This week flew by

A lot has happened this week, but thankfully, it's been stress free, easy going, calm, and over all, a relaxing, but busy week.

1.We moved the boys into the same room Sunday.  Wow-- what a transition this has been.  The first two nights were sleepless for everyone and naptime during the day pretty much was non- existent.  The boys are getting better with things and Brooks and I have learned the importance of not putting them down for bed at the same time so we're making some progress!

2. I got all of Brooklyn's clothes that we received from her baby shower washed, folded, organized by size and put away!  Whew-- huge accomplishment!  We set up an area in our bedroom with all her belongings for the first few weeks and while my parents are here and have everything ready to go!

3.  My parents arrived in the Kingdom Tuesday night.  They had a successful traveling experience, with no issues, made it through Saudi customs quickly, and met up with me at the airport soon after landing.  The moment I saw them I let out a huge sigh of relief and instantly felt relaxed and at ease (they made it here safely AND now Brooklyn could come if she wanted to).

4. Our boys were besides themselves to have their Kimmie and Captain at their house and have kept my parents entertained every waking moment.  We kept Gavin home from school Wednesday morning so he could be here when my parents woke up and I'm so glad we made that decision.  Gavin played and played and played his heart out with them- showing off all his new toys, how we moved his room around, etc.

5. I had a doctor's appointment Wednesday afternoon and to make things easy on everyone I left my parents at home with the boys so everyone could take naps (my parents were dealing with jet lag) and then my friend Stephanie came with me so that I wasn't by myself at the doctor incase something happened or was told to head to the hospital.   My doctor checked me for the first time and said I was basically 4cm and ready!  We scheduled an induction for Saturday (If I made it until then-- happy to report it's Friday afternoon here and I haven't gone into labor).

6. We took my parents to a local restaurant for dinner and met up with all our friends and had a fun night out!

7. Thankfully, Brooks got today (Friday) off of work (it's our weekend right now) so we've had the day to enjoy with him.  We went to our weekly meeting group and cooked lunch and ate with my parents and Micah and Steph.  The weather has been really cold lately, and today was in the low 60's-- something we're not use to, but want to take advantage of it so our afternoon was spent outside!  The guys played washers, the little boys ran around, and us girls just visited.

Well, there's not much else to report on our week!  We leave at 3am tonight for the hospital and will do everything as we did for Miles birth-- be admitted to the hospital, start the induction process, and hopefully within a few hours Brooklyn will arrive.  I invited Stephanie to come and be apart of Brooklyn's birth in Saudi and she willingly agreed.  I'm really excited about her sharing this time with us and hope it will be an "enjoyable" experience for her (we keep joking that it's a good thing she's already pregnant so this doesn't make her want to change her mind about having a baby).  We will try and keep you all posted on how things are going and Brooklyn's arrival- we already know we don't have internet in the hospital to blog... but can do facebook via our phones-- so stay tuned!

We're about to be a family of 5.... WHOA!! 

Brooklyn's Baby Shower

I was blessed the other night with a shower from our Saudi friends and am so grateful for all the women that are apart of our lives who love us and our kids and were willing to throw us a shower so our baby girl could have all the necessities she needs.

For starters, not one detailed was spared for the shower.... these women did an AMAZING job.. the moment I walked in the door I immediately got giddy and excited; realizing that we're REALLY going to have a girl!  The decorations were gorgeous.. they used my color scheme-- purple, black, and lime green (Brooks didn't want pink, which was fine with me).  They made signs, and pom poms, and all of it was for me to take home and use to decorate her room... perfect!  The diaper cake was filled with lots of goodies, the real cake was GORGEOUS, the food was fabulous, and there was a children's book used as the sign in guest book that we will get to keep for years to come.  

We have very few girl items except what we got at Christmas and some clothes I got from my friend Susie so I was excited to open presents filled with pink girly clothes, dresses, glittery shoes, bathing suits, pajama's, burp clothes, blankets, and more.  The hostesses got me a new pink diaper bag, something I've wanted but having boys never got!

