Maternity pics

My dear and talented friend Natalie took some maternity pictures of me a couple of weeks ago. She had offered to take them a few months ago, but we were just able to sync our schedules up recently. Now you can see what I look like about to pop! I don't like having my picture taken, so I don't have any pictures of me pregnant with Mason or Alex. Knowing this will be my last pregnancy, I wanted to be able to have some memory of my pregnant self. I am so glad Natalie convinced me to take maternity pics. It's a gift I will always cherish. It was very windy the day we took the pictures. But we were able to find a less windy spot between two trees in our yard. We had a record breaking maternity session. Andy and Harper were inside trying to finish the closet and painting the baby's room. They were also in charge of watching Tice while we were taking pictures. I was impressed with what Natalie was able to get in that short amount of time.

This picture cracks me up! Natalie told the boys to give me a kiss on my check. They seemed to confuse them so I was demonstrating where they needed to show me the love! Maybe I was a bit sarcastic in my words, not sure!

 That's better!

I am so thankful that God chose me to be Mason and Alex's mom. I can't believe I am being blessed again with another precious son. What a gift I am being given. I will do everything I can to try to be the best mom to my three boys. They deserve nothing less.

Check out Natalie's blog at http://www.theshadyacre.com/index.php/2011/11/27/heather
Thank you Natalie! I promise I will get your shower pictures/video that we took in October 2010 to you this week! :) My goal is to at least get it to you before Tice turns 1!!!

Baby's room

This weekend Andy finished building the closet and painting Austin's room. It looks great. He did a fantastic job. I am really happy with how it turned out. We moved the crib and dresser into the room but I'm not sure how to arrange everything yet so I haven't started putting the baby "stuff" in the room yet. It's still taking up residency in my living room! I started washing the sheets, blankets, and burp cloths today. I also washed the car seat, swing, and stroller covers. Andy's cousin let us have (or borrow if they end up having a bonus baby like us!) so many big ticket items (travel system, pack and play, 3 car seat bases, full size swing, diaper gene, TONS of toys, clothes, etc. We are very grateful. Between Stacy and our showers we are pretty set. I just need to buy little things like diapers, wipes, formula, etc.

My mom came into town this weekend and helped me with some of the items on my to-do list like clean the baby's room, along with all the ceiling fans in our house! I don't do ceiling fans and I guess she didn't think furry ceiling fans were good for newborns! Thanks, Mom! The boys even helped! Alex was vacuuming Austin's room in his pirate outfit (Halloween costume from 2 years ago. The pants used to go to his ankles!).

I love the closet! It looks like it has always been part of the room!

We restained the furniture Andy had growing up and put new hardware on it. That furniture is going into Mason's room. Alex put the new knobs on this drawer! I'll do a separate post on Mason's room when we get it closer to completion.

It's definitely been lots of hard work (Andy) and short tempers (me) around the Dallmeyer house these days. The boys have been snapped at more than their fair share. It has been tough to balance doing fun things with them, but still getting things completed before the baby comes. They have been troopers though. I see the light at the end of the tunnel on getting rooms completed. Christmas is a different story though. I have decided just to put the tree and stockings up this year. Less to get out and less to put back up. I also need to learn how to online shop, or else everyone is going to get gift cards this year! We have 24 more days (or less) until our family of 4 becomes a family of 5! I am counting the days with excitement and anticipation on meeting our new son. I am also trying to make the most of these remaining days. My normal will take on a whole new definition soon! 

Baby Update- 36 weeks

I went to the doctor on Wednesday. I am 1 cm dilated and Austin is head down. Everything seems to be going great. I have tried to take it easy this week and it's really made a difference in my contractions/pain/fatigue. We decided to move our induction date from 12/10 to 12/15 (a day before my actual due date). We just need more time to get everything ready for this little guy and our family! Plus, I could use another week of sleeping (mostly) through the night! It's going to be hard to start over, but I know it will be well worth it! I can't wait to meet him!

