36.5 weeks!

Good news - I am 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced at 36.5 weeks!  If you can't tell by the exclamation points, I am absolutely thrilled.  I think with Caleigh I was nothing... not effaced, not dilated... nothing, when I went in to get induced with her (at 39 wk and 4 days).

I have gained exactly 20 pounds so far but it feels like so much more.  I am in full nesting mode - despite working full time -  I have reorganized Caleigh and Andrew's closet, washed all of Andrew's clothes, started packing Andrew's bag for the hospital, purchased all the last minute necessities, and put all of Andrew's clothes into drawers.  I still need to finish preparing his cradle (since we only have 2 bedrooms in our condo, he will be sleeping in this adorable cradle that we found on craigslist) which I hope to post pictures of soon.  I am hopeful that this little guy will make an appearance before my due date (which seems impossibly far away).  As far as the pregnancy symptoms I am feeling big and slow and not sleeping well but otherwise things are going great.  This past weekend we went to Myrtle Beach with Caleigh and it was great family time - before that weekend I was stressed about all I had to do to get ready for Andrew and I was stressed about him getting here.   The weekend provided us some really fun moments with just us and Caleigh and it really gave me a sense of closure on our time as a family of 3.  Now I feel completely ready to welcome this sweet little baby boy into our family and become a family of 4.  Even that change in my attitude and outlook is such an answer to prayer - thank you Jesus.  T minus 3.5 weeks and counting... 

headed to the beach!

We are leaving today after dinner to go down to Myrtle Beach for a long weekend.  I am especially excited because I have started working full time until Andrew gets here and am thrilled for a little break.  Of course on the day we are supposed to leave, Caleigh woke up with a 102.7 fever and she is already on her 10th day of antibiotics for a sinus infection.  We are going to the beach anyway armed with Tylenol and Motrin and praying that it is a virus and not her kidneys.  Hopefully we will get to post some updates from the beach!

strawberry pickin'

On Saturday we took Caleigh strawberry picking.  When I was growing up, strawberry picking was one of my favorite things to do in the summer.  It was so fun to have Adam and Caleigh there to join in the fun.  Off to the fields...

Gigi taking a turn at helping... There's a red one mom (and Andrew - front and center)... Show me how its done, Dada... Here Mama - I don't think I am supposed to eat this part... Please give me that strawberry and stop using it to try to make me smile for the camera... All in a days work... The only way to keep her entertained was to keep putting the strawberries in her mouth... Picture on the tractor for Great Grandpa Kemmer... On a mission... Farmer Caleigh... Family photo op... Reveling in the goodness of all her hard work... We had such a fun time and Caleigh did a great job.  She would look through the plants to find the red strawberries - she was also great at picking only the red ones and not the white ones.  Great job Cals! Looking forward to next year - it is hard to believe that this time next year I will have a 2.5 year old and another almost 1 year old.  Wow.

much to celebrate!

We have had so much to celebrate in the past few days: 

• ~ Adam did awesome on his GMAT - he got his goal score and equivalent to the highest he had gotten on a practice test.  To God be the glory!
• ~ Andrew has flipped - he is no longer breech!  External version averted.
• ~ Adam's company got a new big client last week which should hopefully translate into more sales over the next couple of months.

Thank you Lord for answering so many of these specific prayer requests!  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!  (Ps 66:20)

Adam is taking the GMAT - please pray!

Hey y'all - if you are reading this blog post between 11 am and 3 pm today please take a moment to pray for Adam.  He is taking the GMAT today in preparation to applying to MBA programs.  Specifically will you pray:

• - that he would remember all he has studied
• - that his score from the practice tests will translate to the real thing
• - that he would have peace and not be nervous, that he would have endurance to finish well
• - that his score would actually reflect higher than Adam's own ability and thus would serve as a testimony to God's grace (thanks Dave for that one!)