 

 


I feel like I say this all the time, but we're truly grateful and blessed by the amazing friends and community that we have here in Saudi.  The baby shower was wonderful and we're even more ready and prepared to meet our baby girl next weekend (if she doesn't come before)!

The hostesses (and friends)

We're about to add a girl in this mix....

I'm so grateful for our two little boys and have loved watching them bond over the past year.  They really do love each other and have fun playing together.  Gavin can be a great big brother and is willing to help his little bubby out (for the most part).  Miles adores Gavin, always wants to be right where he's at, and is learning a lot from his bubba.  They play in the dirt together, jump on the trampoline, play in the play house together.  If one is outside- the other one wants to be right with him.  I love that our boys want to be around each other and am soaking up this time in their lives.  Brooks and I are praying that they will continue to love one another and always seek to meet one anothers needs and look out for each other.  

I'm getting really sentimental over the idea that it will never be JUST the two boys and us again (even though I'm so ready for Brooklyn to be here and be apart of our family) so I've tried capturing some sweet moments of Gavin and Miles together... years down the road I want them to have the chance to see life when they were attached to one another.  

Gavin feeding Miles his dinner- he even blew on the spoon to cool his food off. 

Bath time fun!  There's never a dull moment when bubbles are in the tub!

Gavin kissed my belly to tell Sissy good night.. so Miles walked over and did the same.  I guarantee you, Miles has no idea there's a baby in my belly.... he just wants to be like his big brother.  

 Again, Miles wanted to be his like his big brother... so he went and sat in time out with him. 

 Gavin telling Miles to go away, he can't talk while in time out. 

In a week... we're bringing a girl in this house.  I'm anxious to see how things will change and what the new dynamics will be.  We're also praying that these two boys will love their little sister, want to be around her, and watch out for her for years to come!  One of my favorite things in life is having two older brothers and I've cherished the memories we shared together growing up.  I want the same thing for my 3 kids!!  Watch out boys... here comes Brooklyn!   

The Calm Before the Storm

I've been so busy the past few weeks nesting, reorganizing things around the house, preparing to welcome Brooklyn into our home, planning & celebrating Miles birthday party... I realized I needed some downtime.  So, last week, I did NOTHING.  One of my days consisted of getting a manicure and pedicure.  I did some  shopping online and that was about it.  I took a nap EVERYDAY and sadly, changed the boys napping schedules so they would nap at the same time, thus, allowing me to nap.  Thankfully, Delia was here a few days and she was able to help out a ton while I rested.  She's been wonderful and has gotten very protective of me not doing too much or carrying "heavy" things, moving around, etc.  So grateful for her and all that she does for us!!

The boys and I goofed off a lot more then usual, we went to the park at various times and had fast food for lunch more then once during the week (oops).  I cooked fixed basic meals (grilled cheese, spaghetti, tacos) because I had no desire to clean up the kitchen or need to mentally "think" while cooking.

My body physically hurts right now-- I'm 38 weeks pregnant and stuff just hurts.  I'm not comfortable anymore and have found the only way to alleviate my discomfort is taking baths.  There were even a few days last week where I took two baths in one day.  I told you, it's the calm before the storm.   I'm taking advantage of the down time because I knew this week was going to be way different and so far... I haven't had much of a break.     

A Giraffe Party

Last weekend we celebrated Miles 1st Birthday with a giraffe themed birthday party!  We waited until all of our friends got back from vacation and I spent a few weeks planning, organizing, and working on all the details for his shindig!  I ALMOST decided not to have a party because I just felt like there was so much going on and I didn't want to physically over do myself or run the risk of Brooklyn coming early, but then I realized for the rest of our lives we will always compete with Christmas for Miles birthday, traveling, and potentially another birthday close by so I sucked it up and went after it!  I really wanted to make sure Miles got the same 1st birthday experience that we did for Gavin 3 years ago and I'm so glad we did it!

Miles greeted his guests when they came to the door.  This is his friend Aden who was born in Saudi a week after him- his mom and dad are teachers at the school Gavin goes to and our apart of our weekly meeting group!  Love the McGuire Family!  

