And by the way...

Here are some new pics!

Reflection

As 2009 comes to a close, I cannot help but to reflect on what a life changing year this has been.
We were blessed with Lillian in February. What a great way to start out the year?!? Sleep deprived... only kidding... well, not really, we were sleep deprived, but she's the best gift we have ever been given.
Much of the year was spent learning the ins and outs of parenting. And, learning that your wants and needs will always come second, for pretty much ever, from now on. Jereme and I lived a pretty crazy lifestyle, so this was a BIG change for us. So worth it :) We are a different couple, that's for sure!
We've been through first trip home, first smiles, first blow out diapers, first real foods, first giggles, first tooth. With so many firsts, its hard to think about the lasts...
Jereme lost his Grandma this year, in August. We remember many of her final smiles and visits too. We're so thankful that God let her stay with us long enough to meet Lilly. She was a really, really proud great-grandma.
In between all the mix, we had a lot of time with family... Jereme's Mom and Step-Dad made it home three times this year from Malaysia. We had many trips up to St. Cloud. And plenty of visitors down in the cities. Jereme's dad stops by all the time to hang out with us and Lilly. Thank God Lilly has gotten over her fear of strangers. She'll go to just about anyone now. That's right Weber Aunts... I said that she'll go to anyone :) lol... that kid used to scream just by having someone look at her!
This has been by far the best year of my life. One for the record books. Note for my mom... when I get up at 6:30am because that's what I am used to and not because I have to... does that officially make me an adult?
So what will 2010 bring? Not another kid, for those who are wondering. At least not planned anyways, haha! We're praying for a new job for Jereme. We're lucky that he is employed, but something more to his liking would be nice. Hopefully 2010 will continue to bring me luck at my job, which has been pretty darn good to me so far. Maybe a new house? We're thinking about buying another property in the next couple of months.
All I know is that as long as I have Jereme, Lilly, my family and friends in 2010, I'll be happy. What more does a girl need? :)

Laying Naked before a Stranger

Well sort of. Got your attention? This past week I finally used my mother's day present, a full body, hour long massage. It was WONDERFUL, but as I lay before the masseuse, I couldn't help but be distracted.
The masseuse comes in and the massage begins, head and neck. Feels great. Who would've thought that rubbing someones head could be so relaxing.
Then onto the arms. She starts with my right arm and as she gets to my forearm, she tells me that it is very tense. She moves down to my hand and starts moving my fingers. Then she tells me that the cause of the tension in my arm is coming from my pointer finger. "Do you work on a computer," she asks? "Who doesn't," I respond. Apparently I need to get a new mouse that is more friendly to the pointer finger to release the tension. What the heck? My pointer finger is the least of my worries.
Onto the legs. Thank God I remembered to shave my legs. All I can think about is, does this lady really have to massage prickly non-shaved legs? Gross.
Next are the feet. Bad idea. My feet are so ticklish that I can tickle them myself. I laughed through the whole thing. Then she laughed at me for laughing. I couldn't stop. This isn't too relaxing. Time to give up on the feet. Wished I would have remembered to paint my toenails after I shaved my legs... seriously still have chipped polish on from like a month ago. The second I stopped wearing peeptoes, the second I stopped with the nail polish.
Time to roll over. Ever to gracefully, so as to not let the girls pop out, I flip onto my tummy. Rub out the back of the legs, then the lower back. Feeling pretty relaxed, until the upper back and neck. First off, how the heck are you supposed to breath in those stupid face rest things? Secondly, why is she pressing so hard that my face is completely smooshed into the padding. I must of had a whole bunch on tension there because boy o boy did she beat up those muscles.
At last, time is up. Overall I feel pretty relaxed and I smell yummy from lotion (also amazing on how they get more lotion without you ever noticing that they were getting more). I finish getting dressed and take a look in the mirror. What the hell! I have dumb face pillow print on my face as result of all of the smooshing. At least I don't have any errands to run. I cruise outta there head down, so not to make contact with anyone that could see my face print.
Strangely enough, I was extremely energized after the massage and actually had a pretty good mood all week. Might have to do these more often. Well, my super duper hubby had actually got me enough in gift cards for two massages, so I guess I will be doing this again.
Long story short, got a massage, felt good, will do it again and had a good week.
Hope everyone elses week went well despite the crappy weather. T - two weeks until Lilly's 9 month b-day. Will be sure to post the stats and first Halloween pics!
Stay tuned :)

Remote, Phone, Newspaper

My kid is obsessed with the remote. You'd think that she was a guy they way that she eyes it up. Seriously, it's like once she gets her eyes on that remote, there is nothing that is going to distract her away from it. She nearly leaps out of our arms to get at it. Things to buys, #1, toy remote.

