Memorial Day :)

Today was awesome!  I prayed that God would let me sleep last night and I only had to get up twice to pee :)  That's opposed to the 7 times that I usually get up to pee, so thank you for the answered prayer!!

Once awake, I went to get Joey and we all ate some breakfast!  Joey is getting really good at eating cereal with milk and a spoon all on her own, so that's fun!  I love getting to give her new foods and watch her step up to the challenge!

After breakfast we went on a walk and ended up at the pool.  We stuck our feet in and Joey was ready to go in all the way!  We went home, put our suits on and went back to the pool for a refreshing dip.  Joey did really well and wasn't afraid of the water :)  We were there for about an hour or so...here are some cute pics!!!

I love this picture because you can't see my enormous belly :)  The pool actually felt really good on my belly! It was nice to be weightless for a change...when I got out, it felt really weird and heavy!!

Wow, that's high daddy!!!

Let's blow some bubbles!!

Look at that red hair!  She and daddy had a great time playing :)

Next it was time for a snack and time for us to figure out our double stroller...

Once Joey went down for a nap, I went to visit my friends Liz and Kevin at her Mama's house :)  Liz is el Preggo and I'm so excited for her!!!

Once I headed home, I got Joey and Johnny and we went to Amanda and Brandon's for some food and fun! The kids had a blast in the sprinkler :)  

And the adults had fun hanging out :)

There was home made ice cream and cobbler :)

...and some cute babies :)

All in all, a great day!  It's crazy to think that in less than 36 hours we will have a newborn baby! WOW!!!  Please pray for an easy surgery and recovery...also I'm getting a little nervous about being cut open...yikes!!! 

Hope your Memorial day rocked as much as ours did!!

Our Final Weekend as a Family of 3.....

So here it is, Monday of the week Sam will be born!  There is no question that this kid is coming out Wednesday morning if not sooner :)  This weekend was super busy, and my hubby did so much for our house it kinda makes my head spin!

Saturday morning, we woke up and took Joey to gymnastics class.  She's getting better, and she loves to "jump" on the trampoline!  On the way home we went to Wal Mart so that we could eat this week and we got out of there for under $80 thanks to some gift cards!!!  When we got home, Johnny cleaned the entire garage...swept, shop vacuumed, organized and sprayed for buggies.  Joey and I played with bubbles :)  After that we put Joey down for a nap and I went to get a Manicure and Pedicure compliments of Bret Stout and Alan Kirby..... 

.......while Johnny deep cleaned the entire down stairs and sprayed for bugs in there too.  He pulled all the furniture away from the walls, vacuumed the base boards, dusted, mopped, and cleaned anything cleanable :)  What a man!! We also got the Pack N Play set up, moved Joey's kitchen upstairs, and her babies down stairs...I'm pretty sure we worked in some Play Doh time too :)

Sunday rolled around and we went to church.  I got the normal questions like "You're still here?", "You haven't popped yet?", and "When are you due again??".  The sermon was a good one as usual talking about what Jesus would have us deconstruct in our lives to be more like him.  We know the answers, but it's putting the belief into action.  I need me some of that!  After church, I went to see Sex and the City with Kelli and Shawnda.....

......while Johnny put Joey down for a nap and then proceeded to deep clean the entire upstairs!  Again, he moved furniture, vacuumed, cleaned both upstairs bathrooms, and I'm not even sure what else!  I came home and it smelled glorious :)  Last night we went to the mall to get me a night gown for the hospital.  I'm remembering having to untie the whole thing during feedings, and it's a hassle!  We found 2 that I liked and came home for dinner.  

Today is my first official day of Maternity leave and I'm just sitting her waiting for this baby to come out!  I do have some work to do today and will most likely get it done, but I don't have to go in to EWA for anything! 

And that's our weekend in a nutshell...busy, relaxing {for me}, and busy!!!

I'll leave you with this picture...it was one of our first family photos as a family of 3 and I can't wait to take our 1st family photo as a family of 4!

Our 1st Baby....

I love Joey from her head......

