hairy baby

So the weekend before Christmas, Brooks received his third haircut.  Yep, that's right ... his third!  He also received haircuts at 2 and 4 months, each time taking about 1/2 inch off.  I can only imagine what he would look like if we never cut it.  Here's some pics from his last trim.  Look at all that hair ... and he still has some on his head!  What a hairy baby!

 Look at all that hair!  It's all over his back and arms too.

 My handsome little boy with his new haircut!

6 months

I know I'm a bit late on this post, but on Wednesday our little guy turned 6 months old!  I'm starting to understand why parents say "they grow up so fast".  It's true.  What scares me is that in 6 more months he'll be a year old!!!  I'm not ready for a one year old.  But I truley love having a 6 month old in the house.  He is soooo much fun.  Here's an update on what's been going on in our house.

• Brooks starting eating solid foods about a month ago.  Started with rice cereal then moved on to all the homemade baby food I prepared over the last few weeks.  So far we've tried squash and peas(and I say we because I'm always a bit curious about how it tastes).  Squash is a hit!  Peas will take more work.  He's a good little eater.
• He is now fully aware that the dog exists.  He reaches for Charlie and has on a few occasions grabbed his ears or fur.  I was nervous about how the exchange would go, but I'm so proud of our goofy little pooch.  He just walks away when he's being harassed.  Charlie has also taken to licking Brook's fingers - quite funny if you ask me.  What's even funnier is that Brooks has the attitude of "eh, no big deal."  What a laid back kid.
• This is Brook's first Christmas! He helped decorate the tree last week with mom and dad. And by "help" I mean he puts all the Christmas ornaments in his mouth, then we pry them out of his hands to actually put them on the tree. But he loves looking at the lights and the shiny decorations. I'm just glad that since he's not mobile our tree is safe .... for now.
• Brooks loves to explore everything.  I know that's totally normal for his age, but it's so exciting to see him discover the things around him.  For instance, he loves water.  Whether it's a running faucet or spray from the shower, he loves it!  He touches it, then tries to hold it, then tries to eat it (see the following point).
• Brooks puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.  I mean it ... whatever he can hold onto goes straight into his mouth ... toys, fingers, the dog's ear, blankets, his clothes, his feet, the changing table railing ... you name it.  If it's close to his mouth, it's in it.  Which leads me to the next big news ...........
• He has TEETH!!!  My little guy has teeth!  No wonder he's been chewing on everything.  I wasn't sure if I would be happy or sad at his dental progress, but I was giddy with excitement.  He's so cute with those two little teeth poking out of his bottom gums.

So that's Brook's life in a nutshell (which means that's pretty much our life too).  Next week we'll be traveling to Green Bay, WI to spend Christmas with my parents.  I'm so excited about the trip.  I find I need to physically remove myself from the busyness of life before I can relax and enjoy Christmas.  We're going to try driving at night so Brooks will hopefully sleep most of the time.  We'll see how it goes.  Merry Christmas!

Wal-Mart Wellness Center

This morning I made a list of all the things I had to do and it got me thinking. "Grocery shopping" and "make lunch" were on the same list wtih no distinction in difficulty whatsoever. I feel jipped. Making lunch takes no more than 15 minutes. "Grocery shopping", well, it's a bit more work to say the least. Here's what goes into my weekly Wal-Mart trip:

feed baby, immediately pack up baby (time is ticking), dog-proof the house (dumb dog), load up the car, drive into Sioux Falls, find a parking spot, haul car seat into store, hoist car seat into shopping cart, unbundle baby (so he doesn't over-heat), find toys for him to play with and ...

whew ... now we're ready to begin shopping.

shop for household items, shop for groceries (first dairy products, then meats, produce, frozen, and finally box and canned goods - it's very choreographed), proceed to check-out, unload everything out of cart, load everything back into cart, pay for groceries, soothe crying baby (he ALWAYS cries in the check-out line - who knows why), push heavy cart to car, load baby back into car, take all groceries out of cart and load into car (this is now the 4th time I've lifted these groceries), put cart away (I hate people who leave carts in the parking lot), start car and leave.

oh wait, we're not done yet. Brooks at this point may or may not be crying. On a good day, I've managed my time well and he's sleeping or happily looking out the window. On a not so good day, I've taken too long and now he's getting hungry. But before the outing is over I ...

drive home, park the car, bring baby, purse and diaper bag into house, make three more trips out to the car to bring in all the groceries. If Brooks is screaming I break to feed him, then proceed to move all my items yet one more time into their designated space at home. Put car seat away and ... DONE! If you lost count, by the end of my trip I have lifted/moved the same groceries six times. SIX TIMES!! No wonder I'm exhuasted after it all.

