New Years Eve and 39 Weeks

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  2013 has been a great year and we're so excited for 2014!  We've had a relaxing day just enjoying spending time together....getting a few projects done, playing dress up, taking naps, and waiting for Claire!  Bert's cooking a big dinner for his girls tonight and we're looking forward to that!:)  

I was 39 weeks yesterday and had a great check-up!  Claire is head down and has dropped lower, I'm 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  We're making progress, which is good because I'm SO ready!  Ready to hold my baby in my arms! I'm trying to be patient, but I've been caught asking Bert several times if he thinks she will ever come!?:)  

Claire Bear, you're welcome to come any time!  Our bags are packed and ready to go!

I think this New Year's Eve ranks up there as the most exciting one I've ever had...not because we're taking some exciting trip, seeing the ball drop, or going to a fun NYE get-together.  It's exciting because I can't help but think Claire might come tonight, or tomorrow, or the next day!  And I'm so excited!  There really isn't anything like the anticipation of waiting for one of your children to be born!  

We're almost in the year, month and week when our Claire will be born!  The Watts are welcoming 2014 and Claire with open arms!  We love you, sweet girl!  

Christmas with the Roberts

On Christmas morning we headed over to Toccoa and got there about 11.  It was the first time in my 30 years that I haven't woken up at my parents house on Christmas morning.  I missed them, but definitely enjoyed waking up in our own house.  I love making new traditions/memories with Bert and the girls!  

When we got there Mimi and the kiddo's started passing out presents.  Jacob and Hannah kept taking the presents to the person that they go to instead of putting them in the person's present pile...it was a little confusing to them at first.:)  

Jacob got this fun power wheel truck from his parents and grandparents and they brought it over to Mimi and Papa's so that Hannah and Emily could play with it too!  Emily drove, Jacob rode shotgun, and we loaded Hannah up in the back.  

After a little while Hannah had had enough fun so Uncle Brett got her out.  In her defense there was a lot of starting and stopping as Emily was figuring out how to keep her foot on the gas pedal....not exactly a smooth ride!:)  

Emily was having sooo much fun though!  I took this picture as she was driving by me.  I know it's a little blurry, but I liked it!  

A picture of our cuties...

We started singing "If you're happy and you know it" which got them all a little more excited!  

We enjoyed an amazing lunch, afternoon naps for the kids, a maze game competition for the guys, and just enjoyed being together.  I'm very thankful we were able to go to Toccoa (just an hour from the hospital) this year.  We so enjoyed being with everyone!

It's now the day after Christmas and all of our Christmas decorations were packed up before lunch.  It is definitely the quickest we've ever had our decorations down!  I have a week and a half until my due date...SO excited about meeting our sweet girl!  I can't wait to hold our Claire in my arms.  Getting very ready!:)

Christmas with the Watts

This year we needed to stay close by Greenville during the Christmas holidays since we're just 2 weeks away from Claire's due date.  Thankfully, Grandmama, Pawpaw, Aunt Carrie, Aunt Alison, Uncle Stephen and Rosemary came to us this year!!  They had all been in Jackson and on Christmas Eve Eve, on their way to Wake Forest (where Alison and Stephen live), they stopped by Greenville for a day!  It was a fun day!  

Emily loves playing on Grandmama's ipad!  Grandmama has put lots of fun games on there for her and Emily gets so excited about sitting in her lap playing them.

Hannah was not to be left out of the ipad action so Aunt Carrie let Hannah play on hers.  Hannah kept saying "I did it!!!" with a big smile on her face.  She was quite proud of herself...it was cute! 

Rosemary, Emily and Hannah baking some cookies with Grandmama.  Hannah snuck a bite of raw cookie dough before anyone could stop her.  She didn't understand why we wouldn't let her have more.:)  

Look at these cuties...

Please just ignore the fact that they're posing in front of the trashcan.:)  

Jeff treated everyone to dinner at Mutt's BBQ.  He didn't want me to have to worry about cooking at all.  So thoughtful!!  It was yummy as always!   

