A Wonderful Birthday!

On Wednesday I celebrated my 28th birthday! I have been feeling a little run down so I decided to take the day off and rejuvenate. My parents, Charlie and I went out for lunch, I got a prenatal massage, met a friend for coffee and went out to dinner with Kevin. It was a very relaxing day and it felt so good to sleep in!

We had our 32 week appointment on Friday and everything continues to look good. I've started having "braxton hicks" contractions and middle of the night heartburn and charlie horses. So fun. Sleeping is becoming more difficult and I am slowly entering the stage where I am feeling ready to have this baby. If I go full-term I only have 7 weeks left! Yikes!

We are going to Madison this weekend for Molly's graduation and then my parents are traveling on to Lawrence for Michael's graduation. I can't believe the babies are graduating! I feel like I just graduated from College, has it really been 6 years? It's amazing how much your life changes in such a short amount of time.

30 Weeks and Counting...

We had our 30 week appointment on Friday and everything went well! I am measuring 30 cm which is what you are supposed to measure at 30 weeks and we are still on track for our July 2nd due date. The baby's heart rate was good and everything looked normal. It is hard to believe that we only have 10 weeks left, give or take a few! We are now going to the doctor every 2 weeks which feels like a lot and then at 36 weeks we will go every week until the big day. We have started our "baby classes" at the hospital and now spend our Tuesday evenings with 11 other anxious couples. Our instructor Jeri is a 60 something grandma of 2 who LOVES the topic of birth. She is very enthusiastic and as you can imagine her and Kevin get along great. She knits most of the props she uses and last week we were introduced to the "knitted uterus" which was interesting to say the least. The videos we watch are a little out dated and sometimes it is hard not to laugh (good thing we sit in the back). Overall, the info is good and it will hopefully be useful come July.

We have been working hard on the nursery and are excited to say that it is almost finished! It has been so fun decorating it and getting it ready for Baby Allen. I can't help but peek in every time I walk by. The nursery furniture came in much sooner than expected so we were able to get an early start on things. A few of the pictures posted are of Kevin and my dad moving the furniture into the nursery. It was a MUCH bigger job than we had originally thought. The dresser alone weighed 230 pounds. I watched nervously as Kevin and my dad carried it up the stairs. At one point they couldn't get the box to turn at the top of the stairs and needed a third person. Since I am not a lot of help these days, I went running to the neighbors. They were not home. Then, I saw someone a few houses down standing in their kitchen. I ran up, rang the doorbell and said "Hi, I'm Laura, I'm your neighbor. My husband and dad are moving baby furniture into our house and a 230 pound box is about to fall on them. Can you help?" He was very kind and came right over. With his help, they were able to maneuver the box and get it into the nursery without any injuries. Later we found out that he and his wife were expecting their first baby any day. We have since become friends and baby Micha was born this week. I think it was meant to be!

Overall, it has been a very busy few weeks! We are looking forward to May and the warm weather. We will be traveling to Madison in a few weeks for Molly's graduation (Michael's is the same weekend and I don't think I can make the 11 hour drive from Madison to Lawrence). We are also hoping to head up to the cabin for Memorial Day Weekend. Lots to look forward to!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter! My Grandma Nelson was in town so we had her along with my parents and Charlie over for brunch and then we all went to Westwood Community Church. The service was great with lots of fun music. I think Baby Allen liked it because he was kicking the whole church service! Kevin is looking forward to next Easter at church when he can hold Baby Allen in the back with all of the other Dad's and babies (I am pretty sure it's just an excuse to slip out early...)

After church we went to my parents house and my Grandma Davis came over and we had a great Easter dinner and watched the Masters. It was a very relaxing day! I reminded Kevin that this is our last Easter to sit back and relax. In the future we will spend the day hiding Easter baskets, hunting for eggs and eating treats! Sounds like fun!

BABYMOON!!!!

We just got back from our Babymoon in Florida (for those of you who don't know, a Babymoon is a trip you take before you have a baby). We had an amazing week soaking up the sun at the pool and on the beach. We stayed in Marco Island for two nights and in Bonita Springs for two nights. We spent a lot of time relaxing, reading, eating and walking on the beach. The weather was beautiful- 85 and sunny the whole time. We continuously applied 70 SPF sunscreen but we still managed to get a sunburn! Don't worry, I kept my belly covered so Baby Allen would be safe from the sun. We ate at fun restaurants and enjoyed spending time together. It was a great trip!

