LONG weekend

We had a GREAT long weekend!

Friday night we had dinner at Texas Road house with a friend for her birthday! It was a lot of fun, even though we had Cori with us. She behaved very well and I was thanking my Best Buy credit card for allowing me to purchase my iPad with 0% interest for 12 months. Cori LOVES watching all her little shows on there, and it keeps her entertained and happy. After we got back James went with my brother and some friends to ride 4 wheelers. As much as I LOVE riding and feel so left out when they all leave me at home (while I'm pregnant) I LOVE letting Cori snuggle in my bed and watch tv until she falls asleep. If James is home he won't let me do this....so we take advantage of our time alone without daddy =)

Saturday I woke up early and snuck out of the house before anyone else was awake. I had an appointment to get my hair cut and had some errands to run so it was some good alone time. I found myself at the nail salon to get a pedicure and my eye brows waxed and ended up getting my nails done too (for the first time since my wedding, almost 4 years ago)....I deserve to be pampered.....right?? As I was leaving I was thinking of heading home and looked around at my truck and realized it was filthy - so off to the car was I went. When I got there I noticed I was 2,000 miles over my oil change.....oops.....so I got that taken care of too. When you get your oil changed you get a free car wash so it worked out. As I stood there and watched my Armada go through the car wash I felt kind of guilty. I sent James a text that said "I'm such a lucky girl". I am so thankful that I have have so much and I am grateful for it too. But I did feel so guilty as I'm standing there - probably one of the youngest people in the car wash with such a nice vehicle. Both of the cars in front and behind mine in line were not so desirable cars, that older people were getting into. I feel proud at the same time that James and I work so hard for what we have. I said a prayer and thanked god for all my fortunes and my ability to get up and go to work everyday. I am lucky & blessed.

After I got home I started working on laundry and got my extremely pregnant butt in the pool. I forget I'm pregnant when I'm floating around. All the pressure on my back from the extra weight is gone, my hips don't seem to hurt as much, and I just feel so light. Its a nice break - and the sun beaming down on me makes me happy too. That was our Saturday. I think we went to bed early Saturday night.

French Braded Cori's hair for the first time!! So cute!

She said she had a lot of "bobo's" and needed bandaids....or stickers in this case! 

Sunday we didn't have plans but we had been invited to my aunts on Lake Conroe to hang out, eat, swim and have a fun family day. So we headed that way. I was real nervous with Cori around their pool & the lake (mostly the lake b/c I wouldn't be able to see her if she went under). Although there was a lot of people there watching her I still was scared. My aunt had a floaty that fit Cori pretty well and to our surprise she wasn't clinging on to anyone - in fact she kept saying "let me go - I wanna swim by myself!!" Boy did she do a good job! I was so proud of her! I have no doubt now that she will do so good in her swim lessons, that start next week!

The view from my aunt and uncles upper level deck! Awesome!

Sunday night we went with my brother and Bridget to go see the Hangover II. It was exactly the same movie as the first one with different events. It was still pretty funny though! I am looking forward to seeing Bridesmaids sometime this week or this weekend. I've heard its funny too!

Monday we had another relaxing chill day. James and I went grocery shopping and then came home and had my brother and Bridget over & our friend Dylan. We cooked some sausage and chicken on the grill and for the 3rd day in a row swam around and soaked up the sun! While @ walmart we got Cori some arm floaties and she loved them....  She is putting her face under water and swimming all over the pool on her own. She is so proud of herself. Its funny how in one weekend she can go from clinging on for dear life to begging us to let her go! The pool wears her butt out too!! speaking of butt - I just LOVE her little white booty tan line from her bathing suit! I think its the cutest white butt ever!

Its Tuesday and back to work! I hate when our awesome family weekends end. Every weekend should be a 3 day weekend!!! My shower is this Saturday and I am so excited. I don't feel very prepared for Levi to come so I'm hoping after the shower I'll feel a little better! 

My Pretty Princess

How can I love someone SO much?

 She kept asking the photographer - What pose can I do next?

 Being her silly self!!

 This one is my favorite. Her hair looks long, her eyes look pretty and she is just SO cute!

 This was another of my favorites! She's such a ham!

 She was "done" by then and only giving us really silly faces and poses!

Feeling Bad & Fun Weekend....

So with Cori, I took weekly pictures of my belly to document and put in her baby book. I am sad to say that I have about 4 pictures of me being pregnant with Levi, and no book yet. I have no excuse for slacking. Sorry Levi, you're book will be thin and there will be few pictures of your pregnant mommy.

