40 Weeks

We had our 40 week appointment today with Ali. We have three midwives that we rotate seeing throughout the pregnancy. We have been going in weekly now for a few weeks. I look forward to these and now I hope we don't have to have another appointment... just the birth. Madeline's heartbeat is in the 130's and Ali thought she probably weighs between 6 1/2 to 7 pounds right now. I am dilated at 1 1/2 cm and 50% effaced. But none of that information gives any indication when it will happen. I am getting restless. I don't think I can nest any more than I have. Our house is perfectly clean - all the cupboards are organized, floors mopped, furniture dusted. Bags are packed and car seat in the car. I feel like I have nothing to do. Well, kind of. I am still finishing up her quilt for the crib. Hien is off work now for 3 weeks. Woohoo! So tomorrow and the next few days we are just going to do some fun stuff - go see a movie, eat at Izumi's (our favorite sushi place - just remembered I can't eat raw fish... hmmm... well we will see where we will go). Izumi's was our 1st date, our first anniversary and seems fitting to go there in anticipation of our first baby. :)

Sunita and I a few weeks ago at one of our appointments

37 Weeks and 3 Weeks to Go!!!

So you may not be seeing many or any more belly pictures. I decided to do at least one more but some of the ones I have seen of me lately (especially the baby shower photos - eeek), just not too fun for me to look at. We had our 37 week appointment last night. She measured at 37 cm so she is right on track. They think she is about 5 1/2 pounds right now so if she goes full term they estimate about 7 pounds. But either way, we are in the safe zone if I were to go into labor any day. I am having A LOT of Braxton Hicks, having trouble sleeping at night and getting really uncomfortable. I just can't believe that in a few weeks, I am going to be a mommy. It is a weird feeling - wonderful, but hard to imagine. Maybe the next time I post, we will have baby photos to share......

The baby room is done!! So here is entering the room. Some of these photos are taken on different days with different cameras. The quality is not great but hopefully you can get an idea.

The crib with the quilt I am working on now. Mom and Mandie came over a few weeks ago to help me put it together. We did the top in about 3 hours. Now I am doing all the hand stitching which is a great project to do while watching TV and keeping my feet up.

Crib mobile from Pottery Barn Kids. It plays "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".

I love this glider. Check out the two pillows. The back one is handmade by Julie. I love it! The reverse side is black and white polka dot. Then the chick pillow in front is from the Land of Nod. As soon as I saw it online, I knew I had to have one for her room.

Dresser - which is now fully loaded with more clothes than she can probably wear. But I am sure we will manage somehow. :)

Little stuffed animals and books. The purple elephant in front is a knitted gift from Mandie. And the cute puppy in the pillow is a gift from Sara and Krissy. The little teddy bear in back is a gift from little Jane at church (she is 5). We went to her house on Saturday. She ran up the stairs to her room and brought it down as a gift from her. She thinks the baby will love it and I agree. The bear's name is Katie.

Yes there is an M and it stands for Madeline. Her name will be Madeline Grace.

So Madeline has to share the room with the computer. We'll see how it works out. This was my best attempt to bring it all together. It actually might be just fine. While daddy is on the computer, mommy and baby can rock and eat and all be together.

Hanging paper lanterns

Hien and I hiking at Tiger Mountain a couple weeks ago. Turned out to be a little too steep for me now so we kept to the little walks around the small lake and forest.

33 Weeks

On Sunday, Julie took photos for us at my parent's house. She did such a great job. Wow, and my parents have the yard to have their own outdoor photography studio. Our engagement pictures were done at their house too. These 9 are my favorites.

Yesterday was our midwife appointment. Hien was sick with a cold so I went alone. (We have been passing our cold back and forth with each other - I was sick all last week). I met with Ali who is probably my favorite in that she is very calm to be around. Everything looked good and our baby is growing very well - measuring right now at 33 weeks. She had been measuring a couple centimeters shorter than our weeks but now she has caught up.

The nursery is so close to being done. I will post photos when it is finished - hopefully by next week. I am feeling more and more ready and excited for her to be here. Still doing lots of reading - Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Hypno Birthing, Baby Wise and Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child. I know I am never going to be totally prepared for being a mom but I have this strong urge to be as prepared as possible. And now with about 6 weeks left, I feel like it will go by so quickly!

31 Weeks

Well, it feels like we are on the final homestretch. I can't believe it is only 9 weeks to go. That feels really fast. It seems there is still so much to do to prepare and I just want to get it all done, especially her room - I wonder if this is what the nesting phase is??? Anyway, we started birthing class last week and it will last for 6 weeks. It is a fun class, very interactive and is taught by a doula in her home. There are about 11 or 12 couples in the class. I feel great other than some low back pain so I am thankful. I do lots of walking and am reading books getting prepared for the childbirth.

So we have been working on the nursery. We now have all the furniture. Now comes the fun part of all the little extra details, like lamps and wall hangings.

Here is her dresser. A Craig's list find - interesting enough, this was exactly the dresser I was going to be buying from Ikea. Saved $70 buying it this way. :)

This glider and ottoman is another Craig's list find!

These are some of the pictures for the wall to hang up. Eventually I want to do sillhouettes in them.

25 Weeks

25 Weeks and I hit the 6 month mark last Friday. Woohoo! Feeling good thankfully. I was thinking if I have had any cravings. I guess lately it has been dark chocolate and grapes. Watermelon is out of season now. :( Oh and the nectarines have been really good lately too. Fall is just around the corner and days like today make me want to stay inside, bake and burn my new fall candle. This is my first year getting to be at home and now that fall is coming I am more excited than ever. Hopefully next week or the week after we will start on painting the nursery and getting the curtains hung. We did get our crib set up now and it's perfect!

Day at the Beach

Friday we all took off for the beach. Thursday had been a hot day at the zoo (80's) and half way into our drive to the ocean it started to rain. Oh well. Once we got there, we bundled up and figured a way to rig our 2 cars together. The boys made sand castles and Cooper flew his kite. We made hot dogs on the Coleman stove. Walked a little on the beach. Maybe it wasn't what we originally had in mind but we had the best time.

The towel and rear trunks worked great to create a little dry spot in between the 2 cars. Now we have a spot to be dry and eat our roasted hot dogs.

Jeremy and Dad

The sisters all together! First time all being together since Mandie's surgery. And Mandie said this was her funnest day since her transplant!!!

Mom and two of her girls

Mandie and Dodge

Jeremy, Julie and Ruston

Hien and I

Cooper and I being silly

And what does Hien do at the beach? No surprise, right?

Mandie drinking in the experience and doing a twirl

Cooper excited to get to go to the Shark store

Sawyer tired out from the fun day

Zoo with the Nephews

So Jeremy, Angie and the boys are here for the weekend and today we went to Woodland Park Zoo. The boys have never been to a zoo before. We had some exciting experiences. Missed some lemur's fighting but heard them right after we left their area. As soon as we heard the loud noises, we rushed back... but not in time to see the action. Sawyer was the funniest. He was like "That was dumb". When we asked what was dumb. He said "The noises they were making". Then we also had a real experience at the gorillas when the old one began eating his... well, it would be too gross to say.
Fun times!

Sweet big brown eyed Dodge

Handsome blue eyes!

Cooper making silly faces

Our cute little Rusty


Sawyer taking a break

Snow Leopards

Another of Cooper's many expressions


Hugging Aunt Mandie