At the restaurant, Pawpaw took Emily to get an ice cream sandwich and she was pretty excited about it!  

After dinner we came back to our house and opened presents.  We are so thankful for all the sweet and thoughtful gifts everyone blessed our family with.  The girls were sooo excited...it took poor Emily about an hour and a half to fall asleep after we finally got her in the bed.

Christmas Eve morning we had a relaxing morning!  

The girls working on some nativity sticker pictures....all with their princess attire on.  

Bert started a fire in his fire pit and we bundled the kids up so that they could go out and enjoy it!  

Swinging with Pawpaw...

Aunt Carrie wanted a picture with her nieces before they left (she loves them soooo much and definitely spoils them rotten).  

The picture below just makes me laugh.  Just before I took this picture Emily said "I'm not very happy right now!"  She has a pout on her face and her arms crossed...Ha!  I'm not even sure exactly what she was upset about. 

Emily came around and we got a good one...

Grandmama and Pawpaw with three of their grandkids!  

It was a very fun afternoon/night/morning!  We're thankful for our loving family during this Christmas Season!  

Austin and Angela

My friend, Angela, got married last Saturday!  It was a beautiful wedding and I was thankful to be able to go.  Angela and I met our freshman year at Clemson.  She lives just up the road (in TR) from me and we don't see each other nearly enough:)  We'll have to do better.  Angela and Austin are both high school teachers at the same school.  I just met Austin as I was leaving their reception, but I've heard great things, and I'm so excited for them and all that the Lord is going to do in and through them!

We took a Clemson girls' picture while we were waiting for the wedding party to arrive....

My friend, Kristin, on the far right of the picture above is due Jan 3rd (3 days before I'm due).  We rode together to the wedding and reception (my sweet husband was keeping our girls) and thankfully we didn't have to make a stop by Greenville Memorial...Claire and Charlotte were calm, cool and collected for the night.  

Angela and her mom did such a great job decorating.  The reception was absolutely beautiful and at such a fun location.

After the wedding party arrived we had to get a Clemson girls' picture with Angela, Katie, Kelley, and Kristen.

It was a fun night!  I'm thankful for good friends!  

37 1/2 Weeks - Claire

So we've made it to 37 1/2 weeks....2 1/2 weeks until my due date!  She really could come any time.  I had a check up earlier in the week and it went well.  BP 110/60, Claire's heart rate was in the upper 130's, and I got some GREAT news...I tested Group B Strep NEGATIVE for this pregnancy!  My jaw dropped when she told me I was negative because the doctors had told me that since I was GBS positive with Hannah (neg with Em) that I more than likely would be positive for this pregnancy.  Being Group B Strep positive means that it's really important for the mom to have 2 rounds of antibiotics before delivering.  The rounds have to be four hours apart.  I usually progress quickly once I hit active labor (went from 4 to 10 in just over an hour with Hannah) so I was a little nervous about getting to the hospital in time to get all the necessary antibiotics before I delivered.  SO excited and thankful that I don't even have to think about it this time around!!:)  

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks, but just recently I've started having some painful contractions that definitely get my attention.  A few nights ago I started having some more painful contractions that had me a little nervous.  I had packed Claire's bag, but that's it.  I didn't have the first thing packed for us...plus about a million other things I wanted to get done before we headed to the hospital.  The contractions started a little before 10pm and were coming every 5-10 minutes, but not lasting long at all.  They started in my back and wrapped around to my sides.  I laid down and by about 11:30 they had pretty much stopped.  The good news is that Bert and I both have our bags packed now!:)  I talked to my doctor about these painful contractions and she said that is SO common for a 3rd pregnancy.  She said especially after you've had multiple pregnancies the last couple of weeks can be very painful.  The tricky part is that you can't just try to ignore the contractions...you have to pay attention (I basically can't focus on anything else) to them to find out if they're going to stop (Braxton Hicks) or keep going (labor).  I definitely didn't have any of these painful contractions prior to labor with Em or Hannah.  I have a feeling it's going to keep me on my toes over the next couple weeks!:)  

I'd really love for Claire to wait to arrive until after Christmas...just 6 more days!!  I'm planning on all my Christmas decorations coming down on the 26th and we will officially be in waiting mode for our sweet girl!  We'll be sooo excited and ready to meet her anytime, but if I had a choice I'd probably pick after Christmas just so that her birthday is after the busy the Christmas season.  God has a perfect plan for our girl though and we're thankful for that! 

