Gettin' close...

I am at the point in this pregnancy where I am realizing that my life is going to change. This baby is going to come out of me and it is only days away from happening. I will be the mother of two. At only 19 months old, Lucy will be a big sister. I have to give birth again. And then I have to recover from giving birth. HOLY COW! That's a lot to take in, but I also don't really want to be uncomfortable anymore so bring it on.... I guess... I have been trying to do one thing a day to prepare for this baby's arrival. We have cleaned the car seat, (it looks like new) I have packed a bag for Lucy and for me. I have made all arrangements for Lucy if we deliver early. I have gotten down the new born clothes. I have prayed a whole lot that this delivery will be easier than the first. I think I'm ready. I think James is ready too. He really has done a lot to stay ahead on his homework, and all of his teachers and classmates are very aware of the upcoming event. As for Lucy... I really think this is going to be a big change in her little world. She really does have our undivided attention most hours of the day. I know she will adjust, but I can't help but feel a little bit guilty about bringing on this change in her life so early, but I know she will thank us later. We are providing her with not only a sister but a best friend for life. I know she will be happy with the decision when it matters. Ahh... I sure love her though. She is so much fun, and so bright. She is getting so big and so smart everyday. I caught her beautiful smile on camera today and I was so happy. She is such a blessing to my life and James' as well. I really can't imagine two of these special beings filling house. It will be wonderful.
 I listened to Elder Steve Snow's talk today that he gave a couple of years ago, entitled "Get On with Our Lives."  It was what I needed to hear this morning. Especially one story he told about Robert Gardner, who learned to welcome change, good or difficult, in his life with a positive hope and attitude. I am committed to do the same. Click the link to listen. It's a good one.
On that note, here's hoping the next blog brings pictures of the new little Stewart addition. Love you all.

Happy Rosh Hashana!

Or Happy (Jewish) New Year!  I am liking this Jewish religion more and more. I would never convert but I am sure grateful to the Jews for all of their random high holy days. I think it really is a testimony that we were supposed to have our baby at this time and James is supposed to be at this school because we will celebrate 8 random days off in the next 4 weeks, right close to this babies due date. I love it. For one the school shuts down completely so James has no excuse to leave the house. He has had plenty of homework to keep him busy at home, and he has been very diligent at getting it done and even ahead to prepare for the birth of this baby. I think after this week, he will pretty much just have finals to worry about come the month of October. He has finished most of his big projects and presentations ahead of time. Thank you James. I know you have worked hard to do so, but in the end we hope it will be worth it.
As for pregnancy updates: I am still pregnant, but the Dr says I am progressing. I am hoping for a scheduled induction on my due date. I am in no hurry to have this baby early, but I do NOT want her to come late. Is that okay to put that kind of demand on this sort of thing? I believe in modern medicine, and although Lucy did not come according to a more natural time clock, I really think I prefer the expected from the unexpected. We will see what the Dr says next week, but I am predicting October 3rd as the birthday of my unborn child.

We have been tapping into our creative side and trying to
do more art projects. Thank goodness for washable markers.

We have pretty much settled on a name but James refuses to call her by that name until she is born. I think he is still hoping I will change my mind, or she will come out and reveal her name to us herself. Either way, she will most likely be called Molly. If Lucy could talk I would have her start practicing the name but currently we are just working on animal sounds so saying "Molly" might be a little difficult for her at this time.
Speaking of Lucy, her hair is now long enough that I can put it in legit pigtails. I love it. She is very good at letting me do her hair as long as the TV is on or she is in her high chair eating something. I have been ever grateful for a cooperative subject, because as much as I hated my mom practicing those braids on me for hours at a time, I know I am going to be exactly the same way. I still to this day don't know how she got us to sleep in those sponge curlers every Saturday night, but you know I'm going to try that one day too. I am so glad to have girls. I have never considered myself very "girly" but I do enjoy all of the fun that comes with having girls. I am excited to play dolls and teach them to cook and bake and dress them in pink and purple. I know a lot of it comes from my mom's influence. After having three boys I can only imagine her thrill of raising two girls and doing all the fun things that she did with her sister growing up, living it all again with us. And she did. I am totally the same way. I loved my sister and I loved all of the things that we did together and can't wait to introduce all of it to my girls.
Speaking of my sister, she just gave birth to her 4th boy. She is a fantastic mother of boys. And they are very lucky to have her as a mother. Although she won't be playing dolls and putting their hair in curls, I have watched her play pirates, zombies, and super heros like nobodies business. I guess that is why she keeps bringing boys into this world. There is no better place or home to send them. By the way for records sake her due date was only a week before mine, so now that her child is here,... I am freaking out a little bit because that means its my turn really really soon. Also for the record his name is Harrison Staheli. He was 8 lbs 14 oz 21 inches long, born on Monday afternoon. He is a beautiful baby from the pictures that I have seen and I can't wait to meet him in person.
 It is cooling down here in Henderson, and while we are not even close to fall weather, I love spending more time outside. So does Lucy. We look forward to the Holiday season and can't wait to be introduced and to introduce you all to our new little one.

