40 Weeks Later

After 39 weeks of a growing stretching belly,

week 40 is feeling pretty darn good.

Twas the Night Before Baby

Today was one of those days I'll remember forever. I kept saying "this is so surreal" over and over again. And it is surreal. There's no other way to describe it. It's so strange to anticipate a life changing event as big as this. How do you pass the time? What else can you possibly talk about? It's all consuming. 

Much to my surprise, the day has actually flown by. It started off with mani/pedi's with my best friend followed by a little Starbucks for the soul. The afternoon was spent with the beyond excited dad-to-be getting our nest perfectly prepared and our bags packed and ready to go. We ended the day with a quiet night out, enjoying one last date as a family of two. And what comes next? Well that's the surreal part. What comes next is baby. 

Sweet Baby Boy,

We cannot wait to meet you tomorrow. These last nine ten months have been some of the best in my life. While I have so enjoyed getting to know you and feel you grow, I can't wait to see your little face, hear your cry, and watch your dad light up as he gets his turn to hold and carry you after waiting so patiently for so many months. Know that there are so many people who have been praying for you and are so excited to meet you and watch you grow. You are one lucky kid.

Here's one last photo of your terrified excitedly nervous parents on the night before your birthday!! 

You are so incredibly loved!

-Mom & Dad (Did I really just write "MOM & DAD"???... Ahh!)

Nursery Tour

Welcome to baby O's room. Not too much has changed since we first introduced you to his space but a few little personal touches have been added and the room is now officially ready...

 Now all we need is our little boy!  

Baby O Update #5

Let me start by saying that I'm actually a little sad that this could potentially be my last pregnancy update. I have so enjoyed being pregnant and I can't believe that this chapter of our lives is rapidly coming to a close. On the other hand, we are SO CLOSE to meeting our son and I can't help but pee my pants a little with excitement (oh the joys of pregnancy).

How far along am I? I am currently 36 weeks 3 days.

Do we have a name picked out? Yep. We are still going to wait to announce it until the little guys birthday but have been pretty certain of his name for a while now. We love it and hope that it fits him well.

How am I feeling? In the grand scheme of things I think I have been feeling pretty great. The insomnia is getting old but I feel lucky in the fact that I don't have to get up early to work and can lounge all morning after a restless night. Reflux and other previously mentioned annoyances seem to be under control lately so there's actually very little to report- which is a lovely thing. 

How have we been planning for the baby? Since the last update we have completed our childbirth classes and taken our maternity pictures. This week has been all about getting every last little thing in order: washing baby clothes, cleaning up his room, organizing the closets, etc. You can call it "nesting" but my everyday cleaning habits and type A personality seem to have more to do with it. I think I have been nesting my whole life. However, we do have a short to-do list this weekend that include installing the carseat and packing our hospital bags- activities that both make things seem unbelievably real. 

Am I wearing maternity clothes? Of course- 100% of the time. And since I refuse to buy maternity pajamas I have been waddling around in Jakob's t-shirts at night. I'm sure it's a sight to behold.

Baby stats? The baby seems to be growing right on track and should be somewhere in the 5-6lb range at this point. Crazy. He is still in a breech position with his butt comfortably nestled in where his head should be. This position has gotten me into a few other crazy positions over the past few weeks. We have tried every home breech remedy that google can come up with. Hand stands, feet in the air, butt in the air, ice on the belly, heat on the belly, tub tricks, burning herbs- you name it. Oh to be a fly on these walls and witness the freak show that has been taking place up in here. Last week, I even tried acupuncture and moxibustion a few times with no flippin' success (pun intended). Read more about what the heck moxibustion is here. All of these goofy things have lead us to one final destination.. C-section city. While it's clearly not the optimal way to deliver, it seems to be the safest and best choice for us. Of course, if the little guys decides to get with the program and flip into the head down position we will be more than happy to accommodate him and let him continue baking until his little heart desires. If not, he will be joining us sometime around 11:30am on Thursday, December 29th!! That's right, the little dude officially has his eviction notice. As for me, I have actually found quite a bit of comfort in setting a date and will now be sitting back and trying to relax and selfishly enjoy my alone time with him before he joins the rest of the world.

Belly Pics? These pictures all seem to look the same but trust me- things are growing at a rapid pace. As for the square shaped belly? That would be my breech baby boy all curled up and hanging out directly under the right side of my ribs.

