Week 35

So I am now 35 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I had my weekly doctors appointment today and my cervix is completely "thinned out." Leaving me 100% efaced and 1 cm dilated. So in a nutshell, I could very well have the baby anyday now. I officially have decided to "take it easy" and not work out anymore and try to rest more. I am hopefully that the baby will make it to his set birthday on May 25th, but he may decided to grace us with his presence a lot sooner. So, this weekend we will be installing the carseat, putting up the pack n play and I will be packing my overnight bag for the hospital. I have confirmed "emergency" babysitters for Carter in the event that the baby comes soon. Uncle Kev being first on the list and my friend Colleen and her son Luke being alternates. Carter is spending this weekend with my parents so it will be Darrell and my last weekend to rest up for what is in store for us in the near future. I am getting so excited to meet the baby, but the nervous have definitely settled in as well. We will keep you all posted!!!

The BIG BOY bed

Carter taking a nap in his toddler bed for the first time.

Too funny. This is Carty "testing" his bed out. He of course needed is Elmo, pacifer and milk to pretend sleep with!

Darrell put Carter's toddler bed together this weekend in preparation to transition Carter from crib to bed. We surprised Carty and had the bed all put together and ready to go when he woke up from nap yesterday. He was super excited to see it and knows that it is a really BIG deal to have one!!! We keep telling him that his baby brother bought it for him because he is a big boy now and going to be a big brother. We decided to just have him nap in the bed initially and slowly transition him to sleeping in it all night. We just fear he may wake up in the middle of the night and roam around the house or be up playing with his toys. We will keep you posted on how the toddler bed sleeping goes........

The Diaper Shower

Tonight my girlfriend Elizabeth graciously hosted a "diaper shower" for me. It is a really cool concept, especially with your second time around being pregnant. All the guests were asked to bring a particular size box or bag of diapers for me. "Perfect" Darrell is thinking.....no baby gear/toys junk to figure out where to put, but instead a bunch of diapers....something useful. Think of all the $$$$ we will save! I got a variation of diapers newborn up to size 3. Now the only problem is deciding were to store them all. Some ladies even slipped in a box of wipes, picture frame or bibs. There was a very nice turn out of ladies and we all had a nice "kid free" visit. Elizabeth made an awesome spread of food. The cake balls and cheese bits being mine and baby's favorites!!! I had to post this picture as a visual so you could all see how many diapers I got! WOW! Thanks again for all those that attended and to Elizabeth. You all are a great group of friends!!!

Cowboy Carter

Aunt "Knee-Knee" bought Carter this pony on a stick for Easter. You press it's ear and it makes all sorts of horse noises. Anyways....Carter figured out how to ride it today and was galloping around his room all afternoon. It was pretty hilarous. As you can see by the picture.....he looks like one tough cowboy!

Carter & Luke out to Lunch

After our Bubbles class today we met Colleen and Luke out for lunch at Potbelly's. The boys had a blast watching each other make a mess at the lunch table and just being silly boys!

Last Day of Bubbles Preschool Prep. Class

Carter and our teacher Ms. Rachel. This was taken last week, because she had to miss our last class today. Rachel was a very creative, patient and terrific teacher. I definitely have an "eye" for good preschool teachers and she is surely one of them. Her interactions with Carter were amazing and he really loved her. We plan on re-enrolling in Ms. Rachel's class this fall if we still live in the city.

The Weather Drum. The kids beat on the drum and sing a song "What is the weather, the weather the weather...outside today?" Carter still loves the drums. He really gets into this portion of class. Carter also loves when the class JUMPS to the song ABC's. He is really doing good with memorizing the ABC song. He definitely knows bits and pieces of it and can count to 9 now!!!!

Today at class we talked about "Earth Day" so the children all got globes to play with. The color we discussed was BLUE. Carter's favorite of course, so we made sure he wore blue today!

Carter playing in the water table with Brody. Mental note to myself to keep an EXTRA shirt in the car this summer when out at parks, etc.. Wherever there is water, Carter will find it! The kid is a fish at heart. So he was super excited when they brought out the water for our day of class.

Our little stud muffin is surrounded by his "girlfriends." Although I think Mary Meyers (the red head) is his #1 girl. It is hilarous how much Carter and Mary Meyers "flirt" with each other. They save seats for each other, share toys, smile at each other and ALWAYS give each other hugs. On Carter's left side are two other little cuties....Caitlyn and Ella.

Happy Easter

The Micheli grandkids all dressed up and ready to go to Easter Sunday Mass. Brady, Carter, Callie and Mallory all looking adorable as always!~

Our family. We all went to visit our Noonie Jean at the Nursing Home on Easter. (top to bottom/ left to right), Kim, Dad, Ken, Rene, Kiernan, Micah. Darrell, Bryn, Noonie Jean, Reilly, Carter, Mom & Me

Reilly (in pink), Bryn (in blue), Carter & Kiernan posing in front of Noonie's beloved bunny sign!

Confetti eggs!!! Aunt Knee-Knee hollowed out a bunch of raw eggs and then put confetti in them. The kids loved cracking them on each other's heads...well so did the adults too! Carter just got an egg cracked on his head and now he is heading towards someone else to get them. He kept saying "More, more" he would have played this game all day long if we hadn't ran out of eggs

Carter and Aunt Knee-Knee posing for an Easter picture. Thanks Knee-Knee for my Elmo basket. How did you know that I would LOVE IT so much??

YUMMY! Carter's first encounter with a JELLY BEAN! He cracked open and egg and munched on a few jelly beans will hunting for more goodies!

Bryn and Carter hunting for eggs. The "bunny" came to Noonie's house and hide a ton of eggs outside for the kids to find. The weather was perfect, what a great day for an egg hung!

Carter's First Dental Visit

Cleaning time!!! Strawberry flavor was yummy! Carter loved the water hose afterwards too!

Counting Carty's teeth. There are 16 of them!!!

Carter holding the blue toothbrush he picked out and watching Dr. Nancy put on her mask. He wasn't afraid at all. Both Dr. Nancy and her assistant were great with him!

Wow! This office is so cool! Toys and books in the waiting room and now Sesame Street on a big TV in here. How comfty it was to sit in this big boy chair and get to watch Elmo too!

Carty went to the dentist for the first time today and did an AWESOME job! Dr. Nancy was a very nice and gentle dentist who made it a very positive experience for him. He currently has 16 teeth, no 2 yr. molars yet!!! Dr. Nancy said his mouth looks good, but to remember to stay away from gummy fruit snacks and only 1 cup of juice per day!

Mom's Night Out

Every month me and the same group of "mom" friends get together for a nice night out. We all really look forward to having a "kid" free evening out and being able to hold adult conversations. It seriously is a great support group and wonderful group of girls to hang out with!