He's HERE!!!!

Mateo Christian Simpson made his appearance today at 3:53pm. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and is 19 3/4inches long.

I am blogging from the hospital, so this will be short, but here are a few pics for the family that couldn't be here with us....

Here is me showing off the tag on my epidural line...
Proud Daddy looking over Mateo

Dr. Bannister holding Mateo.....I still LOVE her!!!

Me checking out Mateo...counting all fingers and toes...

Mateo tonight after he got a bath...

Me looking horrible and TIRED and Mateo doing what he did all night....sleeping in either my arms or Antonio's arms.

Antonio and Mateo dressed in their Memphis gear watching the game in the hospital...

In this last picture, Mateo really looks like Tatum....I have a picture of Tatum that looks alot liket this one....I will have to do a side by side comparison later.

My delivery today was wonderful. I could not have asked for anything more. I was a little surprised that Mateo weighs over 8 pounds, but he still looks so tiny.

Tatum and Mateo have not met yet. Tatum will be coming to the hospital tomorrow to see him for the first time, so i am sure there will be LOTS of pictures taken then.

Antonio, Mateo, and I are in the hospital til Wednesday. Thanks for all of your prayers! We are doing well and I am trying to recover from delivery, catch up on sleep, and get down this breastfeeding stuff.

I will post more pictures later when I get time.

Last Hours of Pregnancy

Well, I am less than 5 hours away from being induced and I must say this pregnancy has flown by. I am so excited for tomorrow and can't wait to finally get my hands on Mateo. The best part will be seeing Tatum's reaction to her new baby brother. I think she is finally 'getting it' a little more.

I won't make this a long post since I am going to attempt to get an hour or 2 of sleep tonight, but I want to ask any and all of you praying people to say an extra prayer for our family tonight and tomorrow.

We are praying for a healthy delivery of Mateo! I am expecting it all to go well tomorrow and will hopefully be able to post pictures from the hospital maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. I had hoped to teach Antonio how to blog for me so he could do it, but that didn't happen, so I will do what I feel up to.

Thanks for the prayers in advance. We are already so blessed and can't wait to meet the next blessing in our family! Our PERFECT Christmas present may be a little late, but I know it will be well worth the wait!

It Could ALWAYS Be Worse....

Today, Saturday, didn't exactly go according to my plans. Here's why...

This morning Tatum woke up around 7am (we got to sleep in a bit). We all got up and were watching TV and I asked Antonio to run and get breakfast somewhere(either donuts or McDonalds). He finally agreed and headed out the door, but turned around and asked me where my car was. Of course, I thought this was his way of putting off going to get breakfast, so we did the whole "that's not funny Antonio" and he would respond "I'm not kidding!" Well I finally believed him and got up and looked. Sure enough, my car was NOT in the carport where we parked it last night.

So, Antonio called the police and I made some calls to get some car information (license plate #, VIN #, etc). Two officers showed up about 10 minutes later and Antonio went out since I was still on the phone. He told them that my car had been stolen to which one officer replied..."Sir, have you been making your car payments and are you up to date with them??" Only in Memphis would they ask this first, but it gave Antonio a laugh at the time and me a laugh later. Anyway, we filed a report and they left.

Later, Antonio decided to take HIS car and go get breakfast. He then discovered they had been in his car too because everything in his center console was out in the seat and his fishing tackle box was in front of our neighbor's house. They stole some things, but nothing notable.

I was very upset about my car being stolen, but MORE upset because my hospital bag that I had packed for baby and me was in my car. It contained LOTS of new stuff (nursing bras, PJs for the hospital, baby's take home outfit, a VERY expensive blanket for the baby, my crocs, etc...just lots of stuff that we needed for the hospital). This meant that all of it needed to be packed again. Luckily I made a list of things when I packed them, so we took that list and headed out for the day to go replace things. We made a few stops and I picked up a rental car and we headed home to regroup.

