Christmas in Colorado

I started out Christmas Eve with a doctor's appointment.  Everything was measuring well, the baby is still head down, and I'm no longer "high risk," meaning all of my restrictions have been lifted.

We had a beautiful Christmas Eve, with 50 degree weather, for my dad's flight coming in.  He got here in the late afternoon, and we headed home so I could finish working on dinner and we could hang out with B who was finishing his work day.  For Christmas Eve, we had prime rib, sweet potato casserole, banana salad, cornbread casserole, and rolls.  There was also apple pie, but we didn't get to it because we were so full.  We wanted a picture with our prime rib, and dad took our photo for us.  We finished up the evening with a viewing of Christmas Vacation, which some of us had trouble staying awake for.

 On Christmas morning we got up and went to the gym in our apartment complex.  After 30 minutes on the treadmill, I came home and got the breakfast dishes in the oven.  We had breakfast, and then opened presents.  We had quite a few gifts this year that had been mailed to us, which was fun.  We got each other a flash for our camera so we can take nice indoor photos.  Excited to learn how to use it!  After presents, I was so tired that I needed a nap (Christmas day was 37 weeks for me) so I napped while B fixed green bean casserole and a salad to take to my aunt's house.

We headed to my aunt's for dinner and had a lovely meal with my aunt, uncle, and two of my cousins, their husbands, and children.  It was a really fun environment to have the little kids running around and to get to catch up with my cousins.

When we left my aunt's, the snow was coming down really hard.  It ended up snowing 6-7 inches that afternoon, evening, and night.  I don't know if I'll ever stop feeling grateful for the Subaru in the winter.

On Friday we went to brunch in Louisville and then took it easy around the house.  The past week or so for me has been pretty difficult to be on my feet, and I overdid it a bit on Christmas Eve and Christmas, so I just needed to sit down.  I got a picture with my dad before heading out for the airport.  Despite the snow, his flight was only 20 minutes delayed.

That evening, we Skyped with B's parents and sister and opened our presents from them which had come in the mail.  Even though we were far away from most of our family, we felt very loved and close to our family.  We can't wait to see them all pretty soon, as I'm sure they won't be able to stay away long after Baby B is born!  We're looking at 2 and a half weeks now until the due date!

More decorations

Due to the imminent arrival of Baby B (we're now 4.5 weeks out from his due date, which I realize is more of a suggestion than a guideline), we have been planning to stay here for Christmas.  This is the first time we'll be in our own place for the holiday.  My dad is coming out and we are super excited to have him.  We'll go to my aunt's house on Christmas day, which will be nice, but I also wanted to step up the Christmas game a little bit so it feels more like Christmas.

So I decided to make stockings!  I bought a bundle of fabric pieces from a seller on Etsy and made as many stockings as I could with what I had, which was 4 regular sized stockings and one Nanaa-sized one.  Due to the shape of the small pieces of fabric, I couldn't actually get two boots that would fit right-side together cut out of it, so each one is red on one side and green on another.

When you live in an apartment, you have to get creative on the whole fireplace/mantel thing.

I like to pretend that Nanaa was excited about her stocking, but actually if you just put anything on the table she will jump up to investigate what it is.  

Making a list...

My list for this week had nothing to do with Christmas presents and everything to do with keeping myself busy and getting stuff done!  I have checked off nearly everything and still have a day and a half left.  Got a lot done for work so that my last three weeks before Winter break can be as relaxing as possible and I can work ahead for January and a lot done around home so we're ready in case Baby B decides to make a 2014 appearance.  I'll spare you guys details from work, but here's a smattering of items checked off:

Finish the scarf that I started while on bedrest and make the accompanying hat for Baby B:

Those are turtles at the bottom of the scarf if you can't tell

Finish the four baby blankets that I started making when we moved to CALIFORNIA.  I got frustrated and threw them in the closet, thinking I'd finish them in another month or so once I had cooled down.  Little did I know that my job was about to suck up my life and spit me out two years later.  At the time, I had a niece and a god daughter imminently arriving (although I didn't know the goddaughter was a girl, so the blue/green was for her), and a niece and a good friend's baby on the way in March, so the thought was the blankets would go to them (there are two of each design).  Now, depending on the balance of the genders (the only friends/family I have who know what they're having are all having boys, so if the surprises don't turn out to be girls I'm not sure where the flowers will end up), it looks like the siblings of 3 of these babies might be receiving a blanket and one will go to our son.  These blankets are the most imperfect blankets you can imagine, and one stipulation of receiving them is that you never EVER show them to anyone who knows how to sew, or allow one to be examined close up by anyone with eyes.  The blankets are finished with the exception of their final wash, and putting away the sewing machine felt REALLY good.  This task took way more time than I expected.  "Finish blankets" has actually been on my to do list since August, and I knocked it out in probably a total of 12 hours this week.

