Update from the doctor

Hip, hip, hooray for progress! The doctor said I am 4-5 cm dilated and that baby is still head down. I asked if he would be willing to strip my membranes to help speed things along, and he said he would but that he prefers I be closer to 39 weeks before doing so. I have a follow up appointment on Friday to see him again, but he said he'd be surprised if I make it that long. He said all we need are some steady contractions. I've had several this morning, but nothing in a consistent pattern yet. After my afternoon nap, I'm going to see about taking these swollen ankles for a walk and see if we can get some movement! WOOHOO!

Memorial Day, 38 Weeks, and Pool Time

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. Not only does it signify the start of summer, but it is also a wonderful time to remember and give thanks for those men and women who've served our country so courageously so that we may have the freedoms we enjoy each and every day.We are blessed and grateful.

an old picture of Little Man, but definitely one that shows how we feel about our service men and women - YEA

Our Memorial Day weekend was pretty low-key, just kind of taking it easy. On Saturday I hit 38 weeks, and I am shocked that little Andrew has not arrived. I thought for sure he would be here by now. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we'll see what's happening.

38 weeks - thank you, Noni for capturing a shot that cuts out so much of the swelling. =)

In the meantime, we've been loving our days with Noni! I feel so grateful that we've had a few days of "relaxed and easy" before all of the craziness of having a newborn sets in. Little Man has his Noni wrapped around his precious little finger, and they have been stuck together like glue. Here he is showing Noni how his rocks go "Plop! Splash!" in his pool.

Hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend! And I hope to be back tomorrow with some more baby updates. Good night!

In the meantime...

While we await Littlest Man's arrival, Little Man and his Noni have been having some fun playtime together. Noni and Pop Pop gave Alex this little Cars race track today. He played with it all afternoon - all the way right up until bed time.

Now, there were moments that I thought Noni might be having more fun driving the race car than Alex. I'm just sayin'. There was lots of laughter in that room.

Whee! The car goes down the ramp! Over and over and over again...

And of course I can't leave out the other favorite pastime these days - putting rocks (or mulch, in this case) in any tiny amount of water that is readily available. Alex LOVES his water and rocks/mulch!

Awaiting a new arrival

We've been busy getting the final things in order for Andrew's arrival.

His clothes are washed and put away. Diapers and wipes are stocked in the closet. The crib mattress has been raised back to its highest level. The pack and play is set up with clean sheets. The glider has been moved into Momma and Daddy's room. The car seat is ready to be installed. And Noni is getting her bags packed to head this way in the next couple of days.

Good thing, too, because today's doctor's appointment showed that we are definitely making progress towards this little guy's debut. I'm 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Another piece of news that I learned at the doctor is that I tested positive for the strep B test. Not a huge deal, but it does make me a little more anxious about making sure that we get to the hospital in a timely manner to get the antibiotic in my system in plenty of time before Andrew is born.

As we prepare for the days ahead, would you please join us in praying for the following things?

• A safe, uncomplicated vaginal delivery
• Andrew would be face down for the delivery
• The labor would progress in a way that allows for me to have the antibiotics in my system for at least four hours before the delivery
• Andrew would be completely healthy and have no complications from the strep B
• My mom would arrive before I go into labor
• Alex would be joyful and adapt well to Andrew's arrival

We are so grateful for your prayers, and we are trusting that God will make provisions for us regardless of what comes our way.

When I do go into labor, our plan is to update the blog throughout the day/night with "progress reports" pending no complications or issues during labor that would prevent us from doing so. So stay tuned. I don't think it will be much longer before we get this show on the road!

The Latest Hobby and Big Boy Bed Update

We have been on many rock-collecting adventures lately. It is Little Man's favorite way to spend an afternoon.

We gather up the tiny treasures in a bucket and then get another bucket of water for him to throw the rocks into. "Plop-splash!" He ends up soaked to the core, and he's thrilled with the mess he is making! He is never ready for the fun to end which makes for quite the neighborhood entertainment when it's time to put things away.

I can't wait to give him his birthday gift which is a water table for playing outside. In preparation for baby, I've already got it purchased and stored in the basement. Now the key is not caving before his birthday like I did the train table. ;-) Maybe I'll just look at the picture above to remind myself that the buckets seem to be working fine at this point.

Now for an update on the big boy bed situation. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat reserved about the timing of moving Alex. If it weren't for the baby coming, I'd still have him in his crib. He seemed to like it, he never tried climbing out, and I think he'd have been ok for a good while longer. But our circumstances called for a change, and, truth be told, he couldn't have adapted better if I had wanted him to. Seriously. I was anticipating that there would be a few hiccups along the way, but nothing. He has never missed a beat.

