Updates, Updates, Updates!

Oh boy, has it really been a month since I posted last?? Things have been crazy busy here for the last month.

The House:

We've been working on the house every chance we get. Cleaning, organizing, moving furniture, and generally getting ready to welcome the newest member of our family. We still have a few things to do, namely get the spare room ready for guests to stay in, but baby-wise we are all ready to go. We hung some light fixtures in the kitchen, painted some of the ceiling and - oh, yeah - built a deck. The deck is wonderful! We've been enjoying every moment we're able to outside.

We also got a new sectional couch, moved the other furniture around the house to make room and put together the new TV stand for downstairs. Did I mention all the cleaning, organizing and tidying we've been doing? Here's a pic of Ryan and Cailin enjoying the new couch after a long night of teething on Cailin's part:
Cailin:

Is learning new things every day. She's talking a lot more, and speaking in sentences. She had two birthday parties on two weekends in a row. The first was rained out, but the second one we had for the family had decent weather. We were able to set up the bouncy house and let the kids go bonkers. I didn't manage to get a single picture of that party, and didn't realize it until later. I'm glad everyone else had their cameras going! It was a wonderful day, with family from near and far showing up to celebrate. I made cupcakes, we had BBQ food and it was just a nice, relaxed visit.

Cailin has recently undergone what we think is an allergic reaction to something she ate. She has a rash under her arm that has been extremely persistent to clearing up. I took her to the doctor after trying two different pharmacists' recommendations. She's now got Benedryl to take and a prescription cream to try and clear up this rash. Her tonsils are also swollen and sore, so I have antibiotics to give her if she takes a turn for the very sickly in the next few days. I'm hoping the sore throat and rash aren't related.

Cailin surprised me last week by asking to go potty - on the big potty - all by herself. It seems like she's been motivated to learn by her older cousin Grace. She's been trying every day now, but usually she's already peed by the time she actually gets on the potty. At least she knows! She doesn't want any help either, telling me no and pushing my hands away. She wants to do it all by herself.

Visitors:

GG and Papa Ray came and stayed in Beaver City for a week. Grace was there too, and she and Cailin have been really good buddies. They play together really well and have so much fun tearing around the farm. It was so nice to have everyone out and get so much visiting in!

Papa Ray built railings/seating on the deck at the farm (Papa and Ryan helped). It looks really nice. GG fixed all the flower gardens up, and does that ever look nice! The yard is really coming together. It was hilarious to drive out one day and see Papa Ray on one lawn tractor, Nana on the other, and Papa running the push mower while GG weeded the gardens. It was Put-Your-Guests-To-Work-Day at the farm apparently.

We got to do some shopping, chase after kids, and got lots of visiting in besides. Grace is going home soon, she's been in Beaver City for two weeks now. Cailin is going to miss her!

Bailey:

Terrorized by several thunderstorms - including a very dynamic one right above the city - and pooped on the new couch. Still in the doghouse. 'Nuff said.

Weather:

Aside from the sort of sunny/windy/somewhat chilly weather we had while GG and Papa Ray were here, it's been raining non-stop. It rained so much and so hard that our basement leaked a little water. We were lucky though - other houses had as much as a foot of water in their basements. After making an irrigation ditch to lead water away from our house, we've been problem free. But oh! the rain, it just never stops! Actually, today was the first day in over two weeks where it stopped for any length of time. The sun came out for a while too - just in time to give a brilliant sunset. Hopefully that's the end of the rain for a while - Ryan's getting sick of BBQing in the rain:Jellybean:

Is doing very well. I've had several doctors' appointments in the last month. I got in to see the surgeon and the c-section is booked for August 3rd. That means less than 20 sleeps until we get to meet this wiggly wonder. He's measuring 36 weeks at 35 weeks along. I'm assuming he'll be keeping that ratio up for the rest of his duration 'baking'. His heartbeat is strong and healthy and moves around a great deal despite his lack of elbow space.

Me:

I'm (we're) currently 36 weeks along. I'm getting to the very tired, very done feeling stage. At the end of the day I'm so tired and achy that I usually just crawl into bed without much reading (and obviously without any blogging). Of course, that's about the time Jellybean wakes up and does his daily cycling workout.

I've been experiencing some very painful contractions. I can't help but think OH BOY HERE COMES LABOR when all the pain starts. Contractions are worse on days when I'm really busy and on my feet a lot. Also? My bladder seems to have shrunk to microscopic levels. I get up more times a night than Bailey does. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

We're on the go doing stuff every single day and before I know it, it's bedtime again. The days are shooting by in a big blur. As much as I want to be done with pregnancy - on the other hand, I want time to slow down to enjoy every moment of this summer.

I'm enjoying every second with Cailin and watching her learn and grow. She's figuring things out and starting to problem solve. Can't reach something? No problem, build a ladder to reach it. The kid's a genius when it comes to climbing.

I have a lot of stories to tell from the Adventures of Cailin and Grace, but those will have to wait for now.