Finishing Projects

I have been trying to get a few last minute projects done... and I have finished a couple!

I have added ribbon and monogrammed some burp cloths for Blake. I went to Babies R Us the other day and bought a few last minute necessities like receiving blankets, a Boppy Cover, and some little tiny shirts and pants for him to wear right away. I have washed all of his newborn clothes and sheets and blankets, so I only have a few things left to wash and I will be all ready.

I have taken a few smocking classes lately, and I finished my dress for Kate! I took the basic smocking class to do the design on the pleated fabric, and I loved it- but they didn't finish the dress for me. It would have cost me $38 to get them to finish the dress or $45 to take the class and learn how to finish the dress myself... so I took the class. I really enjoyed learning how to do it myself, but I feel like I need a new project so I don't forget what I learned. Also, I am taking the class next week to learn how to use my pleater that I got for my birthday, and then I will be able to make a bishop dress from start to finish by myself! I am looking forward to that even though I am not sure how much time I will have to be smocking dresses soon.
We had a scare the other morning with Blake. I woke up and realized that all 3 times I had gone to the bathroom during the night, he had not kept me awake with his moving. So, I laid in bed turning from side to side and poking at him for a good 30 minutes. I got up to move around some, but he still was not moving, so I called Brandon and got him to come home and take me to the doctor. I had a non-stress test done, where they just put a monitor on me to keep up with his heartbeat and they gave me a button to press anytime I felt him move. I sat there for a while without feeling him move, so they came in with some vibrating buzzer and zapped him a few times. He went nuts! He hated it so much that he started jumping around and my stomach looked like an alien had taken over inside. I have to say that it was the greatest feeling in the world! My doctor told me that Blake is just "getting into position" and that he just isn't able to move much anymore. He was also just very sleepy that morning and needed to be buzzed to wake up. I felt like I had over-reacted, but Dr. Adcock made me feel so much better and told me he would have gotten his wife to do the exact same thing. That is the scary part about babies- if you wait at all, you could have waited too late! Needless to say, I was pretty hysterical that morning thinking of all the "what-ifs," but it just reminded me that we are not promised any good thing in this life and I am so thankful that the Lord has provided so much so far!
I am feeling more ready to have Blake these days- I am about out of room and I am way out of energy. I had Kate at the park the other day and she was running away from me, so I was chasing her. I got to her and another mom was standing with her kids and she said, "I see you are having a hard time breathing." I wanted to thank her for noticing in a not-so-nice way, but I just kind of smiled and went on chasing Kate (which would make any non-pregnant person out of breath). I also am not sleeping well at all, which is to be expected. I can't help but feel a little sad about rocking Kate's world. I know that is horrible to say, but I just have been able to give her full attention for 16 1/2 months and now she will have to become more independent and lean on her daddy/grandparents more than ever. When I had Kate, I never could have imagined the immediate love you have for your child, which makes me wonder how it is at all possible to love ANOTHER child that much. My mom and friends with more than one child all assure me that I will just feel that same love for the new baby and keep feeling that love for Kate. It is nice to know that I won't have to divide love between kids, but that God just doubles it! Anyway, I will keep you all updated on the changing emotions and the preparations for Blake as they come along!