Pregnancy Update and Baby Showers!

So I'm 37 weeks pregnant today and officially full term! The baby could come at anytime now; though I'm hoping he will wait until vozinha and vovo Stephen arrive on September 10th. The funny (or maybe not!) thing is that our baby boy is acting just like his brother did: he continues to turn from being head down or breech almost on a daily basis! On Monday I had an ultrasound (his weight was estimated at 6.2 pounds) and he was breech and then by Wednesday when I saw my midwife he was head down. I ask for your prayers that he will stay head down or at least turn at the last minute like Daniel did. I'm trying to be open to whatever happens (c-section or not) and focus on the joy of bringing this little boy home!

 

My aim before the baby comes is to catch up on blogging since I still need to write some posts highlighting some events between May and July. Today, I wanted to share some photos of the baby showers my friends have been so generous and loving to do for me over the past month. This little boy has had not one, or two, but three showers! What a blessing to experience so much love! Thank you for all who participated and all that you did! Check out the photos of each of the baby showers I had.

 

Baby Shower # 1 (32 weeks): With friends from our "new" church and neighborhood

 

Lovely decorations...

Beautiful spread of food...

 

Joan (in the middle) was so kind to host the party.

 

Baby Shower # 2: (34 weeks) With friends from our time in Columbia and Laurel

More lovely decorations at Corinne's house!

Made by dear Corinne!

Favors for the guests from dear Kristen!

Fun game!





Jean guessed my size perfectly -- I was shocked!





Heather on the other hand... :)

All very dear friends...

Diaper cake showing lots of love from dear Shamane.

These swaddle blankets are so soft!

 

Baby Shower # 3 (36 weeks): With Work Colleagues

It was a lovely pot-luck lunch...

I love my colleagues, they are a great bunch of people!


 

Jonny's 36th Birthday!

With Daniel starting Kindergarten yesterday, I didn't mention that it was also Jonny's birthday! Jonny said the joy he experienced seeing Daniel start Kindergarten was the best present he could have had. This past Saturday though, we did celebrate his birthday: Jonny said he wanted to go to a Thai restaurant he had loved and been to about 11 years before (when he came for a job interview from England), followed by his favorite ice cream. Everything was indeed yummy and Daniel loved it too!

 

Happy 36th Birthday my love! Great to finally be the same age again! :)



Daniel's First Day of Kindergarten

Daniel's first day of Kindergarten was a success! He was so excited from beginning to end. When the bus arrived in the morning, he ran straight inside without barely looking back. It all happened so quickly and he was so confident I was kind of shocked (but also happy, relieved, and of course a little emotional)! :) When he arrived home in the afternoon, he barely acknowledged my presence and went running with his friend to our houses. When I finally caught up with him, he said: "Mamae, I loved it! And I love my teacher Ms. Graham!" It was so spontaneous and heartfelt! Praise God, it couldn't have gone better. The photos that follow document everything we witnessed today!

 

Photos taken in the morning before going to school

 

Daniel loves taking "silly photos" and asked me to be silly with him.

This friend takes the same bus and is in Daniel's class too.

When the bus arrived, he quickly grabbed his friend and suddenly disappeared inside the bus without looking back!

 

Arrival at school!

Jonny and I managed to get to the school as the bus arrived and got this photo of Daniel looking outside the window.

He came out all happy and excited!

Jonny was there to capture the arrival on video too!

They all lined up and went inside.I was relieved to see the efficiency of the system.

We got to go inside too and saw Daniel meet his teacher, Ms. Graham, inside the cafeteria. She gave him a name tag.

We left him sitting in the cafeteria hearing the day's announcements. They later went to his classroom...

 

Photos taken after school, arrival back home

He was happy coming home and gave me a quick wave!

As soon as he got off, he ran after his friend straight to our houses!

The Night Before Kindergarten...

It's the night before Daniel starts Kindergarten and we just tucked him in bed. His new backpack is ready and we have his lunch prepared in advance too. Finally the day has almost arrived; I feel like we've been preparing and talking about this day for years! In the last few weeks we have literally been counting down the days with Daniel and this morning he was amazed to realize that there was only "one day left!"

 

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am, we will make our way to the bus stop just at the end of our road (you can see it from our window). We will join the other kids from the neighborhood, many of whom we have met over the summer. Daniel already knows who he will sit next to (Raphael) and this has given him (and us) a lot of confidence. The bus is supposed to arrive by 8:50 am, but we plan to be out there early to enjoy the time and take lots of pictures. Once he gets on the bus, Jonny and I will do what apparently many parents of Kindergartners do the first day of school: we will drive our car and follow the bus all the way to school and witness his arrival there. Once he enters the school's front doors, that will be it: our son will have officially started the new "journey of school", one that will last many years.  

 

He knows exactly which bus to take back (the "red" bus) and I'll be at the bus stop at 3:45 pm waiting for him. We've talked so much about how I will be there waiting for him every afternoon and that once the baby arrives, his brother will be there too. Tonight he said "I can't wait to see my brother tomorrow when I get back from school!" I had to remind him that he will not be there tomorrow but probably in about 3 weeks. :)

 

So here we go. I have been feeling quite emotional these last few days with all these big changes coming our way. I wonder how I will handle seeing him go off in the school bus tomorrow (I'm sure there will be tears involved and a lot more prayer)...

But at the same time we do feel at peace. We visited the school again this past Friday and met his teacher (Ms. Graham) and some of his new friends and parents. We felt very comfortable with what we saw and the set up of his room. There will be a total of 22 kids in his class from many different cultures. Daniel was really excited about the "white board" (Promethean board) that is a large touch screen that he was able to drag his name to the right colored bus he will be riding on! All very interactive and high tech. And he got to choose where he will sit and put his name tag there. In all, we were happy to see his confidence and excitement. He seems really ready!

This last weekend Jonny took several cool photos of Daniel with his iPhone using an app called "Hipstamatic"; we now have a great record of Daniel's last weekend before starting Kindergarten, taken by his papai!

 



This is Daniel tonight, just before we went inside to start our bedtime routine. What a happy and excited boy!

36 Weeks Pregnant!

I'm officially today 36 weeks pregnant! That means that in one weeks time I'll be full term and the baby will be ready to come at anytime! I feel almost ready now to meet our little boy; just need to get a few more things done before he comes, like get some newborn diapers and pack the hospital bags. Everything else is ready: his room is set-up and all his clothes are washed and waiting for him. I can't believe that very soon, we'll be bringing home a little baby to officially join our family, to be Daniel's little brother. It's so very exciting! We can't wait to meet you little one!

We still haven't fully decided on a name, but I think we now have a couple of options... we decided to wait until we see him to make our final decision and announce it to all! :)