Daddy's Buddy

There is nothing I have enjoyed more in this pregnancy than feeling Cooper's stretches, kicks, squirms, and hiccups. The first time I felt him move was when I was a little over 15 weeks pregnant (very early, I know) and we had just put in Top Gun to watch. I felt the "flutters" during the beginning of the movie as the first jet took off. I should have known at that moment that Karl and Cooper were going to have a special connection. Top Gun is Karl's all-time favorite movie, and he especially loves the very beginning. When we first hooked up the stereo to the tv after we moved in our house, he would play the beginning of that movie constantly because of the way it sounded on the speakers, and every visitor we had I'm sure felt privileged to get to sit through it, as Karl felt the need to share this with everyone. As annoying as it became for me, it was pretty cute to see the look on Karl's face each and every time that jet took off. I don't think he can watch it without grinning from ear to ear! It seems only fitting that our baby moved strong enough for me to feel for the first time during that scene. Like father, like son.

However, what really lets me know that there is already a special bond between these two is the way Cooper starts to move when Karl talks to my belly. At some point each day, Karl will talk to my stomach, and the baby starts to wiggle around at his daddy's voice. He will have been perfectly still, but when Karl talks to him, he wiggles! It melts my heart! I like to refer to Cooper as my Little Man, but it's pretty obvious that he will be Daddy's Buddy.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I am nesting...

like a crazy person!

I've always been a "nester". Usually as soon as school gets out for summer I feel the need to completely re-organize our cabinets and drawers, clean out closets, wash windows, and clean and organize every imaginable thing in our home. It drives Karl crazy. It drives me crazy. Heck, it is crazy. But what can I say, I'm a nester. Therefore, I didn't think I would notice anything unusual when I started nesting as a pregnant woman. Wrong.

I started truly nesting last week. For the first time in this pregnancy, I have had energy. Not like the energy I used to have...energy like someone who has consumed an entire pot of coffee would have. You'd think I'd be more tired than ever considering I am not sleeping well (the other night I got up 5 times to go to the bathroom...FIVE times!) and I'm carrying around an extra 30 pounds in the heat of the summer. Oh no, I have some crazy kind of energy! Karl is very tired because when I don't sleep well, he doesn't sleep well, and unfortunately he has not gained this super-human energy like I have. He finds my sudden overdrive exhausting.

With my newfound energy, I've cleaned and organized, and now I've moved on to cooking. And I have learned the joys of a freezer. I don't typically freeze food because I have no idea what freezes well and what doesn't. However, last week I learned that cookie dough does freeze well. So I whipped up a couple batches of cookie dough (plain old chocolate chip cookies and brownie cookies-recipe below) and froze the cookie dough balls so all I have to do is pop those babies on a cookie sheet and bake them whenever my heart desires or company comes to visit. Then I learned that bread freezes well. So I made some banana bread. I was a strong girl in resisting the temptation to lick the cookie dough bowl, but I broke when the bread was cooling. I couldn't resist the sweet smell, and cut a little bitty piece. It was so delicious and warm, and my new recipe proved to be the best banana bread I'd ever tasted. So...I cut another little bitty piece and ate it with a big grin on my face. After that I made myself wrap it up and put it in the freezer. Although I know I did the right thing, I regretted it this morning when I woke up and could still smell the tempting aroma floating through our house and could no longer indulge in another piece. Tonight I made the Pioneer Woman's mini meatball sandwiches for dinner. This was my first Pioneer Woman recipe, and oh my goodness, it was divine! I don't even like meatballs. I made this for Karl; however, after tasting one of those little guys before we fixed our plates, I told him he was about to fall in love with me all over again. And he did. I highly, highly, highly recommend this recipe. We had baked sweet potatoes topped with butter, brown sugar, a little cinnamon sugar, and marshmallows (put under the broiler for just a minute to roast the marshmallows--so gooey and yummy) as a side. Simple and delicious dinner!

Mini Meatball Sandwich Recipe

Brownie Cookies Recipe

Cooperland

Cooper's room is completely done! Well, it has been for awhile now, but I'm just now posting pictures of it. :) I posted some a few weeks ago, but we still had a couple things to do and change at that time. Everything has now been completed, and all it's missing is the sweet baby.

The view from the door to the room.

Can you believe we're going to have a baby to put in there soon?!

The poem Karl's mom gave me called "Why God Made Little Boys" from Karl's nursery is on this shelf along with the crosses we've received as gifts and an Alabama elephant (you can't have an elephant nursery without something for the Tide in it!). Also, beside the blue elephant is a book called Let Me Hold You Longer. A friend gave it to me, and it is a book every mother should have--great baby shower gift. It WILL make you cry though!

Right now I have some of my favorite ultrasound pictures in the frames, but once his newborn pictures are done, we'll put those in there.

My favorite part of last week was getting this put in my car...

35 Weeks

As we reach each new week of pregnancy, I feel we've passed another milestone in this journey. Each week that passes leaves us with a bigger, healthier, and stronger baby. God's goodness and glory are so evident in the pregnancy, and I am so thankful to be sitting here today typing these words at 35 weeks pregnant! What a miracle!

Here's the belly bump at 35 weeks:

If you're one of those people who doesn't like bare belly bump pictures, then don't scroll any farther! :) I happen to love pregnant bellies (especially once the belly button pokes out)!