.....to her toes {even her 2nd toe which is shorter than her 3rd :)}

It makes me sad that she's not going to be our baby anymore!  She even calls herself a "big girl" now!  Oh well, when we got preggo with Sam I knew this was inevitable....not sure why I'm sad about it???

38 Weeks....1 Week To Go!!!!

Alrighty folks, that's right, 1 week from today we will have a new addition to our family!  This is CRAZY to think about!  I'm actually feeling a little sad today because it's our last week as a family of 3.  Johnny thinks I'm being silly, but I don't think so.  I'm just really starting to think about all the things that are changing.  I really want Joey to know I'm still her mommy and I love her soooooooooo much!  I am praying for an easy transition for her and myself!  I guess Johnny is OK, so I don't need to pray for him :)

As for how I'm feeling this week......So far so good.  Aside from feeling full and out of room, I can still breathe somewhat and am not swelling, so that is good!  I had a doc appointment yesterday and I weigh 129......1lb shy of the 5lbs she wanted me to gain!  I'd say I did pretty well :)  She checked me to see if I was dilated or effaced at all, and the answer was NO on both accounts.  What this means is that Sam is cozy and may actually make it till next Wednesday....BOO!!  So I'm done with doc appointments for this pregnancy which is weird!  I do have an appointment at the hospital on Tuesday at 9:30am to get my blood work done, and I guess they are going to give me a medicated wash rag thing to use in the shower on Wednesday morning.  They said this helps cut possible infection from a c-section by 80%!  Sounds good to me!  On Wednesday I will walk check into the hospital at 7:30am, and Sam is scheduled to arrive around 9:30am!  I'm starting to get jittery about the surgery, so please pray for my nerves as I have time to think about the c-section this upcoming week! 

Enough about me, let's check out those final Belly Pics!!

Here I am the night before Joey came into our lives!  We took this picture and night at 2:30am {so technically the next morning} I got up to pee and my water broke!  I called for Johnny and I told him my water just broke...he said "You think it did, or it really did".  I said it really did!  We sprung into action!  I wish I would have known what the next 17.5 hours held in store for us and that I wouldn't be able to take a shower for another day, I would have slowed down and taken one before we went to the hospital!  We did make it down the street and turned around to get our DVDs that we had forgotten!  We didn't want to be bored!  Here we are over 2 years later and we are here again but scheduled this time :)

Holy Toledo that thing's a torpedo!!  I weigh the same as I did with Joey at 38 weeks, but my tummy is obviously bigger!!  I can't wait for this belly to be gone!!!  Next week Sam's eviction notice will have been served, and she will be on the outside!  It would be really funny if this picture took place and tonight my water broke!  I still have so much to do at work, but I would still find time to laugh :)

The news from Baby Center:

How your baby's growing (38 Weeks):

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

And here's what Sam is doing in there...

Threads of Gratitude

So much to be grateful for this week and all weeks...here are just a few of mine :)

Dear Father,  I am so grateful for our little Stout family of 3!  We only have 1 more week of being a threesome, and I am finding myself a bit saddened!  I just love our daughter Joey and thank you so much for bringing her into our lives over 2 years ago, and I just can't believe we are about to add another!  So excited, but so grateful for this week with just the 3 of us!

Jesus, thank you so much for our Air Conditioner!  In our cars and our home!  I am so thankful to be able to cool off and I know I take it for granted.  I cannot imagine carrying this baby without this luxury even though I know there are way more people who carry children without air than those who carry them with air!

Sweet Lord,  Thank you for an inspirational and gut checking sermon this past weekend.  I have been more aware of worshiping You while working this week and I thank you for that opportunity!  I know that you put me at my job for a reason, and that reason is to glorify and worship you with everything I do while I'm there.  I absolutely love my job and I know that is because it was ordained by you!

Now it's your turn!  What are you thankful for?  Blog about it if you have a blog...leave your blog link in the comment section of this post.  Don't have a blog, leave your threads in the comment section of this post!

Things I Can't Reach Anymore...

As my belly is getting larger, it is getting harder to reach things in our home.  I am only 4' 10 & 1/4" and putting this belly in front is taking about 5 inches off of my reaching abilities!  Here are just a few things I can't reach anymore :)

One day I will be able to reach the back of the washing machine with my hands, not a hanger...

