Sophie's shower #2 equals family and fun on the farm in Genoa

Joe's mom, and sister Leslie hosted a family fun day
cousin Kellee and Aunt Carol 

Aunt Bobi, Linda, Joyce and Melissa 

Grandma Nelms

Sophie's handsome daddy

The activity table complete with the price is right, word scramble and sculpt your own play-do baby

Winners of the word scramble, Kellee and her friend Jennifer
who also went to school with Joe and was in Mexico with us for Kel's wedding.
So great to see these two again!

Ann with her beautiful baby girl

who are those crazy kids

  

My lovely corsage created by Leslie 

And no visit to the farm is complete without playing with the latest addition to the family

Let the countdown begin

Sophie Claire will be here on July 18th!

We set the official due date at yesterday's doctor's appointment and we are so thrilled. Just 8 weeks away.

Yesterday's appointment brought all good news which has a been an amazing blessing throughout this pregnancy.

Passed the glucose test - check! Blood pressure is good - check! Only gained 1 lb in the past 3 weeks - check!

We did not have an ultrasound done at this appointment but Sophie's heart tones sound strong and healthy  and she is no longer breach. Which really doesn't matter since I will be having another c-section, but just another great step in the pregnancy. And baby girl is a movin. Wow, is it amazing to feel her kick, twist and wiggle around. So very very different than sweet little Elliott.

After all of the fun stuff I did have quiet a few questions for Dr. O. and he not only answered them all for me but helped to ease a lot of fear and anxiety I've been having lately.

As we approach 30 weeks, the point when I went into labor with Elliott, my mind has been a roller coaster of thoughts and I'm sad to say not many of those thoughts have been good. Every fear and worry has entered my mind and as quickly as they come to me, they seem to make themselves comfortable just long enough to keep me awake at night.

And I feel really selfish admitting this, but while I do worry about Sophie and pray that she will continue to grow strong and healthy and survive the delivery and be here with us, the majority of my fear is that something will happen to me.

That something terribly wrong will happen and I won't be able to be her mommy. Isn't that crazy, absurd, and selfish of me. But it's true, I want all of the things we didn't get with Elliott so badly that I think I'm driving myself crazy with fear that it will be ripped from me again.

Dr. O and I talked for a very long time and he addressed my fears and concerns. He reassured me that my anxiety wouldn't cause me to go into early labor and that while my uterus is thinner than usually it won't cause any issues between now and delivery. He allowed me to schedule my next three appointments with him and said he'd perform an ultrasound with each one so we could see that Sophie is doing well.

He walked me through the delivery and told me all who would be present in the room, reassured me that they would all be professional and prepared, unlike the rude anesthesiologist we had with Elliott who yelled at the nurses for not turning my epidural off on time to start the spinal and then ripped the tape of my back without any warning. He was awful and only added more stress to an already scary situation.

Dr. O said he can have Sophie out within 5 minutes and once the pediatrician has a chance to look at her and make sure all is good the doctor will place her right in Joe's hands and she will never have to leave us. I could have cried tears of happiness right there in the doctor's room. I can barely wait for that moment, to see her alive and well. To see her eyes open and look into them. To hear her cries. And to hold her and know she will not be taken from us.

I guess that's what I will try to focus on throughout the next 8 weeks. A healthy baby, a successful delivery and a happy family together on July 18th. At least that will be my prayer until then.

The curiosity and innocence of a child is the sweetest thing

On Saturday Joe's co-worker and friend stopped by to help Joe pick up Sophie's new dresser from Babies R Us. We do not have a van or a truck and we are learning very quickly just how small our car is and just how few baby items will actually fit in it. But I'm certainly not complaining, it's so wonderful filling our home with all of these adorable things for Sophie and I"m sure we'll figure it all out when the time comes to pack up the car with little Sophie in tow and all that she requires....or what we believe she requires until its our tenth or eleventh trip back to Illinois and we finally realize that all we really need is just Sophie, a few diapers, a hand full of cheerios, a travel dvd set and grace :).

Upon their arrival back to the house with the giant dresser I realized that Joe's friend brought his 3 year old son with him too, an adorable blond headed boy named Simon.

