Chair

So little man's chair is now here and ready for some serious rockin'! YEA! Thanks to Lulu and Nini we can comfortably rock this little baby! We can't wait! Again this is an iPhone quality picture, because I can't get it together enough to upload pics from the good camera......what am I going to do when there are TWO babies to keep me busy.....you all may never see pictures again!

We went to the dr yesterday and found out we will be calling tomorrow to schedule induction for next week.....the 17th (we hope!). Now of course this all depends on if there are no other people who have a medical reason to have a baby that day.....keep your fingers crossed for me! We have our bags packed (for the most part) and Aunt Betsy has agreed to stay at our house with Madeline and the dogs and everything is set for my kids at work while I am away.....now it is just a waiting game.

I was dilated a little more yesterday.....around a 2 1/2 or 3.....so that is good news, but I am still not getting my hopes up! Dr Lamar expects the little guy to be around 6 1/2 or 7 lbs! So those are the facts according the dr, but as we all know babies have a mind of their own, so in order to pass the time for me a little more quickly I would love to hear if you think baby will come before the 17th or after (heaven forbid!) and how much you think he will weigh.....and while you are at it....go ahead and weigh in on the name debate.....we THINK we are set, but are still tossing things around.

So leave us a comment.....
Date
Weight
Name.....Benjamin Carter (Ben), Benjamin Carter (Carter), or Carter Benjamin (Carter)

And I've got some pics of Madeline I will upload soon (hahaha) preparing to be a big sis.....or maybe she is actually preparing to revert back to babyhood (she is in the baby's room and crib!)

The end is near!

We went to the doctor today and I do believe it was the best appointment yet. We not only found out that everything looks great from last week's ultrasound, but we also chose a date to be induced IF he doesn't come on his own first. I was checked (this is for those of you that this means something to.....) and I am almost 2 cm dilated and effaced....he said the conditions are very favorable for me to go into labor on my own BEFORE we induce and if not then he will be very comfortable inducing a week early. YEA! That puts us at FEBRUARY 17th or 18th.....17th probably.....every day counts at the end right? John and I were so excited to have a date (earlier than our original due date) and even more excited to hear he won't be surprised if I go into labor on my own before then. Now I definitely realize that being dilated, effaced or anything could very well mean nothing and I could walk around just the same for WEEKS, but I have HOPE now!

The pictures below are iPhone quality and don't get TOO excited......he doesn't have an official name yet......well....I take that back....his official name is
BENJAMIN CARTER BARNARD

BUT....... we haven't decided if he shall be called BEN or CARTER......decisions, decisions! I know it says BEN in the pic, but that is only because that was fewer letters to buy to see if I even liked them to hang in his room.
This is where the rocking chair/glider will go. Hopefully this week??? Pending Mr Nix's completetion of recovering it.

Crib....obviously.....

And I do not have a picture of the changing table/dresser because we hung a shelf above and haven't taken a picture.....will do soon......

That's all for now.....I will try to post some pics of the princess soon...while she is still an only child. Her poor little world is about to be ROCKED! EEK!

The Nameless Child

So Baby Boy still remains nameless......we really need to make a decision, but it is so much harder the second time around. While he does not yet have a name.....he has been showered with gifts by some fabulous friends. And his room is ready for him to arrive (except our rocking chair, which shouldn't be too long, as it is being recovered with Mr Nix as we speak). We went to the Dr Monday for an ultrasound and found out little man is measuring perfectly.....he is about 5 1/2 lbs with a month to go. Everything looked great on Monday. We got to watch him for a little bit and he did not want to show his face. His hands were on his face the whole time. I am guessing that is not a sign that he will be shy.....how could a child of John Barnard's be SHY??? ;) As the week went on from Monday, I have become VERY tired and have been having a lot of back pain and NOW swelling and elevated blood pressure. Not anything to worry about, but is making me take it easy and REST....not the easiest thing for me. I saw the Dr today and they told me to stay off my feet for the weekend and come back Monday to check things out again. While I would LOVE to not be pregnant much longer, lets all hope that we can get a couple more weeks of baking time out of this little guy before my body decides it's done. This is pretty well what happened last time with Madeline, except it was a long time coming and this time the swelling and weight gain has totally snuck up on me. If this tells you anything....at this point in my last pregnancy....not only was I at the hospital having Madeline but I had gained 50 more lbs than I have at this point. HAHA.....that is like MORE than one of my little guys at school! WOW! Makes me VERY happy to know I will have less weight to take off this time! I will post some pictures of the little guy's room ASAP....this weekend I'm sure since I am confined to the house pretty much. As you can see this afternoon has been great for my blog......we are now almost up to date!