We couldn't have a party without singing Happy Birthday.  We've done this twice before so Miles knew what was coming and pretty excited about.  Gavin was also VERY excited about the smash cake (he decorated it himself- see below for more details).

 

Here's a video of us singing Happy Birthday to Miles and him eating his cake!  He devoured it! (don't forget to scroll down and pause my music)

Happy Birthday sweet boy!  Mommy, Daddy, and Gavin LOVE YOU!!

Some of our friends at the party and their little ones!

Miles loved opening his presents and was semi into it.  We helped rip off the paper for him to see what was inside.. that seemed to hold his attention faster and better!  Aden helped too!

 

As always a favorite gift came from Uncle Micah and Aunt Steph... Miles got his very own riding toy and he loved it!!  It's just his size and allows him to have something to ride on when Gavin is riding his big boy toys!

 

 Miles birthday party was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate his first birthday with our close friends here in Saudi!  This past year has gone by so fast and we can't believe our little man is already 1.  We're looking forward to watching him grow into his personality and are anxious for him to become a big brother!  

I was going to make this a separate post but figured I'd just group it all together.  

If you're still reading the blog... here's all the details about the party (if you care about this kind a stuff).  

I picked the giraffe theme because for the past year Miles has gotten multiple giraffe animals or toys so it just seemed to fit.  I wanted needed his cake to be semi easy, but also wanted it to be a cutsey little boy cake and not some elaborate, over the top cake so I went with the number 1 look and turned it into a giraffe.  Gavin actually decorated Miles smash cake and was VERY, VERY proud of himself.  It was a sweet moment when Gavin brought the cake to Miles when it was time to sing Happy Birthday to him.  If anyone came over to our house the day before the party, Gavin would go get the smash cake out of the fridge and show it off.  Too cute!  I picked up some giraffe stuff while we were in the states and ordered a few things from etsy to top off the party decorations.  I got the idea for a first year photo timeline to showcase at the party from a blog and had giraffe themed monthly tags made and then went through all my pictures of Miles from each month and picked out my favorite one or the one I felt represented that month the best and made the banner.  It really turned out cute and everyone loved seeing how much Miles had changed over the year.  

 

 

The birthday boy sporting his birthday shirt!  I had this shirt made for Miles to have a keepsake for years to come and ordered it from this etsy store.  

Something I'm so glad that I did and didn't think about it until the last minute... was to have some sort of sign in for us to remember who celebrated Miles first birthday with us.  For Gavin's party, I had been scrap booking his first year and just made a sign in sheet for his book.  For Miles, I'm making a digital photo book of his first year, but I'm not finished with it (my original goal was to have his book printed and leave blank pages in the back so people could sign it, but I really wanted to have Miles first birthday in the book, so I knew I needed something else that we would always keep.  Shel Silverstein is a great author and we have 4 of his other books and read them occasionally.  When I saw this giraffe book online, I knew this book would be something we would keep for years and years and it hopefully would not get lost!  When people came to the party they wrote Miles a sweet note and this will be something we'll cherish for years to come, not to mention remember our time in Saudi and the friends we were surrounded with!



Weeks leading up to the party I searched and brainstormed cute party favors to give to our guests, but felt like things were either too expensive or too corny to give.  I refused to spend money on "giraffe stuff" for adults since there were very few little kids to give favors to, so I bit the bullet and made sugar cookies.  These aren't my favorite things to do-- they are SOO time consuming and I never feel like they come out good... I've always said I'd much rather make a 3 tiered cake then decorate 2 dozen iced sugar cookies, but I went with a simple design, skyped my sister in law for help (who by the way, decorates AMAZING sugar cookies), and went to town decorating them while Brooks and I watched a movie.  Simple and Fun!  I think they were a hit with everyone and I'm just glad I had something to give to everyone!

36 weeks & slowing down

I made it to 36 weeks with this pregnancy!  Yipppeeee!!  I've only been having contractions off and on since 29 weeks- go figure!  

