A Couple of Things...

Thanks again to Jenny for updating my header, because it more accurately conveys my current state. I feel huge! I don't feel like I've complained too much throughout this pregnancy, but I'm going to take just a sec to do that. The muscles in my stomach hurt. Constantly. That makes walking one of the more difficult things to do. And no one has said it yet, but because of the pain, I think I'm starting to waddle a bit. Luckily, I'm still sleeping pretty soundly, but it does take me quite a bit longer than normal to get comfortable and fall asleep. I mentioned a pain in my ribs to the doctor and she assured me that it was just my ribcage changing shape to adjust for the baby. Yeah, that's all. Ribcage changing... no big deal. And the surge of energy I felt during the second trimester has been used up completely. By about 2pm every day, I'm completely worn out.

Ok, that's all. My feet aren't swollen (yet) and there's been no talk of bed rest from my doc, so I'll stop complaining.

April Showers...

Our April baby shower brought lots of love and support for Brant, McKenzie and me. We are overwhelmed and humbled by the number of people and gifts that were received. I can't thank the hostesses enough for all their hard work. The food was great and they turned my house into a really cute place to have a shower. There were so many little details that made it just perfect, despite the fact that the weather just refused to cooperate. Thanks ladies!!

From the practical to the just plain cute, we are so thankful for each and every gift. I'm still surprised at how something so small is going to need so much stuff, but each gift has a pretty distinct purpose so I guess McKenzie does need a lot of stuff! See below for a slideshow of the pictures.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Few Nursery Pics

The nursey is almost complete, so I wanted to post a few more pictures. Oh and the deck is finished so there's a picture of that as well. Enjoy!

SPRING BREAK!

When I was in high school, I always looked forward to Spring Break. What could be better than a week with no school?! When I began my career as a teacher, I didn't think Spring Break would be such a big deal. I mean, everyone else is working and I probably wouldn't take a big vacation so what's the big deal? Well, now I know. Teaching is the most physically, intellectually and emotionally demanding job I've ever had. Therefore, I cherish each day off like I never have with other jobs. In fact, I could probably recite the days off in our district calendar without missing a beat because I know them so well. Not only are my lesson plans affected by each day off, but so is my sanity. Spring Break is no exception. The anticipation I had for Spring Break in high school could never come close to matching the anticipation I felt for Spring Break as a first year teacher.

Luckily for me, I was able to plan a vacation with my mom. We headed down to Florida and, thanks to the generosity of her good friend, stayed in an awesome condo right on the beach. The weather was great and my mom and I were able to do exactly what we wanted to do for four days (and yes, a lot of times, much to the dismay of my "can't sit still for a second" dad, that meant absolutely nothing). It was splendid. We also got plenty of shopping done and thanks to my awesome mom, I have lots of new maternity clothes that I'm actually excited about wearing. On our last day, there were jellyfish all over the beach during our morning walk. I took several pictures of them and I thought this one turned out pretty cool. Thanks, Mom, for enjoying a great vacation with me! I hope you had as much fun as I did!!!

New Deck

This doesn't have to do with the baby directly, but it's close. Last weekend my dad came to town and he and Brant started working on a deck. They got a lot more done than they expected, despite the ridiculously cold day on Saturday and rain showers throughout the weekend. Although it may not seem like it now, it's actually looking really great. All that's left is the deck floor and the handrails. I can't wait to spend quiet mornings and evenings out there later this summer with Brant and McKenzie!!

I can't get these pictures formatted the way I want, so I'll just tell you about them in order.
1) Picture of the backyard from when we bought the house.
2) Ooops! We got off to an ominous start when the guy from the lumber yard dumped all of the wood UNDER my car! There was no damage though and the deck building went just fine.
3) Lucy, my parents' dog, probably feeling a little trapped.
4) The "after" shot for now. I'll post a completed pic once it's finished.

A huge thanks to my dad, Brant and Randy for the hard work so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belly Shot!

With only three months to go, I'm still moving around just fine. Still, I couldn't help but sympathize with Melena, a pregnant character in the book Wicked:
"She stood, mammoth, an ambulatory island."

So, here it is. Probably the only belly shot you'll be seeing on this blog. I'm not embarrassed by my expanding midsection, but I just don't think it needs to be out there for the world to see. So, I took this picture of my shadow on the beach and it will have to suffice.

Nursery Update

I know I haven't posted in a while, but at least I have something to show for it. Last weekend was pretty big for McKenzie's room. Brant and his mom got the room painted (oh and my little niece helped out a bit) on Saturday. On Sunday, Brant became superdad! He put the crib together and then installed a ceiling fan and dimmer switch. Was the crib too big to fit in the room? Yes. Did we spend 30 minutes trying to squeeze it in there only to realize that it would take five minutes to take it apart and put it back together? Maybe.

Anyway, see the progress below. You can see all of the fabric hanging on the crib. And my lovely green chair is one of the most comfortable things you have ever sat in!