Christmas Tree Shopping!!

So Saturday was awesome. My cousin, Claire, is dating a wonderful guy, Malachi, and his family owns a Christmas tree farm about 2 1/2 hours away. We thought it would be neat to drive down there and get our tree this year. It was so worth it.

We got up Saturday morning at 6:30 to get ready and my cousin, Nathan, and his wife, Annie, came over at 7:30. We got on the road about 15 minutes later. Nick and I were leading since we had the GPS but "Joan" (that's what I call my GPS voice lady) took us the scenic route. We spent a lot of time on little 2 lane roads, we passed 3 Amish people in horse and buggies, and we even had to take a mini ferry across a creek!! It was quite the adventure.

When we finally got there, Malachi told us where the trees we were looking for were and we set off. We had to get three trees. One for me and Nick, one for Nathan and Annie, and one for Uncle Brian and Aunt Lisa. We found three perfect trees. Malachi cut them down and shook the dead needles and leaves out and wrapped them up for us. We also got some Christmas wreaths from them. Malachi's mom, Marilyn, made us beautiful wreaths.

Nick and I also got a "Charlie Brown" tree. It's a small piece of tree that looks like a mini Christmas tree. We are going to have that one in the basement for Christmas. I was thinking of putting some lights on it and then getting some supplies for ornament making and having the nieces and our nephew make some Christmas ornaments and decorate the tree on Christmas night for a fun little activity to do, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea yet...I'll need input Kate and Lisa!

After getting the trees and wreaths, Malachi's family invited us in for some lunch. They made us some coffee and served us pasta, rolls, and cookies. I decided to start my diabetic diet again so I didn't eat any of the food, but I did have some coffee and it was so sweet of them to give us lunch.

On the way home we followed Nathan and Annie's GPS and it was a much different ride home! No buggies or ferries. :(

Sunday was decorating day!!

We put the ornaments on and put some bows on the tree. We also put up other decorations. We have the wreath up and holly branches over the mantle. I have little knick knacks all over the living room and dining room. Since we're hosting Christmas this year I'm trying to make the house all cute and holiday-ish. We've never hosted a holiday before and my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law's houses are so cute every holiday that I have to compete! :-)

Here are some pics from picking our tree and decorating the inside of the house (outside lights are next weekend!!):


My cousins dressed for working the tree farm! Claire, Caroline and Sara


Everyone helping wrap Nathan and Annie's tree. It was a big one!


Me and Nick with our Charlie Brown tree.


Nick decorating the tree.

And finally:

Our tree with our decorated mantle in the background.

I'm so happy our house is starting to look like I want it to for Christmas. I love the Christmas season. Only a few more weeks!!

Busy Busy Four Day Weekend

I was so excited for it to finally be the "weekend" when last Wednesday afternoon hit...now I think I need a vacation from my 4 day weekend!

Wednesday night I babysat my beautiful niece, Cecilia. She was pretty good and we had a good night. I was there from about 5 until around 10, I think. So that was my first night. Not that I'm complaining. I LOVE watching Celia. She's so cute!!

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving and bound to be exhausting. We started the morning by picking up Nick's mom, Sue, and heading to our country club, Glen Echo, for Thanksgiving brunch. It was delicious. I decided to throw out the diet and just try to be smart on my food choices instead of starving myself for the holiday. The food was amazing and included my favorite Glen Echo holiday treat, twice baked sweet potatoes. Yum! After brunch we brought Nick's mom back home and headed to my Grandma's house. We had another wonderful meal. Again, no diet, and I even snuck dessert at this meal. Pumpkin pie with Cool whip! Delicious. We left there around 9 p.m. and I was completely exhausted.

Friday started with Nick going to his mom's to help do some work on her basement. I was supposed to clean the house...that didn't exactly happen!! I got the living room ready for our Christmas tree and I cleaned our room and that was about it. I was done. I couldn't do anything else.

Friday night was our double date with Crystal and Greg Mueller. I had a blast! We started by going to Buffalo Wild Wings and had a great dinner (albeit the service was a little sketchy) but the food was good and then we went to the movies. We went to see "Four Christmases" and we were smart enough to buy our tickets early but not smart enough to get there early! (Although probably partly the waitress's fault and not just our fault). When we got there it was packed! Crystal and Greg sat in the second row together and Nick and I split up. I luckily got a seat right behind a railing, so I had my feet up the whole time! FYI - that movie was hilarious. I loved it! Afterwards we went to Crystal and Greg's and got to see their house and Baby Mueller's room! I saw some pictures on Crystal's blog, but it looks even better in person.

Saturday will be in a separate post because I have pictures and it was an awesome day.

