Evansville Shower

A couple weekends ago, my sister and some friends threw me a baby shower in Evansville. They all spent such a gracious amount of time and money to make it so wonderful! Everything was decorated in blue and it was such a great party!

A HUGE thank you goes out to all my family and friends who were able to attend. Your generosity was overwhelming and greatly appreciated! Let's just say this little boy is going to be one studly dressed guy!

While I was gone that weekend, Eric stayed home to work and one night he worked extra hard to put our brand new crib together! It was a huge surprise to me because I did not know he was going to do that! When I got home he had taken the furniture that was in the (now) nursery and moved it so there was room for our new baby furniture! What a great husband/daddy Eric is/will be! I love to see how excited he gets when something about the baby comes up! We are both SO anxious for our little guy to arrive! Our official due date is exactly one month from tomorrow...VERY hard to believe! Some days it feels like the pregnancy has gone slowly (probably mostly the days when I was sick!) and some days feel like it's just flown by! He'll be here before we know it! Thank you all for your continued love, support, and most importantly prayers! We love you all!!!!

Appointment/35 weeks

Things are just moving right along. We can hardly get past the fact that in 5 weeks or less we will have a little boy of our own to bring home! I've actually gone to the doctor twice this week. At the beginning of the week, I thought I had a bladder infection but today the results came back and come to find out, I don't have one. Everything looked great at my appointment today. My tummy is measuring right on track! My weight looks good as well as my blood pressure. And baby's heart rate was a perfect 140! I can tell more and more each day that he is continuing to grow. My tummy feels very tight and I feel like he's taking up as much space as possible. He's pressing on my lungs AND my bladder! I definitely have to go potty a lot more these days! :)

Eric and I are working hard to get the nursery put together. Since we are in a "temporary" apartment I don't think we will "go all out" like we would if we were in a house but it's still going to look very cute! I'm anxious to get it all in order!

Your baby has spent the last two weeks growing in preparation for birth. He responds very strongly to pain, light and sound. The volume of amniotic fluid shrinks as he fills almost all the space in your womb. The placenta has reached maturity, has stopped growing, and now begins to age. At birth it will weigh about one sixth of your baby's weight. Your baby's intestine fills with a dark green, sticky substance called meconium (made of dead cells and waste from the liver and bowel). His lungs are fully formed but still need to mature. Your baby's skin is becoming less transparent and more pink rather than red. Toes and fingernails are now fully grown. He produces cortisol to help the lungs develop in preparation for birth. A boy's testicles will drop into the scrotum. Your baby will be gaining 1oz a day now.

ONLY 6 WEEKS LEFT!!!!

Oh my goodness we cannot believe we only have six weeks left until our due date! This means we could potentially have a baby at any time now! WOW! Or it could be another 8 weeks, but let's not even go there!

Week 34 -

Besides looking like a newborn, your baby is acting like a newborn as well. His eyes open when he’s awake and close when he is sleeping. His sleeping cycles are the same now as they will be when he is born (and he's quite a mover so we're hoping and praying for a good sleeper!). He has learned to blink and can see better when a bright light is shined on your stomach. He recognizes voice and sound patterns from the outside world and is most comforted by the sound of your voice.
He weighs about 4 ¾ pounds now and is about 18 inches long. His fingernails have reached the end of his fingertips and he may even scratch his face before he is born. His fat layers are growing every week to fill up that wrinkly skin and he may have already turned into the head down position for labor.
Your baby’s central nervous system is still maturing, and his lungs are almost fully ready to breathe air. If your baby is born this week, he has a 99% chance of survival outside of the womb, pretty darn good odds!

One thing that is really evident to me is that this little boy is definitely growing. There are times he will make a movement or a kick that really shocks me and gives me quite a jolt! The movements are getting stronger by the day! And another thing he's got goin' on is the hiccups! I have felt them for quite some time now but they are also getting much stronger. I can tell he is head down because when he does get the hiccups I feel them low. I'm still having to take lots of deep breaths because he's cramping my lungs but that's ok...we only have six weeks left AND hopefully he'll drop soon and that will help! Eric and I have our next appt. on Tuesday so we'll be sure to update then! I'm going to leave with a cute comic strip. I have noticed overall in pregnancy how nice and friendly strangers are! I hope this isn't what they are thinking!

Our Anniversary!

Yesterday, Eric and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary! Even though Eric had to work, he made it a special day and we had a wonderful dinner at a new restaurant. I just want to take the time to say how much I love my husband! He has been so uplifting and encouraging throughout the past three years and I know it will only continue as our marriage goes on! What a blessing the Lord has given me in Eric! I cannot wait to see him become a daddy in about 6 short weeks! And on that same note, I want to say how glad we are that we have had three full years to enjoy one another before we welcome our precious miracle into this life! Thank you to all our friends and family who have been so loving and supportive of us through our marriage. You all mean so much to us and we love you all! Thank you, Jesus for this wonderful marriage!

