Baby CC and Brooks: October

It's been a crazy October so far and it's not even over yet!!! We've been busy as usual but it's been busy with lots and lots of fun! We started off the month by helping Miss Ella Bella celebrate her 2nd birthday! She had a Fall themed party that was held a few weeks before her actual birthday but that's because we were afraid her brother Tiago was going to make an early appearance! Tiago stayed put (until this past Wednesday!) and so we had a great time celebrating Ella on a beautiful day!

It was an official fall festival...there was face painting, cotten candy, popcorn, sno-cones, red wagon hay rides and of course cupcakes! Here Brooks had a John Deere tractor painted on his face! So cool!

What an adorable birthday girl!!!

After a year of being away in Las Vegas Becky and Troy are moving back to Florida!!!! We are so exciting to have them close again...we've missed them terribly! They came down for a job interview in Tampa a few weeks ago so Brooks, my mom and I went over for the day to see them both and hang out! We had a great time at the Hard Rock pool and even got to eat dinner at one of the restaurants! Brooks had so much fun catching up on the year he missed with his Uncle Troy and Aunt Becca!

His Aunt Becca spoiled him with icecream! Yummm!!!

We had a very special visit this month too. My friend Sarah flew all the way from Germany to meet Brooks and to hang out with us for a week. It was SO great to see her and to reconnect after 5 long years! Sarah and I met back in college when our universities did an exchange...we've stayed in touch since then and the rest is history! Brooks LOVED Sarah and would follow her around EVERYWHERE she went...he was like her shadow! We did a lot of fun things while she was visiting including going to the pumpkin patch and Oktoberfest in Celebration. I know it probably didn't compare to the Oktoberfest that Sarah just experienced the week before in Munich but we made the best of it!

I like this one mama!!!!

Waiting for the leaves to "fall" in Celebration....Brooks loved this!

Here they go....

Brooks loved playing outside with Sarah...here he is showing her all of his diggers and tractors. He has a blast playing in the barked flowerbeds...he loads up the bark and then dumps it all out. He's such a boy!

A week just wasn't long enough...we were so sad to see Sarah go home. As you can see Brooks and Sarah were the best of buds. We hope she will be able to come back after Baby C-C arrives...we can't wait!!!

Seeing that it is officially Fall in Florida, we've been taking full advantage of the great weather and getting outdoors as much as possible. Here are some pics from the pumpkin patch that is right around the corner from our house. We met up with the Wollitzs there and B and Ella had a blast picking out their favorite pumpkins as well as taking in all the fun activities at the patch!

This pumpkin was about as big as Brooks...

Now these were more their size...B kept wanting to try to taste them...gross!

One of the highlights of October was the baby shower that Nyrla and my mom put on for Baby C-C and me. It was such a special day and was the perfect way to "shower" C-C with love. The shower was held at the FBC Orlando's Pregnancy Center and before the shower took place we got the best gift ever...we were able to get a 4D ultrasound of our baby!!!! It was SO special to see our baby and to really put a face with a name (even if it is two names right now!!!) Baby C-C was SO cooperative and was NOT camera shy! We got some amazing pictures and even some of him/her smiling! Then at the actual shower they played the DVD of the entire ultrasound so that everyone could see! Don't worry...there were NO below the waist shots of the baby so the sex is still a mystery to everyone...even Tracy the ultrasound tech! Another special part of my shower weekend was a very big surprise visit from my friend Kyla and her little boy Owen. They flew all the way from Huntsville for the entire weekend! It was so great to see her and to get the boys together...they played so well together! What a special weekend all the way around!

The biggest milestone for Brooks this month was his very first haircut!!! I was SO nervous about taking him and was so afraid that they were going to cut all his beautiful curls off and that he would no longer look like my little guy! Well no worries...I probably was the most paranoid mom ever and made the barber so nervous that she was afraid to cut too much hair off! He really was in need of getting all that hair out of his face and to shape up the back...Sandy did a great job and did exactly what I asked! Brooks was amazing too...he was so big about the whole thing! I think he was more excited to see himself in the mirror than he was about the haircut! Be sure to check out the little highlights video...all the greatest moments of an 8 minute haircut! :)

Last but certainly not least here is a little bit about Baby C-C...
I am currently 34 weeks pregnant so that means we only have 5 more weeks from today and we will finally get to meet our little munchkin! We can't wait! After having the 4D ultrasound it made it that much more exciting to find out whether C-C is a Campbell or a Charlotte! I would have to be honest and say that we get girl a lot more often these days...I honestly don't care but if I had to go one way or the other I would have to say girl too. I continue to feel great and this pregnancy has been relatively easy. I'm definitely feeling myself slow down over the past few weeks but I think it has to do with the size of my belly! Here are a few of the most current belly pics that I have...sorry that I've been such a slacker in the belly picture department...I just always seem to forget to have one taken!

Our baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like an average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her/his fat layers — which will help regulate body temperature once they are born — are filling him/her out, making her/him rounder. 

The skin is also smoother than ever. Baby CC's central nervous system is maturing and the lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you are nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies...good to know!

Like I said I feel great and have had no major health issues so far. I've continued to run up until this past Tuesday (33 weeks) and I decided it was time to hang up my running shoes until after Baby C-C arrives. My feet were starting to kill me and I was super drained on the days I was running so I decided to listen to my body and cut my exercising back to power walking and bike riding. I still do our P90X workout videos a few times a week and so I don't feel too bad about not running any more. It makes me sad because I love running SO much but it will also be that much more exciting to get back in the groove once I'm medically cleared after my c-section.

So here are beautiful pictures that we were able to get from the 4D ultrasound...now you will have to tell me what you think...boy or girl. Which ever it is I think he/she looks a lot like their big brother did minus the Batia lips! But this baby definitely has the undeniable Schwab nose...love it!!!

PS...here is some exciting news! Ella officially became a big sister this week! Her little brother Tiago was born on Wednesday, Oct 27th. He was a big boy weighing in at 8lbs 10oz and was 21 inches long! He is so adorable and looks a lot like his big sister! Ny, Chris and Ella are so glad to have him here safe and sound! Brooks can't wait to meet him in person...we just have to wait until his runny nose clears up and then we will have an official meet and great! It's funny because now every baby that Brooks sees is Baby Tiago...even the picture of Baby Jesus in his Bible tonight was Baby Tiago! I can't wait to see what he thinks of Baby C-C!