So when I say I've been "grocery shopping" please read into it everything I've just explained above. Thank you.

on the move

One Monday night at the gym all the moms gathered around to give their babies a nice massage. I look over to see calm, relaxed babies enjoying the gentle rubs. Then I look at my child. He's flipped to his tummy. Then he kicks his legs, lifts his head to look around, arches his back to get a better view and rolls back over. He grabs his toes, then eats them. He doesn't stop moving. So much for "relaxing"! Sheesh.

Then it got me thinking about all the moving our little 5 1/2 month old baby does, and he's quite an active little guy. Here's a slice of his day.

He reaches for mom. reaches for dad. reaches for toys. holds toys. rolls from tummy to back. lifts up head. rolls from back to tummy. kicks legs. rocks in chair. giggles when tickled. rocks in car seat. (he learned to rock himself). jumps up and down. stands up. flaps arms. sits up. grabs toes. eats toes. rolls to side. holds pacifier. rolls to other side. rides "bike". snuggles. goes to sleep.

whew. that's a lot of movement for a baby who doesn't even crawl or walk. All I can think is we better keep our running shoes on!

Happy Pumpkin Day

Saturday morning Chris decided he was going to make pancakes for breakfast, one of his favorites. But these ones had a festive flair! Happy Pumpkin Day.

Look mom!

Looks like somebody found his toes!!

Like puppy like son??

Ok, so for as long as I can remember our dog Charlie has had this strange habit of sucking on blankets. No really, sucking on them. He doesn't chew on them (because he gets in trouble for that), just sucks on them. He gathers the blanket between his paws, wraps his mouth around it and goes to town. It's so weird, but I guess if it makes him happy, who am I to stop him?

Well, being that Brooks is 4 months old and likes to put everything in his mouth, I knew this was bound to happen. Both my little guys sucking on their blankets at the same time. ::sigh:: Only in our house!

Butterflies!

This weekend Chris, Brooks and I had planned an outing to the corn maze on the north side of town. We packed the snowsuit, boots, hats and of course the camera. We hit the road and about 10 minutes away from home we realized we forgot the baby carrier ... crud. Well, I certainly didn't want to push a stroller through a muddy corn maze and carrying him would have been too much, especially for our wiggly little boy. So we opted for Plan B: the Butterfly House.

Right here in Sioux Falls, there's an Outdoor Campus run by the Fish & Game Dept and part of that is the Butterfly House. So we decided to check it out. I think Brooks was a bit overwhelmed by it. My poor South Dakota baby has hardly ever seen a tree before! So it was fun to see him explore. He touched the leaves, listened to the little waterfall and did the best he could to keep up with all the butterflies floating around. I think he had fun ... we sure did. Here's some pictures from the day. You can see more here.

my boys

I am impressed more and more everyday at how wonderful of a father my husband is. Yesterday he spent quite a bit of time with Brooks while I took my much needed Sunday nap and then went grocery shopping. Chris' project for the day was to put plastic on our drafty windows, and he decided that the boy should help. What a team!

I also found some other (older) pictures of Chris and Brooks. I am blessed with a wonderful family.

Chris' first fathers day. Brooks - 5 days old.

Brooks - 1 month old.

What a good snuggler.

Tummy time with Daddy! Brooks - 3 months old

Football Season

I love fall. The cooler weather, the changing leaves and of course ... football season. Chris and I really enjoy our Sunday afternoons relaxing, eating good food and watching the game. In fact, it's such a big event that this year we even ordered cable, just so we could catch all the games. There is a bit of tension being that I'm a Packer fan (born & raised in GB) and Chris is a Viking fan. So there's some ribbing and teasing and a lot of channel flipping to try and catch both games. I swear it makes me dizzy. But still, it's fun. I even caught my two boys watching the game together. Aren't they cute? Now the question is ... will Brooks cheer for green and gold or for those other guys??

