counting on one hand

only five weeks left.!

we are completely amazed lately at how much anabelle seems to have been observing and learning.  she’s understanding all sorts of things and figuring out little challenges on her own.  it’s awesome!

this week when i went to my closet to get my striped dress for the weekly belly shot, anabelle ran into the kitchen (that’s where the green wall is) saying ‘cheese!’.  we thought maybe she was still hungry and wanted a snack before bath but when we both got to the kitchen we saw her standing there against the wall ready for chris to take our picture.  hilarious!
(anabelle had chosen to try on one of my belts right before all of this)

after we got the belly shot and i went back to our room to change, i heard anabelle’s little pitter-patter back and forth saying ‘i see’ and then ‘cheese!’  she wanted to check out the pictures and then pose for another.  here are a few of her solo shots:

 

 

check out this sweet post from anabelle’s buddy mason
and his mommy, my sorority sister, alisha.

big girl

 

new carseat and boots (yah for ebay) in the same day.

anabelle was stoked!

papa time

seems we haven’t seen much of chris lately so when he’s home I sometimes like to just sit back and watch him play & interact with anabelle.  anabelle likes for them to get dressed up in their capes (crowns are often involved too).  you can see that anabelle dressed chris – notice the upside down crown.  these two are the best and I can’t believe we get to add one more to the team soon!

an outing with just papa to the air & space museum at balboa park

watching a little elmo with papa and sharing her ‘freezey friend’ for papa’s shin after a wooden box got him good that morning at crossfit.

besties and bumps

just a couple recent favs . .

me and my bestie, amy, getting a little sun after her baby shower a couple weeks ago.  it’s so amazing to share this bump journey with someone so close.  amy is due just 6 days after me.  we joke about high-fiving in the halls at the birth center.  amy and her husband recently came across walkie-talkies at home.  the guys think that’s a pretty awesome item to pack in the ‘go’ bags just in case we’re all there at the same time.  ha!

a delicious and sunny morning with two of my favorite birth nerds, stephanie & sarah.  we were all together for baby’s curtis’ birth (the handsome one on the right).  stephanie is just over a week after me.

the three of us could talk about pregnancy, labor, birth, babies – all of it – all day! we understand not everyone is interested, but if anyone wants to learn more about the magic of it all and how incredible and strong our bodies are designed to be, we are delighted to share and more than happy to shout it from the mountain tops!  we get down right giddy about it.

sarah is working towards her bradley method instructor certification and becoming a doula. stephanie is in the process of becoming a lactation consultant. both will surely (continue to) bless oodles of women for years to come. 

cheers to learning more, spreading the word, and helping to empower the women around us!

me and my girls

 

yep, still amazed!

amazed by how awesome our bodies are designed. 
amazed by what a sponge anabelle is. 
amazed by how fast this is all going. 
amazed by how blessed and how much in love i am!

33 weeks

just a smidge behind posting last week’s picture – 33 weeks.

any sort of bending over is definitely out of the questions with this dress now.  no worries, the belly doesn’t care for it anyway.

had a great father’s day with chris home and was sending oodles of love to my own daddi-o.

xoxo

check up - done

went in for a check up yesterday and all is just right.  organs are good, fluids are good, and she’s head down.  yah!

I’m 33 weeks and 4 days by the calendar.  EmilyMae is measuring at 31 weeks and 6 days.  I just grow them small.

here she is with her little round nose.

(chris asked them to confirm she is still a girl, ha)

progress

33 weeks and counting!

my belly button is officially an outie and i have a pretty good waddle when i’m tired.  parts are getting achy which is to be expected.  baby is moving a lot these days and i’m pretty sure i use the potty more often than anabelle (well more than she would if every time she peed it was actually in the potty, ha!). 

i have an ultrasound tomorrow morning just to check in on emilymae since i’m measuring a bit small.  chris and anabelle are coming along so we’ll all get a little peek at her.

still more growing to do but feeling pretty great!

big girl undies sort of fun

ok, this potty training business is not for the impatient or the unmotivated.  i was all psyched for the 3 day potty training guide i had read.  so, all kiddos are different and we are still working at it.  no biggie in the big picture but it sure can be consuming and a bit exhausting.  so far anabelle’s only consistent success is waking up from nap dry which is huge in my book.  she is just now starting to verbalize that she has to pee . . . ok, that she has peed.  oh well, we’ll get there.

relaxing and learning some abc’s

she is picking up so much lately - and appropriately still easily distracted as you can see.

rocking her big girl undies, oh and a necklace too, of course.

that morning she decided to try and get herself dressed too. 
man, i love this little lady!  potty accidents and all.

