30 Weeks and 5 days

Here is my most recent picture, taken Sunday. Let me just say, this shot is a bit misleading. I swear, I am like 10x's the size I appear in this picture. Just this morning while getting ready for church I was cursing this "gigantic belly that gets in the way of everything". Then, while sitting in church, I experienced our little guy have hiccups for the first time that I've noticed, and got to watch him move around a bit. That has to be by far my new favorite activity! Anyway....here I am!

The Strawberry Patch

I was talking with my friend Tonya a few weeks ago, trying to find a time for us to hang out. She suggested that we go pick strawberries...how fantastic! Then she suggested we make some jam...even better! So, today (yes today...I know impressive right, I'm documenting something that I actually did on this day!), Tonya and I set out to the strawberry patch to get the goods.

There were lots of people who had the same idea...this is apparently a very popular past time that I had never had the joy of partaking in! But the gettin's were good and there were plenty of strawberries to go around.

Here's Tonya, she thought that because her eyes were closed, I wouldn't post the picture...hahahah!

Here I am...it was fun...but word for the wise...don't attempt this when you are pregnant, the baby doesn't enjoy being squished!

And here we are leaving the strawberry patch...our load was 16.5 pounds...but don't worry, they're MUCH cheaper when you pick 'em yourself!

And here we are...after 15 jars of jam, we each still had at least half our strawberries left! Oh my goodness, what am I going to do with all these strawberries?? And we really don't even eat that much jam, so what am I going to do with EIGHT jars??? So please, any great strawberry ideas and recipes, share, share, share. I have a feeling I'll be busy over the next couple days!

The Nursery

Well, I know it's taken some time, but finally, here they are...pictures of the nursery. You've been waiting so long, and surely you are expecting much more than you will find, but remember it's a work in progress!

Ah yes, the beautiful before shots....I know, a blue room, how perfect for a baby boy! But really, everything was blue, the carpet, the walls, even the mini-blinds...it was a bit frightening. I was happy to see it all go...and Eric was happy that he now has a "putting blue" in the basement.

After two paint colors...and Eric almost not speaking to me, we were able to get the new carpet in and the furniture moved in as well. If you can believe it, the first color was even brighter than this color, but after four coats of paint, I felt it would be best to accept the brightest color in our house, and move on, instead of getting the death look from my husband for the next several weeks!

This is actually a pretty interesting piece of furniture, and no, it's not upside down, although it appears it may be. It is a dresser, that when the baby is small, you can flip over and use as a changing table, the drawers flip over and everything!

I know it appears sparsely decorated at this point, but I've got big plans...books, bins, cute pictures, etc...I'll keep you posted as it fills up.

And the crib...because I waited so long, we received the mattress as a gift from my mom who is sad she may not make any of my showers. And this is the bedding that I loved, and why the room ended up such a bright green in the first place! I think I am going to hang the quilt on the wall, but we have to find the little do-hickies that will allow us to do that first!

First Annual Small Group Mini Golf Tournament

Friday, June 6, 2008, established a hopeful long-lasting tradition of mini golf tournaments! Our small group met for dinner in our outrageous (or normal) attire, prepared to be fueled for our competition. We were a little nervous as it was pretty stormy in the late afternoon, but we decided to brave the tornadic conditions, and head out anyway, like a true golfer!



The competition was fierce, and there were unknown awards to be had after as well. Eric and I recieved "Coolness Awards", I don't think I have to explain why ;) And other awards included most aces, can I say I had two (woot!), most out of bounds balls, high score, and the "likely to win...next time" award. It was fun for all involved, although, we have another pretty competetive pregnant lady among us.



Eric and I came up with the idea for the trophy and Eric's handy-craftiness proved great once again...once everyone saw the trophy, they knew they had to win it! It must be displayed prominently in the winner's home, and they must add to it for the next tournament. Chris (our very modest winner) is looking forward to the challenge. He also won the "evening wear" competition, and earned himself a new nickname--"C-Foam" check out our slide show (thanks Rachel!) and you'll understand why!

Summer is Here!

A sticky Michigan summer that is. We are now in our second day of upper 80 temps (yeah) with rain and about 100% humidity (boo). So, this is why we moved back to Michigan? No, no, we moved back for the 10 degree winters with inches upon inches of snow. No, wait, that doesn't sound right either....What were we thinking???

Good thing we have family and friends (and now a baby) to keep us from running to nicer weather :)

27 Weeks and a Doctor Visit

Here I am, 27 weeks along. I feel big, I went to the doctor today and the nurse took my weight, then went and enetered it into the computer and a screen came up that said "This patient has gained 11.5% of her body weight. Is that correct?" and she pushed YES!! What, that can't be right...I immediately started freaking out, straining to see the screen...should I say something, should I not?? I finally decided to speak up..."um, does that really say [my weight]?" and her response..."Oh, that's not right, I wondered why that box came up!" Yeah, she had added 10 pounds to my actual weight....phew...I'm still good to gain some weight through the remainder of my weeks! Talk about scary....

Then my doctor came in...and remember my frustration with "your so small"? My doctor even said today "You look tiny", but then she measured me, and said, "Well, you're measuring a centimeter bigger than you should be, you can be big even when you look tiny." I'm not sure if that was supposed to make me feel better??

I get to return to the doctor in two weeks for my glucose test, let me just tell you I am NOT looking forward to this morning of fun! Everyone has been offering their best advice about making sure it's cold, chugging it, etc. The doc said to me as I was leaving "Don't forget your orange pop!" Orange pop, yeah right...I'm not that gullible!

A Sunday Brunch

Our small group decided to get together for an impromptu afternoon of food and games (what else). Chris and Lisa just purchased a new home, which is beautiful, and generously offered it up to us for our gathering. We met after church, made brunch together, and played some games.

Crystal, Dave, and Chris preparing our meal

The food was delicious...and largely prepared by the men...way to go!! We even had some delicious "breakfast cake" although this time, it was prepared correctly, and tasted much less like cake, and more like waffles, which is great, since that's what it is! It was a great afternoon, and we just feel so blessed to have made such great friends.

Here we are after enjoying our grub...Kristin, Crystal, Dave, Dusty (who joined on his lunch break), Betsy, Eric, and me. Lisa was taking the picture, and Chris didn't fit at the table, so we shunned him!

Friday will be our First Annual Small Group Mini-Golf Tournament, so as a competetive group, we even devoted some time on Sunday to developing our own rules, so there will be no arguing. There was great debate about whether we should allow all the men to play together as one group, it was ademently protested, so we did a good natured drawing. Luck would have it that the two teams turned out: Men and Women...go figure! We decided God is attempting to teach us women to trust our husbands :)