27 weeks and Carson's 3rd Birthday

Gosh, it's been a while since I've posted anything here. I meant to write about Carson's birthday last weekend but, like always, time got away from me!

Last Saturday, the 6th, we celebrated Carson's 3rd birthday. It was such a wonderful day filled with family and fun. Carson is such a lucky little boy to have so many people who love him to pieces. Carson was really excited about his birthday, and had been talking about it for weeks leading up to it. I think it turned out to be all he wanted and more! He got all kinds of sports equipment to play with outside now that the weather is getting warmer, and a really neat Radio Flyer horse that he calls "Sassafrass." He's had all kinds of fun playing with his new toys!


Carson right after waking up on his birthday... showing us how big he is now!







Now that Spring Break is finally here, Carson and I are attempting the whole potty training thing. He's been pretty adamant about wearing diapers up until now, ensuring Clay and I that he has no intentions of giving up his diapers for his new baby brother to use once he's here. (Ha!) So, I had braced myself for a fight this morning when I introduced him to his new big boy underwear. To my surprise, he LOVED the idea of wearing underwear and happily put them right on. He was so proud!

He's been in underwear for about 4 hours now and has had one accident. He wet through them and his jeans and it didn't phase him at all. I had to point it out to him and remind him that we need to go to the potty when that happens. We've spent a lot of time in the bathroom today, but he hasn't done anything while we're in there. He's napping right now, so I'm sure he's either going to go in his sleep or I'll (hopefully) be able to catch him and take him straight to the potty when he wakes up. This is just day 1, so I think so far it's going pretty smoothly! I'm crossing my fingers that he'll continue to prove me wrong and make this a much easier process that I thought he would.

We had a sonogram this morning and got to see sweet Collin again. Everything is looking great! They told me he currently weighs 2 lbs 3oz and is in the 36th percentile. The technician turned on the 4D Real Time and we got to see his precious face and him moving all around. The most adorable thing was that he was sucking is thumb, just like is big brother does! He looks so incredibly sweet, and of course I cried! We're only 11 weeks away from meeting our sweet little boy!


Sucking his thumb




27 weeks 2 days

24 weeks

Today I hit the 24 week mark. This is a "milestone" week, because I've reached viability. That just means that if I were to go in to pre-term labor or anything might happen then the baby has a good chance of surviving with intensive care. But, everything is smooth sailing so far, and I am hoping and praying nothing like that will happen. God has taken excellent care of me and this precious baby I am carrying, and I know He will continue to do so.

Time is flying by fast these days. Since we know Collin will be born by c-section on June 2nd, that means we only have 14.5 weeks left before his arrival! That also means there are only 14 weeks left of the school year. Friday was the last day of the 4th 6 weeks. It seems like we JUST got back from Christmas break. Wow!

I've said this before, but I just can't believe that I almost have my first year of teaching under my belt. I have to admit that I feel like I've done a great job. It's been much easier than I anticipated. I remember in college hearing horror stories about the first year of teaching, and I know that many new teachers give up and decide to do something else. However, my first year has been completely opposite. I believe it is because the team of 2nd grade teachers I work with are amazing and take such great care of me. In addition, the principals are great and I work at an awesome school! When I thought about my first year of teaching, I never thought it would be this great. God is so good to me. I could not be more blessed!

And speaking of time flying by... Carson will be THREE years old in just two short weeks. Gosh, it's hard to believe that it has been that long since our precious little boy was born. He continues to grow and change so much every single day. He's so smart, handsome, and funny. I can't imagine life without him. He lights up my life and makes me so incredibly happy. Everyday he does something new that makes me laugh. When I see his sweet face first thing every morning and in the afternoon after work, my heart just overflows with joy and love. I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face as I think of how much he has grown and changed in just a few short years. I am so proud to be his mommy!

Tonight Carson sat in the living room playing cars and I found myself picturing Collin sitting there playing with him a couple of years from now. I am so excited for Carson to have a little brother. I know they are going to be such great friends. Carson asks quite often where "baby brudder" is, and I have to remind him that he's still in Mommy's belly getting ready to meet us. He loves him already!

Collin is moving and kicking a lot. I've started to feel his movements up on the sides of my stomach, whereas up until a couple of weeks ago I could only feel them low in my stomach. He definitely lets me know he's in there! We had another sonogram earlier this week. Collin looked great! We got to see him in 3D and I, of course, got tears in my eyes. In these pictures I think he looks so much like Carson. I wonder everyday what he will look like, what kind of personality he'll have, and if he'll be like Carson or totally different. I can't wait to meet him!

Here are a few pictures and a video of Carson singing his favorite song:


Here I am at 23 weeks


Collin at 23 weeks


Carson's favorite song - "I'm in the Lord's Army"

Just checking in

I am about half-way through this pregnancy already! Time is sure flying by fast. Today I am 19 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I have been feeling our sweet baby boy kicking and flipping around for about the last two weeks. I just love it, and think it is by far the best part of being pregnant! When I was pregnant with Carson I did not recognize his movements until I was 22 weeks. We've decided to name our second son Collin John Beardemphl. We both really liked the name Collin, and John is my daddy's name. I thought it would be special to name him after his Pappy. :)

We got our nursery bedding in a few weeks ago and yesterday Clay and I painted the nursery. It looks great, and I can't wait to get it all set up. I ordered Collin's furniture yesterday, as well, so it should be here in a couple of weeks. I feel like I'm really on the ball this time around. I've started picking up a few things here and there that I know we'll need. I got rid of just about every baby item we had when Carson outgrew them. You can bet I'm kicking myself for that now, but we just didn't have room to store them. So, we're starting over from scratch!

On Friday I got a little scare and completely freaked out thinking that something was wrong with our baby. I woke up with really strong cramps, but told myself they would go away. I went to work and about an hour later they were just getting worse. I had one of my students up reading his phonics test to me, and I couldn't even concentrate on him because the pain was so bad. I called another 2nd grade teacher to come relieve me and I ran to the bathroom in tears. I was crying from pain and crying because I was so afraid something was wrong. When I came out of the bathroom the principals were there telling me they had gotten me a sub and to go home. I called the doctor's office and they were able to get me in an hour later. Well, all of that big ordeal just turned out to be a bladder infection. I am thankful that is all it was, but I sure felt like a goof for making such a big deal out of it. I did learn a lesson, though... that when I've gotta go, I better go! That's hard for a teacher to do since I have 20 little ones that I can't leave unattended. Good think I work with amazing people that take great care of me. :)

That's about all that's been going on as of late. We go for our next ultrasound in 3 weeks, so I will certainly have more news then!

I leave you with my 19 week belly picture: