An Introduction of Madelyn Reese in Pictures....

Madelyn's Birth Story {Part Two}

Okay, the last post left off where I told Leo that he needed to change bc this was real and it was for sure happening.

He ran, got changed and threw all of my things in the Jeep. I hugged everyone and Isabella was in tears as I was leaving. It really broke my heart but I knew we needed to get to the hospital soon...things were really intensifying at this point.

We're in the car and I told Leo to call my mom to tell her we were on the way to the hospital (Leo had called LDRP and they told him he needed to get me there soon). I couldn't talk to her because I was having more contractions and my back was beyond killing me at this point. I was trying to lift myself up to relieve the back pressure...not that it helped too much at this point!

Ahead of us was a Mississippi Highway Patrolman...I was *this close* to asking him to escort us all the way to base! People were driving sooo slow (at least it seemed like it) and base was at least 30 minutes away.

I resisted asking him (Leo talked me out of it, ha!) and my honey got us there and quick.

Less than 20 minutes later we pulled up to the gate and they got us through quickly. Leo parked and he helped me out. I had to stop twice to breathe through my contractions and focus on letting my body work how it was supposed to. At this point I still had some ability to do those things.

Once upstairs they placed me in and Antepartum Room...my stupid contraction monitor wouldn't fit correctly so we were having to hold it in place to show my contractions. The staff was short handed and there were 5 other women in labor...

They finally came to check my cervix for dialation around 12:30 or so. They asked me what I was dialated at on Monday at my appt. I told them a one. After being there for half an hour I was already to a four. I was in shock and happy at the same time. My blood pressure was really high and they had wanted me to walk (which there was no way with my back labor) so I had to stay in the bed.

An hour later I was in intense pain--mainly my back. Back labor? Yeah, it sucks. Horribly.

I requested an epidural and they were very calm telling me I had to wait until 2:30 to get checked again and then they would move me into my room for an epidural.

I was pretty pissed off because I knew things were getting moved along very, very quickly. At this point I was really loud and letting them know that HELLO!!! I am in PAIN!

The doctor poked her head in and said they would get me my epidural and possibly an iv pain med as well...at this point I didn't care. I wanted some relief from my back. It was taking over everything...and I thought I was going to die.

They came in checked my cervix. I was practically an eight. Freaking EIGHT CM DIALATED!!

I really felt like they probably thought I was a little dramatic over my pain...and then when they realized this they seriously got their butts in gear. My nurse asked if I could walk across the ward to my room....are you kidding me?! I couldn't even walk to the bathroom at this point. My contractions were coming one after the other with NO break in between them.

They get me to my room...I'm still screaming for pain meds. Nobody is listening. They are trying to get my iv in...and I thought I was, um, going to go to the bathroom right there. I told Leo I needed to get to the bathroom (okay, so I probably yelled it) and then I realized that I didn't have to go to the bathroom. I. needed. to. push.

They were freaking out, telling me not to push yet, I wasn't there. (Not push?! Were they crazy?!) They checked me and I almost fully dialated. Except for a lip or something. They had me do a couple of practice pushes but I couldn't concentrate. I still asked about my epi and um, that's when I got the bad news.

No. epi. for. me.

Leo said I cried.

I believed it.

The doc came in from another delivery and Leo told her hey--my water hasn't broke! She couldn't believe it, broke it and told me to push.

One contraction, three pushes later...and my princess #2 was delivered. It was 3:05 p.m.

I was in such a euphoric state...and I was so proud of myself for surviving major back labor and having her without the assistance of anything for pain.

Amazing.

Took my breath away.

And I'm still on cloud 9.

Now for part three...the pictures!

Madelyn's Birth Story {Part One}

Wow, what an amazing 24 + a few hours it's been!

Madelyn Reese definitely took us by surprise yesterday (July 29, 2009). For sure a very, very shocking surprise!

Just a warning, this may be a little long....and there may be tmi (what birth story doesn't have tmi?!). So, here I go....

It all started Tuesday. All day long I had contractions. Nothing too major, but it had me wondering what if...