Vacations

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Here's some pictures from our first family road trip to the twin cities in August. We went to my cousin's wedding in St. Paul and Brooks was a hit with the whole family ... even though Grandpa Dave hardly let anyone else hold him. I realized later I didn't actually take pictures of the wedding, but here's some shots from our afternoon at the Sculpture Garden the next day.

Uncle John, my mom, Aunt Betty

sleepy baby

Chris & I at the Garden

Then over Labor Day weekend Brooks and I hit the road by ourselves to visit some friends in Minnesota. We spend a few days with the Blanchards (Kris, Kellie & the kids), but we also spent time with my college friend Krista, the Green's from our former church and Chris' family who lives in the area. His Grandma was even in town from ND, which was a special treat for her to see Brooks for the first time.

Brooks with his Great Grandma Ardis

Kris enjoyed playing with Brooks.

"Aunt" Kellie

To see all the pictures from these weekends plus some other misc. pictures of Brooks, click here.

Poor Charlie

I just had to post this photo. Ever since Brooks has come home, Charlie has been a bit displaced. He's adjusted fairly well in that he's never been aggresive toward the baby. But I still think he's sad that he is no longer the "baby" of the house anymore. So I found him like this last night ... curled up with his blanket in Brooks' boppy. Poor Charlie!

Bath Time

I love bath time. The last few weeks, I have just brought Brooks in the shower with me, while Dad stands on the outside assisting with the washing. I love my naked little baby and I LOVE the skin to skin time. But this morning we were in a hurry to shower, so he received a bath in the sink this afternoon (every little boy I know gets a bath on Saturday before church ... ours is no exception). Here's some of my favorite pictures.

My handsome little boy!

I love those big eyes!

Getting dried off. He's looking right at dad. So cute!

Balance

Before Brooks was born I was pouring through information on stroller travel systems, vaccinations, natural birth techniques and more. Being a parent requires a lot of decision making. One thing that seems increasing more complex is the topic of parenting in general ... more specifically, how to organize your baby's routine, or lack of routine. Here's what I mean ...

I found myself torn between two parenting methods: The hyper-scheduling method (the "let 'em cry it out or they'll be spoiled" folks) and Attachment Parenting (the "never let your baby cry or it could damage his psyche" folks). Of course everything was theory until Brooks arrived. Then it was time to figure this all out.

I liked the idea of establishing a routine (scheduling method), but found I didn't like listening to him cry ... at all. And I liked the idea of rocking my baby to sleep (attachment parenting), but found it was very demanding and sometimes exhausting to do before every nap. But after 6 weeks, I'm happy to say that we've found a pretty good balance.

Brooks eats on a flexible 3 hour schedule following the pattern of eat, awake, sleep. But of course there are days where we deviate from that rhythm. Sometimes he eats every 2 hours or he might go 4 hours between feedings. There are days I'll let him fuss himself to sleep, but if he full out cries/screams, I'll go rock him for a while until he falls asleep. Plus with a little bit of routine, I now have an idea as to why he is crying; whether he's hungry, has gas, needs to be changed, or is tired (never knew babies cried when they were tired ... just thought they fell alseep). We certainly don't have everything figured out, and probably never will. But we sure do know more than we did 6 weeks ago. Just think what we'll know 6 weeks from now!

Air Show

This weekend was the big Air Show here in Sioux Falls. Lots of cools jets & planes, plus the Blue Angels flew! It was a beautiful day, and the little boy in Chris really wanted to go. So we packed up and headed to the airport, all three of us! As soon as we arrived, Brooks needed to eat. I searched for the promised "breastfeeding tent" advertised on the website, but could not find it. So I found myself feeding him in an army medical tent. Guess I can add that to the list of strange places I've nursed the baby. Then we met up with some friends to watch the show.

Some of the jets were ridiculously loud and we discovered that the earplugs we brought for Brooks were far to big. We requested some from the army nurses, but discovered they don't make earplugs for 6 week old babies. Guess we should've looked into that before hand. Oh well. So I ended up putting Brooks in my Moby wrap and whenever jets flew over, I pressed his head into my chest and covered his ears. It worked! He slept through the whole show. Then because the sun was so hot and I didn't want to smear sunscreen in his hair, I held Chris' hat over his head the whole time. Thus, we ended up like this!

