Oh The Places You'll Go! Third Trimester Update

I am in LOVE with 

this little man Already! 

In the ultrasound he looked as if his face had distinct cheekbones, big lips, and Jeff's chin. I can hardly wait to see what exactly our little boy looks like! Can't wait to cuddle him and watch his personality grow! Is he going to be a little boy with a sweet calm personality or will he be strong willed and energetic? In just a matter of less than two months our family is going to have an addition and God has chosen who he is! 

"Labor is the only blind date where you know you will meet the love of your life."

Creation is beautiful and full of God's Love! In those moments before, during, and after labor must be one of those moments that we feel the space between the spirit world and ours the closest. I can hardly wait to feel it with my family!

If I could ignore getting up multiple times in the night to pee because of my squished bladder, restless legs that keep me awake, and my hip that is fighting my ligaments to stay in place, oh and fainting, than this experience of growing a human would be perfection. 

Even though it is not perfect I couldn't be more happy! Everyday I am amazed at the miracle my body is performing. All on its own it knows how to produce the correct hormones and stretch a certain way to allow this little guy to grow. I feel like I get to stand by and see a phenomenon take place. He is constantly moving. He is big enough now that I can always find his little bony bum up by my left ribs and his feet kicking my right side. The other day we played high five next to by belly button! Somehow I never get bored resting with my hand on my growing belly and feeling for each movement. How can it be that cells so minute only eight months ago have now multiplied to the point that they have formed into strong limbs that push in all directions making my stomach move in weird ways? Truly Incredible!! 

I can not even mention how grateful I am for Jeff! I've never felt like I am alone in this pregnancy. He has never missed a doctors appointment! He is a comfort and listens to every complaint with compassion. He also listens to the continual baby talk :) We had our first birthing class this past week and I could not have asked for a better companion! He shares his strength with me. I know his strength will pull me through the pains of labor.   

Europe was great for keeping me active! At my prenatal appointment I was happy to hear that during my two months away I only gained 5.5 pounds! Since being home though it has felt too good to relax and not have to walk miles everyday! I have sat on my bum, that I must admit is a little softer than it has been, and have loved soaking in the sun while reading and playing with nephews. I am grateful to Janet for getting me out most days for some exercise! My favorite so far has been our three mile activity: Jeff running back and forth next to us, Janet quick walking, and me riding the bike :) 

Week 32

Happy Memorial Day

Week 33 Photo

I love the updates my phone app tells me. According to this week our little guy is a 4 pound 17 inch pineapple :)

Glucose Test

When we first got home my doctor had me take the routine Glucose test. The test included me drinking this "fabulous" sugared drink and then getting my blood drawn. 

Sadly I failed the first test which meant I could possibly have gestational diabetes. I had to go back for another test. But at this test I drank this lovely drink again, double the sugar as before. I chugged it down. You do not want that flavor in your mouth for long. I had been fasting for 12 hours. Quickly after drinking the sweetness I became really nauseous and light headed. Who wouldn't? I had to stay at the lab for three hours as they continuously took more blood. Janet, my mother-in-law kindly stayed and waited out the long process with me. We had a hard time watching the lab ladies do a horrible job poking me. I should have been stabbed only 4 times, but after breaking blood vessels and other troubles I was stabbed 10 times. Oh fun! :(

 This is the elbow that does not have a bandage.

After all the pain we got good news!! I passed! No diabetes for this Momma!!

Baby Shower #2

My extraordinary sister-in-laws threw me an adorable baby shower with the best theme:

Oh The Places You'll Go 

Everything was full of color and so many great friends came to celebrate! Thank you so much for all the love and support to everyone who helped, came, and gave!

 The Sweets were SO CUTE!!! I couldn't have asked for anything more festive!

 Jeff as always was a great help! 

 photo bomb :)

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

Dr. Seuss

How Amazing Things Come to an End

Day 47: March 10th, 2014

Last Italian BBQ

 

Today was one of Francessca's friend's birthday. This meant that we got to hang out with a bunch of Italian early 20 somethings all day. As thrilling as that may seem, it was actually pretty fun. We were definitely the weird ones of the group. Not only because we are graduated from college and at least 5 years older than everybody there, we are also married (before 30! STRANGE!), and pregnant (the horror! Why so young?? Oh you want more than 2 kids? What are you trying to do? Repopulate the world by yourself??) They did not understand why on earth we would want to get married before 30 and why we would even THINK of having a kid before 35, and we must be absolutely bonkers to want more than 2. Amber says the words "5 kids" and growing a second head in front of them would have elicited a tamer response. All in all it was a fun day filled with Ping-Pong, Dance Dance Revolution, a random Italian ball game called Sette( seven in Italian) and of course, lots of food. The benefit was that nobody was there offering and forcing food, and there were plenty of young males who could win eating competitions to polish off the extras so Jeff was spared the duty. His pants thanked him.

