Close Encounters

So I went to check our duck nesting spot yesterday for eggs, and this is what I found:

Yikes!  I immediately called Pete and asked if I needed to go get a gun to shoot the not-so-little egg-stealer.  He said, "You need to kill it with a shovel, but get some good pics first!" which is why you are able to see a very nice picture of a very ugly snake (you're welcome).  On my way inside to get my camera, I pumped myself up for the killing that was about to take place.  Talk about pioneer woman!  Here I am 9 months pregnant about to hack away at an anaconda.   As it turned out, the anaconda didn't like the flash of my camera very much, so it slithered away quite quickly, and I only nicked its tail with the shovel while shouting, "Shoot!  Get back here so I can brag about killing youuuu!"  It didn't listen.  So there I was with the biggest adrenaline rush ever, and I had nothing to show for it.  And on top of that, Pete informed me that evening after inspecting the pictures, the dern thing isn't even poisonous.  So now we're just waiting for it to try to eat our eggs again so we can kill it and save our eggs--not ourselves.  Still kinda cool, just not dangerous cool.  Oh, well.

Selfies and smooches on the steps

Wearing John's boots again

Once the shades go on, this girl doesn't know any other expression than this.  Mean-muggin'.

Our new after-dinner ritual: bare bottom play outside!

Running running running!

She dragged this all the way from the laundry room to tell me she wanted to bounce.  Didn't utter a word, just dragged.

"Daddy won't buy me a riding lawn mower 'cause he says lugging this thing around is good for me..."

Our new favorite word:

Singing and Creeping and 37-Weeking!

That's a very Dr. Suess-esque title, isn't it?

Well our little year-and-a-half old (as of yesterday) is beginning one of my most favorite new things to date: singing!  It is absolutely the cutest thing that she does now.  She attempts to sing "Happy Birthday," a few songs from the Elmo clips we watch daily, and "Danger Zone" (which is a hilarious choice).  She's very modest about it, but smiles SO big when she's giving it a go.  There's a video below that I took a few weeks ago to send my dad of her mimicking my singing of "Danger Zone."

Susannah's new tricks also involve walking backward and creeping like a sleuth around the house.  Both are adorable and, as I'm sure you can imagine, hilarious.  

And yes, I'm 37 weeks with Baby John today!  I got to sneak another peek at him this morning in an ultrasound because the doc said last week that I am (again) measuring too small for his comfort.  Well, the ultrasound tech said that John is measuring close to 38 WEEKS actually, to which my doctor looked at me quite dumbfounded-ly and said, "I really just don't know WHERE you are hiding this baby!"  Me either, Doc, but praise the Lord John's measuring well! So the waiting game is getting shorter, and we are getting excited.  Please pray with us that John's labor goes just as smoothly as Susannah's!

Excited about having another snuggly babe around THIS MONTH!

We love rocking.

Climbing up and down the slide all day!  And get a load of those rosy-red cheeks--definitely got those from her mama.

Swinging with our pal Barrett
 

Putting a sock on her hand because that's normal.  She does it multiple times a day.

You may need to turn the volume up some for this, as her modest voice gets so cute and quiet when she sings:

35 Weeks

First off, Mom texted me the most adorable picture ever the other day from her and Figgy's weekend here with Sus that she had forgotten to send to us while we were gone.  I mean seriously, this cuteness is a great summation of what their weekend involved:

Adorable!

Welp, I'm 8 months pregnant now, and I had my first minor freak-out yesterday.  The reality of how close we are to being a family of 4 hit hard.  Not too long ago, Susannah forced her way into the outside world at 37 weeks; I'm currently 35 weeks and a couple days with John.  Think about that.  Also, Susannah doesn't like me spending time and/or attention on anyone else; I am permitted to sit still and watch her play by herself if I am not actively playing with her, but if I so much as start a conversation with Pete, pick up my phone, glance toward the dishes in the sink, request permission to use the potty, or avert my attention in any direction other than hers, she's all up in my bidness again.  Susannah is my shadow, and I told Pete just tonight that I have never, ever experienced something so simultaneously adorable and annoying in my entire life.  It's quite an anomaly.  So yeah, I started thinking about all that.  If she's throwing temper tantrums now...yeesh.

I was able to calm myself down from these anxieties by reminding myself that (a) my mom is going to live with us for the first year -- er, few weeks -- of John's life, (b) lots of people, like 20 or so, have survived having 2 under 2, and (c) Psalm 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you."  So bring on the new babe! (Just kidding, let's wait til 40 weeks this time.)

35 Weeks!  EEEEEK!

Snacking on the porch 

Girlfriend fell asleep in the swing!  Soooo sweet.

Tea time with her baby doll

Watering the flower beds / playing in the water

A Lovers' Weekend

(I titled this post to make every reader cringe...including myself.  Why is that word so awkward??)

Susannah had a special treat this past weekend: SuSu and Figgy BOTH came in town to hang out with her while Pete and I spent a few days at The Eastern Shore!  So needless to say, this was also very much a special treat for us.  We had a great time attempting to fish (the water temp was unfortunately too low for there to be any bites), eating some amazing seafood, sleeping in until 8 (EIGHT!!!), and talking/thinking about Susannah and John 98% of the time.

