Baby Room Prints

The baby's room still isn't done yet and the canvases are not up...but I can't wait anymore. Below are a couple photos of Amber's handiwork. She painted the canvases to match our bedding that you can see in the background. These are going on the wall with the wood design and WILL be hung this weekend. The two extra special prints are going to be great memories. The sweet peas are loosely based on a advertisement for a dentist in Parker with smiling peas. Then there is of course, Brandy! For those that don't know, when Brandy is getting pet or love, she has a tendency to almost smile and sometimes close her eyes. Amber was able to capture her smile. Depending on your computer you might be able to click on the photo to see a larger image.

We will share the room soon. Yesterday we also were able to secure our day care provider starting in January. She felt the same as we did, that this would be a really good fit for the baby and everyone involved. Yeah!!!

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend...that will have a whole new meaning to me in a couple weeks.

37 weeks - 3 more uncomfortable ones to go

The past week was full of fun, lots of baby love, and a sick man. Adam had a stomach bug for part of the week and weekend that didn't make him a happy camper, or me for that matter. The type A personality sees things that need to get done not the uncomfortable person. Oh well, he is on the mend!

Our community group at church threw us a surprise shower Wednesday. The group is a lot of fun and are wonderful parents to hear advise from. Margie threw a Sweet P filled baby shower Saturday. Here is just one little Sweet P touch from the shower, a cake made of diapers with a little smiling rattle in the middle of a pea pod. It is too adorable to take apart. There were Pea balloons, Pea games, lots of love and laughter poured into the shower.

For those that don't know, every 4th Sunday of the month Adam leads music for a church service at Craig hospital. There is a group of people we have known through church for years that help facilitate the service with us. They had a celebration brunch and bought us the cutest gift basket, from a friend. The personal touches are amazing.

Non-baby fun included visiting with old Navigant friends I worked with and surprising many people with my pregnant belly. My mom and I got to enjoy a perfect Rockies game Saturday night with a winning game while watching from shaded seats in 70 degree weather. No beer for baby, which seemed to be a problem for some CSU fans. We sat very inward of the group so to go to the bathroom would have bothered many people. I told them I wouldn't drink much and their response (to a pregnant lady) was "you have to drink in the CSU section." Can I say there is a reason we are budgeting for our children to possibly go to college out of state...Rock Chalk Jayhawk?!?! j/k

The 37 week appt was very quick. The dr says everything is on-track and the baby seems to be about average size. They didn't take any official measurements and who knows when I will deliver. I am 50% effaced, no dilation or engagement by the baby. Explanation: the baby isn't ready to come out and my body isn't ready to push it out. Below is also a photo of my sister-in-law Michelle and I. She didn't want the photo out there, though I think she looks much better in the photo then I do! Oct 10 she is due with our second nephew!

This week we will finally get the car seat bases in, pack for the hospital, and many thank yous. Saturday Adam is still planning on hiking another 14er, though we don't know which one, while I get to play with Shawna, Abigail, and Ian. We will check-in on the 2nd with an update.

36 weeks, the final count down....

Can you believe we are in the 9th month? Adam and I can't believe we are in the home stretch. Stretch being the important word for the next 4 weeks. Monday our appt started our weekly dr visits until the baby comes. My body and the baby are not ready to come out yet, based on the dr's exam. (for the ladies, no dilation or effacement)

The baby has more time to rock and roll in the belly. While watching the Olympics on Saturday night, Sweet P was so active and we tried to get it on video. There were times that the baby moved so much my belly lifted almost an inch. Sweet P's movements are not something I would say are huge kicks but more like shifting and situating. One of my co-workers had her rib cracked by her son's kicking, so I am thankful our baby is more of a mover. The head continues to be down most of the day and the hiccups continue daily at least once a day.

This past weekend we enjoyed some packed fun with friends and each other. My Bunco group, imagine that Karla is in a group with women who just sit around playing a non-strategic dice game while drinking (when I can drink), threw me a mini-shower on Friday. There were shower decorations, amazing cookies, gifts, and lots of motherly laughter. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends. We also spent time with Adam's co-workers, an old high school friend of Adam's, yoga, and time around the house. The amazing rain this past week was such a wonderful break from the hot weather!!!

No photos yet of the baby's room, since I just got the hooks to hang the canvas art. We are going to continue to work on the room, though our evenings and weekend are filling-up over the next two weeks. Taking the advise of our other parental friends, we are enjoying the free time while the baby is easy to bring along. This weekend I will also get a photo, since Margie is throwing a shower and I know there will be photos. Tomorrow night Adam is at a work function and I am going to take on my sewing machine again to try and add black-out material to the drapes for the baby's room. We will see how this turns out :) I will update soon.

Update: Head down & cleared for delivery

Thank you to everyone for their prayers during the past couple months. Yesterday we had our final ultrasound to see if the placenta had moved the 0.2 centimeters that it needed to. The ultrasound tech said everything looked great and it moved out of the way!! This means I am cleared to try for a vaginal birth instead of planning a c-section. We are happy that the baby is healthy and will come on it's own time (I say that now in hopes the baby doesn't decide to take over 40 weeks to come out).


