The Waiting Game

As I sit here watching my stomach move like crazy, I wonder when the time will come to hold my baby girl. I'm not in any particular hurry, but I'm just wondering when the time will come to head to the hospital. I went to bed last night feeling certain that it would happen either in the middle of the night or sometime today, but nothing to report yet!

Yesterday was my first time to stay home from work, and I spent the day going to the grocery store, eating lunch with Evan, and picking him up from school in the car-rider line. It was so much fun to see him during school! He was so cute when he saw me walking down the hallway toward the cafeteria with a McDonald's happy meal; his face just started beaming!!! I hope it was because he saw me, and not the McDonald's. :)

I also got to meet the friend that he's been talking about for a few days, Noah. Noah sat with Evan at lunch and it was so cute to watch the two of them talking together. I also got to meet Noah's mom (she didn't give a name), who happens to teach at Earhardt. I also stayed to watch Evan during recess for the first few minutes. Well, if by the word stayed you understand that I watched from my van in the parking lot, trying not to look like a stalker! But I loved every minute of watching Evan. He and Noah would follow each other around, talk, play on the playground equipment, and even sit next to each other talking under a beautiful tree on this beautiful afternoon. I have to admit that I started to cry while watching him. There's just something about watching your child when they don't know that you can see them, and thinking about how big they are getting. Evan is such a wonderful young man, and I can't imagine my life without him. :)

I guess we'll just keep waiting for Elise to make her appearance. Until she gets here, I'm just going to enjoy the time I have with my family! Can't wait to meet our newest little girl!!!!!

Elise's 39 Week Checkup

I had a checkup on Wednesday, and Elise is comfy where she is. I haven't changed a bit in 3 weeks! (still 3cm dilated and 75% effaced). I have to say, though, that I'm still enjoying being pregnant with her, so I'm glad that she's staying put a while longer. On an awesome note, I actually lost 4 pounds! I guess between being sick last week and walking a lot at work this week did the trick. Either that or my body just couldn't handle being over 200 pounds, so it fixed itself. :) I'm now up to 36 pounds gained.

Last night after work was probably the first time in a while that I actually felt tired and worn down from the pregnancy. Chris gave me a really great foot rub, which I don't think I could have walked without. I also woke up feeling more tired this morning. Tomorrow is my last day at work, and I was actually thinking of  going back to work on Monday since I have been feeling so good lately, but now I'm really glad that tomorrow is it! I'm ready for some down time before Elise gets here, and I'm looking forward to possibly being able to drop off or pick up Evan from school in the car-rider line. :)

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Elise,

We're all ready to see you, baby girl! I've loved carrying you, and we can't wait to see your beautiful face and hold you. We all love you very much!

Mom, Dad, Evan, and Aubrie

Elise's Maternity Pictures

We told the kids that if they would smile and do whatever Mrs. Stefanie asked them to do, we would take them for ice cream afterwards. It pretty much worked... They were a little goofy during the photo shoot, but we got some really great shots!

Elise's 37 & 38 Week Checkups

Last week, Chris and I were able to go in for our last ultrasound. Everything looked good! We confirmed (again) that she is still a girl, and also found out that she weighed about 6 pounds 14 ounces. That means that if she goes to her due date, she could potentially weigh up to 8.5ish pounds!

After the ultrasound we got to see Dr. Scott, where we found out that I am Strep B negative. We also found out that we were almost 3 cm dilated!!! I forgot to ask how effaced I was, though.

Over the next week, I didn't have quite as many contractions. Sure enough, when we went in for our checkup this past Wednesday, I hadn't moved from 3 cm. I was 75% effaced, though. So that means at least a few days longer to become 100% effaced before going into labor. The doctor did mention that things can sometimes stall out and hit a plateau (which we already knew from my other two pregnancies), but that things would most likely get started quickly the next time I started having regular contractions.

I actually hope that she'll stay in a bit longer, though. I'm really enjoying getting to feel her move. Well, except maybe at night when she pushes against my belly button as hard as she possibly can... That actually makes me feel nauseous sometimes! But other than that, I'm not feeling as big as I was with the other two at this time, probably because she's so low. It does mean that my pants don't fit quite the same and are often very uncomfortable. I'm not too swollen, though, even though I've gained 36 pounds (the most out of the three pregnancies). All in all, I can't really complain and want to enjoy it as long as possible. :) Plus, the longer she waits, the closer to Christmas vacation I get to go back to work... :)

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On a side note, I am getting a little bit scared of the birth. We're getting so close, and I've been having contractions for so long now, that I think I've freaked myself out a bit. It's almost better when you don't know what's coming... I know that God will take care of me, though, and everything will be just fine. I just have to keep telling myself that and not think about it too much. :)

Weeks of Pregnancy

I didn't think to do this early enough in the pregnancy, but after the morning sickness stopped around 16 weeks, I really did try to take a picture of my stomach each week.

Elise Carol Gonzales

10.5 weeks

20 weeks

22 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

28 weeks

31 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

Kindergarten... Aaaaagggghhhh!!!!

Here are some pictures from taking Evan to register for kindergarten. He was really excited to be able to walk around and see his new school.

These pictures are from Meet the Teacher. His teacher's name is Ms. Collins, soon to be Mrs. Martinez. She is a first year teacher, and seems very nice.

And here is the first day of school!!!! Evan was really excited to wake up and get ready for school. Uncle Nick and Aiden thought it was a great idea to wake him up with a Facetime call on Daddy's phone, and Evan thought it was really cool to see Aiden before school.

Sadly, Evan woke up on the second day of school with a stomach bug and missed the next three days of school. He didn't get to go back until Friday! He never had a fever, had one bout of the Big D, and only got sick 3 times, but it was all at the perfect time to miss a day of school. After all of that, I went into school on Friday and ended up going home, too, because I caught whatever Evan had! Thankfully mine only lasted the one day because I was able to go home and rest while everyone else was at school.

I'm so happy to have a child who is happy to be at school. I hope that he always has that love of learning and learns how to work hard for what he wants.

More Summer Fun

We really do enjoy the park in our new neighborhood. The kids really enjoy getting to ride their bikes here, and several times we have brought dinner to the park to enjoy before playing. The kids' favorite games are "Monster" and hide and go seek. Daddy is really good at both of these games. :) 

We've also found a new favorite place to get ice cream: TCBY. We love it because there is something for everyone; Aubrie gets to pick something without milk, and then we can put any toppings we want on our ice cream. It's also pretty cheap, depending on how much stuff you put on your ice cream... :)