Here comes the bride...

The final countdown is on! Chelsea's bridal shower and bachelorette party are in the history books, and her wedding is officially just around the corner. I always have to pinch myself when I think that though, because that means this baby's arrival is around the corner too! So many exciting things happening this summer!

On Saturday morning Payton, Sue and I loaded up into the car for the trek to Gig Harbor. I was pretty nervous for Payton's first long road trip wearing underwear, but luckily she did so good! Not a single accident the whole weekend! I was so thankful that Sue came along with me, she was such a big help. We got to Gig Harbor around noon, and I immediately started getting Chelsea ready for her festivities. Once we were all gussied up, we headed over to Kyanne's for the shower. She and Carissa did such a great job organizing the event! I was pretty limited as to what I could do since I am so far away, and I so appreciated everything they did to make it easier for me, not to mention a great day for Chelsea. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Chelsea's upcoming nuptials with us; it was a great day with lots of family and friends! Payton did great, although she wanted up or to sit on someones lap for most of the party. It didn't help that for some reason she's terrified of dogs, even little ones that want nothing to do with her, and so when she caught a glimpse of Kyanne's greyhounds (who were super well behaved) she became even more clingy. She had been talking about Chelsea's party for days, so I think she still had fun being there celebrating with us. Chelsea got lots of great things for her and Richard's new home!

Yum!

Beautiful bride to be!

Oh Chelsea :)

The hostesses with the mostest! 

Sitting on Grandma Sue's lap

Nice :)

Let the gift opening begin!

This was such a neat gift! My aunt Tanya made an old basket of my grandma's into a sewing basket, complete with all the supplies. Family heirloom!

It wouldn't be a shower without a beautiful Doogie quilt!

Payton finally wanted in on the present opening action!

After Chelsea opened gifts, we went outside to grab some pictures. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

Chelsea and Grandma Casebolt

Mother and daughter...

Make that daughters!

Bridesmaids!

Sisters :)

After the shower was over, I drove Payton home to my mom's house to change clothes and make sure she was settled for the evening. Then her grandmas were on duty and I headed back to Kyanne's for the bachelorette festivities. We hung out, had some dinner, played some games (tee hee), then headed out to The Melting Pot for desert fondue. YUM! After we stuffed ourselves we went cosmic bowling. I hadn't been bowling in forever, but we all had a lot of fun! None of us are used to staying up too late these days, so by the end of the evening's festivities we were all pretty exhausted. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! It was a great day though, lots of fun and memories!

The next day it was already time to head home again. It was a whirlwind of a trip! Sue, Payton and I drove over to Chelsea and Richard's new house before we took off to check it out, then we hit the road. We got home around dinner time, and by the time we had dinner and unpacked it was time for Payton (and myself) to go to bed. Somehow it's already Monday again!

28 weeks tomorrow, officially in the 3rd trimester. Woohoo! I have a doctor appointment tomorrow too, and then I'll go every other week until 36 weeks. That's when you know you're getting close! 

He's really popping out!

Such a sweet face! Hiding behind his hands

Time for this mama to go to bed! Another busy week as usual. On Saturday Kyle and I are chaperoning prom at the high school. I'm actually really looking forward to it! We did it two years ago, and it was fun. A lot of the chaperones get together to have dinner before the dance, so it's like a date night, plus we get paid! Bonus! 

Have a great week everyone!

