Colette

We are all so excited that Colette decided to make her appearance this morning! Here's her stats: Colette Abigail Wilcox
Born at 3:14 AM on May 19, 2012
6 lbs 6 oz
21.75 inches long

 This is Calder's first time holding Colette, and he is pretty excited. He wanted to sing "I Love To See The Temple" to her. He kept offering to sooth her and try to make her happy if she started to cry. He waved and whispered to her. He definitely takes his bib brother duties seriously.

 I love this picture because you can tell Calder loves her and is concerned for her.

 This was when she was just a few minutes old. I love seeing Jason with out kids. He is an amazing dad and seems to be a pro at every stage.

This was Colette's first bath. She didn't love it. I honestly don't blame her.

37 weeks

So, I'm full term today. I have been thinking about how much I love being pregnant. I am aware that pregnancy isn't easy for everyone and I very thankful for the blessing I have. I feel so healthy when I'm pregnant. My hair is great, my skin is glowing and my body just seems to know what to do. Now that baby girl has dropped I can even breath easier and don't have heartburn anymore. I feel like I'm still keeping up with Calder pretty well and am still capable of doing the same activities we have been doing. We take swimming lessons every Tuesday (we have two more weeks) and I am always thrilled that my swimming suit stretches that much. I refuse to buy a maternity swimming suit, so thank goodness it does. Occasionally if we've had a busy day I will be surprised to find myself exhausted. I nap sometimes. Thankfully Calder has an hour of quiet time in his room every day so I can do this.

I also love the way everyone seems so nice when you're pregnant. When Calder and I go places people almost smother us asking if we need help finding anything in the store. I think we got asked by at least 9 people while at Home Depot last week.

We are all set up and ready for this baby girl to arrive. The clothes are washed. The crib is assembled. The car seat is installed. The bags are packed. We have a plan. We have a name. There are babysitters and back up babysitters lined up for basically any hour of the day. We are so lucky to have amazing friends who are willing to watch Calder whenever we may need it.

It is expected that labor will be fast again. For this, I'm thankful, I just hope we make it to the hospital. The hospital I really want to deliver at is 20 minutes away without traffic. It could be an hour or more with traffic. So, I'm also registered at the hospital 5 minutes from our house. Either would be fine in the end, I'm sure but since I went to the effort to really weigh the decision, it would be nice to have my plan work out. My doctor delivers at both.

At my 36 week appointment I was dilated 3 cm and her head was very far down. (Sorry if that it too much info) This is basically how Calder was for the last few weeks. It's nice to see progress being made even though it means nothing about when our baby will actually come. Calder was 1 week early. Any guesses when baby girl will come?

Life as of Late

 

 Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to.

 Consuming lots of Frozen Yo.

 Reading just about every book at the library.

 Doing a "Spanish salute". According to Calder this is how they do it in Spain.

 Teaching Calder to take dorky pictures. A worthwhile skill to have.

 Riding his bike to the park.

 Hanging out at the Audubon Society.

 This is where Calder is going to preschool next year. It is a magical place where you can go and explore. We have seen frogs, woodpeckers, water skimmers and deer. I can't wait for him to be able to explore there daily with his class.

 At the College Park Aviation Museum. Calder the pilot.

 The neighborhood Easter egg hunt. A total bust. Calder got one egg and he had to fall over to get it. It came out later that he actually pushed a girl so he could get the egg. Poor guy. He was rather upset by the whole thing and cried for a few minutes after the hunt was over. A little boy and his mom saw what was going on and gave Calder 4 of their eggs. It was really sweet and it helped his spirits. I think we are going to start doing our own eggs hunts at the park from now on. None of us enjoyed the craziness of an open field with tons of kids (and parents) scrambling for eggs.

 Calder has been taking swimming lessons once a week for the last few months. We both love getting in the water and I'm impressed how good Calder is getting. He can float on his back (although he freaks out if I let go of his neck), and he loves to put his whole face in the water. When we first bought his goggles he wore them everywhere for a few days. It was pretty awesome.

 It has been warm enough to play in the fountain in Downtown Silver Spring. We love that fountain.

