for Claire on her second day back to school after the break! She was a little disappointed that she didn't get to go see her friends again, but we had fun at home regardless and the rest of her week of school was good. During the snow day, I made a pirate ship that Claire took around and found Shay as a mermaid, pretty cute. It started snowing again yesterday and we woke up to at least 3 inches of snow added to the 1 that was already on the ground from earlier in the week. Our church meetings were canceled, and I'm starting to feel cooped up! We've watched Prince of Egypt, played a game, cuddled, and had a good day but it's not the same as going to church.

Shay

I think she enjoyed some of her alone time this week when Claire went back to school and was able to get back into her schoolwork with me. I found a book that I have had for a while and meant to start earlier so she is excited because it is something new. It feels like their internal alarms go off at 7am only on the days we would usually get to sleep in, but I haven't started minding yet because I'm sleeping pretty well for being so pregnant. Chris joined all the neighbors out around 9am this morning in shoveling and the girls watched from the window. After he finished the front he snuck out back and created a slide out of snow that the girls got to play on until the snow kept getting under their coats and boots and they got cold. We might make it out again before it gets dark to build snowmen and if we do you'll get those pictures next week. 

2024

 Claire

Chris had the 1st off and we took the girls to a parking lot to help Claire practice her bike skills. Between the practicing, Chris had to catch his breath so she played funny games and pretended she was a unicorn with her knee and elbow pads. Since I can't help, I take his word for it that she is getting more confident and hopefully, we can get more practice when snow melts. It was snowing yesterday and we have a couple inches with a forecast of getting more this week. Claire is returning to school, so we will see if it is enough for her official first snow day! Honestly, I hope not because it has been a long 2 weeks of no school and she even said she wants to go back because she misses her friends. They like playing and trying to make pictures in the snow with their footprints for each other who look down from our bedroom window. I caught them both doing it and switching off while I was relaxing in my rocking chair corner.

Shay

While we were out at the parking lot, Shay took a turn to ride the bike without training wheels and went much slower than Claire, but seemed to like the chance. She wanted to race on her scooter every time Claire went riding but we had to stop because she looked back too much and fell. She was too worried Claire was catching up (Shay's race track was shorter) and I'm just glad I have first aid stuff in the car. She was the first to notice when it started snowing yesterday and was downstairs yelling at the top of her lungs that it was snowing so we could hear from upstairs. It was precious how excited she was and I hope they won't be like me and get sick of snow...I don't enjoy the coldness anymore. Plus last year ruined my enjoyment a lot more because of all the shoveling of our steep driveway I had to do just so we could get to work in the mornings.

Baby #3

We have told some of our family if they remember, but we have named my baby bump Adrien! I doubt we will change the name once he comes out because Claire and Shay already are attached to the name and we like it too. They always pray for him, kiss him goodnight, and want to feel him when he is moving. There are only 6 more weeks until his due date and I'm beyond ready for him to come so if he arrives early I will be happy. He is an active little guy in there and I'm constantly feeling him kicking, squirming, and occasionally having hiccups. At our last baby appointment, I found out that he basically sleeps with his head hidden in my pelvic bones which explains why I was experiencing pain there. I have started missing my ability to move around and exercise, doing puzzles is hard because I have to lean forward too much, and I can't sit and sew for very long without my back hurting...I feel so handicapped!