New Years BABY!

Well, the time has finally come! I am checking into the hospital at 7:30 tomorrow morning to be induced. I thought it was gonna happen last night b/c my water broke (so I thought) so I went in and they told me I had a fore-sac that burst but it wasn't the real deal. It was a little dissapointing but it was nice to sleep in my own bed b/c it was at midnight and i really didn't want to start the labor in the middle of the night with no sleep!!! Anyway, I am feeling extremely anxious, excited, nervous....basically I'm not sure how I feel. I am a little scared to see how Marlee will react because she is SO used to being the one and only for Collin and I. She says she is excited, but we'll see. Anyway...the next time I post I will be a mother of two little girls!!! (I better be at least!!) I will try to post some pictures ASAP...but I don't think the hospital has wireless so it may be a few days...wish me luck and pray it goes better than last time!!

Merry Christmas to All...and to All a Good Night

We survived Christmas! This year Christmas was a real mixed bag for us. We were here in South Dakota with no family which is hard for the holidays, but it proved to be a really nice break for us. We had Christmas Eve just the three of us, a nice meal, opened presents and watched movies. Then Santa came and gave a few more goodies for us to open this morning. We had dinner with two other families in our complex out here which turned out to be really fun and REALLY tasty! We had steak, crab legs, shrimp, twice baked potatoes, salad and home made ginger bread...the real deal. It was FANTASTIC. Plus, Marlee had two other little girls to play dress up with...everyone wins! Marlee got a Disney Princess Dress up trunk which proved to be her favorite toy...shocker. She wore the Belle costume all of last night and most of the day today, then dinner rolled around and it was time for Cinderella. She cracks me up...she really does think she's a princess! Anyway, here are some of the pictures from our Holiday...hope you all had as good a time as we did! Merry Christmas!

Three Silly girls at Christmas Dinner

Rachel, Nicole and I

Jake, Troy and Collin

with the remote control cars

And one cute Christmas story... we have an ornament on our tree that is Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Well Marlee kept asking me to see Jesus Christ..well I finally figured out that is what she wanted. So, I took it down and let her hold it, but told her we needed to be careful with baby Jesus. She disappeared upstairs and just as I was starting to get annoyed that she was probably doing something naughty, I turned around and saw her wrapping baby Jesus in her baby blanket and laying him on a pillow....she said "shhhh...he sleeping". It literally brought a tear to my eye....children really have the sweetest spirits and I am so thankful for her...and reminding me the true meaning of Christmas!

Belle with her new Glow Bear from Santa and dancing to her Princess Sing Along DVD

Oh.....and 6 DAYS (or less) on the BABY COUNTDOWN!

Christmas Dress

Enough pictures!!!

Marlee FINALLY got to wear her Christmas dress today. She has been waiting since Nana mailed it and she saw it hanging in the coat closet. She would tell me everyday "I wanna wear dress". Well, today was the day. My sister Jenn made her those cute bows especially for the dress and she was quite excited about them as well. The pictures are not so good, we were on our way out the door and neither father or daughter were cooperating with me...as you can see Marlee is making a face in every picture! Oh well! The countdown is ON! 8 more days til induction if she's not here yet! YAY! We are getting SOOOO excited!

Photography

Today I was lucky enough to get a short lesson on Photography from my friend/neighbor Jordan (the one who did Marlee's AMAZING two year pictures). it was so nice of her to teach me a few things about my camera. I have a pretty nice camera, but I didn't know much about it, so I always just leave it on auto-mode and hope to get the best pics I can. She taught me a lot about the different settings and what everything means and what you want. THANK YOU JORDAN! I am hoping that with this good advice I might be able to get some good pictures of the baby when she finally decides to join us...and hopefully some good ones in the future of the girls together!

*This picture is just one of the practice shots I got of Princess Marlee during the session while I was playing around with my settings, but I fell in love with it. She LOVED playing dress up with the other girls!

Uncle Corbin

Corbin came to visit this week. OK, so not really to visit...more like to snipe our car but it was still nice to have him. Marlee was not so thrilled the first night. She had a bit of a hard time warming up to him, but by yesterday she was kissing him and playing with him. Now that he is leaving tomorrow, she even said "Corbin, no home!". She actually likes him! So there is at least one girl that likes you Corb! Anyway, I snapped a few cute pics of them tonight...her in her oh so stylish self dressed get up! We'll miss ya Corb. On a seperate note...This is gonna be a fun month or so. Corb is just leaving, then my mom and sister Nikki are coming next weekend to be here when the baby is born and my mom will be staying 2 weeks. After she leaves Tom and Gail will be coming.... it should be fun! My Doctors appointment yesterday was pretty un-eventful. I am still dilated to a 3. So I will probably still make it to my induction date. BUT, it did move up one day. She said we will do it JANUARY 1st! Miss Makenna could actually be the New Years baby of Vermillion! Fun fun...