And last but not least, Calder is growing. A lot. He outgrew his shoes and was so excited to get some special ones with a star on the side.

Trip to Utah

 Calder and I took a trip to Utah to meet up with my parents and most of my siblings at my Grandparents house. It was great to see everyone and we had a great time.

Picture dump #2

 I just found some more pictures, so I'll pass them along. This hat was Jason's when he was a kid. Calder loves it and pretends to be goofy pretty regularly. His Oregon shirt used to be one of my shirts that I sized down for him. He loves it.

 Jason taught Calder how to shave. He loves it. We just take the blade off of my razor and he uses the handle. I love the way he smells really good all day when he shaves with Jason in the morning.

 Calder went to the dentist last month. He did so well! He watched me get my teeth cleaned and then sat there perfectly to get his. Neither of us had x-rays (they wait until age 4) and neither of us had any obvious cavities.

Calder work makeup one day last week. We didn't have much planned so I let him wear it all day. He was so proud.

 Calder wrote his name on the newspaper one day and then came to show me. I am so proud of his writing abilities. He has really taken an interest in writing lately.

This was the last day of ice skating lessons two weeks ago. Calder got to put money in the Zamboni to take it for a ride. He was pretty thrilled.

Picture Dump

 I have been using my phone for picture taking lately because it is so convenient. And, now that I have a decent camera on my phone I don't feel like I'll be missing much as far as quality goes if I don't carry the big camera everywhere I go. So, here's a selection of pictures from my phone. The above picture is Calder "basking in the sun". Our apartment gets so much light thanks to floor to ceiling windows. Calder loves to soak up the sun. I'll admit, I love it too.

 This is after consuming a brownie. He said "Look Mommy, I growed a beard".  I have to admit that with his undershirt and unibrow (which seems to only be visible in this picture) he looks very funny.

 We live across the street from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). A few weeks ago they had a family fun day of sorts. Calder loved it! They served popcorn, gave out whale hats and taught him how to make an origami whale. He also got to pose with Miss Ohio.

 He also got to dress up at NOAA. They had all sorts of props and these are the ones he chose.

 We've been driving a lot lately. Calder always looks so cool hanging out in the back seat.

 Even when he's dressed like a construction worker/train engineer.

 The Capitals practice at a rink in Virginia that isn't too far from our house. Anyone can show up to watch them practice. Calder loves it! I am surprised there aren't that many people who go to watch. They have this cardboard head cutout at the rink and every time we go Calder makes me take a picture.

 Watching the Capitals.

Calder starts daddy and me hockey lessons on Saturday. He is required to have knee and elbow pads and is very excited to wear them everywhere. I'm very excited to go watch their first class. I think Jason might be a little nervous about his own skating abilities. We're switching Calder from ice skates to hockey skates, which are harder but give you more flexibility when you get really good, so maybe they'll be a little more evenly matched.

Calder and I also started swimming lessons this week. There is only one other kid in his class. The instructor is obviously a grandma and loves swimming. It was a lot of fun. 

I find it funny that there is only one other kid in Calder's swimming class (thus 8 open spots) but I had to register Calder at midnight to get a spot in the hockey class. He was the 5th kid to register at 12:04. And by 6:30 the following morning, it was all filled up. Crazy.

Baby Bump

Calder posing for his "belly shot".

This Friday is Calder's last ice skating lesson. He has absolutely loved it. Every other week the teacher lets them spend a few minutes with hockey pucks and sticks. That is by far Calder's favorite thing in life these days. He has been begging for a hockey stick and puck for his fourth birthday. He asks for a lot of things for his fourth birthday, but this is a definite front runner.

A few weeks ago we started participating in a mom preschool with some friends. There are four moms who rotate having it at their house. We get together once a week and Calder loves that too. We got to host it this week and it didn't really go as planned. During our craft project I went into my bedroom to get another pair of scissors when I heard water dripping in my bathroom. As I went in I saw lots of water dripping from the vent in the ceiling. Of course I call maintenance and they ran up. The boys all had a great time checking out the leak and watching them try to fix it. In the end they all had a great time, so I guess it doesn't really matter that we had less time than I hoped.

And I'll leave you with a parting shot of my 23 week belly.