Sunday has gone too fast...Nick spent a lot of time at his mom's again and when he got home we decorated the Christmas tree. I'll show pictures of that in the next post along with the post on Saturday.

Whew! Now the weekend is over and I don't think I'm ready for another week of work...especially a full week of work!! Yuck!

Hiccups!!

I just thought I'd add this here. Dominick has had the hiccups for the last 4 nights in a row. It's such a strange feeling, but I love it!

They say that babies can have hiccups up to four times a day during gestation and they might continue the same pattern after they are born. I hope he doesn't have to have hiccups that often after he's born, but they are fun to feel for now!

Baby Class #3

We had our third baby class night. It was a good class. We are still doing childbirth. Next week is our last class on childbirth. We also get a tour of the hospital next week.

Some good things that happened last night at class were we learned all about the medications used in labor and delivery if you aren't trying to deliver naturally, which I am not! We also took our "epidural" class. At St. John's you are "supposed" to take a class on epidurals and if you don't take the class you can't get an epidural. I have that in quotes because I've known many people who've delivered at St. John's and had an epidural and not taken the class, but my luck would be that they would check that I wouldn't be able to get one. So we got that out of the way. We also learned about c-sections. I have decided that I don't want a c-section at all if I can help it. Obviously circumstances arise where a c-section must be done, but if I can avoid it, I'm going to try.

After we learned about the meds and c-sections, we practiced our breathing exercises and did a relaxation exercise. This was the best part. For the relaxation exercise, I sit on the floor on a pillow in front of Nick's chair and he massages me while we listen to relaxing music. Usually I don't like the way Nick massages me, so I've been trying to help him learn what I want him to do for awhile now, but he just takes offense to that and doesn't change anything. Well last night he did GREAT! It was an amazing massage and I felt sooo relaxed during the exercise and even after. He did a good job!

We are halfway done with our class! 3 down, 3 to go!!

A Newborn's Conversation with God

I was just catching up on my friends blogs and I saw this post from Sarah, so I'm stealing it! ;)

She got an email forward titled, "A Newborn's Conversation with God" and she decided to post about it. I read it and it was so sweet I had to post it as well.

There are a LOT of times lately where I'm DONE being pregnant. I'm uncomfortable all the time. I'm always hungry since I'm on a diabetic diet now. I don't sleep throughout the night anymore so I'm pretty tired lately. Basically I'm just cranky!! :-)

But this email made me realize how incredible this whole experience is and how the end result is totally and completely worth it.

A Newborn's Conversation with God

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.'

'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.'

I'm still pretty tired of being pregnant and I still can't wait for Dominick to be here, but it makes me realize how beautiful pregnancy is and there will be a day when I decide we have enough children and I'll miss being pregnant. So for now, I'll try to focus on the positives...

30 week Ultrasound

Well today I am officially 30 weeks pregnant!! I'm still measuring very far ahead so while my "official due date" is January 30, my ultrasound due date is January 19. They think I'll have to go early so I don't know what to think or go by anymore!

The ultrasound went good. We didn't get a lot of good pictures but I could see him and that made me feel good. As soon as the u/s tech put the probe on my belly, Dominick kicked it off! :-) I felt it and the lady was said, "We have a kicker!". He didn't like the probe too much apparently.

Here are a few pictures from today:



This is his spine.



This is his face. If you tilt your head to the right and kind of squint you can see his nose and his lips.

After she did the regular ultrasound we tried doing a 3d shot of Dominick's face. But at this point Dominick decided to use the placenta as a pillow and bury his face. So we got a nice shot of his foot! Now I'm warning you, it looks a little scary and like his foot is not attached to the rest of his body...I assure you it is. The angle of the u/s cut off the rest of his leg, so you can only see his foot and the umbilical cord by his legs.



After the ultrasound was over I had to meet with the on-call doc. That was the scariest part today. He told me that everything looks good and the growth is good so far (Dominick is 3 lbs. 15 ounces-ish) but we need to start doing biophysicals because of a few reasons.

I go back to do an u/s and do monitoring in four weeks. Then I have to go to the perinatal center to do my monitoring twice a week until I deliver. The biophysical includes putting a monitor on me to track Dominick's heart beat and my contractions. After that, they do an u/s to check a few things, such as muscle tones, breathing, amniotic fluid, heart rate, etc. We also have to check growth because if Dominick starts to get too big we might run into a problem. I have to do this monitoring twice a week, every week. If a problem arises, they will likely induce me or schedule a c-section.

We'll see when we get closer. I will probably go early the doc said because of three reasons, 1)I have MTHFR, 2)I have gestational diabetes, and 3)the amniotic fluid was a little low. Still in the "healthy" range, but on the low side.

So wish me luck that Dominick gets to stay put for at least another 8 weeks!

