Maternity Pictures!

A few weeks ago, when we were 33 weeks along (we are now 36....only one month to go!) we had maternity pictures taken. It has been a super snowy winter and we decided to embrace the snow and take pictures in the snow!

A big thanks to Kim Johnson of Kim Joyce Photography. She did an amazing job and we are so excited to have her capture pictures of our little girl over the next year!

Here are some of our favorites! 

 

She's Coming....

Only 6 more weeks until little girl makes her grand entrance! Part of us is so ready and wish it could be tomorrow and the other part of us really needs the additional 6 weeks. We have had 4 friends in the past month have babies and we are getting a little antsy for it to be our turn!

Note to little girl: Stay in there, you have some more baking to do and Mommy and Daddy have some more preparing to do.

In the past month we have done lots to prepare for little girl's arrival. A couple weekends ago we went to a 8 hour birth class. It was actually very informational and went by pretty fast. It was good to really sit down and think about our expectations, what we can do to ensure our expectations are met, and different scenarios that could arise, that are out of our control, and could change our expectations. And... during the boring parts I was able to do some more in-depth research about the cloth diapers we are going to use (insert everyone's own opinion here). I feel very prepared for this adventure.  It will save us a TON of money and although it will be a sacrifice at times, we feel it is the best choice for our family. 

Last Friday we went to get an extra sonogram, per Doctor's orders. At my past 3 appointments, little girl has been measuring 4 weeks ahead. Even though there is no way I am a month more pregnant, it's just because she is HUGE! As nervous as I was about her being so big, I was super excited to take an extra sneak peek at her. The sonogram went really well and my mom was even able to come. The sonographer said she is actually measuring about 2 weeks ahead and not to be alarmed because it is relatively normal. She said I just have a generous amount of fluid around the placenta that makes her measure even bigger from the outside (I'd like to think that its about 20 lbs of extra fluid!). However, her head did measure in the 90th percentile, which I personally find just a wee bit daunting! 

Here She is! She even has a little dimple!

Last Saturday we went on a tour of the hospital we will deliver at. We are both so thankful we did this because Overland Park Regional has had a lot of remodeling that has occurred since we were last there and it took us awhile to find the right entrance and area of the hospital....not something we would want to be doing in the heat of the moment. During the tour they showed us the nursery  where there were obviously lots of babies. The reality of it all hit me then. I couldn't even look at Noah because I was choking back tears as I thought...."Oh my word, we are going to get to take one of those home!" On Saturday we also went to Nebraska Furniture Mart with my mom to buy a chair and ottoman for the nursery. We were able to take the chair home that day but have to wait for the ottoman to come in. (Pictures to come in next blog!)

We have a lot to look forward to over the next 6 weeks, but a lot to do as well. Including a Master's Research Project I have to finish in order to officially graduate in May :) Luckily, I have Spring Break next week and plan on getting LOTS done. Curtains, lamp shade, and chair pillow for her room. Deep clean the house, including floors and kitchen cabinets. Pack bag for hospital and make a "labor and delivery" play list for the Ipod. Finish 7 weeks of lesson plans, fill out 6 ECOS (Early Childhood Outcome) and 6 AEPS (Assessment, Evaluation, Programing System for Children) Reports, write 3 IEPS, and complete 3 sets of transition paperwork for school. And the list goes on and on...

Slowly but surely, we are getting there!