All in all we had fun. Besides the diaper blow out and a screaming, hungry baby on the shuttle bus back to the car, we had a good day!

Grandma and Grandpa 2

This last weekend Chris' parents were able to come over from Belgrade, MT to see Brooks for the first time. What a treat! Grandma held that little boy all weekend and Grandpa was very proud. We are so blessed to have such amazing families. If only they didn't live so far away :o(

We also had Brooks dedicated at church on Sunday. What a special day for all of us! Here's just a few pictures from the weekend.

Mommy's Little Helper

Spending all my time at home with Brooks has caused me to be a little creative in getting the household chores done. Today, Brooks helped fold the laundry; and by help, I mean stare at all the bright colored t-shirts I folded. What a good little helper.

More Pictures

Last Friday, our friend Brent came over and took some family pictures for us. He did an amazing job!! You can check out more of his work at http://www.brentkastner.com/ (shameless plug for a good friend/photographer). Here's some of my favorite photos.

Grandma & Grandpa

Last weekend, my parents (the proud new grandparents) came to visit along with my brother. Grandma Marty, Grandpa Dave and Uncle Adam enjoyed their time with Brooks. My dad is still getting used to the "grandpa" name, but seeing him hold that little baby reassured me that he'll do just fine in his new role. I can already see him slipping Brooks all kinds of sugar and candy when mom's not looking. And my mom was wonderful helping out and preparing all the meals. Thanks mom! Here's some pictures from the weekend.

Birth Story of Brooks David Anderson - Part 1

Monday, June 15th

Brooks' birth story actually starts on Monday. It was one day past my due date and we were scheduled for an ultrasound that morning to check the fluid level around baby. The fluid was good, but the doctor noticed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck two times! He said it wasn't tight and the baby wasn't in immediate danger but said he wanted to see this baby delivered sooner than later ... in fact, in the next 48 hours. Then he said what I really didn't want to hear ... he wanted to induce me into labor, even as soon as that afternoon!

Immediately after that, we saw our midwife for a routine check on baby. I'm still trying to process all this news and emotions and attempting to not break down and cry in the waiting room. When we met with Lisa, she discussed our options of inducing. Again, I really didn't want to be induced due to all the medical interventions that would come with it. I wanted my body to do things on its own, the way it's supposed to happen ... and the way we wanted it to happen. She checked my cervix and said I was dilated to 2cm and fully effaced, which she was extremely pleased with; that would make an induction much easier.

While I was hooked up to the external fetal monitor, Chris and I discussed the situation. We always had the option of refusing the induction, but we didn't want to put our baby at risk either. After 30 minutes on the monitor, baby's heartbeat looked great! So with that, we decided to "postpone" the induction. We wanted to try some things at home to get labor going before moving forward with inducing. Our midwife was very supportive. So we made an appointment to come back Wednesday to do another heartbeat check, and went home.

That afternoon I went to the chiropractor and asked him to work his "pressure point" magic to get labor going. Then I met up with a friend at the mall and power walked for an hour! Contractions were coming more often during our walk, but they were still very mild and irregular. That evening, I went to the gym and worked out for 1/2 an hour. One way or another, I was going to get this baby out!

That evening Chris and I prayed ... I mean, really prayed. We prayed that my body would go into labor the next day and that we would get a good night's rest beforehand. We prayed that our little boy would be safe ... that the cord would come unwrapped from around his neck and that there would be no complications during labor or delivery. We knew if this was going to happen naturally, it would have to be God.

Birth Story of Brooks David Anderson - Part 2

Tuesday, June 16th

(Note: all times are approximate)

5:00am - I started having contractions that I could no longer sleep through. They still didn't hurt, but they were different from the ones I had the day before. This might have been it, but I still wasn't sure.

5:30am - The contractions were still coming with consistent strength. I woke Chris up to let him know. He was excited and started timing contractions. At the time, they were about 8-10 minutes apart.

6:00am - We got up, showered, got dressed and ate some breakfast. The contractions were still coming strong and closer together. I did my best to relax through each one.

