homemade pizza

This sure was a mess, but we had such fun making pizzas together last night. They were SO yummy! I think we ended up with five different pizzas--BBQ chicken, spinach/green peppers/onions/Italian sausage/ground beef and then a few variations of those ingredients. They were all so tasty. We'll definitely be doing this again soon!

garden helpers

These are my little garden helpers. Big sis loves to water for me and pick strawberries (which are tiny yet plentiful since we just planted them this year). Little sis loves to sprinkle dirt on my pepper plants, pick tiny green tomatoes and squish ripe cherry tomatoes. We have such fun with our little garden plot and have had a wonderful harvest of cucumbers, carrots, green peppers, banana peppers and cherry tomatoes this year. Yum! Would've had a great harvest of spinach, romaine and broccoli, too, but we had a family of bunnies early in the summer that took them all out. :/

 

Illini win!

Beautiful day for an Illini football win yesterday! This was Em's first football game. We sure had fun, and Em did very well as long as she had a lollipop in her mouth. :) Reminds me of her big sister at this age.

 

 

 

 

Baby Girl is growing well!

We had another ultrasound in St. Louis yesterday. Baby Girl is growing well. Praise God! Doctor indicated that measurements look good and that she jumped from the 25th percentile in weight to the 31st. She now weighs 3lbs. 12oz, already has some hair on her head and apparently has a dimple in her chin. :) We didn't get any 3D shots this time but still saw her profile and a shadowed front shot of her sweet face.

 

Our next appointments in St. Louis are at the end of this month. We'll have another ultrasound, follow-up with the OB, fetal ECHO, follow-up with pediatric cardiologist and a tour of labor and delivery hopefully. Another very busy day! We also plan to look at some housing options (mostly apartments probably) while we're there. My big task this week is to do lots of research and make lots of phone calls to get those appointments set up so that we can hopefully secure something or get very close to making a decision on something with our next visit to St. Louis. After much discussion during our trip to and from St. Louis on Friday, we've decided that, for multiple reasons, an apartment is a much better way to go than a hotel.

 

So, praises and prayer requests...

• Praise that Baby Girl is growing very well. We are thrilled that she is continuing to grow and develop well as this is critical to a better outcome with the surgeries she will undergo.
• Pray that this good growth continues.
• Pray that God will heal her sweet little heart if it's His will.
• Pray for John and I as we consider the housing options. Pray that this process is smooth and the right option becomes clear as we proceed with research and looking at places.
• Pray for us as we decide what the best care is for our older two in the several weeks following Baby's birth. There are a lot of options to consider. We are trying to make the best decision overall for our family.
• Pray for me as I balance spending good, quality time with the girls and John individually and together with preparing for being gone for several weeks as well as preparing for life when Baby comes home. Whew! Trying really hard to balance all of this...and rest as much as I can in the meantime.
• Praise that Baby Girl is SO active. I can tell she's getting bigger based on all the crazy movement I feel at all times of the day...and sometimes night. :)
• Praise that I'm feeling really good overall other than being pretty tired.
• Pray for the varicose vein situation in my right leg. The swelling and pain is getting worse, unfortunately. I've tried the compression stockings. They seem to help some but are getting more and more difficult to get on and off. :) My OB here has prescribed a different type of stocking that will cover only my lower leg. I'll be trying that out this week. Hoping it helps!

Oh, and by the way, we are very close to deciding on our sweet girl's name. Pretty much have the first name set. Just trying to decide between a few options for her middle name. Looking forward to sharing the name with you soon! :)

 

Thank you again in advance for your support and prayer! Hugs!

cutest breakfast date

While she had the day off school and her little sis was at parents' morning out at church, I treated my big girl to breakfast at our favorite spot. We shared pastries, chocolate milk, laughter, fun conversation and books. I loved every minute of it...and so did she.

one last pool trip

The cooler summer has been nice for this pregnant mama, but it hasn't made for a great summer for the pool...until the last week or two. We tried to make the best of our last trip of the summer today though before it closed. Ab finally got to put her skills to use that she worked on in swim lessons back in July. Em finally enjoyed the lazy river for more than just a lap.

 

nearly 31 weeks...and growing