birthday love

We celebrated Joel's 28th birthday yesterday. It's weird to look back and think about how long I have known him and how quickly time flies. In less than 3 months we are going to be parents. I'm so excited and especially excited for Joel. He thinks he's getting old but I love where we're at in our lives. I'm more than content growing old with him and raising a family.

For now I get to plan and prep for our little girl and Joel gets really cute shirts. Well he got other awesome gifts for his birthday too but this one stands out the most to me because when our little girls wears it a year from now I'll think back to how much we loved her before she was even in our arms.

hang in there

Our baby is growing fast and furious now. With only 10 weeks left to go until our due date the time is flying by.

Here are some fun facts:

- she weighs about 3lbs and is fitting in my belly nice and snug

- the baby books refer to her size as a large head of cabbage

- she's 15.7 inches long

- she continues to be very active and rolls more than she kicks

- in just the last 5 weeks she has gained 1.5lbs and I've put on another 4

A few weeks ago Joel and I started going to labor preparation class at the hospital. The class covers everything we will face once I go into labor until delivery. Each week we learn more about delivery and what to expect in addition to different techniques to use during delivery to help ease some of the discomfort. The class is great for us because we have so many questions and this class covers all the details. The doula that teaches the class has lots of experience and stories to share with us.

Just the other week we worked on focus points, distractions, and helpful breathing techniques. I want to preface this story I'm about to share by adding how supportive Joel is in all of these classes. Occasionally he cracks a joke when the room is quiet but it always lightens the mood for us. Anyways, I have no clue when Joel had time to do this because I was sitting right next to him, but somehow when our teacher was going over the next technique for us to try Joel was on his phone up to no good. As I lay on the floor with my eyes closed, focusing on my breathing, Joel came and sat right next to me and started rubbing my back. I kept my eyes closed as Joel repeatedly told me to, "hang in there...hang in there you're doing great." (These are the supportive things you want your husband to say, especially while he's rubbing your back and you're trying to imagine what contractions might be like). I really felt like Joel was connecting with the exercise.

After Joel repeated the "hang in there" line a few more times, I knew something was up and opened my eyes. Here's the image he was holding in front of me on his phone:

A little kitten on a branch with the line "hang in there" hovering in the air. Of course I started laughing but all the other couples in the room were so calm and focused. I had to keep my laughter to a minimum and pretend like we were still practicing. I may never know why he thought of this image at the time but I love him for it.

Although little kittens are cute I know for a fact I don't want to see that image in the delivery room. I made Joel put the picture away for the rest of the class and reminded him a couple more times that I definitely didn't want to use it later.

Joel- I love you more than you know. Your encouragement and support have been more than I could ever ask for. You are the best husband and friend and I'm so happy we are in this together. Thank you for reminding me to take some time to laugh about the silly things.

easing our way into the 3rd trimester

Time really does fly by when you're having fun. Between appointments, hospital visits, preparing the baby room and trying to get in some reading, Joel and I are on quite the roller coaster. The good thing is we started planning early so things have yet to be stressful or chaotic. We just take things one day at a time and hope for the best. The baby room almost has all the necessary furniture in place and now we just are waiting for all the baby showers to come in order to fill up the room. I'm still in awe of how many things this little girl is going to need and I can honestly say Joel was shocked when he saw our registry but once he perused through it all I think he found that the majority of the items were absolute essentials.

Just a week ago I took my amazing friend Sunny (who happens to be a new mom) and my mom to get started with my baby registry. I would have just taken my mom but she honestly would have been as lost as I was. So many things have changed and are new, not to mention all the options. How do you know which one is the best? Luckily with Sunny by my side she made my baby registering experience a breeze. She practically held my hand as we walked up and down every aisle at Babies R Us and she gave me her advice and opinions on the walls of products. I honestly would have been lost with out her. Did I mention we were there for four hours?!? Trust me when I say it felt like we were there for only 2. It's insane how wrapped up you can get in all this stuff. Anyways, check out the registry and for any other moms out there, let me know if you have suggestions or items that should be added to the list. I think you will find that we practically covered everything.

Now let's get to the good stuff. I have 12 weeks until my due date! Which means I'm right at the start of my third and final trimester. With baby showers and the holidays right around the corner things are really going to start to speed up. My baby bump should start getting much larger which will be quite the sight to see. For those in my family that haven't seen me in a while here is a picture of me from a couple of weeks ago

My uterus is about the size of a basketball and she is taking advantage of the space while she has it. She really can be active from time to time which I love because it reassures me that she's in there and growing. Although I'm not huge yet, my belly is definitely taking shape. In fact right now it pretty much sticks straight out, kind of like a shelf. I'm curious to see what I'll look like in a few weeks as she and I both gain more weight.

In store for us this week we have a doctors appointment and a child birth prep class. More on those things later and more pictures of the nursery when I remember to take pictures.