Amelia was laying in bed with me last night and lifted my shirt to look at my belly.  She got used to doing it each night while I was pregnant to feel the baby so it’s not unusual. Here’s how our conversation went…

Amelia said to me “Mommy, what are those?”(pointing at my belly)

I responded “Those are stretch marks.”

And Amelia proclaimed “I don’t want those on you!”

To which I responded “I don’t want them either!”

Silly girl gave me all of my lovely tummy stretch marks (ok, poison ivy swelling at 32 weeks did) and there’s nothing I can do about them other than pray that I never get more.  Thankfully I didn’t get ANY with Juliet, yay!

Maybe some day there will be a magic eraser for them.

Here are the before pictures…just after cleaning out the room. Yep, nice boring shade of builder beige like the rest of the house.

And here are the after pictures. Amelia told us she wanted purple and that’s what she got!

My mom rocks and helped me by painting her nightstand which was mine as a child and my mom’s before that.  It has seen MANY coats of paint over the years.  She also helped by priming/finishing some of the accents on the walls…the little bird hooks, the heart and the valance over the bed.  I bought a lot of the accents on sale and with coupons so I spent very little on them and instead put the money into the furniture and linens.

For example: The birdhouses and birch branch cost under $30 to create and all of the items came from Hobby Lobby and Michael’s (ie: I got to use coupons).  It was a matter of priming, painting and accenting them to coordinate with the other items in Amelia’s room.

Just before Juliet was born we started working on a bookcase for Amelia’s room.  We didn’t have enough time to finish it, but as soon as it’s done we’ll post pictures.  It’s going to be so cute!

I had a lot of fun working on Amelia’s room and look forward to making some changes to her old room to make it perfect for Juliet…stay tuned for those pictures.

My girls have a sister and that is an awesome thing.  Amelia just adores her little sister and I think Juliet already knows that Amelia is the best big sister in the world.  We spent lots of time letting Amelia feel Juliet kick and wiggle in my belly and flurberting (blowing raspberries) my tummy to wake her up and I think that time together forged a bond that will grow and grow in time.

I am so thankful and so very happy.  Here are a few pictures of our girls…

Amelia

I know things will be ok and I know that it might just take some getting used to.  It’s not the balancing of two kids that scares me (ok, not much) it’s the loss of that individual relationship with Amelia.  I am her’s and she is mine.  I am keeping her home from school tomorrow so I can spend the day with her.  I thought I’d want her to go to school these last few weeks, I thought I’d be overly exhausted and need the break.  Honestly I haven’t wanted her to go and I regret signing her up this week.  She went today and she’ll go on Thursday, but tomorrow she is mine and I am her’s for one last day.

Thankfully I feel great, even better than I ever imagined I’d feel at almost 39 weeks.  I feel better than I felt with Amelia at this stage and if I could I would stay pregnant for a while longer…if only it worked that way.  We’re choosing to induce to ensure that I make it to the hospital to deliver.  I was already about 1-2cm dilated last week and with all of the moving, cleaning and nesting I’ve been doing I’m surely farther along now.  We’re hoping and praying for a smooth induction and a happy and healthy mommy and baby on Thursday.

I simply cannot wait to introduce the Bean to Amelia.  As I tucked Amelia in tonight she wanted to lay on my tummy over and over to feel the Bean kick…almost as though she knew it was the last time she’d feel the Bean inside my tummy.  I think she knows what’s coming…probably better than I do.

The one thing that has kept me together emotionally this week is thinking about the moment that Amelia will meet the baby, when we become a family of four.  We are giving Amelia the greatest present we could possibly give her -  a playmate, a sibling and maybe a best friend.  I am so thrilled about having another child and I cannot wait to love the Bean the way I love Amelia.  I look forward to nursing, to snuggling and watching those I love love on the baby.  I cannot wait to see the Bean’s personality grow, to see how similar and different my children are.  I know that I am supremely blessed to have the opportunity to love another child as I love my Amelia.

I had a doctor’s appointment in the Med Center yesterday so after our appointment we went to Discovery Green to play in the water and on the playground.  We shared an apple together (hence the funny face in the first picture), Amelia splashed in the water and played on the playground.  We had a blast!

I know I’m massively biased, but I think my Amelia is gorgeous.

She earned the title favorite again this evening.  We were tucking her into bed laying with her and she accidentally bounced into my stomach.  She knows to be gentle so she immediately lifted up my shirt and kissed my belly, said sorry to the baby and said “good night baby jelly bean” (she calls the baby “baby jelly bean”).  She then pulled down my shirt and smoothed it out.  I giggled and said “are you making it nice and dark for baby jelly bean” and she said “yes, she (she doesn’t know the difference between he/she usage so everyone is a she) doesn’t have curtains.”

Isn’t she the cutest?  It’s clear why she’s my favorite.

Amelia gives me joy…

She’s just so stinking funny.  She’s watching Little Bear (a kid cartoon) and they’re playing a flute and she said she can too so she picked up her imaginary flute and held it to her mouth and started to toot it.  She just makes a bunch of high pitch noises, but it’s the best sounding flute I’ve ever heard.  Moments like that make me giggle and beam with pride.  She’s so smart and so creative.  The fact that I get to do this awesome parenting gig with another child just fills me with more joy.

I get asked at least 2-3 times a week if I want another girl or if I want a boy.  My answer is now and always will be, I want another baby.  I have never cared what sex our children were and neither has Dustin.  I hope and pray for healthy children, for happy children and their sex has nothing to do with health or happiness.

We also get asked “are you going to have another if this one is a girl.”  I take that to mean that people think you should have one of each or you can’t be happy and for us that’s simply not true.  That answer is the same regardless of this little one’s sex.  We’ll have a third kiddo if we (get all crazy and decide that we) want a third kiddo, but we won’t “try” for a specific sex.

I’m a firm believer in receiving the blessings that are coming to me with grace and joy.  I simply cannot imagine life without Amelia.  She’s crazy, silly, giggly, affectionate, a little manic at times, but she’s the greatest joy I’ve ever known and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. I can say with absolute certainty that I will feel exactly the same about the Bean.

Something happened over night.  I went from scared and anxious about being a mother of two to being overjoyed, excited and antsy.  I am so thrilled that I have the opportunity to give birth again.  I am so thankful that this child has been given to us and that we’ll be meeting the bean in about 6ish weeks.

I cannot wait to hold my sweet new baby; to see who the Bean looks like, to kiss the Bean’s face, to nurse my new baby and share those same joys that I’ve experienced with Amelia for the last 2.5 years.  I am so blessed and so joyful.

Here’s a quick snapshot I took with my iphone this morning.  Poor little cyclops kid…