Spring Break continued...

Christian and I have really enjoyed our spring break together! On Friday, we went to see the new cartoon movie "Monsters vs. Aliens". We had fun sharing popcorn too! The movie was ok, Christian laughed at the funny parts and repeated some lines from the movie that evening when he was playing with his toys. But it was no "Cars" or "Toy Story". :)
Friday night, Pops and GoGo came up to Rogers and we meet them for dinner at MiMi's.
It was good to see them! On Saturday, it actually SNOWED almost all day at our house. It was one of those beautiful snows, but the roads stayed clear. That evening, Hope and I went to dinner in Fayetteville at Kosmo's and then went to the Walton Arts Center to see Cirque Eloize-Nebbia. It was a very entertaining show, with acrobatics, contortionists, etc. Saturday night, I once again battled "pregnancy insomnia" and was up half the night. I guess it is God's way of preparing me for being up with Andrew in the weeks to come! Sunday, the weather turned warm and Jim worked on burning limbs left in our backyard from the ice storm--and even our Christmas tree! Christian enjoyed playing outside and I really needed the sunshine beaming down on me after all this cold weather! Hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break!

Enjoying Spring Break!

This week is Spring Break for Christian's preschool so we have been spending lots of time hanging out together! He is really fun and he is truly my "best buddy"! I wanted to do some fun stuff together this week, just the two of us, before Andrew is born.
Today, we went to Build-A-Bear Workshop! He was so excited and has been telling his friends since last week he was going to be "buildin' a bear" on Spring Break. It was the first time him or I had been to one before. Christian picked out the cutest furry brown bear and took it over to the "stuffing machine"...

Once he is "stuffed", Christian picked out a special heart to put inside his bear.

Then he took the bear over an air sink to give him a "bath"...


Then we got to pick out clothes for his bear. Christian picked out a Razorback t-shirt and jeans for him. He even wanted a stroller so he could push him around when go shopping!
Too cute!


Next, Christian went to the computer and made his bear's birth certificate. He named his bear, "Mr. Bear". He calls him Mister. :)

Christian filled it out all by himself!

After we left Build-A-Bear, we heard a train whistle by the food court! The Promenade has a new train for kids and adults to ride! It debuted this week!

Christian LOVES trains so we took a ride! Me, Christian and of course....Mr. Bear!

The conductor even gave Christian a wooden train whistle!


Me and Christian in the train!

After the train ride, we went to the food court and Christian rode the carousel too!



We then went to meet Jim for lunch at the Waffle House. We love that place!
After Jim went back to work, we headed back to the Promenade. With predictions of cold weather and possible snow this weekend, I wanted to take advantage of spending time outside. So we walked around the Promenade...me, Christian and Mr. Bear. :) I thought it would be good for me to do some walking too. After an hour, I could barely walk any further, so we headed home for an afternoon nap...

me, Christian and Mr. Bear! :)

36/37 week update!

On Wednesday, I had my weekly appointment with my doctor. I decided to bring Christian along with me so he could hear Andrew's heartbeat. He was very excited! We went and had breakfast at McDonalds before the dr. appt. He asked me if the doctor was going to "take Andrew out" but I said not yet! The heartbeat was still great, in the 150s and my blood pressure was good. These weekly visits are short and sweet until Andrew comes!
After our doctor appointment, we went shoe shopping for Christian. He needed a pair of dress shoes to wear with his suit to a wedding next month. Luckily, we found some that fit great at Payless! Then we had lunch together at Red Lobster. I had been craving their cheddar garlic biscuits! Christian enjoyed a plate of popcorn shrimp and fries while I had lobster and shrimp pasta! Yum! I was so worn out from the morning that we both took a long 2 hour nap!

Also, on Tuesday was picture day for Christian. Here are a few pics I snapped before he walked out the door. What a handsome boy!!!

A productive day....

Today was my second Monday of my "retirement" and I have gotten lots of things done!
With Andrew due in just a few weeks, I have been nesting like CRAZY! I finished putting away the last of some of his clothes, bibs, etc. I have my bag packed for the hospital and the car seat waiting by the front door. :) Can you tell I am ready???? ha!
I also spent the morning going through papers, getting things taken care of before Andrew is born. I even scheduled to have our carpets cleaned this week. I even tackled the pantry! It was a mess!
After going through my list of "to dos" and getting pictures off my camera, I realized I never posted some pictures from a few weeks ago. We went to Van Buren to celebrate John and Wrenn's birthdays!!!

Christian "helping" John and Wrenn blow out their candles

It was a beautiful day so we went outside to watch Uncle Will shoot his new bow and arrow!

Christian really enjoyed watching Will do his target practice.

Christian serving everyone pickles, olives, etc. at the table. He is wearing a bunny chef hat that GoGo got him....

Too cute!

36 week update!

Today I had my 36 week appointment. My doctor could definitely tell that Andrew had dropped. :) His heart rate was great and I am measuring right at 36 weeks. I had my group B strep test, which was negative with Christian, so I am sure it will be negative this time as well. I will find out at my appointment next week. My doctor said since I am this far along, if I went into labor they would not stop it, which is exciting! It made me want to go run 3 miles and have Andrew ASAP! But since I can barely walk, I decided to continue taking it easy and let Andrew come when he is ready or for sure by April 13th, my scheduled c-section date.
I had lunch with my friend Elise today at Olive Garden and it was so fun. I did not have to keep an eye on the clock to make sure I was back at the office on time. ;) After lunch, I decided to pick up Christian early so we could enjoy the beautiful afternoon together. We went home and he rode his bike in the driveway, played with sidewalk chalk and we ate a snack outside. It was so nice. I even got my reading done for my bible study class tomorrow morning.

