Pictures this week

Ryland and Aviley


Ryland insisted on taking a picture with me, her, and several of her toys.


Silly girl eating at Burgerville


A stack of chocolate chips Ryland made (...and was very proud of)


Aviley was taking pictures with my phone and caught this one of Ryland giving her dinosaur a check up


Giant 37 week belly...one can only hope this doesn't last too much longer :) We want to meet our new family member!!

Life

Sorry about the lack of posts recently...we've been busy with a baby shower, hanging out with friends, doctor visits, and much much more.

I'm now 36 weeks pregnant as of tomorrow. Which means I am one week away from being FULL TERM. Can't believe that I've made it to the home stretch. Only 4 more weeks or less! This has been a crazy journey for Champ, Ryland and I. We can't wait to meet baby Natalie. Ryland keeps talking about how much she plans on kissing and hugging her. It'll probably be a lot nicer than hugging my big belly :)

On a side note, Ryland got to the go to the zoo and children's museum this week. We had a blast, and even got to see a baby monkey and elephant. It was an amazing day with really nice weather. Ryland says her favorite animals there were the "kitties".

Family/Maternity pictures

Last week Champ, Ryland, Natalie and I all went to get some amazing family/maternity pictures taken. We luckily were graced with great weather! Ryland enjoyed being outside and showing off her silly smile with every snap of the camera. The pictures below are just a few "sneak peaks" from the photographer. They are just saved from my phone, so not the best quality. But! Have no fear, tomorrow we get to view all of our images, and we are so so excited.

















Pregnancy updates:
I am almost 33 weeks pregnant, and cannot wait to meet this squirmy little girl. She is definitely a dancer. We had a growth scan at 30 weeks, and she checked out right on track. This girl is definitely getting bigger, and so is her mom! It's getting hard to turn over in bed, and even harder to get out of bed. Just 4 more weeks and we will be considered full term! Who knows when she will decide to make her appearance though :) She's due April 12th!

This was Ryland yesterday. She carried Barney around in that backpack for about an hour, while also tending to her "baby", Cat in the Hat.


Relaxing after a long day of playing. She was watching a movie, and sat like that on the couch almost the whole time. Pretty cute!


Kissing baby Natalie! I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and I cannot wait to meet this little one. Ryland will be so happy to finally hold her baby sister!


Pretending to sleep next to dada...


My sweet little girl playing in her room. I just can't get enough of her sweetness.

Ryland and I have been spending a lot of time at home lately while Champ is at work. Being in the third trimester of pregnancy can make it hard to leave the house without help :) Luckily, Ryland and I find some pretty fun things to do at home...mainly "playing".

But, she also usually helps me clean up the house (as much as she can tolerate) and loves to wash dishes. We also usually watch a couple morning cartoons during breakfast. A few of her favorites are: Barney, My Little Pony, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Cat in the Hat. Although we love the activities we do everyday, we are just waiting patiently for the weather to warm up so we can spend most of the day outside (with our new baby girl).

I'm trying to cherish these last few days with just Ryland. It's hard to believe that in 12 weeks we will have a whole new person joining our family. Pretty amazing.

Snow day!

The other day we actually got some snow. Ryland was very excited to go out in it since she thought it was going to snow on Christmas. As soon as we realized the snow was sticking we decided to head outside for a "snow walk". Ryland caught snowflakes on her tongue and talked constantly about making a "snow pony" (which is her version of a snow angel). She really does love the snow...and I can't imagine who she got that from ;) I could instantly see the sadness in her eyes when it stopped, which reminded me of myself. Although short lived, it was very fun!

Nightly routine

Ryland's nighttime routine has changed a lot throughout her life. Most recently, she has become obsessed with reading books. We usually check out a lot of books from the library and then end up reading them over and over again. I think Ryland would let us read to her for hours if we could stay up long enough. She loves trying to read herself, and tries sounding out letters/words.

Of course, before we read in the bed...Ryland puts on her pj's and brushes her teeth. Then after that, we all play a round of an old Care Bears card game that used to be Champ's when he was little. This is the first game we've played with her that she follows all the rules. I can only foresee how many games we will play in the future...