Diabetes Class

Yesterday was my diabetes class at St. John's hospital. There were three of us in the class. It was good I guess, but I'm now coming to terms with the fact that I'll be very hungry for the next ten weeks.

We started off talking to the diabetic nurse. We got our blood sugar testing machine things and started off by testing our blood sugar. It was supposed to be between 65-140 and mine was 115. Good start! She also talked to us about what being diabetic entails. She assured us that it isn't anything we did wrong and that this sometimes happens and not to feel guilty. That made me feel better because I was feeling like I was doing all the wrong things to end up with GD. Meeting with the diabetic nurse lasted about an hour.

Then we met with a dietician. She had written out a meal plan for us to follow. It looks tough. We learned that 15g of total carbohydrates = 1 carb "choice". We are only allowed a certain number of carb choices a day. My particular amount is 14 carb choices a day. I am also only allowed 10 ounces of protein a day. It's hard to only eat that much!!

Just so you can see how bad it is (I'm in a grumpy mood today so I'm complaining a lot...sorry!) I'm going to show you my meal plan for today... :-)

Breakfast:
2 slices wheat toast with 1 tbsp of sugar free jam
1/4 cup of cottage cheese

Snack 1:
1 large apple
1 tbsp of peanut butter

Lunch:
Sandwich
2 slices of wheat bread
2 ounces of ham
lettuce
1 ounce of cheese
celery sticks
1 low fat yogurt
8 ounces of milk

Snack 2:
pretzel twists (30)
1 ounce cheese

Dinner:
2 eggs, scrambled with 1 ounce cheese and peppers
1 cup raspberries
1 english muffin with 1 tbsp sugar free jam

Snack 3:
1 low fat yogurt
1 small apple
1 tbsp peanut butter

That is my meal plan for today...Isn't it kind of sad??

I also was high on both of my readings so far today. My "fasting" number was supposed to be 65-90 and mine was 107, so that's not too bad. But my 1 hour after breakfast reading was supposed to be 65-140 and mine was 165. Hopefully my body will adjust to this new diet and get this whole blood sugar under control.

Whew, sorry I just vented so much! I feel better though!

Edited to Add:

My blood sugar after eating lunch was down to 145!! Still high but at least closer to being in range!!

The Nursery is Getting There

I was so excited last night that Nick and I didn't have any plans. It seems like every night we have to go somewhere to do something and we never get to just relax. So last night was a night to have to do nothing! It was great.

We started off watching Monday's episode of "Heroes". That is the only show that we are addicted to and we can't watch it on Mondays anymore because of our Baby Class (Thank God for our DVR!). So we watched that and then just turned on live t.v. and just hung out for awhile. Then I got antsy. I decided we had to put the crib together so I could feel as though we had accomplished something. So I begged Nick and finally I got him upstairs and we did it! We put the crib together. It looks great. I had to then pull out all the baby bedding and put it on, just to see what it looks like. (I still have to take it back off and wash it all, but I couldn't resist seeing what it would look like!). It looks great.

The only big piece of furniture left to put in the room is the armoire that my mom and I are restoring. She's coming over on Saturday to work on it with me, so hopefully we can get that done in a week or two. We are also getting to use my sister in law, Kate's, glider. I love it!

After setting the room up last night, I realized that there is room in the nursery for the glider! I'm so excited about that. The glider will be where the rocking chair is in these pictures. The rocking chair is going into the basement.

Here are the pictures of the nursery so far. The main thing left to do is get the drywall ready for painting and to actually paint the new wall. We are having someone come to look at that on Saturday. It's almost done!! We are getting there!!!







Oh, and quick funny story. After Nick and I put the crib together and put the bedding on, I grabbed the lamp and the mobile and started putting those things together and Nick went downstairs. He told me to grab the cat so he could clean the kitchen floors. I brought the cat upstairs and kept him in Dominick's room until I was done with the mobile. Then I opened the door to grab the rocking chair. After I did that, I went back into our room and forgot I was supposed to be watching the cat. Well twenty minutes later, Nick came upstairs and I realized I had no idea where the cat was. I went back into Dominick's room and here's what I found:



Peyton definitely thinks that Dominick's room is his room and he LOVES the new crib! :-) He's in for a rude awakening in about two months I think!

And don't worry, Peyton will not be allowed in that room once Dominick is here!

Baby Class #2

Last night was our second baby class. It was much more interesting than the first one. We started off by watching a birth video. This week was all about natural birth and next week we'll learn more about epidurals. The video wasn't that bad. I was expecting to completely freak out over seeing a birth, but I didn't. I don't think Nick did either. Although that doesn't matter. He's already told me he's staying right by my head and doesn't want to see ANYTHING. We also went over some breathing techniques and relaxation techniques. The best part of the class was learning about massage. Nick learned how to massage my hands and arms (which was awesome) and he learned about massaging my hips/back (also AWESOME). We ended the class by me laying on the floor on a blanket with a pillow with relaxing music on and Nick massaging me. While "pretending" I was in labor. It was great. I was ready to take a nap. And if that's how easy labor is, I'm all set!

