37 weeks down...3 to go :)

Josh and I have hit Week 37 without any problems :)

So far I have not had any morning sickness, I haven't swelled up (my fingers are a smidgen bigger and it hurts taking my wedding ring off, so I stopped wearing it). My feet haven't swelled, my back only hurt for a while, but that was due to a cute little foot being lodged in my ribcage, no acne, no major mood swings...

All around, this has been a very easy pregnancy :)


This week brings so many exciting things:

1. I started feeling Braxton Hicks very frequently. Many would say that isn't something to be excited about, but it actually is...it only means that McBaby is that much closer to making his/her grand entrance!

2. I gained ZERO pounds this week :) WHOA WHO!!! I'll tell you in the end what my final weight gain is! I'll just say this - it's more than my sister Heidi gained!

3. McBaby is FULL TERM! That means that if we went into labor TONIGHT, McBaby would have no problems surviving! According to the books, McBaby is just hanging out in there practicing his/her breathing, blinking and even crying! I felt hiccups for the first time too - that was so fun :)

4. Josh and I are all set for the arrival of McBaby! We have the room put together and the essential items we need to get by the first couple weeks. Because we aren't finding out the gender, we still have two big showers AFTER McBaby is born...can't wait to share the fun in those :)
This weeks advice from my weekly email was this:

what you're thinking
"I can't eat, I can't sleep, but I can do a great imitation of a beached whale. Seriously, are we almost done with this?"

HAHA - That makes me laugh so much...It's so not true at all :) I'm still loving this! I've learned to eat a bowl of cereal before bed and I am good to go the rest of the night :)
Speaking of night - I'm 37 weeks pregnant and STILL sleeping through the night! Poor Josh is lacking in the sleep department though! He's being such a great sport. These past few weeks I've started snoring (the Dr. explained that it's some thinning and totally normal to start doing during pregnancy), and I guess I was really sawing some logs last night...Poor guy got up to sleep in the guest room...he didn't want to wake me in case I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. What a great husband!


Other news this week:
KAYLA AND MIKE GOT ENGAGED!!!

That's right, Josh's little sister is going to get married :) YEAH! We are so excited for the both of them! They are such a perfect match for each other! McBaby can't wait to meet Aunt Kayla and Uncle Mike :) YEAH :)

I forgot to post the pictures from Valentine's Day as well...kind of dropped the ball on that one! Josh bought these SWEET shirts for us :) We both wore them to school on February 12th! When we were apart, the hearts on our shirt weren't all lit. Only 2.5 was lit. But when we were together-ALL of them would light up! Our students LOVED this...it was a pretty big hit!



Then my Valentine took me to a romantic dinner at the Old Mill in Austin! The food was good, scenery was AMAZING and we were all dressed up for the occasion :) I love you Josh - you are so good to me!

Maternity Photos

On Sunday, Mike O'Halloran came down to Austin to photograph our Maternity Photos :) We have been utilizing Mike's photo skills for some time now (he photographed our wedding)...

We began our session in our home! Mike brought some backdrops and we took tons of pictures! We took pictures in front of our window, the backdrop and even in the nursery! Then we ventured over to Austin High School and took some pictures in the gym :) Oh yes...what kind of pictures would there be without Josh and I in a basketball gym!?!Mike posted a few pictures on his blog (you can become a "Fan" of "O'Halloran Photography" on Facebook!!!!)...Enjoy the couple we were able to see!

We cannot WAIT to see the rest :)
Just another reason why everyone needs to be on Facebook - you get faster updates! Which, by the way, we will be posting pictures of McBaby during our hospital stay! I will not be updating the blog until after we get home. If you read this and want to see pictures...you'll have to join Facebook to see instant pictures :) Our hospital has WiFi!!!

Goodbye Cooper, we will always remember you...

Today was a VERY sad day for Josh and I. Our day started by relaxing on the couch, watching the cats sleep (Cooper cuddled on top of Striker), patiently waiting the arrival of Josh's mom, Lynn who was visiting for the day.
When Lynn arrived, she had brought down lots of goodies! There was a great "Lavender" kit for me to use in the hospital ! So many of my friends on facebook recommended we use lavender to help create a calming environment, so she has fully supplied me with it :) She also bought Josh a great book on "What to do in the delivery room".

