oh baby!

First off, a big congratulations to Glen, Denise & Vince who welcomed baby McKee into their home last week. He was a big baby & Denise's labor went super well, so I was happy for her. We got to talk for about an hour the other day and she seems to be adjusting to two rather well and I'm grateful I'll have her to call & commiserate with when needed. We miss having them close, but are excited to love on that new baby boy when they come visit!

Some exciting news in our family is that there will be 3 babies coming this year in Zac's family! 2 of Zac's sisters, Chelsey & Emily, are expecting later this year too so we'll have 3 babies within about 6 months of each other. I am so happy to have cousins for this baby to grow up with & play with...and 2 sisters to talk about the joys & pains of pregnancy with. Em is already such a great mom and will do awesome with another one and Chels is such a fun aunt that I know she'll do wonderfully with one of her own. Yay for babies!

Another exciting arrival is coming to my friend Candace & her sweet family. She and Brian are adopting a little girl who is due to arrive in this world March 27th, just the day after my due date. I was so excited knowing we'd be having babies together & can go through the second child journey together. They are two of the best people & parents I know and I think this baby girl will be so blessed to be going to their home. They asked me and Zac to be on their reference list, so we had the honor of writing a letter telling how much we love them and what we think about them. Adoption is such a sacred experience and seeing how much of a blessing it's been in our family's (Bob & Alison) lives, I know it will be a blessing for Candace, Brian & Jhett. And, we're excited to have another little Nielson to love!Speaking of babies, this second little man of mine is definitely making his desire to be out in the world known. Some days I feel like he just might rip right out of me! He is SO incredibly active and very particular about what positions he likes to be...preferably right in my ribs &/or totally spread throughout my midsection. I can barely bend over for fear of the repercussions of him stabbing me somewhere! I am super tired but not sleeping well at all. I am up about every hour on the dot to use the bathroom, walk around, and stretch, and then it takes me a while to fall back asleep. My left rib is completely bruised {or broken?!} and so breathing is difficult too... (: I'm large & tired of maternity clothes & my feet & ankles are so fat that my cankles are bigger than my calves half the time! I seriously cannot wear regular shoes anymore and even my "fat" shoes from my pregnancy with Grayson don't fit well...so I've resorted to wearing slippers pretty much everywhere. Hearing about Denise's labor has made me anxious to get things going, but I also want this baby here healthy & whole, so I've gotta hang in there to at least 37 weeks or so... I'm not complaining either-just journaling for posterity's sake! Anyway, sore or not, tired or not, I know this baby boy will be well worth the weight & the wait & we are excited to meet him!