23 Weeks

It's been a busy few weeks - The fall quarter started this week, so I've been getting back into the swing of teaching again. I am teaching 4 classes this quarter, which is considered a full load at the college level. It's been hectic getting all of my syllabi, worksheets and other paperwork printed and ready for the students. Also, my body is adjusting to all of the standing and walking around, which has been tough since I have been off of work for the past month! But, so far, so good - we are hanging in there!

Here is my 23 week picture:

In other baby news, Easton has been moving and kicking up a storm lately. I can feel all of the flutters & movement inside, but we haven't felt anything from the outside quite yet. I am hoping Jason will be able to feel a kick really soon. We have our next doctor appointment next week on Wednesday October 7th at 2:30pm - please say a prayer that we get a great report. I'll also schedule my glucose test at my next appointment, which means I will have to drink a syrupy orange-flavored liquid to determine if my blood sugar stays at a normal level. I've heard that the liquid tastes nasty, so hopefully I do well on the first test and don't have to repeat it :-)

We've been working on getting Easton's room together - we received SO many nice gifts from our two showers, so now we are trying to figure out the best way to organize clothing, hats/booties/socks, toys, etc. We have another shower coming up on October 25th with our Michigan friends, so there are more goodies & gifts to come! Easton is such a lucky little guy, and we are blessed to have so many people that love & support us.

Family Baby Shower 9-20-09

My shower hostesses - Aunt Bettie, Me & Aunt Lois

Sunday brought on "round 2" of the baby showers - this shower was hosted by my aunts Bettie & Lois, and was held at my parents' house. The majority of our female family members were in attendance, including both Grandmas-to-be & Great-Grandmas-to-be, Aunt Cindy, Great-Aunt Renate & Lois, Cousins Kristin & Valerie, Second-cousins Dagmar & Claudette and my sis-in-law Ashley. Several family friends were there as well, such as Jeanette, Beverly, Barbara Hogan & Hazel. My friend Kim attended too - she had a wedding to go to on the "friend shower" day, so we were happy to have her with us on Sunday.

My aunts have a knack for attention to detail - everything was planned perfectly, from the baby shaped sandwiches to the baseball-themed cupcakes & favors. We started the shower with a "Mom-to-be" fact game .... each guest was given a list of facts about me and had about 10-15 minutes to memorize them. Next, they were given a blank sheet of paper & had to write down as many facts as they could remember. I think my friend Kim had an unfair advantage - she won with 18 facts! However, my aunt Cindy came in a close second with 15 correct, so she must have studied well! :-) Below are some photos from the shower - it was a perfect day with the family!

Top to bottom: the food spread, beautiful quilt made by my Great-Aunt Renate, "Easton" pillow made by aunt Bettie (using doily from Jason's deceased Dad's house), Diaper wreath from my friend Kim & finally, ALL of the nice gifts!

Friend Baby Shower 9-19-09

Hostess Steph, Hostess Martha, Prul, Hostess & sis-in-law Ashley, Me & Stacy P

My Lobster Girls! Betsy, Prul, Me & Mayhan

The "Amys"! Amy Hill, Me, Amy TB & Amy Stan-Dan

Last weekend kicked off with my friend baby shower on Saturday afternoon. What a fun day! The shower was held at my best friend Martha's house, who hosted the event along with my good friend Stephenie & my sister-in-law, Ashley. SO many people traveled from all around to be there for this special time - friends traveled from Raleigh, Charlotte, Wilmington, Jacksonville, Lynchburg & Richmond .... but the "furthest traveler" award goes to my friend Amy TB, who came in from Tennessee! I was amazed at the turnout and how generous and thoughtful everyone was. The food was delicious & nothing can beat having so many friends in one place at one time. Here are some pictures from the shower:

The gifts & the food!

Time to open the gifts!!

A cute bathrobe from my Mom

Handmade burpcloths from Betsy - this one is camouflage! :-)

Pregnancy Portraits!