Cell phones. They are pretty and shiny and they make fun noises. Why not also LOVE to grab for the phone? Nevermind that this is Mommy's connection to home, family and work, it should really be something to stick in Miss Lilly's mouth. Ugh, things to buy, #2, toy cell phone.

I'd like to think that my daughter is so intellegent that she truly enjoys to read the newspaper at all of eight months. Nope, she wants to eat it. It can't taste good. Last weekend we nearly had a complete melt down when the paper fell from her reach. Things to buy, #3, weekly newspaper. Keeps her entertained for hours :)

Pics were taken by Jereme's cousin Ryan at an annual family get together... he is an awesome photographer :) Hope we get him to take some more of Lilly girl soon!

My favorite things

Each time I update this blog, I cannot believe that it has been so long since my last post! So much happens that I forgot. I really need to start writing things down, so as to not forgot to tell all of you! Actually, the reality of this, is I have to use this blog to remember things myself :)

Miss Lilly has really started to show off her personality, we've noticed that she has a few favorite things in life. Lately, the kazoo seems to stop her in her tracks. We'll play a little toon and she's almost jumping to reach out and grab the toy. Mostly she just eats it, but who knows, maybe we have a musical prodigy on our hand. Come to think of it, one of her other favorites is when I whistle the Jeopardy theme song. It's so funny some times that I can't even whistle is becaues I am laughing to hard at her.

Anyways, our little girl is now sitting all on her own and eating big girl food. I love trying new stuff on her. Last weekend she ate chili. I know, what the heck kind of 8 month old likes chili. Whatever, my kid thought it was great. Mostly she is still on the bottle and baby food, but we give her cereal puffs and sometimes bites of whatever we're eating. For the record, she also like apple crisp. No teeth yet. And I think she'll walk before she crawls. She still hates being on her tummy.

So that's it for Lilly, as for Jerm and I, we're doing good. I've accepted a promotion at work, so that's fun news, right? Well, it keeps me employed and busy. And to be honest with you, I truly don't mind my job. Good company to work for and good people to work with. Jereme on the other hand is in the market for a new one. Easier said than done in this market. Plus, he has no idea what he wants to do. We will just keep praying that we're lead in the right direction.

That's all for now. Hugs, Sara

Ssshhhh... she is sleeping

Ah the sweet sound of nothing :) These moments are few and far between, so I figured there was no time like the present to finally update the blog.

Lillian is now 6 months old! Such a big girl, well, sort of. She's big to us, but small in comparison to other kiddos. At her six month appointment she was 12 lbs, 5 oz, which is the 2nd percentile. She is in the 50th percentile for her height, which is a whopping 26.5 inches. Doc says she is growing just fine and hitting all of her milestones. She's just gonna be a skinny kid... imagine that?!?

Lilly finally figured out that she likes baby food. And, she likes it a LOT, especially fruits. Not so big on her veggies. She literally gagged from peas. Must take after Daddy because Mommy loves veggies. Just to see her face when I try to sneak a spoonful of beans or peas is worth a million bucks.

Jereme finally took his CFP boards. We won't know if he passed for a few more weeks, but it is nice to not have him studying every night. He's assured me that he probably didn't pass. Regardless, I'm proud of him for working so hard. I guess we'll find out soon enough :) Same old, same old for me. Busy as can be at work.

