36 weeks - less than a month to go!

I've hit the 36 week mark - we have less than a month before we will finally meet little Easton, can you believe it? Here's my picture for the week, my shirt looks like it is stretched to the max! :-)

Jason & I went for my 36 week appointment today. We started with an ultrasound to confirm Easton's position & get an estimate on his size. He is head down & the ultrasound estimated his weight to be 7 lbs 7 ounces already!!! This puts him on track to be a large baby (in the 85th percentile). All of the other measurements & readings looked great & his heartbeat was 160 beats per minute. Here are a few pictures of Easton - these will be his last photos until he is born, how exciting!

Profile shot - looking perfect!

3D photo of his face ... the black spot near his eye is just a shadow (I thought it was a bruise!)

After the ultrasound, we were scheduled to meet with my doctor. We waited and waited - an hour went by, and we were told she was called out for a delivery! Luckily the nurse was available, so she did my checkup. I gained 4 pounds in the past two weeks (thanks a lot, Christmas dinner!) which puts my total weight gain around 19 lbs. My blood pressure was great & my fundal measurement was 38cm, which is the same as it was 2 weeks ago. The nurse did an internal exam to check my cervix, but so far there is no dilation. She also did a GBS test (Group B Strep) - if I test positive, it means I have a bacteria that could possibly be passed to Easton during delivery. If I do have the infection, they will administer medication via IV to me during the delivery process so that Easton will not get sick. Here's hoping I get a negative result!

From here on, I will have weekly appointments to monitor Easton's progress. My next appointment is scheduled for Wednesday Jan 6th - my first appointment in 2010! Be sure to check back soon for an update.

An extra "baseball touch" for the Nursery...

Jason & I went to Hobby Lobby a few days ago, and I saw some cute foam baseball shapes. Of course I immediately thought of Easton's nursery and began to brainstorm ways I could use them. I've been wanting to add some type of labels to the baskets on his changing table - so here is what I came up with:

Close-up of baseball label

Hats, Bibs & Toiletries on top; Diapers & Burp Cloths on bottom

They were quite easy to make .... I started by printing out labels (using the sticky blank address labels that you can get at Staples, Office Max, etc). I then stuck the label on a baseball shape & punched a hole in the top of the ball. Next, I found some red ribbon ornament hangers and used those to loop through the hole. Finally, the ribbon was worked through one of the weaves in the basket - and you see the final result! :-) I love this extra touch & really like how the baseball theme is incorporated into the baskets that were originally just plain white with blue/white striped liners. What do you think????

Christmas 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Jason & I could not travel to Virginia this year (due to me being SO pregnant), so we were unable to spend the holidays with our friends and family back home. While we were sad that we could not be with our loved ones, we were also appreciative of the fact that this will be our last "calm" holiday for a very long while!

To get us in the holiday spirit, on Christmas Eve we baked pumpkin spiced cookies & a pumpkin pie & also watched a few Christmas movies that were on TV. Christmas morning we opened our gifts from one another. Jason gave me a lot of scrapbooking supplies, including a nice paper cutter, some stickers/embellishments and some scrapbook papers. I also received a calendar (it's a tradition for Jason to give me a new calendar for each new year), a huge box of Post-It Notes (I go through these things quickly with all of my list-making) and a coupon organizer (I've become quite the thrifty shopper now that we have a child on the way!) :-)

I gave Jason the "Call of Duty 2" video game for his PS3, the new book by Dave Ramsey called "Total Money Makeover", and the 2nd season of "Rome" on DVD. We are also getting each other a joint gift - a new DSLR camera! We plan to purchase the camera with gift cards that we received from my parents, brother Jacob & sister-in-law Ashley, plus we'll have to put some money with it. We can't wait to have a new camera to take pictures of Easton!

Here are some pics of us opening gifts on Christmas morning:

All of the gifts under the tree

We were invited to Christmas dinner by Greg & Linda Benda - Greg & Linda are the parents of Mike Benda, who is one of Jason's Marine recruits. Dinner was absolutely AMAZING! We started with a cheese tray and crackers, along with any alcoholic beverage you can imagine. (& non-alcoholic peach champagne for me!) Around 5pm we were called to the dinner table - it looked like something you would find in a fancy restaurant! The centerpiece was gorgeous and there were settings for five courses. We began with a delicious mushroom soup, then had a poached pear to cleanse our palate. Next was salad, followed by a broiled lobster tail. We then had lime sherbet, again to cleanse the palate, and finally the main course of prime rib, twice-baked potatoes & French green beans. Each course had an accompanying beverage, such as champagne, white red wine, Merlot, and finally a cordial (none for me though). We were all SO stuffed, so we moved into the living room. After some digestion time, Linda served our choice of cappuccino or espresso, along with a yummy Italian cream cake topped with homemade raspberry sauce. It was undoubtedly one of the best meals that we've ever had, and we were so grateful to be included in the Benda's Christmas celebration.

