The End (of The Beginning)

We are 39 weeks today. 39 weeks! Hooray for the end of pregnancy, which has been wonderful, but brings the delivery of our daughter, which is so wonderful words are inadequate here. We had our 39 week OB appointment yesterday, and we walked away with a plan. I really want to get Kate here naturally, if possible. My mom flies in tomorrow (yay!), and I would really love it if we went into labor this weekend or early next week sometime. That would be ideal! But if not, we are scheduled to go in this Wednesday morning, June 3, to have something (I forget what it's called) put on my cervix to help soften it and kick it into gear. My doctor says if I'm already dilating and close to labor, this stuff can help kick me over into labor. Otherwise it will just help kick start the process of getting her here. I will be monitored that morning for signs of labor. If there are none, I'll head home and wait. If nothing happens by Friday, June 3 (our due date), we will go in for another treatment of this stuff on the cervix. Again, if no labor beings, I head home for the weekend. If all else fails, we are schedule to be induced on Monday, June 6. There is an end in sight, a period at the end of this sentence, and a new chapter to follow. I am so excited!

Thank you to all my friends and family who have prayed for us along this journey. I am so utterly humbled at the work of life God has been fashioning inside my womb. After our journey in trying to get pregnant, I am so appreciative to the Lord for allowing me this opportunity. I know not every woman gets to experience this.

Unless something very blog-worthy comes up, you probably won't be hearing from me until our little Trey/Kara concoction decides to make her appearance. I look forward to posting pictures and sharing the story of Kathryn Elizabeth's birth into this world. I love you all!

Kate's Nursery (so far)

Alrighty, I'm ready to post some pics of Kate's room! We almost have everything finished. I only need to hang some items on the wall, but I'm waiting for mom to get here next week to do that. We have a couple cute white shelves and two pictures Gretchen took that will go on the walls. I'll add those later. We are also saving up to get a glider soon. But for now (drum roll, please), here is our nursery!

When you first walk in, you see the all-important bed. I had to have a bed because there needs to be a place my family can sleep when they visit. Also, I hear I may need a place to crash on those rough nights :)

Here is an up close picture of the beautiful window treatments. My most creative mom came up with the idea of doing them this way, and it is so precious!

 And now, the crib. As I said earlier, we have more to hang, but this is what we have so far!

Gretchen painted these letters. She did a fabulous job! If you would like letter painted for your baby room, or some other creative item painted, Gretchen is the woman to contact!

And now, the changing table/dresser. This is my favorite item in the room because, after much hunting for the perfect changing table/dresser combination, I found this used buffet at First Monday. I bought it for $60 and had my talented husband refinish it and paint it. Just for fun, I'll show you a before picture first!

And now, the finished product!

I love every bit of our little nursery, but I can't wait for the most precious part of this nursery to get here. Come on, sweet little Kate!

B is for Breakfast

B: Breakfast, Battleship, and the Box Office, 5/9/11

*If you're wondering what this is all about, read here.

This past Monday morning, Trey and I went on our second ABC date. It was my turn to plan. I chose to take Trey to breakfast at IHOP because we used to go on breakfast dates to IHOP when we first met. We slept in until 9 and arrived at IHOP around 10 (we live 30 minutes from it), so it really turned into brunch, which still works with the B theme so no big deal :).We both ate delicious meals with eggs, sausage, bacon, and pancakes. Then we sipped on coffee and played the game Battleship!

Trey sitting there with childlike excitement, waiting to play Battleship!

I look a little sleepy, but it's OK!

It was a very intense game of battleship, and it came down to each of us finding our captured man on the other's board (this is a newer version of the game...I couldn't find the old version at our Wal-Mart).

 

 

 And just in case you're wondering, I did win :). 

After breakfast and battleship we weren't quite ready to head home, so we decided to...wait for it...browse at the outlet mall right there. Trey has been looking for the perfect pair of new shoes, and we found them! I didn't take any more pictures, but they are some very cool Sperry's. Then we were even more spontaneous and decided to hit up the box office! We love going to see movies, but when the nearest movie theater is 30 minutes away, you enjoy a movie when you can! We saw the movie Thor, which is a comic book movie. I have never known much about comic book heroes and stories, but I married a man who read them all as a child. Therefore, I have seen all the comic book movies that have come out. Thor is by far one of the better ones. I rank it up there with Wolverine and the first Iron Man movie. 

