Mark your Calendars for August 17th!!!

Carter James will be arriving on August 17th (no earlier we hope) around 12:30 p.m. at St. David's Hospital!
So crazy to think that we are only about 2 weeks away from having another baby. Wow! I really love the idea of having it all planned. I can actually get up and get dressed (no breakfast - boo) and have a bit of time in the morning before we head to the hospital. If it's anything like Jackson's birth, it was absolutely low-key and not stressful at all. Dr. McIntyre is always a joy and I can tell nurses and other doctors really enjoy working with him, which makes a huge difference. I've requested the same anesthesiologist (Dr. Allen) I had for Kylie and Jackson. He is also amazing and helped me stay calm through both of their births! He even took some great pictures for us:) I remember when I was having Jackson they were discussing funny commercials and other just casual conversation topics. It really is quite amusing, and then all the sudden "here comes baby!".
I am so anxious to see what he is going to look like! And those tiny little hands and feet that are just the most precious site ever. I really do enjoy those few days in the hospital where Adam and I will be able to spend some time with Carter on our own. Kylie will hopefully be there for the birth and come to visit a bit, but then she'll be off to have her own fun adventures with friends and family. Mr. Jackson will get to meet Carter when he comes home. I'm not too sure he'll be comfortable with mommy lying in the bed with machines all around, so we'll just spare him that experience!
The house is pretty much done except for a few minor things here and there and I've finally gotten around to washing and getting baby clothes, bibs, blankets, etc. all washed and ready. Still have more to do, but at least we are making progress!
Jackson is doing really well in his big boy bed and really made the transition nicely, thank goodness. He still gets a bit hyper at bedtime and wants to play with his toys or heaven-forbid jump on the bed (which has already given us one bloody nose). Overall, I am very proud of him! He has changed so much just in these past few months. He went from not a whole lot of talking to sentences so quickly. My favorite things he says are:
"I love you so much"
"Thank you so much"
"Mommy, get up" (of course when I'm still wanting to sleep!)
"Hi, how are you?" he says this in the cutest little voice ever. It makes me smile every time!
"Mommy, pick it up please" any time he drops something.
It's really funny when he tells Kylie she needs to go to time out!
He really has a sweet demeanor to him and is actually a very polite little boy. So proud of him.
Of course, he likes to play with things he shouldn't and draw on pretty much anything, but overall he is a great kid. We just have to keep a good eye on him!
Kylie is growing up so fast. She's had a great summer of camps and spending the night with friends. She even put up a "DO NOT DISTURVE" sign on her door. Love it! She goes in there more frequently now for some alone time, which I think is really good for her. She'll play with toys, write in her journal (that she locks by the way), or read books. She is going to sleep on her own now, which took us literally up until this summer to make happen. Bad parents. I love our talks at bedtime, so we still have those now and then. Instead of laying in her bed until she falls asleep, I simply give her a kiss and tell her good night. She is really starting to show her personality... sometimes a bit more daring than I would like, and she can be quite the drama queen. We have some moments of talking back or just a snotty tone, but she seems to recognize our disapproval very quickly. I hope that she will really enjoy having another baby brother and being a part of it even more this time, now that she is older.
I'm preparing to take off some time from work which is always hard to do. I'll work up until Wednesday to get ready to be out. Quite stressful! It will be nice to have a few weeks to not be so focused on work. Probably a good break for my brain. Although, my brain will be a little wacky from lack of sleep, I'm sure.

Well, here's to what will hopefully be an uneventful next two weeks! We love you Carter James and can't wait to meet you!

Biehlers hit the beach!

We managed to get in a beach trip before baby gets here, and I am so glad we did. This is Kylie's absolute favorite place to be and I was determined to take her before the summer was over.

We headed to Port A. and stayed from Thursday to Sunday. Grandma, me and the kids drove down on Thursday and then daddy joined us on Friday.

We went to the Rockport beach the first day and I was pretty anxious about how Jackson would do. Last year when we took him to the beach it was a disaster! He took off into the water and didn't want me to hold him so he just screamed. We ended up banning him from the beach for the rest of the trip. So, this time was so much better. Actually, he was very cautious the first day and didn't really even want to get in the water unless I was holding him. Being almost 8 months pregnant makes that a bit tricky!!!

Things were definitely better once Adam got there so he could hold Jackson if needed or take Kylie out to ride the big waves. There weren't many jellyfish this time (thank goodness) and the beaches looked really great.