My doctors office usually starts checking for dilation at 38 weeks.  That appointment will be on Christmas Eve Eve for me.  I talked to them about holding off on checking me until 39 weeks, just so that we didn't unintentionally get things stirred up.:)  The doctors thought it was a great plan to wait until 39 weeks.  I actually really like knowing how far dilated I am (it helps this Type-A-planner), but I'm going to wait patiently until 39 weeks!:)

I'm so thankful for such an easy, smooth pregnancy so far!  Praying for a safe delivery and healthy baby girl! 

Claire, someone jokingly asked Emily at church last night if you could go home with them after you arrived.  She quickly shook her head and told them "no."  She said "We need another little girl!"  Your sisters are excited about meeting you (they love feeling you kick, telling you bye any time I walk out the door, showing you toys, etc), your Mommy and Daddy can hardly wait too...you are one loved little girl!:)  We're so so excited to hold you in our arms!  Our bags are packed and we're ready to go!:)  We love you so much and we're so thankful for you!  

Christmas With Emily's Class

Emily's preschool class had their Christmas performance/class party on Tuesday morning.  She's been soooo excited about it!  She asked her Daddy several weeks before the performance if he would come to watch it.  He said he wouldn't miss it!

Emily sang the songs, did the hand motions, rang her bells and smiled the whole time!  It was so much fun to watch her....we were proud of our sweet girl!:)  You never know (with 3 year olds) what you're going to get, but we were glad she decided to perform!  

Emily's class is pretty small this year...just 5 kids.  I love that it's smaller...they get more one on one time with the Mrs. Morgan!  Almost every day I hear about one of these sweet kiddo's from Emily.  

Bryant's mom (Bryant is the little boy to Emily's right) said that he comes home most every Monday saying that Emily's baby is almost here!  He also told her that she'll be here in about 89 weeks.  Ha!  Mrs. Morgan said that Emily talks about baby Claire all the time!  She asked her class to sing really loud so that Claire could hear all their songs too!  I'm glad she's so excited about her baby sister!  

Emily and Bobby.  This wasn't his idea of a good time.:)  

In the picture below they're eating their snacks with Mrs. Morgan!  Emily and I made cookies for the party.  They certainly wouldn't have won any awards, but Emily was soooo proud of them!  

We're so thankful for Mrs. Morgan!  She's doing such a great job teaching Emily this year and Emily loves going to preschool!  

This is Emily with her good friend Blakely!  Their two younger siblings....Hannah and Maddox got to join in the fun!  

It was a fun morning!  It was fun to see Emily in her classroom with all her friends!:)  

These Days

So it's the middle of December and I haven't written one post this month.  It's flying by and it's been a fun, busy month so far!  I thought I would try catch up on everything we've been doing in one post.  So here goes...

We started out the month with another baby shower for sweet Claire.  This was a diaper and wipes baby shower given by some ladies at our church.  I just can't tell you what a huge blessing this was!  We got so many diapers and wipes and other fun things.  We are SO thankful!!  I was so disappointed that I forgot my camera for the shower!  I always have my camera.  Oh well, you can just imagine a cute cake and lots of sweet ladies!:)  

A couple weeks ago (early Dec) Hannah and Emily both got sick, which earned them tickets to the pediatrician.  They both had croup and Hannah had an ear infection.  After a round of steroids and antibiotics, we got them cleared up.  Thankful to have that behind us and praying we don't see it again this winter.  

