Baby Update - 32 weeks!

I'm 32 weeks now! On Tuesday, I had an appointment with Dr. Glode, a (fairly) new doctor at the clinic. Our girl is doing great - her heartbeat was a little over 130 bpm, and although I measured a little small (1 or 2 weeks behind) Dr. Glode said that that is perfectly fine, as she felt big enough, and she was stretched out more to my sides then out front (which seems to be her preferred position these days).

The traditional shot


Double view of my white bump.


Testing ...

Not quite basket ball size yet :)

My belly button is also healing nicely, and feels TONS better already. Slightly embarrassing perhaps, but how often do you hear about a true "gut busting dinner", so here we go: For those that didn't hear, a delicious dinner of Mom Marilyn's smothered burritos with green chili was apparently a little too spicy for my pregnant self, causing my belly to expand SO much in one evening that I stretched/tore some ab muscles and my belly button - PAINFUL!! Definately not eating that type of stuff for another two months or so :)
Last night we had our 3rd baby class - it was ok - they informed us about pain medication, and we did some more hokey relaxation exercises.

Oh - check this out - An online Quiz: "Can you afford a baby?"
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consumer/2008/6/12/can-you-afford-a-baby.html
I scored a 4 - who is ever ready, right?

Wyoming Army National Guard

Last week, friday night, this stunning man made his appearance as I was watching TV:

SPC Bryan.

That's right! Ben joined the Wyoming Army National Guard, and had his first drill last weekend. They issued him this sharp looking uniform, however did miss spell our last name, so for the time being he will be the unknown soldier :)

Handsome and happy :)

30 Weeks!

30 weeks today! Wow!

From babycenter.com: "Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face."

My belly has grown a LOT over the last 3 weeks or so, and I know that's only the beginning :)
She's been moving around a lot more too, and I've had one or two very good kicks in the gut, that almost made me jump up from my chair. I'm still feeling very comfortable, and though I miss being able to go out for a nice cold, long, hard run sometimes, a quiet walk with Sage is nice too. This week, Ben and I went to our first baby class at the hospital - it was pretty entertaining (especially the "relaxation" exercises at the end - not really our style: "Your arm is getting warm and heavy, your arm is getting warm and heavy, feel how your arm is getting warmer and heaver, until it is completely relaxed" - and so on for every limb - Ben and I were like the little school kids giggling in the back haha), and on top of getting a whole hospital tour and getting registered, I'm sure we'll learn some new things.
Other than that, I'm so happy for Debbie that we truly did have our last belly picture together - Weston is a handsome little man!
Also, Ben starts his first drill with the National Guard this weekend! Very excited, and curious as to how things will go!

[Edit to add: My previous professor just walked in, and said: "You have gone to extraordinary lengths to get out of teaching this semester" :) LOL. Apparently the department had planned that I would be teaching the ATSC2000 lab this spring. This is obviously not happening, and they were having a little hard time finding someone else :) - I guess it's my turn next fall.]

Them apples ...

Shiny round belly apples :)
On Sunday afternoon we had a fun time with the Ennists and Watsons, relaxing and watching football. I had to take my chance to take a (hopefully for Debbie) last belly picture together:
FUN!

Debbie at 40 weeks + 1 day (past the nine months, but still looking radiant!), and me at 29 weeks + 3 days.


Luckily for Sage, Cedar came over for a play date as well :)

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve, we went to church service at our church. It was so nice to be able to do that for a change! We've always been out of town!

After church service, we went to Ben's parents to spend the rest of Christmas there. I will not bore you with all the endless food we ate, but do have to tell you about the awesome presents that Ben and I got!

I know, I know, Christmas is not about presents, but these simply HAVE TO BE mentioned:

Tom BUILT us a cradle for the baby, and Ben a gun cabinet for his rifles! When we got to the house, Tom and Marilyn made us close our eyes, guiding us to the living room, where we were allowed to open them - suprise! They are so beautiful! I love that cradle!

Sage admiring the cradle. It has a pin on the side that you can pull out so you can rock the cradle, or stick it back in to keep it stable.

And me - with the hugest smile ever on my face :)

Ben's gun cabinet. Beautiful!

The inside.