When we got home, Antonio and I decided Tatum needed a nap, so he stayed with her and I ran to Babies R Us and Baby Gap. While at BRU, I 'saw the light' and realized that I have onStar in my car with free service for a year (which i am still under) and I was SURE they could track my car since they knew where I was when I had my car wreck earlier this year. Anyway, i rushed home and made several calls and long story short, onStar started tracking my car and said they would contact the local police to release the information to them.

About 20-30 minutes later, we got a call from the police that they had located my car and i could come pick it up. It was about 2 miles from our house parked at an apartment complex, so of course we have no clue who stole my car. I peaked in the back and Tatum's car seat was still in the car (Praise GOD!), but my suitcase that I had been stressing over all day was GONE. (BOO!)

The officers said thanks to onStar they located the car. It was the same officers that filed the police report that morning. We were very thankful they called us instead of towing it to the impound lot....that saved us a few weeks and lots of $$$$ in towing and storage fees. The officer asked me to look inside and tell them what was missing, so I opened the door and told them that I didn't know what was missing but THIS (I held up a stolen CD player) was not mine. They kind of smirked and took it. A few things here and there were missing (phone charger, change, ipod cord, hospital paper work to get induced, fleet gas card, etc) but nothing big other than my suitcase. There was also a VERY strong smell in the car and lots of 'stuff' in the floor on the passenger side. I asked the officer if it was tobacco or weed. After he got done giggling inside, he assured me that it was just tobacco.

The people that took my car DID go joy riding in it. They managed to drive about 50 miles and scratch up the front right side of the car and the back left of the car. Nothing major, it's drivable, but will need to be fixed. Antonio will have to take it to a body shop Monday or Tuesday and let them take pics and do an estimate to send to my company.

So, we THINK we know how they got my car. The spare key for my car was in Antonio's car (we are pretty sure). And we are thinking that Antonio may have left his car unlocked. SO, they probably got into his car, found the keys to MY car and took my car. That is the only thing we can came up with because there is no broken glass and no signs that they hot wired my car. This brings up more worry because if this is the case, then this means that this person (people) still have keys to my car and can come back again. So we parked my car up against our storage shed and Antonio's car is inches from my car. There is no way they can get it out without doing some major damage and hopefully that is more hassle to them than it is worth. Anyway, we will also be getting my car rekeyed next week too.

Needless to say, this pretty much took up most of our day. However, we never got overly stressed out about it. While it was a hassle and a major inconvience, it could have been much worse. No one got hurt, they didnt' break into our house, and we did get my car back. No tears were cried (except for Tatum's dislike of shopping all day) and while we still have TONS of stuff that I want to get done before the baby comes, it will still be okay if they don't get done. The clothes will still need to be washed, the house will always need to be cleaner, but that's okay.

We are about 25 hours (right now) from going in to be induced and I am getting so excited to meet Mateo! All of this other stuff can wait.

If I don't have a chance to blog again tomorrow, I will try to later on in the week with lots of pictures. I hope everyone has a great and safe New Years!

Please keep us in your prayers that all goes well with the induction Monday, the epidural works great, and Mateo comes quickly!

Christmas Eve Happenings....

My pictures are backwards, so we will start with tonight and then go to this afternoon. Antonio and I needed to find something last minute, so we (I) decided we needed to try Target....we went and they didn't have it. SO, we (I) decided we should tough it and go to Wal Mart. We got about a half a mile from the Wal Mart entrance and this is what it looked like....
this next picture is closer to the Wal Mart entrance...

Needless to say, we did not even TRY Wal Mart. We decided it wasn't worth it.

Tonight when we got home, Tatum had to put out her reindeer food before going to bed. Here are Antonio and Tatum putting out the food...

Tatum wanted to be sure ALL the food was out so that Santa's reindeer could DEFINITELY see it and be sure to stop...

Now to this afternoon.....Tatum and I got ready and went down to where Antonio works to go to his Christmas party. Here is a picture of Tatum before we left the house...

Tatum and I bought a ton of little candy canes so she could pass them out to all of the employees. Here is Ms. Ann (aka the bossman's wife) helping Tatum pass out the candy canes.

Ron (aka the bossman) got a card from all of his employees. It was HUGE....here it is....

Antonio and Tatum....

Sonny works with Antonio too. Here he is getting his card and gift...

