32 Weeks

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 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, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb.

Whew! 2 more months to go and I get to gain a pound a week. Gee, won't that be fun!

Big Rocks. Lots of Big Rocks

The landscaping is well under way. It is supposed to be done over the weekend or by Monday. Right now the big limestone rocks for the retaining walls in the back are being put in. This first view shows the 2 biggest walls going in behind the house.

And here's a view look straight at the house. We had one really big tree that was removed, but it just wasn't going to make it with all the erosion we've had. Once it was taken out, it really opened up the view off of the porch.

And a view of the smaller wall behind the garage.

We're still on schedule to move this weekend, so it'll be a busy weekend for us (and our family members who are helping us move everything!).

This weekend is also special because our friends Amy & Tye got engaged last night!!!! Tye is finishing his last year of law school in Houston before moving to KC to work for Baker Sterchi. Amy & I have known each other since our days of working for the Kansas Lottery as interns and she was the maid of honor in our wedding. They're coming to town next weekend for the Texas Tech football game, so I'm pretty excited to see the happy couple. Congratulations to them.

So Close to Moving!

Well, we SHOULD move this weekend! Our landscaper has said he thinks he'll be done by tomorrow, so if everything goes smoothly, than we'll be making the big move this Sunday. We're getting pretty anxious to move in.

Our friends Susan & Kenny have been great to put up with us for the past 3 months (especially since we only thought it would be 3 weeks when they offered us a place to stay!), but I'm sure they're ready to have their house back to themselves as well. We can't thank them enough for putting up with us. We're truly blessed to have friends as good as them.

Here's the living room.

And here's the kitchen/dining area.

And the front hallway. Notice the light--it has an S in it. S for Smoller! Brian found that light and we just had to have it for the front entrance.
We'll post more pictures later, but over the weekend they cleaned everything and put in the appliances. The only left to do was to finish the laundry chute. We'll be doing the walk through in the middle of the week. Woohoo!

31 Weeks

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt.He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

Well, our Little Man definitely is moving a lot. Lately I've been feeling his legs more, because they're causing me some serious heartburn/acid reflux! But, that's a good sign. However, he sure feels a lot heavier than 4 navel oranges. I dont' know about that part!

We're almost there!

The house is almost done! Here's a picture looking into the kitchen. The island hasn't been installed yet, but otherwise it's almost done.













Looking from the living room up on to the higher level. The railing between the 2 levels is also done.












The master bedroom with paint and window trim and flooring!












This room will be the nursery. This is the view from the doorway.



The inside of the house will most likely be done by the end of this week. Next up is the yard. We're having some serious landscaping done to prevent River Smoller from washing away everything. We're hopeful the landscaping can be done by the end of next week so the house can be appraised and then we can move in. If you could pray for clear, dry weather for the next 10 days, that'd be super! We're getting anxious to get moved in.

Going to the Doctor

Well, saw the doctor again this morning. I'm going every 2 weeks now, so I'm getting more quality time with the ladies of WHG (Women's Health Group). Blood pressure and everything else still looks great. Little Man was just having a growth spurt, so we did not have to do another sonogram. The due date is still Nov. 23rd, although he's still measuring on the big side. We might just have a big baby, or we might go a little early. I'm getting to the point where I certainly wouldn't mind if he arrived a couple of weeks early!

We've got a big shout out to our friends Casey & Neisha. They're expecting Baby No. 2 in April 2009. The link to their blog is on the right side of this page. We're pretty excited for them, even if it is another little tiger!

And speaking of babies, they're all over the place. Our wonderful friends Susan & Kenny became an aunt and uncle for the first time. Susan's brother & his wife had a lovely little girl, Mylee, on Sept. 10th. She is just darling. And our friend Tina Fritz & her husband also had a girl on Sept. 10th as well (it was a good day for baby girls). They welcomed little Leila into the world.

30 Weeks

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. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

3 pounds feels a little on the light side! I don't know how in the world Little Man can get any bigger because it already feelsl ike he's taking up every bit of space. But, apparently there's more growing to do. We have a doctor's appointment on Thursday so see how he's progressing in size.

We've got paint! With pictures!

This is the color of the master bedroom - a blueish, grayish color. I think it turned out really well. We're pleased with how it's looking so far!













This is the view from the hallway looking down into the living room. Everything except the master bedroom is this tan color--very neutral. Brian is over in the corner checking out where the flat screen TV will go!











And a view from the hallway looking at the dining room. The island for the kitchen will soon be in this view.

Dave & Joni came out with us to the house, so you'll see them in some of the shots.

More of my growing midsection

I'm begininng to not like these pictures as I keep on growing! But, here it I am at 28 weeks.

