Monday, June 28, 2010

"Today's the day!"

"Hooray for you, hooray for me, hooray, hooray--for [Cate] will soon be free!"

*Can't you tell that Winne the Pooh is an important part of my life right now? ;)

Today is Cate's due date. Besides being even more active than she usually is, Cate is still content where she is. No contractions...no anything! But we'll keep you updated of course.

My family came yesterday to drop off my mom and Julia for the week. We had a great lunch of taco salad and fresh fruit salad, topped off with strawberry pie--yum! Dad, Chris, and Joe put together some things they brought us: a new dining room table and
Lizzie's new toddler bed. Pictures of those will come eventually!
We have to do some more rearranging but I am very happy that I listened to my mom when she said, "Let's switch up the girls' room!" It looks and feels great!

Mom, Julia, Lizzie, and I are off to run errands and to do some shopping (mwahaha)--talk to you soon!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Cate's UPCOMING debut

Well. I had my last ultrasound today; my fluid levels are normal for the first time in a few weeks. Cate is estimated to weigh 8 lbs 3 ozs right now (ahh), give or take a pound in either direction (I hope it's toward the 7 lb end!). She's still quite comfy where she is, aka she hasn't engaged yet and my cervix is still pretty closed.

Now that we have this information, my doctor strongly recommended a repeat c-section. So we have one scheduled for Wednesday June 30, 11:30 am.

If I go into labor early and everything progresses without ANY complications, then Cate is born VBAC. If I go into labor early and problems arise, I will most likely have an emergency c-section, as I did with Lizzie. If Cate is late, I walk into the hospital for my scheduled c-section.

So, we can safely say that Cate will be here by June 30th no matter what! Let's see how these next five days unfold...stay tuned :)

Monday, June 21, 2010

T-minus seven days...

We hope you had a Happy Father's Day yesterday! :)

This past week was great. We had our friend McKelle over to play!
The girls showed me all the different types of food they like out of the grocery cart.


Grandma and Grandpa Carter sent us a package from Utah! Two BEAUTIFUL blankets for Cate (white crochet blanket; kelly green quilt) and a baby doll with its own blanket for Liz! That baby doll rarely leaves her sight now :)
She gives Baby juice when it's thirsty

And she reads to Baby while Baby relaxes on the couch


We went to the pool again on Saturday, mostly because Chris had to go into the office for a few hours and we were tired of the house. I took Liz into the big pool for the first time this season and she decided it's much better than the kiddie pool! And guess who fell asleep on the walk home?


We stopped by Michael's on Saturday night and Chris hit the jackpot--he found some letters that I can paint to spell C-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E on the wall in the girls' bedroom. So excited! My mom has all the paints so she's going to bring them on Sunday. I was going to wait for my mom to arrive so we could go ribbon-shopping for the bassinet, but I couldn't wait...so we bought some! haha
Chris put the bassinet together yesterday and I experimented with the ribbon. We like it! I may put more blue and purple ribbon around, but I don't want the bassinet to be gaudy, so we'll see.

Close-up


So I mentioned earlier, my mom will be here on Sunday, along with my youngest sister Julia. I know Aunt Julia will be a big help with the girls, especially Lizzie. It's still difficult to believe that June 28th is literally right around the corner...we are very excited to greet our newest family member.

Chris and I were discussing how Lizzie just felt like she had been with us forever as soon as she was born.


We're looking forward to feeling that same way with Cate--like she's been a part of the family forever!


At my ultrasound this past week, there's nothing going on. Cate's still quite comfortable right where she is--she hasn't "engaged" yet; I'm not effaced or dilated. But that was the same with Lizzie, so no complaints or surprises. Cate will arrive when she's ready :)

Me @ 38 weeks (I forgot to take pictures for weeks 36 and 37)

Monday, June 14, 2010

T-minus fourteen days...

...Until Miss Cate arrives. Well, if she decides to be on time! No Braxton-Hicks, no swollen limbs...nothing yet.

Some pictures from the YM/YW BBQ on Tuesday night:
Frisbee time with Dad

I'm ready to catch it!


This past week I've gone through Lizzie's newborn and 0-3 mo. clothing to pick out what Cate can use. Onesies and socks made the cut--everything else is much too wintry for our summer lady. Some outfits I can use (I hope!) once fall and winter roll around. I also organized the girls' closet; one side belongs to Liz and the other side belongs to Cate.
Side Lizzie--like mom, like daughter--we love shoes :)

Side Cate--can't wait to see these cute outfits on little lady!