The combination of really soft one side with really silky other side + trim meant that mistakes were easily made and fabric buckled, slipped around, etc.  My grandma showed me an easier way to make blankets and if I ever go back, it will be to those. I would NEVER show these up close to my grandma.

Finish decorating the baby's room by buying frames for B's animal paintings and hanging those and the embroidery hoops that I made.  Please note that B actually did everything, really on my to do list it should have said "ask B to hang stuff."  He also re-organized everything; every couple weeks we have to completely start over because I just throw things we get in the mail into the room, and we've been in receipt of some awesome gifts.  B painted all of these animals; they're mostly Western animals with the exception of the penguin which I claim as my spirit animal.  They're each animals we've had fun interactions with on our travels.  The dresser is from B's parents' house; we cleaned them out over the summer collecting furniture and other odds and ends for the room.

Nanaa is ready for her diaper change!

Nanaa has shown us that she is capable of going floor to crib, completely clearing the side of the crib.  Not great news for the baby, but great news that Nanaa is almost 9 and still has it.

At this point, I should mention that the quilt hanging over the side of the crib is from my very talented grandma, who is currently expecting 7 great grandchildren from now until May.  And she just got a new one a few weeks ago.  So far she has over 20 and each great grandchild has received his or her very own quilt.  She also made the cushion for the rocking chair, which matches the fabric from the quilt that I made (hanging over the rocking chair) and also the fabric of the embroidery hoops.  The rocking chair itself came from B's grandma's house.  Credit goes to B for sketching all the embroidery hoop animals for me, and for the cow painting in the right of the above picture.  It's from a photo he took on our honeymoon on the first night of our trek to Machu Picchu.

Our toy chest, which is a bench/chest that we found on Craigslist, is already 1/3 full!

Last on my list was to decorate for Christmas.  My dad is going to join us this year for Christmas; he thought he was going to see me uber pregnant, but he might just get to meet his grandson depending on how things go in the next few weeks.  Really hoping to still be pregnant, but if we have a baby, then that will be a blessing too. ANYWAY, we decorated last night and broke out the amazing moose mugs that we got from my brother and sister in law a couple Christmases ago.  I decided to pose in front of the tree...33 weeks and 2 days today.  Every day counts!

This is not eggnog, but milk.  B pours me a glass a day and makes me drink it, "for baby."  That's one of our birth class instructor's favorite phrases.  I make that face or a worse one every time I drink it.

Amazing how a slight change in perspective changes things.

I am so thankful to have a job where I get time off for Thanksgiving.  B also got Friday off, so we've been enjoying this long weekend together.  It has been gorgeous weather so he has gone biking, and I've taken my small strolls.  Now I finally have no more excuses, I need to head to the coffee shop and check "grade optimization projects" off my list.  Bummer, but it's the last work-related thing I need to do!  I always save grading for last because it is the least enjoyable.

Giving Thanks

Today we hit the 33 week mark for Baby B. For that, we are both extremely thankful. We were also thankful to not be spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. We spent a few hours in the hospital last night after I had some more contractions and consulted with my doctor who asked us to come in. They picked up the contractions on the monitor, but an ultrasound showed that my cervix hadn't changed much since my last one on Nov 10, and it was still in the safety zone of above 2.5 cm. The ultrasound also showed our baby's skull on the other side of the cervix, which is a good sign that he's head down. The doctor still thinks I should go to work and live life as normal. That was good for both of us to hear.

We got to spend Thanksgiving at my great aunt's house with two of her children (my mom's cousins) and their families. We weren't allowed to bring any dishes but ate like kings.  It was delicious and it was great to spend time with family, and we were sent home with a wide selection of leftovers. We definitely missed our immediate families though. We got to Skype tonight with B's family. Our niece and nephew look so much older than they did last time we saw them, and we miss them so much. Nanaa was compliant and sat on my lap during the call, and our niece kept asking to see her. It was cute.

