38 week apppointment!

Looks like Baby Sherman is so comfy that she wants to stay in my tummy for at least another week. All went well at the doctors with not much to report on. I had a few questions for Dr. Hannah like "will I know when I am in labor?" and he assured me that all the contractions I am feeling now will get more intense and I will not be able to talk through them and I will know!!!.....That is a little scary but I am reassured that there is a slim chance that daddy will have to deliver me at home because I waited too long to go to the hospital:)

So for now I am 2 cm dilated and a little more thinned out but the doctor said he was pretty sure I would be still be pregnant on my next appointment scheduled for August 5th.... So we wait!!!!

A birthday surprise!

I can't believe that I am 34 years old today. Seems like I was just 25 and teaching 1st grade in Chicago. And now I am married, an Arkansas resident and expecting a baby girl in just 13 short days... Life is full of great changes!!(well maybe everything but the moving from Chicago part:):)

Today was a great day for the birthday girl.... It started out when Geoff asked if I would drive his car because he had to pick up some people from the airport from work(a lie) and I said "sure".. So I hopped in his car this morning and off I went to a busy day at work. Just about the time I rounded the corner of our street I get a text message that asked me if I would look in the trunk of the car for some papers that he was missing. "The trunk" I said? I thought that was weird but I agreed so when I got to work I opened the trunk only to find my birthday surprise waiting for me!! A jogging stroller!! YEAH! It was one thing that I really wanted so that Baby Sherman and I can start to run when we get the green light this fall and I can train for my first 1/2 marathon in the spring!!! Daddy really surprised me this time.... Now to complete all my birthday dreams... We are headed out for my favorite meal: PIZZA!

Walmart Shower!

On 7.24.09 Geoff's work hosted Baby Sherman a shower. It was such a nice afternoon and gave mommy a chance to meet some more people that daddy works with. We had a wonderful time and thank everyone for the very generous gifts. Baby Sherman now has a new Rainforest Jumparoo, a humidifier for her room, 2 new outfits with matching socks and a gift card from Wal-mart for all those things we will need down the line.
The cake!! It was fabulous! Mommy especially loved the icing...

Mommy and daddy(not a great picture... mommy feels really big with 2 weeks to go)

Mommy and daddy again:)

Opening presents...

The new Rainforest Jumparoo... Guaranteed to provide hours of fun!

The adorable new outfits.... Daddy's favorite is the dress with the leggings!

37 week appointment!

Today was my weekly doctors appointment and nothing really to report on. My blood pressure was great, my weight remained the same(THANK GOD) and that was after dinner last night at Red Lobster with friends. My dinner consisted of: 1 salad, 2 cheddar biscuits, about 20 shrimps(no joke) and a plate full of french fries. Momma wasn't holding back and boy oh boy it was good! Oh and I almost forgot the strawberry pie that I indulged in earlier that day at work. Jeez that was a busy day for me.... so much for eating less near the end because your stomach is so cramped.

Not much progress on this end. I am now 1.5 cm dilated and still 80% effaced. Looks like this baby girl is going to hold on another couple of weeks. Her heart rate was still in the 140s and sounding great. This past weekend I started to experience some swelling for the first time. I thought it was because I was on my feet for the whole weekend with my parents here but not so much. My pigs are still swelled up at times, just had to take off my rings and my face is looking a bit 'plumper'..(could it be the 20 shrimps?)...The doctor says that is my body's way of preparing...(easy for him to say).......

The nursery is done!!

And we can't wait to bring home Baby Sherman to her new room very soon. The only thing missing is the letters for her name which will go above the crib but we are waiting to do that until she is born so we don't spoil the surprise we have kept for long...:)

The complete package....

The chair that Meme covered for us in a chocolate brown

Her changing table and dresser

2 pictures that Meme bought for the room.. My favorite saying is "love sweet love" which I am sure is how we will be feeling in no time at all..

Notice the mobile mommy picked out.. they are fairies to go with the theme of the stars..Daddy said a little girl just can't have enough clothes...so mommy is taking full advantage with the help of friends and family too!

