Upgrade

So, as Mini-Muffin's arrival gets nearer, Mark and I have finally bit-the-bullet and bought a "new" car. Sadly, my 1996 Saturn was just not going to cut-it for our expanding family...especially with a 90ish lb. dog that "needs" her space when traveling. (We tried to put a bunch of stuff in one of the back seats of Mark's Maxima during a recent trip home to VA, in an attempt to get Candy used to the space that would be taken-up by a carseat, but all she proceeded to do was sprawl-out all over everything in the back seat...not a very successful endeavor to say the least.) So, we said good-bye to my little Green car of 8 years and hello to The Banana Version 2.0 aka a 2006 Nissan X-terra. Needless to say, Mark is rather excited to have another yellow vehicle to drive, that is also a manual transmission (6-speed). I am now the primary driver of the Maxima, which in itself is quite an upgrade, and has a lot more room for our little man, than my old car would have provided. Overall, we feel very blessed with the outcome of the entire situation and look forward to driving our "new" Banana for many years to come!


My little green car was definitely no wimp! It hauled our Christmas tree home this past Christmas!







The Original Banana--Mark's 1981 Toyota Starlit--he drove it up until about 3 years ago!







The New Banana!

Getting Closer...

Yesterday, Mark and I had another doctor's appointment to check-up on Mini-Muffin...who is almost 38 weeks! Everything looks to be right on track and he's still VERY comfortable in his uterine home (which is getting more and more crowded each day), as he has yet to drop or make any progress towards labor. This news was perfectly fine with us, as there are still quite a few things to be done around here. The nursery is also coming together. Mark assembled our crib, glider-rocker/ottoman, and changer/dresser this week. Now it's up to me to organize all of the fun new things we've received from all of our extremely generous friends and family. I will be sure to post pics of the nursery once it's finished. Mark and I are trying to make the most of our last days/weeks as a family of 2. We are so very excited to meet our son and begin this new chapter in our lives...now in less than a month's time! Craziness!

Mark decided that it would be hilarious to take a picture of me with a basketball...as these days he's always saying it looks like I've swallowed one. So here's Mini-Muffin and I in all our glory at 37 weeks 4 days pregnant.

July has come and gone...

July was a busy month for us! To begin the month, we celebrated the 4th with Mark's family here in Durham followed by our 4-Year Wedding Anniversary a few days later on July 9th. I can't believe it's already been 4 years since we united as one, but I must say we are very much looking forward to the wonderful changes our 5th year of marriage will bring! Next, we spent a week at VA Beach with ALL of my family. It was such an awesome time to enjoy each other's company, as it's becoming more challenging to get everyone together at the same time. We even had to rent a 3rd condo unit to house our rapidly growing family! Lastly, the month finished with a beautiful shower for Mini-Muffin back in VA with friends and family. Mark and I feel so blessed to have so many friends and family that are so excited along with us to celebrate the arrival of this special little guy. The nursery set-up continues to progress and the baby continues to do well. He's definitely running out of room in my belly, but Mark and I are loving all of the jabs, squirms, and wiggles he's blessing us with on a daily basis. We're so excited to meet this precious baby in about a month!




Mark & I forgot to take a picture at our anniversary dinner, so here's one we took when we got home afterwards.





Mark loved his lobster dinner at the beach...





Here are a few pics from my VA baby shower...I am 34 weeks in these pics...craziness!