Growing, Growing, Growing! (Doyal Family Update)

It seems like everything is growing around here lately (except my poor dead grass)!

Bailey is 3 years old now and is getting bigger by the day! I have been very nostalgic lately as I've been going through her baby things trying to prepare for Max's arrival. Bailey talks non-stop (not always in public, but ALWAYS at home!!!) and has developed quite a cute and loving personality. She is very compassionate and empathetic. She also has quite a silly sense of humor (like her Mama) and loves to make people laugh. Her favorite activities include reading books, playing dolls and Barbies, pretending she's a puppy dog, dancing around in tutus and princess outfits, and listening to music with Daddy. She will be going to the 3-year old class at Mother's Day Out next year and just "graduated" to Children's Church at our church. She is currently taking swimming lessons and will be starting some summer gymnastics lessons this week. Depending on the day, she's super-excited about being a Big Sister (which might change when she realizes we can't send Baby Max back) and LOVES to talk about what she'll do with him when he gets here. I'm pretty biased, but I think she's really smart: she can almost count to 20 and identify numbers to 12; she can identify most of the alphabet letters and all types of shapes and colors; she can generate rhyming words; and she can write the letter B (we're slowly working on the rest of the letters in her name!). I can't believe in just 3 short years how much she's grown and matured, she truly is a blessing in our lives!

Classic Bailey- All dressed up with nowhere to go!

Swimming Lessons with Miss Randi

First Sunday in "Big Church"- She LOVED it!

My Pretty Girl

As for little Max, he's doing great and growing too! He's somewhere around 16 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 3 pounds now! I'm very thankful to have FINALLY made it to the third trimester, and consider it a blessing each day that he stays in my belly a little longer. I wish I could give you a recent picture of him (I do have quite a large stash since I get ultrasounds every time I go), but he seems to only be concerned with showing us one thing (and it's something I'm not going to post on the internet!). My current "issues of the month" include never-ceasing contractions, which have caused me to stay on "limited activity," but have not become bad enough to warrant complete bedrest yet. I also have an umbilical hernia which will need operating on when I have my C-section, if not before. I go talk to the surgeon in a few weeks to decide if an operation before the baby is necessary (we're really hoping not). So for now, I have to wear this belly band thing (which I lovingly equate to about 5 layers of flannel Spanx) to make sure my insides don't fall out!!! People always ask me why I'm so candid and non-chalant about my pregnancy problems and I always reply the same way: What can I do? I've given this pregnancy over to God and He is in control. He's dealt with each problem as it has arisen and I know He will continue to keep me and little Max safe. So I ask for your prayers to continue for the next few months as we anxiously await his arrival!