Saying Goodbye

One more week down... one more week closer to meeting our little girl! It really hit me that I'm now less than 8 weeks from full term (37 weeks). Even though most babies are born closer to 40 weeks, it's still exciting to know I'm only 8 weeks from a safe delivery time frame. Hang in there, Pumpkin! We'll make it.

As I sit here typing, Pumpkin (or Baby Dumplin' as she was called this weekend) has the hiccups. Too cute.


This week didn't get too busy till the weekend. Tuesday we had our Sunday school administrators over to discuss our plans for next year. They're checking in with all the current teachers but of course they had some special concerns about what our plans might be surrounding the baby. We're going to keep teaching right up until the baby is born. After that we've asked for 2 weeks off and then if I'm not up to teaching quite yet (and that may be a little early to take the baby to church anyway) Peter can teach alone for a couple weeks. After I feel up to helping again I'll just bring the baby along. It is a girl's Sunday school class after all so she'll fit right in! I heard today that Baby Jones is already on the roster for the nursery as they plan for helpers and such for the future. That was really nice to hear.


Wednesday I had a hair cut and we attended our third childbirth class. We talked a lot about pain med options and saw 3 birth videos. I stand by my initial feeling that I don't want to see what's going on down there when it's me... let alone someone else! Still, the videos were very insightful and not nearly as gross as they could have been. We're still really enjoying and appreciating these classes very much.


Friday I made Rocky Road Squares (rice crispy treats covered in marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanuts) and we had pizza over at our neighbor's. The boys played Guitar Hero while the ladies socialized. We always have a lot of fun with our neighbors. It's great to have someone our age right next door. Very convenient for cat-sitting too!


Saturday we drove 3 hours toward Pittsburgh for Peter's Grandmother's memorial service. It was very nice and very simple, just like Grandma would have wanted. Peter did a brief reading during the service. Afterward there was a catered lunch. It was very nice to see family - some we hadn't seen since the wedding and some Peter hadn't seen since childhood. Overall, a very sweet and beautiful service. Once we made it home we crashed and ordered in Chinese for dinner.


Today we taught Sunday school. We had 5 very energetic girls (1 who would not participate at all). It is very frustrating and tiring but incredibly rewarding too. Peter is such a great teacher. I tend to take on the role of disciplinarian. It's encouraging to see how much they've already learned in the 2 years we've taught them and to think how much they will grow in the years to come. I have to say though that after witnessing two separate "nose-picking-and-eating" incidents today, I was thoroughly grossed out. What makes children do that?!


Below: my 29 week belly picture. I must have popped overnight because just today I was asked twice when I am due (and I've never been asked before). I know it's quite obvious that I'm pregnant but I still think that's a dangerous question to ask.

A Longwood Weekend

Another fantastic weekend! We've had a lot of those lately. Lucky us.

Friday we spent the night at my parents'. I hung out with mom in bed and she even let me have the TV remote. Now that's real love.

Saturday mom and I went for pedicures. Heavenly. My toes are now "Senorita Rosa-lita". We returned home to the boys and headed to the Verizon store. We cancelled our current cell phone plan since we now have a home phone. After that we went to Perkin's for lunch. I don't know that I've ever been to a Perkin's but it was really, really good (especially the huge chocolate chip cookie!)

Then we finally headed to Longwood Gardens. It was a little chilly and not a whole lot was blooming outside but it was a really nice visit and there was so much to see inside. They have an orchid extravaganza going on right now. So pretty. I still wish we could have seen the Easter flowers too but that's not till April 1st.

On our way home we stopped at Walmart and Peter and I bought GoPhones to use for emergencies. So now I think as far as phones go we're all set! Saving money = awesome.

We didn't do much yesterday. Taught Sunday school, went to church, got groceries. I took a nap to recover from Longwood, haha. Michelle delivered our homemade peanut butter eggs we bought from Alex's day care and they are fantastic. If we hadn't put them in the freezer I'm not sure any would have made it till Easter. We'll see!

Peter just got home from the cat shelter. I'm trying out a new recipe (cheesy chicken & broccoli bake) so I'd better go rescue it and eat.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

And Happy 3rd Anniversary to us! 3 years - wow. It has seriously flown by. I could not be happier. I am so blessed to have married my very best friend. I love you Peter!

My parents sent us a Texas Roadhouse gift card so we ate out. It was lovely. Now we're just spending a nice quiet evening together - the two of us plus Pumpkin and the kitties.

And just for fun... a picture of my funfetti Saint Patty's Day and/or Happy Spring! cake. Our small group graciously helped us eat it.

The Latest

Happy Saturday! Here is just a brief update of our week.