Sweet Ms Sarah!
My lovely hostesses

Sweet friends.....

My long lost Alamo friends! ;)

Auntie Clare and Cousin Will!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started VERY early at our house......330 AM actually! I guess Madeline decided she wanted to try to catch Santa......She has never woken up at night like she did that night. She was screaming and crying and kept saying "No onkies" and "NO NO!" It was very bizarre. We don't know if she was having a bad dream or what, but it made for a very long day! As you can see she was VERY excited about her presents.
Once we got up and saw her presents she kept saying "Cheese" everytime the camera was anywhere near her!

She loved her baby that Linnie and Auntie Jill gave her.

She carried that baby everywhere for several days and still needs "Stella" before we go places.

Daddy decided might as well go all out and let her have a Christmas cookie with red icing around 6 am.

Christmas night we went to Pawpaw and Mamaw's house and Madeline LOVED playing with Mamaw's dolls.

She sat with Pawpaw to open his presents.

She played with Betsy in the little chairs for ever.....and took them all over the house.

Christmas Eve

OK so I am a BAD blogger. Sorry! I don't know where the time is going.... So here are our Christmas pictures. I wasn't the best picture taker, but was better than last year.....baby steps! Madeline had a wonderful Christmas. We all enjoyed every minute of her and I really tried to cherish each moment because REALLY soon it won't be just her and we won't be able to devote all of our attention to her. Madeline really enjoyed the "presents" part of Christmas. She enjoyed giving presents just as much as opening them I think. She would get so excited when we gave her a present to give to someone. Very cute. Christmas Eve Madeline was so funny and loved being the center of attention. She really loved having Cooper there to share Christmas with also. It was so sweet. I really think she is going to be such a great big sister.
Waiting for Santa..... She wouldn't go to bed without her coloring book and colors......hilarious!
Loving having Uncle T and Cooper!

Sweet girl in her Christmas dress!

Merry First Christmas Coop!

Opening Presents....

So happy to have everyone's attention....

Let the Christmas festivities begin....

Today was Luke Pitt's Birthday! We had so much fun at his party out at Mary and David's. It was BYOB (Bring Your Own Bike).....great idea!!!! All the kids had a blast....even though the girls were not in the best moods (Elizabeth and Madeline).....although they snapped out of it pretty quickly!

Birthday boy loved pushing Madeline around.
Is that not the most handsome birthday boy EVER?

The UNHAPPY girl with her new baby from cousin Will.....she won't put the thing down!

So we began the Christmas Chaos this weekend with Christmas with the Winfrey's (Michael, Jill and Will specifically). Madeline and Will got to exchange their gifts Saturday afternoon before Mommy and Daddy went to the Deb Presentation. Madeline was really into opening gifts and more into Will's gifts (although hers were awesome!). She couldn't figure why he was more into eating paper than his cool presents.

Madeline loved sitting in Mommy's lap and opening her presents.

Will really loved seeing EVERYONE! Especially fun Uncle Rand......We don't know what it is about Rand but the kids LOVE him!

Madeline was so excited to play with Will, but was really confused that he is now on the move.

Early Christmas Present!

As you can see from the previous day's postings....our family received an early Christmas present. I have the privelege of playing with that present tonight.


Long legged little thing...

Sweet little family!

This one reminds me of Madeline.....teeny baby with a big ol papi...holding on to it for dear life!

Can't see a lot of the baby but thought it was kind of a neat angle!

KIND of looks like a smile....but was definitely NOT....he did not like what Auntie Beth was doing to him!

Sweet baby boy in a box!