They slowed down towards the end of the day, but I was still very nauseated as I had been all day.

I went to bed as normal--posted on my Facebook that I was planning on going to Mobile to go to Target to do some shopping this weekend. I was really looking forward to going to my favorite store even though it's an hour away! But in a way I was hoping I would somehow jinx myself and go into labor *smile*

I woke up Wednesday morning pretty early with horrible, horrible cramping. I didn't think a lot of it until I realized they weren't going away. I turned on the news and finally fell back asleep for a little while.

When I woke back up I realized I was still in a lot of pain and having contractions regularly. But this has happened to me before (hello, false alarm!) so I still wasn't thinking much of it. I really didn't want to get my hopes up(or anyone else's hopes up!) once again. I had breakfast with Isabella...just half a banana, a bowl of cereal and a Juicy Juice juice box. I noticed I was kind of grouchy...the dog and cat were seriously getting on my nerves and Isabella seemed to be a lot whinier than normal.

I sat down and called my mom. When she answered I told her about my contractions, cramping and back pain. As we chatted the contractions and everything were coming a lot stronger and closer together. When we first started talking my mom thought Isabella and I could go do some shopping or go somewhere where we could just be up and walking together. By the end of our conversation she was telling me to call Leo, get him home and try to take a warm bath. She also told me to pack my bag (Isabella had unpacked the whole thing silly girl!).

I called Leo told him he needed to get home and I was going to take a bath to see if that would help. I placed the phone on the side of the tub to time my contractions (coming 2-4 minutes apart by this point, lots of back pain) and sat down. Isabella wanted to come in with me (she was acting a little worried with what was going on).

I'm sitting in the tub when my back labor really intensified. I called Leo again and told him he needed to leave work. Now.

Isabella wanted to wash my hair (haiwuh, haiwuh Mommy), she wanted "froppie" (her frog squirtie), was pouring warm water on my belly and kept coming and holding me. She kept handing me my loofah (where I'd thank her and she'd say 'elcum, Mommy'). At one point she knocked my BlackBerry in the water (thank God it still works!). My whole relaxing bath was taking a comical turn for sure and I was thankful for Isabella making me relax and focus on something else!

I got out, got dressed and packed my bag very, very quickly. Thankfully Miss Madelyn's bag was packed! I started a load of laundry--this is the first time I saw Leo's parents and I told them I was in labor and Leo was coming home asap. They were so sweet and attentive and I reassured them that I was okay and just needed to stand up to relieve the pressure off of my back as it was killing me at this point.

Leo came in and he told me to get in the car. I told him he really should get out of his uniform and at first I don't think he fully understood I was in true labor. He told me he wasn't changing bc if this wasn't the real thing he'd have to return to work.

I then looked at him and in mid contraction told him that this was the real deal....

{to be continued.....)

She's Heeeere!

Hi all! I wanted to update Chelle's blog for her to let y'all know that Madelyn Reese is finally here! She was born at 3:05 p.m. weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long. Isn't she precious? That picture was taken when she was about 1 hour old.

She ended up surprising the hospital staff and coming so quickly that they didn't have time to give Chelle her epidural - but Chelle's doing fine!

Proud Mema signing off!

Spooneez Winner!

Congrats to Elaine for winning the Spooneez giveaway!

I'm hoping to do some more giveaways after Madelyn is born so stay tuned!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:3
Timestamp: 2009-07-25 21:39:29 UTC

Almost...

I'm almost done being pregnant.

I'm almost a momma to {2} little girls--my little princesses.

I'm almost about to love {2} little girls more than I ever thought I could love anyone or anything.

I'm almost about to start all over again with a newborn.

I'm almost ready to tackle the next chapter of this thing we call life.

I'm almost ready to meet my little gymnast who has graced me with kicks, tumbles and rolling around.

I'm almost ready to go through labor and the miracle of your own child being born.

I'm almost ready....

Almost.

I {Heart} Cinnabon Bars...

Thanks to Mom Central and Kellog's I recently got the chance to test out their new Cinnabon bars.