One day I will be able to reach the laundry basket on my own instead of waiting for Johnny to get it down for me...

One day I will be able to turn the disposal on with my hand and not the dish brush...

One day I will be able to get a glass of water without the step stool...

One day I will be able to touch my toes again...

I long for One day!!!

37 Weeks and 2 To Go :)

Even though there are 2 weeks till Sam will make her way into this world, I only have 7 work days left, and I'm pretty stoked {no offense Bret and Akirb}.  With all the prep work that has been going into my maternity leave, I'm ready for a break!!!  Next week we have our annual team banquet and that will be my last hoorah!!  I've joked about asking our DJ Lisa {my SIL} to not turn up the base too loud or we may have a water breaking issue on the dance floor :)  

As far as how I'm feeling this week, I'm doing fine, just feeling FULL! My fingers look like sausages...gross, and it's getting harder and harder to do things around this belly!  I have been sleeping on the couch these days because it's easier to get out of in the middle of the night when I have to go potty, and I can keep it really cold downstairs too which is awesome!  I still end up hot, but at least I don't freeze Johnny out :)  

Anywho, I have a doc appointment tomorrow and we will see what she says!  I'll make sure y'all have the update.....until then, here are some belly pics!!

Here I am with Joey in my belly...it's hard to believe that this was over 2 years ago!  She's about to be a big sister!!!  Wow, that's a whole lot of belly!! Apparently I was ready to go in this picture...But this belly ain't got nothin on Sam's belly shot for week 37.........

Yowza!!!  That's a whole lot of belly!!  This baby must weigh a ton :)  Joey was 7lbs 1.4ozs when she was born...If we are comparing, I'm guessing Sam will be 7lbs 8ozs :)  We will see if I'm right!!

On with the Baby Center News...

How your baby's growing (Week 37):

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

That quarter keeps getting smaller! And here's the inside scoop for those interested...

 

Here's to 2 more weeks!  If you are the prayin' type, please pray for me to get done all the things I need to at work in these last 7 days!  Also pray for a safe and uncomplicated C-Section on the 2nd!  I'd appreciate it!!!

Wishful Wednesday....Dream Bedroom!

Kelsey over at the Seattle Smiths has a fun Wishful Wednesday topic!  Here's the question.....

 'I wish' .... I could come home to this 

________ bedroom every night!

So I went searching, and here is my answer......

 'I wish' .... I could come home to this

bedroom every night!

I'm all about turquoise these days, and this room is just calling my name!  I could totally sink into these amazing linens each night and wake up in them each morning!!!  Although it may be hard to get out of them in the morning, because they just look so comfy and inviting!!

What's your dream bedroom???  Pop over to Kelsey's blog and let everyone know what your dream bedroom would be!

{Photo Found Here}

Threads of Gratitude...What Are Yours??

It's time to give thanks to our Lord!  Anyone with me??  Read mine and leave yours in the comment section below...

Dear Heavenly Father, thanks so much for great friends!  We had an amazing time at our shower this weekend and it is a direct result of the people you have put into our lives!  We are so grateful!

Lord I thank you for your provision.  With Sam coming in 2 weeks, there is honestly nothing we need that we don't have!  What a relief, and we know we are not stressing because of your graciousness!

Jesus, thank you so much for this basketball in my belly otherwise known as Sam.  She's in the way and she sure moves a lot, but I already love her!  I don't know what color her hair will be, and I have no idea if she'll have all 10 fingers and toes, but I don't care!  I know that you are in control and I know that you have molded Samantha in my womb...you know the number of hairs on her head, and you know where she'll be years from now.  Thanks for blessing us with her!

King of Kings, thank you for our couch :)  It's super comfy and the only thing that I can sleep longer than 4 hours on!  Yay!!!

Now it's your turn!  What are you thankful for?  Blog about it if you have a blog...leave your blog link in the comment section of this post.  Don't have a blog, leave your threads in the comment section of this post!

Memory Lane...

So tonight we were getting stuff out of the attic...to be more specific, Joey's old stuff that is now Sam's stuff!  Bottles, Baby Bath, and Bassinets....oh my!

