Happy 29 weeks Amber... :) we are almost there and we couldn't be more excited... Today we are at the beach with the Evans' family... all 13 of us! It is a yearly thing that we all look forward to... Next year will be a little more interesting with both babies but it will also even out the family with three each... girls vs boys! I know Haley is happy about that...

We arrived yesterday afternoon... after a long day of flying and driving getting here was such a blessing... Annabelle, Gran and I had one car.... Daddy and O'daddy in the other... Gran had a great time hanging out in the back seat trying to figure out what she was talking about... they had a good time... right now, we we are just getting up and enjoying our coffee.

As you know, today is 29 weeks... I can't believe next week (by the time we are home) we will be 30 weeks! WOW.... with Annabelle, we would be delivering in 8 weeks... I can't wait... Annabelle doesn't really understand but we talk to her about being a big sister and she tells us she is happy about it.. (we'll see) We anticipate an early Dec delivery but who knows...
The birth plan.. (as best as we can guess)

I am heading to Wichita December 1st (already have my ticket) and will stay with Amber and family until John arrives... Annabelle will be with Grammy and Papa... depending on how it takes for Amber to deliver, Gran and O'daddy will come to our house to take over Annabelle's care (and to give Grammy a much needed break) and stay until we come home... As soon as we know Amber is in labor, John will start driving... (not too fast, like last time!) and hopefully make it in time for the delivery... (fingers crossed) we will move to a hotel once John comes and either have baby with us or spend the days in a holding pattern... If Amber hasn't gone into labor by Dec 7th (39 weeks) John is going to come regardless.. Amber has Dec 6th in her head for some reason.. gut intuition I suppose... so we may make it Dec 6th that he comes if no labor has started.. So that is our unofficial game plan... it could change of course but as it stands, this is the plan... for those of you involved.. you might want to jot it down on your calendar. :)

Annabelle is just thriving.. she LOVES preschool.... this week we are missing but last week she had a great time and actually napped for 1 hour!! It has to be hard to nap when there are 11 other children in the room... I am very proud... she ate all her lunch and made a pink pencil and a yellow bus on construction paper... (yep, it is in her folder of school stuff!) We have lost our two teachers aids now, which is sad because they both were great but I am sure the next two will be wonderful too... Ms Mopp will certainly need help as she can't take care of 12 toddlers from a wheelchair.. Her sister is helping out but they are both in their 60-70s so we shall see who replaces the two younger ones... personally I can't imagine being 60-70's and actually wanting to take care of 12 toddlers but I guess there are those that enjoy it.. :)

Kindermusick this weeks was fun.. for Annabelle at least.. it seems that she turns into a wild child and I spend the morning running after her.. It is a workout! and then she took NO NAP! I put her down at her usual time, thinking she would zonk out but no... she starts crying after being down for about 45 minutes.. all the while I thought she was sleeping... she was actually unloading a box of diapers on her bed.. it was covered in diapers.. so I put them all away and put her back in the bed... another 30 minutes or so of quite time and more crying... I go up and she has unloaded her shoe drawer... with a pair on and the rest in her bed! After cleaning up the shoes... I decided to just stay with her and help her nap... 45 minutes later and a million words of baby talk "mommy? want some juice?" "mommy? want some chicken?" " mommy? Mommy? mommy? {hitting me on the arm trying to get my attention} want some milk?" It was very cute and I got it on video but it is 15 long and youtube won't load it... she never did nap... *sigh*

Well.. I should get off line and hit the beach!! Don't worry, we'll take lots of photos and videos!!

Love to you all...
Carolyn (Annabelle, John, Jason, Jeremy, Tina, Ginny, Gran, O'daddy, Sam, Jack, Haley and Daniel!)

Isn't she just beautiful!!! :)

Top ten things to do when Annabelle is in preschool..

