39 week update!

First of all, the Lord is teaching me a lot right now about His timing and how HE is in control. If I had it my way, Carter would have been born this week---this past Tuesday to be exact :). However, he is staying nice and cozy and I'm having very few labor symptoms. This morning in church one of the last songs we sang had the words "all I am is Yours"--I've sung that so many times, but it definitely had new meaning today, as if I'm truly living like ALL I am is His, ALL Carter is His, then why am I so anxious for Carter to come and just not trust the Lord completely? HIS timing is perfect, so I trust in that truth right now and am SO thankful to have a full term baby. Caleb also gave me a good "talking" this morning.....what a sweet, short season these last few days are as the 2 of us, I'm really trying to enjoy them. If Carter hasn't come by Friday, we're going to date night at Bob's for carrot cake--my absolute favorite :).

I really can't complain, I'm officially 39 weeks, but still feel really good. Sleep is finally getting uncomfortable, but that's my only complaint. No swelling, no extreme fatigue, little discomfort during the day, and able to work 8 hour days with no issues. I've decided to keep working through this week to keep my mind occupied. Friday will be my last day, as we're inducing next Tuesday, 12/7 if he hasn't come before then :).

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving---turkey trot, Luby's on china at our house with my Mom and grandmother, lots of playtime and hanging out with the niece and nephews, early morning black Friday shopping, and a 2nd full Thanksgiving meal with Caleb's family. We've since done a lot of relaxing and nesting around the house :). Here are some pics to chronicle:

38 weeks!

Fancy "last" date night at Ocean Prime

Luby's on china--definitely the way to go! Not sure if Carter will let us do this next year, but it was fabulous this year! Bummer I got NO pics of family time with the kiddos :(

Carter's nursery is complete! Caleb's parents came over and helped with the finishing touches.

Proud momma with that big 'ol belly!

Proud daddy--he put a lot of work into this room, I'm very thankful for all him pretty much doing everything to make the nursery perfect for our little man :)

Closet pic

Other side of the closet

Last but not least, we've finished the indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations. Here is the mantle, complete with Carter's stocking!

Next post may be post-Carter...we shall see!

A fabulous month in pics :)

Wowzers, I just uploaded pics to the computer and had 240. It's been a whirlwind of a month getting ready for Carter, showers, and of course the trip to NYC. I thought I would do a sprinkling of pics via blog to chronicle the last month, so here it goes...

Fabulous work girls did a "baby hour" for Carter after work. It was fun to hang out with co-workers outside of work and do a 'lil celebrating of C. They made a baby poll that is hanging by my desk at work, the earliest date on the poll is 11/28, but in the past week or so people are doubting their guesses and I get bigger and bigger. Seriously, when people were leaving work on Friday multiple people came up to me "if you have the baby this weekend..." or "if I don't see you for a few months...". See bottom of post for BIG 'ol belly pics :)

I just love this picture, as people were feeling the little guy move!

My niece and nephews decorated the wrapping for Carter's gift at a shower in Austin. This is Harrison's portrait of Carter. So sweet :)

We had a very "fancy" couples  shower with Caleb's co-workers in Dallas :). We always tell the hostesses they're our "fancy friends" so they made very fancy food and drinks for the occassion.

Our "fancy" hostesses :). These are actually great friends who their husbands just happen to work with Caleb. They live in the neighborhood and both have kiddos, so I foresee lots of hang out time in our future while the hubbies work :).

Halloween 2010. Haha, enough said.

NYC! We made it! Our first night out. This is right outside our hotel, check out the Empire State Building in the background!

Photo courtesy of Caleb. He was sitting on the ground and said something like "you look really pregnant, I need the camera" and preceeded to take this belly pic.

NYC Marathon Expo. Honestly, I was a little jealous and had to text Shannon in the midst of the expo and get confirmation that NYC Marathon is in our future as well. Here's Caleb after he picked up his bib.

Lots of cab rides the Saturday before the race as Caleb was resting the legs.

A fabulous 'lil Italian place for Saturday lunch. Carter and I enjoyed carb-loading with Daddy.

This picture is out of order, but our first Broadway show of the weekend was Friday night for The Lion King. It was magnificent!

