21 months

21 months. 3 months until my baby is TWO. Less than 1 month until he is a big brother!! This is pure craziness!

I feel like this past month has gone by in a complete blur. The little monkey enjoyed his trip to the beach, lots of pool time, spend the night parties with Mimi and G-dad, outside time galore (Even in this ridiculous heat. He's such a boy!), and several lunch dates with me and friends! He's just so much fun to be around, and, even though I am so uncomfortable and exhausted, I am really trying to make the most of these last few weeks where I don't have to be shared.

I can't give our babysitter, Vivienne, enough praises. Hampton has become a little chatter box recently, and I really give her so much of the credit. She does letters, numbers, shapes, animals, etc. with the kids everyday, and she said he just soaks it all in! He really enjoys his 3 days at day care, too, which is such a relief for me!

I've been trying to get this post put together for over a week now, so I'll leave it with a few sweet memories (mainly for myself to look back on) and some pictures!

-"Hep pease" (Help, please!) is heard a lot in our house. Sweet boy wants to do so much on his own, but he asks sweetly when he needs someone to help him out!
-We have met several new babies this month, and Hampton is just so precious around them. He will pat their heads, kiss them, always wants to "hold" them, and makes sure to share whatever her has--sippy cup, toy, you name it! I hope he loves his baby brother just as much!!
-We've introduced the idea of the potty to H, but we're not really potty training right now. He sits on his little toilet before bath/getting ready for bed, but has yet to use it. This is something I really don't want to deal with until we've got Colton home and established some sort of normalcy, so I don't mind!
-This kid still sleeps like a champ (knock on wood)! 2 good naps and a solid 11-12 hours at night makes for a happy little monkey (and mommy. and daddy.)!!
-"Little monkey" is going to have to be renamed "little fish"! The pool has been a life saver this summer!
-One day, my child will like the same food consistently, I guess. For now, I play "guess what Hampton will eat today..." and cross my fingers!!
-While this boy loves his mommy, he already has a special bond with Jordan. The pure joy that radiates from him when J walks in the door is enough to make my heart melt.

35/35

Let the countdown begin!! At my appointment on Friday, everything looked pretty good. Colton is VERY low, making me measure a few weeks behind. I'm 1cm dilated. The protein in my urine sample was high but blood pressure was good, no real swelling, and I'm feeling good. Dr. H gave me a few warning signs to look out for for pre-eclampsia, and she said if the protein levels were still elevated, that I would get to experience the joy of peeing in a jug for 24 hours again. Exciting! :/ One week at a time here, and we don't have too many of those left!!

How far along: 35
Total weight gain/loss: 25-30, I believe. I didn't gain any since my 33 week visit, though! Yay!
Maternity clothes: Yup.
Stretch marks: Not really--I guess that's a bonus of measuring small!
Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well, thankfully.
Best moment this week: Sitting back with my feet up, watching Jordan and Hampton run at full speed through the house pushing trucks around!
Movement: Yes. But I think he's running out of room to move!
Food cravings: None, really.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: a few contractions. Nothing consistent, though.
Belly Button in or out: Flat!
What I miss: Wearing a cute bathing suit. (Sad, but true!)
What I am looking forward to: My sweet friends are throwing a baby shower for me in about a week. I'm so excited and blessed!
Milestones: 35/35!!

Beach baby

Over Memorial Day Weekend, we were able to head to Fripp Island and spend several days at the beach with Jordan's family. It was a much needed vacation that I am so glad we were able to make work out before Colton gets here. I didn't think we'd get to see the beach this summer, and it made me want to cry!

Remember when I said my child was fearless? That was 99% accurate. Crashing waves were where he drew the line! And, even though everyday he would point and yell "wata"when we got to the beach, he did not want anything to do with going into the ocean. And you know what-it didn't bother us one bit b/c WE didn't want anything to do with going in the ocean!! We would find little "pools" of water further up the beach and play in the water and sand. It was perfect, and Hampton loved it. When the tide came up, he didn't mind sitting in the water as the smaller waves hit. If they got a little too big, though, he just grabbed his stuff and backed up! Smart little guy.One day, Jordan had a bucket down at the beach for when he and his dad to use for bait for fishing later on. Hampton kept wanting Jordan to fill it up with water and bring it up the beach to him. Needless to say, this got tiring quickly, so Jordan came up with a way to entertain the little monkey with the bucket in a *ahem* special way:Strangers actually came up and wanted to take a picture of him in this bucket. One little girl posed with H while her mom took a picture! What the heck?! It was so strange but funny!

The slide at the pool was another big hit. This kid could be in the pool all day long every day. (Seriously, I put him in the car yesterday, and he looked at me and said, "pool?" Love it!) He was a little nervous at first, but after his first slide, he was gone--running as fast as he could around to the stairs to do it again.The one thing Fripp is known for are the deer that live on the island. They are so tame and always just hanging out. I was hoping to catch a few pictures of Hampton with the deer, but he got nervous and screamed, making this big boy give us a stare down, and in turn making me scared he was going to charge at us, if that is in fact what deer do....The days were filled with lots of action and lots of relaxing (thank goodness for grandparents & other family that loved entertaining our child as much as we loved them doing it!!). I can't wait to head to the beach next summer with BOTH-scratch that, all THREE-of my boys!!Our best attempt at a family photo...FAIL
Oh sweet summertime. How we LOVE YOU!!!

Update from u/s yesterday

Everything looked good at our u/s yesterday. Well, as far as I know. Those u/s techs sure are tight-lipped! She did say that his fluid level was 20, which is "a good number." He has dropped, but she said that that doesn't necessarily indicate anything. I guess I'll just have to wait another week to see what my doctor says. For now, there is nothing to worry about. Thank the Lord!

Oh, and it has been confirmed, I make big babies. A little nervous about this....

Here's a couple of pics. Like his big brother, Colton has his face smooshed into the placenta and good pictures are just not going to happen. That's okay. I'd rather see him in person, anyway! ;)

Oh, and that shadow in the corner is just my cell phone b/c my scanner wouldn't work...not some sort of weird growth on my child!

33 Weeks

Friday, I had my regular check up, and things are looking good. My protein levels, blood pressure, weight, etc. are all right on track. Colton's heart was beating away on the doppler, and me and Dr. H laughed when it would go from so calm to really fast. He was moving all around! The only thing that was "off" was that I was measuring 29 weeks, and Dr. H said that was a stretch. Two weeks ago, I was measuring right on track at about 30.5. Dr. H didn't seem overly concerned, but she wanted me to go get a growth scan before my next appointment, so we'll get that done on Wednesday. Because of my history with Hampton, she wants to check his growth and fluid levels. So, we'll see if there is anything going on on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully, it's just that he's dropped and shifted his position!

How far along: 33 weeks, 1 day
Total weight gain/loss: I think I'm right around +25. Not sure, though.
Maternity clothes: Basically all I wear. I have a few non-maternity shirts/skirts that are still working for me, but they are very flowly/elastic waist, so that helps!
Stretch marks: Not on my stomach...ha!
Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well, thankfully.
Best moment this week: Spending some time at the beach with my boys.
Movement: Lots and lots.
Food cravings: Still loving me some ice cream.
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: Been having some Braxton Hicks.
Belly Button in or out: Flat.
What I miss: My pre-pregnancy body.
What I am looking forward to: Seeing the little guy on u/s this week.
Milestones: No real issues at this point seems like a pretty good milestone to me :)

My basketball...I mean, belly!