Oliver is on the way!

In true Cox fashion, our boys like to arrive before their schedule due date. Last night around 8 was helping Owen brush his teeth when I felt a small trickle start. I went to the bathroom to release that I had lost my mucus plug. Jeremy quickly put Owen to bed and I called the nurses' line. Unlike with Owen, this time it was just a trickle so I wasn't really sure that my water had broken. We decided to wait it out and see what happened. I didn't really have any contractions through out the night so this morning I finally called in again and they said to come on in.

So we've been here at the hospital since about 8 am. They started me on an IV and I got my first dose of antibiotics for the beta strep. Once that finished, I was finally allowed to get some pitocin, which has been going for about an hour now. I'm finally starting to feel something now so I'm hoping that we're making some progress.

Please pray that the delivery will go quickly and Oliver would be healthy. He is considered full term but there is the possibility that his lung could not be full matured. We went through all this with Owen and we're hoping not to have to experience it again. Thank you for your prayers... we hope to update soon!

Full-Term!

We've made it! We have now reached the full-term mark of this pregnancy! This pregnancy has really flown by! I can't believe how close we are to meeting our new little guy. I have been horrible about taking belly pictures this time so enjoy this one. :) Wow, I'm big!

I saw the midwife today and she said everything looks great. My blood pressure was awesome and I have gained a total of 19 lbs. (I actually lost 2 lbs this week, thanks to the 24 hour stomach bug I had on Friday). He is measuring right at 37 weeks and he is constantly dancing and rolling over in my belly. Lindsey (my midwife) did tell me that I tested positive this time for beta strep so I will have to have antibiotics at delivery. She also checked and I am 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and he is in the -2 position. While this isn't much, it is some progress! Owen came 2 weeks early so if his brother follows the same route, we could meet him in a week or so.. so crazy!

Please pray for us as we go into this transition to a family of 4. Pray for Owen, that he would adjust to having a little baby in the house. Pray that he would quickly learn patience and have the ability to share his mommy and daddy . :) Also that he would be gentle with his brother.....no biting, pulling, or hitting. Pray for all of us, that we would be able to sleep a lot in these next few weeks in hope of storing up some extra hours. Pray most of all for a healthy and safe delivery...pray that Oliver would be healthy and strong upon his arrival into the world.

Thanks friends.....we look forward to sharing the exciting news with you very shortly!

Thankful..

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chron. 16:34

This year the Cox family has so much to be thankful for. The Lord has shown His sovereignty, grace, faithfulness, and provision for us in so many ways. We are thankful for:

• a personal relationship with the one true God. Through uncertain times and a fallen world, we have assurance that He is in control and we will get to spend eternity with Him because of His son. We are thankful for the cross and that Jesus gave up His life so that we may live.
• each other. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if it weren't for my 2 boys. They bring me such joy and love! Jeremy is an amazing husband and father; he daily shows me grace and what it means to love unconditionally. I love seeing life through our little guy's eyes. Everything is so fun and new; he can entertain himself with the simplest things in life. He also shows me what it means to put one self aside for another..mostly due to his lack of patience, but I have learned that my desires don't always come first.
  
• our families. Thank you for your love and support!
• our friends near and far. I am especially thankful for Sara and Claire, who were here to hang out with when we first moved here and didn't know anyone else. Sara, thank you for always including me in your little group and calling me when you are headed out somewhere fun. :)
• a healthy pregnancy. In 3 short weeks (or less) we will become a family of 4 with the addition of our new little boy. I'm thankful for the gift of life and that we were able to get pregnant easily this time. I'm thankful for the little (or big) kicks that let me know he growing inside of me.
  
• for Cheryl Price and the Children's Development Agency of Charlotte. We are thankful that they have been so helpful this year in helping us get Owen the services that he needs to succeed. Cheryl has been a true advocate for Owen and gone out of her way to make sure his therapists and services were matching his needs.
  
• my HOME club..this is my moms' group at church. These 20 women have been so welcoming and inviting and have made the transition to Charlotte so much easier. I'm thankful for all the playdates, calls, and emails.
  
• our small group...we missed having a small group when we lived in RM. It's so nice to have a consistent group to share life with on a weekly basis.
  
• Jeremy's job.....thankful that he is doing something that he loves (and that it pays more).
  
• that I get to stay home with Owen. Though we make sacrifices for it, I'm thankful that I get to experience every day with him.

There are so many more things but the list would go on forever. We truly have a lot to be thankful for and I pray that we never forget how blessed we really are. I hope you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving!