8:30am - Chris called the midwife clinic to let them know that I was having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They said when my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart and I could no longer talk through them would be a good time to come in. They also offered to check me at the clinic before going to the hospital.

10:00am - Chris and I started walking up and down the hallway ... an almost guaranteed way to increase the speed of labor. And sure enough, the contractions were stronger and were coming closer together. We continued to labor at home. Chris was an amazing coach. He helped me relax and breath through each contraction, just like a good Bradley coach :o) All morning I was drinking juice and eating what I could. Knowing this could be a long day, I wanted to store up as much energy as possible.

12:00pm - The contractions were 5-6 minutes apart and increasing in strength. We decided it was time to go in. Chris loaded up the car and we headed to the clinic. When we arrived, our midwife checked me and I was dilated to 4cm, fully effaced and she said my bag of waters was bulging. In her words, "you're a keeper; let's get you to the hospital". She offered to break my water to help 'get things going', but we declined, wanting my body to do things on its own.

1:00pm - We checked into the hospital. I gowned up and they hooked me up to the external fetal monitor to do an initial read on the baby's heartbeat. His heartbeat looked and sounded great. Then they asked a thousand questions. This whole process took about an hour and my contractions were spacing out to about 10 minutes apart. Sitting on a bed is the worst way to labor, and I told our nurse as much. As soon as she had the info she needed I was off the bed. I certainly didn't want to wait around all day for this baby to be born.

2:00pm - We moved to the ball and labored there for a while. Chris, again, was an amazing support, getting me water in between each contraction and talking me through everything. In between contractions, Chris read some scripture verses I had written down earlier. He read the one that said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer shall be given to you." He asked what I wanted to ask for in prayer. I said I wanted this labor to be quick and easy. I wanted this baby today. So we prayed just that.

2:30pm - We decided to do some walking in the hallway to move things along, but I didn't make it very far. As soon as I stood up and put my robe on, I headed straight to the bathroom and threw up. I started shaking for no good reason and was freezing, then sweating. I was in transition.

3:30pm - Contractions were quite strong by this point and I wasn't talking during them, or in between them. I was focused. I moved back to the bed so they could check me and listen to baby's heartbeat. I was dilated to 6cm. We were making progress. I stayed in the bed for a while. It was nice to lie down and rest between contractions. I threw up again. This time I really knew I was in transition.

4:30pm - I moved to the whirlpool tub. I realized then I should have done that a lot sooner. It felt amazing. The contractions were very strong, but sitting in the warm water helped take the edge off. After what felt like 10 minutes (but was more likely an hour), I felt the need to push.

5:30pm - I moved from the tub back to the bed. By this time, the room was filling up with people getting ready for the baby. I was dilated to 9cm with a cervical lip. The nurse re-positioned me on the bed and it seemed like minutes later I started pushing. The nurse firmly told me to stop pushing as it was just her and Chris in the room with me. But I couldn't stop; it was time for baby to come out. The room immediately filled with people, most of whom I didn't know. I didn't care. Then I was informed that my midwife was in the next room delivering another baby. Great. There was a resident doctor who was there, along with a supervising doctor to deliver the baby. It wasn't my preference, but I didn't have much choice. This baby was coming!

I was pushing for about 30 minutes or so when my midwife arrived. Hooray! Well, at that point I didn't really care who was catching the baby, I just wanted him out. Because of the nuchal cord, they kept a really close watch on his heartbeat. But I knew God was protecting him and it never wavered. I pushed and pushed. I was instructed to stop pushing once his head came out so they could assess the cord situation. I pushed through a crazy amount of pain and finally his head came out. The baby's cord was loose enough that our midwife was able to safely unwrap it from around his neck before he fully came out.

6:40pm - Brooks David Anderson was born. The cord was actually wrapped around his neck 3 times when he was born. But like I said, they were able to quickly unwrap it and he was never in danger. We had originally wanted immediate skin to skin time and to allow the cord to finish pulsating before cutting it, but because of the situation Chris cut the cord almost immediately. They quickly moved him to the warmer and put oxygen on him. But our little boy is a trooper and God is so good. He was breathing on his own, his heartbeat was strong, his oxygen levels were great and within minutes he was back in my arms! What a miracle baby.

