It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

Our Elf on the Shelf, Elmer, arrived last week with a winter breakfast.
He wanted to be here before the baby!

A few of his antics so far. 

The only Black Friday shopping we did--getting our Christmas tree. 

Didn't think we would be decorated before Baby Brother arrived!

I spy an extra stocking for a new family member!

Excited for December and all the fun it brings...including a new baby! 

Are you all decorated for the holidays?

Thankful

I am thankful for all these last moments we are sharing as a family of four. As my due date approaches (wow...in 3 days), I realize I can't count on that day. Baby Brother will come when he's ready. I have permission to wait until 41 weeks until we evict induce him...hopefully he chooses a birth day before then! I was 4 cm at my appointment yesterday and still having lots of false labor contractions with nothing closer than  7 minutes apart. But I'm thankful for these in a way because they get that cervix working so I will have less to do once I finally get to Labor and Delivery. :) Same thing happened with Riley and when I checked in, I was 7 cm. and not in pain.

We have been fortunate to have excellent health, awesome friends, a loving family, and careers that have provided us numerous opportunities and a happy home to raise our growing family. So on this day we take some time to talk about why we are thankful, but most importantly, we remember to be thankful every day...and tell each other so. 

Jackson's Cultural Feast was a success! 

Tried walking around the SD Zoo to get brother out...nope. But, we had fun!

Riley's bestie Kendall joined us. Jack and Ri loved the insect house and the camels the best.

Thanksgiving Day was mellow...we stayed home and I cooked a yummy feast.
 The kids discovered that pumpkin pie is really good!

"When is Baby Brother popping out of your belly, Mama?" 

Ended the day walking on the beach. Beautiful sunset on a beautiful day.

Thankful to live in such a gorgeous city.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and the holidays are good to you! 

xoxo

Amber

Baby Brother's Nursery

 I'm 39 weeks, 3 cm dilated as of last week's visit, and had the most uncomfortable week of the entire pregnancy at 38. Every other day I had contractions, which made me super tired, cranky, and not feeling well. Then the next day, I would be fine and have my normal energy...then the next day, back to feeling yucky. I hope Baby Brother is working his way out! I talked to the midwife I'm using for Placenta Encapsulation and she said I'm experiencing prodromal labor, or false labor. I did with the other babies so I'm not surprised...but a little concerned as we get closer and closer to 40 weeks and he gets bigger and bigger. I hope he's under 9 lbs. and the doctors and ultrasound technician are wrong about his size. At least I know what I'm experiencing isn't the real thing (this time) and haven't made any false alarm trips down to Sharp Mary Birch, as I did with Jackson and Riley. 

We completed Baby Brother's nursery a few weeks ago...minus a few details like decals for the wall and a teether for the crib that will coordinate with the grey and aqua "theme" scheme...but here is his nursery, ready and waiting for a sweet little boy to make his debut. The pictures are off my phone as my real camera is packed and I was too lazy to get it. 

Sources:

Little Castle Glider/rocker: Buy, Buy Baby

Patch NYC Pouf: Amazon 

Hulsig Rug: Ikea

Room Essentials Chesapeake Curtain Panels: Target
Dresser Knobs: Amazon
Changing Table and Crib -- reused from Jackson and Riley :)
Garland: etsy -- The Blushing Fig
Iconic Crib sheets and skirt: Land of Nod
American Baby Crib bumper: Amazon
Shelves: Ikea
Sunny Days Ahead print: etsy, Lucy Darling Prints
ABC print: etsy -- My Printable Art
Crib teether: etsy -- My Freckles Shop

Cloud Wall Deals: Urban Walls

Round chicken wire shelf: Home Goods

Memo Board: Home Goods

Owl pillow: Home Goods

Circo Whale Mobile: Target

Book area Pillows: Ikea and Target (a few years ago)

Closet Dividers: etsy -- Ten Little Toes Designs

Our New Home!

We have been in Encinitas in our new home for just over 8 weeks and really feel at home. We unpacked a lot faster than I imagined, and within 6 weeks had our new furniture delivered, interior paint repainted, carpets cleaned, windows professionally washed, exterior power washed, and lots of friends over for football and play dates. The house was move in ready so we didn't need to change anything but have some ideas for the future. 

I love how open the house is and although it's a little larger in square footage, the extra bedrooms take up some of the larger living spaces we had before...which is why we needed new furniture downstairs. We went from 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths to 5 bedrooms, 4 baths plus a bonus room which could be used as a bedroom or in law suite as it has its own entrance from outside. For now we use it as a bonus room/family room upstairs. 

Our favorite feature has been the backyard. We have more room to play and now a place to swim and relax at the end of the day in the hot tub. Once the baby is out of my tummy, I can put more than my feet in. Ha!

Family Room...still working on accent pieces.

Kitchen 

Love my walk in pantry! 

Living Room...baby swing is ready!

Dining Room

Front entryway 

Playroom 

Guest bathroom 

Laundry Room 

Backyard 

Master with office 

Master Bath with His and Her Closets

Overlooking living room 

Boys' Bathroom

Riley's bathroom--I managed to save her nursery decal tree :)

Bonus Room 

We are loving this new area (for us) in North County because we are so close to the beach, shopping, hiking trails, and more. We are really close to Cardiff and have started a weekly tradition of taking Sunday morning walks at the beach...and the best donuts at VGs after.

38 weeks with my munchkins

39 weeks!

Riley after a PTA meeting 

Jackson loves kindergarten and I love volunteering weekly for classroom centers as well as monthly for an art lesson in his classroom. I'm also co-room mom so this has been a busy time of year planning classroom parties. He has yoga twice a week and teaches his yoga moves with Riley. They also have Friday rotations with science and music. Science is his favorite subject. Kindergarten is full day so by the end of the week he is exhausted...lucky for us, Fridays are short days so we start our weekends early!  

He has me drop him off in the mornings at the circle like a big kid. This will come in handy when Baby Brother arrives!

Night! 

Looking forward to making lots of memories in our new home!