Jereme's parent's have been home from Malaysia the past month. They have loved spending time with Lilly. They actually babysat for us for two weeks while our daycare lady closed for a medical leave. Grandma Kathy is pretty in love with our Lilly... maybe we'll get them to move back to the states after all. On a not so happy note, Jereme's maternal grandmother passed away last Friday. We're just glad that his Mom was in MN by her bedside for her last weeks here. We've known that it was coming for a while, but it still isn't easy to say goodbye.

Last weekend we managed our first weekend away (together) to go camping. Grandma Sandie got to watch Lilly for the weekend. A good time all around. This upcoming weekend we're heading to the North Shore with the fam. I am super excited as this is one of my most favorite places in the world! It'll be nice to get away.

Well, I hear the little bugger starting to stir. Mommyhood calls :)

Busy, Busy

I feel like we are treading water everyday just trying to stay afloat. Not that it's a bad thing, just seems as though we like to bite off more than we can chew. Whew... where does time go?

Already another month has past and my little girl continues to learn and grow everyday. Lillian most recently found her feet, which makes it really easy to roll over. When she can hold on to them long enough, they are in her mouth. It's funny to watch her try and use her pants as a way to pull her toes closer to her mouth! Lilly went to the zoo for the first time with her cousins, Hannah and Tyler. She slept a good amount of it, but seems to be entertained when she was awake!

Aside from Lilly, Jereme and I have been keeping busy with work, school and our never boring social schedule :) Jereme is less than two weeks away from his big test. It has only a 50/50 pass/fail rate, so please keep him in your prayers!

I've been traveling for work... as usual. The last trip kept me away for a whole week. I could barely keep myself from running out of the airport to go and pick Lilly up! Anyways, had fun in Cali and got lots done. Probably won't have to go back for at least another month or two. Whoo hoo!

Happy summer time to all!

It is so True

Daddy and Lilly singing

When you become a parent, everyone always says... You'll never have enough time again. I couldn't agree more! For example, I haven't blogged in over a month. I mean seriously, it doesn't take that much time to sit down and type out a few updates, but I just can't seem to get it done. Anyways, here's what's new.


Since the last update, Lilly has gotten much stronger. She can now stand, with help of course. She has also learned to bounce and play peek-a-boo. And, we are starting to get her to giggle more frequently, which is probably the best sound in the whole wide world. She still gets scared with other people, but is starting to get a little better. She's much more of a one-on-one person than a group right now. Yesterday Lilly had her 4 month appointment. More shots. They are the worst. Fortunately, Lilly works herself up so much over the shots that she falls right to sleep on the way home. She is a whopping 10lbs, 13oz (4th%) and 24 inches long (30th%). Our pediatrician didn't seemed concerned that she is so tiny... simply said she'll probably be like me. Medium height and thin. Whatever. I always said Jereme and I would have little runts for kids. He's also told me that Lillian is ready for solid foods. Weird, right? I thought I would have to wait until 6 months, but he says she is ready now. Guess we'll give it a shot and see how she does. I can't wait to post the picks of her little face smeared with rice cereal.

Could they be any more alike?

Jereme and are up to the same old. Still trying to figure out the whole parenting thing, but I think we're starting to get the swing of things. We celebrated out 3rd wedding anniversary at the end of May. We went to a wonderful restaurant called Fogo... YUMMY! Jereme's getting settled into his new job and I'm back in full force at GovDelivery. I'm completely swampped everyday, which is really a blessing :) All my time at the computer has caused me to go weak in the eyes... I just got glasses for the first time. They've been teasing me for a while at the office about how close I sit in front of my huge monitor. Anyways, it was overdue and now I truly am a nerdy book reader, glasses and all.

Sorry for the delay in updating. Will try to blog more soon. Take care everyone!

