yep, still pregnant...

Well, d-day has come and gone and.....no baby. I'm still very pregnant and even though it has been three days since d-day, it feels like an eternity. I know this is completely normal but when you've been looking forward to a baby every day for the past nine months, each passing extra day seems like forever.  Especially in the pelvis, knowwhatimsayin?

I'm very much in favor of letting this boy come on his own but with a deadline for going in to spontaneous labor because I am a VBAC, I'm getting a little nervous.  Of course he would already be doing things to make his mama nervous.  Say a little prayer for us please if you can!

There are some perks to being this  pregnant.  I can pretty much get anyone in my family to answer the phone when I call.  They always seem to answer nervously and immediately and suspiciously ask how I'm doing.  I also have my sweet husband on edge nonstop. If I just switch positions in the middle of the night he'll wake up sort of breathless and ask if I'm having contractions. I have intensely hard Braxton hicks about 20-30 times a day but nothing ever comes of them.  

Each night I go to sleep hoping to be surprise awakened by contractions in the middle of the night. When I wake up in the morning and nothing has happened, I have just resigned myself to another full pregnant day. For some reason I would be surprised to go in to labor during the day.  I was hoping this little boy would be my birthday present but I guess he didn't want to share his special day with me.

Hey Avett! We are ready to meet you, so come out soon, ok son?

am I ready

As I lay in my bed with a few tears falling from my eyes trying to get a nap, Evaleigh is sleeping in the next room.  I just finished singing her to sleep, like I do every day, and I had a twinge in my heart.  I've been so caught up in wanting Avett to come lately.  Naturally with my body so pregnant I am constantly aware that he could come at any moment.  But as I sat in her nursery this morning I thought to myself, "Am I ready? Have I done everything with just her that I want to do?"  I can feel the change coming and somehow a little guilt has entered my mama heart.  I want to always remember the times when it was just the two of us.  I hope she knows how much being her mother has changed my life, my soul, and the very strands of my being for the absolute better.  What we have had and shared the past 20 and a half months has been the most lifting and fulfilling experience.  I am really happy to meet Avett and to bring him in to our family and I've been told that it only gets sweeter and sweeter, but today I enjoyed watching her fall asleep to the sound of my voice while knowing that she was my only care in the world.

the most wonderful torture

I sort of love this waiting game.  It's the most wonderful torture! We are absolutely clueless as to when Avett is coming and I love the anticipation.  We never got to go through this with Evaleigh because they took her almost a week early.  There were no surprises, which on one hand was nice, but this waiting game is so much fun! So I can officially say I've never been THIS pregnant before.  However, I am at the point where if one more person asks me if it's twins in there, I'm afraid of what my reaction might be.  Punching could be involved.   

I am so excited for the moment when it's really go time.  I wonder where we will be and what time it will be.  I really feel like we have just about everything ready. I am in a constant state of wanting to keep the house clean so when it does happen we are bringing Avett home to an organized and clean home...my sweet John is obliging my crazy hormonal pregnant woman behaviors and is right in there with me keeping things up.  

I had an appointment today and it was the first cervical check I've had since switching doctors, which I love.  Not that the numbers really matter at this point but suffice it to say things are really moving along and getting ready to go up in there.  He was pretty impressed with how low Avetts head was.  It's a sensation that is all new to me. Since Evie was breech I never got to experience a dropped and engaged baby head in my pelvis.  It feels like I've been riding a horse non stop for weeks.  Honestly, I'm so happy and relieved to know he is in just the right position, after having a breech baby it's easy to be gun shy and paranoid about baby positions. 

I really attribute a lot my progress so far to Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and Evening Primrose Oil pills.  Ever since one of my doctors midwives suggested them to me more than two weeks ago I have felt such a renewed source of energy.  Around 37 weeks I was ready to throw in the towel. Although I still have rough days when I am diligent with the RRL and EPO I feel so much better and it gives me the extra push to make it through the day with an active little toddler.  We are so excited to meet this little boy, he is going to rock our world.

