woody's tree

great friends of ours gave us the idea (and a giftcard to a garden center) to plant something in honor of woody. since we currently rent, we decided to see if the park where we have our community garden would allow us to plant a tree there. our hope is to stay in lakewood when we buy a home since we so love this community, so this seemed like the best option. brad contacted the parks department and they were more than willing to let us plant woody's tree there. we chose a red maple (october glory to be exact) from their list of approved trees because according to brad, it would provide our children lots of helicopters to play with in the spring and would be so beautiful in the fall so we might always remember our faithful friend.

nursery update

We had a very productive weekend spent, among other things, finishing registering & painting the nursery. At the last second, I opted for a robin's egg blue-ish green, almost turquoise color rather than the lime green I had intended (to give you a better idea of what color it is, if you know my sister Jenna, it's her signature color). We're very happy with the way it turned out and we can't wait to finish putting the room together! Here's a peak at the nursery with the artwork my niece Madelyn made us for Christmas, I will post more once we get the furniture up!

I'm still feeling great and trying to take advantage of this time to prepare as much as possible for baby hutch. Brad can't quite understand what the rush is, but he's being a great sport and indulging me and all my ridiculous requests. I've really been feeling the baby more and more lately and look forward to the taps and waves of him/her swimming around in there. I've also realized that it's a really good thing we didn't find out what we're having, because if I knew I would be in big trouble buying clothes in preparation! While shopping for my cousin's baby shower (she's having a girl) I managed to find a few articles of baby girl clothing for myself (they were super on sale and absolutely adorable!). I justified it to Brad because 4 people have independantly told me they think I'm having a girl...so, based on how I'm carrying, do you have a guess?

21 weeks

overjoyed

We finally got to see Baby Hutch today! How very special it was! All looks good and healthy and I feel like I can finally sit back and enjoy the rest of the pregnancy! The baby was very cooperative and allowed the technician to get all the measurements and pictures he needed. His/her mouth was open the entire time and her hands were up by her face moving all around. Oh, I also started feeling movement last Friday night, what an amazing feeling!

I didn't know 3D would be an option for us, but the tech kept switching back and forth throughout the ultrasound. I think he/she looks like Brad :-)

fun with our nieces

We spent the weekend watching my nieces while Jenna & Andrew jetted off for a quick early birthday get-a-way with Naomi (their youngest).

All weekend long whenever we prepared a meal, Emma Clare would run and get her apron and drag her little chair over to help

Maggi all ready to play outside

Brad taught Maggi how to play Chess - this is Maggi & Emma Clare giving it a shot

Meredyth & Maggi playing chess

Brad's niece Anna even got to come over for a playdate

Mother's Day visiting with Nanny

Emma Clare was quite the little model  all weekend. Not only did she change her outfits often, she also ran in each morning to put makeup on with me :)

Lynne ~ These pictures of Naomi are for you!

how blessed we are

We had our long awaited appointment this morning and got to hear the heartbeat again...never get's old. Such a wonderful sound. As usual, baby Hutch was a busy little bee and wouldn't let us hear the heartbeat for longer than a few seconds and then it was gone. Now we are anxiously awaiting the scheduling of our ultrasound appointment (I should get to schedule this week sometime).

I'm feeling quite blessed lately as I learned (well really, finally get to announce) I get to share this whole pregnancy journey with two of my closest friends in the world. One is right on track with me (due 3 days after me, we've been friends since kindergarten and although we don't get to see each other often (she lives in Colorado), we can always pick up right where we left off) and the other is 7 weeks behind me. It is absolutely wonderful to have such close friends to experience this with!

We had our 4th birthing class tonight, which was all about the coach and the vital role they'll play during the natural birth we hope to have. I feel quite lucky to have such an attentive husband who is shaping up to be quite a good coach :-). We're still loving the class and I'm finding it to be  a weekly reminder/encourager that we can do this. The relaxation techniques (i.e. Brad massaging me while I'm lying completely relaxed listening to music) aren't too bad either...!

We haven't been able to tour the Holistic Birthing Center where we plan to deliver yet because the tours are on Wednesday nights too. We plan to visit once our Bradley classes are finished, but from the looks and sounds of it, I think we'll find it quite pleasing!

18 weeks and counting!

17 weeks 3 days

I can't believe how fast my pregnancy is already going, almost half way through and I still don't even quite believe that I'm pregnant! I feel like I'm finally starting to actually have a little bump and not just look like I let myself go, which is helping it feel a bit more real! We go back for an appointment with our midwife next Wednesday and will get to schedule the big ultrasound then. I’m hoping we won’t have to wait too much longer as I’m growing more and more anxious to “see” our baby! I don’t know how women did it before ultrasounds!

We’re really enjoying our birthing classes. There are 8 couples, most due in July & August, but one other couple due in early October (like us). The instructor is fantastic, she took the class herself 12 years ago with her first pregnancy and has been teaching ever since. She is also an ER nurse at Fairview Hospital so it’s interesting to get her insight on the behind the scenes of hospitals as well as her input on how to avoid feeling pressured into any unnecessary procedures. We really hope to be able to do a completely natural birth and this class is definitely helping us prepare both mentally as well as physically as we’ve already learned some exercises and relaxation techniques that Brad is doing a wonderful job of reminding me to practice every day :-).

We've also kept ourselves quite busy recently researching baby gear. One of Brad's favorite hobbies right now is visiting Babies R Us on the weekend to test things out. I think we had a 3 week span when we were there every weekend (to be fair, at least one of those times was to buy a baby shower gift for a friend). Anyway, we're having a great time preparing and are looking forward to the upcoming months!

Ace

We're lucky enough to get to dog sit for my sister and her husband, Mary & Justin while they're in China visiting my brother and his family. We love having a dog around again, especially Ace, he reminds us SO much of Woody. Not only does he always have to be wherever you are, whether it's curled up next to you on the couch, or sitting behind you as you wash dishes, he also has many of the same mannerisms of Woody. We've had a great time with him so far and will have a hard time giving him back...

Helping me fold clothes

Chewing on a ball on his playdate with Ralphie & Gertie

Keeping watch - one of Woody's favorite spots

All tuckered out after playing so hard