40 Weeks and Saturday Night Football

Friday the 23rd marked forty weeks of baby-growing time, so we took a few pictures to remember these very last days of pregnancy. It started raining soon after we finished up, but James managed to snap a few shots of the fun that commenced afterward:

The next evening, it was off to Aloha Stadium. James's command was asked to participate in a halftime event at a University of Hawaii football game last weekend. Someone else was on standby in case baby decided to show up before then, but since baby was still baking we were all free to go. UH provided tickets to all of the service members and their families, so we excitedly took AJ to his first college football game:

He had such a blast, talking about what was going on with the game the whole time we watched. But his favorite part, by far, was watching Daddy on the field during halftime:

We left after halftime since it was already after the kids' bedtime, but were approached by Jack Ingram (former UH and Patriots long snapper) and another UH guy on our way out to take a photo for us:

James got AJ's ticket signed, then we made our sleepy way home. We weren't sure about all of us going to the game at first, but we're so glad we did; it was a really good time.

Let There Be Light

Last Friday, James decided it was time to put up the Christmas tree. We must have donated our old Charlie Brown tree after last Christmas, because we realized on Thanksgiving Day that it was nowhere to be found. Oops! Fortunately, James was able to go out and get a tree he really liked that evening, and the next morning up it went.

Two days (and one trip to Home Depot) later, it was time for the outside to show some Christmas spirit. Someone was a fan:

James wants you to know that our neighbor has since added more lights to the carport we share, so things are looking even more festive out there. Now all we're missing is snow!

Batter Up!

On Wednesday the 21st, AJ and Aunt Nikki went out back for a little "baseball" practice. AJ was so focused on hitting that ball, and he got it with his cedar stake bat almost every single time. We were pretty impressed!

Water break:

Technological Problems

Well, I've been trying to post for a couple of days now, but Blogger says we're out of photo storage space. We're not quite sure how to resolve this issue, so until we can figure it out we'll be limited to text only. Bummer.

We had a great Thanksgiving with Nikki, Chloe, and our awesome neighbors, and James and AJ have already gotten the Christmas tree all set up this morning. Someone's been running around excitedly yelling "CHRISTMAS!" since he saw the box with the tree in it. Love that boy.

Today is 40 weeks; Dr. Lori stopped by this morning, and the belly is measuring about 38 cm (sitting down) and baby's heart rate was between 120 and 140 bpm. Sitz bath herbs have been brewed and stored, everything we need is upstairs, and we're feeling pretty well prepared. Now, we wait!

Sharing

He would take a bite of his apple, then she would look up at him and open her mouth. He'd put the apple to her mouth so she could take a bite, then wipe his mouth with a napkin. She'd finish chewing, then look up at him again so he could wipe her mouth. Again and again and again, until the apple was gone.

They can be so sweet, these two. They make this mama's heart smile.

39 Weeks

Wait - 39 weeks? This pregnancy is really almost over?! Somehow, I still can't believe it...

Dr. Lori stopped by Thursday night to check in on us again, and the mystery of the tiny belly measurements was solved... Nikki mentioned measuring my belly while standing instead of lying down, and wouldn't you know that instead of measuring 31-32 cm, it measured 37 cm standing. It was so odd to watch my belly sink down after I laid back on the couch; it was pretty obvious then why my belly has seemed so much smaller all this time!

AJ enjoyed our visit, as always. This time, he got to help measure, listen with the Doppler, and use the blood pressure cuff:

Then yesterday, Nikki took 39 week pictures for us:

Baby #3, we're so excited to meet you!

{this moment}

{this moment} à la SouleMama - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Company!

We got to go to the airport last night to pick up two very special visitors from very far away... And someone was very excited to be waiting for them:

It was bedtime, and he just couldn't stay still while we watched all of the passengers come down the escalators:

We (well, James - I completely missed their faces until they were almost in front of me!) finally saw them come down, and AJ and I went to greet them with hugs and leis. Miss Chloe was not a fan of the flowers, but after flying halfway around the world, who can blame her?

We are so excited that Nikki and Chloe can be here with us, all the way from Sicily, to welcome baby into the world!

More Sprucing

Every day, it seems, we are tackling a little bit more around here in terms of cleaning, organizing, decluttering, and sprucing things up. This past week, we've been working on another collage of frames, this time in the living room, and a "thankful" banner for the dining room. As of last night, they are both done:

We haven't shared our other wall of frames yet, I don't think, but we used the same process for this smaller one. After picking up an extra frame at the BX (we already had the others), James laid them out on builder's paper that he'd cut to fit the wall we'd be hanging the frames on. Once everything looked just right, he traced each of the frames and then measured and marked where the nail would need to go into the wall. Then we taped the paper up to make sure we liked the positioning, and he hammered away.

After filling the frames and then waiting a day or two, we decided to add a few more to the space, so James actually started right back at square one - with the exception of knowing which would be our top two frames - and hung everything again. This time? We think it's just right.

The 'thankful' banner I've been meaning to make for a few weeks now, and even though it was a bit more work than I was anticipating - mostly due to my choice of materials, but I wanted to use things that I already had - I'm really glad that I finally did it. I used the simple instructions for the One-Word Banner in Amanda Blake Soule's Handmade Home, and I really love how it turned out. The simple, important reminder to give thanks for everything brings a smile to my face whenever I catch a glimpse of it.

How about you? Any home-sprucing going on in your space? We should have two very special visitors arriving from very far away tomorrow, so we've been at work in the guest bedroom, too. Nothing like a deadline to get us moving!