Next week we have to bring in our "Labor Bag" to make sure we are on the right track with that and we are learning all about epidurals. We get to sign the consent form for that and have that all turned in so we have the option of an epidural when the big day comes. We are moving right along!!

2 classes down, 4 to go!

SURPRISE!!

Well I was fooled on Sunday. Completely fooled. Shocked even.

I thought Nick and I were going over to Nick's sister Kate's house for dinner. That's what I was told about a month ago. Well we weren't. We were going over to Kate's house for my surprise baby shower! I was completely surprised.

Looking back on it, I should have been more suspicious. But I wasn't. Sure, I asked plenty of questions, but I didn't put two and two together. He had originally told me that we were going to Kate's for dinner. Then on Saturday he told me that we were going over there at 1:00. That was weird to me, so I asked why 1:00? He told me that we were invited over early to watch football. Well that was weird to me too. Football starts at 12:00 or 3:00, so why 1:00, I asked. He said that the Rams were playing at 3:00 so Kate said we could come over any time after 1:00. Ok, that made sense. So Sunday morning I didn't think anything of it. We went about our morning as usual. Around 11:00 Nick told me we were cleaning the house so I took the upstairs and he took the first floor. I cleaned our room and our bathroom and finally had to lay down because I was so worn out from bending over to pick up laundry, clean floors, toilet, etc. At 12:40 he called up to me and asked if I was ready to go. Well I wasn't! I asked, "Do I have to be?" and he said, "Yes! We're supposed to go over at 1:00". Again, weird. Didn't Kate say anytime after 1:00, I was thinking? But whatever. I got up and put my hair in a ponytail and put my shoes on (Without changing clothes!! Wish I would have done that in hindsight!). I went downstairs and we left. On the way there Kate called and asked where we were. This I thought was VERY weird. Nick is notoriously late. And it was only 1:05, so why was anyone worried we weren't there yet? But again, I didn't put 2 and 2 together so we pull up to the house. Well there are a TON of cars there that I don't recognize. So I ask Nick, "Who all did she invite to this dinner??" and he said, "I don't know. Stop asking questions. Let's just go in". Again, I should have caught on to something there, but I didn't. We walk in and I was shocked!! There were about 25 people smiling and pointing cameras at me... I was fooled.



It was a great surprise though. I've never had a surprise party before (that I can remember right now) and I've definitely never been that fooled. I had a great time and we got almost everything off of the registry now! Dominick is going to be spoiled rotten.

My three amazing sister in law's threw the shower, Kate, Lisa and Christy. They did such a great job. And the invitations were adorable. Christy made them (she's very creative). We did play a game, but it was an easy one so I was perfectly fine with that. We played "mother to be Bingo". It was fun, even though I didn't win. :-)

All in all, it was a great day. Thank you so much Kate, Christy and Lisa for hosting and throwing that shower for me. You got me! And it was great.

When I got home and brought all of our stuff in the house I realized how much stuff we have for this baby boy already!! I took a few pictures of the room where we have thrown all of the baby stuff and it's ridiculous. Here are the pictures. Soon we'll have the nursery done and I can actually put this stuff away, where it belongs, but right now, it's all in piles in our guest room.









Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful presents! Every baby item in that room is either a gift from a shower or Nick and I bought it at the Stork Lady consignment sale. Dominick is going to be a spoiled little boy!!

First Meeting!

About a year ago I joined an online community at the website www.ovusoft.com. It's a large group of women who are practicing the fertility awareness method (FAM). I learned about this website after I had a miscarriage and my wonderful neighbor, Laurie, told me to get the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". I have learned so much from the book and from this website. The website has many different forums discussing a million different topics. There is also a forum for "buddy groups". I am a member of a few of those groups. The people in those groups are from all across the world. I'm friends with people in California, Washington, South Carolina, Canada, Ireland, England, you name it. It's amazing to get to meet so many people going through the same stuff you are going through.

Anyway, I tell you all of this because on Saturday I got to meet one of my "buddies"! A member of one of my groups, Liz, was in town to be with some family and she and I decided to meet up. Liz lives in San Francisco. We met at a Starbucks to just get a cup of coffee since we both had a very busy day ahead of us, and it was amazing!! I'm so glad I got to finally meet her in person! We hit it off immediately. I was a little nervous about the meeting since we had never talked one on one for that long and everything is always over the internet, but I had absolutely nothing to worry about. It was great. It was like seeing a best friend from high school that I hadn't seen in years. We had no trouble talking about anything and the whole experience was just great. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to meet up and we've already decided we have to meet up again. She'll probably be in St. Louis before I'll be in San Francisco, but Nick already told me he would love to take a trip to San Fran, so look out Liz! We might be coming soon!!

