Lessons...

I am not a very patient person, my dear husband can attest to this. If you ask him, we would not have married when we married, bought a house when we bought a house, or be having a baby when we are having a baby. He is very methodical and patient. He thinks through things and researches them and sits on them quite awhile before he makes a move. Sometimes (okay, often) this makes me crazy. I make a decision and know what I need to do or what needs to happen and I am ready to go. We balance each other out rather well. God knew what he was doing again! Anyway, back to my impatience...I have always known that being a parent is a constant lesson in patience, what I didn't anticipate was starting that lesson before the kiddo pops out! I know he is well "cooked" and head down and that he has dropped and yet we are playing the waiting game. I hate the waiting game! It makes perfect sense to start such a lesson before you actually have the kid in your arms, but again no anticipation on my part.:-)

In other news, Jacob's due date looms closer and closer. Only 2 more days, of course that is to his due date not necessarily the day he will decide to grace us with his presence. Dan and I are anxious to meet the little guy. We want to know what he is going to look like and watch his little personality develop over the coming months. We want to both get a chance to hold him in our arms and not just see my belly moving around strangely. We are excited and nervous to start this new adventure of parenthood.

Thanks for being part of the journey with us.

Nursery

Well I started maternity leave this week. I have been sleeping in which is great since I wake up every couple of hours. I have had dinner on the table for Dan every day this week which I felt was pretty impressive. We are just kind of playing the waiting game. I had an appointment today and the doc says that I am 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. We are hoping the little guy decides to come on Monday (my doctor is working in labor and delivery that night). I thought I would share some of our pregnancy pictures and pictures of Jacob's room. It still needs some things on the walls and a few other things but it is pretty ready for baby.

What?!

I have started my countdown to b-day! We have about 11 weeks left (give or take) and we are working hard to finish the nursery, have baby showers, and finish up our birthing classes. We have had 5 of the 9 classes so far and we are getting to the good stuff now. Last night we starting really talking about the stages of labor and different labor positions and ways to relax and distract yourself during contraction. Our goal is to have this baby naturally, with no medication, so we have a lot to become educated about.

We are looking forward to meeting this little guy. We can already tell he is going to be and already is one VERY active little boy. He starts karate class about 4am each day. He does gymnastics usually about mid-morning, and then the rest of the time it is periodic rough-housing. He is getting bigger and stronger. I am pretty sure that he is using my stomach and my spleen as bunching bags. I keep trying to remind him that I need those to function when he is done in there but I don't think he understands! :-)

I had another check up today and all looks good. No gestational diabetes or any other health problems and the belly is measuring 30 cm. Which is apparently right on par with where I am in the timeline. I can't see my feet unless I lean forward a bit and I make a lot of noise when I bend down to get anything. I have a tendency to walk a few feet and then forget where I was going and what I was going to tell whoever I was going to tell what! I entertain myself frequently with such forgetfulness.

That is the update for now. I can't wait for you all to meet our Jake!

Birthing Classes

On Monday, we had our first birthing class. We have chosen to go to Bradley Method classes, which is basically to prepare you for a husband-coached natural childbirth. I would really like to and believe I can give birth naturally. We are hoping these classes will give us some great tools and prepare us for the painful unknown. It was so strange to be a part of the class. Everyone was in a pretty different place in life and philosophy etc. The one thing we all have in common is that it is all our first pregnancy. Through the course of the class we will be watching different birthing methods. We started with a tub birth. To be honest, it freaked me out. I have never seen a birth before and really had no good concept of what it looked like or anything and it FREAKED me out! I am a pretty modest person so watching another person naked in a tub giving birth with all sorts of people around and being videotaped....AAAHHHH! I am hoping and hearing that I will feel different about the situation when I am actually participating in bringing this new life into the world. The course is 9 weeks and we are excited to be learning so much and getting prepared for this new life coming in just 3.5 months.

Jake has been moving around a lot. He doesn't really have a pattern except to kick a lot when I am trying to go to sleep. His movements are getting more pronounced and definitely stronger. Instead of feeling like a bubble popping inside me, it feels like some kind of alien creature trying to push its way through my abdominal wall!

Dan and I have finally figured out the whole registry thing and have completed registering at Babies R Us. I think that is the only place we will register. It is so overwhelming and crazy to try and figure out what you need for a baby, especially when you have never had one. I think it was a ton easier to register for our wedding than for the baby.

Dan and I have been talking about what our paternity and maternity leave will look like and we have started really working on what happens when we go back to work. We have some ideas in our head but we will see what we decide. We are hoping a friend of ours will be Jake's childcare provider. She is an at-home mom with 3 kids of her own and I would love Jake to be in that kind of environment. Plus she is such an amazing mom and it would also not cost as much as a daycare facility. We just keep praying that the Lord will lead and guide and grant us wisdom as we move forward. This is His child more than he is ours and I have to learn to let go of all these unknowns that freak me out. (easier said than done:-))

Well there is the update for now. Hope you are all doing well and I can't wait to meet our little Jacob and have him meet all of you.