Lots of Firsts

So I just realized that my last post contained Lilly's two-month stats... and here we are, almost three months since her birth! We've been busy to say the least. I find myself trying to figure out where to even start.
Well, I had my first business trip(s) and Jereme had his first nights by himself with Lilly. The trips (Seattle and Austin) went great. They were short, thankfully, but very successful. I was lucky enough to travel with some work folks, which doesn't happen often. Jereme did just fine with Lilly. He claims that if my hectic travel schedule continues, Lilly is going to be a true daddy's girl. I can say, that she squealed and smiled when I got home... so she at least remembers her mommy.
Lilly had her first cold. It wasn't bad. Just a runny nose and little coughs. She is not a fan of the booger sucker. And despises the saline drops, even tho they do help.
And... sit down for this one people... Lilly slept through the night for her first time. YIPPEE!!!! She was pretty exhausted from a busy day of parties, but it happened none-the-less. She's been getting up once every night ever since, but sleeping later and later. Ah, sweet sleep. She gobbles down a big bottle when she wakes up and then back to the land of slumber until morning. Those of you who know Jereme and I well, know that we love to sleep, so maybe, just maybe, our little girl has inherited this trait.
While I was in Austin, I missed a big moment, which made me really sad. Lilly rolled over for the first time. Actually Jereme missed it too. He had her on the floor on her back, then went into the kitchen for something, came back in the living room and she was flailing her little arms on her tummy. I've been trying to get her to do it again, but no luck. Hopefully I can see her roll soon!
Let me think, what else is new? Oh, Jereme is now done with training and in the office. He's at Wells Fargo in Woodbury. Feel free to call him for all your banking needs :) He's done banking for quite a while now, but Wells has got a new product line, so needless to say, he's learned even more about the financial world. Ugh... like he needs to learn more about that! He also finished his CFP classes and will be taking his final exam (10 hour test, equivalent of the boards) in July. He's nervous, so lots and lots of studying will be done over the next couple of months. Please keep him in your prayers. The CFP will make a huge difference in his career.
Work for me is nuts. For those of you who don't know what I do... my company sends mass emails of behalf of the government. I implement the software for them and train them how to use our system. The swine flu outbreak has kept us on our toes. Better busy than not. Our company is growing when most are cutting back. We've gotten a lot of press lately, so I thought I'd list a few links.
Channel 5 News: http://bit.ly/mCsK0
Government Computer News: http://gcn.com/articles/2009/05/04/update1-cdc-swine-flu-networking.aspx
OhMyGov: http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2009/05/05/govdelivery-gets-the-word-out-to-citizens.aspx

Anyways, I need to actually take the time to sit down and upload recent pics from my camera. So, no pics this time, but I'll post some soon! Lilly is smiling so much now :) Well, at least when she is at home she smiles. She's not much for crowds yet, but she'll get there I am sure.
Off to Detroit next week... only for a day. Then back in the office for at least two weeks. Whoo hoo!

Two Month Stats

Ah... finally a moment to get an update out! It has been chaos in our house for the past week. Not so much the going to daycare/back to work thing, just that in combination of other events.

Anyways, where to start? Lilly started daycare, which was tough for me, but needed. The kids greet her at the door everyday, so she can't be too bad to be around :) She is adjusting and comes home tired. That being said, she has only been getting up once per night when we put her down between 9 and 10. Bonnie (daycare lady) said that she was better by the end of the week... she was becoming a Mommy's girl and seemed to only not cry when I was in sight. Plus all the noise and people have to be exhausting for her.

Work is work. Jereme is training in Minneapolis for the month and I've been thrown right back into things. I've already got two trips booked! Yikes! Strangely enough getting us out the door in the morning hasn't been too much of an issue. We're all up much, much early than we used to be, but it's ok. I am making due with less sleep :) And... I got my first spit up on work clothes yesterday. Now I know what everyone is talking about! Lilly just started this spit up thing in the last week, so I hadn't had to deal with it too much.

Lillian had her two month appointment yesterday. She is still a peanut, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs, 1 oz, which is the 9th percentile. She is 22.5 inches long (54th percentile). They gave her three shots, which were the WORST thing to ever happen to her. Her poor little eyes just looked at me with complete dispair. I've never heard her cry louder. By the time we got home, she was asleep. She was still a little drowsy this morning from them.

Easter was jam packed as usual. Grandma Sandie made Lillian some special bonnets. Lillian isn't quite sure what they are all about just yet, but I know she will love them this summer. I think they are cute :)

Off to more of our busy life!

Smiles and the Real World

Finally, we are getting some smiles from our little girl! I've yet to manage to capture one on our regular camera, which explains the crappy image... my cell phone doesn't take great pics. None-the-less it was too cute not to post.