These bars are delicious! It's like they knew one of my cravings this pregnancy was a delicious Cinnabon. The problem with that is that we don't have any Cinnabon store within an hour of where I live. When they offered my family a box of Kellog's new Cinnabon bars I jumped all over it!

The bars can be eaten room temperature straight from the box or you can pop it in the microwave for a mere 3 seconds. Quick and easy. They have the delicious taste of Cinnabon's delicious cinnamon and their yummy frosting.

My entire family loved them. My husband even raved that he gave them 4 out of 4 stars--which is rare for him on anything sweet! Isabella asks for one each morning with her breakfast as well.

Again, thank you to Mom Central and Kellog's for this yummy opportunity!

An Award? For Me?!

Summer from Sumo's Sweet Stuff recently gave me this gem of an award! I know I have mentioned her before in posts...how talented and crafty she is. Not to mention her little girl? So adorable! Thank you, Summer, for giving me this award!

For this award I need to tell my faithful readers {10} random things about me that you may not know. I then need to tag {10} other people with the award. Finally, I will notify all {10} that I have left them something on my blog and link to them. They in turn will link back to me who gave them the award. Easy, right?

Lets get started!

(1) I hate finding a random stray hair that is wet...say in a pool, hot tub, bath tub...ewww! With the exception of the bath tub you don't know who that lonely hair once belonged to...and when it's wet?! Omg--it sticks to you. That. truly. disgusts me.

(2) I come from a large family. There are {7} children with me being the oldest of everyone. I have {4} sisters and {2} brothers--and {3} of my sisters are adopted from China! They actually aren't too much older than Isabella. I call them her "fun" aunts but usually just to get my other sister into claiming she's the fun aunt. Which I have to admit, she is pretty fun...

(3) My main food cravings this pregnancy have been green pepper and mushroom pizza, spaghetti, and chicken quesadillas that my honey makes me. Poor Leo, I know he is probably so tired of eating the same things over and over, but nothing else really sounds good to me!

(4) I always spell "night" like "nite". I'm not sure why...I just do. Same with "light". I spell it "lite"...it's just my thing, I guess!

(5) I am addicted to my CrackBerry BlackBerry and it's little blinking red lite. I keep it by my bed because I have such a hard time sleeping at nite...and if it's blinking I get soo happy! I love getting FB alerts and emails....especially because it makes my phone start blinking. Ha!

(6) I love the fall. It's my favorite time of year. I hate living in the south because of our lack of seasons. In Missouri we would get the crisp, cool weather, the leaves that turned yellow, orange and red. I love getting bundled up for football games and sipping on hot chocolate in the stands. I love baking banana and pumpkin bread. I love having my windows open and having the cool air come through my window and me snuggling with my layer of warm blankets. I told Leo before we got married that after he is done with the Air Force I will not live in the south. I must live somewhere that we get all of the seasons...I'm anxious to see where we'll end up once he retires....

(7) I always try to remember to write thank you cards. I was brought up to always write a thank you card--even if it's just a quick note. Not too many people write them anymore and I'm not sure why? But I will definitely pass this on to Isabella and Madelyn just like my parents passed this on to me.

(8) When I can't sleep at nite I watch a lot of reality shows. I love to watch I Survived, I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, the ID Channel, Mystery Diagnosis...I could go on forever! I think my insomniac ways drive Leo crazy...but hopefully I'll be back to sleeping somewhat normally after Madelyn is born--with the exceptions of night feedings, etc.

(9) My thumbs are double jointed. I can bend them back to my wrist. Weird, I know.

(10) I loooove to read. I'm such a book nerd and I love it! Nothing makes me happier than taking an afternoon to head over to Barnes and Noble to enjoy a Starbucks and pick up a new read for Isabella and myself. I've tried to get Leo into reading, but I haven't had a lot of luck there. Isabella LOVES to read so that itself makes me super happy!