Tatum loved Ms. Ann. She spoiled her a bit by walking her around and talking to her.

Since I am due 'any day now', Antonio, Tatum, and I could not travel out of town. Instead we did some last minute shopping and went out to dinner. THEN we (I) decided I wanted some ice cream, so we went to Chick-fil-A, but they were closed, so then we headed to Wendy's and it was closed, then McDonald's close to our house and they no longer have an ice cream machine, so we drove about 10 min to another McDonald's and I FINALLY got my ice cream. It was good, but I had my mind set on Chick-fil-A's ice cream. I guess I will have to get that sometime Friday.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas with family and friends. I will try to be sure to take pictures over the next 2 days. Until then, be blessed!

What Does Guilty Look Like?

Tatum has started a new routine at night. After Antonio reads her a story and puts her to bed, he turns the light out and leaves and Tatum ALWAYS turns the light back on and plays in bed or reads to her 'babies'. The other night Antonio and I heard her reading to her babies, so I grabbed the camera and this is what we saw...

You can see she thought she was getting in trouble, but I guess when she saw the camera, she thought she was safe. As long as she stays in bed, we don't really mind her reading some more or singing, but she has to stay in bed. We usually find her asleep 30-45 minutes later, in her bed, with her light on.

39 Week Appt

Yesterday was my 39 week (and LAST) appt for this baby.

Dr. B was out of town, so I saw the NP. She said I am a good 2.5 cm dialated or a tight 3 cm. She also said I am 75% effaced. However, the baby is still sitting very high. This is how it went.

She measured me, listened to the heartbeat, and then went to check me....stopped and said "sorry, looks like I am going to be reaching for your throat" and then went back in...Needless to say he is VERY high, so it was a little uncomfortable, but at least it was the last time.

She and I were both a little concerned that I gained 4 LBS since last week. However, it WAS 17 degrees here yesterday and I weighed with my winter coat plus 4 other layers and shoes, but that still shouldn't be 4 LBS. I told her that as of Sunday, I couldn't wear my wedding rings anymore and I really felt like my hands, feet, and knees had started swelling. Oh well, I only have another week, and she didn't think my swelling was too much, so I got to leave.

She didn't say whether or not she thinks he will come before my induction date, but she did say he COULD come anyday now. I am thinking it will be Monday, I am actually hoping he waits til then so we can be pretty certain Dr. B will be the one delivering me.

I guess that's it. I need to take a last belly picture before I deliver. I will try to do that before the end of the week and post it.

That's it for now. I hope everyone has a great Christmas with family and friends.

Baby Boy Simpson NAME

Well, we have not OFFICIALLY announced the baby's name, but I think most people know and have known for a while that his first name will be MATEO. This is Matthew in Spanish. Matthew is my brother's first name, who is closest to me in age (we call my brother Matt). Matt and I have always been close growing up. I could go on and on about why, but I won't for now. I do hope that Tatum and Mateo are as close growing up together as me and Matt were.

Some people have asked what we will call Mateo. Well, we will call him Mateo. If we do decide to shorten it or whatnot then we will call him 'Teo'(so it will be Tatum and Teo), but we will NOT call him Matt because that is my brother.

Anyway, we do have a middle name, but we are still keeping it a secret for now. We want to make sure we are not going to change our minds or anything, but I am pretty sure it is set in stone. I even told the insurance lady at my dr's office the other day so she could do some paperwork for Mateo to get circumsized.

When I was searching online for help with middle names, I found something very interesting and wanted it to post it....

Mateo
Spanish, "Spanish for Matthew"

Matthew is a lovely name, but as one of the perennial top five, it has become far too common to make much of a splash. This Spanish version, however, sounds even more lyrical and romantic, yet it's just as easy to pronounce and spell, making it one our top up-and-coming names for the next decade.

Variations Mattheo, Matheo, Matejo, Matteo
Nicknames Teo, Matt, Matty

It also shows a popularity ranking from 1 to 1000 on the site from the Social Security Administation. It says in 2000 Mateo ranks 811 in popularity, but it is predicted that Mateo will rank 325 by 2010.

here is the link since I couldn't get it to copy and paste right....http://www.parenting.com/baby-names/boys/Mateo

So there you have it....Baby Boy Simpson will be named Mateo.

