belly pictures

Family belly pictures (35 weeks)

 

 

 

 

baby shower

My cousin, Staci and my mom threw me a baby shower at our house.  Staci did a great job decorating and made some amazing cake pops and chocolate covered pretzels!

 Lauren, Sue and Joann

 Tina, Geri and Kathy

 Vicki and my mom

 WeiWei, Max, Vicki and Maddux

 Staci and my mom.  Staci had 2 fun games: Who did it, which was a list of 10 things that either Jason or myself did as a kid and you had to guess who did it and a memory game with a basket full of baby items that you got 15 seconds to peek at and then write down as many items as you could remember.  Jason's sister, Sue and my aunt, Kathy tied for the "who did it" game, but then Sue won the memory game.  Each of them received a gift card for Target.  Staci also brought a basket full of newborn diapers that everyone got to write a message on, which will be fun to read when we're changing diapers at 2:00am.  =)

 Everyone wanted to see my big belly and the minute I stood up a line of camera's went off.

 Me and Tina

 Vicki, Me, WeiWei and Maddux

 my mom and me

 My aunt Kathy, cousin Staci, mom and me

 Me and Staci... who has always been more like a sister than a cousin.  She planned, organized and threw me an incredible baby shower (twice)!  I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful and amazing person in my life... and in my children's lives!  We love you Staci!!

 Me and my aunt, Geri

 Jason's sister Sue, me and Lauren.  Sue is so smart.  She bought Connor a big brother gift for the shower.  She is so clever, always coming up with great ideas!  Thank you Sue!

Me and Joann.  She is so amazing.  Without me ever asking she took pictures of the entire shower for me.  Thank you Joann!

 Jason didn't want to be the only guy at the shower, so he let Connor pick anything he wanted to do.  Connor chose Chuck E Cheese.  But since we had a bunch of tokens for Bumpers, which is basically like a Chuck E Cheese they went there instead and played games.  Shortly after they left WeiWei arrived with Max, who was dying to see Connor.  So, after some fun at Bumpers they came back so Connor could have a play date with Max and his little brother, Maddux.

Wrestling tournament

We promised Grandma and Grandpa that we would do the Chewelah wrestling tournament, so they could see Connor wrestle.  We spent the night at their house Friday so, we wouldn't have to get up early to drive to Chewelah for the weigh in. 

 Connor had a lot of fun playing with the marble run Grandpa made.  I think Jason may have had fun playing with this too.

 The wrestling tournament was held at my old high school gym.  The bleachers were packed.  We had to find seats on the upper level, which happens to be next to the practice wrestling mat.  Connor and Jason worked on some wrestling moves before his match.

 Connor's first wrestling match in a tournament.  I didn't get very many pictures because we forgot the video camera so I had to video with my camera instead of take pictures.  There were only 6 kids in his weight group.  For his first match he got a bye (meaning there weren't enough kids so he automatically won his first match).  He lost his second match, but did a great job.

 Ready for his second match.  The announcer calls the age groups and the kids meet in the locker room to be paired up.  Then they are instructed to hold their partners hand and march out to the bleachers to wait for their match. 

Connor did great on his second match.  He didn't win, but showed some great wrestling moves.  Grandpa wasn't feeling good so they only got to watch Connor's first match.  There was a 2 hour wait in between matches and Grandpa can't sit on the wooden bleachers that long with his arthritis.

belly pictures

34, almost 35 weeks...  He's a very active baby.  He moves, kicks and pushes his head/tush/knee's out all the time.  I finally got a picture of him pushing his head out on my left side and his knee/elbow on my right.  My Linea Nigra (dark vertical pregnancy line) is usually just to the left of my belly button.  This picture kinda shows the warped shape of my belly when he's stretching.  Although he's always moving and kicking, he's never once bothered my ribs or diaphragm.   He always lays horizontal and has never bothered me.  I love feeling him move around.  This has been such a great pregnancy.  I really love being pregnant.  Knowing that this is my last month to feel his squiggling and squirming in my tummy almost makes me sad.  I've had a great time bonding and sharing these moments with him.  I may be the only woman 8 months pregnant who doesn't want my pregnancy time to end.  I haven't had any issues with swelling, even working 12 hour clinical shifts.  I really didn't have any morning sickness at all... I would occasionally feel a little ting of nausea in the beginning, but nothing one tic-tack couldn't solve.  He's never bothered my lungs, diaphragm or caused any problems with breathing normally.  I haven't had any heart burn at all.  My back doesn't bother me... I don't have any pain anywhere.  He has some very powerful kicks, but I actually enjoy them.  At this point I've gained 25 pounds and according to everyone around me it looks as if I'm carrying a basketball under my shirt since my belly is just a big round ball.  I keep getting complements on my complexion too.  I have a very square jaw with deep set eyes.  I've gained a little extra weight in my face with the pregnancy, which everyone keeps telling me looks really good on me.  I think it helps to round out the shape of my face more, but unfortunately I'm not keeping any extra weight after the pregnancy so that won't last.  With the exception of a few weeks in the very beginning of my pregnancy my energy level has been really high.  Everyone around me (including my OB instructors) have commented on how shocked they are that I'm still so active and full of energy, especially compared to half of the other nursing students who are in their 20's, have no kids, aren't pregnant and they are exhausted and dragging all the time.

Just for fun: I looked up myths to see if your having a boy or girl.  I already know I'm having a boy for sure, but the myths I read actually worked to predict the sex.  If you have no or very little morning sickness your having a boy.  Check!  If you carry low, away from your rib cage your having a boy.  Check!  If your Linea Nigra line extends from your pubic bone all the way up to your breast bone your having a boy.  Check!  If you carry your pregnancy weight in front and look like your carrying a basketball your having a boy.  Check!

