Fourth Quarter

I'm not sure if all full-term pregnancies move this quickly, but time has really been flying by lately. We've had a busy September/October that all culminated last week with my sister (finally) getting married. We've got a full time kindergartener on our hands but sometimes it feels like we're already raising a teenager. The sassiness is out of control. He does seem to be trying to eat his own weight in food every day and if he doesn't slow down soon, he'll give Joey Chestnut a run for his money. He's full of attitude, but will turn on the charm and be the most polite little turd. He really knows how to turn your day around with a giant hug.

Baby Averie continues to develop normally and in the thirtieth week, should be weighing about 3 pounds. Even though that seems pretty small, she sure can wail on her mommy's insides. I can now steadily feel her moving from the outside and she gets going pretty good sometimes. We played a little game last week where Nikki would take my hands and press lightly on her stomach. Averie responded by kicking my hand as if to say, "Leave me alone, Dad!"

We are still ironing out the details of the final days of pregnancy so we can be prepared to drive back to the big city and welcome our baby girl. The baby shower is scheduled for about a month from now. We decided on a middle name of Jane for her as well. I wanted to pick a name that was new to our family. I also like the idea of calling her A.J. so when she's in trouble I can use her full name to scare the crap out of her.

We were able to spend a little time at my sister's wedding with our friends' new baby and it really kind of sunk in that in just a few weeks, we'll have our own "little" girl to fawn over.

Hayden has started soccer with the local YMCA. He is pretty cute running around out there with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. He's thrown a couple of fits because he gets knocked on his butt, but I think he's really starting to like it. He was excited to be on "the red team" and was given #19 to wear. Hopefully, the tears stay away today.

Will check back in next week as we round third and start heading home.