Winter Wonderland

Aaron took these pictures of our house and lights in the recent snow. It sleeted starting last night and is now snowing. The weatherman is predicting we'll have 5 to 8 inches of snow by the time it quits. I like winter weather so it is fun.

The other big news (or not big news, depending on your perspective) is that I have started having contractions. They started Tuesday early morning and were pretty regular at 12-6 minutes apart but weren't too strong. I went to work for 1/2 the day Tuesday and worked from home the rest of the day and Wednesday. The contractions have been more and more intense but not any more frequent. GRRRR! We had a doctor's appointment today (actually they tried to cancel it because the office was closed due to the bad weather but we met the doctor up there after calling him at his house!!) I am dilated to a 1 and 80% effaced and he said he thought it could be anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days. I am sure to him that sounded like encouraging news but to someone who has already been doing this for a couple of days, I was not cheered.

So we took a break from our now-monotonous charting of contractions and watched a movie this afternoon. I even took a bit of a nap, which was welcome since I think I might have slept 10 minutes at a time between contractions last night. My doctor is on duty tomorrow and on call all weekend and says if we show up at the hospital, he won't turn us away and make us go back home. Hopefully things will start progressing soon because this is getting SUPER FRUSTRATING. Aaron and I have decided that we wish my water would just break so we have to go to the hospital and get this show on the road. For all of you that are thinking "He'll come when he's ready" or "Be patient", I appreciate the sentiment, but especially now that I am stuck in the "painful but not painful enough to get drugs" phase, I will politely disagree and say the sooner Caleb arrives the better.

Oh and one more funny thing. So Caleb has been measuring quite large the whole pregnancy. Today when we measured via ultrasound, he weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds 4 ounces. The doctor said, "Let me check that again" and he was 9 pounds 7 ounces. I said "Stop measuring- he's growing by the second!" It will be interesting to see if he measures as large as predicted.

Anywho, that's the scoop for now. Who knows...maybe we'll have big news to post in the next day or so!!!

Thanksgiving has come and gone

I guess I really thought we might have this baby by Thanksgiving but, alas, it has come and gone and Caleb is still just hanging out. We went to the doctor on Wednesday and the report was the same as last week, "nothing yet". So we will continue to be patient (as much as I can be, at least). Our doctor is actually out of town for the weekend so I guess it's a good thing that Caleb is content where he is for now. The picture above is from last weekend, at 37 weeks plus a few days. The ones with the bare belly show better how huge I am but I cannot bring myself to post those-- YIKES!! As Morgan pointed out yesterday, I look like I am about to pop. (I'm convincing myself that she meant that as a compliment). In my last post, I mentioned not having any swelling problems but in the last week, my hands have become really pudgy, like to the point where I can hardly hold my toothbrush or hairbrush in the morning and my fingers go numb throughout the day. I forgot to ask the doctor about it but from what I've read online (isn't that always the most reliable source?!?), it is a normal thing.

Oh, the other picture is of the dogs in the crib. It is the only time they'll be in there, I promise. The pictures are too funny because the dogs match the bedding exactly and they are totally confused about where they are and why mom put them in there. Plus you can see what the room looks like a bit more.

Yesterday was a relaxing but different kind of Thanksgiving. We stayed in town and spent time with my parents and sister. It was the first time in a LONG time that we haven't been in Kansas City with dad's side of the family. It was very strange not to be out on the Plaza with the lights or going to see a Thanksgiving evening movie. We did get to watch the Chiefs kick some Bronco booty on the NFL network so it was a very good day. Now if the Sooners can just annihilate the Cowboys tomorrow, things will be wonderful. I also made a yummy new wassail recipe. Aaron thinks it is funny to say "Wassaaaaaaiiillll" like that silly "Wassssuupppp" beer commercial every time. He's pretty funny, that hubby of mine.

So this morning we were at Kohl's at 4:45 to do some shopping. I think that I have really never done crazy-morning-after-Thanksgiving shopping. It was kinda fun. We are on the hunt for a nice but not too expensive prelit Christmas tree. The one that we saw in the Kohl's add was right by the door so we were one of the first people back out after they opened the doors. From there we went to Big Lots (for a nursery glider), Radio Shack (for several gifts and things for us), JC Penney (to check out a tree but I got a cute red purse instead), Hobby Lobby (for yet another tree), and Old Time Pottery (to scope out a potential tree that dad might go back and get with a 15% off coupon tomorrow). We were home by 9:30 and crashed until about 1:00.

