Aunt Megan and Forrest's new best friend...

 Megan has just recently returned from her LOOOOONNNG but super exciting and adventure filled stint living in Australia for 7 months and she has come to see us! She is here till her 2nd nephew arrives and boy oh boy what help she is. Her boyfriend Craig, (aka British surfer and Forrest's new best friend....:-) is awesome as well. She was lucky enough to meet him in Australia and we have quickly grown attached as well!

They have been helping a TON around our place and it is SO nice to have them here! Megan will return to Santa Barbara after the baby arrives, but we are oh so thankful for their company and help. And having a visitor with an accent is always fun too....(especially one that loves salmon, looking for bears, playing with 2 year olds, and completing all kinds of odd jobs like putting up kitchen cabinets....comes in handy for this nesting mama!)

This little boy is gonna be a BIG brother....

 And oh boy how his world is gonna change. You wonder if he really has any idea just what is about to happen in the next week or two in this house!

 Changes are in the air as we check things off our list, (or MY list, my nesting list I guess you can call it!)

 Thanks to the TERRIFIC help from my wonderful sister, newly home from Australia, and her equally wonderful British/Aussie boyfriend, (more about both of them later...) this household is in full baby prep mode. Forrest is completely enthralled with his aunt Megan and his new surfer buddy which makes life all the easier for this tired, HUGE mama.


 This happy family of three, soon to be four is working hard. This weekend is gonna be filled with fun dinners out, birthdays, and hopefully some R&R.

Oh yes, and that name....
hmmm......

This is kid is due in less than a month....

4 weeks, to be exact.
And, yes, I know, he could come later, he could also come earlier, like SOON.
Am I ready.
Are we ready, as a family?

Do we have a 

room?-name?-childcareforForrestonthebigday(s)-timeofftorelax(what's that?)-preregistrationathospitalcomplete-freezerwellstocked-newbornclotheswashed-newbornclothesevenUNPACKED???-hospitalbag ready(yeah right,)-nestingcomplete?(or even started...)

uhhhhh...
Well we've got at least two of those thought out, one done...and, that's it folks.
Yep, lots to do.
And this BIG, now 9 months preggo mama, is still working hard. At work that is, as in the paying job.
Looking forward to checking off items on this list.
And hoping that we don't have an early baby this time....
(though looking at the size of my belly, wondering about the possibility of this!)
For now, enjoy the new blog picture, it was taken on Monday. We're having fun here on this rainy spring Ranch, even if we are still a bit unprepared....
Wish us luck!

Loving the sun with Forrest and his canine companions...

34 weeks...

 ...And feeling rather huge! Baby boy #2 has put on a lot of weight, I feel, in the last month as his exit day nears.  As you see he has just about filled me up. It's very exciting to say that he is due NEXT MONTH!!!It is also hard to believe I'm going to fit another few pounds of baby in my belly, despite the fact I've been through this before and Forrest himself was just shy of 8 lbs.
My body is revolting a bit more, nothing serious, just this sciatica that we're working on. I get a great (though short,) massage every week and last week she worked pretty hard on my leaving me more sore for the following 2 days than I care to be. I'm still deciding if that was therapeutic or not...It does feel good to get the massage though even if it's localized to the spot where you're hurting the most. And as many know, being pregnant causes multiple aches and pains. It might be nice to splurge on the whole body once before this is done!
I'm feeling well though overall. Our household for the time being is over the sickness that got us all a few weeks ago. The sun is shining a wee bit more these days as witnessed by these pictures, and we're all trying to enjoy some more outdoor time lately.
On the baby stat front, he's pushing 5 lbs this week, likely to gain another 1/2 a lb. a week from here on out! He's a mover, at times, primarily when I slow down. I feel like he's trying to wiggle his way out already. He's already head down which is a great thing, and I really don't think he has enough room to sumersault at this point though I've heard differently.
I skipped my run this week, will do a run/walk tomorrow, but I think for now my running days are behind me for awhile.


And the following picture is a bit of bliss I got to experience as Forrest splashed away in the puddles.....

Pretty dang nice if you ask me...:-)