37 Weeks

37 weeks and feeling big

Well, I'm 37 weeks pregnant and can have Grace anytime. I can't believe that I'm considered full term. I feel like Grace is going to be inside me for a little while longer but I also think I'm getting huge so I keep thinking she might be early. Yeah I know I should convince myself she's going to be late and the doctors tell you that 1st babies will be late to help keep your patience up. I'll be totally fine if Grace is late because what's 1 week in the big picture. I just can't wait to meet our baby. Today I went to the doctor and she told me that Grace was head down and I had dropped. She even had Matt and I feel the head. It was pretty cool. I know the fact that she's dropped doesn't predict anything as far as when she will come but it encouraging to know my body is preparing for labor.

Our friends Kortny and Jeremiah had their baby girl one week early this Sunday and it pretty much put me into freak out mode. I realized we haven't packed our hospital bags, installed the car seat or pre-registered at the hospital. As long as Kortny was still pregnant I was totally fine with my to do list since she was technically due 2 weeks before me I figured she'd have her baby first. Now that she had her baby I feel like I could have mine anyday and am not quite ready. So today I'm going to start working on those things. We had a great visit with Kortny and Jeremiah at the hospital today and it made me a little less scared of labor. Their baby is soooo cute too.

Kortny and her new daughter Olivia

Today is officially the first day of my leave since everyone was on spring break last week. I am so thankful I decided not to go back after break. I've been pretty tired the last few days and can't imagine trying to teach. Good job ladies who teach right up until their deliveries. I have missed school a little today but I'm sure in a couple days I'll forget everyone went back without me.

Burp Cloths

I spent the day decorating cloth diapers to make cute burp cloths. My friend Amy gave me some cloth diapers (including several other very practical things) for a shower present. She claims they make the best burp cloths and I believe her. I realized too that I only had received 3 or 4 burp cloths until I got the diapers. So I'm sure they will prove to be much needed. Anyway, I decided to make a project out of them. I have lots of scrap fabric, my mom had some ribbons, and I bought some ribbons for $1 a spool at Hobby Lobby. I don't think they turned out as nice as they could have because the diapers were pretty stretchy to sew with, but I still think they are very cute and I can't wait for Grace to spit up on them.

When Will Grace's Birthday Be?

I've been thinking a lot lately about when Baby Grace will make her grand entrance into the open air. When I'm uncomfortable I want it to be as soon as possible and when I'm thinking about labor I don't mind putting it off. I've read a little bit online about how to know when a baby is going to arrive and have come to the conclusion that only the baby (and God) knows. Seeing as next week I will be 37 weeks and a baby born after that point is full term I've been thinking a lot about the fact that its getting really close. So, I decided to create a poll on my blog as to when baby Grace will arrive (another friend who's blog I follow just did this and I think it was a great idea). Please take a minute to take the poll so I will know when I'm going to have my baby! If you actually think you know her birthday feel free to comment on here too:)

Surprise Shower

Amy (our fearless Bible Study leader), Anne, Emily, Karrie, Carissa (also pregnant), and Trisha

I just had an awesome day with some of my great friends from college. My friend Emily emailed me several weeks ago and asked me if I wanted to do lunch today and of course I said yes. So, I've been eagerly anticipating this day for a few weeks and was so excited to spend quality time with Emily. We headed off to one of our favorite places, Chile's, and when we walked in she said we had a table already. I found this slightly weird but didn't even think twice about it. We got to our table and the girls from our college Bible Study (minus Erin who is in East Asia doing missions) were there waiting to surprise me. I'm not a huge surprise party person but this was perfect. I never suspected anything and 5 people who I love to death and don't get to see nearly enough were there waiting to give me a shower. They came from far and wide. Amy drove all the way from Detroit and Karrie drove from the Chicago area. The funny thing is it turned into a joint shower because our friend Carissa is due practically the same day as me. She just hadn't passed the news along to anyone else until the surprise shower plan was in full swing. So, she knew about the shower and also got to be honored. We had a long lunch and then everyone came back to our house to hang out for the whole afternoon. We got to spend about 6 hours together and I LOVED it! Matt was so awesome too because he willingly left our house and did his own thing all afternoon. He's such a great sport. Afterwards he said he didn't mind at all because he knew I was having fun and it meant a lot to me to have my friends around.

