17 days to go!

...had another dr. appt. today. found out that i'm not dilated any more than i was last week, which is a REALLY good thing since we're right in the middle of fireworks season. we will be through with fireworks by probably about 2am on the 5th, so any time after that is good for Lexi to decide to join us. hopefully she will let me get some rest before she shows up, though!
i found out that she's only between the 25th and 20th percentile for weight. i suppose she'll be petite like my mom (who is only 5'2").
no new news about anything else, really...
i'd better get off the computer, i have some fireworks stuff i really should be doing.

the latest on Lexi

as of today, we have 21 days left till Lexi's due...
we went in for my sonogram today and everything looks PERFECT. apparently i'm carrying Lexi low in my hips and she is a bit small, so that is why i'm measuring so small. there is no problem with Lexi or with the placenta so everything looks just dandy. now hopefully she'll hang on until at least july 5 so we can get finished with fireworks!
the dr. estimated that Lexi weighs about 5.75 lbs... still small, but not as small as the last estimate i had gotten (which was approx. 4 lbs, 15 oz- yikes!). and she has lots of hair, which is funny because Lincoln only had a tiny bit of peach fuzz and spend the first 18 months of his life as a baldy.
the dr. told me he thought she would come at 39 weeks (i guess he had a crystal ball beside all his computers?) and he would be surprised if she came late.
we are glad to know that our baby girl is healthy and that she doesn't seem to be in too big of a hurry to get here.
thank you all for prayers. God is good!

24 more days!

well, i had a dr. appt today and expected to be more dilated than i was last week... i have been having contractions (painful but not yet regular) for a few days, so i was surprised to find out that there had been no change in that category. there also has been no change in the "Lexi's growth category", which is of slight concern. my dr. said that Lexi's probably just fine and that she'll just be a little baby, but he's sending me to have a sonogram on thursday just to make sure that she's growing like she should be. if there IS something wrong and she's not growing like she should be, it would most likely be the fault of the placenta and not something wrong with the baby, which is slightly reassuring. still, if there WAS a problem (my placenta not getting Lexi enough nourishment), then i would have to be induced within a day or two so that she could start getting nourishment outside the womb. it could also be an issue with amniotic fluid, which would also require me being induced... scarier options are that there could be a partial placenta abruption which could be keeping her from getting oxygen and nurtients and, well, the list of scary things really goes on and on and thinking about them and talking about them just plain freaks me out. i wish my sonogram was sooner than thursday! i'm praying that there's nothing wrong... hopefully the situation is actually nothing and she can continue to cook in there for at LEAST another 12 days.
Lexi has actually been measuring small consistently from the beginning, so we've always known she was going to be a bit on the little side... the only concern this week is that there had been no change in her size since LAST week and that she is now measuring 3-4 weeks smaller than she should be. when i asked just how big my dr. thought Lexi was, he said that the average baby is about 6.25-6.5 lbs at this stage and that she's not even 6 lbs. itsy bitsy girl! heck- maybe i'll just have an itsy bitsy baby. anyway, your continued prayers are appreciated! i'm sure she's just fine and that God will help her to grow a lot before our appt on thursday and continually until she's ready to be born. Lincoln and i sure are ready for her to get here, but daddy isn't! he wasn't "ready" for Lincoln, either, but sure didn't take long to adjust :) ...seriously, if you've never seen him have any good quality time with Lincoln, let me just tell you that he is an unbelievable father. he makes my job as a mom a LOT easier!
a bit about Lincoln now. he is spending most of the week with his Nana because her church is having Vacation Bible School and she is actually teaching the 3-yr-olds class. so i have a lot of time this week to get house cleaning and organizing done before the insanity of fireworks begins on friday. i have gotten the house "presentable" at least 4 times already for the guests i know we'll be having when Lexi's born, but having an almost-4-yr-old certainly doesn't make the job of keeping the house clean very easy!
Lincoln has decided that it's "too hard" to clean up his messes. my solution to that problem was that we get rid of all his toys so he didn't have anything to clean up anymore... he didn't like that idea and said that he could try harder, even though he still thinks it's "pretty hard" to clean up. ...what a tragedy!
love to all of you and i will blog on thursday after my sonogram!

