40 Weeks

I am so glad this is a baby update and not a belly update! I am also glad that I am now home and well on my way to feeling much, much better. I have many photos to show you all, and much to tell, but for now this is all I've got. Sorry Mom, I promise I will post lots of pictures and soon!

39 Weeks

Are you sick of my boring belly poses and updates yet? Ummm, me too :) Hopefully this is the last one, but you never know. By Friday or Saturday I'll probably be taking more belly pictures and posting my 40 week update.

Guessing game

So... I went to the doctor today. No progress from the last appointment. Still 90% effaced and dilated to a 1. Once again I told her not to bother stripping my membranes. Oh well, things can change in an instant, right? Or I can wait, really I can. My due date is next week!! I can handle that. Within 2 weeks I will hopefully be home with my baby girl. And my mom and Cami will be here. I am getting excited, and now that things are getting so close I fee like I can handle the wait.

I thought it would be fun, for those of you who'd like to play along, to guess Daphne's birthday. Just leave a comment with the date that you think she'll come. Just to give you an idea of what to guess, my due date is November 4th, Evan came 4 days late, Makiah came 4 days early but it was a c-section, and I don't plan to let things go past the 7th (I am impatient, I am worried about having a big baby, and I can have a c-section by then if I want to :)).

So throw in your guess, I don't have any prizes to give out... but you can always give yourself a pat on the back if you are right! Haha, this will be fun ;)

2 more weeks to go.

I know. My blog is getting so boring with pictures of me and my big belly. I'm sorry. Pretty soon I'll start taking pictures of my kids again... and my baby :) We haven't been doing much these days, I haven't been up to doing anything really (excuses, excuses). My poor kids. They have been best friends with the T.V. this week, especially since it has been so rainy and cold. We did do something fun though, we went to a pumpkin patch :) And I forgot my camera :( It was cold, wet, muddy and really fun! The kids loved picking out a pumpkin to carve, and lots of little pumpkins. It was the highlight of our not-so-entertaining week.

So here I am at week 38! The end is very much in sight. As much as I don't want to wait any longer, I am close enough that I think I can make it. My family is done with this pregnancy as well. Poor Dallas has put up with so much. He was awesome this week. He stayed home with me when he had somewhere to be, because I thought labor was starting, he did the grocery shopping, he watched the kids two different nights so I could go out with friends, and he put up with all my complaining. The kids have been SO patient with me. They get things for me, they play together when I need to lay down, and they are just so amazingly GOOD all of the time. They are the best kids. My mom has listened to me on the phone almost every day. I am surprised that she doesn't screen my calls. I am so glad she is willing to listen to me ramble on about nothing, just so I can pass time.

My friends are seriously the best. I am so lucky to have them! I always have someone willing to babysit, or to just hang out with. I don't think I could have made it through the past few weeks without them.

Speaking of awesome friends, Kim posted my maternity photos yesterday. I am so happy with them, and I keep going back to her blog to look at them :) Go take a peek if you haven't yet. Kim is so talented! I got to take her pictures the same day... they are posted on my blog if you'd like to see.

37 weeks

I've been doing this every other week lately, but I decided to do one once a week from here on out. I just don't know when this baby girl will decide to come... maybe this is my last pregnancy update? We'll see. 

Birth Stories

Before Evan was born I hated hearing birth stories. It was really hard for me to hear what women went through to have a baby. Since I had Evan it hasn't bothered me to hear other mother's stories. It's definitely a mom thing, to compare birth stories and listen to one another's experience. It is so nice to have someone to confide in and relate to.

I have looked back and thought about my previous pregnancies and deliveries a lot lately. I have never written down exactly what happened with both of my experiences. Finally, these past few days, I've written about each pregnancy and delivery. It has been fun to look back at these memories.

I decided to post these stories here. Please don't feel obligated to read them unless you really want to. I understand that these are things that not everyone wants to hear or read. Also, they are long :) I just want them to be written somewhere for my kids and I to look back and read later.

After having these two experiences, and having 3 years to think about them, I have made the decision to (hopefully) have a VBAC. I have more confidence in myself now. I am better preparing myself for labor and delivery. I have wondered if my problem with Evan's delivery really was his big size and my small pelvis. I have reason to believe that I wasn't doing as I should when I was pushing during delivery. I think I was too scared, tense and unable to relax enough for Evan to come. I really think that my tension was working against me and delivering my baby successfully. This is my last chance to try a VBAC and I feel extremely blessed to have found a doctor who is willing to help me. I am excited to see how things turn out. There is a chance that my previous doctor was right and I really am to small to deliver a baby. I may end up having a C-section. I don't want to be disappointed if I do. My experience with my scheduled C-section for Makiah was great and I won't complain if that happens again. I just can't help but wonder if I can make this work. We will see :)

My birth stories are posted below this post, feel free to read... if you feel so inclined :)

36

I decided today that it is VERY important for photographers to get their own family photos done at least once a year. For the purpose of knowing exactly what your clients go through before and during their photo shoot :) Honestly. I know it's hard, but I forget just how hard :) I personally like being the one behind the camera. Today my friend Kim took my maternity photos and I decided to bring the whole crew. I knew they wouldn't be thrilled, and I knew it wouldn't be the most exciting thing for them. But I STILL got ornery and upset at them when things didn't play out perfectly (what can I say? I am a perfectionist... and I'm pregnant). I just wish I could keep my cool and enjoy the time with my family. I stress out too easily. 

