A Lovely Little Melon...A Large Cantaloupe Melon!!! (Week 34)

I love, LoVe, LOVE fall!!!  There is just something about this time of year that makes my heart so happy.  The weather is changing, the way it looks outside is just beautiful...ALL THE TIME, it's football season, the smells of fall are so yummy, Starbucks has PSL (heaven in a cup), pumpkin everything is exploding all over the place, fall baking is the BEST, it's finally time to bust out leggings and comfy sweaters and cute long sleeve t-shirts, all those wonderful holidays are coming up, I could go on and on and on!!!  But this year, and every year after, fall will always, without a doubt, be my absolute favorite time of year because our sweet Seiden Grace's birthday will be on October 22nd!!!  Selfishly...I am so glad that she is going to be born during this time of year...since it's my favorite and all!  I have already been thinking of all the fun birthday parties we'll have and all the fun birthday traditions that we will start, not just because of fall, but because I'm already so obsessed with our precious daughter!  And no thanks to Pinterest.  Gosh...I could plan every birthday party from one year old until she tells me to stop planning her birthdays...which will hopefully be never!  Hehe!!!

One thing that I started during the summer and finally finished up about a week ago was preparing freezer meals.  Thanks to Pinterest, and a few family recipes, I have been preparing numerous meals to put in the freezer once Seiden comes.  I LOVE to cook, I cook at least 3-4 nights a week.  Well...I did when Cody wasn't working in Amarillo.  Now, it's once...maybe twice a week.  And, I simply knew that after she was here, I wouldn't have time to cook like I always have and am used to.  But, I still wanted to have healthy, home cooked meals on hand for when she's here and we have no time and are just absolutely exhausted.  So, I had been pinning freezer meals and other casserole dishes that I knew would freeze well all summer long.  Well...the end of summer really crept up on me and it was August before it dawned on me that I had not cooked a single meal for the freezer!  So...I've been in cooking over drive pretty much the last few weeks of summer and every weekend since school has started.  Well...all my hard work has paid off!  We know have about 100 meals (that's including the leftovers that all the casseroles, soups, and crock pot chicken dishes that I made) that will be wonderful to have when Seiden is here.  I also cooked a bunch of stuff for breakfast that freezes well.  Mainly things like breads, oatmeal muffins, and egg casserole bakes.  Anyways, both our outside freezer and our inside freezer are packed to the absolute max full of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that will feed our family once our little miss is here!  Phew...it kinda makes me tired thinking about it.  All the shopping, chopping, measuring, and cooking...it was WORK.  But, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  And, I kinda have a feeling that once all that food is gone I'm going to be sad that I didn't do more because of how easy meal planning will be over the next few months!  I'll post pics of our freezers so you can see the fruits of my labor :-)

I just can't believe that we are really on the down hill slope of this pregnancy.  This week marked exactly 30 days...4 weeks...from when Seiden will be in our arms.  And next Friday is my last day of work before I officially start maternity leave.  Since the doctor wants me in Ft. Worth 2 weeks before October 22nd, we will be heading up to Ft. Worth next weekend.  CRAZY!!!  Cody and I have been talking about some fun things to do for those 2 weeks while we are there.  The Ft. Worth Zoo and The Botanical Gardens are on our agenda at the moment.  Of course, I'm sure we'll go to Cabela's and possibly a mall here and there.  But, we really just want to do some fun things and be outside and enjoy this gorgeous fall weather.  Plus...I am a shopaholic...malls and I go WAY back and I have been known to tear through one and do some serious damage!  And the same goes for Cody in Cabela's!  We just can't help ourselves!  Although...now we are absolutely loving Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, and Super Target.  But we can do serious damage in those stores too...baby stuff is SO cute and when it comes to getting stuff for Seiden...both of us are suckers to the max!  She's not even here yet and her closet is already pretty full!!!  Anyways, I also think it would be fun to go down to the stockyards.  I've only been once, and it would just be fun to go again...day or night!  There are so many things that we can go and do and so many amazing places to eat...I'm sure we'll have plenty to keep us occupied and our tummies full!  We also want to do some serious resting.  Cause let's be real...once this precious girl is here...rest is going to be a foreign word!  So anyways...if anyone has any suggestions of other things to do and places to eat...we welcome the recommendations!!!

