Latest Ultrasound Picture

Here is the latest. Mary weighs in at around 3 pounds. Amazing how they can figure that out.

Simmons Family Retreat / Baby Update

Sorry, I know it has been a while. We have been busy getting ready for Mary's arrival and I am way behind schedule. The good news is that the crib is back together, so she has a place to sleep. We have had a few symptoms of premature labor, but according to Dr. Moran, nothing to get excited about. We go back for another ultrasound tomorrow, so we will have a better idea of what is going on. In about 2 weeks, I will start going to the doctor twice a week. I will have an ultrasound each week and a non-stress test each week to help us determine when Mary will make her debut.

We spent the weekend at Center Hill Lake visiting with Mom's side of the family. It was great to see everyone. We haven't see most of the family since my grandfather past away in 2003. It is amazing how difficult it seems to get together when it really shouldn't be. Hayden had a blast and was attached to my niece, Abigail the entire trip. Here are a couple of pictures. Hopefully, we will have more soon.

Sadie, Andrew, Andi, Addie Mae & Hayden



Hayden and Abigail

Also, several have decided to compete in our own version of the Biggest Loser: Mom, Dad, my Uncle Kerry, my Aunt Shelia, my Uncle Richard and Jason for a $300 prize. The contest ends on October 31st and I am keeping track of the results. I will keep you posted on the standings.

Latest Doctor's Visit

I met my new OB at my last appointment, Dr. S. Houston Moran. My other doctor no longer delivers babies, so at 26 weeks, I had to switch to my new doctor. He seems very nice and I think I am going to really like him. It is just going to take some getting used to because I loved my previous OB, plus I felt so comfortable with him since he delivered Hayden.

Mary is doing great, her heartbeat is strong and everything seems on schedule. It sounds like Dr. Moran is going to wait until closer to my due date to schedule the C-section. With Hayden, we scheduled the C-section at about 30 weeks. We will see when Dr. Moran will pick the day. I am now going to the OB every two weeks, so I go back to the doctor on Thursday. I will let you know what we find out.

Beach Vacation

We just got back last week from Orange Beach, AL. We went along with the Lamb family (Justin, Sarah and Drew) to enjoy the beach for a few days. We had an absolute blast. It was definitely an experience with two potty training 3-year olds. We actually rented a mini-van, which was quite nice. I am not compeltely opposed to the mini-van option anymore. It was great to have everyone ride together and definitely helped on gas. The kids did great on the trip down and back with no accidents. We decided to break the drive to Orange Beach into 2 days. We drove to Prattville, AL on Friday night. Leave it to us to go the Bass Pro Shop, so that the kids could see the fish.

We finished up the drive on Saturday and even had time to hit the beach Saturday afternoon. We ate dinner at a new restaurant called the Hangout. It had a huge sandbox for the kids to play in and had a great time. I love that places realize that when you have a 1-2 hour wait for a table, it is in everyone's best interest to have entertainment for kids. Otherwise, no one is happy. The kids were so tired that Hayden actually laid down at the table to take a nap.

As you can see from the pictures, we enjoyed the beach & pool on Sunday and Monday. Jason was kind enough to watch the kids during naptime, so Sarah, Justin and I could go lay out in the afternoons. Monday also brought a tornado. Who knew that tornadoes hit the beach, too. We at the Original Oyster House where the kids fed the fish on Sunday and at Lulu's on Monday. Lulu's also came complete with its own sandbox for the kids to play in.

Tuesday had to be the hottest day that we were there. We stayed by the pool all day. We were able to get some great pictures on the beach and did some shell hunting. We ended up ordering pizza, which is definitely the way to go with 3-year olds. We may not even try restaurants next time. We took the kids to ride go-carts and I think Jason had more fun than everyone. He got in trouble for causing other go-carts to wreck. Although Hayden had her eyes covered most of the time, she seemed to love it.
We got back on Wednesday, July 2nd. I hate that it is over and can't wait to go back. Although I felt like a beached whale at times, it was not as hard to get around as I thought it would be. If you want to see more pictures, go check out the Lambs blog.