With that said, I am SO excited for the pictures!! Kim is fantastic and dealt with all our stress like a pro :) She is a great photographer. I also got to take some pictures of her cute family and that was a fun note to end on!

Now that my maternity photos are taken, and I have reached my 36th week, I give Daphne permission to come... anytime... even today if she wants :) I am ready, bring it on! I can't wait to see my girl. But if she must, she can hang out and wait four more weeks. 

We are not only excited for Daphne to come, but also for our family. Dallas' parents are coming next month as well as my mom and sister, Cami. Yeay! I am very happy they all will be coming!

I have a backup C-section scheduled for November 4th (my due date). That way if I decide that a VBAC just isn't the right thing for me I can have a planned C-section. Or if I decide that I really do want a VBAC then I can cancel my C-section and wait for baby to come on her own. Though I don't know if I'll wait too long... I worry that she'll get too big. More waiting and more decisions to come. We'll see very soon how everything plays out.

Just a week late

The picture was taken right on time... but it's been sitting on my camera for a week, waiting for me to do something with it. There are actually many photos sitting right now. Waiting to be edited, blogged, printed, etc. It's too much to think about. Anyway, here is week 34. I am actually 35 weeks along now. (Yeay!!)

The countdown continues.

Today I told Dallas... "Don't be surprised if the baby comes tonight..." I was hurting so bad. Not the normal aches and pains I've been having. I guess baby is just changing positions or something. Seriously, I couldn't walk this afternoon, it was beyond the pregnancy waddle. Dallas told me he'd give me $10,000 (haha, yeah right.) if the baby really did come. He thinks I just whine too much. And maybe I do. But we both knew she wouldn't come today (thank goodness, she still has 8 weeks of growing to do). 

I am anxious though (not enough for her to come 8 weeks early)... I just want my baby to be here. I just want November to be here. I am soooo impatient, it's getting annoying. 

Here is a side view to compare the past weeks... 

But in all honesty, I do not hate being pregnant :) It is a neat time for me. I love feeling the baby move. I love making plans and buying baby clothes, bottles, car seats etc. It is all very fun and exciting. I am so grateful for everyone who has been helping me out. Dallas has now taken the role of homemaker/mom... on top of the family provider/dad :) He does so much around the house and with the kids. My mom listens to my complaints over the phone, or she just fills my time when I need someone to talk too. I have friends who are so willing to watch my kids so I can have some free time. Or friends who are willing to just come over and hang out. I am very grateful for the support system I have here. It has made this pregnancy so much easier. Thanks everyone :)

A Tutorial.

This is for all ya'll tall girls... or short girls... or girls who just don't like the choices they have for maternity pants. I have no problem (okay, except one) with maternity clothes. I think they have some great choices and cute things out there for us prego girls to wear. The only thing that really gets to me is that maternity pants that are "Long" are really only 32-34 inch inseam. I'm sorry. That is NOT long. The end. 

When I was pregnant with Evan I just wore dress pants to work. One pair that I special ordered... and another pair that my mom made me. When I wanted to wear jeans I just left my jeans unbuttoned and used a Tummy Sleeve to hold them up. It worked, but honestly... it wasn't the comfiest option. Especially when I was 7-9 months pregnant. 

When I was pregnant with Makiah I lucked out and was able to wear just maternity shorts and capris since she was born in July. 

With this pregnancy I've been wearing maternity shorts and capris again, but I still have 2 months left and I know we'll have some colder days.

So. With this random cool weather we had this week (which was fabulous), I finally decided that I had to do something about this "I can't wear maternity jeans" thing. I went to Vanity (my favorite place to buy jeans, yeay for 35-37 inch inseams!!) and found some cute jeans on clearance for $15. Then I went to Motherhood and bought a Tummy Sleeve. I probably could have made my own tummy sleeve of sorts but this was the easiest option... I like things to be as uncomplicated as possible. 

Then I went to work....

DISCLAIMER: I am not a seamstress in any way, shape or form. Please don't judge. Also, these pictures were taken with a point and shoot camera in bad lighting. They aren't the best. Please don't judge.