Some highlights from our adventure weekend.

Here are some of the pictures we got from the grandmamas while we were away:

Susannah entertained herself in all sorts of ways while Figgy and SuSu worked their tails off in our flower beds!

Swinging naked is normal. (As if the neighbors don't think we're weird enough as it is!)

Our little farm girl out to help her grandmamas with the help of her beloved cupcake.

A few other highlights from the past few weeks:

Pure mischief.

This child LOVES dresses, like her cousin Hannie!

Susannah walking her baby while I walk Charis, our pastor and his wife's daughter.

John is growing well!  I'm 34 weeks now and feeling great.  At my 32 week checkup, they were concerned that my belly was measuring too small, so we got to have a sneak peek at our little man in an ultrasound that afternoon.  He's measuring in the 58th percentile on all accounts, so he's PERFECT!  My doctor told me that I'm "just good at hiding babies," which is okay by me, since it's just now getting slightly cumbersome to roll over in bed or get up from the couch.  Today was my 34 week checkup, and things are still looking great!  Now if I can just do SOMETHING with his room...

Weekend in Collierville

Pete was able to take some time off work so that we as a family could travel to Collierville together!  The last few visits there have been just the girls, so it was quite a treat for our favorite man to come along with us.  Katie and Brian were also able to come in town for the weekend, and since Eric and Lauren and family are already there, the entire Mike Ware clan was together -- it was such a great time!  Family time always goes by a little too quickly.  Here are a few pics from the weekend:

Tickling the ivories with Holland

Thankful for some warm weather and wiffle balls!

All snazzy for a wedding--maybe we're not as old and haggard as we sometimes feel!

Wagon rides with Hudson

Silly boy!

The newest Ware: Hendricks!

The entertainment behind the camera for the next picture...

Two very happy grandparents!

"Nigh Nigh"

That's just a short segment of what game Susannah wants to play with us all day long.  Pete and I could not stop laughing last night as she did this same routine over and over and over again.  I mean, the slow let-down is HILARIOUS, you have to admit.  I know I'm biased, but man, we've got some good entertainment over here.

I feel the need to clarify my garlic post from a couple weeks ago: I did get that nasty stomach bug in December right before leaving for the Bahamas, but I haven't read anything about garlic being good for stomach things...just colds and the like.  So I should have said that I survived the cold and flu season, rather than the sick-season because that stomach bug sho nuf knocked me on my hiney.

I passed my 3-hr glucose test!  I think next time around I am going to ask to just skip the 1-hr test because, as Pete put it, "Sal, there's a lot of things you're really good at in life, and the 1-hr glucose test is not one of them."  I resign to that fact now.

We're heading to Collierville for the weekend and are looking forward to seeing the whole Mike Ware clan.  Katie and Brian will be in town, AND we will get to meet Eric and Lauren's newest, Hendricks Michael!

Watching for more cars to drive by so she can wave and say, "hey!"

I did not ask for this pose; for the first time EVER, she sat there smiling and waiting for me to get my phone out!

Telling Daddy it's almost that time again...

Uh oh...

Reading snuggles with my babies

Our after-church ritual: climb the stairs over and over again.

Lastly, here's a video of what happens to a clean house over the course of a day. (I obviously don't count my laundry/recycling/catch-all room as a part of our "clean" house...yikes!)

30 Weeks!

As of today, we're 30 weeks pregnant with John Boy.  This pregnancy has absolutely flown by.  It's a good thing that he will be sleeping in a pack-n-play for his first 4-ish months because we sure as heck don't have anything in his nursery ready!  Second child syndrome is already draped over this child, poor guy.  There is a bump picture below; I didn't want to put it too closely to the top because I have no makeup on (we took it like 2 minutes ago for the sake of this paragraph), so it's not my best pic ever.  But apparently hidden in my seemingly-small bump is a large-cabbage-sized baby!  (That's according to Babycenter.com's size estimations.)  

I failed my first glucose test, just as I did with Susannah, so I have the 3-hour test on Thursday.  Blargh.  Prayers on that, please!

We had a great time visiting the Gilberts in Mechanicsville and Figgy and Pops in Harrisonburg last week/weekend.  We also got to spend some time with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Steve, which is always a good time!  

Susannah is getting smarter every day; it is truly unreal.  I never knew just how much FUN it would be to watch someone grow up!  She understands an amazing amount of things we say and is quite a little explorer.  We cannot get enough of our cute, little Shoey Shooter Susie Girl!

PICS!

Late-night pajama raid with the Gilbert girls to Dairy Queen!

Our attempt at a cousin pic...turned out well, eh?

Nathanael is THE SWEETEST!

One of Pete's best friends, Abe, is trying to get Susannah to move her money to his care at Edward Jones.  She's skeptical.

Children's Museum in Harrisonburg.

Baby Petey and Mini Petey!

"Outta my way, I've got farm work to do!"

Got her cute St. Patty's outfit on and rockin' it.

30 Weeks!