Lillian is starting to get on a better schedule. She only wakes up twice a night now, verses the four times we were getting up. Perfect timing for the two of us to go back to work. Work, ugh. This is going to be rough, but good. We're both ready. Back to the real world for us!

I had my six week appointment (which was actually a seven week) and all is well. Doc says I am back to normal or as normal as I can be. I've lost almost all of the weight and am ready to hit the gym in full force. I've actually been going for a few weeks already, but I have been taking it pretty easy. Now I am ready to start running again, weather cooperating. Hopefully Lilly will like walk/runs because I hope to take her on quite a few!

The next few weeks are gonna be nuts. New job, new office (for me), bowling league, Twins games and more visitors! Be sure to tune in for the next episode of our crazy life!

Counting the Days... again

Here I sit counting days again. Except now I count the days until we go back to work and Lilly goes to daycare. One more week off. In a way I am excited to go back. I need adult interaction and I certainly wasn't cut out to be a stay at home mom. At the same time, I am sad that I won't have the time to spend with Lilly. Really we'll only get a few hours with her at night, sad :(

Jereme accepted a position with Wells Fargo and starts the same day that I go back. It will be weird to not have him constantly around too. I've kinda gotten used to spending 24-7 with him.

This past weekend, we made our first overnight trip with Lillian. Thanks to Grandma Sandie, we got to actually go out for a night. Most of which we spent talking about her. Everytime I looked at Jereme he was passing his cell phone off to someone to show off pictures.

Onto our next challenge, getting everyone out the door in the morning!

More of the Same

Hola! Not much new this week, so I'd thought I would post a few pics. We made our first trip to St. Cloud. It was good to be home. We hadn't been there since my baby shower. Lillian met her great-grandparents and we got our four generations picture... how cool! Grandma and Grandpa Weber were very happy to see Lilly too.

We just can't seem to put the camera down... almost everyday, we take pictures. I wonder when we will get sick of taking pictures :)

Grandma Kathy left today to go back to Malaysia. We were happy to have her here for the first month and sad that she had to go. They likely won't be home until September, so we took lots and lots of pictures now.

Cause the Little Birdy Told Me So

I've lost control over my world as I know it. I've got a little birdy that tells me what to do and how to do it and when... her name is Lillian. She's got this thing where she shakes her head back and forth like a bird when she is hungry. Jereme teases her by sticking the bottle just off to the side of her mouth to watch her do it. Ah, it's the little things in life that make us smile.

Anyways, we made it through the first month. Not that we had any doubts that we wouldn't, but I just couldn't ever fully prepare myself for everything. So, here's what's new:

- The leaky watermelons are just watermelons now. I hope they reduce to cantalopes in the coming weeks.

- I think I am going to go bald! What's up with the hair loss?!? I'd been told this would happened, but being me... and not listening, I didn't believe it. Ugh. Hopefully it will end soon.

- What's up with all of the garbage? We used to go a whole month without filling up our garbage container (the one you bring to the curb). No we are over flowing by the end of the week. Jereme seems to be very interested in the weight of diapers... weirdo.

- Dishes, dishes and more dishes. I guess this is due to fact that we are now eating three meals at home a day verses just one. I can't wait until Lilly is old enough to take on this chore :)

- Why do we change outfits everyday? Seriously, most of the time I don't even leave the house. It's almost like I want to do more laundry. Ok, I do have hygiene standards, but I am tired of the laundry.

- I can make it to 3 pm and not have accomplished anything other than showering and maybe, just maybe eating lunch.

My goodness we do LOVE our little girl :) She melts my heart every day.

Three weeks already!

I can hardly believe that three weeks have past since Lillian was born. My how time does fly. You'd figure that with being at home the last three weeks I would have found time to clean my house... yeah right. This kid is really a 24 hour a day gig. Life in the VonBargen house has forever changed. I'll just have to get over it and deal with it being messy.

All in all, things are still going well. Lilly continues to be a sweet little girl. Great to cuddle with and only has a few meltdowns. Maybe she is saving the really dramatic meltdowns for when we're shopping and I won't buy her what she wants. She is already changing and learning. Something new everyday. So far she realized that her entire hand will not fit in her mouth and that there is a mobile above her swing.

