Our Showers

Jim and I spent last weekend and the weekend before indulging in 2 baby showers that were thrown for us by our families. First, we headed to Dubuque the weekend of March 7th. Jim's mom and sister organized quite a nice shower. They have a conference room at hy-vee that they rented and provided all of the guest with vegetables, fruit, nuts, mints, cake, and punch. Most of Jim's family was able to come which was very nice because that included a drive for most of them. Some old family friends were also there, I had met them before at my bridal shower and it was nice to see them again.
Everyone got a chance to visit and be entertained by Jackson, he was quite the social boy! He especially likes Jim when he is around, and I can't blame him, Jim is pretty awesome! Barb organized some games including guessing what the baby animal is called (for example, a baby platypus is called a puggle). We also had to remember all of the baby stuff on a tray, which is always a fun game for the Mom-to-be! Barb picked out some awesome stuff for that game!
Gifts are always a good time! Everyone got us very nice things. We got quite a few clothes, toys, blankets and books. Jim's mom and sister had gotten us the crib and crib mattress so they passed around this picture to show everyone.

Jim's dad and his wife got us our travel system which is fantastic, because now we can actually bring the baby home from the hospital! One of our favorite gifts came from his cousin's wife, Annette. She is a nurse and got us the best of everything medical wise for the baby. We were especially excited about the thermometor she got is because they are newer, and they just roll across the forehead to get the temperature, and we had heard good things about them from a few of Jim's friends who had them but when we went to register for them, we couldn't find one so needless to say we were pumped.

The funniest part of the afternoon was when they decided they should try to guess what baby C stood for. The first guess was Chelsea, which is the 3rd time someone guessed that right off, which is funny to me of course, because of my sister. So I told them they could keep guessing because I really didn't think they would guess it. Low and behold the next name was guessed by his Aunt Sandie, and she was right! Not only did she guess the name, she guessed the nickname too, all in one fell swoop!! My jaw hit the floor, and my reaction in no way could hide that she was right. It was too funny and a great addition to our wonderful day. Thank you Joy and Barb for all of your work!

Last weekend, March 14th, we headed to Omaha for our next shower. My Mom and Cheryl worked to plan this one. They did a fantastic job! We had it at the librarry community room and the decorated it very springy and bright with pinwheels and more. Deb made the cake, and it was amazing! Not only did it look awesome (she made the topper herself) but it tasted fantastic too. They also served crackers and cheese, spinch dip and beer bread, sherbert punch, mints, and nuts. No one could go hungry!

I couldn't believe everyone who was able to make it to the shower. It was so great to see everyone! There was all of the family and lots of old family friends that I hadn't seen in quite awhile. We had such an awesome time visiting and spending time together. My Aunt Bobette was able to come which I was especially thankful to be able to see her. It was so great to be able to visit with her and also very hard. I am truly hoping we have the opportunity to introdue her to our little girl.

My Mom had planned some games as well. It started with a baby C guessing game, to see who could come up with the most names beginning with C. My Aunt Misty guessed baby C's nickname, so from there we had them guess until they had the name. We just had to let them after what happened at the other shower! We also had a remember what is on the tray kind of game, only all the items had been laid out on the table the whole time. When the questions came, it wasn't about just what was on the table, but specifics about it (color, quantity, what it said, etc...).
After games we started food, and while everyone finished eating we began presents. Holy cow was everyone so incredibly generous! We couldn't believe everything we recieved. Of course we loved everything we got, but we did have some favorites. Deb made us a mirror for the baby's room that turned out wonderfully. She also got us a quilt made with vintage chenille and other fabrics that I just love! It is so funky and fun! My Mom got baby C her very own big dog and ruby slippers, both reminiscent of my childhood. My Dad got her everything under the sun that she might need, he has apparently been accumulating it for months. Needless to say it was a wonderful time and I can't thank my Mom and Cheryl enough for all of their hard work!

The PRIZE!

Jim and I finally decided on the prize for the game. Jim says it automatically calculates points based on correct/incorrect guesses once all of the real information is entered. So, the person with the lowest number of points (meaning they are closest to the real answers) will be the first person, besides Jim and I, to hold Baby C after she is born (assuming they are here).

So, I hope you guessed well!! Good Luck!

The Empathy Belly

Our last childbirth class was last Wednesday and Jim was lucky enough to try on the empathy belly. Unfortunately, she had a hard time getting it around to everyone who wanted to try it (or everyone who had a wife insisting they try it) so he didn't have it on for long, but the pictures are still pretty funny, so enjoy!