******

I am passing this award on to the following:

Bytes of Memory

Oscar the Golden Boy

Our Magnificent Seven

A Boy, A Girl and A Pug

Life with the Hewitt Family

Loulou's Views

Mommy Learns to Blog

My Trendy Tykes

Lifelong Playdate

Really, Are You Serious?

*******

And because I don't always follow the rules I won't be going to each blog to tell them they have an award from me right this second...I'll get to it eventually *smile*

Few Baby Shower Pics

Because Who Doesn't Like a Trip to L&D in the Middle of the Nite?

Yesterday I was having contractions. All. day. long.

I went to bed and they were 10 minutes apart.

Hmmm.

I couldn't fall asleep forever.

And when I did I kept waking up from my contractions.

I got up and was in some pain....

More than just a Braxton Hicks pain.

Leo woke up.

I was trying to get ahold of my mom.

Leo threw the rest of my things together, I took a bath and was really nervous.

We get to the hospital.

They hook me up....

Contractions? Check.

Madelyn's heart rate? Check.

The nurse loved my contractions and their pattern.

~5 minutes apart. Beautiful.

But then they check me for dialation, effacing...anything.

1 cm.

That's it. All of that work and 1 cm. She wanted me to be a 4 cm to stay.

Boo.

But then they wanted me to get my blood pressure monitored.

It was high. The average was 150/90's.

I now go in on Thursday for NST monitoring.

And I'm back home. No sleep. Still contracting.

I feel silly for going in. But glad I did since my blood pressure is obviously having

a mind of it's own.

My appointment was cancelled for today. I now will get seen next Monday.

That is if Miss Madelyn doesn't plan on debuting anytime soon....

An Amazing Weekend...

Isabella with her big sister (Leo's older daughter) and cousin

Such a happy little girl!

Her cousin, Mateo, JUST dumped water on her...can you tell she didn't like it? Ha!

Isabella and Mateo

The one I would do anything for...I love her so much

This past weekend was amazing! Some of Leo's family came and stayed with us...some of which was part of a grand scheme to surprise me...(which they did--more on that later).

We went out to a nice dinner, hung around together, went to the park and let the kids swim in the backyard. It was fun, relaxing and I didn't feel left out of anything (which is really nice--I feel left out of so much at this stage of my pregnancy...).

On Saturday Leo rushed me out of the house. We went and saw The Hangover...hilarious! Seriously one of the funniest movies that I've seen in a looong time! I was laughing so hard I started having strong contractions--haha!

It was our first date since Isabella was born. Almost 2 years...wow. We were definitely in need of a date--we even sat in the back row! But only because all of the other good seats were taken...seriously!

After the movie Leo told me his sister had called him (she was at home with Bella and everyone else) and that Isabella was crying and missing us. It broke my heart! So we rushed home where I saw a lot of unfamiliar cars in our driveway...and when I asked Leo what was going on all he told me was that it was all for me...from the people who love me.

Of course I started crying! Crazy pregnant hormones. But they were tears of happiness. I walked in and was greeted with pink and green baby decorations, family members, co-workers of Leo's and lots of hugs. Isabella came running out wearing her Big Sister t-shirt and gave me a huge hug. It was amazing. I think sometimes I just feel so alone down here and to see that this was done for me...I was floored. We had such a nice time and I can't believe that this was all done for me.

Leo's daughter, Ashley, is staying with us until after Madelyn is born. She is such a sweetheart (almost 12 years old! Wow!) and we absolutely adore her. Isabella loves having Ashley around and it melts my heart to see how Isabella looks up to her. I'm really hoping to get some cute sister pictures taken before Madelyn arrives...and after she arrives!

{FIVE}....A Beautiful Number

Happy 5th Anniversary my love...

The past {five} years have been:

amazing

breathtaking

a learning experience

love filled

joy filled

I cannot wait to celebrate many, many more with you!

I love you, my husband, my best friend and the father to my little girls.

{picture taken Nov '06 at Leo's brother's wedding}

The Design Girl Blog HUGE Giveaway!

The Design Girl Blog is having an amazing giveaway! She has {5} amazing prizes with {8} lucky winners! Go and check it out--you're going to love it!

