40 weeks today

Today is my due date for my third child, baby Mark Edward.  We are so excited and waiting anxiously to see him... but it looks like it will be a couple more days before he makes his grand appearance.  I went in to see my doctor 10/30, 11/4, and today 11/8 and was told the same thing... nothing is happening!  I had some braxton hicks contraction a few weeks ago but since then nothing and I am only one cm dilated.

 I'm trying to remain focused and positive about my pregnancy and the soon birth with everything else we have going on.  So while we are waiting on our little man, I looked back at what I had written about Alle's birth (almost two years ago now!) and decided  to finish her birth story and post it sometime tomorrow. 

Change

Yesterday was a wonderful day.  I could not be happier for my brother-in-law Drew and Megan getting married.  She is a wonderful addition to the Fleetwood family.  She is fun, crazy, classy, loves family, and loves Drew.  Alle woke up early and did not nap which made for an interesting and challenging afternoon and evening.  But both of my girls were wonderful and precious flower girls.  Olivia was pretty much the most perfect little flower girl.  She walked slowly down the isle throwing down small bunches of flowers as she went.  She walked all the way down to her daddy (officiating the wedding) and he bent down to tell her she did great and to go sit next to her Granny.  Alle looked a little nervous at first and hesitant to go down, but then she saw me and her granny and ran down the isle dragging her basket of flowers behind her.
Clint officiated his first wedding which was special, and it was his brother's wedding.  He did a great job and was very honored to be able to do that for his brother.  Drew and Megan were so sweet during the ceremony.  They were both beaming with joy, both wrote their own vows, and both cried at some point.  We are so happy they found each other and had their special day.

The reception was great too.  The Square had their first debut honoring Drew and Megan.  The food was great, the music was great, the place looked great.  It was definitely worth the work of everyone in the family putting in time on a daily basis the last couple of weeks to get it finished.  Simply beautiful.  I know that years down the road, Drew and Megan will love the memory of having their reception at The Square with all of their friends and family around to celebrate with them.

Olivia and Alle both got to dance with their daddy.  Olivia even danced with her cousin for a long time.  Towards the beginning of the music during a jazzy little song, Olivia started dancing and shaking.  She told me 'It's making me dance!'  She walked around like she owned the place talking to different people, stealing flowers to hold and give away, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, and of course, dancing.  Alle had a great time too, as long as someone was holding her.  She got pretty tired and fussy at the end and was ready to get home!

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Now that all of that is completed, I am ready to concentrate on MY big change!  Five days left to go till due date.  I think I'm ready to have this one early.  With Alle I didn't feel ready for the change (although it was a wonderful change!); but with all the change we have had already, I'm ready to add one more so I can get our lives going and adjusting to being a family of Five.  I've got bags packed, contraction app downloaded, easy food in the fridge and freezer, and family support lined up for whenever Mark Edward decides the time is right.  I just hope it is sooner than later... I'm ready!

My pregnancy thus far

This pregnancy has gone by so quickly but so much has happened!  I am very close to the end with only two more weeks left! (Prego pics at the bottom)   2013 has been very eventful not only for my little family but also our extended family.  

During this summer, Olivia had her pre-school and gymnastic programs and she had a Sponge bob birthday.

Olivia also went to Gymnastics and Bean Sprout camps, she learned a lot at VBS, we visited with 'Big Granny', I went through a bible study with a friend, my girls played and bonded together, Alle learned to say 'cheeeeeeese' for pictures (even though I didn't teach her that!) along with a lot of other words, my sister-in-law Sara spent the summer in California, I turned 30 years old (where does the time go!), my parents did a major remodel to their home, my best friend had her baby in Japan (sweet baby Jet), Olivia started 4 yr old Pre-K at First Baptist Church, and recently she had a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

In September we spent an entire week and another weekend at Cape San Blas.  Olivia has been asking to go to the beach for over a year and this was Alle's first time seeing the ocean.  They each had a great time with their Nana, Grandad, and cousins.

One of the biggest things that happened is that we moved!  We are still in Moultrie but we now live in the same house where Clint grew up.  His parents found a cute little treasure in the city with about three acres and a pond.  The house is small but laid out really well and super cute.  It looks a lot like a little mountain home.  There was an old horse stable in the back that they converted and added onto to make a great outdoor porch/eating/cooking area for the family to visit in.

While we were at the beach for a full week, Clint left early to finish up some things at the "homestead" (his parents old house/our new house) so we could move in the following week.  When I got home from the beach though, he had all of our things moved in already!  It was a wonderful surprise because I was not looking forward to the stress of finishing packing our old house and directing everything where it needed to go in the new house. 

Clint built Olivia and Alle a princess castle bed and it is gorgeous!  He did a great job building it and his sister did the painting of the stones on the castle.  Here is the video of Olivia seeing her bed for the first time and pictures of the new house when I got home from the beach.

Through all of that, my belly has been getting bigger and bigger and I've been ticking the weeks away.  I have tried to get weekly pictures but ended up skipped a lot.  And from glancing below I have a favorite side to pose and didn't know it!  

I am now 38 weeks pregnant but this isn't the only big thing going on in the extended Fleetwood family!  

Carrie Viohl has been working all year on a project for CRMC (the hospital) and she had a 'Art on the Wall' showing at the Arts Center last night.  So many people went to show their support and sponsor photographs that will permanently be placed on the walls of the hospital.  It reminded me how blessed I am to be married into this family and have Carrie as my sister in law (and personal photographer!)