After dinner, we were full & tired, so we headed home to relax. We did a few things around the house and then headed to bed. It was a great day!!!

Rudolph Wrapping! :-)

Since Jason & I can't be home for Christmas this year, we wrapped several of our presents and mailed them to my Mom's house in Virginia. I saw a cute idea on HGTV for wrapping a gift to look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & decided to try it on my Mom's gift. I wanted to wait and post this once my Mom received the gift in the mail & saw it in person .... she got it today & thought it was really cute! Here is a picture of the final result:

And here I am (looking like a goof ball) posing with the reindeer :-)

35 weeks

It's almost Christmas! I took my weekly picture while wearing my Santa pajama pants (trying my best to be festive) .... here I am at 35 weeks:

Jason had the past few days off from work and we got a lot accomplished. Both car seat bases have been installed, the files on the camcorder have been moved to our hard drive to make room for filming Easton and all of Easton's bibs, burp cloths, blankets, socks, etc. have been washed & put away (we are waiting to wash the clothes until we figure out how big he'll be ... no need to wash newborn stuff if we don't need it!) We've also been spending a lot of time searching for houses in North Carolina & discussing our plans for moving.

Today was a fun day. My friend Alison & I went to lunch at Chili's and spent some time talking & catching up. Then tonight, I met my friends Carrie, Niki & Andrea at the River Grille for dinner. We always have a fun time together so it was nice to hang out for a few hours. They also loaded me up with Christmas presents .... I haven't opened them yet but can't wait to see what they got for us and Easton (Jason said I had to wait until Christmas Day).

We have our next doctor's appointment next week on Tuesday Dec 29th. We're anxiously awaiting this appointment because we'll have another ultrasound to determine Easton's position & approximate size. We're ready when you are, little man ... you are free to make your debut! :-)

34 weeks ..... or is it 38 weeks????

It's weekly picture time! Here I am at 34 weeks:



I had my bi-monthly appointment with my OBGYN today. Over the past week or so, I have been experiencing some tightening/cramping & I mentioned that to my doctor. Also, my fundal height measurement was 38 centimeters today (it should have been 34). I've consistently measured 2 weeks larger, but since this week's measurement was 4 weeks ahead my doctor decided to do an internal exam just in case.

Easton has dropped and is in proper position, but I have not dilated yet. But Dr. Rowe said "this little guy will be coming a few weeks early" - so if she is right, Easton will be here in early January instead of later in the month! We scheduled my next appointment and final ultrasound for Tuesday Dec 29th. We'll know more about Easton's position and size at that time.

I've gained 1.5 lbs in the past two weeks, which puts my total weight gain around 15 pounds. And Easton's heartbeat was really strong at 160 beats per minute. Of course I want him to "bake" as long as he needs to be healthy, but we are SO ready to meet him!

Final purchases for Easton & packing bags...

Today, Jason & I headed down to Hall Road to visit Buy Buy Baby & Babies R Us. We wanted to make the final purchases from our registries & ensure that we have all of the necessities prior to Easton's arrival. We purchased the ErgoBaby Carrier w/ infant insert and the Bumbo seat with play tray. I also bought some disposable breast pads ... I already have some washable ones, but several friends have informed me that the disposable are much more convenient (and less yucky to deal with) :-) After our shopping trip we had a tasty dinner at PF Changs. We started with Wonton Soup, then had the Mongolian Beef for our main dish. We finished our meal with their delicious Banana Spring Roll dessert.

I am sure there will be many more purchases to come AFTER Easton gets here (once we learn his dislikes/likes & figure out how to be parents), but for now we are completely stocked on what we've been told are the essentials (and even some "nice to have items"). It feels good to be prepared (well, as prepared as two people about to embark on a new adventure can be!) with several weeks to spare. We have tons of clothing, ranging in sizes from newborn up to 2T, over 1000 diapers in sizes 1, 2 and 3 and all types of baby gadgets - monitors, swings, strollers, car seat, carriers, blankets, toys, books, and the list goes on & on. Who knew a little one could need so much stuff!!!

I've experienced some Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few days, which is making Easton's pending arrival even more "real" for both Jason & me. While my due date is still several weeks away, we decided that it may be a good idea to go ahead & pack our bags for the hospital, just in case Easton decides to make an early appearance. So the bags will be packed tonight as well - and yes, I have a spreadsheet of the needed items :-) If anyone has any suggestions of what we should take to the hospital (vs. what is unnecessary) I would love to hear them!

33 weeks .... 47 days to go!

