POLL!!!! and some new pictures =)

Okay, so... I'm officially over due!  My due date was December 9th... I figured that I would at least make it the 12th... but now it's the 14th, and there's no end in sight! 

Well, ok, there is an end in sight, the midwives won't let me go past 42 weeks, which is the 23rd!  So, no matter what we'll have baby brother by Christmas!

Here's the poll question:

I have the option tomorrow to choose a day to be induced (starting with Thursday), or to wait until 42 weeks if my body lets that happen.

Should I choose a date? 
Or wait it out?

Let me know, because I have no idea what to do!
I understand the benefits of waiting it out, in order to go naturally.  It'll be a quicker labor, and possible a better recovery.  Not to mention, it'll then be God's timing.
But, here are some risks that I face.  Asa was a large baby (I was overdue with him, too).  I had an ultrasound last week, and they're estimating that this baby will be the same... if not bigger.  Asa's delivery was very hard due to his size and the size of his head (I was pretty close to an emergency C-section until one of the nurses helped me out by pushing on my stomach with me, lol).  If I wait it out, and the baby continues to get bigger... I have a feeling that I won't be able to deliver him naturally, which makes me sad.

Anyway, I would really love some of your thoughts and input on this, as well as your prayers!

AND NOW!!!!!  Some pictures!  A good friend, Justin Meyer, recently took some family pictures for us =)  Here are a few =)  Enjoy!

Baby Brother & a New Haircut

Baby Brother continues to grow inside Mom's belly.  Big Brother, Asa, has been noticing that my belly moves when I say "Baby Brothers Awake".  This has prompted him to talk to Baby Brother and look at him through my belly button, as well as "play" with him.  Asa will go and get a toy and roll it around on my belly so that Baby Brother can play with toys, too.  It's actually really sweet and funny.
Anyway, we are in the process of helping Asa become the Big Brother he needs to be for when Baby Brother finally gets here.  He's been potty training, cleaning his room, helping Mommy cook meals, helping sweep the floors, helping with laundry (which is more of a hinderance, lol), AND he had to get a big boy haircut!  Here are some before and after pictures =)

What a hamball =)  Thank you Ashley Harvey for cutting Asa's hair!  He looks like such a big boy now!

Well, as we continue to prepare for Baby Brother's arrival, I find that there's more and more to do... but I get more and more tired each day.  I could really use some help, but honestly, I may just end up putting it off until after he's born when I'm home all the time and am not carrying around so much extra wait =)

Here's a picture I took last week (36 weeks) of my belly.  I had realized that I hadn't taken any... so... here's the first, lol, and I'm sure I'll post another one next week =)  37 down, 3 to go!

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween!  But only because I love trick or treating with Asa =)

Asa got to be Elmo and a Penguin this year.  He went trick or treating at Valley West Mall as Elmo, went to church "Halleluja" Party as a penguin (so did Brandon, it was awesome!), and then went trick or treating at Grandma Sharleen's as Elmo again.

Asa loves trick or treating, but I don't think it's because of the candy.  The candy is the perk.  He loves seeing all the other kids and their costumes, and he's so good about letting them go first, and saying thank you to the people at the doors.

Here are a few pictures of him as Elmo =)

WELCOME HOME HEATHER!!!

I'm so excited!  One of my closest friends just came home from a tour in Iraq.  Welcome Home Heather!  Oh, how we all missed you so much!

At the welcome home ceremony, a little less than half the people there, were there for Heather =)  That says a lot!  We had a huge banner for her :



It was simply wonderful!
As the troops walked in, Heather was one of the first, and I could see her face light up as soon as she saw the banner =)  That's what made me cry!  Seeing her beautiful smile for the first time in a year =)
I'm happy that the ceremony wasn't very long, because then we all got a chance to hug her and welcome her home.

Here's a picture of most of the group that was there, I couldn't get everyone in the pictures because 1) there were SO many of us, and 2) there were pillars and such in the way... but trust me! a lot of people came =)

After the ceremony, Heather (like always) invited people over to her house.  She's such a servant =)  Her whole family was there, and a lot of us friends went over, too.  It was great to be able to see her for more than just a few minutes, we got to spend the whole afternoon with her.  I think the best part was that she had so many questions for us!  We couldn't get a chance to ask her anything because she was asking question and question to get caught up =)  How I love her heart!

Anyway!

WELCOME HOME CAPTAIN HEATHER GUCK!!!



Bonfires and Birthdays and Trips, Oh My!

