Well, I keep thinking that I have to upload new pictures in order to post a new blog entry, but that process is not so easy and I keep putting it off! There are quite a few new exciting things going on, that I'll just have to post pictures later.
First, we are officially three weeks away (or less) from welcoming a new member to our family. We're all so excited about the baby and can't wait to meet him or her. We finally came up with a girl and a boy name that we like as well as middle names, so this baby can officially arrive any day now and we won't be paniking, or at least not about names. I still have some organizing and cleaning projects that I want to complete - so I need at least another weekend and two would be better. So far I'm still doing well (noticing some swelling in the ankles especially at night, but my hands and face don't feel or look that swollen, so I think I'm okay). And the baby is still VERY active - I don't think he/she sleeps any longer than 20mins at a time! My doctor hasn't even put me on weekly visits yet and I'm only three weeks away from having this baby (we're scheduled to go to the hospital on April 7th). I guess she doesn't seem to be worried about our health or that I'll go into labor early.
Next is the exciting news that Ryan is officially a big boy now! Yes, he is fully potty trained and we're all LOVING it!!!! Boy he took his time getting to this stage, but something clicked and he pretty much decided on his own that it was VERY COOL to use the potty and not have accidents anymore AND absolutely loves his new big boy underwear. He even picks out his underwear days ahead of time and plans which one he's going to wear next. With Charles we had quite a few accidents in big boy underwear so I'm a little shocked that Ryan is doing so well. We don't have to ask him if he needs to go, he goes on his own, or if we're on the road or running errands he'll let us know he needs to go. He is really taking this big boy thing seriously and honestly does not need any of our help. He even unzips, zips AND snaps his own pants, and recently has sown me that he can put on his shoes all by himself. He only occasionally needs help getting shirts off because his head is so big. Oh, I forgot, he does still need our help figuring out which way to put his new big boy underpants on. He gets confused with front and back - but even that he's catching on! :-) My little boy is so grown up and doesn't need mommy's help, I think I'm going to cry! Good thing I'll soon have a new little one that will need lots of my help. Actually I shouldn't be feeling like this, it is truely a blessing that Charles and Ryan are now so independant. I will most likely need to be nursing the baby in the morning and probably will not be able to help the boys get dressed near as much as I have in the past. I will just supervise the opperation.
The other news is that I just signed Charles up for soccer this spring. I'm so excited that he'll get to do something special. He loved soccer camp last year and we were late signing him up so he never actually made it on a team, but this year I'm on top of things! The season falls right when I'll be on maternity leave so I should be able to take him to all of his practices and games without any problems. I could have signed Ryan up too, but decided that we should wait a little longer as I didn't want to be overwhelmed with keeping up with two practice and game schedules and caring for a newborn all while recovering from a c-section etc. I want this to be enjoyable - not a chore. And Ryan still enjoys watching his brother play and can practice with him in our backyard etc. One day it will be Ryan's turn, and maybe soccer or maybe even a different sport - who knows.
Okay, that's probably a long enough update for now. The next one might be a birth announcement with lots of cute baby pictures!!! :-)
Amy Claire Smith was born on Wednesday, April 7th, at 1:18PM. She weighed a healthy 8lbs 9oz, was 20 inches long. Cara and Amy are both doing very very well. Amy seems to be doing much better with the jaundice than either Charles or Ryan and we may not have to make all of the trips back and forth to the lab for bloodwork and visits with the pediatrician for the first week or two, as we had to for Charles and Ryan. Amy is eating very well and sleeping most of the time. In fact, so far, she appears to be a very calm baby!!! Her older brothers ask about her all the time, especially if they can't see her or don't know where she is. Charles just loves staring at Amy and often says that she is so beautiful! And Ryan likes to touch her (feet, nose, ears, everything!!!), in fact, he'll stop what he's doing and just out of the blue, go over and "have to touch Amy". :-)