Christmas Card Pictures

We have not sent out our Christmas cards yet this year, BUT I plan to get them out this week. We haven't been able to get the perfect picture on our own, so we took Tatum today to get pics taken and also count them as her 2 yr old pics (since we never got those taken). Anyway, Antonio went with me and thanks to the both of us being there, we got some GREAT pictures. I REALLY want to post them all, but I want to get the cards out first, so I will just give you a couple of teasers that will not be included on the cards.

Enjoy until I am able to get cards out.

38 Week Dr's Appt

I went to the dr again today. Here is a quick run down of what we found out.

I didn't gain any weight since last week.

No changes in dialation or effacement....Baby Boy Simpson is still sitting very high.

We are officially on the books at the hospital to be induced 12/29. We have to be there by 3:45am, which is VERY early, but this is to hopefully prevent us being bumped by someone who is actually IN labor.

This means Antonio, Tatum, and I can try to enjoy Christmas and not have to worry about things as much. I was induced with Tatum and it went PERFECTLY. I didn't have a single problem with anything. I got my epidural early, so I didn't even feel a contraction. I am praying it goes as smoothly this time.

We THINK we have an offical name for Baby Boy Simpson, but we are NOT telling right now because we want to be sure about it. So, don't ask us, we aren't telling!!! ANYONE!!! Seriously, ANYONE. But, I am excited we have found a name that we agree on for now. I guess you will all have to stay tuned and we will tell in 2 weeks when he gets here.

So, that's it for now. In 2 weeks or less, we will be an offical family of 4. Scary!

Pics From My Phone

I often take pictures with my phone, but rarely seem to do anything with them. Since I don't have much to blog about these days, I figured this would be a great time to post some of these pictures.

As I have posted in previous posts, Tatum is in potty training mode. She is actually doing better and better everyday. Since she was home from daycare for 4 days, I have seen her progress in potty training. She will now tell us when she needs to go (sometimes, but it's a start). She even told us she needed to poop the other day and SHE DID! She pee peed in the potty last night and Antonio gave her a sticker. She RAN into the living room where Brandy and I were sitting and talking and yelled (yes YELLED) "I PEE PEED in the POTTY!!!" Of course she was only wearing her shirt and it was so cute. We did our little song and she finally went to her room to put on a diaper and some pants.

Anyway, sometimes she likes a little privacy when she goes to the potty and we try to grant her this (anything to help her out). The other day, I guess we gave her TOO much time 'cause I walked in and found this....

...she had managed to put 1/2 a roll of toilet paper in the big toilet. I probably should not have taken a picture of it in front of her because when she saw me taking a picture she was laughing and so happy about it. oh well, at least it didn't clog up the toilet.

So, daycare had a pipe that burst last Tuesday night and flooded the entire school. When I took Tatum to school today this was sitting outside...

...One of the teachers told me this pile was out of only 2 rooms!

Since it is almost time for Baby Boy Simpson to be here, I took apart Tatum's old carseat and washed it. Then I put it all back together with some other stuff so it would be ready to grab when we need it. Tatum didn't think it looked quiet right though, that is, until she added her stuffed lion. He is still there and will be there I guess until Tatum's little brother needs the seat.

Finally, we decided this year NOT to get down our Christmas decorations and big Christmas tree. I didn't want to go without a tree at all, so we decided to buy a little tree and decorate it for Tatum. That way, we can just put this tree (aka Tatum's tree) in her room. Here it is right after I finished decorating it.

It only took me about 30 minutes to decorate the whole thing. It has pink, purple, and teal balls. I also put ribbon on it too. Tatum LOVES it. Here it is with the lights on...

I need to take an updated picture cause it now has lots of presents all around it, but that will have to wait for another post.

37 Week Update

I had my 37 week appointment yesterday and everything went well.