So There's This Girl...And She's Totally Captured My Heart...

Have I mentioned how much she melts my heart?

Because she does.

Good times and bad times.

I love her...more than I ever imagined I could love someone...

37 weeks + a couple of days....

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE!

Wow....

I.feel.enormous.

This was taken last nite....

I wonder how soon until Miss Madelyn arrives?

A Couple of Crafty Things....

Enter my giveaway HERE!

Her blog is so inspirational that I had to try out the frame tutorial that she gave!

Here are the two that I've done so far. I need to finish the other cream/red frame. I'm either going to put them in the guest bathroom or in our kitchen--I haven't decided yet.

The other one is for Isabella's room. I think I'm going to put a picture of her and Madelyn in it after Miss Madelyn arrives. So cute!

Spooneez "Roll Up the Mess" Review...And...{Giveaway}!

{Click me!}

I recently got contacted by Robin and Maythi who are the amazing creators of Spooneez.

They asked me to do a review of their

Spooneez !

After going to their website and blog there was no way that I wouldn't do one!

You may be asking yourself what are Spooneez?

Spooneez come in {three} groups:

Mini Spooneez--A slightly smaller version of our original, still capable of holding 2 utensils + extra long pocket (available w/velcro)

Original Spooneez--Our original Spooneez includes 2 utensil pockets + one extra long pocket (available w/tie)

Travel Spooneez--Perfect for overnights, our Travel Spooneez can hold toothbrushes, toothpaste, meds, hairbows, brushes, etc. & rolls up to protect your items (available w/velcro)

As quoted directly from their website:

"Spooneez was born years ago, after I was tired of dealing with going out to eat and ending up with a slimy baby spoon and nowhere to stash it. The ziploc bags, paper napkins, and licking baby food off of spoons just didn’t cut it. After a few design flaws and some much-needed sewing help from my Mom, I finally had a concept that had “come to life”. But, something was missing. I let it sit a few years before mentioning the idea to my friend Robin. She loved it, believed in it as much as I did, and was on board instantly. Luckily for me, she is awesome with a sewing machine (I cannot even sew on a button!)."

I can really relate on going out to dinner, going shopping or going to church and needing to pack a little snack or meal for Isabella.

I hated how I either would need to use plastic baggies everytime (so bad for the environment!) or if I *gasp* forgot to bring a baggie, I would have to dump her spoon and baby food in the diaper bag to be found later on the very botton of the bag.

Now that I have my own Spooneez? I am grateful to say Miss Madelyn will never have to worry about gunky, yucky spoons and Leo and I won't have to find the spoons and empty baby food containers in the bottom of the bag!

The Spooneez are really easy to clean, too--which is a plus because I know how busy we all are. All it takes is a wipe down using mild soap and water. You can even use a gentle spray cleaner. When you're done doing that you simply lay flat to dry. Easy!

I also got lucky enough to receive the Travel Spooneez. When I received it in the mail and opened it?

Oh.my.gosh!

I love it! The fabric? Sooo my type!

And guess what I'll be using my Travel Spooneez for?

For all of my travel sized necessities while I'm in the hospital for Madelyn's big arrival!

I'm telling you--it's the perfect size for toothbrush, any meds, and all of your travel sized products. On the outside they even sew a ribbon onto a button for you to tie up your hairbrush. It all rolls up perfectly. I'm in love!

******

Now for the {GIVEAWAY}!

Spooneez is graciously giving away {one} Mini Spooneez to {one} lucky winner!

Here's what you need to do for your first additional entry:

1) Go and visit the Spooneez website.

Come back here and tell me {one} thing that you love about their company, their product, anything! Easy!

Want extra entries?

Be sure you leave a seperate comment for each additional entry that you do!

1) Grab the Spooneez button and place it on your blog, facebook, etc. Leave me a link to where you've placed it. (you can find it on their blog.)

2) Become a follower of my blog. Already follow? That's great, too!

3) Buy something from their website for {5} extra entries. Be sure to leave {5} seperate comments for this! Leave me your transaction # in the comment, too.