Full Circle

Wow, what a school year (or at least 3/4 of one). I can't believe that today is my last day of teaching high schoolers for hopefully a long time. It's funny thinking about how at the beginning of the year for a few days before school started I cried a ton. I was feeling miserable already and not sure I could handle teaching. I was sick a lot, exhausted and completely unsure of my ability to teach and be pregnant. But, by of the grace and strength of God I actually handled it. It hasn't been easy waking up every morning and throwing up, giving patience to my students, and believing God knows what is best for me. But it has been good. I by no means think my discomforts are worse or unique to anyone else. But, God used them to teach me some lessons this year. I better understand what it means to have God by my side supporting me. I also thank God everyday for the wonderful husband he has given me. Matt has served me with much enthusiasm and joy over these last several months. And now, here we are one month before our first child is born. I'm feeling blessed, emotional, excited about my new career and grieving the end of an era. I cannot wait to stay home with my baby. I am 100% sure that God has called me to this place, but today is a day of closure too. Things have gone full circle and now I keep fighting back tears and will probably cry a lot this weekend. I am so thankful for how God has molded me and used me as a teacher and because of this great experience I will shed some tears. But I'm ready and I'm excited to move on to the next great adventure!

March Madness

The craziness of the college basketball march madness has begun.  Of the 10 brackets I did, I've already lost my chance at a perfect bracket on all of them.  Oh well.

Here is my bracket entry in Yahoo! Sports: http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/1062963.

And here is Anne's bracket: http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/207080.

You'll notice that Anne is currently doing better than me.  She is smart.

The Bathroom

As my pregnancy and days as a high school teacher are winding down I've been thinking a lot about the plethora of time I've spent in the bathroom lately. I really don't mind going to the bathroom a lot unless I'm at work or sometimes when I'm sleeping. Most nights I get up at least 4 times and half the time I feel like I'm stuck so it just takes me a while to maneuver my body our of bed. Other than that I wander aimlessly to the toilet, go, and wander back to bed where I usually quickly fall back asleep. But its the times spent in my school bathroom that I just want to curse the fact that my baby is sitting on, kicking, and sometimes I'm convinced somehow squeezing my bladder. The 5 main reasons I hate my school bathroom are...

1. It is dirty (even dirtier than the bathroom at my house that I keep putting off cleaning).

2. It smells like sewage thanks to the not so wonderful system at my school.

3. I can't help but fart when I pee these days so when students are in there I admit I'm a little embarrassed.

4. If I have to go twosies, I have to go right then. Because with pregnancy also comes constipation so I work hard and take a little more time than usual in my stall. This can also lead to more embarrassing moments.

5. High school girls love to put on make-up, gossip, text message (against school rules), and look in the mirror for very very long periods of time in the bathroom. That is just plain annoying.

On a positive note though, I have been privileged to witness several pre-schoolers doing funny things in the bathroom lately. One of the classes at our school is the high schoolers run a preschool for area kids. Today one of said preschoolers was in the bathroom and wandered out of the stall with his pants down (pretty normal). The high school girl accompanying him said, "pull your pants up." Then he proceeded to say very loudly with a laugh, "you pull up your pants." You gotta love preschool humor.

35 Weeks

I have lots to report this week. I'm so excited because our nursery is finally ready to go. Now we just need a baby and that's going to be here sooner than I think. Only 5 weeks left!!