I am now 2 cm dialated and 50% effaced. Dr. B said baby is still sitting really high, but that is supposed to be common with the second baby?? She said that your 2nd baby will usually sit high until it's time to deliver. Not sure if she was just telling me this to make me feel better or if this is true, so if you have any experience with this and want to voice your opinion on this, please leave a comment cause I am interested in other's experience.

I gained 1/2 a pound too. That has me somewhere around 30 pounds total.

Dr. B and I discussed my induction date and she said that 12/29 is going to be VERY busy for her, so I told her if she wanted to do it earlier, I was all for it. SO, IF she is working on 12/26 (she was unsure of her schedule and the lady at checkout wouldn't let me know if she was scheduled to be off or not), then she will induce me on the 26th....if she is off then we will stick to the 29th. Either way, I only have 2 more appts and then my induction!

Baby name is still not definite, but we have been working on it. We are getting closer, but I don't know that we will have it fully decided until we get to the hospital.

That's it I guess. I am still feeling pretty well. I slept very good last night (10 hours) and only got up a few times to potty. Tatum is finally back in school today and I think she is just as happy as I am.

Our Eventful Week....

Since Tatum didn't have school Wed, Thurs, and Friday, we have done some fun things together...

Wednesday, we went to see Santa (you can see pictures in a blog below) and then had lunch with some friends.

Thursday we were at home all day. We played with ALL of her dress up clothes and I think we played with EVERY toy in her room....I should have gotten pictures of her messy room.

Today, we went Christmas shopping. We started at a HUGE crafts fair and Tatum did pretty good except she did NOT want to ride in the stroller, so I had to try to keep up with her, the stroller, and try to shop too. Luckily, my friend Brandy went with me and my sister was there for a bit too, so I had lots of help. I still managed to break a sweat trying to keep Tatum under control. I don't know why I always do this....I think it is because I get embarrassed because I feel like everyone is always looking at me and judging my "mothering skills" (or lack of them). I am sure they are thinking "I have been there too," but during all the drama, I just feel like I am under the radar or something.

Anyway, after the craft's fair, Tatum, Brandy, and I went to Wal Mart and I got basically ALL of our Christmas shopping done. I still have a few more people to buy for, but the bulk of things are done, which feels very good. I also got a small tree to put up this year. I ended up buying one because we didn't want to get the big one down, but wanted to put one up for Tatum. So, I got a white tree and decorated it with pink, purple, and teal balls. It is not complete yet, but when I finish it, I will post pictures. Tatum did so good at Wal Mart and she even helped me pick out her decorations for her tree. I can't wait for her to get up from naptime to see the semi-complete tree!

The GREAT news I got today is that Tatum's school will definitely be closed on Monday and probably more next week. I can't get ANYTHING done with her here and I had made so much progress organizing things, but I feel like our house is a WRECK again! I am a little frustrated since we only have 24 more days til DELIVERY DAY! PLUS I haven't been able to go to Physical Therapy either, so my back is KILLING me!

Oh well, I am definitely gettting some good quality time with Tatum these days. She is getting very attached to me since we are home all day together. I am going to have to figure out something fun for us to do Monday since she doesn't have school. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

I Miss You....

.....SLEEP, that is! For the past week or more I haven't slept past 3am. This hasn't been the biggest deal since I am not working so i can just nap whenever he mood hits me. However, since Tatum's school has been closed Wed, Thurs, and Friday, napping hasn't come as freely.

I have even taken Tylenol PM which usually works, but it's not even doing the job anymore. I get to sleep faster, but also wake up much earlier (2am'ish).

I KNOW I am pregnant and MOST pregnant women go through this, but I slept like a BABY when I was pregnant with Tatum the whole time! In fact, I slept about 10-12 hours a night and had trouble getting up too and THEN I could always take a nap during the day too.

Okay, that's my rant for the day. I am going to watch some of my shows that I recorded and then eat breakfast before Tatum gets up at 6. Tatum will be back at school on Monday, so my naps will be back in the schedule. Just one more napless day. Tatum and I are going to do some MAJOR Christmas shopping today! Wish us luck!

