These are the pics from the skating rink. Alex loved it!

I went to my doc appointment on monday and it sure was interesting. First of all, I have a date set for my amniosynthesis. I thought the doc had said they had to do it if they induce at 37 weeks but apparently it was 38 weeks. So, she thinks it would be a good idea to do it at 38 and I agree. I got pretty huge there right at the end really fast. So if they do the amnio thing and the lungs look to be developed enough, which my doc thinks they will, they'll induce either that day or the next. They set it up for Dec. 10th. It's one day sooner than what she told me so that sounds great to me! We're going to drop Alex off at mom and dad's and he'll stay there for a few days depending on when everything happens. I'm so excited to have this all underway now! Also, I thought I was doing so great with my weight, but it seems the Mercy babies are just going to be huge no matter what. I've been gaining on average 4 lbs every two weeks lately. At my appointment on Monday I weighed 160. So, I'm thinking I'll be somewhere around 175 by the end. At least it's ten pounds less than I weighed with Alex. I will have gained 50 lbs instead of 65 this time. That's not so good.

Anyway, the second part of the appointment was that Alex was horrible! He's usually such a good boy, but in the last few weeks he's become a lot more defiant. I could not control him. He was bouncing off the walls, jumping all over, being super loud, kicking walls, standing on chairs. It was sooooo embarassing! Of course, you can't just spank your kid right in front of people anymore so I kept wispering that he was getting a spanking when we got to the car. That didn't even phase him. It's like he didn't hear me at all. Probably because my spankings don't hurt him anymore. He doesn't even cry and he goes back to whatever he was doing. Since the spanking in the car didn't do a lot I got the wooden spoon out when we got home and that got his attention. I could not believe my sweet little Alex was being soo naughty. Everyone was looking at us probably thinking that I needed to control my child. My doc even said I was going to really have my hands full soon. I can't tell if this is just an age thing that he's worked up to or if it's because Nathan hasn't been around as much lately. Nathan's the disciplinarion in our house which makes it a lot easier on me and I do let Alex get away with a lot more when Nathan's gone. I guess I just need to step it up a little.

Anyway, I'm doing really good with my christmas shopping but all of a sudden I feel like I just don't have enough time to get everything done. I have all of Joanne's family done except I need to mail one more thing. I have Joy almost done. Josh still needs to give us ideas. Nathan keeps saying he'll give me ideas but I've started to take it into my own hands and come up with things on my own. I'm not worried about Alex since he's so fun and easy to buy for. I also know exactly what I want from Nathan so I don't need to be thinking about that anymore. I think because the induction date is going to creep up on us really fast I feel pressed for time now.

We're going to be heading to Salina for Halloween on friday. I think it'll be a lot more fun to go in a neighborhood we know. Alex is going to be a panda bear again this year. The costume fits him a little better this year. I don't think I'm going to be able to get Nathan to dress up but we have a funny little surprise costume we made for me. I think we might carve pumpkins this afternoon so that would be fun. See what Alex thinks of that. :)

Yesterday, I went to Target with the goober. First time I've been there in forever. Their little girl clothes are sooo cute! I always have such a hard time not buying anything. I gave into temptation yesterday and got a little newborn outfit for Addison. It's light blue fleece pants and sweater that zips up. It has a little bear on the sweater and little ears on the hood. It's sooo cute and looks really warm and cozy. There were a few dresses in the clearance racks I thought about getting, but I just can't picture putting her in dresses when it's so cold out. I already got a little christmas gift from Joanne. She sent a cozy little carseat cover. It's going to be really nice for her for these cold winter months. I also went ahead and ordered the boppy pillow I saw online. I really wanted to have one with this baby.

Alex was really funny at Target. We went down the toy isles and he ooooed at everything we saw. It was cute. He kept telling me that certain toys were his. He would point and say mine. We went down this one isle that had a big fake dinosaur in a plastic container as a display with a button you could push on the outside. He thought it was really neat till I pushed the button and then he flipped out crying. He was so scared of that thing. It was funny. I asked him if we should got back and push the button again and he started crying again telling me no. He's a cute little fraidy cat!

Okay, I'm getting around to posting finally! The sling below is the one I made for me. Pretty cute,huh? Chalupa was my test baby even though we just took her to the vet and she only weighs 3.6 pounds now. Babies are a little heavier than that. I have so many things to blog about. I don't know where to start.

I guess, first, we went to Josh's football game this friday night. That was a lot of fun! The big South/Central game. Alex had a good time but he started to get very squirmy and very tired. He didn't get a nap that day. He kept yelling wooo and touchdown super loud! He talked about Josh the whole game because he's one of Alex's favorite people. Unfortunately, South won at the very end of the game. Very disappointing!

After we left the game we decided to run by the Skating Rink where Nathan worked for forever. Poor Alex was asleep by the time we got there and we had to wake him up. I don't think he really minded once we got inside though. We put some little skates on him with the wheels all locked up for him to walk around in. He took to it right away! Kind of crazy since he doesn't really like trying new things and is kind of a fraidy cat! After a while he kept saying he wanted to go fast so they loosened the wheels up a little. He loved it! Nathan and I took turns walking around with him. He really liked going on the floor. When it was time to take them off he was screaming and crying NO and trying to stop us from taking them off. All the rest of the night and in the morning he kept telling me he wanted skates and to go fast! So cute! He definitely takes after his daddy!

