For whatever reason, this pregnancy has definitely been the opposite of when I was pregnant with Ashley.  I feel like the uncomfortable-ness is worse…shortness of breath, tired, back aches, lack of sleep, etc.  Top that off with zero patience and a body that can’t keep up with a very active 2-year old, and it makes for a cranky Mamma.  So we are ready!  Ashley is ready, too.  She still likes rubbing my belly and talking about the baby.  She even felt him kicking last week.  She was sitting in what is left of my lap (there’s not much room for her to sit with my big ole’ belly).  And as she was sitting against my belly he starting kicking.  I guess she was leaning against me too hard and he didn’t like it.  She put her hand on her back where he was kicking as if to try and stop it.  I told her it was the baby kicking, but I don’t suspect she fully understood that. In fact, that’s another thing that is different than when I was pregnant with Ashley.  She was no where near as active as this little guy is.  I swear he moves non-stop all day and all night long.  At my last OB appointment, the doctor was listening to his heartbeat and said he was a “wiggler”.  It took her a minute to find his heartbeat clearly because all you could hear in the beginning was him moving around.  Which also makes me a bit nervous…he’s going to be a handful!

A friend gave him a soft lovey that I have perched on his crib.  Ashley will take it and say “baby” and put it to my belly as if she is showing it to him.  She knows it is for him.  So cute!   And she gets excited when she sees newborns out in public.  She’ll point and say “baby” and then rub my belly and say “baby”.  So she definitely comprehends what is going on.  We also go in his nursery every morning and just look around.  Ashley likes it in there as much as I do.  She is going to be a great big sister!  I can’t wait for this new chapter of our life to begin!

In the picture below, that is a strawberry in Ashley’s mouth.  She was being silly for the camera   And yes, I am HUGE compared to 4 weeks ago!

Friends and family from near and far came to Raleigh on a rainy Friday night just for Dad.  We had folks drive all the way from Chapel Hill, Roanoke Rapids, Sanford, Henderson and Holden Beach, to name a few.  Just shows how much he is loved by everyone!  And one friend that came he hadn’t seen in 5 years!  We all had a wonderful time.  My favorite part was seeing the reaction on Dad’s face when he saw everyone.  It was awesome!

Happy Birthday Dad!  We love you!!

Ashley and Brody

Anyway, we ran a few errands after class and came home.  Since the iPad batteries were dead, I gave Ashley my iPhone to entertain her while in the car.  She likes looking through the pictures; no big deal.  We got home, had lunch and I glanced at my phone to see what she had been looking at.  Unbeknownst to me, she had taken a video of us getting out of the car!  And I had no idea!  You hear me grunt as I was getting her out of the car (the large belly is making me grunt a lot lately…LOL).  And you see her view as she walks up to the front porch.  Anyway, here’s the video.  It’s neat to see the world through her eyes.  Plus, it is just so funny to me!

Ashley loved opening presents this year, too.  Last year, she liked opening bags with tissue paper.  But this year she was all about ripping the wrapping paper off the presents.  In fact, I think she enjoyed unwrapping the presents more so than the presents themselves.  She also liked bringing the presents to Van and I.  And of course the boys weren’t left out.  Toby and Blake got 2 huge bones in addition to their new beds and Jimmy got some treats and a little cat toy.

We didn’t take a lot of pictures that morning, but here are a few.