Baby Shower at Work

The staff and clients at work threw me a baby shower in mid-November! I have been so blessed and so touched by how caring and supportive everyone has been to me throughout my pregnancy. They are all so excited! So here are a few pictures from that shower. I've had to crop out the clients for obvious reasons but it was a very sweet thing to get to celebrate with them!

Also, My mom came to this shower as well which meant so much to me. We both are not huge fans of having our pictures taken, so we don't have that many pictures of us together which I've realized is a shame. That's why I LOVE this one of us!

39 Weeks and Counting

Well people. I'm ready. Miss Ella can arrive whenever she is darn well ready. Some nights I sleep alright (meaning I'm able to fall back asleep quickly each of the gazillion times I have to get up to pee) and others I can't really sleep at all, which makes for a super fun day of work the next day! Last night was the latter. I could not fall back asleep after my 4am pee time. I was wide awake and finally decided to get up and do something productive at 5am.

I rearranged the office. Moved EVERY piece of furniture, including desk, file cabinet, two large, filled bookshelves and a treadmill. I then sorted and organized everything! I really like the new layout. (I was also secretly hoping this would help send me into labor...no luck there! I still feel fine.)

Then I dubbed around on the internet and changed the background of by blog as you can see and watched the sunrise.

And here I am, 39 weeks and one day pregnant...and counting. Heading off to work (Note the comfy pants. And I shall also be wearing my crocs. Comfort is key these days people.)

Thankful

I love Thanksgiving! Everything is about perspective in life and this day is such a wonderful reminder to look on the positive side and even if you're in the toughest of places, to dig deep and find something to be thankful for.

I don't have to dig deep, here are some of my list toppers of what I'm thankful for!

• All of my family, not a cliche, truly.
• Knowing Jesus as my Savior. Also, not a cliche, I need Him every day!
• A really a wonderful pregnancy overall and still feeling great at 39 weeks!
• Having these few last precious days to savor with just my husband and I.
• Superb friends.
• Land in the country. (I'll be honest, there are days I have to work to be thankful for the home that sits on that land, but I AM thankful for a home!)
• The extreme priviledge of working today and getting to spend the Holiday with a group of amazing individuals and the moment where I was asked to say Grace at the dinner table and had the opportunity to Thank the Lord and praise Him while holding hands with all the folks I work with!

A Thanksgiving Miracle!

Okay, so maybe this doesn't actually fit the Biblical picture or definition of a miracle but it feels like one people!

We got the internet at our house today! WAHHHHHHOOOOOO!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Baby Belly

WARNING: Bare Belly pictures ahead! If you don’t want to see my bare belly you should probably click away!

You’d never guess it if I didn’t tell you who took these...Jason! You see, I wanted some really pretty and artistic belly pics but didn’t really want to pay a professional and unfortunately I can’t take them myself. So I did the next best thing...I set up all the lighting and back drops and coached Jason on how to take pictures, telling him to get unique angles and fill the whole view finder with his subject etc etc. He used a digital so I would check them and give him more pointers and so on. Anyway, it took a while but he was very willing and very patient and I think he made quite a good photographer!

I figure if these came out this good with me just directing then I could do some pretty awesome ones with my manual camera that I can adjust the light and focus much more accurately. So, when all my friends get pregnant I’m making them let me take their belly pictures. Yup, even you Steph!

So here are some of my faves:

Baby Update and Belly Cast

Well folks, I’m 38 1/2 weeks along. At my appointment today my midwife said she is VERY pleased with where I'm at and if I went into labor today it would be fine. I'll spare you the centimeters and percents details:) Translation: It really could be any day now.

I don’t think I’ll go early, but my midwife said she's very confident I won't be late, but her last words were "I'll see you next monday...that is if I don't see you before then".

I’m feeling really good, still working full time and thinking I will do so up until I pop! Jason thinks I'll go a little early as evidenced by the fact that he's started having dreams that we have an infant :) We’re trying to savor these last weeks and fit in all of the things we want to do, such as this lovely belly cast. It was a fun project!

Father Son Bonding...

...in hick-ville Maine. I just had to share with you the scene that I witnessed this morning driving to my Doctors appointment. Kids have school off this Monday and Tuesday. And one father on my road was apparently taking an opportunity to have some quality time with his son.