29 Weeks

Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.

Tagged - 6 Most Interesting Quirks

Well, it's 3:02 on a Friday afternoon. I have been at work since approximately 7:20 a.m. and I worked late last night. So, in the spirit of Friday afternoons, I am avoiding work by doing anything and everything else I possibly can. Actually, we've already rocked the piles of stuff that were sitting on my desk this morning. I've got 2 new people in commercial lines and they are both catching on uber fast, which is starting to show in the form of having clean space on my desk. Woohoo! Jill & Martha are great!

My dear friend Neisha thought it necessary to tag me, so now I'm obligated to come up with the 6 most interesting quirks about myself. 6. Seriously? There are all kinds of weird things about me, but I don't know that any of them qualify as interesting. Alas, here goes my attempt.

1. I now have insomnia. It's probably not defined as such, but every night I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then I crawl back in bed and just lay there while our child proceeds to kick and hit every nook and cranny of my innards. They don't really hurt, but they sure are powerful enough to keep a person up. so I just lay there and then finally get back to sleep about 3:30 or 4:00. It's fun. Really. I never thought I'd be a person who had a hard time sleeping, but that issue has now arrived.

2. I hate mushrooms. And I do mean hate. They have a great flavor, but they've got the most disgusting texture. Ever. Most of my food dislikes center around texture and not flavor, so apparently my taste buds are a little fragile that way. But I can't stand the slimy feel of mushrooms. It's nasty. I'm almost gagging just thinking about it. Ugh.

3. I have a strange fascination with the show "The Biggest Loser." Don't ask me why. I have no explanation. I love watching it. Bob is my favorite trainer--Jillian just doesn't cut it for me.

4. I name my vehicles. Right now, I drive Corrina Corolla and she's a great car. Before her I had Sally the Sundance. And in high school, I had Dodge Dara. You can see there's a theme with the names--always female and always beginning with the same letter as the make of the car.

5. I have recurring dreams. One in particular that has been ongoing for many years in my life. I don't remember when it started, but the gist of the dream involves me driving some piece of candy in the sky (apparently in Bethland we don't drive futuristic, Jetson-type cars. No, we drive giant pieces of candy in the sky). My family and friends are in the dream as well, driving their own candy vehicles. I can tell when a person has somehow impacted my life because they will show up in the dream. the pieces of candy each person drives change from time to time, but my Mom always drives a Hershey bar. My dear husband drives a Junior Mint. Our friend Kenny started driving a lifesaver in the last week (perhaps because he's talked about these great lifesaver popsicles they have in the press box!). My friend Susan was driving a Rice Krispie treat, but in the last 2 months has started driving something that looks like a cross between a jolly rancher and a hot tamale. See, now that really does qualify as weird!

6. I don't think this is weird, but my closet is typically color coordinated. All of my clothes are on white hangers, except for white shirts. All white shirts go on blue hangers. The closet is arranged by colors of the rainbow. White, red, orange, pink (because it just fits in best here), yellow, green, blue, purple and then gray, black and brown. Within each color, sleeveless shirts are first, than short-sleeved and finally long-sleeved shirts. I don't have all my maternity clothes organized in this fashion, but when we get unpacked in the new house, this system will exist in the new closet. I love it--it helps to see everything in that order. My friend Kristi says it works for her, too. I organize her closet whenever I get to her house!

There you go. Happy Reading. Oh, almost time for the weekend now!

7 month checkup

Well, I jsut got back from visiting the doctor for my 7-month checkup. Today goes down as the worst visit so far! I had to take my glucose test, which involves drinking a lovely little mixture I can only describe as sugary nastiness. Alas, they do give you a choice of orange flavor or fruit punch flavor. I chose fruit punch nastiness and drank it as fast as I could. After drinking a ton of water and brushing my teeth, the taste still lingers in mouth. Yuck! But, I passed with great results, so no gestational diabetes for me.

After that part was done I got to see my doctor. Blood pressure is fine and so is everything else. Little Man is measuring pretty big at this point, so I go back in 2 weeks for another visit. She's going to check him again and if he's still big, than we'll do another sonogram and probably move the due date. She said sometimes they just have growth spurts and sometimes they just get big. She's keeping an eye on him either way. He's meausring 31 centimeters--I have no idea what that means, other than he's measuring big for 28 1/2 weeks.

And, the last fun part of my day was getting a Rogam (SP?) shot. Becuase of my negative blood type, I got to enjoy that little pleasure. I get another one after I give birth, so more fun stuff to look forward to. I figure after labor and delivery, a shot in the rear will seem like nothing!

28 Weeks

By this week, By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you.