Snowy views from our front door...

I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post this afternoon (because Pat wants to get Savannah out in the snow), but here are three shots I took this morning.
Thank goodness Pat got up at 6 a.m. and drove the Scion down to the end of the driveway. He doesn't have to work today, but our driveway was already starting to ice and he decided not to chance it later in the day.
We've canceled Maggie's trip to the vet and the carpet cleaner who was scheduled to come by this afternoon... and are planning to spend the day up here on our little hill in Ruckersville.

Savannah after a recent play date...

Savannah is so tired after we go over to Heather's house that she usually passes out before we get to Highway 29. I took this picture of her last week because I thought she looked so cute... she never goes to sleep when she's visiting (like any good lady), but she crashes as soon as we get in the car!

Exhausted...

Well, I've finally rounded the bend into my last weeks of pregnancy... and the joys that come along with it!
I'm having a hard time falling (and staying) asleep at night as Julius usually decides to run around my belly about the time I put my head on the pillow. I've done everything I can think of ... watch television, read a book, play a computer game, etc... to fall asleep and nothing seems to help.
I can't remember having this difficult a time when I was pregnant with Savannah, but I think it's part of the joys of having a child... you forgot all of the bad stuff.
We're looking forward to having a toddler-free weekend as Savannah is once again going to visit her Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom... and then we'll see Grammy and Papa on Monday as they're visiting for the day.
In between those visits Pat and I hope to get some last-minute things done around the house to get ready for Julius and join our friends, Heather and Matt, for dinner at The Melting Pot, a place I've been wanting to try since we moved here.
Hopefully, I can also squeeze in a few much needed hours of sleep.

Wearing Mama's clothes...

Savannah has gotten into the habit of putting my shirts on over her own clothes... don't ask me why because I don't know.
Pat captured these pictures and I found them today when I was taking photographs at our play date... I thought they were adorable.
The third picture looks like she caught him trying to take her picture... and she once again had that "Whatcha talking about Willis?" look.

Pictures of a play date...

I finally took a few pictures of one of our play dates today and wanted to share them with you.
Savannah and I have been having a blast with Heather, Brooke and Haiden... I think we're going to be longtime friends.
It has been nice to watch Savannah make her first real friend and it's been wonderful for me to have a friend who has children around the age of mine.
I'm going to post a few pictures from today's play date... we had a great time and look forward to going over tomorrow to play again.

One big baby...

We found out today that Julius is well on his way to be a double-digit baby!
According to the ultrasound calculations, he already weighs 6 lbs., 1 ounce... which is the normal size of a baby in it's 36.5 week of gestation... we're just in our 33rd week. Babies at 33 weeks usually weigh 4 lbs. so he's already 50 percent more than he's supposed to be.
The ultrasound also showed he has a full set of hair and big cheeks... both traits his sister had at delivery! I cried when I saw his little face on the ultrasound screen because I think he's going to look a lot like Savannah did on the day she was born.
The doctors said we'll continue on the plan to have him on Feb. 24 unless I go into labor early or start having a lot of pain. Right now I'm just feeling the regular aches and pains that come along with carrying a baby... but I'm sure it's going ot get worse as the weeks go by.
Here are two of the pictures of Julius... the first one is a side profile of his face and if you look closely you can see his big cheek and his nose. The second photo is proof that Julius is a boy... his little "pole" is sticking up for everyone to see.

Checklist for Julius...

I've been trying to come up with a needs list for Julius... so we can make sure we have what we need once he arrives.
It was easy when Savannah was on the way because we needed everything... and we got so much stuff there was some things we never used.
Fast forward two years and I want to do things differently... I want to make sure we get what we'll actually use and not waste money.
One of the nice things this time is that we've kept a lot of the big-ticket items and I have a friend who has offered to loan us a few things so we don't have to go into any extra expense to get them.
I've also learned that many people will buy clothes... and I've bought a few things for Julius and my friend, Heather, is handing down things her son, Haiden, can no longer wear.
So I'm trying to think of the other things he'll need:

- a Boppy to use when nursing... because Savannah certainly isn't going to give up hers.
- new Avent #1 bottle nipples in case we need to supplement or if I'm able to pump this time around.
- bathing stuff for Julius... a little boy should should only have so many pink towels to be dried off on.
- receiving blankets
- socks, booties and hats
- little pee wee covers... to keep him for shooting us in the eye when we change his diaper
- disposable diapers... just so we can put under him in case he has accidents... little boys on known to do that.

I also have to come up with a few things to give Savannah so she won't get too upset about being the big sister... I know we need to get her a shirt to wear on the big day.
Please send me any suggestions you think I might have forgotten... pregnancy brain has a way of making me forget things.

New friends...

Savannah and I have been busy this week getting out and making friends.
After being cooped up in the house for two weeks due to sickness and the holidays, we ventured out on Monday for a play date at C'Ville Coffee in Charlottesville.
I have to say this is the most kid-friendly coffee shop I've ever been to. It was designed to be a place for both families and singles to hang out and there was an entire section that was dedicated to people with little ones.
Not only did I meet with the ladies from my group, but I also talked with other stay-at-home moms. Most importantly, Savannah had a blast playing with all of the other children and she ran around, gathered up toys from the toy box and looked at books with the other kids.
I guess she had more pent-up energy than I thought.
We continued our outings yesterday with an afternoon play date at another mommy, Heather's, house. She has two children, Brooke, who is 22 months, and Hayden, who is almost six months.
The girls had a blast together... this was the first time we had just the two girls together. There was one point in the afternoon when they got into a giggle fest and couldn't stop laughing... one would laugh and the other would laugh.
It was wonderful to see my little girl make her first official friend!
Later in the evening, Heather and I left the children with a babysitter (whose name was also Savannah) and joined a couple of other mommies for dinner. The four of us had a blast and spent three hours in a hubby and child-free environment.
I didn't realize how much I missed the company of other women until I was able to enjoy a few hours with ladies traveling on the same journey of life that I'm on.
It was very nice indeed!

Happy New Year...

Sorry it has taken a few days to post, but everyone in our house has been sick with a stomach virus.
Savannah got it first and has suffered the most. She hasn't been feeling well since the days before Christmas, but we finally had to take her to the doctor Tuesday after she started vomiting clear fluids.
She was diagnosed with a stomach virus and sent home with two suppositories... and instructions to keep her filled with fluids and slowly introduce foods. Five days later, she's feeling better but is not back to her normal eating or drinking patterns.
Pat was the next to get sick... he spent the first hours of 2009 rushing from the bed to the bathroom. Although the worst part of his virus ended after one day he still isn't feeling at 100 percent.
I've been lucky and spared the worse of the virus... which is good because someone had to take care of the others. I'm not sure how we would have survived had I gotten as sick as Pat was... it certainly would have been miserable.
Sickness kept us from having our New Year's Day dinner... so I'm planning on making that today if Pat and Savannah's stomachs can tolerate the smell of the cooking.
I hope everyone else out there has had a better 2009 thus far... we're still counting on it to be a great year.