I've started weekly appointments with my OB.  They've been going well!  I can't believe we're already to that point...not long now!  I'm going to put up a 37 week post in the next day or so with more info on baby Claire!:)  

Emily had her Christmas performance with her Preschool Choir at church.  They sang three songs and did such a great job!!  Emily's on the far left of the front row of the picture below.  Thank you so much to Kristen and Niki and for loving on Emily each Sunday night!  You both do such a great job and she LOVES "Praise and Play!"  

Funny story:  Just before the kids were about to start their performance someone realized that there was a mix up and there wasn't a microphone set up for the kids.  Bert grabbed a microphone and kind of laid in the floor, holding the mic up to them so that you could hear them, but he would still be out of the way.  You can see his hand and the microphone in the picture above.  

Several times during their performance I saw Emily lean down to tell her Daddy something.  I couldn't tell what she was saying. She kept telling him that "I want a turn, Daddy." He thought she was saying that she wanted to hold the microphone, so he just kept telling her to keep singing.  After church that day we were headed out to lunch with some friends and Emily just started crying.  We asked her why she was upset and through her tears she said "Daddy, you kept letting Shaelynn have a turn with the microphone, but you wouldn't let me have a turn. I wanted a turn!"  Emily's friend Shaelynn was standing beside her during their performance and she just happened to be more in the middle of the group so Bert kept the microphone in front of her.  Haha!  We tried to explain it to her, but finally gave up and just let her cry....she was tired, hungry and three years old, so she had several thins working against her.:)  

Our 6 year anniversary was December 15th!  This year it fell on a Sunday and we knew it would be a busy day, so we went out to dinner to celebrate one night the week before!  Mimi came up to keep the girls for us.  It was so sweet of her to come and it allowed us to have a fun relaxing night!  

I'm just so thankful for my husband!  He just loves me and encourages me and serves me so well.  He's my best friend and favorite person in the world!:)  So thankful for our marriage!  

We've had the opportunity to go to several Christmas parties over the last few weeks:  Sunday school party, Women's Ministry Christmas Party (Steph), Youth Christmas Party, and a Beautiful Ornament Swap Party (Steph)!  We've had lots of fun at the different parties.  We're thankful for our church family, laughter, yummy party food, games and just good friends!  

The picture below was taken during the youth Christmas party.  We were playing the Christmas version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"  Except for the winner won a gift card to Chick-fil-A instead of a million dollars...:)  It was fun!  

Group picture at the tacky sweater youth Christmas party!  This is an awesome group of students!!  

When you add in buying last minute baby items, organizing, washing, and just getting ready for Claire,  a birthing center tour, haircuts, dinners with friends, buying a few remaining gifts, wrapping presents, plus the above activities...I think you'll agree it's been a fun, busy month!:)  

Merry Christmas from the Watts!!

Thanksgiving in Toccoa

We rotate where we spend Thanksgiving Day and this was our year to spend Thanksgiving in T-town!  We had such a fun day!  

Roberts' Family picture!  

Outtake....that I liked!:) 

Watts' Family picture!  

The Thanksgiving dinner spread...everything was soooo yummy!  

A picture of the Thompson cousins (my mom's side) and their spouses.  

Another cousins/spouses picture with all four babies trying to make a run for it!  

The whole family!  This year we had everyone there!  My mom and her two siblings plus all their spouses, all eight grandkids plus their spouses, and six great-grandkids (two of these just so happen to be in utero). Nanie may have been gone for 4 years, but we still miss her!:)  

It really was so fun to all be together!  I have so many good memories with this group!  Very blessed and thankful!  Happy Thanksgiving 2013!  

Happy Birthday to Bert

Bert's birthday always falls right around Thanksgiving, but this year it fell on Thanksgiving Day!  On Tuesday night (before his birthday) Emily, Hannah and I took Bert out for a birthday dinner to Texas Roadhouse.  We braved the 30-ish degree cold rain and we had fun family night!  The girls were calm, cool and collected!  Bert enjoyed his steak! And I just love being with my family!  