This morning I headed to take Tatum to school. When we pulled up, the director came out to let us know they were closed due to the fact that a pipe had busted and flooded the entire building. SIGH.....so we went back home. Here I am trying to figure out WHAT to do with Tatum and try not to pick her up per doctor's orders...hmmmm...

So, I decided we could NOT sit in the house all day or else I would go crazy, so we went to see Santa!!

I will start off with her Santa pic from 2006.....
and then 2007....what was I thinking doing her hair like that!?!?

and finally 2008....new Santa, new color chair, same old smooth Tatum....

Santa was really good, even though he looks a little creepy in the picture. He told Tatum how much she had grown since last year and how he had been watching her and noticing how good she had been, etc....she was LOVING it! I was so proud that she didn't cry. I was a little worried that a fit was sure to be pitched, but she really surprised me.

While I was at the mall, I got a call from her daycare and it will be closed til MONDAY!!! SO, now I am trying to figure out what to do. My back is already killing me and we have only been going 1/2 a day. I tried to get her teacher to babysit for me on Friday, but the school is requiring all teachers to be at the school today, tomorrow, and Friday even though they are closed. So, who knows. But we had fun today and now Tatum is napping.

Baby Shoes

It is no secret that I love shoes. I have a ton (most I don't wear, but you never know when you need that "perfect' pair), Tatum has a TON!! Well, Baby Boy Simpson has only 2 pair and now 3.

Cyber Monday I planned to order him some socks online from Baby Gap (I LOVE their socks for babies and they don't have the 'good ones' in the store). I got them for 15% off AND free shipping.....Anyway, I ordered tons of socks and found him some cute sneakers that he can rock for his first few months of life. Can't wait to see him wear them!
Can you tell I am bored and waiting on laundry to finish?

36 Week Checkup...

I originally had an appt today at 11:15am, but I got a call that the dr wouldn't be in. They wanted to reschedule me for later in the week....the lady was nice, so I explained to her that I was 36 weeks pregnant and had actually already shaved my legs JUST for this appt, so she said I could come in today at 3:15pm today.

So, I got there and got back pretty quickly. To my surprise, I only gained a pound and a half in the past 2 weeks!!! I was SUPER excited for several reasons....1. Thanksgiving was this past week. 2. I had just eaten lunch and figured the scale would be up from that. 3. Today is a VERY cold day and I had plenty of layers on to keep me warm. However, just 1.5 pounds!

Anyway, Dr. B came in and checked me. I am 1 cm dialated and 20% effaced. She said 12/29 will be the date, but they can't officially call and book it til 12/15 because the hospital won't book it before then. I have an appt on that day so I will be SURE to remind them to book it.

Let's see.....still no name, nursery is coming along and I hope to post pics soon, and after the scare last week, I have packed my bag and baby's bag so if I were to have the baby sooner I will be okay.

Dr. B will be out of town from Dec 19th-26th, so I would rather the baby NOT come during those times, but if he does, I will be okay too. I just love Dr. B and would RATHER have her deliver me over some others in her practice.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I am very glad that I am starting to make progress and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

My New Best Friend

So, I have been having contractions off and on this past week. Monday was really bad and then I started having consistant ones again last night (Thanksgiving night) and I am still having them off and on today.

If I get too concerned, I have started timing them using a website I found.

www.contractionmaster.com

I wanted to share this for all of the other ladies expecting just in case you want to use it too. All you have to do is hit the space bar everytime a contraction starts and stops and it will time them, let you know the duration of each contraction, etc. Pretty cool if you need it.

A Slight Scare....

So, yesterday (Monday) I woke up about 5:45am and thought I just had to pee REALLY bad. Well, I am pretty stubborn to get up out of my great sleep to go to the potty, so I laid there and tried to go back to sleep (yeah right). Anyway, as I was still laying there, I had a contraction....no big deal, I have been having random Braxton Hicks contractions for a while now.