We have some friends that are opening a coffee shop in Austin called, "Gymocha", and today they had a trial run for their friends. We brought Lynn there with us and BOY WAS THAT PLACE AWESOME! The environment on the inside is so great ! I can't wait to go back :) McBaby and I will be going there to do work when I am on maternity leave :)

We then ventured over to Target to purchase some more last minute things we will be needing in the hospital and at home. We had some gift cards and coupons, so we went all out :) Then the three of us went out to Applebees for dinner! Thank you so much Lynn, it was so nice to spend the afternoon with you :) We're getting closer!!!
So now I am to the part that makes me so sad...and is so hard to write about :(
In October, 2007, Josh and I got Cooper from a friend as a kitten. He was such a cute little kitty :) Very playful and active! He was pretty skittish, but we loved him anyway!

As Cooper got a little bigger, he started chewing on things. We figured it was his age, so we let it slide. When we moved into our house, Cooper started getting into all heaps of trouble. He chewed on our air conditioning wire, phone cord wires, iron wire, etc...you name it - he probably chewed on it.

We were going to get rid of him in the summer of 2008, but decided that we should try "cat proofing" our house and give him another shot. So we did. Throughout the time, Cooper would still find things to chew on. At one point, Striker was really sick with a bad U.T.I., and we had to lock all three of our cats up in the laundry room to make sure Striker wouldn't pee all over the house...well, Cooper didn't like being confined and chewed on our washing machine tube...so we had some water on the floor. Not a lot, but enough to be annoying.

Eventually, Cooper started coming around! He would hang out by us, cuddle a little bit, allow others to pet him, and he wasn't chewing! YEAH :) We figured we had everything all fixed.

Then we got pregnant...

One night I locked Cooper, on accident, in the nursery. When I realized what I had done, it was too late - he had already peed in the crib. Now he had marked his territory.

There were two other times he had done this, and one of these times was when the bedding was in the crib. So this was it - last straw...we can't have a cat peeing, or even laying, in the crib that our child is going to be in.

So we started researching Humane Societies and what kind of options we had for Cooper. We asked TONS of people if they wanted him, but nobody did...we knew that we had to get rid of him before our baby arrived, but it was SO HARD for us to do. We do love Cooper, and he really is a good cat - just needs more attention than we are able to give him.

Then there was this morning's events...
I was going to curl my hair, so I plugged in my curling iron, but it wouldn't turn on. So I clicked the "test" button - nothing...Tried Josh's plug in - nothing. I did this for a couple minutes then finally plugged it back into Josh's plug and hit the on button...

It was at that moment that I was well aware of the fact that Cooper chewed through the curling iron cord as well...
I was shocked. Yes - when I clicked the on button, a spark came flying out of the "chewed" part of the cord and shocked me. It burned a hold in my pants (the shock hit my leg) and I screamed very loudly. I was totally, 100% okay, but it scared me more than anything.

Josh ran into the bathroom right away to make sure I was okay...then he researched about pregnant women getting shocked...I'm totally okay! Apparently there have been pregnant women who have been shocked before by an electric fence - much more voltage - and were fine.

It was then that I realized, maybe Cooper is out to get me. Maybe he is trying to kill me...
Ridiculous, I know...

So when the three of us (Josh, Lynn and myself) were at Gymocha, Josh and his mom were researching places to bring Cooper. They found a very nice Humane Society in Burnsville, and Lynn told us that she would bring him there for us. She knew how hard it would be on us, and figured it'd be best if we said goodbye in our own home :(


So tonight, when Lynn left, through many tears and extreme sadness, Josh and I said goodbye to our beautiful orange cat, Cooper. We sent along his favorite food, toy and even the laser light for him.

I felt bad that I could barely say goodbye to Lynn, but I think she totally understood...So now we just sit back and remember our fun times with him :) Having him constantly run in circles, chasing the laser light! Watching him curl up with Striker like he is a little baby! Having him pester us constantly for "people" food! Watching him sit by his water bowl, patiently waiting for you to give him fresh water. Having him paw at you when you are eating! Watching him sneak around trying not to get caught doing something. Having him curl up next to you on his own terms, but being so excited that he is allowing you to pet him!

