An Occasion for Celebration

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant and getting closer to our baby's birth everyday! My belly button is sticking out like crazy; I have heard that if you don't want it to show through your clothes you can wear a band-aid over it. I might have to try this one soon. Right now I just wear layers and usually it isn't too evident. Shea thinks it’s cute, so I haven't been too concerned about it. Our baby is moving around a ton, I know I have said that before, but wow it is even more now. Sometimes it is hard to sleep at night because he is having a party in there, bouncing off the walls like crazy. And it is so fun to feel around for his head or foot, it will just be this really hard spot. Sometimes he will get in a really weird position and my stomach will bulge out in some odd shape (usually when I am lying down), and we laugh and rub what we guess is his little head. It is a little freaky to watch my belly as he moves around, but it makes me all the more excited for his arrival.

(My belly isn't getting much bigger... and the room in their is getting a little cramped. My belly is like a rock, it has stretched a lot. I am having a hard time imagining what it will be like in two months. )

An exciting surprise last week was the birth of Jonas Jared Stanger on Friday, March 19th. He weighed 7 lbs 9 ounces. We got to go see this beautiful boy Friday night, and he was awake and happy to meet new people. It is amazing how little newborns are, it is hard to believe that in a couple months I will be holding out little boy. Seeing Jared and Lindsay so excited and proud of their new son was such a fun experience, everyone was all smiles and as new parents they were both glowing. I just can't wait to be able to meet our baby. (Not looking too forward to the delivery part though... But it's worth it)

(On Sunday we got to visit him again and Shea was so excited to hold him, on the way over he announced that he had dibs first!)

Congratulations! Great job Lindsay and Welcome to the world Jonas!

St. Patrick's Day!

As of lately my new nerdy habit is looking up information on holidays, just to know some history behind why they came about. So I thought I would share a little, not to bore you too much. But did you know ...

... St. Patrick's Day is in celebration of Saint Patrick's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century, and has been celebrated since the 1600's
... Blue was actually the color associated with Saint Patrick
... The shamrock a three-leaved plant (not the four-leaf-clover) was used by Saint Patrick to describe the Holy Trinity
... On March 17, 1978 Irish Soldiers wore full green uniforms to catch public attention for their rebellion against British Rule
... The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland but in the United States (1762)

Anyway I thought it was pretty interesting.

Holidays have always been serious business for me, I grew up with a Mom that made every Holiday special (even President's Day). So I innately cherish that creativity and have carried it on. I woke up early and hid clovers around the house (in places that Shea would just come across) with the clovers he could get things like a kiss, a back massage, or breakfast in bed. I got this idea from the blog: Love Actually. I made a little poem to go with it explaining. Just to make things special on the back of each clover I wrote a reason why I am lucky to have Shea in my life. Then when he woke up I had him listen to the song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillet. And in the middle he was like, "Is it St. Patrick's Day?". Afterwards I gave him the poem and told him the first clover was under his pillow. I felt kinda silly since it was all a little cheesy, but he assured me that he loves cheesy. All day he kept shouting out "I found another one!" It was a lot of fun! For breakfast Shea made green omelets and they tasted delicious. I can't wait to share our fun with our kids.





(I made sure we both wore green shirts!)

WHO KNEW?

I have been learning all sorts of new things about myself lately. My friend Katie goes to this sewing club with her husband's family and always makes these fun things. I definitely have never had a knack for sewing but always have wanted to get into it. So when Katie invited me I jumped at the chance. Especially since making things for our new baby would be so special.

The first week we made a "Mei Tai" which is an Asian inspired baby carrier. It can be worn on your back or front. It is very comfortable and made by me, which was pretty exciting.





(Katie let us borrow Aubrey so that she could be our little model for the pictures)

Last week I made a flannel baby blanket.


Now it took a lot of guidance by women who knew exactly what they were doing and with their guidance had to come a lot of patience. I had to be told every step of the way, but in the end I stitched everything and picked the fabric out and now it is official maybe I can learn to sew.

I have even thought about buying a sewing machine from DI. Then I can experiment on my own (which most likely will be a disaster) I may try to make curtains for the baby's room. But first I need to have something to put in the baby's room, since right now the room is totally empty. Shea and I are planning on making a trip to Boise in April, where we will buy some basic baby items. In terms of decorations, I am going to be creative and make most things. For starters I want to make a fabric memory board to go in his room along with some blocks that spell out his name. I can't wait for him to come, it still feels so surreal. But not for long!

7 Month Mark

(28 weeks and not feeling very photogenic)

I am now 28 weeks pregnant, 7 months. My last doctor's appt went well, he is doing great. Strong heartbeat and I am measuring right on. This time a nurse practitioner met with us to discuss all sorts of things (basically to warn us new parents about all the things coming up). Most of the questions we already had decided on our answers, which made us feel so good and prepared. But there were definitely a few things we need to think about, a pediatrician for example. It is just getting so close. We love it. We talk about our little boy all the time!

We recently decided to make our first big baby purchase, a car seat. It makes it so real, having something that we will be using for him right away. I can't wait to bring this guy home.



I am having more and more dreams where our baby is already here, and then I wake up to find that he is still curled up in my belly. It is so disappointing, but I do feel like time is passing and he will be here soon. I am keeping pretty busy, spending time with friends and family. We are anxious to have him come, but have decided that it is important we treasure this time we have just us, since it is almost over. Shea and I are making sure we go on at least one date a week, Saturdays we sleep in (we are trying to stock up on that) and have a nice breakfast together. We are trying to make a plan for "us" time once the baby is here, even if it is just spending time together at home.

April is coming up and it will be a busy month, while we get ready for the baby and Shea gets back in school for summer track the time will go by fast. Soon it will be May.