38 weeks

First pic, 36 weeks.. Second was just before 38 weeks. And now I'm almost 39 weeks! Time is just flying by. I know it doesn't look like there's much of a difference between the pics but I feel a big difference, haha. I think my belly just started to get wider instead of growing further out....

Overall feeling? Very ready. I had great energy up until the day after I was 37 weeks. The week of 36-37 was a craaaazy week with too much going on- plumbing issues in my house, Sam being at school/trying to study for a test, AND my students' voice recital was that Saturday (the day I was 37 wks), so I was preparing a lot for that.. It was stressful to say the least but we got a lot done and the recital went great (and Sam ended up doing amazing on his test, which was incredible given the circumstances, lol). I think after that, my body just shut down on me. I've felt much better this week, for the most part but that was a tough week.

Total weight gain? +26 (-ish), as of my last appointment which was last week. He's grown a ton in the past few days though so I'm sure it's more now. I'm just grateful it's not as much as with Ivy..

Cravings? Past few weeks I just have to have salty things, fried cheesesticks, fritos, nuts, etc. But I always am in need of something chocolaty each day as well, hehe.

Gender? Boy! It's been so much fun getting all his boy stuff and clothes ready. 

Baby movements? He's actually in breech position so his movements can be rather annoying sometimes, with his head pushing upwards quite a bit. Especially now that he's much bigger, lol..
Crazy weird things? Sam says I snore, haha.. Also, I've been thirsty alllll the time. For water, juice, chocolate milk, soda, you name it. Never feels like I can get enough. Makes for a lot of trips to the bathroom throughout the day but oh well. Oh and every now and again I feel super anxious, like my mind can't relax. I often wake up in the night because of the anxiousness (something that didn't happen with Ivy).. And for much of this pregnancy, I always had to be doing something, couldn't just sit an relax-- had to be cleaning, crafting, or painting my nails, anything! I just couldn't sit still.
Names? We like a completely different name than the one from a while back. And I think this one will stick... It's just funny how indecisive we both are. It was the same with Ivy. We didn't seriously consider her name until about 2 weeks before. And even then it was still down to two names until she was born, lol.. We'll see how things turn out! 

Sky to Summit 50K

Sam has been training to do a trail 50K (31 miles) for a couple months now and the Saturday after his birthday was the big day! He did the Georgia Sky to Summit trail race just 3 hours south of where we live.. I decided to opt out since his buddy Jason, who was also doing the race, was able to drive and there wouldn't be much for Ivy and I to do down there during his 7+ hour run. Anyways, start time was bright and early at 7am. Jason's friend Madison went with them to do the 8 mile run and was nice enough to take a few pics of them before and after the race. Sam caught some phone pics along the way. He said the incline was NOT easy but that the whole thing was a lot of fun. And beautiful. He finished in 7:16 which was just about his goal time of 7 hours! Woohoo! Way to go babe. (Jason came finished up a while later). So proud of my husband for setting tough goals and accomplishing them. It's definitely one of the qualities I love about him. :)

Pic of the town near the race, taken the night before:

Ready to run!

At the summit! 18 miles in, about halfway done:

 

 

DONE! My husband rocks!! Pretty incredible that he can run 31 miles in one day. So glad he has found a hobby that not only is great for his body, but that he loves and will probably continue to do for a long time. Maybe someday I will share his passion for long distance running... Maybe. Lol!

Sam's Birthday

Sam's 28th(!!) birthday was on November 5th, just a couple days after we got home from Alabama, and low and behold, he had caught the same stomach bug that Neal had while we were there. (Somehow, it skipped me and Ivy, thank goodness!) So that Monday, he was not feeling too hot at all. He wasn't feeling the greatest on his birthday the next day either but apparently, was well enough to head down to his favorite restaurant in Knoxville for a birthday lunch at Chuy's. We did a little shopping for the birthday boy around town afterwards, then eventually headed home and just chilled.  We decided to hold off on cake and celebrating with any friends til the next evening, when he was feeling much better...