This Saturday we went to an all day class at our hospital about childbirth and it was pretty good. I was really really anxious about it going into it. Somehow I was under the impression that we would be spending 6 hours learning about everything that could go wrong and watching gross videos. That was totally not it. We learned about what labor could/would be like, breathing methods, epidurals, IV's and the like. Although, I didn't really watch the videos they weren't that disgusting. I have watched a lot worse ones on the internet to prepare myself for the ones they would make us watch at our class. I'm really glad that we went and I feel a little more prepared. I've pretty much decided not to think about childbirth again until I'm in labor though:)

My parents came over on Sunday and set up the crib and we got the nursery all ready to go. I feel like we could have our baby anytime and we'd be ready. She needs to stay inside me for just a little while longer though.

Today was the first day of my last week of teaching. I actually almost cried once but after leaving the basement with no windows and seeing how nice it was out today I didn't really feel sad about spending my spring not teaching. I hope to be able to get outside and walk a lot before and soon after Grace is born.

The dresser/changing table with the shelf my Grandpa made for me when I was little.

Close up of the shelf. It's so perfect for this room.

Me with the beautiful crib my Dad made. I can't wait to use it. I know we might have to move it away from the window when Grace can reach the drapes but I like it here for now.

New Niece and Last Shower

Matt and our niece Jenna

We started our weekend on Saturday by hearing from Matt's brother and his wife that their new baby was born at 6:25 in the morning. Since we were already going to visit Matt's family this weekend it was perfect timing to meet our new niece on the day she was born. She is so beautiful and it was fun to hold and see a brand new baby. It was a little bit of a reality check for us and made me think a lot more about the day Grace will be born. We can't wait for Grace and our neice Jenna to spend time together and become friends over the years:)

Matt's mom and us at the shower

Sunday afternoon some women from Matt's home church threw a shower for us. It was wonderful. So many people that Matt has know since he was little were able to attend and blessed us with too much stuff. This was our last shower and it is amazing to think about how much people were willing to give to help us prepare for Grace. We do not have to buy much ourselves and we really appreciate it.

A Place for Grace

I totally stole the title for this post from my mom's blog with the same picture:) I also stole the picture off of her blog too. O well, I'm just so excited to show off the new crib that my Dad made for Grace. I love it!! I can't wait until they can bring it over sometime next week.

33 Weeks

Headless 33 weeks shot:)

Only 7 weeks to go! I'm so excited to meet Grace and so scared of giving birth to her. I just sit and look at people and remind myself that we were all born. Every time I see a baby I think that baby was born and I can do this. Grace has been moving around a lot these days and it's fun to feel her strong movements. Although I do get up a lot to pee, she has yet to wake me up at night. I'm either really tired at night or Grace is already getting into her routine so she can start sleeping through that night as soon as the doctor says she won't starve. Also, I just read that she is over 4 pounds now!

I'm also dealing with winding down at school. I can't believe how soon I will start my maternity leave. I am officially done on March 20th. It worked out nicely that is when our spring break starts and then when its time to go back I'll be 37 weeks so I just decided to start my leave. I'll take a little time without pay but I think my feet will thank me. I also just told my principal that I am not coming back next year. I almost cried but it was nice to let him know my plans and just communicate to him why I'm not coming back. I guess his wife stayed home with their kids for a while too so he was very receptive of the decision. So, I only have 12 days left in my high school teaching career (at least for a while). I calculated I've probably spent over 1000 days teaching. I'm very excited to be moving on to the next stage but I will have to greive the end of something that God lead me too for the past 5 years and despite some of the low times I have truly enjoyed and been blessed by.

Some of our family friends threw a shower for me this past weekend and it was so fun. Most of the women there have known me since I was in my mother's womb. It was neat to be able to celebrate with them. My sister and 2 other friends were the only other ones from our generation who were able to make it to the shower. Grace got tons of adorable clothes, blankets, and a very useful high chair! I can't wait for her to join us at the dinner table. My sister made a quilt as did my mom so those were both really fun to receive. Check out pictures and how my mom made the quilt here.

Enjoy the pics from the last week...

Teresa and me at my shower.

The crib my dad is building in pieces. It is getting really close to done!!!