Welcome Brooks David Anderson

Brooks was born 6/16 at 6:40pm. Weighed 8lbs 4oz and 21 inches long. We are so happy he is finally here! To see all the pictures, click here.

40 Weeks

Well, the due date has come and gone and no baby. I can't say that I'm surprised, just a little disappointed. We knew all along that he'd be late, but it's a bit tough to see that date on the calendar I've been telling people for 9 months now just slip on by. But, good things come to those who wait, right? He'll come when the time is right.

Saturday I had quite a few contractions, more than I ever had before, so I thought he would come then. But when we went to bed that night the activity slowed way down. Sunday was pretty quiet. At least from what I could tell. Most of the contractions I have I don't even feel or notice, so it's hard to tell when I'm having them. And the one's I do notice, don't hurt. It's just a really strong tightening in my tummy. Hopefully more will come with some consistency.

This morning we had an ultrasound. Couldn't really see much of the baby because he's so squished in there, but he's definitely head down and in position for birth. That was good news. They really just wanted to check the amniotic fluid level and that looks good too. Then we saw our midwife after that. They put the external fetal monitor on for about 30 minutes to listen to baby. His heartbeat is as strong as ever and he even held up during a few contractions. I'm already so proud of him! I also discovered that I'm dilated to about 2cm and effacing quite nicely. My midwife seemed really pleased. With some work on our end and a few prayers, we should have a baby by the end of the week. We can't wait!

Nursery Complete!

Well, with less than a week to go, we finally finished the baby's room. To see all the pictures, click here.

39 Weeks

Ok, so I think we're all set and ready to go. The baby's room is complete. The car seats are installed. All the paperwork for the hospital is collected. Bag is packed (mostly). Work things are wrapped up. Now we just need baby to come.

On Friday I realized just how glad I am that this baby is coming at the beginning of summer instead of at the end. When I got home I noticed that my feet had swelled up like balloons; puffy sausage toes and all. Wonderful. I've always really liked my feet and even when I felt unattractive in every other way, I knew my feet were still cute. Well, not anymore. Looks like the baby gets to take over that part of my body too. I guess I shouldn't complain since I've gone 39 weeks without any swelling, but it was a hard thing to accept. So Saturday I went to the gym and spent over an hour in the pool, hoping that would reduce the swelling. It did some, and now today it's cooler outside so they're almost back to normal.

Last Monday we toured the hospital birthing unit. I love it! I had seen certain areas of it before while visiting friends, but seeing the whole place made me really glad (once again) we chose Avera. The labor and delivery rooms are huge and very homey. And on the postpartum floor there's a private cafe for mom and dad and a spa where I will receive a complimentary massage. I'm looking forward to that! Plus there's a "dad den" with a large screen TV and leather recliners. Although I'm sure Chris will be spending most of his time with his new son. We're both so excited for him to arrive!

Today at church, a friend's 4 year old son came to me and said he couldn't wait to play with our little baby and that they were going to play 'rattle tag'. Then he 'pet' the baby :o) It's so fun seeing other people get excited about his arrival too. I know he will be well loved. But for now, we just wait for him to get here.

Nesting

So I think the intensity of the nesting has increased. I find myself unable to leave any dirty dishes in the kitchen. Previously my motto was "Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow" and so dishes sat for days, piled up and un-scrubbed. But now as soon as dinner is over I'm washing pots and pans, loading up the dishwasher and wiping down counters. Now, it doesn't matter if our bedroom is a disaster or if there's a thousand things on the kitchen table, but let me assure you, you will not find a dirty dish in my house.

38 Weeks

As you can see, we no longer have a blank wall for me to stand against for the "bump" pictures. The baby's room is all but complete. Still need to hang those few pictures and we'll be done. I'm also hoping to get our bag packed for the hospital before the weekend ends. I still don't think this baby's coming any time soon, but just in case, I want to be prepared.

As you can probably see from the picture, the baby has not dropped at all yet. That's OK, I suppose. That means he's still really high in my ribs and with him getting bigger & stronger each day, it truly is a test of my ribs' strength. I'm not really sure where I am, dilation-wise, either. My midwife doesn't do routine internal exams and because the baby's so high, I haven't even asked her to check. That information doesn't really tell you much anyway at this point. Perhaps in a few weeks, we'll see how things are going. All that to say, baby's not coming any time soon.

The week playing secretary went well ... it went fast, which is good. I got everything done and besides a few little tasks to finish up, I think I'm ready to be gone for a few weeks. I feel a great weight off my shoulders knowing things will be taken care of. I don't want to have to worry about anything while I'm home with my special little man. I think learning to be a new mommy will be enough of a job for awhile.

37 Weeks

It sure was nice to have a 3 day weekend. I guess it wasn't much different for me, since I normally have Monday's off. But it was really nice to have Chris around. We worked on projects around the house most of the weekend, mainly in the baby's room. Chris painted the crib and set it up. We also put the stroller & car seat together after sitting in a box for almost 2 weeks. All we have to do now is hang a few pictures and the room is complete! Yeah.

Last week was pretty busy with baby stuff. Monday we took a "Caring for your Newborn" class. Then Tuesday was the regular birthing class, and Thursday was the "Breastfeeding" class. Plus a midwife appointment in there too. This week should slow down a little bit. Just the birthing class and midwife appointment. I'm hoping all these classes will actually prepare us for our little guy. I'm sure there still will be quite a learning curve once he arrives.

I'm getting anxious for D-day. I know we still have 3 weeks to go, and since this baby is still sitting really high in my ribs, I'm not expecting him to come anytime soon. But I'm ready to meet our little guy. I'm ready to have my tummy back. And I'm really ready to wear a belt again. Why maternity pants must be so uncomfortable is beyond me. Perhaps it was just a bad day, but everything I put on yesterday either didn't fit or fell down while I walked. (sigh) 3 more weeks.

I'm still working hard to get things wrapped up at church too. And this week all the other pastors are gone on vacation, so I'm here to man the fort. Plus I get to play secretary all week long too. Not too many extra responsibilities with that, but I need to be really diligent to make sure everything gets done. It will be a good week and hopefully it will go fast.

36 Weeks

So I've noticed quite a few changes as I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, not only physically but also socially. For one, I'm not able to do all the fun things I used to be able to do (ie. go karts, ultimate Frisbee, etc) but I also notice complete strangers staring at me more often. It's like they've never seen a pregnant woman before. I kind of have that "monkey at the zoo" feeling sometimes. "Look honey, there goes a pregnant lady! Let's watch her and see what she does next. Maybe she'll go into labor." And I really enjoy the comments such as "You sure are getting big" or "Wow. You look twice as big as the last time I saw you." I know folks are well meaning, so I try not to take the fat comments personally. But it's not that fun being constantly reminded of my increasing size. On a positive note however, at church the other day a lady was walking by and said with all sincerity, "You look really beautiful". I hugged her!

Chris and I are making final preparations for the baby. We spent most of the day yesterday shampooing our carpets. And boy am I glad we did after seeing how dirty the water was afterward. Yuck. And today we received a crib from church; one that wasn't being used in the new nursery. Chris is spraypainting it to match the room. I'm excited to get it all set up with our new bedding and finish his room. I'll post pictures when it's done.

Chris has been a tremendous help these last few weeks as I'm running out of energy to do a lot of things. He's been grocery shopping with me, cooking more meals, doing the dishes. I really couldn't do this without him. He takes care of me so well and I know he will be an excellent daddy too. 4 more weeks!

35 Weeks

I can't believe how fast this last week went. I'd really be okay if the next 5 weeks went as quickly. I had so much to do with work and baby stuff that before I knew it, it was Friday. The bummer part was that I hardly saw Chris all week, so Friday night we went out on a date to catch up. (Gotta enjoy those while we can.) Then Saturday we slept in until 9:30am (unheard of in our home) and did pretty much nothing all day long. It was spectacular.