During the ultrasound we were finally able to also get two good 3D photos.












The baby still loves to have their hand near their face and we have a little thinker. During the photo session the baby was poked a little to try and get some better photos without the hand near the face. By the end of the session, the photos show the baby's frustrated face and the desire for no more photos. We also were able to see the baby practice breathing and yawning. Who knew being in the womb was so tiring? The baby stays head down pretty much all of the time with the spine to my left and feet/hands pushing against my right side. Last night the baby rocked out, and I mean kicked, moved, and enjoyed the music of Idina Menzel (Tony award winner for Wicked). Guess the kid loves musicals as much as it's mommy.


We can't wait to meet the little person in about a month, 5 weeks. This weekend we will post photos of the finalized baby's room, and the growing mama. Blackout curtains are harder to find then I thought for our wider then usual window. Have a great week!

35 Weeks & test time

This week we were able to get many things done and enjoy our time. The 34 week appt went well and we were able to get many of our labor questions answered. We also looked into two other daycare options and a pediatrician. Both daycare options will not work for us. If we don't even let our 60lb lab on the couch why would we want to leave our baby with someone who lets their two 80+lb dogs on their couch. It is amazing how many people are out there that are so different from you. The pediatrician had two good recommendations from our friends and we will be using them.

Some of the most exciting news relates to the baby's room. Amber, an amazing artist, was able to finish the canvases that compliment our bedding in no time. She selected a few letters that add to the letters on our bedding with personal meaning. There is a D for dog, and a fun painting of Brandy, and P for Sweet P that includes three really cute smiling Peas. Once they are hung we will be sure to take photos to show everyone.

Between all of the baby activities we were also able to get some fun in. Adam went to a Rockies game for work; hard work eating & drinking in a box while the game is on a rain delay. I can't complain because I have "worked" like that before. Saturday was a day of fun for both...if you classify climbing three mountains in one day fun. Adam decided to climb Long's Peak, a fourteener, over Labor Day weekend, baby permitting. Saturday he completed a training hike with our friend Phil and instead of climbing just two fourteeners (Mt. Bierstadt and Mt. Evans) they added a third mountain (Mt. Spalding, 13,800+). As I thought about Adam hiking for hours, I enjoyed breakfast and dinner making with Rebecca as well as mani/pendis with Jill. That night we went to see Loves Labors Lost at the Boulder outdoor theatre and Adam was able to have his hand on my belly for a good bit of the show to experience the baby moving during the performance. There were a couple times that his eyes did get big from the movement. On Sunday, we took the advise of many parents and saw a movie pre-baby. The Dark Knight lived up to it's name and I don't think the baby and I will be watching something that dark again. My heart rate I think kept the baby active during the movie.

Tuesday is "the day" we learn if the placenta is out of the way. We will be sure to update everyone on the status. From now on we will have dr appts every week. The list of items before the baby is born never seems to get smaller as the time draws near. The time does seem to be coming quickly!!!

34 weeks - Hiccup

This is going to be a quick update for everyone, that will be added to later. I just had to let you know that our little monkey hiccups often. Since the first episode on July 25th, the baby has had hiccups about every other day. We went to see Macbeth on Thursday, which is hard enough to concentrate at, and I had to concentrate while a little monkey kept hiccuping. It was very sweet and funny.

During the weekend we were able to finish the painting in the room and move some of the furniture around. This week Adam and I will work on the curtain rod and we will be set, just waiting for the paintings from Amber that will match our bedding. How lucky are we to have a best friend who is a wonderful artist to paint images that will match/coordinate with our baby bedding?!?!

Here is a profile photo of Anne O'Reilly, Adam's co-worker's wife who is due a week after us, and me. Neither of us know what we are having. Anyone want to put money in a pool? BTW - loved her dress!!!

This week I did have a minor freak out thinking my child wouldn't have clothes for the first three months of their life. We have onesies, sleepers, and some outfits. This is one of those irrational pregnancy thoughts I have heard about and experienced very little (Adam has been pretty darn lucky with my limited emotional freakouts). So, I have bought a few sale items that are gender neutral. My sanity is now back and the baby will not be laying there naked, in the same onesies, or sleepers all the time. Friday I also ran to one great garage sale. We now have our mobile for $2...the exact one we registered for in great condition. You can't beat saving $30+ on something you will only use for a limited time.

Guess this was longer then I thought. We go to the dr today. I have officially taken off the wedding band due to swelling. Maybe with a decrease in heat over the next couple days the swelling will go down?!? Do you know what helps swelling...drinking more water! Just what a prego lady wants to do is go to the bathroom even more!!!! Crocs are probably in my feet's future. Guess I will just be dealing with the excess water. Today is our 34 week appt and we will see how things are going. 42 days!! The baby moved a lot this weekend and I even was able to distinguish between the butt and other tiny appendage like a foot. Don't know exactly what it was, but you can feel the difference. We will write more later. Have a great week!