Broadway show #2 was Saturday afternoon. We saw "Rain"--a Beatles tribute band type of thing that was very entertainting. We got 50% off tickets day-of in Times Square. With me sporting the pregnant belly we got whisked up to the front of the line for 50% tix. No complaints here!

Dinner of a marathoner=grilled cheese. Lots of hydrating all day. Worked 2 years in a row!

The obligatory "setting stuff out the night before" pic.

He looks tired, as it's 4:40 in the morning, but he is oh so excited! Breakfast of a marathoner=honey nut cheerios.

It's 5:20 am and he's ready to catch the ferry to Staten Island!

After getting up with him, I couldn't go back to sleep so I watched all the pre-marathon info on TV. PERFECT mnarathon weather!

Loved these people cheering on the runners from outside the apartment window in Brooklyn!

There go the Kenyans! I made it to Brooklyn (mile 8ish) early so I could see the whole crew--from the wheelchairs, to the elites, to the crowds and crowds of people. It was an awesome experience. I had the video camera out for the rest of the time, so I don't actually have pics of Caleb running. I was able to see him at 3 different points (mile 8, 16, and 25) thanks to my handy iphone app and subway map. Here's a video of him at mile 8. I definitetly need to work on my video skills---or maybe he's just running so fast and that's why it's blurry?!

I think he used everything he had to smile for this pic. He was actually pretty miserable here, this is the cab ride back to the hotel. He was hurting and shaking, but the adrenaline was defiinitely still going.....especially after we found out his time of 3:10:45 which qualifies him for BOSTON! I'm a very proud wife!

The feeling of being miserable did not last long---about 30 minutes after returning to the hotel he was like "let's go out!". So, we did dinner, dessert (pictured above) , then....

Broadway show #3! Billy Elliott. Again, a 50% of ticket and it was really really good!

We are both exhausted after being up for around 20 hours at this point, but in NYC we gotta have a pic in
Times Square at night!

Here was me in all my hooplah as his fan: cowbell? check. homemade sign? check. custom shirt? check.

At the Today show the morning after. I'm sporting my shirt while Caleb's sporting his medal. We did get on TV :)

Much needed stretching and foam rolling at the "Marathon Monday Mania". We then went to Chinatown and got some fabulous, shady items :). It was literally freezing, so we did lots more eating and shopping before heading back to the big D. We had a fabulous trip, but it was nice to be back on Texas soil and know that Carter wouldn't be born a Yankee :).

And now....BELLY PICS!

32 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

Wowzers! 36 weeks! My Dr. told me this day he's "definitely dropped' and his head is fully enagaged. No other progress, so we'll just wait and see! I'm having a few contractions, but nothing too serious. We got his carseat installed, bouncy seat up, and pack 'n play set up in our room, so we are ready when he is! I'm still working and planning on working until he comes :). I'm trying to convince Caleb that we need to put up Christmas decorations next weekend....we shall see!

NYC in 3 days!

Dear Baby Carter,

Please wait atleast one more week before you make your arrival. We love you but would much prefer you to be born at home and not in NYC.

Love,
Mom and Dad

**Note: 35 week appt today went well. The sono showed that Carter is a hefty 6.1 lbs and still movin' like crazy. The sono tech said multiple times "he is sure proud of his manhood" as he kept spreading his legs and showing us that he's definitely a boy. Good job buddy, because your room sure is ALL boy! He's head down, but not completely "engaged"--his head is more in my right hip region. Blood pressure is good, no swelling, and we're all good to go to NYC FRIDAY!

We went and bought Caleb his "throwaway sweats" tonight and we're both getting very excited for the weekend's events, most importantly the marathon :). I've got my plan for seeing him all mapped out, we'll see if it works!  His ferry is at 6 am, his wave for the race isn't until 10:10 am. We don't have a ton of plans--Lion King Friday night and then marathon festivities/resting legs the remainder of the weekend. I'm sure we'll partake in some yummy food (Carter loves carb loading too!) and people watching. I might convince him for a little bargain shopping in Chinatown as well :). We got our new video camera in the mail yesterday, so we hope to test it out this weekend--so, be prepared for videos and pics to come!