On Wednesday night we celebrated Bert's birthday with the Roberts' crew.  My mom was taking the picture below!  We had a yummy dinner, enjoyed red velvet cake, and sang happy birthday multiple times.:)  

Happy Birthday to my husband and best friend!  I'm so so thankful for you!  Thank you for loving, leading, serving, protecting, and providing for our family so well!  Happy Birthday!:)  

34 Weeks and Counting

I'm finished with 34 weeks today!  Just 6 weeks to go!  I had a check-up today and got a good report.  My blood pressure was 114/64.  Claire's heart rate was 138 when she first put the monitor on my stomach.  Right after the doctor started listening Claire started moving and kicking.  Within about 20 seconds her heart rate had gone from 138 to 149.  The doctor said that when the baby is moving that her heart rate is supposed to go up...it's a sign of a healthy baby.  We're thankful.  

I'm feeling pretty good to be 34 weeks.  Some things are getting more difficult....cleaning up the playroom, bathing the girls, putting on tennis shoes, etc.  Thankfully, Bert's basically taken over the bathing of the girls for now.  Sleep is going okay.  I have good nights and bad nights.  I usually get up around 3 times a night...sometimes a few more.  My back really hasn't hurt me for weeks, and I've actually had less heartburn than I did a few weeks ago.  I have a favorite chair in our house...it's a big comfy green chase lounge.  You just sink down into when you sit down.  It's Glorious....except when you're very pregnant.  Then, it's not so glorious because it takes so much effort to get up.  I still sit in it some, but it's temporarily not my favorite.  I've also been having more Braxton Hicks contractions and pressure. The Braxton Hicks contractions make me a little nervous because even though it's not labor it's my body's way of getting ready. I often think...should I already be having these? Is my body getting ready too soon?:) The doctor said that that it's very normal to have more of these contractions and to start having them earlier in the pregnancy after you've had multiple pregnancies. Good to know! 

Claire is pushing, kicking and moving all the time these days. If I sit still for just a few minutes I will see my stomach bulge out on one side where she is pushing out with her arm, leg, or bottom. It's CRAZY to see this little girl moving inside of me. I know you're running out of room, Claire Bear, but just hang on a little while longer.:) 

Yesterday we told our sweet girl's name...Claire Kaylin Watts!  I'm so excited that we told and I'm so excited about being able to talk about her by name.  I had this great idea that it would be fun to keep the name a surprise this time around...we've actually known her name since early September.  I've heard of lots of families that have kept the name a surprise and it sounded fun!  Bert was good with whatever.  It's been bothering me more and more that I couldn't say her name....even in our own house when Emily was around.  It may be fun for some to keep the name a surprise, but it just wasn't for me.  It was causing me stress.  Bert finally convinced me that this was one bit of stress that I didn't need and didn't have to have.  So thankful for my loving, patient husband.  He loves me well.   

My next appointment is in 2 weeks.  I'll be 36 weeks and will start going to the doctor weekly at that point!  Our December calender is already filling up and I have no doubt that it will fly by.  I'm excited!  

Claire, I love you and I'm so so thankful for you!!  

Christmas Decorations Are Up!

I usually wouldn't think of putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, but this year was different. We're getting ready for sweet Claire.  I decided we could make an exception this year and I'm so glad we did!  

Here are a few pictures of us picking out a tree...

Bert would prefer for us to go cut down a tree from a tree farm like he did growing up...maybe next year we'll be able to make that happen.  

Who doesn't get excited about a little gravel?  

We found our tree!  

Emily's been excited for days about decorating for Christmas.  She wanted to help put every ornament on the tree.  It was fun to see her so excited this year!  

Hannah was excited for a little while, and then decided it would be more fun to go play in the playroom.:)

Emily's probably asked me 20 times if it's Christmas yet.  I can see how it's confusing to her that we've decorated the house, but it won't be Christmas for a few more weeks.  