39 weeks and 2 days.

apple picking

This past Friday Evie and I went apple picking with my mom at her husband's house.  We picked Yates and Fuji's.  My mom rode us around in their four wheeler and I would stand up in it and hand down the apples I picked for Evie to put in the bucket. She wanted to eat them straight off of the tree, so we let her.  That night I made two lattice top apple pies from scratch.  It doesn't get more homemade than apples right out of the backyard and a homemade buttery flakey crust with Plugra butter.  

I just love that fall is creeping in.  The mornings are perfect here but by 3 it's normally 79 or 80 degrees.  I'm so excited for when it cools down for good.  I love that October starts tomorrow.  That means so many good things are coming: my birthday, General Conference, holidays, fall weather, oh and WE ARE HAVING A BABY!  This could be the week!

Here are some polaroids from our apple picking.

the plan

A few weeks ago we received some amazing news that we had been waiting for, Mr. Murphy has gotten into the University of Georgia!

 He will be finishing his bachelors and Masters there as an accounting major.  We hope to be able to get it all done in about 3 years.  I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what this new adventure holds for us. 

We will be moving our little family of four back to the country and into my mothers house. When she got married in February she moved out to Douglasville with her new husband. So now we will have that big beautiful home and land all to ourselves.  I loved raising Evaleigh there for the first 9 months of her life and I can't wait to do the same with Avett.  Our days were spent outside swinging under trees, playing in the barn, and laying out on blankets in the pasture.  

We will make the move at the end of October a few weeks after Avett is born.  It will be a hectic time to pick up our family and move but we know it's the right thing.  I feel sad about leaving the city that I love so much and in my heart I hope we will be back in the future.  We have so many wonderful friends here and we are grateful for the love and support they have shown us.  John has been with the same company for the past 4.5 years and he has learned so much, it has been wonderful for is. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be with them for as long as we were.

We are so excited to move along to the next chapter in our lives. We are a little nervous about going back to the student life but it's also exciting to do it together! So, that's the plan, and we can't wait to get stared!

(Back in 2011 when we moved in for the first time)

after the Italian vacation

Yesterday I went for, hopefully one of my last, OB appointments and John and Evie went with me. Since we switched doctors so late in the game John hadn't met him yet and he wanted to before it was go time.  It was a very unusual appointment in that our wait time was about an hour. Normally I'm in and out in 30 minutes or less, but since the doc had just returned from his Italian vacation the waiting room was packed with appointments.  As we were waiting Evaleigh was being pretty patient and trying to make friends with a few people around us. She definitely had most of the attention in the quiet waiting room. Then out of the corner of her eye she sees a nude sculpture of a mother and baby.  She gets really excited and starts pointing at and touching the naked breasts and very proudly starts exclaiming over and over again, "Boo-boos, boo-boos, BOO- BOOs!!"  All I could do was look at John and hide my giggle then congratulate her for naming the correct body part and quickly move on to something more appropriate like elbows or eyes.  I looked around in the quiet waiting room and most everyone else was smiling or laughing too. 

She has great timing....

the end is near

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. I feel like we just found out and now here we are.  I can't go out in public now with out comments like, "About to pop any second now huh?" "Is it twins?" "Don't drive over any railroad tracks."  I didn't really know what that one meant.  Monday I had a woman who thought she could guess how far along I was and the gender of the baby.  I let her try and she was wrong on both accounts.  According to her I was only 8 months along and having a girl. How much bigger did she think I could get?!

Yesterday my mother came over and helped me rearrange our bedroom and get the bassinet situated by the bed.  It's the same one we used for Evie when she was little before we began co sleeping with her.  I feel like I blinked my eyes and she was out of it and now we are getting ready to put Avett in there! 

