Week 20...WE ARE HALF WAY THERE!!!!

Can you believe that the time is FINALLY here...we have reached our half way point! We have only 20 more weeks to go! Oh and so much to do :)

This past week, our school was celebrating Character Counts! Each day we celebrated a different pillar, and we all wore those colors.
Monday=Trustworthiness - BLUE
Tuesday = Respect - YELLOW
Wednesday = Responsibility - GREEN
Thursday = Fairness - ORANGE
Friday = Caring - RED &
Monday = Citizenship - PURPLE

Anyway - it was Friday, Caring...and 21/24 students were wearing red! That's pretty darn good! So I called up the other 3 students to receive a red smiley face sticker wear so they had red as well! It worked...they were happy!

Then we started having a great conversation about Caring, and how we can show people we care. They ended up coming to the conclusion that you show people you care with your heart...because caring is love! So I showed them my "Red Heart" stickers that I had (leftovers from Valentine's Day last year! So I gave all of my students a red heart to put on their cheeks. This is the conversation that followed them receiving their stickers:
Mrs. McRae "Almost everyone has a red heart sticker on their cheek...who doesn't have one?"
Students, "You don't Mrs. McRae"
Mrs. McRae, "Oh, you are right...thank you! (then I put one on my cheek) Now who else doesn't have one (thinking they were going to say Mrs. Maxa, our classroom paraprofessional who was standing right there...)"
Students, "Your baby, Mrs. McRae"

Yup - cutest story EVERY! So they had me put a red heart sticker on my tummy to wear all day...that way McBaby was cared about!
So now we are on WEEK 20...our halfway point :) YEAH! Can you believe how quickly that time has gone! Here is my updated belly for your viewing pleasure :)

Love,
Josh & Cori

Week 19

Well, we are almost half way there, can you believe it!

There really haven't been any changes. One day I am showing more and the next day I can barely tell. I find that when I'm showing more, I don't have to go to the bathroom as much, but when I'm barely showing...I'm constantly going. I have come to the conclusion that McBaby sits RIGHT on my bladder when he/she is hiding from the world!

I also have come to a new conclusion. So I've been feeling REALLY good throughout this entire pregnancy, but I do have something to complain about! Either the weather is REALLY bad this year, or I have a TERRIBLE case of allergies throughout. I swear I have a sinus headache everyday. But hey - If this is the only thing that I have to complain about, I'll take that in a heart beat!

The other news is about the H1N1 vaccination. At first I was not going to get it, because some Dr.'s were saying "YES" to have it and others were saying that pregnant women should "NOT" get it. Josh and I had a heart to heart with our Dr., and she informed us that it is the Nasal vaccination that is REALLY bad for pregnant women. The H1N1 shot is 100% safe and will cause no harm to myself or McBaby. It is because the shot is a "dead virus" so it doesn't carry anything. The nasal spray is what can cause harm to a preggo lady!

Austin still does not have the H1N1 vaccination available...so now I'm just counting down the days until it arrives...you see, several have been out in our school with H1N1...I just hope it avoids me (and the other teacher in my building that is pregnant). For all you preggos out there...WASH YOUR HANDS CONSTANTLY! For anyone else coming in contact with a pregnant lady...WASH YOUR HANDS! If you are sick...just stay away :) It's all love, I swear!

Enjoy the pictures...next week is our half way point...maybe McBaby will make an appearance by then!?

McBaby's room is almost ready :)

During the middle of week 18, Josh's mom and Grandma came down (McBaby's Grandma and Great-Grandma) to help us paint and finish the nursery. I can't explain to you how helpful this was. The amount of time the three of them put in is unbelievable.

Grandma painted the ENTIRE living room for us! She and I went to the store to pick out some paint on Thursday afternoon, and then Viola...just like that, Friday evening the room is painted and put back together! It looks awesome! We did get new blinds as well, but I forgot to take a picture of them...so if you want to see how beautiful they look, either wait for the pictures - or just come down to Austin to see :)

While she was busy painting, and I taping, taking pictures, breathing in paint fumes and relaxing...Josh and Lynn were busy sanding down an old dresser. You see, why buy an expensive dresser when you can just refinish one that you have AND make it so that it matches the bedroom :) We did just this - Correction...THEY did just this! I can take no credit in the process, just the color choice :)

While we were putting the living room back together, Josh recommended we put the glass case in the guest room...then suggested we get ride of ONE of the night stands in there (we had two). Then I came up with a BRILLIANT idea...why not refinish that too so that it'll match the nursery and dresser (sorry mom and dad - I know this was part of your bedroom set, but I figured McBaby would benefit more!)!!! Needless to say, I gave Josh and Lynn more work :) The animals on the dresser are a special gift that Josh bought for our baby! A hippo and a Hippo book, and an elephant with an Elephant book!

Grandma finished the living room early, so she helped the other two with their projects! Lynn is an unbelievable painter (YES YOU ARE LYNN!!!) and not only painted the entire nursery, but added a special grandma touch...she put little white dots around the entire room where the yellow and green meet. It really added a final touch.

Oh yes, and while we were shopping for paint, Grandma wanted to buy Josh his Birthday/Christmas present...so she bought him a glider for the nursery! Looks like I will benefit the most from his gift (maybe not though!)...so now all we have to do is go back and get the ottoman :) LOVE IT! It has a locking effect on it so that it can rock and then lock when you want to get out of the glider ! That way McBaby will not meet the floor :)

The beautiful crib that you see put together is a gift from McBaby's Grandma Lynn! She wanted her grandchild to be safe and have a good night's sleep! We absolutely love it!!!