Last Saturday, I went to visit Kimberly and Adalie as they were in BA for Thanksgiving. Hopefully Kim can send some pictures she took at our visit so I can post them. It was so good to see her family and her new addition- what a cutie!!

I have yet to send this link out to anyone because I wanted it to be perfect and all set up when people visit it but I think this may be as good as it gets for now. Hope that you each had a wonderful Turkey Day!

The last 8 1/2 months in a nutshell

Since I am so delinquent in beginning this blog, I'll do a short synopsis of our pregnancy. I found out I was pregnant on April Fool's Day. Aaron had been out of town and I thought it would be funny to play a joke on him and have a pregnancy test (negative, of course) on the bathroom counter to freak him out. Well, imagine my surprise when I took the test and it was positive. HA! A bit apprehensive at first due to our previous issues, I think we finally started to relax and get excited after the 1st trimester was over. We have also been spoiled because we get to see the doctor more often than others- every two weeks this whole time. At some point, I'll try to add ultrasound pictures but I don't know how to run our scanner.

It has really been a pretty easy pregnancy, no morning sickness or heartburn and very little swelling (as of yet). My back has been bugging me off and on but guess that's to be expected. I have not exercised or watched what I have eaten nearly as much as I thought I would. Oh well. I have found that the chiropractor can do wonders- 1/2 the relief comes from being able to lay on my tummy on her big pillow with the belly cut out. Who knew you could miss laying on your tummy this much?!?

We selected our bedding pretty early on and we actually agreed on it. It is not your traditional little boy room but we really like it. The only struggle has been to find a decent glider in black. I'd love suggestions of where to look if you know of any place. The picture posted is recent but is not pretty as it is full of unpacked baby stuff.

We've had several showers and have been amazed at the generosity of our friends and our family's friends. I will post some pics of those too. A shower invite deadline is actually was caused us to finally make a decision on the name. The first shower invitations were going out and the hostess wanted to know if we had chosen a name yet that she could put on there. I told her "not yet" but that we would make a choice in the next 48 hours. So Aaron flipped through about a million baby name books and websites and we finally agreed on Caleb Scott. I liked it because it is not hard to pronounce or unusual but is also not overly common. (Working at a school means you encounter lots of kids' names and there is not a single weird or bad Caleb at Riverfield so I was safe.) It is also Biblical without being "Jebidiah". The Scott is, of course, my dad's middle name but is also just a nice sounding name. We worked it out to have my parent's receive the shower invitation on dad's birthday so the middle name surprise was a good one for his birthday.

Aaron has been reading almost every night to Caleb. Sometimes the baby really reacts and others he must be fast asleep because he doesn't even move. I've also listening only to Classical or Christian music (and now Christmas music since I couldn't wait any longer). Who knows if that's going to make him smarter but it can't hurt, right? Someone also said that red meat increases brain activity as does broccoli. I like both of those and have eaten my share over the last months. One weird thing is that chicken has totally grossed me out since about week 14. I hope I go back to liking it after he comes because it really limits my cooking options if I have to leave out chicken dishes.

OK, I think that is enough.

First Post

OK, so Kim (or Kimberly as she calls herself these days) has been helpfully suggesting that I get this blog started for several months. I held off but one of my last "to dos" before Caleb comes is set up some sort of website or posting for pictures. Then Betsy set one up on the same sight and I had to be part of the in crowd. It is late tonight but I will work on getting some pictures up of the nursery and my big ol' belly soon.

It is hard to believe that we are 36 weeks along. Technically we have until December 6th until our due date but everyone (my mom, friends at work, etc.) seems to think I'll go into labor before that. This week is the Book Fair at school and I've been told I'm not allowed to have Caleb until after the Book Fair is over and pack up. We go to the doctor on Wednesday and will get an update. I'll be sure and let everyone know what we're told.

I am realizing the problem with this blogging thing is that I can ramble and ramble...YIKES! OK, really quitting now.