When Two Cains Become Three... then FOUR!: July 2011

It's small print, so I'll translate:

""A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for ever time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me.

It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it's ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that I will always find something beautiful in it."

Makes me cry happy tears. No... this is not my stomach, but the saying is correct... it's beautiful! I worry about stretch marks as I rub my already marked belly, from my first pregnancy, with cream. When I see a picture like this and read a poem of such love... it makes me remember, every line is worth it! Each line has a purpose... it is all from love. I love this sweet baby Levi growing inside of me more than I ever could have imagined... and he's not even here! I will be grateful for each mark, because those marks mean I was blessed with the ability to carry a child... to feel him growing and moving inside of me. Thank you GOD! God is amazing, I am so glad he chose women to be able to carry these babies inside of us, and for us to personally feel the miracle. I feel blessed today! :)

Alright, this pregnant and happily tearful woman is signing off!

God bless! :)

Since my last post... not too much has happened....

Let's see...

Madilyn:

She has gotten cuter, of course! Here's some cute things she says or does:

* "Hi guys!", "See you later guys", "Love you guys" to me and her daddy

* "Hmm... let's see, what Madi want..." - when she is shopping with me, looking in her closet for what to wear, or looking in the pantry @ meal time.

* "nuggle?" - when she wants mommy or daddy to snuggle with her at nap or bed time

* "Madi love (insert item here)" - she has started to express her love to different people or animals, so sweet!

* Last night when I went into her bedroom to tuck her in, I lay in bed with her, with my head on my hand, laying on my side, propping myself up... she scooted in really close facing me and attempted to do the same... :) So precious!

* She constantly is singing... anywhere, anytime... as loud as possible! :)

* She is starting to pretend, talking with her stuffed animals, talking on her pretend phones, making me soup in her little "kitchen", etc.

* When she falls, or trips, or whatever, she gets up and says "Madi ok!" to reassure mommy that's she's ok.

* She loves stuffed animals more than baby dolls... WAY more... she will throw her baby dolls on the floor (quite roughly) to make room for her animals. It cracks me up. We'll have to work on this before baby brother comes!

* We purchased a baby doll that is a boy to start to practice being gentle. Mommy carries it around a bit, so she'll be used to mommy's arms being full of a baby, and we practice holding ever so gently... etc. Hopefully it will help the transition when baby brother comes along! She sure tries to be gentle with that doll, but only that doll.... :)

* She likes to help mommy in the kitchen. She can be so whiny sometimes... the key for me lately when I am trying to get stuff done in the kitchen is to put her on the step stool and give her something to "cook" or help with. She loves to help mommy "cook" or help with dishes... usually a mess follows, but I don't mind. She's so happy helping!

Mommy:

* Up finally from pre-pregnancy weight. I have gained a total of 2.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight.

* Officially 24 weeks pregnant as of 7/4/11

* We decided on a name!!! His name will be Levi Hudson

* He is so different already from Madilyn! I can't wait to hold him and get to know his sweet personality!

* Already uncomfortable, and feel bigger than I did @ this point with Madilyn. My shirts are getting smaller much more quickly also.... We'll see what happens! :)

Family:

We went on a couple of road trips recently! A couple of weeks ago we went and visited John's granddad for the first time since we have been married. I had never met him, and neither had Madilyn. He lives in Mobile, AL... and it was a bit over an 8 hour drive in the car. Madilyn did AMAZING! I was so worried about the long trip! I loaded up on activities and snacks, and we stopped every couple of hours (more for pregnant mommy than for Madi!) and she did so great! She wasn't so sure about great granddad, but definitely showed off a lot of her sweet personality to him. She also got to see her Uncle Stephen (John's brother) again, and really warmed up to him quickly. He drove up from Ft. Meyers, FL to see us. It was so fun to see both of them! We were definitely exhausted by the time we got back though!

Madilyn in the car playing w/one of her toys on the way to Alabama

Madilyn w/her Uncle Stephen reading "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" :)

For the 4th of July, we went to Helen, GA with my parents and brother, Mark. We stayed in a cabin way out in the woods from Thursday to Monday (the 4th) and it was SOOOO relaxing! We drove out to some waterfalls in the Amicalola Falls park, went to Dahlonega, GA (36 miles from our cabin) to see the town that John used to visit when he was younger. We even ate at the Smith House, which John last ate at when he was about 15! It was so much fun! The cabin had a hot tub, which we kept the heat at about bath water temp so Madilyn could use it. She called it her swimming pool and loved floating around in it! :) We did a little bit of shopping, a lot of snacking... and a whole ton of relaxing! John got some good "guy time" in with my dad and brother. They went tubing, and wi-fi hunting, and ice cream eating and video gaming.... ;) It was just a great trip overall. We got back in the afternoon on the 4th and crashed... we all slept until about 5:30pm! HA! I thought Madilyn would be afraid of fireworks, so really didn't plan on going and seeing any. Around 8:30pm we got her ready for bed, and just for kicks took her outside and saw a few going off by the neighbors... she LOVED it! Wasn't scared at all! So, now I feel like a bad mommy for not planning on letting her enjoy one of the fun parts of the 4th of July! So we quick got in the car (while it was sprinkling and lightening...) and drove up to the elementary school that was nearest the shopping center where I knew fireworks were being put off. We didn't want to go to the shopping center since I knew it was getting close to time for them to go off, and it was already QUITE crowded, and I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. We parked @ the school with about 4 other cars, and saw the fireworks just over the tree line. It was perfect! We only stayed for about 10-15 minutes since they didn't start till about 9:15pm, but Madilyn got to see some pretty fireworks, then saw more on our way home from almost every direction! She was so excited! She went to bed talking about the fireworks.... so sweet!

Well... that's about it for now! Here's some pictures from the last couple of months: