ONE WEEK!

Wow. One week we will be holding our sweet precious baby girl! I am so over being pregnant. Though I can't really complain. I have had pretty much the easiest pregnancy (not as easy as with Hudson) but pretty close. Especially with having Graves' with this pregnancy. I prayed and prayed every lab appointment for my levels to be normal so I wouldn't have to be put on any sort of medication! The Good Lord sure pulled through because EVERY single appointment, levels were right where they needed to be and I haven't had a single symptom while being pregnant and Emerson has been in great health every appointment. I count my blessings daily ;)
I can't wait to kiss her face and squeeze her cheeks. I can't wait to see the love in Cody's eyes for his baby girl. I can't wait to see Big Brother hold her for the first time and help out when we get to go home. I can't wait to see her grandparents swoon over her. I can't wait to be her mother! In this last week I should be focusing on organizing and getting the house all together because who wants to come home to a messy home?! Not to mention, our big living room is not complete and Cody is still laying tile as.we.speak!! I'm not even worried about all that. I have two big fundraiser walks coming up and I am so focused on those, I may be losing my mind! This is my first year as manager and my first year planning these walks by MYSELF! Our first one is this Saturday and the next is October 4th (which I'll be missing because I'll have a schweet brand spankin new baby!) So all this planning goes into it and I won't even be there to see how it turns out :(

Here's baby girls room:

                        It's so magical (and so PINK). I catch myself just sitting in her room sometimes.

5th Birthday

Our handsome guy turned 5 this past Sunday. 5. I still can't believe it. And he's in kindergarten.

We celebrated early by taking our family trip to Great Wolf Lodge a couple of weeks ago. Being 8 months pregnant, the last thing I wanted to do was plan a party so we opted for a family getaway and I'm so thankful we did. He has been talking about the trip since we got home. We all enjoyed ourselves.
Saturday, Cody was off shift so we got the family together and one of Hud's buddies, Caden and invited everyone to Chuck E Cheese for some games and pizza. Hudson and Caden have been friends since birth. Caden's dad is an MFD'er. Caden is just a couple of months older than Hudson and they are tiny little bff's. We were there a little over 2 hours and the boys had such a great time. Hudson won about 450 tickets :)

He woke up the morning of his birthday and came to our room and said "Mom, I'm 5 and I am taller!!" He is constantly making me giggle.
On Sunday, his actual birthday (Cody was on shift) it was just me and my guy. We went to McDonald's and had breakfast, played at the park (in 95 degree weather at 10:00am) he got to play at Mia's for a while on his new basketball hoop! And one of his friends from down the street came over to play.

Thank goodness Monday was a holiday, we all needed the rest! Monday was also opening day of dove season and Cody wanted to take Hudson shooting. They went to Academy to get a hunting license and they were off. It was so hot yesterday I thought Hudson would only last an hour or so but they got our there around 4 and didn't get home until after 9! He even got to shoot the shotgun! With Cody's help of course. I love when they get to do stuff, just the two of them.

Cody said every time they would shoot a bird Hudson and Jayten would run  over to where it fell and bring it back. He was so excited to see them fly over. He even helped Cody clean one when they got home that night.

Kindergarten!

Welp, another milestone for my big guy. He started kindergarten yesterday. He did so well. (It helps when you know 3 of the kids in your class) He played t-ball with one little boy and two other kids have been in his class at Wee Care since he started pre-k. Thank you Jesus, I think that's what made the transition so easy. We met his teacher on Monday August 25th and she is just adorable. She has a great personality and she really seems to love teaching. And she wore a TMNT shirt on the first day of school, how awesome! We did get accepted into Washington Math and Science Institute about 3 weeks before school actually started. Magnet schools are a lottery and basically if your name isn't picked you end up on a waiting list. We received a denial letter earlier this summer saying we didn't get in to the two magnet schools I applied to. BIG BUMMER but I wasn't going to let that stop me. We were pretty low on the Pease magnet waiting list so I kinda had already written that one off but stayed on the list. Washington we were low but not too bad so I waited on that list as well and went ahead and enrolled him in his home school, Henderson. I was relieved to find out one of my best friends who is also a teacher said one of her close friends (who I have met several years ago) was a kinder teacher and she said I could "request" her, so I did. Things were looking good, I bought school uniforms and was just about to start school supply shopping when I got the call that Washington had an opening for Hudson!! I immediately accepted, hung up the phone and said a little thank you prayer! :0)
After hyping him up about being a Henderson Tiger, I had to break the news that he was now a Washington Eagle. Then proceeded to tell him his buddy from school, Kyson, was also going to Washington. That excited him and he forgot all about Henderson.
Come to find out, on meet the teacher night, we saw that Kyson was in Hud's class!!

                                              My big guy's first day as a Washington Eagle!

                                                                     His BFF Kyson!

I had originally enrolled him in an after school program (great thing about magnet schools, they offer a free after school program from 3:45-4:45 for working parents) M-W would be Robotics T-Th would be Building Brainiacs, and Friday is Camp Manners. After picking him up yesterday, poor guy was exhausted. I'm not sure he could last another hour at school so we are holding off on the after school stuff for now. I am lucky enough to have a very flexible job that allows me to leave at 3:45 every day to pick him up!!

On to SISTER news:

I had my last sonogram on Tuesday and she is just BEAUTIFUL! I may be being biased, but whoa!

                                                                      Those cheeks!

She was being such a wiggle worm. We looked at all her organs, her heart, fluid and all that good stuff. The sonography said everything looked PERFECT and she was measuring right on schedule 34 weeks and 5 days and weighed 5lbs 10oz!! They are expecting her to be about 7lbs 12 oz when born but I have big babies ;) Hudson was 8.2. I cannot wait to meet this little princess. We are scheduled for a c-section on September 24th! 
I have another baby shower that my MIL and some of her close friends are throwing on September 6th, very blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Her room is finally complete, only missing a rocker/glider but I have yet to find the perfect one. As soon as I do, be expecting picture overload.

*The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love*
Galatians 5:6

5 1/2 weeks left!

Holy moly. Although at times it seems like I have been pregnant for years ;) ...it has FLOWN by! It's crazy to think that in 40 short days we will be welcoming our baby girl!! We are scheduled for a c-section on September 24th (not sure what time yet) I am getting a little overwhelmed. I was recently promoted to Special Events Manager at the American Diabetes Association and for 2 months I was all on my own doing the work of two people. We finally hired someone on Monday of t his week and she has been such a God send! No I am able to focus on fundraising and putting two walks together. One of which I will miss completely because I'll be on maternity leave. Not only am I stressing with the walks but my BABY, my sweet little brown eyed handsome little guy will turn 5 at the end of this month and will start KINDERGARTEN!!
We finally got a call from one of the magnet schools we applied to. We were on the waiting list for two and pretty far down on one of them and I had written them off thinking we weren't getting in this year, better luck next year. Then I got the call that said they had a spot!! We'll be starting at Washington Math and Science magnet school and I am so excited.  School starts in less than two weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing how we handle a new born and one in kinder! Our mornings will be very interresting.
For Hudson's 5th birthday we decided to take a family trip, just the 3 of us before we become a family of 4 to Great Wolf Lodge. We have never been and I think we could ALL use a little getaway. 

My dad is in town for the weekend!! He had business in San Antonio and decided to extend his Texas trip and come see us :) Watch out Midland!
Let the fun begin

Two weekends ago my mom through me a "Sprinkle" a small version of a baby shower. I knew my MIL and some of her friends and co-workers (who through my shower last time with Hudson) were going to host a shower so we decided to have a smaller one with close friends. OH EM GEE, little girl stuff is so fun! So much pink and froo frooy stuff. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Emerson is already spoiled rotten :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer, or what's left of it!
xox

30 weeks!!!!!

Well, 30 weeks tomorrow but who is counting? The dreaded 3rd trimester. I felt so great the 2nd then along came the 3rd and brought back the tiredness, the endless heartburn (which is so crazy! I've never experienced heart burn, not once being pregnant with Hudson, NOT NEVER!) and the sleepless nights. I'm exhausted when my head hits the pillow (right around 9:45 or 10pm) but when the lights are off and I finally get situated, I can't sleep. Ughhhh. I finally doze off a couple hours later only to wake up around 3 or 4 not being able to fall asleep and my HIPS, lets just talk about hips. They hurt so bad! I toss and turn from my left side to the right and move probably a total of 22,394 times a night (doesn't even phase my husband. grr)
Whyyyyy??! Enough about me, let's talk baby!