Fast forward, I finally got up and went to the restroom and started getting ready. Tatum woke up soon after I got done getting ready and I started getting her ready for school. I noticed I was having contractinos still, but still didn't think much about it. I got her loaded in the car and off we went. I realized in the car that they were still coming, so I started watching the clock. Tatum was in school, in her classroom, and I was back in the car about 6:50am and I started writing down the contraction times cause I was curious. I was scheduled to go to Physical Therapy at 8am, so I ran to Perkins to get a muffin (my latest favorite breakfast). I got it and decided to just eat it in the parking lot while I waited for my PT place to open. For the next hour, my contractions were coming anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes apart. I then called Antonio to let him know I was freaking out a bit. I decided at about 7:45am that while I probably COULD go to PT, I didn't really feel much like going cause the exercises would not be fun and I wanted to continue to time these things....(PLUS, I realized it had been a while since my legs had been shaved so if I was going to have to go to the hospital, i needed to go home and shave them). So, I called PT and cancelled my appt.

I went home and took a bath, layed on the couch, took tylenol, drank water, etc and nothing was making them stop. However, I REFUSED to go back to L&D at the hospital if it wasn't TIME to go cause I didn't want to be stuck there for 5 hours. So, I stayed home. Around 9:30am they started spacing out more...about every 6-8 minutes. Since the contractions were getting further apart, I was pretty sure that this wasn't IT, so I chilled out a little more. The contractions were still regular til about 11am. I got tired of timing them then and I FINALLY took a nap around noon.

After all of this craziness going on yesterday, I realized HOW MUCH we have to do before this baby can come. Here is a small list of things....

-Pack my bag
-Pack baby's bag
-Come up with a name (we tried again last night, but no luck)
-Get the nursery together
-Clean the house
-Pack a bag for Tatum just in case she has to go somewhere
-Wash clothes
-Buy a few last minute things
-Get Antonio to download new music on my ipod
-Charge camera
-Be sure my cell phone is always charged

I think that's pretty much it for now. I made a list of things that need to go in my bag, baby's bag, and Tatum's bag, so it is just a matter of getting it all together. Nursery isn't as pressing, but I would like for it to be done. I am washing clothes today (I HATE DOING THIS!!!!). My camera is charged and my phone too.

I must admit that I was freaking out a bit yesterday. Not because the baby was coming, but because I couldn't imagine the baby coming when I still had so much to do. I think this was God's way of telling me to get my STUFF together cause this baby could be here anytime now.

I go back to the dr on Monday, so hopefully we will see if I have progressed any and that should give us a better idea of where things stand.

I guess that's all for now. I just wanted to document my exciting day yesterday.

Our Weekend....

We didn't do much this weekend. We played and played with Tatum. I did a little Christmas shopping (very little), and that was about it.

Here are a few pictures that we took this weekend.

These first pictures were taken Saturday while I was out shopping. Antonio and Tatum had a fun time playing inside and outside.

This is Tatum's new thing to do....give the thumbs up! I even got it last night. She approved the dinner I cooked with 2 thumbs up.

These next pictures are from Sunday. They are out of order, but you get the idea. Tatum and I got up early (6am) and played for a bit and then Antonio got up and played with her and let me nap since I wasn't feeling well. Antonio fed Tatum lunch and before it was over, this is what she looked like....

Tatum also enjoyed playing in the box that I cleaned out on Friday. She puts all of her toys in and then jumps in with them...

Finally, Antonio set up the tent for Tatum to play in while I cooked dinner and he did some laundry. She loved it!

As you can see, we stayed in our PJs all day on Sunday. We have started going to church on Saturday night and that allows us to have a family day on Sunday. We had planned to go take some possible Christmas pictures outside of Tatum, but the weather was overcast, so that never happened. Anyway, we had a great, uneventful weekend and loved every minute of it.

34 weeks 2 days....

I haven't posted any belly pictures in about a month or more, so I thought I would do that today. I took these pictures earlier this week. As you can see, I am REALLY growing these days.

The New, NEW Me....

So, I got my hair darker a few weeks ago and it was OK, but I felt like it either needed to be DARKER or LIGHTER, but not what it was. Well, long story short, I went back and had it done AGAIN.

Here it is....

Yes, I took pics of myself. They are kind of from the side so you can see the color(s).

Tell me, what do you think NOW????? love it? hate it? leave me a comment and let me know.

Baby Boy Simpson Update...