He has stayed in bed all night, and each morning he calls for us to come get him instead of getting up and wandering around on his own. He has taken his naps like a champ, although occasionally he'll talk to himself and play for a while before going down, but at least his play doesn't (yet) include jumping, hopping, or falling face down like the Nestea plunge (some of his very favorite activities to do on a real bed). His naps have been the same length of time as when he was in his crib, and again, he calls for us to get him out when he's awake. I feel so fortunate that this has gone so well. My hope is that this will continue on once little Andrew arrives.

Little Man's Big Adventures - The Strawberry Farm

We couldn't have had a more perfect day to go to the strawberry farm. The weather was beautiful, the strawberries were ripe for the picking, and Little Man was game for some fun. He has his bucket and is ready to go!

Taking a little break to enjoy a treat...after he removes the straw.

Look at all that fresh strawberry goodness!

Alex and Daddy pose with their picks.

And after all the hard work is done, Alex and Daddy take some time for a ride on the bouncy tiger slide. Whee!

Now to get the strawberries hulled and packaged - some for the freezer and some for eating now. I'm looking for good recipes, too. Do you have any recipes you recommend that use fresh strawberries? Please do share!

Little Man and his Big Boy Bed

After weeks of working to get Little Man's big boy room ready, we finally moved him over tonight. Ever since Jerry began the woodwork, we've been telling Alex that this room was being made special just for him. He has loved going in there to run, jump, and play since he's known it was going to be his.

To celebrate the move, we bought him a new pair of pajamas and two new books to read with Daddy. Here he is showing off his pjs and one of the books - Cars, of course.

Here's a picture of him reading the book while Daddy puts the bed rails on.

Story time with Daddy.

The most precious time of the evening - night-night prayers. During prayer time, Alex will always put his head on your shoulder. Tonight Daddy prays that Alex would feel special and loved in his new room and that he would enjoy sleeping in his new bed. Also that he would find his talents and use them to glorify God all the days of his life.

Sleepy boy curls right up with his "nee-nee" (blanket), finds his thumb, and lets his eyes get heavy. He went down without a single peep.

So sweet and so very precious.

Alex says "Andrew"

Showered with Love

Last weekend, my friends here in Roanoke hosted a baby shower for me. It was such a sweet time with them. I didn't get too many pics because I was busy socializing, but here are a few I snapped.

The theme was "Ahoy, It's a Boy!" So cute!

The main dish was Tilapia Parmesan - perfect for the beach/sea theme. It was EXCELLENT. So excellent that I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TILAPIA PARMESAN

2 lbs. tilapia
2 T. fresh lemon juice
4 T. butter or margarine, softened
½ c. grated parmesan cheese
3 T. mayonnaise
3 T. chopped green onions
¼ t. salt
ground black pepper to taste
dash of Tabasco sauce

Place fillets in greased baking dish. Brush with lemon juice; let stand for 10 minutes. Broil fillets for 5 minutes. Combine cheese, butter, mayonnaise, green onions, salt, pepper and Tabasco. Spread with cheese mixture and broil for 2 - 3 additional minutes. Watch closely.

Any other white skinless fish may be substituted.

(Note from my friend who made the dish: I usually broil a little longer than 5 minutes - maybe 7 or so and then after spreading with cheese mixture I broil for another 5-7 minutes. I usually let parts of the top get a little brown.)

Enjoy!

All Tuckered Out

I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened.

Poor little guy just gave it up on the sofa while watching Cars. Sadly, I can relate these days.

Baby Bump - 35 and 36 weeks

We took this picture on Mother's Day. I'm counting it as the 35 week baby bump photo.

And here I am at 36 weeks.

The swelling has really picked up the last couple of weeks, and boy did the scales show it at the doctor's office today! Oh my goodness! On the upside, my blood pressure still looks good so there are no concerns about preeclampsia. I was grateful for that piece of news.

In other check-up news, little Andrew is still head down. Yea! His heartbeat is strong, and he continues to be pretty active in his movements. Also, based on today's visit, I'd be surprised if I went the full 40 weeks. I'm not dilated, but the doctor did say that the cervix is very soft, so my body is getting ready. I'm hoping baby will debut around 38 weeks like Alex did. That would mean just a couple of weeks left to go! I feel like we're ready for the most part. Just a few small things left to do that I plan on wrapping up this week.

I'll keep you posted as things progress!