Wednesday I went with a co-worker to my favorite consignment shop "Tomorrow's Child" because all of their maternity clothes were 20% off. I ended up buying a pair of capris, a jean skirt (both with extremely stretchy waists), 3 tops, and a little summer outfit plus a pink sun hat for Pumpkin - all for just $30. Score!

Wednesday night Peter and I had our first childbirth class. We both really enjoyed it. We met a couple who shares our same OB and due date! They are having a boy though. Most of the people in our class of 8 couples are having boys actually. It seems most of our pregnant friends are also having girls so it's nice to see there's some balance, haha. I could tell when we spent some time on breathing and relaxation exercises just how helpful and calming Peter is going to be in the hospital. What a lucky girl I am.

We had a fairly quiet week, which is always appreciated. Today I had to help out with a conference for work but Peter came with me. He even played drums for our time of worship so that was neat. We actually finally sold his old drums to a co-worker of mine and as it turned out Peter played his old set at the conference today! I'm super excited to have some extra closet space in our guest room now that those drums are gone.

After the conference Peter went to dinner and a Hershey Bears hockey game with our small group guys. He's not much for hockey but he'll have fun hanging out with the boys. I did a little cleaning, ate dinner and now I'm just relaxing with the cats.

Below you'll find my 27 week belly pic, wearing one of my new tops (Peter says it makes me look like a strawberry but assures me that's a good thing). Also, because I can't resist, does Pumpkin look maybe just a little like her Mom? I'll let you be the judge.

Stupid Cold

Last Monday we had an excellent Dr. appointment. We found out our follow-up u/s looked perfect so that was great to hear. Pumpkin is still growing like a champ, as am I. No woman likes to gain weight but the Dr. is happy so I'm happy. Our girl is quite the active little one so Peter and I can often feel a foot, elbow or butt sticking out my side. It is so cool.

I had some girlfriends over last Wednesday while Peter hung out with the boys. It was nice to munch some pizza and talk about everything from getting a promotion or a new office to hot celebrity gossip. We never claimed to be an intellectual group. And the boys watched "Death Race" so there you go.

Peter played his drums for Ignite on Friday but I stayed home with a cold. Saturday we spent the day at my parents' house. My mom hemmed some pants for me (without her all my pants would be 6 plus inches too long). We went out to dinner - and that's a story in itself. Let's just say a waitress who argues with you over what you ordered is now on my list of top pet peeves.

Sunday Peter taught Sunday school by himself while I stayed home in bed with the sniffles. I managed to drag myself to the grocery store and we brought Thai home for lunch. Aside from orange juice and rest, there's not much else I can do for my congestion. I wonder if I'm going to shake this baby loose with all this coughing and sneezing. It's miserable being sick.

So today I took a half day. I'm still feeling pretty gross and I'm putting in hours at a conference on Saturday so I had some extra time to use. Convenient time to be sick anyway. I've been on the couch since lunch time watching Gilmore Girls and Rachel Ray. Hopefully I'll finally be able to breathe through my nose again tomorrow.

Welcome to March

We woke up to snow today! Fortunately it's only sticking to the cars and the grass but it was still quite the surprise. Ok Spring... anytime now.

We had quite the productive day yesterday. We slept in a bit and then I made a blueberry coffee cake. It turned out pretty nice! The recipe has yogurt and orange juice and (obviously) blueberries in it so it feels sort of healthy too. After breakfast I caught up on some bill paying. We received our federal tax refund Friday so we paid our state and local taxes out of that. Add to that the mortgage and the credit card balance and our tax return dwindled significantly. It still felt terrific to take care of all that in one day, whew. We really are responsible adults, haha.

We threw in a load of laundry and Peter did some dishes. We decided to get Vonage for the house and then in the near future exchange our cell phone plan for emergency only cells. We'll fill you in on number changes when all that happens. We ran to Walmart for a phone because this will be our first landline phone we've had... ever. In the end we should save a good chunk of change every month and that's the point of this switch.

While we were out we grabbed lunch and then watched some Gilmore Girls once we got home. I updated my pregnancy journal a bit. I think I felt hiccups for the first time on Friday! Peter and I read through chapter 1 of a book we're discussing in our small group and we worked through the daily devotion from our church. They put together a Lent devotional book and it's pretty interesting. I can't believe how early Daylight Savings and Easter are this year!

We wrote a letter to our Compassion girl, Unchittha "Plai" in Thailand. She's our new girl that we started sponsoring after the girl I had been sponsoring since something like 1998, Mueyfha, went to college and was no longer part of the Compassion project. Peter and I have also sponsored a little boy in El Salvador, Jose Alexander, since 2004 I think.

We had dinner, I did some reading, we watched some TV (or Peter watched TV while I fell asleep). A very busy, very good, very productive Saturday.

And while we did all this the cats slept in the sun.