Nonnie and Papa's arrival

We have been waiting for Nonnie and Papa all summer. It meant the baby is close. We all thought I would go into labor as soon as they got here (that has happened in the past). Almost a week later, no baby yet. The boys have been having a great time with Nonnie and Papa. They brought the motor home and are staying at a campground 7 miles away. It is very nice with a pool, playground and places for them to walk and ride bikes. It is also on the Wabash River so they can walk down there and throw in rocks.

Here is Nonnie and Papa arriving, Everest is running in the grass beside the motor home.

Everest was so excited to see them. Leaf wasn't sure what to expect.

Leaf waited until Nonnie and Papa got out of the motor home before he went over. I think he was a little overwhelmed by the size of the motor home. It is HUGE, we call it Clifford because it towers over their house (they have a ranch style house). 

 Thanks for coming and spending so much time with the boys.

Baby drawn on my belly

We had our home visit with the midwife on Wednesday. Everything is ready for the birth. One of the fun things she did was feel my belly and draw where the baby is. The boys thought this was GREAT! The baby is VERY low, it has been low, but in the past week it has dropped so it is even lower. Most likely the baby was sucking its fingers. The midwife also had both boys get on the bed on she positioned them like the baby.

This is a side picture of the baby and the placenta.

I walked around the house most of the day with my shirt up so the boys could see the baby. Everest kept asking why the baby was upside down.

All my babies!

Pictures with my boys

We wanted to get pictures of the boys with my belly before the baby was born. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! The birthing room is ready, so we decided to take pictures in there. Everest was a little wound up, so we only got a few good pictures with the 3 of us.

This is me with 12 days to go!

Cheese!

Everest is in that stage where you ask him to smile and he makes all kinds of faces trying to smile. I remember this as a kid, I used to scrunch up my nose when I had to "fake" smile. I don't remember doing it on purpose, I just didn't know how to smile on command. I wonder if he is the same way.

Hugs for the baby.

Hugs for Mama!

Kisses for the baby. Leaf loves to give the baby kisses, but sometimes he gets a little excited and kisses too hard, or he pulls up my shirt, dress, whatever to "see" the baby.

More hugs

My big boy, who is going to look even bigger in a few more days! It amazed me how much Everest "seemed" to grow up in the few hours Leaf was born. When he hugged me goodbye in the morning, he was still my little boy. But when he met his brother (in the ER in Salt Lake City), he seemed so much older.

Leaf wanted a picture like his brother. He loves Everest, hopefully he will adore the baby too. We shall see. He likes it now, because it is not taking any extra attention. He get very jealous if Everest tries to sit on my lap (which he doesn't do often because there really is no room). So what will happen when I am holding a baby that is not him...hmmmmm.

Thanks Nathan for taking pictures of me and my boys. I know it was not easy, but for all the fussy, crying and craziness, the pictures turned out well and our kids look like they had a good time.

Getting Ready for Baby #3

We have been getting ready for the baby as much as possible. With Everest being older, I have been trying to find ways to include him in welcoming the baby. We decided to have a birthday party for the baby. I found a really simple, but cool looking balloon wreath on a blog and decided it would be a great symbol for our neighbors to know we had the baby. And we can use it for the rest of our birthdays too.

Everest and I went and bought all the supplies: straw wreath (with plastic wrap), a variety of balloons, and floral pins.

Sorting the balloons. I didn't get any good pictures of him helping, but we spent about an hour putting balloons on. It was easy enough for Everest to push the pins in.

Here is the mostly finished product. I need to put a ribbon hanger on it so we can display it on the front door when the baby arrives. That is one of Everest's job, he is very excited about it.

While Nathan, Everest and Grami were in Montana, Leaf and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. We made a HUGE batch of granola (Leaf was sneaking some). I was hoping we would have it for after the birth, but everyone loves it and we are already half way through it. Thankfully Nonnie is here (she is the expert granola maker), so we will make more.

We also checked out the garden, hoping the tomatoes were rip to make sauce before the baby comes. I think we might be out of luck. I have some beautiful tomatoes, but they seem content at being green right now.

I have 2 basil plants in my herb garden. They are as tall as Leaf. I use fresh basil often, but I knew I wouldn't be cooking from scratch once the baby is here. We picked the plant almost bare (I got 2 buckets full). I made 8 bags of pesto and froze them, and had enough left over to make fresh pesto for dinner the other night. YUM!

Nathan and I spent the other day cleaning out and reorganizing our freezer. I wrote down everything in there so we know what we have. Now I have room to add more. I am spending my last few days before the baby is due filling it up. I am not sure how life with 3 kids will be, but I do know, I will not have time to cook from scratch....at least not in the first month or two.

Hair cuts

Everest's bangs have been getting longer and longer, but he hasn't wanted his hair cut. I keep putting barrettes in it to keep it out of his eyes. I don't care if his hair is long or short, but it was constantly in his eyes. We decided both boys needed a hair cut and Everest decided he wanted it short, but not as short as daddy's. 

Nathan doesn't do too bad with the scissors!

Starting on the back. I didn't realize how long the back was until he started cutting.

Everest got tired of the towel and he was getting in the bath, so we let him take it off. He thinks this picture is hilarious.

Leaf's hair was also in his eyes. I am not ready to let go of the curls yet, so he only got his bangs trimmed.

Yes, it looks a little like  mullet, but I don't care, he is still my cute little boy! When we cut Everest's hair (last November) he lost that baby look. I know I have another one coming, but Leaf is still my baby and I am not ready for him to look like a little boy just yet. And honestly, if you had curls like that, would you cut them. They are beautiful!