It's that time of year!

As usual, the months of Oct - Dec are crazy and I've neglected posting any updates.

First up... maternity pictures! We had pictures taken in early November when I was about 28 weeks pregnant. I love our photographer and thought she did amazing. Thank you Amy!

Since it's been a few weeks since then, I'm looking much more pregnant! Here's me today at 37 weeks:

37 weeks means full term (ah!) and I'm feeling close to ready to meet my sweet baby. At my 36 week appointment baby was still head down and sounding good, yay! I've gained 30 pounds (same as with Chelsea) and am measuring right on track. The nurse said she thinks Brooke will be similar sized to Chelsea (who was 6 lb 12 oz at birth) so I'm feeling good about that - not a huge baby but not too tiny either.

Brooke is quite the dancer/gymnast and likes to move a lot. I don't remember Chelsea moving this much, but maybe that's because I carried her breech and Brooke is head down? Who knows... I love feeling her move but sometimes it gets crazy and I think, oh no! I'm going to have this baby early. I think of all things with this second pregnancy, the thing I am most nervous/anxious about is the labor and delivery. I'm looking forward to laboring at home instead of being induced and hooked up to a million machines at the hospital. I don't regret anything with Chelsea's delivery, but I am curious to see how I do when I'm not on a pitocin drip and stuck in bed (The doctors didn't make me stay in bed, I did get up and walk around the room a little, but with all the crap I'd have to tow around, I didn't want to venture into the hallways or anything). So, as long as Brooke stays happy and comes before I'm 42 weeks, I get to try for a natural (non-induced) delivery.

So other than worrying about going into early labor, I'm enjoying this pregnancy and don't want it to end just yet. Now that I'm on maternity leave I'm hoping I can de-stress a little, spend some quality time with Matt and Chelsea, and finish up some last minute projects.

Like her nursery! Here's a look:

I love the gray we choose and hubby did a great job painting. All the furniture and curtains are from Chelsea's nursery, so we didn't have to do much except get clothes/toys out of storage and add some new accessories. I ordered the cherry blossom decal off Etsy and I LOVE it! It was kind of a pain to put up because you have to add each flower/bird/branch individually, but I still think it came out awesome. I have a few more things left to do, like washing all the pumping parts and bottles (just in case) and getting some more stuff out of the garage, like the infant car seat, but I should have time for all that...

Chelsea has been sleeping in her big girl room and potty training for about a month and a half now. I might be a little crazy to try tackling all that while being in my third trimester, but oh well, that's life. And Chelsea has been doing really well, thank goodness. At first, she took to her new bed really well. Then like a week later she figured out that not only could she get out of bed, but she could open the door to her room too. Oh boy! Well, a week of that and I was spent. We bought a baby gate for her room so when it's bed time she can't leave. (We open the gate after she falls asleep) It has been a life saver and Chelsea's gone back to a normal sleep routine. Whew!

Her big girl room:

Potty training started out awful. The first few days were full of accidents and frustration. Luckily, she started to get the hang of it and now she is pretty good. We still have accidents but I'm happy with her progress. I love seeing her face when she makes a pee in the potty... she's so proud of herself.

I love the stage Chelsea is at right now. She's really into her baby dolls and has one that she likes to carry all around the house with her. It's so sweet how she talks to her and involves her in everything (like sitting with her at the dinner table, feeding her play food, changing her diaper, and tucking her in for bed). She's also really into letters, puzzles, music, and of course... Mickey. She still loves Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and her princess movies, but Mickey seems to be her favorite. She loves interacting with the show (and the iPad version we downloaded for her) and can sing along to almost the entire hot dog dance. Oh, and now whenever a problem comes up, like when a golf ball rolled under the stove, she comes over and says, "Oh, let's get a mouseketool." Lol, so precious!

Sledding fun!