Oh Cooper, we are really going to miss you! We hope you find a good home...one without kids! We will always love you, and please know, Cooper, we had to do this...

4 MORE WEEKS :)

That is LESS than one hand to count on! I can't believe it...we are getting so close! Think about all the fours in this world: there are four girls in my family, our cats each have four legs, we have four bedrooms in our house, I was 4th runner up at Miss MN, I've been teaching for a TOTAL of 4 years...and now we have 4 weeks left until McBaby arrives :) WOW!!!!

McBaby weighs about 6 pounds now and is full grown in length. I have have pretty much been gaining one pound a week-with a couple extra here and there...

I am STILL sleeping through the night with the 1-2 times getting up to go to the bathroom. Josh is starting to have a lot of dreams which is keeping him up. He had a dream that HE was pregnant and giving birth one night! I liked that one :) I had a dream that we "surprisingly" had twins...that was interesting...Josh has given me the rights to 3 1-hour massages before McBaby arrives! I was smart about it and I split these first two up in to two half hour sessions, and then I go for one hour the next two times :) I went last night for my first half hour and BOY DID THAT FEEL GOOD :)

My back stopped hurting a few weeks ago, which is a HUGE relief; however, when she started massaging my back (I was able to lay on a maternity pillow they have...they specialize in pregnancy massages), I didn't realize just how good it was going to feel! I didn't realize my back was that exhausted already!Then, during my massage, I started to get REALLY REALLY hot...so hot that I thought I would either pass out or throw up! So she turned a fan on and removed one of the blankets-that helped A LOT! But then, I started getting these pains in my lower stomach, and I started thinking "Oh my gosh, is this is...am I going into labor right now?" Josh was in Mankato for basketball, and I was going to meet my girlfriends for dinner and a movie after my massage, so I thought, "Okay, call Steph and Katie...one will get my bag (which I'm still packing) and then they'll be in the delivery room with me until Josh arrives..."


Then the massage was over, I stood up and felt fine! They sure liked the idea though :) Now Katie asks me when the next time Josh has an away game, because she's ready!! Haha-I have such good friends :)

Which by the way, you MUST SEE "Valentine's Day" - Such a good movie :) I'd totally see it again :)
Now I'm trying to compile a list of "things to bring to the hospital"...because we are at this stage of our pregnancy!!!! If you have any tips...email them to me or leave a comment with an idea!

Babies R Us...You stress me out!

Yesterday, Josh and I ventured out to Rochester to do a little "baby shopping". There are some essential things that we still need before McBaby arrives...so we figured it was a good time to go out and get them.

The first thing we wanted was our "Coming Home Outfit" for McBaby...well, that's utterly impossible when the store doesn't carry what we want! We will either be doing some "online" shopping, making our own, or settling for something else...
It's a surprise what we want! Man we keep everything from you guys :)

We got to Babies R Us to buy our stroller/car seat travel system, only...IT WAS NOT THERE! So we talked with the sales ladies, and informed us that "IT WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE THROUGH BABIES R US"...

Josh could see me just steaming. I kept breathing, but knew that my blood pressure was rising to the max. This stuff was on our registry-why didn't they inform us of this??
Well, your guess is as good as mine.After a lot of searching, they realized that there was some stores that had some of our travel systems still available :) YEAH!
But...they were all in Wisconsin...SHOOT!

Then the Heaven's opened, God smiled down and said, "There is some located on Penn Ave."

BLESSED BE ALMIGHTY! I called my mom and dad immediately to see if they would be willing to pick this up and purchase this for us (check will be in the mail tomorrow to pay you back). Thank goodness they said yes :)


Because everything in the "Graco Deco" is being "discontinued"...it was all on sale...major perk!

So, my mom and dad were going to buy us the pack 'n play...well, in Rochester is was on a HUGE clearance...so we bought that on the spot. Now by subtracting that total from the stroller/car seat total...Josh and I are happy to inform you all that our "Graco Deco Set" is now COMPLETE!