Somewhere along the way she heard us say that Claire is due soon after Christmas.  Except for that all she heard was Claire and Christmas.  Her other question is...."So the baby is going to be born at Christmas time, right?!"  I'm actually hoping that she'll wait to make her grand entrance until after Christmas, but we'll see!:)  

We had a fun morning decorating and spending time as a family!  I'm so thankful for my family and I'm so excited about welcoming another sweet girl into it.  Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!:)  

Emily's Thankful For...

Emily's preschool teacher sent this home with her on Monday and I thought it was too cute!  I loved reading what Emily and all her K3 classmates were thankful for...

Our Baby Girl's Name

(Note: This is a special guest post by Bert … since it’s named “The Watts’ Spot” and not “Stephanie’s Spot,” I get to jump on here now and again and write something too!)

Hannah knows our new baby's name.

It’s funny to me. As I write this, no one else in the entire world other than Stephanie and me knows her name. But we figured the secret was safe with Hannah.

She can say it, too. We’ll ask her sometimes what the new baby’s name is, and she’ll say it, in her still-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-talk kinda way. We know what she’s saying. But if you asked her, without knowing the name, I’m not sure you’d decipher it.

But Hannah’s getting better at talking, so we figured that we better spill the beans with our new baby’s name before she does! And besides, we want everyone to be able to call our daughter by name when we talk about her!

So here goes….

For our new baby, what we've decided to name her reflects what we pray will be true of her life.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “You are the light of the world,” and then He gave His followers the command to “Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Responding to the command in his own life, the apostle Paul asked the Colossian church to pray for him, that he would be able “to declare the mystery of Christ” and “make it clear” (Colossians 4:2-4). Paul wanted the light of the gospel to shine clearly and brightly through his words.

A life shining bright and clear for God—that’s what we hope and pray for Emily and Hannah, and the same is true for our new daughter.

Like Emily (whose middle name is Jean, for Stephanie's Grandmother) and Hannah (whose middle name is Elizabeth after Stephanie's mom), we wanted to give our new baby girl a middle name after someone in our family. When we thought about someone dear to us whose life has shone bright and clear for God through her works and her words, we thought about my mom, Linda Watts. Mom’s life displayed Christ brightly as she worked to be sure each of her children grew up meaningfully involved in a Christ-centered church. She has modeled service to God through giving her time for decades to serve the church by teaching children and youth, and by serving in mission trips, VBS and Sunday school.

These things show what we hope and pray for our new daughter’s life: that she would shine as a bright, clear light for Christ. With that in mind, and in honor of the Christ-exalting life of my mom, we will be giving our newest daughter the name:

Claire Kaylin Watts

Claire means “clear” and “bright.” May she shine brightly and clearly for Jesus.

Kaylin comes from my mother’s given name Linda Kay. May Claire’s life serve Christ and His church like the life of her Grandmama.

Claire, we love and pray for you, and we cannot wait to hold you and meet you very soon. Shine brightly for Christ. Love Him, trust Him, obey Him, follow Him and make Him known by your works and your words.

A Baby Shower for Our Girl

My friends Kayce and Megan hosted a baby shower for me and my sweet girl last Sunday!  It was so much fun to get to celebrate this little girl inside of me!  I honestly didn't expect to have a baby shower with this pregnancy because it's my third girl, but Megan and Kayce wanted to have one for me and I was so thankful!!  It got me even more excited about her arrival!!  The food was sooo yummy, we played a fun game, and then opened presents.  I really am so thankful for all the sweet gifts.  Such a blessing!  

Food table...

These cupcakes were a-mazing!  Beautiful and delicious!:)  

My mom came over to celebrate her 4th grandchild!  

Me, Megan and Kayce!  I'm very thankful for their friendship!  

Thanks again, ladies, for such a sweet shower! It was a fun afternoon!  Can't wait to hold our sweet girl!  She'll be here so soon!!:)