33 weeks

"What is most important almost always involves the people around us." 

                                                                                                                                       Thomas S. Monson

The past two week have gone by so fast, and have been equally busy and wonderful!

For starters, I got a calling at church. I am now a Sunday school teacher for the 12-14 year old boys and girls. I have about seven kids in my class and so far it is just as scary as I thought it would be. I expect it will get better over time and I'm hoping it will help me overcome my fear of speaking in church. 

I had an appointment on Friday and everything is looking great! Baby J's heartbeat is strong, she's head down, and my weight gain, blood pressure, and urine were all beautiful according to my OB. We did talk about signs of labor and what not which makes the end seem near which is both exciting and terrifying.

Hey, speaking of signs of labor, I'm finally noticing Braxton Hicks contractions! I never noticed them with my last two pregnancies so it feels like Last week I also had some contractions in my back for a couple hour throughout the day. They felt just like the early back labor I experienced with Sarai. Nothing to worry about though; promise. They make me feel like my body is working properly and things are progressing appropriately which makes me feel good.

Everything is running smoothly :)

I have been pretty emotional about not having any family members on my side at my baby shower, but I got the best surprise ever earlier in the week! My sister who I haven't seen in two years, Kayleigh, flew out on Thursday and spent the weekend with me! I loved spending time with her and I am so grateful she was able to come out! It made my baby shower even more special.

Thursday we went out to eat and went to a softball game. Friday we went for a nice walk up to Mount Falcon with the dogs, spent time in downtown Denver, went shopping, put up some decorations in preparation for the baby shower, and talked, and talked and talked. Saturday we spent the morning finishing decorations and food prep, enjoyed the baby shower, went on a long hike, and did facials and nails (while Kayleigh was on ambien and it was hilarious). She had an early flight Sunday morning, but we still got a walk in and enjoyed our time laughing and talking on the way to the airport. I wish she could have stayed longer, but I loved every minute we had together and I'm looking forward to our next visit. 

 Post shower food coma pic

 Frosting cupcakes

 Evergreen 

 She kept telling me to focus on driving (which I was doing) and then she'd do something like this

 Before the baby shower

Putting on decorations Friday night

The baby shower was fantastic! It turned out way better than I imagined it would! 

My mother-in-law, Kirsten, and the ladies from the ward did an amazing job. The decorations were cute, we had a great food spread (and plenty of it), and the generosity of everyone who came or helped was really overwhelming. 

For food we had hot dogs and hamburgers which my father-in-law grilled for everyone, bakes beans, fruit salad, chicken salad sandwiches, a veggie tray, onion dip and chips, pretzels, white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, cookies, bread pudding, chocolate and vanilla pudding cups with strawberries and whipped cream in them, and chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. We also had a big metal tub on the back porch filled with different drinks. (Funny side-story, my father-in-law isn't LDS and neither were a lot of our guests so dad bought some beer. Ginger something. My visiting teacher saw it and said, "Oh, I love ginger ale," and went to drink some. My mother-n-law had to catch her and let her know it wasn't what she thought it was before she drank some, haha).

For games we had horseshoes, poker, and pool. A handful of the guys that came had a little pool tournament after I opened gifts. When most people had left, we cleared a table upstairs and a group of cousins and friends played poker.

For music we played the Frank Sinatra station on pandora (which I LOVE). 

Other than having to sit and have people watch me open presents, it definitely just felt like a nice summer BBQ. Everyone, including the men, seemed relaxed and there was a lot of eating, laughing, and mingling. It couldn't have gone any better.

This was such a big deal to me for emotional reasons and it couldn't have gone any better. I am so grateful to everyone who was a part of it, including all of those who weren't able to make it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(If you sent a gift and you don't get a card in the near future, please let me know. A couple didn't have names on them and I want to make sure everyone gets a proper "thank you" from us).

 Setting up

 Simple party favor at the front door

 Really cute decoration/gift from one of my visiting teachers

 Setting up food

 Setting up food

 Streamers

 Setting up. The puffy balls in the window were made by one of my visiting teachers and are decorations for the nursery

 Setting up

 Setting up

 Setting up one of the food tables

setting up one of the food tables

 I'm only keeping this photo because Kevin loves it.

 Our friends, the Christensen's, got us a lot of great books!

 Oh, I love that man

Tasha made me cry

 Tasha hugging me after making me cry

 The spots on my dress are from crying, lol (and that is a baby hat)

 Skyping with my mom while opening gitfs

Not the most flattering, but laughter is good medicine

How far along: 33 weeks. Only 49 days to go!

Maternity clothes: I wear the ones I have, but I also wear my regular clothes too.

Wedding ring on or off: On

Sleep: I love it. Give me more.

Movement: Baby J has been sleeping more during the day, but she still moves around a lot when I go to bed at night.

Cravings: Those chicken salad sandwiches. I ate a million yesterday and it was wonderful.

Symptoms: I'm big and round and apparently nesting.

Belly button in or out: In

Signs of labor: Nope. Braxton Hicks don't count, right?

Best moment of the week: Being married to Kevin, seeing my sister, and baby shower.
____________________________________________________________

Size of baby: Uh, a pineapple?!? Baby J is about 17.2 inches long and weighs roughly 4.5lbs. 

 Happy baby

Milestones: Baby J is working on accumulating more fat which will turn her skin from red to pink (or brown, she had a mixed bag to choose from). The developing neural structure within her brain is helping her listen, feel, and partially see. It is also allowing for REM sleep cycles. 

I'm a happy, happy girl. Life is good and I know a lot of wonderful people. 

Over n' out.