We hope that you all had a great holiday with your families. We are thankful for each other and for all of you.

Rounding up to 31

Tomorrow will be 31 weeks for the baby and my first day back at work after an 8 day hiatus.

My app tells me that our baby's irises can now dilate and respond to changes in light, which is very exciting because eyesight can be a big problem for premature babies, I was told.  His skin has changed to a pinker color from red, and this week he'll be adding a lot of fat.  He'll mostly be getting fatter rather than longer from here on out. If he stays in for the full 40 weeks, he should at least double his weight between now and birth. His lungs and digestive track are still working on maturing.

My mom left today.  Somehow in the midst of a 3 day snow event (not a storm...it was never really coming down hard), her flight took off right on time.  The bus to get to the airport, however, was not even close to on time, so I ended up driving her there.  So thankful that we got the Subaru a little bit early; the past couple of days would have been pretty sketchy in the Honda!

Got home and had a package waiting...some of B's family sent us two Lou Malnati's deep dish pizzas! OMG I am so excited about these!  They were frozen in dry ice (not necessary given the outside temps) and when it comes time to make them, we'll pop them in the oven and then be transported back to Chicago!  Baby B will have his first Chicago style pizza experience in utero! We are so grateful for this and the many other lovely things people have sent our way.  We feel so loved and supported and know Baby B will be really lucky to be loved by all of you.

I was a little worried when I saw the pizzas though, because our freezer is pretty full.  My mom prepared 14 (I counted) meals for us (we're talking 14 2-serving meals) in addition to cooking for us while she was here.  Our freezer is so full that we have a few meals in the fridge that we have to eat first.  But I managed to slide the pizzas in!  I'd like to point out that the ice cream in the freezer is from over 2 weeks ago when we had guests and I bought ice cream for apple crisp.  Sometimes at the end of the day I realize I haven't had enough dairy and just need to supplement. :)  Also, there's food in the freezer door.  It was so helpful to have my mom here and key to my peace of mind...I'm not one who does well sitting at home alone!

We'll see how Nanaa does tomorrow all alone.  She's been a little weirded out by my being home all the time.  Our love/hate relationship has deteriorated from 90/10 to 75/25 I'd say.  She doesn't like being told she can't sit on my belly.

Hairy baby, stable mama

Had my appointment today with my doctor.  Started out with an ultrasound and then met with the doctor.  My mom is still here and was able to take me there and got to see the little guy on the ultrasound, which was cool.

We saw that he has hair!  It looked like a little mullet, we could see wispies at the end of his neck floating in the amniotic fluid.  You can also get a view of it in this one on top of his head.  We also got a real straight on look at his face, which was equal parts cool and strange...so skeletal.  His foot was right next to his face right before this picture, but then he kicked (I felt it) and it disappeared. So far on each ultrasound he's either had his hands or his legs right next to his face. The nub next to his cheek a weird cross section of his arm.

The additional great news, other than that the baby is doing well, is that I've stabilized and haven't progressed any further.  My doctor happily wrote my note that I need in order to go back to work; I'm going to head back on Thursday after my mom (hopefully) flies home on Wednesday.  Right now we're expecting to get some snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll see about her flight.

It was winter in Colorado today for the first time, really; it was 70 degrees and sunny yesterday and today it snowed all day starting around 10 am.  Not too much of it stuck, but I think tomorrow's snow is supposed to be quite a bit more.

30 + 1

Well, I've been home since Monday with very little to show for myself. My mom and aunt got here on Wednesday; my aunt flew back Thursday and my mom will stay through next Wednesday.

It has been so nice to have people here. The nursery went from a bunch of boxes and stacks of unwashed clothes to a place a baby can call home. Our nephew is about a year older than our baby will be, so we have an abundance of clothes, jammies, hats, etc in newborn and 0-3 month sizes.

Food is getting cooked, laundry done, and I'm not doing any of it. I'm very thankful! I have been able to write lesson plans, record video lessons, and keep up with my students, which has been nice. Technology is amazing!

I'm also thankful for each Thursday. Yesterday was 30 weeks and each Thursday feels like an accomplishment.

I started a scarf yesterday for the baby. If all goes as planned, it will have a turtle on it. I haven't knitted in 10 years but it seems somewhat akin to riding a bike. Thanks to janet and Hannah for the yarn and the book!