Weekend in Kansas City

For Valentine's Day this year I gave Jim (and myself) one last weekend away before Baby C arrives. I had a wedding to shoot the weekend of the 14th so instead we went the weekend of the 21st.

We had a doctor's appointment at 1:30 on Friday afternoon and we stopped home, grabbed our stuff, and headed out right after that. We were in KC before the sun went down. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency at the Crown Center.

The weekend was definately relaxing. We visited the Crown Center Friday night where we walked around and ate dinner. Then we just chilled at the hotel, enjoying cable and eachother's company.

Saturday we went back to the Crown Center for a 70th Anniversary of Wizard of Oz trivia session and exhibit. It was not what we thought it would be, but it was ok. The exhibit was primarily directed toward kids, although even Jim can have a good scare in the Wizard's castle!
After that we headed to Union Station. That is where I met a gigantic bear with my very own mantra on his t-shirt. We went back to the hotel to relax until dinner that night. We had reservations at Skye, a restaurant on the top of our hotel that spins and gives you a whole view of the city. This was my favorite thing we did all weekend. The food was wonderful and we were tucked away at a little two person table right by the windows and it was nice and romantic. I think we both enjoyed this alone time together to enjoy eachother...and our food!

Sunday we visited Country Club Plaza before leaving town. We went to some of the shops and ate some KC bar-b-que at Jack Stack. The BBQ was good, but nothing beat their carrot cake!! I think we would both consider going back down for that alone!

We hit the road and were home about 5:30. It was nice to enjoy our time together and our last weekend away for awhile.

The Baby C Game!

Follow the link below and take a guess about the arrival of Baby C! Guess with thought...the winner may recieve a prize!

http://www.expectnet.com/logingame.php?game_name=JIM_MANDY_GAME

Speaking Of...

Jim's Awesomeness: Jim did so much work when it came to the baby's room that I just can not even explain. He spent literally HOURS getting the walls prepped and I can't thank him enough. In addition he installed a closet organizer in there which will certainly help with all of the clothes we already have for Baby C.

Baby C: Our little darling daughter-to-be is rocking and rolling all of the time. She likes making Mommy's whole stomach rock like jello. She is definately growing...right into my right side ribs, although not painful yet the kicks there are always surprising. She must have a full head of hair by now with the heartburn she kicks up but in my mind it is worth it if she has hair!

Childbirth Class: We began our childbirth class series on Feb. 11th and our last class is this coming Wednesday. I am pretty excited for this last class because Jim gets to wear the sympathy belly and I will have my camera ready and waiting! Class has been going ok. I find it a little nerve racking at points, but I am sure labor will be exactly that-NERVE RACKING! I think it will be helpful to understand the process more and the different options available but everyone still pray for a nice, easy delivery!!

The Delivery: For any of you planning on being around the Des Moines area when Baby C makes her grand entrance please bear with us. We do not plan on calling anyone until we are out of triage (where we prove we are actually in labor) and admitted into a birthing room. I can imagine no scenario where birthing will be a super pleasant experience and the day will be about Jim, Myself and Baby C only, so when that is our focus, please don't be hurt. We definately want you there if you want to be there, but no one will be in the room for the delivery besides Jim and Myself...same goes if I am in the jacuzzi bath, everyone out till I'm out!

After birth, we will be very excited to share her with the world, but also respect our time to develop as a family. Give us some moments with her, we will invite you all in as soon as we are ready. The hospital also has required time each day for Mom, Dad and Baby only. We may also need some help caring for the kiddos we already have at home (Boomer, Milo and Odie) so if Jim asks you to make a pet run for us, we would love you a lot if you did!!

Cravings: I have yet to crave anything weird, however I do want chocolate, almost all of the time!! I have never been a super big chocolate person, but lately, too much is still not enough! Yummy yummy chocolate in my tummy! Which brings me back to how awesome Jim is, he brought me home an entire sack from Target last night full of different chocolate treats...yum yum!!

Well...I am sure I could find more to chat about but I am going to be done for now. Have a great weekend everyone!