Lizzie got a big kick out of seeing the newborn booties and shoes; she tried putting them on her own feet! She also saw a pair of Winnie the Pooh pants she had once worn and fell in love because she knows who Winnie the Pooh is now that she's older!

We bought a bassinet for Lady Cate. It comes with pink girlie ribbon but I told my mom we'll have to go to Michael's and get some fun ribbons and bows; I want some blue, green, and purple ribbons/bows to match her crib bedding. We're putting the bassinet in our room for the time being. We hope and pray that she learns from her older sister, that she will start sleeping through the night early on. Once a good routine is established, we'll have them both in the same room. We have rearranging to do in both bedrooms and I look forward to it! Not like I can actually physically move any furniture around, but you know what I mean.

Chris and I went to the temple on Saturday--a big thank you to Uncle Joe and Aunt Julia for babysitting Lizzie for us! Soccer dominated the rest of the day, both on TV and in real life. Chris played keeper later that night in the ward game and he did wonderfully! Lots of saves by him and lots of cheering from me!

Lizzie turned eighteen months old yesterday! What a big girl! You all know what that meant...NURSERY! She ran into the room and didn't look back. But twenty minutes later I get a "Lizzie won't stop crying" so I check it out. Once Liz realized Chris and I left, she got a little sad. No worries, though. She sees these kids every week at playgroup; I think seeing them in a church classroom was a bit different for her. They have a fun routine in her nursery class and I know she'll enjoy it more and more in the coming weeks.

We stopped by the Willis house later that afternoon and we had a great time, as always! Of course I brought my camera but of course I didn't take any pictures, but the kids had a fun time playing together. We will hang out more this summer before the Willis family takes off for Switzerland!

Monday, June 7, 2010

I have said it before

And I will say it again: I would go through a whole month's worth of Lizzie's crankiness if she got ALL her teeth during said month. Poor girl. She's the type to go through the whole nine yards when it comes to teething: fever, runny nose, general soreness. EVERY time. It's not fun for her and it's not fun for Mom and Dad. *sigh* BUT, it melts my heart when all she wants is her daddy to comfort her.


Some playgroup at the park pictures: you know how Liz loves the swings!


We took Chris back later that week to show him how much we love playgrounds!


Chris and I celebrated our third anniversary on Wednesday the 2nd. Three years... Sometimes I feel like we've been married for much longer than that (in a good way)! We went to Olive Garden and shopped around Frederick for the afternoon. A great, low-key day for us, just the way we like it.

It has been getting so hot in the afternoons, but thankfully a good thunderstorm usually comes around to cool things down. Sometimes it is SO hot and stuffy outside and I really can't handle it. Liz and I like to read and to play inside with the AC on those days :)

Someone found Mom's lip gloss...


We went to the condo pool on Saturday--very much needed. Liz wouldn't even look up for a picture because she was having so much fun!





I had an ultrasound this past week, to see if Cate is still head down, feet up and to check my fluid levels. So far, so good!
Me @ 36 weeks:

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

In my old age...

We hope you had a Happy Memorial Day and a wonderful weekend! :)

Now I get into my story.
I'm half-Ecuadorian--50% Lamanite, as my mother likes to say. When I was younger, I never sunburned. Ever. I liked to think that my Lamanite skin protected me. I am the "lighest" of my siblings, but no sunburn held me back!
The first time I ever sunburned was during sophomore Spring Break, a vacation to Florida with my friend Brie and her family. My nose got a little red and weirdest of all, it PEELED. I thought, well, we are 1,000 miles or so closer to the Equator. Made sense to me at the time.
I've noticed, now that I am older (at the ripe age of 22, mind you), my Lamanite skin isn't protecting me as well as it used to. We spent the majority of yesterday at 15th Ave beach, and my shoulders, chest, and nose bear record of our beach visit. I won't take a picture of it for you because it's that bad. And I even put sunscreen on beforehand!! *Sigh*
Chris chuckled at me last night (he too got red, more red than I got) and I let him chuckle because, after all these years of MY teasing my white friends' sunburned skin, it has come back to haunt me! I'll watch my comments from now on... ;)

Enough of my rant! Here are some pictures from our fun weekend in NJ!
MMS Spring Concert--band (Joe plays the trombone)

Julia and her class singing

Chris and me

One of Joe's shop projects--picture frame

Trip to the zoo!

Chris and Lizzie

Hi snake!

Lizzie and her new friend the giraffe

Dad took me to the park! Climbing around

This girl LOVES slides. Loves them

Going for a walk on the beach after a Pompeo's breakfast




Beach later that afternoon--a bit breezy and overcast but still FUN!



Back to the beach on Monday, with sunshine!



Hugs for Winnie the Pooh on the ride home!