It's a girl!!!

Ada Caroline Burch has made her debut.  She weighed in at 7.7 lbs and measured 21inches long.  Ada is the picture of health and we are truly overwhelmed with thanksgiving!

Market Square

This might be our last weekend as a family of 4--and it might not:).  But, we are taking full advantage of the freedom of not having a newborn and trying to soak in the other two.  Saturday morning, we headed to the Market Square Farmer's Market and tried to pretend it didn't feel like the middle of August--this pregnant momma was the worst pretender.:)  I always get emotional right before a new baby comes...totally normal, I know.  I start thinking about how much I love my life now and worry that it will never be the same--which it won't, but in totally great ways.  I worry that everyone will feel neglected and that I won't be able to handle it all.  Thankfully, the excitement over meeting the newest member of our family outweighs the trepidation! 

There was some great music, but it's hard to compete with an Abby Cadabby book

Lilah looks so big here....like too big for that paci:(  i'll deal with that later!

Boys enjoying some homemade ice cream:)

Aunt Liz and sweet Anna Kate

Prego Products

I'm not really a 'product junkie', because I don't like to throw out un-empty bottles and I dislike lots of stuff sitting around even more.  So, I usually just stick to the same stuff I've always used unless someone makes a recommendation about something specific that will change my life.  That's what I have for you here, folks:  life changing products....if you have a human growing inside your belly that is stretching your abdominal skin past the limits of comprehension.  Or if you just have dry, itchy skin.
Try these, you will thank me:

I can't get this unfuzzy...it's the lotion counterpart to the body wash

We've got big news around here....Lilah will start a new school in the fall.  We are hoping she can still go 2 days a week to her beloved preschool, but she will also be going to a developmental (aka special ed) preschool with the county starting in August.  Obviously her need for this is no surprise, but I've been a little anxious about it since we started the process in early March.  There was a ton of 'testing' involved and several meetings before the final decision.  I had very specific 'plans' for what I thought would be best for Lilah and I'm really thankful that it was what God had planned for her also, which was clear because I was prepared for the worst, but it all fell into place perfectly.

  It is a huge burden lifted for me to know exactly where she will be in the fall and I know it will be really good for her.   She will be going MWF to a great program, in a great school, and will be less than 2 miles from our house. I know it will be really challenging for her (and us, in many ways), but I'm so glad to have met her teacher (who is great) ....and also, I'm really thankful that I can take her (cannot imagine putting her on the bus!).  Here are some pictures from today, when we went to look around:

This momma is busy crossing things off of a never-ending 'to do' list in preparation for the little one's arrival.  In addition the the usual (clean out closets, etc) stuff, for us that means being caught up on doctor appointments for Lilah--which I can report that we are.  yeah.

The last was an eye doctor appointment,  that we had been putting off for 2 years.  In the midst of heart, spine, and seizure issues, poor vision just didn't top the list of priorities.  But, we had started to notice some things that made us suspect that Lilah was having trouble seeing...so we bit the bullet and made the appointment.

I had totally convinced myself that we would leave with these nasty coke-bottle glasses on my precious girl's face....and the promise of months of fighting with her to wear them.  Honestly, at this point, we do not take for granted anything will be typical about her--we just kind of expect there to be some issue, big or small, with everything.

And, woohoo!!!!....the vision is a small issue for now.  She is fairly far-sighted (-2.75), but does not have to have glasses--yet.  So we add this to our "wait and watch" list, which is absolutely fine by me.  I have to say, I am amazed at my ability to roll things over....living in the now and thinking about tomorrow tomorrow.  I know this is a gift, purely by God's grace, because it's definitely not my nature and we sure have enough 'what-ifs' to keep us up at night.

38 weeks

Baby Burch is 38 weeks today and could come any time.  If I was a bettin' woman, I'd say he/she will arrive closer to 3 weeks from now, but who knows?? That's one of the amazing things about new babies...they are totally expected, and yet entirely unexpected.  Speaking of amazing, here are my top 5 favorite things about being pregnant:

1.  everyone smiles at you--I have no idea if it's motivated by joy or pity, but I'll take it. the world is a friendlier place when everyone is smiling at you everywhere you go:)

2.  food tastes so darn good.  not that it doesn't always, but seriously--most everything is even better pregnant.  there just aren't enough hours in the day (or room in the stomach) for all of it.

3.  it's a great excuse for all sorts of things...don't want to host an event? attend a dinner? clean the house? visit your grandparents in the nursing home? cook?  "I'm not feeling up to it" does the trick every time.

4.  it mellows me.  I'm not sure my housemates would agree, or if it's been the case with my other pregnancies, but I feel super relaxed this time--about all sorts of things...and it's just the right amount, too.  Not that I'm a total apathetic slob, I just don't care enough to get upset.  Things are not only not getting done on the 'to do' list, they aren't even making it to the list in the first place, which is great because most of that stuff doesn't matter a hill of beans anyway (*Paul, if you are reading this....this does not apply to your list).:)

5.  it's just the most miraculous thing ever! it really is, start to finish...the whole process is incredible.  this is my 3rd time and I think I appreciate it even more....conceiving, growing, delivering, and raising a child.  obviously, there are a lot of really hard things about it--but what a gift it is.