2 weeks to go!

Only 2 weeks to go...Will it ever end? I am SO ready for Lexie to be here...and to not be pregnant any more. I had a doctor's appointment today and got some great news. I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced! YEAH! I know that I could still have many days yet to go but at least I am making forward progress.

The nursery is all set up know, just waiting for our baby to come home. Maybe if she realized how nice her new room is she would get this show on the road. :)

My bag has been packed for a couple of weeks now and the car seat is installed and has been inspected by a very nice sheriff. She didn't even laugh when I showed her how Mark and I had tried to install it. The only part that we got right was having it face the right way. :) I guess that's why everyone says having an inspection done is a good idea.

Week 34

Only 37 more days until the baby is due! I am having a hard time realizing that very soon Mark and I will be responsible for a little person. I mean, really...the whole "responsible" thing is a scary prospect. If I am understanding this whole parenting thing, that means that we have to make all of her choices for her for the next decade or so...and deal with the consequences. Health decisions, moral decisions, educational decisions, financial decisions, social decisions...This is a lot of pressure. Considering the fact that I do this whole decision making thing for a living for the vulnerable adults that I am assigned to, one might think that I would be confident about this. After all, disabled adults have a lot of issues to be dealt with, right? But at work, if I screw up, the worst thing that could happen is that they take a case from me...and those people are already "grown up." If we make mistakes with Lexie, it could effect her personality/character and we (and she) would have to deal with those mistakes for the rest of our lives!

I know, I know...It will all be fine. I have been praying regularly that God gives us the wisdom and strength to be good parents to Alexandra and to guide us in making good decisions. And I know for a fact that I couldn't have picked a better man than Mark to be my partner for life, to help me raise our children. He is intelligent, kind, realistic and steady. All very important traits for a soon-to-be daddy. I am going to blame tonight's little panic-attack on hormones. Okay?

Here I am, in all my 34 week glory!

Marcia, Tina and Ryanne threw my Friend's baby shower this weekend and it was wonderful. We went with a "couples" theme so Mark and our male friends were in attendance and not subjected to some of the more traditional baby shower activities. We had a really nice time hanging out with our friends and celebrating our impending parenthood. We got a lot of great advise, wonderful gifts and several fun photos as a result of the day. Here are a few of the later:

My handsome husband!

Ryanne-the hostess with the mostess!
And various guests.

Family shower

My aunt Brenda and cousin Megan threw my family baby shower last weekend and it was wonderful! The weather was perfect, the food was fabulous and the company couldn't have been better. Megan came up with a great idea to have everyone decorate a baby bib with puff paint. They turned out to be really, really cute! I know I will get a kick out of them every time Lexie wears one!

Here is a pic of some of the bib decorating.

And here is my mom (Linda), me and my grandma (Jeanette).


The pregnancy continues to go pretty well. My feet are swollen daily and I get tired a lot faster than I did a few weeks ago but I can't complain...except about having to get up to pee every 2 hours at night! That is really getting old! Mark and I are looking forward to having our little Lexie join us. The nursery is 75% set up and we even have my hospital bag (mostly) packed.



Here I am, 33 weeks pregnant...

And here is Mark, after 33 weeks of dealing with a pregnant wife. (Yes, he is sticking is tummy out as far as he can in this picture)

Our dogs, Jackson and Daisy are excited about Alexandra's arrival as well. They have been around children quite a bit and have been really gentle and patient with even our youngest visitors, which makes us hope that the transition won't be too hard on them.

Daisy is looking forward to teaching her to play catch with the football.


Jackson is just hoping to have someone to share the couch with...



...because Daisy and Mark alway make him take the floor during nap time!

Getting closer-32 weeks

I know, I know...I haven't posted anything in a while but I have a good excuse...I swear! I have been really busy with work and my new responsibilities as well as getting things in order so it doesn't all fall apart when I go on maternity leave. Also, we have been taking our baby classes and I have been going to lots of garage sales to find baby stuff. I have gotten some really great deals on little odds and ends.

Here is a picture of Mark testing out one of the toys I found. Does anyone know what these things are called?

The baby class we took was through Mercy Hospital. The class was called "Birth and Parenting" and was taught by this really dumb doula (which is a birth coach person that you can hire to attend your birth) named Mona. She put us through 5 weeks of mispronouncing medical terms, calling body parts by kindergartenish names, never letting the class out on time, trying to get into gossiping about one of the couples and having absolutly no knowledge about basic math. Here are some highlights...