After, we got Alex into bed we played Loaded Questions. It's Nathan's favorite game and I think everyone elses fave now too! It turned into and Adult game as usual when Nathan and I are involved. It was super fun and funny and decided that we have to play it at christmas when Joy and Jason are out here.

Then, Saturday, we went to the farm. Alex and Daddy love the farm! It's so cute! Whenever we're driving and Alex sees a pond he says water and pappa. We had lunch there and sat around talking. Nathan shot his guns and then the boys played paintball. Except for Josh. He was all beat up from the game the night before. The highlight from that day was when Dad fell into the pond. I was the only one who saw the whole thing. It was hilarious! The bad part was that he lost his glasses and the water was super cold. Thankfully, he found his glasses after standing in the freezing cold water for forever feeling on the bottom with his feet trying to find them.

I'm going to blog about stuff tomorrow. I just wanted to get these pics posted before Nathan left in the morning. :)

Since I'm going to be big and pregnant and ready to have this baby when it's prime christmas shopping time, I decided to take it upon myself to draw names for christmas for everybody. Obviously Joanne and Jeremy aren't included because they're going to be staying in Cali this year. Everyone I talked to seemed to agree to make this christmas cheaper too. So, we're doing one per person and we thought a limit of $25-$30 a present. Let me know what you guys think of the price limit? Alex and Addison aren't included in the drawing because I've heard everyone wants to buy for the babies and that doesn't bother me:). You can buy for whoever you want to in your immediate family. We'll probably end up doing our family's gift exchange at home. I'm pretty sure I've talked to everybody included, but if anyone has any objections or suggestions to how we should do this let me know. I'll go ahead and post the list on here so everyone can check it out whenever they need to.

buyer-buyee lol!

Mom-Jenny

Dad-Jason

Jillian-Mom

Josh-Dad

Nathan-Josh

Jenny-Joy

Jason-Nathan

Joy-Jillian

Okay, now Joy and Josh need to get me some christmas lists! I'm working on Nathan, trying to get him to come up with a list. Nathan and I both have lists on Amazon. Mom, I also want a new purse. Maybe we should go shopping together sometime:). Nathan has a five day trip to Florida coming up soon so maybe I could come visit then. We'll see.

Here's a bunch of pics of Alex's room. Soon to be Alex and Addison's room! I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a neutral theme. No idea what that is. Kind of leaning towards a pretty shade of green with striped curtains or something. I don't know if I blogged about this but we couldn't get the right size mattress for the little toddler bed my dad brought up. I just happened to be looking around at Walmart and spotted this little toddler bed that matches the crib for $55. That was an awesome find! I have a bed set picked out for the crib for Addison but haven't gotten it yet. The dresser usually has the changing mat on it but Emily is here and I put that in the pack and play for her to sleep on. Alex always slept really good on that. I think cause the sides are curved and it has a super soft cover on it. Oh, I just saw on the news the other night that having a fan in your baby's room when they sleep reduces the risk of sids. I've always used one just to have noise so they don't wake up at everything you do.

Nathan and I just found out that this church really close to our house is also a small christian school. We've just started looking into schools a little bit and heard this one is a really good one and a little less expensive. We're really excited about this! Both of us have wanted to be able to send our children to a christian school. Nathan went to one growing up and was really glad he did and I feel that I'm going to do anything I can to help out my kids on their road to salvation. By the time Alex is ready for school we should easily be able to afford this.

Nathan is actually going to be home every night but one this week so we're all excited! He has a short day trip tomorrow and something going on Thursday. I'm not sure of the rest of his schedule. They had him as a back up for a trip to Mexico this week but I guess they don't need him anymore. I'm glad to have him around. I was starting to get a little run down being just me and Alex so much.

We went to a wedding this last weekend in Kansas City. It was a good one! They both are pilots at Eagle Med. We knew Erin, the bride, from Hays and then from when we lived in Kansas City. They were so thankful that Nathan was able to help them out with getting a job at Eagle Med. When I worked at the FBO in Hays she flew in there every day doing a cargo route a lot like Nathan's. We would hang out and got to know each other very well. She lived in KC and when we moved out there she helped us look for apartments and helped me get a job out there. The message the officiator at the wedding gave was really good. One of the better I've heard. Then when I was mentioning it to Erin, she said she wrote it. I was pretty impressed! They gave a message of salvation in it and also included a part on divorce. Then their vows were very good too! It was so nice to hear that this is not just a wedding where their so in love and all that mushy stuff. It was a real commitment.

After the wedding we went over for the reception which was really nice too. It was very fancy and Nathan and I felt a little out of place. We're not really the fancy type. They served sorbet in between the salad and the next course to cleanse your pallat. LOL! We felt just like Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries! Wasn't that the right movie? Nathan and I made jokes that we were going to eat ice cream between every bite we take at home! haha!

Then we went over to our hotel and went to see that movie Eagle Eye. I was so beat by the end of the night! It's always fun to stay in a hotel for me. It makes it feel kind of special and especially with just me and Nathan. No goober to distract us!