Do you think they liked that we liked our presents? :)

Early Christmas morning at mom and dad's. Home made cinnamon rolls and hot coco - mmm.

Early Christmas morning pyjama walk with Sage and Kenai.

Do you think it was windy?

After all the Christmas festivities Ben and I (I admit, mostly I) spent some time "nesting". On friday afternoon we went to Babys R Us in FtCollins to get registered - we spent two hours in that store! We decided on sort of a natural theme, based on some really cute bedding that we found, with the colors yellow and natural green. Ben also bought me the rocking chair for in the nursery! Except it had to be ordered so we'll have to come back for it. We also went to Lowes to buy some shelves that I will paint and use in the nursery.

On sunday, I spent all day sanding and re-painting a little old dresser that I got from grandma Bryan, and yesterday I spent all day painting the nursery! I'm a tad sore today, but it was all worth it :)

A little dresser from grandma Bryan that I sanded and repainted.

The cradle in the nursery - and my newly painted green wall behind it :)

Cradle again, with green and yellow wall in background.

Bouncing at the doctor's office - twice.

Again a post with a "double" theme :)

First doctors visit was with Sage this morning - poor thing has some sort of infection in her eyes, and had been rubbing her face for the last couple of days. She also had to have a few yearly shots (rabies, kennel cough, etc.), so along with all the treats she got from the vet (cheese!) and all the other puppies around, she was bouncing!
Then it was my turn - I thought it would just be another boring, quick, in, pee in cup, and out sort of prenatal appointment, but they had a fun surprise for me - the glucose test! I had heard all sorts of horrid stories about the stuff they make you drink, but truly, I was able to swallow the orange flavored syrup stuff down quite easy :) but - yikes that is sweet!
I then met with the doctor, and I mentioned to him that the baby had been pretty quiet over the last couple of days - he told me not to think too much of it - the baby is just starting to get more snug in there :). He also checked the heart beat, and everything looked fine, and I measured normal.
10 Minutes later I sat in the waiting room, waiting for my hour to be up so I could have my blood drawn. And - BOOM! - I guess all that sugar must have reached the baby, because she was bouncing around! So fun! I guess all I need to do when I want to feel the baby move is eat a pile of sugar :)
I hope I pass the test though!

I guess I'm now also starting my third trimester (woaa!), because they want to see me every 2 weeks now.

Double 26 - and more!

Last monday was my birthday - HOOT HOOT! I am now 26 :)
That makes the first 26. The second 26 is our little fish. I had to hurry with this blog, because tomorrow she will "turn 27" (weeks that is). My mom has been begging me for some belly pictures, so here they are mom! :)


Full frontal.


A little blurry, but I think it shows that bump pretty good!


And here, with the sign - 26 weeks, 5 days.

I've also been doing some baking lately. Fun! Last night's project was to make some more "speculaas" cookies - these are cookies with a blend of spices (imported from Holland, of course), similar to that of ginger bread cookies, but with a bunch more different kinds of spices.

I also made some moose cookies, and WYO bucking horses.

Last saturday night, we had a beautiful snow storm, so on sunday morning I went out to take some pictures of the house:

View from the front door, into the field.

And: ma voiture.

And, yes, there is even more to this blog! Last friday, Ben joined the Army National Guard! Wohoo! I am so proud of him! We have been thinking about this for quite some time, and finally it happened. We are both very excited about the decision, looking forward to what is going to happen, but also realize that it is a pretty huge deal, and that things will change quite a bit come fall.

Anway - while Ben was doing that all day last friday, I couldn't keep my head focussed on work, so I took the day off, and as a surprise remodeled his 'man bathroom' downstairs. No more pink and purple flowers in my man's bathroom! I thought it would just be a simple painting job, taking only a couple of hours (it is a very small bathroom), but, as with any house project, it turned out to be a much bigger pain in the **** than expected (removing wallpaper, and fixing a huge hole in the wall), and I was slaving away at it for 9 hours! (and yes, I did realize that evening and the next day that that might have been a little too much)

We had decided on a cowboy theme (brown and gold), and though the cowboy/UW decorations still need to be put up, here is a preview:

(* I bet you can't even tell where that huge hole in the wall was - eh? HAHA!)