Porch Reunion

During college, Eric lived in a house called "The Porch". This past weekend, we got together in Kokomo for the 4th annual Porch Reunion! The Reunion began on Thursday and ended on Sunday.

The weekend was jam-packed with various activities including Kokomo Beach (water park), multiple games of golf (for the boys!), painting ceramics (for the girls), and lots of great food and fellowship! The reunions are growing by leaps and bounds each year. This year there were five children under the age of three and three of the porch wives are expecting babies all within two weeks of each other! I think we concluded that we won't be able to house all of the "porchies" in years to come so we're going to try to come up with destination locations for our future reunions!

Also during the weekend, our dear "porch" friends Travis and Lisa threw us a surprise baby shower! Thank you so much to our friends for this special treat! We had a great time and we're so thankful for the gifts we received!

Eric and I are constantly reminded of the amazing friends that God has blessed us with! Thank you to our Porch friends for being so faithful and loving. Each one of you has touched our lives in different but wonderful ways! It's so refreshing to spend time with friends who are Christ-followers! We love you all!

32 weeks

First of all, I just want to comment on this first photo. This was a couple of weeks ago but I just got a copy of it and couldn't resist putting it on here! My sister-in-law Annie and her boyfriend Fritz were in town over Memorial Day weekend and they, along with my nephew Nick, got to watch some pretty major movements from our little guy! I just thought this picture caught the moment perfectly!

Now, on to 32 weeks!

By now, your baby is just shy of 4 pounds and is nearly 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next 7 weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (and we know there's lots of it!). His skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth. And in the latest developing reports, your amazing baby has now developed sensitivity to temperature! This means, you’ll probably get a swift kick if you put a hot pad on your ginormous belly. For the Elton John lovers out there: baby’s got blue eyes. At this point, all babies do, although depending on their chromosomal disposition, this could easily change after birth (or even between now and labor), but for the time being, blue it is. Thanks to their recently matured lungs and a remarkably strong immune system, over 90% of babies born in their 32nd week, survive premature births. So it’s pretty much a done deal. Even if your little monkey’s planning on heading out early, their survival odds are in everyone’s favor.

Eric and I had our 32 week appointment on Friday and everything went smoothly! I had gained another pound so I'm now at 13 pounds total. My blood pressure was perfect and my tummy measured right on track! I feel like I'm definitely getting more into the "uncomfortable" phase of pregnancy. I have to sit just a certain way to ease leg pain and I'm constantly taking deep breaths. This little man is SO scrunching my lungs right now and while it can be unpleasant at times, I still feel so blessed that God is allowing me to take place in one of His miracles! Eric and I already love this baby so much we cannot fathom the love that will consume us as soon as we get to hold him in our arms! Eric keeps saying, "I wish we could just have him now!" We're getting more and more anxious by the day for him to arrive but we know that God's timing is perfect and he will make his entrance at the best time for all of us! I've been reading a book called, Prayers for New and Expectant Mothers. There are so many great ones that I have picked apart a few to write one that says so much of what I feel right now!

Dear Lord, take this, my body, and use it to bring a new life into this world. I commit this, oh so miraculous event, into your care and keeping. Bless my feeble efforts and give me your good grace to see it through to its completion. Surround us with those who are both wise and skilled. Work through them to deliver this child. I thank you for your love, unbounded and unconditional toward me. I pray that I would always look to you for all that I require. I feel compelled to pray for my own spiritual state as I will become a mother soon. Truly, I am not prepared to face such a task on my own. I know all too well my own shortcomings. But I also believe you will make up for my lack. I count on this! Let me embrace the uncertain with a sure hope of your ever-present precious spirit, which leads me, guides me, and directs my every step. I desire to lead my child in YOUR ways. I want to teach him to look to you for his self-worth, his value, and his purpose. I realize I have much to learn in this area myself. Will you walk me through and be my instructor once more? I pray these things for the sake of your son. Amen.

Catching Up!

On Friday, June 1st, Eric and I had our 30 week doctor's appointment. During the appointment, I was weighed (still at the 12 pound weight gain mark), had my blood pressure taken (perfect!), had my belly measured (30.5 cm. at 30 weeks - perfect!) and heard the heartbeat of our sweet boy (a perfect 145)! Because of a fender-bender I was in the night before (NOT my fault!) we also had an ultrasound and a non-stress test. The ultrasound was awesome because it had been 10 weeks since we last had one! Our little man was much more defined and we verified that YES, it's STILL a boy! :) The ultrasound tech told us that we have a very hairy little boy (something not typically noticed so well at that stage!) During the ultrasound he was showing off for all of us! He was very proud of his flexibility - he was resting his face on a hand and a foot on his forehead! The non-stress test was also a success! It showed that I was not contracting and also a very healthy heart rate! Even though the car accident was very scary, it was very minor and there were no injuries! We were so thankful that we happened to be going to the doctor the next day anyway.

On Monday, June 4th, Eric and I left for vacation with my family. The six of us flew to New York City for the week! We had a blast! Even though it was a bit tiring, we had some great experiences and will have many memories of our little guy's first vacation to NYC!