For those interested

We haven't been out for awhile and I decided it was time to get back to exploring. We traveled to our neighboring city of Las Vegas. We don't leave Henderson much. Lots of people have told us about Town Square. Mostly its a lot of ritzy shops, restaurants, but also an awesome kids park...

... that Lucy loved. 

 She could hardly even stop for a picture. 

 There was a little kids hedge maze. James would put Lucy in the back of the maze and she found her way out every time. Genius! No, probably not, but it was fun. We will definitely visit again. I guess there are some perks to living close to Las Vegas. 

One more thing, Lydia, this is the diaper bag. It is from the JJ Cole Collection. Click here to see more.

Labor day weekend and other fun stuff

We had originally planned to head further north to see all of James' boys that are just recently home from missions and also to see my mission president who was having a get together, because he has just recently moved back to Utah from Argentina, but instead we went for less traveling and a more relaxing weekend in St. George/ PineValley. It turned out to be a much better plan. I am just four weeks away from my due date, and James had lots of homework to catch up on. Overall, when we planned this trip months ago, we were not thinking at all about our current situations. So to all of you that we missed seeing, I am sorry, but to all of you that we got to see, we had a great time in your company.

This is her new thing. She plugs her ears ALL the time. 

My favorite buddy. 

We drove up late Friday night, stayed the night in St. George. Early the next day, I was ready to head up  to Pine Valley to bask in its fresh air. It took us awhile longer to get up there, but once we did, it was so nice to sit on the porch, chat, and really do very little more than that. I hadn't been up there since my mom's wedding, but really hadn't spent a significant amount of time up there since who knows how long. I really want Lucy to have some memories of Pine Valley like I did growing up. She loved being free to run around open yard and come in and out of the cabin as she pleased. It was so good to see her in that setting. We are still out a decent camera so I didn't take pictures. The collage you see I stole from my mom's blog. Thank you mom for recording our presence there. That is probably the only pregnant shot you will get of me this pregnancy as well, so thanks for recording that as well.
In the evening we all gathered for a delicious BBQ. It was all fantastic and we all ate way too much, but that did not stop anyone from scarfing down the cookies that I made for dessert. I had to push people away, as they were gone straight out of the oven and devoured hot off the cookie sheet. It was just like old times.
We were the last to leave and headed back down to St. George late that night to put Lucy to bed. The next morning we visited the St. George Temple and visitor's center. I snapped a few pictures and it was weird to think that only a little more than two years ago it was just James and I taking pictures on these same steps. Now, we have this little family that has been so fun and brought us more joy than we could have imagined walking up those steps so long ago. I sure do love this little girl and her daddy. I can't wait to meet her sister and see what joy she has to bring our home as well.
We stayed the day in St. George so we could enjoy Cake and Icecream at my Grandma's that night. It was a lot of fun and we stayed a long time there as well. We didn't even start heading home until about 8:30 pm. It was good to be home, especially because we had Monday off, so we had a day to recover from the mini vacation.

So there you go. We can't wait for this new baby girl, I for one am so excited to have this pregnancy end. It has been interesting, the differences between this one and Lucy's. We have done very little to prepare for this one's arrival. With Lucy, I think we were out every evening purchasing something new in anticipation for her arrival. I am sure I had a hospital bag packed by now and the car seat was belted in my car for at least 2 months before Lucy's due date. The extent of preparation I have made with this one is a box of diapers and a new diaper bag. The first diaper bag we had was a hand-me-down from my sister and I really needed a new one. I did a lot of research, but in the end I ended up getting the same brand and a similar style as the one we have been using. I have loved it and it has been good to us, so why not? Plus this particular bag got only great reviews from mom's who have used it.