While I was in Danville last week, my friend Chrystal offered to take some pregnancy pictures of me. Chrystal has been doing photography on this side for several years & I have always admired the beautiful pictures she takes of her two daughters, Kinsley & Ava Graye. I was a bit apprehensive about taking maternity shots, mainly because I feel big & I did not want to show my bare belly. Chrystal immediately put me at ease & made me feel not only comfortable, but also beautiful. It also helps that she is a hair dresser, so she is quite in tune with how to make her subjects look good. She's a wonderful friend and extremely talented .... take a look at some of the pictures below:

I was SO happy with how they turned out - and you see that I got over my "bare belly" apprehensions! :-) We took these photos on Friday, and Chrystal showed up at my shower the next day with two 8x10 framed prints and several smaller prints ... she must have stayed up all night editing & making them perfect! We displayed them at both baby showers & everyone loved them - here are a few pics of the prints:

Words cannot express how grateful I am for these pictures - I will treasure them always! THANKS CHRYSTAL, we love you!!!

21 weeks & Jason's 33rd birthday!!!

The weeks keep passing by ... here is my 21 week picture. We took this around 7am before leaving for our flight to Raleigh, NC, so I am not 100% awake :-)

We arrived safely at RDU airport around noon today - after we grabbed our luggage and picked up the rental car, we met Jacob and April at Firehouse Subs for a quick lunch. After lunch we made the drive to Danville.

Jason's 33rd birthday was today, and I organized a surprise dinner for him at Lone Star Steakhouse. Jason thought that just my mom, Dad, he and I were going to dinner, but when we arrived he was greeted by about 20 other people! I've never been able to surprise Jason for his birthday before, and was so happy that he was able to celebrate with family and friends. Here's a pic of the "birthday boy"... he's looking pretty good for 33 yrs old, huh? :-) Happy birthday, JASON!!!!

We are looking forward to a fun and busy week of visiting friends & family, as well as having two baby showers this weekend. We're also hoping to do some relaxing, especially Jason, who has been working very long hours lately. But most of all we are thankful to be home!

A surprise gift & a "Marine Dad"

On Wednesday, a surprise present arrived at our door. I could tell from the box that it was the Pack-n-Play that was on our registry, but I wasn't sure who it was from. I wanted to wait until Jason got home to open the box. When we moved the box inside from the porch, I noticed that the "SOLD TO" field said Gayle Daniel, so I assumed it was from my Mom & Dad. We called my parents to say thank you - but my Mom informed us that the gift was not from her, she simply ordered it for someone???? I also think my Mom secretly got a kick out of this because I can be very hard to surprise (I am a self-proclaimed "snooper") :-) We were quite confused, but since we called to thank them while we were in route to Cracker Barrel for dinner, we had to wait until we got home to find out who the true gift giver was.....

Once we returned home, we tore into the box & discovered that the gift was from my aunt Cindy, uncle Wayne, cousin Kristin & Popey!!! Here are a couple of pictures of the Pack-n-Play ...on the top there is a changing area and a "newborn napper" which will be great for Easton to sleep in when he first comes home from the hospital. Thanks Cindy & family - we love it!

Jason had to wear his dress blues for work today, which is a rare occasion..... I decided that he should pose for a picture in front of the crib. So here's a pic of Easton's "Marine Dad." For some reason he won't smile when he's in his dress uniform - I think it's an unwritten rule or something. :-) But regardless, doesn't he look sharp????

20 week update

We're at the halfway point - 20 weeks down, 20 more weeks to go! Of course it's time for my weekly picture. Jason didn't get home from work until almost 10pm, so I am looking a bit tired and my hair is tore up from laying on the couch & watching TV. But we're not taking these for my hair right? It's for the belly, so here you go:


I visited my OBGYN for my monthly appointment today. Everything looked good - Easton was moving around as usual, and his heartbeat was strong at 150 beats/minute. My doctor measured my stomach and said my measurement was 21, which was right on track. I've also finally put on a few pounds, but I am still not quite back to my pre-pregnancy weight. At least we're moving in the right direction, and my doctor seemed pleased with our progress.