The first night we were there, we went to Grand Central Station and walked around for a while and then we ate dinner at Serendipity (yes, it's the restaurant from the movie!) The food was great and we had the frozen hot chocolate - FABULOUS! Kate Beckinsale and Molly Shannon shared some in the movie and Oprah also raved over it during one of her "Favorite Things" episodes! We also learned that the movie "One Fine Day" had a scene filmed at the restaurant.

We really tried to see all of the major New York City sites (as many as we physically could in 4 1/2 days). We walked past Ground Zero, which wasn't much to look at but it was an emotional time. We walked through Trinity Church, which was really pretty. We walked past the New York Stock Exchange and the bull, and we walked Wall Street.

We spent some time in Times Square, during the day and at night. We walked 5th Ave. and spent time looking in all the windows of the expensive stores! We saw the NY Public Library, Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, Radio City Music Hall, David Letterman's studios, and Hello Deli, which is often featured on David Letterman. We ate at Carnegie Deli. We saw "The Color Purple" on Broadway, which was awesome! Fantasia from American Idol was the star of the show and she was fantastic! We all loved the show and I think we all (including the guys) got teary eyed! It was an awesome show and I would suggest anyone go see it. Just make sure you don't take young children! :) We spent some time in Chinatown (wheeling and dealing!) as well as Little Italy! We ate in Little Italy twice and it made me want to go back to the REAL Italy!

One night we went up to the top of the Empire State Building (which was WAY out of my mother's comfort zone, but really awesome for the rest of us!) It was a clear, beautiful night but VERY windy and chilly! I don't know if you can tell in this picture but we were cold and windblown! The view from the top is amazing and it was neat to walk all the way around and see the city below. I did have a scary moment while at the top. After I had seen all I wanted to see outside, I was waiting inside with my mom and trying to keep warm. We were standing there looking at a map and all of a sudden I felt water dripping on my foot. I looked down to see what it was and there was a puddle DIRECTLY under me. My mom and I both froze and didn't say a word for what seemed like minutes. We both felt our hearts stop! I finally looked up and saw there was a drip from the ceiling but for several moments, my mom and I both thought my water broke at the top of the Empire State Building! Wouldn't that have been a story to tell our little guy! I am SO glad there was a leak in the ceiling! WHEW!

We walked through several parks and there were always tons of people in the parks. That was something that really stood out to all of us because it seems like the parks around here aren't really utilized as much as they are in NYC. On hot days, we even saw people lying out in their bathing suits! There were people running through the parks. There were children playing in the parks. There were usually dog parks within the larger parks. We went through Central Park, Madison Square Park, Bryant Park, Battery Park, Washington Square Park, and Union Square Park.

One of the highlights of the week was being on Good Morning America. We had to be there at 6:15 in the morning and wait outside in line. We were chosen to go inside and be in the studios during the taping of the show. The co-hosts that morning were Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo, and Debra Roberts. Diane Sawyer was out on assignment. While in the studios, there was an audience coordinator named Samantha who was "running the show" for the audience members. She referred to me the whole morning as "Pregnant Lady". Let me tell ya, it paid to be pregnant! We were given privileges that would not have happened had I not been pregnant. The end of the show was taped outside so about 8:40, Samantha had some people from the show get "pregnant lady" and her family and we got to be the first audience members outside to choose our spot. We luckily chose a spot DIRECTLY behind the hosts! And afterwards, I got to get my picture taken with Chris Cuomo! It was really cool! If anyone knows me at all, they know I can get pretty star struck so it was neat for me to get my picture with a TV news anchor! Other celebrities we saw in New York were Matt Lauer (from the Today show), Rupert from Hello Deli, Eric Stromer (the Carpenter from the TV show "Clean Sweep"), and we think Montel Williams!

Another highlight of the week was a cruise around the southern tip of Manhattan. It was a sunset cruise so it was a bit chilly, but very beautiful! We got to see lots of different landmarks in Manhattan as well as several different famous sites in New Jersey. Some of the major ones include Ellis Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and the World Trade Center site.

Everything about the trip was incredible! We saw and did so many great things and it seemed as though we were going to have a "perfect" trip. Well, we were to fly out at 6:30 on Friday night. When we got to the airport, we learned our flight had been delayed an hour due to some computer glitches that actually affected the whole east coast. So, we sat down and had some dinner and checked on things after that. We then learned that our flight had been cancelled so after much debate and trying to figure out what would be best for the six and a half of us, we decided we should just rent a car and drive home. We were not guaranteed to get out of NYC on Saturday and we were all ready to get home! So instead of arriving at the Indy airport at 9:25 on Friday night, we arrived at 12 noon on Saturday afternoon! It was a long car ride and Eric got to drive through downtown Manhattan on Friday night so it was (needless to say) eventful! We were all so glad to get back to Indiana and take a shower! It was a long journey home but it was the end of a fabulous week! Now you are all caught up! Eric and I have another appointment this Friday so we will keep you updated! Love to you all...