Surprise!!

Once again, Brian and I are reminded how blessed we are to be surrounded by such wonderful people! Last Thursday at my school faculty meeting, the staff surprised me and another teacher who is due in November, with a shower. We got diapers and wipes, along with several other goodies, and a $25 gift card to a store of our choice (that our school carries in scrip). Not only were there presents, but also cake and punch!

Then, last night at the PTA Officer's meeting, they surprised me with a shower as well. They came running into my classroom with cake, soft drinks and a big yellow bag full of goodies. I was definitely shocked. In the bag there was a homemade afghan along with a ton of other stuff for our little girl!

We just can't say thanks enough to all of the people who love and support us! It brings tears of joy to my eyes to know that we are bringing our daughter into the world surrounded by such loving and caring people!

The never ending bag from PTA

Man Storm

Yesterday, Brian's co-workers threw him a surprise "man storm". Brian works with mostly women so they had fun planning the attack and buying lots of baby stuff. He was very shocked and thrilled. They had cake with whipped icing (Brian brought me home a piece of course), fried chicken and lots of other goodies. I had fun going through all of the stuff they bought for Macie. We are so grateful that we have so many people who love and care about us!

The pictures are small because they were emailed to me, but they will have to work!

Brian's Crown: Going to be World's Greatest Dad Lots of cute clothes

Home Run!!

Brian plays in a fall softball league and tonight he hit an over the fence homerun! I don't know if I have ever seen him so excited! He had a great night and went 8 for 8 in both games (they play double headers) and had a homerun, a triple, a double, and a single all in the same game. He will be talking about this for a long time. The umpire was nice enough to give Brian the ball and then all of his teammates signed it.

What a week!!

Last week was a crazy week! We started out waking up Sunday morning to our power going out. We didn't get power back until Tuesday evening. I shouldn't complain because some people didn't get it back until Friday!! Thankfully, our fridge wasn't too full, but we still spent some time cleaning and scrubbing. Now it is nice and clean!
I went to the doctor on Wednesday and it looks like Macie weighs approximately 6 pounds and her head is measuring three weeks ahead of schedule!! That, combined with some early blood pressure problems has my doctor wanting to induce me. On October 8th, we are going to pick a date so she will be here before we know it!!!
This weekend we shampooed our couch and livingroom and hallway floors. We have also been getting other cleaning done trying to get ready for Macie to come!

Below are two pictures Brian took on Saturday. They aren't the best of me, but my mother-in-law said that we should take some and update the blog because Macie is clearly getting bigger and bigger in there!!

35 weeks 2 days

Macie Update

I am officially 34 weeks and 2 days. I now have to go to the doctor every week for a biophysical profile and a visit with the doctor. My doctor just wants to make sure everything is ok with Miss Macie because I had a blood pressure spike in the beginning. The cool thing is, I get to see her every week and get an estimate of how big she is. At the last visit, she weighed about 4 pounds 15 ounces and is doing well. The tech told us that she has some hair, which is a good thing because her head is measuring two weeks bigger than it should! Brian has a large head, but I'm getting a little scared:) Here are two of the many pictures we were able to see of her face. It is amazing how much you can see. I can't wait to compare these to when she is actually born!

Look at those cheeks!!
The umbilical cord is in front of her face right under her mouth.

Reflecting...

As my pregnancy progresses and I am getting closer and closer to the end, I can't help but reflect over the last nine months. I know that I am extremely lucky to have gotten pregnant so easily and Brian and I thank God for that every day. I have less than six weeks to my due date. Here are some of my thoughts:

Things I will miss about being pregnant:

• feeling my baby move inside of me every day
• having an excuse to take a nap when needed
• eating extra and not feeling too guilty
• my students talking to my belly
• Brian kissing my belly
• the overall happiness and contentment that I feel

Things I will NOT miss about being pregnant:

• stepping on a scale on a regular basis
• strangers rubbing or touching my belly
• not being able to have a glass of wine
• going pee constantly because a baby is smashing my bladder
• my ankle swelling every day just because
• trying to find a comfortable position during Mass

American Idol Concert

Thursday night, I went to the American Idol concert with my friends, Jamie and Renee. We had second row seats! It was on the perfect day because it was my friend, Jamie's, 30th birthday and when the show is on, we go over to her house to eat dinner and watch the show.
Before the show, we went to dinner at Abuelo's with our friends, Brandi and Laurie. It was a great night, but we were all dragging a bit at school the next day!

Jamie and Renee
Jamie and Me

Welcome Home Allie!!

My sister, Allie, came home from Iraq on Monday for a leave. She will have to go back on September 17th, but hopefully she will be home for good before Christmas. We have several parties planned while she is home. Last night we went to a Legion on the west side.

Me, Allie, and Annie

Allie had never seen me pregnant before so it was weird for her at first.

The whole group....well at least everyone who was there at this time. Several more people showed up later.

Little baby Dylan Riley. He belongs to my cousin, Katie. He is only 1 1/2 weeks old! How precious!

Brian and I

Allie with some uncles and a cousin before doing one of many shots!

Mary, Annie, Allie, Me, Roxie, Katie and baby Dylan