belly pillow.

post-gym snuggles with mama, brady, and the baby.

not very comfortable for 2 out of 3 of us, but bradykins doesn't seem to mind the belly pillow.

tucked in.

soaking up the last few days of having only one little tucked under my arm.

pool day. and ready for babe!

we joined our neighborhood pool this year & i'm sooooo glad we did! had our first day at the pool yesterday & it was quite the hit with little man. helps that there is a zero depth entry side where he can play endlessly in shallow water.  and the water is heated.  we laughed lots & had a great time.

big mama, almost 37 weeks!!

i had an OB appointment this morning & am dilated to 3cm and 50% effaced. baby girl may arrive any day!!! we seriously need to name her. otherwise, i feel like we are pretty ready for her otherwise. all the baby stuff is out & ready, and we'll install her carseat once the fam all heads home later this week if she hasn't made her appearance by then.  i feel mostly excited & somewhat nervous about our family transition in the next few days/weeks.  overall though, i just really can't wait to see her sweet face & snuggle her soft cheeks.

both my babies.

baby sitting on baby.

i'll miss carrying B on my bump like this!

toddler-mama life.

monkey on my back! love him too much.

big baby.

my big baby is getting so long these days!  it's almost hard to carry him anymore, i'm running out of room with the bump.  but we make it work :)

book reading.

daddy is gone a lot right now finishing up his mba & working, so it's just me and bubba a lot in the evenings.  i'm tired by end of the day, late in pregnancy, so we have found lots of fun quiet things to do together. thankfully brady LOVES to be read to, so we sit in his playroom a lot reading together and the time together & snuggles are precious.  love how he's holding onto my hand in this pic.

what a pretty big brother.

your brother loves to play with mommy's makeup :)

hug the belly.

our last travels.

this past weekend, brady & i took off on our last travels together just me and him.

we've gone a lot of places together and are the perfect travel sidekicks. it was bittersweet knowing that this season of our lives is coming to a halt soon, and the next time we take off on an adventure we'll have a baby sister with us!!  so exciting, but a little bittersweet too (and how in the heck am i going to travel alone with two?! it may be awhile...).  anyway, we went to davis california to see our friends the jacksons!  we had a really great weekend together playing & snuggling.

airport sidekick:

watching for trains in davis:

so many snuggles all weekend:

farmer's market fun in matching chucks:

our sweet friends!!! we love you guys. thanks for letting us spend our last adventure with you:)

bedtime snuggles.

bedtime snuggles with mama, big brother & the bump :)

big brother.

baby girl apostle, you have a really sweet big brother waiting for you.

he spends a lot of time telling people "i have a baby seeker in my tummy" - he thinks HE has a baby in there too, not just mama. and he pats my tummy and he tells EVERYONE he meets that your name is piper. which is the name of his elf on a shelf...haha, we aren't naming you piper!  we talk a lot about what to do when baby sister is crying ("bring her a binky") and where you will sleep ("in my old crib in a seep cack!"). 

i know he doesn't know yet how much his life will change when you come along, but i also know how excited he will be to have a sibling to grow up with, play with, and usher into our family. he is sweet & kind & mostly gentle and we cannot wait to see him become your big brother.  

we all love you already.

belly naps.

belly naps on the flight home from santa barbara.

sweetest EVER.

mama's birthday.

we went out for lunch on my birthday! it was a gorgeous 70 degree day, which called for flip flops & patio seating. had such a good day with my boys and feeling so grateful for all we are looking forward to this year...

24 weeks.

24 weeks with baby girl!

i'm in the sweet spot of pregnancy, feeling good and loving all the kicks and movement i feel from her every day. multiple times a day in fact, she's a mover, just like brady was. 

some things i want to remember about this pregnancy:

1. i'm trying to be healthier this time & actually work out (didn't do much when prego with B) so we go to the gym four or five days a week. i do barre twice a week and the other two or three workouts are on the elliptical. it's nice to keep moving and feel soreness in my muscles (not overdoing it), but honestly it's also just really nice to have a change of scenery most days for brady & me both. he gets to play with new stuff, i get a break from him + endorphins, and we leave much happier together! mike is in the throes of his final MBA semester so brady & i are on our own a lot and while we are making it work great around our household, i'm tired by the end of most days & the trip to the gym in the afternoon post-nap (or sometimes mid-morning) is really something i look forward to.  by the time we get out, it's dinner/bath/purple time and the day is almost done! 

2. i've gained maybe 12-14 pounds so far (i don't have a scale at home so it's a guess based on my 22 week appointment) and feel like my belly looks about the same as it did this time with brady. i love that i did even-week photos with my brady pregnancy to look back on.  i gained a lot of weight with brady, and really had some swelling towards the end. i think regardless of exercise this pregnancy, i may still gain the same (sometimes your body just does the same thing for pregnancies no matter the external variables) but i'm hoping that exercise keeps my in decent shape to lose the weight more easily post-delivery.

3. i realized the other day that having delivered brady at 37 weeks, i've only got 13 weeks to go potentially!!! that was sobering!

4. i have no specific cravings or aversions at this point.

5. at 24 weeks, we are still working on a name for babykins. i think her middle name might be belle, which is french for "beautiful" and definitely is a strong contender. mike loves everything french & i always envisioned using that inspiration if we had a daughter. it's not set in stone, but it's a front runner.  we go back and forth on her first name still. i was in the 30s (weeks) before brady really sank in when we were naming him. so, no rush!

6. when you ask brady where baby sister is, he points to his own tummy. the other day mike said, "but what's in mommy's tummy then?" and he said "baby sister. one in mommy's tummy, one in my tummy."  I HOPE NOT! :)  his preschool teachers told us this week he talks about baby sister all the time and also tells them she is in his tummy.  so adorable!  we moved him into his big boy room a couple weeks ago and now he calls his old room "baby sister's room" and tells me all the time, "i no sleep in a crib, crib is for babies." i love how he's starting to put it all together. he still pronounces sister, "baby sicker" and i love that too.

 speaking of little man, here he is supervising mike taking my 24 week bump photos:

such a big boy now. i can't wait to see him holding his little baby. i think he'll really be a sweet, kind, gentle big brother.

THE sweetest.

post bath purple-watching. armrest provided by the baby bump.

THE sweetest ever!!!

working on her room!

we moved B into his big boy room & just started the rearranging and decorating of baby girl's room! i wanted to change up the way the furniture sits since the big stuff is all the same as brady used. i want it to look different! just got this rug this week & the mint side table. think we will go with coral & mint as a loose theme. i want it bright and airy for her with lots of color. brady of course, assisting me in all i do. this time he emptied out the dresser drawers for me. so helpful!

no room left...

brady has started to have to sit next to me when we read books now, there's no room left for him to sit on my lap and lean back into my comfortably with the baby bump. he does occasionally forget not to push his elbow into me when trying to get up & i have to gently remind him - ouch!  i kind of miss him snuggling into me on my lap though.

comparison.

apostle baby profile comparison...

baby girl at around 20 weeks:

bradykins at around 20 weeks:

do you think they look alike? i kind of do.

bump pillow.

resting on mama's bump while watching "purple" after bath.  it's an evening routine now...