The hanging fairies by the window..

Ahh... the sweet crib that was used by both of my nephews. What a comfy place for baby Sherman to sleep for the next several years.....

Looks like the only thing missing is the baby............ so we continue to wait with excitement!

Mommy and Daddy with 3 weeks to go!

This weekend Meme and Papa(my parents) came to visit us in Arkansas one last time before Baby Sherman's arrival. We were so lucky to have them here with us and appreciate them making the long drive for a short weekend.. Papa helped us finish up the nursery by mounting the video baby monitor and Meme cooked us a bunch of meals to freeze so that we could have some for the first week home from the hospital. We are anticipating that mommy will not be up for cooking much and daddy's idea of dinner is grilled chicken and boxed potatoes for 7 straight days in a row(reminds him of his bachelor days he says). So we now have chicken enchiladas, Italian beef and black bean cakes to look forward to!

It was a fabulous weekend with perfect weather! Thanks for all your help!

Below are some last and final pictures of both mommy and daddy before the arrival!!! Daddy felt as if he was part of an old Olan Mills photo shoot and I have to admit I got a little crazy and insisted on taking about 40 pictures and made daddy dress in a matching white shirt:)

23 days to go.................................................... We can't wait!

A big ole belly at 9 months!

I got brave today and took a bare belly picture at just about 37 weeks... My oh my have I grown!

Weekly Check-In!

Went to the doctors this morning and all looked good. As Dr. Hannah said it is just a "waiting game" now. YIKES! I think both Geoff and I are now getting a little nervous as the time gets near. I am not really so nervous about the labor and delivery part as I am about the realization that we will have a baby in just about 3 weeks from now! I figure that as hard as getting this sweet little baby out of me will be that someone at that hospital will make sure it happens one way or another. Much to my relief Baby Sherman is predicted to be anywhere between 6 1/2 to 7 pounds at birth. I sure hope the Doctor is right about that as I think that sounds "doable" at this point! (I may think otherwise later on in the game)

Well I am still only 1 cm dilated but this week about 80% effaced so my body continues to prepare for the big "workout" as I like to call it. I am sure it will be the hardest "workout" my body has EVER seen! Effaced means that my cervix is thinning out(whatever that means). Pregnacy still remains a mystery to me even at this point...

The prediction for Baby Sherman's arrival is the 1st week in August. He suspects that I will not go into labor in the next 2 weeks so as of now we are definitely looking at an August Baby and a Leo just like her mommy...... Here is a description of the Leo Girl!( I think daddy is going to have his hands full with 2 leos in the house:):)

"The Leo girl is always the center of attention...all day and every day...and that's exactly how she likes it. This young lady will never be seen at anything but her best with hair perfectly groomed and sporting the latest fashions complete with designer labels. Of a flamboyant nature, she adores the spotlight and is blessed with creativity and drive, but there is a tendency here for things to be taken far too personally. The Leo girl's hobbies including acting and other artistic endeavors. She will also enjoy playing tennis, horseback riding and sailing. Ever sociable, the girl governed by Leo tends to be the leader of any group...and the larger the group, the better she likes it. Therefore, big schools will be top of the list when it comes to choosing a college or university. Although she is prone to be something of a "handful" at time, the Leo girl is sure to "go places" and have plenty of fun in getting there."

A whole day of fun!

Today we had our all day childbirth class at the hospital. The class had 5 couples including us that all were due in August or September. We were the furthest ones along with only 4 weeks to go but out of the 5 couples there was 1 couple having a boy, 3 couples having girls and one that was waiting for the surprise. Seems like a ton of girls are being born lately!
Although it was a long class we learned lots of important things for the "big day". Now we know how to time contractions, mommy knows how to breath through contractions and we got to practice swaddling the baby and changing diapers. I can tell already daddy is going to be an expert at changing diapers. Our favorite part of the day was when we toured the Labor and Delivery floor and saw the rooms we will be staying in. So we now have a visual of what it will be like when we arrive. We will actually labor and deliver in the same room which was a big and inviting space! So we have our certificate in hand and we are officially ready for go whenever our sweet little monkey decides to arrive.
The hospital where Baby Sherman will be born. It is a really small hospital not like we are use to in Chicago. There are only 5 labor and delivery rooms but we love how convenient it is for us and how close it is to our house.