Soccer Season

Alex played his last soccer game Wednesday night. He had such a great season. This was his first organized sport to play. We were really proud of him. He is really good at defense, but he also scored a couple of goals as well! We started the season out with 7 players and ended with 5. However, most of the time only 4 boys showed up to the game. Each team has to have 3 players on the field at all times. Alex ended up playing the entire game for many games. He worked really hard and never complained. He was pretty proud of his trophy! Way to go Alex!

Baby Update

I went to the doctor last week and she said I needed to start taking it easy unless I wanted to have our baby early. I definitely don't want to have him early, considering we still have a list of projects to complete! I gained 2 lbs (23 total) and his heart beat was strong. At first she couldn't find his heartbeat which was a little scary! He was moving so much she couldn't locate it initially. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday. It's crazy that we only have 26 more days until he arrives. Andy worked really hard this weekend on the baby's room. He finished texturing and priming the closet walls, painted the entire room (with help from Harper- thank you!!), cut and hung trim and baseboards, painted the closet doors, caulked the baseboards & trim. I am sure I am leaving many things out. I tried to stay out of the room since the paint fumes were so strong. He worked until midnight last night. I don't know how he functions on the little amount of sleep he gets each night. I am so thankful that he knows how to do all of this stuff, and he has the drive to get it all done in a short amount of time. I felt guilty most of the weekend as he was busting his butt, I was sitting on mine. But I have to get it through my head that for the next 26 days, one of my main jobs is to keep this baby from coming early! So I need to learn to rest when I can, which is REALLY hard for me! The main things left to do in Austin's room is paint the trim and baseboards, hang the closet doors, put a shelving unit up inside the closet, move the furniture in, hang the decor, buy a rug, and move all of his baby stuff from the living room into his room! The big projects in his room are done! I am so excited! Then we can focus on Mason's room. We need to redo the furniture that he is getting (touch up with stain and replace the hardware), paint his room, and decorate. I think we can get the bulk of that done next weekend and the week after. I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I think we are going to get all of our big projects done in time!

Here is a picture of the closet as of today. I love it!

While Harper was helping Andy yesterday, Natalie took maternity pictures of me. We had to battle the wind, but I think we found a spot between some trees that worked! Even if only one picture turns out, that's one more picture than I had with Mason or Alex. Natalie took some of me and the boys too. I can't wait to see how they turned out!

Pflugerville Baby Shower

On Nov. 6th, my sister-in-law, Heather, and my mom threw me a baby shower in Pflugerville. The boys and I went to Pville Friday after school. Saturday morning we went to Heather's salon so she could cut our hair. That was a treat! Then after haircuts we decided to stop at Chic-fil-a to eat. I had a HUGE surprise waiting for me there! My friend Dana had flown in from Charlotte, NC the night before to spend the weekend with us and attend the shower. My brother picked her up at midnight Friday night. It was such a neat surprise. It was so good to see her. Saturday night we had to go to our usual spot for dinner, Chuy's! Yum! Sunday was the shower. It was so good to see my friends that I haven't seen in so long. Some of which I have only seen once since we moved. I wish I could have spent more time with each of them. Heather and my mom did such a great job organizing and planning the shower. Heather's mom, Dana, and my brother also helped get everything prepared and ready. Heather involved the boys in making the decorations, which was really special.  Mason and Alex each drew a picture that included Austin. Alex drew 5 people holding hands. Mason drew me pushing Austin in a stroller. Heather had their drawings framed as part of the decorations. Alex made a banner that said Austin Hamilton. We only had room to hang up "Austin" but I am going to put the whole banner in Austin's room, eventually. The cake came from Swedish Hill bakery. It was a carrot cake and it was probably the best carrot cake I have ever had! Look how cute it was!

Here is the "Austin" banner. The lighting and my camera weren't a good combo on this shot!

The boys drawings are on the back buffet on either side of the flowers, but I didn't get a close up shot.

The hostesses and me!

I got lots of great things. I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family. Thank you for spoiling baby Austin (and us) already!

Happy Halloween

Halloween sort of snuck up on us this year. We didn't do any Halloween activities leading up to the big day. We didn't even buy and carve a pumpkin! The boys never complained though. We did attend one Halloween party, which was fun! We went trick or treating with the Thibodeauxs and everyone had a great time. The boys got tons of candy and we only went down one street! That's all this preggo mama could handle after being on my feet for 7 hours at Krause! Before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving!








