Grandma's visit

When we brought Lily home, my mom was able to stay with us for a week. I am so grateful that she was able to come and help us out. She was so much help and it was a lot of fun having her around. We loved getting a home cooked meal every night and being able to spend time with her. I ended up calling her almost every night in the middle of the night with a question or help. Having her here to help made our transition a little easier. We got a week of pretty good sleep and getting used to having a baby around before we were let go on our own to figure out this baby stuff. Thanks MOM!!! Love you!



My dad was here for a couple days when she arrived and came to pick my mom up at the end of the week. It was so much fun to have them both around.

ah.....36 weeks

I am now 36 weeks pregnant. I can't believe I am so far along. The time has gone by so quickly and we are in the home stretch. I just wanted to jot down some of the things that I have loved and not loved so much about pregnancy.

LOVES:
-feeling the baby...I thought this would be really weird, but it's been kind of fun.
-everyone is so nice to you...strangers just look at you and smile and are so willing to help you
-Not worrying so much about what I eat. I have been pretty good about watching this, but every once in a while I feel like I HAVE to eat a doughnut or whatever I happen to be craving.
-buying stuff for the baby and getting ready for her to come.
-my baby shower was so much fun. fun to see everyone
-my hair....it's so healthy during pregnancy and doesn't fall out.

THINGS I HAVEN'T LOVED
-being so tired. I am so used to getting so much done and going, going, going, but I have had to slow down and it's been driving me crazy.
-starting to get uncomfortable.
-birthing class. I nearly passed out in one of the videos. Sort of embarrassing.
-buying bigger clothes.
-going pee all the time!
-swollen feet....at the end of the day, they are so tired and swollen
-anticipating what labor will be like.

Advice

So at the baby shower, my sister had everyone fill out sheets with advice for me. I had so much fun reading through all of the advice. I wanted to share my favorites....some are funny and some are just really good advice.

-apple juice, it seems like kids like it
-always take care of your marriage
-be wise, and get enough sleep
-invest in a good babysitter
-let Caleb change lots of diapers (this one came up a lot)
-arrange times to play with Cali (my friend Mindy's little girl)
-you will get a lot of bad advice, don't listen
-enjoy every day!
-everybody needs help sometimes so don't be afraid to ask Bev if you need it. (this is from our friend Maria)
-invest in college early
-learn to function on 2 hours of sleep
-yes isn't always the best answer
-little details mean a lot
-baby yourself too
-escape when you can :)
-relax - you won't kil the baby
-call your mom for help
-baby butts are cute
-Bear still needs your attention too
-eat out once a month at least
-yell into a pillow
-eat whatever, it makes your kids less picky
-use various colors of stage 3 baby food so you don't turn her orange (this is from my sister in law whose first baby ate a lot of carrots and started to turn orange)
-embrace the epidural
-never wear tight t-shirts if there is a chance you will get cold (during nursing)
-resist the urge to compare...all babies are different
-bottles are not evil, especially in the middle of the night
-always take a spare shirt with you
-bring her to grandma often
-arrange your house with everything you love up high
-have your camera handy at all times
-yell at caleb while delivering just to say you did
-Lansinoh will be your breast friend
-lose track of time, it goes too fast anyway
-call your mom often

Any advice anyone wants to add to the list???

Baby Shower

My sisters & mom threw me a baby shower last weekend. It was a lot of fun. I loved having so many people that I don't get to see very often in one place. It was so much fun to see people and baby barney got so much great stuff. I love looking at all of baby's stuff and seeing the little clothes hanging in the closet. We had the shower at Blonde Grizzly and it worked out great. These photos are all from my mom. Thanks for taking all the pictures mom! And thanks Melanie, Ashley and mom for the shower!

The last photo is all the stuff my mom made for baby's room. As soon as I get it set up, I will take a picture of everything in it's place. Since we are selling our house...I am waiting to set it all up for a couple weeks in case it happens to sell. If it doesn't, then we will set up the baby's room in this house and move after she comes.

28 weeks & chinese cabbage

I had my checkup for 28 weeks yesterday. Everything is still checking perfectly and she is starting to look more and more like a baby. I got an update email today from babycenter.com that said my baby is the size of the chinese cabbage.

She is 2.5 pounds and about 14" long. We are getting closer and closer. I have entered into my third trimester and we have signed up for baby classes. They start in a couple weeks. It's starting to feel more real and I can't wait to meet our little girl.

some better photos of what I have been making

Here are some better photos of what I have been making for the baby.




And my mom has been oh so busy too. She has made a stack of blankets already. When I was there for the funeral, I got to see what she has been working on and bring them home. She handed me the stack and asked me..."what other blankets do you need?". Bear even got a couple blankets made from the scraps leftover. He's a lucky puppy....and he loves blankets.



It's so much fun to make things for this little one. I have a list a mile long of what else I want to make for her.

Nesting

So...I think I have been nesting. I haven't started setting up a room for the baby yet, because we are hoping to sell our house before she comes. So I have been sewing, sewing, sewing. I am having so much fun making blankets & clothes & shoes & toys. Here are a couple things I have been making...I need to get better pictures, but this will do for now.

getting bigger

I am now 24 weeks along. The time has gone by pretty quickly. I hear the second half doesn't go by as quickly as the first. We shall see. I am loving this time in my pregnancy. Feeling so much better and not feeling too huge. I am enjoying the time I have with just Caleb & Bear...because things are going to change very quickly. We are so excited for our new little one to come, but also enjoying this time in life too.

19 weeks

So...here is a picture of me at 19 weeks. Almost half way there...I can't believe it. We are so so excited to meet this little one.

It's a.....

Well, the doctor is pretty sure it's a girl! But she did tell us to hang on to our receipts. haha My doctor does an ultrasound at every appointment so she wasn't 100% with her decision. She said she didn't see any boy parts and checked all sorts of angels. I don't see it changing, but we have another appointment in 3 weeks. I will you all know if it changes.

We are just so excited. We will take either boy or girl. Hooray! Can't wait to meet this little one.

We are in San Diego for the week with my family. We just got in yesterday and have lots of fun plans. I am so glad I am feeling better.