When telling us about c-sections she posted some statistics about how many births at Mercy and Unity Hospitals ended in c-sections she gave a percentage for each. The Mercy Hospital persentage was higher than the Unity percentage. When asked by one of the students why Mercy had a higher percentage of c-sections, she answered by saying that Mercy had a higher percentage because it is a bigger hospital so more woman delivered there. My wonderful husband tried to point out that the percentage has nothing to do with the number of total births and when she looked at him like he was crazy he explained what an actual percentage was. She gave this immature, valley-girl style giggle and told him that he was being silly because "this isn't a math class." By the way, this woman is probably around 50 years old...which made the giggling even worse.

And did you know that we give birth out of our bottoms? Me neither. Glad I took that class. And when a baby is premature, it often is attended by needle-neo nurses...Bet you didn't know that either. They must give lots of shots!

I have 3 things to say about that class...
#1 I am glad it is over
#2 I called and complained as well as wrote a scathing preformance review
#3 At least her idiocy makes me feel fairly well informed and educated since I could have done a better job of teaching the class...

On the brighter side, I had my Breastfeeding Prep class this week and it was taught by an actual RN with a licence in Lactation Instruction. That class was wonderful, informational and the teacher was everything I could have hoped for, and more.

Here is a picture from a few weeks ago of me at 29 weeks along.

I am really looking forward to my family babyshower this weekend at Aunt Brenda's and my friends shower the first weekend in August. I am excited to see everyone and to celebrate little Alexandra's progress. And FYI, I am now fully committed to my thong sandals because by noon, I can no longer fit into any of my other shoes...At least it's summertime!

See you all soon!

Parenting classes

Mark and I attended our first parenting class last night. This class is called Birth and Parenting Preparation and it is being held at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, which is were I intend to deliver at.

Mark impressed the instructor right off the bat by helping her fix her laptop/powerpoint setup. She looked so relieved when she learned that there was an IT guy in the crowd!. The class isn't as big as I thought it would be. There were 11 couples there and one of the other expecting fathers is a guy I went to high school with. Mom told me that this was likely but it still took me by surprise. At least he happens to be a fairly nice guy and not one of those high school people you hope to never see again...

This class was interesting but I already knew the material from my obsessive reading. Still, it is nice to know that Mark now knows this stuff too. My favorite parts were when the fathers practiced giving hand massages to their ladies as well as the end of the class when we all sat on the floor practicing breathing. The instructer turned off the lights and turned on some soft music. Really it was more like bonus cuddle time than "instruction."

I am looking forward to next weeks class. Maybe footrubs will be on the schedule.

Adventures in crib assembly

The crib arrived on our doorstep on Friday evening. Without even having to ask him, Mark paused his computer game and began to set it up for me.

Mark says, "Yes, Jenny. I am reading the directions"

We found it very smart that they glue the assembly instructions to the crib itself.

Mark completed a very thorough safety inspection...

...and then declared it fit for use!

Note how pretty our freshly painted walls look!

Here is Mark practicing his "tucking in" skills with Pooh and Tigger as test subjects.

And here it is with the adorable bedding all ready to go! Now all we need is the mattress...and the baby of course!

And here is me with my 25 week belly! I can't believe that I still have 15 weeks to go.
How big AM I going to get?

25 weeks pregnant

Hey everyone,

There is not a whole lot of news to share ate the moment but here are some tidbits...

I am feeling great and basically enjoying being pregnant. My favorite part is that I can feel Alexandra kicking A LOT! Pretty much, whenever I am sitting still she is working on her gymnastic skills. This has Mark believing that his career plan for her is on track. He thinks that she will be the first female NFL kicker. We have had debates about what we will do if she somehow gets drafted by Green Bay (shudder). I know we will be supportive parents but does that mean we will have to wear green? Being a Giants fan from New Jersey, Mark is equally concerned about the possibility of her being drafted to the Cowboys. I just wonder if that would mean that they changed the name of the team to the Cowpeople. We shall see! :) But seriously, she kicks a lot and I love it! Sometimes it makes me jump...I hope I don't end up with a broken rib by the end of this...

Mom and Mark painted the nursery on Sunday while Grandma and I cleaned. The color is called Honey Butter and it is a very soft yellow that matches the bedding set. I love it! Every time I walk past her room (which is very often since it is across from the bathroom) I peak in and imagine what the room will look like with Lexie in it. I can't wait! Mom bought the crib for us and it should be arriving any day now so we will remember Gary and Joy's advice and assemble it INSIDE the room. :)

Lots of love to you all!