Amongst all the fun, we looked over at Joey and I couldn't help but grab the camera!!!

She climbed into the carseat...

Daddy tried to get her out and she wasn't having it, so he buckled her in :)

She played with her old toys :)

We told her it was time to go night night and she said I go night night here :)

We did get her out, and now she's in bed sound asleep!  I'm still laughing about this, hope I don't wake her up :)

Weekend Wrap-up :)

What a fun weekend!  Our Friday night consisted of Pizza Picnic Friday with Joey..we watched these guys......

, ate pizza, and had a good time as a family!  I'm totally soaking in these nights, I know it won't be too long before Joey will think it's a stupid thing to hang with her parents :)  After dinner and putting Joey to bed, Johnny went to play hockey with his brother!  Since I was home alone, I popped in season 5 of Sex and the City

{trying to get ready for Sex and the City 2 to come out} 

and watched something like 5 episodes before I fell asleep!  It was a fun night for sure :)

Saturday rocked too :)  We went to gymnastics in the morning with Joey, came home, ate some lunch then took some naps!!  That night, our friends threw us a super fun baby shower for Samantha Lynn!  We got tons of diapers and wipes, along with some clothes!  The real surprise came at the end...check out the pictures to see what went down!

Yay :)  Here I am with some of the hostesses!  From L to R...Amanda, Shawnda, me, Jae, and Kristi!  Kelli, Jestine and Isabel weren't able to make it, but everyone pulled together and the party was super fun!!!

Super cute decorations were all over the house!  We also got to keep these tiny socks and the onesies that were hung all around!!  So much fun :)  Thanks hosts!!

There was so much yummy food that I didn't even taste everything!  The theme of the shower was diapers, drinks and desserts, so that's why all these sweets were there!  I was in sugar heaven!!

Then we got to open fun presents!!  Yippee :)  We got tons of diapers and wipes for Sam!  We also got some clothes, lotion, baby wash, toys and more!

Just when we thought we were done, they told us there was 1 more gift....

Oh my goodness!  Our hosts got us a double stroller!!!!  This was honestly the only thing we needed for Sam!  We were going to have to go buy it, and are so thankful we don't have to!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!  

We love our friends, and we had such a blast at the shower!  Now we just have to wait 2 1/2 more weeks for Sam to get here :)  I can't wait!!!

Hope your weekend was amazing too!!!

Pen Pal Reveal Day :)

So today was a special day for the Stout Life Group :)  We have adopted a 5th grade class at Webb Elementary who we have done several things with this school year.  We have helped with parties, visited for lunches, hosted a career day, and more.  My favorite thing that we have done this year has been being paired with students in our class to be Pen Pals with.  It's so much fun to show up at Life Group and get letters from our kids!  We always read the letters aloud and talk about how funny our kids are and how smart they are...we compare who's letters were the longest, and which kids ask for yugioh cards and what not. 

Anyway, today we went to the class and hung out with our Pen Pals.  We talked, ate sweets and played games!  It was a lot of fun, and here are some pics.....

Here's me and my Pen Pal Ayse :)  She's super smart and always has great questions and writes really well.  She likes volleyball, is in choir and is on Team Edward :)  It's been really fun getting to know Ayse through letters, and we had a great time talking in person today!

Here we are with the whole class.  If I didn't have this enormous belly, I could totally fit in with this bunch of kiddos :)  They are great kids!!

Kristi was brave enough to hop in on a game of Twister :)

Scott dominated in Connect 4!

Brandon got schooled in checkers....this kid forgot to mention that he was in the chess club :)

Louis was totally consumed in Jenga....he ended up loosing, but this game was intense!  {The kid watching Louis in the red shirt is Johnny's Pen Pal}

Amanda and Hannah played some Apples to Apples...I love this game!!!!

OOOOO, and here is the spread...cookies, chips and dips, drinks and cake!!!!  Yummo!!!!!

I obviously was taking the pics during all the game time, but I did take my turn getting beat in Connect 4 :)  The day was super fun, and I am glad I was able to go!  These kids will be middle school next year, and they are super excited!

Can't wait to see if we will get another class who wants Pen Pals next year!