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I am officially 33 1/2 weeks pregnant – I’ll hit the 34 mark on Thursday. I’m feeling pretty good for the most part, just dealing with some slight annoyances. I wrestled with my wedding rings this morning and after a ton of lotion and a lot of squealing in pain, I managed to free my poor swollen finger. Also, my right hand is constantly falling asleep! I’m waking up at least once, but usually more, during the night, which makes having the energy to play with with Claire a bit tough. Luckily, she’s a super awesome big-sister-to-be and understands that “mommy’s not sick, she’s just pregnant and needs to rest”.

Eric has been ridiculously hard at work in Ella Cate’s nursery. He ripped out the single rod in the closet and repaired the walls, painted all the trim, doors and frames a bright white, painted the walls a beautiful aqua, replaced the window hardware and electrical outlets/switches, and is now building a new and improved closet system. Whew! The room looks absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to move Claire’s old crib and changing table/dresser in.

A couple of Saturdays ago (32 weeks), my good friend Katie (who just happens to be an awesome – and generous – photographer – how lucky am I?) came over for a low-key maternity photo shoot. Claire and Eric hopped in a couple of pics, then went to the town community center for an art class. Katie and I had a lot of fun just playing around and trying out different poses, outfits, lighting, etc. I absolutely love them and will always be happy we have something nice to remember these last few months of being a family of three.

Oh – and just for fun – here’s a comparison shot of the belly at 32 weeks with Claire (and one of my favorite pictures of all time):

As many of you may know, we were delaying cutting Claire’s hair until a good chunk could be saved (her Daddy’s request) without leaving her with extremely short strands. At 3 1/2, her hair was reaching half-way down her back and desperately needed a good trim and some shaping.

I got the go-ahead from Daddy and started looking for a kid-friendly hair salon. A place called “Snip-its” fit the bill – AND – I had a $9 off coupon. Score!

So last Saturday (after a family fun day of indoor swimming and a mommy/daughter nap), we took Claire in for her first haircut. I had explained what was going to happen and showed her pictures of the place, so she was already pretty excited. We met Miss Nicole, who was super awesome, and Claire was happy to do just about anything Miss Nicole asked.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story, but I will say that all three of us were pleased with the experience. Claire loves her “princess hair” and now tells me just about every morning that I need to get a hair cut too. Ha! Now if only my little girl didn’t look so dadgum BIG….

Claire woke up on Monday, Dec. 26, to discover that Santa had visited our home! The cupcakes and milk she left him were gone, as was Nom-Nom, our special Elf who visits each year to watch Claire and report back to Santa. Santa was super generous to Claire this year – favorite gifts included a princess dress/wand/shoes/crown, DVD player for the car (w/ two screens!), a plush “Maximus” horse doll from the movie “Tangled”, and a Rapunzel doll (also from “Tangled”).

She also received tons of nice gifts from LeLe, Poppy, and the Boston crew. Speaking of which, Mr. Peyton had himself a pretty good Christmas as well. Although we’re all pretty sure he would have been just as happy with the boxes and wrapping paper…

We took a break from present-opening to eat a yummy breakfast casserole and fresh fruit, then we were back to tearing through the gifts. Afterwards, most of us napped and then came a wonderful lunch that (amazingly enough) wasn’t difficult to prepare at all. Thanks for all the help, Auntie Bonnie! We stuffed ourselves with Honeybaked ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, 5 cup salad, rolls and TWO kinds of pie. YUM!

By this point, we hadn’t been out of the house in over 24 hours and it was time for a break. The weather was beautiful so we loaded up our new Joovy Caboose double stroller (a Craigslist find for only $35!) and walked over to the park.

Because Bonnie, Jimmy, and Peyton didn’t get into Raleigh until almost 8:00 p.m. on the 24th, we decided to “move back” all the Christmas festivities a day so we wouldn’t feel rushed.

My Facebook post from 12/25 reads: Enjoyed a perfect “Christmas Eve” (Santa is visiting is us a day late this year). We decorated a gingerbread house, made reindeer cupcakes, baked pies, created Christmas crafts, sprinkled reindeer food on the front yard, left Santa a note, cupcake and milk, and watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (my first time to see it). Now to catch some sleep before a certain red-headed little girl bounds down the stairs to see what Santa left her!

Of course, we took a TON of photos – so be prepared for a bit of an overload…

The Friday before Christmas was a real treat for the Stafford family, but for different reasons. Claire was excited because she got to wear her pajamas to school. Eric and I were excited because Claire was in school and we were off work. Ha! We spent the day grocery shopping, which doesn’t sound like much fun, but throw in a trip to Starbucks and a kid-free lunch and we were quite happy.

Here are some cute pictures of Little Miss Priss all dolled up in her jammies for school…

Claire and I made these adorable marshmallow snowmen this past Tuesday. And when I say “Claire and I” what I really mean is I made the snowmen and Claire kept begging to eat more Rolos, cookies, marshmallows and icing. Ha! She did enjoy coating the marshmallows in white sugar sprinkles, but by far her favorite part of the project was getting to eat her very own snowman.

I thought they turned out pretty cute, despite not having the confetti sprinkles that the instructions called for. We used edible markers instead to draw on the faces and buttons, which was a bit difficult to do on a sprinkle-covered-marshmallow.

The snowmen were part of the Christmas gift baskets for her preschool teachers. Each gift basket included a can of Ghirardelli hot chocolate, a Glade holiday-scented candle, a personalized thank-you card, and 3 marshmallow snowmen (picture was taken before I added the other snowman).

Whew! I made it to the third trimester! Sweet Ella Cate is just as active as her big sister was, and is constantly moving around and reminding me that I’m growing a person. I am less hungry now than I was the beginning of the second trimester, but still have a pretty good appetite. I usually crave anything salty – cheese, nuts, pickles, etc. I’m also loving milk and fried chicken sandwiches.

I’ve gained a little less than 20lbs at this point, and weigh the same at 28 weeks with Ella Cate as I did at the same point in my pregnancy with Claire. A fact I’m happy about, considering I started this pregnancy 5lbs heavier.

Doctors are saying both Ella Cate and myself are healthy and doing great. My main complaints/annoyances are dry eyes, lower back pain, and lack of sleep due to having to pee and the baby kicking like crazy. Pretty normal stuff – I’m thankful to have no major problems with the pregnancy.

Claire continues to be super excited about being a big sister. She loves to include Ella Cate in just about anything (including family games of Candy Land). Just yesterday she told us out of the blue that she “couldn’t wait to be a big sister”. She’s less thrilled about me no longer being able to pick her up, but usually settles for crawling into my quickly-disappearing lap or a big bear hug. She likes to talk about the things she’s going to get to help with when the baby comes like changing diapers, giving a pacifier, making silly faces, etc.

Here are a couple of recent photos -

28 weeks pregnant with Ella Cate

Me and Ella Cate at 24 weeks

The Stafford girls!

Similar shot with Claire for comparison…

26 weeks pregnant with Claire