Clarew's Birthday ~ May 6th?

40 Weeks

Well, we just got back from the doctor and we have made no progress this week. To quote her, "my cervix is really crappy!" I am scheduled to go into the hospital Monday night for a medicine called cervadil to soften my cervix, and first thing early Tuesday morning I will be induced. On the bright side, the doctor on call is my favorite from the group! I hope the bare belly shot didn't scare you :)

Still Only a Party of Two

Ok! I know you are all wondering if I went into labor yet and the answer is no! I had such high hopes since our friend Jilli delivered on her due date exactly one year from today. I am just hoping to be at the hospital some time before next week. Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment and we'll find out any progress we've made then.
As a head's up, the hospital has professional photographers come in before we leave the hospital to take journalistic style pictures. They will be available online protected with a password. We will be sure to let you know the password, but here's the site (click on the client tab). Be sure to ask for the password if we forget and once we get home I will definitely post the password and more pictures :)
http://www.bellababyphotography.com/index2.php

Date Weekend

Aaron asked me out on a "weekend date" since our world is about to be turned upside down or should I say right side up :) Last night we went out to dinner and a movie. We haven't planned out today's date, but I know we're going to see another movie. We're so adventurous :) It's nice to relax together without "to-do's" taking over your whole weekend.

1 More Week?

Waiting for my little brother or sister

Well, I just got back from my weekly doctor's appointment and not a lot of news. My cervix has lightened about 50% as they would like and she estimated that the baby is about 7 pounds right now. At my next appointment, they will schedule an induction for 1 week past my due date, but keep our fingers crossed I deliver before then. The nurse had one glance at my feet and asked if they were always that swollen, I asked her if she meant do they always look like 'Lil Smokies you put in BBQ sauce during football season! Ridiculous :) Anyway, on a silly note I got out of the shower and found the "Big Brother To Be" just laying in the nursery. We're all getting anxious to meet the addition to our family. The suspense of whether it's a boy or girl is really starting to take over now. I guess we'll know no later than 2 weeks from today!

2 More Weeks - Give or Take

BIG Momma!

Going by the due date, we only have 2 more weeks. I had my weekly checkup and the baby's head is very low, but still no effacement (opening) of the cervix :( The doctors insist on telling me every week to plan on being induced 2 weeks late since I'm a first time mom. Not nice! You know me, just hoping to prove them all wrong:) Anyway, I tried to record the baby moving/kicking on my camera. Let's test your visual and attention skills to see if you can catch the baby's butt shifting to the left. Hope this works :)

Clarew Rolling Around

Happy 29th Birthday!

The Birthday Boy relaxing in his new chair

Happy Birthday Aaron! We celebrated at home with dinner on the grill, opening gifts (including a Daddy Survival Kit from Clarew), and watching the Championship game in his new comfy recliner! The recliner was a gift for his birthday so he can comfortably rock the baby :) We celebrate birthday weeks (a tradition we stole from my friend Amber) so he'll be spoiled until Saturday. We both talked about what a big year this is for his last year in his "20's". Next year is the big 3 - 0 (and a 1 year old)!

Baby Shower

The Grandmas :)

Thank you for everything!

The Shower Crew
Morgan, Aunt Kelli, & Tori
Aaron & Ryan ~ Twinkies :)

Aaron refused to change his shirt once Ryan showed up wearing the same one :)

We just wanted to thank everyone again for your generous gifts and thoughtful wishes for the baby. We are so happy to be back in IL to share this exciting time in our life with all of our family and friends. We are so blessed to have all of your love and support :) Thanks again, and we hope to see you soon after the baby is born!

36 Weeks - 4 Weeks Left!

We've had quite an eventful week. I was on Spring Break all last week with intentions to finish up all the baby preparations for home and work. Well we didn't get much accomplished to say the least. We had 3 visits to the Doctor / Clinic / Emergency Room. Aaron caught a viral throat infection, I caught some type of sinus infection, and Aaron finished out the week with food poisoning. We're both home still trying to recover. We're grateful that it all happened last week and not once the baby was born. With only 4 weeks to go the last big thing to check off the list is our "marathon" weekend birthing class scheduled for this weekend. Hopefully we're feeling better by Saturday!