     

trying to help papa make a decision in the cereal aisle.

i just ordered a new changing pad cover for emilymae.  anabelle loved the owls on it and decided it made a pretty sweet cape.

enjoying another breakfast together at our favorite spot.
thanks, mauri, for the cutie matching bracelets for me and a!

      

anabelle still loves watching all the construction going on behind our complex.  a couple days ago one of the diggers was in a perfect spot for her to see from the living room.  she calls it a dig-dig and is happy to wave to it and say hi.  she also says uh-oh when it drops any dirt that it scooped up.  this day it was loading up dump trucks so there were lots of uh-oh’s.

babies all around

a little over a week ago i hosted a baby shower for my friend jamie and baby ella (due at the end of this month).  it was such a fun and beautiful morning together to celebrate her bump and first baby.

jamie and i went to grad school at USD together.

    

thanks pinterest for the cutie idea for the baby wishes.

                 

catching up with a couple other girls from school.

happy bellies excited to meet our baby girls!

                  

tick tick tick

definitely did some growing this past week just measuring a little small for the average charts.  I’m small so hoping it’s no biggie.  have an ultrasound next week just to take a peek and make sure our emilymae is cozy and getting everyhing she needs.

the weeks are ticking by so fast!

getaway

for memorial weekend chris was actually in town and had some time off.  he made plans for us to go on a little staycation.  it was great for all of us.

our condo was almost as big as our house and anabelle loved running all around.

playing at the pool was fun too!

i always love getting to see them together.

all set to go listen to big band music.

anabelle could have run and run all day.  she gets pretty excited for open spaces and getting her toes in the grass.  it was a great view while i had another snack.

around the house

just a little piano playing in a wagon by the window – simple, right?

watching the trucks and diggers with papa.

ready for another morning at the youth center on base – backpack and all.

a cozy morning in mama’s fleece.

i tried to catch anabelle doing her kettlebell squats but only got the very end.

another video at the table – here she is saying ‘cheese’ for the camera and laughing as i try to make sad-pouty faces at her.  you can see her try to make a face at the end.  she thinks it’s pretty funny – chris does not.

me & my hero

 

last month i went to mama fest with a girlfriend and managed to win a free photo shoot with an amazing photographer (also mommy of two little girls).  i’m not sure if i’ve ever won a raffle before, but this one was a jackpot!  lucky me!

well, last week was our session and i must admit it was a little crazier than i had expected.  a photo shoot with a nearly two year old is surely different than one with a stationary, unknowing, newborn.  it started here at the house, then we headed out to a nearby park.  not far from the house we realized anabelle had a dirty diaper and we had left the diaper bag at home – but of course how our bag with everyone’s outfit #2.  oh gosh!  chris had decided to let anabelle play with his phone in the car.  before we made it to the park we started to hear curse words coming from the phone.  smarty pants anabelle had found an inappropriate video to watch.  oh gosh!  can you say parenting fail?!  meanwhile, while trying to take picture anabelle really wanted nothing to do with me or my belly (this makes a maternity shoot a dash tricky).  thankfully chris was there and chrystal was super patient and understanding.  to top off the crazy, once we got home chris realized that he had left his first outfit on a park bench with his wallet in the pocket of his shorts.  we were relieved when he went back to look for them and they were right there on the bench waiting for him.  phew!

i have only seen two of the shots so far and was so happy that the crazy didn’t show through.  thank you chrystal!  it was so great to work with you and we are grateful for your gift, time, talent, and help with our anabelle.  i can’t wait to see more!

man, it’s so nice to be in love with your husband!  muggy, thanks for the extra time you spent at home this past week.  it really means a lot.

xoxo

my belly and potty boot camp

golly!  31 weeks, really?!

emilymae has been super busy lately with big roly poly movements.  well, as big as a 3 1/2 pound baby can make.  so fascinating!  even chris has been surprised how big her thumps and rolls have been this week.

today was day 1 of our potty boot camp for anabelle.  we’re using the 3 day training e-book.

she helped ‘throw away’ all of her cloth diapers this morning (they are really just in a trader joe’s bag) and spent all day in her big girl undies.  no pee actually made it in the potty today, but we have two days to go and we’re still feeling motivated.  her little stash of ‘potty prizes’ are waiting for her.

go anabelle!