Jackson really warmed up to the ocean by the 2nd and 3rd day and had a great time in the shallow part letting the waves get him.

So glad we got to spend some time together having a great time and making memories!!!

Baby Brother in 3D!!!

I didn't do a 3D sonogram with Kylie or Jackson, so I decided why not do one this time? Adam bought be a great present from Blooming Pregnancy Day Spa that included the sonogram and a massage - yippeeee!

So, here he is, our sweet baby boy! I still can't believe how cool it was to see him like this. At first he had his little hands up at his face, but with enough poking around, he moved them. Then, he smiled and was actually opening and closing his mouth. Kylie got to come see the sonogram too and she thought it was super cool. It is hard to believe he'll be here in just 8 weeks. I am still feeling very unprepared, but we'll get there. Soon, we'll have the house all back together and I can get his baby gear ready to go. The anxiety seems to get a bit worse as we get closer to the big day. I think my biggest fear is being able to be the best mom I can be to all my kiddos. I want to be able to nurture this new little guy as much as possible while still being there for Kylie and Jackson. I know it will take some time for us all to get acquainted, but my hope is that this sweet little guy will just add to the joy of our household! I'm sure he will:)

Raised to walk in a new life...

Kylie Marie got baptized on Sunday, June 12th!

She spent the week at VBS with Hyde Park and accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior - Hallelujah!!!

I am so happy for her. She has been talking about it for over a year now and I just hadn't been sure she really understood what it meant, so I didn't make too much out of it. I wanted it to be choice that she really understood and could remember forever.

I believe she was completely ready and has such a great foundation of faith already. In fact, I feel like she has taught me so much about my own personal faith starting at a very young age.

It made it even more special that Dr. Bowman who married Adam and I baptized her. It was at the Quarries which is the church's newer location with recreational activities and a beautiful man-made lake.

I just loved the look on her face as she stood there getting ready to go under. She just seemed so excited and so content. This is truly a moment I will never forget...

Jackson Turns Two!

Pure joy on this little man's face! He was so excited to blow out his candle I had to light it twice.

My little boy turned two! Wow, it's hard to believe he's already two years old. He had such a great time at his birthday party at Gymboree. He takes a class there on Tuesdays with Grandma and his teacher Aaron did his party. Aaron was awesome and really helped the kids have fun. There were maracahs, bubbles, parachutes, balls, jumping, you name it - they loved it. Kylie was such a good big sister and really heped make the party fun for everyone.

The theme of the party was trains of course!!! Are we noticing a trend here?

It's amazing how much he's changed just even in the past few months. He went from saying a few words to sentences and can pretty much repeat anything. I have been amazed at how quickly he is changing. He actually learned how to crawl out of his crib on his birthday too. No fun for us, but it will make the transition to his big boy bed a bit easier for us to do before little man #2 arrives. So, now he comes into my room and says "Mommy Get Up". It really is adorable how he says it no matter how much I really don't want to get up. I still think one of my favorite things he says is "Cuse me" meaning "excuse me". It is so darn cute. Or maybe how he says lollipop like poppypop.

He wants to walk everywhere and does not like to have to sit in the stroller or be carried. The only problem is - he's an escape artist! He will get away from us so fast it's scary. So, that continues to be a challenge. Playing outside is still his most favorite activity. Anything where he can climb, run, throw balls, and just be a rambunctious little boy makes him happy. His favorite toys are his trains, grocery cart, hammer (that's so much fun), his old-school puppy on wheels, and his little cars.
He likes to eat little pancakes every morning and that is typically what he asks for first thing. He still has a major attachment to "roar" his lion. It is very well-loved. He still loves his suckies too. That's going to be a hard habit to break - yikes. His crocs are his favorite shoes and pretty much the only ones he won't take off all the time. He loves to run around the backyard completely naked. I don't know why kids like that so much; Kylie was the same way. FREEDOM!!!! His favorite foods are pizza, oranges, pancakes, chicken, broccoli, and any kind of snack cracker really.
He gets very irritated with bugs that fly in his face or jump on him and he does not like to share mommy. He and Kylie like to have "mommy wars." Having another one could make things very interesting indeed! I'm so blessed by this little boy. He is certainly keeping us very busy, but he's truly a joy.

Grab your umbrella!!!