The child was an adorable little blond haired boy, I'd say 4 years old, definitely no more than five. And he was sporting a little five year old sized rifle (Who knew they may those?) The father was standing right beside him, coaching him in the proper technique. The little tyke looked like he had great form (Ya know, he's probably been practicing for a few years by this ripe old age!) and he was aiming right at his target - an Obama/Biden sign on someones front lawn! Priceless family moments in Etna.

36 Weeks!

Here we are at 36 weeks.

Preparation

I'm choosing to look at this fun little incident as God lovingly preparing me for parenthood.

I'm filling in for another staff member, doing a 3day 2night live in shift. It's not SUPPOSED to be awake overnight...but you always end up awake, overnight and then have to work a 16 hour day the next day. This night was particularly fun.

(Picture this: I'm 36 weeks pregnant, just worked a 12 hour day, have a 16 hour day ahead of me, I'm exhausted, hormonal, emotional and feeling a little nauseous again most nights.) I received a phone call in the late evening. It was a client... calling from their cell phone from their bedroom upstairs... to let me know that they had yacked... and it was all over the bathroom because they missed the toilet! Awesome! Clean up #1 ensued, I don't think I'll ever eat chicken pot pie again. I checked on the client and they were asleep.

I prayed fervently that there would not be a repeat performance. Later on, said client came downstairs just as chipper as ever stating they felt better. "Praise the LORD!" I thought! And then later, just as chipperly came down and informed me they had again tossed their cookies but this time had not made it to the bathroom.

It was all over the pillowcase, sheets, matress pad and floor. But to make it even worse, this client had also put their comforter on top of the pile of puke on the floor so that they would not slip on it when they got out of bed to come tell me. "Why the HECK didn't you use the cell phone again!?" Clean up #2 ensued. I will definitely never eat chicken pot pie again. And then laundry ensued, and ensued and ensued.

Not even gonna lie. Didn't think I was gonna make it. Only got 4 hours of sleep. Called Jason and cried a little. But I made it. I'm at the end of my 16 hour day and I get to go home at 3pm tomorrow (Which is 4 hours early thanks to pukey and my extra hours during the night!)

I just had to share!

I'm Nervous...

No, I’m not nervous about labor. I’m actually excited. No, I’m not nervous about becoming a mom. I’m planning on relying on God’s guidance and strength as well as great friends. No, I’m not nervous about Jason being a good dad. He’ll be amazing as he is in everything. No, I’m not worried that our dog Hunter will react badly. I’m sure he’ll be fine, especially once he discovers that this new little thing will drop food for him :)

You see, I’m sure that Mr. Quinn (our cat) is convinced that we moved into this new place and decided to dedicate a whole room to him! A room filled with wonderful, comfortable things for him to lay all over. I’m nervous that Mr. Quinn will have a nervous break down when he realizes HIS new room is actually the baby’s room. Pray that he’ll be able to cope with this difficult transition :)

Here is a photo recap of the places I have found him:

The Nursery Complete

So now that we have all that we need....the nursery is complete! Here are some pictures. Things to note: That window WILL be securely hung on the wall over the changing table and will contain wonderfully artistic black and white photos of my belly, Ella, and Ella, Jason and I. Also, that diaper stacker on the wall...I made that! No pattern, no nothin'! I just made my own little pattern, cut and sewed. I'm getting a little cocky people, you need to pop my swollen head!

Baby Shower #2

My friends put on another baby shower for me at my home church on the 25^th. It was just wonderful. It meant so much to me that they did that and that all those people came out.

(I have a little confession to make; my control freak side got the best of me before the shower. You see, we still had a lot of the “essentials” that we needed and I was afraid we were going to end up having to buy them all, which we can’t afford really. So to circumvent this, I went on both of my registries and deleted ALL items that were not essential. I figured, if people wanted to buy off the registry they wouldn’t mind buying the essentials and if they didn’t want to buy off the registry it wouldn’t affect them anyway. Well, my strategy worked and we now have many adorable, wonderful things, and all the essentials too!)

We also had some gift cards, so the next day we went out and bought the rest of what we needed. Consequently, we are completely prepared! We have everything we need. The nursery is all set up. And every single thing is washed, dried, folded and organized. At 35 weeks that feels really good!

Now we just have some other loose ends to tie up. Oh, you know, stuff like put the baby on my health insurance, finalize a will, and solidify with a pediatrician. No biggies or anything!

Photo Booth Fun!

Here are some of the cute pictures we took at my friend Noelle’s wedding!