1. Clean the carpets

2. Go to the dentist

3. Get a massage! yeah!

4. Mow the lawn

5. Shop without having to push a stroller or bring a diaper bag!

6. Sleep!

7. Go to a movie

8. Eat an entire meal while it is still hot and without having to order what Annabelle might like as well

9. Get a physical/go to the doctor

10. Type email or make phone calls without anyone screaming to talk or help type!



Oh my God I LOVE preschool!!! Thank you to whomever told me about this.. probably Andrea or Christy!! I LOVE YOU.... (visual my happy dance here)

Well.. here we are officially in the third trimester.. WOW!! (I know you are all saying that too right?? ) Where did the time go ? It seems just yesterday we were testing and here we are just about to be parents again... We are all very excited... Amber is feeling great and we are awaiting news regarding her gestational diabetes test but haven't any concern that there will be a problem...

We just got home from a weekend at my brothers new rental cabin in the Smoky Mountains, Pigeon Forge to be exact... (near Gatlinburg if you are unaware of where Pigeon Forge is located, or even better, one hour East on I-40 past Knoxville, TN) I took a very armature video of the place but will put it on here so you can see how beautiful it is and even link it to the web site where you can go to rent it if you like!! :) *yep, a plug for my big bro..



We had a blast!! Annabelle was just in hog heaven with her two cousins to play with and all kinds of new games to play with as well... I can see us spending plenty of time visiting here and see the "game room" in a few years filled with all the children of our family... VERY VERY fun...



We also went putt-putt golfing for the first time... (photos will follow) Annabelle wasn't the best but once we decided to play by her rules, she was all over it!! I can see us playing in Myrtle Beach for sure...



Nothing else to post other than we are gearing up for our big family beach trip this weekend.. of course I will post all about that!!



Much love to you all



Carolyn

Good day to you faithful readers.. :)

Today Annabelle had kindermusick.. we were going to the Tuesday class but now that she is in preschool on Tuesdays we switched to the Wednesday class... I thought, maybe with new, unfamiliar faces, Annabelle might have some hesitation.. NOPE! Oh my goodness... I'd swear she has been born to perform... Typically the parents sit on the floor and the kids sit in their laps or just next to them, not Annabelle.. she basically refused to sit with me and spend the entire class either smack dab in the middle of everyone or outside the circle dancing and doing this new fake laugh... Yes, she fake laughs what sounds like Tim Conway from the Carol Burnett show.. it is very funny and I really need to get it on video!

I really have wondered if kindermusic is for children to help them come out of their shell.. they all, with very few exception, sit with their parents, shy and timid... I wonder if I made a mistake with this and might have opened a time bomb with her coming out of her shell even more! If that is even possible... granted, don't get me wrong.. I am thrilled that she isn't clingy and shy... shocked actually because I really worried about that... I guess all the worry was for nothing..

Ok.. nothing else to report! Day two of preschool tomorrow! I can't wait to come home and clean carpets! haha

Love to you all

Carolyn

Yes, today was the day I had to really feel the pain of letting my baby go off to "school" Oh my goodness... it was tough.. Thankfully I had plans with friends just about the whole time she was there and that kept me distracted! (thank you.... ) and I have a friend that teaches the 2 year olds that checked in on her and sent me a text telling me she was fine, whew! I refuse to be one of those moms that call, not that there is anything wrong with that, to check in but it was wonderful to hear from Ms Christy that she was just fine.. :)



They do get a "report card" type thing telling of their day, how they behaved (or didn't), how much they ate and nap time... Annabelle did well.. she was "Cheerful", "sociable", "energetic" and "sweet"... Her nap time was "restless" but I was told she was close to falling asleep.. I was also told that there was one child that wasn't happy and cried and jumped in the crib during nap time... might have had something to do with her not napping... I am sure she'll get used to it.. She ate "some" of her lunch... I was concerned about this as they don't heat up food and she typically eats heated food such as pizza and chicken nuggets... I packed her corn, yogurt and mandarin oranges... I am not sure what "some" really means so Thursday, I will ask.. :) She made a very cute red apple picture which I plan to make a folder to keep all of her "crafts" in... (as well, send some to the grandparents...) When I went to pick her up, the teachers aid came out to talk to me ... I am sure she knew I was freaking out a tad and wanted to let me know how great she did.. she actually said Annabelle did better than most all of the children on the actual first day of school.. I give that to the fact that on that day, they were all freaked out and they probably fed off each other... or I could just give it to the fact that ANNABELLE IS BRILLIANT!! haahahahahahaha.. kidding.. :) sorry, I had to... Above is a video of my interviewing her after picking her up from preschool... oh, I forgot to mention, just as the moms were getting there to pick up the kids, Annabelle decided to go potty and took her diaper off and peed... on the floor... so, I guess she isn't perfect.. just really really close.. hahaha...



