Daddy Daughter Camping Trip

Greg took Cambry camping last week at Huntsville State Park. This was his second time to take her camping and she loved it. I think it is the sweetest thing and I am so thankful for a man who is willing to plan this special time with his daughter. Cambry was looking forward to this trip so much. They were supposed to go with 2 other daddies and daughters but one of the girls got sick so it was just one other daddy/daughter. They stayed one night and had lots of fun exploring, roasting s'mores, spotting alligators, cooking hot dogs, the girls playing together, and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Powdered sugar donuts: the aftermath

This picture melts my heart.

They had a great time and Lainey and I enjoyed some time together alone. Happy campers!

36 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #3

*Craziest comment from a stranger at the end of this post. Best one yet this pregnancy.

Oops my shirt is blending in with the wall

Lainey (left), Cambry (right)

How Far Along:  36 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Head of romaine lettuce

Maternity Clothes: I feel like I have nothing left that fits. I am really looking forward to cute fall clothes after the baby comes. Although I will be in that awkward still-pregnant-looking stage for a while but that's ok because boots + leggings + loose shirt will be a nice option for the next few months. And vests and scarves are always convenient to distract from the jelly belly. Fall/winter seems like a good postpartum time.

Movement: He is very active and sometimes his movements/pressure hurt so bad and take my breath away. It is like a shooting pain that only lasts a few seconds but is so uncomfortable. I do love to feel him move though and try to guess which body parts poke out across my tummy.

Sleep: Great. Although hard to flip sides and get out of bed. I am really missing sleeping on my back and stomach. So tired of side sleeping.

Symptoms: Tired and uncomfortable. But trying to enjoy and soak up these last weeks of pregnancy.

Best Moment this Week / Baby Prep Progress: Greg got back from middle school retreat this weekend so that concludes his out of town trips -yay! I have started packing my hospital bag although it is not 100% ready. Greg got the swing and bouncer down from the attic so it is starting to get REAL. We still need to install the car seat but it will be easy to do because we will put it in Greg's truck for now so that the grandparents can have my car with the car seats for the girls while we are in the hospital. 

What I miss: Feeling normal and having energy.

What I am Looking Forward to: Getting an ultrasound this week!

Best Comment of the Week: Usually the comments I get come from women but this time it was a man. It was of course at Kroger because I cannot ever go there without getting the funniest remarks. We were loading groceries into cars next to each other and this is how it went down.

Man: WOW ARE YOU DUE OR WHAT?!!! (he is practically screaming in shock)

Me: Yep, baby on the way soon

Man: Are you having twins or just one big one???

Me: Just one big one...

Man: My daughter just had a baby but she did not get that big!

Me: (I really didn't know how to reply so I can't remember what I said)

Man: So any day now?

Me: Well, about 4 weeks left.

Man: FOUR WEEKS!!! WOW!! (Moves around to get a side view) But it is SO FAR OUT THERE.

End scene.

Actually there was a little more of this outrageous commentary. I really can't even comprehend how he thought it was ok to say these things. I mean, he has a daughter who just had a baby so doesn't he know better?? And please, NEVER ASK ABOUT TWINS. How is that not a universally understood fact? And this was actually the SECOND crazy comment I got from a man at Kroger that same day. The first was not as bad but he still told me I was "looking pretty big". Ok, I will stop now. Stay tuned for next week because I'm sure there will be more comments to share from upcoming Kroger trips since my belly continues to grow by the day :)

Baby Boy's Nursery Tour

Baby boy's nursery is all ready! And baby boy finally has a name...

Colton Brooks Mattern

I honestly did not think I would like decorating a boy's room. I love girly decor and had so much fun with the girls' nurseries and then their shared room with all the pinks and girly fabrics and pretty accessories. But then Colton's room came together and I absolutely love it. 

I really didn't have to do a lot. The only things we changed out from Lainey's room were the crib bedding, the mobile, and the wall decor. My favorite thing in the room are the signs hanging above his crib. My friend (and former roomie) Casey made them. They turned out exactly how I wanted and I love them. I sent her a picture of what I wanted and she whipped them up from scratch! She is so talented. You can check out her website for her other creations. And she does custom orders so if you need anything, she is your girl.

35 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #3

Lainey (left), Cambry (right)

How Far Along:  35 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Honeydew Melon

Maternity Clothes: Rotating through the last few things that fit! In the first 2 trimesters there are some maternity clothes that make the belly appear smaller than it really is and some clothes that make it look bigger. At this point in the game everything makes it look enormous. Cause it is. And I continue to get the comments from strangers. Everyone thinks I am due "any day now". Um, actually "any 5 weeks now".

Movement: He continues to be very active. I had an OB appointment last week and the doctor thought he was head down. YAY. Let's hope he does not flip again. And even though the appearance of my belly doesn't seemed to have changed, I feel like he may have gotten a little lower based on the movement I am feeling.

Sleep: Great. Although hard to flip sides and get out of bed. I am really missing sleeping on my back and stomach. So tired of side sleeping.

Symptoms: Tired and uncomfortable. But trying to enjoy and soak up these last weeks of pregnancy. It really is a miracle and it it so neat to feel a baby move inside of you.

Best Moment this Week / Baby Prep Progress: Greg getting home from Canada! He was there for a business trip all week and I am so glad to have him home. We had a fun and busy week and the girls were good but it is definitely nice to do the parenting gig together. The weekend was filled with lots of fun. We went to Dewberry Farm on Saturday and then to a friend's house to watch the A&M game. Then Sunday evening I went to dinner with some girl friends to celebrate baby boy which was really sweet. Both the girls' shared room and the baby's room are complete. Now I guess I need to pack my hospital bag soon and install the car seat. It is such a strange time of feeling like we are SO close and yet kinda far. We still have more than a month til my due date. But then again there is always the possibility he could come early and the weeks seem to be flying by.