Here is an upclose picture of the Gopher Mobile we bought! It doesn't match at all, but it was WAY too cute to pass up! That and it plays the Minnesota Rowser, so our baby will be a Gopher fan right away! This is also a preview of McBaby's closet. I'm a little obsessed with buying clothes...can you tell :) Some of these are gifts too, so I don't feel as bad! But they are just too cute NOT to buy!

Week 18, an Ultra Sound and Snow...

Today was the day that we have been waiting for for quite some time now :) Today when we woke up, we realized it was "ULTRA SOUND DAY!"

When we looked out the window this morning, it was a little disturbing...SNOW...and lots of it! I swear it wouldn't stop coming down. Had it not been warm enough, I think we would have had over a foot of snow-easily!

After school today I drank about 25 ounces of water in about 30 minutes. You have to have a full bladder for your ultra sound...
WELL WELL WELL....little did I realize that when we got there, I'd have to go to the bathroom so badly that I thought I was going to BURST...and then we had to wait an extra 20 minutes because they were running behind. The Dr. who performed the ultra sound let me go to the bathroom just a "little" bit before she began. I'm not sure what was worse. Having the pain of needing to go really badly, or going a little and having to STOP!

Anyway, the moment she began it was pure bliss (besides her pushing on my bladder continuously, only to remind me how badly I had to go)! Our little one was moving around so much. He/she was also laying very awkward! It looked like McBaby was laying/lounging on his/her side! So our Dr. couldn't get the "best" pictures, but I think she got some pretty great ones! All of McBaby's measurements came back great! Here are the 7 pictures she took of McBaby...enjoy! Oh and if you "think" you can see a little something something in one of the pictures...it's actually the umbilical cord! We avoided seeing the "gender" areas...we want to be surprised! Our Dr. still doesn't even know what we're having...that way she won't slip up, so that area was avoided all together!

After our ultra sound we ventured up to our Dr.'s appointment. Our blood work came back and everything is wonderful. McBaby is growing and healthy! We celebrated our great Dr.'s visit by going to Steve's Pizza - the best pizza place in town :)

Dad - the "flying object" is still on the ceiling-haha!

It was great to share our wonderful news and pictures with our great friends - Jason & Lisa Denzer! Of course their kids too! We just love the four of you...thanks for being so wonderful to us!

Technically tomorrow marks our "Week 18" mark, but since we were having such a great day, we decided to take our Week 18 pictures tonight! Here they are...I'm finally starting to show :) The red line on my stomach is from my tights. It was too cold to wear just a wool skirt...but hey-nothing maternity yet :)

The "Wave" of feelings!

Well, it is official...

McBaby is moving around inside of me :) It was Tuesday night (the night of our 17th week), and we were laying in bed. I am a back sleeper, so I was just laying there while Josh was already asleep. My stomach started to feel REALLY weird. After a couple minutes I realized what it was! I grabbed Josh's hand and placed it on my stomach. He woke up and was said, "Oh my gosh is that what I think it is!"

Throughout all of Wednesday and so far today I have felt these same feelings randomly. I discovered I feel it a lot when I have music on and am singing and dancing with my kindergarten class! I think this baby likes music!

So there you have it! I have not been sick. I have not had any of those other "typical" or "traditional" pregnancy feelings. I'm 17 weeks and not showing...but I'm okay with it! Because now I can actually feel our baby inside of me :)

It's REAL! He/She is really growing in there :) YEAH!

Week 17-WHAT A WEEK!!!!

What a week this has been! If our baby has ever had more excitement in his/her short life...it is this week!

We went to the Gopher Football game on Saturday vs. Wisconsin Badgers. They lost, but it was so much fun to be apart of the atmosphere! Then on Sunday we went to the MN Twins last home game in the dome! Well, what would have been the last game. There were so many great memories that have been created in the dome...and we were able to be apart of so many of them! I guess we'll only go there now for Vikings Games! But that's okay- we like them too!

Speaking of which...Monday Night Football - can it BE anymore exciting! Vikings Vs. Packers...HECK YES! The best part: We are in a Fantasy Football League, and I was up against our good friend Jason Denzer. Well, going into Monday night I was down 23 points...WELL! Good thing I have Favre as my quarterback, because he brought the heat! I came back and WON!

Tonight the Twins played for the Division Title Vs. Detroit...went into 12 innings and they also WON! Seriously SUCH A GREAT WEEK IN SPORTS :) And this poor baby has been suffering my lack of sleep because of all the excitement.
The good news is that Josh and I have our season tickets already for next year and our seats ROCK! Section 103 Row 3...HECK YEAH :) And McBaby will be about 2-3 weeks old and already staying with a sitter (Grandma Lynn...are you available on April 12th to babysit?) because Josh and I will NOT miss the home opener in the new stadium :) SWEET!!!!

Maybe Josh will read this post and provide me with a really good, long back rub soon!!!

So I'm not popping out officially the way I thought I would. It's more I'm starting to just look fat...not pregnant. People may say "oh look, you're popping" - but that's because they know I'm pregnant...in all reality-I'm just looking fatter-which sucks!

You must notice my sweet attire in my pictures tonight too! I couldn't bare to take off my Twins attire...but I also didn't want to be in jeans :) So my comfy sweats it is!!!

We also have some new attire for our baby! New Gopher onesie, a Twins Tee (2-both gender specific), and a MN Gopher mobile to hang above our crib...it even plays the MN Rowser! Our baby will be singing that by 6 months in age :) YEAH :)