This afternoon Jack and I got to go to a 1-year birthday celebration for Jack’s neighborhood friend Paxton. (Happy Birthday, Paxton!) It was HOT out there, but we had a good time. Here are some pics of Jack and the boys:

Today was not only a milestone for Jack (see post below), but it was a milestone for little Will too. Today Will hit the 30-weeks mark. Yay! According to our book, that means Will is 17 inches long and a little over 3 pounds. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s bigger than that, though, because he kicks like crazy! And whereas with Jack I would feel solid kicks in one spot, with Will I feel simultaneous kicks/punches in very far-apart spots. I think he likes to stretch out and use all his appendages for his daily workouts.  If Will makes it all the way to his due date like Jack did, we have just 10 weeks to go. The countdown has begun!

Today was a milestone for Jack: he graduated from the Crawlers class at church to the Walkers class. Woo hoo!! I wasn’t able to catch a great pic of him in his new classroom, but here’s what I got. We’re proud of our little walker!

Today Jack entered the new and exciting world of facing forward in his car seat. For 15 months, he has  sat backwards watching the world move backwards. But today he made a 180 degree move that officially makes him a man. Congratulations, Jack!

This pregnancy has been really easy (yay!), but it has had two pretty big challenges that I didn’t face when I was pregnant with Jack: exhaustion and difficulty breathing. Breathing is especially challenging at church for some reason–in fact, a couple weeks ago I was so close to passing out that Jeff and I had to walk out of the service during the sermon, and we were sitting in the front row! Nothing like making a scene.  After that experience, I was nervous going to church this past Sunday. We went prepared this time, though–we sat on the aisle, I brought a bottled water, and I sat down through the singing time instead of standing with the rest of the congregation. It was so meaningful to me as I sat singing the songs and found us singing lyrics about “trusting God for every breath.” I felt like those words were just for me!

I made it through the service with no incidents (whew!), and afterward the lady next to me leaned over and asked when I’m due. She said she could tell I was uncomfortable through the service, and she said she’d prayed for me. I was so touched by that! She was so sweet and encouraging–I don’t think I’ve ever had a stranger at church reach out to me like that.

We just have two months left to go until we get to meet Will, and as I trust God for every breath, I thank Him too for His faithfulness and encouragement.

One of Anne and Jack’s favorite weekly activities is going grocery shopping. When I hear stories about their outings I assume Jack sits in the cart passively as mom does the shopping. But apparently I was wrong. In fact, as I tagged along yesterday, I realized it is Jack that does most of the shopping. My camera phone captured some of the action:

This weekend when Jack and I were out grocery shopping, we found a great little blow-up pool on sale and decided to get it as a treat. Today we tried it out and it was so much fun! Jeff and Jack both got in–even though there wasn’t much room!–and had fun splashing around, and I was the lifeguard. Sunday family fun!

Last night as Anne and I were getting ready to go to sleep, Anne said, “I have been thinking about your snacks and packing the suitcase.”

“Where are we going?” I replied.

“The hospital.”

The hospital that Anne was referring to was the one we will go to when she delivers Will in two and a half months. But I married a planner (as I learned from our last pregnancy)  even down to what snacks she is going to pack for me for our hospital stay. The suitcase will soon be packed and waiting patiently by our bedroom door. Despite any surprises that might come our way in the next few months, we will be ready.

Jack was more than happy to have me take his pic onboard one of the planes on our trip last week….

Yesterday Will and I had our 28-weeks checkup, and things are moving along great! It was pretty funny watching the doctor try to find Will’s heartbeat. She’d find it for a second and then he’d kick her and flip over so she had to look for it again. But she did find it so I could hear it: loud and strong and clear. Will is making himself at home and spending lots of time on his workout program. He’s definitely as wiggly as Jack was and possibly more–he keeps me hopping!  Now that we’ve hit 28 weeks (and actually we’ll be 29 weeks in just 2 days), we’re moving from the 4-week checkup schedule to the 2-week checkup schedule, so Will and I will be heading into downtown Nashville on a very regular basis. I’m glad they’re keeping a good, close watch on him! Will’s October due date is getting closer and closer. We’re excited to meet our boy soon!

Jack (and Will) got some good front-porch time with Mommy and Daddy on our travels.

One of the great things about Jack getting older and noticing more things is being able to take him to an airport and see him get excited about seeing airplanes and big trucks. We spent a lot of time this weekend staring out airport terminal windows saying, “look Jack, do you see the airplane!”

I quickly grabbed my camera phone when I saw this cute moment happening in front of me as Jack and Anne went to go hunt for a bathroom and some snacks before we boarded our plane.

The Horch family did some flying this weekend taking Jack on 4 airplanes.  While we waiting for one of our flights, Jack I did some exploring to use up some of his energy. As we explored the terminal, Jack found a play area. These are some of my favorite pictures that we have recently taken of our playful and curious boy.