I took a real funky picture of just my belly, the best I could do in the mirror with my iphone so here is 30 Weeks 5 Days:

Yesterday after our niece & nephew left we got in the pool for a relaxing day in the sun. We needed it. James and I were alone (Cori was napping) and we just had fun talking and laughing together. I don't have a bathing suit that fits this body of mine, so I improvised with shorts and a spaghetti strap shirt that I tucked into the built in bra hoping to get some color on my pale skin. I did indeed get some color and can't wait to get back in this weekend for some more! I love when I have a tan. This may sound weird but my skin feels and looks better with a tan. It doesn't seem so dry, my pores on my legs don't stand out so much, and (yes, I'm a weirdo) I like when my freckles get brighter....I think they are cute, and at this stage I'll take any thing "Cute". James thought I looked funny & snapped a picture of me in the pool. It looks a little deformed and I would never dare post this picture to FB! Since I only have a few people that look at my blog I'll post it here....ready....set.....

Like I mentioned before, Asher (6) & Emma (4) came over Friday night to stay the weekend with us. These are James' brother's kids. They are super cute! I'll admit though, 3 was a lot compared to our regular one! Not unmanageable though. The three of them had SO much fun playing together, and Cori was worn out by Sunday when they went home! Saturday we went out to James' mom & dad's to hang out and play. The kids had water guns and a small pool to play in and we had hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. It was a fun & relaxing day. Feeding three kids was difficult though, it seemed like someone was ALWAYS hungry and of course no one wanted what we had at home already. I guess this is what I have to look forward to as Cori & Levi get older!

Cori & Emma

Asher, Ema & Cori

My sweet Girl

Cori thought she was so cool playing with the big kids & using waterguns!

She laughed and screamed and thought it was the best thing ever! I love this picture!

Fun weekends like these make me so happy to be where I am. Spending time with family is such a blessing!!

30 Weeks Down.....

This is a (modified) email that I sent to my mom after my appointment with Dr. Boyd yesterday:

I totally forgot about my appointment with Dr. Boyd today, and I was 25 minutes late. The staff at the front desk knew and they were mad at me, but Dr. Boyd didn't seem to know I was late. She was in a good & chatty mood (unusual)

I have reached the weight that I delivered Cori - bummer!

She said that my stomach is measuring big, but she's not too concerned at this point. I told her I was worried about having another bad delviery experience like I did with Cori and she said that she will do another ultrasound in about 6 weeks to measure and see how big he is. She wants to avoid me having any problems or having a C-section so after we see how big he is, she'll figure out what she wants to do next. She said if Cori was close to 9lbs chances are he will be too and since I had a problem delivering her, she doesnt want him to get any bigger than Cori was. She said smaller would be better. As of now we are sticking to the July 25th due date. 10 weeks left....eeeeek!!!

She's worried about my iron being low and said as long as I'm taking the iron supplements, which I am, I should be okay - but she wants to do blood work again in about 6 weeks to make sure its up. She does not want me delivering with low iron. Understandable. As much blood as I lost last time, I need all the thick blood I can in my favor at delivery. I can't afford to have thin blood this time!

I told her about some pains I've been having in my sides and back that usually come in the evenings but go away if I lay still for a while. She said that they are probably small contractions which are normal and not to be worried about, unless they don't go away after laying and resting. She also said more water and staying extra hydrated will help the uterus not to contract so often, so early.

I also talked to her about having my tubes tied. She said it is something they can do at the time I deliver Levi, but she doesnt recomend it that soon b/c I could just be thinking I'm done b/c I am so tired and exhausted. She reccomends 6-12 weeks after I deliver, if I decide. I'm certain that I'll be okay with 2 kids, I'll just have to talk James into it. She told me about another procedure that can be done at an office visit that doesn't require any cutting or anisthesia - she gave me a pamplet about it. It is permanent and 99% effective and no healing/recovery time but takes 3 months to be affective. Its called essure I guess I'm in no rush to have it done, so we can talk more about it after he's born. I just really don't want to be on birth control forever. Its such a hassle. Also, I want to look into all of my options and see what's best for us. She also said she will not do it unless James and I both consent to it, so that may be a problem.

Well that was my Dr. Visit today - I am scheduled to go every 2 weeks for the next 6 weeks then I'll start my weekly visits until he's born.....I feel like time is flying by.

(End E-mail)

I went and signed Cori up for swim lessons this summer! She starts June 6th and its twice a week (30 minute sessions) for 6 weeks. I'm super excited, and I think she is too. I wanted to get her into some type of activity this summer. We did Gymnastics last summer but until she is 3 I have to be down on the floor with her and being this pregnant, I didn't think I would be able to keep up. If she likes swimming this summer, we can continue classes throughout the year, or maybe after the baby is born, she can get back into gymnastics or dance. I want to keep her active. I hope that by starting her young will give her the drive to stay active and fit as she gets older. I will by no means be a pushy "Tiara" mom, but I want her to have fun and remember her childhood and be exposed to different activities or sports and when she gets older she can decide what her niche is. She tells me she wants to be a ballerina, a pirate, and sometimes she says she wants to be underwater with fish (maybe a scuba diver?). She's so dang cute, it kills me.