It's been so long since our last post!  Sorry!
Here's what has been happening over the last few months =)

Potting Training:
We've been trying this for a while, but didn't start to really get into it until after our trip to Washington.  Grandma Sharleen told us all about an awesome timer trick, and it really got the ball rolling!  Asa would get so excited everytime he would hear timer beep that he would run to the bathroom and try to go!  Most of the time, he had to go, so it worked out, other times, it was just a matter of practicing.  We eventually started weening off the timer... and he's had some accidents, but other than that, he's doing great!  We still keep him in a pull up most of the time, unless we're going to be spending a lot of time at the house, then he gets to wear his big boy underpants.  It's fun!  Well, not the accidents part, but all the rest is great!
By the way, I know most of you mom's would agree, but babies butts are soo cute, lol!
Here's an embarassing picture of Asa that I know he'll grow to regret when he gets older =)
**he's supposed to wash his hands everytime he goes to the bathroom.... he forgot to put back on his pants though, lol**

Bonfires!!!!
We love Fall!  Fall brings Football, Chili, and Bonfires!  Such a great time of year =)  So far this year, we've only been able to attend 2 Bonfires, but they were both very fun =)  Here's a couple pictures of Asa and his friend Ava enjoying some glow sticks at one of them.

Birthdays:
It was cousin Allison's 2nd birthday a few weeks ago, and the whole family got together at Adventureland Inn to enjoy some time together and the kids (and dad's) enjoyed some swimming.

I did take a few more pictures, but they didn't turn out very well due to the lighting inside the pool area.  But these two seemed to come out great =)

Trips:
Although we haven't made any huge trips like the one to Washington.  We have made a few.  Brandon had to travel out of down for business, and for Army duty.  My mom went to Virginia a few weeks ago and brought back my Grandmother June.  Mama June has Alzheimers, and does require some daily help, but other than that, is still very feisty and fun to hang out with.  While Brandon was out for Army duty, my mom, Linda, and stepdad, Dan, when to Wisconsin for Dan's birthday.  I got the pleasure of assisting with Mama June while everyone was away.  I had help from a few of my sisters, and friend, Katie =).  This was great fun, because of 2 reasons:  1) I was very sick there for 2 weeks, and this gave me some time to get away form a busy schedule and relax. 2) I got some extended time with my grandma.  We watched old movies, and she did crosswords, while I did Sudoku, and we talked during commercial breaks... all while enjoying chocolate shakes =)  **Note:  I'm feeling MUCH better now!**
We finally had a free weekend as a family to runaway.  Between the 3 of us, and the baby quickly coming, we've been busy.  So, we escaped and went to St. Louis this last week for some fun with Aunt Mary, Uncle Adam, and Cousin Allison.  Here are some fun pictures =)

Asa and Allison feeding goats at Grants Farm

Very pretty birds



Asa and Allison getting a view of the Elepant




Camels!



The camels would let you throw food into their mouths!

We missed her smile by about .2 seconds

Mary and I are deathly afraid of Bees... and this bee terrorized us ALL WEEKEND!

The Lone Elk... and Lone Elk Park

Titan missed us while we were gone... he let me know this ALL NIGHT by purring in my face, haha!

Overall, we had a great trip!  Asa did great on the ride there and back, as always.  It's always fun visiting Aunt Mary and Uncle Adam, and Asa and Allison have so much fun playing together the whole time.  My sister did post a lot of pictures on facebook and tagged me, so if you want to see more there you can!

All of this was fun! 

There is sad news to report though.  I know that I haven't been able to see most of you for a few weeks, I'm so sorry!  First I was sick, which stinks.  But then my Grandmother Mary (on my dad's side) passed.  There are actually quite a few more things that have happened that have kept us from a normal schedule, and we miss all of you very much! 

In more exciting news:  Baby Brother is growing big, and the doctors have stopped worrying about my weight gain!  I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight and still growing!  Yay!  We're less than 7 weeks away!!!!  Nursery is gradually coming together, and I'll post pictures soon =)
Also!!!  Our dear friend, Heather Guck, is due to arrive this week!!!  She's coming home from her Tour in Iraq, and everyone is so excited to see her!  Praise the Lord for her safe tour! 
 

Baby Names

This won't be much of a blog post... but Brandon and I are having a hard time coming up with a name for our baby boy that is due in 13 weeks!  We come up with some, but can't seem to agree on anything.  So, we're asking for help from all of you!  Post a comment with some suggestions.  If we happen to choose that name, we will give you credit =)  It would be really nice to get some ideas.  I can't promise that we will choose a suggested name, but I'm exhausted thinking about it, ha ha!

Love you all!

