So close, yet so far...

Well, yesterday's check-up was a bit... um... bittersweet. The diagnosis? "You're not even close to having this baby... we'll see you next week!". On the one hand, I'm glad for the diagnosis because it means I have more time to spend with my kids at school before I have to leave them in someone else's hands for 6 weeks. On the other hand, I'm sad that I have to wait even LONGER to meet our son. The doc did give me some news, however, that I was definitely glad to hear. He estimates that Isaac already weighs 7 pounds! With only 3 weeks to go until the much anticipated September 18th due date, he could potentially weigh 9 (or 10 - yikes!) pounds on his birthday. Of course, these weight estimates are nothing more than educated guesses, so he could wind up weighing 7 pounds at birth. Who knows? I just hope he comes out all nice and fat.. and red-headed. Fat babies are TOO CUTE. And fat, re-headed babies are even more cute!!

Speaking of fat, here's the updated belly shot @ 37 weeks.

The Bussey Bunch at OTB

Yesterday afternoon, my wonderful friends from Bussey (aka the "Bussey Bunch") threw a way fun baby shower in our honor! We had lots of tasty Mexican eats, a cake that was even more delicious than it was adorable and many generous gifts were given to baby Isaac who, at this moment, is moving around so much he's making it hard to type! :)

The cake... adorable AND delectable!

And here's the "Bussey Bunch"!

Beatles tunes... in lullaby version!

My wonderful husband and me

Isaac's loot...

Thanks so much to all of our wonderful friends at Bussey - I'm so lucky to work with so many amazing people. I can't wait for all of you to meet this little guy! And an extra special thank you to all of the hostesses who put this shower together for us - I love you, girls!

The beautiful hostesses:

Barbara, Julissa, Heather, (me), Sarah, Ryan and Julie

The little Kirklin Boys

This weekend Brandon and I traveled to Longview, Tx to visit Brandon's cousins Phillip and Jeremiah and their brand new babies. Phillip and Jeremiah are brothers, so it's really cool that both of them just had baby boys... and they're only two weeks apart! Phillip and his wife, Dare, are the proud parents of baby Hunter. Hunter was born several weeks early, so he's still a tiny little guy. Hunter is so sweet and cuddly - I couldn't let go of him all weekend. Here are some pictures of sweet little Hunter.

Dare (aka Momma) and Hunter

Jeremiah and Jennifer are the proud parents of baby Brenner. Brenner is one of the most alert babies I've ever seen! His big eyes are always looking around, taking in everything new. He also has the cutest little chubby cheeks - irresistable! Here are some pictures of Brenner.

Look at those big eyes!

Jeremiah (aka Daddy) and Brenner

Christine and Catherine, Phillip and Jeremiah's cousins, also came over on Saturday to meet the babies. Catherine also brought her cutey pie of a little boy, Brilee (I hope I spelled it correctly, Catherine!). We had fun watching him run around and get himself into everything in the house. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and had fun sharing stories and laughing. Christine, is Mom to two teenagers (even though she still looks 25!), so she had some super-fun parenting stories for us. It was a great time!

Dare, Catherine and Christine

Brilee and his Mom,Catherine

Thanks so much to Phillip and Dare for opening up your home to us this weekend. We love you and look forward to many future family visits with Isaac. Can't wait for Brenner, Hunter and Isaac to grow up together!

And here's the updated belly shot @ 35 weeks. This shirt used to be big on me...

Isaac's Nursery awaits his arrival

Brandon and I have done it: we've completed Isaac's nursery. We are still lacking a few essentials, but the bones and "finishes" that we wanted for his room are complete. While I had an overall vision of how I wanted his room to look, I never dreamed that it would turn out so wonderfully! I must also say that I certainly did NOT do it all on my own. My Mom made all of Isaac's bedding, curtains and the pillows for his rocker. She even bought the rocker for us. Thank you, Mom! It means so much to me that Isaac's room is full of his Grandmamma's handy-work.

My sister stayed over a couple of days after my shower a few weekends ago in order to help me with some of the arts and crafts projects for his room. She helped me make and paint the letters that we hung on the wall to spell out his name, and she also helped me paint the pictures that hang on the wall. The pictures were quite an undertaking... I'm sooo pleased with the way they turned out! I LOVED being able to help Stephanie with some similar projects before she had Sam, so it's sort of a sister tradition that I hope we're able to maintain with all of our children. Thank you, Aunt Stephanie! I hope you enjoyed our time together as much as I did!

And last, but certainly not least, my wonderful husband had a major part in putting together our sons nursery. He helped pick out his bedding fabric, which inspired his design for the striped paint on the walls. He helped me paint the room, hung everything on the walls, and also did most of the work to refinish Isaac's furniture. Brandon also built some shelving into Isaac's formerly awkward closet that has already made it seem 10x's more functional than it was before. He built them in between the two doors so that they can be accessed on either side of the closet - smart, huh? Thank you, Brandon! You're going to be the world's best Daddy!

Ruggles the bear from Mom's childhood and a plate from Daddy's childhood.

Now all we need is our baby Isaac. We can't wait to meet you, kiss you, cuddle with you, sing to you and love you with all of our hearts.