We really appreciate it!  It has already been amazing to see God working through him as he has studied so diligently for this exam and been proactive in preparing.  To God be the glory!

two faces of Caleigh

These pictures literally occurred within 30 minutes of each other.  Monday was a hard day for Caleigh - she woke up really early, fell asleep in the car for 10 minutes around 11 on the way home from Walmart, and then only took a 1.5 hour nap.  The poor thing was exhausted.  When she is tired she has really high highs (squealing, super high voice, laughing...) and really low lows (crying excessively at the tiniest things).  While I was cooking dinner after her nap I looked over and found her sitting in one of the pots - of course I grabbed my camera for such an adorable photo op.

Then we tried finger painting - it was cold and wet outside and the chicken for dinner was cooking so I needed to entertain her inside.  She loved it at first - more than the first time she tried it.  And then she got this wild look in her eyes and put her paint filled fingers in her mouth... after telling her that she can't eat the paint (thankfully it is non-toxic) she absolutely lost it -  Needless to say, Caleigh went straight to the bath and after dinner she went right to sleep.  Oh how quickly her moods can change.

flowers

After my shower on Saturday, Adam came by the Kulps with Caleigh to pick me up.  Caleigh took off at the first sign of flowers (actually clover).  She loves picking flowers right now - though I think I am parenting outside the funnel on this one because I let her pick 'flowers' that are actually weeds like clover, dandelion, etc. but I don't let her pick the flowers on our back porch - so she might be a little confused.

Clearly we are related -  Celia even made her a bouquet of flowers wrapped in some pretty red paper for her to take home - very sweet.

shower for Andrew!

On Saturday some great friends threw me a shower for Andrew!  I was so excited and blessed to have a shower for this sweet little boy growing inside me.  It was fun to get blue things and boy things.  We hit the jackpot!  Before opening gifts we had a fabulous brunch, followed by a fun celebrity mothers game (y'all know me too well), and then a great time of prayer.  Here is a picture with Jessica, Kim, and Laura (some friends from UNC).

A picture with my mom and Karen. And a picture of me with the grandmothers on the day before Mother's Day. Thank you so much Cherith, Virginia, Melissa, Carrie, and Mary for planning this - I am so blessed by your friendship. Andrew - we are all ready for you to arrive - go ahead and come out anytime you want (praying for sooner rather than later!).

flood

On Thursday we had a thunderstorms and a torrential downpour here in Charlotte.  These pictures are from our balcony looking at Kenilworth at around 5:30 pm.  The water was so deep!  I'm not sure how many inches we got overall but it was coming down in buckets.

congrats dirks!

We were thrilled last Saturday to celebrate the Dirks buying a new house!  We celebrated with a trip to Ikea (our first time!) and some cupcakes.

We rejoice with y'all as we look back and see the Lord's faithfulness over the past year that led to this perfect house.  

wachovia / quail hollow championship 2009

The week before last we embarked on quite an adventure - we scored some free tickets to the Wachovia Championship (actually Quail Hollow Championship for 1 year but sponsored by Wells Fargo?) and joined up with our friends the Dirks for a golf outing.  

We packed up 3 kids, 1 on the way, 2 strollers, lots of snacks, 1 very important silky, and 4 adults and started the day on the light rail at the South End station. We unloaded from the light rail and loaded back up onto a bus which took us to the tournament.  The girls enjoyed the bus ride. And then Caleigh got very interested in what Carrie was feeding Henry over there in the corner of the bus. After walking around for a bit we settled out here on the 15th green. The girls enjoyed some playing in the pinestraw - one can only eat so many goldfish. Family shot with the Dirks in the background. Adam and I love going to the tournament on Wednesday because it is the pro-am... here you see Peyton Manning on your left and Tiger Woods on your right. A group shot of everyone - shock that we are all looking at the camera! After this photo op we loaded everyone up and made our way back through the crowds, the bus, and the light rail to our cars and then back to our respective houses in time for naptime.  Thanks for a great outing Dirks!