here are a few photos from before


and after school... notice the change of pants.. (she didn't quite get pants off before peeing, haha)




I, while Annabelle played, went to a tour of homes in Hopkinsville, KY.. It was nice to get out with the girls (5 of us in the car getting lost) and to have adult conversation without distraction! we saw the 5 homes and then had lunch at one of the realtors in the area.. a very sweet lady who very generously did this for the military spouses.. there were door prizes and I won one! a very cute BDU purse with "HOOAH" it is an army thing embroidered on it! It was more geared towards the 101st so I was happy it didn't say Screaming Eagles.. It was also filled with cute fall goodies... (lunch was good too)

Tonight we just hung out and she went to bed early... (like an hour early) because of no nap.. she didn't mind so I didn't either! :)


Tomorrow is kindermusick... I had to switch from Tues to Wed so this will be a group of new faces for both of us...

Today as well Amber had an appointment and baby A is just perfect! Amber is measuring 29 weeks, but has been 2 weeks ahead the whole pregnancy.. baby's heart rate is 154 and apparently baby likes to move around as Doc had a hard time getting the rate... she kept kicking the monitor! haha.... She is head down already but we know that can change... Amber feels great... has gained only 14 pounds and has no issues like with Annabelle.. no contractions, no swelling, no pain and good blood pressure... A wonderful pregnancy.... She did have to the gestational diabetes test today which from what I hear is pretty horrible... (drinking some super sweet stuff that makes you sick) We should know the results next week sometime so pray the result is negative.. :)


I am going to go sit and relax...
Please pray for our soldiers... and their families..
Love to you all!

Well ... today we found out Annabelle will be going to preschool starting Tuesday of next week! We are very excited to get her exposed to groups of children her own age... She will go twice a week for 5 hours each day... (WOW! oh, what will I do with my time.. that is until baby A gets here) she was a little shy today when we visited but I think she will do just fine..

She also pee'd again in the potty... John spent much of his afternoon with her in there and it seems that this will be an on going, tiring process .... but.... we are gaining ground.. :0)

Bed time seems to be going well.. she loves her toddler bed but is having some issue with nap time.. she naps some days, but not others... generally speaking she just plays quietly (sometimes not so quietly) in her room with her "friends" and honestly, that is good enough for me...

We are gearing up and cleaned out the nursery room fully... I plan to clean the carpet tomorrow (thank you mom for letting me borrow the cleaner) and then start unpacking Annabelle's old clothing into her room... Still haven't decided on a theme.. maybe butterflies... Pink and chocolate... but I am not sure... with the fact that we didn't use "bedding" for Annabelle it seems like a waste to buy more for this baby... but then I want it to be super cute knowing this time it is for sure a girl... ahhhh... what to do what to do?

That gives me an idea.... EBAY!

Off I go..

Love to you all!
Carolyn

Today was kindermusick day and daddy got to join us.. Little did he know how much work taking a 19 month old to an outing can be.. haha.. Annabelle was all over the place.. I really am amazed that she doesn't cling to us when we are out in groups.. I am not sure if this is a good thing or not with the fact that she wasn't really playing along like she is supposed to... She had fun and that is what matters anyway..