We are all getting a little antsy being cooped up in the house. I can't wait for warm weather! I'm still a little nervous taking her out on errands, so we tend to run them in shifts. We just don't have the feeding and napping on a schedule and it's no fun going through a store with a screaming baby.

We have, however made a few outings to family get togethers. Lillian met her Great Grandma Jan (Jereme's mom's mom) last week, which was really precious. Gma Jan has Parkinson's and is pretty limited in what she can do... so when she held Lilly and spoke her name clearly it put a smile on all of our faces. She's a very proud Gma! Hopefully we'll make it to St. Cloud in the next week or so to meet some more Great Grandparents! Everytime we leave the house I feel like I am packing for a week.

That's all for this week. Stay tuned for more about what I learned as a parent next week.

About motherhood

Well, it has almost been two weeks since we welcomed out little girl into the world and my have our lives changed. I always knew that it would be a huge adjustment having a baby. Here's what I have learned so far...

1. Sleep. Ah, sweet sleep. Take naps because that 8+ hours you used to get isn't going to happen anymore. I don't know what we're going to do when we have to go back to work!

2. Beer and wine aren't really all they are cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE them both, but the thought of having to wake up in the middle of the night after a few too many is less than to be desired. Jereme has even given up his bottle of wine rituals.

3. Breastfeeding is not for everyone or every child. Sometimes life is much better on the bottle. Quitting breastfeeding makes you look like you've got leaky watermelons on your chest. Hope this doesn't last long.

4. A newborn baby is like a celebrity. Everyone wants to see it! Visitors will come by the dozens and sometimes you have to say no. Don't get me wrong, we love to show her off, but two weeks of having people at your house everyday gets tiresome. Of course, if you bring food, your more likely to get in the door :) (Thanks for the soup and cookies Grandma Sandie!)

5. The in between stage for clothes is lame. Maternity clothes fall off, but the regular clothes are too tight... except for the fat pants. Each morning I wake up, look at my pants and debate whether I should try them on or not. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I can fit into some clothes and most of the baby weight is gone.

6. Where the heck did my stomach muscles go? They seem to have been replaced by a bunch of loose skin. Blowing my nose is next to impossible.

7. So long peeing every 15 minutes, stupid heartburn and running outta breath! It is amazing that literally minutes after having Lillian all the annoying symptoms vanished. Good thing too because I was almost out of Tums!

8. Each and every task takes at least twice as long as it normally would. This is due to working quitely around a sleeping baby or having to do the task one handed since your holding the kid in the other arm. Thankfully Lilly loves her papasan chair!

9. Two weeks ago I wouldn't have thought Jereme would ever hold a screaming baby for two hours without breaking down. A parents love is truely amazing. I am blessed to have such a wonderful father for my baby and a loving husband.

10. Having the babyline programmed into your phone is essential. They have all the answers :)

11. We're still learning how parenting works. Eventually we'll get some kind of routine down.

Lillian Grace is Here!

Monday, February 9th at 7:52pm Lillian Grace VonBargen arrived to world. She weighed 6lbs, 6oz and was 19 inches long. We couldn't be happier. I knew she'd be early :)

We're doing pretty well, but still trying to figure this parent thing out. Apparently babies do not come with a set of instructions. What's even more complicated is that every doctor, nurse and parent has an opinion or idea of how things should be done. We listen some and appreciate the help, but for the most part, I think we're running on our own gut feelings.

Delivery was interesting. I labored for two days at home... long story, but the doctor thought I had a bladder infection instead of being in labor. By the time I went back to the doctor I was dilated to four. From the doctors office to the hospital (15 minutes away) I completely dilated. The nurses at the hospital could hardly believe it, especially since my contractions were still 8 minutes apart. I was too late for an epidural, but they did give me some shot that helped to numb things. All I can say is, epidural for sure next time. Don't care what the hospital staff has to say about it. After about an hour of pushing, Lillian came flying on out. Jereme was by my side the whole time; completely supportive. He only got yelled at a couple of times. The midwife really got yelled at when she pushed on my stomach after delivery. Why doesn't anyone tell you about that part!