Nursery in Progress

The Before: This room was quite the looker before we got started. It had striped wallpaper from floor to ceiling, a border with planes and trains on it, a pink and white desk, and a ceiling fan in bright primary colors.The first step was definately the hardest...removing the wallpaper. Jim now swears that wallpaper is a 4 letter word. Him and his sister both worked many hours scraping and peeling multiple layers of wallpaper off of the walls. Needless to say, the walls were not very pretty when all was said and done!Because of the condition of the walls we had to do a few more things before they would be ready for paint. There was glue all over the walls that needed scraping. There were parts where the drywall paper ripped off the drywall that need patched and there were many holes in the walls that also needed repaired.
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After doing some research we found out the process that should work best for reconditioning the walls. Once all the wallpaper and much of the glue were history we had to prime all the walls. After priming, Jim had to joint compound all of the spots where the paper had torn off of the drywall and all of the holes. Then he had to sand...the dust was insane. He had to repeat the joint compounding and sanding followed by one more round of priming. Barb came over to help him with the last coat of primer.

Originally we didn't think there was a chance of getting the walls smooth so we had bought some stuff to texture the walls but it turns out Jim is a rock star and the walls looked great. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the completely white room but that's ok I suppose.

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From there the fun began. My Dad came in to town the first weekend in February and helped us out with a ton of stuff. Jim and my Dad replaced light fixtures throughout the house, fixed some electrical and wiring stuff, and then got to work on the baby's room. We had to paint all of the baseboards and the chair rail that we were adding. They painted the top half of the room the aqua color we had chosen and the bottom half white. It was looking really great by the end of the day Saturday.

On Sunday the baseboards got re-installed and then my Dad and Jim got all of the chair rail measured, cut, and put up. It looks amazing! I have some additional pictures to come but they are going to wait just a little bit until we have some of the other things finished up in there but it's really coming together!

In Denial

Well I have definately been in denial about how big and pregnant I really am. This is me last week on a day where I felt particularly large, in fact, it was the morning after my revelation that I am indeed looking very very pregnant. For quite awhile I didn't look super pregnant and I had that idea stuck in my head even as I saw myself growing larger and larger over the last couple of weeks especially, in my mind, I was still roughly the same.

My revelation came last week as Jim and I stopped to grab a bite to eat before our childbirth class. The lady behind the counter looks at me and asks some question about me being pregnant, followed by the when are you due, what are you having, do you have a name questions. She then proceeds to go on about her pregnancies and kids (although she didn't look old enough but you never know these days).

Any how, normally I would not have been put off by this because clearly I look pregnant. However, that evening I had on my big winter coat, it is big on me, not super huge, but it definately doesn't snug around my pregnant stomach so I was just baffled at how she could just look at me and still tell I was pregnant. I decided I must be more huge than I thought, but thats ok, I do understand there's a baby in there.

Updating

Bear with me over the next few days as I update our blog. I let the time slip away from me and now there are definately a couple things to get on here so keep checking back, they will be up before you know it!

Rascal Flatts!!

It is amazing to believe that I have managed to put off blogging about our Rascal Flatts concert this long because I seriously had one of the best nights I have EVER had.....EVER! For those who don't know, Rascal Flatts is my most favorite group ever in the whole entire world. I can listen to them constantly and if you ask Jim, I probably do. So for Christmas, Jim got me tickets to the concert here in Des Moines.

He went above and beyond when it came to the tickets. He joined the Rascal Flatts club so that he could get VIP seats. The cost if about the same as regular seats, but they guarantee you one of the best 600 seats there. That is pretty broad and they don't tell you where your seats are until you pick up the tickets, which you can't do until 2 hours before show time. They do this so people won't just join the club and sell the good tickets but it was a little unnerving not knowing where we were going to be.
Needless to say our seats were AMAZING!!!! I seriously had a melt down as we walked down to the floor, and up to the first row!!! The stage came out to a point and there were two small sections on each side of the point where people were sitting and then there was the front row, which is where we were. The stage wrapped around right next to us and so they walked right past us over and over!!! Not only were our seats awesome, but the concert itself ROCKED! I screamed, yelled, sang, danced, and had the greatest time!!! Jessica Simpson opened for Rascal Flatts, and sometimes it's hard to remember that she can actually sing because she is such a character. She was dressed a little...daisy dukey...but did alright, the guys seemed to like her!

This is how the show kicked off. It scared the crap out of me but it was amazing like everything else!

That is my head there watching good ol' Gary sing

In all honesty, I seriously have a hard time putting into words how great it was, I am not doing it justice!!! Let's just say that when we left it was too late to call anyone and tell them how fantastic it was, so I made a couple of phone calls at 7am the next day to brag to people how amazingly great it was. I even dreamt about it for days....it was, so far, the 2nd best time I have ever had next to our wedding!

Here Jim and I are at the end of the night. We had such a good time!