Our fur babies

So with the arrival of our little boy in about 6 days, I suppose our sweet Fur Babies will get less attention. :( Chet was playing around with our new camera and decided they'd make good subjects. We still have LOTS of practice with the settings and stuff, but I do like the crisp pictures already!!
Rusty in our kitchen. He is very nervous about the camera. I think the flash scares him. [Note: Our rugs are out of place because we had a nice little water leak from our sink...fun fun.] Lukas posing for his daddy on a walk. He's the biggest "daddy's boy" I've ever seen in an animal! I promise we feed our dogs. They just got haircuts yesterday, so it makes them look extra skinny! In fact, we spend more money on Science Diet food than we probably spend on groceries. So no hating please!

Our boys --- and our messy porch. It's their fault you know! ;)

And then we come to Henri. She is the "calm" in our storm of animals. She hates her brothers and still doesn't understand why we have them. It was JUST fine when it was only the three of us. (She tells me that daily!)

Another shot of my little princess. She's the only animal allowed on the new couches; it's our way of making up for bringing two annoying "brothers" into her life. That and we couldn't control her anyways....but we tell her it's because she's special. ;) lol

These three little spoiled babies are about to get a real life changer next week when we bring Holden home!

Last Doctor Appointment

Today's appointment was our official "last" appointment! It's bittersweet, since I rather like to go to our appointments, lol.

I am only 1 centimeter dilated, but we are still on target to induce next Wednesday. Doctor Perales gave us our "orders", and we are number 4 out of 7 women being induced Wednesday morning. That means we'll likely start Pitocin around 9 or so in the morning.

We are ready to get things together for the arrival of our little boy!

PS We also picked up the camera today, so after it charges we will start practicing!

A new family member

Okay, so obviously a camera does not constitute a "family member" (1 John 2:15 swimming through my head at the moment), but since this is something we've been saving and hoping and wishing for ever since we got married (before that actually), I am STOKED to say we will be proud owners of this camera soon (next Monday to be exact)! Each Christmas we tell ourselves that "next Christmas" we'll buy ourselves a nice camera. That's yet to happen. SO we bit the bullet and ordered this beauty at Best Buy yesterday, basically never enabling us to send our kids to college and pre-spending our "goose egg"... but isn't she pretty?! ;) We did NOT follow Dave Ramsey's rules when deciding to invest (ahem, get into DEBT) for this little piece of black gold.... But we are both so happy to have a good camera, with video camera capabilities, for Holden's every little move and expression! I mean, really, what kind of baby deserves to be iPhone photo-ed his whole life?

My-oh-my this blog might be filled with photos very soon! Chet has a natural talent for photos and Photoshop, so he is getting very excited to become our family photographer. I on the other hand, will be needing to read and re-read that 2-inch manual when it arrives.

I'm sure "bragging" about a possession on a blog is really, really poor taste and out of blogging etiquette. I am not meaning to boast. I just didn't want anyone thinking that my pictures have all of a sudden gone from grainy iPhone pics to beautiful crystal clear pics without the clarification. OKAY----and I am a LITTLE HAPPY and had to share! ;)

FULL TERM!

Today is the official "full term" mark for Baby Holden! 37 weeks!!

Can't believe we're already here!! We had a great doctor's appointment yesterday, although it wasn't eventful. :) It seems as though Holden is just comfy and content with his womb home, and will probably not make his arrival before we induce on September 1st. His head is still very low, under my pelvic bone, but that really doesn't mean much when he's just not ready to enter the real world yet. My doctor did not check me for dilation, since I am not in active labor of any type. She said it would be like false hope if I was dilated, since I would still be sent home. I agree with her wholeheartedly. Giving me false hope never does good on my nerves. She will check me next week though, as we will be only a week from meeting him by then.

Since I've been getting a little impatient, I am trying to think about how wonderful it is that he is in me for another 15 days. Chet and I were able to watch a movie at the theatre in Lubbock yesterday afternoon-something I am sure we won't be doing as often once our bambino arrives. Maybe Holden will work on growing an eyelash or two while he's in there for so long, since his parents didn't impart him with great eyelash genes. ;) See...there are good things to us getting to wait a little longer.