I just got done with my OB appt today. I got some good news and some bad news...

First, the bad news....

* I have gained 6 pounds since my last appt. ummm, that was TWO WEEKS AGO!!! EEEKKK! My appt WAS at 1:30 (right after lunch) and I didn't take off my coat or shoes, but all that probably amounts to no more than a pound. SO, that puts me at (COUGH, COUGH) 28 pounds total gained so far. I wanted to stay FAR away from my 40 pounds of weight that I gained with Tatum, but it seems like I am right on track for that. Sigh, I guess things could be worse. I just want this baby to be healthy and the rest will fall into place.

Now, the good news...

* Dr. B didn't 'check' me or anything, but I got her to talk about an induction date with me anyway. We set it for 12/29 which I am happy with. Dr. B still thinks there is a good chance that Baby Boy Simpson will come early on his own, but we set the date up 'just in case'. I am not sure why she thinks he will come early, but that's what she said.

Physical Therapy is going well. I am enjoying getting out and getting some relief for my back pain 3 times a week. It is also great to get that massage at the end of my appt too!

Although Antonio and I said Saturday was THE DAY to decide on a baby name for sure, we never did agree on anything. Long story, short....he hates my names, and I hate his. This baby is either going to end up with NO middle name, 2 middle names, or a middle name that one of us hates.....sigh.

Being off work is going pretty well. I have been trying to do some things around the house. Some days, I seem to accomplish lots of things, but other days, I don't feel like doing anything. There is still LOTS to be done before the baby comes. I NEED this nesting thing to kick in soon, so we can get the house in order. The nursery is coming together. We bought our bedding and it is in the crib, but I still need to take down the pink curtains and other pink stuff in the nursery and put up some blue stuff for the baby.

Antonio and I also did some shopping this weekend (mostly for Antonio's birthday), but we did get the baby something to wear home from the hospital.

I guess that is it for now. I plan to take a belly pic sometime this week and post it since I haven't done that in a while, so stay tuned....

AWESOME DEAL!!!!

*****You know what they say.....when something SEEMS too good to be true, it probably is.

I just received this email....

Greetings from Target.com.

Due to an unexpected error, the following item(s) you have ordered were incorrectly priced at the time of your order. Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat $45; Granite

We're sorry, but we are unable to offer this item for the incorrect price. The correct price is $279.99. We have canceled your order for this item. If you would like to order this item at the correct price,please visit Target.com to check for availability.

Despite our best efforts, a small number of items on our site are occasionally mis-priced. We do, however, verify prices as part of our shipping procedures. If we discover that an item's correct price is higher than our stated price, we will either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order and notify you of the cancellation. This pricing policy is posted in the Help sectionon Target.com.

Again, we're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for being our valued guest.

Sincerely,
Guest Service Department
Target.com
http://www.target.com

I just read about an AWESOME deal on a carseat at Target. It is for the Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat. Target is having an online sale on this carseat which normally costs $279.00 and its on sale for $42.99 with FREE shipping. It goes up to 65 pounds too. It is just a plain granite color, but I know you can buy a cover for it if you want to dress it up. Anyway, I thought this deal was too great to keep to myself. I think the sale goes on until the 20th.

Here is the link...

http://www.target.com/Britax-Marathon-Convertible-Car-Seat/dp/B000YSNMG2/qid=1226887014/ref=br_1_14/183-7855135-7473663?ie=UTF8&node=13552231&frombrowse=1&pricerange=&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=13552231&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=2

Also, leave me a comment and let me know if you order one!

Potty Time!!!

Quick update on Potty progress with Tatum....

Tatum POOPED in the potty at school today for the first time!!! YAY!

On top of THAT she peepeed in the potty FOUR times today at school!!!

Her paper said that she only had one wet diaper today! Now she has not been great about going at home at all....in fact I think she has taken a step backwards and I was a little worried, but her teacher at school told me to keep taking her often and she would "get" it eventually. I am not sure when she will OFFICIALLY be potty trained...I would guess not for another 3-6 months(?...we aren't pushing it), but Antonio and I are VERY proud of her today!!!