4) Become a Spooneez fan on Facebook

5) Grab my button and post it on your blog. Tell me where it's located in your comment.

6) Blog about this giveaway or e-mail 5 of your friends and "cc" me. This will be worth {3} extra entries! Remember to leave {3} seperate comments.

7) Tweet about this giveaway and leave the direct link to your tweet.

*******

Wow, that's a lot of ways to get extra entries for the giveaway!

Good luck to all who enter!

*******

Small print:

US only

You must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you. If there's no way to contact you I will draw another winner.

Make sure you follow giveaway instructions or your comment will be deleted.

This giveaway will run until July 25th.

I will use Random.org to pick the lucky winner at noon CST on the 25th.

If for some reason I go into labor early the giveaway will remain open until I return from the hospital!

When Waxing Goes Wrong...Very, Very Wrong...

I was simply going to get my eyebrows done. But as I was waiting there in the lobby I started thinking....

I mean, I'm no Teen Wolf or anything, but for some reason when I'm pregnant I feel...well, hairy.

I would look in the mirror and gasp at the sides of my face. Peach fuzz everywhere! Then I would look at my neck. Gasp! More peach fuzz!

When it was my turn to get waxed I sat down--unsure if I wanted the whole face done or just my eyebrows.

But as soon as she asked me? I blurted out--I want it all off!

What the --?! It's like my mouth had a brain of it's own!

And then she started...

Holy. crap. It hurt so bad! I've never had my lip done before. I would always get offended when they ask you if you want your "moustache" done. But since I requested the whole face they did it.

I had tears in my eyes. That was the worst part for me.

After she was done I thought, well, that wasn't so bad. Shoot, I'd probably get it done again!

That's what I thought until I woke up this past Friday morning.

I remember scratching my face in my sleep. I didn't think a thing of it.

Until I woke up and saw the left side of my face...

I have never broken out like this. Ever.

I feel like a teenage boy working at a fast food joint. It's that bad!

Leo thinks it's funny--he couldn't believe that I had my face waxed at all. So now?

Of course he thinks he was right all along...that I never should have done it in the first place.

I agree...but eek! I hope this clears up before Madelyn is born!! I don't want her first pictures to be of me with half of my face broken out!!

I guess I could request pictures on the right side. Or use makeup to cover it up...which will only clog my pores more.

*sigh*

I guess I'll have to learn to love my peach fuzz after all...because I am never getting my face waxed again.

Well, except for my eyebrows...

Bella-isms...All Things About My Girl

**When I tell Bella "thank you" she always replies with "elcum, elcum". Love it!

**Our bathtub in the master bath is really deep. I can barely get out of it now! But Isabella must have noticed this as she now grabs my hand and tells me "up, up, up!". Man I love my little sweetheart!

**I can no longer drink any juice. It makes me beyond sick. I usually have milk, water and a Diet Coke during the day now. The other morning I was getting out the milk for our breakfast and Isabella handed me not one, but two Diet Cokes--I must have been looking extra tired that morning.

**Today at lunch we were sitting there and talking about what a fun day we had had so far. Outside time, snow cones, art projects and singing our favorite songs. She then took a bite of her lasagna, looked at me and said, "Mmmm! Ee-so-so!" In case you're unsure of what she was telling me she was saying, "Mmmm! Delicioso!" from Dora. Ha! Now she can't stop saying it. I definitely need to tape this one.

**She's caught on pretty quick that our dog, Chewy, will gobble up pretty much anything she drops on the floor while eating. The other day I gave her some Goldfish and set up a Dora movie in her new playroom. I'm assuming she didn't want anymore because she dumped over her bowl and yelled, "Cheeeewwwwyyyy!" It. was. hilarious!

**I love it when we're driving and a song will come on that just makes her want to dance! She sits in her carseat, smiles and wiggles back and forth--I love it! She definitely makes me want to dance when I see her dancing around.