Simon's curiosity brought him right inside our home and he met our two furry friends Gabby and Rufus, both of whom he was not all that sure about. Together we watched as the guys managed to lift this incredibly large and heavy box up the stairs to the nursery. As Simon scanned the living room a picture on an end table just at eye level caught his attention.

Without hesitation he walked right up to the picture and took the frame in both hands and brought it a bit closer to his face. "Awe, is this your baby? he asked in the sweetest voice.

Me: "Yes, Simon, that is baby Elliott."

Simone: "Baby Elliott." followed by a sweet little smile.

This may have simply been one of the many many questions Simon asked throughout the day as he enjoyed his Saturday with his dad. But for me, this was another special moment to say her sweet name out loud and enjoy my Saturday too proudly remembering my sweet baby Elliott.

Thank you Simon.

A beautiful shower for Sophie Claire

Some of my best friends in Michigan threw us a beautiful, girly, 

bright and cheerful shower for little miss Sophie Claire. It was a fun few hours together and something I've been dreaming of since the moment we were pregnant with Elliott. 

These girls know just how to make the sweetest touch too with a tribute to big sis Elliott.

The Girls

The food, loved it all  - yum!

We were able to keep the ducks in the punch - what a cute touch.

My favorite - cake! Sophie girl likes her sweets and mama's had one heck of a sweet tooth with this girl

We kept the letters and puffs too for her nursery 

The activity was to make hair bows - how creative and perfect

Notes for late night diaper changes - can't wait to read them 

Party favors

The best - a tribute to big sis Elliott 

Dad came too - to collect the gifts and one very happy mama 

A Celebration at the Falls

A few weekends ago we traveled to Niagara Falls, Ontario to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary, which is on April 30th.

The weather was gorgeous! In the 70's and sunny and as we walked closer to the water there was a distinct drop in the temperature that felt wonderful. We walked along the falls and admired their beauty. We opted out of riding the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat ride into the mist of the falls. I was worried it might be too rough or that I would slip and fall on the boat, so instead we road the SkyWheel up 175 feet above Niagara Falls for an amazing view at night.

Maid of the Mist

SkyWheel

In the SkyWheel

We planned for a nice leisurely but long day on Saturday and took advantage of the beautiful weather by walking along Clifton Hill. This area is jam packed with attractions, from restaurants to museums to shops to golf courses and theaters.

We also hit up the Niagara Falls Casino to try our luck at the penny slots. I wish we would have taken a picture because we had a lot of fun there as well. We were married in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and following the ceremony we hit the slots. The first machine I sat down at I won a whopping $150 or something like that. I was pretty excited, but what was priceless for Joe was watching his new bride who hates attention turn red as a tomato as people stared when they noticed we were in wedding attire.

So to ring in year four we decided to press our luck again. We each put $5 in a machine and carried on. You would have thought we won big by our reactions each time the number rose by 5-10 cents but we were having a lot of fun and cheering each other on. We each cashed out at $20 a piece.

After our big win we decided it was time to check in to our bed and breakfast, the Villa Alexandrea. This was our second stay in a b&b, which I have grown to love. Villa Alexandrea is only a short half mile, or should I say .8 kilometers from the Falls and if we hadn't of done so much walking during the day we could have easily walked back and forth from the b&b to the main attractions.

Villa Alexandrea Tourist Home

Our host was Maria, an incredibly sweet elderly woman who welcomed us in and served a delicious breakfast the next morning.

Once we were checked in and unpacked we headed back out for a night on the town. For dinner we ate at the Antica Pizzeria. A delicious pizza followed by New York style cheese cake and a cup of decaf coffee was the perfect treat.

Antica Pizzeria

Sunday morning Maria served a delicious breakfast and recommended that we stop at Niagara on the Lake on our way home. She shared that it has a quaint historical downtown with more shops and restaurants  I'm so glad we took her up on the recommendation because the stop was literally on our way home and we enjoyed a few hours of walking along the shops and eating a nice lunch at Yiannis.

A wonderful weekend trip to celebrate together. We're both looking forward to what year four will bring.