Final Hurrahs of the Summer!

Right now we are trying to get the most out of the rest of our summer before arrival of our bundle of joy and life gets turned upside down again. We will definitely have an added challenge of caring for a toddler and making sure that she feels included on top of figuring out how to survive on limited sleep and a baby trying to figure out life outside the womb. Wish us luck! From friends we here experiences from one end to the other-it's easier, you know how to take care of the baby-it's more chaotic, juggling two. I'm hoping we get something at least in-between as realistically it will be a transition into finding a new groove for our expanding family. 

Liv got to attend her first Iowa Cubs game-it was a sauna, but we made it 4 1/2 innings and she loved spotting Cubby Bear. She also enjoyed clapping and encouraged all of us to clap along with her. 

 

We also got to experience a first for our whole family by watching a pig show at the Boone County Fair. Avery showed her first pig this summer, a 300 pounder. It was interesting to watch as we had no clue what was going on. Liv enjoyed walking through all the animal barns, she really was excited to see the bunnies, got to pet a calf, and then said the horses were her favorite. She saw one with sparkles. Blake walked her around the carnival where she got to ride a tractor and have her face painted for the first time. She was so proud of her butterfly. 

To round out this week, we will swim with the Chesnuts as they visit the Adel pool with us; have a playdate with her friends Ella, Trevor, and Tori; possibly have an outing on Wednesday; and then spend time with Grandma while I attend my last training of the summer.  For the weekend, we will do final baby prep and enjoy our last weekend as a family of 3-hopefully relaxing as much as we can. 

Bubble Fun! We got a bubble gun (I really dislike sticking my fingers into the bottles to pull the wands out, they get sooo sticky) to help entertain Liv, she loves to chase them as well as shoot them out. We quickly went through two bottles of bubbles. 

Love the joy and excitment that bubbles give her!

Baby Marlowe #2

Baby Marlowe #2 is on the way!The count down is definetly on, here is our journey...

  picture coming soon, on day of delivery

We are at 38 weeks and looking forward to meeting our baby next week, we had an ultrasound this past Friday and they let us know that we will be going through with our plannned c-section due to size and no progression, which was a similiar situation to round 1 except we will be going 3 days early instead of 4 days later. They are estimating this baby to be around 8 lbs. 10 oz. at this time, which was what Olivia was when she was born 4 days past 40 weeks. At 40 weeks, they had estimated her to be 8-10 pounds, which is what they are estimating at this time-seems that Baby #2 will be around the same size if not a little larger. 

A little comparison.....I like to see the whole thing together as well as seeing how round 2 is compared to round 1. 

Olivia                                      Baby #2

Olivia                         Baby #2

 Olivia                                           Baby #2

Olivia                                                    Baby #2

Olivia                                                 Baby #2

 Olivia                                              Baby #2

Olivia                                                  Baby #2

                         

                 

40 weeks    (due date 2/7/14, actual 2/11/14)       39 weeks and 4 days (due date 8/7/16, actual 8/4/16)

Some comparisons: with Liv I enjoyed milk, was not into meat, and enjoyed all kinds of vegetables. During the first semester I was all about egg rolls and crab ragoons from Tsing Tsao. I felt comfortable for about 90% of the time with some tingling in my arms. This time around: I am more into salad, sweets, and not so into various vegetables. First semester I was into french fries from McDonald's. I definitely don't sleep as well because it seems harder to turn, bathroom breaks are more frequent as I feel the baby lower, and having a toddler changes things quite a bit.

Celebrating 4 years of marriage and many more years/memories together. We are looking forward to continuing this adventure together and welcoming baby #2 very soon!