Miss Mae.

Baby Sister is here! And has been for about 10 days. I'm just late posting on the blog!

Here she is!

Mae Olivia Clarkson
Born July 8 at 2:03 pm
7lbs 15oz and 20 in long

It was a quick and fairly easy labor. Nora has been wonderful with Mae and is a very, very proud big sister!

More details to come!

Last bump update..39 weeks!

I am over 39 weeks now. Baby Sister will be here any day! If she does not come on her own, we will have her next Monday, July 8. She could be making a fool of me BUT I kind of think she will come on her own before the 8th. Stay tuned!!

Baby Sister at 39 Weeks:

Size of Baby? My email said our baby's waiting to greet the world! Come any time Sister!!
She continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, about the size of a mini-watermelon. The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Total Weight Gain? 18 lbs. Finally up a pound!

Maternity Clothes? Yes! I am getting in a rut though. Sister will literally be here any day so I don't need to worry about it too much longer.

Sleep? Not good. I think I'm just anxious to meet this baby.

Symptoms? Overall tightness and pressure. You can't tell from the bottom picture but I've definitely dropped. My body is ready.

Food Cravings? Still fruit and cold items. I feel like I've been able to eat more lately so I haven't held back this week. Nothing wrong with a chocolate croissant for breakfast from my favorite coffee shop :)

What I miss? Just being a little more comfortable. For being almost 40 weeks pregnant, I do feel great. I stopped going to the gym this week though. I have a big fear that my water will break on a treadmill or in my Fusion class. I would NEVER live that down. I'm just taking it easy this week and enjoying walks outside with Nora.

Best Moment of the Week? My mom is here and my sister will be here later today! Chris and I have enjoyed having help with Nora and even got to squeeze in a some last minute fun activities..pool time without a toddler, lots of golf for Chris, and a fun night out with friends.

Come on baby! We are ready!!

Here I am with Baby Sister -

Here I am with Nora. It was dead of winter when Nora was born. The maternity clothes are quite different :)

Almost time...38 Weeks.

We are so close to meeting Baby Sister. The plan is to induce on the 7th (making her b-day the 8th!) if she is not here before then. I go to the doctor again tomorrow. I'm anxious to see if I've progressed anymore. I also have several more posts to work on this week. Stay tuned...

Baby Sister at 38 Weeks:

Size of Baby? Baby Sister has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she is over 19 1/2 inches long (about the size of a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering what color your baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue.

Total Weight Gain? Holding strong at 17lbs  

Maternity Clothes? Yes!

Sleep? Ok. I squeezed in a good nap this weekend though!

Symptoms? Overall tightness and pressure. And extreme ligament pain in my right hip. I randomly get a shooting pain a few times a day. Baby Sister must be on a nerve or something. I hate to say it, I've also still been getting sick. Just hard to digest a lot of food.

Food Cravings? Fruit and cold items. And ice.

What I miss? I'm still pretty uncomfortable in the evenings but for being 38.5 weeks pregnant, I'm feeling pretty good.

Best Moment of the Week? We are still getting settled into our new house. This weekend we picked out a couple area rugs that made a big difference. We also worked on a few details in the nursery. It's all coming together. Pics to come soon.

Here I am with Baby Sister -

You can really see the belly in my fitted shirt from the gym. Baby Sister is cooked! And my little shadow, Nora, was not into the picture taking this week.

Here I am at 38 weeks with Nora -

Baby Sister 37 Weeks

I'm late posting this week. I've been pretty busy at work. I want to make sure everyone is prepared for when I'm gone. I think my manager is thrilled everyday that I'm still here! Our plan is to still induce on July 8th if she is not here before then. BUT I have a pretty good feeling she will come on her own. My body keeps progressing every week!

Baby Sister at 37 Weeks:

Size of Baby? Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Baby Sister weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (about the size of a bunch of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz. I would be shocked if Baby Sister came out with anything but dark hair!

Total Weight Gain? 17 lbs. I've had more of an appetite the past few days so I'm expecting a little weight gain this coming week.

Maternity Clothes? Yes! And my maternity bathing suits. One little girl at the pool goes to me, "Is that your bathing suit?" Yes, unfortunately it us. ha!

Sleep? Not too bad. I'm still up pretty early in the morning but I'm trying to get as much sleep as possible.

Symptoms? Overall tightness and pressure.

Food Cravings? Still fruit and cold items. My sister was in town this past weekend and I had a craving for Mexican food which was SO good.

What I miss? I am a little uncomfortable in the evenings but overall, I feel really good for as far along as I am.

Best Moment of the Week? Just spending time with Nora and Chris. We are really soaking up the next couple weeks of just her.

Here I am with Baby Sister -

I wore a very fitted dress yesterday that really showed off the big bump!

Here is one more from this week...totallycaptures my life. haha.

And here I am with Nora at 37 weeks. I can't believe I did a bare belly shot. What was I thinking??? :)

9 Months..plus.

I'm over 9 months pregnant with Baby Sister. I can't believe it. This pregnancy has gone by really fast. I am making my last minute lists to prepare for baby. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and we got to see our sweet baby with a sonogram. She is perfect! She is measuring right at 36.5/37 weeks. She is head down and taking up every little inch of me. And...she has hair! We could see her little hairs on the sonogram. Nora had a ton of hair so I would have been shocked if we had a bald baby. If I don't have her before, we will induce on July 8. At least that is the plan for now. Here is my weekly update!

Baby Sister at 36 Weeks:

Size of Baby? Baby Sister still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long (about the size of a head of romaine lettuce). The sonogram tech said that Baby Sister's weight was actually over 6lbs right now.  She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.