Thank you so much mom and dad for pulling through for Josh and I...yet again!

5 WEEKS REMAINING!!!

Yes - this is correct...we only have 5 more weeks to go until we are a mommy and daddy :) I don't think there is anything more special than this! I mean, you can count the weeks on 1 hand! That's it...1 hand :)

McBaby is growing...full grown in length actually! Or so the books say :)

He/she is gaining about a half pound each week. They say that he/she can gain more-depending on how much he/she has been gained throughout his/her stay in my uterus!

A fun quote from a weekly email I receive:
what you're thinking
"Should I bring my cute bathrobe to the hospital with the matching furry slippers or is that just crazy talk?"

I am going to go with a... so absolutely true! I did go out and buy new hospital Jammies to wear :) Call me crazy-but I'm excited to wear them. I don't like the hospital gowns. They are itchy and thin and gross!

McBaby's nails are continuing to grow, which means he/she will be in need of a manicure right away...oh darn, a spoiled child already :)
Mommy's schedule is starting to wear down now as we get into the final months. I have worked really hard with my internship hours and have successfully completed almost all of them. I'm coming down to my final meetings and finalizing my long term sub plans.

We have a friend that we work with who informed me that I was in her dream last night...
She had a dream that we had a girl and we had her in 2 weeks and 2 days...which would be February 26: 37 weeks pregnant...

I guess it could totally happen, but I'd prefer it not to!

So this is it...the final weeks...get your vote in now on what you think the sex of our baby is :) We are getting SO SUPER EXCITED! YEAH :)

Not so sure about my face here...GROSS!

Josh told me that these pictures show just how pregnant I am...he said that "I'm really starting to look pregnant"... He also informed me last night that he is starting to get used to seeing my big belly...not sure that is something I want him to get used to!

We visited the Women's Special Care Unit recently for our "Private Tour". It was nice to sit down (in the room) and talk with the nurse. We learned all about visiting hours, the first hour after birth, where Josh is going to sleep and all the other fun details! They have a security code now to get in. It's a 4 digit code that we'll be given when we go into labor. Then we can give this code out to family and friends...so be nice to us if you want the number :)

If you can believe it...I think we might be all set! We still have a few odds and ends that we need to buy, but I'm feeling pretty good!

Family Shower for McBaby :)

This past weekend, my AMAZING family hosted a Baby Shower for McBaby! The two of us had a BLAST :)

Sitting on Trygg :) It looked like I was having McBaby! haha

I wasn't feeling very good to start the day, but with plenty of fluids, I was able to keep up! My Aunt Mary hosted the shower at her house (I LOVE her house!) and my three beautiful sisters helped! Yes...you read that correctly...ALL 3 Sisters were in attendance :)

We played some VERY fun games that left us all laughing hysterically!

Game 1: The Price is Right
There were several items that were displayed and everyone had to write down the price of each item (what they thought). Items included: Bottle Brushes, wash clothes, hangers, Johnson & Johnson Travel Size First Aid Kit, etc...

I didn't do so well on this game, but I was really close. My grand total was around $19.00 worth of products, and the real grand total was around $17.00! I was pretty close! My cousin Melanie was playing this game as well...senior in high school! It was hilarious - she put $15.00 down for the set of two bottle brushes! I love you Mel :) Thanks for the good laugh!

Game 2: Popular Baby Names
We had to write down the top 10 most popular boy and girl names! I surprisingly didn't do too bad with this game. I should have done better, considering I have been looking at names constantly - but it was still fun :)

Game 3: DICE GAME!
I love the dice game! If you roll doubles, you get to take a prize from the middle. Trygg was LOVING this game! He was sitting next to me, and whenever he rolled doubles you'd think the kid won the lottery! He was SO excited :) Of course nobody could steal from him! He was so nice and shared with Gma because she didn't roll doubles.

Game 4: Guess my measurements!
Everyone was able to write down how "big" around they thought I was in inches. I thought I was about 36'', but I was wrong...but not too far off! I was 40.75'' around! Not too shabby! I've definitely grown, that's for sure!