32 weeks                                      34 weeks                                          36 weeks

Milestones? As of this upcoming Wednesday I will be 37 weeks and therefore officially FULL TERM! Wow! That seems crazy to say. I still can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by. It also feels nice to have his potential birthday circled on the calendar- December 29th (his Mama's half birthday). That's less than three weeks away!!! OMG- I'll have a Xanax please.

In other news, Marshall has been upgraded to a stage five clinger and will not let me out of his sight. Call it puppy intuition but he seems to know that changes are a comin' and is trying to soak up every last bit of attention that he can. He has also become super protective over me lately and will growl at anyone who looks my way. Crazy dude.

19 days to go!! (Breathe in... breathe out.. repeat)

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago we had some maternity/holiday photos taken. We ran all over chilly Chicago with the lovely Lisa Anderson in hopes of capturing a glimpse of this unique time in our lives. I think she did an amazing job. Here's a peek at a few of our favorites.

Check out Lisa's website or blog when you get a chance. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a great Chicago photographer. Happy Holidays!!

So Spoiled

Let me start by saying that I have the world's greatest coworkers friends. A few weeks ago my coworkers had a shower for this very spoiled little baby and I. The shower was so fun and it was so great to celebrate with all of my favorite work girls! 

Check out the creativity going on at this shower.. love it!

We had a great time catching up outside of work and relaxing on a Friday night away from the hospital.

It was so fun to get to see everyone's little kiddos. We seem to be on a bit of a boy streak at work it appears.

I could not be more thankful to get to go to work every day with these lovely women. They make going to work pretty darn easy and a whole heck of a lot more fun!

A huge thank you to Laura for hosting the shower- you are the absolute best and I'm so thankful for our friendship.

Baby Burp Cloths

It's been a year since my big impulsive Black Friday purchase, and I must be honest, the poor girl has not been used much. I figured in honor of the one year anniversary of my sewing machine it was only appropriate to dust her off and put her to good use. While there are many more exciting projects going through my pinteresty mind, I though I would start somewhere simple and baby burp cloths seemed an appropriate place to begin. The final product turned out quite cute and was certainly a fun improvement on a simple white burp cloth. 

I can't wait to use them in FIVE SHORT WEEKS!! (I hope I'm not jinking myself with an urpy burpy baby for saying that!)

Due Date

Yesterday I bought this sour cream..

..which does not expire until nineteen days PAST my due date!! I probably looked like a crazy person standing in the Target isle in all of my pregnant glory with tears in my eyes while I had "a moment", a sobering moment where I again realized how fast time is flying by and how soon our little boy will be here. With Christmas a mere 38 days away and the baby due in 49 short days, I really do feel that my heart may burst with the anticipation and excitement of it all.

MN Love

Last weekend we traveled to Minnesota for a family and friends baby shower. The drive was beautiful with just the last of the fall leaves hanging on to their branches just for us. We listened to Christmas music while Marshall slept (he is truly the best road tripper ever!) and discussed how different road trips are going to be from here on out with Baby O in tow. The idea that life is about to change in a big way is really starting to settle in and while we are getting nervous we are also getting crazy excited! 

So back to Minnesota. We had a great time lounging around with our family, taking chilly walks and talking about the holidays and the baby. On Saturday, my sweet Aunties threw the baby and I an adorable shower. It was so fun and such a great excuse to get all of my favorite Minnesota girls in one room to catch up and spend time together. It was perfect and I felt beyond blessed to have been showered with gifts and love from my favorite family members...

and friends that I love like family.

Lastly, I had to throw in this pic of my current little family. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for these two...

The loves of my life I tell ya.

Showering Baby With Love.. and Margaritas!

It was the most creative and personalized baby shower. Everything was handmade to reflect the colors and theme in baby Ondrey's nursery. Absolutely adorable I tell ya.

And the food? The food was amazing! Margarita cupcakes.. yes please!

Watching grown men drink margaritas from tiny baby bottles? Absolutely! The games were enjoyed by all.

Okay, maybe not all. This is a photo of a baby food tasting competition. We will have to wait to find out if baby Ondrey get his father's love for peas or his mother's absolute hatred for the veggie.

And of course, we had a blast opening the gifts that our son will get to use in nine short weeks!

We had such a great time and feel so spoiled by all of our wonderful friends and family. We love you all!!

A HUGE thanks to Sarah and Kirsten for planning and hosting the shower. You guys really went all out and we couldn't be more grateful. We love you and are so blessed to have you to share this wild experience with. It's too bad we don't have any fun together...