A Fun Weekend

Steve and I enjoyed a fun weekend. It started Saturday morning with the first basketball game of the season for the team Steve coaches. It ended in a 16-16 tie. (They only go into overtime during the tournament.) His team looked pretty good for their first game.

Saturday evening we ventured up to Boulder to watch the NU vs. CU volleyball game. The Huskers got off to a slow start but eventually swept the Buffs. The arena was definitely dominated by Husker fans. The picture is not the greatest because it was taken on my phone.

On Sunday night we decided to go see a movie. We have several movie gift cards but haven't been to a movie in quite awhile. We saw RED. It was pretty good. It's filled with action, some suspense, and a lot of humor.

It was great spending time together and enjoying being us before we add a baby to the mix.

36 Weeks

The first snow of the season is falling outside...nice big snowflakes. It's very pretty. I don't mind the first snow, especially when I get to stay inside and drink some nice warm peppermint tea and contemplate the fact that I'm having a baby in 4 short weeks, give or take a few days. Craziness! We packed our bags for the hospital last night. I still have a few things to pick up which I will hopefully get this week. I almost have my Christmas shopping done. Most of the gifts are wrapped as well. I've got my Christmas letter started and the address list almost finalized. I'm hoping to finish the curtains for the baby room today or tomorrow. Things are starting to fall into place. I know the nursery most likely won't be perfectly ready when the baby comes, but I'm hopeful that it will be really close. Here is my belly shot from today:

According to my 5-year-niece, Clare, who saw me via Skype last night, I'm really fat. :)

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to eagerly anticipate the arrival of our little one.

Morning View

 This was my view as I was eating breakfast this morning. The beautiful fall colors combined with a full rainbow (you can't see the top in these pictures) that was a double rainbow for a time and snow clouds covering the mountains. Luckily, it has not snowed here yet, but the mountains are getting it right now. Loveland Ski Area is open for business if anyone is up for early season skiing.

33 weeks

Time continues to fly by. My belly continues to grow and baby continues to kick and stretch. At our doctor's appointment last Friday, Dr. A. said the baby's head is where it needs to be, so hopefully Shelby doesn't decide to perform any somersaults between now and delivery day.

I'm continuing with my Christmas preparations. I even have some gifts wrapped already! My next sewing project is to make curtains for the baby's room. I have the fabric, just need to get going on them.

We took a childbirth class and had a hospital tour a couple weeks ago. It was definitely a very interesting experience and made everything seem much more real. I'm going to start working on packing my hospital bag. The hospital we are going to is VERY nice. It's only 6 1/2 years old and has many nice features. The worst part is the 25 minute drive (in good weather and traffic) we have to make. My prayer right now is that I will go into labor when Steve is home - not delivering cookies an hour or more away from home - and that we are not in the middle of a blizzard or morning rush hour. Not much to ask, right? :)

Some pictures to share

Here we are at 30 weeks. Shelby remains very active with frequent hiccups. Luckily, the movements have never kept me awake at night which is a blessing. We have so much to do before Shelby's arrival, but we're slowly chipping away at our to-do list. No, the nursery is not set up. We have the furniture for it in the basement; however, there's a bit more to do before we can bring it up. I have faith that it will all get done.

I have a few pictures to share today. The first is a new belly shot. As you can tell, I definitely look pregnant now. I've had a couple people tell me I look too small to be due in December, but I feel plenty big. :)

30 weeks

This is a picture of one of the stockings I made. I got enough fabric for 4. They are all done and sitting with our Christmas stuff. They went together pretty easily, and I'm looking forward to hanging them up every year.

This is a picture taken by Steve of 4 fighter jets flying just west of our house on September 19. They frequently do flyovers for the Broncos home games. The jets go right by our house. It's a pretty incredible sight. They did another one this past Sunday with only 2 jets. They were flying around for quite awhile before they did the actual flyover. With a major road and railroad and light rail tracks behind us, we get quite the views of plenty of planes, trains, and automobiles.

Pregnancy thoughts at 28 weeks

28 weeks down...about 12 to go! Wow, where has the time gone? December seemed so far away when we found out we were pregnant in March...now it's just around the corner. There is still so much to do. I definitely need to be making better use of my time. I've subbed a few times at my former school which is fun because the kids and parents are excited to see me. It also makes me thankful that I'm not teaching full-time. I get worn out much quicker and appreciate not having to deal with all the other stuff that goes along with teaching...parents, discipline, grading papers, paperwork, etc.

I'm still feeling good which is definitely a blessing. I'm starting to feel huge, but I know I'll probably getting bigger soon. Hopefully, I can get another picture up soon. Shelby seems to be doing well and moves around quite a bit at times. I can tell he/she is running out of room as I feel body parts seemingly trying to push through my belly. I love feeling the movements and seeing my belly move. It's such an incredible thing to experience. I have my next doctor appointment tomorrow. I'm going every 2 weeks now. Dr. A. is a great Catholic doctor and is very good about answering any questions we have. He's a family doctor so we will continue seeing him after Shelby is born.

Besides feeling good, I have not had any food aversions. Pretty much, if it's food, I'll eat it. I really need to work harder at eating the things I should, like fruits and vegetables. We have them in our fridge washed and ready to eat; however, the chips and crackers on the counter are always more appealing. I haven't really had any major cravings at this point either. Steve seems to have more cravings and tries to help me out by saying he's more than willing to go to Dairy Queen or to get a breakfast burrito if I really want one. The one thing that has sounded really good is root beer floats. I haven't been drinking my usual Dr. Pepper while I'm pregnant (except for a few sips here and there when Steve has one), but I've been enjoying root beer.

Steve and I are both eagerly anticipating the arrival of our son/daughter. Every once in awhile we'll make a comment about how different a particular activity will be after we have a baby. There will definitely be some adjustments that will have to be made, but our life will be so much more blessed when that time comes!

Baby advice

Today Megan posted on her blog some baby advice for me from Clare and Jacob. I wanted to post it on my blog as well for future reference.

From Clare...

• Always make sure your baby does not get hurt.
• When the baby cries, check their diaper.
• Always hold your baby if they cannot walk.
• When the baby is about 2 years old, give the baby a big boy or big girl cup.

From Jacob...

• The baby will eat tomatoes.   (Jacob LOVES tomatoes.)
• Jessica can change the baby's diaper. That's stinky. 

I'd have to say this advice is VERY helpful. I'll make sure to refer to it often. :)