We are staying with some of our very best friend's parents.  They have completely opened up their home to us as well as to our family once Seiden is here and we are in the hospital.  We are so blessed by them and so thankful to them for allowing us to live there through all of this.  They are serious like a second set of parents to both of us...and we absolutely LOVE them!  It will be like being at home when we can't be at our home.  Even though we won't be at home...and will miss our dogs TERRIBLY (like I can't even think about leaving them because it hurts my heart in the worst way)...we are SO excited to be in Ft. Worth.  Mainly because that will mark 2 weeks until Seiden is here.  And let's be real...we are so ready to meet her!!!  We are just getting so close that it's absolutely surreal.  For the past 8 months, we have been talking about, planning for, praying over, and dreaming about how it will be to have Seiden at home with us and with our lovies.  And in just 4 short weeks, we will be holding her.  We will no longer wonder what parenthood is like, but we will be living it and figuring out something new each and everyday.  I'm sure that many of those days will be exhausting and challenging, but I can't think of a better reason to be exhausted and challenged than by being a mom to this precious girl that God has given to us.

There are some things that I'm starting to get nervous about.  Mainly just nervous that I'll be a good mom and be everything that she needs me to be.  And, also nervous about nursing.  I'm just concerned that I won't have enough milk or she won't want to feed, etc.  I've been doing lots of praying over all of those things.  And I'm sure when it comes right down to it, it will all come so naturally and God will absolutely provide me with everything I need to be everything she needs me to be.  It's just so much responsibility and I know she is going to need so much on a consistent basis.  I want to be the best mom to her that I possibly can be and provide her with whatever she needs.  I know it's probably totally normal to have these feelings this close to having a baby.  For 9 months we've been able to completely take care of these precious babies from our wombs where they are fed, nurtured, cared for, loved on, and completely 100% been provided for.  Then, in a split second, they are here and everything they need still comes from you, but it's all from the outside world where you may or may not know what they are crying for.  At least at first anyways.  All that to say, even though I'm starting to get nervous, I'm still SO much more excited that it all outweighs my nerves and my fears.  We are just so excited and so ready to meet our precious baby girl...and we are definitely counting down the days!  Seiden Grace...you are going to be here in such a short amount of time and we absolutely cannot wait to see your beautiful, perfect, sweet face.  We love you unconditionally already and I can't even imagine how much that love will grow when we are holding you in our arms.  We thank God for you each and everyday and we just pray His greatest blessings over your life!

Seiden Grace at 34 Weeks:

• You are the size of a large cantaloupe!!!
• You weigh 4.11 pounds and are 18.5 inches long!!!
• You continue to pack on those pounds and gain that adorable baby fat that we can't wait to love on!
• Your smart little brain also continues to develop...and at a mind-boggling pace!  You are going to be quite a little genius when you are born :-)
• Your central nervous system is maturing and your baby's lungs are continuing to mature as well.
• Your beautiful skin is oh-so-smooth and you will be simply glowing!
• You are starting to make mommy's tummy feel really heavy...which just means you are perfect and growing.  But man...you are heavy!
• You continue to be quite the little wiggle worm.  In fact...I'm not sure when you really sleep these days!  Except for at night...you pretty much conk out when mommy does now!  Hopefully that trend continues when you arrive :-)
• You are so loved precious girl.  There are so many people praying for you and over you and I hope that you can feel that love and the power of the Holy Spirit being washed over you constantly.
• Your brother and sisters are so excited to have you here.  They are very curious about mommy's tummy.  They are always sniffing at it (especially Faith) and when you are wiggling and moving around, they cock their little heads and wonder what's going on in there!  Trigger and Faith have been victims of some of your random kicks, punches, and wiggles!  It's pretty cute to see them look back at my stomach with a look on their face like, "what in the world was that?!?"  They love you so much and I know you will love them...they will love and protect you always!
• We absolutely can't wait to meet you sweet girl.  We love you so, so much and you have blessed our lives in more ways than we will ever know!

Only 6 Weeks To Go!!!

 Freezer Meals!!!  And these are just pics of the front and tops of the freezers...our freezers are DEEP!!!  We are gonna be eatin' GOOD!!!

Well...hello there Seiden!  You just really decided to POP right out this week!  You are getting big sweet girl!!!