35 weeks!!!

So, when we got a few warm days in a row a few weekends ago we decided to paint the "little changing table that could" that we inherited from Dan's Dad's family. It has some really great lines and after a coat of "sea glass" paint it looks like it will fit seamlessly into our nursery! I also painted a few picture frames for the walls of the nursery. I plan to hang them on the wall above the changing table. These past few weeks I've also been working on some paper mache hot air balloons for above the baby's crib. I still have some painting to do but they are coming along...

At our 35 week check up we learned that not only was my blood pressure elevated a little bit, but our sweet little Itbert finally tired of 34+ weeks upside down and has decided to explore a different placement... some would call it Breech! : \  

Because of the blood pressure my midwife decided to put me on modified bedrest... meaning they are forcing me to relax and lay on my side. Exceptions are only things like getting food and luckily going and sitting at a baby shower (on sunday)! Both Dan and I have heard people say "it's not the birth I wanted, but..." and we realize that we just don't want that to be us. Our greatest desire from this whole experience is for Baby and I to return home safely and healthily! We have made an effort to be consciously making decisions about our birth that we are really comfortable with, but we want to see this as it is. If baby stays breech, we have a baby still. Our perspective, hopefully, will be one so thankful we'll have little room for disappointment. I say this to convince myself of this too. This feels like the perfect time to prepare myself for things possibly not going according to plan. I want my heart to be set on doing everything I can to bring home a healthy baby and not on how exactly that will happen. We'll do everything we can... but at the end of the day, we just want a healthy, happy little family!

Baby's head is here!

34 weeks!!!

Grammy and I 

my mom and sister threw a wonderfully dreamy shower. My aunt and Grammy came and worked in the kitchen. A kitchen full of women you love is, in my mind, the best kind of kitchen there is! Also, we had our first real snow since our return to the states! (It was good that I love snow so much and that it was so beautiful because it kept me from seeing dear dear friends I've been away from for so long!) It was pretty amazing to see how loved little Itbert is when he/she's never even met any of these people before. I was truly blessed by the community of women that surrounded me! Thank you for loving our little (but growing) family!

33 weeks!!!!!

This week Itbert and Dar got some good quality time together! Last time they were together Itbert was still in the "I look like a tadpoley cluster of cells stage". This wonderful long weekend with Darlin' Dar, she was able to feel Itbert kick and move. Pretty sweet! She also helped us turn our nursery walls into their lovely lemony selves.

As you can see from the pictures, our walls started as ugly wallpaper... we soon learned that the ugly wall paper had even uglier wallpaper underneath and a very sweet 60's layer under that... which I would have loved to keep if it wasn't partially painted over with poo-brown paint! We tried to peel... but gave up eventually and did 2 coats of white then 2 of yellow... turns out that was neither enough nor a tolerable color of yellow. We're talking retina burning here people! So... we bought another can in the same color just one shade lighter. It's much better!

 First shade...  TOO BRIGHT!

 making things better!

32 weeks

31 weeks!

So, I'm totally playing catch up here... I've been so late in posting because life has gotten so incredibly busy! Christmas was wonderful. It was great to be home! The Christmas eve service, time with family, and of course lots of cookies!!! We had sweet opportunity to have our dear friends Pete and CL stay with us through new years. What a great time! It was all good but some highlights were definitely the catching up, the amazing chinese cooking that CL and I ROCKED, and of course, ringing in the new year with back to back games of settlers and park and shop! 

At the reading terminal waiting for canolis to be purchased so we can eat them!!!

CL and I caught up while creating an amazing Chinese FEAST!

And of course some 31 week belly pics! We took them in front of the house because this day marked our 4 months anniversary in our home!