36 Weeks...and counting

17 days til induction...if I make it that far. I am still holding out SOME hope that I could possibly go into labor on my own before then but if that's the magic date I will be OK. I am 36 weeks and feeling HUGE. I am SO ready for this baby to come. As you can see Marlee is loving her baby sister already. We are just so excited to be blessed with another baby girl, and can not wait to see her sweet little face. I don't really have an update on my status, I had a Dr. appointment 5 days ago and was dilated to a 3 and like 30% effaced, but I could easily walk around like that for another 2 weeks. I am anxious to see if there has been any more progress at my appointment on Tuesday morning. I am officially off my meds and "pelvic rest" so all is fair game and we'll see if it makes any difference! I will be sure to post any news...

Branch Christmas Party

One of our last nights out as a family of 3!

We finally had our branch Christmas party last night, it was supposed to be last weekend, but the weather was too bad. It was fun. Unfortunately Santa had the flu and was unable to make it which was a bit disappointing but we still had a good time. Marlee just ran laps around the tables asking to be tickled with the other kids. She is such a little social butterfly. I love watching her in those settings because as soon as we get there, she just takes off to go say hi to all her little friends. She could have cared less if mom or dad was there! Oh well, I guess that the independence is a good thing at this point since #2 is almost here!

Reese and Marlee...buds for life

Rachel (Reese's Mom) and I...due 2 days apart..both with another girl

All I Want for Christmas is an 'L'...

OK, so anyone who has ever been pregnant knows this feeling. You are almost 36 weeks, you're huge, you're tired, you're cranky, and most of all emotional. So now that I have set the scene. I am definitely the "handy" one at home...scary eh'? I have hung and decorated everything in our house completely alone. Collin could care less about that kind of stuff. So, I finally find the right place to hang our little mirrors that each have a letter to spell out E A R L. In the kitchen above the cabinets. So, I dig them out and prepare. I wash the walls, get the tools needed, etc. I get my fat butt up on a chair and measure and hang... when I am finished I feel completely satisfied with myself. Not for long. Before I could get Marlee out of her chair from dinner I turn around just in time to see the "L" falling from the sky...or wall. It crashes onto the tile floor and SHATTERS. I was devastated. I had worked SO hard. I just started to cry...so frustrated. Marlee came over and patted me on the shoulder and said "You OK mommy?". Anyway, after a few minutes of self pity, I swept it up...and now sure enough our kitchen says E A R. Nice eh'? I am planning on ordering a new "L" to see if I can match it, but the EAR is staying until then...... what an ordeal.

Sugar Cookies!

A little messy?

So I had the bright idea to make sugar cookies last night for FHE b/c Marlee LOVES to help me bake. It was too funny. She made SUCH A MESS. I just had to sit and laugh b/c as I would sprinkle the flour on the counter, she would take a big hand full and pretty much chuck it...in her face, on the floor, wherever. The best part is, she really thought she was helping a ton! She kept saying "I good helper, mommy!" and would just smile. She was so pleased with herself. By the time we got them baked and ready to frost, I would hand them to her to put sprinkles on and she would just start licking the frosting off. It was pretty funny. We had a really good time!

These other pictures are of Marlee and her good buddy Reese. They are our neighbors and her mom (Rachel) is one of the best friends I have out here. They are SO much alike. They are both obsessed with the Disney Princesses and playing dress up and things like that. When we had them over today the 2 of them just ran around the house screaming and jumping and laughing....silly girls. It is so fun that they are such good buddies and us mommies are both due with another little girl only 2 days apart!! Can't wait for round 2 to meet!

Sitting on the Princess couch

Action shot!

Church

My Big GirlAs we were leaving for church on Sunday I just had to stop and take a picture. My baby looked so grown up, and so cute! I know, I am a little biased, but I thought she looked just beautiful. She really is growing up so fast.

Oh, and for those of you interested on the weekly update...still no baby, but at this point that is a good thing! I am 35 weeks, and at my appointment today she checked and I am dilated to 3 cm now. My induction date is still Jan.2nd if I haven't had her yet!

Nesting

So I guess I am nesting again... I have been feeling really guilty lately about thinking I haven't cared about this pregnancy and stuff as I did the first go round. I am just realizing that it is because I am SO much more busy and way more tired. Anyway, I have been trying to organize our house in preparation for Makennas arrival and I decided to try to make her room look cute to come home to. Since we can't paint or do much else, I went and bought some little wooden things and painted them. That was our activity for the afternoon. It was actually pretty fun. Marlee helped me place them and hang them up and would say.."pretty mommy", or "no,no,no" if she didn't like it. She is so opinionated. Anyway, here are a few pics of her new room. We are SO excited to meet her!

Oh, by the way my official induction date is Jan.2nd if I make it that far. I was dilated just passed 2 cm this week so we'll see!