What I miss: Feeling normal and having energy.

What I am Looking Forward to: Getting an ultrasound in 2 weeks!

Girls' Shared Room

The girls' shared room is now complete. I really like how it turned out. The furniture is definitely quite snug in it's arrangement, but it was the best option for allowing the most play space. I was actually quite surprised that in such a small room we could fit both beds in there and still have open space. (It is hard to tell in the pictures since I couldn't zoom out any further.)

I kept both girls' mobiles hanging above their beds because I love them and can't part with them yet. Cambry's bed was purchased from Craigslist and I painted it white. Then Greg and I painted the chest of drawers (which I had in my room growing up).

The lamp on the chest was a DIY project where I just used some leftover chevron fabric I had to recover the shade and used chalk paint on the base.

The last picture isn't the best quality but the cute ballerina print came from Etsy and I painted gold and glittered a plain wooden chalkboard I had. 

They have been sharing for a week now and bedtime has gotten much better than the first few days!

34 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #3

Lainey (left), Cambry (right)

How Far Along:  34 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Cantaloupe

Maternity Clothes: Rotating through the last few things that fit. I don't think any of my t-shirts quite cover my belly. This is basically what I look like around the house.

Gus Gus (from Cinderella) in case you haven't seen it in a while

Movement: He is very active. Sometimes I think he is trying to bust out of there. I have no idea what position he is in though.

Sleep: Great. Although hard to flip sides and get out of bed. I am really missing sleeping on my back and stomach. So tired of side sleeping.

Symptoms: Just the usual - tired and uncomfortable, braxton hicks, charlie horses when I wake up and restless leg syndrome. The legs get restless only at night though. And usually while Greg and I are watching a show or lying in bed. I suddenly have to kick my legs like crazy. I think he still thinks RLS is a made up thing.

Best Moment this Week / Baby Prep Progress: We moved the girls into the same room on Friday and made great progress on the nursery on Saturday. We still need to hang the mobile so after that I can take some pictures on the real camera and post them. We are still in the adjustment phase with room sharing. Lainey has not been her usual easy-to-bed self. It has only been 3 nights but so far she has cried hard every night. Then of course Cambry comes out after 15 seconds to let us know that Lainey is crying. She has been a super sweet big sister and will sometimes stand next to the crib and sing to Lainey. But Lainey keeps screaming. So we have rocked her to sleep but I don't want to have to do that every night especially since baby boy will be here soon. Hopefully after more time things will get better.

What I miss: Feeling normal and having energy.

What I am Looking Forward to: We plan to make a trip out to either Dewberry Farm or Blessington Farm next weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

And now for the best comment of the week from a random stranger at the grocery store:

Lady: Are you having a boy?

Me: Yes.

Lady: I can tell. Aren't boy pregnancies so much easier than girl pregnancies?

Me: Well actually this one has been really hard. Maybe just because I am now chasing around 2 little ones.

Lady: Oh yeah it is exhausting but the nausea is so much better right?

Me: Well mine has been equally bad for all 3.

Lady: Oh really? I didn't even know I was pregnant for the first 3 months! So you are due soon right?

Me: Yes getting close...6 more weeks.

Lady: OH (shocked)! Well...(looking down at my belly) he is going to be a good size!!

WHY. JUST WHY. I kinda wanted to say - "What do you mean?" I have also thought about telling people my due date is in January just to add some extra shock :)

Back into the Swing of Things

Well "fall" has hit and I feel like things have gotten busy. But it is a good busy. Our weeks are full of fun. We go to our usual Monday morning play group, Cambry has school Tues/Wed/Thur, Divine Design (moms group) started back up on Tuesday mornings, we have 2 therapies a week for Lainey, and we are starting a music class at Second Baptist on Fridays. Then of course I have an OB appointment every other week and soon to be every week.

Cambry had her last swim lesson the other week. With school starting it seemed like a good time to stop swim lessons. She made great progress and we will definitely pick back up again in the spring or early summer.

Pengu is great because they have a play area where the siblings can play during swim lessons. Lainey plays with the toys, draws with chalk, and also loves to go in and out of all the empty changing rooms and look in the mirror.

Cambry wants to be Princess Anna for Halloween so I ordered her dress and it came in them mail this week. She has worn it every day so far.

Lainey has turned in to such a great eater. She doesn't always love veggies, but this girl can eat A LOT. One of her favorites is spaghetti. She finishes all of hers and then eats all of Cambry's since Cambry hardly touches hers.

The other day Cambry wanted to rock Lainey for nap. It was the cutest thing. Lainey stayed squished in the rocker next to Cambry and was loving it. I don't think it helped her get sleepy, but she enjoyed sister time.

Breaking news: Cambry wore a skirt! It has been quite some time since she has worn a skirt. She is all about dresses these days and rarely will wear anything else. Occasionally we can get her to wear her cute little Under Armor workout shorts and shirt to the park, but otherwise it is the same few favorite dresses that she rotates through. I can't really complain though - I would much rather her love dresses than hate them. However, we do have lots of other cute clothes that are non dresses (tunics/leggings, skirts, etc) that are going unworn in her closet and becoming too small. BUT she agreed (with some coaxing) to wear this outfit to church and I thought she looked so adorable I had to take a picture.

And here is Daddy and his sweet girls. We all can't wait for baby brother to join our family. 6 more weeks!!