We have been addicted to the game 2048! By team effort we won!!!

After the party we headed back to Francessca's to finalize our packing for the flight back to London, and then we headed out to look at Rome at night. Since Francessca's village is set on the hills above Rome, we got a good view of the city lights from just down her street. We spent a good 45 minutes taking pictures, and in the end it was the combination of Carlo's camera with our large zoom lens that got the spy worthy pictures of streets and houses miles and miles away. 

Day 48: March 11th, 2014

4:30am is too early to travel

 

As you can tell in the heading, we woke up WAY to early and headed out to the airport. The tiredness was compounded by the fact that Amber has had a sore throat/cough for a few days and at the lovely hour of 2:30am she was awoken with a coughing fit. Needless to say we didn't go back to bed. Here's to traveling with 3 hours of sleep!

Carlo and Francessca drove us the 15 minutes on deserted pothole riddled streets to the airport where we were herded like cattle back onto the plane. Ryanair is cheap to fly, but as we mentioned in an earlier post, there is no such thing as creature comforts. The seats don't even recline. And there are announcements in at least 4 languages every 10 minutes for the whole 2.5 hour flight, so sleeping is not optional unless you are one of those people who can sleep through a simultaneous train/plane wreck accompanied by an earthquake. If you are one of those people, then we hate you. Hate maybe too strong a word, but it is early and we haven't had time to put on our happy faces yet.

We eventually landed in Stansted, had an uneventful ride to London. We then rode the tube to King's Cross Station. Yes, THAT King's Cross Station.  We didn't take time to find the Harry Potter stuff because we really wanted some food. Because of that intense need and the need for Wi-Fi, we went to McDonalds. Yes, we gave in, but it wasn't too bad, and we got the Wi-Fi we needed to get to our luxurious hostel.  The problem was that we were too early and couldn't check in for an hour, so we decided to head down to King's Cross Station and see what is at the famous station.

Needless to say, we weren't disappointed. Now, don't think that this was some ornate, or theatrical station. It was just beautiful. It had been expanded from the original brick building with a really cool metal lattice thing. It was pretty awesome. What was also pretty cool was Platform 9 and 3 quarters. They have a sign there with a trolley half way into the wall. It was manned by some people from the nearby Harry Potter shop who help take pictures, complete with scarves, Hedwig, Glasses, and a wand. 

It was pretty cool. The line was long and we were tired, so after we got some more food, we headed back to the Hostel and immediately fell asleep for 3 hours. It was a good nap for sure.

After the nap we headed back to King's Cross to get our own pictures at platform 9 and 3 quarters. It was fun to wait in line because the employees manning the station are funny and nice, and they even help you take pictures with your own camera, even though they are also there taking pictures that they want to sell in the shop. That is a nice feature.

After we got done taking our pictures we headed back and fell asleep in our luxuries springy bed.  We both coughed through the night. Such fun colds :( Let's just say we were very ready when our alarm clock went off and we got everything together and headed to London's Heathrow airport!

Day 49: March 12th 2014

Many Hours of FLYING.... SO TIRED

This is what 25+ hours of being awake, 15 hours of flying and a missed connection due to maintenance issues looks like. Here's to breakfast at 10pm because it should be 7am. And we get 8 more hours of traveling tomorrow.

 The hotel the airport put us up in in Phoenix Arizona was super nice!

HOME

Day 50: March 13th

Perfect Timing!! Happy One year anniversary since Jeff asked me to be in his life forever! 

Thinking back and feeling Grateful!

It is unbelievable  to think that these two months of learning so much about culture, history, and ourselves has come to an end. We planned and looked forward to this vacation for so long. Every day was amazing, some more exciting, and others more tiring than others, but every day worth the experiences! 

We will forever be grateful that we were able to take this time to have the opportunity to travel through Europe together before life gets to crazy! 

"The biggest adventure 

you can take is to live the 

life of your dreams"

I have always gone with what feels right. I don't always know what I am going to learn from it or understand where it leads, but there is a passion in me to love each day that I have! This earth is a beautiful one. There is sadness and heartache, but there is also love and goodness in it. Everywhere we go has both. Travel gives me hope, showing that the majority of humans are kind and are searching for happiness! 

Looking back on different adventures in my life I am amazed to see how they have lead me to exactly where I didn't realize I have always wanted to be! The people that have become family to me around the world have shaped me and taught me. I am eternally grateful for a mother who has always supported me to chase after my dreams and now for an incredible husband who stands by my side and is willing to chase these dreams with me!!! Thank you Jeff for being a perfect travel companion! I can't wait to see where these next couple months take us! I love you!!