Abby’s Saturday // Two Hundred And Twenty-Eight

Highlight of the Week

We went to Kennywood’s Holiday Lights on Sunday! This is the 3rd year we’ve gone & this year was a completely different experience than the last two! Usually, we wait until closer to Christmas & it’s absolutely freezing out, but with baby boy’s any-day-arrival (and a special tour of the new coaster construction site that Derrick wanted to take part in), we went opening weekend this year. It was about 20º warmer than what it’s typically been, and wow do those 20º make a huge difference!! We didn’t really need hats or gloves & our toes were completely fine with only one pair of socks!

Like I said, the main reason we went this past Sunday though was that the roller coaster group of enthusiasts (nerds) that Derrick is a part of, were getting a behind-the-scenes exclusive tour of the new coaster’s construction site. Of course, he couldn’t pass that up! He was like a kid in a candy store.
But the best part of the night, came after the tour was over, as the park was just opening up and the first rides were beginning to run, Derrick, my Mom, and Ruby took Braelynn on the Paratroopers & there was only one other small group of people who got on the ride at the same time. After the ride was over, as they were walking off, that group approached Derrick and asked him if he was “XScreamThrills” on YouTube. He smiled & said that he was, and they said, “We knew it! We follow your channel & love watching your videos! We knew who you were by the sound of your voice!” Needless to say, Derrick couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the night!

Look for photos of our time at the Park on Tuesday!

Yes, This Happened

• I am now 38 weeks pregnant & baby boy is approximately the length of a leek.
• Can you believe it’s December already?! The month of November just flew by! I am so excited for everything this month holds: mostly that this is the month we will meet our baby boy!
  Christmas is also coming though! And today we officially get to kick off all of our fun Advent & Christmas traditions! Last year, we wrapped up 24 Christmas books & Braelynn got to unwrap one a day at bedtime as a “countdown” to Christmas – so we’re doing that again (I have to admit, it was a lot of fun to wrap up & number each of the books & wonder which “book” our baby’s birthday would fall on). My Mom also created this incredible Advent Tree for us (she literally put hours and hours of work into it), and it goes along with The Jesus Storybook Bible that we have (and love) reading to Braelynn. It’s going to be a fun & exciting month!
• As exciting as the days ahead are, it hasn’t been the easiest of weeks – pregnancy wise. I haven’t felt the greatest & have been in a lot of pain (pain as far as “movement” goes, everything is fantastic with the baby). I had an appointment with my midwife & asked her about my increasing pain levels & she said that unfortunately, it’s a normal part of the last few weeks of pregnancy (especially with this being baby #2). My body is just prepping for labor & the loosening of my joints & muscles & ligaments & bones is what it’s supposed to be doing. Unfortunately, that process, along with baby boy’s head being planted square in the middle of my pelvis & pushing down, makes walking really tough. For the most part, I feel okay in the mornings & until early afternoon, but by the time Derrick gets home & into the evening, I literally feel like an old lady – holding on to everything & shuffling along, with little whimpers along the way. It’s making life a bit more challenging. And just keeps upping the “please come soon!” factor. I know all of this will be over so soon (and then we’ll enter into a whole new season of challenges!), but this week has just been rougher than usual. So, I’ve been trying to simply relax & lay low (while still chugging along & prepping for baby to come!) As far as my midwife appointment went though: she said everything is fabulous with baby boy – he’s measuring perfectly normal & average, his heartbeat sounds fantastic, and he’s right where he needs to be (even though she was pretty sure that when I was there, he was face up instead of face down – which is how Braelynn was when I was in labor with her).
• On top of all of that, Braelynn has been particularly challenging this week as well. I know a lot of parents say that when baby #2 arrives, child #1 will suddenly go crazy acting-out & not listening & it seems we’ve already entered that stage, and baby boy hasn’t even arrived yet! So, that’s upped the level of crazy in our house even further. I am so thankful for Derrick & not only the huge help he is around the house, but for the calming, patient, voice of reason he is when he walks in the door.
• I really haven’t had any “cravings” since my first trimester (when all I wanted was mayonaise-based things like chicken salad & potato salad), but over the last few days, I have been craving chocolate in the worst way. Chocolate bars, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge, chocolate ice cream – anything & everything chocolate – I want it.

Feeling Blessed

On Saturday night, we got pizza & watched a Christmas movie. It was such a fun little “activity” for our family. About halfway through the movie, as we were all snuggled up on the couch, Derrick looked over at me & said, “Do you realize that these are the very last few days with just the 3 of us?” I nodded. He asked, “Does that make you emotional?” I nodded again. “Wait, are you crying?” Yep – that’s all it took & I was bawling like a baby. Derrick laughed at me, but it’s so crazy to think that literally any day now, we will no longer be our little family of 3 – we’ll be 4. And as wonderful & exciting as it is to welcome the whole new dynamic of a baby boy into our family, it’s also kind of sad to know that the days of it being just the 3 of us are numbered & getting shorter & shorter.
This whole pregnancy has just been such a whirlwind. It’s flown by so fast (and yet at times been so slow). It’s been completely different than my pregnancy with Braelynn. I literally feel like I’ve been pregnant forever and I’m so excited to exit the “pregnancy” stage & enter into the “newborn” stage. Like I said, I know having a newborn plus a toddler will enter us into a whole new level of challenges (trust me, I’m not naive about that), but I’m just so excited to be past the “pregnant” part. Com’on baby boy!