Cake time, the next day.. We had a few close friends stop by for a little while on Wednesday evening:

Sam was fairly paranoid that he was still contagious (even though it had been a solid two days since he was sick, silly guy) and didn't want to take any chances, lol... So he blew out a candle on the opposite end from where the cake was, haha. Here are his buddies singing to him:

 Ivy insisted on the silly faces. It must run in the family, lol:

Pretty low-key this year but just the way Sam preferred it. Even though he wasn't feeling quite 100%, the day of his actual birthday on Tuesday was way fun. It was nice to spend the day together without any obligations. Just a free day! Happy birthday babe! Here's to many more great birthdays to come!(..and hopefully ones without sickness, hehe.)

Fall in TN and trip to Alabama

This year, fall was a little different here in TN.. The leaves took quite a bit longer to turn and then it seemed like once they were finally colorful, they only lasted a few days! I remember the leaves being far more vibrant for much longer last year. Oh well.. At least we were able to enjoy those few days of color on a trip down to visit Kristin and Neal in Alabama. But first, just wanted to post a few random pics from the past month or so that fit in to the fall theme.. 

The spiders were generous enough to decorate for Halloween back in October... 

Enjoying a date together at a local BBQ place.. It closes every winter so we were sure to stop by for their finger-licking ribs before time was up:

This season, Sam and a bunch of his buddies formed an intramural football team. They even ordered jerseys and everything! I guess it paid off because so far, they've been unstoppable! It's been fun watching the games. They are pretty legit. ;)

A couple snapshots taken around our parts... before we headed down to Alabama:

Finally reunited with my lovely sister! She is about 23(?) weeks along in this photo with her 5th! Expecting a girl. :) So excited that our baby boy will have a cousin close in age. The next few photos was at Millie's swim meet. So much fun! Millie was awesome! And Ivy loved watching the kids swim in the water:

Aaand the main reason we went down for a visit was for Sam to be a pacer and crew for my bro-in-law Neal (in the middle) while he runs his (2nd!) 100 mile race! Needless to say, things didn't go quite as planned as Neal came down with a terrrrrrible stomach flu early on in the race but he still ran 30 miles of it! That's more than a marathon....while sick. He's crazy. Haha! So they ended up coming home early but it was still a fun weekend, regardless. And totally worth the trip. Sam was grateful to see how they did things in the longer runs so that he could be better prepared for his 50K that was the weekend following. That post, up next! :)

Lastly, just wanted to include the only two decent photos I took with my nice camera the entire weekend. We were just having too much fun! Someone tell this girl to stop growing up! 

Halloween

We started off the festivities with painting a mini pumpkin with puff paint a week or two before Halloween. Didn't get a chance to grab a big pumpkin for carving but this was enough to satisfy our pumpkin decorating itch! And turned out super cute, if you ask me... Ivy loved how sparkly and fun the paint was.

The next part of our festivities was our ward Fall Harvest party down the road a ways (complete with good ol' outhouse as our bathroom)... They had a horse for petting, hay bail maze, bonfire, zipline, hayrides, chili and hot chocolate for dinner, and finished off the evening with a make-shift trick or treat line for the kids. Since our church building is being remodeled, we didn't really have a decent parking lot to do the traditional trunk or treat but this was just as fun! The most country style Halloween I've ever been a part of, hehe:

 

Ashley and Ryan, some good friends of ours had the best costumes! And Sam thought it was only appropriate that he went as Daniel Boone, haha:

 

The last part of our festivities was on the morning of Halloween. Snapped a few cute shots of my pretty girl in her butterfly costume and then headed out... Our library put on the cutest party for our toddler time group and it was definitely the highlight of our week. Ivy had a blast with all the treats and fun craft they had prepared.. Afterwards she kept saying, "library, so fun!"

 

Listening to Miss Cindy read her fun Halloween books:

 

I actually had to teach the evening of halloween until about 5:30 and by the time all was said and done, we were pretty worn out from the day and decided to forgo trick or treating. Lame, I know but Ivy kept begging to paint and we already had our fair share of treats from the whole week. It worked out for the best for everyone. ;) Ivy isn't quite old enough to know the difference and was very satisfied with her Mickey Mouse picture. We'll see about next year! haha: