Is it time?

Contractions have been about 10 mins apart since about midday yesterday. For awhile they weren't very painful or intense but I think that's picking up this morning.
Who knows....this could go on for days. But I certainly hope not!

Another comparison

Am I as big with Baby Girl as I was with Peyton? I don't know why I'm obsessing over this so much. Maybe its because I'm starting to have flashbacks of labor with a 9lb 13oz baby. Flashbacks that include an epidural, at least. But maybe I'm freaking out because the pediatrician told me that the first baby is usually the smallest. Or it could be because the goal is to have this one without the epidural (too many back problems and potential complications with the epidural). On the bright side, I hear the second labor is usually easier and quicker. I'm definitely carrying this baby differently, and I'm not as wide as I was with Peyton, so who knows! I don't think this baby will be as big, but I really don't have anything to base that on, other than my own intuition. But here's a comparison anyway. I happen to be wearing the same maternity dress. On the left, I had about 4 weeks left with Peyton. On the right, I have about 3 weeks left with Baby Girl.

The Sibling Tour

A couple of months ago, our family did a hospital tour with other expecting families. We mostly wanted to show Peyton where I would be when I had the baby. It wasn't really geared for kids and he lost interest relatively quickly. Then I recently ran into one of our trusty babysitters on campus - she's now in med school at UNC - and she asked if I had brought Peyton on the sibling tour. I did not know anything about it, nor was I even aware it existed. She told me how great it was for kids and I decided to look into taking Peyton. We went this morning and Peyton had a great time.

He got to dress up like a doctor, with a gown, a mask, and gloves.

They talked about the proper way to hold a baby and got to practice with baby dolls. I was most impressed this evening when I asked him to tell Daddy about what he learned about how to hold the baby. Peyton told him that he had to be careful and hold the head up with one hand and hold the feet with the other. He kept telling the volunteer helping him that the baby needed some clothes. He's going to be a great big brother!



They also learned how to change a baby's diaper. Oh boy. Now he's going to want to change baby girl's diaper all by himself because now he thinks he knows better than me.

Less than three weeks left to go until my due date (officially Feb 16th). My own calculations tell me she's really due on Feb 12th. Patrick asks me every morning how I'm feeling because he says he could tell when I was getting close last time because of how miserable I had started to feel. At this point, I'm still feeling pretty good. But that could also be because I spent most of this pregnancy laying on the floor feeling pretty miserable already that I feel great now in comparison. I haven't had any contractions or braxton-hicks or anything though, so I'm thinking Baby Girl is pretty comfortable. I don't think she'll be as big as Peyton, but this is only based on my intuition - nothing scientific. Of course, I remember thinking that Peyton would be a big baby, but never in my dreams did I think he would be almost 10lbs, so I could be wrong. I'm planning to work up until the time I deliver if possible, so I can save my time off for after the baby is born. Things are slowly but surely coming together in the new house, and we have the baby's room almost all set up. (Pictures to come in the next post!) Its been a whirlwind couple of months, but I'm looking forward to the baby's arrival and being able to focus on her and Peyton for awhile, without having to worry about work, moving, house, packing, unpacking, etc.

A Christmas Post...Finally!

Christmas is now a month behind us, but I figured I should still post some pictures from our adventures. We had a great trip home, and enjoyed seeing all of our families. We never seem to be able to spend as much time with everyone as we'd like though. We'll have to start planning another trip home!

Peyton and Patrick finally got to meet my nephew Owen. So. Stinkin'. Cute.

Peyton got to help Papa make a tanker.

Peyton also got to help Lulu make rice krispy treats. He might have licked his fingers. A lot.

The Harrell Christmas tree is filled with special ornaments that they've collected over the years. This is one of my favorite from when Patrick was young...I think I see a little bit of Peyton in there, don't ya think?

Peyton got to hang out with Gramps




And play with his cousins......

Baby Girl Harrell even got a few fun gifts!



And of course Peyton got to eat some beignets!! There's just no avoiding getting the sugar everywhere!

And my favorite video of all time.....Peyton returns to playing the guitar. He made up his song, of course, and I'm hard pressed to interpret exactly what he's saying, but something about Christmas trees, Christmas presents, and Christmas lights. Be sure to catch the ending as he cuts off the song with his hand.

Peyton's new room!

We bought a dresser for Peyton at the habitat reuse store and Patrick and Peyton have been working hard to sand and paint it. Peyton was excited about his new dresser and therefore we hoped willing to give his old dresser and bed to his baby sister once it was ready. He declared he wanted dump trucks on his new big bed too, so Santa Claus brought him a new bedroom set.

Fixing up the dresser became a much bigger project for Patrick than he anticipated (of course),requiring several trips to Home Depot and Lowe's for parts, but I really like how it turned out. He worked really hard and it turned out very nice - it looks great in the room!

How Embarrassing!

Kids are often brutally honest and don't have much of a filter. I've heard horror stories of the inappropriate things that kids say out in public. Now I'm getting to experience it first hand. And for whatever reason, Peyton has taken to calling people out on their weight.

As he and Patrick were grocery shopping the other day, they passed someone that Patrick admitted was on the larger side of size. Peyton suddenly belted out (not so quietly), "Dad! That guy is FAT!" He's pretty sure the guy heard him. This led to a discussion about the things that are not so nice to say to people. But trying to explain where this line is to a 3 year old is not exactly easy.

Then this week, Peyton's class had a Christmas party for all of the parents to attend. Another little boy in his class has a dad that I've met and chatted with on a number of occasions, and as we made small talk at the party, Peyton interrupted, "You have a big fat belly!" This led to my mumbled explanation of how we've been joking about my big growing belly as I totally avoided eye contact, apologized, and slinked away. This guy wasn't huge or anything, and he took it in stride, "Oh! That's from all the cookies I've been eating!" Thank God Peyton didn't say it to his wife that gave birth to their child a few months ago now. As I tried to control my rising blood pressure and red face, we had a discussion about how we don't say things like that to people.

So, I would like to apologize in advance to anyone out there that my son insults. We're working on the issue, but I can't promise he won't be perfectly blunt with you during your conversation with him. He's certainly not learning these bad manners at home!

Heaux Heaux Heaux

Our Santa Picture - 2011. Isn't Peyton so handsome in his argyle sweater vest?!