Photos from July

Here are just a few more random photos from our July... It's been a fun & busy month!

We've been doing a lot of this lately:



And below is a cell-phone-photo of the boys eating their gummies (Juice-Plus) on the couch. Believe it or not, I was able to completely eliminate the furniture "artwork" with some crazy carpet cleaner I bought!



And below are some photos from my baby celebrations. Again, since many in my family are blog-shy, I have a very limited number of photos I can post. I just don't post pics if anybody else is in them. (Unless they have their own public blog, and/or say they don't mind.) But it's frustrating, because we had some REALLY cute and fun photos!!!

So my sister (Annie) threw Kevin and I a co-ed BBQ Poolside Baby Celebration. It was sooo much fun, and absolutely perfect!



My other sister, Christine, threw me a Blessingway. It was so special and fun and meant so much to me. These (linked) are posts I had written previously as I was planning her Blessingway, and here's another that talks more about what it is.




Getting pampered and feeling refreshed... loving the company of my Mom and sisters!



The belly mask we made after the delicious meal. I mean, DE-LICIOUS, some of the best food I've ever eaten!

Below, taken at a little carnival put on by SDFFCU.



And the last picture is just cute to me... the boys wanted the baby to have something to play with-- they each got their Lightning McQueen cars and put them in there for the baby. So cute! Already practicing their big-brother skills!

Are you Swimsuit Ready?!?

...me neither!

This is the *only* circumstance under which I would ever post a photo of myself in a swimsuit anywhere!! heehee It's just such ROUNDNESS! I don't know how I fit into that suit, but I managed to somehow, and then my dad comes around the corner with a camera! HA!

But it's the baby belly... and it looks so HUGE! Especially in the picture below with the towel... and I had to keep them. They make me laugh! I love baby bellies! It's amazing that our bodies can do this, and then shrink again afterwards. (fingers crossed, could I be so lucky three times in a row?)



So there we have it... my most recent tummy pics! Above, taken 7/1/09 at 34 1/7 weeks.

And below: ~33 wk (32 6/7)



AND... since this is a pregnancy-related post, I have some wonderful news! I found out about a week ago that the baby has TURNED! I wanted to update since I posted here about the breech situation. What an amazing relief that was! However, I'm praying that he is still head-down, because right now his movements and positions are really confusing to me! I did lots of home interventions to encourage him to turn: positioning, exercises, massage, cold & music placement, hypnobabies 'turn baby turn', acupressure, moxibustion, and lots of prayer! I'll find out this Wednesday if he's still behaving.

I'm just about 36 weeks, so his arrival is feeling so close and I can't wait! Early this week his bassinet came, which is now waiting for him at our bedside. Yesterday our new bus stroller came in the mail. It's absolutely huge and standing behind it makes me laugh. It's pretty ridiculous! I hope we use it! We got the Joovy Big Caboose Stand-On Triple. (Thank you Mom & Dad!)

Our BIG BOY!!!!!

And a post about baby gear!!! Jake is sorta growing out of his infant carseat. (His feet hang over & the straps are tight on his shoulders- he's so long!) We knew that when he outgrew his infant seat we would be buying a new stroller too, because his stroller was the "snap-&-go" style carseat-carrier type. We just didn't think it'd be so soon! So he got his new carseat last week- he looks like such a big boy in it! (Below: looking COOL in his old Graco SnugRide, and now in his new Britax Boulevard... it'll last until he's 65 pounds and can be forward or rear facing!)

And this was the hardest part... the stroller search. After much research, we finally found the perfect one! It's the Phil & Ted's E3 stroller, and I got an AMAZING deal on it during the USA Baby St. Patty's Day sale! ($300 off!!!) We'd been looking for single strollers that convert to doubles (for when we have more). {{Why buy another single stoller now, only to have to get a double in another year or two!?! I'm so *over* buying baby gear for a while!}} So this one won, closely followed by the Valco Rebel. The most important features for me were weight (this is the lightest double I've seen), and size. I hate those huge bulky double strollers- this one is so maneuverable too! Since we don't have two yet, I wanted a single option. It'll get tons of use because it holds kids up to 4 years or 88 pounds. (Or 55 lb in front & 33 lb in back.) Jake loves both seats/positions. Here are pics of two of the configurations. You can also set it up in a newborn/toddler configuration, and you can get a kit that allows any infant carseat to hook-in. So perfect!! We've loved our snap&go but I wish I had known about this one initially. It can also be a jogger. We went on our first walk/run today and it was so smooth and light!!! (Below: Jake & Great-grandpa Brunson, in his Graco Snap&Go stroller, and then pics of Jake in the new E3 stroller)

P.S. Jake seems really comfy in the "back seat" & there's room to grow. I've heard that kids actually fight over the back seat. (I was concerned that there was no view but I guess it won't be an issue.) I can't believe how quickly Jake is growing up!!!! These two items should get us along for a *lot* of years! Hope my research and baby gear saga helps someone somewhere! I asked SO many people for their reviews and opinions during the last few months~*