Here is a picture of me and Liz:



Sorry if that bored you! But I had such a great time and am so glad I finally met one of my "buddies"! I can't wait to meet them all now! :-)

Test Results...

It's official. I have gestational diabetes. I'm just sitting here in shock still. I know it will be ok, but I have all these new pregnancy fears now.

I have to go to a class next Thursday. I will meet with a dietician and the diabetic nurse. They will give me my glucose meter and teach me how to use it. I have to take my blood sugar 4 times a day from now on. We'll discuss a new meal plan for me to follow to make sure I'm as healthy as I can be. I have to go to see my doctor every other week and on the "off" weeks, I need to call in my blood sugar results for the week. They are hoping diet alone will fix it but I failed 3 out of 4 of my blood draws. The only one I passed was my fasting blood draw. They are thinking it will take more than just diet for me, but we are trying to be optimistic that this will work.

Until then they told me to just watch what I eat and increase my proteins and decrease my carbs. I'll try to do that.

Keep your fingers crossed that diet alone will fix it.

A few pictures

We didn't get as much done last night as I would've liked. When I got home, Nick wasn't home yet so I waited for him to get home. When he did, he told me that he wanted to go to his friend, Bobby's house to play Rock Band. Well I wanted to put some furniture together. So we compromised. Nick brought up the dresser (by himself! he's crazy!!) and together we put the changing table together and brought that upstairs. After we were done with that, Nick took a shower and went to Bobby's. Here's a picture of the furniture and the light fixture we have in the baby's room.


The dresser up against the wall with the slant and the hamper we got at our first shower.


Here is the changing table. Obviously, that wall isn't done yet. We have to finish that wall, but that is where the changing table will be once the wall is done.

And finally:


This is Dominick's light! We love it and it matches the bedding and the theme perfectly!!

So that is all we got done last night. Hopefully we'll get the crib put together this weekend.

After Nick went to Bobby's, he texted me and told me to come over. I did and the boys talked me into playing Rock Band. I originally went over there to make fun of the boys but once I started playing I realized, that game is awesome!! I'm addicted to Rock Band. I only tried playing the bass but I mastered the "easy" setting and even did a song on "medium"! Now I need to get that game for Nick so I can play at home too! :-)

Holy Cow!!

I just finished making calendars for our work. Well, I print off blank calendars and then we fill in who is taking vacation when and post it, so we don't have a day when no one comes. Anyway, I just printed off December and decided to go ahead and do January while I was at it. Then I couldn't help but check and see how many work days I had left until Dominick is supposed to be here. I was amazed!

I only have (at MOST) 53 more work days until my due date!! I say at most because I'm not sure when I'll be off for holidays yet. I know we are off for Thanksgiving and the day after and we are off for Christmas day. I'm not sure about any other days yet, but only 53 more work days! That doesn't seem like very many at all. It's my own mini-countdown!

Ok, that probably wasn't very interesting for anyone else, but I was amazed at that.

We have a Door!

Yesterday, while I was taking my horrible 3 hour glucose test, Nick was off of work for Veteran's Day. I wasn't sure if he'd get much done around the house since we had such a relaxing weekend and it's hard to get back in the swing of things, but he did awesome yesterday.

First I'll tell you about my test. If you are pregnant or will become pregnant here's a tip, do EVERYTHING you can to pass the one hour glucose test, because the three hour test is NOT fun!!! I had to be fasting for the test so no eating or drinking after midnight. I woke up Tuesday and got ready for the day. I went to St. John's (I could have done it at any Quest, but since your blood has to be drawn every hour, I didn't want to take any chances of someone messing the test up and me having to re-do it) and arrived around 8:05. Well no one else got there until almost 8:25 (it was raining and traffic is bad in the rain since no one knows how to drive when it rains!). As soon as I could I went back to the little room and had them do my first blood draw. You have to do 4 blood draws with the 3 hour test. 1) your fasting blood draw, 2) your 1 hour blood draw, 3) 2 hour draw and finally 4) 3 hour draw. So I had them do my first draw and then I had to drink the horrible drink. 10 ounces of super sugary orange soda...and then still no eating or drinking...or chewing gum!! I finished the drink at 8:30, so I knew I wouldn't get out of there until 11:30 at the earliest. I was soo bored in that waiting room for 3 more hours. I tried sleeping and that wouldn't work. Then I tried reading, but I felt so nauseas from being hungry and all on a sugar high! 11:30 couldn't come fast enough! It finally came though and I got to leave looking like a drug addict with all the bruises and pricks in my arm from the four blood draws! The one good thing from the test was, since I was on a sugar high, so was Dominick. At one point I just laid there feeling him kick. He was going nuts!! I counted 30 kicks in like 5 minutes. I love feeling him kick. It's my favorite part. Anyway, that was my morning, and then I got to go to work.