Brandon is Home, Our Washington Trip, and Life over that last 10 days

Praise the Lord!!!!  Brandon is finally home from his Annual Training.  Last year, his AT was in June, and that was the start of our wonderful love story.  This year, waaaaaaay harder to be without him.  We were without each other for 25 days.  This may not seem long to some of you, but it seemed like it lasted years!  Asa and I couldn't wait for him to be home, and I'm pretty sure our friends wanted him home, too =).  He said that his AT this year was very productive and informative, and that he got to use some new equipment that they've been training on for a couple months.  I can't express enough how grateful we are that the Lord brought him home, and that he has not been called up for deployment yet.  Bonus: His mom, Janelle (Grandma Nellie), and two of his aunts, brought him home from the airport for me.  It was great to see them all again, and spend a little bit of time with them before they drove all the back to Dyersville.  What a blessing that they picked him up from the airport, too!  (Originally, he was scheduled to land in the Quad Cities @ 830pm, that changed the night before to 130pm, and I couldn't get off work to drive and get him.  They stepped up, and brought him home!)
That was Tuesday.
Wednesday, we got up really early.. and got on a plane to go to Washington.  I have a brother, sister-in-law, and new baby nephew out there.  My brother lives north of Seattle on a small island in a town called Anancortes.  This is probably the most beautiful area of the country that I've seen.  There's a few look-out points in the town, and from one of them you can see islands, and beautiful blue water, and mountains.  It's breathtaking!  Here are some pictures from the trip!

Having fun on the Airplane!

A good napper =)

Grandma Linda had left a birthday present at Uncle Jon's for Asa to enjoy!

Sorry some of these were sideways!  I told you it was beautiful there!

We took a walk up to the Park to have some fun, below is a picture of Asa... not soo pumped to leave.

This is a picture from the top of the cliff that sits in their back yard, SOOOO Pretty!

Isn't he sooooooooooo cute!!!!

Asa did such a great job!  He's going to be a good big brother!

Thank Jonathan and Shawna (and Maxon!) for such a wonderful time!  We really enjoyed our time there!

Asa has officially turned 3!  I swear that there was an overnight change in him.  Just even looking at him, he just seems so much older.  He's into different things all of a sudden.  Like, he used to LOVE Elmo.  Now, it's all monsters, and aliens, and Super Heros, and BOY STUFF!  He's so smart, too!  I got him some puzzles for his birthday, and he just breezes through them!  So, we got him a harder one at the zoo (I think it's for 5 and up), and he can put it together by himself (takes a little longer, but he does it)!  And he's all about coloring now, too!  I can barely keep up with him.  The great part about all of this is, he really wants me to participate.  It's nice to know that even though he can do everything by himself, he still wants me to join =)  He's such a sweetheart.  A few times while Brandon was gone, he would come into my room before my alarm would go off, and ask "mommy?  can we 'nuggle?"  It's just melts my heart!
Also, we've started the daunting task of potty training.  We've been encouraging him for quite a while to start, but he's only been moderately interested until lately.  He does a pretty good job right when we get up in the morning, before bath time, and before bed.  But throughout the day, it's hard to keep him from having accidents.  It's easy to keep a good attitude about it, because he's so darn cute.  When he has an accident he gets so sad and says he's sorry.  I can't help but hug him and let him know that we'll get it some day =)  (Hopefully BEFORE baby #2 gets here!)
Also, I was encouraged to add prayer to Asa's bedtime routine by another friends blog posts.  He took to it so well!  It's a pretty simple prayer, but he loves to do it.  That keeps me encouraged that he really is learning and picking things up.  For the most part the prayer consists of Thanking God for family members and a great day.  We include "bless our dreams" because Asa and both seem to have nightmares here and there, but we haven't had them since we started praying together at night (very encouraging that God listens even to my little man).  Then we Thank Jesus, and say Amen.  It's so cute!  I mean, when I pray it's always seem to be an emotional task, lol, but when he prays, it's the most beautiful, precious thing I've ever seen!

Brandon and I could use some prayer when it comes to finances/house hunting.  We've been looking, slowly, at houses to move into, but nothing has really struck our fancy.  Which is fine... considering that we just got handed some pretty expensive and unexpected bills, and we're trying to save up for the baby.  Our realtor has been so patient with us, and we're very thankful for that.  Our prayer is that the Lord will help us find something slightly cheaper than what we were looking at, or that he would give us peace of mind to stay in our apartment for a while longer.  Our apartment is a good size, 3 bedrooms and plenty of storage, but it's on the 3rd floor, and is starting to get a little harder to walk up as I get farther along.  God is so good, though.  He's blessed us with a new landlord (Paul Williamson and Nick Bal), and wonderful new neighbors (all 23 of them are from the Drake ministry).  So, I know, no matter what, we're in good hands.

PS!!! Super great Praise report before I end this.  At my prenatal appointment last week, my midwives gave me a thumbs up!  I HAVE FINALLY GAINED WEIGHT!  I don't know if you all know, but I've been steadily losing weight since April, and no ones been able to explain it.  They've done a few ultrasounds to make sure the baby is healthy, and he is (Thank God!), but they've been keeping a close eye on my weight.  Well, I'm happy to report that instead of being -20lbs I'm at -16lbs!  Making progress!  The baby is measuring big at the same time, too!  It's so great! 

Okay, sorry this is so long!  Next time, I'll try not to go 2 weeks between posts!