Preparing and Waiting for Baby E. McCrary #3, Last Prenatal Appointment Update and Pictures of Some of Our Summer Fun!

We have spent the last couple of weeks around here getting ready to welcome Baby E. McCrary #3 into our lives. However, with two beautiful, little, girl, toddlers running around already, time never stands still, so we also have been enjoying each day that we have with the two of them. We have been keeping ourselves very busy, and the next time I post, it will be to introduce our newest family member to you! We are so very excited!

I have been progressing right along as we expected. Since we've been through all of this wonderfulness (probably not a word, but oh well) twice before, we expected for things to move along as they had in the past; although also aware that they could be very different. I had my last prenatal appointment this week on the first day of my 38th week of pregnancy. The great news was that I was 3 c.m. and 75%, baby was very low and "easy to get to." Unless baby decides to arrive earlier than this coming Tuesday, we will be arriving at the hospital Tuesday morning, July 14th for an induction. At that time, the doctor expects me to already be 4-5 c.m. and 90% effaced if things keep going the way they have been the last few weeks. The doctor is very confident that things will go quickly for us as they have with both of our previous deliveries. Although with Elaina when we arrived at the hospital, I was 8 c.m., 100% and having been having hard contractions 2-3 minutes apart for a couple of hours, her delivery ended up being very stressful and scary as she decided to have a difficult time coming out to see us. With Emily, we were at 5 c.m. and 80-90% when we arrived at the hospital for our scheduled induction. Just a bit of meds did the trick for that extra boost, and she was a very easy delivery. Both of our girls were born during the lunch hours. We are praying for just as smooth of a delivery as we had with Emily, but we are also not counting on it. We know things could be very different. However, our doctor expects things to be very similar for us as they were with Emily. We know that God is in control of all things, and He will be right there beside us no matter what. For those of you who are wondering, yes, I am still convinced that we will be welcoming another beautiful baby girl into our family. So, for you 46 people who have voted here on our blog, I'm thinking that the underdog is going to take the winner's circle. It doesn't matter either way, but that is my guess. It's always fun to guess. We love not knowing the gender ahead of time. For us, it makes that special delivery moment even more exciting and special.

Below I have posted several pictures of different things we have been up to over the last couple of weeks. I had to get my blog updated and camera cleared off so that we could be all ready to go for baby!

Much love to you and please keep all of us in your prayers. Please pray for me and baby that we continue to stay healthy and safe. Please pray for Jeff as he continues to be the wonderful husband and father that he is. Pray for energy and strength for him as well. Just as importantly, please pray for our baby girls, Elaina and Emily, as they are completely not fully aware of how their lives will be changing. Please pray for this transition for them. They are such wonderful girls, and we love them so very much. We know that they will love their new baby brother or sister, but we also understand that we will be dealing with probable mood swings from everyone in our household. Pray that Jeff and I remember how important it is to take time out even during the first few days after baby's birth to spend special time with each of the girls and shower them with a bit of extra attention as well.

See you all next week with all of the details!

My parents kept the girls for a couple of days and nights last week so that Jeff and I could get some things done around the house to prepare for the baby. We are so thankful that they girls had such a wonderful time with their MeMe and Poppy. This is the longest and furthest that they had been away from us. They did great, and so did we. :) Here they are eating their special ice cream cups and cupcakes.

Poppy plants a tree for each of his grandchildren when they are born. Here is Elaina posing with Poppy and her tree.

Emily, Poppy, and her tree.

Cool chics!

Thank you, MeMe and Poppy! You're the best!

We took Emily to her first visit to Build-A-Bear last week. The reason she got to go at an earlier age than Elaina is because we had a coupon for a free animal, so we couldn't let that go to waste. She was still a bit too little to fully understand and have as much fun as Elaina did when we took her for her 3rd birthday, but she still did have fun. Plus, her "professional Build-A-Bear" sister was right there beside her "instructing" her the entire time.

Emily placing "Scruffy's" heart inside.

Stuffing "Scruffy the Dog."

Big sister, Elaina (check out the shades), helping her little sister bath and comb her very own animal.

All done! Meet Scruffy!

Our wonderful friends who now live in Iowa, the Freeland family, came out for a visit and stayed with us for a couple of days and nights over the Fourth of July weekend. Here is a picture of our girls with Jill and Jennifer. We had such a wonderful time with them. We really wished that they lived closer. We enjoy the time that we get to spend with them when they come out for a visit. Jill and Jennifer were our flower girls in our wedding seven years ago! Now look at them! They are beautiful girls! Elaina and Emily loved having them with us! Joey, their brother, was our ring bearer, too.

Our girls and the Freeland Family - Thanks for visiting! We had so much fun! You are so special to us!

That same weekend, Luke Ruddle had a baseball tournament. Luke is a part of the All-Star team for his age division this summer, so he is a very busy guy (and keeping his family very busy) as they head to tournaments out of town each weekend. We chose to see him play in his final two games of the Morgantown tournament this weekend since it was only about a 20 minute drive. The weather was nice, and we really enjoyed seeing him play. They won the championship game, and it was a very exciting game. Great job, Luke!

The girls playing with their friends in between games at the Morgantown baseball tournament. They girls played so hard. They were FILTHY when we got home! They had a super fun day!

Great friends being silly!

We got back to Franklin after the baseball tournament just in time to head over to watch the fireworks. It was actually July 5th because the fireworks were cancelled due to an all day rain on the 4th. Here are the girls, filthy, and eating a very, very, very, late dinner of popcorn and yogurt. Hey, what are you supposed to do on a busy day like that? :)

Mommy 38 weeks pregnant. Emily came in while Daddy was taking the picture and decided she wanted to pose alongside me. :)

Some of my great girlfriends took me out for a yummy dinner, dessert, and movie and showered me with cases of diapers and wipes to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby E. McCrary #3. We had a really fun time! Thanks, girls! You all mean so much to us!

On a rainy morning, wondering if today might be the day for baby, what else is there to do than to play video games with Daddy?

Emily and "her seat." Oh, dear. She made herself nice and cozy in there for a good 20 minutes or so. I think we finally have her convinced that the seat is for the baby.

A family field trip to the Franklin fire station.