Being 36 weeks pregnant, Brooks gave me my last progesterone injection this week.  I was VERY happy to have that over with.  I got over my fear of needles (sort of) by thinking of Brooks' brother and what he endures for every one of his treatments-- it was kinda pathetic how worked up I was getting so that really helped keep things in perspective.  We even let Gavin "help" Brooks the last 3 injections... he held the bandaid and was so proud!  We let him watch one time during Miles pregnancy but he was young and it bothered him to see me getting poked!  Now, that he knows what getting poked is he wanted to watch!  He kept telling me, "Mommy, don't scream your head off, okay?!"  I love that he knows mommy was getting poked so that "Sissy" would stay in my belly.  He keeps asking when Captain and Kimmie are coming to Saudi because then he knows Brooklyn will be here.  Let's just hope she stays put another week and a half!  

At my 36 week doctors appointment I was hooked up to monitors to monitor my contractions.  They were showing up, but nothing that my doctor was worried about.  He said I'm cooking this baby with a candle and eventually she'll be ready to come out--um, okay. I laughed when Brooks took this picture because the nurses kept calling this my non- stress test, yet, both our kids were there and playing, running around my room-- hardly stress free I can tell you that.  I found out at my 36 week appointment I tested positive for GBS (group B strep) so I will be administered antibiotics during labor.  I was kinda shocked at the results since I was negative for both Gavin and Miles, but I've had 3 urinary tract infections and 2 other infections during Brooklyn's pregnancy, so my doctor said he was going to give me the antibiotics no matter what.  I did some research on GBS and don't think I need to be worried about it.  Both my doctor and the nurses acted like it was no big deal.  Should I think otherwise?  Anyone have any opinions or thoughts on this?  Just curious!

Something major that has happened this week is little Miss has dropped.... MAJOR!  I can now breathe easy and don't seem to be losing my breathe as quickly, yet I now feel a LOT of pressure!  This is causing me to move REAL SLOW.  I've started letting Miles climb up the stairs while I walk behind him so that I can keep from carrying him so often.  It just makes things a little easier and helps take away the pain and discomfort I'm feeling.  I physically hurt from being uncomfortable.  My feet are starting to tingle from standing up, but thankfully, they've yet to turn into marshmallows and swell up!  Woo hoo!

Brooks and I are getting very excited that we're so close to meeting Brooklyn and are anxious for her to get here.  We've made all our arrangements with transportation, have drivers on call, Brooks has made me contact list after contact list of how to get a hold of him, we've packed a few things for the hospital, took the car seat and pack n play down from the top of our closets, and are pretty much ready to welcome another child into our house!  Brooks put together her dresser this past weekend so we officially have all the baby gear ready!  

I go back to the doctor this Monday, my parents will be here the following Tuesday, then I will go to my last appointment on Wednesday and if she hasn't come on her own, we will be inducing on January 28th.  Two weeks from today, no matter what, we will be meeting our baby girl!  We're so ready!! 

A New Year, 35 weeks, Nesting, & More

Happy New Year.  We celebrated the New Year by..... well, going to bed around 9pm- woo hoo!  You know you're jealous.

We did wake up around midnight to loud, cracking sounds that were coming from outside our window.  I honestly thought our compound was under attack.  It took me a few seconds to realize it was midnight on New Years Eve/Day and maybe people actually celebrated this day with fireworks.  I eventually calmed down and Brooks looked out the window just to check things out and he saw some residents on our compound popping fireworks out near the beach.  Whew.  Nothing to be worried about.  5 minutes later, Brooks and I were both sleeping.

I had my 35 week doctors appointment New Years Day and Brooks and I laughed at the irony that this time last year we were across the way in the hospital and had just had Miles.  Hmmm..  Other then waiting 3 hours to see my doctor, we enjoyed our day trip to Khobar on New Years and brought the boys with us to have some family time.  3 hours in a doctor's office- not fun for everyone, but we were together so whatever.  Brooks and I met a princess- her appointment was right before mine and sadly, she had to wait just as long to see the doctor as we did.  Random- would have thought she'd have gotten the royal treatment or something.  She was very polite and sweet and complemented our kids and how beautiful and well behaved they were.  Thanks!

