Love Notes

Back in July 2011, we started writing in this:

It's our book of love notes. Ben and I take turns writing each other short notes. After we write in it, we hide it somewhere in the house for the other to find. It's always a nice surprise to open up a cupboard to grab a bowl and find this instead! This book is almost full, so I have a new one ready to start. If you are married and don't do something like this, I highly recommend it. It's so fun to look back and read all the notes and remember different things we've been through together. 

In baby news, we had our 37 week ultrasound yesterday. They were concerned that baby boy might be growing too fast, but he was perfect! He was estimated to be 6 pounds, 5 ounces (48th percentile). That makes me feel better that I won't have to give birth to a 10 pound baby. I learned that I am starting to have beginning signs of preeclampsia (You can click on the link if you don't know what that is). I'm grateful that this issue didn't come up until I was full term. A lot of times, moms with preeclampsia end up delivering early. If things haven't improved at my appointment on Tuesday, this baby might be making his arrival sooner than we expected! 

Eviction Notice

Tomorrow I'll be 37 weeks! Just in case baby boy is getting a little too comfortable in there, we gave him this:

That gives him a week past my due date to finish packing his belongings and move out. 

In other news, our families are awesome! Check these out:

Made by my cousin Rebecca

Made by Ben's sister Jessica

This baby will be so loved!

Oh Baby!

Nine months is a really looooong time. I almost can’t remember what it feels like NOT to be pregnant. I’ve made a real effort not to complain too much (except to Ben, sorry honey) because I know how much I wanted to be pregnant and bring a little spirit into this world. But now that we’re in the home stretch, I can’t help but periodically yell GET OUT! to my stomach. So far it isn’t working. Which is probably a good thing, because he needs to keep cooking in there for at least a couple more weeks. I hit the 36 week mark today! Here is the most recent picture taken at 35 weeks:

I feel humongous, but people (even the doctor the other day) tell me I’m not very big for how far along I am. The third trimester fatigue has definitely hit me. Hard. I feel grateful that I am no longer working because it might kill me having to get up early every day. Especially considering the fact that I spend the majority of the night waddling back and forth to the bathroom. I don't know how some people work right up until their due dates. No longer having a job also has its drawbacks, however. Besides the no-paycheck part, I often find myself sitting on the couch (okay, laying on the couch like a dead person) wondering what to do with my time. I’ve been reading a lot and our house is pretty darn spotless. Well, except the floors, because I can’t bend over.

I sometimes watch A Baby Story on TLC (I blame you for that, Lindsay Simmons!) and cry every time the baby comes out. Ben laughs at me but I secretly saw him cry during one episode. Don’t tell him I said that. I can tell he is so excited to be a daddy.

We have spent some time getting the baby’s room ready. I call it the “baby’s room,” but the baby won’t hardly be in here because he’ll be sleeping in our room for the first little while. I should call it the baby “stuff” room. His clothes are washed and hung up and we have the bassinet all set up. Ben practiced tucking in his stuffed walrus:

I’ll have to teach him how to swaddle. We also did a tiny bit of decorating. Can you tell Ben picked them out?:

We can’t go too overboard because we will only live in this apartment until April. I can’t wait until we are living someplace a little more stable so I can do a real nursery! We took a class on childbirth last weekend and toured the hospital. My hospital bag is halfway packed!

We get one last ultrasound at our appointment next week. I didn't think we’d have any more, so I’m pretty excited to see him one more time before he’s born. The first question I’ll ask is, “Is he still a boy?!” Back in December I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I was right on the borderline, but it was bad enough that I have had to check my blood sugar about 4-5 times a day. I luckily don’t have to take medication or insulin for it. I've been able to control it with a healthy diet and lots of exercise. Even though I was bummed when I found out, I think it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it has forced me to take better care of myself. I haven’t gained very much weight (wahoo!) and the doctor said that after the baby is born I should weigh less than before I got pregnant. I am very, very okay with that. I guess the ice cream withdrawals are worth it. I now only have to check my blood sugar twice a day, which my fingers appreciate. Those pricks can hurt! Anyway, Gestational Diabetes can sometimes cause babies to grow too fast so the ultrasound is to check and see how big he is. If he is measuring ahead of schedule, they may decide to induce me a week early. We’ll see what happens! Regardless, I can’t believe that in just 4 short weeks (or more…or less…I wish babies came with a calendar) we will be parents! I am so ready to meet this little one and give him hugs and kisses!

Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas in Washington with my family this year. We had a blast! Here are some pictures of our trip:

Our letter to Santa

 

 

The only day it snowed was Christmas. It was old news to me,
since I live in Idaho, but my brother and sister
were pretty excited to have a white Christmas!

 

Ben can't wait to go home and hook this up! Thanks mom and dad!
 

Now that Christmas is over, we can start counting down to the next big event:

 



 

56 days to go!

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Home Sweet Home

We've moved! We LOVE our new place. As soon as we found out about the baby we knew our choices were to move or put the baby in the closet. So now we are in a great two-bedroom townhouse that we absolutely love! But don't take my word for it, here are some pictures:

Sorry this one is a little dark. This is our dining room.

 

This is one of my favorite parts! The walk-in pantry.

Ben's "office" and soon-to-be nursery. Notice our awesome bassinet (thanks mom!).
 I think it looks like a picnic basket.

I left out pictures of bathroom #2 (boring) and our bedroom because I didn't feel like making the bed since it's 8:00 at night and I didn't want to show everyone our unmade bed.

In other news, Ben went back to school last week. He is extremely busy and I don't see him nearly as often, but we are both quite happy that he is getting closer to being done! I started a different job (with the same company) that I like WAY more. Things are good! We find out if our little peanut is a boy or a girl on October 4. Waiting is so hard!

In case you haven't heard...

Baby Rawlinson is due February 21, 2013

Two Year Anniversary!

Tuesday was our second wedding anniversary. I had to work all day so we didn't really plan to do much to celebrate. I should have known that my sweet, creative husband would have something up his sleeve. Remember this? And this? Well here is another surprise to add to the list. 

While I was at work Ben sent me a text message asking me to check the mail when I got home. I thought this was a little weird, because I always check the mail when I get home. I asked if his legs were broken and he said he was feeling too lazy to walk down the stairs. I didn't really think anything of it. On my way home I got another message reminding me to check the mail. Now I knew something was going on. If he needed to check the mail that badly he would have just done it himself. In the mailbox I found an envelope containing this:

If you click on the picture it will get bigger

I've never been to New York City, so Ben brought New York City to me! He put so much thought into everything. Once again, he moved all the furniture around so it looked different. Ben even turned on his old Baseball video game and had a Mets vs. Yankees game playing in the background. Here are some photos:

Bobby Flay was supposed to give us a cooking lesson but he couldn't make it.

Frank Sinatra played as we cooked.

It turned out really yummy even without Bobby's help!

For our evening entertainment we took a walk around "Central Park," which was really the local nature park. We saw two snakes while we were walking. I would have taken pictures, but I was running away too fast. Back at home, I got to choose to go to a movie or see a Broadway play. Ben found all of the movies we had that were set in New York. 

My favorite part of the evening was exchanging gifts. I love mine! Isn't this the coolest thing ever? It's a pillow.

I was a little more practical with my gift and got him an apron. He cooks all the time and he is a little messy. I've already had to wash it once. 

Thanks for making our Anniversary memorable, Ben! I love you!