I started having Braxton Hicks contractions on Wednesday 3-12-14.  My entire uterus tightens into a hard ball for several seconds.  The closest they have gotten is 5 minutes apart, but I believe that was due to the fact that I was dehydrated and they spaced out once I drank a bunch of water.  On Saturday 3-15-14 after Connor's wrestling tournament lightening occurred (he dropped lower in my pelvic).  He's also started having hiccups more frequently.  My due date is 4-25-14.  I'm scheduled for a Cesarean section on 4-18-14.  My prediction is that he will be born between 4-10 and 4-15 though.  I'm thinking 4-12 and he'll be 6.4 pounds

wrestling

Each wrestling practice starts off with coach Wayne telling a military war story and reminding everyone why we should respect the American flag and the men/woman who have died to give us our freedoms.  This is followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and 20+ minutes of warm up exercises (Connor hates the warm up exercises).  Then coach Wayne shows the kids some new wrestling moves.  We're not real fond of his method of coaching though.  He would probably make a great high school wrestling coach, but he's very strict with the kids and he breaks each wrestling move into 4 steps.  He demonstrates his 4 step wrestling move for the kids and then they break into group with their partner to practice the new move.  The problem is 5 year old kids have a hard time remembering the 4 step moves.  Heck I have a hard time remembering the moves!  I'm thankful that Jason wrestled all through school and knows these moves by heart.  The kids barely get enough time for each of them to practice the move once before coach Wayne is ready to demonstrate another move for them to practice.  He moves way too fast for most of the kids to keep up.  Jason and I both think the atmosphere should be more fun and less serious with 5 year olds.  They should have games and make the moves fun.  Each practice lasts for 2 hours, which we think is too long for a 5 year old.  The room is heated to 80+, which really serves no purpose for small children who are already sweating.  He ends each practice with a speech on respect, being honest, doing homework, working hard, listening to your parents... I think this is very age appropriate, unlike his opening speech on war and people dying.  We joined the Mat Maulers Wrestling team because Connor wanted to wrestle.  He loves to wrestle.  We never want to push him into sports or ruin something he loves.  At this point Jason and I are not happy with the way coach Wayne is running the wrestling practices and we don't view it as being a fun experience anymore.  For that reason we are only going once a week for practices instead of twice and Connor is always given the option if he wants to go or not.  I don't think we will be finishing the season since Connor is voicing that it's not fun for him either.  Although he does enjoy the practice once they break off with a partner and Jason helps him with the moves.  I think a few of Connor's little wrestling buddies enjoy Jason's coaching too, because as soon as they are given the instructions to pair up with a partner... Noah, AJ and a few others come running to try to pair up with Connor.  Jason and I both give the kids positive reinforcement to help boost their self esteem, which all the kids need and appreciate.

 Sometimes at the end of practice the kids form lines and do mock wrestling tournaments. 

 Here Connor was taken down, but he's doing his bridge move so the other kid can't pin him and Connor can flip him over.

AJ asked me to take a "tough" wrestling picture of him and Connor together

 Connor and his buddy, Noah practicing some moves

Snow day

We finally got some snow that packs!  We received several inches Sunday night and Connor's school was closed on Monday.  We've been waiting for some snowman snow!

 we decided to build a super hero snowman.  First Connor decorated a mask and cape.  The CK stands for Connor and Kaiden (his idea).  We haven't decided on a baby name yet, but so far we like Kaiden the best.

 our finished Super Hero Snowman!

The cape didn't quiet fit around the snowman head, so he had to wear it as a headband/cape.

painting

We finally decided on a paint color for the baby room.  I originally had planned on doing a light blue with gray and white stripes on the wall, but Jason said no more light blue walls.  I painted our laundry room light blue, Connor's bathroom blue and Connor's room blue and brown.  We decided on a darker blue with white stripes.

 Connor and I started off with masks, but Jason bought some great new paint with low odor, which hardly had any smell to it at all.  I still kept my mask on while we painted the walls blue, but I didn't use the mask at all while we did the white stripes (also low odor paint).

 After we put down a plastic barrier on the floor, all 3 of us painted the blue walls.

 After the main walls were painting I spent another few hours painting next to the ceiling, around the trim and all the detail work.  Jason is an excellent handyman, but he hates to paint.  Which works out great because I love to paint, but I'm really picky with my lines.  I can't stand messy paint lines.  I want clean, crisp paint lines, which is difficult if you have textured walls and ceilings.

 We let the blue paint dry for a few days and then masked off for the white lines.  It took about an hour to get the tape lines perfectly straight on the walls.  Jason used a laser level for part of it and verified with a tape measure.  It took 6 lines of Frog tape all around the room.  Then I caulked all 6 tape lines, which if your wondering.. yes, it was a huge pain!  But well worth the effort.  Jason and I applied 2 coats of the white paint.  I was a little concerned that we might have trouble getting the tape off the wall since we had to let the first white coat completely dry before we added the second coat, but to my surprise it pealed right off and revealed beautiful clean, crisp lines! 

The lines looks incredible, but being the picky painter that I am... I still went around with a fine tip paint brush and touched up any imperfections I could find. We love the finished paint job.  Our theme for the baby room is boats.  We found a great boat knick-knack shelf that Grandpa is going to build for us to hang on the wall.  Once we decide on a name I'll paint some letters to hang on the wall too.  The room colors work great for his boat theme, but could easily be converted into a car theme later or even transition into a cool teen room.  We hope our new little guy likes his room as much as we do!