Brooklyn is doing good.  She's growing and looks JUST LIKE MILES in the ultrasound pictures.  I was surprised to learn that I've only gained 5 pounds in the last 9 weeks.  Even with our time in the states.. that was a shock!

We had two small incidents this past week where we thought I was going into labor.  On Wednesday I was having contractions every 20 minutes apart for about 5 hours and we were just waiting for them to get closer together before heading to the hospital.  I laid down, took a nap and they were gone.  Then on Thursday, I started having contractions every 15 minutes apart, but we weren't ready to go to the hospital just yet-- I felt like even though they were painful, they weren't stopping me from doing things (other then talking and walking) so again, we decided to wait it out.  4 hours later.. they stopped.  Ugh- I can't trust my body.  The contractions are getting annoying and it's really obnoxious to think okay, it's time and then it's not.  I'm trusting and praying that Brooklyn comes when she's suppose to and that I will have that mother's instinct or just a strong gut feeling when it really is time to go to the hospital so I'm not stranded, having a baby in a car, or have to have her at our local hospital.  God worked everything out last year, I'm confident all will work out this year, too.

I've been extremely busy around the house getting things organized, put together, moved around, and in  it's place.  Ever since we came back from the states, brought in 8 suitcases, shipped 6 LARGE boxes of toys and gifts, brought back baby girl clothes- I've been on a mission for everything to have it's place in this house.  I've moved furniture from Gavin's room down to the playroom and got rid of all the little baskets that were everywhere and put all the boys' toys in one location.  We've gone through every piece of clothing that is the boys and washed, folded, organized, and grouped it all together based on size then put them into space saver bags-- I was determined to not have any piece of clothing 9 months and below out since we didn't need it anymore and put away clothes of Gavin's that he hasn't worn since right after we moved here (2T and 3T clothes- the kid is in 4T and just turned 3 a few months ago).  We bought a dresser for Brooklyn's clothes to go into, but it's still sitting in the box needing to be put together.  I've washed and organized all the clothes we have for her by size and put into separate bins so that when we need a certain size, I'll know where it is and what we have for her in that size.  I've purged a ton of toys to donate, threw away every single broken or unused toy that was in bad shape  We just don't have room to keep all these things so I had to get over any sentimental value to toys that I had and realize our kids aren't going without  and we can bless some other little boy or girl somewhere with our stuff.

  

 I moved the toy organization furniture pieces from different rooms to maximize space and let everything have it's place.  Plus, we're going to put Miles and his crib into Gavin's room while my parents are here and the crib would not have fit with that big piece still upstairs.  

  

 

Brooks and I went through our clothes and made donation piles, too.  We just need room and it was time to get things reorganized.  I've semi been psychotic with my nesting and still feel like there are a million more things to do.  I've made Brooks his own list, but because of his work schedule, I'm debating on tackling his list, too.  The only problem is, some of the tasks I left him require heavy lifting or building things and that might be pushing it for me.  I just have such a strong desire to get everything done.

Delia started back this week.  Hallelujiah!  She is wonderful and takes such a load off of me.  It's nice too since I'm really slowing down and my body is just uncomfortable and hurts so with her here I'm physically getting a break.

I've spent the past week weening Miles off his bottles and formula.  I REFUSE to have two little ones in formula and bottles.  Miles is NOT interested in milk, same as when Gavin was this age, so we tried soy milk and he loves it.  I'm going to try very hard to get him onto regular milk quickly and have been adding a little more full fat milk to each sippy cup of soy milk to help make the transition easier.  He was willing to give up his bottle- thank you Jesus, so that wasn't even a fight.  I actually woke up one morning and decided okay, no more bottles (after spending a week with half formula/ half milk in his bottles).  I'm usually more of the quit cold turkey type and decided I'd tackle this with that idea and it worked!  So, as of today, I put up all Miles bottles and got down all the 4 oz bottles.  Now I just need to get those washed for Miss Brooklyn.