That's our B date in a nutshell. It had multiple "b" activities to it, and we had a very relaxing and enjoyable time!

A Dog Party

Our dogs turned one on May 5. For a good laugh and for fun, we decided to throw them a birthday party. It ended up being really fun, with a few family friends bringing their kids to join in the festivities. Here are some pictures and a wonderful video of us all singing Happy Birthday in dog to Pete and Dapple!

(Above) Dapple wasn't so thrilled with his hat! (Below) Pete wasn't a big fun, either.

The party animals in their birthday hats!

The dog biscuit shaped cupcakes.

And last but certainly not least, the video you've all been waiting for: Trey's debut singing of "Ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff ruff" (That's happy birthday in dog, by the way!).

Week 36 Survey

We are at 36 weeks today - WAHOO! Even better, we got to see Kate in our final sonogram. It makes it so much more real to see your little baby in there all squished up and ready to thrive when she joins us in the real world. I can hardly wait! She measured at weighing about 6 pounds 10 ounces. If she comes on her due date, she'll be around 8 pounds, but it could go half a pound either direction. I can handle that.

Week 36 Survey

How far along? 36 weeks!

Total weight gain/loss: To be honest, I really have lost track. I think we're around 40. I can't ever remember what number they say I am and do the math fast enough to figure it out.

Maternity clothes? Yup. Don't think I'll be going backwards on this one...maternity clothes are in my future whether I like it or not!

Stretch marks? Nope. Mom didn't get them, so I'm hoping I don't, either.

Sleep: Not so much. I am tired! Sometimes it's because of heartburn, sometimes it's because I can't stop thinking about my baby girl. Also, the swelling in my wrists has caused me to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. I wake up frequently throughout the night with numb hands. It is annoying! But thankfully I am not really affected by it in the day time.

What I miss: Being able to bend over. And my normal clothes!

What I am looking forward to: Kate getting here already!

Best moment this week: Seeing Kate on the sonogram today, watching her practice breathing, seeing little hair sprouts on her head, and seeing little chubby rolls on her skin. She measured a week ahead in size due to her little chubby self :)

Movement: Yup! She is head down, so I now know that it is her head bouncing on my bladder, her little tushy sticking out up top, and her little hands and feet poking me in the side. What a cutie pie she is!

Belly Button in or out? a flattie :)

Wedding rings on or off? off  :(. I miss them. But I wear a bigger ring on my ring finger that fits and does the trick for now. I feel naked without anything on my ring finger!

Weekly Wisdom: I got nothing.

Milestones: We have weekly visits from here on out. Hooray!

The Shower of all Showers

Last weekend our wonderful church threw us a baby shower. I did not know what to expect going into it, but I definitely did not expect to receive so many wonderful things for our sweet girl. The Lord really met some needs for us last weekend! We even received some of the big items that I had been wondering how we were going to be able to afford, including a baby swing, high chair, and car seat (we can bring Kate home from the hospital now!). We also received many cute outfits, blankets and 3 handmade afghans, towels, burp cloths, shoes, and accessories. We also got her diaper bag, changing table, gift cards, and other little odds and ends that we are so thankful for. We ended up swapping out the car seat I had originally chosen for a car seat/stroller combo that I love. Here are some pictures from the shower!

With Marilee, my niece, before the shower. She was quite the helper as I opened gifts!

The belly at 34 weeks pregnant!

The gifts. And these two pictures don't even capture all of the gifts displayed after opening all these presents. It literally took me an hour and 15 minutes to open all of these!

The love of my life!

The gifts in the nursery. Needless to say, it's taken me days to sort it all out, but you can finally see the bed, the floor, and the inside of the crib now!

The pages of thank you notes needing to be written. Writing all of these will definitely help me pass the time as we wait on the arrival of our little girl!

Here is Trey being the good daddy he already is, assembling Kate's stroller and car seat. He also put together her little swing. Can you tell we're ready for her to get here?

Those are all the pics for now! I will be putting up nursery pics in the next week or so. I'm waiting on a few room decorations that Gretchen created to put up on the wall. She is so creative and does such a fabulous job! I can't wait to show off the letters of Kate's name she painted. They are adorable. Also, we are 35 weeks pregnant today! I can't believe how close we are to holding this little blessing.