Exciting news everyone! Miss Payton has been wearing underwear for 2 whole weeks now! She asked to wear underwear to school, then when she kept them dry all day I figured she could do it the next day. She did great again, so I put them on her the next day... and 2 weeks later here we are! It hasn't been without a few bumps in the road; she's really great at letting us know when she needs to urinate, but #2 (as it has been for over a year) has not come as easy. She had a few days where she was pooping in the potty consistently, and we thought "oh my goodness, she's finally over it", but then like clockwork, for some reason comes back the fear of the BM. We're trying to be patient, although it's so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and then have it blocked yet again by this problem. Especially when I KNOW she needs to go and she's unnecessarily holding it in. I can't even imagine how painful that would be, why would you do that to yourself?! It gets to the point where she'll start leaking poop in her underwear, and I obviously don't want that either. There was one day I was so fed up that I set her in the bathroom, gave her some books to read, and told her that she could come out when she pooped. I felt terrible, but I knew she had to go! She can't hold it in forever! It took 40 minutes, but lo and behold she called me back in to show me that she had a big poop in the potty. I have a feeling it's just something we'll be struggling with for a while... I just don't want her to be "that kid" in kindergarten who poops her pants and has other kids make fun of her. I'm determined for this to work out in her favor, whether she likes it or not! Problem is, she's just as stubborn as I am :) Luckily though, she's even keeping her pull up dry all night (we've been putting one on her just in case), so she has done extremely well. She's a smart cookie, and can do anything once she puts her mind to it!

Last weekend I spent Saturday in Portland for my friend Jamie's baby shower. It's hard to believe she's getting so close! Our due dates are about a month apart, so that always gives me a little shock when I think that; means I'm getting close too! Just 3 more months, and Kyle and I will have a new baby. Crazy!

All the pregnant mamas at the shower! Due in May, June, July and August... all boys! :)

Bumps!

Work and school have been busy as usual. Yesterday we just hung out and cleaned, I wasn't feeling too hot. I know I've got a ways to go, but I'm starting to feel very uncomfortable. I don't really remember ever feeling this way with Payton, even at the very end! For some reason this time I'm just not feeling as good. More nauseous, more tired, more achy, more uncomfortable, more trips to the bathroom, much more short of breath already (sad I know). Finding a comfortable position to sleep in is getting a little challenging, some nights are definitely better than others. I just keep reminding myself though, this too shall pass. And the reward is definitely worth it! Another big difference with this pregnancy is I feel this little guy move a LOT more! He's constantly moving, especially at night before I go to bed. It's very reassuring though, I like that he moves so much. Plus Kyle has got to feel him a lot lately, which is fun! I'm 27 weeks on Tuesday, so almost in my third trimester. According to my baby book, baby's testicles are making the journey from his abdomen into his scrotum this week, a process that takes 2-3 days (at least I hope they're making their way in there!). He's better able to hear our voices, and recognize the ones he hears the most. I'm guessing he's going to be very familiar with his big sister's voice by the time he comes out! Baby now weighs about 2 pounds and is around 14.5 inches long. Baby can sleep and wake at regular intervals, open and close his eyes, and practice his breathing. His brain is very active now, with lots of brain tissue developing. Although his lungs are immature, they would be capable of functioning outside the womb at this point. We don't want that though!

Getting big!

I am taking my glucose test this week, which is where they check for gestational diabetes. Whereas last pregnancy they just drew my blood once after drinking the glucose drink, this time I have to do a 2 hour glucose test, which means... I have to fast for 12 hours, get my blood drawn, drink the glucose drink within 5 minutes, get my blood drawn an hour later, and then again another hour after that. Lucky me! My doctor said she feels like they're catching more cases of gestational diabetes with this test rather than just the basic test I took last time, and she said based on how big Payton was and how much fluid I had, it may have been possible that I had it last time and it just wasn't caught. Who knows? She just said if I do have it, they definitely want to catch it this time. We'll see, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

She loves being outside!

Bubbles!

We have a very exciting weekend coming up... it's finally time for Chelsea's bridal shower! Her wedding is getting so close! It will be a short weekend, but full of lots of memories. I will definitely take lots of pictures to document all the festivities! 

Easter weekend

Happy Easter everyone! We had a super busy weekend, with no less than three Easter egg hunts for Miss P. She loved them, she was really into it! In fact this morning when she woke up she covered her eyes and said "I'm ready for you to hide my Easter eggs mommy!" Nope, that's over. But we're still eating all the candy of course :)

Friday morning was her first hunt, which took place at her preschool. Luckily Kyle was off for spring break, so he was able to take her and watch. He's not usually able to do that due to his school schedule, so he was excited he could go. Payton was excited too, as soon as she woke up she said "I ready to go, I ready to go to school!"