We received some pretty amazing gifts :) Thank you all for coming...we had such a fun time! I truly have the most amazing family members! And McBaby was able to celebrate the day with his two Grandma's!!!! My mom and Josh's mom were both in attendance :) YEAH!!!! I love you both so much!

Enjoy the pictures from the day...

Baby Easton...he's getting so big now!

Kayla, Grandma Lynn & Heidi

Kayla - Sorry, had to post it :) & Grandma Lynn

My mom and I :)

Trygg was taking pictures :)

The sweet DQ ice cream cake...it's like our bedding set - Giggles!

Heidi made these blankets and hats for McBaby

Aunt Mary made this cozy tie blanket and matching mittens (different sizes to go along with our growing child!)!!

Grandma Lynn made this BEAUTIFUL blanket...it's SO SOFT!

Only a pageant girl would understand! My mom took a chance on this one...it says "Future Miss America"

MN Twins socks :) I LOVE THEM!

YEAH :) Our diaper bag! Now we just need our stroller & car seat to go with it!
(may have to make a trip to Babies R Us here PRETTY SOON...)

Trygg got us a puppy...you know...since I'm having a puppy :)

Showing Claire Bear the bottle nipples!

Trygg and I playing the Dice Game!

My beautiful cousin Melanie & her Price is Right card...notice the $15.00's! That's for the bottle brushes!

Beauties :) Mel, Britt & Colleen

Heather showing an item for The Price is Right game!Aunt Mary & Cousin Brittany :)

Thank you all for such an amazing baby shower :) I love my family so much!

6 Weeks and Counting!!!

We are at a full 34 weeks and still doing great!

McBaby is weighing in just over 5 pounds (according to the books) and measuring 20 inches long (which means he/she is pretty much full grown length wise...which doesn't make much sense to me...).

I have been feeling really great! I have started noticing certain foods irritating my heart burn even more. One of them being pizza...Steve's Pizza (Great restaurant here in Austin)...so I turn to Tums so I can still eat it :)

They say that 75% of women in their 3rd trimester have a very difficult time sleeping. I think I am that crazy 25% that doesn't have a problem with it! At least not yet. I am able to sleep through the night (with the 1-2 times getting up to go to the bathroom but falling right back to sleep). I feel really bad for Josh now. We have a queen size bed and I have consumed more than 3/4 of the bed! I am sleeping with 8 pillows and one body pillow. I also have been hogging all of the blankets, which is odd, because I wake up cold and don't have any on me! So I have been getting a TON of sleep, while Josh has been the one lacking in that department.
Recently, Josh and I bought our bedding online! It was more than half the price, so we couldn't resist! The great news: It just came in the mail TODAY! So I washed it and Josh and I put it in the crib :) Enjoy the pictures! I can't wait to have our little one inside!


We also heard of Younkers (like a high end Kohls here in Austin) having their huge 75% off sale...so we ventured over there tonight! The rule was that Josh and I could both pick out one boy outfit and one girl outfit. We decided with prices like these...it's okay to buy some of each :) We have so many friends that are pregnant that they will make great gifts if we have opposite genders! Here are some pictures of the boy and girl outfits that we bought tonight!


BY THE WAY: The sale at Younkers is going to be going on UNTIL all of the "Yellow Dot" merchandise have been bought! So after McBaby is born...feel free to venture over there and buy clothing that will suit either our little boy or little girl :)

Oh -yes, you see 3 of each! Well, Josh said that any outfit above and beyond our agreement would be 10 min. (per outfit) of a massage for him...I could have gone crazy and bought tons of clothes...but I decided 20 min. was good enough for tonight :)

I have also included a picture of all the books our baby has! Some of these are gifts, some I had in my classroom but wasn't using, some I ordered through Scholastic with my classroom bonus points, and some we have bought! Sure hope our baby likes to read!

We have our last prenatal class tomorrow and a Dr.'s appointment Friday. Saturday I am heading up to the Miss Coon Rapids Pageant (I am a former...) and then Sunday is a baby shower for me put on by my SUPER WONDERFUL and AMAZING Aunt Mary & my LOVELY Sisters Heather, Heidi & Colleen :) I am so so so excited! Pics to come...