Traveling

Dan and I spent last weekend in San Jose. Dan's mom picked us up from the airport on Thursday evening and we spent that first night with her. It was fun to catch up after so long. For the rest of the weekend we stayed with Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue. Dan was the best man so he had a few responsibilities for the days leading up to the wedding. I was able to spend time with Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue and just relax. It was so delightful.
Friday we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at the Cheesecake factory - soooooo good! Cheesecake makes me melt into happy land! Saturday was a day of leisure for me. We ran a couple of errands but that afternoon and evening I spent time in the pool and had dinner and just relaxed. Dan met up with the guys for a bachelor party and I spent my time getting to know Sue and Larry better. It was so wonderful.
Sunday was the big day. We started the morning at the local Farmers Market and had breakfast. Then Dan was off and running again. I took a nap and then got ready for the wedding.

The wedding was held at the Eagle Ridge Golf Course. It was beautiful and seemed to go off without a hitch. Dave and Kerri looked so happy. It was such a blessing to be a part of their big day.
Break for a funny story---I was told to sit in the family section (the first three rows), well I sat down and realized NONE of the rest of the family were sitting there. I looked around and sure enough they were all seated several rows back. It took me a minute to convince them all that they were supposed to be in the family rows but once I did, they all moved up and I was no longer sitting alone in the family section. Thanks Aunt Sue for helping me get everyone moved into their family seating!

The reception was a blast. Everyone danced and it was a great party. Congratulations again Dave and Kerri, we wish you all the happiness and love in the world.

Monday was breakfast and some goodbyes and then back to the airport. I was stung by a bee in the airport for the first time since Jr. High. It flew in while we were in line to check in and landed on my head. Without really thinking I went to swipe whatever was tickling my forehead and my finger met the stinger of a bee. I, of course, yelled out and made a little bit of a scene which caused Dan to whip around and wonder what the heck was happening. I was crying! It hurt, what can I say. By the time we were checked in and made it through security my finger and hand were swelling up. We found the first vendor we could and asked for ice to I could try to get the pain and swelling to go down. Behind us in line was one of the flight attendants for our flight. She took such great care of us. She got me a bag of ice (to replace my cup) and some anti-sting cream and a Benadryl. I really felt so taken care of. It is cool to see how Jesus provides just the right people to help you when you need it. It was such a small thing but to have one of our attendants right behind us and offer to help was so good for my heart. Anyway, the rest of the trip was delightfully uneventful. It was a great time with family!

Next week we start birthing classes!

Adventures

At 5 and a half months pregnant, I thought it would be so fun to participate in a family backpacking trip. Originally all 7 of us were going to go, but due to work obligations, Dan and Daniel could not join us. So mom, dad, Nathan, Livvy, and I all set out for our little adventure in the Sierra Mountains. We left before the sun came up on Wednesday morning, all 5 of us in the folks Toyota. It took about 6 hours to arrive at the base of Kennedy Meadows where we would hike in. The minute we stepped out of the truck we were attacked by "millions" of mosquitoes. It was crazy. Fortunately Nathan had brought Deet along and we all sprayed ourselves like crazy. The hike in should have been easy since it was mostly downhill, but alas we only made it about 2.5 miles before we had to stop and set up camp. My fault....I pushed myself too hard and ended up in too much pain to continue you forward. Dad scouted out a beautiful little area surrounded by Forrest and meadow. It was perfect. We all set up and had dinner. There was definitely plenty of soreness and a little dehydration to go around but we had a wonderful evening together. All five of us piled into a 3 man tent to play cards before heading off to our respective tents to sleep. It was a time full of laughter. Day 2 was beautiful. Mom, dad and I took the day and hung out at camp. It was a day full of relaxation, so needed. Nathan and Olivia headed off to Jordan's Hot Springs. It was about 7 miles round trip for them. They were so beat once they returned. Pour Nathan suffered from some severe dehydration and was miserable through the night. Friday was another beautiful day, especially after having rained during the night. We were planning to stay until Saturday but mom got sick and it was time to pack up and head out. I have been saying that this trip was good and a bit of a disaster all at the same time. I loved being with my family and laughing and playing cards and relaxing. I was not so much a fan of the pain and the bugs. Glad I went but do not plan on backpacking again, at least while I am pregnant! :-) Thanks family for a fun trip and taking most of the weight in your packs. I love you!

He is all BOY!

The appointment went well. The tech said everything looked to be right on track and our due date is still reading as October 29th. These are all the pictures that they printed out for us at the appointment. It was so fun to see everything and see the heart move and count his fingers and toes. I am so excited to meet our little boy. Now onto the fun part of registering and birthing classes.