All-in-all I was so pleased with yesterday's appointment. We learned about inducing and how we will go about it. At next Monday's appointment we will get our "schedule of events". YAY!

For now I will just be happy that I am able to stay on top of laundry and cleaning.

Nursery

Finally!! I feel MOSTLY all done with the nursery!! In other words, if Holden were to arrive tonight (hint hint Holden!), I would be okay with what we have! Just take a LOOK at all the wonderful things we've been SO incredibly blessed with!

His changing station/dresser/hutch. This is the only thing I feel "undone" with, because it seems cluttered to me. I need my dear Stormy or Theresa or Charys to help me out. ;)
Look at the CLOTHES, etc!! There really isn't even room for all his clothes!

Just the closet door.

Entry door.

What "finalized the room"! Today our Uppercase Living order arrived and Chet and I JUST put it up above his crib. It says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above", if you can't read it. It's a lot easier to read in person.
The crib with his name. I love how it turned out! Truly the pics just don't do the colors justice.
His glider/rocker and nightstand. I took these pictures before I put the little bouncer chair next to the night stand (on the left). Holden's amazing Auntie Charys and Uncle Scott bought the bouncer for him!

Anyways, that is what Holden's nursery looks like. Can you just see how fortunate we are to have such amazingly giving friends and family?!

Today alone, a sweet friend Rachel even gave us her baby swing (coming soon) and our neighbor (who we barely know!) rang our doorbell and surprised us with a beautiful wooden step stool he MADE for Holden! Not to mention three more UPS deliveries on my front porch when I arrived home from work...full of wonderful gifts. I don't even know WHERE to begin! It's overwhelming as I've said before. We live a life we do not deserve. I just hope to be able to bless others as we have been blessed!

I miss

My feet. This is my view today. Maybe this is God's nice way of not allowing us to see our swollen, veiny messes our pregnancy feet have become? Maybe I shouldn't use the word "our", since too many of my pregnant friends still have cute little feet.

• I miss sleeping.
• I miss using the restroom and then not feeling like I should turn back around and use it again right after washing my hands. (TMI...but it's true)
• I miss drinking 10 cups of coffee a day. Maybe this was all for my good?
• I miss exercising without being in pain. Ok, I admit...I haven't truly exercised in 8 1/2 months. But I'd be in pain if I did.
• I miss loving the heat.
• I will NOT miss heartburn. Ever.
  

When Holden comes I will miss these great perks to being pregnant I'm sure though:

• Eating an entire Pyrex of brownies in a few days. By myself. AND not having my coworkers say a thing about it. ;)
• Eating as much as I want of anything for that matter.
• Feeling Holden's precious kicks (JABS), rolls and sweet little fist punching.
• Talking to him without even knowing what he looks like.
• Having alone time with Chet. Whenever we want. I think we have some adjusting ahead of us.
• The kids at the grocery store being extra sweet when they take my groceries out. My size must scare them into thinking I'm going to pop right before their eyes.
• My nails actually growing.

I have had a BLESSED pregnancy. I can't complain. I just miss my feet. I think I'll get a pedicure after work today for the sake of anyone who CAN see them.

Living Room

Some not-so-great iPhone pictures of our "new" living room furniture from the Shuffields. These sofas are a bit big for the room, but we love them!!! Thank you Shuffields! I realize we need more color in this room after all the brown. I may be doing some living room re-do one day when I'm off work with Holden. (Sorry Chet!) I just think it needs "flair"! Maybe some cool canvas prints of Holden will do the trick?!

35 weeks

This is an iPhone picture of our little Holden at 35 weeks (taken Monday). He's got the chunkiest jowls ever! :) He sucked his thumb for most of the ultrasound, which was really cute to see. He is VERY squished in my pelvic bone right now, so I think we may have a coneheaded baby when he arrives. ;)