The baby is growing, growing, growing. He's still sitting really high in my ribs, but is big enough now to reach both ends of my tummy, so I feel all his little wiggles and movements. And I often find myself out of breath for no good reason. (I mean, other than the fact that there's a baby in my lungs) Chris and I made a quick trip into the grocery store the other day, and after 10 minutes of walking I was ready to take a nap! I feel like I'm reverting back to the first trimester, hungry and tired all the time. But in a few short weeks, our little guy will be here. I don't know if I'll have much more energy, but at least he won't be kicking me in the ribs all day :o)

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I, of course called my mom and sent flowers, but wasn't sure if I should really celebrate it as a mom myself. People told me I should, but I didn't quite feel like I had earned it yet. So I didn't make any plans for the day. But when we came home after church, I was surprised with a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on the counter with a note that said "Happy Mothers Day! Love Chris and baby." It melted my heart. Chris and I noted the other day how amazing it is to love another person whom you've never met. I have so much love for this little boy and I have no idea what he looks or sounds like. I can't wait for him to be part of our family.

34 Weeks

Wow! It hardly seems that we only have 6 weeks to go until baby arrives. Some days I feel really ready and others I feel so unprepared. But ready or not, he's coming. Still making final preparations in the baby's room. I'm excited for him to get here.

I believe what people call "pregnancy brain" has fully kicked in. I find myself doing really dumb things or not being able to think of a word in a sentence. Unfortunatley I've been told pre-pregnancy brain never returns. I can just feel my college education slipping away (if only the loans would slip away too). All I can say is that this kid better be a genius with all the brain cells he's stealing from me :o)

Chris and I are still working hard preparing for the labor & delivery. He's already being a really good coach. He's making sure I do my excercises every day and eating vegetables. He'll even cook veggies for dinner if I forget. My husband, who could live off of pizza and pot pies for the rest of his life, is steaming broccoli and cauliflower for dinner. I'm so proud. We're still really enjoying our Bradley classes and learning so much. Let's just hope we're as prepared to actually care for the baby when he comes home as much as we are for the birth of the baby.

33 Weeks

What a great weekend. My parents came in town on Friday evening to spend a few days with us. We played cribbage, watched movies, ate good food and just enjoyed being together. It was really great to see them.

On Saturday, the ladies at church threw me a baby shower. It was wonderful and we were so blessed. I'm really glad my mom was here to share that with me. I think our little boy will be the best looking kid in town with all the cute outfits we received. Then afterward, mom and I washed all the clothes and started to organize the nursery. It's starting to look more put together and I actually enjoy spending time in there. It's not finished yet, but I feel good about the progress we made. We have all the furniture we need except a crib, which I'm anxious to buy since we received the cutest bedding at the shower. I can't wait to set it all up.

As Chris and I are going through our prenatal class, we're starting to think more about the labor and delivery of this little boy. We're sifting through all of our options and trying to put together a birth plan. There is so much to having a baby! I never would have guessed. All I can say is that I'm so glad for our team of midwives at the hospital. (I say "team" because my particular midwife is due with a baby in just a few weeks, and most likely will not be around for the birth of ours. So we're seeing the other two ladies she practices with as well.) They all have very similar beliefs and philosophies as us so I know we won't have to fight for many things. That reduces a lot of stress right there. Each day I grow more and more anxious to meet our precious baby boy. I can't wait to meet him.

32 weeks

Well, I definitely starting feeling the joys of the 3rd trimester this week. For about 3 days straight, the baby took up residence in my ribs. Every way I sat at my desk was uncomfortable with little (or perhaps not so little) feet jabbed up in my ribs all day long. (sigh) He's getting so much bigger and running out of room. It may be an interesting 8 weeks to come.

I also discovered today that the small rhythmic movements I've been feeling in my tummy is the baby with hiccups. I guess I never thought about it, but I just read that lots of baby's have hiccups. And here I thought he had a future as a drummer, with that steady rhythm and all.

This weekend I'm hoping to get the baby's room a little more set up. The last several weeks have been consumed by getting the daycare ready at church, so the room organizing has been put on hold. But seeing as that project is mostly completed, we'll have more time to devote to getting ready for Baby Anderson. (still no name decided)

This afternoon I visited a family from our church who just had a baby boy on Friday. That's one of my favorite things of being a pastor. He was so tiny and wonderful. When I picked him up to hold him, he started to fuss, but then I found my "mom sway" and he was content and went back to sleep. I think I'm going to be ok as a mom. (on a side note: While visiting this family I was able to see the birthing wing at the hospital where our little guy will be born and it's beautiful!! I'm really glad we chose Avera.)