My brother-in-laws Drew and Philip have been working for months on an old building in downtown Moultrie getting it ready to open as a restaurant called The Square.  They have put so much of their love, care, and time into this project and I am so excited that the end is near!  They are going to be opening the beginning of next month, just in time for their new nephew  :)

Oh and let's not forget, Drew is getting married in one week!  We are so happy for him and the soon to be Megan Fleetwood.  Megan is a great fit with our family and we are so happy that she chose Drew to marry.  Clint is going to officiate the wedding (his first) and both Olivia and Alle get to be cute little flower girls!  Their wedding will be only six days before my due date so I am hoping that baby Mark will wait until closer to his expected arrival time to make his debut.

Mother's Day Questions

My mom helped Olivia write a Mother's Day card for me.  Inside were a list of questions that my mom asked Olivia and wrote down.  Some of them are pretty cute.  She said that my favorite color and food is her favorites- green and cereal.  My job is cleaning up the house and I make really good soup.  And apparently I am only 5 years old!  I love my girls and my mother so much!   :) 

Playing Catch-up with Pictures

So I have missed a lot!  Both of my girls have grown so much in about six or so months.  We had birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Alle started walking (and running), and so much more!  Here is a quick recap in pictures of the 2012 holidays and the beginning of 2013.

Fall 2012: 

Parks, birthday parties, Expo, Fire department.... 

Halloween 2012: Flower and Bumblebee

Around Thanksgiving and following was a very difficult time for our family.  There were two deaths in my extended family and one in Clint's.  All of them were very different circumstances and difficult to deal with in different ways.  Below are some pictures of my great uncle Harvey (an avid GA Bulldog fan) and my cousin who is only two months older than me

Thanksgiving 2012

 Christmas 2012

We pretty much had the best Christmas ever!  We spend time with all of our families, Olivia was able to look forward and really enjoy all of the festivities, and Alle was learning to walk and liked all the attention.  Christmas was followed by the worst New Years with me having a horrible fever for 3 days and everyone else getting sick too... but we wont let that ruin our Christmas memories  :)

Allene Drue is one!

We had a small valentine's birthday party at Beans and Strings with family and a few close friends.  Alle was very sweet, like her presents, and loved her cake!

Spring 2013

Strawberry picking, parks, Chehaw, Veggie Tales live, FIF concert...

Easter and Mother's Day 2013

So there has been a lot going on in the past eight months or so... some good and some bad.  But a lot of growth all round in our family.  Which reminds me... in February I found out we are expecting baby Fleetwood#3!  I am about 16 weeks along now and I will put up some pictures in a different post.  

The due date is November 8th.

There are going to be a lot more exciting things coming up for the rest of this year as well!

Potato Head Quiet Book

While I was exploring the internet for different ideas for quiet books, I came across a felt Mr Potato Head called My Spud Bud advertised on Etsy.  It looked super cute and I thought to myself... "I can do that!"  Most of Olivia's and Alle's toys beep, talk, or make some kind of noise and I though this would be a fun and quiet thing to play with.  My best friend moved to Japan last week and she has a little girl who just turned two so I decided to make this for 'baby Daisy' as a birthday present thinking it will be fun for her to play with on the plane ride as well.  For some reason I always like to try out new things on other people... new brownie recipe, cooking macaroni and cheese in milk (did not turn out very good!)... so why not this too!

It took a lot longer than I had planned but I think it turned out pretty good!

It opens and there is a pocket on the left hand side with all of the pieces in it.  The body of the potato head is hand sewn on the right side.  There are eyes, mouths, teeth, noses, mustache, glasses, ears, and shoes.

I sewed on Velcro to keep the book closes and also to close the pocket

Olivia wanted to slow off the book by holding in front of her face!

I think it turned out pretty good.  Olivia wanted me to make her one so I did but it is a little bit different.  I sewed her potato head onto felt but then put that onto regular fabric for the cover and handles.

Here is the center and the pieces that I made for hers

Having fun with making some potatoes.

God is with you!

Olivia came to me one day and asked "Can I watch this movie?"  Pointing to the movie case she said "that is the mean guy...  I like that part."  "you do?" I asked her.  She said "I'm not afraid of it anymore."  "Why not" I asked.  And she said "Because God is with me!"  After a a minute she said "You can watch it with me... but don't be afraid because God is with you"

I lover her little heart.  She has been saying these kinds of things a lot lately.  I think she first started when she participated in some vacation bible school activities and she learned that God is with you.

One time she even ran out of the room during a 'scary' part of veggie tales then stopped and said "Oh yeah... God is with me, I don't have to be afraid" and ran back to finish her movie.

Here is a video of her explaining to me why she isn't afraid anymore and why I don't have to be afraid either.

After our bible study on September 30, I was telling Clint we should have praise report/ prayer request time during the first part of our meeting time and Olivia called out "I want to do it!"  So i asked her if she had any prayer requests: anything she wanted us to pray for.  She said Jesus... She wants Jesus in her heart.  So I took her and baby sister over to Clint and we all sat on the couch.  Clint told her that she can pray.  At first she didn't want to but I told her that she can pray and Jesus likes it when little girls talk to him.  Clint told her to repeat what he was saying.  This is the prayer that she whispered:

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Dear Jesus. Please come into my heart, and be with me always. Amen.

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