Payton's preschool is across the street from the Linn County Courthouse. They roped off a big area of the lawn for the kids to do their Easter egg hunt.

Check out all my eggs!

Daddy's girl

On Saturday morning Bryan and Lindsey invited us to an egg hunt at their church, they were taking their niece Jasmine (Lindsey's older sister's daughter). There were TONS of kids, it was a little bit of a madhouse! They had each area roped off by age group, but it was so crowded that the "hunt" was over in about 90 seconds. The girls had fun though! Usually Payton is super timid in big crowds like that, but she got right in there to get those eggs. 

I'm really getting the hang of it!

The egg hunt was so short and the girls still wanted to play, so we decided to take them to a park afterwards to run around. They had a blast!

Thanks for the push Uncle Bryan!

Jasmine got in on the action too!

Peek a boo!

Imagination at play :)

The girls had a lot of fun and got along really well. Payton was bossing Jasmine around in no time! Not in a mean way, just a "Jasmine let's do this! Let's go play on this!" way. Her little brother better be ready to fall in line! :)

Then, of course, there was Easter Sunday. What a busy day! Not to mention HOT. It was in the mid 70's here, felt like a heat wave! We woke up and opened Payton's Easter basket, went to church (Payton calls it "kurch", she loves it!) and then headed over to Rick and Sue's for Easter brunch. Lots of family, delicious food... and of course another hunt for Payton! I wish someone could have taken a picture of us; 14 adults (yes, I counted) watching one child look for eggs. Pretty funny! 

The Easter Bunny got me a new princess dress and shoes! Also some books, a movie, chocolate...

Ready for "kurch"

Ready, set, go!

I found one!

Yummy treats!

The best part... eating what's inside!

I just LOVE her!

It was a great day, the only thing that would have made it better is if we could have made it to Chelsea's Easter celebration with my family too. I'm so sorry we couldn't be there, but I thought of all of you and missed you! 

Hard to believe it's already April... I'm 25 weeks tomorrow! Time is really starting to fly. Only a few more weeks in the second trimester! He's really popped out lately, I'm starting to feel big. I'm actually able to watch him move now; when he's active I can literally see the kicks and punches through my stomach, which is fun. I never really had that with Payton, but this pregnancy has been very different in all kinds of ways. I haven't felt super good lately; I've started to get some headaches, a little bit of nausea coming back, not to mention the constant fatigue. Work has been harder this time around too. During a portable inpatient exam last week I started to get really hot, lightheaded, dizzy, sweaty... I had to apologize to the patient and take a quick break to keep it together! I had my biggest jump in weight gain at my last appointment, so I've been trying to rein in my constant hunger too. All the tempting yummy treats this weekend probably didn't help! I have one more monthly appointment in a few weeks, then I have to start going every two weeks. Very exciting!

Getting big!

Payton has been doing really good lately. We've been making progress on potty training, although some days it feels like two steps forward, one step back. It seems like it depends on whatever mood she's in that day. One day she did great, even pooping in the potty without anyone suggesting it to her. She just sat down and did it! She wore underwear all day, no accidents. Then the next day she had four separate accidents. When I asked her why she didn't use her potty, her answer was "I didn't want to go in the potty". She knew she had to go, but for some reason decided to pee her pants... it's almost like a control thing. SHE decides where she goes to the bathroom, thank you very much! Then today when she woke up she asked to wear underwear to school, so I let her. She kept them dry all day! We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings I guess! It would be so wonderful if she could be completely potty trained by the time this little guy arrives, but we'll just have to see how it goes. I know she's 100% capable, it's just if she feels ready. She's a stubborn one, don't know where she got that from! :)

We're back to the grind this week... Payton starts a new round of swimming lessons twice a week, Kyle has three baseball games this week, not to mention school, work, practice, etc. This weekend will be busy too, I'm going to a friend's baby shower in Portland and Kyle is chaperoning the "Old School" dance at the high school. Never a dull moment around here! Hope you all have a great week!