4 weeks to go...

as of Monday, i'm dilated to 1 and 10% effaced... so i'm 10% of the way there! i'm now going in to the dr. once a week (every monday until Lexi's born) to see how things are progressing and when it looks like she's going to decide to make her debut.
Lincoln has been REALLY helpful in putting together all of the baby stuff. he's helped me put together Lexi's pack'n'play/bassinet, bouncer, etc. he's just as excited as anyone about the arrival of his sister. he kisses my belly every day and asks me how many weeks are left until she gets here. i also (quite often) get the question, "mommy, what is Lexi doing? is she sleeping or is she kicking you?". whenever i tell him that she's sleeping, he says she sleeps too much. i think he will be disappointed when he sees that that's just about all she'll do when she gets here!
we've started a new reward program at home for Lincoln that has already greatly improved his daily behavior. we have recently encountered major issues with obedience and talking back. this fun little trend really got bad when Scott started working such long hours (about a month ago). most days, Scott leaves home before Lincoln wakes up and doesn't get home until after he's already asleep. needless to say, Link's had issues adjusting to it (we all have!).
So anyway, the new system is simple- it's actually something i got an idea for after being forced to watch Super Nanny with Scott (he loves that dang show). Lincoln has a bowl full of marbles. any time he's really good, he gets another marble added to the bowl. when he doesn't mind or is otherwise "naughty", he gets a marble taken OUT of the bowl. the goal is to have ALL the marbles in the bowl. when such feat is accomplished, he will be rewarded with a trip to Mr. Gatti's. we've only been doing it a few days, but any time he's misbehaving and i mention losing a marble, he immediately fixes the problem... i have heard, "i'm minding you, mommy!" more in the past 3 days than i had throughout his entire life. ..."i'm minding you! i promise!" :) so far, so good.
will definitely have more to post by monday, when we find out the latest info about Lexi.

the faith of a child

lincoln has been so sweet talking about God and Jesus a lot lately. last sunday, we were getting ready to leave our house for church and i said, "ok, lincoln, it's time to go to church!" to which he replied, "so we can praise God?" "...yes," i said, "so we can praise God." it was pretty dang cute.
on monday, we were driving home from a day full of running errands... here is our conversation that we had on that drive
L: "mommy- i really love God and Jesus."
me: "well that's good! why do you love God and Jesus?"
L: "because God made us!"
me: "yes He did. and why do you love Jesus? ...what did he die on?"
L: "a cross!"
me: "that's right! he died on the cross for us so we can go to Heaven"
L: "but, but i don't want Jesus to die on the cross!"
me: "well why not? it's good that he did. he did it for us"
L: "i don't want Jesus to die on the cross because that's too sad!"
me: "it WAS sad, but it's a happy thing because it means we get to go to Heaven even though sometimes we're mean or naughty"
L: "He doesn't need to die on the cross for me. that's just too sad!"

i suppose the sacrifice of our Savior's life is quite a concept when you're not quite 4 years old...

37 days till Lexi's due! i've got pretty much everything i need for her arrival- or if i don't already have it, it's been ordered and will be here within a week or so... i seriously don't remember having this much to do when i was pregnant with Lincoln... i also don't remember having so much STUFF! but i've figured out that it's because i didn't already have stuff for another child when i was preparing for Lincoln! it makes a world of difference having another person's stuff to add to.

i will have more the next time there is something worthy of blogging...

let's begin.

so, i have my own blog, but have decided i should have one simply for updates on my kids... this way i can keep all of you updated on the goings-on of the two cutest children that God ever created (might i be biased?). for now, i'm just setting up, but will have a new REAL post later with some pictures and things.