Meanwhile...Nick was a busy beaver at home! He hung the new light in Dominick's room (matches the walls and theme perfectly!) and hung the new light in the upstairs "sitting" area. Then he hung the door to Dominick's room (so it's officially a ROOM now!) and finally he painted the whole sitting area and stair well! It looks so great! The only thing left to do in the upstairs is tape and mud the drywall and then paint that. We are so close!!

I think tonight we are going to put the crib and the changing table together and start putting some things away in the baby's room. It will make it all seem so much more real. I can't wait.

As soon as we are done with the upstairs, we'll move on to the basement. We will get started on the play room soon. So many projects to do before Christmas. And for those of you who aren't crazy on a deadline like me, Christmas is only 43 days away! We have a lot to do if we are going to have a house ready for company on Christmas!

Here are some pics from the work Nick did yesterday:



Here is Dominick's Door!





Here are a few pictures of the new wall color. Sorry the pictures are blurry, it's from my cell phone!

I'm so happy things are finally coming together! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be telling you the furniture is together, and hopefully next week I'll tell you the room and upstairs are officially complete!!

Baby Class

Much against Nick's will, he and I are taking a baby class at St. John's Hospital. It is a long class and goes on for 6 weeks. It's a combo of Childbirth, Newborn Care, and Breastfeeding. I think it will be very beneficial. Nick's not so sure. He thinks that I should just go into this blind and get the drugs. While many people do this, and there's nothing wrong with that, I like to be prepared for things. So we are taking the class.

We had our first class Monday night. I'll admit that Nick is right about one thing...it's a LONG class. It goes from 6:30-9:30 p.m. and we get one break. It's an interactive class, meaning she wants you to be talking and participating a lot and Nick's not sure about that part yet either. Normally I love to talk, but I'm even a little hesitant to do that.

Our first class was good. A lot of what we learned this first week was "review" for me and Nick since I'm addicted to all baby books. Most of what she told us about what in the Labor and Delivery section of What to Expect While You're Expecting (and yes, I've already read that section). So he was a little bored (and so was I) at the beginning. But the end was much more informative for us. We did breathing exercises and relaxation exercises. I sat on a pillow on the floor while Nick sat in a chair behind me and massaged my shoulders and neck. I liked that part! Next week will be much more beneficial for us (albeit a little scary) because we see the birth video (an actual person giving birth) and we work more on breathing. We were also instructed to bring lotion if we have a preference and we are learning how to give proper massages. Can't beat that!

The first four of our six classes are all about childbirth. During the fourth class we get a tour of the hospital including where we check in, the labor and delivery rooms, post partum rooms, and the nursery. The fifth class is newborn care and breastfeeding tips and the sixth class is just newborn care...I think that's what she told us.

I'm really looking forward to our next class and all the classes. The main reason I'm looking forward to each one is it helps the weeks go by if I have something each week to look forward to. When we "graduate" from our class, I'll only have 4 weeks to go!! And sometimes it doesn't seem like it can come fast enough! :-)

BIG CEDAR!!

This past weekend Nick and I went to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO. We had such a great time! Well, it started off kind of rough, but ended up good. I did the packing and completely forgot to bring down (from our bedroom) the bag of our toiletries...Oops! So when we got down there, we had no toothbrushes, no toothpaste, no deodorant, no hair brush, no shampoo, no conditioner, no contact solution, no spare glasses, you get the point, NOTHING! So we got down there at 4:20 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and checked in. Here is a picture of the lobby. Big Cedar is completely decorated for Christmas already.



I realized that we forgot the bag shortly after checking in. So thank goodness for GPS, Nick and I left and found a Target not too far away. We stocked up on the basics and were headed back to the cabin. We decided to stop and get food on the way back and just relax at the cabin instead of going out to a big fancy dinner. So we stopped at Wendy's. That's pretty much all we did on Saturday. Here is a picture of me on the balcony of our cabin. We had a view of the lake.



Sunday was more eventful. We slept in, a little, and then went to the Devil's Pool Restaurant for Sunday Brunch. It was soo delicious! I was trying to be good since I might have gestational diabetes, but it was so hard. Belgian waffles with strawberry sauce, cooked to order omelets, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, pretty much anything you could think of was in this buffet. I wasn't too bad, but I did splurge and have half a waffle with some strawberry sauce on top! The rest of the day was pretty much dedicated to fantasy football. (And napping for me). Sunday night we went to the Buzzard Bar for dinner. This is the Devil's Pool Restaurant and the Buzzard Bar. The Buzzard Bar is located on the lower level.



