I think I can say that I am fully ready to have Ella at this point. Until now it has felt like there were too many things that I wanted to get done before she came but as of last night I think that all of those things have been checked off of my list.
We sold our house...this in itself is huge!
I was let off of bed rest about two and a half weeks ago. Since my doctor really felt like I was going to have her at any moment I crammed a bunch of activity into that weekend in order to check many things off before having her. That Friday evening Neal and I took Reese to Farmland Adventures with our old neighbors and friends. I really wanted to take her to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and this was a great place for this. She got to go on a hay ride, she rode a pony multiple times, she fed animals, picked out 2 pumpkins from the patch (really it was Neal and I that did this as she was more interested in riding around in the wagon), she ran around in a mini maze- truly a mini maze made out of hay bales…perfect for a toddler and her favorite part of all was the corn box. They had a big box full of corn…I really liked this much better than a sand box, not so messy.
The next day was the Arkansas & A&M game. It was a very exciting game and I am so happy that we won because my silly husband made a bet and if we had lost my girls would have had to wear A&M shirts, photographed and displayed on facebook, that would have been terrible. After the game we headed out to the Gentry Animal Safari. We had a good time but I don’t think she is quite old enough to enjoy this as much as I wanted her to. We did a little shopping and went out to dinner. We had a great day although we were supposed to have gone to one of my best friend’s daughters first birthday party this day. The party was in Conway and while my doctor was fine with me traveling to Conway for the day a couple of months ago he changed his mind after discovering how far I had already progressed. We were sad to miss her first birthday party. Sunday we went out for donuts and then went to church. That afternoon we took Reese to the playground and then had a relaxing evening around the house.
Last weekend I got to go on a fun date with my wonderful husband. We had dinner and then went to the Need to Breathe concert. The concert was a birthday present that he got me back in August. Ben Rector opened for them and though we had heard of him we really did not know any of his music. We discovered that he is from Fayetteville, well went to the UofA anyways. They were both so good. We left the concert a few minutes early and went to Kohl’s, because they are opened extremely late, to use our $10 coupon on a new outfit for Reese since we had pictures the next day. Saturday one of my very generous co-workers took pregnant pictures of me and family pictures. She did such a good job, I love how they turned out. That evening we watched the Arkansas & Auburn game…we won(!), causing us to now be ranked #10.
The biggest stressor that I really wanted to have put to bed before Ella got here was the contract and house plans on the house we are building. I can now say, that as of yesterday, we have a final house plan and a contract, that we feel very comfortable with, in place. This turned into a frustrating ordeal on the front end, mainly due to the realtor that was initially involved. We are not happy about how it all happened but we are happy with the way that it ended up that the realtor will no longer be representing us and we will be able to deal directly with the builder. We are so excited about the house we are building and hoping that the process goes smoothly from here on out.
Yesterday was really a great day. In addition to getting the house plans finalized & contract in place I got to spend some precious time with Reese as her last day as an only child without company at our house. Neal had to work late so I planned a fun evening with her. After picking her up from school we went to a really fun playground that we discovered near our rent house. We spent over an hour at the playground. There were two other 18 month olds out there as well as a 3 year old. She had a lot of fun playing with all of them. After the playground we went and ate some Mexican food. She wanted to dip each of her chips in the salsa and then began grabbing handfuls of salsa and putting them in her mouth, I guess she likes salsa but this made a mess. After dinner we headed home and ended up getting there about the same time that Neal got home. We got her a couple of new toys to play with before she went to bed. We spent 20 or 30 minutes playing and then put her down to bed together.
Last night we got the car seats out and plan to put those in today, we assembled the bouncer and got the swing set up. All things that will be necessary when she is here. The problem will be that Reese really wants to get in the swing. I am trying to convince her that it is just as fun to let her baby dolls swing instead.
I have gotten so many things accomplished: we sold our house, the pumpkin patch, Gentry Animal Safari, date night, pregnancy pictures, house plans & contract in place and very important some good quality time with my precious baby girl. Now I just have to wait until Monday when I will be induced…unless she decides to come on her own over the weekend. We cannot wait to meet Ella!
Visiting Santa (the amazing elves convinced her that it was okay): 
Papa & Ella:
I LOVE this one:
Sweet Sisters:
Her reaction when 1st seeing Santa:
Fun with cousins:
We have always alternated each Christmas between my family and Neal's. Although it wears us out to travel for every single Thanksgiving and Christmas it has worked well. We have always known that once we have kids we wanted to spend some holidays at our own house. Next year is the year that we start this and we are going to do both Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. I am hoping that my family will come up for Christmas some years, maybe every other which would make it every 6 years for them. I know that Neal's family will come to our house for Christmas since he is an only child. Even if my family decides not to come, I will miss them greatly, but I am so looking forward to getting to stay home. Traveling with kids is tough and it will be nice not to have to use up so much of our vacation time.