A is for Art

Yesterday Trey and I began what I hope will add quite a bit of creativity and fun to our dating life. Not to make our dating life sound boring (I'm thankful we still go on dates!), but we had fallen into a routine where our dates mostly consisted of dinner, a movie, or just having a quiet evening in at home. All of these things are great, but I recently realized we have lost that creative spark that we used to have before marriage and in our early marriage. With our own little baby making her debut in just weeks, I can already see the challenge that comes in guarding and nurturing your marriage when more responsibility (and blessing!) comes along.

Enter the ABC's of dating. I can't take full credit for this idea. I read about it in an article in Home Life, a Lifeway magazine our church subscribes to. *Side note, this is an excellent magazine that Trey and I highly recommend. The author says that she and her husband, who have been married over 40 years, still work to keep their dates fresh and exciting. One way they do that is by taking turns planning each date around a letter of the alphabet. For instance, his turn may be the letter "F," so he takes her to the county Fair one evening. Her turn would be next, and she would use the letter "E" to plan that date. I loved this idea and pitched it to Trey, and we've decided to give it a try! I've added my own spin to the idea, and I plan to document each date so that in the end I can make a photo book of our ABCs of dating. We will do simple dates on the "off" weeks. Since Kate will be coming soon, we are going to do our ABC dates every other week. Trey started yesterday with "A," and in two weeks I get to plan our "B" date. I already have ideas and can't wait to get it all together! Not every date has to be big and extravagant. Some may be short, while others may last a whole day. The whole point is creativity and spending time together.


A: Dallas Museum of Art, 4/21/11

What a fun beginning to this adventure in our dating life! Yesterday was jam-packed, and Trey did such a wonderful job planning our date. Our day started with taking our little puppy Dapple to the vet because he had broken a nail on his left foot. On our way we stopped to get coffee at Canton's little coffee shop, Come Together. When we got back to the car, Pete had jumped into a box in the backseat. I just have to include this pic because it was so cute!

The visit to the vet proved to be quite a hilarious experience, at Dapple's expense. The poor little guy was quite scared when they muzzled him, and he was not going to have his nails clipped without a fight! The vet assistant was holding him tightly to her body while the vet prepared to clip. I looked down and realized poor Dap was pooping on himself out of fear! Quite disgusting, but throughout the experience the poor guy proceeded to empty himself of all the, uh, waste inside him. Needless to say, he got a bath later! Trey got a lesson in clipping dog toenails, too, then we dropped the boys off at home for our big day in Dallas.

We headed out for Dallas and Trey told me the date: the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA)! When we lived in Fort Worth, we frequently took advantage of the museums and special events going on in the area. But since we've moved to Canton, we just don't make it to the city much to do this kind of thing, so I was pumped for this date. When we got to the DMA, it was lunch time. Instead of rushing to a restaurant and then going back to the museum, we decided to try a museum restaurant. We ended up eating at the Atrium Cafe. I had a delicious bacon sandwich, and Trey had some fancy and yummy looking fish tacos. We ended up joining the museum as members, as we realized if we visit the museum one more time, the membership is paid for. I figure it's like we paid for a date in advance, but we already have plans to go back more than once, so we'll definitely get our money's worth. The museum is huge, and we didn't have the time (or the energy for this very pregnant woman!) to see it all. We walked around the European, Greek, and Roman sections yesterday. The special temporary exhibit debuts this weekend, so we'll probably check it out after our next doctor's appointment.

On our way out I realized we forgot to take pictures. I am so bad about this! I need to get a camera that works so that I'll be more likely to take pics. Anyway, we stopped in the parking garage and snapped this picture. It is terrible but so funny! We look like fat kids.

Thankfully, we stopped outside the museum and snapped another pic.

After the museum, we drove a few miles to our 34 weeks OB appointment. I love our doctor's appointments! Everything looks good, and Kate's heartbeat was a steady 145bpm. What a sweetheart she already is. In two weeks we have the big sonogram to check her weight and size. I hope these next two weeks go quickly because I'm ready!

Well, there's our first date of the alphabet. I'll keep you posted on each date as we take them. There will probably (or likely) be a slight pause in these once Kate gets here, but we will pick them up again when we settle in with our precious bundle! I challenge any other married friends to give the ABC dating a try. If you do, I'd love to hear the date themes you and your hubby come up with!