We had wanted to do a carriage ride around the grounds but they only have carriage rides on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday...so we missed out. Bummer. Instead we decided to take a drive to "beautiful down-town Branson" and see the "strip". Nick had never been to Branson and wanted to see what it looked like on Main Street. That was our entertainment for the night!

Monday was check out day... :( But we still had a great time. We went back to the Devil's Pool Restaurant for Breakfast (more of the same delicious-ness!) and then we checked out. After check out we wandered around the grounds and took pictures. The grounds are so beautiful!

Here are a few pictures of the grounds:









This picture is my favorite!!

And finally:



Whew! What a long post! Well, there you have it. That was my weekend in a nutshell...

Friday Night Diaper Shower

Friday night was my "happy hour diaper shower" at Ashley's house. It was a lot of fun. There weren't too many people there, but that made it better. We could all socialize more and better. I felt like I actually spent time with each person there. I also got a lot of cute things along with the diapers.

Ashley had a great idea to add a poem to the invitation that basically said instead of a card, sign a book and give it to the baby and that was just great! We got so many good baby books and I can't wait to read them to Dominick.

I got a bunch of diapers, our wipe warmer, our diaper baskets, and a ton of other baby "must have's". Ashley cheated and didn't get us diapers, but she gave us two adorable one-sies. One says, "Dominick Robert Westerheide - Big names comes in little packages too" and the other says, "Basketball is in my genes". The second one is my favorite! :-)

Also, Michelle brought a bunch of baby bibs and stamps/markers for everyone to decorate. They turned out pretty interesting! Winnie's daughter, Grace, stamped all of them and then everyone else just found words to go along with the stamps...or they tried anyway! I don't have any pictures of those, but I'll try to remember to take some and post them soon.

Finally, the girls had a picture frame out for everyone to sign with a spot for a baby picture and the name "Dominick Robert" on it. It was adorable! There is still space to sign, so I'm going to have Nick's family and my family all sign it so we have a cute keepsake for Dominick when he gets here. The picture in it for now is one of my baby pictures. Don't make fun when you see it!

Here are some pics:



Here is a pic of Michelle and Grace decorating some bibs.



The picture frame with some signatures on it. I LOVE it and can't wait to hang it in Dominick's room!





This is me opening some presents!!



Me and my girls at the end of the shower. Lauren, Ashley, Me, Leslie, and Michelle.

I had such a great time on Friday night! Thanks everyone for a great shower!!

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday!!

I have felt like this week has crawled by...it's taken forever to get to Friday and it will probably take forever to get to 4:00! Probably because there are so many things happening this weekend.

Tonight is my diaper shower at Ashley's house! I'm very excited about this for a few reasons.
1) Because I get to see my girls!!
2) It's not super "baby shower-y". It's a happy hour (with water and sprite for me!) so it's very casual.
3) I get more stuff for Dominick! I love looking at the cute baby stuff. I know tonight will be getting a lot of diapers, but I know Dominick will need a lot of diapers, so I'm excited!

I'll try to remember to bring a camera tonight and post pictures next week some time.

I'm also excited because Nick and I are going to Big Cedar this weekend! We leave tomorrow and we are gone until Monday afternoon. Here is a link to their website - Big Cedar and it looks amazing! We are staying two nights in a private log cabin. Our room will look like this. I don't know if we'll actually do too much while we're gone, but that's what I'm looking forward to. Laying around the cabin and doing nothing. We'll watch TV. Sleep in. I might read a book. Basically do nothing. It sounds amazing, doesn't it??

After we get back on Monday, we have our first child birth class! I don't know if Nick is looking forward to this, but I am. We are doing a six week class. It covers child birth, new born care, and breastfeeding. (I know Nick is NOT looking forward to the breastfeeding class, but I'm making him go with me anyway!). But Monday is the first class and I'm excited.

Tuesday is my 3 hour glucose test. Ok, this one I'm not looking forward to, but I am ready to take it and get it over with. Hopefully I'll get the results quickly and I can find out if I actually have gestational diabetes or not. I'm coming to terms with it, and I'll be ok with it if I have it. I just want to know. Because if I do have it, I'll have to make some changes and probably pretty quick. (For example, if I do have gestational diabetes, those pumpkin pancakes from IHOP with whipped cream were probably a bad idea for breakfast this morning!) :-)

And that's my weekend. That's why I'm so glad it's finally Friday! And that's why I probably won't be posting again until at least Tuesday. Have a good weekend!!