Jason had a few days off this past weekend, and on Saturday we did a little shopping. Several friends & family members have recommended that we check consignment stores for clothing and other baby items. I've never been much of a "thrift shopper" myself, but I figured it was worth a try, especially for items like clothing that are grown out of so fast. There is not much to choose from in the Port Huron area, but a web search turned up all types of shops closer to bigger cities, like Troy & Detroit.

I of course made a spreadsheet of the locations/addresses and we hit the road on Saturday. The shops had the cutest names, like "Cutie Patootie" & "Funky Frog". I must admit, I was SHOCKED at the quality and selection. We purchased 2 nice, warm snowsuits, 2 pairs of khaki pants, 1 pair of jeans, a Hawaiian shirt, a plaid long-sleeved button down shirt, a sweater with the cutest patches on the elbows, a pair of Mickey pj's and two long-sleeved onesies. All of the items were really nice brands, like Baby Gap & Children's Place.

And guess how much we spent?????? Only $50! I felt like we robbed the stores! Just one snow suit would have cost what we spent on all the items below:


We've made some more progress on the nursery - as mentioned in a previous post, our nursery bedding arrived. Over the weekend we decided to wash it and get it ready for the crib. It came out of the wash a bit wrinkled, so Jason IRONED the sheet, comforter, crib skirt and bumper! He's an excellent ironer (I guess he picked up that skill in the Marines). :-) Jason also surprised me by putting all of the bedding on the crib! He claimed he was using the bathroom (I thought he was gone a LONG time, but didn't want to question him) but then he said "look in the baby's room" and I saw the crib, all decked out and ready for Easton!

In other nursery news, I stopped by a sporting goods store today. I wanted to find a baseball jersey that we can personalize with Easton's name to hang on the wall. Not only did I find a nice navy jersey, but I also got a pair of white baseball pants with navy pinstripes, a navy batter's helmet and the best part, a set of all 5 bases!!! Everything was a "steal" and on clearance since baseball season is ending (get it, steal???) :-) I plan to hang the bases on the wall in the shape of a baseball diamond ... the pants and jersey will most likely be placed in a shadow box. And I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the batter's helmet yet - maybe turn it over & fill it with diapers???

Other than that (which is a lot now that I type it!) we're anxiously awaiting our trip home next week. We have two baby showers scheduled, and of course want to visit with all of our friends & family members. Can't wait to see everyone!!!

19 weeks pregnant & Easton's nursery bedding

Below is my picture for week 19. My stomach is really getting "out there".... it's hard to believe we're almost halfway there!

In other exciting news, our nursery bedding set arrived yesterday! I had been searching for a baseball bedding set, even prior to knowing that we were having a boy (I just wanted to be prepared) :-) Surprisingly, finding JUST baseball bedding & accessories is rather difficult. There are all types of mixed sports sets with soccer, football, basketball & baseball, but we only wanted to go with a baseball theme for Easton (after all, his name is found on baseball bats!).

I found a perfect set online, only to find out that it had been discontinued. Luckily, I don't like to take "NO" for an answer, so I continued to search sites like Craigslist & EBay. I stumbled across the EXACT bedding set that we wanted on EBay that was new and still in the original box. I made my bid & won it for 60% off of the retail value!!! So not only did we get the bedding that we wanted, but we also got it super cheap. Can't beat that, huh? :-)

The set included a comforter, bumper, sheet, 2 window valances, a pillow, hanging diaper bag and caddy for the changing area. All of the pieces range in light blue to a deep blue (almost purple color) and have the "Baby League" theme, which include baseball bats, hats, jerseys & ball gloves. Here's a picture of the comforter:

Another interesting bit of information: at the top right corner there is the #7, which was Jason's baseball number when he was growing up. Bottom left you'll see a #4, which has always been my lucky number. And on the shirt (bottom, middle) there's the number 3, which represents the number of people soon to be in our little family! Pretty cute, don't you think? :-)