36 weeks!

Today was an exciting day-- Nathan and I went to see the OB for my 36 week checkup. There is something about hitting the 9 month mark that makes it all feel very real. I don't understand the whole 9-10 month pregnancy concept and the weeks make it even more confusing....bottom line: we are getting close! If I have Carson when I had Alex, we are less than 2 weeks away!

We were able to see him today via sonogram which was very cool! It's such a different view than the 16 or 20 week sonogram because now the baby is fully developed. We were only able to see large parts on the screen and it was much harder to decipher what we were actually looking at. We saw him in a "dive position." His head was fully down and in a ball....like he's ready to go.

According to the doc, Carson is 6lbs. 9oz which puts him in the 63% for weight. I am not dilated or effaced yet so although he is locked and loaded, my body hasn't started the next steps yet.
It was a very exciting appointment and now they are weekly, so check back on Thursday for the next update.

We are off for a date night tonight- yeah! We are going to Abacus off McKinney Ave. in downtown Dallas. Abacus was created by Kent Rathbun, from Top Chef, so we are looking forward to a relaxing and faaaancy evening.

Alex's Big Girl Room

One down, one to go...
Alex's room is finished! When she saw her new furniture she said over and over "It's just so wonderful!" She was sweet to be so excited over something that really isn't too exciting for a three year old.

Carson's room is painted and we are in the process of getting it all ready. I'll post pics once it's ready to go. We had a blast working on "the kids' rooms" (it's crazy to write that!)

A special thank you to YaYa and B.B. (my parents) for watching Alex for most of the the weekend! I know she had a blast at "the mouse place" (Chuck E. Cheese) and endless hours in the pool! I don't know how we would have painted, moved furniture and handled all of the chaos with her running around. We did get a really cute picture of her in infant car seat. She said, "Look at me, I'm the baby." So, I guess she's getting ready too!

One Month From Today.....

Is my due date! AHH!! September 8th will be here in no time! My parents are keeping Alex tonight and some of tomorrow so we are off to buy paint for Carson's nursery. Alex is getting all of her big girl furniture (it's black- yay!) delivered tomorrow, so we will have a busy weekend and hopefully I'll have pics to post soon!

The Sickerus: The Greatest Show on Earth

As much as we miss daddy while he is gone, it sure does make our Friday, Saturday and Sunday fun! We have been really capitalizing on our quality fam time when he is home. We both agreed these are our last few weekends to really get out and do some fun things, so this weekend we decided to take Alex to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and the Circus.
Here are two cute pics of Alex and Nathan at Rainforest. She told us at dinner, "I love eating in da jungle!" We were thinking about how much different it is now with a 3 1/2 year old. She's such big stuff. We enjoyed dinner with our little friend.

The Circus, or "sick-er-us" as Alex calls it was a BLAST! We had great seats...third row right in the center, so Alex was able to see everything. I think I watched her more than the actual show, but trust me it was entertaining. The best was watching her shove popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream and a snow cone down her mouth (no, not all at once) and watch the show at the same time. We were all on a serious junk food high!

There were all of the usual talents-- elephants, tigers, trapeze artists, etc. The highlight of the show for us was the "puppy talent show." There were all kinds of little dogs; mainly poodles and poms, but there was one Yorkie just like our pups at home. Alex was so excited because she thought "Macy" (our puppy) was performing at the circus. Of course "Macy" was the only disobedient dog-- she was barking and not minding and went the wrong direction on the ladder, and the trainer was running after her the whole time. We are sure this was all a part of the act, but we were cracking up! The best part of it all was when we got home....Alex saw Macy and said "Macy, you did a great job at the Sick-er-us today." Are you kidding me?! She is TOO much! I'm sure you had to be there, but it was hilarious!

Happies

Yay, more happies!

1. In an attempt to cut down on the caffeine (which I've done really well with so far) I discovered a new hidden talent at Starbucks-- Blended, iced, green tea, with three honey packets. Okay, clearly nothing is going to compare to the Frap, but with 1/3 the caffeine and all of the benefits of Green Tea, this is a much better choice. And it's $2.00. Yea Starbucks!!

2. Expandable pants-- maternity pants are the best! Why don't we wear these all the time? Seriously..no buttons or zippers. Easy access :) HA! No really though the only benefit to the tight pants is that you actually feel full, so that helps with portion control.

3. Pregnancy. Yes, even in the 9th month in August (105 degrees today) it makes me happy! I am cherishing all of the kicks, rolls and feeling in your belly that only a mommy can describe. Nathan said jokingly last night "okay, look at me and look at you and tell me you want to be a woman right now." As crazy as it seems, I do want to be. It's such a gift to get to carry around a little miracle with you. It certainly gives you a feeling of importance. It makes the little things seem very insignificant. Enough with the sentimental talk :)

4. People Magazine. It's my guilty pleasure. Thank you Nathan for the weekly escape!

Not so happies ;)

I can't help it.
Things that are miserable about being prego (yes, this negates the sweet things I just wrote in happies):

1. Getting to the point that you can't see your feet. Not cool. You stub your dang toes all the time. And if you know me, you know about my "baby toe" issues. NOT FAIR!!!

2. Outgrowing maternity clothes?! That makes you feel extra pretty ;)
It's like they make these clothes for only 7 months of pregnancy. What about months 8-9 when even the expander isn't expanding enough?!! Is there a special store for the "really, really big months?" Bitter.

3. Sleeping. I am standing up at times now just because that seems to be the only way to get comfy. Good times!!

4. Strangers inappropriate comments. Pregnancy apparently gives people the easy access to come up and tell you everything there is to know about childbirth! I was at Brookestone today and the sales rep (a male, late 50's) said "now you aren't going to have your baby in the store right now are you because I have a lunch break in 20 minutes." Thanks.

5. My child loves to lift my shirt and share with EVERYONE that I am having a baby. "Oh and watch-- it moves," she says. Actually it's really cute! Just had to put this on the list b/c I wish she would just keep the belly in.

6. The belly button. Enough said.

Happies!

One of my friends, Allison, posts "happies" every Monday. Happies are just random things that she loves. Don't know if I'll be a weekly "happies" blogger, but here are a few things that make me REAL happy:

1. Starbucks-- yes, I am prego. Yes, I drink caffeine. I am working on it, but you know there other things higher on the list that take priority ;) I did SO good with Alex and never had caffeine. So, my current fave is the Caramel Frappuccino. See, that is just love. It has 90mg of caffeine and you can apparently have up to 300mg's of caffeine a day while prego. I don't think I've come remotely close to tapping out :)


2. Blue Bell Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
There is a pattern here-- lots of fattening foods :) I wonder why Carson is kicking me to death?!?! Hmmmm

3. So You Think You Can Dance-- the best dance show eva!! Not really loving any of the girls, but Twitch & Joshua are my current favorites. I am bitter that Will got kicked off. VOTE PEOPLE!!! I never have but think it's time to step it up this week after Kherington & Will :(

4. Afternoon naps-- they are rare, but I've been indulging in an afternoon nap once a week at least. I know this is a limited time offer.

5. Salt. I like it. It makes me swell. Deal with it. And I like the Sea Salt. That's for hard core salt addicts.

6. Baby wipes-- are the best invention ever! I don't know how I survived without them! Now that my tummy is a "catch all" for everything, it's nice to have a wipe stashed for those embarassing spill moments.