P.S. Could you tell that I just figured out how to do a link?? I was very excited about that today too!

I failed

My doctor called me a few hours ago to tell me that I failed my 1 hour glucose test. I'm pretty bummed out about it.

For those of you who don't know what the 1 hour test is, it's when you are tested for gestational diabetes. The first step is the one hour test. You go to the doctor and drink a very sugary drink (tastes like really sweet orange soda) and then wait an hour. After that hour, you get your blood drawn and they test your sugar levels. If you have elevated levels, you have to take the 3 hour test. This one is a little worse. You have to fast, so no eating past midnight. Then you go in first thing in the morning and drink another drink (with NOTHING else in your system...not even water!) and wait another hour. You get your blood drawn at 1 hour, 2 hours and at 3 hours. If you fail this test, then you have gestational diabetes...I think.

I guess I'll find out more next week. I took my 1 hour test on Tuesday and found out today that I failed. I go in on next Tuesday to take the 3 hour test. We'll see how that goes.

I know it's not the end of the world, but I really didn't want to have to take the 3 hour test. Oh well. C'est la vie...

Happy Post Election Day!!

I am soo glad the election is over! Only because I hate hearing people argue politics. And when people start getting worked up over politics, I start getting worked up over politics. And when I get worked up, I start having contractions, and it's just no good.

So Dominick and I are both very excited that the election is over!

Mural Pt. 3

So...great news!! The mural is complete! I'm so proud of it! We still need to go over it with a clear coat to make sure it doesn't peel or anything, but the painting of the bears is finished. It didn't take too long at all and I think it looks amazing. Here are some pics of the finished product:



Here are all the bears! It's not that great of a picture since I took it from my cell phone but you get the idea.







Close ups of the bears. Again, the pictures are not the best quality, but you get the idea.

I'll post some more when the whole room is done and you can see the bears with the bedding and everything!

The nursery is slowly coming along...

Mural Pt. 2

So since I've already told you I've been working on the mural all weekend, I decided to show you some pictures of that!

I'm hoping to finish it up tonight, but again, we'll see how that goes.

Here they are:



Here is the white I did first...It took 5 Coats to make it white and not have the blue coming through. It took forever!!



This is about where I stopped. I'm almost done! I just have a little more to do! I'll try to finish up tonight and have the completed pictures up tomorrow!!







Here are close ups of all the bears!

Hopefully just one more day!!

Construction Day 2

Sunday was more of the same...working on the nursery. Nick and I both got up and I started painting again and Mike came over to help Nick. They went to the hardware store and bought some drywall. They had to re-route some electric (good thing we know an electrician!) and then put the drywall up. It was a lot of work for them and they did a great job. Nick did a lot of the work himself since Mike left to go to the Ram's game (sorry it wasn't a winner Mike!) and Nick did so great. Especially by himself! Most of the drywall is up now. He needs to do another sheet and then he is ready to start taping the drywall. I can't wait until that is done and we can paint the new wall and get the door up. It will make it all so much more real once Dominick has an actual room. I'm really excited to get all the furniture in there and set up.

Here are a few pictures from Day 2:



This picture shows the electric Nick had to run for a new receptacle and two new light switches. Where the switches were, they would've been on the wrong side of the door and that would have been annoying so Nick moved the main switch and put in another in case we want to do some track lighting on the slant of the wall (which I think would be pretty cool!).



The drywall is up!!



Nick in front of the drywall. Doesn't it look beautiful!?!?!

I think they might be working on it some more tonight, but that entirely depends on how Nick's day goes at work today. He's in charge of a lot of stuff and sometimes he is so tired when he gets home. Hopefully today was a good day and he can get some more of the wall done tonight!

My First Baby Shower!!

So as I mentioned in the last post, I had my first Baby Shower on Saturday! It was great. I had a wonderful time and I loved all the presents that we got for Dominick! I didn't take pictures of the presents, so I'll have to take some pictures tonight and show you some of the sweet outfits we got and the overall generosity of our family and friends.

I'll post some pictures but I wanted to say a few quick thank you's.

Thank you to my Aunt Jane and my Aunt June who threw this shower for me. They both live out of town (Herman, MO and Bloomington, IL) so it was a lot of work on them to come here and throw this shower. Thank you so much for everything. It was perfect!

Thank you to Aunt Lisa for letting us use her house and for ordering the most delicious cake! Everything was perfect. We had plenty of room and everything was wonderful.

Here are some pictures:



Me opening presents and my best friend, Michelle, writing things down so I could do thank you notes. Thanks Michelle!!



Here I am with my aunts who helped throw the shower. From the left it's Aunt Lisa, Aunt Jane, me, and Aunt June.



And this is my Grandma, me and my Momma!

Thanks again to everyone for a great shower!!