It's time for the weekly picture again - we were having some flash issues with our camera, so this picture is not the best quality. Luckily, my belly is pretty far "out there" so you can still see that :-) But I guess the flash issue is just a sign that we definitely need a new camera before Easton arrives (which is what we were planning to get for Christmas anyway). Here I am at 33 weeks:

I am really starting to feel the effects of pregnancy. It's becoming a bit difficult to breathe, especially when laying down. Easton tends to lay on my bladder the majority of the day, which makes me feel like I need to rush to the bathroom (only to find that nothing comes out) :-) I've had some swelling, primarily in my hands, which has caused me to stop wearing my wedding ring. All in all things are still going great, I am just a bit uncomfortable at this point - oh, and tired, did I mention how exhausted walking a flight a steps gets me? And keep in mind, we live in a 3-story house, so I am up & down steps all day. At least I get some exercise in that way!

I start bi-monthly doctor appointments this month, and my next visit is next week. Jason is planning to go the appt. with me & we want to give our doctor the thank you/Christmas gift that we bought her. We're also excited to get an update on how Easton is doing - from the looks of my belly (and all the action within) he seems to be growing just fine!

This is my last week of teaching, and after I will officially be on maternity leave. Since we will be moving early next year I will not be returning to my job after Easton arrives. My boss & co-workers were sad to hear this news, but also happy that we'll be getting closer to family. My boss also mentioned that she would recommend me for some potential online teaching opportunities. It would be great to have the option to work from home and also stay with the Baker College system. I really enjoy my job & that will be one thing I will miss about Michigan.

We had our first snow last night (Tues Dec 8th) but this morning the rain came and washed it all away. It looks like the "yucky part of winter" has officially begun. I am thankful it held off this long, and even more thankful that we only have to endure a few months of the MI winter this year!!!

Christmas Party 2009

Jason & I hosted our annual Christmas party at our house last night. We had around 25 guests, including several of our co-workers, some of Jason's recruits' parents, several good friends & one of my former students with her husband. We ate a lot of good food and spent time talking and catching up with everyone. We also played a "Name That Christmas Tune" game - our guests had to listen to 10 popular Christmas songs & name the artist and title of the song. We had prizes for the four top scorers - they were:

First Place: Jen, my former student, won a Body Shop gift basket

Second Place: Niki, our good friend, received some Yankee Candle car fresheners

Third Place: Jessica, my co-worker, got a Christmas Cookie Yankee Candle

Fourth Place: Linda, one of Jason's recruits moms, won a case of Coors Light! :-)

Did you notice that all of the winners were females??? I guess the men just aren't up to speed on their Christmas carols. Below are some pictures from the event:

The invitations

The score sheet for "Name That Christmas Tune" game - don't you just love my spreadsheet skills??? :-)

The drink station

The food spread, including the famous sausage wontons, cocktail weenies & Jason's cheeseball that was delicious!

More yummy food (spinach dip & a chocolate fountain w/ fruit for dipping)

Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures .... I spent most of the night sitting down (which is quite out of character for me - usually I am quite the hostess, filling drinks, passing out food, etc.). But everyone insisted that I relax and sit, which was a nice change! Pregnancy definitely has it perks!

Speaking of pregnancy perks, Jason was absolutely amazing this weekend. He helped so much with the party details - on Friday night once he got home from work, we began prepping food and setting up. He also got busy on Saturday when he got home from work. Jason did a lot of the food, including chopping the fruit, getting the chocolate fountain working (which was quite a job, it was doing some sputtering early on) and preparing the cheeseball, which was delicious and received TONS of compliments. He also did a lot of the decorating & cleaning, such as setting up chairs and washing all of the dishes that were used to cook. I've said it before, but I'll say it again ... I am very blessed to have such a wonderful husband!

Several of our Michigan friends were sad since they recently heard the news of our pending move to North Carolina. We will miss our friends that we have made up here, but look forward to continuing our annual holiday party tradition at our new home near Camp Lejeune. Who knows, maybe some of our Michigan friends will make the trip down to NC for the party so they can continue the tradition with us! :-)

BIG NEWS!!!!

Jason got some exciting news yesterday .... he received orders back to North Carolina!!! He will be assigned to 8th Marines Regiment at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC (near Wilmington, NC). We will be living at the beach!!! We should be relocated by sometime next spring - when we have a more definite time frame I'll be sure to let everyone know!

While we will miss the friends we've made in Michigan, we've been hoping to get closer to home, especially since we found out we were expecting. We are BEYOND excited to be getting back to the south, and even more happy that Easton will be able to get to know his family & friends better. We expect A LOT of visitors now that we'll be so close to home! :-)

Christmas Decorations 2009

Jason & I spent some of the long Thanksgiving weekend decorating for Christmas .... here are some pictures of our final result!

32 weeks!

We've hit the 32 week mark .... only 54 days to go!



My waist is measuring 46 inches this week .... oh, and there is something new in the background of this week's picture, can you pick it out? (hint: look below my belly) :-) Not sure if you can tell what it is from the pic - I am anxious to hear guesses!

I have another OBGYN appt on Wednesday - as usual, I am anxious to hear Easton's heartbeat & ensure that everything is going well. We'll begin the bi-monthly visits this month & my final ultrasound to determine positioning will be sometime in mid-December.