Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Answered Prayers! God is good! :)


Just got the good news that the placenta has raised enough for us to attempt a delivery without needing a c-section. This is huge!

And to celebrate, I'm including this diagram of placenta positions:
more info here: http://www.lucinafoundation.org/pregnancycomplications-placentaprevia.html

Bo and I have a similar situation to the picture on the upper right hand side. Loving that we have been blessed with about an inch of leeway between the bottom of the placenta and the cervix, giving him plenty of room to birth without me having to get cut open. (Not that C-sections are the worst things in the world, but if I can avoid it, that's awesome.)

Thanks to everyone who has been praying on our behalf. Now - I'm selfishly asking that you continue to pray for a quick & easy delivery. THANKS AGAIN!  

Monday, October 29, 2012

Cooking with Daddy

Before Bo gets here, we're trying to get as much quality time in with our sweet little girl as possible. Don and Anna have always shared a special bond with cooking - so he made her a little step stool (with storage) that's all hers. And now she can reach the counter to help daddy cook instead of sitting up on the counter or missing out. How cool, right?

He found the plans for the step stool online here. (That site has lots of great wood working plans, btw - lots are great for beginners too). It's not decorated yet, but we'll do that soon. This was Don's first woodworking project... It turned out so great that I've already started making a list of the other furniture I want him to make - looks like he's coming back to his Amish roots...  ;)


referencing the book "How to Cook Everything" for the perfect pancake recipe...

getting ready to add the strawberries

stirring to the perfect consistency




Sunday, October 28, 2012

Halloween Costumes on a time-budget....

So we've obviously been a little busy recently. Quick & easy Halloween costumes were a must - if we were going to do it at all. We decided to go to a special fall event held by our church called Fallapalooza - that was yesterday. Cool name, right? The event was awesome too. Anyway - Annalee wanted to be a kitty cat and I found a great idea for a home-made maternity t-shirt online. Both costumes were quick and simple - with minimal cost (picked up everything at Target, except fabric paint - found that at a one-off trip to Walmart. (Total cost for both costumes about $20). What's not to love about that, right?


Anyway - here are some pictures of us in our fun costumes this year:

Annalee in the costume contest - worried about the mud in the field...

side view of her super cute kitty cat whiskers

this is my favorite picture of my favorite kitty cat

here we were trying to take the picture ourselves using the self-timer. kitty cats don't quite understand what ten seconds is...

here we managed to get Don to take our picture together

close up of the t-shirt. you can't really see it, but Bo is wearing a tie (blue paint). Cute, no?  ;)

Saturday, October 27, 2012

this next chapter should be a good one...

so we're officially moved into our new house. we have almost twice the amount of space that we had in our perfect urban condo. and walls that go to the ceiling - can i tell you how much i love that? as we've been prepping the condo to show to potential buyers, it's been a different kind of feeling to walk through the hollow rooms that were once filled with our little family just living life. The place echoes now - our voices reverberating around the walls and off the tall ceilings. During one of these visits, I started to think about all that we've experienced in the past 5 years there. It's been kind of a wild ride, after all. Don bought that place to be his perfect bachelor pad a few months before he met me. It's seen us through our times as "just a couple" when I would visit Don on date nights and he would prepare some elaborate meals - to being newlyweds and all the ups and downs that come with that - and now, being parents (raising a little one in such a small space is not easy - and the huge all-surrounding windows that were so cool before parenthood are definitely a source of anxiety when babies and toddler-hood enter the equation.) It's truly been a place of transition for us as individuals and as a family. and I know there are parts of the loft we're going to miss (great location and a cool, urban feel), but we are so happy to be in our new home. and it's finally starting to feel like home as we settle in...

i think the bottom line of the entire moving process is knowing that we are exactly where we're supposed to be right now - for lack of a better way to express it, our new house just 'feels right'. it's big enough for us and our growing family and we really like our new neighborhood and the super friendly neighbors that we've met so far (even if it is a different kind of experience for us). And definitely appreciating our dear friends that helped us so much through the moving process and this crazy transition, as well as all the changes leading up to this one. Seriously - you know you have good friends when they help you move. #realfriends

now that all the excitement and work of our moving process is finally coming to a close, we're able to focus on prepping for Bo. It's hard to believe that my due date is less than 5 weeks away now! all three of us are so excited to meet him and hold his little baby hands and kiss his face all over (maybe that last part is just me...?) we're putting some finishing touches on his room and praying for him every single day. and if you think about it - can you say a prayer for us too? (selfishly, i'm going to ask that you pray for me to have a quick and painless delivery. note that i didn't say and/or. i definitely want it to be both...) 

and here's a pic of his latest ultrasound.



it's a close-up of his face - he's already got some cute chubby cheeks - and an adorable baby nose. and yes, the placenta is still low. i won't know what that means for me delivery-wise until I talk to my doctor again later this week. praying that we can avoid a c-section, but either way - i'm excited to meet my little man and give him hugs and kisses. and even put him in sweater vests. because everyone knows, there's nothing cuter than a baby boy in a sweater vest.  ; )

so - a fun family fact about us: every night we read a chapter of a book as a family before bedtime. we just finished our last story a few days ago and started a new one. that's kind of where we are with all these other changes in our lives. we're nesting and getting settled in at the new house, the condo will belong to someone else soon. and Bo is so close to being born... - a lot of things we've been waiting for and working towards are almost here... and that makes me think about how much we've been looking forward to all of it - and still are. this next chapter and book should be a good one.

and ps - if anyone has a great recommendation for a kids story to read at bedtime, let me know! we're also looking for great books to add to the rotation.