Anyways, we're at home now. Trying to catch sleep when we can. Feedings and visitors have taken over. Thank goodness Jereme has been so helpful. Actually, he really has done more than I ever expected. I fall in love with him all over again everytime I catch him having a little conversation with Lilly.

Can't wait to show her off to everyone! More to come soon.

Sara, Jereme and Lillian

One day at a time

Yup, just taking things one day at a time. Even though those days seem to drag by...especially the nights. It is getting more and more uncomfortable everyday! All the warnings about the last month taking a toll on you are totally true.

Made a little progress this week at my check up. Mostly our kid scared the crap out of us again. He/she really likes to pinch the umbilical cord causing the heart rate to go crazy. Anyways, they had me on the fetal monitors again and everything turned out to me ok... again. At least they didn't call an ambulance this time.

We did however, have to go in for another ultrasound. They say that the baby is just about 6lbs 7oz right now (for those of your in the baby pool). Everything they needed to check for turned out fine. We got a 3D picture of the baby's face, which is really cool. It's squishy, which made us laugh. Looks like it has some chubby cheeks. No telling who this kid is going to look like! It will be interesting to compare the baby to the picture after it is born.

I continue to have regular Braxton Hicks contractions. They are starting to get stronger, so maybe, just maybe, this little bugger will make an appearance sooner rather than later. Who knows, maybe next week's update will be that we have a baby!!!

Check out the Baby Pool!

I am not giving up high heels

I don't care if they are uncomfortable, I just can't give up heels. Just want to be tall, I guess. Well, they are one of the only things that make me feel normal and not just fat and pregnant :)

These last days seem to be going by sooooo sllloooowww. Really, can't this kid make up it's mind and just decide to come out already!?! My doctor appointments are weekly from here on out. I will say that getting 'checked' is one of the most uncomfortable things about pregnancy, but it is almost worth it just to watch Jereme squirm in the corner. Clearly he is NOT excited about the whole delivery thing. I actually think he may pretend to pass out just to get out of the room :) Wouldn't make a difference, I'd follow him right out screaming until he woke up!

Anyways, I've started to dilate, which I will take as a good sign. My mid-wife says I have at least another week in me, but wouldn't be surprised if I went before the due date. YIPPEE!!! I started asking this week to be induced. Now, I knew that I'd be told no, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Just drives me nuts no knowing when it is going to happen. Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue.

Jereme is officially done with US Bank. It's a good thing really. He hated it there. Hopefully something will come along soon enough. If not, that's ok too. In the mean time he's been temping in my office. Everyone already knows him and they seem to be amused to have him helping out, so it has worked out well. Plus double pay (he's still on severance) is an added bonus right now. Probably won't last too much longer, but I am thanking my lucky stars to have my chauffeur back.

Will try to keep everyone up to date as the big day gets closer and closer. If anything happens, you'll probably hear me screaming from St. Paul, so you'll know :)

One month to go

Finally, the countdown has brought me to the last month. I couldn't be more happy, more excited, and a little nervous. At the end of this week, most books deem me at term. Now I know that the chances of me actually having this baby in the next three weeks are unlikely, but I can't seem to not let myself drift into thinking... will it be this week?

The last trimester has certainly been interesting. I never in my life have thought that I would look at garbage on the floor and say, "it just isn't worth picking up." Seriously, bending over to do, well, just about anything is mostly out of the question. I roll off the couch and bed rather than attempting to pull myself up. Strangely enough, I don't feel top heavy. Not like I am going to tip over just standing up. Just plain lazy pretty much.

And the heartburn...what the heck is up with that! Jereme and I both sing the Tums song everyday because I gobble one down pretty much after every meal. At least they help a little, but I've never had heartburn before, so it's weird to have. Makes me almost consider not eating certain foods... I said almost! I still love food, always have, probably always will. I try to keep it down to one treat per day, but then I usually talk myself into two. Oh well, as long as I'm not gaining too much weight and I continue to eat other healthly things, right?