After kindermusick we three went to lunch... Annabelle didn't like her gourmet pizza (why serve odd pizzas on a kids menu? it was ham and cheese with no sauce on herbed bread? it was good but not what kids want) back to topic.. she decided she would much rather have my sweet potato fries so that is what she had.. in addition to a full cup of lemonade... with having such a large amount of lemonade we decided as soon as we got home to put her on the potty.. John took her in to the bathroom and sat her down... she got up and goofed off a bit and when John asked if she was done, she said NO! Potty... he put her back on the potty, even demonstrated for her sitting on the potty only to have her get back up again... he asked again, and her reply was No! potty.. this time he let her go to the potty.. she backs up slowly and sits down and PEEEEEEEEEEE starts flowing... YEAH!!!! we have a musical potty and her eyes got so big when it started playing... we all clapped and cheered and she got her chocolate chip! (mommy's favorite, dark bittersweet!!) I am so excited about this.. it is very early but I am going to celebrate every step in the diaper free direction!!

Ahhh.. she is napping now... yes in her big girl bed with no issues what so ever! it took one day (knock on wood) and she loves her new bed.. as she calls it "my bed!"

Life is good..

We have made it to the single digit phase of pregnancy... 97 days to go.. or less, more likely.. how exciting is that??


John and I enjoyed a good weekend here at the house and at my parents... We purchased a swing set and installed it at my parents on Saturday.. now all the grand kids have a place to play outside! We ended up staying the day just hanging out watching football.. We also started cleaning out the nursery room (currently the catch-all room for all of our gear and formerly the cats room) for baby A and got most of it cleared out.. Just a few items left to go and then carpet cleaning! Sunday we had a wonderful morning at Church and lunch with the Herreras.. (miss you Black family!) and both John and I got some much needed adult conversation...


We do have some big news, aside from the 97 days and counting news.. that is Annabelle POOPED in the potty yesterday!!! OH MY GOSH... She announced she needed to pee and poo so John took her to the potty and there she went! Poop in the potty!! We were so excited, yes, I know... I need more entertainment... but what a thrill that we might not have two in diapers for that long... oh joy...


Second bit of big news.... Annabelle slept in her big girl toddler bed yesterday for her nap AND all night last night!! Nap time was a bit of a challenge but not too much.. she cried for 45 minutes then fell asleep (back in the bed, mind you) but at bed time, she talked and played for 30 minutes or so then she was out! crashed.. Today, we are taking down the crib and moving it to the nursery!! I am so proud of her... She was just zonked out this morning when John peaked in and woke like her usual happy self... Unlike her mom who is a bear in the morning.. :)


Today we are going to go for a walk and do some more cleaning... John is flying nights so he is here in the morning and it is nice to have him sit and have coffee with me..


Soon we will be gearing up for the Evans' beach trip and we couldn't be more excited! Annabelle has changed so much since last year and I am very excited to watch her explore the beach with her cousins.. now we all need to pray no hurricanes!!


Love to you all!
Carolyn

Hello all... Today we learned that Sesame Street was doing an encore presentation of their USO show here on post so John and I decided to take Annabelle... she LOVES Elmo and Cookie Monster!! She had a blast! I am posting a slide show of the photos we took and will try to load a video or two of her dancing... she is just too cute...

Just a short note to share the excitement...

Carolyn

I love this blog. I can hardly wait to check it every day to see if there is a new video of my beautiful little Annabelle on it.

There are several reasons I'm excited. First, our little girl baby had a good ultrasound report last week for which we are all relieved. God surely does answer our prayers.

Second, we have only 3 months until we get to meet our gorgeous new little granddaughter.

And third, it is only 3 and a half weeks until I can see my precious Annabelle again. I haven't seen her since June and its seems like forever (this from a grandmother who lives 500+ miles and 9 and 1/2 hours away).

What a great time we will have at the beach (hurricanes stay away!!!) We always have that concern each year that somehow there will be a hurricane to keep us from our family trip. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Hanna will not destroy Mrytle Beach. And of course we have Ike, Josephine, and Lord only knows who else to follow. But, we will pray that nothing interferes with our planned family time.

God bless you, Amber, for all you are doing for our family. Looking forward to seeing you in Wichita in the not so distant future. Love to your family as well.

Thank you, Carolyn and John for starting this blog and keeping us up-to-date on our little one's progress and on her big sister Annabelle's shenanigans. I knew she would be musical as soon as I saw those long piano fingers the day she was born.