So here I am at 38 weeks and 2 days.  Large, in charge, and hitting men in the head in the pew at church in front of me with my belly.

june & joan

Evaleigh likes to tell us stories all of the time.  Lately she has been talking a lot about June, Joan, and Nancy.  Although Nancy does not appear in this story, its still a good one.

Dear Avett...

We are down to mere days before your arrival.  I'm not really sure if it's even hit me yet.  Your sister has loved me carrying you around in my belly.  She hugs and kisses you all of the time and says, "baby!".  Every morning when your dad and I bring her in to bed with us I get a kiss, daddy gets a kiss, and you get at least two and a hug. 

I can't believe that you are almost here. I have prepared for your arrival more than anything else in my life.  I'm so excited for how you will come in to this world and I pray every day that my body will be able to bring you here safely and naturally.  We have our hospital go bag full and ready to go.  Anytime I make a face or stop in my tracks over a twinge of pain or Braxton Hicks your dad jumps right up and flips out just a little.  Keep it cool dad...

Despite the discomfort I have loved being pregnant with you.  It's been a little harder this time around because I've had your sister to chase around, but knowing what is on the other side of all of this makes it so incredibly worth it.  I can't wait to see you with your sister.  I've been feeling a little emotional about adding you to our little family of three but I know that there are so many sweet moments waiting for us when you get here.  I am excited to soak in all of your newbornness.  I probably won't want to put you down because I know how quickly all of that passes.  I am beyond thrilled to see you with your dad, you already have him wrapped around your finger.  He gets so giddy thinking about you getting here and calls you his little sidekick.

Take these last few days to do the rest of the growing that you need but please come out soon, we want to meet you. We love you!

saturday mornings...

...are for Sublime Doughnuts.

I woke up this morning with an intense craving for doughnuts.  We had Sublime catered at our wedding but never had a single bite of even one, they were gone so fast! So, this morning we decided to introduce Evie and Avett (through the womb) to Sublime. It was delicious and Evie made her own little friend who played with doughnut toys with her until we had to go. I love you so much Atlanta.

We got the:

Nutella Doughnut

Maple bacon

Chocolate Bannana Fritter

A-town Creme

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Filled

Dulce de Leche

All of them fantastic.

e & a's shared nursery

So, truth be told it really made no sense to even create this room except for the fact that my nesting instincts were off the charts.  I told myself early on that I was no going to change around Evie's room before Avett came.  But when my mother purchased this toddler bed for us and CJ created their quilts, I literally couldn't stop myself.  I don't know what was driving me other than shear hormones.  Seeing that we are moving in two months Avett will most likely never even sleep in this room. However, now that I satisfied the urge to rearrange and redo 'their' room I actually sleep better at night. I don't toss and turn with crazy pregnant lady thoughts of how to decorate for Avett and make a space that is all his own. Not that that even makes sense since he will be in a bassinet the whole time we finish living here. Geeez pregnant ladies are nuts....

The only two new purchases were:

Crib sheets: Land of Nod

Rug: Ikea

vanilla italian soda

This weekend we tried to soak up the last bits of summer.  John and Evie and I had a pool day on Saturday and then when he got her down for a nap he said, "Why don't you go to Target and get a new maternity shirt and do some shopping!"  OK!   So I did just that but before coming home I stopped to get us a summer treat to sip on the porch as the sun went down.  I am ashamed to say I had to resist from buying a cinnamon broom though.  Even though I am craving fall, it can wait a little while longer.  I learned this fun trick from a girl from my church at our playgroup last week.

Vanilla Italian Soda:

Torani Flavor Syrup (any flavor)

Club Soda 

Half & Half

Ice

Fill up a big mason jar up to the 12oz line with ice.

Pour in Torani syrup to the 4oz line.

Add club soda to just under the 16oz line.

Splash in just a bit of half and half to top it off to the 16oz line.  Then stir it all up.

I was able to get the Vanilla flavor at Kroger but there are a lot more options for different flavors at World Market.

Enjoy your last moments of summer!