Total Weight Gain? 17 lbs. My doctor actually only has me at 15 lbs. I'll stick with 17 though. Like I said last week, I haven't felt great in the evenings. I'm trying to eat as much as I can during the day. The good news is that the baby is right where she needs to be, even a little bit bigger than average. She's just taking everything that goes in me!

Maternity Clothes? Yes!

Sleep? Pretty good. I'm trying to sneak some naps in there too.

Symptoms? Very strong braxton hicks contractions and tightness.

Food Cravings? Lots of fruit. I still love my ice lattes too. Not much else. I haven't cooked in couple weeks because I'm not really eating at night. Maybe just some cereal or a bagel. Poor Chris. One day I'll be back to it!

What I miss? Not too much.

Best Moment of the Week? We are just soaking up the last few weeks with just Nora. We're so excited to have our second daughter but it's bittersweet too. I'm trying to do extra fun things with Nora right now and knock on wood, she has been very well behaved lately. We've had a great time together.

Here I am with Baby Sister -

I had to keep it real with the below photo. Nora will say 'picture!' then be on the move. Life of a two year old.

And here we are with Nora at 36 weeks...

Life Lately.

Life lately has been pretty insane. It was a huge blessing to sell and buy a new house in such a short time but wow, life has been busy! We are pretty settled in the new house. But after Nora goes to bed, Chris and I still find ourselves doing so much. Lots of cleaning, organizing, laundry, etc. I'm looking forward to the days when I can just sit on the couch holding a newborn..and have a toddler next to me begging to hold Sister :).

Here is a huge photo dump of what our life looks like lately.

Let's start with some new house photos.

The house was originally an eggplant purple on the bottom half. It was horrible. That was one thing we changed before we moved in. Almost every neighbor on the block has come up and said thank you for painting it. By the way, we have a great block full of kids!

We have a pretty small backyard but it's very charming.

This furniture was on our front porch at our old house and we didn't use it much but now we use it all the time. It looks so much better at this house.

We like to sit outside in the evenings. Nora usually keeps running back inside to bring out more toys. Notice the puppy and baby doll.

One thing we love about this house is the open floor plan downstairs.

Nora immediately found her spot at the kitchen island. PS- LOVE having and island in the kitchen. We didn't have that before.

I will post more pictures of the inside as time goes on...

This is a little out of order but I wanted to include this picture taken on our last night in our first home.

Classic. Love it for so many reasons. Nora is a disaster. The fruit snack bribe in her hand did not work. Our babysitter took this picture and I'm pretty she now thinks we are the best parents ever. Ha!

Chris and I celebrated our Five Year Anniversary on May 24.

We had the best meal at our favorite restaurant - Gram & Dun. I definitely recommend it if you're in KC. Five years, two baby girls (practically) and a new home. We've been busy!

Nora takes after me and loves to be outside at the pool. The pool opened Memorial Day weekend and we spent the whole weekend there.

Our pool has this great baby pool that Nora can walk all the way to the end of. It's completely shaded and I can just park myself on the edge in the sun to watch her. She did want to go in the 'big pool' this past weekend so that meant that I got in her with her and threw her in the air about 1,000 times.

And a trip to the pool wouldn't be complete without lunch. Nora usually has her face pressed again the snack bar doors around 11:30am :)

I had to include some other funny pictures of Nora. She is getting so big and cracks us up all day long.

 My mom bought her a raincoat and she insisted on wearing it in the house with the 'hat' on.

Nora hasn't been the easiest to take to dinner lately. She will take one bite of something and then say 'All done!'

We gave in the other night because we had to finish our food. Notice her meal is basically untouched? She didn't even really eat the ice cream. Just being a picky toddler lately!

We finally had some friends over this week!

Nora always has a good time with George!

Lastly, Nora gets to indulge in whatever I'm craving. After her nap the other day we made a special trip for smoothies and sat on the porch together. I don't think she minded one bit!

We are just soaking up the last few weeks with just Nora. I'm so excited to see her in her Big Sister role but will definitely miss our one on one time together!

Baby Sister 35 Weeks!

I promise that one of these days I will update on something besides Baby Sister. That will be my goal for the next couple days. For now, here is my weekly update. I'm closer to 36 weeks now but still need to document this past week.

Baby Sister at 35 Weeks:

Size of Baby? Baby Sister doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (about the size of a honeydew melon). I'm so curious how big baby sister will be. Nora was 7lbs 15oz and 19 in long. Because she so snug in the womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Total Weight Gain? 17 lbs. I actually lost a little weight over the past week. Food hasn't sounded great and is getting harder to digest.

Maternity Clothes? Yes!

Sleep? Just ok. I really need to watch what I eat late afternoon/evening because I have been waking up with bad reflux.

Symptoms? Still lots of tightness and minor contractions.

Food Cravings? Like I said above, I haven't had too much of an appetite the past week. When I do feel like something, I go ahead and let myself have it. Lately I've been loving fruit and smoothies. And maybe those three bite size brownies I just ate :)

What I miss? Not too much. Bending over to fasten my sandals the other day was a little bit of a challenge but that comes with the territory.

Best Moment of the Week? We continue to keep getting settled in our new home. This past weekend I washed all of Nora's clothes (0-3 months). I was shocked by how much I had! And I've bought some new things for Baby Sister. Needless to say, we are set for a while. I also stocked up on small diapers. So tiny! The crib and bedding will arrive this week. Pics to come next week!

Here I am with Baby Sister -

Here I am with Nora at 35 weeks -