Owen's Baby Book

A friend of mine, Leah, sent me a coupon for FREE photo book from Shutterfly. I have been wanting to compile all of Owen's monthly photos to make a baby book sort of thing for a while now. This coupon was a great excuse to finally make it! While it did take me a while, I am really pleased with the results and can't wait to receive the final product in the mail next week. For now, I hope you enjoy seeing the last 24 months of Owen. He's gotten so big!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Car Seat Tent

Yay! Finally my first project for Oliver is complete. This is a new project for me but it was pretty simple. Since Oliver will be born right in the middle of the cold winter season, I knew he was going to need something to keep him warm. How many of you moms have tried to keep a blanket over your car seat while transporting the kid in and out of the car? It never stays and it's hard to still onto the handle if a blanket is covering it.

Well I saw this at a baby store one time and knew that I could easily make that myself. Thanks to the lovely internet you can find patterns/directions on how to make anything. I found a few ladies who had made them before and put all their ideas together to create my little car seat tent.

It's lightweight and still breathable but keeps the wind and rain off the baby. It is attached to the handle with velcro straps.

It easily lifts up to see baby
Now we just need a little man to fill that car seat. :)

Toddler Crayon Roll

Last year I made this crayon roll for the first time for my niece Madison. At the time, Owen was under a year old and wasn't really in need of one so I held off in making one for him. Now he's 2 and loves to scribble on paper. After he tore the box, I knew it was time to make him his own crayon roll.

The pattern I used for my previous rolls held 16 skinny crayons. Because Owen uses the bigger chunkier crayons, I modified the roll to hold 8 crayons. A few weeks ago, I found some super cute Cat in the Hat fabric in the scrap pile at the fabric store. This, in combination with my current scrap pile and roll of ribbon, made this project under $2! Love super cheap projects!

So in about an hour, I had a fun toddler-friendly crayon roll!

Crayon roll all tied up.Inside view
Back side
Please don't look too close, because as always I'm not a perfectionist sewer. :) I can't wait for Owen to use his new roll tomorrow. Stay tuned...there are more sewing projects on the horizon. I'm finally getting around to sewing something for Oliver. :)

The Adventures of a Craigslist Table

Craigslist has been good to us in the past. We have sold a car, a couch, 2 strollers, and a camera; we've bought a stroller and an arm chair. Each time the sales were easy and we got exactly what we asked for. Not so much the case this last time....

For Christmas this year, Jeremy and I wanted to buy each other a new kitchen table and chairs because the set we inherited was falling apart. After looking around, we knew we couldn't afford a new set so we decided to peruse our faithful Craigslist. We started looking around the end of September because we knew it may take a while to find one that fit our style AND budget. Around the beginning of October, we found one we both liked and set up a time to go see it.

We arrive at this house and the smell is kind of odd. We thought it was what the woman was cooking for dinner. We really liked the set but I was a little apprehensive. But looking at someone's stuff inside their home is ALWAYS awkward. You can't REALLY talk about how you feel about it with your spouse when the owner is standing right there with you. The price was too good to pass up and the man was willing to deliver it to our house (which we really needed).

So we get home and the chair cushions reek. The smoke smell (which we didn't smell before because of her cooking) was so overwhelming that I wouldn't let Jeremy bring them in the townhouse. We stored them in the garage and I was afraid that we had made a huge mistake. I immediately got online and started to research how to get the smoke smell out of upholestry. For the next 2 weeks, we tried everything: baking soda, Febreeze, fresh air, vinegar, Resolve. Finally we had resigned to the fact that we may just have to reupholster the seats so Jeremy disassemble the chairs. We then hand-washed the foam in the bathtub and air them out one last time. Finally that did the trick...we did go buy new fabric though.

We think we are finally in the home stretch now and all we have to do is cover the foam. Jeremy gets out his staple gun and it's not powerful enough to get the staples through. So we borrow one from one of his coworkers...same deal. We wait another week to borrow my dad's...we leave RM without it. Finally we just go buy an electric stapler. Day 1, chair 1 it works great...day 2...doesn't work. I take the gun back and travel to another store to get a better one. Finally 4 weeks after the fact, the chairs are reupholstered and we can finally use our new table. :)

The new chair..with fresh fabric
The whole set
Now decorated for fallLessons learned: 1) Really inspected something before you buy it on Craigslist. 2) Walk out of the ear range of the owner before buying something so you can discuss it with your spouse. 3) Smoking is not only bad for your health but also your furniture and budget.