Daddy getting ready for the day.... As you can see he was thrilled to be up at 7:45 on a Saturday morning(and taking pictures) but he is fully prepared with our 2 pillows and blanket.

Mommy posing again(I am sure you have seen enough by now)......36 weeks and ready to go!

Practicing our relaxation techniques. Geoff was very embarrassed when I whipped out the camera for this picture but I had to document as it only happens once!

To top off the day we won the door prize!! We are now proud owners of a diaper wreath made just for little girls......

Car seat installed!!

Today daddy had a day off and he was very productive getting all the final things for Baby Sherman in place. YEAH! The car seat is installed and ready to go and I have to say it is looking good in mommy's Jeep.....Just 31 days left!!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Today Geoff and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by going to dinner at a great restaurant in Fayetteville. What a wonderful 2 years it has been. We have so much to be thankful for and plenty of anticipation of what the years ahead have in store for us. First up a beautiful baby girl in just 34 days or so......We are very lucky as our wedding date would say

(7-7-07) to have each other and been given this opportunity to move into the 'mommy and daddy' role just 2 short years after getting married. We can't wait!

5 weeks to go!

Baby Sherman at 35 weeks..... only 34 days to go!Besides it being our 2nd anniversary today, we also had my 35 week check-up with the doctor and this was an "extra special" one because the doctor was going to check me for any dilation and effacement for the first time. I say "extra special" but I am being sarcastic about that. No one told me that this could be a bit 'uncomfortable' but I am here to tell you it was for me! I wonder what this means for my reaction to labor and delivery.??? Humm... Hope I can grow some big ole muscles and take it like a champ! And hope that epidural comes quickly!

So it looks like I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is starting to thin out. This is not necessarily an indicator that Baby Sherman is going to come early. We could still go all the way to our due date or beyond. The only thing it does mean is that my body is preparing for labor and delivery which is a good thing!

From here on out we will go into the office every week.

We got the usual checks today and everything looked fine except my fundal height(which is my belly height basically) was measuring small at almost 3 weeks behind so the doctor ordered an ultrasound and Geoff and I got to see our little monkey once again. Much to our relief all is going well in terms of growth and fluid levels. So we have no concerns at this point. She is snug as a bug in there laying in the vertex position(head down) and ready to go! Oh yeah and they estimated her weighing 5 pounds 13 ounces today but there can be as much as a 20% discrepancy but it gives us a ballpark range..

As you can tell from the new picture she was not cooperating today for her picture. She had her hand in front of her face the whole time, but she has got some cute chubby cheeks and the ultrasound technician could see hair. Our monkey has hair!!!!! And still beautiful as ever to her mommy and daddy... wont be long now till we meet her!

This Saturday, July 11th we are going to our all day child birthing class at the hospital. Hope we learn lots of important things we need for the big day because as of now, mommy just knows how to shop and decorate:) and daddy well he knows how to assemble and check the credit card statement!

More to come......

35 week photo shoot!

Happy 4th of July!

In celebration of July 4th, Geoff and I and a few of our friends got together for a BBQ and a night out at the rodeo! It was a blast and so much fun. Below are a few pics from the festivities. Mommy is 35 weeks in these pictures with only 38 days to go until Baby Sherman is due! Although it was really really hot, mommy got all dressed up in her cowboy boots for the show...

35 weeks and counting

Me and my friend Jill... Check out our boots!!

The group photo (Andy, me, Geoff, Jill and Louis)..... Having a bit of fun! Mommy missed being able to have a few beers with the group but is a great DD these days.

Mommy and Daddy at the rodeo.......

Another pic... towards the end of the night. Hot and sweaty.

Happy 4th to everyone! Geoff and I realize this is our last holiday together without having a baby which seems so crazy to think about but so exciting at the same time!