We realized on the trip that having a pregnant belly is similar to wearing a huge sign that says "Come up and talk to me!" We were stopped constantly by people (mostly older retired people) who asked us questions about the baby. We soon realized that they were only asking so they could tell us about their kids, grand kids, friends or neighbors who have kids. We heard a lot of stories and got a lot of advice!!!

It was really hard to come home (I will admit that I had tears on the way to the airport) and it didn't make it any easier to come home to snow. We are ready for spring!!! Looking back, we are very thankful that we had the chance to take one last trip together before the chaos begins. Now the next big thing on our calendar is on July 2nd when Baby Allen is due!

Daddy paints the nursery!

Kevin spent the whole weekend painting the nursery and it looks great! We chose a light tan color called Late. The walls were "primer" white before so the color really adds a lot to the room. All we need now is the furniture, and the baby of course!

Molly came home this weekend and we had a great time hanging out together. My mom, Molly and I spent all day Saturday shopping and they helped me find 2 swimsuits for the trip! On Sunday, we spent the day at my parents house. The baby was very active and my mom and Molly were able to feel some good kicks! It was fun to spend time with everyone.

We leave on Sunday for our trip. We are so excited to get somewhere warm! It is supposed to rain here all week and snow this weekend. It will feel so good to be in the Florida sun. We will give you all the updates when we return!

All About Baby!

Friday was a day dedicated to Baby Allen! After a lot of shopping and decision making, we ordered his crib, changing table, glider and ottoman. We are very happy with the decisions we made and can't wait for everything to arrive! It should be here in 8-12 weeks (it's a good thing we didn't wait any longer, I only have 15 weeks left)! We ordered his bedding last week and got it in the mail on Thursday. It is chocolate brown and blue polka dots and stripes. We love the way it looks! It is currently spread-out in the empty nursery. I love walking by the room and looking at it!

We had our 24 week doctors appointment on Friday as well. Everything looks good and Baby Allen is growing big and strong. At first, the nurse had a hard time finding a clear heartbeat because he was moving so much! She would hear it for a second and then he would move and she would have to find it again. After a few minutes he settled down and we heard it nice and loud. He is a very active little baby!!! I feel him moving all the time and his kicks are getting stronger and stronger. It is fun to watch my belly and see it move up and down as he moves. It is so amazing. Our next appointment will be at 28 weeks and after that I will start to go to the doctor every two weeks. Time is going so fast!

I posted a recent bump picture and as you can see I am growing more and more everyday! A few weeks back I bought some clothes for our upcoming trip to Florida and I am worried that they might not fit when we leave in two weeks...yikes! I am currently debating the swim suit issue...Should I wear a bikini and let my belly look the way it does, or should I cover it up with a tank-ini or a one piece (which I have not worn since grade school.) I tried on some of my swim suits from last summer for Kevin and he quickly vetoed some and approved a few. I guess I will just bring a little of everything and see how I feel when we get there. If I do wear a bikini, I will not be posting any pictures!!!

We had a beautiful MN weekend and spent lots of time outdoors. It felt great to get some fresh air and be out and about again. We are looking forward to spring and of course summer!

Making room for baby!

We've spent the better part of last two weekends organizing, packing and storing. We are moving the upstairs office downstairs to create the nursery. Our townhouse has NO storage space and we have A LOT of stuff! I didn't realize how much stuff we had packed in that office until we started going through it. We decided to have three garage lofts installed this weekend for extra storage. We were able to get everything off the floor of the garage and store all of the extra stuff from the office. The nursery is finally empty and ready to be painted and filled with baby furniture! In addition, the garage floor is cleared and after three years, Kevin can finally park in the garage with me!!! He is so excited that he won't have to wake up extra early to scrape the snow off of his car everyday!!! It was a very busy weekend but it feels great to have the baby's room cleared. I even spent time hanging up the few baby clothes we have. Those tiny hangers are sooo cute!!!