**Her newest thing is helping throw trash away. She's mastered unloading the dishwasher with me, helping with the laundry so I assume the only logical thing left would be trash, right? While it's awesome that she's the first to help out with throwing things away, I've found a few non-trash items tossed in there as well. The latest? A Dora movie box and one of Madelyn's baby hats. Hmmm....not sure why those were in there, but I cracked up when I saw that combo.

**She's beyond obsessed with bubbles right now! I bought her a Fisher-Price lawn mower that blows bubbles--she uses that thing forever! Probably one of the smarter purchases that we've bought our little munchkin!

**I can't figure out what I want to buy Isabella as a gift for when Madelyn arrives. She already has a baby that goes everywhere with her. And I mean everywhere! I found one of those wooden bead mazes--she loves those, but I just don't know. Did you buy your older child a gift? I also want to have a few little gifts for her to open when people come to visit. There's a Barbie she loves, maybe a book...I just don't know!

36 1/2 Week Appointment

My appointment went wonderfully! Gaining just the right amount of weight--I was worried that I had gained too much the past month with my birthday and the 4th of July--but I guess not!

My belly is now measuring small...I'm assuming it's because she's dropped, but my doctor said if it gets to be a 3 cm difference I'll have to have another ultrasound although at my last ultrasound Madelyn's size was perfect.

She then told me as long as I don't go into labor before Saturday (37 weeks, she'll be considered full term) then we'll both be fine. We went and did all of the pre-admission paperwork after my appointment...it's crazy that we're to this point already! I still remember doing the pre-admission paperwork when I was pregnant with Isabella.

I'm a little upset because my next appointment isn't until July 20th....I'll be over 38 weeks! And they didn't check for any dialation today....ugh. Maybe I'll go into labor before then? Who knows. I just don't know why they are making me wait almost 2 weeks until then. Oh, well.

That's it for now...just wanted to give everyone a little update on how Madelyn and I are doing!

Randoms....

**Lately I feel like I don't have anything to really blog about...although I actually do. Lazy? Maybe. Tired? Definitely! Rainy weather dampening my mood? For sure...

**Last nite Isabella wanted to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. So I let her...it seems like the closer to Madelyn's arrival the more she just wants to be with me. As I was drifting off to sleep listening to her deep, sleepy breathing Madelyn started moving around--it was so sweet because every little move bumped Bella and at that moment I really felt like it was a perfect moment.

**We got down Isabella's baby swing this weekend. When she was little she would barely go in it...now that it's out? She's napped in it, swung in it, watched tv in it and she even puts her baby in it. It's so adorable!

**And for some big news--Isabella went poopy on the potty!! I couldn't believe it! I say that is a step in the right direction and to see how proud she was...what a big girl!

**Her room is almost done now. We just need to finish hanging everything up on the walls. We finally moved furniture around in our house so she and Madelyn can have their play room. Isabella's bedroom looks sooo much better without all of her toys taking over her pretty bedroom!

**I treated myself to a pedi and mani this weekend. Ahhh...it was SO relaxing. I haven't had a real pedi in quite some time so this was perfect. I went all out and got all of the extras--and for those couple of hours of me time? It was totally worth it!

**I am now 36 1/2 weeks along. I've been having an enormous amount of braxton hicks--it's out of control sometimes how many I have! My appointment is tomorrow and I'm excited to finally be in the home stretch. I can't wait for my little Madelyn to arrive!

**Isabella always asks to see Sissy. She kisses my tummy, puts lotion on my tummy and talks to her. It's adorable! Friday morning I was napping and Leo was doing some picking up around the house before our friends arrived and I woke up to Isabella talking to Sissy and putting baby lotion all over my belly. Ha! I love my little girl, she's such a sweetie!

**And finally, Isabella LOVED all of our fireworks. We couldn't bbq that nite due to the 5 inches of rain that fell (and we haven't had rain forever! Go figure it'd rain on the 4th *smile*) so Leo and our friend went and picked up Mellow Mushroom pizza (yummm). We gobbled it up and ran out to watch their fireworks show. It was a blast. Isabella would squeal and clap and if one caught her by surprise she would say, "Woooah...scar-wee!" Adorable I tell ya!