Maternity Photos

We are in the official countdown! I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow. My stress tests have all been going well and Vivian has performed as needed. They measure her heart rate and movements over 20 minutes. I've had weekly stress tests due to my 'advanced maternal age'... aka.....I'm reproductively old. If I don't go into labor naturally this week then my doctor wants to induce me on Thursday due to 'older' women have more of a chance of still births if they are allowed to go too long over their due date. We have one more doctor appointment Wednesday afternoon- I was only dilated 1 cm last week. Once we see the doctor on Wed then we'll come up with a game plan for induction if needed. 

I've been healthy during my entire pregnancy and last week I came down with a head cold. Joy. I'm hoping it will run it's course and I'll be back to normal by the time she arrives. We also hope Nathan doesn't come down with it. So far he's shown no symptoms! (knock on wood) 

I made it through my last dance class before fall break with no issues (except I had a student wet her pants)- better her than me! I was afraid my water would break in front of my kids and I'd have to explain THAT! I still went to pilates this morning- my instructor and work out partner were very surprised to see me! It always feels good to stretch! 

I debated about having maternity photos taken cause I think most of them are rather cheesy. But I decided I should probably do it- if I chose not to then someday I would have wished I had. So I bit the bullet. Here are my faves.... I don't think they turned out too bad. We had kind of a rainy crappy day to shoot and I had originally wanted to wait until the leaves turned. But here it is Nov 1 and some of the trees have yet to turn colors....so I'm glad we didn't end up waiting. 

Hopefully by this time next week we will have brought a healthy baby into the world! 

Trade In

When I agreed to move back to Iowa Nathan promised me I wouldn't have to trade in my car. I had sold my old college car and bought this cute little VW Eos a few years before we left Texas...it was my first 'big girl' car and I loved it. It was a hard top convertible (I called it my transformer)...in red no less! It really didn't do too bad in the Iowa winter. When we were finally successful in getting pregnant he still didn't tell me I would have to trade it in (miraculously it does come with the latch system so you can fit a carseat in the back!)....but.....he said- 'you are going to need a new car eventually (she had over 90,000 miles on her) and things are going to start to go south. We can go out and buy another car and have car payments OR we can trade in the Eos and get a used car and pay cash for it'.....sigh.....well, when you phrase it like that!! 

I had to face the facts and realize that my pretty little Eos was no longer practical. I gave in. But not soon enough...I got a speeding ticket in her about two weeks before we traded her in! 

We traded her in for a VW Tiguan (small sized SUV).  I've actually really liked the car. It has the same engine has my Eos, so it's pretty zippy (which doesn't bode well for my speeding record). It's much easier to get in and out of now that I'm in the end of my pregnancy and of course it's got far more room for groceries, etc. I installed the car seat a couple of weeks ago so we are all ready for Ms. Vivian's arrival. 

Here's to seeing you on the road!

In the Home Stretch

Here we are at 35 weeks....and in the home stretch. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and am starting to get terrified about the whole birthing and labor process. We took a birthing class last week at Mercy and I was so thankful we didn't have to watch a birthing video. I found the class very informative. I just try to keep reminding myself that women have been doing this for thousands of years and many have done it multiple times....labor can't be that bad can it?!?! I think I'm still in denial that she has to come out in some way. Ugh.....I'm just praying that labor is fairly quick and as pain free as possible. I still don't understand why they can't figure out a way to order your baby online :)

We've been diligently working on the nursery for a couple of months. Here's the room we started with....beige walls and carpet. The room has been empty since we moved in. 

Wrigley and I have been working on making a mobile that I saw on Pinterest. It's all done and just waiting to be hung up. I ordered chandelier crystals off of Ebay and Etsy and spent hours stringing them together. As you can see....Wrigley was a really big help!

We had wainscoting put up along the bottom of the walls and Eberts were kind enough to come up and paint the walls pink as a early baby gift. I got impatient waiting for my handyman to set up his painters to finish so I went ahead and painted the wainscoting myself. Every time I paint something I swear I'm never going to paint again....and then I end up painting something else. The wainscoting job wasn't that bad though. Again, I had lots of 4 legged 'help'!

Pretty much everything in the nursery is from Pottery Barn...except the bedding. Dad has been up a couple of times to hang stuff for me. He's been a great help! 

I've had three showers already and am pretty much set on baby paraphanalia. Who knew they needed so much stuff !?! Two of my BFFs from college came to my hometown shower. It was very nice to see both Amy and Erica. We just had Nathan's side of the family shower this last weekend. It was equally as good and everyone was super generous with their gifts!