Tiny Bubbles wraps up

Last weekend, Alex had his last Tiny Bubbles swim class with Daddy. I decided to go watch him - the first time since his first lesson where he was unsure of things. Here he is posing with his graduation certificate/report card with notes on his progress. He was not happy that we were taking time out for photos; he really just wanted to get in that water!

Learning to kick and jump were his favorite things. He would come home every Saturday and tell me "kick," "jump," "wa-yer." Here he is practicing his kicking in the "wa-yer."

He also learned to float on his back which he would tell me about, too, although he wasn't too crazy about that part. In fact, the note on his report card said, "Float on Back - relax little man!" I did get to see him practice this with his teacher, but sadly my picture didn't really turn out.

At the end of the lesson, they opened up the little slides for the kids to celebrate. Alex had a blast holding Daddy's hand going down over and over again and splashing into the water at the bottom.

I'm so glad that Alex and his Daddy had a chance to spend their Saturday mornings together at Tiny Bubbles. Even though we may not have a lot of pool time this summer, I think it was great for Alex to spend some time in the water, and I look forward to enrolling him again next year.

Happy Mother's Day

To My Daughter, with Love, on the Important Things in Life

{by Susan Polis Schutz}

A mother tries to provide her daughter 
with insight into the important things in life 
in order to make her life 
as happy and fulfilling as possible.


A mother tries to teach her daughter
to be good, always helpful to other people
to be fair, always treating others equally
to have a positive attitude at all times
to always make things right when they are wrong
to know herself very well
to know what her talents are
to set goals for herself
to not be afraid of working too hard to reach her goals...


A mother tries to to teach her daughter
to have many interests to pursue
to laugh and have fun every day
to appreciate the beauty of nature
to enter into friendships with good people 
to honor their friendships and always be a true friend
to appreciate the importance of family
and to particularly respect and love our elder members
to use her intelligence at all times
to listen to her emotions 
to adhere to her values


A mother tries to teach her daughter 
to not be afraid to stick to her beliefs 
to not follow the majority when the majority is wrong
to carefully plan a life for herself
to vigorously follow her chosen path
to enter into a relationship with someone worthy of herself
to love this person unconditionally with her body and mind
to share all that she has learned in life with this person...

This is a portion of a poem my mother gave me in 1989. I've been moved reading it 22 years later with the perspective of being a mother myself. There really are so many life lessons we want to impart to our children, aren't there? The list above is by no means comprehensive, but it's certainly enough to make you sit back and wonder, "Can I do all of this?"

I am grateful when I think about the words in this poem and realize that my mom managed to impart these lessons in a way that stuck and became a part of my life. She taught from her actions as much as from her words. I hope I can pass these lessons along to the boys in a way that would make her proud.

My mom is an amazing mother. I adore her. I miss her, and I wish we lived closer together. I know she wishes for the same. Especially so that she can get more of this...


We are so looking forward to having her here when baby Andrew arrives. =) I told Alex the other day that Noni was going to be "bunking" with him in his new room in one of the beds, and his response was an enthusiastic "Yea!" 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! We love you to the moon and back! And Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing mothers out there who I am blessed to know and have in my life.

More progress on Alex's new room

The goal is to move Alex into his big boy room next week. Slowly but surely we've been able to put the pieces of it together. The main elements are there (except for the bed rails which Jerry is building this weekend); all that's left now are the decorative touches on the walls and built-in shelves which will have to come over time. I'll be sure to update as it gets more put together. In the meantime, here are a few before and afters of the space.

BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER

The good and the...not so good

The good: Baby is head down. WOOHOO! The doctor did a quick scan at my appointment on Monday and baby is in position. Thank you for all of your prayers. Please continue praying that on delivery day, he will be face down and that I can deliver without a c-section.

The...not so good:

I have two pair of shoes that fit right now. They are the flip flops in the photo above which I happen to own in black and brown. The only reason these shoes fit is because the strap is a band of very stretchy elastic.

I wish this picture gave a true representation of the swelling, but it just doesn't do it justice. *Sigh.* I will be so thankful if I don't outgrow these shoes. So glad to be in the home stretch.

Our Courageous Little King

Baby Boy finally has a name. Andrew Ryan Correa.

Andrew = courageous

Ryan = little king

Noni bought Andrew this "pray for courage" gown long before we knew his name. But now it seems perfect, doesn't it? The words? The lion being the symbol of courage and an animal known as a king? We pray that Andrew will be bold and courageous in his faith and in serving the Lord.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 

Do everything in love."

1 Corinthians 16:13-14