I think we've finally passed all of our planned events until the baby is born, which means no more Sara Sober Cab! I told Jereme that for these last couple of weeks he needs to stay sober enough to drive me to the hospital, just in case. Wishful thinking... I think. Regardless, I'm not even going to attempt to stay up past midnight these last couple of weeks, just makes me to cranky.

And just when I thought I couldn't get any bigger, my tummy popped even more. This is ridiculous. Even the stretchy pants don't stretch enough. Jereme's old USCM sweats are the best. I wear them with a matching sweater and Jereme calls me the gray crayon. I don't care, its comfy. At least I still dress up for work :) Will post pics next week.

Alas, I need a nap. Check in next week!

Not your average appointment

My child wants to make its presense know and in a BIG way! This past week we had our 34 week appointment (I'm behind again... I am 35 weeks now). Everything started out normal. I hit the 20lb mark, yuk. The baby is measuing about 4.5 - 5 lbs and the doctor tells us that it probably won't be bigger than 7 lbs at delivery. Then we went to check the heart rate, which was fine at first, but then all of a sudden dropped really low. So, the doctor has us move to another machine to montitor things a little better. The rate continues to be kind of all over the place high for a second, then low for a long time. Before I know it, a bunch of people rush into the room and start me on oxygen and getting an IV ready. Poor Jereme is shoved into the corner as they call an ambulance. Moments later the baby moves and the heart rate goes back to normal. They think that the baby just happened to lay on the unbilical cord when they were checking me, which I guess is something that probably happens all the time and goes unnoticed.
None-the-less, I still ended up having to go to the hospital for additional monitoring. By the time I got there my blood pressure was through the roof, go figure, so then they had to run another series of tests on my kidneys and liver to make sure all was ok. Also got another ultra sound and the baby was just fine. Five hours later, we're sent home perfectly healthy. Sure gave us a good scare and probably a hefty bill tho! Better safe than sorry I guess.

Funny thing is that it was Jereme's last day on the job, so he ended up showing up really, really late, whoops! His office threw us a surprise baby shower and happy hour, which was really nice. Needless to say, he will never forget his last day!

Appointments start weekly next visit, whoo hoo! They told me at the hospital that I am having a lot of small contractions already, but none that are consistant. And, I'm not dialated at all. After this last visit, I am ok with holding off on delivery for another couple of weeks :)

So long 2008, Hello 2009!

It feels good to have 2008 behind me. Not that it was an incredibly good or bad year, but it was long... being that I was pregnant for half of it! Most years I dread ending just because it means I am going to be another year older; this time it was the least of my concerns. We did manage to go 'out' for New Years, which was nice. I made it past mid-night! Whoo hoo!

X-mas was good too. Lots of family, lots of kids running around. I can't believe we're adding to the chaos! Check out the pic with the boys. I think this is the brief moment in time that we actually got them to stop running. They are just too sweet to not show off! Then there is the annual pic in front of the tree; doesn't my hubby look excited to be in a picture :)

Oh and because I am WAY behind in adding my belly shot, here is a picture of that too! This is 33 weeks. I know I just saw most of you, but this gives a more realistic perspective of my big 'tank' as Jereme is now calling it. I think that some clothes hide it :)

Jereme's last week of work is this week. I'm a little sad in that we won't be so close to each other everyday (oops, I almost threw up in my own mouth as I was typing that. Did we really become 'that' couple?). I kinda got used to having him drive everyday. Who knows, we might actually have him stay at home until his CFP test is over with this summer. Lots and lots of studying required. Of course he'll continue to explore his options, but for now, we've decided to let our worries lie with becoming parents. Whatever the path, I am sure we'll be fine.

As tradition in most families, mine threw me a wonderful baby shower this past weekend. Thank you!!! Now to try and find homes for everything. I kind of went into panic mode last night when I realized that I'd have to 'share' bathroom space with baby supplies. Maybe we need a bigger place... or maybe I just need to clean out even more stuff. Regardless, I ended my night by lying in bed and realizing that this was pretty much going to be the way it is for the rest of my life... always trying to find more room for stuff. Be it mine or my childs :) I'm pretty sure I still have things at my parents! Ha!