Baby Announcement

Big sisters Gabriella and Gwyneth

are excited to announce

their little prince charming...

Will arrive on March 10, 2009

Proud momma to be induced, Jamie

Thrilled daddy to have wife finally be induced

and stop complaining about all the aches and pains,

and sending him on craving runs,

and making sure the freezer is well stocked with ice cream,

and making him give feet rubs,

and waking him up with the millions of trips to the restroom each night,

and not having to wake her up off the couch after she's fallen asleep at 8:30,

and finally deciding between the names Henry or William,

and listening to the laundry list of honey-do's that need to be complete before unnamed baby arrives even though he works a hundred hours a week and is equally exhausted as proud momma to be induced,

handsome,

perfect,

I love you more than anything,

thank you for putting up with me,

please still love me,

I'm sorry,

you're the best husband ever,

and greatest dad around,

I love you,

Joseph

Tiny Toes

I was holding Gabs after her bath when Joe walked out of the bathroom holding a wet Gwen all wrapped up in her towel. The only thing I could see were her feet. And they looked so big.

It was one of those moments that came out of nowhere. Gwen has always been my little baby. But at that moment, it was like she grew up over night, and I was seeing it for the first time.

Suddenly, everything about her seems bigger. Her hair is no longer wispy. She runs with her arms by her side instead of flailing through the air. She uses her fork when she eats. Sometimes. She can put on her own shoes, even if they are always on the wrong feet. She's just gotten older and bigger in every way possible.

I sat the girls down side by side as soon as I saw those, what seemed like giant, feet of Gwen's and realized first, they had been in the tub far too long, but that they were almost the same size as Gabriella's.

It made me sad. She's growing up. She's getting bigger. And so is Gabriella. It made me long for tiny toes.

It's a good thing ten new tiny toes will be here soon, otherwise I would probably have cried. And once those tiny toes get here, I can only image how much bigger the girls will suddenly seem. Oh dear, I better get ready for that.

So for now, here's to the twenty, perfect toes we are enjoying while they are still looking tiny...at least somewhat tiny.

Little Boys

I got these adorable shoes as a gift and I love them! They're pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen for a little boy. I can't wait to put our little son in them. Along with newsies caps, plaid shorts, polo shirts, long sleeved button down shirts with the sleeves rolled, converse with no socks, sweater vests, blazers, and maybe even suspenders (don't hate me Bryn).

Recently, Joe and I have pretty much narrowed our baby name list down to two. Both we love, but one is winning out for me by a pinch and Joe is leaning towards the other just by a hair. Here are a list of names, in no particular order, we have or are considering:

Charles-"Charlie"

Vincent-"Vince"

Benjamin

William-"Will"

Vaughn

Hector

Henry-possibly "Hank"

Timothy-"Timmy"

Jack

Luke

Most of you know our two favorite, but out of curiosity, which is your favorite from the list? Just act like you like one, even if you think they are all horrible. Truthfully, no matter how you vote, it won't change our minds on our favorites, this is really just an exercise to prove to Joe that no one wants to see our baby named Hector. Sorry Grandpa Hector. You are in consideration for a middle name though. But, by all means, if Hector is your favorite, don't let me stop you from voting for it. Joe would be your best friend for life too!

I keep praying that our dates are off by a month (totally unlikely) and I am actually due in a couple days. Wouldn't that be great? Let's pretend that is the case and we need to name this baby tomorrow. What should it be?

Pregnant Me

"Bigger and bigger."

That's what Gwen has been saying to me the last few days. She doesn't need to say more than that. I know that she's talking about my ever growing belly.

I finally hit the wall. I hit it earlier than I hit it with the girls. But at 35 weeks, I'm pretty ready to not be pregnant anymore. Actually, mentally, I'm fine with being pregnant. Physically, I'm sick of being pregnant.

My body never felt this beat up with the girls. This time around, joints are cracking and popping that just shouldn't be. Everything is stiff and achy and I'm wobbeling around uncomfortably. It's pretty ridiculous what I've resorted to. I've found myself getting down on the floor to pick up toys and just deciding to crawl to the next room to continue to pick things up, because standing is just too difficult and bending down to do it again is just too painful. I see Gwen trying to pick things up with her toes and open drawers with her feet, because obviously that's the way things get done around here now.

I'm always in my favorite yoga pants and one of Joe's shirts. I'm down to one skirt for church. My boots are barely fitting around my calves because my legs are so swollen. My maternity jeans are pretty much too tight and I seem to rip the fabric covering the maternity panel each time I put them on because my rear end is growing bigger and bigger right along with everything else. Come to think of it, maybe that is really what Gwen is talking about. Must be.

I am craving anything cool and refreshing. Clementines, apples, celery, crisp salads, cucumbers and grapes. I have also been craving drinks. When not pregnant I am a huge water drinker. I have to drink plenty of water to keep from getting kidney stones, so that's what I do. I never have juice or soda in the house. Since becoming pregnant, all I want are cold beverages. First it was Martinelli's. I would drink a bottle a day while Joe was at work. I kept getting the four pack at Costco, but they kept disappearing. Then it was egg nog. We went through several, several gallons during the holidays. But nothing, I mean nothing, quite hits the spot like some serious caffeine. And honestly, I could go years without drinking soda, let alone caffeine. But boy oh boy, this pregnancy has me craving some caffeine. I usually go with Diet coke, but one night Joe got home from work and had bought a Diet Dr. Pepper to help him stay awake on the drive home. It had been since high school since I had the stuff. I took one drink and thought I was in heaven. Very,very good stuff that Diet Dr. Pepper.

It still seems completely surreal that we are having a boy. The girls still affectionately call him Cosmo. That's about as far as we've gotten on the name situation. I'm pretty confident we'll be at the hospital without a definite name. We need help desperately. Actually if you ask Joe, we have several options. I just need to choose one. Yikes!

As eager as I am to not be pregnant anymore, I must say, I LOVE having a baby in my belly. I love each and every punch and kick I feel. Even if it's to my ribs or bladder. It's a part of pregnancy that I really do miss after the baby is born. Maybe I'm the only one.

But here we are. Five weeks to go and counting...kind of.