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Keeping it Real

Many of my friends don't believe me when I say my house is a mess so I thought I would keep it real and show some proof! We are not ready for a baby yet. Thank goodness I still have 5 more weeks, assuming he doesn't decide to make an early entrance. We still have shower presents in our front living room from Oct. 8th. We will have even more to add to the pile after this weekend! Although, that's not a problem I am complaining about! I am very grateful for everything we have and continue to receive for baby Austin.

In the open area between living rooms we have a chest & nightstand that need to have hardware replaced and stain touched up. We also have a crib mattress that had been stored in our 3rd car garage for 2 years. Oh, and on top of the chest are baby items my friend Erin let us have.

Along the main wall in the other living room we have a finished dresser that will eventually go in Mason's room. We also have some cans of paint that will eventually be used for Mason and Austin's rooms. We have boxes of books and baby items that need to go in Austin's room.

And here we have the baby's room! I don't really have words.

Here is the closet so far. Andy has done an AMAZING job on it. I am so impressed with his work, especially considering he hasn't ever done something like this before. All he has left to do is texture the outside, put up trim, hang the doors, and paint. He is taking a break from the to-do list until after he takes his next CPA exam (which is next Thursday!) I feel terrible, because he basically hasn't started studying for it yet. He really needs a good solid 2 weeks of 4+ hours a night to get prepared and he only has a little over a week. He always puts our needs above his own.

Another view of the guest bedroom/nursery.

So if you wonder if we are ready for the baby, that would be a no! But at least he will sleep in a pack and play for the first month! So I am not going to stress! I just pray for a healthy baby, the rest will fall into place.

Dewberry Farms Field Trip

Alex's class took their first field trip last week. We went to Dewberry Farms. It was a lot of fun (COLD, but fun!) The kids rode the bus there, while Missy and I followed. We ate lunch as soon as we got there.

Alex and Blake before lunch.

 Missy, Alex, and Blake jumping on the bounce pad. Alex said that was his favorite part of the field trip!

 Alex and I on the "hay" ride (aka: covered trailer with benches!)

We saw fields of pumpkins and fields of Christmas trees.

 The kids got to take home a tiny pumpkin.

 They had a giant slide that you could slide down using a burlap sack.

They had several playscape areas as well.

I love Alex's expression in the picture below! 

Overall, it was a successful trip! The kids had fun and I didn't go into labor. Two goals accomplished!

Football banquet

Here are a few pictures from Mason's football banquet a few weeks ago. Each player received a pretty cool trophy! Mason is really proud of his! His team made it to the playoffs but they were eliminated Saturday after their lose. I think Mason was disappointed and relieved that the season came to a close. He now gets his Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays back. Alex's soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well so we were always split on those days. Now Andy and Mason can come watch Alex play. Football was a great thing for Mason though. It was definitely hard work, but it helped build confidence, taught him new skills, and allowed him to make new friends. Now lets see if he decides to play next year!

Mason's head coach giving him his trophy.

Garden of Joy

I finally had a few minutes to download the pictures from my camera. They dated back to the beginning of October.

Last month we had a dedication at Krause for our principal that retired last year. We decided at the end of last school year that we wanted to create a garden and call it the "Garden of Joy" in honor of the principal, Joy Nelson. Missy and her husband Dusty did all of the work to transfer this open grassy area, surrounded by portables and the school building, into a serene garden. They did an amazing job! I have heard so many comments from staff that they enjoy eating lunch out there, taking their class for a stroll through the garden, or just taking a 5 minute break on the bench. It's a beautiful, peaceful place. We had a small dedication for Joy a few weeks ago. I think she was really touched by it all. There were even tears shed! She was an amazing principal and we wanted to do something amazing for her. Here are a few pics from the dedication.

Kristi, on very short notice, set up an awesome reception with decorations, refreshments, and a thank you for Missy. Check out these water bottle labels that she quickly created that morning. I wish I was half as creative and talented as my friends!

Each grade level purchased an item to be displayed in the garden as well, like a rain gauge, a chime, etc. Above is Joy standing by the marker that shows the garden is dedicated to her.