3 Weeks & Counting

I can't believe it! Only about 3 weeks left until Baby arrives. Clara was a week early, and as much as I'd like to end the general discomfort of the end of the pregnancy, I'm not ready for him/her in 2 weeks! 3 weeks would be fine! But, of course, I know there's not much control I have over the matter.

We at least have made some progress with getting the house ready. Aaron swapped out my office furniture and put together the crib and moved the changing table into what will be Baby's room. I use the word "room" very loosely. Poor thing is barely bigger than a walk-in-closet and doesn't even have a door or a closet. It's basically a small bonus room upstairs that the furniture luckily fits in. It's the best we have at the moment. We didn't want to get rid of the spare bedroom since my parents come down to visit often and I don't want to get rid of that furniture, either. Aaron and I figured we probably won't be here long enough for Baby to even realize "Hey, how come my big sis has a real room and I'm stuck in this sardine-can-excuse-for-a-bedroom?" And, if we are, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

I did a bunch of baby laundry last weekend and we now have clean linens, blankets, and burp cloths. On the list for this weekend is washing clothes and covers for all the gear (swings, bouncy seat, car seats, play mat). Aaron is training in the field for 9 days and won't be home til next week so I'll have plenty of time to do all that and manage Clara, right? Well, it's supposed to be a rainy, stormy weekend, so the least I can do is toss some laundry in inbetween entertaining the munchkin and napping when she naps, right?

I'm going for weekly OB visits now. Everything is going right according to plan; good blood pressure for me, good heart rate for Baby, and belly measuring right on track. I found out today I am GBS+ just like with Clara, but at least this time we know what it means and know not to freak out like we did last time when we had no idea what it meant. Baby has "dropped" which gladly allows me to breathe easier and eat a bit more at meals, but annoyingly results in at least hourly (usually more frequent) trips to the bathroom.

That's the "Baby" update for now. I'll be sure to keep you posted. Until later...xoxoxox

Big Sister Practice

I wanted to share this little story with you guys. If this is any indicator as to what type of big sister Clara will be, we certainly are in for a treat.

The other day we were swinging on her tree swing in the backyard. During a break, when I was sitting on the patio chair, Clara came up and said "Baby's turn to swing". So, again, lifting my shirt to access my belly button, she stuck her fingers inside and "got baby". She was so cute and careful. She walked all the way to the swing, cupping her hands gently and talking to "baby" saying, "you swing, your turn". She sweetly set "baby" down on the swing, told it to hold on tight with two hands and proceeded to push the swing. She was even saying things like "wee", "you having fun?" Then, out of the blue she was done. She left "baby" abandoned on the swing in pursuit of another adventure - picking dandelions!

Catching Up...

Oops! Sorry, It's been quite a while since my last post. Things were really busy early in April with traveling to Detroit for Easter, Aaron working nearly 24 hours a day for 2 weeks with his leadership course, and then heading up to South Bend for grandpa's 80th birthday party. My energy level has been optimal on any given day past 7:00, so I'm sad to say our blog was the object of my neglect.

Congratulations are definitely in order for Aaron. He successfully completed the Army's Warrior Leadership Course, graduating as Honor Graduate. That means he was the 2nd top graduate in his class of over 100 soldiers. We are quite proud of him. It was a lot of work and I know he busted his butt every day he was there.

Easter weekend was quick, busy, but fun filled. We went to a few playgrounds with Auntie Keri, decorated eggs and celebrated Easter with the extended family.

Clara and her cousin Brooke in nearly matching Easter dresses

Spring has sprung in Kentucky in the past few weeks and my mom and sister has asked me to share pics of the daffodils and tulips Keri and I planted last fall.

We celebrated Aaron's birthday last week. It was more than a week late, but he was busy at his course on his actual birthday. I baked a cake and Clara helped me decorate it. Clara just loves singing "Happy Birthday" and, naturally, she loves eating the cake!

Clara is often coming home with different hair-do's than she left the house with in the morning. Playing so much, napping, and silky, wispy hair are not always conducive to her hair staying put. The other day topped it all. Connie french braided her hair! I couldn't believe it! It looked so cute. Most amazing to me was that Clara sat still long enough for Connie to do it. She will barely stay still long enough for me to put in two lopsided pigtails!

We made the trek up to South Bend last weekend. Aaron's grandpa was celebrating his 80th birthday with a family party. It was nice to see the fam and Clara hasn't stopped talking about playing with her cousin Madison and "baby", also known as Taylor.

The Barrett Family

Aaron, Clara, Kim, Sharon, Laura, Taylor, Jason, Lindsay, Madison, & David

That pretty much wraps up the past few weeks. We are four weeks to Baby's due date. We are still working on getting everything ready for his or her arrival. We are now to weekly doctor's visits. So far everything is on track. Baby is measuring right at 36 weeks with a good strong heart rate. He/she is beating me up from the inside out; I am so achy and sore most evenings. My sister will tell you I am "way cranky", but in my defense she only talks to me in the evening when I'm exhausted and completely beat!

I will try to keep up with things the next few weeks before Baby arrives. I can't believe we are getting so close!