40 weeks

honestly i never imagined that we would really make it to our due date and beyond...
thursday morning we had another appointment, apparently i'm STILL 2 cm and still
about 60% effaced. for those keeping track of the expansion, i've also gained a total so
far of 21 pounds. we did receive some exciting news.... they want to see me on monday and
have set up induction for first thing wednesday morning. so if little missy doesn't make her
appearance by then, she just might have an august 5th birthday (or share an august 6th
birthday with her nana).
these past few days especially we can't help but wonder how she will be similar or different
to her brother. he was one week early exactly (ok- so we already know she likes to take her
sweet time) ha! he was born at 6:47 am, weighed 6 lbs. 10.5 oz., was 18 3/4 inches long, breastfed immediately, had blond hair (but very little of it), blue eyes (don't all newborn babies?) and was completely perfect in every way.
Greyson was and has been the joy of our lives, just as i know her arrival will be as well. we
are just SO anxious to meet her and have our family feel instantly completed.
jim took these pictures of the belly last night in our backyard, i tweaked in photoshop. :)
ever since that russian sage started blooming, i knew i wanted to get a few pictures beside it. i absolutely love to garden and watch my plants bloom and grow, but being pregnant this summer
has really taken it's toll on my flowers. hoping to make it up next summer, by devoting a little more time to them. it's hard to imagine this time next year i will have a tiny one year old helping with the watering. i bet she will like spraying the hose just as much as greyson did. those two will probably have me soaked! :)
please keep our luciana, and her delivery in your prayers. we can't thank-you enough!!

while i wait

for luciana to make her debut, i've decided to bake! a super easy blueberry cobbler. this recipe originally called for fresh blackberries, but since i recently picked 16 cups of blueberries i substituted. i'm sure any of this summer's fresh fruit would work nicely though. sorry i forgot to take a photo of the finished product, but here are the big beautiful berries that i used!

blueberry cobbler

1 cup of self rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 stick of butter (melted)

1 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

Blend together flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk in melted butter, mixing well. Pour mixture into a buttered tart or casserole dish. Rinse berries and sprinkle evenly over top cobbler. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. enjoy!

check back later today if i haven't gone into labor, i will be revealing nursery pictures finally!! :)for those keeping track, we are TWO days away from our due date. for the first time, i seriously think luciana & i might be sharing an august birthday month.....

6 days until D-day and pregnancy portraits!!!

well, maybe not D-day, as in delivery day. but six more until our DUE date! hoping we don't have to wait until next friday to meet her. :) everyone is shocked we've made it this far with all the contractions. guessing luciana is just really comfy in there.....
we've been keeping busy with greyson and cooling off alot in the pool! i love our pool, but for the first summer i think i'm officially done with it. i'm just ready to spend some long days inside cuddling with and getting to know our daughter.
i'm SO excited to share a few of our pregnancy portraits. we had these taken three days ago and our photographer just posted this sampling on her blog. we used a small local beach for the location. on the drive there, we spotted this really cool old house that we both knew would be awesome for some shots. the house was rough. there was no dry wall, boards and broken glass was scattered everywhere, and did i mention poison ivy? but, it couldn't have been more perfect! almost as much as our photographer laura. thank-you alison for introducing us, she made us feel so relaxed and was absolutely wonderful with g-man! enjoy!

it's really hard to choose because i'm partial to them all, but i think this is one of my favorites. i think because she captured how i'm feeling right now. excited yet relaxed. just anticipating amazing days ahead as we welcome our baby girl into our little family of three.

this spot was SO gorgeous!!

better late than never....

well hello there! do you remember me? i don't blame you if you don't ..... after all i have unexpectedly gone missing for most of the summer so far. we are currently TWO weeks away (or less) from luciana's arrival! she and mommy are hanging in there! i've been contracting daily for the last two months, have had several trips to labor & delivery, and have been dialated 2cm for the last three appointments! but, the end is near! we just can't wait to lay our eyes on our sweet girl.
I've received several emails from fellow bloggers wondering how we're doing and reminders from family to please update. so for anybody out there still reading here is a quick summer update in photos:
we completed our second season of t-ball. greyson absolutely had the best time playing this year and he has gotten SO good! just look at those grass stains to prove it. lol!

greyson's very first trophy!!

after dinner out one evening. have i mentioned our boy loves to eat out?

yeah, about every other night he makes a request that goes something like this....

"how 'bout we go out to eat tonight?" followed by at least 3-4 of his favorite places to eat! lol

a little bumper car action at a local carnival. pretty sure a sticky yummy ice cream cone quickly followed this ride.

on the boardwalk at the beach and hitching a ride on daddy's back, love that smile!

I have been a complete mess lately over "our time" coming to an end soon. every wednesday we have had a special greyson & mommy morning to the movies. this week i found myself looking over and staring at him, while he watched alvin and the chipmunks while tears slowing ran down my cheeks. it's hard to imagine the days ahead where it's no longer just him and me. four and a half years is a long time for an "only" and it really saddens me that time & love will be divided, although i truly know with my whole heart that this is one of the best gifts we can give him. the gift of a sibling. hormones, right?

I have wanted to take a shot like this for awhile now and had jim take several yesterday. i ran some actions on it in photo shop and absolutely love how it turned out. thinking i may frame this in our master bath.

and last but not least, here's a belly shot taken this morning at a ripe 38 weeks 1 day!

OMgoodness, can we really be that close? :)