You know we needed rain so badly when Facebook is inundated wtih comments about how excited people are that it is raining. Jackson spent quite a bit of time just staring out the window this morning. It's like a phenomenon that it's raining. Hopefully this will bring some pretty flowers and green, green grass! Thank you Lord for the rain!

This past weekend was a big weekend for me. On Friday, I turned 33 years old. Hard to believe, but yes, one more year closer to 35. Kylie came into my room in the morning and with her sweet little voice said "happy birthday mommy" and it started my day off perfectly. Then, Adam and Jackson brought be back breakfast tacos for breakfast, yum! I don't reallydig breakfast very much, but I love me some breakfast tacos! For lunch I met my mom and Deanna at Kerbey Lane for a birthday lunch which is always a treat. We all live here, but our schedules rarely allow us to have even a meal together. Aunt D gave me a free night of babysitting and a movie! Yay! My kids love her, so I am excited they will get a fun night with Aunt D while mommy has a fun night out. Recently Jackson has started spending time with D on Thursdays and he loves it. She truly has a true gift with kids. They are just drawn to her and my kids are no different. He talks about her all the time. I know they always have fun adventures when they are together and I am so happy they are making some sweet memories together. Kylie loves Aunt D too. She thinks having slumber parties at her house might just be the greatest thing ever. Nevermind that she is treated like royalty when she is over there! I am so glad our family is all close. We are so very blessed.

For my birthday evening, Adam and I went to Hula Hut to have my favorite meal - the chicken and avocado tubular taco. It is the greatest thing ever!!! I would have loved to down a margarita, but not this year! After dinner we went and saw the movie Source Code which was actually pretty entertaining. I didn't fall asleep so it must have been good. The kiddos spent the night with Grandma and Big Pa so we slept in until 10:00 on Saturday! Wow! That was AWESOME!

Mother's Day we went to a very nice brunch at Perry's Steakhouse hosted by some of my mom's very dear friends. The set-up was so nice and the food was amazing. I got a pork chop that could have fed about 3 people I think! We don't eat out much, so going to a place like this is super special. I love celebrating my mom on a special day, however, one day would never be enough! She is the most amazing mom in the world and I could never express how much I love and appreciate her. After the brunch, we headed over to the Biehler's to enjoy some more family time (in the pool of course) and dinner. Having the pool has been so much fun for the kids. They have such a blast. Jackson still isn't quite sure about getting off the side ledge, but honestly, I am glad! He is usually so daring that it's scary, so I'll take it while I can get it!

Better get back to work, just needed a little break for my mind!

Dallas Girls' Weekend

New bed for her doll!

Smoothie with her American Girl Doll!
Shy, Heather, Jackie, Trimble, Becky (four baby boys and a girl!)

Miss Kylie went with me to visit my sweet friends in Dallas for a baby shower and then we had some fun Mommy-Daughter time together!

Jackie is having her first baby, little Olivia. The shower was absolutely adorable. Decorated all in Red, Black, and White. Cutest theme ever. I didn't get to see my friends for too long, but I always treasure every minute I have with them. There were five of us pregnant at the shower! That's out of 9 girls! Very funny.

After the shower, Kylie and I headed to the Westin at the Galleria. Shortly after we got there Kylie was ready to swim, of course. It was maybe 80 degrees, so too cold for mommy! She had a great time and met some friends at the pool. We headed back to the room for a shower and then it was off to ice skate! I couldn't ice skate with her, so I was very apprehensive about her going, but she assured me it was just fine. Of course she did fabulous! She loves ice skating and has gotten pretty good at it for only her second time! After ice skating I told her we could go anywhere she wanted to eat and she picked none other than McDonald's (seriously?). So, we ate at the Food Court - yum. Last, it was a stop at the American Girl store. She picked out a friend for the doll she has and a few other things, such as pj's since she would absolutely need some of those for the night! It was about time to call it a day so we went back to the room. Once we got back, there were little cupcakes, a glass of milk and a doll bed for her American Girl Doll! She was super excited.

The next day we had brunch at the American Girl Bistro, which is actually a pretty great place to eat! They have a little box filled with question cards that you can ask each other so we had fun doing those while we waited. She came up with some pretty funny answers. After brunch, we hit the mall for a few minutes, bought some goodies at Claire's Boutique and hit the road! I just love these fun times with Kylie and I hope she'll remmeber the special times she has with Mom. I know I will!