homecoming

last weekend we got to tag along to a homecoming at miramar.  my friend’s husband was coming home from a 6 month deployment in the western pacific.  I was there to cheer them on and to take pics.  i didn’t realize how many i took!

          

here they come!
(see them in the top left corner?)

          

anthony pointing to his daddy’s jet.

           

I love the look on derrick’s face when he saw his sweet fam!  now time for them to get back settled together and wait for their baby girl to arrive.  Stephanie is due about 2 weeks after me.

     

hooray for having friends that truly ‘get it’ with this lifestyle we live.

enjoying some time with papa on the flightline soaking up some of his world.

      

    

                

congrats, anthony!  so happy your daddy is home!

     

what a great day!  homecomings are always good for the soul.

cheers to all the service members, families, & friends.  I am so very thankful and proud!

38 weeks

i think i must be in a little bit of denial, a smidge of ‘holy cannoli’, a dash of ‘I can’t wait!’, and a pinch of ‘lucky me!’

ok, it’s really more like a giant bucket full of each of those.

she’s coming soon and i can hardly believe it even though she is super busy in my belly, i can tell she’s still growing, and today i can’t seem to get full.  i had already had three breakfasts by 10:30 this morning.

our bags are all packed, the call list is all ready, and i’m trying to put away all of the random piles.  two carseats are in the back of my truck and we have our new double stroller, which anabelle loves!  she likes to climb into her seat, stand up to see the seat behind her and say ‘hi e-mae’.

i’m still in no hurry but in reality it could be any day now!

proud mama

anabelle surely wasn’t interested in my belly for our maternity shoot in may, but she has started to take a liking to it lately. 
i get hugs, kisses, she’s pretty entertained by my belly button (or lack there of) and she requests to ‘listen’ when we go to my check-ups.

i actually had a check-up the morning of her birthday.  as soon as we got in the exam room she was signing and saying ‘listen’.  then she wanted up on the table.  i sat her up there and right away she lay down, lifted her shirt, patted her belly, and said ‘listen’.  funny girl!

new carseat and new shades.
  this is what i saw in the rear view mirror driving home from swim class on friday.

posing for the weekly belly shot.

37 weeks!  my midwife says baby is still head down (hooray!), that i’m technically full term now, that i’d better get my bag packed, and not to wait too long once labor starts.  whoa, this is right around the corner!

hmm . . . wonder what time of day this will all go down. 
i guess i’m curious what day too!

see you soon, emilymae!  you can take your time, no rush.  finish all of your perfect special little details and we’ll see you when you are ready.

this one is the first shot and my new favorite.  anabelle saw me get my dress then took me to the wall, pointed for me to take down the poster that usually hangs there and then to back up and say ‘cheese’!

and a few poses the next day just for fun.

                     

proud papa

one day when I was out playing with a friend, chris took anabelle to bevmo to pick up some beer and proudly taught her what all those dark colored bottles were called.  she was pretty excited to bring him a nice cold one yesterday at 8:30am when I was fixing breakfast.  he said it would have been bad fathering if he didn’t accept it, ha!

just being cool

a little baby toss at her request

some awesome giggles

and of course a little flying (also at her request)

2 years old!

our little anabelle is now a big awesome two year old!

ok, not so big – she just weighed in at the dr at a whopping 24 pounds!

chris was out of town for her birthday so before he left we went to our favorite breakfast spot (again!) where anabelle got her own fun face pancake and her very first chocolate milk.  they pretty much made it into a chocolate milk sundae with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  she took a few sips, shook her head after each one and then later ask to have some milk.

      

we got her new carseat installed too! 
she was pretty darn excited at all she could see.

trying out her new art easel with papa.

      

here she is on actual birthday day.  man, what an incredible year we have had and i know it’s not slowing down anytime soon.  i surely still have a huge crush on this sweet girl and can’t believe that in just a couple weeks i’ll be blessed with a second sweet girl who will also steal my heart.

we love you jellybean.

happy birthday!

xoxo

at the fair

at the end of last month chris got tickets to take anabelle to the fair while i was having a slumber party at a girlfriend’s (it was his first overnight alone with anabelle & we all did great).  well, they ended up meeting his brother at legoland instead.  so, sunday evening we figured what the heck, let’s go!

do photo booth pics ever really come out right?!

watching little piglets snuggle up for some momma milk

and the grande finale – an elephant ride with papa

this month?

so, this is our month . . maybe.

my ‘due date’ is july 30th.  i think ‘due season’ is a better term.  if only more mommies knew and believed that babies come when they are ready, but you have to have all the doctors on board for that to really work.

come on docs, this is a normal process!  this is what our bodies are designed to do.  you are smart and training in lots of life-saving techniques.  the trick is, most of the time our babies don’t need them so please cut back on the scare tactics, making decisions just to cover your own bum, and instead help women embrace the experience, trust in their bodies, and let their babies do their thing!

i am SO excited to have the chance to welcome emilymae into this world at a birth center and to feel so much more in control of her birth, hooray!  i know it’s getting a little cramped in there, e, but just keep wiggling around and growing.  we’ll see you soon!