6 weeks to go...

Well, today was our 34 week checkup, and everything looks good... We got confirmation that she is still a she, and she is weighing in at 6 pounds already! At this rate, she could be 10 pounds at birth - yikes! We got measurements of all her parts, and everything looks absolutely fine - she's in a transverse position right now, which means her head is at the left side of my belly, and her butt is at the right side - which explains why she's been kicking and punching all over the place! The doc says she should turn to the right position in the next couple of weeks. I have another appointment in 2 weeks, and then we go to 1 every week until she's here (I can't believe how time has flown by!) I went to Target today and picked up a few more essentials, so I feel like we're finally prepared for her to get here - well, as prepared as we can be.

Ready for a couple pics of me? Sorry they're still kinda blurry - I don't think I'll ever get the hang of self portraits. And of course every time I feel like taking a picture, Mike's at work! And when he's home, I'm usually dressed in sweats and a ponytail...NOT a good time for pictures.

Here I am pointing the baby's head at you:

And here's her butt end:

There's a couple more pictures on my Flickr site from Thanksgiving and today if you're interested - talk to you again soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Mike had a week's vacation time to kill, so he tackled a few projects around the house. Here he is working on re-tiling our guest bathroom tub.... So far he hasn't gotten much further than this stage, but it's coming along! Up until Tuesday, it was just bare studs and insulation in there.

And as I was trying to clean house and get ready for our Thanksgiving guests, my entire family conspired against my efforts to vacuum!

But, eventually I was able to finish cleaning house and cooking, and the Coles came to join us for dinner. Keira says Hi!

And as usual, between Kelley and myself we went WAY overboard with the cooking:

This is just a sampling of the desserts - altogether we made 5 pies and a bundt cake. For 6 people!

Next doctor's appointment is Monday - I'll let you all know how it goes. I hope everyone had a wonderful and bountiful Thanksgiving!

8 weeks and counting...

Well, our 32 week checkup was yesterday, and everything still looks fine! Blood pressure is still great, weight gain is still normal, baby is still active and making her presence known 24/7 - you can see my belly moving from across the room when she really gets going! My fundal height has increased to 35 centimeters though, which means that now I'm measuring 3 weeks ahead instead of 2. I talked to the doctor about it, and he said it is probably nothing to worry about. We're scheduled for a quick ultrasound at the next appointment (November 27th), and he'll be able to tell if the baby is big or if it's just me :) Hopefully we'll be able to get 100% confirmation that it's a girl, too - I could only get him to commit to 80% certainty at the last ultrasound. And I've only got 8 more weeks to swap all the pink stuff out for blue if I need to!

I still haven't completely finished the nursery, but I did take a few pictures for your viewing pleasure:
Our dear friend Mike Mason in Albuquerque sent us the Papasan Swing! Thank you Mason!


Uncle Rick and Uncle Mark sent Eeyore and Tigger to keep watch over the crib until the baby gets here!

Our baby will obviously not lack visual stimulation! Notice also the very cool video camera mounted above the crib - I'll be able to see AND hear her! (Don't worry, I will hide the cord better than that - and I know the stuffed animals can't stay in there!)

Here's the changing table - note how organized it appears right now. I know it won't last!

And finally, dig the rocking chair and ottoman I got for a cool 30 bucks at a yard sale across the street from our house! Cheap AND convenient - awesome!

Okay, enough pictures for now - maybe when Mike gets home from work in the morning I can convince him to take some pictures of me for you.

The baby shower!!

Well, yesterday was the baby shower, and it was GREAT! We got a cribload of gifts, as seen here:

The ice cream cake was delicious, even if it was just one big congratulation from everyone:And looking at my camera today, I find that I have about 100 pictures very similar to these two:Mike's mom made that blanket!

Its the nesting baskets! With a ribbiting frog and a pink duck inside them!

But, after watching me open all the presents and hearing everyone ooh and aah over them, even Kelley's daughter Keira was bored:

But all in all we had a really great time. The food was excellent, the friends were hysterical as usual, and the gifts were a great perk! We got almost everything on the cloth diaper registry, plus some surprise Fuzzibunz from Todd and Holly! Those will be our fancy 'go to town' diapers. (Or the ones we use when our friends babysit!) They are all a bit skeptical about the cloth diapering idea, I think. We got a bunch of stuff from the Target registry too, as well as very lovely items that I didn't even think to register for! The nursery furniture came in yesterday too, so Mike and I spent the morning putting it all together - let me tell you, it was like an episode of I Love Lucy! He decided to put the crib together in the living room where we had more room to work, and we got it all together with very few mishaps. Then we went to carry it into the baby's room, only to find that DUH it won't fit through the door. So now we're well practiced in taking it apart and putting it back together, should the need ever arise. But after that, we got the changing table put together and in place, so I've been spending most of the day unpacking gifts and baby clothes and cloth diapers and getting everything all set up neatly and organized. Of course I know that won't last after the baby's born - I completely foresee living out of laundry baskets within 3 weeks. As soon as I finish getting everything completely neat and tidy, I'll take a few pictures or a video of her room so you can see how girly it is. If you would like to see ALL the baby shower pictures, go to my Flickr Site!

Update

We had our 30 week checkup this morning, and Dr. Lewis says everything looks just fine. My fundal height is still measuring 2 weeks ahead (I'm at 32 cm) but he says its nothing to worry about. Now we start going to see him every 2 weeks until she is born. Only 10 more weeks to go! She's still keeping me up every night with her acrobatics, and has gotten big enough that when her feet engage with my ribs, it definitely gets my attention! But other than needing a nap or two during the day, I am feeling just fine - no back pain, no fat ankles, just a little heartburn in the evenings. (knock on wood) I am walking a little slower though, so I have to leave for class a few minutes earlier just to get there on time. (And sitting through my boring Psychology lecture is getting more and more uncomfortable!) We're pre-registered at the hospital for the delivery, and we go to the childbirth class on December 2nd. We finally ordered the nursery furniture, and it should be here by next week - once I get her room set up, I will be sure to send pictures. We've also received a few boxes in the mail, but Mike won't let me open any of them until the shower, so I'll just say a preliminary thank you to everyone!
Well, I can't think of much else to say right now, but if anything comes up I promise to let you know!

PS Pictures to come!