I feel great for being 35 weeks pregnant. Karl and I are getting more and more anxious about meeting this baby every day! I haven't packed our bags yet, but I have laid everything out. I'm going to get the car seat installed this week at one of our local fire stations. As far as pregnancy symptoms go, I try to ignore any cravings I have because most are sweet things that are off limits. However, the past few days I have been craving lime flavored things (like margaritas...but those are off limits too!). Sleeping is a little rough, as I'm up more and more to go to the bathroom. I figure this is good practice for nighttime feedings though. Cooper seems to have run out of room for his stunts, but he likes to cuddle on my right side and move his feet around by my left rib cage. Every now and then I'll feel a hand move, but I mostly just feel him shift from one spot to another or stretch his legs. My only negative pregnancy symptom is the swelling. My feet and ankles are amazingly huge some days! Since we are in the dog days of summer, I guess that's to be expected when you're 8 months pregnant.

Speaking of "dog days", I feel like this little girl

brings new definition to the term with how she spends her days:

Wow, it's like she has no idea that her whole world is about to completely turn upside down in a few weeks!

Almost There

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but I have enjoyed putting myself through a sick form of torture in seeing those pictures of yummy sweets pop up every time I looked at the blog! See, I have an addiction! :) Truthfully, things have been nice and boring around the Hendrickson household lately. It's funny to think that in a few more weeks I probably will never be able to say that again though!

At our appointment two weeks ago, we talked about when would be a good time to take out my cerclage. Dr. K. said there's a fine line to walk as far as that goes because she doesn't want to take the stitches out too soon and then I go into labor because they're not there anymore, but she doesn't want to wait too long and my body begin to labor and the baby tears through the stitches. I prefer to not have my stitches torn through either. I told her that I really believe this baby will be "full term", as that is what I and so many others have prayed. (This pregnancy has taught me to believe in prayer!) Obviously, she would love for this baby to be full term as well. Since 37 weeks is considered full term, she said she would be comfortable doing the c-section then and removing the stitches during the surgery. I liked that idea a lot. Remember, these stitches have been in since I was 13 weeks pregnant, and I am a little afraid of how it's going to feel to have them removed. If we do it during the surgery, I'll be comfortably numb! However, if at 37 weeks things are going great, we could wait to 38 weeks.

We went back today for our last bi-weekly appointment. From this point on, we'll be visiting weekly. Today was also our last scheduled ultrasound before Little Man's birth. It's so exciting to know that the next time we see him will be when he's born! Everything looked very good during the ultrasound. Cooper's still measuring pretty big (about 2 weeks ahead). His head and stomach are big for his age, but his leg bone is actually slightly small for his age. He's going to be a short and plump baby. He's going to be the Pillsbury Dough Boy! :) Based on his measurements, his estimated weight today was 6 lbs, 7 ozs. After the ultrasound, we met with the doctor, and she said she is still thinking we'll do the c-section between 37 and 38 weeks (within the next 3-4 weeks).

We're almost there!

Sweet as Sugar

Oh how I miss my sweets! With this restrictive diet, I am always hungry, which means I spend most of the day thinking about food, and that of course just leads to additional hunger. What a vicious cycle! Last night I almost cried watching Cake Boss, and the Food Network is now off limits for me. Oh, and there's a new show coming on TLC called D.C. Cupcakes. Every time a preview comes on, I stare longingly at those delicious looking creations. Cupcakes are my weakness, and these look especially divine. I find myself even getting emotional looking through a cookbook. Yesterday I was trying to find a chicken recipe, and before I knew it, I had flipped over to the desserts section. I just couldn't help but look at those yummy recipes and drool over what I can't eat! I've realized sweets are my dirty obsession. I know I'm only hurting myself by looking because thankfully I have enough self control to not indulge in this love of mine, but yet I can't seem to refrain from the looking. Let's face it, I'm addicted. Is there such thing as sugar rehab?

The first step is admitting your have a problem, right?

Well then, my name is Allison, and I am a sugar addict.

A little of this, a little of that

We've been enjoying the lazy days of summer as we get ready for Little Man's arrival. Karl got me a new camera for my birthday, and I've been learning all the tricks it does. Since we have been so lazy lately, my pictures aren't very entertaining, but I thought I'd share anyway.

We've been working on not only Cooper's nursery but on turning our house into Babyville. It's pretty amazing how something so little can completely transform your home before he even arrives.

Here is the much anticipated crib!

A view of the nursery from the doorway-we're not completely done, but we're getting close. Sadie loves to hang out in here. Last night she got out of bed, and after a little while, I decided to get up and see where she was. She was just sitting in the glider. Her favorite thing so far has been coming in Cooper's room and trading toys. She'll leave one of her toys in there and take one of his. At least she's trying to share.

This is Cooper's bathroom.

The pack-and-play is all set up (thank you, Jennifer) by my nightstand. I love that it's the first thing I see in the morning when I wake up!

Little Man's swing is put together (but still missing batteries) in our living room. The blue and brown quilt in it was a gift that one of the moms in a past class made for the baby. It's really beautiful.

The belly at 31 weeks, 5 days

Although you can't see from this picture, Little Man is practicing his kickboxing skills and warm up stretches. He has been a very active stretcher and kicker today. That's still my favorite thing about pregnancy!

The swelling has begun! The rings have been put away until sometime after September 4th.

Just thought I'd share what my feet and ankles look like too.

Outside of getting the nursery and house ready for our little baby, I've been spoiling this little girl rotten lately. We've had a lot of bonding time since school got out!

Sadie gets so very excited when she hears her daddy comes home!

She goes crazy for him. She runs in big circles (while peeing all over the place) and whines and rolls and just celebrates his return...even if he's only been gone for 30 minutes. I don't get that response when I get home. I'm a little jealous about that too.

And after all the commotion, she has to lay down for a minute and rest.

I can always count on her being willing to be lazy with me these days.