My last appointment I did the dreaded glucose test and drank the orange drink, which by the way, was terrible! I went back an hour later for them to draw labs and BOOM, passed! She was measuring right at 29 weeks and her heart rate was a strong 143. I'm all registered at the hospital (which I don't remember doing with Hudson. Maybe it's just been too long but I don't remember doing all that.) My first "sprinkle" is in just a few short weeks. Sprinkles are all the rage, especially for 2nd and 3rd babies. This will be just a small group of friends and some family. I took my little guy with me to register at Target the other day and he was super excited to use the scanner "gun" Well we get there and they hand us a rectangle scanner thing and he says, "Mom, that isn't a gun!" Sorry dude. I forgot how much stuff is needed for newborns, especially GIRLS! We had so much fun though and of course he had so many questions, "what's that for?" "Why do you need that?"

                                                                        Big Helper!

                                         Baby girls' bed skirt. Can't wait to see it all together!

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What a whirlwind the past month has been! I'm now in the 3rd trimester and have a short 82 days left!!!!!! Crazy. As much as this pregnancy has seemed to drag on and on it feels like it has FLOWN by. I am so excited to meet our precious baby girl.
My manager at the ADA was offered a job she couldn't turn down and resigned. Her last day way May 28th. So I've been picking up the slack and doing double duties. My executive director in Lubbock opened up the manager position and was accepting resumes. At our board meeting a few weeks ago a few members made the comment "Why don't you take the position Ashley?!" I had thought about it a little before and felt a little overwhelmed and didn't think about it again. Then I ran into one of our volunteers who knew my manager had left and asked "when I was taking over her spot?" That got me thinking that I AM qualified for that position. I mean, I've been with the ADA for 5 1/2 years, 6 this October. There is a lot to be learned but I am up for the challenge. Not to mention I'll be having this baby 5 days before our Odessa Walk and missing the Midland Walk and on maternity leave for 8-12 weeks. This will be interesting. I'll be needing an assistant soon too so if you know anyone looking...send them my way!

Emerson's room is almost complete! I am having a lady sew her bed skirt, blanket and curtains and I'm just waiting for the curtain fabric to get in to drop it off to her. Her room is so magical and I am so in love. I catch myself just walking in and staring. I can't believe we'll be a family of 4 soon.
We just booked our stay at Great Wolf Lodge in August for Hudson's 5th birthday!! 5, I can't believe my little boy will be 5 and starting kindergarten this year. We decided to do a little destination party with just us 3 so I didn't have to stress about putting a party together being 8 months pregnant. He was all for that idea! So we are heading out for Grapevine in August! We've never been to Great Wolf and we can't wait!! He's so ready to meet his sister. He says that now but wait until those poopy diapers and high pitch cries, he'll be ready to send her back ;)

My mom recently resigned from her job at Region 18. She wanted something different and a little more challenging. She took two weeks off and started sending out her resume. Of course she enjoyed her time off, she had time to organize and clean and have dinner ready when her husband came home from work ;) I had approached her just jokingly and said why don't you just NOT work and keep E! That night she talked with her husband and they both agreed that would be a great idea! She said she'd love to keep her and even grab Hudson after school (they get out around 3 and I have to work until 4) How perfect is that?! So so blessed for these opportunities that keep popping up. Thank you Lord. I can only imagine that you have a little help up there from a certain Angel ;)) Sure do miss my Gram.
We had our Family Reunion (Gram's side) over the 4th. It was so great to see some familiar faces I hadn't seen in a few years! I know she would have LOVED to have been there to visit and see everyone but I know she had a front row seat and smiled the whole time.

                                                The whole fam damily!! Cantrell Reunion '14

Double digits, 93 days!

Here's our little princess: 4D

                                                                          6/27/14
 She was very comfortable the whole time we were in the sonogram room and didn't move much. (Her head was nestled up against the placenta the whole time, so this is as much of her face as we got.) We brought Hudson, my mom and Cody's mom came with us. (Grandmas go crazy over sonograms!) We spent a good 45 min in the room. Hud thought it was pretty cool to see his sister on the big screen but then was over it about 10 min later. Baby Glance has these adorable stuffed animals with a little heart recorder that records the baby's heartbeat. They had a hippo, so of course we chose that one and my mom got the giraffe (for Gram) since she was obsessed with giraffes. They are too cute!
Emerson looks so much like her brother. She definitely has my nose (the Cruickshank nose) and lips. I'm sure she will look just like her daddy and her brother. My poor genes don't have a chance.We pick up her furniture this week and I have a lady making curtains and her bedding. Can't wait until it's finished and the room is complete!

I walked into Hudson's room yesterday and found him stuffing a blanket up his shirt saying he was "pregnant!" hahahahha, the stuff that comes out of his mouth.