Step 1: Use a seam ripper to take the bottom of the belt loops and tags off the jeans. 

Step 2: Using a seam ripper, unpick the top part of the jeans as shown. I was going to just cut them off, but I'm glad I didn't. I would have had to re-sew on the pockets, also this gave me some extra denim for a seam allowance. 

This is what it looks like when you finish taking off the top (you will no longer have a button or button hole):

Step 3: Zig zag stitch or surge the top of the jeans to prevent fraying.

I was worried about the zipper being too thick to sew through. So before zig zagging I cut the bottom flap just below where the zig-zag stitch would be. It isn't sewn shut on the inside, but it lays flat and doesn't bother me. 

Step 4: Here is where it gets tricky and where I stopped taking pictures... sorry. Divide the tummy sleeve in fourths, mark each quarter at the bottom of the sleeve with a pin. Then attach to the jeans (the jeans are right-side out, and the tummy sleeve is inside out and upside down) by pulling the jeans inside the tummy sleeve. One pin will be in front by the zipper, one in back on the opposite side, and then one on each side. I really hope this makes sense. Basically, you will sew the top of the pants and the bottom of the tummy sleeve together. I used a straight stitch and then a zig zag stitch on top to re-enforce it. Since the tummy sleeve is stretchy and not as long as the pants you have to stretch it as you sew, just be sure to keep it is all even so you don't end up with more denim left then you have tummy sleeve. It should look like this when finished (well, I'm sure you will do a better job... I am not the best at sewing):

The inside:

And here is what it looks like when it's all right-side out:

And here are my finished Maternity Jeans!! They are soooo comfy and cute. I am very happy if you can't tell!

They are kind of low in the back, but I like to wear my shirts long so I don't think it will bother me. I could have bought a black tummy sleeve to match the jeans a little more, but I wanted white so it wouldn't show through my shirts. I've seen other tutorials that left more denim in the back to keep that from happening, but I really think it was just the style of the pants that made them lower. It could be different depending on the pants you use. 

Anyway, I hope this helps at least one person... I had fun and now I want to make another pair. It only took me an hour... if even that long. It was so easy... and look how long they are!

Journaling (me rambling...)

When it came to taking pictures in the past month it was for my photography clients and not my family. I hardly took any photos of our going on's this past month, but we've been busy. This month just flew by... which is kind of a relief. When July ended I couldn't wait for August to be over as well. I think mainly because of the heat, but it turned out to be a nice month and not as awful as July. So all in all this month wasn't as hard and long as I thought it would be.

On Saturday I did my last two photo shoots of the year. Both shoots were so fun! I am glad I ended on such a good note. Now I just have lots of editing to do, but thankfully my pregnant body can handle that a little bit more than walking, bending, getting down on the ground... etc. I am very excited to do pictures again next year... when I'm not pregnant!

Dallas and I have been organizing the house and trying to make it livable for the next (hopefully) two years. Since we decided not to buy a house we decided that it is best that we make due with a 2 bedroom home for a couple years (so we don't have to move and so we can save for a house). We've been dejunking the house, rearranging closets, and we even bought two shelves... one for the garage and one for our storage closet. It has been nice to organize and now we are starting to believe that we can fit in our 2 bedroom duplex for a couple more years.

The kids have been good. Since I started to feel better (and actually been able to make it through the morning without having to lay down) we've been able to get out more and do more things. Evan especially was starting to act bored all the time. I started to worry about him and the decision I made not to put him in preschool this year. I started looking for other activities that he could do to fill his time... and really, just started to stress myself out. I guess my prego self was just trying to find something to stress over. He is okay now, and not so bored. As long as I give him the attention he is needing.

I've come up with a weekly routine to keep the kids entertained this fall. It may not include a pre-K for Evan, Joy School for Kiah, dance, piano lessons, gymnastics, soccer and all the other things I thought I needed to do for the kids. But I think it will work for this fall. Here is my plan.... home school for the kids on Monday and Wednesday mornings, playgroup on Tuesday mornings, A preschool group with friends on Thursday mornings, and an art class on Thursday afternoons. I am getting really excited to get started!

I decided to do a home school for the kids earlier in the summer. Just a time that is specifically for the kids to be with me... with no other distractions (such as photography, internet, reading... and other things that I like to fill my time with). I was going to start it next week, but Evan kept asking me to play school with him this morning so we did! We did an hour or so of singing, art, numbers and letters and the kids loved it! It made me happy that this is something I can do with the kids, even though I can't afford to put them in preschool.

A group of my friends also invited me to join their preschool group on Thursday mornings. It's going to be a little more laid back than Joy School was last year, but still a time for the kids to learn with their friends. All the kids in the group are 2 and 3... and then Evan is also going to be joining in as well :) It will be a fun time for them to be with their friends.