After landing myself in the first aid station at the first ISU football game this season (due to the heat)...Nathan had forbade me from going to any other games. But I weaseled myself into the Texas game last week with the rest of the family. I promised Nathan I'd stay far far away from the first aid station and told him that I had spent way too much money on my 'Cyclone Below' t-shirt to let it go to waste. We had gorgeous weather....however, not such a gorgeous outcome to the game. 

I'm definitely getting to the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. I can't breathe, I have no abs (and I find it amazing how much one really uses their abs in a day and you don't realize this until you don't have them anymore!), I can't sleep, have indigestion and the swelling has started. I'm officially prugly (pregnant + ugly :) ).  My dog groomer asked me last week if I was carrying twins....I wanted to punch her in the face. She said that she was a twin so she always has to ask if there is one baby or two....I wanted to tell her that she probably shouldn't ask that....but I just smiled and answered her question...and told her I was having triplets :)

My mother was notorious for having swollen feet during her pregnancies and I guess I'm going to be no different. I truly have cankles now and I had terrible pitting edema after the Texas game!! However, I'm still powering through and teaching dance on Friday afternoons. I'm teaching lyrical and hip hop to grade school kids this fall. I'm sure it's rather amusing watching a 35 week pregnant woman trying to do/teach the dougie! Turning is also rather amusing as my center of gravity is way off as well! I keep beating on my belly hoping that Vivian will get MY sense of rhythm and NOT Nathan's! Lord help me if she picks up on his white man overbite! 

I'm officially done working at the emergency clinic so I can continue to 'nest' properly. I try and be as helpful to Nathan as I can and run errands for the clinic. We still have to get the car seats installed and we have to pick a pediatrician. Those two jobs are high on my list this week. 

Here's to the next few weeks and hoping she decides to come on her own and we don't have to do anything 'fancy'! I have a few more finishing touches to put on the nursery before I take my final pictures to post. 

32 weeks

32 weeks

Have you been feeling Bleu?

Are you feeling a little down now that summer is almost over? Well, here's a post that is sure to cheer you up....there aren't many things that are cuter than a lab puppy...and you know how I feel about puppies and pictures!!! Our friend Jason just got a lab puppy and named him Bleu. 

Here he is on the day we went to go pick him up...a little over 7 weeks old.

He was very cuddly and nervous to leave his litter mates...but he has settled in just fine. Nathan used him to go and talk to the Kid's Corner at the Great Jones County Fair about being a veterinarian...and of course he was a big hit!

I haven't seen him in a couple weeks so he's probably already doubled in size...they change so fast!

Enjoy the cuteness!!

End of Summer Fun

It finally feels like summer has just begun. It's been a very cold, mild summer. We didn't really get any heat until July and it only lasted a week or so. School has started and the heat has returned! We had a fun family weekend this past weekend celebrating Adam and Teresa's birthdays. My cousins Ryan and Lisa were both home for a friends wedding. We spent most of the day at the pond swimming and soaking up the rays. Adam and Nathan went golfing. 

The cousins...Ryan, Lisa, Adam and I

With our significant others.....

And the parents.....

I just hit 29 weeks...so Adam and I were comparing bellies to see who is bigger....I think I won, at least he can suck his in! 

Dad and Kate making homemade ice cream....a family favorite!

11 years/Babymoon

We celebrated our 11 year anniversary in Chicago a few weeks ago. I guess you could also call it a babymoon as well. We stayed at the W hotel on Lakeshore drive...it's becoming my new favorite place to stay in Chicago. It's in a perfect location...close to shopping and Lake Michigan!

We had great views of Navy Pier! We enjoyed massages at Bliss Spa....

and spent a lazy afternoon on the beach soaking up the sun and reading. The water was still cold but comfortable once you got used to it. 

We stuffed ourselves at Rosebud before going to see The Book of Mormon Saturday evening. The show was hilarious! 

Sunday morning we spent on Michigan Avenue. I took Nathan through the American Girl store so he could experience first hand what his future beholds! We also made Vivan's first purchase at Tiffany's! 

Nathan wrote me this sweet poem on my facebook page....

To My Wife,

No gift can be given that will ever express the blessing, I received

11 years ago today.

She has given me strength when life seems to take it away.

She has opened my eyes to the world to see.

But holding her in my arms, is the only place that I ever want be.

She even left her warm Texas sun.

For my Iowa winter fun

She has endured more to give us a child than any woman should.

And more than any man ever could.

She looked past the visors and long blonde hair,

To make us a very unique pair.

She is my perfect combination,

of sexy and sophistication.

Happy Anniversary! I love you Joanna

:)

We had a great time....we are now in full nursery mode and trying to get things finished up. November will be here before we know it!