Signing out now, with love,
Gran Evans

Hello journal faithful... Today is both wonderful and sad at the same time... sad, because my Vols lost last night to UCLA... what a shame... but wonderful because today Annabelle started Kindermusick! (yes, that is how you spell it!)


Annabelle missed the first two classes and I was concerned she wouldn't be comfortable with being around a bunch of new faces and that it is, for the most part, just the two of us most of the time.. well.... I couldn't have been more wrong.. in fact she was the most outgoing, aside from the very rambunctious 3 year old boy, in the class... She attends the class for 18 months to 3 year olds called "our time"... we sang and danced and just had a blast! I am going to try to attach a video of her playing for you all to see... (this will be in addition to the atop video bar.. ) we have known she is quite the ham but it was all too apparent today when the teacher came to me after to tell me she was thrilled to see how expressive, excited and willing to listen she was, AND that she actually says "thank you" when you give her something... :) ... I am very, very proud of her... and John will be able to go with us next week... Gran and Grammy... there may be time in December when one or both of you can take her... I think you both would just LOVE to see her in action!!


We have now entered into the spell everything world.. and some of the time she knows what we are spelling.. Corn, Nannie (aka, banana) and Yogurt are a few of her favorite things on EARTH and if you even mention any of them she goes bonkers until she gets it... I am not complaining but when at the grocery store it is a bit of a challenge to shop when she is yelling "NANNIE NANNIE" at the top of her lungs until you give her one... which doesn't happen until check-out because they have to be weighed... She talkes all the time, Yes, she is a part of my family, and can almost count to 10! what an amazing age.. I just love it.. her little voice, though deep for a baby girl I am told?, saying juice... that sounds like "dooce" or "good dooce".... "thank you".. which actually sounds like thank you! Coffee, mommies good coffee... more like "hoffee, mommies goodth hoffee" "hot hoffee".. Please, my favorite.. "peeeeeezzzzzzzzz" with a huge toothie grin... I could go on and on but..... I don't think you want to hear all the details... oh! I forgot one funny one... she always wants to "see" when I check her temp... yes, rectally... and she has to tell me it is "in my butt" ha ha.... just cracks me up... God I love her... *sigh*


I am happy to see that we have two "partners" or "contributors" that will be posting to the blog so far.. Gran Evans and I assume PaPa (aka Rupe) is the other.. (though I am not certain).. Feel free to post as you wish, I am sure others would love to hear and see the other sides of our journey.. to see through the eyes of the family, what a surrogate journey is like...


The others that have been invited are siblings to both John and I as well, of course, Amber... we thought we'd make this a family blog.. free for all to post..


Another interesting bit of news, is a dear friend just found out she is pregnant!! well, just isn't quite right, she is 12 weeks along but she just told the wonderful news! I couldn't be happier!! Congrats to you!!


We are 25 weeks 2 days pregnant and all seems to be well! If you click on the little floating baby you can see that we are a mere 103 days from full term!! WOW.. .three more days and we will be in double digit land... yeah... it is just wonderful to think about having another blessing in our home.. and Annabelle is going to be a great big sister!


A new addition on the blog is the video above.... called "I would die for that"... I watched it and just loved it..in tears mind you.. what an amazing telling of what infertility feels like... although I haven't had the years of wondering what the problem was, I certainly felt the video very, very deeply and wanted to share.. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do... I watch it often... and cry every time!



Not much else going on here.. I am getting back into the swing of FRG land.. but not really as these ladies don't need/want an FRG so I just pass along info to them and they do what they want with it.. (best of both worlds if you ask me) We are also getting ready for the Evans' beach vacation... I can't wait to see Annabelle this year... and to think that next year we will have yet another family member... (name, still not chosen!)


FYI... I have learned (maybe) how to hyperlink to the blog as well so when you see something in bold, click on it! :)


OK.. for a post with not much to say, I have said too much!! Love you all and please keep our soldiers and families in your prayers..

Here is the video!

Carolyn