I also signed the kids up for a six week art class. I am so excited for them to start! They have both been obsessed with paper, crayons, markers, tape, scissors and paint all through the summer. I seriously have to bribe them to go play outside and leave the art supplies alone.

Well, I hope that didn't bore you. If you made it through all that, thanks for listening!

Thirty.

68(ish) days in counting...

This one is for Kiah, who wanted to be in my pictures this week....

(Thanks Dallas, for taking the pictures... even though I am bossy and tell you what to do.)

28... 12 more to go!

Here is a little pregnancy update... I am not posting this to complain, just to update :) These past few weeks have been hard because I haven't felt the best... but really I know it could be worse. Just thought I'd throw that in there so you will all know that I really am okay... I'm just stating the facts so I can remember all the ups and downs of this pregnancy. 

Photography...

So if you are sick of hearing about my photography obsession then I am giving you permission to stop reading :) I am sorry I put so much on here about pictures etc, etc. But I love it, so that is that. I am now 25 weeks along in my pregnancy (Yeay! Getting closer...) I am starting to feel the third trimester discomforts.... But I guess I am technically still in my 2nd trimester... Anyway, the 2nd trimester is certainly coming to an end. I have just over a month left of photography sessions, and then I will be taking it easy for the remainder of my pregnancy. I am booked all of next month and I will be finishing with a newborn session at the beginning of September. I actually have only one opening left... a Mini Session on August 6th at 7:00pm. If any of you were hoping for a photo session before I am done for the year, this is your chance! Check out the information for my Mini Sessions HERE.

The Belly

I wasn't sure if I was going to put these on here or not... but I (finally) think I should. At first I was so good to take pictures every two weeks... but then I slacked off. I better keep up on this project now that my belly is growing. Hopefully I do better from here on out... 

Sugar and Spice

Our little girl wanted to say hi... we are super excited to meet her in 20 more weeks! Half way there!

We brought the kids with us to the ultra sound. I think they would have died if we went without them. They have been looking forward to seeing the baby ever since we told them I was pregnant :) I showed them their own ultra sound photos before we went to give them an idea of what we were going to see. I explained that we didn't know yet whether it was a boy or girl but the doctor would show us a picture. Well, the kids didn't need a picture because they already *knew* it was a girl. When the tech excitedly told them "It's a GIRL!!" Evan just stared at her like, "um, yeah... we know!" I think Makiah was a little disappointed that we didn't actually get to *see* the baby today. She is now ready for the baby to "pop out" as the kids say. It was fun having the kids there and we are super happy that it's a girl! (Though a boy would be just as fun :))

For those of you who are wondering...

I am now 11 weeks along, and the baby is due November 4th. I had my first doctor visit on Tuesday and we (Dallas and I) were able to hear the heartbeat (so so cute!). If things were completely up to me I would've spread the news 4 or 5 weeks ago... if things were completely up to Dallas he wouldn't tell anyone and just wait to see who notices first. But in the end I kinda won (I guess), but honestly Dallas was getting anxious to share our news as well. I told him that it wasn't really worth it to keep it a secret since people already knew I was super baby hungry. People would start asking questions and I hate lying. I also wanted to tell my kids and I knew as soon as I did they would just give it away :) 

I have been feeling fine, but pregnant. If that makes sense. I get tired easily, yucky smells bother me, I have a hard time sleeping if I get woken up during the night, I have weird dreams, I get nauseous if I don't eat regularly and it's the worst at night. But really, I can't complain. This has probably been the easiest pregnancy for me so far. 

Oh and the pictures in the last post? That was one of the funnest photo shoots that I have done with my kids! I was taking the pictures by myself at first and then Evan joined in. He didn't even know what the signs said... he just loves the camera! I took the pictures for Dallas to surprise him... then I used the pictures to announce to our families that we are having a baby. Then I had to use them on the blog. One day I will post some of the other pictures we took. They are cute!

Months and months ago I found this idea and I fell in love with it. Go watch it now and you will see :) I decided right then and there that I would take weekly pictures of my next pregnancy so I could at least have something to document this time of my life. I really don't have any photos of myself pregnant with either of my kids. That makes me sad. Another thing that I want to do is a maternity photo shoot when I am in my last trimester. I just did a maternity shoot with my friend and I LOVE the pictures so much (you should take a look... here). 

So, about the weekly pictures... I started a series of photos for 6,8 and 10 weeks... but I am starting to get some different ideas for the series. I haven't decided exactly how I am going to do it yet, but I think I will start it at 12 weeks since I am starting to dislike the photos I already took. So hopefully by next week I'll have something to show you :) 

The Secret is Out...

We even heard the little heartbeat today... so I guess it's for real!