Christian wrote his name in chalk...

and his numbers...

and some letters too! Upper and lower case! What a smart boy! (check out his shirt below)

Christian and one of his puppets he made in Tiny Tots!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Even at 6:30am this morning, Christian was excited about St. Patrick's Day! I told him his shirt said "Kiss me I'm Irish" and he asked "who is Irish?...I'm Christian" It was too cute! We have been reading a few different books before bed about St. Patrick's Day too. Unfortunately, I have nothing in my maternity wardrobe that has any green but I avoided being pinched. I did get a prenatal massage today! It was fabulous! Thanks to some of the ladies in my bible study group that got me a gift certificate as a gift! Thanks girls!!! It was a beautiful day today, the weather was almost 80 degrees! But since I can barely walk because Andrew has dropped so low, I spent most of the day resting on the couch with the windows wide open!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Charlotte Diane Young has arrived!

Yesterday, March 16th, Charlotte Diane Young was born at 11:58 and weighed 9.4 lbs and was 21 inches long. Dara and baby are doing great! She was only in labor for 4 hours and pushed for 15 minutes! WOW! I went to go see them at the hospital yesterday...

What a sweet baby girl! Congratulations Dara, Zach and big sister Caroline!

My last days at work...

Friday was my last official day at work. I am excited to have some time to rest and relax before Andrew is born, but I will REALLY miss my co-workers! They are my family!
But the shenanigans (or should I say "shenans") began before that! When I came into work on Thursday, here is what happened to my desk...

EVERYTHING on my desk was wrapped! From my phone to my pens and post it notes. :) But my fellow traders were sweet enough to surprise me with a wrapped gift as well...

A Snuggie! Yea! I was so excited! Each time we see this ad come on TV for the Snuggie (and free booklight, ha) I always say how I want one! So that was my parting gift. :)
That afternoon, I was also surprised with a rather unique cookie cake....

WTF? I could not believe they actually order a cake with this on it! This phrase is one used quite often in our office since we always speak in abbreviations or ("abbrevs") and acronynms. Too funny!

Later that afternoon, we had a baby shower for Paul and Tabitha. Paul is one our other newest traders we hired on the desk to help with the workload since I was leaving.


Paul and Tabitha are also expecting a baby boy, Gabriel (Gabe) Scott, on April 21st, just a couple weeks after me! Andrew and Gabe will be buddies!

And even after the shenanigans and parties were over, the fun was not! My co-worker Jamie was turning 30 on Friday and his wife was surprising him with a ski trip to Colorado with his buddies. Another one of my co-workers, Trent, was going too. So we had to find a way to get Jamie out of the office early without him knowing what was going on. He got home and his wife Rachel surprised him with tickets to Colorado and all of his friends were packed and ready to go! For the full story and pics, you can visit Rachel's blog at http://jamieandrachel.blogspot.com/

On my official last day, Friday, the office had an ice cream cake going away party for me as well! Everyone was so sweet! I will miss you all but will be up to visit with baby Andrew soon!
After work, GoGo came to pick up Christian and take him to Van Buren for the night so Jim and I could celebrate my "retirement". :) We went to dinner at Powerhouse then went to our friends house, Aaron and Allison. Their boys Carter and Carson had received drums and guitars for Christmas and put on a show for us! It was so cute!

Then they wanted to see Jim, "the real drummer" play for them...

Jim even sat in their little chair. So cute! The boys enjoyed it!
Thanks Aaron and Allison for having us over!
Now, to put my feet up and rest on the couch in my Snuggie....;)

Kindergarten already??!!

Today I officially registered Christian for kindergarten. I just can't believe he is getting so big!
I gathered all the paperwork necessary--birth certificate, shot records, proof of residency, social security card, etc. and went to Cooper Elementary and filled out all the paperwork. The school is very nice and the people in the office were very helpful. I was there right at 8am when they have a few children come into the office each morning and do the Pledge of Allegiance over the intercom and announce what is for lunch in the cafeteria. It was so cute! I can't believe that will be Christian soon! Christian will begin kindergarten in mid-August. Cooper Elementary is just a few miles from our house so it will be so convenient! After Christian is out of preschool in May, he will spend the summer at home with me and Andrew. I am looking forward to having that time with my boys this summer!

34/35 week appointment update!

Just an update that everything looked good at my doctor appointment this past Monday. Andrew is moving around like crazy and his heartrate is good. All other tests were great. I start going to the dr. every week now. Our c-section is scheduled for Monday, April 13th! Yeah! But I am not sure if I will make it that long! Friday is my last day at work and I am excited but will miss all my wonderful co-workers too! I wanted to take a few weeks off before Andrew is born so I could rest and relax and get everything ready! I am counting the days!!! :)

Catching up with the blog...

Seems that I have been having some requests to update the blog since I have not in over a week! Sorry all! :) Last weekend, I spent the whole weekend on the couch sick with a horible cold! Being sick and pregnant is NOT fun. This past Friday night (the evening I started to feel like I was getting a cold), I met up with my girlfriends for dinner to celebrate Dara's birthday. We also went to see the movie, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and it was a fun show to see with all my gal pals. I hate to admit, I did not take a picture that night. :( So after being sick all weekend and still feeling bad at the first of the week, I stayed home from work on Monday too. But after that day of rest, I returned to the office on Tuesday. After seeing what the stock market did while I was out, maybe I better make sure I don't miss another day! ha!

Speaking of work, we got a special treat today; my co-worker Jamie's little girl Audrie came to visit today. We love when she comes to visit...

Our boss Stephanie trying to show Audrie how to throw the ball!

Audrie and Ty having fun together playing in the floor!
(Ty, I think you need a little one of your own! wink, wink)